Michi's Mountain Life

Finally A Beautiful Day With CLEAN Air!

2018-08-03T09:46:00.003-07:00

It is SO nice to finally have a clear day after weeks of stifling heat and smoke, which traveled 100s of miles to get here. I can't feel sorry for myself, as we have been more fortunate than the people up north, but it is really nice to have our blue skies back.

The photo below shows the smoky sky in the backround...

With voracious gophers, ground squirrels, AND a horse and donkey, gardening has been a challenge. However, I am growing gladiolus and 4 O'Clocks in my little side yard...

I also have this Russian Sage; the other died after my new dog Bailey dug it up... ;)

What a Week! Asparagus, Green Juice and Snow!

2018-04-14T10:13:00.001-07:00

A week ago, I inspected my asparagus patch, and there was nothing.Wednesday afternoon; wow! A bunch of spears! I harvested them, and that was wise. We had snow on Thursday morning!!

The day before, Cisco & Lucy were rolling up there after their mani/pedis from the farrier. Lucy was the best she's ever been; didn't raise a warning hoof even once!!

So, my son and I went on a fabulous spring break trip to Cabo a few weeks ago. Just 3 nights but so incredibly wonderful. In fact, I think I want to go back during Thanksgiving break instead of throwing a 'double nickels' party this year. We stayed at an amazing all-inclusive resort on the beach (Barcelo Gran Faro) and feasted, snorkeled, rode horses...aaaahhhh...Anyway, they had this amazing green juice at the breakfast buffet, so I just made my second batch this morning. I had to tweak it a little (I need to get some cactus). Mine had: spinach, cucumber, celery, fresh orange slices, orange juice, kiwi, carrot and a tiny bit of banana. YUM!!

This is what it looked like before I blended it...

Latest Chalk Paint Projects and Cisco

2017-07-18T15:35:00.001-07:00

We have four of these adirondack chairs, which all looked like this. Nine years of weathering. However, yesterday and today, I painted two of them and now they look like this!

This is the Annie Sloan chalk paint in Napoleonic Blue, with dark wax. SO pleased with the results! AND, I did another section of kitchen cabinets yesterday.

Today I also did ground work with my newest horse, Cisco. Sadly, my sweet Kahlua passed away February 13. Cisco is a work in progress, but is doing really well.

The First Egg of 2017!

2017-05-20T14:33:00.002-07:00

Our first egg of the year finally arrived yesterday!!! Much prettier in person, a lovely light, blue green. #needmorehens

Temecula Olive Oil!

2017-05-06T14:47:00.002-07:00

Wow! I sautéed some chicken with this amazing jalapeño olive oil from Temecula my sissy bought me and used a Thai simmer sauce. Yum!! Naan breads and creamed spinach...super yummy!!
Last weekend, my other sister and I took her to Carlsbad for a birthday weekend. We had a blast!
Visited the California Wolf Center in Julian, which is a fabulous little town, went to the flower fields, and had a wonderful splurge dinner at Vigilucci's. Our room at the Beach Terrace Inn was amazing:

It was huge, with two queen beds. We had an amazing visit. I think next time I drive down south, I'll take the 15 again. It is worth the detour to not deal with the congestion in LA, and the OC!! Plus, Temecula is super cute!

Fall Decor!

2016-10-16T16:14:00.001-07:00

So we are having fun decorating for fall! I got this idea from Pinterest...

I have the table set for a fun birthday dinner tonight; pork chops, baked potatoes, asparagus, & cake for dessert! Raspberry mojitos, too...

The mantel is ready for Halloween!!

The $15 Date Night Outfit!

2016-03-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Lord & Taylor! They have the BEST sales. Check out this beautiful coat I recently purchased, that was originally $109, that I scored for $11.97!! The cute corduroy dress I purchased last weekend at Goodwill for $3!! So my date night outfit was only $15.

Speaking of date night, look at the amazing filet mignon the hub had for dinner last night at our local fave, Café Silva Bella.

I had the cioppino, which was served on pasta, with an amazing sauce. SO yum!!

