Lady Jan's Home

I think I've gotten a few people curious about my house, so I thought I'd post some pictures so you can see where I live.

My daughter and a friend riding on our very long drive way.

A rainbow that seems to end at my house. Back when we had two cars.

Some of my potted plants by my front gate.

Our house as seen from the road.

I and my family live in the middle of 80 acres of what as you can see from this old photo, was a vineyard of Thompson seedless grapes commonly used for making raisins.

Now because my landlord decided to up root the grapevines (because the market was depressed for four years), so we now live in 80 acres of baby almond trees. And they are getting really big now too.

I'll post more pictures later on the baby almond orchard.

Global Warming Solutions

Hi Janice,

Mark your calendar! Gov. Schwarzenegger is going to sign the Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) into law Wednesday at signing
ceremonies in San Francisco and Los Angeles. This means California will be
the national leader in tackling global warming by reducing our state's
greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

You and others collectively sent over 18,000 emails and phone calls to
state legislators and the Governor this year urging them to take a big
step in curbing global warming here in California, and you raised
$20,000 to run full-page ads in newspapers across the state. Together with
many news stories, research reports, and lots of lobbying in Sacramento
and around the state, we did it - thanks for your support!

Sincerely,

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director
DanJ@environmentcalifornia.org
http://www.EnvironmentCalifornia.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this
e-mail with your family and friends.

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Lady Jan's Linguistic Profile

Your Linguistic Profile:

75% General American English

10% Yankee

5% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I got this from Willow tree.

Oh, and I forgot to mention; my tire that had the nail in it--it has been replace along with the old tire, that I should have replaced last year.

Lady Jan's Yard Work Day--and it's Harvest Season!

Hey, I got some new news!

YGF has a boy friend, and we'll call him G here.

G's a sweet kid, and is doing some odd jobs to earn some money, so I invited him and YGF to come over and work in the yard. And my daughter Sarah and I did some of the work also. G mostly mowed and used my weed whacker to whack weeds, and us girls mostly swept up the pine needles that have fallen by the bucket loads from the huge pine tree in our front area out side the fence. Also the are lots of bark that the sycamore trees have dropped off in sheets, and of course the beginnings of fall leaves. It is after all just now autumn in our part of hemisphere.

Thank you everyone on your concern over mine and my daughter's cold--we're still got the sniffles though. I was working late on computer writing on one of my stories, and I was hearing a squeaking noise. It took me a while before I realized that that squeaking was happening everytime I breathed in or out. Apparently the cold has gotten into my lungs and has aggravated my ashma.

Our air quality is real bad at the moment too, because of it being harvest season.

Peaches have already been harvested during the heat of summer and one farmer just down a little ways from my house has quit the peach growing business, and has pulled up every tree! The old peach trees are waiting in huge drying piles to be lit on fire, as soon as the farmer gets the okay to do so.

And it's the end of the grape season too, so the crush season will be ending soon for my husband at the winery. So that may mean my husband will be put on his regular shift soon, and I'll have him snoring in my ear at night before too long.

But the Almond harvest is still in full swing at the moment, and I can still see the activity just down the road from me as they gather the nuts that they shook loose using a machine at night. I think the almonds harvest maybe responsible for a lot of the dust we have in the air right now, because it does cause a lot of dirt to be puffed up in the air with the sweepers(machines) brushing the almonds into piles to be collected by the nut gathering machines.

Cotton will be harvested next, and I know two miles down the road they are still cutting their alfalfa hay, thank goodness I don't live too close to there--I'm allergic to alfalfa!

Lady Jan says "and the eyes have it!"

This is for turtle guy who posted a comment saying; You have a camera in front of your face... I didn't know your eyes were green!

Here's the proff!

I have one green eye?

And no make-up either. . . Oops!

No, I have two green eyes!

And so does our new kitty!

Lady Jan's car is fixed, and kitty pics too!

My car is finally fixed! It just took six (count them 6) whole days to repair. Apparently the hold-up was the hood cable (that is need to open my hood), and I guess there is Cadillac radiators aplenty, but not so common are the rare and wonderful and much sought for hood cables.

But I am just so happy that is is fixed! Sniff, it's wonderful to drive my own car again! Sniff, sniff.

I would jump for joy, but I can't because I'm sick! I caught my daughter's cold from two weeks ago, and now my nose is making me miserable, sniff sniff, but I only have just a little tickle in the throat.

So not so much coughing as sniffing and a-a-aching!

It's the common cold, so no cure! I'm doomed!

Sniff, sniff.

I'll just have to tough it out!

Sniff, sniff.

And in the mean time, here's something I know you will really love!

Cute kitty pictures!

I cut a slit in the bottom of a bag and placed our kitty Checkers in it, and took picture of Checkers antics.

