Thursday, January 19, 2012

Gardens and Hikes and No Snow

This mid January edition of Willow's Week has been brought to you and hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.  You can participate too by clicking on this link and signing up with Mr. Linky.

1. Work on the back bank gardening project is progressing!  Our dear friends the Salcedos arrived Saturday afternoon to help us with some of the heavy work like shoving railroad ties around, piling dirt, and planting our California native manzanitas, sages and grasses.  We celebrated with dinner after.



2.  On Monday afternoon, The Professor and I took a ramble along the Ventura River rail-trail path.  It was a perfect day for a hike and we thoroughly enjoyed exploring a new-to-us trail.

 
3. No Snow. But we have white in the landscape. All the flowering plum trees are bursting in to bloom. In January.



4.  Zicam.  It's this girl's best friend when I feel a cold coming on.  And echinacea tea.

5.  How does killing my cell phone count as a fave?  My phone died a sad and violent death at my own hand, literally.  I dropped it.  It's broken.  For a week, I've been phoneless and I've realized how dependent (addicted?) on it I had become for everything from checking email and facebook and IMing and texting to finding out the time.  And talking to people, even.  It's been a wake up call.  And I'm relieved that my phone is the one on the plan that's insured, which was wise planning on The Professor's part.

Bonus:  Younger son, The Grad Student, celebrated his birthday this week.  His birth, a little premature due to the fact that I had contracted malaria during the eighth month of pregnancy, caused us some trepidation.  But thankfully he was a fine healthy baby.  Because of this, he'll always be my 'miracle boy'.  Happy Birthday!

19 comments:

Kari said...

Happy Birthday to your boy!
Your photo's look so pretty and I know what you mean by the phone. I'm kind of thankful that I don't have the capabilities of internet on my phone. It's a blessing in some way!
I look forward to seeing your garden when it's done.

LivingforGod said...

Kind, helpful friends are such blessings :). My family and I also enjoy hiking. Happy Birthday to your son! My daughter was a premie (4 lbs 5 1/2 oz.) but now she is a healthy 18 year old.

Susanne said...

Those phones! Amazing how we've come to totally rely on them! Smart thinking by the Professor.

Trees blooming! I can hardly believe it. So beautiful. And that trail looks lovely too.

Happy birthday to your miracle baby!

Lisa notes... said...

Oh, I'm so jealous of your bank gardening project! How fun. I redid a small flower bed last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll have to make sure I start back with it again this spring so it won't go back to weeds again. ha. Please keep us posted with pictures are your work comes along.

ellen b. said...

Your slope is looking good. That trail really looks great! Love the blossoms. Oops about the phone but how great that it's insured! Have a great weekend.

Jerralea said...

Oh, Willow, you knew I would enjoy that path picture! It looks like a wonderful trail to follow.

I love the picture of the tree blooming as well. I'll try to not be jealous of where you live ...

Happy birthday to your miracle boy!

Knitting Linguist said...

Happy birthday, indeed! I love the trail photo in particular - I'd be happy walking along there.

Also, I forgot to tell you that the red sweater pattern that you asked about is Altostratus :)

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

That last photo is especially lovely. I noticed the other day these trees are just beginning to show their white blossoms here...didn't see any as full as yours yet. I love those trees.

Karen said...

The blossoming trees are beautiful. I understand how you feel about not having the cell phone. On the few occasions I forget mine, I feel lost for a little bit, but that feeling is soon replaced by freedom!

It's nice to have people you enjoy being with to help with those big jobs. "Many hands. . . "

Enjoy your weekend!

Barbara H. said...

So nice to see something blooming! And to be working on a gardening project!

Wow, so glad you and your son were ok after the malaria.

Glad your cell phone was insured! I know I've gotten dependent on mine, too.

Catherine said...

I would love to see something blooming! It's so brown and dead here. *sigh* But, it makes Spring all the more amazing when it finally arrives.

Happy Birthday to your son! I have those same feelings when I think about my own miracle babies.

I have n iPhone. I'm sure I would be having some sort of withdrawal if it broke. The professor was wise to get the insurance!

I hope you have a happy week. =)
-Catherine

Brenda said...

Winter in CA is such a restful time, I love those white blossoms! We need to get out and take more walks on new paths, you gave me a good idea!

Melanie - Author/Editor/Publisher said...

I understand about the phone thing. Mine broke awhile back and I felt "lost" without it. Amazing how much we depend on technology but when we're without, we can actually grow!

Funny not seeing snow in your pics; we have a few inches here : )

Yay for the birthday boy!

nikkipolani said...

Yes, I, too, noticed the white flowers lining many of the streets I drive every day. A little incongruous with the calendar! Glad you have your phone back :-)

Elizabeth said...

Happy birthday to your son!
Loved to see your blossom .
As you know we have actual SNOW!
Happy weekend!

Bethany said...

First of all, I'll send you some snow! We finally got some yesterday. But I think I'll take your plum blossoms over our snow! ;) Enjoy your pretty weather and new garden. And I hope your son has a Happy Birthday!

Susan@FruitfulWords said...

Yes, happy birthday to your miracle boy! My son was also early as he was supposed to be a Valentine's baby. he turned 29 last week. Don't know why he was early though. God certainly protected you and your little one.

A couple of FFF writers have hiked this week. I think I need to see if there is anything around here that I can handle. It seems like a good way to get exercise and fun into my schedule. Your trail looks GORGEOUS esp with the trees in bloom. How are the allergies?

Some day I hope to have a garden where I can landscape with native CA plants. I too hope you post photos!

Lisa said...

Very beautiful pictures!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Happy birthday to your son, Willow!

The plum blossoms looks so pretty from this side of the country where we won't see them bloom until April or May.

Glad you had cell phone insurance! I put my phone is a rubber case so it won't (hopefully) break if I drop it.