Merry Christmas & I LOVE Trader Joe's!

2015-12-22T10:55:00.001-08:00

I WISH my house still looked like this! Most of the snow melted yesterday, and the RAIN has finished off the rest. It is now a giant mud pit on my property. In fact, I had one of my mud boots sink almost 2 feet, & pop off my foot this morning!

On a happier note, I'm just LOVING Trader Joe's even more than usual! I decided to make last night's dinner a 'surf N turf,' since we had leftover fab steaks from the night before. I found these great steamed mussels at TJs, & they are only $3.99 box. Delicious, just a little too heavy on the thyme. We started off with TJ's veggie samosas with homemade cilantro/mint sauce, then had TJ's garlic naan with our surf 'n turf. YUM.

So this morning, after my pre-teen FINALLY came down, I made him yummy French toast with TJ's cinnamon swirl bread (to die for). But wait, there's more!

I topped it with the Trader Joe's cookie butter, which I purchased for the first time yesterday. NOT good for a diet, but YOWZA, is it delish!!

Of course, I had a fab Thanksgiving thanks to Trader Joe's. BUT, I also helped host a wonderful wedding shower for my nephew thanks to TJs. I purchased the RSVP brut sparkling, and various juices for a wonderful mimosa/sangria bar. Spiced apple cider, OJ, cranberry and ruby grapefruit were the choices, and 4 kinds of fresh fruit. See the photo below:

Didn't that come out great?? Pretty serving bottles from Target, lambrusco from San Antonio winery, & a great red from Tobin James. Delicioso!

Fall Update

2015-10-12T21:59:00.003-07:00

I'm in love with my new mini-cheesecake pan! Last night, we had our dear friends over for the premiere of the new season of The Walking Dead. My friend made an amazing beef stew, with two bottles of pinot noir in it (yum!). I made mini pumpkin cheesecakes. I got the idea from watching a Bako weatherman decorate a plate like this, with the spider web design. I halved my normal recipe, and was able to make two dozen mini cheesecakes. I want to get another pan!

Instead of the usual nut/butter/graham cracker crust, I used Jo-Jo cookies from Trader Joe's. You just remove the filling, and use the cookie discs. Then, after baking the cheesecakes, I topped them with chopped walnuts and pecans. On top of that, I put a sour cream topping, that was mixed with brown sugar, nutmeg, and pecan pie whiskey, and baked that.

Voila! Yummy cheesecakes, and so speedy!

My senior horsey is now barefoot since August. I'm treating her with kid gloves, since she is still adjusting, and I worry about her, so we went for a walk yesterday, instead of a ride. I rode her in my yard last weekend, and she bucked me about 5 times, so she still has some spunk left!

Welcome to 2015! (in July)

2015-07-29T09:57:00.002-07:00

Well, better late than never! A LOT has happened: the biggest event being, my dear friends sold their house (despite my attempts to convince them not to). On the upside, being their realtor enabled me to pay for a corral and living space for our horse, Kahlua. This is her hanging out on the day it was built (and of course, she hurt her leg, but not too seriously).

Here she is hanging out in her corral, with her new carport stable. The other side is for hay storage, and other supplies. Pretty nifty!

This is the other side, before we put in my supplies & finished the corral. Notice the clouds: it POURED that afternoon!

So I FINALLY got our corn seedlings planted. We also have some pumpkin seedlings (hopefully they will do better than last year with the gopher attacks). I also have some asparagus, but it's difficult to see it.

This is the middle tier, with the peach tree that sprouted from my compost a few years ago. That big tan blob at the bottom is my weimaraner photobombing...

This is the very incomplete upper tier, with green onions, a few pumpkin & corn seedlings, a tomato plant, and a young apple tree that also sprouted from my compost. I need to do a lot of weeding. I had planned to build a pizza oven, but that project is on hold.
It's been a busy summer: jury duty in BAKERSFIELD (52 miles away!), but got taken off jury by prosecutor (yay!), dentist/dr. visits, a great vacation at Pajaro Dunes, with a trip to the Monterey Aquarium, horsey chores, entertaining, etc. Plus, we have to find a new teacher for our school, because we lost a valued colleague to another school.

