Growin' Fruit

Hi,
I thought I'd take a break from the Sherman Garden pictures to show you what's growin' in my yard.
I planted some strawberries in one of those hanging planters with the holes on the sides.  I suppose the squirrels and birds might get 'em before me but at least the snails and slugs won't.  Here's the first flower taken a few weeks ago!

I also have a small apple tree that is planted near my backyard.  When I moved in last Sept. there were apples on the tree and nobody on the property came to get them so before they rotted off the tree, I picked them and made an apple pie!  This pic is from last week, it was budding out and now it's in full bloom and the flower buds are such a pretty pale pink.

Planted some peppers, cilantro, basil and parsley in the backyard

Strawberry and Upside down cherry tomatoes

Picture from last week

Look!  It got ripe and I ate it before the squirrels or birds got it!

Patio type medium sized tomato plant, hopefully won't get too big!

Got any big plans for the holiday weekend?  I'm taking the three days, gonna relax a bit and think of those people that risked their lives and died so we could have the freedoms we have here in the USA.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful time whatever you plan to do.

Sherman Garden Pictures

This was the perfect garden to visit on Mother's day.  The gardens are all paved walkways, just large enough to be able to see everything without walking forever, places to get refreshed and a wonderful gift shop with everything "garden-ie".  Perfect for my mom who is 80 years young and loves plants.  There are a bunch of photos I took so hopefully it won't take too long to load for you to see them all! 

I've decided to do a 3-part post since there are so many pictures!  I want to share them all with you :)

Mama turtle and her baby under her!

Lucky ducks!  They got a clean pool all to themselves! 
Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by! 

Hey! It's Mother's Day!

All you Moms out there, I hope you're gonna have or having a lovely day.  

Here's a bouquet for you and your Mom. 

I'm headed down to San Clemente to visit my Mama and Sister today.  

We're gonna visit the Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona Del Mar tomorrow.

Enjoy your day!

Judge a Book by it's Cover?

Howdy!
I've been visiting the library because there is nothing like moving and realizing that you could start your own library with the amount of books ya own!

I recently borrowed a few books and this one below is an amazing collection of art quilts.  If you ever get the chance to take a look thru it, you should; the ISBN # is 13: 978-1-60059-058-0  the publisher is Lark Books.  Now with all the fabulous colorful quilts contained in this book why did they choose one that lacks color and is the back of a guy's head and he's sitting on a park bench???  Now I'm sure that quilt is lovely when you see it in person up close but don't the publishers know that people buy books based on their covers?  There are such beautiful colorful quilts in this book, really, go to your library and ask for it.  Early one morning before work, I sat sipping my coffee with the front door open so I could hear the soft spring rain falling and became immersed in these quilt pictures.

These are just random pages from the book.


I also got this book on clutter.  We all have it and I want to reduce mine.  It's a good book to start with.  She has some good pointers on how to do it.  Not a thick book and it even has large type so I read it pretty fast.  Now I actually have to put the principles to work in my life.  That's the hard part, hee, hee.

Thanks for stopping by!

Huntington Gardens

Hi!
Our trip to the gardens was so nice.  Here we are and I don't know what was up with the camera that it didn't flash so it's not a very good pic.  I took photos of the Orchids because they were so pretty.  We had a volunteer guide that walked around with us and that was nice.  We learned more about the history of the place. 

They had a large rose garden but we were moving along quickly trying to see as much as we could with the guide so I hesitated taking the time to take more pictures. 

They had a Zen garden in the Oriental area and this large space with sand and gravel was all groomed perfect with a rake.  It would have been peaceful but there were too many people.  It would be better to visit this on a weekday.

I couldn't resist since it is only about 15 min from where I live now, so I became a member.  Now I can go anytime I want and I'll have more pics for you in the near future.

All in all it was a perfect day!

Here Goes...

So what in the heck have I been up to?  Well, I moved out of my big house in Los Angeles and moved into a little Doll House close to my shop.  No, the house hasn't sold, it's not even listed yet.  Lotsa changes in my life these past (almost) 9 months.  

You see, I searched for a place in June and July since the house was supposed to be on the market in June of last year and we were planning to move soon anyhow.  Then I find the house isn't gonna go on the market yet and to make a long story short, there has been so much disagreement (for some time) in our relationship in general not just about the renovation.  

I got tired of the drama so on my birthday last year (August) I gave myself the perfect gift, one of peace and a serene environment!  I signed the rental agreement and then moved in slowly and slept there by mid September.  Moving is so darn disruptive to the flow of one's life and I'm still not totally settled in.  At least I can get organized now which is what I'm slowly doing but of course this place is soooo small that I can only fit what is really necessary; the rest is stored in the 1 car garage adjacent to the house.  It's been: unpack and repack boxes to store away for the time being.

Yes, I'm living alone for the first time in my entire life and it's weird!   I had to move out so I could have a calm organized space so I can get up everyday and go run my little business.  I can't have a pet where I am now but I will someday!  Having a pet would ease the total "ALONE-NESS" but I can understand the landlord's rules. There is no enclosed yard and the property has 5 homes on it.  It is way back off the street on a private drive and is so quiet and peaceful.

I'll leave you with a pic of my new place that I took before I moved in.  Now it has flowers in the front so I'll post an updated pic soon.
  
One more thing, when you live alone you find what you eat and what you don't (and it goes bad).  I eat my share of butter (hee, hee).

I'll post some pics of  last weekend's girls day out at the Huntington Garden soon. 
       Have a fabulous weekend!

Springtime Fresh

Hey.....Blogger forced me into their new interface so I gotta get used to it.  I hope it works better, as I always had trouble with putting pictures on my blog.  I came here to do a test post today.

We had rain much of yesterday and we even had snow in the local mountains, too.  We're supposed to have 80 degree days next week so I bet the ski slopes are crazy busy this weekend.  Lovely day today, sunny, cool and fresh with a light breeze.  Gonna do some gardening when I close the shop this afternoon.

My friend Tracy is coming for a visit next weekend and we're going to a local public garden so I'll have some pics to show you of that visit.

Yup, this pic was easier to upload, yeah!

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend doing whatever you set your mind to!