Someone Stole My Pumpkin! Oct 22nd 2011

Moraga -Yesterday afternoon, just after posting on my blog about the only pumpkin I was able to get from that big 100ft of vine, it was stolen from the bench it was sitting on. I noticed it was gone when I went out to walk Casey. Nick has posted it on facebook too because he was going to carve it today and now he is disappointed as well. My next door neighbor has 2 ordinary pumpkins sitting outside her garage but they didn't take hers! Sniff...

RIP - 2011 1st Hill House pumpkin

In better news - Nick has a "try-out" this week for a job at the Orinda Country Club working on the golf course. He has 2 shifts and if he does good they will hire him on permanently. Please pray for him to get this because it would make a huge difference in his life. He has been looking for work for months and hasn't had any luck so he is really excited about this opportunity.

Julie

Nick's Birthday Weekend - Oct 16th 2011

My son Nick had a birthday on Oct 16th where he turned 19 years old... 19... how can that be since I am only 29 myself?  

Love You Nick!

The week before his birthday he was up at the house with my dad having a boy's only time.. he got up there Monday and it was pouring rain.. so they didn't do a lot just fixed a log rack for me that was getting wobbly, and sat around talking and watching MNF. (Monday Night Football)
Tuesday morning I was at work and got a text from Nick.
" Do we have a big first aid kit?" 
and I text back 
"no but all the supplies are in the hall bathroom" 
then I get 
'do we have any big bandages or wraps'
.... call me slow but I finally figured out that maybe I should call now and see what was up.
Dad has this 1970's trail bike that he brought up to the house and Nick was riding on it... the story varies about whether the brakes worked or not, or whether he got the brake and the gas confused but the outcome was the same. Nick crashed the bike into a barbed wire fence and got a couple punctures in his scalp and massive scrapes on his side. They finally decided to go the ER and there they put 2 staples in his head and bandaged up his side.  After that he came home and was incredibly sore for a few days. He has the staples out now but I was so mad when I found out that he had his helmet and safety gear with him, but didn't put them on because he was just "riding around the house for a second". I told him I am glad he is okay but if does that again I will kill him.

Back to the birthday weekend, which was much more enjoyable. Nick asked for rifle for his birthday because he wants to get his hunting license to try and go deer hunting. (In our family this is not an unusual request, so hopefully no one got too bent out of shape at that. If you would like to have a conversation about my guns and hunting philosophy please let me know.) Anyway, he was asking for a Remington 707 which is a "starter" deer rifle. Big5 had them but they just looked cheesy to me, and buying a gun from a store clerk who knows nothing is not appealing either. So I spent some time online (got to love the WWW!) and found a store in Livermore that only sells guns and hunting equipment and has been doing so since the 1970s. I called and they didn't the rifle in stock but would order it for us so we went out there. I wanted to see what these looked like and if they were worth the money. The store was just like I expected and we looked at the displays but nothing looked right to me. Just then another clerk quietly walked up and put a consignment gun (in it's box!) on the counter in front of us. It was a 1982 Winchester 7mm Westerner that had never been fired.(Long story there..) After talking for a while we bought it, and he gets to pick it up Tuesday. After that we went to lunch at a very authentic Mexican restaurant and home.
Sunday was his birthday and we went to a dog shelter to volunteer... yes you read that right. My son got up early on a sunday morning to go to volunteer, on his birthday. Here are the pictures from that...

Carmelo - dog available for adoption just hanging out watching us

The Riverbeders - Nick is in the back there.

After that we went to Bills Place for hamburgers and milkshakes and then home to watch the Raiders game.

Nick at Bill's Place enjoying his Bday milkshake

Fun weekend but man were we tired after that!

Julie

Where have I been? Labor Day to Oct 24th,2011

Hi All

I know it has been a while since I did a post here, and I am sorry but the speed of my life has become "sick-to-my-stomache" fast like a ride on a backwards-upside-down roller coaster. I have a few more weeks of this before I see a possible break happening and that would put us into Thanksgiving already! 

Let's catch up!

Weekend of Oct 7th-8th 
I had a girlfriend get-together this weekend up at that house... I originally had 6 ladies coming but things happened and only 2 could make it in the end. That is okay because they were one of my oldest and dearest friends, Marie and one of my newest friends, Amanda. It was a nice mix...
Amanda and I "toured" the old town of MokeHill and spent some time in the new art gallery there. (The town is 2 blocks long, so the tour was quick!) Then we swung by my source for fresh eggs, Collien, and stayed there for a bit. Not only does Collien have chickens and eggs, she is a foster home for kittens, has geese, ducks, guinea fowl and a GIANT koi pond. Amanda is a cat fanatic and the 3 kittens and all the cats were a big hit. 
When Marie showed up I took them around the property (after getting marie some tennis shoes to wear!) and then we stayed in and had dinner, played a game, watched a scary movie and drank some wine.... perfect night!
My one pumpkin was ready but too big for me to move so I cut it off and left it for Nick who was coming to stay there with my dad for a few days. (More on that later...)

Finally! A pumpkin!

I also worked on the garden by layering it with cardboard that was left over from the siding. It is called lasagna gardening and works good for weedy, poor soil which is all I have right now. Last winter I did this with the main section of the veggie garden, so this time I am doing the other side. First layer was newspapers, 2nd is steer manure, 3rd is cardboard and now I need to get more green stuff like grass or compost and more newspaper on it.  Over the winter it will decompose and smother the weed seeds under it, and in the spring I will just plant on top. If I can find enough stuff it is supposed to be 2 feet thick!
Here is a picture of a california skink that was living in the cardboard, and of course, my frog pictures...

Love my frogs!

Skink that was hiding in the cardboard

Closeup - not the prettiest guy but harmless and shy.

 
That weekend was a lot of fun and I think I will try and get a winery tour weekend planned in the spring..

julie

Oregon Family Reunion Pictures

Nick took some good pictures that I wanted to post of the party we had Labor Day Weekend in Oregon.

Vickii and Ruth

Gene and Ruth

Don and Vickii

Laurie and John

Family waiting for dinner

Jacob learning a trick from Don

Nick hanging out with Larry and the men on the deck

Larry and Noah

Denise and Laine