My first spring in California!

I think it is spring anyway!... 

Some days are still in the 60s, but yesterday it must have been 80!  Flowers are blooming everywhere, the birds are going crazy...

That is spring to me!

I was given two mini rose bushes.  I got a bit bigger pots for them.
Yay! I got my hands dirty!

Good ol' omelet for lunch one day.  Ate out on the back deck.

Matthew has been building a website for Grizzly Youth Academy.
He's really smart, btw! 

So I had a rubbermaid container full of scrap material, and then I went and took our landlady's as well.
I think I've gone crazy!
Ripping these into strips is not only a good arm workout,
but then you have to clean house because the lint and dust goes EVERYWHERE!

Vanessa helped when I was over there while Matthew was gone.

This is a book Matthew got for Nelson and I am borrowing it.
Really interesting! 

Matthew got inspired one Saturday morning to get some things done!

Cleaning out the gutters.  I asked him to do it while I was still home
so that if he fell I could at least watch him fall and pick up the pieces! ;)

Hauled away a pile of stuff from the bottom of the stairs....
Many thanks to Austin for the wheelbarrow!

Matthew has been wanting to grill hamburgers so he could use his
turner.  Finally did it, after much careful research as he hadn't grill hamburgers in a long time.
They were delicious!

Louellen's Baby Shower

Several of the ladies put on a baby shower for Louellen.  She, her husband Eddie, and two children came to meetings for awhile.  We all really enjoyed getting to know them, very sincere, vibrant Christians.

She invited several of her friends and neighbors to come as well. 

This is Louellen.  She is due around the 17th of April I believe.

This little lamb that Vanessa-mom made is adorable!
Someone asked if she could make an adult sized one!

Wisteria at Carrie's.  Smelled lovely!

Growing piles of rolled scrap material...

One Sunday the menu was soup, salad, and bread.
I was so excited to make WHITE bread!
And a little dubious as to how it would turn out since I haven't made any in how long?
Eons!

"I am kneading O kneading my dough..."
Busy Town song.

Italian Herb bread.
It turned out okay.  Actually pretty delicious!
From this step, you roll it like a jellyroll, let it rise, then bake it.

We were down at the Templeton Highschool baseball field playing kickball.
The kids loved watching the trains go by!
It was good to have Amy, Emmett and Murray in town.
Nice to get to know my cousin-by-marriage a bit better!

This is sauce leftover from chicken tetrazzini.
It was very yummy on a cold day! 

Grammy Stevens bought this skirt when my Grandmommy was shopping with her.
It was a bit too long, so I shortened it.

Had to get out my serger and figure out how to work it.
I was excited to, but had a bit of frustration getting the tension right, and then found it to be a simple matter of overlooking one thing, which I always did the SAME thing on Momma's machine! gr!  But after that it worked like a charm.  Thank you, Jim and Chris! 

Biked over to Cherisa's one day to walk with her and mom.
It was a blustery day with possible showers, but very brisk and invigorating!
Uncle Dave and Aunt Ruth drove by.  Later they told us that they went home and walked, too!

Hailey loves riding in her stroller!

Buttercup the lawn mower!  Whenever I am going to be home all day or gone all day, I put out a green flag so Mrs. Neilson can let the horse out to graze.  If we are going to be coming and going, I put out a red one and she leaves her in her paddock.  This week I am going to fed her two days, and Mrs. Neilson insisted on paying me.  Then she found out that I was wanting to get a humming bird feeder, so she got me that as my pay!  Be on the lookout for humming bird pictures!  There was one on it almost as soon as I put it up!

Salmon sandwich!

Poor birdie!
They are constantly flying into our windows.
This one sat here looking dazed for a good two hours.

Dropped the rent off to the Neilson's and ended up visiting for probably an hour!
Made friends with their little yap-yap dog.

Finally started braiding!  I should have made the strips a bit wider so my braid would be bigger.  It is pretty skinny and I'll have to have a LOT of yards to get any size of rug, but oh well!

This is after maybe 1 and 1/2 hours of braiding.  Maybe two hours, but not long.
Super excited!  Mrs. Neilson gave me a kit for rug making.  I don't really like the clips that are supposed to fold the fabric for you so the edges are in the middle of each strip, they just get in the way, but am using the clip (like a chip clip or clothespin) to hold the braid from unraveling, and will use the lacer and twine for putting it together I'm sure!