Ahhhh-tumn

Hello Again,

If there is anything prettier than autumn, I don't know what it is. If there's anything better than time with special friends, I've never experienced it. Today I was lucky enough to enjoy both. My friend Bonnie & I had set up a "play-date" for our cameras. We met in Lexington & wandered around the University of Kentucky's Arborteum, snapping to our little hearts' content. It was the PERFECT weather and we discovered lots of roses still in bloom.

But because I got my first taste of autumn for the year (the leaves are just beginning to change in K'ville) I wanted to start by sharing my pictures of autumn. The gardner at the Arborteum probably thought I was nuts because I just kept shooting pictures of this one tree :)

Since Bonnie got over 400 pictures during our day together, she's going to have some fabulous pictures on her photo-blog (http://bonniegunkel.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/day-133-painted-rose/) and over the next few days I'll post some more of my pictures both here and on my photoblog (http://ebeth420.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/falling-up/) if you want to see what we found.

I hope that whatever you are doing, you are finding time for things you love & doing things that make you happy - in other words, live like you were a cat :)

(Dandy is the KING of enjoying life and finding ways to make each day fun)

I especially hope that you are making memories you want to keep forever!

Happy Mother's Day - Happy Sunny Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! Whether your babies are children, adults, or pets, I hope you are having a fantastic day!

I've had such a good week. In addition to seeing Debbie, Lori-Ann, and Courtney on Wednesday night, I was happy to catch up with my friends Sheri and Lisa on Friday night. We've been friends for about seven years now. When we first met Lisa's oldest daughter was in 1st grade. She's 14 now. Amazing how fast time passes, isn't it?

This is my first Mother's Day without my mom. I wasn't sure what to expect but it's not been horrible. My tradition was to call mom 1st thing in the morning to wish her a happy mother's day. So instead I called my sister. Luckily she is like me...an early riser. I think it might be genetic. My grandmother and my mom were both "early birds" - up early every day even if they didn't have anywhere to be! I've been like that for years and love it!

I wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather so I went for another walk! I bet you guys wonder if I ever leave my neighborhood since so many of my blogs focus on what's going on right here in our subdivision. I promise I do and someday soon I'll take my camera with me to prove it! For now, I hope you'll join me as I wander around the area.


These two trees are at the top of the hill in an open area. I guess they have grown crooked from the wind? I like to think they are dancing!

I've walked the trail through our neighborhood hundreds of times but today I noticed this path off the trail. It leads to a clearing. Looking at it I had a flashback to the neighborhood where I grew up. We had lots of woods around us. I found one tree where the branches had grown down to form an enclosure of sorts. My friend Karen and I would go hang out in there. We called it our "hut!" I guess that's the closest I ever got to having a tree house!


We've had A LOT of rain this past week so I was delighted to take a picture of the fabulous blue skies!




When the rain finally stopped on Friday I was so excited to see my shadow. Today I was still happy to see my shadow! Hmmm...I wonder if this is how the groundhog feels on February 2nd???


The birds were enjoying the sun too!

This pile of grass clippings seems really out of place along the walking trail. There's no grassy areas to be mowed really close by. There appeared to be an opening. I wonder if it's a burrow of some sort. Any ideas what animal might have made it?

One of the things I enjoy about "exploring" the neighborhood is to see the lawns. It fascinates me to see the ways people decorate their yards...

But as cheerful as the pinwheel is the prettiest colors are the flowers and shrubs





I believe the pink is a rhodedendron









and the white is an azalea.



Both are beautiful aren't they?




So now I'm back at home where my "babies" always give me something to smile about :)

I recently saw a journal prompt that I like. Complete this phrase in as many ways as you can... "Why do...?"

One of my immediate thoughts: "why do cats always want to sit or stand between the keyboard and monitor?"

I hope you're having lots of sunshine wherever you are!

P.S. - I'm having a tough time with formatting today so if things are not lined up properly that's why! Blame the computer gremlins LOL

Life's happy surprises...

