First Snow Storm Of The Season In Northern CA

Its only November and the weather NEWS here in northern California have been talking about snow storms in both high and low elevations. I think this is the first snow storm of the season (fall season) and they are already talking snow storm as low as 1500-2000 feet elevation, thats in the foothills of the sierra. In other states like Washington, there is snow all the way to the ocean because the cold Alaskan air is heading towards the south including California. I lived in the snow for several years, and dealing with 2-3 feet of snow in one storm and have to deal with it for the rest of the week can be challenging. With the first snow storm of the season being this intense already, i hope its not a sign of more bigger snow storms in the near winter to come.

If you are in a snow storm, be safe. Drive safely and stay warm.

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Way Too Hot For Fall

Where I live, yesterday was record breaking 100 plus degrees fahrenheit and its fall season. Its already fall season and we are still dealing with hot summer days temperature here in California. To my dismay, I had to go out yesterday and had to deal with the high temperature being in the car. Even with the car air conditionining running full-blast, I can still feel the baking hot temperature in the air especially coming in and out of the vehicle after it sat there for hours in the sun.

I like bringing our dog with us when we travel but during extremely hot days like yesterday, we always leave them home because we dont want them to have a heat stroke especially when we need to go to a store, where dogs are not allowed, so the dogs will be stuck waiting inside the car. When the weather is hot, it only takes few minutes for the car to get really toasty inside even when you leave windows crack open. So for dogs safely, its best for them to just chill at home rather than bake outside.

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Our Huge Shade Tree

We have this huge shade tree in the backyard that i like because it gives us a lot of shades especially during summer time when it gets really hot. We live in an area that we frequently get more than 100 degrees fahrenheit temperature during the summer, so having a shade tree like it is very benefecial especially for our electricity bills because this tree is situated near the house blocking some direct sunlight in one side of house in the afternoon, where the sun hit most during that time of day.

The problem with this tree is that during fall season it has all these leaves that fall in our patio that we need to clean up almost daily through out the season. This tree is full of leaves, and all of them are gonna fall by the end of the season, every year. Not only that, this same tree have sticky saps that stick to the falling leaves and I mean sticky. So when we step/walk into the falling leaves, some leaves stick to our shoes and slippers and can easily get carried inside the house. Our dogs can even carry leaves inside the house with their paws.

Fall is near and the leaves of this tree started to fall and the saps too, so its going to be another busy autumn season for us cleaning up the mess that our tree produce. But its hard to take it down and replace because its a full grown mature tree already and it helps us a lot during the summer and gives us plenty of shade and be able to enjoy our backyard without baking in the sun.

To read more about gardening and tree, check out Gardeners Land blog.

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Hot And Strange Weather

The other day, we starting noticing dead leaves falling off the trees already and scattered all over our back patio. Few hours after the leaves were swept, there were new leaves that fell. Made me think, is it fall already? I thought its still summer basing on how hot its been for weeks.
When I watched tv this morning, we heard the weather guy announced that its going to be super hot in our area today, they were talking 100+ degrees fahrenheit, and its bad news for me because I needed to go out today. Unfortunately, car airconditioning in my car still needs fixing, its not blowing cool air very well anymore, so going out in an extremely hot day (like today) is something that I am not looking forward to. 

The weather people was right with there prediction, its was extremely hot outside. Thats why when I went to stop by at the supermarket, there were tons of people, maybe trying to stay away from the sun and just chill in the airconditioning room. Might be a great idea though, save their home airconditioning bill and simply cool off in a controlled temperature mall or supermarket for free :-)

Thank you for visiting Honestly Fresh today. If you have time, feel free to visit Dogs Circle or Planting Diary blogs.

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Water The Lawn

With the peak of the summer season, its becoming hotter and hotter everyday outside. And one of the most noticeable effects of this hot weather is the color of our lawn. Even if we frequently water our lawn, its definitely taking the beating from the sun really quite harshly and its started to turn brownish and if left unwatered it could die. We try to water our lawn after the sunset inorder to give it some really good soaking and and let the water soak into the ground and not just let it evaporate in the middle of the afternoon sun. Sometimes, our built-in sprinkler system is not enough to do the job, we have to drag a hose and a rotating sprinkler system attached to the hose to add more water to the ground. Its no surprise that during summer time, our water bill goes up to almost double because both the lawn and the garden needs more water during this season and its necessary for the lawn and plants to survive the heat.

