Thoughts for a Monday Morning......

Song - You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones

Because of the drought, we have decided to let our big side lawn die.....difficult decision for me because I get so much enjoyment from the garden.  But our boys are all grown.  No more baseball practice on the side lawn, croquet, badminton, golf, wrestling, volleyball and only an occasional game of horseshoes and you don't need grass for that!

I sit on the bench under a large Oak tree and watch it slowly turn brown.

But the positive side is that we will continue to keep the flowers, shrubs and trees alive.

Golden Celebration - Mr. B's favorite!

There is so much to be thankful for!

Mika can cool off on those really hot days!

"Between stimulus and response, there is space.  In that space is our power to choose our response.  In our response lies our growth and our freedom." - Viktor E. Frankl

If I Had A Boat

Song - If I Had A Boat by Lyle Lovett

Busy as a bee.....

The roses are in full bloom.

The iris are just beginning to bloom.

Tomato plants (18) have been put in the vegetable garden.

 The shade garden is happily showing her beauty.

Dogwood

 

Hosta

Azalea

Fern

Fern

And the geese are doing a little hanky-panky up on our rooftop every morning.

Our neighbors roof

Then it got cold.

Very cold in comparison to the weather California has been used to. Which has been Summertime in the Winter!



Easter was held inside this year due to the rain and cold.

Yesterday it rained and then hailed.  Weird weather.

But we need the rain so much that no one is complaining.

It rained enough to bring this rowboat down the creek and lodge in some brambles by our property.



The Governor is placing California on a 25% water reduction plan starting soon.

Luckily Mr. B and I were already changing our overhead sprinklers to a drip system and Sherman (our drip guy) said his phone is ringing off the hook with jobs.

We are also collecting grey water, you know the clean water we get from waiting for the hot water to come on, water from rinsing veggies & fruit, etc.  I have buckets in both showers and pitchers near each sink to gather the water.  Then I go outside and water my potted plants. 

Today I just ordered a 50 gal. rain barrel but it's not for rainwater (because we have none) but for all of these buckets and pitchers of water.  It is truly amazing how much water can be reused.  I am now looking into organic shampoo's, soaps, etc., so that we can collect even more.

"The farmer will never be happy again; 

He carries his heart in his boots;

For either the rain is destroying his grain

Or the drought is destroying his roots." 

--Alan Patrick Herbert