Fall Update

2014-12-14T11:45:00.001-08:00

Wow, a lot has happened since my last post! We had our first (light) snowfall of the season on Thursday night!

On Halloween, the staff at my school dressed up like superheroes. Being a huge Guardians of the Galaxy fan, I had to be Gamora!

   Despite the gophers and GROUND Squirrels best efforts, I managed to harvest 7 lovely pumpkins this year (I would have had over 20!).

   We had a lovely Thanksgiving with family and friends! We had an additional table set up in the living room. We liked the arrangement so much, we moved the kitchen table there.

Kosmo loves the new pillows in the den!

This is the dining room before Thanksgiving. We had so much fun (& food!) I forgot to take photos!

My preciousssss!! My friend Kelly ordered another can for me when TJ's ran out! Love her!

On Dec. 6, we went to our 13th Eberle Black Tie Dinner (we've only missed one since 2001).

We had a snow day on the 12th, so the monkey had coconut pancakes for breakfast & a homemade pizza for lunch (spinach for mom, cheese/onion for him!). Then, that night, he had homemade turkey/black bean/lentil chili! YUM!

Guess What's on the Menu? What a Fab Weekend!

2014-09-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

JUST plucked this corn from our garden; yum! Going to enjoy with a nice pork roast & Caesar salad with my homemade sourdough croutons. It is SO nice to be able to eat real food again, after the worst stomach virus in my life, which lasted 7+ days. Phew!

Speaking of harvesting, the monkey and I squeaked in peach picking yesterday, just in the nick of time. I'm making an apple/peach crisp in the crockpot as I type this, from these peaches and the apples from my class garden. My class made apple crisp on Friday, but we had so much fun, I neglected to take photos!

Here is Larry Hogan, proprietor & winemaker extraordinaire, pouring wine last night at the French-themed Sagebrush Annie's dinner. The hub & I had a wonderful time. I forgot to photograph the redneck 'chalice' I made him, but you can see one side of it in this photo. Sagebrush rocks!!
Overall, we had had a wonderful weekend, though we had to skip going to the movies today, since monkey has a little cold. However, I rode the horsey, & gave her an Absorbine bath (which has been doing wonders for my weimaraner), so for me, perfecto!!

Busy, Busy Time!

2014-09-01T21:50:00.001-07:00

This is my garden a week ago. The corn is even taller now, and most of my pumpkin plants are still alive, despite the gopher's best efforts. Happy there are tons of tassels, and cobs are growing so far. Each kernel must get pollinated individually, so we'll see what happens...

These are my two biggest pumpkins, thus far. They both had little nibbles this morning, and that pesky gopher had caused some of my plants to wilt...

This is the only photo I can show of my students picking apples in our garden last week. They had a blast, and we used the apples we picked for math and language arts. Of course, they also got to eat their apples!

Why am I showing you a photo of screws & weird little screw-like things? Because today, I decided to put together the forward facing bookshelf my hub purchased for me from Zulily. I open the box, and there are NO directions, just pieces of board, and a bag of screws and weird things I've never seen before. Somehow, I triumphed, & figured out how to put it together (it only took 2 hours...).

Look at this parts; I don't even know what to call it. This is a top & side view. Somehow, I figured out that it goes in that big hole so that this next part fits into it from another hole that joins it at the side (I kid you not).

Notice these little beige plastic things with a cross on them? You had to slip them into a hole that went into the side of the main screw holes. They have a hole in their side you had to line up, so when you tightened the screw, it went into the hole. You had to know to put it in this way, so if it slipped, you could turn it to line up the hole.

This metal screw-like part, went into that hole, only up to the end of the threading, so it stuck out. THEN, it slipped into another piece, going into the side of that metal object in the prior photo. You then used a flathead screwdriver on the big piece (hence the + & - signs on it) to tighten it in.

