LaLa Loopsie Comes for a Sleep Over ~

The other evening I received a telephone message from my #1 grand daughter who has just had her 5th Birthday. It went like this:

"Ummm~ I'm just telling you~ Um, Grammie, Rosie Bumps and Bruises, my LaLa Loopsie doll, she's gonna have a sleep over with you at your house tomorrow~ So I have a list for her, and I hope everything's gonna be fine~ She's never had a sleep over before, but it might be pretty fine~

Ummm~ you might be able to read the list~

She has a lot of clothes, so I packed the heart ones for her jammies and I packed the other one for the daytime~ There's some shoes there too~

Goodbye~ I love you!" Maaahhhhh! (kiss)

She sounded sooo grown up and about business, as her mom is when getting them ready for the day when she is off to work.

She had written a schedule for me to follow for Rosie. We made a bed up for her.

As you see, before bed, she had a story.

And then she and her little friend were tucked up for the night!

I really enjoy playing imagination with my grand daughter~ Actually, I really love these cute little dolls~ So I get to play too~

View of Front Garden Bed

 

 

 

What a Day of Plans~

The second day of Spring~ And lovely Spring weather with many wonderful plans for the day~
Morning devotions to start the day off right and then walk with my daughter and granddaughter~
home and a little clean up and then Mr. Wonderful arrives home from golf~
Lunch and then out to the front of the cottage to spruce up. I have been trying to make the front of the porch look oh, just so. I must admit the BIG mistake I made 30 some years ago when I pulled all the "old Ladies flowers' which were well established Hydrangeas. Enter a sob of sadness here.
I now wish the entire front was filled with these lovelies, but alas they are slow starting for me.
I gathered some nice plants from my father-in-law's home when we were clearing the homestead and brought them to the cottage~ Today was the day to plant them in the beds by the porch, I have to say that it gives the flower bed an established look, and I am pleased with the outcome!
Today, I was also to start the purging of the studio by moving items into the "spare room" then go through and decide what would go back into the studio~
Next will come the HUGE garage Sale at the Cottage.
Wish me luck, as the tables have been set up for the arrival of items, and we sat outside and enjoyed an ice cream instead!

THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING~

After three fabulous weeks in the warm desert sunshine in the Anza~Borrego Desert, we are well rested and re~juvinated.
I would like to keep myself in this 'happy spot' forever and float through the days of the week un- incumbered and free spirited.
The huge winter storm blew through and pelted us with rain and hail, yet there was not enough rainy days for me.There was however, enough to urge the sleeping beauties from their browned-mat beds, and to encourage them to peek their sweet heads up into the warming sunshine and display their beautiful color and sweet aroma.
Buds are appearing on the tips of shrubbery and promising to display their loviliness and bring a smile on lips.

The birds are singing and nesting and yes, indeed, Spring has arrived here at Beverly Cottage!

Little Chair for Salle de Bain~

Le Nouveau Salle de Bain ~

The other day as I was sprucing myself up in the 'powder room', and decided I needed a new look for the little room so often visited ~ I try to keep my home decorated in a pleasing visual, so as one enters the cottage, they feel relaxed and have a tranquil enjoyable visit~ I decided to bring some 'French influence' into the 'powder room'~ I added one of my photographs of the Eiffel Tower in all her splendor on the wall complementing the charcol birdbath drawing my daughter in law made for me for Christmas ~ I added a fleur de lis hook I found on a walk one day and hung a sweet little black pocketbook with a little bling upon it~ I love my blush towels that accent the walls, but decided that a contrast of black towels would help in bringing a 'POP' to the whole ambience, but there was still a little something missing ~ I thought hard trying to figure out what was missing and decided I needed a small bench on which I could place extra folded towels on and disply them as if in a garden setting~ I knew the perfect item for the space~ The problem is that it is such a tiny space~ I knew just what it needed ~ A metal french embellished garden seat~ Finding one would be the problem~ I set out to look for the said item, trying to find what I had drawn up in my mind~ One could not be found, but searching was fun and I finally came up with an alternative choice~ In Escondido,California, there is a great place called Urban Barn~ A warehouse stocked and staged full of wonderful Shabby Chic and Vintage as well as French Influenced items ~ As I wandered around I came upon a sweet cream colored child's garden chair~ Would it work in my small space? Would it accomidate the folded towels? Would it create the feeling I was trying to acheive~ Absolutely! Now that is is sitting so sweetly in it's spot, I wonder if I should paint it black, or leave it in it's lovely soft cream color~ What do you think? I welcome your comments~

There's More Than Meets The Eye Here~

Hello all ~
Happy 2012!!
I will be focusing more on Beverly Cottage this 2012~ But did you know that there is more for you on my travels and photography? It can be found on my link to Bella Italia and Dreams of Far Away~
http://www.bellaitaliaanddreamsoffaraway.blogspot.com/
Here I have bloged the travels of my husband,Steve and I as we started our first travels and life in Tunisia in 1973~
We  receintly returned from a trip to Europe which is posted there of 5  countries along with photographs.
If you join Bella Itallia as a follower I will enter you in a drawing for a photograph of your choice.

