He brought himself... and chocolate.

Our oldest son came up for the weekend. I made a cherry pie. This is what is left.

And he brought us Godiva chocolate... three pieces each of our favorites.

 I've cut them in small pieces so they lasts longer...well, kind of. You know how that rationalization goes.  I tend to eat less this way. Right?
We went to dinner at Teresa's in Jackson last night. Had a wonderful dinner and came home filled with good food and leftovers.
The visits are never long enough, but our son drove up to see us and that's all that is important.

Carl is wondering what happen and where the guy went.

He's been sitting on the sofa bed looking like he lost his best friend. Dogs... you've got to love that 'ears back, sad eyed' look.
I have to say that this weather is beautiful. It rained last night, was foggy this morning and sunny the rest of the day. It's the reason folks come to California.
The Daffodils are blooming profusely... everywhere. We are not out of the woods with the drought conditions, but this rainy weather certainly has put everyone in a better mood.

Take a deep breath and smell Spring...

It's just around the corner.

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”
 ~Rainer Maria Rilke~

Just one of those unusual spring days

It's overcast today but still no rain. As I said to a friend... The weather is so achingly beautiful, but the enjoyment of it is limited because we need rain so badly.
But, until Mother Nature does a one eighty, here were are.

Enjoying early summer weather in March.

The daffodils are exploding all over the garden.

The metal frog is trying to eat them before they bloom.

The Pear tree is a sudden snap, crackle and pop of white popcorn blossoms.

and the sound of bees are everywhere.

The chickens are small rototillers in the driveway garden,  nicely turning over the soil for me. I will only have to add compost before planting some annuals. Then, I will have to FENCE the whole area to keep those chicky doodles out... and the turkey... and the deer.  

Maybe I should just leave it this way. Let chicken nature take its course.

And then there's the Little Red Hen. She is still giving us attitude.

Look at her. She has always got this peeved look about her.
Some chickens, like people, are just born ornery.
She's a good "layer" though, so I guess I won't be makin' chicken soup anytime soon.
"But don't push your luck little lady. Leave Squeeky alone and stop attacking me when I come to feed you."

I'm trying to make curtains out of old bark cloth drape panels. I definitely have limits to my sewing abilities... but I keep trying.

I'm much better at baking.
My friend (Delta Dawn in Isleton) and my sister sent me home with some wonderful Meyer's lemons so...
"When life gives you lemons...", as the old saying goes, you make lemon chess pie.

This is the last piece. Guess the old Prospector liked it. I had my share too.
I also love to squeeze Meyer lemon juice on vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt. Try it. It's delicious. It forms a tart layer of juice that freezes on the ice cream and then, when you stir it a little, the whole cup of ice cream takes on a delicious infusion of lemon. It's really quite good and... it's good "lemon karma".

Well... have a good weekend and if you want some music to go with your Friday, go to :
http://farmlass.blogspot.com/2013/03/song-for-fridayfor-irish-in-all-of-us.html 
This is my good friend Kerry and her "Song for Friday". You will find a wonderful post about being Irish, some absolutely beautiful photos and a lovely and different rendition of an old familiar song.

Peace and happiness from the California Foothills.

Have you ever heard a donkey bray?

Yesterday I drove up to Volcano, CA... and then further up to Daffodil Hill. I wanted to take some pictures of the beautiful valley of daffodils and its surroundings before the rain and snow arrived today.
I thought the park was open... but it wasn't. Luckily, the caretaker said I could walk around and take some photos as long as I didn't walk out on the slippery trails. It's was an insurance thing. I was fine with that so I stuck close to the barnyard and gravel areas.
It was overcast and cold, but I got some great photos.

The daffodils were shivering in the cold wind and I didn't get many good photos of the thousands of flowers that were blooming.

 This was one section of "the hill" where they have  planted daffodils.

And looking up into this small valley I remembered what William Wordsworth wrote .

I though of his words...

"I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze."

"They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils."

Have you ever heard a donkey bray? It is truly a "He (breath in) ha(breath out), he ha, he ha." only very high pitched and loud. They knew that the care taker had given me some bread (for another reason) and they wanted some too. The horse was quieter about it. He just waited and watched.

Because, it seems, the donkeys are the ones who "put on the show"

... and they did.

They are real attention getter's.

I wanted to take this one home with me.

The really reason for the bread was to attract these birds.

This is a Peacock.

 A beautiful pure white one.

And the more traditional ones.

I was told to throw small pieces of bread and call out, "Pretty bird."

It worked like magic. 

These birds were conditioned to follow the bread.

They came to me like I was a Pied Piper.

And then a huge male arrived...

...in all his glory.

He was magnificent!

When I threw some bread at him, he chased the others away and then he gave me a special performance.

I was honored. Not being a peacock... I wondered if this was just for a piece of bread or did he , because this was mating season, look at me as... well, you know.

Later, when I was in my car, changing lenses, he appeared again.

Is this one of the most beautiful birds in existence?

This time he wasn't that interested in me. He had his eye on a female pea hen in the garden.

and off he went to pursue her.

When he came back to the driveway he gave me one more "dance"...

 He "Do see do'ed".

He turned around , spread his feathers and looked at me as if he was the PRINCE of his kingdom.

He surely was. No doubt about it.

Finally, I said goodbye to the donkeys.

 And the beautiful horse.

I got into my car and drove about a mile down the road to a friend's house.
We lived up here for three years before we built our house, down near the river, in Jackson.

(This is part of her backyard with its little Lowe's potting shed in it.) 

She fixed me lunch and we had tea together. We talked about all kinds of things...gardening, quilting, husbands, women stuff... you know... and how the years seemed to go by so fast since we were neighbors.  We talked about the good times and the bad... and "Where did all those years go?"

And then I had to leave.

 I drove home and passed the school, in Pine Grove, where I first got a job, and then drove west, down highway 88, as I had done for so many years.
This is beautiful country up here. We came when we were 50 years old. It was hard to leave the town we raised our boys in and the friends that we knew, but we had a "vision".

 We wanted to live in the "Gold country". 

We wanted property, forty acres with a gold mine (yes, we have one!) and a place where we could find a rivers and creeks to pan for gold, swim in and enjoy "mother nature". 

We wanted peace, clean air and a place for our children and grandchildren to come when the world became too hectic.

We found it.

 We have been here almost eighteen years, now, and a lot has happen. 

We should have built a bigger house but... oh well.

I have few regrets.

I love this place. 

It's my home.