Enjoy.

My fingers, and kitty cat paws. Hello in there!

Why are you doing this to me?

Aha! I'll get you for this!

Can I come out now?

You can see that our kitty is green eyed like me.

Lady Jan's 9-11 Poem

Tomorrow for us the US it will be the five year anniversary of that terrible day 9-11-01. After you read my poem below I would like everyone to leave a comment; weather your a blogger, non-registered commenter, or a lurker. I want you to tell me what you were doing when 9-11 happened, and what went through your mind then, and now. Then I'll leave my comment on the anniversary too.

***

About my poem; I don't write a lot of poems, but it took me six month to process the tragedy of 9-11, and the process gave birth to this poem.

***

911
In God's Name


Allah –they yelled!
ramming our planes into our towers.
lost to the flames the buildings fell,
with few survivors.

Oh my God! We cried;
as we watched horrified,
trying to save them
many brave people died.

Jesus, thank you! That they live!
As people walked with feet of lead,
dusty tracks of tears they shed,
for what they suffered and fled.

Christ almighty! We did swear.
When the smoke then did clear;
our stunned senses not prepare,
titans once stood-- nothing a nightmare.

God there's more?
We learned---four planes
went out with evil intentions.
The pentagon succumb to mutilation!

My God! What happed?
A field in Pennsylvania was reshaped;
the ruin of flight 93 over the landscape,
passengers and crew---no escape.

Allah —thank you!
Prayed He from a cave in a hill.
For helping me to hurt them
where they feel it still.


In God we entrust.
flight 93 loved ones informed;
heros they were transformed,
together the cockpit they stormed.

Showing us courage in all of us inborn.

***

To all of you who have read my poem,

God bless you.

***

An Up-date on my "Just One of Those Days!"

My car is in the shop, and will have to be there until Monday at least. It's gonna cost us $850. or so to replace the hood cable that opens the hood, and to replace my radiator. And that is not including the car rental cost.

Apparently that SSSSSS, and then the POP I heard was the radiator exploding! And I had that same radiator worked on three or so years ago.

It kind of reminds me of my post "Things are blowing-up!" By the way my vacuum is back from the shop, and the repair people said "what was wrong with it was it was dirty."

Well, of course it was, a vacuum cleaner bag had exploded in it!

Now if the repair shop will just stop calling me to let me know it ready, already!

I know it is!

I've already picked it up a month ago!

Lady Jan answers the Question, "Where the Heck Is Madera?"

I was born and raised in Madera California, and most of the time when I tell someoen where I'm from I get this reaction:

"Where the heck is Madera?"

So here I hope to answer the question:

The county seat of Madera is at the junction of Hwy 99 and Hwy 145 on the Fresno River. Officials of the California Lumber Company had the town laid out in 1876 at the end of a flume that brought lumber 63 miles from the mountains to the railroad.

Madera means "wood" or "timber" in Spanish. Madera Post Office has been open since 1877. The town was incorporated in 1907.

Madera was originally a part of Fresno, and if you look on the map it really does look like it's been carved right from Fresno county's side. This is also the reason we have the Fresno river that flows right through Madera city and county.

The first contact by Spanish expeditions occurred in 1776. The establishment of missions in the region in 1804 introduced Old World diseases to the Indians and an epidemic of malaria in 1833 largely displaced and obliterated the Yokut population.

The land on both sides of the river became part of a Spanish land grant in the 1800's but the owner never occupied the land and it was eventually abandoned.

In 1958 Hollywood celebrities Jack Haley and Jackie Gleason filed the first subdivision plans. This first subdivision became Madera Ranchos. While Haley and Gleason are long gone they left a Hollywood legacy in the names of most of the streets. Caron Way, Sparta, Gleason and Gabor are a few examples.

Madera's Climate: The climate is hot and dry. Arid really. Average maximum temperature in July through August is 97-105 degrees and the low night time temps. are 68-73.8 degrees. Average maximum in January is 56.8 degrees with a low of 32.2. Rainfall average is 11.15 inches.

Colleges: State Center Community College's Madera Center Campus is located on Avenue 12, 4 miles west of the Ranchos. Fresno State University and Fresno Pacific College are located in Fresno 15 miles to the south.

Airports: Passenger and freight service, Yosemite Gateway International. Private planes, Municipal Airport Madera.

Medical Services: Madera Community Hospital, 10 miles. Madera Ranchos Health Clinic. Valley Children's Hospital, 3 miles.

Transportation Routes: Freeway 99 is 5 miles to the west of Madera Ranchos and gives access to the north part of the state. Hwy 41 which bisects the area is currently being extended as a freeway from Fresno into Madera County. Highway 41 gives access to the southern part of the state and to Yosemite National Park and the Mountain Communities of Eastern Madera County.