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The Appearance Of A Rainbow

We were watching the Finale of The Bachelorette (Ali) tv show last night (August 2, 2010) and it was definitely a surprised twist that Ali sent home Chris a day earlier than what the show normally have it in the past, during the rose ceremony. After all that he been thru recently in his life, Ali did it more as a concern for Chris so he doesnt have to hope for Ali's decision to choose him when she already made up her mind at that point. And thats when a rainbow appeared in the Bora-Bora in Tahiti Island which reminded him of his mother. When they showed the rainbow on air, it was such a stunning rainbow specially in a beautiful island setting of Bora Bora.

As per my photograph above, i took this picture outside of our place, right after we had rain one time. With all the trees and houses nearby, it was hard to see the whole rainbow but it stand out pretty good in an amber cloudy day. There is something about rainbow that is so magical, it carries a message of hope, a peace and beauty after a storm.

Written and Photography by Jazevox. All rights reserved.

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Spring Time Is Finally Here

I love the springtime, its been months, and its finally here! Many of us (definitely not the skiers and snowboarders) are hibernating and refraining from doing any yard and outdoor activities all winter long. For some reason, the gloomy cloudy days of autumn and winter seasons seem to naturally keep most of us from enjoying our yard and having the desire to hang out outside. During the cold days, we prefer to stay indoor and enjoy the nice warm air in our fireplace or central air instead. Spring season offers bright promises, it is a perfect time to start enjoying the outdoors again, clear up the deck and set up the outdoor patio set. Spring time is also the best time to expect colorful surprises in your garden. Many flowers blooms in the spring and most plants get out of hibernation mood and grow leaves again. So out with the coats and boots and in with light shirts, shorts, and flip flops once again.

Thank you for visiting www.HonestlyFresh.com today!

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Much Needed Rainy Days

Just few weeks ago, i heard in the weather news that California overall only accumulated around sixty (60) percent rain compare to normal average as far as rain and snow. At that time, it was hard to imagine that there are more rainy days since winter time is almost coming to an end and spring time is coming up. But these past few days have been absolutely wet. Day after day of rain, and lots of snowflakes are falling in the high sierras and as well as in the foothills, the weather definitely dominates the telivision news. Rain and snow here in most part of CA is necessary and great for the environment, so a little discomfort due to wet weather can be minor compares to the huge benefits and the uses that we can gain from it.

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Got Some Rain

Its been dry here in northern CA and if there is something that most California residents could really use these days, its rain and more rain. As per the record book, the month of January is one of the most rainy month here, but we dont have a lot of it this month. But just like the weatherman predicted, the rain finally came today! Although it was not very heavy nor whole day event, every little bit goes a long way specially for a state that doesnt get a lot of rainy days in a year. Summertime is fast approaching and significant amount of rain is necessary in this part of the country before summer begins.

Driving in the rain? Slow down and dont rush! Be home safely.

Thank you for visiting www.HonestlyFresh.com today!

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Days Outside

For the past few days, the weather have been so nice here in northern California. The sun is out and so perfect to go around town and do some yard work as well. Took some time to rake dead leaves in the lawn, below the huge tree we have in the backyard. The weather is great but definitely could use some colors around. Most of the trees around the area lost their leaves already for the winter time, so its quite a relief to know that we dont have to wait for more leaves to fall down and had to rake them everyday, specially that we have several trees nearby.

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The Outdoor Fireplace That Got Away

We went to Sears yesterday to buy a plier, when we noticed that they were clearancing off their home and garden seasonal items. There were outdoor furniture set, lounges, outdoor umbrella, barbeque grill, and more. But we noticed that there was an outdoor gas fireplace that was marked down as well. The outdoor gas fireplace was very nice, so elegant, originally priced at $1000+, they were closing it out for less than $300+ yesterday, thats $700+ off! It was tempting, but we dont have a budget for it, really. So we just checked it out, admired it, hoped we can have it in our outdoor patio...

Today, we went to Sears again, and found ourselves being dragged in the home and garden department again, getting curious if the outdoor fireplace has been further marked down. Just like that, the outdoor fireplace was gone, it is no longer on their clearance section. So, we talked to one of the personel of the store about it, and she explained that it was sold yesterday, before the day was over, and she further told us that it was priced so slow, it was practically a steal-deal, almost a give-away. Less than $300 sale price for a $1000+ item is a great marked down for sure, but Im thinking to myself that spending $300 is not really a give-away on the part of the buyer, hehe.

