SO HERE'S THE STORY...

I haven't written in months...we've been having quite a time of it here in Santa Cruz this summer...which by the way, never felt like summer..(although today it does...geez global warming!)  ANYWAY...my poor husband and his heart....it's been a long journey and we're still not quite out of the weeds yet.  The hospital four times this year already, but that didn't stop us from heading out on our yearly vaca to Tahoe, but it definitely slowed us down a bit that's for sure.  I was constantly telling him to slow down and walk slower, especially up in altitude.  But he'd just huff and puff and tell me he was fine...which he wasn't and a trip to the hospital was in order the week we returned home.  As of today, things are finally looking good, we'll know for sure in the next two months....so here I am.

Just a quick update....something (we're assuming a fox), got into the chicken pen and sad to say...all but two girls are gone!  SUPER sad and rethinking a few things from this disaster in terms of critters, farming, etc.  So my two lonely little ladies, Winnie and Lydia, have grown to be best mates now...I will be adding some new girls in the spring, just maybe not as many....too heartbreaking!  And two duck left, Ruby and Vida...sad to say the new little gal, Penelope, with the top knot did not make it.

I really don't want to get into a big post right now, so I'll just throw in a couple photos from our trip, which turned out to be good.  Even though it rained the first night we got there and went down to 30 the next day!  No lounging on the beach and reading...we mostly stayed huddled in our very cold and drafty cabin and wore clothes to bed.  But in the end, the sun DID come out, and on our last day, of course, it was super hot and the band was playing on the beach...perfect, right?..so we decided to just stay an extra day, and it was perfection!

Instead of going to my brother's the weekend AFTER our time in Tahoe, we had to go the weekend before as he had a prior commitment he couldn't change.  So he suggested we come the weekend before and that's what we did.   We really enjoyed this idea better as it turned out.  First, we weren't too tired after a week of playing, and second, we didn't have to worry ourselves about having a commitment causing us to leave Tahoe too soon, so yay all around!  
We ended up out on his boat for the afternoon at a place near them called Bullards Bar...SUCH a terrific day!  Then we stayed up super late laughing and playing a dice game that brings out the hysterics in everyone....the following late afternoon we drove up to Quincy to stay with some friends, Diane and Barry...then onto to Truckee the following day, down into Tahoe and SEVEN days!!  Yahoo! Then a quick stop in Auburn to visit Maggie and Glen and then home.

What the heck are they all looking at?
Ha!...just the beauty of the clear water and
the birds..it's really amazing here.

The King of his Craft!

The little tiny town of Quincy..super tiny.

Lunch in Truckee...awesome place!

Cabin in Tahoe...yes, I wear that hat AH-LOT!

At the new Hard Rock Cafe Casino...
amazing art work from albums!

So that about wraps it up right now....only to say that our little scamp, Ziggy Stardust, is turning out to be a really perfect cat in our little world here in Santa Cruz...so happy we have him. ..and our big lab Louie would agree..they are BEST of friends. 

In closing...We're keeping the faith that Ray is on the road to having this condition permanently recovered.  I intend to spend the rest of my days with this man, so he better get into ship shape!   And here it is...Autumn is upon us...and with it come the holidays and all that that entails...REALLY looking forward to seeing the kids,  friends, music, food and cheer...so enjoy your own little worlds and  all the joys it brings.. as well as heartaches..and just remember, everything changes with the seasons...so keep smilin!  mucho love from the juners!

LIFE'S CELEBRATIONS

I wonder if I'm ever gong to keep up with real time around here!  Every time I'm away or take photos at an event I think, I've got to put this on my blog and I'm going to do it immediately…and then a month or more goes by….geez!

So here we are catching up again.

We went off and had our first anniversary a couple weeks ago..as you are aware.  We drove up to Tahoe and followed the backroads…it took double the time, but was well worth it.  We stopped in the little old mining town of Jackson and ate lunch in a park.  We sat under a big tree next to an old school house, then drove the backroads through the high sierra's past several lakes…it was a spectacular drive.

Then we arrived at our destination…Tahoe!!  It's like home away from home to us…and we CHILLED in a really big way.  Did basically nothing but sit and stare at the lake…three of them to be exact.  And yes, there is a black smudge on the lens…could not remove it for my life!  In the meantime I'm working on perfecting the "selfie"…as you can see, I haven't gotten very far with that yet!

Dinner with friends with a perfect sky and the afternoon at Fallen Leaf Lake, which is my favorite place in the world…although Ray has turned me on to Meeks Bay, which is where we spent our last afternoon and I almost began to cry when we had to leave…odd looking ducks swimming by and of course the little critters aren't afraid of any of us anymore…one walked right up to me assuming I'd feed him, which I wouldn't…wild animals aren't meant to eat salty human food…..and then there's my sexy husband…not bad for an old man, ha!…..we had just magnificent days!

This is the general store that was used by
Meg Ryan in the movie City of Angels…
still a very cool spot to hang.

                       

                            

Too bad for these folks..huh?!

Then we drove off the northern route towards Grass Valley and Nevada City to Yuba City where my brother and his wife live and spent the weekend with them….had a BLAST!  They have a super lovely home and an amazing guest bed by the way…beyond comfortable.  We tooled around Nevada City and took in the unique sites.  An old mining town again, this one is where the gold rush hung…so loads of crystals and gems and a little museum to check out just how involved the mining went…and deep, holy cow!  They had a model set up to show the depths…no thx!  One store had black rocks as the floor, it was incredible, really, you needed to see it in person, so unique and cool.  We ate and had fun.  Went to a party at a neighbors and everyone had their vintage cars….my brother is in the process of restoring his new little beauty, a 70 something Spitfire.

Solid loose black rocks floor…awesome!

I simply love traveling with this guy..
we are so good together!

Someone took Barbie for a ride on the back
of their motorcycle…
looks like she had a good time!

thats my tribe ahead..my brother Justin,
his wife Holly and of course my guy
and it was….good times! (couldn't resist!)

my kind of sofa…loved it!

beautiful country side

I came home to a load of tomatoes from my garden and got right to work…here's the harvest and the results! (actually I just realized I haven't taken any photos of the results yet, so there, something else to share in a couple of days…don't hold me to it!) And the other photos are of our Labor Day lunch here with a couple friends…forgot to share in the beginning…and the last photo is from my day bed in my den/library where I work everyday…it looked so inviting and beautiful I had to snap a photo and share….hope you enjoyed our celebrations of life and that you had plenty of your own this past summer season.

Several different varieties…Yellow Voi,
Yellow Brandywine, Purple Cherokee,
Paul Calabash, Juliet, Beefsteak.  I canned
them all…made some tomato soup
last night that was out of this world!

My fig tree is Rockin!!
Can't wait to make some jam!

Tomatillo's

my cute sweet son!

this was the BEST lemon meringue pie
 I have EVER made, bar none!!

my first time actually having pumpkins
show up..yay!!

                                   

also my first meyer lemons ever!!

   

Mucho love to all my besties and I do hope you all had a terrific summer…it's officially Autumn now, my favorite season…yay!  Loving the cooler days already.  Canning, making jams, and dog food, getting ready to dehydrate some treats for them as well.  Making my sourdough starter to gear up to bake breads and continue with my monthly sauerkraut and kombucha….simply enjoying being a farm to table kind of gal…fresh chicken eggs, etc…am loving life here in the foothills of Santa Cruz…love to you all..xoxo juner