Bloomers

Just thought I'd share photos of some of the pretty flowers blooming in my yard right now...

We just planted two Clematis a few weeks ago.  

They seem to be very happy and are blooming and growing like crazy.

I love the purply color!

These Amaryllis haven't bloomed in years.  I'm so happy to see them again!

The bulbs belonged to my grandmother who passed away when I was about 10.

So, these flowers are extra special to me.

Our Butterfly Iris is on it's second big bloom this year.

They're so pretty looking across the yard at them from my kitchen window.

And, the details up close are even prettier.

Have a beautiful day!

Beauty Beyond Words

Yesterday morning, my daughter finished her last final exam and her first year

at the university.  I drove over and picked her up after she was finished. 

We planned to spend the day together to celebrate.

The weather was gorgeous.  Especially, near the coast.

It was sunny and warm with a perfect breeze and just the right amount of moisture in the air.

We decided to visit a nursery I've heard about for decades but never gone to...Roger's Gardens.

I expected it to be nice but that would be a HUGE understatement.

This place was a FEAST for the eyes.  There was beauty beyond words everywhere we looked.

I wasn't sure if it was ok to take photos but I couldn't resist.  If I'd only had my camera!

Thank goodness for the camera in my phone!

I think the Hydrangea area was my favorite.

They were grouped by color and soooo beautiful...

Gasp!

My daughter was lost in the beauty as well.

She was just as busy clicking away with her camera phone.

These purply/pink/green ones were her favorite.

I have no idea what these are.  I had so many plant names floating around

in my head by the time I saw them that I didn't even bother to look at the tags.

They look like tissue paper flowers.  So pretty!

Their hanging baskets were the prettiest I've ever seen!

They had lots of flowers, roses, garden plants, herbs, tropical plants and so much more.

 The succulent area was wonderful too.  I love how they surrounded this little potted tree with pretty

succulents and that the pot has holes around the side that they're peeking out of as well.  So cute!

I think this table/bench filled with succulents is wonderful too...

They had many wonderful indoor areas to shop in.

There were seeds, tools, planters and pots, fountains, garden furniture, and supplies you'd expect.

They also had decorator items, shells, Christmas decorations, fairy garden supplies and much more.

I like these paper flowers that were displayed in one of the buildings...

Some of them were displayed on branches high on the wall.

I'm not sure if the branches were metal or wood but I sure love the idea and the look.

I liked these chains with rocks and glass.

I think they're for rain water to come down to prevent splashing.

We don't get a whole lot of rain where I live but I think they'd be pretty as decorations.

Here are some that were made with smooth stones.

I think I like them even better.

There was a planter near the center of the nursery that had a big tree surrounded with
Baby Tears plants, flowers, and a big bunch of glass mushrooms and worms.

So colorful and cute!

This is just a small sample of the wonderful things to look at, enjoy, and buy

at Roger's Gardens.  I could probably spend a whole day there.  It's wonderful and such a

feast for the eyes.  I can't believe it took me so long to go there.  I'll definitely go back.

They had lots of plants I wanted to buy.  But, we had plans for the day and I knew 

the plants wouldn't be happy waiting around in a hot car all day.

My daughter and I had a wonderful day together.  We shopped, had lunch, relaxed in the jacuzzi,

and she cooked dinner for me.  She'll be coming home this week for the summer.

We're making plans for more fun day trips, crafty goals, and enjoying time together.

I'm so excited!  And, she's really looking forward to a break from her very intense school year.

More Fun Finds

I have some fun finds I'd love to share...

I recently saw a blog post about the 100th anniversary of Ball canning jars.

Turns out they're making some limited edition blue jars to celebrate.

I love canning jars and started collecting them when I was in my 20's.

So, this was exciting news.  I quickly went to the Ball website and found them.

However, the cost of shipping is about the same as the price of the set of jars.

I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much on jars that I don't really need.

I'm glad I waited because I found them today in my local Target store.

What a surprise!  Yay!  I now have the set of jars and didn't have to pay shipping.

