Outdoor Wednesday - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Thank you Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for hosting another

fun Outdoor Wednesday.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ....

I went outside today to have a look around for something to inspire me

for my Outdoor Wednesday post. Everywhere I looked, my cat, Ivy was

following me. She wasn't following me on the ground, but spying

on me from the roof.


Here she is on the back patio checking to see if I was doing anything interesting.

Here she is over the front porch. I think she is making sure

I am behaving myself. She is very prim and proper and doesn't

approve of bad behavior.

Here she is playing peek a boo.

Nosey isn't she?

Ivy and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Outdoor Wednesday.

Now head back to Susan's for more Outdoor Wednesday fun.... and remember

to behave, Ivy is watching you.

Happy Birthday Kris

Today is my friend Kris's 29th Birthday. Being the "bad"

friend that I am I had it down for tomorrow. What a dope I am.

Sorry Kris, and I hope you have the most special day with your family.

I will pop over later and hopefully catch you home.

About Kris:

I was lucky enough to be picked up by Kris in Target over 15 years ago.

Yes, you heard that right.

My oldest daughter was playing softball on her husband, Greg's softball team and she

had met my mom at the first meeting. She recognized her at Target and so she came over to say hi, and that is where we met. And boy am I the luckier one for it.

Kris is a very special person.

She creates laughter where ever she goes (she is very funny, and I know funny)
She is warm and caring and a very devoted friend.

She is terrific in the kitchen and creates a special welcoming atmosphere for people when they enter her home.

She, in fact is the ultimate suzyhomemaker and is practically perfect in every way.

Now since I was going to do this post later today I did not pick

my favorite picture of Kris. I will work on that but

until then, Kris here is your 1 minute poem and my sincerest Happy Birthday wishes.

Birthday wishes my dear friend

I will always love you, and on that please depend.

We share so many interests, and have so much fun

The one I miss most is when we used to run.

Our lives are both busy, and that makes me sad

But you remain very close and that makes me glad

So enjoy that beautiful cake, and have a lovely day

And I will look forward to the time that we can once again play.

Tablescape Thursday - Spring Showers

Thank you to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.
for another fun Tablescape Thursday.

Spring Showers …

I had big plans for a Sunday lunch in the gazebo this afternoon. Here in
California we almost never get interrupted by “weather”. Well today
we did. We were greeted with Spring Showers this morning, so lunch in the
Gazebo, became lunch by fireside.

We have a bistro table in our game room that we sometimes use for
cards or watching people play pool. I thought this would be the perfect

spot to perch by the fire for lunch and watch a game or two on TV. (or maybe a chick flick)

I combined flower shaped dishes and a sunflower salad plate to go with some fun woven place mats that I got on clearance a few years ago. The colors are so happy for this dreary day.

I invited a few chicks I know just in case the chick flick was an option.

Can you see the rain outside?

The menu is simple:

Tuna sandwiches with red onions, celery and almonds on

cracked wheat bread with sliced avocado

and instead of the nice fresh salad I had planned, I think a

hot bowl of Italian Wedding Soup.

and maybe a nice "beverage" in a frosty glass for game watching

Here you can see the fun flowers on the place mats.

The napkin ring is from Crate & Barrel. They come in
yellow, green, pink and aqua. I will be going back for more.



Thanks for joining me for lunch. My son just showed up with a Netflix for me- "The Woman"
I guess it will be a chick flick after all. (Men to the other room for sports)

Now back to Susan's for more tablescape fun.

Outdoor Wednesday - Dancing with the Stars

Thank you Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for hosting another great Outdoor Wednesday.

Last week I missed Outdoor Wednesday because I was Dancing with the Stars .....


I had the opportunity to go into Hollywood and see

a taping of the results show for Dancing with the Stars.
I don't know if any of you in blogland are fans but it was a fantastic day.

My daughter requested tickets at the end of last season and

was notified that she could have 4 tickets to Tuesday nights results show.

It was gift to my mom. She and her husband had been living with my mom over the past year in an attempt to save money for a house. (They moved into their house in January) My 76 year old mom is a huge fan of Dancing with the Stars.

So lucky me, I got the tickets and along with my mom and two other friends headed out to Hollywood, -- CBS Television City to be exact.

The Judges - I know this is inside but we stood in line outside for hours.

No cameras were allowed, so this was all I could get.

This was the unlucky couple to be eliminated.



This was a view of the studio from where we stood in line. There were

2 ladies from Virginia behind us and 1 lady from Ohio in front

of us. They were all notified the same day we were and flew in to watch with no planning time.

After the show we headed to "The Grove" (which was

about 2 blocks away) for dinner. This is an upscale shopping center

frequented by "the Stars"


We ate dinner at La Piazza Ristorante Italiano

There we saw two of the dancers, Makshim Chmerkovskiy and Tony Dovolani.




Afterward two more of the dancers had an outdoor concert.

Dereck Hough and Mark Ballas


Who are your favorite dancers and celebrities?

