What a week

 Last Valentine's Day as a teacher...

 Cute little lizard on the Sulphur Mountain Trail in Casitas Springs

 Hiking buddies

Digging the truck out of 2 feet of snow on the driveway

Morning and afternoon

Before the storm the sky was on fire

and then ice rolled over

Bully wind

It has been windy.  So, so windy.  And this house just collects currents that whip and moan and rattle around the house.  I should be reading Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre or Rebecca... The sunshade that Scott put over the pergola is gone.  We listened to it flap all night and Scott pulled its loose end down this morning.  We don't really need protection from the sun right now, with temperatures hovering in the 30's.

Winter on Poppy Hill

Less gifts, more giving

So...in order to focus our attention on how blessed abundantly we are, to focus on how lucky we are to have EVERYTHING we need, I tried to change it up a bit this Christmas.  The western world's Grinchiness towards the Syrian refugees bothers me deeply to core of my being.  So, the kids got their pj's and a book.  The adults got something to open, just a token really, but still meaning "I love you and am thinking about you and here is something from me".  But after those gifts were quickly opened (because it was starting to SNOW!) my real gift was presented.  In the name of our blessed family, I gave to other truly needy families around the world.  Goats, rabbits, chickens, a beehive, a fish pond, a donkey, items to comfort and sustain people around the world just like us...but struggling just to live another day.  Although the kids enjoyed the "game", and I am glad to have spent my money on more meaningful gifts, I am left feeling a little bit of a letdown.  It is hard to turn away from the satisfaction of giving an exciting gift...but we will work on it. God's grace through Jesus the Messiah is the most exciting gift of all.  Yes.  All is good.

Samantha's first WHITE Christmas!

New Year's Day for teachers

Having a pensive moment on Santa Cruz Island...summer's last fling.

In fifteen  minutes, the new year begins.  This is according to a teacher's calendar.  Last night, we should have toasted the end of summer and the beginning of our work year.  Outside, there are sunflowers sprouting everywhere...because of bird feeder debris?  I walk around the ranch and check their progress, hoping that they have enough time to flower before frost hits. Yesterday, the goats got into the neighboring horse pasture. We scolded the horses, who put on a who me? all innocence posture, for encouraging the goats to come visit.  The goats put on a we don't know how this happened, all of a sudden we were on the wrong side of the fence and we want to come home posture.

Saturday morning, the last Saturday morning of the school year.  Breakfast this morning...lemon sandwich cookies, the last of the Costco 4-Bean salad, and two pieces of Russell Stover candy from a box Scott for Valentine's Day from a student.

slacker

I have just been too busy reading to keep up with my book list.  Scott stumbled onto a one day good deal for Kindle, $2.99 each for Louise Penny's awesome Inspector Gamache quebecois mysteries, so I have been binge reading them.  Like when I was a kid and read Nancy Drew, Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt...