It was a feast!

Enjoying Thanksgiving with Margie and Mike at the buffet. John is laughing at Colleen's antics trying to get the shot without bumping into the neighboring table. Margie has been recouping from a new knee operation but was able to sit in her wheel chair and enjoy the meal.

Miss Maisy Mae Visits the Desert

After a nighttime drive from Ontario with Caitlin and Maisy, we waited until morning to say hello to Wally and Colleen. We stood at the door ringing away on the doorbell...the place was locked up tighter than a drum. I thought for sure they would be up and around. As it turned out they were up and around ~ one of the valves for the watering system was stuck on and they were fighting a flooding battle in the backyard. 

The control box was not solving the problem. They had unplugged it trying to get the water off. I played with the control box to no avail ~ the water just kept spraying. The planter box had turned into a goldfish bowl and water was running down the street from all the runoff... 

 

Their house is on the far right ~ new paint color is a buckskin shade.

Maisy was sooo fluffy and clean. (Why don't dogs squint in the bright sunlight?) We didn't get photos of the grandparents meeting their grand-dog with all the flooding activity!

Desert Dolphin

One of Wally's favorite tasks is putting together their fountain ~ so John and I decided to lend a hand. This dolphin is one of John's favorites! 

This is all tongue in cheek...Wally abhors the fountain and John would rather there be a cherub peeing than a dolphin spitting!

We actually put it together twice...the first time there was so much gunk and calcium left over from the summer that the pump didn't have any spunk. John used a wire brush to scrape that gunk out while helper #1 held the pieces. Then came the rinse...

Success!

Caught in the Act

Here he is...one of the many munchers!

And this is the newest trick...jumping up on the mums and grabbing beak-bites. This doesn't bother me since there are so many mums.

All Wired Up!

Well, take that little birdies! Tomorrow morning at "bird breakfast time" a few little vegetarians are going to be looking for some new eats. I just hope it isn't the pansies nearby!

This is an evening shot of the orange tree that I have been pruning. It got quite a haircut~still some to go on the far top but will need the taller ladder. I have a six foot long Pull and Prune tool that reaches quite high. It is good for moderate sized branches but won't budge the thick ones.

Our garbage bin will be full with these clippings! 

By-Catch from pruning...some green oranges and lemons.

Birds, Glorious Birds

I love the birds...(we have a finch feeder and buy Niger Seed for them to feast on). I hate the birds...when they do this to my petunias.

Before

After

Previously I have used chicken wire to protect some of the starts early in the season; but the stash went into a neighbor's gate to keep out the rabbits. There was some in a contraption John made to keep the birds out of the tomatoes that I haven't been using. (I love home grown tomatoes but Costco does them nicely too and they come without fruit rat bites!)

Pliers, screwdrivers and a little time later I was back in business with a supply of chicken wire to cover the plants. Saying goodbye to the cage meant new planting spaces... 

"John, would you please put in some bubblers for me so I can use all the area?"  

We dug the trench and John did the magic yesterday. Today I'll finish filling the trough and I'm back in business!

The new bubblers are ready to water after I top off the compost with all the soil today!

The Battle Begins

Arriving in the desert for the winter means gardening. Before putting the new annuals in the ground there's plenty of work to be done. (We have a gardener, while we are in Alaska, to keep the weeds down and make sure the watering system is working but pruning is not on his list.) So after 6 months of being away there is always a lot of pruning to do. Cuts (battle scars) from the roses, lemon and orange trees run up and down my arms and legs.

I tied back the Mexican sage that was engulfing the fountain before turning it on. The mums have taken over...but it is so hard to cut them back while still in bud.

 

 It seems as though we missed the first great bloom on the rose bushes...we'll have to wait about another month for the next one. In the mean time I have been cutting out the dead stalks and dead heading the spent blooms. This rose is from a new plant I put in last year. The second photo shows the blossom after a few days in our sun. 

The Ligustrum  provides great shade in the hot summer and is a buffer between yards. I have started to trim it back to catch more rays now that its fall. We planted it so that the neighbor and I weren't eye-to-eye while working in the kitchen! (Living with close neighbors is common here!)

Our soil is very sandy (duh!) here in the desert so we have to amend it. Before planting we mix a few inches of Amend into the soil. Last spring I dumped all the potting soil out and so we had to buy new. We loaded up the Pilot with 6 large bags and carted them home. What fun!

I had a horrible mishap the other day. While trimming roses I spotted a green body among the leaves... I have battled grasshoppers before and assumed it was one. I grabbed the green head and body, separating the two quickly. Only after looking at it carefully did I discover I had beheaded a friend ~ a praying mantis. Yep, I'm still ticked at myself over that one!

Signing

 
Brooke has learned signs to tell her parents what she wants. One sign she knows is for milk...squeezing the hand like one is milking a cow. She also says the word, but unless you know her you wouldn't recognize it!

Grandpa Time

Grandchildren

So, what one does when visiting grandchildren is to dote on them, play with them, take photos of them, read with them, and take videos...  Of course each grandchild is special but this one is EXTRA SPECIAL!

First Snow

While in Washington the girls and I took a drive out Icicle Creek Road to go on a walk. The night before had left snow. Of course the dogs were in heaven, running and cavorting in the white stuff. Brooke was getting her first molar (we didn't know at the time) and wasn't in the best spirits but she was a good sport.

We'll Follow the Sun

It's October...time to migrate. On the way to California we like to stop and visit our family in Washington. This year we were later in the month and many of the leaves had turned brown and fallen. This shot was taken leaving Leavenworth heading for Cashmere. 

We took a drive up Icicle Creek to go for a walk and run the dogs. We ran into snow! Annie & Kent had camped there the previous weekend.

 

Their camping spot~

Maisy and Cassy had a great time running and rolling 

in the snow.

Brooke experienced the snow ~ a first. She didn't like it when Maisy shook off in her face. Annie was explaining about snow.

Caitlin, Maisy, and her new CRV!

Brooke and Carol playing Wii ~ a first for Carol!

Grandpa John loves reading to Brooke

Brooke is good at giving hugs these days...

Granddog Maisy and Brooke enjoy a story

Annie made the best pumpkin pancakes and Brooke would inhale them. She wanted pumpkin pancakes every morning we were there.