Fun N Family

What's blooming in my garden now

2011-06-10T21:22:00.011-04:00

Part 3 - photos of my garden for a very good friend. Also, my Today's Flowers entry.
As I mentioned earlier (part 1), these are all posted on my Facebook but am posting them here too for my blogger friends and friends who do not have FB account. Enjoy!
Poppy

Snowball bush also called Gelder Rose bush

Rhododendron bud-after almost 3 years of waiting, I finally see what color my Rhody is...deer used to eat all the buds before I had a chance to protect them.

Rhododendron flowers

Lemon Day Lily

Old fashioned rose, also produce hips that are rich with calcium, so i heard.

Campanula

Rose

Seven sisters rose

Part 2 of what's blooming in my garden

2011-06-10T21:10:00.010-04:00

A request from a very good friend...photos of my Peonies and also my entry to Today's Flowers. Please click HERE to visit more gardens all over the world.

What's blooming in my garden now

2011-06-10T20:45:00.014-04:00

I posted my Iris collections on facebook but I'm posting it here too for my friends who do not have a facebook account.
This is Part 1 of sharing my garden blooms...hope you like them as much as I do.
This is also my Today's Flowers entry.

It's a Wrap!

2011-05-13T21:50:00.006-04:00

As I mentioned on Facebook...I received the greatest Mother's Day gift when our daughter received her Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree last May 8, 2011.
We are so blessed! Congratulations my dear, we are so proud of you!!!

Pinning and hooding only for DPT graduates.

Congratulations on your achievements, my dear daughter...wishing you all the best in the future! ♥ ♥ ♥

Today's Flowers

2011-03-20T07:40:00.000-04:00

Hi - if you're looking for my Today's Flowers entry... please go HERE
Enjoy!

We have company ...

2011-02-12T10:21:00.005-05:00

I came home from work yesterday and here are eight deer foraging for food in our backyard! ...feeling sorry for them in a way... ground is covered with snow.

There are actually eight of them...one is hard to spot.

Flat Stanley

2011-02-04T20:13:00.008-05:00

My granddaughter from Las Vegas sent me a letter with Flat Stanley in it. For those who are not familiar, there is a book named Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. In the book a boy named Stanley is flattened by a bulletin board. His parents decided to fold him up and send him to California. My granddaughter's class thought it would be cool to send their own Flat Stanleys just to see where he can go and what he can see.
So, on Flat Stanleys' first day here in New York, I made him a hearty breakfast as you can see below. :-)

I took him with to work, and shadowed me all day. He was tickled pink too when I introduced him to our Director. Then I showed him around... here he is in our mailroom helping sort mails. I also showed him our library, our credit union and the rest of our building.

Here he is with his buddy, Guy, an outdoor cat...whoaa, it's windy! and cold! brrrrr!

He attended a church dinner, went with us when we brought our son back to college, went shopping and even helped shovel snow. He went back home to Las Vegas yesterday in a much bigger envelope...what with a lot of pictures with him and wonderful memories about our town. Thanks Flat Stanley for giving us the opportunity to get to know you! We enjoyed your stay with us and hope you'll come and visit us again. We ♥ ♥ ♥ and miss you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2010-12-17T19:23:00.002-05:00

Wishing ALL my blogger friends a Merry Christmas and may all of you be richly blessed in 2011!!!

Sit-in gig

2010-08-21T09:52:00.012-04:00

Every 1st and 3rd Friday of each month, Imagine Moore Winery store offers Wine-Friends-Music to public from 5 pm to 9 pm. My son was invited to a sit-in gig by the Out-of-the-blue band.

...our son, left corner.

... dance floor

... everybody had a ball. Me? just enjoyed watching 'em dance!

Summer harvest is here!

2010-08-15T08:49:00.010-04:00

YESTERDAY, my friend, Josie invited me to go pick veggies from her garden... she is always so willing to share her bounties.

We have a very good summer this year, veggies and fruits are plentiful and are looking great...not to mention delish too!
Here I am with my morning therapy at Josie's garden bed! lol Josie and hubby planted, long and green beans, tomatoes, snow peas, squash, zucchini, corn, peanuts, cucumbers, onions and gourd.

... bag full of green beans, all for me!

... eggplants! Yum! We also picked cucumbers, snow peas and squash blossoms but for some reason, the program is not letting me upload them??? (have to look more into this problem later)

So, now please excuse me for I have to go cook and also freeze some while they are at their freshest! Hope you are all enjoying your summer!

