Spring?

It's a beautiful day here in Northern California, currently 63 degrees and sunny. Do I really want to leave this kind of weather for grey and damp? Probably. I decided to pull out the camera and have a little photo shoot at lunch. It was a bit disappointing, pictures I thought for sure were going to be great were more like ... meh. I look perhaps a dozen pics and of them, these 4 were salvageable.

These lovely flowers grow on a bush outside our office.

Painted mailbox on Menlo Oaks Avenue. Where those with money reside.

Same flower ... different angle.

Another painted mailbox peeking out of the bushes. And that's about it for today. Well other than the fact that tomorrow is my sixth blogiversary so there will be a giveaway. A small brown tabby I think.

Winter Equals Baking

One of the downfalls of living in California is that in the summer it's generally too hot to bake. Actually make that mid-April to mid-October. My teeny tiny apartment does have an air conditioner but it only cools the living room. If it's July and you turn on the oven in my apartment it's game over. No need to add any liquid to your recipe, just stand next to the mixing bowl and sweat into it. Isn't that a pleasant thought?

I hate it. I *love* to bake. Baking is what I do. When I was younger I wanted to be a pastry chef but I didn't think I had the creativity. But I can follow a recipe with the best of them! So when winter rolls around I go into a mad flurry of baking. I usually bake at least twice and more often, three times a week. Quick breads, cookies, squares, more quick breads, you name it.

Last night I made Cherry Nut Bread from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook I bought back in 1979. I always makes notes in my cookbooks about how a recipe turned out and the day I made it. Apparently I've been making Cherry Nut Bread since January of 1982. And it's still my favorite quick bread recipe. I don't care if maraschino cherries are loaded with chemicals and dye, I love 'em. Also this recipe has buttermilk in it so it's really moist. The rats like it too. I can't wait until I'm back in Vancouver and can bake ALL the time!

It All Must Go!

The best of plans ... Well I'm already bored with the granny square idea. So I spent the weekend working on my Ribbon Afghan. This is a very simple and easy pattern, great for watching TV. I'm doing mine in two shades of pink, two shades of grey, and black and white. It took me three attempts with the stash yarn to find colors that I actually liked together. Now of course I'm a third of the way done and I'm outta yarn. And, as we all know, I am REALLY out of yarn. The only yarn left in my apartment is Meep yarn. Luckily, Michael's is having a yarn sale.

The bathroom was purged this weekend. I found six carpal tunnel braces. This is what happens when you live in the same place for eight years. Stuff accumulates. And then it piles on top of other stuff and you never really know what you do and don't have. This is why you should never have too much "stuff." Throw it away, give it away, just get it out. I command you. You will feel oddly liberated and in two days you'll forget you ever had it. Gave the boyfriend all my linens, except what I'll need for the next five weeks. FIVE WEEKS. Only five more weeks and I'll be homeless and jobless. I can't wait!