Not in Any Particular Order: Day 6

 

Journaling Reads:  The opportunity to vote for the people who will run our country. Voting is a privilege and not something to be taken lightly. Not all of my choices were elected but it’s good to live in a country where everyone has an equal say. “Majority rules” is a good thing. In my bit of naivete, I wish politicians would act more civilly, the election period was shorter and the money spent on it was diverted to reducing the deficit. Amen!

Thirty Days of Thankful: Day 7

Journaling Reads: Today I am thankful for the opportunity to play tennis. Having a good match and playing well. Enjoying a team victory. Sharing the day with good friends. Laughing and letting go.

Thirty Days of Thankful: Day 5

Waking up to days that look like this.

Thirty Days of Thankful:1

Cathy Zielske whose products can be found at Designer Digitals, created the scrapbooking concept 30 Days of Thankful. What an awesome thing to think about during the month of November. She has a template pack for making a 6x6 book, which could be printed at home or at Blurb or somewhere else. Find it here.

Journaling reads:
This little quilt that I made and donated to SAQA, an organization that supports fiber artists, was sold at the Houston International Quilt Festival. It’s always a little nerve racking to put yourself out there and you hope for the best. I was thrilled to learn that my work was one of the first chosen. I am really glad it will be loved by someone and that SAQA will benefit because they give a lot to me.

Enjoying Your Greens

It is good to wak in the morning and open the blinds and see some of this. Temps to die for and best, no rain! Gotta love it!

Test reads: Mickelson putting for birdie at the Humana. Knowing the day will be grand with this morning sunrise through the trees. My very own lemon tree. Lemoncello in the making. A close up of the pond out back. Berries on the bush. What is this pink flower growing on the fence by the pool. Taking a walk, looking down the green. Oh sweet view of mine!

Home is where you are...

One of the things that is so good about SoCal is that my middle son is only 90 miles away. I get to see him a bit more. I love all his cousins and friends who show up as well. Young = energy.

Text reads: Feet up in a house for relaxing, a peace place, a respite · looking at all the details · mountain views on the road · mountain views in my own backyard · mountain views nearly where ever I look · and then wind turbines on the highway · Nick is so close by that he can visit on the weekends; golf on our course was fun. 

House Stars

Back in Portland for a few days...what, no rain. Doubt it! House artifacts abound!

 Text reads: A door ornament. I love the color of that red. A yard ornament, waiting for summer when it can spin with the hose. Iris, thinking about blooming and it’s still only January. An ivy geranium that refuses to succumb to the cold winter weather. Roses in a vase, just being themselves, which is quite pretty. Gotta love them. Clay pots laying in waiting for soil and a plant or seeds. Candles on the mantle with side light from the window,  juxtaposed with texture.

Home to Home

Home to Home is all about the drive to the desert for a sunnier spot. Love both places for all they have and are, mostly the friends at each spot.

Laying out things that are better suited for the desert house · getting back to Jus[x]t-a-position, my place for sharing my life and opinions · parking my car near the place that people tied their horses, back in the day...gotta love that reflection · the ordinary task of retrieving the mail · driving above the cloud level in southern Oregon · loving the rolling hills in Central California · lemons from my very own tree.

Business as Usual

I began the year thinking I would join the 365ers...well 366ers this year. I had the best intentions and did well when I was in the desert because the weather is so outside-able (new word). When I returned to Portland and it rained for 3 more months, the concept began to fade. I am going to share some of my LOs here over the next few weeks. I think I like better the idea of a theme and finding 5 new ways to get the image. But then, these images tell a whole lot about what I was doing back in the first few days of the new year.

The text reads: Capturing the new year with the first two digits of my house address...my beloved Christmas Camellia from a new perspective and I love the shadowing...Quicken bill pay-is that an oxymoron?--changes that need to be made...ahh! back on the tennis courts after the holiday season and a nice victory for the team...jury duty can be a drag but walking back from lunch I spot these giant sequoias on the court house grounds which almost makes the day worthwhile...saw a suggestion on the net that one should always use the good stuff. I am reminded of my mothers “good” china which sat boxed in the basement of my previous house waiting for the right time. I broke it out in Portland and use it every day...lace from my mother’s wedding dress which will be sent to my niece for use as something old at her wedding 72 years later.

Rick-32117-Finisher

A half marathon sounded like a good idea in January. Then work, travel, golf, rain, whatever got in the way. But begin he did and finish as well. Top third in his age group. Not too shabby. Life is good!

Gotta love a Wedding!