See? There it is sticking out. It then went into that hole to the right.

After you sat the pieces together, it looked like this.

Here is the completed bookshelf! Because it took so long to put together, I will be up late tonight prepping. BUT, doesn't it look great??!? This is where I will put the seasonal books each month. I am SO glad I didn't get my hub to help; he would have had a FIT...LOL

1st Day of School Camping Theme Classroom

2014-08-14T21:07:00.002-07:00

This is the sign that greeted my TK/K/1 class this morning!

This is the inside of my door (class list goes on the brown section). I had a few last minute additions (happily). This morning, I used the branch frame to photograph my students (they held it in front of their faces).

My calendar wasn't ready this a.m., but it's ready now! I like a LARGE calendar for the youngsters. The decor at the top changes each month.

This is my new camping theme alphabet (purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers). I kind of regret laminating it, as I don't like the glare from the fluorescent lights.

I was able to free up room on the bookcase to the left in the library (yay!) by renovating this old wire shelf I had, & using it for my guided reading books. They are now in baskets by level, from aa - N.

This is the rest of the reading area; it's a campsite! The kids went a little nuts for it today, & are dying to play in this area. When the novelty wears off a little, it will be a comfy & cozy spot to read. Love the IKEA rug.

I made these cute labels for the three table groups in my classroom; they sit at 'cabins' one, two or three.

I'm a big fan of 'book boxes,' so they correspond to the table groups. The children also have camping themed math journals.

This is our sweet little garden, with ripe tomatoes, and green apples on the tree to the right. I'll take pix of the tree with red apples soon.
So, this is my classroom thus far, and I'm pleased as punch, especially with my little darlings...

WOOPS! I sent them each home with a cute little goodie bag (idea from Pinterest, of course).

How Does My Garden Grow?

2014-07-21T09:57:00.001-07:00

We planted our corn seedlings that we grew from seed on July 5. They were looking a little wan, and scorched.

NOW, look how they have grown in a few short weeks! We also have our pumpkin seedlings planted, and are attempting a sugar snap pea tepee (they 'no looka so good' though). Note the photo bomb by my stalker-dog, Kosmo, in both photos.

I hope the corn continues to do well. Last year, we had about 10 yummy ears, so this time, we planted more. At the bottom left corner is a pumpkin plant that sprouted on its own. The little stalks at the bottom are green onions I have resprouted from the bottoms of onions we used, instead of throwing them away or putting them in my compost bin.

Because I am crazy (or a glutton for punishment), I am attempting to grow another artichoke. Last year, the ants' aphid farm and the gophers killed my artichoke, when it had about 6 baby chokes growing. Crossing my fingers I can defeat the pests this year. The bushy plant you see on the right are my asparagus plants, which are being allowed to grow now that 'picking season' is over.

Yup, I Built a Fire Pit!!

2014-07-05T16:54:00.001-07:00

"What have you been up to?" is what I hear a lot. Well...this week, I built a fire pit! It only cost about $60 for the materials, and took about five hours over two days. It all began with Pinterest. I have been pinning homemade firepits. Then, I saw a pin that showed sticking a wading pool in it for your doggies when you're not using it. Voila!

Here is the first step I took: using the wading pool to dig out the size/shape of my pit, making sure it allowed room for the bricks. While purchasing the pool, I used it to estimate the number of bricks/pavers I needed (I was a little off, but came close).

Next, I began digging the hole. The pile of rocks are from my property. Some of the rocks came from the hole as I dug it. Notice the photo bomb by my weimaraner...

Once I was happy with the depth of the hole, I placed a layer of rocks at the bottom.

Next, I added two 50 lb. bags of gravel on top of the rocks. I also used 32 cement bricks on the side.

Since I dug the hole so deep, I realized I needed more bricks. I figured I would also double check the pavers. Aha! I was short about one.

This is how it looked after adding the next horizontal layer of bricks (17). Note that I chose NOT to use any mortar. We shall see how it holds up during weather. I just didn't want to make it permanent at this time. If it ends up needing mortar, I'll rebuild it, and do that next summer.

