Apricots in the sun.

Already its time to harvest my apricot crop and turn into, among other things, several nice pies, after all, "life is uncertain, eat dessert first" (~Ernestine Ulmer ~). Seems overnite they went from hard little green balls to delectable sweet orange goodies! Can you tell I love the apricot?

Decided to toss some squash seeds along the fence a few days ago. They all started to come up nicely, but low and behold yesterday morning to my great chagrin we'd

had an attack of the snails during the nite! EEEEEK! The greedy little buggers ate up two entire plants on one "hill" (as well as a new basil plant I'd set out!). See "before" and "after" pictures. I hesitate to resort to pesticides such as slug and snail bait granules this year, so put out saucers of beer in the garden and there are a couple fat snails in the dishes this morning, however I see another one of my squash plants did disappear. Does anyone have any better ideas for an organic remedy to this problem?

Hey Shannon, thought you'd get a kick out of this, I never noticed this exit sign going into LA till this trip.

As you can see the smoke encompasses the entire city, the winds carry it north and south through the valley. I can't imagine living in LA this summer, I suspect there will be more illnesses that are smoke and toxin related than ever.

Only spring really and the fire season is upon us. Last sunday we drove down to Burbank to shop at IKEA and just after topping the grade above The Grapevine, and between Santa Clarita, we started seeing the heavy smoke up ahead, A few minutes later and we were IN IT. The smoke was so dense and filled the cab of our pickup. Within a few minutes I actually started feeling nauseaus and lightheaded. We were surprised the freeway had not been shut down. I can see how people can be overcome within minutes and barely even be aware of whats happening to them.

Another 5 minutes or so though and we were out of it, thankfully. On our return trip that night the extent of the damage was more apparent, in the blackened skies the hills for miles were alive with glowing coals and areas of flames shooting to the heavens. But it seemed to be under control.

This fire, along with the one in Griffith Park ( the park's worst in at least three decades and the latest of several to strike the Hollywood Hills in what has been the driest year on record) signal a long, and dangerous season.

Having just returned from our cabin in Washington State I thought I might post a few pictures from the very "beginning", the inception of our cabin. It has been 6 or 7 years since we purchased two acres on a local area lake with plans to build our little "getaway". I remember the excitement from the moment we broke ground and the crew began work. Rod and I would get off work each day and drive up from the valley to view the days results, watch our retreat take form.

I was standing in what is now our loft master bedroom, the view of the lake from which is spectacular.

"When everything is finished, the mornings are sad". ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

I expect this shall be so, as regards the "work", though I need not worry. At the rate we're going these days we will be years into retirement before we can simply hang our hats and lift our feet!

A few current views of the inside of our cabin on the lake which continues to be a work in progress. Rod did all the interior woodwork and its beautiful. I love the gleaming warmth. I used to watch riddled with anxiety however when he was working on the ceilings, some 30 ft or so up in the air! He does good work, think I'll keep him!

All that remains to be done now is the laying of the hardwood floors, some kitchen cabinets (I'm thinking open shelving and glass fronted cabinets)and finishing the framing of the big front windows that look upon "our" lake. All in good time....this was meant to be a labor of love.

The large upper loft is our master bedroom, there are two smaller bedrooms and one bath on the main floor.

Is there anything more sensual, more soothing, than the scent of lavender? Not to me.






And toss it into a wooden bowl to dry with wilted roses for an even more intoxicating scent.



A favorite hot weather thirst quencher - toss lavender sprigs and lemon slices into water and chill. I also love the combination of fresh picked rosemary stems, fresh mint and lemon. Use your imagination, any edible flower or fresh herb. Slices of cucumber, apple, orange, watermelon ..... sure beats plain old water. I like to use Sobi glass bottles as well, gives it added appeal, seeing the colorful additions thru the glass.

And always, my dock to welcome me home. Silly, perhaps, how something so "common", so basic, can be so grounding in a world that surprises with twists and turns.


From 6" twigs to (many) over 6 ft tall, our little trees continue to amaze us with growth spurts. In only three years we have the beginnings of a forest on our east property line. This will afford us a little more cool shade as well as privacy from the neighbor.

My deck chair requires only my presence.

The mornings back at the lake gifted us with sunlight bursting through windows, calls of the loons, and the only other noise the rustling of the Poplars at waters edge.

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne~

Sumi chased this little butterfly across the park till it settled on a dandelion stem, where she quietly observed it in awe.

Grandchildren eager to show off their lastest artwork and fancy shoes (Sumi couldn't stop shoes like this from dancing!) awaited us at Dereks in Oregon. How lovely to escape into a world of dinosaurs and fairy princesses for a few days.

We hadn't bargained on snow, but being raised in it and spending every winter of our lives up till three years ago in it, we welcomed it! The mountain, Mt Shasta, was as regal and awesome as always.

Time had rolled around for our yearly spring visit to our cabin in Washington State. First treat along the way was the cold, early morning, mountain mist of the Lake Shasta region in northern California. One tires of the dry desert of the central valley and we felt renewed as we headed into the mountains. Something I hadn't know is that Shasta Lake, keystone of the Central Valley Project, is the largest man-made reservoir in California. When full, its 365 mile shoreline exceeds that of San Francisco Bay.

Sitting here this morning, alone on my sunlit porch, coffee at my side, birds singing, I am having an "Ahhhh" moment. Much as I appreciated my 'dear old mum' coming to visit for 14 days, I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath for much of it. And, as my dh lovingly reassured me, it was ok to have felt somewhat "claustrophobic" after the firsts 2 or 3 days because, when I thought about it, I realized it was the same as having almost 11 years of visits squeezed into 14 days. We have never spent much time together, my folks and we (meaning my little family of 4), not since I was under 18 and still living at home. This 14 days of, say 14 hrs together each of those days, works out to 98 hours; past average length of visits was 2 hours per visit = 49 visits, and one visit about every 3 or 4 months (which had been pretty much the norm the past 40 years) = yup, 11 years . Well, having explained all that, I hope she had a good time while here as she has never gotten out and about much and this was a true adventure for her. Travelling all alone to southern California. She has never been much of a traveller, in fact one "overseas" trip to Hawaii about 25 years ago is pretty much the extent of her worldly travels. She's maybe been on an aircraft 3 times in her entire lifetime. Dad was a "camper"and fly fisherman, they did enjoy (well HE did) countless journeys to various local area lakes in B.C. and one major trip driving across Canada after retirement, and from what little my mother told me, not the most fun trip. But thats another story. I can remember as a small child all 5 of us sleeping head to toe in a small tent, many summer weekends, as well as spending 10 hrs at a stretch in a small aluminum fishing boat with him. Anyways, back to mom. My dad passed away, bless his soul, a year ago,and mom is only now discovering her wings. That she has some. That she can make choices and decisions on her own. So this revelation is what has recently, very recently, brought about her "plan" to start spending time with her 3 daughters with whom she has had such limited interaction the past 40 or so years. Ours was never your "fathers knows best" family, but nowadays I wonder how many really are. To be completely honest ours was your classic dysfunctional family. So we shall see how this plays out in the years to come, whether mom and me can really actually become "true friends" as she seems to think we already are. Her reality, her memories, are a little different than mine. Perhaps we CAN get 'past the past', or will there be enough time?