They're pint size so they aren't very big.  But, isn't the blue color pretty?

I think it would be great if they'd make them in various sizes and sell them on a regular basis.

And, even better, I think it would be awesome if they made them in green, yellow, pink

and maybe some other colors too.  Wouldn't they be great? 

I could really use some small side tables and I've been searching for some at good prices. 

Last week, I popped into one of my favorite little antique shops and found a little side table

for only $28!  It was freshly painted with Annie Sloan paint and waxed.

It's cute, sturdy and the neutral color should work great in any room.

One down...still looking for more.  

A while ago, I remembered a beautiful metal tray my mom used have and asked her about it.

She recently found it and gave it to me.  It turns out that it was one of their wedding gifts.

That makes it even more special.  I didn't measure it but it looks like it's about 16"x20"

I found this wonderful Santo a couple of years ago...

 After I brought her home, I thought it would be nice to find something tall to set her on.

I thought an antique plant stand would be nice.  I began my search and eventually found

a black, wood stand that I thought would work perfectly.  And, it was less than $20.

I moved it out of the normal place to get a full photo of it.

Here's the base.  I love the chipped paint and worn, old look of it.

I'm not sure what it was originally but it's perfect to hold my Santo.

Now, to find the perfect places in my home to display my new treasures!  :-)

Floral Friday - Mandala

There's a blog I've been following for a while called, "Girl Unwinding".

She has lots of creative and wonderful posts.  Some of my favorites are called, "Mandala Monday".

She creates beautiful, simple, organic pieces of art with flowers and plant material.

I've been thinking of trying it for a while.

Creating one seems like a peaceful, meditative and wonderful way to start the day.

I finally gave it a try this morning after an early morning walk with my dog.

The morning was cool, sunny and beautiful.  I tried not to plan ahead.

Instead, I went into my backyard and gathered materials 

for one ring at a time and just started creating.

Here's my Mandala...

 I didn't allow myself to try for perfection.

That would have taken away from the peacefulness of it.

I did, however, wonder about the meaning of it and if there was a

certain number of rings or something that was traditional to the design.

I looked it up after my first Mandala and found out that they generally 

have a square in the middle that is surrounded by circles. 

The meanings and uses for them are quite varied.

I thought it would be fun to rearrange my findings and create another one.

And, another.  By the third one, I was enjoying the process even more.

I definitely want to do this again sometime.

Thank you to the creator of "Girl Unwinding" for the inspiration.

Peace.

Fun and Funky

I've had a couple huge skeins (710 yards each) of natural color Handicrafter Cotton

in my stash for a few months.  I've been thinking of several project ideas for it

...weaving and/or a chunky doily/tablecloth.

I started a couple doily patterns but ruled them out because they didn't look good with

thicker yarn.  Then, I found the "Summer Splendor" pattern that seemed like a good match.

And, so far, so good.  I'm liking how it looks with worsted yarn and an "H" hook.

The pattern is well written and there are sections that make it easy to enlarge, if needed, to

make it fit my table.  I like how it's looking and a little blocking will make it even better.

I'm so excited to finish it and use it over fabric table cloths.  I think it'll be pretty.

The thickness will work nice as a hot pad for our plates to protect the table underneath.

I love the natural/off-white color cotton, the frill of the lace, and that the

thick yarn makes it a little different.  It's doily with a twist or attitude.
It's fun and kind of funky!  :-)

Wash 'n Dry

I knitted up some small projects over the past few weeks...

I made a couple of hand/dish cloths to send to my blog give-away prize winner, Roxie.

She wanted me to choose a multi color yarn.  So, I picked one of my favorites, Countryside Ombre.

I love the lavender/purple and green hues.  So pretty!  I hope she likes them too.

I also knitted another Basket Rib Hand Towel.  I've knitted a few of these and love them.

This one is knitted with a ball of Sugar N Cream yarn that I bought just because the colors were pretty.  Actually, that's my main reason for every ball of Sugar N Cream that I buy.

