Collecting treasures, sharing a house, skimming, shopping for wallets, and eating at our favorite spot...these teens were wonderful together on our trip to the beach. It was such a relaxing time sharing a home by the ocean with five teens who all enjoyed life and the simple gifts it has to offer. Preparing for the trip for weeks ahead, packing the cars so that everybody could take all they wanted(boards, guitars, clothes, makeup,etc.), filling the time with everybody's wants and needs, playing pingpong, enjoying time listening to Clark's singing and playing the guitar(quite a priveledge), breakfast on the deck, making breakfast on our return(Thanks Jordan), helping to repair boards, these teens worked together and enjoyed sharing their Holiday. It was once again a time for refueling my energy with time spent next to the ocean and one Wayne and I could enjoy peacefully because we traveled there with five young people who were able to enjoy each other and give with no expectations. There was no schedule and life ran calmly and beautifully as it does each time we leave life behind and once again travel to our favorite spot.

Spring is Here and the Bees have arrived!!!

The hives have been delivered to the orchards and the blossoms have begun to open. Not quite early enough so some of the bees have made it to our backyard and you can sit and listen to the hum as they cover my jade plant which is still in bloom as you can see. The scent has changed and spring is in the air! Trees are filling out with blossoms everywhere and gardens are changing their look as the new spring flowers begin to show their colors. Driving south this week with students, it was beautiful as the orchards are filling out and the color and smell is amazing! Our gardens are changing as well and the walk with coffee is exciting again as I wait for each new addition. We have harvested our oranges and were excited by the flavor! Things taste sooo different when you have grown them yourself. You can see a glimpse of our covered patio which is where so much time is spent. As Spring arrives with all it's new changes so has our family life. The house is filled with teens most nights and the children have both passed yet another trip around the sun. Amazing how change continues and life gives you yet more and more. It is fun to have a few more teens make their selves at home with our family. We returned recently from a trip with several teens and as they woke the next morning, it was a pleasant surprise to walk into my home and smell the scent of breakfast and see the kitchen filled with teens. One of them was filling plates with the food he had prepared as the others were all around the table eating and laughing. I must say it was nice to see somebody other than my two making himself at home in our kitchen. So as Spring comes and blesses us with newness, so does life with all it's new blessings.

My Jade Plant in Bloom

I love that we are in bloom all year long! As many of you may remember, this Jade plant has lived with us for several years now. She has traveled thousands of miles and lives to bloom and bloom!!! She begins her bloom in mid November and as you can see, she continues to bloom through January. She has doubled her size since her arrival in our new home. She stands several feet high and wider than she is tall! She has been lucky to have had guests the last several months. It is always during my morning coffee that Jade is visited by our local bees. They love her and she seems to shine as they hover about. It has been a true blessing to watch her outgrow pots and continually grow beyond. She no longer can be moved as her weight is past what we can lift. She is joined in bloom by plants all about the neighborhood. It is truely amazing to see so much bloom in January. Our Calla Lily is blooming strong as is our Kangaroo Paws. Our Annuals are all in bloom. Annuals...plants that live for an average of 3-5 years here before they must be replaced I am told. All is different and so much to learn. As with the new knowledge I am aquiring with plants, I am also beginning my first try at a new language. Having grown up in a community where learning a second language was not a priority, living here it is a must. I am lucky to have students who are kind enough to help me as well as my children who are constantly correcting me. I am at the beginning stages and am quite enjoying it. To learn about a whole new world...this is good and the planet continues to grow smaller with each new word. If we would each take the time to learn something new about those throughout the world, imagine the layers we would peel back and the friendships we would acquire. May we each be blessed by learning about those persons living throughout the world and not just those in our backyard.

The sweet, sweet smell of the Meyers Lemon!

It was fun to spend a bit of my weekend picking lemons from our tree! We have been living off these beautiful fruits for a several weeks now! Brit downed huge amounts during her recent illness with gallons of tea and local honey! Our salads have been bathed in fresh lemon juice picked right from the tree. We have for years been blessed with different fruits and veggies growing in our yard! I have spent many long days putting up fruit and vegetables with my girlfriend Bon. The children have always been spolied by being able to walk out back and eat fresh from our gardens! It was all new however when we moved! We are fortunate to live in an area where there are Farmers Markets and roadside stands everywhere you look. Some of our local grocers also fill their shelves with locally grown produce. Our backyard produce has now stretched a bit beyond our own backyard and our imagination grows as we try new fruits and veggies. With the busy schedule of teens and working out of the home for the first time in 18 years, having access to all these beautiful foods grown locally has been an amazing asset to our table! It would not be right however, if we did not have at least one form of fruit or vegetable growing right outside our door. Soon after arriving in our new home, we had many long days, weeks, and months of adjusting. During one of those quiet days while the children were at school and Wayno was off busy learning all he could baout almonds, I decided it was time to plant a lemon tree! Of all things to plant, one might think! This idea had been seeded within me long before we traveled the many miles over mountains and through deserts to arrive at this new home. This idea was planted by a dear neighbor from back home who said her favorite tree to grow while she lived out here was a Meyers Lemon tree and that I should try it once I got settled. You will receive hundreds of lemons each year, she said. I thought of Mary often this first year as I watched my tree change. First came blossoms which of course brought the bees! The scent was amazing and could be smelled from all over the yard. Soon, the blossoms gave way to teeny tiny lemons. We checked their progress often and wondered when they would be ready. There were times when I would question others as to if perhaps I had planted a lime tree because it could not possibly take lemons this long to ripen!!! As I read the local stories of restaurant owners rejoicing in the Meyers Lemons they can now use in their recipes as all the markets are flooded with them these days, I smile and rejoice as well because my kitchen is filled with the sweet scent of lemons and my hands are covered with their freshness as I spend hours today juicing them all and freezing the juice so that we will have months of juice at our fingertips! Thank you Mary for planting this idea in my heart so that we could share with you the experience of having lemons just out our door!

In Just A Blink of the Eye

It seems it was moments ago Wayne was telling me it was time to call our family and friends and let them know we had a baby boy! This little babe, who looked so old the nurses kept saying. Not even like a newborn! Where has all the time gone? Can he now be an adult and ready to wander out on his own? I just turned and saw him taking his first step and I know he just said his first word momnets ago. He was so proud the day he boarded the bus and headed off to Kindergarten with a backpack almost the size of him! He grinned ear to ear the day he and his dad along with a friend of ours pulled back to shore and announced Bryant had caught the largest fish of the day! The day we filled bags with autumn leaves and covered the dining room floor to play in them because it was just way too cold to play outside seems like yesterday. Bry and I spent many years togethor homeschooling with his sister and traveled everywhere learning all we could. He and his dad spent many hours and years on the road traveling to and from soccer. Bringing home his first car was a day he had looked forward to forever. Bry has so quickly grown and turned from the cute baby to the handsome young son we are so very proud of! To watch him with friends, to listen as he drums, to close my eyes as he conquers the rock climbs over the ocean waves, these are the moments that make me realize that in just a blink of the eye he has grown up and is no longer a boy but a man! He fills his days making plans to skimboard, playing his drum with friends at local clubs, and choosing a college. It has been an amazing path, walking with him as he has grown! I am happy to have been a part of his life all these years! I have been blessed and yes, in just the blink of an eye, my son has become a Man! May your life be blessed Bry!