CATCHING UP

So loads going on with the kids moving out of the cabin/apt...we have a new couple moving in this weekend..super sweet!  However, again, the work to get things cleaned up, repainted, retiled, reattached and what have you....I'm DONE!  I can't help one more person move their belongings again...(well at least for now)   The bathroom turned out spectacular!  I'll have to get some photos in later when I finish the windows...it's just the cutest darn cabin.

Then dad and I, (Julius, Ray's dad) took a break last week and went to a ball game.  Here we are wearing our Oakland A's tee's and enjoying a good game...we won of course!  So good day all around.

And one more addition that fits under my category, "The Land of Large vegies in Santa Cruz)...this is from my own garden...I guess I forgot to pick it. 

And the last bit of news is that some evil critter got into our back pen and ran off with two of my chickens....dirty bastard!!  AND of course he took my two favorites...especially Marilyn...the Blue Cochin!  I'm so super sad...I really loved her the best..she let me pet her and she was the most beautiful.  And they got Hester as well...again, dirty bastards!!  She was the biggest and the next best looking.  Oh, they couldn't grab the sketchy one..Lester, who runs around like...well, like a chicken with her head cut off...she SUPER wacky!  NO, that one they leave, and grab my best...well, here's a little reminder of my beauty.   I checked into it, and it looks like I"ll have to wait until next spring to find her replacements...I think I'll get two Blue Cochins and name them Marilyn 1 and Marilyn 2...how's that you dirty bastards!!

Go Oakland!!  

We have great seats...Dad is a season ticket holder,
 and I'm his best buddy...yay for me.  We have one more game and I can't wait...Texas!

Need I say more?

I didn't see this one...I don't know how I missed it..
but it made a great bread.

This is Marilyn when she was still younger...she's so cute and fluffy...now she's a pile of feathers on side of the mountain...D.B.!

And this is Hester when she was younger...with the wacky Lester behind her...maybe Lester is wacky because she has a boy name...however, I had Hester, Ester, and Lester was just the last name besides Chester that rhymed...
such is life!

Enjoy, and have a smile with your sweetie today...Autumn is just around the corner, then next week it will be Xmas...OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!   Time is too fast....so stay present and soak all the joy out of the moment that is right in front of you...xoxo juner

80 YEARS AND 5 MONTHS

Today is my father's 80th birthday...we should all be in Vegas right now celebrating.  However, today also happens to be 5 months  exactly that he suddenly died...so, much sadness all around.  

These are some photos I happen to find in a drawer yesterday...I must have pulled some out for his memorial...I wanted to share them, as this is how I remember my dad the most...when I think of him, I see young and laughing....

Although, I do have a vivid recollection of him here at Xmas, walking around the property, and telling me how happy he was that I had found such a good man and a good home and family.  I  see him with his hands in his pockets and smiling....

Spending our first year together...at a lake in Ohio.

We went in hunt of snow in CA, (we all missed it tremendously)...and had a ball.
(my hair got darker during the winter months from the blonding of summer, naturally... people use chemicals these days to achieve this look...seems I was ahead of the trend.)

He had the gold Ford and the gold BSA,
the first bike I ever road.
I  FREAKED out at first, but eventually got the hang of it.

My brother and I went on a four day camping/gold mining excursion into the Mohave with our dad...
again, we had a ball!
Dirt motorcycle riding, shooting, talking...
I loved doing this with him!

My 21st birthday...
check out the tape in the background...
geez, we're old!

My Father.....
one of my all time favorites of him

I truly miss him more than I can  say and would give anything to see his face just one more time.  I feel grateful that I was the last person to see him alive.  I was the last person to kiss him and stroke his forehead...and I was the last person to tell him I loved him.....and to hear those words from him.  I will always love my Father.

xoxo juner

MOVING FORWARD

Just wanted to change the view from that last two posts...needed to clear the negative energy and move forward.

The sun is shining today and it's warm...Ray's oldest daughter Kenz is here for a visit and I'm heading back to the kitchen to bake up a lemon meringue and some lemon curd and anything else I can think of using lemon.  We had a huge batch of lemons come our way and I just don't want to waste them.

As it is, I've begun to make jam.  I've wanted to do this for quite some time and I finally had to get past my anxiety that it would be disastrous...as it turns out, it is quite simple!  

We had a big lot of plums this year and I went for it.  I decided to attempt something different, that came from my own brain...so you can see my trepidation.  Anyway, I made tomatillo, jalapeño plum jam...and let me tell you, it is a MAJOR hit!  I also made an amazing apricot jam that is completely gone, and I mixed the wee bit I had left into a batch of plum and came up with a combo that really works.

Then I went out collecting blackberries from our property and made a plum/blackberry combo that is a bit tart and tangy and seems to be a favorite now as well.

Blackberries from our property, not quiet 
abundant yet, but by the end of the month 
will be extreme...yay! for us

Small plums that Case picked from his friends back yard,
sweet and dark...yummy!

So anyone who has wanted to make jam but has shied away from the process assuming it to be to extravagant....plow forward I say!  If I can do it...anyone can.

Moving forward is a good thing!

Enjoy!  Stay present and let out a big laugh when everyone least expects it..it's weird, but let me tell you, it can move things forward in a beautiful way!
xox juner