The color name on this one is "Emerald Isle".   I have to admit that I don't like it as well knitted up as I did when it was a ball of yarn.  I'll enjoy using it though.

I just love cotton and making things with it.

I'm currently in the middle of making a giant doily/table cloth with some natural color

Handicrafter Cotton.  I hope to have it finished soon.  I'll post pictures when I do. 

Old Town Exploration and Yarny Finds

 I did some exploring on our little get-away last week.

I set out to look for antiques, take in the scenery, 

and visit the one and only yarn shop that I found in the area.

I started my morning with a hot cup of coffee and relaxed at a sidewalk table along Main Street

in the old town/downtown area of Visalia.  Shortly after 10, I headed over to 

Creekside Yarns for some yarny fun.  The store did not disappoint!  

They had rooms full of beautiful yarn, a room full of patterns, and lots of beautiful hand knitted, crocheted, and woven samples. It would have been very easy to buy bags full of beautiful yarn but I have a budget and a practical side that keeps me from doing crazy fun things like that.  But, their website was right about carrying unusual fibers and beautiful yarn from around the world.  The selection was incredible!  I wish I lived nearby to shop there again and again.

I did come home with some beautiful things.

I was inspired by knitted necklace/scarves they had on display.

So, I bought this beautiful, brown ball of Rowan Cotton Glace yarn.

I'm planning to pair it with turquoise, red coral, and silver beads for my knitted necklace

I just have to find the right beads so I can get started.

I also bought this skein of Aslan Trends Lecco cotton yarn.

I have something similar in mind for this but some I have some other ideas for it too.

I love the natural color, the texture and that it's cotton...my favorite!

Since I have so many shawls, I'm always on the lookout for nice and affordable shawl pins.

I found this beautiful Carnation wood shawl pin for only $10.

I love it and have already worn it twice.  The wood grain and color is so pretty.

After I left the yarn shop, I did some antique shopping and had lunch.

Then, I started heading toward Porterville, where I was going to pick up my husband at the end of the day.  I took back roads and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of acres and acres of nut groves, lemon groves and other farmland.  I stopped to explore small towns like Exeter and Lindsay.  I loved seeing the beautiful old homes, cute cottages, old downtown areas and history of the area.

In the old town area of Porterville, I stumbled across a yarn shop in the back corner of a gift shop.

It was small but a pleasant surprise because I hadn't seen any yarn shops in Porterville when I searched online.  The store was called Country Pleasures and it was on Main Street.

I couldn't resist the beautiful pink color of this Crystal Palace, Kid Merino yarn

or the price of 50% off!  I bought 480 yards of it for only $5.50!

It was a sun shiny, beautiful day and I thoroughly enjoyed the peaceful, 

slow pace of the rural areas and small towns.  It was such a treat!

Bringing home some pretty yarn was like icing on the cake.

Work and Play

We enjoyed a get-away last week thanks to my husband's job.

He needed to travel about five hours north of where we live to another work site.

Instead of going up by himself and staying in a hotel we decided to go together in the RV.

That way, he had "home" to come to after work, he didn't have to eat at restaurants for every meal, and we were together.  Gas was paid for by his job to get there and back.  And, he saved his company money by not staying in a hotel.  So, it was great all the way around.  

And, we got a little time to relax and explore in a beautiful and peaceful area.

We made reservations and plans the week before. We were lucky to find a place near where he needed to work that had great reviews and space on the nights we needed.  And, it was just a few miles from the southern entrance to Sequoia National Park.  It was in the area of Three Rivers and Kaweah. The place we stayed was called, "Sequoia RV Ranch" and I will be adding rave reviews about this place as well.  It was a few miles off the highway, down a winding road with very few cars.   Our camp site was perfect (#52).  We had full hook-ups and our trailer was parked parallel to the river and under the shade of trees.  There were very few people there the first couple of days and the quiet and peacefulness were wonderful beyond words!  It was even nice when the park filled up over the weekend.  We rarely even heard airplanes.  It was great!

