October 8: View from the Mountaintop

We celebrated Keith's birthday on Saturday, and his idea of a great birthday was to climb Long Valley Peak (elevation over 4900 ft) which looks down into the valley in which our small town in nestled. He took this photo of the highest point, looking northeast. (He's a little sore today after 5+ hours of hiking.)

September 30: Sunset

As I drove Jonathan down to Alpine to play in the Starbucks Jam with the Free Teen Guitar Class, an outreach of Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity, the sunset was incredible. So I asked J to pull out my camera and take a few shots while I drove. And this was the best photo of the bunch.... :)

September 26: Dinner!!

It's ready for the oven. Keith baked his special chicken pie recipe for dinner--a favorite in our family.

September 9: Prayer Corner

My bedside table doubles as my prayer corner, and this candle is my latest addition. Given to me by my poet friend Kitty, the Scripture she included is my favorite verse.

September 8: Blackout

On Thursday afternoon, a string of events occurred that caused a huge power surge and outage throughout Southern California. All of San Diego, Imperial, and parts of Orange County went dark for 8-12 hours. 1.7 million homes and businesses survived by grilling dinners, burning candles, using flashlights, and opening windows after a day that reached 107 degrees in some areas. Neighbors hung out together. Families reconnected without the interruptions of computers, televisions, and other electronic playtoys.

We played gin rummy by candlelight and enjoyed the evening so much that I'm tempted to have a "blackout" night once per month.

September 7: WIP

Yep, I have a WIP...a Work in Progress.

I started last November on writing a work of fiction for teen girls. I have about five short chapters left to write (I've published 45 chapters so far), and I may reach 200 pages before I'm done. I'm still pinching myself that I've written this much...174 pages and 101,000 words. It's entered in a contest, but I doubt it will win anything. I'm just thrilled that I'm up to 92,000 reads on WattPad. :)

September 6: Last of Delphiniums

The summer flowers are fading, but one violet-blue delphinium remains, seed pods developing....

September 5: A Bit o' Rain

Rain in Southern California is a precious and rare commodity. I heard sprinkles on the roof around 3:00 AM, and a definitely rain shower came through later in the morning. Clouds hung heavy over our little valley all day, a blessed relief from the usual summer heat we have in the mountains during August and September.

September 4: Cleared at Last!

This concrete slab has been ankle-deep in wood pieces, logs, and assorted detritus for a couple of years as we often split and stack our wood pile here. But the boys' summer project was to clear it--and they did. All the stacked boxes are full of kindling, and the wood is stacked and ready for winter.

September 3: Labor Day Weekend

My dad always told us that Labor Day was for labor...namely, yardwork. I didn't know differently until high school.

But this weekend, Labor Day meant yardwork for our family as well as T mows the weeds that we pretend make up a lawn....

J and B pull weed along the concrete slab....

Keith, J and B take a quick breather....

At least the yard looks acceptable now. ;)