Mountain Maulie

                                                    

                                        Were almost to the top of Maulie's Mountain!          

                                                                





                                                         Maulie's Mountain

                                                Maulie and Hubby's destination!

                                       On the way up Maulie's Mountain it's probably
                                       a  hill but to Maulie it's a mountain.




                              This is looking down at Crest as they walk higher!!
 

Looking down at Crest.



Their still climbing 

 This summer were sure to have some wildfire worries. It's humbling how your at the mercy of Mother nature everywhere. But with the beautiful parts of this world you have to take the good with the bad. I like being away from lots of people under foot . I love the sound of  hawks and chickens laying eggs. I especially enjoy people riding their horses by. I  appreciate living in a smaller town and having a church I can walk to or a library a couple of houses away. I am a pretty content person who enjoys the simple things of Life.

So here is a man and his dog venturing into the outdoors again. Jack wanted me to know even though they are out on the trails he sees people walking their dogs on the trails.He took his cell phone. Lol

                                         Jack said it was a steeper climb then he thought.

                                                                         Rocks

                                                                               



                                                     

                                                                       Crest






                                                              

                                                            I  am somewhere in there!



                                             

               Cacti 

  

                                                        On top of Maulie's Mountain

 

                                                  Be sure and click to get a better view!

                                                 Maulie happy to have gone to the top and going home!
                                                          


                                                              Maybe it's me but what's in the brush!                                                       

                                                                       

                                                     I wonder what Maulie is looking at.

                                                          
                                                                

                                                                    The trail was rocky!

                                                           
                                         Their off the mountain and coming home!

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Mixed feeling in a Hooked Rug

Ok so I made this announcement to the world to finish my big rug on Tuesday. So Easter Sunday as we waited for the ham to cook I sat hooking away. It was the most relaxing Easter I have experienced in a long time. When we came home after the long drive from my daughters I got to work . My husband just smiled as I watched T.V.and worked away Sunday evening.

Maybe we just need to announce to the world were on a deadline and maybe that’s what I needed. Since I have so many interests I feel like a packet of seeds scattered everywhere. So I finished my hooking on my rug and then I felt a little let down on how it turned out.


 Binding is next

 All of us hookers in our group made the same pattern. I was trying to use colors similar to another hooker Donna who made a really nice primitive version of the pattern. I didn‘t have the same wools as Donna so how could my rug look like hers? That’s what is so interesting about hooking everybody can have the same pattern and yet their rugs look so different by color selection .Have you ever just gotten to the point you have a love hate relationship with a rug? I am o.k.with it I am just not really happy with it. I envisioned it different and Oh well I am just not sure. I need to move on and accept it’s done.One of the things I don't like it's a little too busy.I think I don't like the black speckled background too.It does look better in the dark with my blue walls in the bedroom.Lol Cheri

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Maulie and Jack's Walk about in Crest

          

Every day after work ever since we moved back to Crest Maulie and  hubby go an a walk about.Last night I had a eye opener! As I slave over the oven making dinner my hubby changes his work boots and he takes a quick look at our manipulative Maulie and depending on her dog face off they go.They turn right on our dirt road and then within five minutes the world changes into the great outdoors. I usually grab Morris if he is roaming outside and make sure he doesn’t follow them on their  walk abouts just for his cat paw safety. 
When we were in the city for our brief time there weren’t that many country places to walk but now since were back in our Crest Hubby and Maulie go exploring.I thought they were on the pavement but  No they were on their great adventure a man and his little pampered pooch. Lol 
  I asked Jack to take the camera and show me where they go on their Walk abouts. Since were a town on top of a hill there is a lot to see. It's surprising sometimes how close true nature is.Crest is surrounded by big beautiful mountains. I had no idea how far they were going walking.



After about an hour those two will show up with muddy feet ,panting happy faced shitzu and a happy relaxed hubby.. Now that I have seen where their going I told hubby to take his cell phone just in case and Maulie well wouldn’t she be a dish for coyotes. I started wondering Maybe he should have a stick in case he runs into some wild animal. (Did I tell you he saw a mountain lion years ago driving up the hill to Crest.) . He laughed and told me he would protect Maulie’s honor with his pocket knife. I thought for a second forget Maulie’s honor how about her hide.

                                     .

                                   There are houses all over the sides of Crest.

                                                      big bird nest

                                           Up on top of that rock pile is a house.

Ok is it just me but isn't this a road for mastiffs or hound dogs not for Maulie!

                           

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Meyer lemon Tree is so pretty!

   Lemon Tree is so pretty

and the Lemon flower so sweet  
but the fruit of the poor lemon
is impossible
   to eat.

Peter Paul and Mary wrote those lyrics years ago and yet they still echo in my brain . When I started typing this recipe for Lemon Pie it was playing in my head over and over. I felt like a little hippie chick all I needed was some Birkenstocks a peasant blouse oh and a ticket to a outdoor stadium concert.


