...harvesting the light

it's been overcast & partly cloudy lately...

on the day these pictures were taken,
it was quite overcast...
giving all the colors an internal glow...
that I just had to try & capture...

of course, the pictures don't do the intensity of the colors justice...
but I hope you can enjoy them anyway...



a "Touch of Class" rose, in the back next to the cherry toms...



the veggie garden...around 10:30 AM...



on a sunny day, there is great glare & shadows at this hour...



if you look closely, you can see the lavender beginning to bloom...



here's the grapefruit seedling...embracing the light...



this "ToC" rose is in the front yard...
totally different light...



this pink climbing rose is from the root stock of a "Joseph's Coat"...
that survived even when the graft didn't...



I believe that this is a variety of "Peace"...



and I believe that this is a "Bonanza"...



this unique salmon geranium survived the winter to bloom again...



as did this deep red one...



and last, but not least...
one surviving lobelia smiles up at the emerging sun...
["Crystal Palace"]...

soon to be joined by many others...

my goal is to learn how to capture the intensity of color I see...
in my pictures...maybe with the XSi...and filters...

*sigh*

...hanging-in here

in the midst of being told to wait...
and trust...
expecting miracles...while it seems that daily...
something I value is lost to me...
[ie,"the hits just keep coming..."]

I decided, in the spirit of being thankful...
to look for past & continuing miracles...



it was only a couple of months ago...
that Fluff's left eye had a nasty abscess...
and the vet was worried that she might not make it...
after accepting as a given that she would be blind...
if she survived and the eye would be opaque & useless...



today, she's healthy and her eye is healed...
completely...thanks to much prayer & antibiotic salve...
it is not opaque and she is once again, Queen of Everything...



Mackie,[aka Mr Fluffytail], is also totally recovered...
from his death's door experience last November/December...



after rushing an almost dead Mackie to the Vet ER in the middle of the night...
and spending $800 on care & tests which were NOT hopeful...
my vet was only marginally more positive...
again, much prayer & lots of TLC have restored him to vibrant good health...

some of you may remember that about 6 weeks ago...
I planted some grapefruit seeds...
harvested from fruit from my own tree...



today, I found this...



I thought that too much time had passed...
and that nothing would come of those small seeds I planted...
and behold... a small seedling pushing its way up...
despite all odds...

maybe there's a lesson in this...

..."compute this..."

my home computer...
quite the machine in 2002...



and functioning very well in 2009...
software & operating system up to the minute...
and still running fast & true...


before I gave up my cable broadband, that is...
now it sits...mostly idle...
as I still haven't gotten the DSL to work...

so I've been going to the church & using my Airbook...



it hops on their wifi network and works great...
and the USB2 downloads from my camera are so fast!
that I decided to have some hardware up grades done to my desktop one...
while it's down & off the Internet anyway...

today I went to my local computer store...
it's a small, non-chain operation about a mile from my house...
they deal with both PCs & Mac...
and my dealings with them in the past have been good...

after some discussion with the guy of my issues...
I now know the following...



an Airport,[Mac wifisystem] wifi card for my tower cpu would cost $80...
[labor is $90p/hr...]



the Airport Express base station is $100...
it would function as a network router and the DSL would plug into it...
this would also allow me to use my Airbook at home from anywhere in my house...
or even outside in the yard...

I have also been hampered by having only a USB1 in my desk cpu...
I can't download from my Fujifilm digital SLR at all...
and other digital downloads are very s-l-o-w...
uploading digital pictures to the Web is often s-l-o-w...
or just impossible due to the old technology...



they can install a USB2 drive in my desktop cpu for $40...
[plus $90 p/hr labor]



I could also grab some more memory at 512 MB [$57 each]...
there are 3 levels of memory cache...2 are empty...

since I got the impression...
that it would be a quick install of both the USB2 port...
and the Airport card...
AND since installing the memory is also quick...
perhaps I should spend the $$...
while I can still get the memory for this model...
and make sure I get my $90 worth for the labor...

they can also do a diagnostic on what is corrupting my Quicken...

it would be nice to have access to all those records again...

what's sad is that if I were more techno/geeky...
I could probably install all this myself...
Macs are very simple to work with...
but that would only save $90...
the parts are about $325 if I buy some memory...
$210, without...

so I have a decision to make...

do I spend the $$ and hope this solves several annoying problems ?
or do I leave it until my desktop cpu is useless...
and I still don't have an ISP at home ?

one decision is easy however...
they would be glad to come over & "hook up" my DSL...
for $90 p/hour...

uhhhh... NO THANKS!

