Shasta has snow - strange skies and a river runs through it.

Now that is the way Mt Shasta is supposed to look. Beautiful. 

This past week, we had some interesting skies 

These skies stayed this way for hours. 

Foodie took this and sent it to me the other morning. 

Autumn in my town.  This is looking west toward the Trinity Alps. 

The Sacramento River runs through town. 

Thanks to the City of Redding for this photo. 

After our goldfish had a bunch of babies in our pond, we gave 4 of them to Char. She bought an aquarium with a filter etc. So she cleaned out the tank yesterday and forgot about the fish that were in a bowl so 3 out of the 4 died.

 The last one is struggling. 

I'm sensitive to this - it bothers me and she keeps calling me after one dies. I mean, what can I do?  She seems so cavalier about it. We thought she would at the very least, be able to take care of goldfish. She forgets...what can I say? 

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. 

 

The last blooms

 

 

My California poppies are starting to bloom - They will bloom for a short while before they stop blooming and put all their energy into their root system so they can spread out. 

This is their foliage. 

They are always the first to bloom come late winter/early spring. 

Here's a Mexican fan palm that was free; a gift from the birds. I planted it in this pot and have no idea where to plant it. We've got these little palms sprouting up all over. I'm kinda sensitive to this - I figure here from a little seed, spread by the birds - struggled to live and now it's a little plant. I can't kill it. It deserves a chance. Maybe I'll sell them for cheap in the spring. 

You can't tell how big this is, but it is BIG. Another type of palm that has outgrown its already BIG post I bought at Costco. You can see how the roots are lifting it practically out of the pot. It's big and heavy. Might have to sell it. 

I guess palms grow good around here. 

Probably the last flower from the dusty miller.

As well as the rosemary. 

The Margarite daisy is blooming for a while...and then it will abruptly stop and start back in late winter/early spring. 

And just a few more little flowers left on these pansies. They'll be back. 

Autumn in the front yard

 

We got some rain this morning - and then the rest of the afternoon has been partly sunny. It's not that cold - pleasant actually. Around 65 for a high. 

The air smells so sweet. 

The sweet gum tree is starting to change colors and leaves are falling. We have a lot of finches this year. We feed our birds year-round. We have 2 different types of woodpeckers, a lot of rock doves, blue jays, big ravens, and hummingbirds. Those are the main ones that visit us daily. And then we have some just passing through. 

Years ago, when I lived in San Mateo - We had a lot of trees from my yard as well as my neighbors, that would blow into my yard. I'd get my 3 sons to go out and bag them up - to save them for Halloween night. The trick-or-treaters loved to stomp over those huge piles of crispy autumn leaves. It was a fun tradition I used to do with my boys - gathering the leaves. 

My mini roses always do better in the Fall and Winter. 

The summer is just too HOT for them to thrive. So they are blooming now and are so pretty. These belonged to my Mom. My dad planted them for her. That's what is nice about living in my parent's home. I have these little memory landmarks.

My potted Mums are blooming - a couple of weeks ago I only had 2 blooms. 

I don't remember what these are called. They are a vining plant that is drought resistant and they seem to bloom year-round. They look like morning glory but they are teeny tiny. A very hardy plant. 

Rainy Days

The back patio - It's not pouring rain but it's been consistent. A little goes a long way and we don't want a deluge of rain to the burn-scarred areas, and the potential for mudslides - going from one disaster to another.  

Soggy Lavender that I should have harvested when it was time and forgot. 

These are my Twin Cedars in my front yard. It started out as one Cedar tree and then became a twin. I especially am fond of them because my Dad planted these 20 +years ago. He dug them up from his mountain property in Shingletown - 

I love how the bark looks when it is wet. 

Just a little rain and everything greens up. That VINCA is starting to grow. I hate that stuff. It takes over everything. 

Our backyard hill - 

I know I know, I'm strange. I like wet pavements. 

I forget what those purple flowers are - they are drought resistant - 

next to agapanthus foliage. 

 

Sweet Gum starting to turn. 

58 degrees and cloudy. I love it. 

Today I dropped off my paperwork at the surgeon's office for my upcoming cataract surgery.  

Bought a 5 lb bag of potatoes. We don't eat them too much in the summer months. I'm craving some mashed potatoes, and some potato soup. My DIL told me there was a turkey shortage. Sure enough, the pickings were slim.  Best to secure your bird asap if you are one that has to have turkey. I told her I would be fine if she made her chicken enchiladas - they are so good. I'm always dropping hints to her about those enchiladas. The older I get, the less I like turkey. I'd rather have a roast chicken. 

The husband is taking the night off from work - 

The Munsters, chicken, and other stuff.

 

Just a quick photo of the Munsters  Hawthorne Village the husband put up that belonged to my sister. I'm not done yet - He loves the Munsters - I wanted to sell it.  Each little house is anywhere from $25-35 on eBay. 

I will take some better photos once I get it the way I want it. The cords drive me crazy. 

I'm a little perturbed with the husband. I went to Costco yesterday and bought an OMG-sized package of fresh chicken breasts. This morning, he comes in, holding the package - he had forgotten to put them in the freezer so they say out in the car all night. Fortunately, it was cold in the garage. I think they will be fine - We will know tonight - I placed 2 of them in the crockpot. They smelled fine but poultry can be tricky. I told him if they are all bad, he has to repay me out of his account. 

He did feel awful about it - GOOD.

What does Bad chicken smell like? 

So the husband agrees that we really don't need the gardeners now. However, he made a verbal agreement with them through the end of November which he will honor. 

