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As I had mentioned before, we went to the observatory last weekend. I took a lot of pictures of the view, but none of the observatory itself! I hope B got some. Here is a small sampling. The view towards the ocean- you can sort of see it in the back: The Hollywood sign: Sun setting over the ocean: The city lights come on as the sun goes gets lower: Don't forget to stop by Mel's and see what the rest of the group is sharing!

At school (work) the kids can dress up for Halloween, as long as they dress as a character from a book or as someone in a helping profession. I followed suit, and dressed as the character from one of my favorite picture books, The Princess Knight . It was a very last minute costume, but it seemed to work fine! Go head over to Mel's and see what the rest of the class is sharing!

Today is my husband and my third wedding anniversary. It's been a crappy year, but we've pulled through together. I almost feel like if we make it through these hurdles, we can make it through anything. We went out for a nice dinner to celebrate. I posted pictures when I started the garden , and again about a month later . Well now, here we are a little over a month after the last garden update! I took some close-ups of the actual plants this time. The plants are getting pretty big, but nothing is ripening yet. It's been a relatively cold June after a blast of heat in May. I'm not complaining-- I just want some delicious tomatoes to ripen so I can eat them! These are the early girl tomatoes. They are supposed to be done first, 56-63 days. Well, it's been over 60 days and they are not turning red yet! I wonder if it is because of all of the 'June gloom' we've had this year. From Blogger Pictures Ok, here are the 'lemon boy' tomatoes. T...

The wine trip yesterday was great-- we're already back. Everything was great except for the drive back... that was a mess, or perhaps we were a mess! B got me this painting for my birthday from the first winery we stopped at yesterday. It's one of our favorite wineries because it is an art gallery along with the wine. The wine is fantastic too! The painting is painted with wine. She cooks down wine of different varietals to make paints, and really makes some beautiful things. I think the next one I want is Bloom . So far, my birthday has been pretty good. We are going out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants tonight, so that will be good too. Head on over to Mel's and see what the rest of the class is sharing!

So, I was supposed to take a big test today to add to my credential. This morning, I decided that I was not going to pass, so I didn't even go. I totally chickened out. I wouldn't have passed, and I know that based on how I did on the practice tests. I decided to not even try. Man, I suck! This week for Show and Tell I will give you a garden update! You can see what it all looked like a month ago. The upside-down cucumber is doing really really well! I need to put more dirt in there but even still! I think it has grown more than the one in the ground! (planted the same day, from the same 6 pack) At first the watermelon seemed to do really well and it looked like all five cucumbers had died. Then, one cucumber (left) came back! The watermelon (right) seems like it is coming back too. The tomato plants sure have gotten bigger! I need to get a few more cages for them! I hope they all start fruiting soon! Right now, one plant has two tomatoes! I forgot to take a pic...

This week, for show and tell, I am going to show you some of the gardening stuff I've worked on in the past few days. First, we bought our house about a year and a half ago. It was quite neglected when we got it. We hate a lot of the landscaping (ivy) and have been working on removing it for over a year. It is a long, hard, and slow process. I decided to take a break from that and work on something else that I would be easier to tackle and have a noticeable difference. The front walkway it is. When we bought the house, it had this creeping fig vine growing all along the side of the house as you walk up. While it looks pretty and green, it is bad for the stucco and provides homes for insects, spiders, and mice. So, we decided to remove it. Cutting it and pulling it off of the house was easy, but the roots went deep, and we called it quits for a while. The stuff has slowly been coming back, since we never fully eradicated it. Today was the day to get the roots out. With ...

One of my favorite things to do on the weekends is go wine tasting. I am fortunate to live close to Santa Barbara wine country and can make it a day trip. We like to try some wineries we've never been to and visit some old favorites. At one of the new ones we tried, I saw this sign. I didn't particularly like the wine, but was amused. Wine country is so beautiful! I'd kind of like to live there. I wish I were there right now! Head on over to Mel's and see who else is sharing something!

So, I've decided to jump on the show and tell bandwagon this week. I teach elementary school, yet haven't had my kids do show and tell for two years! I think I need to bring it back. I live very close to a park that has over 20 miles of hiking trails. I'm hoping the rain holds off until tomorrow evening so that I can take a few friends on my favorite trail. Here are some pics I took on the trail almost exactly a year ago! Here is the waterfall that I love to hike to. And the stream that leads to the waterfall. And a picture of a Lupine, one of my favorite wild flowers.