Spring has finally come, well in Chico at least....

We spent a few days down in Chico taking care of some stuff this week- Dale had a job interview, we needed to pick up his motorcycle, Beth's Open House was on Thursday night and we visited with some friends and family. After all that I'm pooped!! I opted for easy dinner tonight, but here's a look at some of the highlights of the last 3 days.

While we were at my mom's I got a glimpse of spring. Now, I can't wait for it to hit here. Sure, our yard is green, but the REAL good stuff won't be here for a while longer yet - it's still in the 30's at night. Here are some of the gems found in her yard:

 

These little babies will be FABULOUS lemons next winter..... Last year mom sent me a dozen of them and I made lemon bars that were to die for!!!

Mom also has freakishly large cats. As in cats as big as Tank who weighs almost 20 pounds....This guy is "Monkey Boy." He's a stray who adopted her, and we believe he's Maine Coon. His head is bigger than a softball and his paw takes up most of my palm, and when he sits in your lap, you KNOW it.

This is Amy. She has a sister named Sybil. The only way I can tell them apart is that Sybil has a big white spot on her back. Neither of them like visitors.

She also has 4 other cats that aren't pictured: Sybil (Amy's sister), Hank - an orange & white long haired punk who likes to pick on everyone else, Penny and Eddie - Penny is Eddie's mom and they're both flame point Siamese mix. The only way I can tell them apart is that Eddie has black freckles all over his nose.

LD found a snail while we were there... ok, he found MANY snails. However, this was one which he took the time to name.... Gary. That's right, as in Spongebob Squarepants' pet snail Gary..... LD even gave him a bath. After the bath, Gary pooped on LD who then screamed and dropped Gary in the grass....That was the end of LD having a pet snail (thankfully!)

One of the only cats at my mom's that DOESN'T need vet visits:

Here is Beth's science project - she explained how thermal energy travels through liquid & solids. Pretty cool stuff!!

Friday we picked Beth up from school at noon ('cause every Friday at her school is a minimum day!). We went to Chico, took care of some business - mainly picking Dale's bike up from Apex where he was having the ignition replaced. Apex is a really cool, locally owned bike shop.

Gary, the owner, usually has one of his dogs there every day. Friday, it was Carly's turn to visit with customers. Carly is sort of shy, but if you let HER come to YOU, she's a real love. And, she's got these gorgeous blue eyes!!

After we were done with our "chores" we headed toward Beth's grandparent's place to get some clothes for her - she'd be spending the weekend with us. On our way to their place, our car overheated! Once we were there, it also wouldn't start again!! So, we stayed for dinner. After dinner, Beth & her grandma took me out to see some of the many animals they have at Home At Last Sanctuary. 

This is Julian and Banjoe (who I refer to as Taco & Burger, much to Beth's dismay). They are VERY cute and come running whenever someone walks up to their pen - after all, it MUST mean they're going to get fed right? They're sort of like really big, hay eating dogs.

Here are the escape artist goats. While we were there last night "Goats Gone Wild" premiered and was canceled by the network on the same night.

 

 

These are some of the many horses that call Home At Last their home.

Navajo - was one of three abandoned horses who were starving to death. In fact, Navajo was the only survivor. He was NOT happy about the clicking and beeping noises that my camera made and would flinch each time I'd take a shot of him.

Breeze Bay - she's the grand daughter of a horse that was at Cal Poly Pomona when Beth's grandparents went to school there! She's only got one eye:

 

Here are Jenny & Jessie: Jenny was one of the first animals that Beth's grandparents took in, before they even knew they were going to grow big enough to become a full-fledged equine rescue (Jenny has the white nose).  Jessie has been with them for a couple years, and when she first came to Home At Last she tried to nurse on Jenny, even though she's older than Jenny!

After we enjoyed dinner (thank you Jim!) and toured the Sanctuary, I helped Beth's grandma add some color to her blog and showed her how to make her pictures larger as well as some other "techie" stuff. 

Around 7:30 our car finally decided it would cooperate and take us home - we didn't arrive (home) until almost 10pm! Poor Dale - he had a chilly ride on his bike - we went from 60's down in the valley to 36 degrees by the time we got home. Boy was I glad I was driving the car!!!