A Rose.......... 07-07-18

My favorite rose is Brandy, it is about 30 years old now, still my favorite.  

It was only 109F today.  This is September weather! 

#   #   # 

Friday Food - Coupeville, WA 07-06-18

In May 2013 I took a class at the Pacific NorthWest Art School in Coupeville, WA, on Whidbey Island.  It was a great experience and I hope to go back for a different class one day.  One of the pleasant discoveries were several restaurants with great food.

The class "angel" took orders for lunch and went to Knead and Feed for takeout.  This tuna salad was delicious and we all decided that Knead and Feed would be our lunch choice for the rest of the week.  A great choice.  

We were usually on our own for dinner, but one night we all went to Frasier's in Oak Harbor.  Very elegant, excellent service, and really good food.  One of  my classmates had the lamb chops and had to have a box to go home.  

Across the table a lady had the fish soup and raved about it.  Don't know what kind of fish, but was certainly an elegant presentation. 

I ordered the crab cakes appetizer and they were much like the crab cakes I have eaten in Virginia.  Outstanding.  My main course was local Penn Cove mussels  

One evening I ate dinner alone at Christopher's in Coupeville, just a few steps from my little cabin.  I'm always a sucker for salmon.  This was salmon with raspberry sauce, zucchini, carrots, kale, raw spinach. Perfection.  

And an aside....   My phone showed it topped out at 115F today, one of the hottest days ever.  Hope tomorrow is cooler.  I am not in an area that has wild fires.  

#   #   #

Blue - To help you stay cool. 07-05-18

It has been a rather cool June in SCalifornia, what we call June Glooms.  But now at the start of July the temperature has risen to new heigths.  Projection for tomorrow is 111F.   So, I ran through some picture files looking for some cool blue to take the edge off the heat. 

Some of these pictures were ripped off the Internet.  

Blue Teapot nest for a house finch.

"A Cold Day" quilted sculpture by Susan Else.  Piece is contained in an 8" square acrylic box. 

"Gilia" Ruth B. McDowell - Colrain, MA  2011  22.5"W x 38.5"L

Painted Bunting - NYC  2015

Puget Sound from Whidbey Island 2013

Agapanthus  2013

Blue Flowers  (name?)  Washington State  2013

Blue Fountain  2013

Blue Sky - New Mexico  2013

Blue Rhody (this is a little more violet than blue, but it is so beautiful) Eugene, OR

Blue skirt on a very tall lady - San Diego Trader Joe's  2013

Blue Iris - Kalispell, MT    04-28-10

Blue Whale hooked cushion 

Blueberries and white peaches  08-15-08

Great Blue Heron  02-27-14

Eastern Bluebirds in their bath   02-10-13

Blue door in Orange, CA.  01-15-10

Scaveola, or fan flower  06-17-12

Blue Toad   05-19-03

Blue Tree puzzle from one of Ruth McDowell's quilts.  04-27-15

Gosh I could go on for pages.  Hope this cools us all down. 

#   #   #

Wordless Wednesday - Parking

#   #   #

Quilt shows with Luana Rubin

Luana Rubin and her husband run eQuilter.com and Luana  travels the world to visit quilt shows and events.  She takes terrific pictures and posts them for all to see.  You can visit Tokyo, Houston, France, and many more.  Currently up are pictures from the Canadian show and they are fabulous.  Check them out at   https://www.flickr.com/photos/luanarubin/with/41828508705/

And when you are done, look at all the other images she has posted.  Do you have a year?

Friends Baltimore Square  by Kerry Burke  Photo by Luana Rubin. 

Izzy  by Anne Mathers  Photo by Luana Rubin
#   #   #

July - Time for the mimosa trees to bloom 07-02-18

I don't remember seeing mimosa trees until I was an adult and moved to SCalifornia.  Although my sister and I came down from Portland about every other summer to see our paternal grandparents, we always came the last half of August and went home just after Labor Day.  So, the glorious mimosas blooming in July were a surprise when I moved to Arcadia in 1957.  

Their blooming closely follows and sometimes overlaps that of the jacaranda trees. 

In 1974 Floyd and I planted a mimosa in front of the townhouse in Fullerton where we lived for 16 years.  It was glorious when covered with those pink powder puffs, especially when viewed from the upstairs bedroom window. 

Mimosas shed something constantly (tiny leaves, blossoms, pods), but Floyd was always out there cleaning the debris from the driveway.  It was an exercise he enjoyed, I guess, just like he enjoyed vacuuming.  His odd quirk and my saving grace! 

 

The pods rattle in the breeze, reminding me of the sound of a rocky stream.  Very relaxing. 

#   #   #