My niece married in August. The wedding was perfect! Tim, Anne and her mom and dad were the perfect hostesses. They organized a boat ride down the Potomac to the Nationals baseball game. Some sightseeing. A golf tournament where the good guys won. We're just not sure who the good guys are. I think all of us. And then a totally fun wedding-y, family reunion-y kind of weekend. We loved it all.

Highlights here... 

and here... 

Golf Gals at the Classic

Another Anna Aspnes template...don't you just love their ease of use. I flipped this one on its side and made adjustments to accommodate the number of photos I wanted to include, dragged over some paper from the ArtPlay Palette #4 kit and there you have it. Easy peasy!

TR6 Heaven

It's family reunion time...
Uncle Rod has always brought along all of the boy toys any of his nephews need.
He came through yet one more time...
Here's Liam driving Rod's TR6.
Gotta love it!

Makin' Pie with Gramma

When Caite and I get to Chicago together, we beg Gramma to make pies with us. Apple is the family favorite, but really they don't care. I have never seen any of them refuse a piece of Gramma's pie.

I wish I could share the recipe. I sort of know it but all of the adjustments are made on the fly, which is exactly why it tastes so good. 

How's that song go? 

You'll get pie in the sky when you die. One can only hope... 

I want it now...

Amen!

Golf girls

Golfing with the gals is a very funny and fun outing. Most of these gals only golf at the family reunion. Most of the time our golf is very creative, filled with do-overs, mulligans, foot wedges, throw downs, you name it. 

My favorite image though is of my SIL, Delse, who golfed with me every day in crocs and striped socks because "I'm the boss of me". You go girl!

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

Doesn't get better than a baseball game in the home stadium: Cards vs Cubs

Hot-doggie! Isn’t that why everyone goes to the ball game. We really don’t eat them any other time but wouldn’t miss them at the ballpark. We miss going to a game or two, now that we live in Portland. Open air, 7th inning stretch, watching a star or two and always hoping for a win. This game was good--Cards vs Cubs. Rick’s two favorite teams. Nothing happened until the bottom of the 7th. Luck would have it the Cards scored 12 runs to close out the game. Ted Drewes, here we come. Second visit in five days. Oh my!

St Louis Foodies

Well sort of... 

After flying all day, St. Louis favorites beckoned. I am pretty sure this was not the most healthy meal plan of the week but it sure satisfied our nostalgia. First stop is Rigazzi’s, home of the fishbowl and toasted ravioli. When I emailed the pic of Rick to the kids from the joint, they all asked the same question. Did you get toasted ravioli? Well, duh! 

After driving around and looking at all of the houses we ever lived in and a few other spots, we visited Ted Drewes, of course. Concretes, the precursor to DQ Blizzard’s by about 50 years, must be the #1 seller. Five sizes and 50 gazillion flavor combos, how to choose? No I did not eat that big one pictured over there>>>>>>>> but YUMMO to whomever did. As a point of reference, they always serve them upside down. Ah, digestion, be my friend.

Lake Tahoe

This weekend began with a trip down the 5 in a brand, spanking new Jetta. Rendezvousing with Caite in Sacramento for a birthday dinner and a car switch was fun. Then up and over the hill to Reno where we met up with Terry and Beachy. Let the weekend begin.

Lake Tahoe is perhaps, one of the most beautiful spots in this country. The Lake is mountain fed and the water is so clear.It was discovered in the mid 1800s but had been initially inhabited by Native Americans. It is breathtaking. Beachy gave me many opportunities to photograph this lake over the course of the two days. What a gal.

I played golf twice and Rick a million times. Well really, it only seemed that way. They also managed to grab some tickets to a combined Doobie Brothers-Chicago concert. How fun is that. Two great bands from back in the day.We met up with some of our Scotland trip buddies and shared a meal with them. Another good time!

A Walk About in Portland

On a recent walking tour in my home city, we were reintroduced to some of the things Portland is known for:

• Pioneer Square, Portland’s living room where people lounge about during nice weather, 
• rose gardens in the city park blocks, 
• food carts and 
• bicycles galore. 
• Public art abounds. Portlandia is the second largest copper statue, second only to the Statue of Liberty. The Quest, aka Three Groins in the Fountain and Allow Me, aka Umbrella Man are fun to visit and enjoyed by all. 
• Green Portland is at it’s finest. An electric car in a charging station, and a trash can that compacts trash and sends a signal when it needs to be emptied. 
• The Heathman, one of the oldest hotels in town. 
• The MAX train, coming and going. 
• The weather vane, which predicts the weather. A dragon at the top means rain, a sun means, well, sunshine, and a blue heron means the default Portland day - gray drizzle. It comes to life and makes it's prediction most days at noon. 
• and the tiniest park in the world, Mill Ends Park, with a total area of 452 sq in. Life is good! 
• street side dining at Veritable Quandry with friends

Remembering the day and scrapping the trip!

