Just a little more to go -



Do you have a husband who at times, doesn't finish the home project he started? He was out with a broken toe and has been cleared but he continues to favor it. He worked on the patio for an hour last week, and then nothing. He comes in and watches TV, eats his lunch at 11am and then takes a nap. 

He's not sick - this is not him. He is usually a workaholic. He just got comfortable having a legitimate reason to lay around and he got used to it. 



Today 10/27/2020

I've already asked him several times - he's defensive. 

Needless to say, I am annoyed. He only has just a little more to go. 

In all fairness (and I am all about being fair) I have slacked off my chores as well. We've both lost the momentum we had in the Spring and Summer. It's like our bodies and mind are going into early hibernation - when it comes to working on the house - or at best, FINISHING UP.  

I haven't even decorated for Fall at my house and I am usually ON-TOP-OF-IT.  

What can I do? I'm just going to do what I need to do at my pace and leave his crap for him to finish. Maybe he is waiting for me, to lead the way? 

 I am disappointed - I had thought we might hold our Thanksgiving on our patio this year. 

At least I still have some pretty flowers to look at. 



Fall Watch from my yard.



The weather is turning to Fall, my absolute favorite time of the year and I feel I have some catching up to do. It has been so hot and then we had fires, and then the wind. Today is the first day the wind has died down - and I can open my windows and air out my home. The evenings and mornings are getting colder. This morning it was around 50 degrees. 




I enjoy the days when my husband leaves in the afternoon. I can have the house to myself and do what I want. I seem to have more energy. Right now I am washing the sofa pillows and sofa covers. The windows are open and I have chicken in the crockpot for dinner tonight. 

I am not a fancy cook. I used to love to cook but I think I burned myself out. I hardly try new recipes. Sometimes it seems like I have lost the touch. I do a few meals well. I like quick and easy - I love casseroles and one-pot meals. I love soups and stews. I admit I love gravies and sauces. Fortunately, my husband is always happy with what I cook. He is a lousy cook. NO seasonings and he either overcooks it or undercooks his dish. One time I was sick and I asked him to make some Lipton dry chicken noodle soup mix. It calls for 4 cups of water and he only put in 2 cups and the noodles were stuck together. He never stirred it. 

Today for dinner we are having 2 chicken breasts with a mushroom sauce from canned cream of mushroom soup. I added fresh garlic, Italian seasonings, sliced onions. Since I have an issue with pale chicken, I always brown it before adding it to the crockpot. I know some say that defeats the whole purpose. Whatever! We'll have a salad with some of our homegrown aroma tomatoes and that will be it. I am trying to go every other day, eating rice, potatoes, and pasta for the sauce - hoping to stretch it every 2 days once we get over the trauma of it.  That's comfort food! We love our starch but so does our waistlines. 

I want to get out my Fall/Winter clothes and pack up most of the summer clothes. Here in Northern California, you have to leave out a couple of shorts and tops just in case. We've had 80-degree weather for Thanksgiving. I do the same with my winter clothes. I did have some jeans and a long-sleeved top to wear today - it was very cold this morning and I won't turn on the heat just yet. I need to make an appointment for my furnace to be tuned up. Plus I just like to try and wait as long as we can before turning it on. 

So that is what is going on at my house. 



Fall cleaning - Washing the walls and curtains.


I washed the windows from the inside - took the curtains down and washed them. 



Dried them and hung them back up - they shrank about 2 inches! I washed and dried them on delicate. Oh well. I really don't care anymore like I used to when I was younger. 

I'm not the perfectionist like I used to be. 


I have been doing some heavy-duty cleaning and I'm on a roll. It takes me longer these days to complete this mission. Today I washed down the walls in the hallway, office, our bedroom.  My goal is by Monday I can start putting up my Fall decorations. 

I've been having some issues with all the smoke and dust that gets into the house. Next year I want my air ducts cleaned out. I can smell DUST. No one else does but when I can smell it, it's bad. Every wall in this house will get cleaned this weekend. 

