outdoors KITCHEN

Okay ... from propane grill to an outdoors kitchen! This is darlin' D's kitchen. Because YOU do know that one never EVER ever cooks if the temperature is over 92 degrees. (Fondly found in 2nd Hesitations!) I do have a quick story to share. I had never heard of a gasgrill until I met the Reader (Dave & Jean) family. (1977) All they did was click and turn and wallaah ... cooking all year round. In my family we waited, waited, had another glass of iced tea and waited some more for the briquettes to get red hot. Remember? And then I learned about this! And we do cook year-round ~ wouldn't be Christmas without steaks! Well .. it's done. I've given you a 'before' and now 'done' photo. This is so inviting! And I'm sure the place of many many BBQ's to come!!  I couldn't help but place my star outside above the sink! see you all soon!  xoxox, m

female DISNEY villans

DISNEY female villans! I enjoyed doing these 8x8 pages. My favO'rite is ... the evil queen! Mirror Mirror on the Wall .... I have a darlin' son that hasn't met any mirror he hasn't LOVED. LOL  So here is Maleficent, the Evit Queen, and Cruella. Wonderin' what male DISNEY villans there are???!!  have a great day!! m

Tall Beer ...

okay ... darlin' D and I were at a lovely place Azul's and lOOk what I saw from the bar?!! Imagine telling the officer that you only drank one beer. This is a tower ~ I've seen a yard O' beer in Colorado but I've never seen this one. It is 2.5 Liter (approximately 8 beers) in this contraption. Oh my! I sure hope the guy learned to share in Kindergarten.

So .... can you say shed?

So ... what do you do this weekend? Darlin' D (and me ~ I supervised, handed him the materials and assisted just a little!) built a shed .. to be specific an 8x6 shed. Then he had to shingle the roof. It does look great and now we have a home for the mower, shovels, and the garden stuff!! again, what did you do this weekend? I'll have more photos later ....

Tea Cups ...

Tea cups! what a life!! If teacups could talk ... imagine! Women are a lot like tea cups ... the come in all shapes and size, some a newer than others, they can hold a lot of hot water and produce beauty! and can be stunning to view. If tea cups could talk .... Let me tell you about this particular cup. It belongs to Kelley's grandmother. It's beautiful! Kelley is the owner of Among Friendz in Visalia. It is a darling shop that does balloon decorating (for all occasions!), custom invitations, and specialty papers and a lot of scrapbooking supplies. Check it out at http://www.amongfriendz.com/ better yet, go in and say hello to all the crafters!! Anywho, the cup ... she shared her teacups with a group of us and invited us all to a Spring Tea! Good -- no GREAT time had by all.

N A T U R E

 
what does the word 'NATURE' mean to you? what visions does it conjure up within your mind? Well, ... this is where I am ... I have learned the pace of nature, her secret in patience!! Knowing one day my roses, tomatoes, shrubs and trees will bloom and grow, with petals and leaves falling on the sun-drenched ground. What are some of your thoughts? xoxo, m Oh and BTW, never EVER I mean NEVER EVER leave home without your cellphone!! Lesson learned by personal experience. So sorry my beloved darlin' D!!

Aroma Therapy

I've used Aveeno facial wash before and enjoyed the scent. I have just started using Garnier Skin Renew facial wash and I love lOvE LOVE the scent of it! and I have a hand cream that is lavender that is incredibly soothing and refreshing. What aromatherapy products do you use?

berries .... BLUE berries!!

 
 
don't you just enjoy a great berry? A strawberry, a BLUEberry, a blackberry even raspberry? Well, lOOk at these ... BLUEberries being packed by Fruitpatch! Darlin' D works there and I just wanted to share!! lOOk for the label .. have a great Tuesday! m

Sundays .... are for

 
 
 
 
are for Church, helping out friends, visitin' with my neighbors and fiddling (guitarin' & singin' too!!). Okay, busy day Sunday was ... yet fun too!! went to church ... sermon series is "The other 6 days" ~ in that ALL that we do is for God!! we minister wherever we are! then off to help a friend with their home .. then back home to have a BBQ with the our next door neighbors who just happen to know Roger Miller's brother. He's the guy with the fiddle. And Shirley's Best O'Friend is Ann. She's the one with the guitar. And then Ann's husband got into the act by singing!! fun and fun and more fun!!! Sunday's ... are for ___________! xoxox, m

