New Art Going On Around Here!

From The Hubs (I always knew he was creative)....With the help of a great friend and yin and yang buddy-Gil Martin. No formal art training...and they crank these out with a shotgun for a paintbrush!Bottom photo is some of the finished work photographed by the super talented Robert Petersen.

10 Years Ago Today....

Engaged!Under Orion, on the beach at Sunnyside in North Lake Tahoe, this handsome man asked me to marry him. Talk about a Happy Thanksgiving, nothing in my life has made me more thankful!

Fall around the farm

Just a couple pictures before all the leaves form a knee high sea on the lawn!

       I'm crazy about the crabapple Tree "Brandywine." NOT just because the name has the word wine in it,although how do you not love that? Spring finds it covered in pink and white bubblegum shaped blossoms. Fall finds it covered in pretty crabs of decent size that are followed by orange, orangey orange, leaves.

Pretty "new" garden gate Kev put up that leads to our  orchard we planted this year with Black Arkansas apples, D'Anjou pears,Reliance peaches, several types of raspberries and two mystery mulberries the birds "planted" for us . Had to include my small, sweet, slow growing gingko. 

I figure the birds must be eating well since there is still quite a few clusters of now uber sweet Chardonnay grapes left on the vines. I imagine the robins will make short work of them soon.

         Blog,blog,blog....I suppose I am the last one around to post thoughts and photos out to the internet world. I'm lucky enough to work at a job I love, with people I love. My friend/boss was probably my first introduction to the blogosphere. The idea for my own"ranch blog" started as an attempt to work through a husband being deployed.... but it failed. I couldn't type a single word. 

Bike rides with my Mom helped.

   
                                                        As did tending a messy garden.

     Over a year has passed since then. The missing husband now home, things are pretty darn complete. So much has happened in the time he has been home. We said goodbye to our first "child"-a willful protector who loved a good head scratch and a milkbone or two. He was the boss of the farm and could swipe a full tri-tip steak from the counter without a sound. We miss him everyday.

     The universe filled that missing piece of our family fairly quickly though. This handsome pup literally ran down a highway into our lives. The coincidences of the story still make me misty. Every time I look at him, I'm reminded of the goodness of the universe.
   
      Had a few family visits as well and we're now plus two on the nephew count!

Flipping famous hometown hamburgers.

Can't visit Nevada without shooting.

Family meets family.

                           AND Murphy helped with growing some GIANT pumpkins!