Kitties, a new restaurant and hiking

We're still in the slow process of finishing up here, where the ceiling was damaged, and the cupboard is still empty. I stashed inside some of the fun crinkly paper that wraps some of our delivered goods, paper I only keep because Evie loves to play in it.

She found it.

And she made her own nest.

Awwww!

Oh dear.

My solution to keep Seb from eating the wrong food is no longer working. He's figured out that he CAN jump onto the dresser! So now I have to put the food away in my sock drawer, then get it out, then put it away, then get it out, then put it away...

And all the while, I'm doing the same thing in the kitchen with his pricey prescription urinary health food, as the younger cats seem to love it.

Seb went back to the vet for a checkup, because he's turning 15 this week. His kidney numbers are off, and he's been diagnosed with stage 2 chronic kidney disease. Not urgent yet; there are four stages. 

We're also more closely monitoring his weight, for the opposite reason you'd guess. He's actually lost over four pounds since August, which is a lot. If he keeps losing weight, the vet will want to do diagnostics on why, in case something is really wrong. Not sure what we'll do in that case, considering his age. But, I will say, he's acting fine!

On Sunday, Stace really wanted to take us all out to eat. We tried out a new-to-us place called RJM Grill on Main Street in Newhall. It's been there a little over a year. It was nice and quiet inside - no blaring music or tons of people talking, so Cora liked it. 

And our food was excellent! Great taste and value. We'll be back!

Actually, we'll be back, the following day! Ha!

Stace wasn't feeling well and stayed home from work on Monday, so after we took Violet to school, we went over and took advantage of a deal they have on breakfast burritos - only $6 before noon! It was definitely large enough to share. We walked it over to Hart Park and dined al fresco.

On Thursday, we met Violet's teacher at Golden Valley Ranch for a hike. 

There was a little water here and there, and we saw this string of frog/toad eggs near the rock (it's actually under a little water).

Snow Day

Violet is always wanting to go somewhere, get out in nature, and she was hoping to get to the snow this year. Here, the trick is actually having a snow trip is getting snow, and then having the roads opened without chain restrictions.

We had a big storm last week, with the local higher mountains measuring snow in the feet.

We thought of going Monday after Vi got out of school, and she worked extra hard on Sunday evening to get ahead in her online work. But Stace stayed home with a bad back, so we delayed our trip a day.

Our timing was divine - the CHP took down the roadblocks later on Tuesday, so I believe we would have been unable to get to the top of Mt. Pinos on Monday. (On the weekends, so many people come up from L.A. that they don't even let non-local-residents past Frazier Park, the town nearest the 5.)

On this Tuesday afternoon, we had the place practically to ourselves! At home, we were having a heatwave, with temps in the 80s, but here, the snow was deep, with temps in the 50s. 

Violet went wandering, and started creating...

a different type of snowman.

Look how deep! That's a fire pit in the center. Walking was a great workout, as we sunk two feet deep every couple of steps.

Violet was very appreciative of our snow day together. It really is pretty up here.

Gardening

We spent part of the weekend working on the garden, putting in some new vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Violet worked very hard, raking into the veggie plot the fallen leaves we'd saved, as compost.

We let the littles out, on their leashes.

This guy likes to run straight under the giant lavender bush. He can smell the rats who used to eat our oranges underneath, and it's hard for us to get him out when he's hiding there.
 

We gave Melanie back her snake plants now that they've moved to a bigger place, but they've grown so much that we were able to divide them and keep some.

We bought this lovely green pot from the nursery.

Our blueberry bush is going wild! Every white flower will be a berry.

I decided to try again with the area near our bedroom slider. It gets a lot of shade, but of course plenty of heat in the summer. This time I finally looked for shade loving flowers.

Violet asked for the barrel planter, and put in herbs.

Quigley (and tidbits)

One of Violet's most-requested things to do these days is a walk at Quigley Canyon...because of these guys. 

They are so cute! And they seem friendly. Violet fed them some grasses, like the ones they're eating in their field. Everything is so green right now - we've had more rain lately.

We don't see streams in Quigley often, but this time, we did.

A good day to use the log bridge!

The girls were off Monday for President's Day, but it was a rainy, stay-in kind of day. Violet and I made sourdough brownies (very fudgy, with sourdough acting as the rising agent). I also made oatmeal cake and prepped sourdough loaves.

Stace took half a day off for team-building bowling - see what they entered as his name? Lord Howard!

On Saturday, we took Vi to the archery range while Cora went sliding. 

Cora had fun. Also this week, she had callbacks for the college spring musical, Once Upon A Mattress. She was happy to be cast as a Lady in Waiting, in the ensemble, and understudy to the lead princess. 

Cora's (Belated) Birthday!

 We aimed to celebrate Cora's 19th at MB2, with the go-karts and laser tag, but when we arrived, it seemed most of SClarita was already there. So, we ended up at the bowling alley, and fun was had by all. 

Lucas and Mackenzie, and their moms, joined us, along with Grandma and Grandpa.

Behind Mackenzie, you can see Stace putting his spin on the ball.

Cora bowled pretty well.

After we finished bowling, we went across the street to the big park, which has been redone recently. I had a feeling this group of teens would actually enjoy playing at the park...and I was right. 

And, we mamas here got one more (last?) time as being mamas at a park with the kids playing! At her next birthday, Cora won't even be a teen anymore.

And while I have your attention, here are a few screenshots of the video I screen-recorded of Cora's Taming of the Shrew scene at ACTF last week.

Week in Review

This guy!

"Look at Winston" is still a frequently heard saying in our house. He just often does cute or weird things. Here, he's balanced over the front edge of the couch arm, leg dangling.

This is Violet's spot in the home, where she does her schoolwork and plays video games.

Something about the afternoon sun shining in through the front screen made them both vie for position on the shoe basket...

Violet asked to go to Valley Market to get spices to create chai lattes. I brought along some old cheerios to feed the ducks and geese, and Violet enjoyed that.

This young lady loves animals! And it was a gorgeous day as you can see.

Cora has been away a few days at the theatre competition. I'm so proud of her! She was nervous, but she pushed herself, and spent two nights at a hotel near the college with other students. 

She stopped at Porto's before she came home, and brought home yummies for dinner and breakfast the next day.

Violet begged me to take her back to Devil's Punchbowl on Friday, when she was off school for the four-day President's Day Weekend. After she agreed to help clean the house, we took off.

Here are the outcroppings that look like Vasquez Rocks.

The river was peaceful.

We're not big into celebrating Valentine's Day, but when I saw all those baked beans at Costco, I figured I knew the best way to Stacey's heart. Ha!!

Later on Saturday, we went back to Mel and Nick's to help some more. Here, Stace is putting in a roller blind at the kitchen window, and Mel's artist friend Shannon is painting adorable flowers on the cabinet doors.

We finished the day by seeing South Pacific at the Canyon Theatre Guild.

On Sunday, we had lunch with Colleen, Rigo and the kids at Green Valley Smokehouse, up San Francisquito Canyon. The food was good, the community rural and sweet.

 We went for a short walk afterwards. Always nice hanging with these guys!