Little Dudes

My boys and my nephews at the Missouri botanical Garden which was a more than annual event. This was always so spectacular, watching them grow and interact with each other. Whew! What fun! 

 

Still fun after all these years. at 26, 25, 25 and 23. Big dudes! Nice-a! 

At the Patch - First in the Blueprints Class

I took a class called Blueprints developed and taught by Jana Morton at Creative Passions. This is the result of the first lesson. It included and extraction of Drew from the original photo and put him into this angled 5. It was near his 5th birthday and we were celebrating at Purina Farms. He loved the rope swing in the old barn the best. I also love the background paper and the smile on his face. Jana is simply the best teacher I have ever had. She offers a number of different classes and the materials are really good. 

Auckland Endings

Driving in Auckland was white knuckle time. It took us forever to figure out how to get on the road to our hotel going in the correct direction. We had a lot of luggage to unload and we needed to be by the front door. No easy feat. Our hotel was a highrise apartment overlooking the harbor. The views were amazing as you can see from this first image.

We decided to spend our time in Auckland on a walkabout. We toured the harbors and parks and the art museum.This boat is from Wisconsin, a long way from home but then so are we.

Of course we spotted Nike Town, a must for us in any large city. Auckland reminded me of St Louis when I was growing up. It seemed a blast from the past. They were preparing for Christmas but the store windows actually had beautiful window displays instead of gobs of merchandise. I loved this.

For our final evening in New Zealand, we had dinner in the Sky Tower. It's a whole lot like the Space Needle in Seattle. We are really glad we chose to do this as the views of the city were spectacular and so nice to see as the sun set.

New Zealand has been spectacular. So many cities, each with their own unique spin. I think the people of NZ are it's most significant asset. They are kind, they are fun, they are real. New Zealand, we love you and thanks for sharing you space and place with us!!!

Real Sheep Wear Fuschia?

I did not want to leave New Zealand until I had sheared a sheep. Really, that's not so odd. With time to kill because of canceled golf, we discovered Sheep World. Tell me, how could you miss this place with fuschia sheep out front. Talk about colorful marketing! We experienced the entire process. It begins with the dog whose job it is to round up the sheep. He does this without a word or is that a bark. He has good parenting skills. He turns them over to the dog who very noisily corrals the cowering sheep into the corner. Is this dad vs mom?

Then on to the shearing. Seems there is a spot on a sheep's side haunch that lulls him into oblivion. The shearer rotates him into this position and then with six swipes of his shears, the wool is off. No pain. Sheep eat more after they are sheared so, I guess it has its benefits.

Factoid: After the Gulf oil spill, grade B wool (the dirty outer layer) was sold to the clean up crew because sheep wool absorbs oil. Neat fact, HUH? And a good use for something that was not being used and was natural.

We woke up our day to play at Kauri Cliffs, truly one of the golf highlights of the trip, but we could not see the ocean across the street, it was so foggy. What a disappointment. We drove the 45 minutes to the course hoping it would be clearer up higher. Not so and no prediction that the front would move on. Lucky for us, the next morning was free. We changed plans and played the next day in a Portland mist. Bummer! But look at this scenery...oh my!

These trees are called Norfolk Island Pine. The fronds grow out in a star pattern which is so cool. They are found all over New Zealand. Totally, an amazing experience.

Gulf Harbor

Just north of Auckland is this little community. You can take a boat across to Auckland and many commuters do just that. The golf was difficult, a lot of side hill lies but the views were ocean bound and spectacular. The day was glorious.

Next stop on our way north was Paihia, pronounced Pie-hea. Our hotel was very contemporary and right on the coast but the days were so overcast, it was mostly lost for us. We noticed a road stop on the street below. It seems the police were giving a breathalyzer to everyone who passed by. Our driving was so bad and our wine consuption so good, we decided we better walk to dinner. The NZers would probably think we had too much to drink:).

One of the absolute highlights of this trip was this Catamaran ride on Lake Rotoiti. Fred, our host, had asked us what we wanted to do in Rotorua. We were tired and needed some down time. Rotorua is know for its mineral baths. He suggested a friend who runs a boat out to the local baths. He called the Captain and asked if he was running on this day. He said he could... Imagine our surprise when we showed up and we were the only passengers. Captain Matt took care of us. The boat is named Tiu, which means Runs with the Wind. Matt purchased it in the Mediterranean and sailed it across both oceans with a crew of four. What a great story!

