This and That

I have been neglecting this poor little blog for the past week, due to job hunting, a little bit of gardening, some major housecleaning and a visit.

First, the job hunt.  I had an interview last week with a temp employment agency, and they are working with me to help me find temp jobs, and hopefully, something permanent.  If you are so inclined, I would greatly appreciate any prayers you can send up for me.  I need all the help I can get!

Now to the fun stuff! First, the garden.

The oranges in my backyard are ripe and sooooo delicious.  I had an orange along with my scrambled eggs this morning and it was so sweet!  I've put some oranges in the refrigerator so tomorrow I'm having cold freshly squeezed orange juice. I'm looking forward to that treat!

Such a great feeling to see an orange, grown in my garden, photographed next to an orange crate label from Bradford Brothers Inc., the company my dad worked for in the 1930's, when he was in high school (more about that here).  I'm working on a future post about fruit crate art - a lot of it is quite beautiful, and it's very plentiful in the antique stores in California.

These little guys greet me when I open the front door in the mornings. So cute!  I have them planted all along the path to my front door.

And the amaryllis that I brought with me from OC are set to bloom any day now.  They will be gorgeous!

This patch, however, still needs my attention.  It's an embarrassing photo for me, but I'm just keepin' it real.  We all have patches of weeds like this in our backyards, don't we?  Or am I the only one who does?

Did you notice the volunteer rose bushes in the above photo?

I have no experience whatsoever with these.  I don't know if they will ever eventually bloom, or if they will just be perpetually leafy.  I've tried doing a little research, both online and at the library, but the answers have been mixed.  So if anyone has any experience or knowledge about this, let me know.  I don't want to take them out, because, right now, I'm all about the free.  Free stuff is great.  So, if a volunteer wisteria, or climbing roses, or maybe even an entire volunteer vegetable garden (yeah, I know, I dream BIG) would like to suddenly appear in my backyard, I wouldn't complain.  (Why is it that the WEEDS seem to do all the volunteering!?)

As for the housecleaning, I was trying to do some preparation for a visit I had this weekend from my sister, brother-in-law, and their dog, Mia.  Elaine and Mark probably wouldn't appreciate my flashing their picture all over the internet, but Mia has no such problem. 

She is the sweetest, smartest, and goofiest dog in the world.  I love her to pieces, and would love to have a sweet Black Lab of my own.  The first real paycheck I get, I'm adopting a dog.  My backyard needs a dog.  My kitchen needs a water dish on the floor.  My sofa needs a dog snoozing in the corner.  And I need someone who will greet me at the door, no matter how short a time I've been gone, with so much joy! (I always like to imagine that this wonderful greeting is the kind of greeting that God will give us when we enter heaven)

So, the weekend was great.  Had a wonderful dinner with my sister & bro-in-law, my nephew, his fiancee and her mom at a great steakhouse.  Then spent most of the weekend antiquing and exploring a couple of small towns in this area.  I didn't have a lot of money for the shopping, but I did find a few treasures, which I will post about tomorrow.

Hope you're all having a great day.  Thanks so much for your visit.