THE family reunion party!

2010-07-24T10:51:00.021-04:00

HERE YOU GO! I am sharing photos of our family reunion held in the Philippines at my brother's home. I will just let the pictures do the talking. Hope you like them as much as I enjoyed taking pictures and catching up with relatives some of whom, I've never even met before since I haven't been home for over two decades. We held it in the early afternoon for it rained almost every day around 5pm followed by brown-outs.

...our t-shirts were donated by my brother from Canada ... eh? ;-) Next time will be my turn to donate and it will be: I Love NY (maybe)

...my brother welcoming everybody.

...me saying the blessings.

... time to eat!

... relatives

... more relatives

...niece and nephew, emcees. They prepared a show for us and did an excellent job!

... nephew (from Switzerland)

...brother from Canada.

... grandkids

...some of our children who were able to attend.

... again some of our children.

... me and my siblings, oldest to youngest, right to left, I'm 3rd from right.

Photo shoot ... there are seven of us from many geographic locations like, California, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and New York. Sad to say that our parents passed on one in 1986 & the other in '87.

... togetherness! lol ...with sisters-in-law

...again, some of our children.

Homeland trip...part 2 - Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte

2010-07-10T23:15:00.010-04:00

From Bataan, we headed off to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, it was another long drive but it was worth it! We got there around 11:00 pm, had a good night sleep and the next day we woke up with these peddlers by the beach! They were selling bracelets, and necklaces made of shells, corals and pearls. My kind of wares, and they were a good price too, so I must have bought about two dozens of 'em and gave a few to friends.

Pagudpud beach... boy, those waves can really grab you to the deep part! My suit was full of sand when I got up too!

We've found out the cure for arthritis ... warm sands! lol My sisters and I (in blue)... having fun being a kid again! lol

...our oldest brother, trying to build his (sand) castle! ;-)

Great time was had by all.

My homeland trip, part 1 ...

2010-07-03T10:00:00.022-04:00

Hi'ya all! I'm back ... hope you are all enjoying the summer!
I've been inundated with requests from friends and relatives to post something about my trip to my homeland, so here it is. But, just a little background ... about 5 years ago, my siblings and I planned to have a grand family reunion where all of us, no exception, will attend. It finally happened last month.
It all started up above the clouds ... 16- hour flight from the U.S. to the Philippines!

My friend's house, near the international airport, where I stayed for 2 days while waiting for the rest of my siblings before heading off to our province... a very uniquely built house. Most houses in the Philippines have grills for security purposes.

...then another 6 hours to our town and boy was it HOT and HUMID! My sweat was basically dripping! Due to family responsibilities, I haven't been home since 1986, although I am in favor of progress, it was still sad for me to see our town so crowded now. New roads, houses, college/university, fast food restaurants and all kinds of stores were built; I didn't really recognize the place! I had to ask my sister to accompany me to the market which was just a few blocks away because I didn't know how to go back home. Nothing looks familiar! I guess, 24 years of being away has its consequences! ;)

After a couple of days rest, we headed to our first tour ... Bataan, which was about 6-7 hours drive. Pictured below is a marker of the Bataan Death March, every few kilometers, you'll see these markers. Not sure if you're familiar with it, but during World War II, allied prisoners of war were marched along this route by the Japanese. From what I heard and read, those who were weak, stumbling or falling were mercilessly beaten and bayoneted by the Japanese. Any sign of faltering by the prisoners was enough for the Japanese soldiers to stab them to death. One of my husband's art school professors was in the Death March, but survived. My husband said he NEVER SMILED.

... just for fun! Me and my siblings, seven of us, from left to right, youngest to oldest, brothers from: Canada, Switzerland, California, sisters from: Germany, Me (New York), Switzerland and oldest brother based in Philippines.

... some of our kids.

Bataan beach ... water as far as your eyes can see. I believe this is part of the China sea?

I'll leave you with the Bataan sunset for now ... what a beauty! I'll post more photos next time. From my town, we toured Bataan, via La Union, to Pagudpud, (Ilocos Norte) Cagayan and back to our town, where after a day's rest, we had our grand family reunion parteee! ... please stay tuned?

On vacation ...

2010-05-23T10:06:00.004-04:00

Hello my friends ... I will be visiting my homeland for about a month, I appreciate you dropping by and will return your visits when I get back. Hope you all have a good and pleasant summer!

