Treme

Anyone else getting hooked on "Treme"?  Watch it on HBO on Sundays!

Click here for a preview.

Sunny

Sunny is a happy kitty now. 

His incision is healing nicely.

He doesn't have to take that yucky medicine twice a day.

He doesn't have to wear that silly plastic collar any more that made him bump into walls and chair legs.

No one is grabbing him and stuffing him into that cage and taking him to the vet!

He can quit hiding under Grandma's bed!

And best of all, Casey doesn't hiss at him every time he gets near her, and she let's him snuggle next to her again.  He loves Casey!!

Life is good for Sunny once again!

But it doesn't hurt to keep an eye open just in case!

Right Casey?  Casey? 

Driving to Templeton

We took Sunny to the vet in Templeton this morning to get his stitches removed - he's doing fine and hopefully will not have to visit his doctor for another year! As usual, the drive in was very beautiful and bucolic. The hills are still green - we've had more rain this season than usual.

The grapes are leafing out

and the roses are blooming

The road passes by Finley's Family Farm,

And an old barn that's seen better days.

Once you get into Templeton, you can see AJ Spurs,

and Hewitt's Hardware store.

And of course you can't miss the grain elevator - it's the tallest building in town, and right on Main Street (the old Highway 101)

Happy Birthday Charlene

Today is mom's 96th birthday!  We are having a brunch this morning in her honor with a few neighbors and friends attending. 

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Breakfast at the Lawsons

Lots of activity at the bird feeders this morning!

Golfinches, house sparrows and woodpeckers were enjoying the seeds and niger!

And 2 doves enjoyed a drink at the birdbath.

Close Ups

Some closeups of plants in the yard.

Driving Miss Charlene

Charlie rode in style to the park for our first TGIF of the year!  Our neighbor, Vic, picked her up in his Model A Ford for the short ride to the park.  Mom said it brought back memories of her dad teaching her to drive (she thinks in a Model T).  She said there were three pedals on the floor - the clutch, the brake, and reverse - and her dad made her keep one foot on the brake! 

Sweet Sunny

My sweet beautiful Sunny had to go to the Vet yesterday to have a small growth removed from above his eye.  While he was "under" they cleaned his teeth as well.  He is convalescing at home and not liking us much at this point.  I do believe his modeling career might be over!  (Unless they need a "tough" cat model).

His doctor assures us he will be good as new in a couple of weeks!  The worst thing is giving him his medicine (in an eyedropper) twice a day! 

Wildflowers at Shell Creek Road

This digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

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Carnegie Libraries

Between 1883 and 1929 Andrew Carnegie donated approximately $40 Million dollars for the construction of library buildings.  1,689 library were built in the United States, 660 in Britain and Ireland, 156 in Canada, and others in Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, the Caribbean and Fiji.  The funds, intended for the construction of the building, were to be matched by the communities for the purchase of books, staff, and upkeep. 

These libraries were unique in that they utilized open stacks, which encouraged people to browse.  Up to that time patrons had to ask a clerk to retrieve books from closed stacks.  More than half of these buildings in the United States still serve their communities as libraries. 

Paso Robles has one of the Carnegie Library buildings proudly sitting in the park in the middle of town.  It was opened in 1908 and served as the library until 1998 when a new library was built across the street.  The building today serves as the Historical Museum.  It was damaged in the 2003 San Simeon earthquake and was closed for several years while it was retrofitted. 

The architect of the classical revival style building was W.H. Weeks.  The building is constructed of rosy brick with gray stone trim and is surrounded by large oaks, exemplifing the Carnegie "temple in the park" concept.  It was added to the Nat'l Register of Historic Places in 1998.

W. H. Weeks was also the architect for the Carnegie Library in San Luis Obispo which opened in 1905 and remained a library until 1955.  It is used today as a museum.  This Romanesque style building was built of red brick, Los Berros Yellow Sandstone, and Bishop's Peak Granite for it's foundation.

Unusual Animals

I received these two photos as a forwarded email today, so I don't know who to acknowledge for the photos, but thought they were both so unusual I wanted to share.  The little fellow below is called "Zonkey"!  I want one!

And here is an albino moose!

I don't usually get in photos since I'm the one taking them, but today Tom took a photo of me in the field between our house and our neighbor's house.  When we get enough winter rain, there are thousands of beautiful lupines blooming out there!  And this year we got rain!!!!

Now and Then

In March of 1983 I traveled to China with my good friend, Pat.  26 years later in October of 2009 I again went to China, this time with my husband, Tom.  We went to many of the same cities, and saw many of the same sites.  I have gone through many of my slides from 1983 and scanned them to my computer, and will match them up where I can.  This first match-up is at the Great Wall about an hour or so out of Beijing. 

1983 @ the Great Wall

2009 @ the Great Wall

Welcome Spring

Our neighbor's yard is ablaze in poppies!

My Other Blog

I have been experimenting with altering my photos and have been entering various photo challenges on  other blogs out there in cyber space, so I decided I needed a format for those.  I also wanted to experiment with the blog format - mainly being able to enlarge the photos on my blog.  With those goals in mind, I have started a new blog, where I showcase a photo (or maybe two) a day, perhaps adding a quote or poem.  That being said, if you have time, you might want to click on my  new blog.  Thanks for looking.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Bloggers Community Photo Challenge

I'm participating in the Community Photo Challenge - Trees. 

These photos were both taken in back of my house in the winter time. 

To see other entries, click here

Winter Oaks Draped in Moss

Madrone

Puddy

I just entered this photo of my sweet kitty, Puddy, in the Pioneer Woman Photography contest on Flickr.  Puddy was a stray that wandered into the elementary school where I taught  back in the early 80's (actually, she was brought in by a 2nd grade student who said "Look what followed me to school!".  She was bedraggled and scared, and I was talked into taking her home "just for the weekend"!  I had 2 Boston Terriers, and didn't think they would stand for a kitten to be added to the family.  When they rushed up to her, she puffed up to about twice her size (still not very big) and hissed and swatted their noses....and the rest is history.  She ruled the house for the next 14 years, outliving both of the dogs.  Once she grew up, we figured she had some Maine Coon in her....she was a large gal, with long hair, and was a very laid back cat.  She was a treasure.  She passed away a month or so before we moved from Colorado to California.  I miss my Puddy cat! 

Continuing to experiement with collages...this one is from Smilebox.