Because of our mountain location and the drought (did you notice my amazing view??), instead of logs, we are using the bottom of our fire bowl (it was free, from my friend Ellen!). It has a screen cover to catch sparks. But, if we get a good snowstorm this winter, woo hoo! Oh, notice the photo bomb by my other dog at the bottom.

As the sun went down, it was time to fire her up!

I don't know about you, but MY family loves a wienie roast! Yum!

Sorry about how blurry the photo is (my iPhone is the 'jitterbug' old lady version; i.e. a 3G).

We have these neat chairs/tables we bought from Sportsman's Guide 6 years ago, and some log 'tables' from a tree that blew down a few years back.

The hub put some railroad ties for sitting close. My friend gave me some gravel. I am going to gravel this entire part of the property that is now dirt. It is going to look GOOD...

So, there you have it. An EASY project (the most difficult part was getting the materials up the hill from our driveway), that cost well under $100!!

Great Graduation Gift

2014-06-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

I found this idea on Pinterest! Tomorrow my nephew is graduating from Loyola H.S. (he'll be attending USC.!). I thought this would be a fun way to give him money, without it being obvious what he's getting (wrapping up the pizza box). I used a glue stick to glue it down, since my experience as a teacher tells me it will be easy to remove... Hee hee!

Our Class Garden!

2014-05-07T19:31:00.001-07:00

This is the garden my students and I planted on Friday! I have always wanted to have a class garden, but never got around to it. We have tomatillos, onions, cilantro, tomatoes, marigolds and jalapenos. So far, it is actually surviving! We also planted radish seeds. It was SO ugly before!!
On Monday, as I watered the corner of the raised bed, I turned to water the apple tree, and surprised a 3 foot rattlesnake. It was about a foot away from me. Luckily, it slithered past the tree, into a bush on the other side of the fence.

First Asparagus Harvest

2014-05-01T21:36:00.001-07:00

Despite the gophers' best efforts at decimating my yard, and my neglect of my garden beds, I had my first real asparagus harvest. I planted asparagus two years ago, and you can't begin harvesting until the third year. They were very yummy, and I have more shoots coming up. I wish I had planted more!
Tomorrow, my students and I will be planting radish seeds in grow trays my friend/student's mom donated. We will also be planting seedlings of cilantro, tomato, tomatillo, onions and jalapenos. It's going to be fun!

Busy Spring Break!

2014-04-21T22:00:00.003-07:00

I pin a zillion things on Pinterest, but rarely make them. However, I DID do the Peeps centerpiece! Didn't it come out great?? You put a smaller vase inside a larger one, and line the space between them with Peeps.

So last week, the monkey & I worked at my classroom, & took a break to check out the poppies on the 138. Yowza!!

This shot is my favorite. I think it looks great despite being taken with my old iPhone.

It really is breathtaking...

Besides taking the monkey to the beach (& I swear having PTSD from memories of my last visit which was the whale watching seasick episode), we visited CALM. Here is a cute porcupine!

The adorable beaver was out, too!

The best part of our visit was watching the bobcats play with a paper bag. I will be back to visit with my class this week!

One of the things the monkey & I did (besides tormenting me with figuring out how to turn footage on a mini-dvd into an edited movie suitable for his mission project) was cleaning up the garden area outside my classroom. It made a great 'graveyard' during the Halloween season, but we are ready to actually renovate it. Here are the before photos:

So, I took out the fencing on the raised bed, so little bodies can actually use it, pulled the big weeds, dug out the dirt by the gate, so it can now be closed, trimmed the trees and rabbit brush, AND, put up chicken wire along the ramp & around the perimeter, leaving an opening for a gate or removable partition. Voila! Here is how it looks now:

I know it still looks very bare, but in a few weeks, it's going to be sprouting! I busted my rear pounding in the stakes & stretching/hanging the chicken wire. The kids are going to be super excited. This week & next week, we'll get fresh soil & plant the bed!

