Frogs, Bunnies, Trike rides, Birthday, Dancing in the Rain, Potato Guns

This year Memorial Day was spent in the country--Idaho country. It had a little bit of everything beginning with a 6 hour ride to get there (It went surprisingly fast), a birthday and a funeral, dancing in the rain after a thunderstorm we watched come across the plains, a fashion show, frogs and bunnies, trike rides, potato guns and fresh banana shakes! Here are a few pictures, in no particular order.

Just one of the funny license plates we saw on the way.
Soft, furry little bunnies


Sadly, Peter Bunny succumbed while we were there, hence, the funeral for him. This is his marker.

Will, with the beginning of his Darth Vader costume he wore all weekend.

Bike rides and trike rides were in order.
Also rides to the lake courtesy of Maddy.
Preparing for the funeral of Peter Bunny.

Rafting in our own private lake.

The birthday girl...big 14!
A little fashion show.
I hope your weekend was memorable also. Have a great week!

Fences and Walls

I have been consumed with fences and walls lately after discovering that my fence that was here when I moved in, is in fact, not new but in a sorry state of disrepair beyond repair.

The existing fence is right next to a paved road which gives no privacy in my backyard.
I have traveled high and low looking at what other people have decided was the best fence for them. Is it right for my yard as well? I have researched the merits of a solid brick wall, brick with brick columns, Atlas brick (a longer, wider brick), cement block wall, cement with stucco, concrete block wall, with and without columns and precast concrete. I have narrowed the field down to precast concrete.
This (blurry) picture is of a stacked-look tan wall with columns that match.
Do I want a random brick-look on a grey fence? I actually would love the waterfall but that would never happen unless other people wouldn't mind driving through it instead of the existing road.
And I have noticed that a lot of people like this "polka-dot" random colored rock look.

This multi-shaped flat rock look is nice too. What would you choose?
I went with Precast concrete because it is durable, goes up very quickly, requires minimum foundation work and is very good value for the money ( much less money to tell the truth!!
And the winner is:
And this is the one I chose. I like the symetry of the "bricks" and the flat columns. Mine will actually have flat frames around each panel too. It goes in next week and I can hardly wait. That's about all the excitment for now. Happy Memorial Day to all of you. I am off to Idaho to see Wenderful and family with JenJen and her family. It's just one big happy family!

Tablescape Thursdays

While browsing through a wonderful nursery looking for plants, I happened on their gift area and found this lovely black and white tablescape I'd like to share with you today.

tThe silverware was set on black/white paper towels in a shallow box.The tablecloth is a toile print with a black border.
Lots of crystal was used for candlesticks, hurricanes and such.
These black balls were part of the centerpiece as shown below.
At each place were glittering name cards in small beautiful frames.

The square plates are paper ones. The chandelier in the center is a coctail napkin!
I hope this gives you an inspiration for your own black and white tablescape. Thanks for Susan at Between Naps on the Porch having this Tablescape Thursday. To see more ideas click here.

Thankgoodness forTulips

There is a wonderful place nearby with walking paths through 55 acres of gardens. In the spring the tulips are magnificient! Here are some pictures taken last week. Each picture is of a different area. It was truly spectacular. My camera does not do it justice. I invite you to join Chris and I as we tiptoe through the tulips.

On either side of the walkway are beautiful color combinations with underplantings of pansies or English daisies.
The iris with pink and white tulips and yellow daffodils are beautiful.
Do you like golden tulips?
Or are your favorites the pink and red?

This spot on our tour you can look down the stairs to tulips....
And up the stairs to more tulips.
There is also the largest man-made waterfall which at this time has beautiful wisteria growing on it.
Have you ever noticed the centers of flowers, how unique and colorful they are?



The color combinations with these pansies are gorgeous.

Continuing down the path...




One area is all daffodils in curving paths. Very striking.
Another feature is a Hidden Garden with an old door leading into it with ivy-covered brick walls and a fountain and benches to sit and meditate.

No wonder this gorgeous and spirit-renewing place is called Thanksgiving Point. I hope you have enjoyed this tour. To view more Outdoor Wednesdays click here

Happy Mother's Day Mom

In remembrance of Mother's Day I would like to share a few thoughts about my own mother. As the oldest of seven children and living on a farm, she had to work thinning beets in the summers to pay her way through college. Then she began teaching in a one-room school house in a little remote town in southern Utah. Her love of learning and children never wavered as she taught almost every suject from K-12th grade until she retired at 62 and then tutored children for many years after that. She taught her three daughters all the basics of education. I learned the correct way to print the alphabet by watching her make charts at night for her classroom. She devoured books and instilled that in us too. She always had time to play with us. She was the one playing Kick the Can with us, tightening our roller skates with a key, greeting our friends for sleepovers on the lawn in the backyard, or taking us "downtown" shopping after school. I don't know how she had the energy to work all day, be ready to shop, and make a hot dinner every night. A fond memory is "having pie" at the Walgreen's counter after we were done shopping. ( She loved Boysenberry).