Hello again! How's your day? We seem to have fast-forwarded through spring and ended up in summer here. Today's the fourth day of record-breaking or near-record-breaking heat! I'll just say that of the four seasons, summer is my least favorite! I hear there's snow in Calgary though! Okay, that must be a shock.

I've been experiencing happy surprises this week. On Saturday I found a book I really wanted at Borders (I had a gift card that I'd been saving for something really special!) and I was happily surprised to find they had a 25% coupon!

Here are a few of my other happy little surprises...







These gorgeous flowers were a wonderful birthday surprise from my friend Susan in California. The amazing thing is she had no idea that yellow flowers are my favorite! I especially love yellow roses!

Two of our ferals...posing as bookends. I guess cats know how to parallel park! :)

A couple of years ago the large tree in our front yard died and had to be removed. Before going to the nursery to purchase a replacement, I walked around the neighborhood and picked a blossom off a tree I admired. We showed it to the guy who sold us a scrawny little tree...I thought it would never bloom. Then over the weekend I suddenly noticed that we have color! WooHoo! In case you're wondering, this is a Flowering Crabapple tree. The blooms are a deep magenta although they look more pink in these pictures! It's gorgeous.

It's always a surprise to find Toby cozied up in the carrier because he hates to travel! The few times he's had to ride in the car he howls with every breath he takes! One of us is going to need drugs when we move!

(I love how he crosses his little paws!)

Thanks for stopping by to visit. I hope you're enjoying life's beautiful little surprises wherever you are!

Sunset Blues

This week has been a sad one around our house. Our appointment to have Tyler put to sleep was at 6:30 on Tuesday evening. By 7pm we had said our farewells and our sweet baby had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. In a way it was a fitting time...just as the light was leaving our day so too was the light of my Tyler leaving our family! Each day since I've found myself growing sadder as dusk approaches. I know that Tyler is in a much happier, healthier place and that he would not want me to experience the Sunset Blues. So today I decided to take a walk. One of the things that always provides me with pleasure is taking pictures. Here are a few things that I saw...





This tree is in a neighbor's yard. Every year I take a picture of it. They probably wonder why I don't just get my own tree!



















I admit that I can't tell the difference between a crow and a raven. Whichever one this is, it was beautiful against the blue sky.







The largest cluster of daffodils I've seen blooming together. It makes such a dramatic statement to see them like this. The Dutch say that Americans always want to plant flowers like "soldiers in a row." I agree this is more striking!








During meditation recently I had the thought that "it's all in my hands" so when I saw this petal lying on the ground it caught my eye! Interestingly enough I couldn't see a tree nearby that would have this bloom! (I know...I know...I need a manicure LOL)






It's hard to tell but this is a bicycle tire way up in the crook of a very tall tree! Somedays I feel equally out of place!

I'm not sure what this tree is but I love the pureness of its white blossoms!

The many colors of Dolly


Thanks for stopping by and for all of your love and support this week! Have a wonderful Easter, or as my friend, Susan, says "wishing you chocolate smiles and jelly bean grins!"

"Joy Points"

Happy Monday! I hope your week is off to a fantastic start. My friend, Mavis, recently coined a phrase that I love: "joy points" are the moments in a day when you feel...Joy! It can be something small or something large, but when you get the feeling of "ahhh, that was a happy moment" then you have encountered a "joy point" (forgive me if I don't do the phrase justice in explaining it Mavis!)

I wanted to share some of today's joy points...



I went to the grocery store and made my usual pilgrimage into the flower section. I was admiring an arrangement of white daisies that were in a bouquet with a blue hydrangea. As I turned to leave the section I spotted a bouquet of yellow daisies! They made me smile so much I had to bring them home with me! There were enough for two arrangements! The one on the left brightens my living room. Some of the smaller stems were lost in the vase so I cut them and put them in a smaller vase. I love the way the yellow flowers and cobalt blue vase brighten my kitchen window sill. It was a dreary day and they added some much needed color!




