Sleepy Kitty Cats

Garden: Summer 2009

We have had such a bad drought this summer, and so our garden hasn't done nearly as well as it did last year. Even with frequent hose waterings, the plants just haven't been able to produce very much vegetables! The most productive plants have been the cucumbers and basil! We also harvested a few cherry tomatoes. We have also gotten about 10-15 yellow squash from one plant. We are hoping that the cooler weather crops will do better. We are planning to plant lettuce, mesclun --salad mix, onions, swiss chard, mustard greens, and a variety of winter squash in October. We'll just have to hope and pray for lots of rain!

August Blooms

At the front of our house, we have two planter pots with a variety of flowers and vines blooming. The zinnias in this planter have taken over!

Next to our driveway, there is an oval shaped flowerbed where I like to plant various flowers depending on the season. This summer I tried some zinnias, since they did so well the very first summer we lived here. They have done well, but did not stay low to the ground, and so the stems have bent over somewhat. They are still pretty, and have been a steady supply for my indoor bouquets!

In the backyard, we have vincas and cosmos blooming all-year-round. Jason was doing some yard work one day and trimmed a bunch of these back---just enough for a couple of little bouquets!

Our new Bird Bath

We have really enjoyed having a bird feeder in our backyard, and so we decided to get a bird bath. Considering the dry weather we have had this past summer, it seemed like a bird bath would be really great for all the birds who come to eat at our "free restaurant" bird feeder!

The birds have been coming in big groups to take baths and get drinks of water! Jason and I and our kitty cats love to watch the doves, blue jays, cow birds, sparrows, and cardinals jump in the water and then shake and flutter their feathers all over! Water flies on all sides and they get spic and span clean! They also sit on the edge and drink in little sips of water--the sparrows are really cute when they drink water. We are planning to plant some flowers around the bird bath, but haven't had time to do it yet! We'll take some more photos sometime to show you how beautiful the flowers look around it....hopefully in the next few months.

Juliette's Asian Salad

Want to make an easy salad that has Asian charm? Try this simple recipe I acquired six years ago from a friend.

Romaine Lettuce -chopped
Fresh Spinache - chopped
Thawed Green Peas
Celery - thinly sliced
Cherry Tomatoes - cut in half
2 green onions - thinly sliced
1 can Fri Chik (vegetarian chicken substitute) - thinly chopped
1 package of Ramen noodles - crushed
Sauteed Slivered Almonds - OPTIONAL

Dressing
1/2 part olive oil
1/2 part vinegar (rice or white, etc)
1 TB seasame oil
(add a little lemon juice)
Salt & Pepper to taste

July 29 ~ San Francisco & Fresno, CA

Jason and I left for a 7-day vacation to California this morning. We left the house later than we planned as usual, because so many last minute things needed to be packed and done before we could load the bags in the car and leave. We got to the airport and took in a very long, winding line to check in our two suitcases. Then, we stood in another long line to go through security. We had about 5-10 minutes to wait at the gate and boarded the plane. We were relieved to see our bags out the plane window as the airport staff loaded them on the plane. We also enjoyed the reassurance we felt that we had made it on our flight and our bags did, too, although we were running so late. We vowed to never be so late again, because it is stressful. In the air we passed through some storms and saw a variety of cloud shapes and forms. We also saw a variety of mountains, lakes, rock quarries, farms with plaid and circle shaped fields planted, desert terrain, and areas that looked completely desolate. We noticed that Phoenix had homes with far few pools than San Diego did. We switched planes in Phoenix. In the plane we set our watches to mountain time, because we thought that is what Phoenix's time zone was. So, if that were the case, we could see that we had missed our connecting flight there. We approached the airline staff at the gate, and told them we had missed our 8:45 a.m. flight because it was 9:00 a.m. They were surprised, because they hadn't noticed any passengers missing from the previous flight. Then they realized our mistake--They are currently on Pacific time, because they don't change time at day light savings time. We all had a good laugh and Jason and I learned something new. We decided to use our extra 30 minutes to go for a walk. My feet were in flip flops, so by the end of our brisk stroll, my feet were a little tender. When we arrived in San Francisco, and saw this cool hallway lit up with neon lights! I had to have a photo! Once we picked up the rental car, I changed my shoes and put on my light jacket. We ate at Chipotle. I really love the scenery around San Fran. People live in layers of houses dotting the hills around the Bay. The Bay is beautiful with expansive views of water, boats, bridges, marinas, piers, and board walks. The area is cool, crisp, and refreshing with temps in the 60s and low 70s. We walked down to the Farmer's Market and purchased a "divine" brownie from Scharffen Berger chocolate maker along with a toffee and almond truffle. We will return there on Tuesday for the "farm" market which was not open today. I noticed that people drive like maniacs in San Fran. The pedestrians walk when the cross walk says "red hand" and the cars swerve and drive all over making turns in the middle of the road and just driving a different way than what I have observed in Houston. Not that H-town drivers are perfect--no way! We drove around looking for a Chipotle on Market street and at one point turned to get going back in the opposite direction. We were suddenly in an area that was very different than Union Square and Market street--XXX shops and venues, rundown area, and just a generally less desirable part of town--mostly due to the presence of the strip clubs and those who hang around in such areas. We saw many different types of trolley and cable cars. I wondered how all the various ones can use the same cables and rails. Jason said they have a schedule just like any other transportation system. I am impressed with the wide variety of transportation vehicles available --trains, buses, trolleys, and cable cars are spread out and accessible from many areas including the airport. San Fran is fascinating and beautiful to look at --although some what overwhelming because of its many, many streets and sights to see. Jason will serve as my personal tour guide as we explore San Francisco next Monday and Tuesday. I can't wait. As we drove between San Fran and Fresno, we saw many, many fields of fruit trees, orchards, grape vineyards. We couldn't tell for sure what was growing on all the trees, but we suspected there were plums, apricots, strawberries, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and we were able to see clumps of grapes. Jason could see the green clumps while driving, but I had trouble seeing those from the road--I did see lots of huge clumps of red grapes.