Rain and cold weather are here and in our forecast for the next few days. I am totally loving it. It's like I now can cook food that I don't cook in the summer. Like tonight, chicken and dumplings - later meatloaf. 

Sara my daughter-in-law texted me last night, saying she wants to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I'm down with that! The only bad thing is the husband still has to go to work and will not be able to join us. (That's what happens when you have a part-time job when you are retired) I plan to make our own Thanksgiving meal for us on Wednesday before. You can't get all worked up over stuff like that. My mom used to put a lot of pressure on my sister and me for the holidays. She took it as a personal insult and it caused a lot of problems. I don't do that with my kids. I also don't have to be the one to cook every year and now that I have a daughter-in-law, we can switch back and forth. My mom refused to come to my house for the holidays. It was always a given that we were to pack up our babies and drive 4 hours to spend the holidays. My ex-husband worked at SFO and he worked the holidays - Double and Triple time was hard to give up when you have 3 little ones. My folks just refused to understand. I was always in the dog house with my mom. 

Next Tuesday is my first cataract surgery on my right eye. I am all set to go and can't wait to be able to have clearer vision again. 

That's it for me. I hope you all have a great day and get everything you want to do accomplished. 

Outside Fall Decor

My iPhone takes such pretty photos. This is my favorite. 

A small pot of mums in my wheelbarrow planter out front. 

I bought a bad of these tiger pumpkins at the 99 cent store. 

The Mother of all Mums - 

I bought these at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago - They are metal. 

Still needs something - maybe some straw.,.

This bench belonged to my parents - they bought their redwood furniture off a truck in our San Francisco neighborhood - 1960. They gave them to me when they moved to Tennessee and that was around 1988. I've had them ever since. 

Every few years I had to pound some new nails and wood screws into them. The picnic table has been gone for a long time. 

The fake pumpkin and the dolls I have had since my boys were little. Once I threw out those dolls and placed them in a donation box and then changed my mind. 

I really can't decide if I like them or not. I think I'm just sentimental. 

My outside table display. 

Gorgeous! 

 

The ground is so hard the stands won't go into the ground so I had to improvise. 

Maybe some stray or hay in the pots...For the triple pumpkin sign, I had to dig in the hardened dirt and bury the ends of the stand in it, and placed some big rocks behind it. 

My Sweet Gum trees are starting to change color - 

I'll get some photos of them soon. 

We're having 85-degree weather for the next couple of days but it will soon change. We have some winter rains forecasted and some low temperatures. 

The air smells so sweet - no smoke makes a huge difference. 

THE GARDENERS

The husband wanted to hire gardeners with his own money. I was not a part of the whole deal. So he tells me he is paying them, $180 a month. I find that to be outrageous. So I asked 2 friends who live outside of my county. Mary lives in San Carlos and she pays 120. Cindy lives near Sacramento and she pays $80. Monday I am going to get some estimates. It's not like we have this huge property. We have very little lawn area. They mainly just Mow, Blow and Go. 

If you have gardeners, how much do you pay? 

Frankly, I can't see it - that's why we have not had them before. He needed help and I am not much help anymore. I was okay with it plus it's coming out of his part-time paycheck but even so, he didn't check around. 

With prices going up with everything - and the gardeners have done the bulk of the work we needed anyway with the trees and scrubs, I really think we can get rid of them. Like I said before, I am the cheap one and he spends money like we have it. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Saturday's Farmer Market

A Fall stroll through the local Farmers market - open till December 11. 

Then opens back up in April.  

 Every year, I say I want to grow some gourds, decorative corn, and pumpkins and never do.  I want to grow these next spring. 

Someone, remind me, please! 

The grapes are dwindling and I can tell we only have a couple more weeks of them. My favorite is the seedless red grapes. I grow them in my yard. We had a pitiful harvest this summer. 

Tomatoes are so much better than at the grocery store. Even better, are the ones you grow at home. 

I've never bought beef this way. 

Probably the last of the peaches...or are these nectarines? 

I can't see any fuzz. I believe they are nectarines. 

Is there such a thing as nectarine pie? 

 Plenty of squash

The colors are so pretty and bright

Local honey is good for allergies. 

Stock up and the spring allergies won't be so bad for you. 

Not just produce any more. I'd love one of those in my kitchen. 

I love rustic furniture. 

Beautiful. 

Then afterward, I waited in my car at the drive-up pharmacy (Walgreens) for 1 hour and 10 minutes for my prescription. 

Due to a sluggish workforce, they dropped down from being open 24 hours to just 8 hours a day. 

Yesterday I went to Urgent Care to have my right foot looked at. I guess it was around, late June, early July my 70lb dog stepped on my foot - the top of it. It's been bothering me - the other night I had throbbing pain. Plus it is red all the time, right where she stepped on me. 

4 hours and 10 minutes this week - waiting 

I waited 3 hours - first come first serve. I was too embarrassed to go to my primary doctor. I'm starting to feel self-conscious lately. I've never been like this before. Of course, I've never been 67 1/2  before either. It's not like it's internal stuff that is going wrong with me. It's my joints, bones, and stuff. Physical wear and tear on my body. 

I guess my younger years were quite wild...

I'm 5'3. My height hasn't been measured in years and years. I always thought I was 5'4. It does seem like the times I have been measured, they do in when I am wearing my shoes. They told me to take my shoes off. 

My blood pressure was 111/70 and my pulse was 56. 

ANYWAY, they took an x-ray and did not find a fracture. Told me, I still could have one, but it's probably very small and hidden. If it continues to bother me they will do an MRI. Meanwhile, they gave me a boot to wear and prescribed prednisone which I probably will not take.