I was so excited to get a Meyer Lemon tree for my birthday a couple days ago .The reason is I have been trying to find some Meyer Lemons because of a delish Pie I ate. A girlfriend from my Tuesday rug hooking group made this wonderful Lemon Pie which was a slice of heaven and a big hit with all us hookers.
 A really sweet but tart pie is a great combination for a light tasting dish. This was so easy a recipe that I made it and yim yam yum it was so good!
If I can bake it I know it’s a great recipe.Remember my Valentine's day cake fiasco?




 Meyer Lemon Tree


I don’t know where this recipe originated from but using a blender for baking is my idea of simple and quick. So enjoy but remember it has to be Meyer lemons! It’s the perfect pie for Spring and summer.

Meyer lemon Pie Yum!

Important! You must use Meyer’s Lemons because you use the entire lemon, including rind goes into the pie.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
I med-large Meyer’s lemon cut into quarters and de seeded

(if lemons are small, substitute 2 small lemons.                            
Do not remove Rind but remove seeds!
1 ½ Cups sugar
4 eggs
1 stick butter
Put all the ingredients in a blender and Mix well
Pour mixture into pie shell(I use a frozen Marie Callendars-
Do not pre bake.)

Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 (sometimes it takes longer to set, watch for light browning on top of the pie and crust)
 It is always fun to take something out of your garden and create a dish . It might be using your eggs from your chickens and making scones  or picking a couple lemons and making a simple Lemon Pie.I can hardly wait til next spring when I get some girls for my chicken coop. Cheri

                                                             

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Sweet tea and Janet's finished her hooking!

                                                   Bev and a cute rug she did years ago.

Janet’s finished her rug and now it’s time to bind. I love how her rug turned out! Today was a fun day with hooker friends munching on tuna sandwiches and sipping sweet tea ,laughs. I am close to finishing my big rug it’s the same pattern as Janet’s but note to hookers do the outline first! Because I didn’t hook the outline of my rug I keep having to straighten out the border. My rug keeps getting bigger and bigger.Lol I know that is Hooking 101 but hey some of us do things the hard way. So I am giving myself a deadline next Tuesday the hooking will be complete. Yes I am throwing a Hooker Rug challenge to myself just do it and finish it by Tuesday! . Lol

                                                                  Janet's Rug

I wanted to work on the rug I have been creating so I hooked away on my background all afternoon. It’s nice there were no distractions of Maulie and Morris. Have you ever noticed that two heads are better then one and it’s nice to have other’s give you some input when you are hooking and stuck. Sometimes you want just a little bit of advise when it’s not turning out how you envisioned it in your wool muddled head. I had a basket that was being swallowed up in my background. An idea by Bev and Janet to make the handle a different color and hopefully it will stand out is worth a try. I am going to hook that tonight when I get done posting.  ……… .

                                                                          Janet is starting to bind.

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Blog Takeover!!!!

Public Market, Seattle WA

Hi I’m Megan, Cheri’s daughter and my mom made the mistake of letting me have her password when I was helping her with her blog one day. LOL!  See anytime she needs help with loading something, or if the buttons on the side of her blog get switched around she calls me and I fix it while talking to her over the phone.  I warned her that giving me her password would come back to haunt her at some point but I don’t think she believed me!!! Hee Hee!! My intent was to takeover her blog on her birthday yesterday but when I woke up and realized she had already posted I thought I would delay my takeover for one more day. See the intent of this blog takeover is to tell you even more awesome things about my mom.


She mentioned some funny things about her life yesterday but I’ve got more to add to the story….don’t worry mom I’m not going to embarrass you.

My mom is pretty awesome and in about two months will be a grandma for the first time. This has got me thinking a lot about my childhood and how my baby boy will benefit from her influence.

My mom is incredibly creative. When I was little she encouraged me to read and use my imagination. We would go to the library all of the time and I could pick out a stack of books. It was heaven to me.

My mom also knows how to throw an amazing tea party for dolls and teddy bears. She would set up the table with all of my toys and she would hand make little menus for me and then take my “order” wearing a little apron. It was fantastic.

My mom loves Halloween and Pumpkins!

My mom also had a huge trunk filled to the brim with dress up clothes. Various old bridesmaid dresses, funky brooches, necklaces, and poofy hats. My friends and I would dress up in outrageous combinations and flaunt our glamorous selves all around the neighborhood. It was loads of fun.

My mom is incredibly enthusiastic and excitable. For example at Christmas time she has been just as excited about getting a new ipod as she was about getting a few fat quarters of fabric.

My mom is incredibly appreciative. She doesn’t take things for granted and she finds joy in everything.

My mom is incredibly talented, although she never gives herself enough credit. When I was really little she was really into weaving, spinning and dying yarn. I thought she was nuts at the time and then of course I grew up, became obsessed with knitting and fiber arts I had to finally admit to myself that my crazy mom was actually kind of cool. I’m still trying to get my hands on her loom but she’s putting up some resistance! So far I haven’t caught the rug hooking bug quite yet but I’ve wised up enough to realize that what I might think is crazy now might become my newest obsession so I’m biting my tongue. I enjoy seeing how her projects are coming along and watching her fret about what colors she’s going to use next. I’m the same way about picking out yarn for knitting so when she’s talking about color in the back of my head I’m thinking….oh my goodness…I’m turning into my mom!

I hold my mom responsible for my obsession of collecting rocks and sea shells.