1. Rapper Lil' Kim - Dereck Hough

2. Jackass star Steve-Lacy

O3. Melissa Rycroft-from the Bachelor-Tony

4. Football great Lawrence Taylor-Edyta

5. Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, who, at 17, is the youngest contestant ever-Mark

6. Country star Chuck Wicks, who will dance with his girlfriend, Julianne Hough

7. Gilles Marini, aka "the naked guy from the Sex and the City movie"-Cheryl Burke

8. Actress Denise Richards, who will be partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy

9. Former Go-Go's frontwoman Belinda Carlisle-Eliminated

10. Apple Computers co-founder Steve Wozniak-Karina

11. Comedian David Alan Grier-

12. Holly Madison and D'mtry

13. Rodeo star (and Jewel's husband) Ty Murray -Chelsea

Thanks for stopping by.

Now back to Susan's for more "real" Outdoor Wednesdays.

My 1st --- 3 or More Tuesday

The Gypsy's Corner is hosting this 3 or more Tuesday.
This is my 1st time participating so here goes...

12 Step Program ???????????????

Okay - I may have a small problem. I would like to know if anyone else out there has this same problem. If so there may be a 12 step program in our future. I was looking around my house thinking, I would love to participate in Gypsy's Corner's 3 or more Tuesday. But what do I have 3 or more of?

It's funny, when you start looking around for 3 or more of something you learn a lot about yourself, sometimes more than you bargained for.

My eye fell upon a small stack of ribbon I had just purchased. I "love" ribbon. I use it for wrapping, crafting, and just about everything.

So I pulled out a few and took a few pictures, and then it hit me.....

Who needs all of this ribbon? And this is just a small sampling.

So thanks for dropping by, and helping me to accept my addiction.

Head on back to Gypsy's Corner for some real 3 or more Tuesday's.

I hope to do better next time.

My 2nd Met Monday - a simple flower fix

Hi and welcome to my second Met Monday. Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by the very talented and creative Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

This is a quickie Met for me. I have a glass topped table on my patio that I love. I also have a container that holds four pots that I usually plant and set in the center of my table. Problem is every time I water my flowers the pots are too small and I end up with a mess on my glass table. My solution came when I went to Tai Pan Trading Co and found these happy little daisies and four new pots. I know fake flowers outside, how tacky. Well I decided to do it anyway so here is my project.

The set up:

These are my supplies:

4 Pots

4 sets of daisies

Spanish Moss

Green and purple ribbon

I quickly put the daisies into the pots, added the moss and ......


I have a cute arrangement for my table and my table will stay clean.
I can change my pots out with real flowers at anytime.


Actually I have the old pots that I can plant and put somewhere else
and change them out if need be. But when I look outside I see a pretty
and happy little arrangement.


Thanks for stopping by, now back to Susan's for more fun.

Park Pals ......

Wednesday I needed a short break so I met Kristi and the girls for a quick coffee and a park date. Sean was in the neighborhood so he stopped by.

Riley headed for the slide and Madison hung out with Uncle Sean. I think they did a little bonding.

Madison is always so happy to see Sean.

They're checking out the big kids. Madison asked when

she could use the slide.

Someday soon, when you get bigger.

How about now?

Who's having more fun, Uncle Sean or Madison?


I love you Madison.



I love you too Uncle Sean.

Happy Birthday Kevin!!

On the first day of spring many moons ago, a baby boy was born to Jim and Delores Kelley. He was the apple of their eye.

He grew up playing many sports.

Skiing - what exactly was in that cup, didn't you see the sign?

I think this may have been Mammoth when he was 21. This is one of my favorite

pictures.

He played football and still has the bad knees to prove it.

Nice form though, don't you think? I certainly couldn't kick that high.

Golf - to me one of the "cheatiest" sports of all. (is cheatiest a word?)

Looking good.


Fishing, one of his all time favorites. How peaceful is fishing?
Except when you are constantly redoing all of the kids tangled lines. Oh, and mine too.

The happiest day of his life ..... (ha, ha)


Happy Birthday Kevin. Sorry I didn't do a better job with
the pictures. I had big plans but .......

PS - I did spellcheck and cheatiest is not a word, but I used it anyway.

Tablescape Thursday - Here comes Peter Cottontail ...

Thank you to the lovely Susan at Between Naps on the Porch
for hosting another Tablescape Thursday.

Bunny Brunch to Welcome Spring

In anticipation of the first day of spring tomorrow, I invited

Mr. Cottontail to help me welcome spring to my table.

My kids hate Mr. Cottontail, but I decided to invite him anyway. I haven't seen him for awhile and he was getting lonely so I gave him a special place on the table.

I started with a chenille runner that I have and love. It
is so soft, with it's pretty greens and purples and fun pom poms on the ends.


My friend Vivian who is in her 80's painted the little egg
where the little birdie is hiding.....

The roses and freesias are from my garden.

I also had these fun celery green place mats with a cotton lace
trim and napkins with a green ric-rac edge.
My floral plates are a set of four, each with a different
floral pattern

You can catch a glimpse of the basket of eggs Mr. Cottontail
will be hiding on Easter.

This sugar and creamer was a gift from my mother in law. It is

one of the first pieces of crystal she got as a young bride, and it is over 50 years old.

Several years ago I took china painting lessons from my dear friend Vivian.

The tea pot with roses is one of the pieces she painted for me. The pitcher below is one of the pieces I painted. It has sweet peas painted on it.

The coloring is soft but I think the picture makes it even lighter.

The menu was simple:

Brunch casserole

Fresh strawberries

Cinnamon rolls

Orange juice and coffee

Yummy

Mr. Cottontail welcomes spring and says hop back over

to Susans for the loveliest tablescapes ever.