..."we did it right"

I attended a reunion about a week ago...
of a part of the "Fremont Family"...
a group of staff & teachers I worked with...
for parts of the 21 years I taught...

our school was on the "wrong" side of the tracks...
we had a terrible reputation in the "district"...
[though completely undeserved...]
but we were resilient and thrived as a community...

we always got the short end of the stick...
the least money, the "worst" teachers...
and we were the district's "whipping boy"...
but yet, when outsiders came in for a while...
they always commented on how undeserved our "rep" was...
and left agreeing that, Fremont does it right, our school motto...

when I started, after school had begun in the fall of 1984...
my band students had been "banned" from visiting elementary schools...
due to "bad & out of control behavior in the past"...
[that first group was "the wild bunch"...]

however, by the spring, we'd come to terms enough...
that the principal gave us a "last chance"...
& we were allowed to go "out to the elementary schools"...
the elementary staff people couldn't believe the change for the better...
and the dye was cast for the next 16 years...

our staff, part of the "Fremont Family"...
along with the kids & their families...
really liked & respected each other for the most part...
together we created activities...
and learning experiences for our students...

when I started, there was a very small staff turnover...
as years passed, things didn't always go smoothly...
and sometimes, administration "issues", sent people away...

that was very true in the last year I taught...

over 50 staff members, many "long timers"...
left after the end of school that year...
I was the only retiree of that number...

so on May 31, a bunch of us gathered again...
for a Fremont Family" reunion...

some people I hadn't seen for 5 years or more, were there...
and as I enjoyed the familiar faces of my youth...
I also became aware of those absent...
due to distance or death...

in that environment, seeing dear people...
you almost expected to turn around...
& see those you'll never see again...
and found the pain of loss right on the surface...

we hugged, caught-up on news...
and seemed to fall right back into our roles...
it was like so many of the get-togethers we used to have...
and we decided to do it again, next year...

as I was leaving, I stopped to reminisce about a Disneyland trip...
the person I was talking to was remembering being a chaperon..
[one of the many times she & her husband had given up their time to do that...]
and what a bad luck trip it had been...
[the trip from Hell, I believe she called it...]

she said,"well, SH needed us...
& we liked her & respected what she did for the kids...
so there was no question, of course we went...
we all did that for each other...
that's why we were a family..."

I couldn't have said it better...

so here's to all those "Fremonsters" out there...
[that's what the kids called themselves...
when they went on to high school...
they became, "Franklinstines"...]

it was quite a time...
one that is no more, much the pity...
for I think our schools...
& the kids need a "family" like we were...
more now than ever before...

they finally succeeded in breaking up the Fremont Family...

and you won't see the like again for a very long time...


"...he that outlives this day and comes safe home...
will stand tip-toe when that day is mentioned...
...we few, we happy few...we band of brothers...
for he today that sheds his blood with me...
shall be my brother..."

[Henry V, Act IV, Scene III, Wm Shakespeare]

...news from La Mancha

unfortunately...
there is no good news on the job front...
the message I get is to wait...

and since I spent most of the last week+...
laid-up with some virus & a bad back...
waiting was all I could do...

there are plants to be planted, before they give up...
the propane tank on my grill is out of fuel...
the house is badly in need of cleaning...
as well as seeming very empty since Mattie's gone...

but the virus is gone...and my back is better...
the choir's on hiatus & there's music to put away...

LOTS of stuff on my plate...

but for now...
a walk through the garden...
because it's growing by the moment...



the fence flower box seems to be doing well...
[the drip is actually working again...]



the trumpet vine is in full sway...
even trimmed back...
if I don't cut it back...
it takes over the whole driveway...



the mint has grown several inches...
I'll have to harvest some soon...



the eggplants have numerous blooms...



and the squash & cukes have settled in well...



the peppers are also about to bloom...



and the beans...



are climbing everywhere...



the tomatoes are growing fast...
with even the smallest of the sets...
having at least tripled in size...



and the set tomatoes are growing...
these are the size of golf balls already...
though we need warmer nights for all the blooms to set...



the cherry tomato vines have exploded...



and while the others want more heat to set...
the cherries have set and are almost ready to ripen...



I have found 3 apples, bigger than a golf ball...



and there are lots of peaches about the same size...
they'll be ripe in late July...



the pom. tree is covered with blooms and buds...



some still closed tight...



others, opening...



a few that have set !



and some that fell off...



the muscat grape vine is climbing...
I haven't gotten grapes from it yet...



a "volunteer" hollyhock comes up in the beans...



the rest come back a different color each year...
the original seed from the ranch was deep red...



miracle of miracles, a tangerine...
high up in the tree that rats stripped the bark from...
almost killing it...
this is the first fruit in years...



the ferns I moved, etc, last fall are thriving in their new spot...
giving me pause to want to sit & rest...
absorbing all the greens...

but...



there's all the stuff I need to do...

and this pile...

is the mystery pile...stay tuned...

...farewell sweet Mattie

[photo ©MizMinka]

this is Mattie...
finding a friendly hand to pet him...

he was shy, but always a lap cat...
and if he "came out"to be petted while you were here...
it was quite a compliment...



I never sat down without him coming over...
to be cuddled & petted...



his fellow felines loved him dearly...
this is the only shot I have of him alone...
every other time...
he was accompanied by several others...
who now roam the house looking for him...



on Saturday... I knew that it was "time"...

he was bloated from fluid...
and not having any fun...
but was laying in front of my bedroom door...
and still wanted to be petted...

at the vets', I petted him and told him what a good cat he was...
and he stared straight into my eyes and purred...
as life left him...

we had a wake when I brought him home from the vets...
his feline companions were quite upset...
but all came to say their good-byes...
except for Thomas, with whom he had a special bond...
it will take Thomas a bit more time...

I buried him in the garden...
near the fruit trees...
and when it was done...
I came back around to the front porch to find...



a rose...

from my vet...
and started crying all over again...

farewell sweet Mattie...
we all miss you...
I guess someone in Heaven has a full lap now...
because mine is empty...