Tipsy Pots Are Doing Well

I can't help myself. I love WHIMSY ! I really like the burst of color at the entrance to the Secret Garden.

Come sit a spell with me. We will ponder the wonders of the world! We might even find a soft cushion for our bottoms!

Wishing you a Wonderful Sunny Memorial Day in your favorite place. And, please say thanks for all the wonderful men and women who have served our country and those who have sacraficed part of their bodies or life through the years ! 

Happy Memorial Day

During this past year, our little community built this beautiful Veterans Memorial near our Community Park. It honors the five branches of service - Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard. It is stunningly impressive. The wall behind is filling up with engraved bricks of the members of the Armed Services from our community.

It looks like the weather is going to be very nice for the holiday weekend. I hope you have nice plans to enjoy the holiday and honor our veterans and those currently serving.

Flowers For A Friend

A neighborhood friend is going to be taking care of Lily while I am away on my trip. Yesterday, I saw this lovely plant and decided to purchase it for her. I will give it to her when I take Lily over to her house next week. She loves her garden and I know she will really like it. While I am in Germany, I will find another gift to express my appreciation.

I hope you are having a Bright and Cheerful  Day.

It Won't Be Long Now

What a day! It all started with a poor nights sleep. The electrical power went off in the middle of the night and the television was making noise when it came back on briefly before going out a couple more times. Most significantly, just as I was starting to prepare my morning coffee, it went out again. And of course all the clocks around the house (six) were flashing.. I was not happy. The power came back on at 8:20 AM just in time for me to get my daily 8:30 AM  phone call from My Special Man. Then, I promptly made a call to a friend to confirm our lunch date. I walked no further than from the kitchen to the bedroom to start to get ready for the day - - - and - - - the power went off again. Low level frustration was starting to set in.

The first item of the day was to take my convertible to the body shop to have the drain holes on the bottom side of the care cleaned out to drain water (from all the rain) that had accumulated under and above the floor boards. Yes, by now I had about one inch of water on top of the carpet on the passenger side. Every time I made a turn with the car I could hear slushing water.  Not a good thing. I must get my garage cleaned out so I can get my car in. That is the number one item on my To Do List when I get back from our trip!

Next, I missed meeting up with my friend for lunch because I was late getting back from the "auto stuff".  By now, I think I could use a pill, a drink or something ! ! ! She thought we misunderstood our arrangement and proceeded to the restaurant and then a second restaurant that we talked about. Before long, I think we were chasing each other around town  to find one another. Of course, she started to worry that something awful had happened to me. In all honesty, I can not remember missing a committed appointment. So, this was very unusual. She left a message at the home of My Special Man and the pathetic comedy continued on until I was able to reach her at her home by phone at which time she was eating some lunch. Then, My Special Man was wondering what had happened to me because I missed meeting up with my friend. It all ended well with everyone "safe and sound" and no one upset with one another.  I must get a cell phone.  I did not think I needed one any longer with my very quite life in the past (meaning - before My Special Man entered my life) but times are different now and I will be getting one - SOON.

And - - - - you really don't want to know about the remainder of the day.

I hope you had a very Peaceful and Serene day.

Pretty - - - Or What

What a beauty. Take your pick, either the rose or the scarf! Even with all of the inclement weather, these "old fashioned" roses have managed to bring beauty into my house. I do not know the name of the rose because it was planted in my garden before I moved here. But, it is one of my favorites.

And, look - - - the Drop Stitch Ribbon Scarf is finished. I am very pleased with how it turned out. The colors are quite lovely. I don't think the detail shows very well in the photo.

Perhaps, that will change in the future because My Special Man bought a new camera for our trip to Germany. It just may be that I will have to use it for my blog photography!   ;-)

One more thing. My laptop computer came. I love it. Only, one problem - I am having difficulty getting the wireless connection system set up. I have help on the way!

Take good care of yourself today and everyday.

Rain Coat Alteration And Volcano Ash

My oh, my. This is a difficult color to photograph! No matter how hard I tried, this is the best I could do with the less than ideal lighting situation with rainy weather. Rain coat - - - and - - - rainy weather, I guess they go together.

Actually, the color is more like a champagne color and I think it will go with my travel wardrobe which is composed of navy blue as the most prominent color. I found that blue was a difficult color to find in the stores. But, it seems as though the color is starting to be a little more prominent than a few months ago.

As usual, alterations are a way of life for me. And, this classy little raincoat needed to have its sleeves shortened by 2 inches. So, that is what I did today along with a lot of other things like getting a pedicure. A rainy day is good for these types of activities.

I just found a photo of the raincoat in the champagne color. Isn't it great looking - - - and the back has a nice self-belt.

Rain, rain go away. I need some sunshine before I leave town in six days. And, I sure hope the Iceland volcano behaves itself and doesn't ash-up the skies and close the European airports.

I hope you had a Good Day.

Take Time To Smell The Roses

Today, I am sending you a Big Smile. I am trying to keep the same look on my face even though I am beginning to feel "crunch time" with our soon to be departure time for our Germany trip. It seems no matter how hard I try to be effiecient in my planning I am always wanting more from myself. I know I still have a few days but none the less all the many things like arrangements for the mail, garden watering, house lights on a timer, bathe the dog before going to dog sitter, etc., etc., and on and on. I got up at 5:30 this morning because I could not sleep. I have been preparing payment of monthly bills, so that will be out of the way.

