Cherry Picking Change

For those of you who work and would like to go cherry picking, bring the kids and a cup of coffee and we will go on Saturday, June 10 instead of Friday, June 9. Plan on being to the area about 9:00am. Let me know if you can make it. Will give more details as we get closer.

Another one bites the dust...

We caught gopher number two yesterday. Yeah for us. I am not normally so ruthless toward God's creatures, and I can see how gophers are good as far as irrigating the soil and such, but I can't help doing the little "I Won" cheer when I catch one. This one started in on my lawn and now I have two holes in my lawn. And I have been working so hard at that! So, he had to go. Set the trap with gloves again and Scott found him yesterday. So the score is Amy 2, Gophers 0. Plus, I don't want gopher snakes or rattlesnakes looking for lunch. Last year a mojave green rattlesnake got in our back yard and bit our then two month old german shepherd puppy. After close to $2000 of treatment, she was fine. The year before, my neighbors caught and killed a mojave green on my slope, right where the gophers are hanging around now. So I don't want to invite any more snakes into my yard.

I think the worst is over and now at least I know how to catch them. Hopefully this is not something that happens every year now. I wonder if they are attracted by all the flowers I worked so hard to plant this year...

Cherry Season

So, cherry season is almost upon us and I have a list of people who want to go cherry picking this year. So I figured I'd put it on here and whoever wants to go with us when we go, can. Cherries should be ready either June 3 or June 10 this year. I will know more the closer we get. As warm as it has been, it just may be June 3. We will probably go on a couple of Fridays. So figure if they are available June 3, then we will go Monday, June 5 and also Fridays June 9, 16 and possibly the 23rd. I will find out soon what day they will open. Most of the places open on the same day. For anyone coming from Santa Clarita, you can take either San Francisquito Cyn and turn right on Elizabeth Lake Road or Bouquet Canyon and turn left on Elizabeth Lake Road and it will take you to 80th Street West, which is where most of the cherry orchards are off of. Except for one BIG new place that is a little further east. There are about 18 cherry orchards, some better than others. The earlier you get there, the cooler it will be. Tennis shoes or hiking boots, clothes you don't mind getting stained, in case they do. And a hat if you think you will need it. Sunscreen if you use it. And some paper bags and possibly a cooler to take your cherries home in. Oh, and cash to buy them with. They are sooooo good, sweet and yummy, you will want to pick a whole bunch! I have a bunch of cherry recipes, too, in case you don't know what to do with them.

If you are interested in going with us, let me know. Or if you want the info on where to go, so you can go on a Saturday or a Sunday, I can provide that to you.

Friends

I have been thinking about my friends lately. My friend in New Jersey - I talked with her the other day. She is thinking about moving to North Carolina. I have known her for 33 years. Wow, that is a long time to know someone considering I am only 29. Yeah. She has three boys, 6 1/2, 3 1/2, almost 2. She's done. She must be a saint! I don't know how she does it! When I speak with her on the phone, it doesn't seem that we haven't talked in ages, it seems as though I talked to her a week ago. She told me that a girl in our high school class died three months ago. Had five kids, four girls one boy ages 12 to 2. Brain tumor. How sad. I haven't been out of high school long enough for people to be dying already! I can't imagine what her kids are going through, though.

Another friend just announced she is pregnant. Eight weeks. I am SOOOOO happy for her, I can't contain myself. She has that "glow". It is not just a myth, people. She is radiantly beautiful. I am sure her husband thinks so as well. And I hope that we grow even closer, as now we will have one more thing in common. What fun!

Another friend is going to have a baby next week. She has been on bed rest because her blood pressure is too high. She, too, looks beautiful. Just totally at peace. She has a six year old son and she is having a baby girl. She wanted a girl. She has bought things for my girls on occasion because she just couldn't put down the cute little pink item. Well, now I have had a chance to buy her a few little pink things! She is a wonderful person and a joy to be with and I am so happy for her that she gets to have another baby.

I have a new friend. Jess and Bekah go to a gymnastics class and one of the mothers I found out lives on the street behind me. In the same house as me! They came to Jess and Bekah's birthday party. She is so nice! One of the nicest people you could meet. I hope that we become better friends.

My very good friend, who helped me with my gophers, took me to the dealership the other day to get the windows tinted, has watched my kids when I am in need and would do anything to help. She is one of the nicest people I know. I enjoy her company immensely and am so glad that we are friends. And she has a great laugh.

My dad is becoming a very good friend. We never spent much time together before, but we see him about once a week now. It is very nice. We can talk and laugh and joke and he is so much more relaxed now than ever before. And we have this gopher thing in common.

My sister-in-law's sister. She is always positive and upbeat. She always has a smile on her face. If you are feeling down, she is the one you want to have around. She has a three year old daughter with white blonde hair and she is so cute. Rebekah's best friend. They have a good time together and so do Mary and I.

My aunt, who reads this blog to get a laugh. So I write, hoping she will. I can't think about her without smiling. She is one of the most generous and genuinely nice people I know and especially since my mom passed away, I have become closer to her and I am glad she is in my life. She is a wonderful person.

There are other people I have become close to lately and I am so thankful that I have these people in my life. Aren't we blessed to have close friends that we can talk to, share with and that understand us? At different times in our lives we become close to different people and sometimes we don't talk to someone for a long time, but friends, unlike relatives, are chosen and they are the people who we spend time with because we want to. You can be yourself with your friends and they still like you! I thank God for all my very good friends.

The Gopher

Okay, apparently what we have here is a pocket gopher. Other people's gophers are huge! This one is slightly larger than a hamster, but not as cute. Not really cute at all, when you get to see it up close, which we did when I pulled out a trap with the little bugger in it. Yeah! I got him! Scott was home that morning and I went out to check the traps. Not expecting to find anything. Well, the trap had been sprung, so I went back in the house and told him to come out and get it, "Cause I think I got a gopher!" So, he comes out and we both got to look at it. "What if it is just knocked unconscious?" So Scott smacks it on the head about five or six times with the big metal thing we had attached to the trap so it wouldn't run away. No, it's dead. But look at those claws and teeth! For such a little guy he had huge claws and teeth. Good thing I didn't have to deal with him while he was alive!

Jess came outside and we showed him to her. She went "Aaaaah!", then took a closer look. She's not afraid of this stuff!

Well, I reset the traps just in case and figured I was done. Then I came inside to announce to the blogging community that we had caught our gopher.

I wasn't. Yesterday I went out there to water and found a new patch of soft dirt. !#@*!@ gophers! Two new holes on the slope. SO, I set the trap in one of these and we'll hope for the best. My gopher troubles are here to stay...but I will get him eventually.

Scott watched a few minutes of Caddyshack last night on TV. It's funny when it is happening to someone else.