Creatives. You know, those people you see at the coffee shop with acrylic paint pushed so far under their fingernails there’s a good chance their hands will never know clean again. Or the woman sitting at the table next to you snapping 93 photos of her beautifully plated food, oblivious that the temperature of her...
Summer is in full swing which means canning season officially has begun. A trip to farmer’s market yielded 30 pounds of apricots from R & K Orchards in Corning. (Here’s an article I wrote about Karen, “The Peach Lady,” and her orchard.) Seven hours later, my sister, my mom and I had put up more than...
Kindness comes in many forms: a smile from a stranger, a heartfelt compliment or an unexpected subscription to High Desert Journal. I was perplexed when I first saw the journal as I couldn’t figure out how it made its way to my mailbox. I thought, who would have sent this? It wasn’t until a day...
The sun was shining brightly in the winter sky and a cool breeze blew softly through the garden, teasing native grasses. Birds flitted to and from a large oak and the blooming rosemary where bees buzzed, happy to have food at this time of year. I had decided to take the afternoon off to prune...
A month or so ago my fellow knitters threw a birthday party for me. Betsy brought a delightful cheese plate, Shannon made a to-die-for vegetarian moussaka, Angie made a fresh garden salad, Lisa provided gourmet bread and Karen baked a decadent Texas sheet cake. As we sat in front of the fireplace, eating and chatting,...
The sun has been shining and daytime temperatures have been in the low 60s. However, nightly temps have been dropping into the low 20s with last night bringing frost. Taking a risk, I’ve decided to leave the Meyer lemons on the trees in hopes they will ripen (and sweeten) a bit more. I wouldn’t dare...
Well, I wanted to say bah humbug to Christmas this year, but my husband wouldn’t let me. Here is a condensed version of how our conversations have gone since I told him I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate this year. I don’t want a tree. Too bad! We are going to the mountains to...
The first person to correctly identify this plant gets a free Chico Bag. This not knowing is driving me mad! I saw this gorgeous flower a few weeks ago while traveling with my hubby. As we walked along under a dismal sky, feeling the gloomy doomies setting in, this beauty popped out, bringing cheer to us...
When I was eight years old, I asked my mom for a pottery wheel. After much begging and pleading, she bought the wheel and I set up shop in the small dusty room adjoining our garage. It was summer then and I had three school-free months to perfect my craft. I had visions of making...
I sit atop a knoll, overlooking the original homestead of my late great-grandparents Charles and Clara Wiening. Maggie, a sweet border collie sprawls out under the canopy of a maple tree, panting and chewing on a stick that has nearly disintegrated under her drool and sharp teeth. The rush of water flowing through the irrigation...