This is the view just outside our door...

We traveled up there on Tuesday, hubby worked on Wednesday and Thursday, 

and we drove up to Sequoia National Park on Friday.  We'd just been to the park last summer

but we went in through the northern entrance that also goes to King's Canyon.  

This time, we visited from the southern entrance.  So, this was all new scenery.

The road was very windy with gorgeous views around every turn.

At one point, I noticed something I'd never seen before and luckily there was a turnout to stop and check it out.  It's a flume!  I'd heard of them but never seen one.  This one is used to divert water to a power station nearby.  I believe it was built in the 1920's.  Here's where the river water runs into it...

And, here's a glimpse of it as it starts to head toward the power station...

 This is Moro Rock.  We climbed on it last summer.  HERE's a post about that trip.

While we were on top of it last summer we saw the winding road below that we drove on this time.  

It turned out to be much more curvy than it looked from up there.  And, Moro Rock looks so much bigger from below than it did when we were on top of it.  It's HUGE!

High season has yet to begin in the park.  So, some of the parking lots

and campgrounds were still closed.  Even the visitor center wasn't very busy.

 We decided to hike to Tokopah Falls.

We had the trail almost all to ourselves.

The trail meandered through the forest and along the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River.

I love the colors in the water. Beautiful!  The water was very cold!

Huge granite walls towered above us...

We enjoyed soaking up the gorgeous views.

That's my hubby!

The weather was perfect for hiking...around 50f degrees.

The sun was warm but it was chilly and cool in the shade.

There were patches of snow left over from the winter and a snow storm earlier in the week.

There were frozen waterfalls on the northern side of that huge granite wall...

Up near the Tokopah Falls, there were lots of small frozen waterfalls and ice icicles.

 As we neared the end of the enclosed canyon, we spotted Tokopah Falls.

It runs down from thousands of feet above.  We could see it cascading down and criss-crossing

from the saddle of the mountain down to the river.  If you look closely, you can see one of the

larger falls near the center of the photo, to the right of that tiny tree..

Here's a closer view...

And, even closer...

We climbed up onto some huge boulders near the falls and took in the views.

Here's a look down the canyon to where we started our hike...

That's one of the few other hikers that we saw that day sitting on the rock at the bottom.

Here's a view from the end of the canyon of that massive

granite rock that had frozen waterfalls on it.

Ahhh...what a beautiful day and a gorgeous place!  

We'd heard there were marmots in the area and we saw some!

This marmot was a few yards away from where we were sitting.

Isn't it cute?!

I whistled and he stood up.

Speaking of critters...there were a lot of beautiful birds in the park and at camp.

Lots of Blue Jays, Robins, bright yellow birds and Wood Peckers.

Lots of Wood Peckers.  And, evidently, they don't just peck holes in trees.

They must think this ranger building is a good thing to peck on too...

There were a lot of beautiful flowers.

Unfortunately, I only had our tiny, easy-to-hike-with camera with us that day.

I can't seem to get it to take good flower photos...the close up kind that I love to take.

So, I learned my lesson...I'm going to start carrying my big camera on hikes again.

I hate missing out on good flower photos!

But, here's what I got with the tiny camera that was decent.

There were two kinds of trees with purplish/pink flowers and they were loaded with blooms.

I only got a good photo of one kind though.

There was a tree near the entrance of the campground that was loaded with white blooms.

It was so pretty and buzzing with big bumble bees (I used my big camera for the next photos)...

Many of the trees are leafing out for Spring.

I like the heart shape of these...

 Tree hug!...

We sat near the river every evening and most of the day on Saturday enjoying 

the peaceful beauty that surrounded us.  Hubby read and I crocheted or knitted.

And, every night, I loved going to sleep to the gentle sounds of the river.  Ahhhh!

I did a little exploring in the nearby farming towns on one of the days that hubby was working.

I even found a great yarn shop!  I'll take some photos of the yarn I bought to put in my next post.

Thanks for stopping by!  :-)