A new, decadent treat I discovered at Borders...Lindor dark chocolate, raspberry truffles! They are joy points for the mouth! And since I had a gift card, I was able to purchase an entire bag - which I will be rationing out!

One of my "themes" for the year is "Freedom" so my friend Journey suggested that I keep a freedom journal - to clarify in my own mind what freedom looks like to me. I purchased a plain drawing pad and used scrapbook paper and stickers to create My Freedom Journal. I love the paper with bubbles on it! Blowing bubbles is a joy point moment for me & I had a lot of fun creating this journal.

I took a similar book and made a

Journal of Possibilities (like Queen Latifah's Book of Possibilities in the movie The Last Holiday)

I enjoyed looking through my stickers and papers to find the decorations for this journal!

Another joy point for me is this candle I have sitting on my desk. It has a honeysuckle fragrance. When I was a kid we always had honeysuckle growing on an area by our driveway. The smell of honeysuckle reminds me of early mornings playing outside! I guess I've always been a morning person!

And of course...one of my greatest joys...Tyler. He would probably tell you that one of my joy points is annoying him with the camera! Since I bought my digital camera the cats' naps have been disturbed much more frequently.

So those are some of my joy points for the day! What things have brought you joy today? I hope that every day is full of joy points for you!

Fieldtrip!

This morning I decided to visit one of my favorite "local" attractions, Longwood Gardens. It's not actually local - it's about an hour away, in Kennett Square, PA. Longwood Gardens was once part of Pierre DuPont's estate! Talk about "living large" -it's a gorgeous place! The weather was perfect for an outdoor stroll. Maybe it was the joy of being outside, knowing that winter is behind us, or something in the air but it felt like Nature's church! Care to stroll the park with me?

The steps lead to an open-air theater where they offer a variety of performances throughout the year.

There weren't many tulips blooming yet but the pansies were so pretty & fresh! In the midst of all the purple ones there was a single yellow/purple bloom! Dare to be different!

Among the few tulips that were dressed up and showing off their glory, these yellows were so festive!

There's a temporary exhibit of tree-houses at Longwood Gardens this spring! I love the windows on this one. As I was looking at it I had to wonder...why is it that little boys are more likely to have tree houses than little girls? Did you have a tree house when you were a kid? I never did even though I lived beside a huge wooded area. My boy cousins had a tree house though! I would have loved a place to take my books and be far away from everything else!

There were signs by all of the tree houses describing them as "Nature's Castles" - and like any self-respecting castle, this one had dragons to guard it!

Inside the tree house...

The meadow walk was pure bliss...in some areas I didn't see another soul. The only sounds were birds and breeze! It seemed like a form of meditation!

Another tree house:
And another....

It didn't even bother me to be that high up!

Potted tulips outside the restaurant serve as a sign of coming attractions!

In the conservatory...(I know...doesn't that sound like it should have a "Mrs. Green with a knife" in the sentence???) If you don't know what I am talking about get a "Clue" (the game, that is!)



I had never seen such green flowers! At first I thought they were shamrocks but the sign says "Hellabore." Aren't they pretty?

More of the conservatory...

And still more...someone said the flowers were 'hydrangeas' - they were gorgeous...in all different colors but my favs were the blue/purples.

Blue/purple/pink was the color theme of the conservatory right now! Lucky for me because I love these colors! They change the color theme around frequently. I'm sure the next time I visit it will be very different.

The sign identified these as Great Pacific Delphiniums (sorry for any misspelling!). The blooms had blue and purple in varying shades. Gorgeous!

I hope you enjoyed the photos. It was such fun taking them. I wish you could have been there with me since I was unable to capture the fragrance! It was magnificient.

Don't you love spring? What does spring look like where you are? What captures your imagination or makes your soul soar?

Being outside in a beautiful setting and surrounding myself with color makes my heart smile. Of course I can't end a blog without a 'whiskers' moment. Lacey sends her love...

Have a wonderful week! Thanks for visiting.