I do love to hear from you. I do so enjoy your comments ~

A New Season of Bullfrogs and Butterflys~

The year has passed by extremely slow and has been tesiously emotional.

At the end of our visit in Tennessee, our lives were quickly changed into the life of adults having to take care of their elderly parent and seeing to the welfare and needs of our father.

This past six months has been dedicated to his move and relocation to our town and the tedious
job of liquidating of the home and items that made memories in my husband's life.

It has been an extremely emotional time as we face a new season in our lives, only reminding us that our lives too, are rapidly changing.
I chose not to post thru this time as what could be said that could express the emotions felt and decisions that needed to be made ~

Life does go on through difficulties, and we all must at some time face the realization that we will be responsible for the loved ones who once so lovingly took careful care of us.

This only brings to mind that we are to indeed getting older ourselves and have become mature adults~

It now is near the end of the year, situations are still presenting themselves day by day, yet we are setteling in and becoming more familiar with senior living and the daily routine for our father. It is not often an easy road ~

The grand children have been our breath of fresh air, and keep our life busy with the wonder in discovering of life. When they come for their weekly visit there is always something new experienced or discovered ~

This week we were out watching Steve working on his latest project, building a side fence.

My Grand daughter noticed a Monarch Butterfly resting on the picket fence.

"Grammie, look at this butterfly"! The butterfly flitted around Her head and seemed to stay nearby. We followed it around, it did not go far and we put our hands up hopeing that it would land on our hands.

The butterfly did not land on our hand but lit on the geranium bush, where we gently urged it on her finger!

The butterfly continued to allow us to hold it and investigate it's beauty for about twenty minutes, where after we set it on the plant again and left it.

How precious that the Lord allowed us the opportunity to meet this beautiful creature!

The kids named the butterfly Theresa. ~

Yesterday we were walking around the yard and we saw a butterfly perched in the old oak tree in the back. ~

"Theresa"! My grand daughter yelled out! We said our hellos and walked on.

Two of My Favorites For Summer~

Summer is quickly passing and the garden is full of bountiful veggies and fruits. The cherry tomatoes are sweet as candy. Mr McGregor is busy out in the garden harvesting. I am being kept busy trying to come up with new recipes! HAPPY SUMMER DAYS!!

Summer of 2011~

Summer Once Again~ Stories of Summer

How is it that the time fleets past so swiftly~
It was just spring as we planned and traveled to Tennessee to enjoy it's beauty and visit my son and his wife as he graduated from L.M.U. with his Master's Degree.
While there I connected with newly made friends from past visits and enjoyed their company.
I was able to visit with a new friend who coached me in using the 'manual' button instead of my auto on my camera and was greatly inspired by her talent.
My other new friend and I have being "Navy brats" in common, and both lived in Hawaii, as well as share the love of quilting. It is always so much fun to get together with these inspiring women and rub elbows.

I have recently started reading a Ray Bradbury book, Dandelion Wine, for a summer Book Club. The book is set in 1928 and in a mid-west town during summer.~

I have been remembering summer's past in my life, spent around the United States...
First, early years in California, running barefoot through the day on the sidewalks, walking to the five-and-dime for trinkets. Sitting on the curb, waiting for the tinkle of the ice cream trucks song, calling for us to come running for something cold and its tasty sweetness.

Then mid years in Connecticut, Playing kick-the-can through dusk, in the cul-de-sac, walking down the back dirt path to Mohegan Park to watch the fishermen tossing their lines into the pond. The first taste of pistachio ice cream and rainbow sherbet on ice cream runs with my mom. Art classes at N.F.A., the smell of the old wood floored buildings and their creaking as young students walked the halls. Playing out in the woods beyond the yard, looking for Indian artifacts, taking picnic lunches on long day hikes going out alone, looking for crystal outcroppings, but never finding any. Making fantasy towns in the back lot, using imaginations, and cannot forget playing with Barbie and the endless hours of setting up house and dressing her. The simpleness of youth and a life full of adventure and outlook far beyond the horizon.
Older summer's in Virginia as a teen, walking to the drug store for a cherry-coke at the soda fountain, Smelling for the first time Yardley's English Lavender and and English Leather, spending the day cutting paper dolls and drawing and making my own. Writing stories, visiting friends in Rhode Island, learning to make potato salad for the 4th of July....
How many memories of our past do we keep locked inside and forgotten about. The way the air smelled of new mown lawn, a street being resealed with asphalt, or the smell of tar on a roof? Have we shared any of these memories with our children who are quickly growing towards mid-age?

