Tuesday Garden Party

Since we got our new fences earlier this year, we've been spending a lot of time working in the yard. Last weekend, The Mr built some gorgeous trellises for our purple trumpet vines.




We couldn't find the right size trellis for the area of fence where we wanted to put them, so The Mr made his own design and built them.

I'm pretty lucky to have him!


Here's what the flowers look like - beautiful!

Here's the start. In a month or so, when they've grown, I'll put before/after pictures up.

Looking forward to lots of flowers. The hummingbirds will love it!


Check out An Oregon Cottage for her new weekly Garden Party.








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Mother's Day Recap

I had a wonderful Mother's Day - I hope all of you did as well!

The day started early, with The Mr and I playing handbells in church.

We came home between services, and watched the birds play in the backyard. We also wrapped my Mother-in-law's gifts (we put together some wonderful photos of The Mr and his brother through the years).

After church we picked up The Children from their church (their step-dad is a minister at another local church) and the in-laws and all went to brunch at Zocalo, a wonderful Mexican-seafood restaurant. Great food!

The Girl brought me some calla lilies, one of my very favorite flowers. And The Boy made me a pillow, with a cat stitched on the front - it's adorable! My furbabies and The Children went in to get me something I've wanted for quite a while:

My cleaver! It's heavy - about a pound and a half! Thanks guys (and I promise not to cleaver any of you with it)!!

The only thing that would have made my day better would have been if I were able to spend it with my mom. Maybe next year!

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Happy Mother's Day Mom!

On Mother's Day, I wanted to show some pictures of my mom through the years.

I'll start with her mom - Grandma is here with my great-grandma (my grandma is in the middle)!


My mom as a baby, with her mom.

With her mom and two sisters (my mom is on the right)


With her younger sister

At Christmastime


Dancing...

School awards program...

With her sisters (Great-grandpa was a professional photographer - they have lots of super cute photos of the three of them growing up)

With her two sisters...

When my mom first became a mom (that's me!)

(Lots of years here where I have pictures in print that haven't been scanned yet)

On my wedding day

On our Hawaiian cruise with my sister

Cruise dinner

Dinner at Bobby Flay's in Las Vegas for The Mr's birthday

My mom is the best! We've had some amazing adventures together and I look forward to lots more. I love you mom!

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On Being a Step Mom

The Girl (my 12 year old step-daughter) is every bit a 12 year old. I remember becoming a teenager. I'm sure that I thought (as The Girl has said about The Mr and I) that I was much more mature than my parents.

I wasn't. Turns out that I wasn't mature enough to know that though.

I recently read this from Ann Landers (from one of her most popular columns):

Maturity

Maturity is many things. It is the ability to base a judgement on the big picture, the long haul. It means being able to resist the urge for immediate gratification and opt for the course of action that will pay off later. One of the characteristics of the young is "I want it now." Grown-up people can wait.

Maturity is perseverance -- the ability to sweat out a project or a situation in spite of heavy opposition and discouraging setbacks, and stuck with it until it is finished. The adult who is constantly changing jobs, changing friends and changing mates is immature. He cannot stick it out because he has not grown up.

Maturity is the ability to control anger and settle the differences without violence or destruction. The mature person can face unpleasantness, frustration, discomfort and defeat without collapsing or complaining. He knows he can't have everything his own way every time. He is able to defer to circumstances, to other people -- and to time. He knows when to compromise and is not too proud to do it.

Maturity is humility. It is being big enough to say, "I was wrong." And when he is right, the mature person need not experience the satisfaction of saying, "I told you so."

Maturity is the ability to live up to your responsibilities, and this means being dependable. It means keeping your word. Dependability is the hallmark of integrity. Do you mean what you say -- and do you say what you mean? Unfortunately, the world is filled with people who can't be counted on. When you need them most, they are among the missing. They never seem to come through in the clutches. They break promises and substitute alibis for performance. They show up late or not at all. They are confused and disorganized. Their lives are a chaotic maze of broken promises, former friends, unfinished business and good intentions that somehow never materialize. They are always a day late and a dollar short.

Maturity is the ability to make a decision and stand by it. Immature people spend their lives exploring endless possibilities and then do nothing. Action requires courage. Without courage, little is accomplished.

Maturity is the ability to harness your abilities and your energies and do more than is expected. The mature person refuses to settle for mediocrity. He would rather aim high and miss the mark than aim low -- and make it.

Maturity is the art of living in peace with that which we cannot change, the courage to change that which should be changed, no matter what it takes, and the wisdom to know the difference.

I'm certainly more mature than I was when I was 12. Hopefully wiser too. One day she will be too.

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A Little Sunshine and Color

... to start off your weekend!

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Calling Montanans: Little Help Here

I like Google analytics. I find it interesting to see where people are coming from and what they are using to search to find me (lots of people look for bread recipes or for information about brain clouds... interesting...).

The problem is, I am obsessing over this map.

In all the time I have blogged, I haven't received a visitor from Montana. It's a big state too. OK, not so much populationwise, but still.

So, does anyone know anyone in Montana that they can send my way just once so my map can be complete?

I'll sleep better tonight just having asked. ;-)

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Just because I liked this picture...