Although, we dont have the budget for it, we always wanted an outdoor fireplace like it someday, but always classic outdoor fireplaces are quite expensive. But seeing the same item at a fraction of the price of what it is normally sold for, it was definitely an outdoor fireplace that got away.

Written by JazeVox of www.HonestlyFresh.com
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You can also see me in the following blogs: www.DogsCircle.com www.FiftyStatesTravel.com

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Mixed Emotion With The Rain

For the first time for a long long time here in northern CA (where I am at), we are finally hearing in the NEWS to expect some rain late this week or this coming weekends! It is a mixed emotion for us though because we love the rain, we need the rain so badly here in CA, but at this point, our family is NOT ready for the rain to fall very very soon yet because we removed the rain gutter of our house last summer and planned to replace it before winter, of course. But time flies so fast, before we know it rainy season is already here and our house is not fully ready for it! We are extremely busy doing some works outside to finish some of the unfinish works that we started outside in the previous months that will be a problem during rainy days, which is coming up fast and furious. We only have few days left, and we need to get things ready and done, and get the house ready for the rainy days. grr

Written by JazeVox of www.HonestlyFresh.com
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Please visit my other blogs: www.GardenersLand.com and www.DogsCircle.com www.FiftyStatesTravel.com www.ExpressInStyle.com Hope to see you there too!

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Feeling The Fall Season

Yesterday, September 22, is officially the first day of fall here in the United States. In the NEWS yesterday, we saw the first photo of fall colors in the trees transforming into beautiful bright colors taken somewhere in the north east United States. I truly like the beautiful and stunning transformations of plants during the fall season. I remember when we were travelling towards Lake Tahoe during the fall season one time, we were lucky enough to witness a lot of Aspen Trees with its magnificient bright yellow colors and white barks. In our own yard, we have a Japanese Maple tree that turns into bright deep red during fall. Although, not all trees have fall color changes, there are places all over the states that are known to have best spots to be able to witness these great display of nature. Inorder to see the fall colors, timing is everything, see it before the leaves die down and fall. It is best to do some research which areas have fall colors at what week or month of the year. The trick is, do your research in advance before travelling hundreds of miles, so you wont get disappointed when you arrive there too late, and the trees are already bald. Even if you dont have the budget to fly somewhere to see huge display of fall colors, local areas like shopping malls, parks, city streets, etc have planted trees that some of them changes during fall. Sometimes all you need to do is drive around town and you seeing fall colors may come and greet you!

Written by JazeVox of www.HonestlyFresh.com

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Hurricane Ike Aftermath

We were following the weather NEWS both at The Weather Channel and CNN as both channels closely monitored hurricane Ike travelling thru from the atlantic ocean to the gulf sea. After days of watching the daily updates of hurricane Ike as it cruised thru other different countries in the carribean, hurricane Ike finally made landfall in the coast of Texas early dawn last Saturday. It was widely huge storm and the impact that it did in places where it hit was devastating as it caused a lot of damage to both lands and properties, as well as the lives of many people. Many of us may not be in the gulf coast but the NEWS also affects other people, financially and emotionally as well. In the news, they were talking about some oil refinery in the gulf coast that were shut down temporarily as hurricane Ike passed by, and the non-operation could result in higher gas prices nationwide. That was why we hurridly drove to the gas station that very Saturday morning and filled up the gas at $3.59 per gallon price before it could possibly rise up around $4.00 to $5.00 per gallon again, just like when hurricane Katrina hit the coast of New Orleans three years ago. The price didnt go up badly like we thought, so that is great for a change.

Although, hurricane Ike finally left Texas, he left behind devastation and problems in places where it hit. So if you have the means to help those who were deeply affected by the storm, extending your help and support will surely be valuable and will go a long way.

Written by JazeVox of www.HonestlyFresh.com
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Not Ready For Changing Season

Here in California, we still have obvious summer days, with triple digits temperature in the weather forecast three (3) days in a row, today, tommorrow and the day after that! I am definitely not looking forward to it because its gonna be too hot to stay out and with the few number of days left for this summer season, I would like more comfortable sunny days to stay outdoors and not have to worry about the rainy days yet. We just bought a new gas barbeque and some outdoor furniture that we bought at cheaper prices because they had been clearance off as ending season sales. And I wish to enjoy them a little bit more before weather gets cold and wet outside. Not a really a good time to complain by having triple digit temperature days because while watching the The Weather Channel and some other telivision NEWS, other parts of the US are having rain and wind these past couple of days. Hurricane Gustav just passed the mid gulf coast the other day that led to more or less two million people to evacuate out of Louisiana, after experiencing a traggic hurricane Katrina three (3) years ago. And this time, hurricane Ike and Hannah are predicted to be going towards the United States as well, particularly in the east coast somewhere around South and/or North Carolinas. Hopefully, as it travel through the atlantic ocean, the hurricane will weaken.

