Road rash and Sunburns

Today was my first day back on my bike in a whole week. We got home from San Diego late Wednesday night then Ron and I got up early Thursday took off for the cabin to paint the porches. It is amazing how fast that guy can work. I was just the prep girl, lots of sweeping and some scraping. But he got all of the railing and porches painted in one days time. We even had time to go to dinner at Murphy's.
This morning I learned the hard way road rash and sunburns are a bad combination. I was only a few miles into my ride this morning. I took a turn and on the down stroke of my inside leg my pedal broke! This is my second set of pedals. I already upgraded  the original plastic ones when I broke one avoiding a crazy teenage driver by the high school a few years ago.
I hit the ground hard.  Things flying off every which way. Before I could even stand all of the way up, there was a very kind older woman there trying to help me gather my things. She wanted to push my bike home for me  but I knew I looked like a horror show, blood everywhere. Ron had just left for his hike and was still in cell phone range. I was so relieved because my pride was hurt enough without having a little old lady walk me home.

I won't take pictures of my wounds. I thought my shirt would be gross enough.

San Diego

I forgot how much I love the Ocean!
I loaded up the kids after helping Ron out with his fifth  Sunday lesson.  I was so tired and dreading the 6 hour drive.  But I hadn't been to see Amber since her move and I knew it would be my last chance for a long time.  (The high school kids have already started open gym and meetings for swim.)
We got there pretty late.  The latch on the car door got jammed and the door wouldn't shut. Amber lives 2 blocks from the Ocean in Sunset Cliffs next to Ocean Beach. Parking is crazy there so I am out on the street a block from Amber's house at midnight with a screwdriver and using the light of my phone trying to fix the car door. Can I say hallelujah for smart phones and YouTube!

I woke up tired and still not very excited. But then we went to the beach and all of that just melted away. We  spent hours and hours swimming, boogie boarding and body surfing. Thanks to Ty I finally was able to do the last two. He is good at explaining the mechanics of things and I have never caught a wave before in my life but once I did I was hooked. We all got super crispy burnt the first day. Which is crazy because we are sunscreen veterans. But I think the cloud coverage, cool ocean breeze and 75 degree temps are deceptive. 

Hodad's is  my kids favorite place to eat in Ocean Beach. Yummy burgers and shakes. People start lining up before it opens at 11 a.m. and the line never ends.

We got up early our last day to spend time serving in the temple. The San Diego temple is so beautiful and the workers so kind and helpful. Amazing peaceful experience.

Michael opted out of the trip. There was a party at home he wanted to go to and he said he was tired of traveling. Yeah, like we are such jet setters. I kept trying to find him as I was counting heads. One time I even said "Where is Michael?" It makes me a little sad to look at these pictures and not see him with the other kids having a good time. That girl hosting the party must be pretty cute.

Poor

The big buzz around our house this week was Tyler's training. Tyler and kaj had been selected to be in an eating contest.  They were part of the debut of a burrito eating challenge at Salsa Blanca. A team of two people have 1 hour to eat a 15 pound burrito if they Beat the other team the would win 

Happy birthday Ashley

Today is Ashley's 13th birthday. We spent our morning cleaning and preparing for the party. Ma'am and papa came to visit. Then the two of us went shopping for shoes. Ashley decided to forgo the pedicure and apply the expense towards more shoes. 

Her party started with swimming and shaved ice. Then we made hair flowers. Blinged out sandals using flip-flop glue. And decorated cupcakes. The older girls headed off to the church for a youth activity. After getting back there was some begging to swim again. It is almost 10 pm. I am going to have start dragging them out.

Garden Swing

So here is my dear hole digger. That is a bit of a joke in our house. Have you seen Holes. Our favorite line is by Mr. Sir...

                    "You take a bad boy, make him dig holes all day in the hot

                  sun, it turns him into a good boy. That's our philosophy here at

                   camp green lake."

Let's just say Michael has dug a lot of holes, scrubbed garage floors and other cruel forms of labor.

I gained more weight bringing him into our family than any of my children I gave birth to. I have gotten a lot better about eating when stressed or I would have had a heart attack by now. Inspite of my huge thighs that would disagree, he really is a good boy now. So I think it works not the eating, the punishment by boot camp.  He hasn't been kicked out of school for a couple of years. :)

While he was helping me I just kept thinking "I am loosing him, a few short years and he will be gone.  I only have a month or so left with Ty and then I will loose Michael too....who is going to do all of my manual labor now!"

So this is the deathtrap swing he helped me put up before digging all of  those holes. I know it is not going to work that tree across the top is too saggy, but down at the right I planted a Clematis (Jackmanni alba) to climb up the oak.  I envision it climbing up and over blooming like crazy and sitting in that swing singing the song "kiss me."  Sigh..more fantasy day dreams from a desert gardener.  

Gardening in zone 5

I live where it hot, crazy stupid why do I live here? hot! My gardening zone is 10+ ( zone 13 for those of us who trust in Western Gardener.) Imagine my shock when I realized that the cabin is a zone 5 ( WG zone 2) I was in the nursery and they had blueberry plants, with real blueberries growing on them. I just stood there looking at the plants. Well sampling the plants. It took a while for my brain to get around the idea I could grow blueberries!
So lucky me I had an experienced hole digger on had, because after confirming the zone thing on my phone I went a little crazy at the nursery.  It was also very nice that there was a dance Friday night that he really wanted to go to so he was more than happy to dig a lot of holes.
More excitement...I planted a Red Indian Raspberry plant last year. All week I had been thinking about where I would move it once winter hit. It hadn't done a thing and it looked pretty sad. I was sure I had put it in a bad spot. But as I was mulching I realized it had sent out 4 shoots. Baby raspberry plants. Yeah I am not a total failure in a good climate.

And...as I was mulching the Irises I found this! A seed pod, on an Iris plant! I had no idea this was possible. I have grown Irises in Hades for 20 years and have never had an Iris plant set seed.
I love zone 5!

Goldwater Lake, Prescott Arizona

This seems like a lame way to come back. Especially after the crazy awesome year it has been. But I loved this picture. Moments like this make my heart sing. And I guess the quietness and slow pace of the cabin allow time for reflection.
I had been ready to leave the lake for a couple of hours. I had quietly and patiently endured the embarrassment of being the loudest people on the lake. I don't think fishermen appreciate my kids playing "Pirates of the Caribbean" complete with theme music as they attach, ram and try to flip each other over. I am not sure anyone caught a fish this afternoon but I was richly rewarded.