I used to love the way a freshly painted room would smell. I'm not going to paint my walls just to get them to smell better, so I wash them down. Although, I do need to paint my master bathroom. 

I noticed the AC didn't kick on - so I checked the thermostat and it was blank. Needed new batteries. 99.8% of me knew it was the batteries but that other small part was thinking, 

"oh no, it's the complete AC Unit." 

No, the HVAC should last another 15 years. It will go out when I am 81. Wonderful!

They say they last about 20 years.  Maybe we'll hit the lottery and I'll hold back some of that money to pay for the new HVAC. Or maybe I will be dead by then. 

The husband has been working on the yards. He says next week he will start in on the finishing of our patio. He's cutting it awfully close if that storm door should open up.   (wishful thinking) 

As the weather cools and the smoke from the fires is not as bad, I feel more alive. It's 95 today but isn't like a summer 95. The sun is at a different angle - we have more shade and it gets dark earlier. We're having wind so keeping the patio and all swept is a never-ending impossible job. It stirs up my allergies, so I stay inside and wash walls. 








My front yard at Twin Cedar

 


I still have some Roma Tomatoes on the vine. They seem to grow better when the 105+ heat goes away. That is why I experimented and planted them in a pot outside my front window. 

We really need to paint our trim next year. 

We were supposed to do it this year but the smoke and fires kept us indoors. 



I have some flowering as well. 





Looking up toward the big incense cedar in my yard. 




I noticed these small, white berries seeds which turn into one-inch-long cones 

that are produced at branch tips.  

These seeds provide treats for many varieties of birds and wildlife.

Beautiful color green. 




The photo doesn't do it justice. It takes up all of my front yards - It is our front yard centerpiece. We lovingly nicknamed our place Twin Cedar.  I've often thought about changing my blog name to that - too much of a hassle. 

It's impossible to grow a decent lawn - but we won't cut it down. Who needs a green grass anyway here in California? It really doesn't make much sense. I'd rather grow drought-friendly flowers and plants. 



It's not Fall here yet - these are my Liquid Gum trees or Sweet Gum. 

We have 4 of them on the other side of the picket fence - street side. I love privacy. 



I'm surprised these came up. I bought a box of Impatient seeds from Dollar Tree. 

I sprinkled them in the pot and here they are. 





This lasts all year - The dusty miller I've had for years now. I just cut it down and it comes back. 





Ready, Set...GO!


I want to move a planter box to the side of my shed - for more planting options and then let the grass grow around it for the winter rainy season. We can overseed or put in a new lawn next spring. There were two planters there - I already took one out. 

I also need to haul out my Fall decorations to start decorating. I am suffering from pure unadulterated LAZINESS - Not having people come to our home, we've become pack rats and we have little organized piles of clutter well beyond what we both like, but we're stuck. I am going to need a stiff pot of strong coffee and a six-pack of red bull and some Pink Floyd to get me moving.  I did go grocery shopping -this morning -  that's something. I have to do some major cleaning in order to decorate. 

I honestly don't know why I still do this. I have got to get motivated...or I will miss my favorite months. 




I did buy a pumpkin today. 


Tomorrow we are going to go on a picnic - just the husband and I and Laydee. 

My yard; My happy place


The morning glories I planted late are blooming. 

I've read where they are annuals in other parts of the country. 

Here they survive unless we get rare snow and even then, it just kills off the foliage. 

They start back up once the temps get warmer. 





There is still so much to be done n the yards and the air is back to being healthy. 

I sat in the sun and loved every minute of it as it warmed my face. It has been a long time. We had extreme heat and then the fires, bad smoke, and unhealthy air. 

Today we have a slight breeze; nothing major. Just enough to make that nice sound of leaves rustling among the tall trees; letting us know that soon, the leaves will turn and fall as they are supposed to. They haven't changed colors yet. We need a couple of really cold nights - the leaves are dry just need that cold snap to give them notice to change. 




