tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534056812419796702026-04-15T12:34:23.613-07:00Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.comBlogger239125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-79412893888527285612018-02-11T08:24:00.001-08:002018-02-11T08:26:23.202-08:00

The tree swallows are here already.  They arrived January 30 much to my dismay.  Swooping and calling and chirping their merry song over my pastures while reacquainting themselves with the nesting boxes mounted on the corner posts of the fields.  For all intents and purposes they should not be here.  For the 20 years I've been hosting these migratory species they have not

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-59452380978504782832018-01-17T10:59:00.003-08:002018-01-17T11:00:09.033-08:00

Rising from the ashes of five years toil on a new house and property is a mom with more to write regarding the primitive survival skills acquired through parenthood and the sometimes nauseating suffering known as the human condition.  This phoenix dragging it's wing along the burning sands of life like an injured killdeer thinks she mostly resembles a molting chicken rather than the sleek

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-42975984028592382492014-09-12T22:14:00.004-07:002014-09-12T22:36:40.640-07:00

I see the glittering diamonds in the dirt, among the dead grasses, and peeking out from the fallen oak leaves. Strange bright sparks like tiny rainbows flash at me from the flat, dry brown of the cooling earth. These multifaceted gems sparkle in the night as my flashlight skims across the ground on my pilgrimage outside once the sun has finally retreated to the back side of the planet. Stars

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-32274556111455558092012-02-26T10:24:00.000-08:002012-02-26T10:30:49.283-08:00

With a short drive to the Pacific Ocean, I had a relaxing and picturesque day at Moss Landing Beach and Elk Horn Slough with the kids during their vacation week.  The lighting at the beach always seems to be right and the contrasting elements of white surf and darker sands sets up so well for photography. The waves kept coming and Ella asked, "Why are there waves at the beach?" "Well," I

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-58016890493460554712012-01-01T15:18:00.001-08:002012-01-06T12:44:38.223-08:00

Happy New Year and all that . . . but I'd like to rewind briefly to Christmas 2011. This is what "Santa" brought for my present. I don't know if this means I was a good girl or not. A bright red, two-seater canoe complete with paddles and a low profile dolly that you can use to drive it to and from the car and dock. Good stuff right?!So fast forward to New Year's Eve and see the two victims

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-33082791828449598862011-07-03T19:00:00.000-07:002011-07-03T20:25:12.464-07:00

I rediscovered a little creek which flows in the canyon below my favorite hiking trail a few weeks ago. As I huffed up the steeply sloped, redwood-forested trail, I looked down the hillside and spied the rocky channel of Blackhawk Canyon Creek below.I had one of those AHA!! moments when I realized that it still had really good water flow, uncharacteristic for this time of year. All the late

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-80212862940650637702011-06-21T21:15:00.000-07:002011-07-04T17:58:16.606-07:00

So the fact I can't remember how many days the kids have been out of school might be an indication that I am a survivor of summer vacation. For now.Here's our latest family project that we completed. For some bizarre reason I thought we should embark on a simple little mosaic pot project. And by simple I mean lengthy and arduous and by little I imply gigantic. The fact that Wyatt's class in

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-79163720854506612011-06-16T07:04:00.000-07:002011-06-16T14:22:27.733-07:00

Summer Vacation - Day 8For the record: Day 2 - 7 survived. But on Day 3 we decided to implement "Will Work for Bucks" program.New parenting goal. Or rather, my new and improved and reinforced parenting goal is that I am not going to raise a kid who feels entitled to everything and won't work for "nothin'". To facilitate this mutual happiness between adults and children on our "Compound" I have

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-6014016134070970442011-06-09T22:37:00.000-07:002011-06-10T12:01:46.839-07:00

Summer Vacation, Day 1With much fear and dread summer vacation has sprung on me like an angry swarm of ants. Biting and itching and possibly stinging . . . Maybe I have over reacted to the eminent threat of Wyatt being home all day for summer. And as such, it only seems appropriate to take the challenge of properly documenting summer vacation 2011.Two days ago, I was not bubbling in glorious

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-11719528870185104462011-04-28T18:02:00.000-07:002011-04-29T14:32:53.810-07:00

Now wait a minute you all are saying . . . but really. I can only report what I observe with my own eyes and I can hardly make this stuff up. I've been tracking bluebirds on my property for seven years now and have seen many a pair of bluebirds successfully fledge young every year, but this season has been wild and woolly, unpredictable and strange.See below the sentinel bluebird male guarding

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-44979465731033202382011-04-11T15:22:00.000-07:002011-04-11T16:38:14.111-07:00

I have not been really, totally, super, hopping, jumping excited for ages about a bird nesting on our property. We have bluebirds, swallows, doves, killdeer and magpies that all use our trees and grasslands for their nesting sites. So, I guess I have been a bit spoiled and bored with my own personal national geographic happening in my back yard.BUT today I spotted a pair of rare-ish birds

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-87861623884826135042011-04-03T21:35:00.000-07:002011-04-04T08:14:51.986-07:00

There are days which shall live in infamy at the King Compound due to the sullen and miserable attitudes that spread from kid to kid like a virulent super virus ravaging the country side . . . But I am glad to report that there are the days when the cousins get along like the best of friends and play in uninhibited ways that make me want to be a little kid again, like today.As I was sitting on my

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-46413312119706370952011-03-23T15:36:00.000-07:002011-03-23T15:48:57.614-07:00

