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As you come up the redwood stairs to our deck and front door, the cacti, ivy, and daffodils are just to the right on a little tiered black wrought iron stand. There's a small, glass-topped table that holds a currently empty planter where my welcoming frog says "hello." The rock face is beneath the table. Our doormat is showing its age, faded from too many summer suns. You go through a metal security screen door and the metal front door (great for magnets and notes!) is next. There's nothing fancy about the entrance way. In fact, it borders on drab and unkempt. In the summer it easily gets 114 degrees in the afternoons here so what I put here is limited. Every plant I've ever planted (until the cacti) has died from the hot-as-an-oven space. The redwood deck goes around to the right and goes back the length of the side of the house back to the stairs that lead down into the yard. Our big oak tree shades almost the entire yard. The yard is fenced and quite small but we have a small dog so it's of adequate size. It had a sodded lawn when we moved in but that washed away in a particularly violent downpour one day a couple years ago. Along the side of the house here on the deck we keep a couple lawn chairs and a table. The perfect place for my quiet time when the weather warms up. (It's almost there!) Then there are the sliding glass doors that aren't used as doors. Our summer evaporative cooler goes in the glass doors with clear plexi-glass over the opening. It's difficult for me to describe but maybe I've given you a sense of what's on the deck. We have window planters along the deck railing and when the portulaca is in full bloom it's beautiful here. Musical wind chimes and a hummingbird feeder hang down from the covered area. The roof is just an aging, weather-beaten open lattice. We put dark green shade screening across to block out the worst of the sun. It's amazing how much that screen helps! When the kids come up they spend a lot of time out here on the deck. Cathie smoking and John getting some relief from his cat allergies. It's really nice to sit out here on a hot summer evening and just relax with the sounds of hummers at the feeder and a note or two from the chimes, stirred by a gentle breeze. Last year was the first year I thought to have my quiet time out here and when winter struck I reluctantly had to give up my spot on the deck. And I am now anxiously awaiting the warmer weather to resume my times out here every morning. It's strange to sit here with the door open and the sun shining so brightly and knowing that a blizzard hit the Dakotas yesterday along the Red River that's at flood stage. I love California and I love living in the gold country in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. The last few winters we've gotten a spattering of snow and in the summer, the heat is almost unbearable on some days. When it gets THAT hot I will dream of the Colorado Rockies and remember I used to live there. In other words, what I'm saying is that I love everything about living here but for those couple of weeks each summer when it gets so, so hot. I just sweat and hang on for dear life, knowing it won't last forever and that gets me through.

I have an eclectic house. Nothing matches except for the couch and love seat, but even they appear different from each other. They are a deep green with black stripes worked through them. The gnarled-oak, resin-topped coffee table Rich made is in the center of the room. The entertainment center is on the right so all the sitting furniture is to the left of the front door. My walls are covered with original paintings and drawings. Mostly desert canyon paintings right now. But there are a few birds and garden scenes thrown into the mix to sort of balance things out. While the desert paintings are beautifully well-done, they are not my favorite paintings. I prefer the animals and garden scenes. Hubby's chair is sitting in the middle of the room, facing the TV of course. His chair is literally falling apart. I plan to buy him a new one with my stimulus money come June when the deposit is made into my bank account. I sit on the end of the couch and at first planned on buying me a nice recliner but the more I look at his chair, the more I realize I best get a chair for him and I will continue to sit on the end of the couch. Along the back wall is my long oak desk with my computer and files. I have photos of ones I love scattered across the top of my desk around my computer and monitor. Jamie and Ofir. Ken and Michael. Kayla. Mulder. Ken,Tamara, and Kayla. And Franci's kids in her jeans. Just fun pictures I like to let me eyes rest on occasionally. In the corner by my desk is my oak curio cabinet where I display my collection of porcelain birds. They are beautiful when I go all out and turn the lights on in the cabinet. (I don't do that often, conserving energy.)

