Ten years and celebrating!

My husband and I own a small electronics company that makes instruments that measure water quality. Well, this is a very special year for us and for Turner Designs.

For us, it is special because it was 10 years ago that Jim (my husband) came home and said, "Can I buy Turner Designs, dear?" I think I was actually stunned into silence for a few minutes. Buy a company? How? Why?

Why? Well, Jim wanted a chance to work for himself and he really liked the company he was working for and he thought that the people there were also great employees.

OK, those were good ideas, but this was going to be a big leap for us because in order to purchase Turner Designs, we had to pledge everything we owned and there was a chance that we could lose everything we owned. That was scary! But, we decided to go ahead and take this chance; this was really a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Sunset over Lake Tahoe

Now, ten years later, Turner Designs is doing well due to the hard work of everyone. And, this year was the best year ever! There was going to be great profit sharing for everyone and in addition, Jim and I decided that to reward everyone for working so hard that we would take the entire company to Lake Tahoe for the weekend!

So, that's what we did. This past weekend, we and 21 (out of 25) employees and guests went up to Stateline, Nevada, and stayed in one of the casinos. And, on Saturday, everyone got to play a special slot machine tournament for prizes of casino chips. When Jim and I got there, we decided to check out the casino floor and we were very pleasantly surprised to see that there was a set of slot machines set up just for us! And, the casino put up a sign for everyone to see.

All in all, this was a great weekend. I am very glad Jim and I took this plunge into capitalism. Over these 10 years, there have been very scary times and some very good times. And, I am glad to say that this year has been, I think, the best time. It took a lot of work from Jim, me and all of our employees, but this is one year we all get rewarded for that hard work. It really says something that many of our employees have stayed with us throughout this journey; and I am glad they did.

Spring!

California Buckeye Bud

It seems like Spring is finally here in Los Gatos. I guess it took Easter to make sure of that. A month ago, the California buckeye trees were starting to leaf out; now they have flower buds - very long buds.

So, now I go outside and it is all sunny and I can't wait for our deck work to finish. That's one thing I had to get used to living on the hillside of the Santa Cruz Mountain chain. Deck maintenance! Constant deck maintenance. We don't have a backyard, our house is tucked into the hillside and because of that, we live on our deck. That means every year we have to take a look at our decking and decide which part really needs to be done this year and what part we can leave off until next year.

Well, this year we decided the next section to be done would be the portion of the deck out to what we call our "View Deck." The former owners had just a tiny little spot about 8' x 10' and the walkway out was just boards laid down on the ground. You had to walk single file to get to the view. Being on the ground, the walkway boards were rotting away and the ground shifts (lots of rain, hills begin to move... ) were making it hard to walk out. Plus the view deck itself was coming apart.

Deck Work with Snow

Back in February when it snowed here for the first time since 1976, I had taken a shot of the "skeleton" in trying to get more pictures of the snow.

Deck Work almost complete!

Now, it much closer to completion and we are eagerly awaiting its finish.  As you can see, we are almost there.

To give you a little idea of what I mean when I say our house in built into a hillside, take a closer look at the deck work. To the right of the decking, those are tree branches.  And, to the left is the retaining wall to hold back the hill.

I have a weird dog :)

As you may know, we have 2 Aussies. One Aussie is from a breeder who was trying to breed a dog that could compete both as a show dog and as a herding dog. It wasn't a successful attempt. :)

Shadow is cute and friendly and loves to cuddle. But, for an Aussie, he's not too bright. So, when we went to get a second Aussie, I looked for a dog from a herding line. Actually, this dog is our third Aussie, our first one died from cancer and I missed her so much, I needed to get a puppy.

So, enter Penny. She is a herding dog that I got from a breeder in Missouri. She's smart, energetic and a lot of fun (and work). We are constantly learning new things that she can do. One of the strangest is the way she sits on the stairs. She will sit on one step and put her front legs on another! I have never seen a dog do this before, so of course, I had to take a picture.

She will sit this way outside too. I guess she is so long that it's more comfortable for her to sit this way. Every time I see her doing this, I have to laugh!



Shadow, on the other hand, will lay down every opportunity he can get. You can see how hard a life he has when you see him yawning when I try to wake him up and get him off the sofa. I'm going to bed, but Shadow would prefer that I leave him alone to sleep on the sofa all night.

I may be a softie with my dogs, but letting him sleep on the sofa all night - I don't think so.

Actually, both my husband and myself are real softies with our dogs. Both of them love to sleep on the sofa when ever they can. Penny still sleeps as a puppy, all sprawled out and when she does, you can see that she has very long legs.

In fact, I have to make sure she doesn't push me off the sofa when she stretches out her full length. :)

Countdown to Spring

We're just adjusted our clocks and I know I am past ready for Spring to be here. This has been an unusual year of weather, even Northern California weather.

• Rains started a little late
• Then it poured
• Followed by days of warmth and sunshine
• Freak dusting of snow 
• Now, it's raining again.....

Well, in between the showers, I went outside to check for signs of Spring. After all, Spring is officially here in 6 days! {on Sunday, March 20th}

Bee gathering nectar
from rosemary blooms

Want to play? Please....

I found out that I am not the only one anxious for good weather.

Bees humming from flower to flower, only to disappear when the rain starts again.

California Fuchsia 

One of my dogs, Penny, running to grab a tennis ball and then trying to get me to play with her.



And, finally, some more flowers! This time from my California Fuchsia in a pot outside on the deck.

Now that I know that I am not the only one anxious for Spring to be here. The bees have started looking for flowers. My dogs want to go outside and play. And, one of California's native species, telling me that, yes, it's almost Spring!

I can't wait!