New Orleans

New Orleans.

Wow.

What a beautiful, haunting, fun place.

How can it be all those things?  Well, you have the French district, which is beautiful.  Just the door ways when you are walking through the streets are amazing.  The shops, fleur de lis (everywhere) Cafe du Monde and restaurants are abundant and busy.  Which is kind of nice to see in this economy. And I can't forget the jazz on the street corners.  The musicians & singers were fantastic, as were the little kids with soup lids tacked to the soles of their shoes, tapping in a way I'd never heard.  Not sure where they got their beats, some where deep in their souls, I guess.

Haunting?  The plantations are from a sad yet prosperous period of American history. To me, it was almost painful to walk through the properties. The character and beauty of the main houses seemed to contradict the pain of the slave houses.  Once inside the slave houses, though, I thought they had their own beauty.  The paint was chipped away from walls in a way that people try to emulate these on furniture. It was worn yet solid, protective.  The slave houses were 150 years old, yet have survived amazing well without the curation that the plantation houses have enjoyed.  
Oh, and the plantation houses actually ARE haunted.  I didn't see anything, but I believe it.  The workers there have seen apparitions.  I don't doubt it.

Beautiful, sacred, haunting, sad, amazing.

Fun?  Well, there's Bourbon Street, once you get past the two blocks of red light district, unless of course you're into that kind of thing.  But once you got past that, you gotta love the flavored slushie machines in almost every bar. It was fun to try all the different food...and see all the different ways to cook shrimp.  Bubba Gump wasn't kidding!  So shopping, great food, lots of people watching...all fun to me!

Wonderful Wedding!!

We just got back from a magical wedding in Sun Valley, Idaho.  We'd never been there before so we went a few days early to check it out.  We went biking, hiking, horseback riding and white water rafting.  Its absolutely beautiful there, I highly recommend going for a week or more.  Its a quaint town that moves a little slower than most, which is another great reason to go.  It makes you slow down.  Literally.  The speed limit is 25.  You can walk to most shops and restaurants and the people were really nice (even the locals who probably get really annoyed with tourists by the end of the summer!)

The wedding took place in a meadow that was so green it was unreal.  It was perfect.  Not a gopher hole or dead spot to be seen.  If my son had seen it, his feet would have been itching to find a soccer ball.  The weather was perfect.  Sunny and warm, but not blazing hot.

The wedding party (all 20 of them) looked like models and the bride and groom were drop dead gorgeous.  I'm not just saying that because I'm related.  Really, its true!

There were so many little details about the wedding and reception that were cool.

It was folksy in a very sophisticated way.  The chalkboard signs pointing the way to the wedding, reception and bathrooms were a nice touch.

You could order a "Burgle"  from the bartender.  Its a family drink served in a mason jar with a straw.

There were white parasols available for us to use during the ceremony.

I loved this...it was a simple burlap pillow with the date screened on it.  There was another little sitting area with two pillows:  Mr. on one, Mrs. on the other.

How cute is that?

It was a magical day filled with love, family, friends and A LOT of dancing!!

Cool Cloud...

Just driving down the highway in Idaho and my daughter snapped this picture:

It was taken before all the smoke blew in from the wildfires there.  Otherwise, I think it would have had more of an orange/red hue to it.

I think it looks magical!

Another Margaret Hudson

Remember the quail I posted about a while back?  Here is a little mouse.  Peaking out from under a little geranium.

How cute is he?

Its hard to tell, but he's about 3" tall.  Better to have clay ones than real ones.

Agapanthas

We  have a lot of agapanthas (or as my son used to call them when he was little 'a-pa-tampas') in our yard.  They do well in our warm weather.  They stay green all year and produce these amazing purple (or white) blooms in the summer.

Before the blooming:

After the blooming: 

The cool thing about them is that you can split and replant them.  They usually don't bloom the year after you do that but you still have a pretty green plant.  Just clean out the dead leaves around the bottom a few times a year and they thrive.  I love that I don't have to keep buying agapanthas, I can just keep using the ones I have.  Maybe in about 15 years, I'll have all the agapanthas I've ever wanted!

Close up:

All of mine are purple.  Love the splash of color it adds to my yard.

Giant Sequoias

We've all heard of the Giant Sequoia trees in California.  I didn't know until last weekend how close they were to where I grew up.  A quick 1 1/2 hour drive and there we were in the middle of these amazing trees.

Amazingly tall.
Amazingly beautiful.
Amazingly old.

The paths around them are railed off so you can't actually touch them.  Makes sense to me seeing as how some idiot would probably carve their initials in one of the 2,000 year old trees.

Love this picture:  There is a fallen, hollowed out tree that you can walk through.  You can look out a hole in it and see other trees.  Its beautiful there. And the air...don't get me started on what the air smells like.  I think heaven must smell like that.

my margaret hudsons

If you're not from Fresno, never been there and don't know anyone from there...then you've probably never heard of Margaret Hudson.  (http://www.margarethudson.com/catalog_01.html)  She's an artist that makes amazing brown clay garden sculptures.  She does a lot of different animals, but she also does children and angels.  They range in size from about 3" to life sized.  You can buy them off the gallery floor or commission a piece.  

I went to a friend's house one afternoon about a year ago and as I walked up to the front door, I saw a Margaret Hudson bear.  I knew immediately that we had some sort of connection to Fresno, even though I now live 6 hours away.  Sure enough, her in-laws live there.

Here are my quail:

I'll post my other Margaret Hudsons in the upcoming months.

Let me just get this out there:

I love Palm Springs.  The heat, the smell of the air, the jagged mountains.
Petunias.
Pansies.
Bouganvilla.
The pools.
The heat.

La Quinta Resort has to be heaven on earth.  When I go there, I can't help but take pictures of all flowers.  They must have a ton of staff just dedicated to the landscaping.

I love it when the different plants intermingle!  I'm trying to get my yard to do this, but so far its not working. I'll keep trying...

New House Rules: 

Works for me!!  

Ahhhh...bouganvilla.  Not only is it a fun word to say, (bouganvilla boo-gan-veeya) but it is dang pretty whether its on the thorny vine or on the ground.  Don't  you think?

Once a year, when the leaves are falling, my side yard turns a beautiful bright pink from all the petals on the ground.  They are so light and tissue paper thin that they don't deteriorate like a rose petal.  They just dry out and lighten in color a little bit.

Cutting it back can get a little dangerous, the thorns are super sharp, but its also very trainable and so pretty.  If you live in an area where it seldom gets below freezing, try a bouganvilla bush.  They come in light pink, red and white, too.

As promised, I got my behind outside and cut some roses.   I need to do this more often...

Pink Roses

I love my roses.  The pink are my favorite.  And first thing in the morning, before the bees start buzzing, they are so pretty.  But I never cut them, except to trim them back so new ones can grow.

I need to get in the habit of cutting them and enjoying them inside.  I read on pinterest that if you bury a banana peel at the base of a rose bush, it'll nourish the roses and fend off bugs.  Sounds cheaper and more environmentally responsible than Miracle Gro and Round Up!

Next up, a picture of my roses.  In a vase.  In my kitchen window...