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A local chicken (Rhode Island Red?) has been wandering loose all day, followed in our Willow Glen neighborhood email list by a string of silly chicken jokes. She was seen most recently eating snails under the lemon tree next door. She seems determined to be independent, although she enjoyed a cool drink when offered a dish of water. We hope she finds her way home safely.
Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under News & Reviews
WP 6668, our backyard railroad caboose, sits in a garden of succulents and cactus. In fact, we measure the growth of our cactus by how high on the caboose they rise. The Silver Torch (Cleistocactus Strausii) with its obscene pink flowers, and the Black Spined Aloe are particularly vigorous growers. I am probably going to take out one of the aloes before it overwhelms its spiny neighbors. It can go live on the river bank where size does not matter.
Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, Mentoring & Other Business
John and I were married on 4 July 2000. The 4th of July is a great day to get married. Caterers are available (since most people are home making their own BBQ) and there are always American Independence Day fireworks to celebrate.
When we got married, John and I each had a home with too much stuff already. What we needed was time to enjoy our family and friends and our big event. So, we outsourced. We asked close friends each to take on a big task (the dress, the cake, flowers, music, wine, catering, whatever) instead of giving a gift. We paid for everything and promised not to micromanage. We are blessed in having organized friends, so everything went perfectly. For guests who needed to give us something, we collected money for shares in a very comfortable Morris chair – that they can come and sit in when they visit. We got married in our own San Jose backyard and we had a wonderful time!
John and I donated the altar flowers today at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Saratoga, CA to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary.
Today at church:
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Our family in 2000:
Images Copyright 2012 Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
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The Silicon Valley is more famous for computers and high technology than for cactus. Nonetheless, the high dry summer heat makes where I live to the south of San Francisco wonderful for dessert gardening. My cactus are far too generous in sharing their spines (particularly the soft looking Bunny Ears – Opuntia microdasys – that sheds hundreds of tiny spines at the lightest touch) but their elegant shapes and lovely summer flowers make up for puncture wounds all year. The short-lived feathery flowers are as delicate as the surrounding spines are nasty. Today, my garden on the Guadalupe River features cactus blooms measuring 1/2 inch (on Bunny Ears) to 4 inches (on the giant Prickly Pear). This is a good year because my Electrode Cactus (Ferocactus histrix) is blooming for the first time since I planted it in 1998.
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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
We live in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose, California. Willow Glen has a very strong Neighhorhood Association which works on “matters such as land use, planning, traffic, safety, open space, parks, and recreation.” Last week, the WGNA put on an event called “Historic Trains: How They Transformed San Jose”. As the proud owners of WP668, the 1916 railroad caboose in our backyard, of course John and I went to Willow Glen High School Library to learn about local history, economics, and railroads. The best part for me was when the speakers from the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation showed historic photos, followed by pictures of what those locations looked like today.
Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson
My mother is delighted with the koi pond outside the dining room in the senior community where she now lives. The big brightly colored fish, and a visiting mallard duck family, are getting fed frequently (the lobby desk has cups of fish food available for the asking), as well as being featured in her ever-present sketch book.
Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
My daughter Jessica graduated from Carnegie Mellon University yesterday in Pittsburgh PA, with college and university honors, Phi Beta Kappa. My son Paul and I flew in from San Jose CA and her husband Matt flew in from Seattle WA for the big event. Here is some of what I saw in our joyous three day visit:
Jessica and Paul
CMU
Phi Beta Kappa
Congratulations to the Honors Students
Three Wonderful Kids
Going to Graduation
Jessica and Proud Mom
Carnegie Tech – Class of 1948 Her Grandfather’s Medallion
Processing into the Stadium
Honors Regalia
Relaxing After All the Fuss
Pictures by Katy Dickinson 2012 Copyright
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
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