Location: 10 miles to Madera, 10 miles to Fresno, 75 miles to Yosemite, 145 miles to Sacramento. Southeastern Madera County is exactly in the middle of the state. Technically half of the area is located in Southern California and half is located in Northern California.

As the southern gateway to Yosemite National Park and the Sierra National Forest, tourism is big business in Madera County. And since 1994, tourism has grown 50% to a $200 million industry and has added 677 new jobs.

Yet, like most parts of the Valley, agriculture and food processing are the real backbone for this region of 110,000 people. In 1996, cash receipts totaled $712,113,000, making it the 13th leading agricultural county in the state. The leading revenue commodities were almonds, grapes, milk, cotton, pistachios, hay, cattle, oranges, apples, and turkeys. (Turkey?)

There are over 50 manufacturing plants in the county. In addition to food processing and wine making and bottling and food packaging materials, products include food machinery, farm equipment, air conditioning, and steel.


Madera is the original gateway to Yosemite (by stagecoach), and that is why today we have streets named Gateway Ave., and our main street is Yosemite Ave, there is also a Stagecoach road too.

Here are some Madera links, that I hope you enjoy:
Madera's History

We Maderan's like to be in the middle of things because--well--we just are:
Madera is in the exact middle of the central valley, and the unofficial dividing line between Northern and Southern California.
Madera is in the exact center of California
Madera is almost half way between Merced and Fresno.

And here is something else about Madera too:
Madera at Wikipedia
Some photos of Yosemite--that what is in my back yard!

Lady Jan's "Just One of Those days."

I got my daughter to school alright, but the day seemed to go down hill form there!

First off our new kitty got into a sticky trap in our room, and tore through the house. My husband saw most of this and said "she was running side-ways out of (our daughter) Sarah's room, then she ricketed of the front door and vibrated to a stop under the coffee table."

I'm the one who had to tear it off her little foot, she protested loudly, but she's okay.

I took a nap before going to pick-up my daughter from school.

I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, mostly because my husband isn't home at night to lull me to sleep with his snoring.

But we got a new noise.

Who know what a gondola is?
Every bump in the road
Boom!

Bang!

Oh a stop sign!

Bing, bang, boom!

Boom!

And just for variety,

screech!

All night long!

Oh, I have only gotten about two hours sleep for the last two nights!

Oh sleep, blessed sleep.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

But

I digress.

I got to school and my cell phone rang, it was my daughter of course trying to find out my ETA.

I hit the off button instead of the on button.

Oops!

It's okay my daughter found me right when I was trying to call her back.

I was down to three gallons of gas, so I went over to Chevron to fill-up.

A homeless (I think) man came over and said, "Hey, hey, hey?"

I glared at him I hate to be begged for money. "Oh never mind he said," and left.

That's when I heard

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

W-What is that?

I checked the gas hose.

It was fine.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I checked my tire that has a nail in it, and isn't leaking very fast so we just keep putting more air in it, as waiting for a good pay day so we can replace it and another one that's getting old.

No it's fine.

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

Could the noise be coming from the engine?

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

POP!

Glug, glug, glug, glug!

Green water flowed from under the front of my car!

"Gasp! Oh, dear, oh no!"

I don't know why, but when I'm startled or shocked my languages is G rated. But get me mad, and it gets an instant R rating.

I continued to fill up my car.

What else could I do?

I then drove it a short distance to the air water thingy, that all gas stations in California have to have by law. But only one of them was working.

Then I couldn't get the hood open!

And I tried everything to get it opened.

Then I remembered I have a cell phone!

Hey! Cell phone to the rescue!

Yay!

I woke my husband, who then called my parents, then my mom

(are you following all this?)

picked up my husband and brought my husband to us.

And he couldn't get the hood up either!

Darn!

So he called the insurance company to get a tow (it free on insurence polacy),

and then I got the idea

(Yeah, I'm just full of them today)

Of renting a car.

My mom took me over to the Toyota dealer ship that rents them.

And when asked what car did I want I replied my husband wants

a Camry!
We got a Grey one.
I got home with it just before my husband and the tow truck did.

A few days ago my husband told me, "did you know you have a very large egg plant in your garden?"
My reaction, "Huh?"
So YGF and I tore off out-side and picked this beauty, and YGF liked it so much I gave it to her.
Checkers our new kitty tells my daughter, "Shh, you talk too much."
Okay, we are all wierded out over this one.
Okay, you mice!

Heads up!

There is a new cat in town. . . er. . .House,

and you better watch out because she got an e-y-e?

Out for y-o-u?

H-mm, then on the other hand. . . .I got a lot of sticky traps!
So live in fear. . . .You mice-ies you!