Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Kiss Me, I'm Irish...

Maybe you shouldn't kiss me, I'm sick.

Lorica of Saint Patrick

I arise todayThrough a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,Through a belief in the Threeness,Through confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
I arise todayThrough the strength of the love of cherubim,In obedience of angels,In service of archangels,In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,In the prayers of patriarchs, In preachings of the apostles,In faiths of confessors,In innocence of virgins,In deeds of righteous men.
I arise todayThrough the strength of heaven; Light of the sun,Splendor of fire,Speed of lightning,Swiftness of the wind,Depth of the sea, Stability of the earth,Firmness of the rock.
I arise todayThrough God's strength to pilot me;God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me,God's hosts to save me From snares of the devil, From temptations of vices, From every one who desires me ill, Afar and anear, Alone or in a mulitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and evil,Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets,Against black laws of pagandom,Against false laws of heretics,Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul. Christ shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding,So that reward may come to me in abundance.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise todayThrough a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,Through a belief in the Threeness,Through a confession of the OnenessOf the Creator of creation
St. Patrick (ca. 377)

Jason's Birthday Party

Last Sunday we had a Pray and Play birthday party for Jason. It was a fun night with lots of kids and grown ups! The kids ran wild on the property and most of the grown ups tasted wine. Each guest brought a bottle of Merlot. I covered the labels and numbered them for the blind wine tasting. After all 8 different wines were tasted, there was a vote. The guests that brought Jason's favorite won a prize, as well as the guest that brought the majority favorite. Jason's fav was a Blackstone Merlot from Woodbridge, Ca. brought by the Barrons. There was a tie for the majority, Blackstone again and Foxbrook brought from the Uhlich's.

Here is Vincent, my little chef, helping make the cupcakes.

My mom says "Cheers!".

Francesca hanging with a fellow baby. Baby Atwood is 3 weeks old.

My Gerber Baby

Francesca had her first rice cereal today and Mikey she liked it!

Her brothers had different opinions. They both said BLAH to the mixed cereal but Vincent liked the "powder" form.

Zack was still BLAH on the powder.

Cutie in a blue shirt

What the recent rains brought

The rain from a few days ago brought this double rainbow over the neighboring dairy.

Here is a view of the rainbow over our soon-to-be-possibly-cut-down Walnut tree.

If you look in the lower half of this picture, you'll see some of the four ducks that enjoyed a frolic in our seasonal creek. (click on any photo to get a closer look)

Here is our wooden bridge with plenty of water underneath!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Here is my hidden stash of Valentines for my family, mom, Ray, and Raymond.

Here is Francesca modeling with the Valentine's I made.

And here are the kiddos checking out the gifts.

Speaking of our Anniversary...

Here are some pics from a stop in San Andreas on our anniversary date.

Jason speaks with this antique shop's door greeter.
He's not quite as friendly as thoseWalmart greeters!

Jason drooling over an antique still in the dusty patio portion of this shop.
There was plenty for me to look at as well in the semi outdoor section.

But even more eye candy inside...

I didn't even attempt to browse this super narrow aisle with my big purse on my side.

I like the stained glass bar-pool scene in this vignette, along with the Jigger Whack, an old bar tool.

Here are some jolly monks!

And dear Ol' Beth in front of the mining museum next to St. Patrick's church.

Tree Planting Party

Last Super-hole Sunday (as Esther named it) some of our friends and family came over and dug a row of 21 tree holes along our creek, 3 holes in our back yard, and planted 14 trees in some of those holes! Wow! Thank you so much for the help. That was so awesome!

The trees we planted along the creek:
2 nectarines
1 Fuji Apple
1 Golden Delicious Apple
1 almond
2 plums
1 pluot
1 peach
1 Bing Cherry
1 Rainier Cherry
1 apricot

The trees in the back yard:
1 Meyer Lemon
1 kumquat

Now Jason and I get the pleasure of purchasing 10 more trees to plant in the holes that are already dug! We plan on getting more different varieties of fruit trees, plus a pecan for the row along the creek. A lime for the hole in the back yard. This will allow easy access for Jason's margarita making.

In addition to the above trees, last month Jason planted a Navel Orange and a Blood Orange in the front yard. There's also a small mystery citrus in the front yard that came with our house.

Having many fruit trees is a dream come true for Jason and I.

Anniversary Balloons

The night Jason and I were out and about tasting wine, dining on yummy Italian food, and enjoying the local talent at an open mic night in an Angel's Camp coffee shop, the boys and Gramps (Grampa Ray) blew up balloons and tied them to a shaggy bush in our front yard. Here are the boys and balloons the next day. An added bonus, Gramps taught them how to tie inflated tie balloons!

Sweet Cottage Dreams Is Having A Lil' Giveaway

Sweet Cottage Dreams: I'm Having A Lil' Giveaway