Each summer she had a project in which all of us would participate. (Whether or not we wanted to!) We learned how to paint a room, wallpaper, upholster furniture, and can fruit and vegetables. We all vowed we would "never do any of that when we grow up", but as fate would have it, we all love to be creative and thank her for teaching us that first time. I think of her often and appreciate how devoted she was and a great example of motherhood. I often relied on her sage advice when my own daughters were growing. I give accolades to my own daughters who are wonderful mothers in their own right, following in her tradition of enjoying this precious time with their children. It goes full circle.

Happy Mother's Day!

Simple Woman's Daybook 20 Favorite Things

Today the Simple Woman's Daybook had a new blog idea I decided to follow.

I am to list:

20 Of My Favorite Things

1. Color-Red, not orangey red, but cherry red
2. Dessert-I always ask for Oatmeal Cake for my birthday, but I do love anything lemon and I am a sucker for Brownies!
3. Smell-freshly baked bread
4. Flower-I love the springtime perrenials especially Bleeding Hearts, Foxgloves, Delphineums,
5. Animal-Not being a real animal lover I had to think hard about this but I do like cats better than dogs.
6. Month-March when it is springtime-- in California.
7. Beverage-I have always loved Root Beer. When I was a child I always wished we had a soda fountain in the corner of the kitchen which only dispensed Root Beer. (My chair was right by the corner)
8. Pair of shoes-currently my Uggs slides.
9. Snack-I have a hard time eating just one cinnamon bear. Once I start on a bag, there's no stopping me.
10. Song-any by Josh Groban
11. Book-currently...The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
12. Fruit-I love raspberries and blueberries. But then again fresh pineapple just can't be beat.
13. Hairstyle-I am never happy with my hair but think long straight hair is nice on others.
14. Piece of clothing- I have really enjoyed a long wool black skirt that I bought last fall. Now I am ready for t-shirts and capris!
15. Store to clothes shop-Anthropology after that it would be Flaunt in Danville, CA
16. Season-Spring
17. Hobby-I like to quilt, sew, bake and make things with paper.
18. Thing to collect-I have quite a few collections--silver baby cups, bottle stoppers, glass hearts.
19. Movie-I just saw 17 Again which I thought was really funny.
20. Restaurant-Any good Mexican.

To read other favorite things click here.

Beach/Liquid Diet Vacation II

Tues. plans--Work out, Designer showcase, Shopping. Using GPS to get to the 6 penthouses (3 million pricetag!) we went 20 miles out of our way. Penthouses were decorated beautifully if you like high tech, very little storage and huge expanses of glass (unfortuntely overlooking the sandpit and the terrifying freeway). Then on to shopping (past Avocado Street which whispered "Sprinkles, Sprinkles)--(cupcakes to those who don't know that name). We resisted though!

Wed.--Workout, Craft, Pedicures, shopping, French food.

As we were walking home from the fitness center, we were nearly sprayed there as the water hydrant was opened and came gushing down the road behind us!

Thurs.-- Adventure! Country Living had an article about a small area in L.A. with shops that looked intriguing. We decided to go find this street. After mapquesting it we set off, Barbara at the wheel, whiteknuckled all the way on 12-lane freeways to the unknown. We both had sweaty armpits as we finally arrived and sat in front of a cute bakery. Next thing we hear are sirens as several fire trucks whizzed by. This was exciting! Then we realized we had not mapquested how to get back home! Panic! We had to rely on our not so reliable GPS but decided to go the back roads this time. As we began our journey we followed a bus with a sign Accidente Necessaries then watched a police helicopter circling around overhead and 5 police cars in the streets-- we locked our doors. We thought we were part of the filming of The Real L.A.Cops show! All went well and as we saw the ocean again we stopped hyperventilating. Barbara wants it to be known her choice for the day was Rodeo Drive not downtown L.A.! Now what kind of adventure would that have been! Diet summary: Me--Monday down .6 lb, Tues up .8 lb, Wed. down .2lb, Thur up 1 lb. Barbara--down 4.5 lbs. (It must have been those bakeries for me!)

Barbara contemplating the day's adventure. What will tomorrow bring?

Thanks for sharing our Beach Liquid diet vacation!