Yesterday, I tried to relay a story to my 4 1/2 year old granddaughter," When Grammie was a little girl , just like you, her daddy and mommy took her and her sisters,to the drive-in -movie. That is a movie that you go to and sit in your car outside and watch the movie on a big screen.
That movie was 'The Wizard of Oz'. When we got tired, we would crawl up in the back window to go to sleep. The others would sleep across the back seat and on the floor with the hump in the middle, then daddy would pick us up and carry us into bed. Ahhh... those were the days!

Can any of the kids fathom that we were once 'little'. I try to share pictures of when their mommy was little and their age, and pictures of me... but I'm not too sure that they can get the concept.~

In another chapter of my summer book, an elderly lady, Mrs. Bently deals with issues of relating to the youngsters in her neighborhood, as they run through the weeks of summer, as if each hour has a year to spend, and also dealing with her 'collections' of memories in her life. The gathering of memorabilia has kept her days ordered throughout her life, and now all she has is piles of junk stacked throughout her home.~
I am feeling that my life is parallelling this as I have a looming abyss that drowns me each time I enter. One day I straighten and then the next it is back in a mess once again.

My father's home has become a collection of memories~ So many interesting collections, yet there are no stories to tell about them, or where these collections came from and who they belonged to...

I long to hear the stories, and now that the storytellers no longer remember.

~The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring, Tra~la~

We Are Amongst the Spring Blossom At Beverly Cottage~

~Welcome to the garden at Beverly Cottage~
We are in full bloom here and the birdsong fills the air at dawn awaking us to the beauty of nature, surrounding us~
This morning I poured my cup of coffee and stepped outside to sit in the amphitheatre of the garden to enjoy the symphony of music sung by my feathered sweets. It was amazingly awesome as they twittered,tweeted,trilled and did their best to attract and announce that they were there and owned the property they were perching near.
~What a wonderful way to start the day~ Splendour~
The morning mist kissed the petals of the blossoms blooming in the garden, and as I stepped through to the flower beds~
I met each flower with great expectation as to the loveliness it was going to provide.
I delighted in the vibrant color and am learning to love flowers that I never had time for.
The musty fragrance of the geranium which has always been a turn off to me, now causes me to turn my head in amazement at the beautiful shades and hues they provide.
These flowers as easily plucked and stuck into the dirt and they grow abundantly!
The Nasturtium, that has been a favorite and vintage flower in the garden, provides darling fairy umbrella leaves that capture the dew drops. The orange and yellow trailing flowers grace the garden wall and frame the beauty of the front yard, welcoming visitors.
The ever faithful lavender provides a lovely backdrop to the back garden along the picket fence. The Fourth of July rose that climbs the arbor and welcomes you into the back garden is filled with buds and blooms, and showers the garden with fallen petals. This is where you can find my darling granddaughter as she collects the fresh fallen petals for her special facials.
This is our nature haven, where I am so pleased to hear the birdsong and discover in delight a new bird and look forward to the return of the Monarch butterfly.
The eggs are being nested and the soft squeak of the hatch lings calling out to their mommies and daddies to place food into their beaks fills the air and I know without a doubt~ that it is spring at Beverly Cottage!