A Happy Face is certainly in order for today.  My new laptop computer is expected to arrive! And, you know I am going to have to spend some time with "the new toy". That activity could certainly eat up a lot of time if I am not careful with my time management.

That's it for now.

Have a Great Day and Take Time To Smell The Roses!

It Won't Be Long Before Graduation

In less than two weeks my precious Granddaughter will be graduating from High School. Once again she has maintained a 4.0 GPA  - during her senior year. I am so very proud of her. She has been accepted at several colleges and is going to stay within the state of California. She has grown up in the mojave desert and received her schooling at Edwards Air Force Base because her father was stationed there during the last years of his active military duty. He retired from active duty after 20 years of service. Since that time he has remained at the base as a civilian employee. Thus, she continued her schooling at the Base.

It has been so difficult for me to figure out what would be a nice gift for her. But, I think I have finally come to a decision. The other day when I was out shopping, I saw this cute little Juicy Couture "coin purse".

You know how teenagers love Juicy Couture and designer names. Yes, they are quite expensive - aren't they?  Anyway, I purchased it and I will be placing a sizable money order inside before mailing it off to her. I am sure that she will be happy. And, then when she moves away as school starts I will get her something that she can use in her new room/apartment.

Wishing ALL the Graduates great success in their futures.

The Two Of Us

We have been planning on having a photo taken but never find the time. So, a friend was kind enough to take several causal photos for us to choose from.  And, this was the one that pleased us the most. We really are as happy as the photo shows!  Life is grand and we are very grateful.  

 

I hope you are having a Fabulous day.

The Newspaper Said It All

"Gone but not forgotten." Our little town has had a loss of an icon that most towns will never experience.  Tuesday morning, we lost Clarissa, our town burro! She was 27-years-old and was born in the field where she grew to fame and lived a life as a greeter of many who would include her in their morning, afternoon or evening walking route at the west end of town on Main Street.   

Reportedly, in the 1980's the Bureau of Land Management rounded up wild burros from Death Valley because of their large population and sent them to University of California, Davis where they could be adopted. A burro was adopted by some folks who soon had two burros when Cass (Clarissa's mom)  gave birth. The two burros lived quietly, almost anti-social for many years in the field at the end of Main Street. Then Cass passed away and before long Clarissa started becoming friendly to passers-bys.  In no time at all, Clarissa became "Murphys burro". I enjoyed  hearing her friendly bray especially in the morning from my home a couple blocks away. I will miss her.

During a morning walk in February of this year I took this photo of her while she was looking at Lily. 

  

She usually came to the fence to greet everyone,especially the dogs and many people would feed her carrots.

Clarissa will be missed. R.I.P. We loved you.

I hope you have a Bright and Sunny Day.

It Has Been Years

And years, since I have had fresh abalone from the sea. Many a year ago, my landlord would take my son along with him to Montery Bay, California for abalone diving and they would always bring home fresh abalone for me. It was such a treat. 

Well, yesterday afternoon we went to the home of the daughter of My Special Man for Abalone dinner. Her husband recently was diving for abalone while they were vacationing at Fort Bragg, California where they lived in the past.

The country drive to the next county was beautiful as we travelled through the backroads to the town of Volcano that prides itself in Daffodil Hill and the Volcano Union Hotel  The Volcano welcoming sign says "Most Picturesque - established 1852".    

We had a great time and I enjoyed seeing their nice house at the end of a country road with fantastic views of the beautiful forest and sunset.

Wishing you a Fabulous day.

A New Toy

I couldn't help myself! I have had a laptop computer in the back of my mind for quite sometime now. And, once I started looking at them in the stores and on the Internet I was able to start talking to myself  (also know as rationalizing) about how great it would be to have a small one for the upcoming trip to Germany. Could there be a better time to make this kind of a purchase?  I think not. Why wait? Just think how nice it will be to do some brief daily entries about our experiences and download our photos as we go along.

Well, a couple days ago I did a little more looking in the stores and probably would have purchased one if they had the one I want - in stock. So, now I am doing a little more thinking about what I want. So far, this one has my greatest attention. An important  (but not the most important) feature for me is the size. I only want one that is small, but not to small. I know that is ambiguous. But, that is the way it is. About fourteen inches will do it. Also, I want it to have enough features like memory (4 GB) so I will not need/want another one for a long time. Check it out - - - HP Pavilion dv4-2170us Entertainment Notebook PC.  I was going to order it on the Internet but My Special Man wanted to be here when I order it on the Internet. I think I know why. What do you think? It just may have something to do with a credit card number ! ! !

I hope you are having a Great day.

P.S. The new computer  pictured above is ordered. I did not want his credit card used. But, for the sake of avoiding an argument (we never seem to argue) I let him use his credit card.  ; - )  

Yes, he is spoiling me rotten! And, I am loving it.

It's Happening Again

I think I am becoming addicted to this pattern and ribbon yarn. I finished  The Purple Party Scarf a few days ago and gifted my friend with it last Sunday. She was delighted! In my rush to put it in a pretty little package, I forgot to take a photo. But before long I probably will have another one completed. They really are a fast and fun knit. It is a little like - - -  instant gratification when knitting time is at a premium.

 

 

What a coincidence that one of the first iris to bloom in my garden is this gorgeous maroon color that matches the Autumn Leaves color of Lion Brand Incredible ribbon yarn that I had in my stash and had started knitting before I saw the blooming iris.

 Happy knitting if you are a knitter and Happy Day to all.