Fleming's in Fresno on Saturday

What an incredible evening I had on Saturday. As a rule I ALWAYS have my camera with me ... but for some reason I didn't. We met up with the folks from Georgia Pacific for dinner at Fleming's. I have never been to Fleming's so I was anxiously anticipating the evening. It was WONDERFUL, and as darlin' D would say the company was even better. I am enthralled with the artist Thomas Arvid and this place had 6 (yes! I counted them!!) of them. I did walk around and enjoyed all six of them. And then the appetizers were excellent ~ crabcakes on a hot summer night not to mention superb wine ... it gets better! Off the menu they served lobster mashed potatoes! NOT only have I only read about these but I've never made them and/or tasted them. Well, scratch that off the bucket list. They were yummoooOOOooooooooOOO so good. Now, who would have thought of combining lemon and gingersnaps? Into a frozen dessert ~ it just kept getting better. And the people ... fascinating!! YOU know me .. I love to meet and greet people. To know their stories, their lives and their families. And what do you think happened?!! I totally lost track of time .. I hadn't a clue as the time. When I walked out of the lovely back room we dined in .. I told darlin' D that the place had cleared out ~ he informed me that is was 10:30PM and we had a 45 minute drive home. WOW ~ that doesn't happen to me very often. An adventure! and too too much fun! without photos. sorry!

B I R D S ....

 
 
If you look closely, there are 5 (count them! lOOK left and right!!) birds waiting for the thistle sack feeder! And I've been waiting for the hummingbirds to discover the feeder. Well, ta-da ... she did!!! These birds fascinate me ... obviously ~ thought you'd enjoy it too. Have a great day, xoxo, m

Garden Club ~ Visalia

 
 
 
 
Today was a first in my lifetime! My wonderful next door neighbor invited me to the Visalia Garden Club. A little driving we did to get there ... there to Cecelia Garrison's home ~ garden! Incredibly beautiful and educational. Had a lovely lunch and just look at just a few of the photos!! she gave me some clippings ~ oh how my heart leaps at this!! I came home right away and put them in the ground. GROW dear plants GROW!! and then I'm outside ... and to my surprise the birds are waiting in line to feed off the thistle sack .. and then what do you think shows up? but a darling hummingbird!! YEA!! Oh what a day! How is your day going?????? m

Mother's Day TRADITION

 
 

Since before the boys were born ... darlin' D and I have always planted on Mother's Day weekend. It's the guaranteed time of the year that things will NOT freeze and usually you can get vegetables into the ground without fear of 'losing' them. So .... lOOK what I found ~ Star of Bethlehem (sorry, I don't know the technical name Orinthogal something or other) and darlin' D planted these for ME. The boys are far away ... and I'm just strolling down memory lane ... a few people have wished me a Happy Day ... and I am a very blessed Mother!!! xoxo, m

SuRPriSe .... from Ryan!!

 
 
 
Be still my heart!!! .... this is what was awaiting me yesterday. 2 dozen bouquet of roses & a delightful box of dark chocO'lates with a green (my favO'rite color) ribbon from my oldest son, Ryan. I am delighted ... I know it must've cost him a fortune. As a mom, we don't ever expect such extravegence from our children ~ and yet, what a treat! I've always grown roses (Darlin' D landscaped an Anniversary Garden for me) and the boys have enjoyed cutting roses for their girlfriends etc. And I was totally surprised that he'd go out of his way for his mom. Here are a few thoughts of 'mom' ~~ every mom is a working mom... Where there is home, there's a mother who cares ... Home is where the heart is and where we start ... there is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in ... a mother's heart ~~~~

Starbucks Happy Hour .....

I never ever go to Starbucks b/c I can't really afford it! But if I have a giftcard ... I'm there!!! However, they are offering a "the new however-you-want-it frappauccino" From May 7 - 16 HALF PRICE FRAPPUCCINO BLENDED BEVERAGES between 3-5PM ~~ 10 days of sales at Starbucks!!! Psssst ... I know some of you have this addiction and I will tag along!! call me and we'll meet up!! It begins FRIDAY ~ tomorrow. Here's a link: http://www.frappuccino.com/happy-hour Enjoy!!!

Community Bible Study .... CBS

Well, another year of study over. We studied Luke this year. I've been apart of this for 22 years and I'm realizing the more I think I know .. the more I don't know. I totally love being in Bible Study ...it juices me!! And next year we will study Revelations from September - May 2011. My class is in Hanford, CA. Anyone wanna join me? Whether you've been a life time student of Christ, or just wanna check it out .... it's open to the community ~ we gather and share our thoughts, ideas and even our hearts. All over the world Community Bible Study is teaching people to seek the Lord, to be disciples of Jesus .... and mature ~ grow. m

b a c k y a r d ..... my oasis!!

 
 
 
 
well, looky here .... my oasis ~ man-made shade and splashes of color ... a bird feeder and hummingbird feeder too! the last photo shows Le Jardin ... a salsa garden and some fun things to grow too! Come on over .. and sit a spell!!!

a Christian rap about life ....

this is good!! PAUSE the volume of my blog to hear Tamara ... you'll want to listen to it twice to get it all. Then share it .... incredible I tell you, a white woman rapping!! Gotta love God!!