Baby Moo

This calf is named Dolly, but she is also called Baby Moo, Dinner Bell Dolly, and Dolly Burger.

Her Mama is Daisy and she is the senior herdford cow on the BigMooRanch.

Dottie is the yearling with the square dot on her forehead.

At least they don't call her Blockhead!

Happy Birthday Mom!

We miss you...

Happy Birthday Mom!

Caymen, Montana, Angie, Sharon & Aunt Ann

Aunt Jean, Candy & Gary

Jeff, Elan & Uncle Jim

Flowers & cards from those who couldn't be there...









Manny, Malia & Amy

Friends & Family joined in all day!

55 Flash Fiction Friday ~ Moon

Floating above us like a balloon on a string.
Full as a pregnant belly.
Ever present and oh, so bright.
It gladdens me to see you every night.
Luminescent guide to us all.
Keeping the darkness at bay.
Magnet to the tides.
I can't wait to see you at the end of each day!

HNT ~ Flowers, Flowers Everyehre!

I am such a lucky girl to have received three bunches of roses in honor of St. Valentine's Day!
Yes that's me in the mirror amongst the paper hearts.

This is my favorite bunch.
The creamy peach turns bright fushia along the edges of the petals.

Here are some bright red beauties!

And these are deep velvety red with baby's breath.
The house smells just heavenly with all these flowers blooming.
I can't wait until they all start to open.

Happy HNT! For more please visit Views From the Back Row.

Rainy Weekend Projects

As you can see, it's been a rainy weekend here in Southern California. It's so rare for us to have rain, let alone 3 days of it in a row, so I've been forced to find projects about the house to keep me occupied while I wait for the sun to return.

I replanted my bamboo in these fun ceramic Chinese food boxes. The plants are much happier now that they have loads of room to grown again! Bamboo is so easy to grow. All it needs is water & a sunny spot. And it adds such a lushious shade of green to your environment!

I also did some St. Valentine's Day decorating. It was fun to get out the scissors and my markers to get crafty with some hearts and stars. I cut out a bunch of hearts and put them up all over this mirror. It definitely looks like Cupid has been to the our home now.

I hope you had a fabulously frisky Valentine's celebration! We spent the day together doing one of our favorite things. We went to a movie matinee. We brought our munchies and drinks with us to enjoy while we watched two movies; Slumdog Millionaire and Doubt. I definately recommend them both. SM is the most creative story telling I've experienced in a long time. Meryl is stupendous as usual in D, and along with the rest of the talented cast, she keeps you rivited to your seat while you try to decide if she's on the mark with her suspicions about the priest.

How did you celebrate your Valentine's day?

HNT - Flash Back Family Trio Photo's

Inspired by Susie & Lime, I'm also having a flashback HNT today. Not having any children of my own, I've instead flashed back to my baby years instead. Here is a snap of my Dad, Me and my Mom circa 1962 or 63. That is their VW Bug in the background. Wouldn't you love to have that car today? Just think how much cash one could raise selling it to a collector. My piggy bank would be stuffed!


I've always loved the candid portraits of my family & friends which show them in sets of three. They end up being some of my favorite photos. The energy of the subjects really shines through. There is something magical about the number 3 that I think adds to the composition of the shots as well. Below are a few examples:


My Nephews and my Brother-in-law at the Disney's Storybook Cafe ~ October, 2007. It truly is "the greatest place on earth!" when it comes to family-friendly entertainment.


My Godson/Nephew, Sideways Sam, and Myself ~ October, 2007. At the beginning of a great day spent together while his Mom was celebrating her 30th HS reunion. Go Cypress Centurions!


October 31, 2007 ~ Irene the Fairy Princess, Lilian the Good Witch, and LisaPizza the Purple Puma out to lunch together at the Olive Garden on Halloween Day.


I have also had a fascination over the years with photographing my cars. Which I attribute to the many family photo's of the past where a family is often seen posing in front of, or riding in, the new family car. Just to show you what I'm driving these days ~ here's my Honda CRV.


Vintage photo ~ Can you name the make, model & year of the car? Hint: these ladies could be driving to the first US National election for which they were eligible to vote.


Above is my Dad with the Hummer of the moment ~ Spring, 2008. This photo was taken by my Bonus Mom, his wife Jeanne. She is always so good to share photo's with us and I love her for it. Unfortunately, because she is usually the photorapher, she is rarely in the photo's herself. Therefore, I don't really have many photo's of her :- (

Please leave me your guess on the vintage photo in your comment. All other comments are also welcomed. Hope you are having a great day in Blogland. Your blogging buddy, LisaPizza97

55 Flash Fiction Friday ~ Fate

Rodin: What's it like to kill a man?

Jett: It's a mess. Fah-get-a-bout-it!

Rodin: I’ve been pacing all night trying to wrap my mind around it. Do ya ever get scared when nothing else makes sense?

Jett: I’m not gonna say it again, FAH-GET-TA-BOUT-IT!

Rodin: I just can’t.

Jett: Let the fates decide.

The inspiration for this 55 was slightly random. Sideways Sam chose a noun at random. I plugged, "fur" into the search engine for Microsoft Office Online Clip Art and we surveyed the clips that it generated. This kitty won our hearts and became our chosen inspiration.

The first two lines of dialog are straight from a from one of our favorite movies, Bullet's Over Broadway, by Woody Allen. The scene is between play write, David Shayne (John Cusack) and bodygard-hitman Cheech (Chaz Palmentari). Earlier, Cheech helps Shayne with his inarticulate dialog and becomes a writting partner of sorts as well as a voice of reason for the overwhelmed and befuddled rookie.

Once Sam & I had the anchor for our story we filled in the remaining 33 words completely from our imaginations.

The character names we chose have inspirations of their own. The Kitten's state of mind reminded Sam of Rodin's Thinker. At the mention of Rodin, I was then reminded of his statue The Age of Bronze. We let the Kitten play the Cusack role because at the start of the film he is so young and naive. What's more innocent than a kitten? The play write has a dilemma that's left him both puzzled and thinking of committing deeds he can't imagine.

We wanted a tough-guy name to fill in for the Palmenteri role, and I've always liked the name Jett. I think it is both masculine and contemporary. In 1992 John Travolta & Kelly Preston named their firstborn son Jett and I've been a fan of the name ever since. Plus, it is a mini- homage to the Jets from Westside Story. New York gangsters from another era, but the reference is plain; when tensions are high and the masculine ego gets twisted with passion, and you toss in a pinch of misguided machismo then the inevitable violence is final.