These guys live at the Wild Animal Park. They are what they call "tourists" - birds that fly in and live there, not part of the park. Looks like they are living the good life though.

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The Birds in My Backyard

Over the past few months we have worked to build a nature-friendly backyard. In some ways this is easy - we live quite near a very large area set aside as a park (Mission Trails Regional Park) that has a lot of wildlife... from deer to coyotes (neither of which we particularly want in our yard) as well as different kinds of birds.

As a kid growing up in Minnesota, we had a lot of different varieties of birds. My parents (who still live in MN) even get pilleated woodpeckers (the Woody the Woodpecker kind of bird) on their deck! We don't have that kind of variety where we live. But we have seen quite a few varieties.

Just this week we have seen:

House Finch

Lesser Golden Finch

Mourning Dove

Sparrow

Scrub Jay

Anna's Hummingbird

And our newest visitor, a Scott's Oriole!

The neighbors on either side of us get a lot of crows, but for some reason they stay out of our yard. Perhaps they like the cedar shake roofs that both neighbors have (you know, the ones that will catch on fire during the next fire that comes to the neighborhood and burn all three of our houses down? a topic for another day though) or perhaps they don't like all the other birds in our yard.

Either way, we certainly get a lot of joy out of watching the birds, listening to all of their songs and seeing them play in the bird fountain. Well worth the (seemingly constant) feeding and careful consideration of plant variety.

What's in your backyard?

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What's On My Kindle

I love my Kindle. LOVE my Kindle. I find that I read a lot more than before I had it.

Just recently I finished a series of books by Matthew Reilly. I enjoy a good action read, and these are just that. Great summer books. Even if it isn't quite summer yet.

All of them are about an Australian adventurer. The first is an essentially stand-alone book, where the hero and his group of friends attempt to save the world.

The second takes up where the first one left off, and once again the world needs saving. (this happens a lot more than we would think if we were to believe these action novels!) A wonderful and fast-paced book. But DO NOT read this one if you are not prepared to read the third book essentially right afterward. You will not be happy. Don't say I didn't warn you.



The third book ties up all of the loose ends. An excellent ending!


Reilly has written several other books - his first was called "The Contest" and is a very engaging story about a guy who is teleported into this interplanetary battle in the New York public library. A great story and well worth the read!

What are you reading?

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Grandma

The Mr's Grandma passed away a few weeks ago.

She had a tough last few weeks. She went into the hospital from her care facility where the doctors found that her kidneys were failing and she had congestive heart failure. Grandma was 94. She lived a long life, but the last few weeks were still pretty hard.

She went from the hospital into a nursing home. The Mr's parents found a nursing home in an afternoon, and she was transferred there the next day. Tough place. Nice enough, as places like that go, but these people are primarily waiting to die. And they do, on a fairly regular basis.

She shared a room with a reasonably young woman, who had apparently had a stroke. Really sad.

Grandma spent about a week there. The Mr and I were there every day. The Mr's parents were there when we weren't. The day she died, we brought her a Frosty from Wendy's, something she always enjoyed. She went downhill fast, and a few hours later The Mr's dad called to let us know he thought it would not be long. The Mr and I relieved his parents so they could have some dinner. Shortly after they left, she died, holding The Mr's hand. She may have been waiting for her daughter (The Mr's mom) to leave so she wouldn't have to be there. That's what I'm choosing to believe.

Grandma didn't lead a very happy life. By her own choice for the most part. She did have some real unhappiness. She grew up quite poor in a small town in Michigan. She married young, but divorced after about 5 years, something that didn't happen much at that time in that place. She remarried shortly after her divorce. They never made much money, I believe, much to the consternation of Grandma. She could never really get past these things, and made herself and those around her unhappy. For the majority of her life.

That being said, we can learn something from Grandma. We can learn to make the most of what life gives us, even if it isn't what we wanted. We can learn that family is important, and treating them well is what brings the joy to our relationships. We can learn that planning for your life is important, and living your life is also important.

We held a memorial service for her. The Mr sings in a men's choir at our church, and we both play in a handbell choir. Both groups performed for the service. Our niece, Grandma's great-granddaughter sang Amazing Grace. We put together a beautiful video, which was played at the beginning of the service. The video is a collection of photos throughout Grandma's life. Pretty impressive to think of all of the things that Grandma saw and all that she lived through.

(there is music to this, but I could not get that version to upload)

We wore red for the service - Grandma's favorite color was red - and we took pictures of the family afterwards.

This is the whole gang. Well, most of us. A few couldn't make it - one was recovering from heart surgery and could not fly and another was in Louisiana and could not get here. We did have Grandma in the shot though!

This is The Mr and I with his brother and wife. Love them!

And here is a shot of just "our side" of the family (not Grandma's other daughter and her folks). Please do NOT note how big The Girl and The Boy are getting. Scary.

Hold your family close while you have them. We are. We know how lucky we are to have each other. Rest in peace Grandma.

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On the Fence

This guy is creepy and kind of fascinating.

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Spring is...

... springing?

Though we are still experiencing some wintery weather on occasion... like tomorrow and the next three days... (well, wintery for San Diego), I am looking forward to when I can walk in this.

Nothing says summer like the smell of fresh-mowed grass!

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