I know I know -- I missed a few days. I have absolutely no excuse -- just didn't 'feel' the camera or something.

This I took on the way home the other day. This is what I hate about where I live -- all the nice old areas that were either old houses or land for cows, hay or whatever are all being taken over by developers who want to build overpriced two story, six bedroom homes for people only to have them discover they were grossly over appraised. It's maddening, and it's sad.

Okay, down off my soapbox.

Now this is the PERFECT birthday present in my world. The girls at work got together and bought me 96 cans of coke.

I'm in heaven!

Trying to 'get' inspiration for a photo today, I decided to take a photos of where I've spent a good part of the last seven years.

First one from the outside in front -- I almost never see it from in front -- looks nice from outside.

Second one is the view from my desk -- looking at the front door.

Third one looks into the back room from the front lobby.

And the last one is the shelf area where we not so neatly store stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere.

That's it -- my little corner of the world.

Well yesterday was my birthday, and I didn't feel well so didn't leave the house -- and today still not 100%, so still didn't venture far from home. I did do laundry, but I figured photos of my unmentionables on the clothesline were really not appropriate for 365 posts -- so I decided to go back into my files for furkid pics. Always a favorite activity for me.

First up is RUSTY, aka FatAss --- he's actually not overweight, but he sure does like to spread out when he's relaxing.



Next is Fanny, really the prettiest cat we've ever had -- she is always well-groomed, if only her personality were the same -- she's a little on the mean side to the other cats. She does love her dogs tho.

Lucy sleeps in her crate with the door open -- she likes the security of it. And we like it to since Lucy has a tail like you wouldn't believe -- get hit with that thing and you know it. And Fanny loves to sit in there with Lucy -- and Lucy never seems to mind. The next photo is Fanny with Nellie -- sleeping on the chaise with Fanny.

I really think Fanny thinks she's a dog.








This is my Coco -- she doesn't look so cute and cuddly now -- as she isn't aging well as her old age is creeping up on us -- but she's been my little girl for well over a decade. Now I'm her seeing-eye person -- as she's lost her hearing and her sight is almost gone. But as long as she can still sense I'm around, she's fine. And dogs adapt so well -- she knows where everything is in my office, and in the yard -- she's still better at night outside than I am. She's cranky -- but come to think of it -- she pretty much always has been :)

Like mother, like daughter!



And this is our old man -- Quincy. Our watchdog, our protector. His hips are so bad these days that I'm the one protecting him most of the time -- have to lift him up onto his legs some mornings -- but once on his feet (paws) he's on his way. And he's alert and in good spirits and such a good friend. I am hoping the sunset years are good to him -- and that he has a few more in him.

So how about grabbing a photo while waiting for food? I call that good time management skills.

These flowers were under the order board at the Pollo Loco drive thru -- we don't have much in the way of flowers in the desert during the summer, so these definately caught my eye.

Missed posting yesterday --- just couldn't find anything to take a photo of that inspired me in any way. So, today while running errands I was looking at everything I was driving by and looking for something to take my camera out for. And then I found it.

A CEMETARY.

Now I don't really 'do' cemetaries. My parents were both cremated, so I haven't really thought much about cemetaries in a few decades (my dad used to take us to Forest Lawn in Glendale each Sunday afternoon after church to visit his grandparents). I drove in and got out and walked around the Hemet cemetary -- it was lovely, it was quiet, it was peaceful.

I want to be cremated -- I feel strongly about that. But boy there is something to be said about all that peace & quiet -- both for the deceased and their visitors.

My sister and her husband enjoy walking through cemetaries and looking at headstones or whatever those large above ground markers are referred to. I sorta thought they were crazy, but I really enjoyed walking through the park and reading the headstones, seeing the familiy stones and the descriptions on them. It was a nice contemplative break in my day -- calmed me down and got me to thinking about something other than whether the pharmacy would have a long line, if I needed onions for that dish I'm putting in the crockpot tomorrow, and all those extremely important things that won't mean a hill of beans 100 years from now.

I find it disconcerting that the beer tap is right next to the to go window -- am I the only one?

MY TRIP HOME

I haven't gotten too far from home yet in this blog. As I turn into the dirt road I noticed these two mini horses being walked -- they are so cute! Then I headed down that long dirt road home -- dodging horses and mopeds and offroaders -- quite a contrast in my neck of the woods.

Tomorrow, maybe I'll actually take the camera out a bit farther from home.

Another Day, Another Field

Well, two fields.

We live off a paved road, on a two mile long dirt road. As I leave the 'driveway' and look to the right there is a thoroughbred farm. Actually it's been sold to the EVIL developers but the owners have leased it back for five years. These horses are beautiful and boy is there a lot of space for them.

The other field is the hay field -- got to feed them horses, right? It's down the street a ways.

Weird little town, a mile of houses, a mile of fields, a mile of houses, a thoroughbred farm. Not a lot of city planning went into it -- mostly started out as just a 'place' - I don't think anyone foresaw it getting big enough to even call it a town, certainly we still can't see a day when it will be a real city.

But, it's quiet -- smells like cows, horses, and pigs -- but mostly everyone does their own thing, and leaves everybody else alone. I do like that.

I live in a small town - named Nuevo. It's stuck right in between Hemet, San Jacinto and Perris -- a little blob of a place lacking character, in my opinion. Our population is probably 3000 -- lots of it tucked away in the mountains, but more and more in the new homes being built. We do have a post office, and a small grocery store -- and a few other small businesses are popping up. We've been just this little place for decades, mostly horse country with a few pig farms and egg farms thrown in. Lots of stop signs, no light signals tho. But big city development hates to see wide empty spaces so most of its been bought up for future homes and condos (should the housing market ever pick up).

We live in a mobil home on the landlord's property. We have a bit over a half acre fenced off for us and the dogs -- and behind us is a lot of that open land waiting for big expensive homes. In the meantime you can sorta tell what it's used for -- by the marks in the dirt. Lots of off roading, lots of horses.

It seems a few friends decided it would be a good idea to have a blog showing photos of 'stuff' from each of our areas. Well, Bettye wanted document her last year in Islip and the rest of us are just copycats!

But, it does seem a cool idea. We live in these places and never really look around. This should afford us the chance to pick up the camera and point it at something. Not necessarily something spectacular, but just something in the town we live in.

I live and work in the Hemet Valley -- in Riverside County, California. As the name implies the area includes the city of Hemet (where I work) but also includes San Jacinto, Nuevo (where I live), Perris, Sun City, and many other small cities out here.

There is nothing spectacular here --- we're not near the water -- we're smack dab in the middle of the desert -- it gets hot here in the summer. Not warm, DAMN HOT. During the rest of the year it's mild without much in the way of rain.

The photos will document the things I see each day -- the mundane and the more mundane :)

But first up is a map or two of the area. Enjoy!