11/365 Surfer Jewels

Yesterday I was looking for inspiration and so I wandered down to the local craft store. I bought some hemp and decided to see if there were how-to videos online... sure enough, there are. So this necklace is my first attempt! To some people, hemp jewelry is hippie stuff... but to me, it's always been more of a beach culture thing... Surfer Jewels... I love that culture, I love that IDEA... but to be honest, I'm terrified of the ocean. I mean, I don't swim in it. I like the beach - nice relaxing in the sun under the umbrella with a book, or people-watching. I would kayak, I like to go boating, but not swim in open ocean. Too many things that would take a little (or not so little) bite out of me!

So now I'm making a bunch of these, they're really easy, I'm doing bracelets with colored beads, another necklace with some gold beads, etc. Anybody want one? It's summertime!

10/365 Planting

Planted up a new container today... we have a very shady area next to the front door... so that's where it's going! The biggest reason I would like to own a house is for the gardening. LOVE to dig in the dirt... very therapeutic.

9/365 Neighborhood Goats

So... most of Ojai is zoned for farm animals... so you can live in a regular looking neighborhood, and then the people next door might have farm animals of some kind. Our last house, it was chickens (and a rooster). And here, the people around the corner have two sheep, a pig, a horse, and these two Pygmy Goats! When I did my rotations in the vet teaching hospital at MSU, the goats were my favorite. They were so cute, and smart! So today I walked over there and took their picture... wish I could have taken them for a walk... they look like they could use it!

8/365 Fern

I love ferns. They look so soft and fluffy, and they remind me of the great forests in Northern Michigan. I love to watch new shoots and flower buds emerging... nature always finds a way doesn't it?

This was a little experiment this morning...  isolating a shoot from a Maiden Hair Fern we have in the house.

I feel the need for a macro lens coming over me...

7/365 My Backyard

This is the view across the riverbed from our backyard taken tonight. It's pretty amazing... I'm sure this won't be the last of these either...

6/365 Bobby...

I work with a great group of teachers, and this is one of them...

He's one of the most genuinely positive and enthusiastic people I've ever met and he LOVES his fresh produce! That's a piece of broccoli, not kryptonite (I took a few liberties with photoshop). He was excited at the thought of being the pic of the day... so here you go Bobby, it's officially YOUR day!

5/365 Memorial Day

Visited a little cemetery here in town. There were several very old graves from the Civil War and the Spanish American War... a little boy riding his bike through the cemetery asked me if I was an angel, he said I was a "very pretty angel" I laughed, and thanked him... should've taken HIS picture!