Zinnias 





See the 2 bees? 

I still have about a dozen sunflowers and a few more to bloom. 

I am so glad I planted these later so I could have a Fall bloom. 



The Marguerite daisies are starting to bloom again. 

They have 2 blooming cycles. Spring/early summer and Fall into early winter. 



My California poppies bloom twice a year too. Just like daisies. 






Did some cutting and harvesting the head - 





Placed some around the yard for the birds - 





Some of the stems, were too hard for me to pull up - 

I pulled up what I could and cut them to size to fit in the refuse can. 

They resemble bamboo. 

The sunflowers are hanging in there





Once again, fire is threatening my community.  The Zogg Fire. We're all fine and I don't believe we are in any danger. We did finally make a purchase of a gas generator in case we lose power. We purchased a 9375/7500-Watt Electric Start Gas Portable Generator. I feel better prepared. 




My sunflowers are struggling, with the smoke. 

I have nursed these flowers since they were seedlings -

with a gleam in my eye of what was to become of them. 

They have been a JOY to my heart, this strange summer of 2020.




Maybe a couple more weeks - of sunflowers. 

Then it truly will be the end of summer. 

My Saturday garden

 



Every morning I can't wait to get out there and check what is new with my sunflowers. 







Nevermind that the rest of the yard is an overgrown mess. 






I planted this one in an orange home depot bucket.  

I have them everywhere. 






The lone, rust-colored sunflower. 







A pretty yellow one. 






Soon the oleanders won't be blooming as much. They LOVE our 100 heat. 






Our flowering Pomegranates - still produces. We have 3-4 trees. 

You dry these out and they look good in a bowl or included in a Fall wreath. 






I will have more zinnas soon. 

My BEAUTIFUL Autumn Beauty Sunflower

 


I feel as if I just gave birth - I'm so proud. My rust-colored sunflower finally bloomed. It was a package of mixed colors and all of them so far except this one are the standard sunflower yellow. I think this is gorgeous. 




These sunflowers are only 4-5 ft. I actually think I like them better than the Russian Mammouth.  Plus they have multiple flowers to one stem. 




I have quite a few that haven't opened up yet - They are so pretty. 





See the bee? They love my sunflowers. 


I'm so glad I had the foresight to plant a later batch of sunflowers for Sept 

and hopefully lasting into October. 

They bring me so much JOY.  They've been like my little friends this summer. 

Last Year/ This Year


Last Year 


Okay - maybe tomorrow will be the day I will start doing the things I need to do. I am having a hard time enjoying my favorite time of the year - Autumn. Last year at this time I was crafting and decorating and buying more stuff. 






I was organized  - I always like to do a Fall cleaning. I haven't started yet. By the looks of it, I can't say whether it will get done or not. That would be a shame because I know, the clutter will only make my FUNK more defined. I just can't seem to get up and go. 




Heck, even my dog Laydee was part of my Fall decorations. 


I went out shopping today - looked at all the Fall decor and some Christmas - It did not even MOVE me. I have enough stuff. 

I used to love to clean out my pantry - to get ready for the holidays. I haven't done that yet. 

My yards are a mess, due to the smoke and ash. 

I feel overwhelmed. 

To think I started this year on a good note - had my living room carpet shampooed in January. I was chomping at the bit to get 2020 started. I had crafts to make, seeds to plant, and flowers to spruce up my yard, and a wedding to go; my son was getting married on Leap Year - the 29th of Feb! 

Will I ever be, me again? 

I need my Mojo back. 





Sunday's garden update


 

This is a freebie from the birds - 




Sunflowers are even pretty from their backside. 





Anyday now - 




It may still be smoky outside but these sunflowers don't seem to be bothered by it. 





Beautiful and in spite of everything going on - I look upon them and I have to smile. 





Only a Creator God could make something so intricate yet delicate




Notice the multiple budding on one major stalk. These will be gorgeous when fully bloomed.


Hopefully tomorrow I can get out and do some cleanup.