Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A Look Back

It's hard to believe that just a few short years ago our house and gardens looked like this...
And now...I am so pleased with the new house colors and the "new" look in the garden. I chose these colors for the house after seeing a heritage home in the House Exteriors magazine. This is where the inspiration came for the new colors. The previous gardens didn't have any color - everything was just green - so, I found many perennials that bloom at different times so all summer long there is some sort of color happening in the yard.
And here is a close-up view...home sweet home!

Monday, August 3, 2009

Have You Seen This??

This is so fun to do...go here to make yours...
This is what my caption would say:
"No thanks June. I will pass on the coffee this morning and have a martini instead."

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Some Treasures!

While visiting my parents, and in-between bridal showers and planning, my mom and I had a chance to visit Albany's newly opened antique mall. This antique mall used to be housed in an old department store in downtown Albany, but now it is in a different location and I believe it has newer owners. It was so nice to browse up and down the very organized aisles and to be able to "see" the items. I remember the older place being very "mismash."

Only problem is on the day we went, it had to be about 110 degrees outside and the air-conditioning in the mall wasn't working! All I had to say was "oh my goodness" it was HOT!! But, that did not stop me and my mission of finding some treasures - if you do remember I was on a time limit in my previous post and was unable to find anything for myself at Ruthie B's - so, my mom and I stuck it out for awhile in the sweltering surroundings and then went for a drink break. We cooled off enough to continue for another round of searching....

I found some cool old rhinestone goodies to craft with and some other types of jewelry as well...
I love the detail on this brooch...and I have plans for this pearl collar on something I'm making...
Shoe clips, necklace, earrings...love 'em...
And here is the cute serving platter that they are sitting on...
Lovely hankies and oops! the crocheted dress that is my mom's (somehow it made the drive home with me!)...
And look, how darling this is - a red and white serving cart! I am still figuring out where to put it in my house...
In my next post I will show you the find I am most excited about...

Thursday, July 30, 2009

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...

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Waitin' For The Trees...

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

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

This Ones For You Dad

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

Monday, July 20, 2009

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...

Friday, July 17, 2009

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!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

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!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Summer Blooms

The yard is bloomin'....

Thursday, July 9, 2009

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.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Chillin'

Just chillin' with my girl Lola...

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Some Summer Lovin' Baking

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


Some summer lovin' baking!!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

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!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Happy Canada Day

All decked out for Canada Day....

Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Trickle of a Fountain

I just love the sound that a fountain makes.....the trickle of water.....so soothing....so calm....so mesmerizing. On these sunny days I like to sit on the front porch and listen to the trickle of our front yard "bathtub" pond. This bathtub used to bloom with flowers, but I never really had much luck in keeping the flowers looking good all summer. Then I had an idea of turning the bathtub into a fountain - and voila - here it is!
I just found the statue at our local garden store last month. There is a little chip out of the bottom of her so they gave it to me with 50% off!
This bush next to the fountain is a random clematis plant that I just let take over this obelisk frame. Its blooms are white and lush.
Can't wait until they open up!
My hydrangeas are also blooming...
I just love the blue color of these blooms....
Awe...the blooms of summer - nothing like it!