Written by JazeVox of www.HonestlyFresh.com
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Summer Cool Down Today

We been experiencing extreme weather temperature for the past few weeks this summertime. So we have our airconditioning set to an automatic timer to turn on at around 78 degrees fehrenheit to keep the house cooler all day. But today is a different story, for a summer time, the temperature is definitely cooler outside, more or less 90 degrees, so we were able to keep the windows open and grab some fresh breeze for a change. Hopefully there are more cooler days like it this summer.

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Smoke Is In The Air

Waking up this morning was the worst yet, the air quality and visibility outside is terrible! By just a quick opening of the door, I could smell the smoke already. Its been hard trying to get out outdoors lately dealing with the thick smoke developing all over the place due to all the acreage of fires happening in different parts of California. And the three digit temperature is definitely not helping the whole situation. This afternoon, our car digital thermometer read 113 degrees fahrenheit for outside, thats hot. With how thick the smoke has become, I was able to take a snap shot of the sun this afternoon in a glowing orange color, it is stunning but this effect usually happens when there is a lot of smoke in the air, which is totally unhealthy.

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Triple Digit Temperatures

For many people, comfortable outdoor temperature range around 70-89 degrees fahrenheit. When temperatures hit the triple digits, that is when it is definitely hot and beyond the comfort zone for a lot of us. When it get that hot, it is best to just stay indoors, if you are able to maintain a comfortable room temperature inside. Best ways to cool off your place indoors is by using running the central air, an aircon or an electric fan. House shaded with huge trees seems to be a lot cooler and will help minimize the use of any cooling unit. In some cities, there are designated cooling areas that you can cool off and take cover from the burning sun. If you need to be outdoors in a hot temperature, it helps if you stay in the shaded areas, away from the direct sun, and dont stay outdoor for long period of hours. Some quick cooling activities popular by many people is taking a quick cool shower, or take a quick swim in a cool pool.

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Fireworks Or No Fireworks This July 4

In places where most areas are experiencing dry and drought season, lighting up fireworks this July 4 Independence Day may not be the safest. Before you purchase any fireworks or decide to light up fireworks, it would be sensible if you check the condition of your area first. Lighting fireworks in continued no-rain or drought days may be hazardouz in high fire danger conditions. High fire danger not only directly affects you and your immediate family dwellings but your entire neighborhood as well. If it is too dangerous to lit fireworks this July 4, then dont lit! There are many types of fireworks that are illegal nowadays, so make sure that you check with your local municipality which is illegal and which is not, and be aware who are the legal fireworks retailers and which areas are legal to lit fireworks. To avoid putting yourself in trouble with the law, play fireworks in places where its permitted and legal to do so. Even if it may legal in your area to play with fireworks on July 4, if the weather and condition calls for high fire danger, make a sensible choice to choose safety and pass up lighting up one this fourth of July 4.

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Dealing With Bad Air Quality

When there is a lot of fire burning in your area, the air quality can be dangerously unhealthy for you and your family to inhale. Many places monitor the air quality and share such information to the public, mostly by NEWS report, inorder to alert everyone of any danger zone air quality. One of the most common cause that affects air quality is when there is fire in your area causing smoke to fill the air. Depending on the gust and direction of the wind, even if your area dont have any fire, the wind may still carry the smoke from other areas. One perfect indication of an alarming amount of smoke in the air is when it gets so hazy and/or when you can actually smell the smoke. If you can smell it, you can breath it, and it can get it into your lungs. Being concern with dangerous level of smoke or bad air quality should not be only for people with asthma or individuals with breathing problems. Even if you are healthy and have no breathing problems or similar illness, inhaling smoke is still unhealthy and could possibly lead to some breathing or lung problem in the near future if you continue to ignore bad air quality. So when the air quality outdoor is too dangerous to be outside, it is better just to stay indoor, close all doors and windows, and minimize your outdoor activities for the meantime, until it is safe to stay outside.

©JazeVox of www.HonestlyFresh.com

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