My kitchen and dinning room are off to the left with the counter and sink jutting out into room with a pass-through opening over the sink, looking back into the livingroom. The house if fully carpeted except for the kitchen/dining area and the two baths. Hubby uses the master bedroom as his painting studio. The other two bedroom are down the hall and nondescript. For the first time in my life I have a set of furniture in my bedroom. I very luckily came into some donated bedroom furniture a year or so ago. Headboard, bedside tables, and dresser fill out the remainder of the room. Oh I have three chest of drawers in there too and a beautiful bedspread came with the queen size bed. It looks very much like a hotel room because that's where the furniture came from and I consider myself blessed to have it and I thank God for his gracious gift.

We have ceiling fans in all rooms except the dining area. There is a five-globe hanging light over the table there. Our table is finished oak with four oak chairs. One of these days I will buy four matching pads to go in the chairs. But right now I just have throw pillows in two chairs for our comfort while eating or playing cribbage. But someday I will have a matching set. (I hope.)

My house is set up more for function than for looks. Most of my furniture has been cat damaged over the years by our long-haired, orange tabby, Punkie. Mario our black and while short-hair usually sleeps in my dining room chair or the black chair next to the entertainment center. Not too long ago I had 10 cats but for very sad reasons I'm down to just the two. Well, there's a third one, Mama, who lives in our garage and I should count her too. I want to bring her into the house but she's afraid of the dog, Pepper. And to be absolutely truthful, I'm a little afraid for her. She's such a gentle cat and Pepper can get a bit rowdy. Pepper is my "purebred chi-wa-wa" who isn't the least bit a purebred. I think he's mixed with a dachshund. He weighs about 30-35 pounds and is quite large for supposedly being a toy breed. Pepper rules the house. Completely. He's very protective of us. Me in particular. He'll even bark at Hubby if I'm still in bed asleep and hubby comes back into the bedroom. No one, not even hubby, is going to come next to me while I'm sleeping. But he's an "equal opportunity" biter. Actually he's not a biter at all. He's never bitten anyone, he just "mouths" them and growls. Scares you to death because you think he's going to bite you but he just opens his mouth and puts his teeth on you. He does not bite. Thank goodness. Still I wish he didn't "mouth" either. It's frightening and rude. We've had a dog or dogs (plural) our entire lives and this is the first dog that has ever been so protective and grouchy. He even goes after me when I do something he doesn't want me to do. He had an infection when he was little and I had to try to force down these antibiotic pills the vet gave him and he said "NO!!!" quite loudly and made it clear that I was not to sneak up on him and try to give him a pill. I had to hide his pills inside a piece of hot dog or something to trick him into taking his medicine. And I can't pat him on the butt as he sits beside me on the couch because he had an anal gland infection and I had to apply ointment a couple times a day and he let me know right up front that I was not going to do what the vet said to do. So now anytime I appear to be sneaking up toward his hind end he lets me know immediately that that displeases him. He's got a memory that will outlast an elephant I think. So anyway, he's a bit rowdy at times but at the same time he's a dog that we've had more fun with than any other animal. He just does funny things. He's a funny dog. And we think it's worth the "mouthing" to have him around. Chihuahuas are very strange dogs when it comes to temperament. I'm glad I have only one of them. But, as I said, he's definitely NOT purebred.

Our house sits next to the vacant lot that leads down to the cross street. Lift your eyes to the horizon and you will see Hogback Ridge that is covered in trees and brush and well-sprinkled with homes throughout. At night we can look across town to the lights on the hillside. We can see the highway poking (just barely) through the trees. The flag that waves over the bank downtown is always visible. We have two more oak trees out front and a sidewalk that goes along the side of the garage leading up to the front steps and gate. Junipers and manzanita take up most of the area across the front of the house. We tend to get very hot here in the summertime because the temp boosts so high across the vacant lot and then slams against the side and front of our house. We are usually a good 6-8 degrees hotter than everyone else we know.

Well, this has been a mini tour of my home and surroundings. I am beginning to feel at home here. For some reason it has taken me a long time to feel that way. But when we moved in here there was already someone living here (my daughter-in-law's brother) and so it was his house for a couple years before it actually became our house so I think that was the attachment problem I had for a few years. But Randy has been gone for two years or more so it has just taken time for me to get to the point of feeling like this is "our" house, our "home."

Until next time...