Feet up. Oh so relaxed!

Fred shared with us the details of this walk, which we would pass on our home from the Katamaran ride. Imagine a Redwood forest so far from home.

The Rotorua Museum of Art and History wrapped our stay here. It was the right size and mix of NZ artists and culture. Loved it.

Phew! A respite!

Rotorua was a respite point for us. we were sort of tired of sight seeing and needed some down time. We found it here.

This was the hidden treasure. Meeting locals who had invested so much time into the Hamurana Lodge. Fred met us as we pulled in, offered us a glass of wine and shared the story of the lodge. We dined at their place and generally, they just made every arrangement we needed. Fred was the organizer; Alex, the environmentalist. He had the sheep and the organic garden. Fred knew all about the redwood forest and the Tiua...more to come on that one. Equal but complimentary partners in this business of theirs and they had a black lab. What's not to like about that!

They set us up with a dinner and show at the local Maori village. It was fun to learn about the Maori culture and lifestyle. Funny as it was, we sat with a young couple from Sweden. I wish I had taken their picture. There were so many young people traveling the world. They were mostly European.

Taupo on the Lake

We found Talpo with a bit of difficulty but enjoyed it immensely. Laid back but full of street art, I had fun with my camera.

Huka Falls was one of Taupo's claims to fame and so we just had to see it for ourselves. The Waikato River, which is generally 300 feet wide, is forced through a 50 foot chasm, which creates a ranging falls. In addition to producing hydroelectric power, the falls produces a boatload of fun as you can see.

A Walk Among Giants

A walk along Marine Parade Road was enjoyable. First because it was filled with outdoor art but especially because the best art was the ocean, lapping at the shore. Our destination was the Aquarium. These are most interesting when you are in a different hemisphere and continent. True to thought, it was filled with things we had never seen, including a dark area where nocturnal kiwi birds could be seen. It was state of the art and just generally an enjoyable museum.

Walking back along the shore, we discovered the Millennium sculpture. This is a simple disk on a curved bar that depicted where the sun broke the horizon on the first day of a new millennium. I loved it for all the reflection is contained.

And last, I continued my love affair with the Norfolk Island pines that were in abundance on this walk.

Napier = Art Deco

Seems there was a fire that burned most of the town to the ground in the 30's. Rebuilding was done in the art deco style of the time. It was funny to see an Office Depot with this facade. The architecture was colorful and delightful though we felt as if we had stepped into the past.

This city also had a lot of public art which was fun to look at and photograph. On this particular day, there was a protest. Moms and tots were decrying cutbacks in preschool programs. They marched down Main Street and on to the public square at oceanside. I guess governments the world over have fewer bucks than needs.

All in all, the town and day were perfect.

Golf High on the Cliffs at Cape Kidnappers

This is golf at it's finest. Getting here was a bit challenging as the gate was locked and rather hidden. Once we found it and were buzzed through, the drive to the top was about 8 miles long through wineries and sheep farms. How delightful is that!

Check out the views. Turquoise water lapping against rock cliffs. Sometimes the putting seemed as if we were putting off the cliffs. Sort of like an infinity pool. I am not sure what I paid more attention to--the golf or the photo opps. Unlike American golf course club houses, this one was very unobtrusive. It had what it needed and nothing more.

All in all, this was indeed a spectacular day!

Napier and the Wine Tours

After leaving Jan And Dave's place, we wandered up the road toward the seaside town of Napier. Rick is always willing to stop where ever so that I can snap photos. I kept noticing the California poppies (I wonder if they call them New Zealand poppies here) and loved the intense orange among so much green. We stopped. Rick kept noticing the utility poles made from plastic and we had to stop so that he could send an image to his buddy, Phil, who deals in wooden ones. And don't you just love the rolling hills of various green colors. Have you ever seen different shades of green that don't look just fabulous together?

And atlasta, we arrive in Napier and not to disappointment. Our hotel is right across from the beach and after exploring this a bit, Roland sohws up for our wine tour. He is a Brit who learned the wine trade in France but followed his girl to New Zealand. It was nice to have a guide who knew the wineries and was also our designated driver. We sampled all that we wanted.

He took us to five wineries, each different from the last. I love the decor and the displays as much as the wine. I learned that a rose bush is often planted at the end of each row because it will be the first indication of a pesticide problem. All in all, this was just a grand day!