~ Mr and Missus Wren Setting Up House ~

~ Bird Song of Spring in the Air ~

As of late~ we have had more of our share of rain in Southern California. I have worried about my sweet daffodils being battered around by the harsh wind and torrential, constant downfall of rain as storm after storm hits our coast and garden. Rain and Mother nature do have their benefits though~ as the water gives birth to the flower and ground cover with beautiful budding blooms and new ladybugs hatching.~ As Spring approaches, another creation of God's is the beautiful mating song of the bird in the garden at Beverly Cottage. As I listen to my garden song every morning, I can recognise the different songs and identify some as I have come to know them, and to whom they belong. Every year there seems to be a new visitor in the garden here at Beverly Cottage. I look to catch a quick glimpse of my elusive Oriole, trying to coax him to stop and visit my hummingbird feeders, but only see him fly by infrequently. We noticed the Bluebird family choose our neighborhood as eating grounds and nesting spot 10 years ago, and love to see them join the other native birds in the birdbath splashing~ A flock of Cedar waxwings like to frequent the empty branches across the street from the Cottage and they have a lovely smooth appearance. Last year the early chortling of as new visitor had us in a quandary trying to spot him and identify what type he was. It was a Cassin's Kingbird. This week, after a strong rain, I heard the singing of a new friend and looked out into our screened patio to find a bird had found its way in. I hastened to open the door to help it exit and share it's adventure of being "locked up" in a humans outside room and freed by the larger than life, up close person and lived to tell about it. When I turned around to see where it had flitted to, it had disappeared upon it's own. hummm.... I am a collector of abandoned bird nests~ As I looked around, I noticed that things seemed askew and that the wind from the storm couldn't have possibly blown a bird nest carefully placed in a container on to the ground. I went about tidying up and thought no more of it until the next day when my little friend was singing his beautiful song, broadcasting that there was free nesting material on my screened patio! After discussing the "new song" of the unidentifiable bird, we set out to find and identify him. Each time we heard the song we searched and looked. We also looked in the bird book and thought that it might be a wren.~ Well yesterday while my husband was gardening, he spotted the bird singing on our Plumeria bush near the trash bin area on the side of the house. Watching, he saw that he and the missus were setting up home in the terracotta sun face placed on the side of the house! There in the open mouth of the sun was evidence of a nest being built. I set the camera up on the tripod and waited in the arbor to see them working diligently before it was time to lay their eggs.~ They are House wrens.~ Enjoy the pictures~ ~May I suggest you sit outside or take a walk and listen to the bird song. ~It is lovely~

Japan's 8.9 Earthquake and Tsunami A Wake Up Call to be Prepared!

Last night as I was turning the television off to retire for the night, I was startled as I switched to the local news to see a Tsunami sweeping over the Japan landscape carrying with it everything in it's path. I was instantly awake and glued to the set as I tried to find out the earthquake's epicenter as years ago I was a teacher/coordinator for Japanese students and have several I still am close to.
It was unbelievable to watch entire villages swept inland. Where did all the heavy aircraft disappear to at the airport?
My heart goes out to this nation as they recover from this extreme shock. it has only just begun.
Thank God that my girls and their families all live in the southern part of the Islands, and no one I know of as of yet, has been effected.

This brought to mind that we live near an active fault line, the San Andreas fault, and there is the impending "BIG ONE" hanging over our heads here in the San Diego/Los Angeles area that not only could level our buildings and even cause tsunami waves to hit our shores and to break off the state of California at the Arizona state line, just snap it right off! (Hence the statement California will fall into the sea!)

This past weekend we experienced massive high wind gusts throughout the night beginning at 12:00am and continuing through the early morning, in the Anza Borrego desert, 72 mile an hour gusts, experienced while we were trying to sleep in a fifth wheel, hoping that out stabilizers would hold us, and praying that we wouldn't tip over or blow off our blocks!!
I had in the back of my mind...what if.. an earthquake were to happen while we were out here?

A friend who camps with us was returning this week to give a disaster preparedness class, and as we talked we were suggesting items that you could not do without and might need to add to such a kit to keep for emergency.

This really hits home and sounds the alarm for us to be prepared.
As we watch the movement of the earth throughout the world, earthquakes are hitting and devastating our global communities. Our hearts go out to our global neighbours as we know that it would impact us the same.
Say a prayer for our friends in this time of great loss, not only here, but New Zealand and China, and by all means, it is a warning call for us to be prepared!

~A Valentine ~ For You!

~Will You Be My Valentine?~

February is the month of love~
When one thinks of the month of February, red, pink and heart shapes come to mind.
I remember the art project of making Valentine's "mail boxes" for the handfuls of little envelopes with sweet messages from classmates and friends.~

As the years have sifted by, I still like to remember my dear friends with a little valentine of sorts to let them know how special they are in my heart. ~ I hold each friendship dear, as growing up in a Military family, we moved frequently, and close friends were few.~

This week I hosted a luncheon for friends who are in a doll club with me. I decided since we were to have lunch, that I would treat them to a special Valentine celebration. Our theme after all ,was Valentine's Day, why not do it up properly.~

This year we made a special Valentine for one of the club members, and then drew names.
I think that we enjoyed ourselves brilliantly and the weather was appropriate for a fete' on the screened porch. It was a lovely day.~

I hope that you will make your Valentine's Day a special one with friends that you hold dear to your heart.
~After all, that is what it is all about~

Please Join Me For A Cup Of Tea And A Chat~