There is much that has not been blogged . . . My blogging time has evaporated somehow . . . However, my "vacation" from blogging has been much needed with projects being finished and "real" life taking over.With low motivation levels for typing at the keyboards I have been a stranger to my journal. But glancing back at previous posts I realize that I may be loosing memories that I want to keep

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-56976178420543079242010-12-21T20:51:00.000-08:002010-12-21T20:52:39.347-08:00

We have a wooden fence on our back property line which is ancient. Over the past nine years, I have often lamented that this fence needs replacement. Since we moved on to the property we call home, this fence has been in an ongoing state of decay. It wobbles when leaned upon. It shakes when climbed. From afar it is an eyesore to most people. Sometimes I have been embarrassed.This fence is

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-74618846553509144812010-12-05T17:15:00.000-08:002010-12-05T21:33:34.181-08:00

Another year.Another tree.A few more ornaments purchased.A few more broken.We got our tree today. It's a Home Depot special and we saved about 40 bucks in comparison to last year. And that's ok by me.The over riding theme of my our tree is glass ball ornaments in whites, blues, greens and silver.And horses. Horses on ceramic discs. Trail of Painted Pony horses.On lighting . . . I am a white

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-13509614043250421522010-11-27T09:00:00.000-08:002010-11-27T16:27:00.635-08:00

Come and join us on a trip back in time! It's an adventure to a land where the forces of nature run wild and animals teem in their natural environment. We're going to the Cosumnes River Preserve in the central valley of California because it is the last free flowing river that drains down from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Sacramento delta below. That means good things can happen there!The

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-17739427108130755722010-11-12T20:23:00.001-08:002010-11-13T18:33:45.438-08:00

Welcome to the mixed salad of my bloggy pictorial for this week. A little of this, a little of that, for a taste of everything light and mostly fresh.First I have a little soft calling bird. It's no mystery for me but a challenge for some of you birdy folks out there. This is the female of the species and more subtly colored in comparison to the gaudy males. Or rather brilliantly colored

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-12729015204662073232010-11-04T21:13:00.000-07:002010-11-05T10:28:10.569-07:00

October? What happened to October? I can not explain October.A thick gray fog has clouded over my brain and there is a vague memory of a pink taffeta-adorned ballerina superhero and a brown duster-cowboy hat wearing Wyatt Earp. We traipsed through a nearby neighborhood since no one trick-or-treats on our street (It's just not possible).I could not believe my ears when I heard the complaint, "

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-14712330054990969822010-10-02T21:07:00.000-07:002010-10-03T21:46:42.329-07:00

I've been kind of obsessed lately doing research on houses like this...The thought of totally replacing our little hovel of a shack is fabulous. (We have lived in an 800 square foot house for seven years now.) I've been combing the internet and getting all the information I can find on Craftsman style architecture. I even got one of Gustav Stickley's books to find prospective floor plans. Ha!

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-29576126496123332922010-09-18T22:02:00.000-07:002010-09-19T07:05:56.875-07:00

Imagine that.My son, Wyatt, has no fear of the camera. Either operating it or being the subject of photographic composition.I recently bought a small device to complement my camera arsenal called a remote shutter release. At a cost of 10 dollars I can not believe I did not buy it earlier and I can't see how I lived without it!Basically, this little black remote control has one button and it

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-78718262092507960852010-09-14T16:28:00.000-07:002010-09-14T18:26:23.604-07:00

I have sad news to report from the world of Our Simple Life. Sometimes there are events that are beyond our control and we must forge on in the face of sadness and grief...Last week we lost a valued member of our community.While he only weighed 9 lbs and had a pea for a brain, but we loved him all the same.Mr. D, the intrepid rooster, succumbed to an infection after being attacked by an unknown

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-19366187899116268632010-09-08T17:18:00.000-07:002010-09-08T17:48:52.063-07:00

I am not one for reposting stuff from the news but this one I just had to share. This fish was allegedly hooked in a lake in France and then released by the angler. It took 10 minutes to reel this 30 lb mass of a fish to shore.... Hmmmm. Is it really a fish? I am not sure.But seeing this giant "real life" carp (if it is not a fake) sent me immediately to a book I can almost recite verbatum.

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-74988907728615604982010-09-01T20:52:00.000-07:002010-09-01T21:38:47.857-07:00

Let's start off with my daughter Ella today. She has been the source of much happiness in my life with her sense of humor, her quick wit and kind and loving ways. She really is an angel in disguise as a child.However, if I can accurately see into the future there could be clouds of dissent brewing sometime in her teen years. Here's her best, "I'm an insolent 16 year old expression." She's

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-45623949217295577462010-08-24T20:22:00.001-07:002010-08-24T22:34:05.113-07:00

Good day humans!The Tall Lady had been quite ill, but I decided to help her out and write a post while she is recovering. Tonight she looks the best she has in about a eight days. She has a hop in her step and a certain gleam in her eye. It's a good thing, since for a few days I thought she looked a little like something the cat dragged in... heh heh... (see I can make a joke too.) I

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-853405681241979670.post-21983526450274276242010-08-20T17:00:00.001-07:002010-08-20T17:01:40.062-07:00

Yep. Still sick. I am down for the count... Pneumonia. My weekly post is only going to be about a sentence. See ya on the other end of this.

Juliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851909774982026207noreply@blogger.com16