And The Winner Is !

"To Days, The Day" 

To announce the winner of my one year anniversary.

Let me tell you about the prizes I picked out.

We have so many wonderful products, that come from our area.

I pick two of my favorites, from here in Oroville that I know you will enjoy.

The kitchen towels and soap are from my friend and local celebrity,

Mary Lake Thompson.  Mary is a successful  commercial artist.

Her unique style of country art, can be found on many fun items for the home.

She has the cutest shop here in Oroville and Atlanta Georgia.

You can check out Mary's art work and her story at

marylakethompson.com

The Lodestar Olive Oil, produced by Jamie Johansson and his family,

is not only a local favorite, but winner of many prestigious awards in 

the California Olive Oil Industry.  Jamie doesn't let it go to his head,

 you can still fined him at the farmers markets.

www.lodestarfarms.com

Down to business,

I was going to have Dawn draw the winning name,

but I couldn't get it together.  Mom is here for coffee, so I'm 

going to have her draw the name.  This is a low budget operation.

"DRUM ROLL PLEASE"

And the Winner Is ?!

"""Far Side of Fifty !!!"""

CONGRATULATION !!!!!!!

Well, that concludes our first year and again

 Thank You to Everyone who participated !

Bitter Sweet

Thursday, I was in Sacramento at the red heads houses (son Shane)

We landscaped all the flowerbeds in his front and back yard.

I laid out the plants were they needed to go and Shane dug all the holes. 

Then we planted all the plants, 130? something of them.  "A Lot"

Let me put this into perspective .....it's summer in California!

and the truck with the plants couldn't come till 1 PM !!!!

It was one long "Hot" afternoon and the only day I could help.

Shane has been working on his house every since he bought it.
No, it didn't need any work, it was in great condition.  It just
wasn't up to Better Builders Construction standards that Shane
has come to appreciate, after all those years or after school,
weekends, holidays and college summers working for Dad.

The last part of  the makeover was the yard.  Shane had already

replaced all the water system and sod.  He built horseshoe pits 

in the back yard and added some nice brickwork and lights.

The only thing left to do was to fill all the planters.

As we worked threw the day you could see the pride, 

Shane had for his home and in all his hard work.

That's what made it so bitter sweet.  You see Shane has

 worked for the State of California the last few years.

With all the problems our state has, Shane  found himself

looking for a new job.   He found one, a good one,

only it's 100 miles north of this little house.

All his hard work becomes a rental in two weeks.

Faults Alarm

When you see a helicopter with a water bucket,

hanging under it, you start looking for the fire.

I heard him go over the house, but didn't pay much attention.

There's always something flying around here.  Then noticed 

that he was still close.  I grabbed the binoculars and went

  outside.   He was right over my neighbor's pond, ( so I thought ) the fire

 had to be close?  I kept watching and watching.  He was just

hovering in the sky, occasionally making a full circle but never

 putting the bucket in the water?

I looked and looked, no smoke, then he started to come down to the ground.

When he came up again, no bucket?

I realized then that he wasn't over the neighbor's pond, but

the fire house up the road.  They must have been doing some training's.

Well good for them, a little heads up would have been nice.

Pretty Picture Monday

Sunday Stills, Black and White or Sepia

One Year

I've been blogging for one year today.

It's hard to tell if it reflects who I am, but I'm starting to 

get more comfortable and having fun.
Witch was the whole point.

I really enjoy the photography and have made that 

my goal for this second year.....(To Improve) 

Even looking at a new camera,

I can't decide between Cannon or Nikon.

It's a little like Ford or Chevy!

Depending on who you ask, 

with the occasional Dodge, thrown in.

"I have taken more pictures in this one year, then my entire life."

The Kids are starting to call me Grandma Starr,

a family joke and not at all funny!

Then there's the......................... "Writing" .....LOL

You do realize that most of what I write is  "Tong - in - Cheek"

and just so we're clear,  "I'm Not Politely Correct"

I do like sharing things I've heard or read or thoughts,

and enjoy very much the thoughts of those who visit.

There's a lot of nice people out there in blogger land.

From Canada, around the country and around the world.

I love talking to you all, you have inspired me in many ways.

It sounds funny to say I've made friends, but it's how I feel.

The Kids have given their "approval" and
encouragement many time and that means a lot.

Friends and family have also been supportive as well and

JS made me promise, I wouldn't have some online romance.