My mom LOVES animals. I mean literally loves the heck out of them. Every time I talk to her I get an earful about what the wondrous Maulie is doing (to be honest my dogs Makenna and Halle are way cuter but don’t tell my mom that LOL). Growing up we had dogs, cats, chickens, bunnies, ducks, and a turtle. We had two big dumb dogs that would push open the back door if it wasn’t properly closed and my mom would yell “Megan, get your chickens out of my kitchen.” We had pretty friendly chickens and they would come inside if they had the chance.

My favorite memory of chickens with my mother involves when we discovered that we had unexpected baby chicks. We were so excited and they were so cute! My mom ran inside to call her dad (my Tata) to tell him about our baby chicks and he asked if we had baby chick food for them, to which my mom indignantly replied “won’t the mom feed them.” I was in the other room but could hear my Tata just laughing on the other end of the phone. In a blind panic that the brand new baby chicks would starve my mom raced into the backyard, got a scoop of the regular chicken food, poured in on the kitchen cutting board and began pounding at it with a meat tenderizer. Smashing it into little bits and sending it flying all over the kitchen. It was hilarious. For the record no baby chicks died of starvation. LOL.

My mom has instilled in me the importance of education, reading, creativity, being thankful, the love of making things with my hands, and I’ll admit an obsession with animals. When you are super little you think your mom is the greatest, then you hit those teenage years and she is the most uncool person on the planet, then somehow you get older, get married and are starting your own family and you realize that along the way you’ve turned out to be just like her. I can’t wait for my baby boy to meet my mom. I know she’ll have a lot to teach him since I know how important her lessons helped to shape the woman that I am.

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you bunches!

Statue in Laconner WA.





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A Birthday girl No it's not the dog it's me!

Maulie has a summer cut for spring. Maulie looks out the window starting her day with me.

                                                                                              

Well I opened my curtains it’s a new day and a Birthday for someone I know . Me! I am the such a little child at heart and love birthdays. My friends have been celebrating with me all week. With presents and trips to lunch. I feel like a lucky lady. So today I am going to be a little bit of a self absorbed person and tell you interesting things about me.


Does that sound stupid? but if you can’t talk about yourself one day of the year oh well!



I loved this Rose arbor at a nursery outside of San Diego.

 First funny facts about me

In my short Life I have been chased by a moose and kissed by a whale. (the original Shamu at Sea World) Some whales don’t know how to kiss and they feel like they are socking you in the jaw. I think he misjudged his kiss. I wonder has that ever happened to you on a date when you were younger?hummm.

The moose chasing was in Wyoming while living there. We were in the bighorn mountains sightseeing and there was a big bull moose laying in the meadow minding his own business. As my friend and I went to explore and get closer to this big animal he got up and started galloping after us. He finally stopped and I still have a picture of him behind me and of course I was posing.. I have told this story before but I thought my new followers might like to hear it.

I am probably the only girl to get robbed at a drive thru dairy store where the robber returned, gave me the money back. I was 19 at the time and I told him to stay right where he was at after he returned with the bag of money. He complied and the police arrested him. It’s a very funny story that when I was in superior court in San Diego and as I described him robbing me and stating “Give me your money” repeating it to me time after time at least 3 times! I was just looking at the robber not realizing I was being robbed. Finally frustrated he pulled out his knife and that’s when I said “Do you want the change?” I cannot tell you how funny it sounded when I said it in front of a jury. They all laughed! He returned only because a lady pulled up in her car  and I pointed him out as he ran to his car and she got his license number.Smart thinking on my part I think.

 

              I love my daughter and son in laws fish pond.                                                     

Buena creek nursery a real peacock!

I have enjoyed all the wonderful blogger friends that have shared their stories of their lives with me. So as I finish my coffee I look out at this wonderful world good and bad and think I am blessed to be still here .Everybody have a good day! Hugs to you all Cheri

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Flannel Bush Where's the wool?

                                                          

                                 April in California which means Iris are blooming.
                                 I drove over to Linda's to pick her up and I was early of course which meant
                                 I have time for pictures.Linda grows many native plants which use little water.
                                 This is called a flannel bush.

                                                                                                     

                                                                          Linda's front yard


                                                The shades of purple are really soothing to see.

                                        
                                                  

                                                         Dry river beds look great in a garden

                                                                             
                                                     

                                                           Iris Howse and Gardens in Bonita


Linda and I putted out to Bonita this morning to see the Iris in bloom at Iris Howse and Gardens. Linda navigated with my notes as I drove. We didn't want to go on the freeway so we took the long way to Bonita.  It was a more relaxing drive and we were in no hurry.
Iris Howse is known for having over 400 varieties of Iris which I think is quite a few. It was a pretty April day and I glad to see some of the Iris were blooming.

                    To me a blooming Iris field means spring is officially here in California.

                                                 Rows of Iris beds



The Iris beds are grown 
in front of their home.

                                                                 

                         This field of Iris in the front yard is so beautiful to see.

                          

                                                                                          

I love a variety of plants in a garden    

Little Easter bunny

                         Funny fact about me.The year I was born it was on Easter Day.             

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