Ruthie B's Once Again!

I love visiting Ruthie B's in Springfield. There is just soooo much eye candy to see! Me, mom and my sisters headed down the I-5 to Ruthie's for a little lunch, conversation, and shopping. But, they put me on a time limit of shopping!! Can you believe that? If you've ever visited Ruthie B's Antiques you know that there are just so many little crooks and crannys to look at, that being given only 45 minutes - yes, that's all they gave me - is just impossible!! Well, let's just say that it WASN'T enough time and when I am in that area again this fall, I am going to have to devote A LOT OF TIME to browse the shop. So, needless to say I didn't get to shop every aisle that day and I am bummed...

Here we sisters are at lunch...

Mom and sisters...

Awweee...

I'm thinking "let's just bypass eating so I can do some shopping!"...

Melissa found the Halloween and Fall section of the store...

So cute...

You look ready for Halloween...

Some close-ups of animal figurines...

Perfect pooches...

Cuteness in porcelain...

These two look like they're goin' to the chapel...

Waitin' For The Trees...

All cleared up and waiting to plant the cedar hedge - our activity for this upcoming weekend!

This Ones For You Dad

Driving around downtown Spokane we found this...This sign is for you DAD!

The L..O..N..G Drive Home

This was the beginning of the l..o..n..g drive home. We stopped at the vantage point to take pictures at the picturesque Columbia River.

Me and Lola...

The family pic minus 1...

Hubby and his "Minnie"...

Me and Lola with the beautiful Columbia River scenery behind us...

And when I said l..o..n..g drive home I meant it. We left Spokane at around 10:45...stopped for some "pee" breaks...lunch break...outlet shopping in North Bend...to arrive at the Sumas border crossing at 8:00 to a back up of cars and trucks...took us an hour and a half to get through...ugghh...lola wasn't impressed either...

Back home at 11:00pm...

Shaved Ice

Nothing says summer better than a really refreshing shaved ice snow cone...waiting our turn in line at the snow cone booth at the Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane...

Mmmm...strawberry daquiri, grape, watermelon, peach...who could resist these tropical flavors??

Enjoying every last bit of cool ice...

No better way to cool off on a really hot day!

Lazy Lake Visit

On our drive down to Spokane we took a few breaks and stopped to eat in Ellensburg and then stopped at Moses Lake state park. The doggies were happy to get out of the vehicle and explore the park. It was a very warm day so some napping amongst the shade of the trees was glorious. Only another hour and a half drive to go!

Me and Tim with our pooches...

Minnie and Lola...

Lola soaking up the sun...

Such a tired pooch...

Did I say tired and hot??

Excuse me for now while I go soak up the Spokane sun (95 degrees) at our hotels pool!

Summer Blooms

The yard is bloomin'....

YUMMY!

Today I had my favorite ladies over for appys and drinks on the patio...time to "catch up"...time to laugh...reminisce...laugh some more...chillin' on the deck...and a time to have an excuse to make this delicious cake...

I can't remember where I got this recipe from, but it was the most delicious, light, strawberry confection that I've ever tasted. It's worth the trouble - believe me! Yummy!

Strawberry Coconut Cake Recipe

Ingredients

Cake:

1 1/2 boxes of white cake mix

5 eggs

2 cups water

3/4 cup oil

1/2 box of strawberry jello (3 oz. box)

1/2 cup of chopped strawberries

Icing:

16 oz sour cream

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 box of strawberry jello (3 oz. box)

7 oz bag of sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup of chopped strawberries

1 (8 oz) carton of cool whip thawed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients for cake with an electric mixer. Pour into 3 (8 or 9 inch) round baking pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Place in preheated oven and bake for 22 minutes. Let cake cool completely before icing.

Mix all ingredients for the icing, excluding the cool whip. Place one layer of cake on a platter and cover the top with 1/3 of the coconut mixture. Add the second layer and cover that layer with another 1/3 of the mixture. Take the remaining 1/3 mixture and add the 8 oz carton of cool whip. Add the 3rd layer and cover the entire cake with your cool whip mixture. Garnish with strawberries.

Chillin'

Just chillin' with my girl Lola...

Some Summer Lovin' Baking

Lovin' this recipe from the good ol' Farm Chicks!

Blackberry Crisp

Some summer lovin' baking!!

Just...Another...Blog...Post

Yes, it's just another blog post...from my little ol' blog...so dull, or so it seems these days after reading many other people's blogs and the great things they have to share, or the great wisdom they have, or the great stories they tell. Mine just does not compare to all those other great ones and it makes me feel like I should take a break from here and really save up my stories or go back to school and really educate myself on how to write really inspirational things so that other people reading my blog will feel like I do after I read theirs! I guess I was just meant to be a "plain jane" type of blogger and to bore you with my many endless photos of my house, or my yard, or my children, blah, blah, blah....

So, once again here I go. This was what we were doing yesterday...

Dismantling a structure (two posts with fencing) where the ivy, clematis, and dead rose plants had taken over...

It is a mess now, but by the end of the summer I expect it to be a thing of beauty. Our plan is to plant cedar trees along the fence line between our neighbors and our yard and then build an arbor with a brick patio area where we can have an outdoor wood stove to have fires at night (without the city knowing of course!). I then want to plant new climbing roses, clematis, or wisteria to grow up and over the arbor. Ambitious huh!

So, right now as I type this post my two daughters are loading up this mangled mess into the truck to haul it away to the dump....it's so nice to have young help who have their driver's licenses!

Happy Canada Day

All decked out for Canada Day....