If you look closely, you will see evidence of an aphid attack on our new rose blooms. https://videopress.com/v/TGy1FMhp?preloadContent=metadata A hawk dogfight. OUR BACK YARD seamlessly flows into open space, and from our vantage point on the patio, it’s one big high-def, wrap-around entertainment center for watching nature at work. While sipping coffee, a coyote might …
Harvest time, planting time
It’s winter, officially, and that means time to harvest the citrus crops in the sunnier climes of the United States. We have a lemon tree and our first orange tree. We decided to pick the sweeter fruits early, to get a jump on the wildlife that, for some reason, seems entitled to take what they …
Hand-made gifts are the best
IT’S BECOME SOMETHING OF A FAMILY TRADITION to hand-craft our gifts. Since we have been in lockdown for the past umpteen months, there really was no excuse this year. Sister Francine and her husband, Mike, created this beautiful little rabbit out of redwood. They aren’t sure of the genesis of the wood stock, but I’ll …
There’s something fishy about these ornaments
SOMEHOW, AMIDST THE FLURRY of moving during a pandemic, settling in a new home, producing new music and a book, we forgot one little thing: decorations for our tree. We were happy enough to have an actual tree. Sherry procured a live specimen and even got it delivered. So that was an accomplishment. But, in …
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Our favorite Christmas cookie
I have written before about the tradition of making what we call Christmas horns, a family recipe handed for generations from the old country (Moravia). You can read the original post here. Use a sifter or strainer to dust lightly with powdered sugar. I experimented in my latest batch by reducing the amount of sugar …
Perfect Strangers
Around this time six years ago, I found myself out in the cold on a street corner in Mountain View, California. But I was having so much fun, I really didn't notice the time or the weather. I was busking (playing guitar and singing) with Sherry. We started at sometime around 10 p.m. and went …
Sherlock Holmes and the case of the dirty pictures
“What are you looking at?” I inquire, innocently, of my very preoccupied wife as she squints at her phone. “Poop,” she says. “OK, then,” I reply. If we had had that conversation at the beginning of the year, I might well have been shocked. Now, it seems quite routine. The hills behind our new home. …
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The move
IT HAS BEEN QUITE SOME TIME since we have posted here and we have a good excuse. Amid the pandemic, raging wildfires, heat waves, economic mayhem and political strife, we left (escaped?) the hustle and bustle of downtown Los Angeles for a sleepy suburb in Ventura County. It seems like only yesterday that we were …
Lies in a Coffee Shop (or why this blog exists)
How a lie and caffeine were involved in the creation of this blog.
