Like there’s not enough to do with my stepmom here and her husband still in the hospital, now I have bees in my closet.  I found where they were coming in, which was up on the roof.  So the exterminator came and sprayed to eliminate the bees (they were not happy campers when he showed up) and then the bee-bomber will be back next week to remove the hive they’ve been building in the attic walls.  I guess they’ve been there before because they found around 50,000 dead bees up there.  The magic word here is “dead.”  You don’t see many women bee exterminators.  We could do it cheaper since some of us already have big hats with nets.

Website News: There’s a new video in the Skincare section! I get asked about my skincare routine all the time so Damon (the best assistant on the planet – no, in the universe!) used his creative skills and put together a great video so anyone can do a facial at home. All I did was take the photos and then keep saying, “Is it ready yet?”  Well, it’s ready and available to view. You’ll see that great skin is about more than using the right products.                          “Junk food has to go……. if you want your skin to glow.”

For me, the only way to make bread pudding is to make the bread.  So today, I made egg bread with poppy seeds, and about three hours later, it was bread pudding.  I don’t want to say it’s the best bread pudding on the planet… okay I do want to say it.  “It’s the best bread pudding on the planet.”  Between my stepmom and me, it won’t last the night.

I’ve been taking my stepmom to the VA Hospital every day to visit her husband, who’s doing extremely well, by the way.  I enjoy going there just to be around so many veterans, knowing how much they have given to all of us.  As I was driving away, I looked up and saw one of the many American flags that fly there, as it proudly waved, almost as if it knew that this was a very special place.   I was so moved at the sight, I pulled over to take this photo.  I just wanted to share that moment… and this beautiful picture.

My back yard is now a No-Squirrel Zone. I finally took off the netting I had wrapped around my apple tree, the plastic hawk is gone, and my lovely Anna apples are getting a pink blush with no poke holes or bite marks.  I still saw two squirrels up in a pine tree making a lot of racket.  They were either fighting or having sex… maybe both, I couldn’t tell.  I’m making salmon patties and roasted potatoes for supper.

It looks like my birthday present for myself will be a new bumper.  I spent the day at the VA Hospital, waiting through a 6-hour surgery (successful result!) and my stepmom and I went home for lunch.  I decided to take the Freeway back and once I exited the 405 at Wilshire Blvd., I started turning right onto Wilshire but I stopped when I saw traffic.  A second later, “Bam!”  We both pulled over and the guy who hit me was so upset and apologetic – I really felt badly for him – but I can fix my bumper without involving him… no problem.  It was partly my fault for starting and  stopping. The good news was that my stepmom’s husband’s surgery is over, he’s in recovery, and there will be no more eleven-hour days at the hospital.  Good, because I need the time to chase squirrels.

I reclaimed my apple tree!  It looks like my squirrel (I’m calling him Gary) doesn’t like spicy food.  So my spray concoction worked although I haven’t eaten one of the apples yet.  I may have to sandblast it before serving. Now I like squirrels again.  My stepmom is back in town with her husband and he is having surgery tomorrow at the VA Hospital.  I’ll be spending most of the day there.  I don’t mind that except we have to be there at 6 am!  I remember a time when I used to get home at 6 am.  Gotta go sleep.

I said, “Bring it,” and he brought it, and some of his friends, apparently.  This morning there were four apples on the ground, mostly eaten.  I put away my plastic hawk last night because it scared away all our beautiful birds and I wrapped the apple tree with netting.  They ate the apples right through the netting. Last year they ate my plums. So I found a special formula to spray on the apples that includes vinegar, canola oil, soap, tabasco, and mustard. Let’s see how my thieving little rodents like them apples!

I’m getting hit from all sides! First the deer (but she’s so cute..) eats everything on my hill, and today my jaw dropped when I saw a squirrel sneaking across the back yard with one of my apples in his mouth! I didn’t want to believe it.  That’s MY apple tree! I planted it! How many has he taken so far?  An apple a day? I grabbed my camera but the stealth rodent disappeared.  They are rodents aren’t they? Sure, they’re cute with their fuzzy little tails but I was so mad I would have bought a squirrel coat today just to get even.  But instead, I bought a plastic hawk and put it in the tree. “Bring it,” squirrel.

I just planted some flowers on the hill behind my house and today I looked out and this deer is stuffing her fat face with everything she can find.  I kept yelling, “Go away! This is not a buffet!” She didn’t even look up. So I barked, trying to sound like a coyote and not a chihuahua, and she finally looked up, still chewing, as if to say, “What’s all the racket? Can you hold it down,  I’m trying to have lunch here.”