Central Coast Jaunt

2014-04-11T00:46:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, we took a quick one night trip to San Luis Obispo to do research on the monkey's California mission project. It was a great excuse to spend a night at Avila Beach...

This is one of the piers. There are seals or sea lions hanging on that weird contraption, that were making a ton of noise.

Hotels in Avila tend to be pricey, but I nabbed a decent room at the San Luis Bay Inn for a reasonable price.

The monkey was in heaven...

Of course, I had to stop at the Avila Valley Barn for some yummy treats, like Paso Almond Brittle. This is what remains of the old shack I photographed a number of years ago. It's completely collapsed.

There was NO way I could visit the area without doing a little wine tasting! We had never gone through Edna Valley, so we cruised through on our way home. This is the view from Edna Valley Vineyards...excellent wine, and lovely grounds. In fact, HGTV was filming there.

On the recommendation of the nice local at Edna Valley, we visited the tiny Autry Cellars. They only produce about 1,000 cases a year. This is where the magic happens! The machines in the back are a bottler, and corker, as I recall. A little pricey, but fantastic reds.

A teeny tiny Egg!

2014-03-24T20:20:00.001-07:00

So, over the weekend, one of our hens laid this teeny egg! Isn't it cute?? LOL

Cooking Perfect, Crispy Bacon

2014-03-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

As I make Sunday breakfast for my little family, I was marveling at how many people do not know the trick to making perfect, crispy bacon. That is, if you are like me, and like your bacon crispy. Some people like it soft; I believe they are aliens...lol. ANYWAY, you double line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, place the bacon lined up in a single layer, and bake at 250 - 300 degrees. Do NOT cook at a higher temp; if you do, it will splatter too much, and not get that lovely, even state. It takes about 20 minutes or so.
The one drawback, is it will infuse the house and clothes with the aroma of bacon (a plus or minus, depending on who you are). I counteract this by turning on a few 'scentsies,' and lighting a candle or two in the kitchen.
When the bacon is done, drain on paper towels, and let pan cool. When it is cool, clean-up is a snap. Just take the foil with the cooled oil out of pan and dispose. Voila! I need to take my bacon out now!!
IMPORTANT: It will NOT be crispy when you remove it. Take it out when it is evenly brown to your satisfaction. It crisps up when the oil drains out of it.

Random Update...and CAKE!

2014-03-22T14:43:00.001-07:00

I couldn't bring myself to blog until now. I must admit, the house is much quieter since my Henry passed. This is the Frangelico cake I made for Valentine's Day. I believe I have posted the recipe in a prior post. It's way yum...

This is the beautiful turkey we did last month. Cinnamon is one of the ingredients in the rubthat gives it an amazing color & flavor...

Around March 1, we had enough snow fall so the monkey could sled, but not enough to try out my snowboard! Maybe next year...

For Dr. Seuss Day, our wonderful room mom made these 'Cat in the Hat' treats. We also made oobleck, and cat in the hat parfaits. Fun AND yum!

The most exciting thing that happened this week, was the monkey won an 'honorable mention' in the Kern County Science Fair. His category, 'animal, behavioral & field studies' had a ton of competition, so we were very surprised and happy!

My Sweet Henry

2014-01-27T23:48:00.001-08:00

As most of you already know, our beloved knucklehead, Henry, passed away Friday. This is my favorite photo of him & the monkey, when they were both 4 years old, right after we got Henry (he had cut his leg on a glass door, trying to get to a cat). This is Easter at our old house in Laurel Canyon. About a week later, he came down with bloat.

Here is Henry & another beloved late pet, Rio, trying to hypnotize the monkey's ice cream away from him...

Henry looooved sleeping on a people bed...

Two cutie-pie buddies...

Henry would do funny things, like squeeze into small places...like this laundry basket, for instance. I fell in love with that rascal when I met him at my friend's house in Petaluma. He kept stealing clean diapers from monkey's diaper bag, & tearing them up all over the house...

Monkey liked to be a doggy, too. We are going to really miss our Henry...