"""Not to Fear"""

Gtyyup, from Life at the Rough String left me, my first

comment and encouraged me and helped me

with Sunday Stills.

I have it narrowed down to 

Gtyyup , Cindy Q, Far Side of Fifty, Shirly and Lorie P

as to who was my first "Follower"

 I'm having a good time, hope you are too,
so stick around and lets see where this second year takes us.


CONTEST

It seem to be a tradition in blogger world,
to have a contest on an anniversary.
I'm going to put all of my followers names in a hat
and have Daughter Dawn draw one out.
I will announce the winner next Wednesday.

(That gives me time to find a gift)

GOOD LUCK !!!

and

"THANK YOU"

Same O Same O

We've settled in to our summer routine around here.

JS up and gone early to beat the heat, I'll get a mid day phone 

calls from him to send me off on some task if need.

Other wise I wont see him till evening.

My days are spent keeping every thing alive, watering.

horse pasture, orchard, garden and yard.

I'm up early to, doing my outside work and then in the house

during the worst of the heat or working for the BBC

Evenings are spent helping JS, moving equipment,

checking jobs or what ever needs to be done for the

 following days work and it's always nice when we can fit

 in dinner before dark.

We're busy, just nothing to write home about.

Pretty Picture Monday

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,

and a mowed orchard is a beautiful thing"

Sam Starr

Projects

If your around the Starr's much you know there is always some 

project going on.  I'm sure son-in-law Cory wishes he would 

have dated just a little longer and maybe would have found all

 that out before he jumped both feet in the fire.

This is a man that leaves the house by 4am drives 4 hours one

way (or more) and all he wants in life is a quite weekend.

Starr Family Motto! 

  "Sunday, Is Just One More Workday Till Monday"

The kids live in town and decided they needed a garage to secure

some of their belongings and help to free up the spare bedroom.

JS offered to help out, not just because it's our kids, but he's

hoping that spare bedroom will become a nursery.

"Back off Grandpa"

Grandma...I mean ME...............I've been working on a 

project too, putting in raspberries for JS

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!

Thursdays Thoughts, Baby Hawk Sighting

As my grandpa  Lloyd would say,

"It's pretty in two ways,

pretty ugly and pretty app to stay that way."

Wordless Wednesday

Flag Day 1777-2011

"Thank You Dawn and Cory For My New Flag"

Love Mom

Photo Play

This Doe was out in the orchard the other day and I tried and 

tried to get a good clear shot of her.  I wanted to use it for the

 Sunday Stills challenge "yellow".   Every photo I took was

 fuzzy and thought if I tried to get closer she would spook.  

This was the best shot, so I played around with the brightness.  

 Not to bad.

Pretty Picture Monday

Sunday Stills, Yellow

This Weeks Challenge , the color yellow.

Farm Photo Friday

Checkout the new web page for 

5 Starr's Farm Premium Oranges

sam-starr.blogspot.com

A Little of What We Do

Besides being chief cook and bottle washer and "Orchard Maiden"

I'm also Head Go For and Cleaning Crew for JS and The BBC

Better Builders Construction Inc.

Now is cleaning up a job site on my WOW! list

Not hardly...but it's an honest job and keeps me off the streets.

The one thing I do enjoy about this part of construction, is

seeing the finished project.  The newest trends in the industry

and the tried and true that carry threw year to year.

Seeing little samples of pain, stone and wood come together,

that a few months earlier, were only in someones head. 

The latest and greatest in electrical, plumbing and appliances.

The newest in electronics and the must have gadgets.

It's pretty cool and JS and crew have done a lot of it, in 35 years.

I like showing off JS's work, he puts our a clean, sound house.

This is our latest finished project a 

kitchen remodel and hardwood floors.

See all that shine ?  Thats my handy work.

Nothing

Your probably looking at this picture and thinking 

"Sam, there's nothing in the sky"

Your right!

Nothing to make it rain

Nothing to hide the sun

Nothing but blue sky do I see.

That my freinds is the color of   "HAPPY"

Pretty Picture Monday

Sunday Stills, Potluck

This weeks challenge is open, we could post any pictures we wanted, 

but no archives. Meaning shot that had been used before.

This is great, sometimes a photo has no story to go with it.

It also gives everyone a chance to photograph whats  

interesting to them or in my case to share some 

random shots.

"Have a Great Week"