Today's Flowers

2010-05-02T09:13:00.001-04:00

... in case you're looking for it, please click HERE

Art Show

2010-03-23T19:22:00.002-04:00

YOU are cordially invited to an art show ... this way, please.

The iron monster ...

2010-03-13T07:27:00.004-05:00

HUBBY submitted a letter to the editor to our local paper and it says it all below.

Kitten traumatized by steel leghold trap.

About four weeks ago a large, beautiful, solid black year old kitten showed up at our house ... so friendly you wouldn't believe it, and he loved to be held. It was during that terrible, terrible frigid weather, and we fixed a weather-protected box for him on the front porch with a comfortable, large old blanket inside to keep him cozy. If we had kept him in the house our territorial indoor cat would have torn him to pieces.
Then he turned up missing for about two days. We thought possibly someone else had taken him in. One evening, late, I went out on the porch with a flashlight to look around his box. He was there by the door of his box - his leg crushed in the steel jaw leghold trap that he had dragged with him from who-knows-where.
His odyssey through the woods in the dark night must have been excruciating-and here he was, trap and all , back to his newly-adopted home, pleadingly looking up at me in the rays of the flashlight, with that ugly monster still imprisoning his leg.
He was lucky that he was able to break the trap free from its station. I have heard that sometimes an animal will chew off it's own foot in order to escape. I called for my son immediately, and between the two two of us we got the strong jaws apart, freeing him once again. His leg was useless then, though he tried to hobble on it.
I took him to the vet the following day, and the x-ray revealed that his leg was luckily not broken but traumatized. The vet said that his leg would probably eventually heal, but to watch it. She gave him a shot of antibiotics. At this point he is doing well, and has pretty much full usage of his leg, as far as I can tell.
The "iron monster" is still on the table on the back deck, reminding me, first-hand, of the cruelty of this machine. If you're going to kill small game at least have the decency to shoot them. I think that this instrument of terrible suffering should be banned.
Signed: D.G.

Pictured below is the "iron monster"...if you click to enlarged you can still see a few of our new cat's fur. Getting trapped with this ought to hurt bad, don't you think? I'm not against trapping and/or wildlife management; I fully understand about the importance of restoring balance to nature but there should be a better and safer tool to restrain target animals...what if our new cat was not able to free the trap from its place?...he probably froze to death because it was zero below most nights that week...poor guy.

A while ago, I blogged about our very territorial cat, Oreo here ... as you can hear, Oreo was really hissing at Guy that is why we can not let him in. (our son named our new cat Guy, I would have preferred Inky but I was the one who named Oreo, so I let him.)
What to do, what to do...it's too late to bring Guy to an animal shelter; we fell in love with him!

2010 Robotics

2010-03-06T21:30:00.007-05:00

GOOD DAY my friends ... I'm back! Between being busy and winter blah I did not feel like blogging ... but I'm a little inspired now; must be the nice weather we've been having lately, sunny and feels like spring! ... missed you guys!

Anyway, here's a bit of good news, the Naples Grapes of Wrath robotics team, where our son is a member, tested their robot last Friday and Saturday to compete against 50 other high schools around our area and all the way from Canada and Pennsylvania. I took Friday off, so hubby and I went to watch their competition. It was quite exciting!

The game for this year is a 3-on-3 soccer game. The field is divided by "humps", pictured below, with two goals at each end. Robots have to go over the humps or under a tunnel and try to make a goal. A few seconds before the game ends, robots gain bonus points for suspending from the tower in the center of the humps. I don't really understand all the rules and scoring system but it was still fun watching all those robots "play" soccer. :)

Our son, reading a book while waiting for their turn to compete... he looks tired. Their team spent the night in the city so they probably went to bed late.

When our son came home Saturday night, it was hard for him to contain his excitement; he was wearing his medal around his neck and proudly told us that they won FIRST place! Yay! All that hard work paid off ... they worked on their robots after school for six weeks, and there were times where he came home after midnight because they were building/working on their robots.
So, what better way to start my first blog for 2010 than this? ... pretty cool, huh?
Their team will now advance to the national event held in Atlanta, GA, during their spring break.

It's nice to be back! I'll come visit you soon ...

RINGING IN ... 2010!!!

2009-12-31T21:58:00.005-05:00

I'M SAD TO see 2009 come to an end because it's been a good year, but I am also looking forward to the coming new year. Blessings to all of you, wonderful friends, thanks for your visits, encouraging comments and support.

HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2010 AND MANY SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL!!!

Note: It is a belief for many, in my country, the Philippines, that having round fruits in the house before the coming of the new year, will bring you good luck throughout the year. What's your belief, if any?

Winter Concert 2009

2009-12-19T10:45:00.010-05:00

IT'S THAT TIME of year again where schools/students show off their hard work and give an excellent concert for all to enjoy. My kids' school is no exception. If you are a follower of my blog you all know that our son loves to play guitar. He is a member of the school's marching band, jazz band, drumline and high school concert band ... that's how much he really loves music. lol Plus he has his own band, Funk Uncle. Unlike bigger towns or cities, our small town's performers are not in formal attire ... just plain or nice-looking shirts for boys, and decent clothes for girls, but their performances are up to par just the same. Here are a few videos I took of their jazz band, sharing it with all of you and especially to our relatives here and abroad who enjoy watching him play. All seniors were featured since this will be their last winter performance, and that includes our son ... and it's kind of sad in a way, if you think about it ... "last performance?" :(
He is the one standing in the back wearing a tan hat playing the first and last solos.

They played, "Six String Shuffle" here.

... in this vid, he utilized his "Wah" pedal, playing "Funky Ol' Saint Nick"

... "Free Bird" and again his "Wah" pedal for sound effects.

After the concert, I heard a couple sitting behind me say, "That kid, Will really is amazing! He can really make his guitar sing!" And of course, hearing those kind of comments from others (besides myself, lol) just makes my heart swell! Listening to all those practices for years, over the sound of the TV at home paid off. ;) It was not always easy, especially when our daughter who plays guitar and trumpet was still living at home ... when they both practice? ohhhh, I thought I might develop an early hearing problem, but hubby and I learned to love and enjoy it! We are those kids' number one fans! ... may it be sports or arts and music ... numero uno! lol ... nothing beats that!

My friends, from my family to yours, I am sincerely wishing each and every one of you a heart-warming, blessed CHRISTmas, and and may the New Year bring us good health, peace and joy! Please stay safe and warm! Love all of 'ya!

Today's Flowers

2009-12-13T07:22:00.004-05:00

... you can find my entry "Here".
Thanks for visiting.

My boy's 18th b'day ...

2009-12-05T11:45:00.006-05:00

Have you ever given in to your kid's nagging/pleading?
Our son turned 18 last Wednesday, and a day before his birthday the present we ordered online for him was delivered. Hubby hid the box but for some reason our son found it. When I got home from work that afternoon, I found the box partially opened and plastered with post-it-notes saying, "let me open this today" and "please" all over the box. Apparently, he came home after school, tracked down the package online and found out that's it's been delivered, so he was in a hide-and-seek mode. After he found it, he probably realized that he's not supposed to open it yet, so he plastered it with those notes, and went back to school for extra curricular activities. (there were actually more notes...they fell off from the box)

He came back home while I was making dinner and followed me around with this face, saying, "can you refuse this face?" ... and words like, "I'm so excited to open it now, I won't be as excited tomorrow", "I have to suffer one more night and day?", etc. etc... giving me hugs, and more hugs.

I finally gave in for the main reason that he is a nice kid, getting very good grades in school, has a nice personality and seems to be doing everything right and besides I don't see any point in prolonging his agony! ... hey, what can I say, I'm a marshmallow-at-heart! lol This picture as they say, is worth a thousand words ... look at that smile! ;)

And boy, he got that baby set up in no time! He played for a few minutes but had to go back to school again. He is a member of the "Operation Santa" committee, where, along with classmates, they go house to house asking for Christmas donations ... go shopping ... box them and then they distribute the goodies to less fortunate families before Christmas.

Ahhhh ... kids, you gotta love 'em!

Today's Flowers

2009-11-29T09:12:00.000-05:00

In case you're looking for my Today's Flowers entry, I moved it Here. Enjoy!

Golf putting mat

2009-11-27T08:48:00.001-05:00

... thanks but no thanks! lol

Oreo

2009-11-22T16:17:00.006-05:00

We have this stray kitten that's been hanging around our yard for a few weeks now. We think somebody dropped it off here. Oreo, our indoor cat is very territorial. Every time this very loving kitten is by our window or sliding door, Oreo will hiss and growl at him as shown in this video. It's kind of funny in a way, because the kitten was just being himself...ignoring Oreo having a fit! lol

Today's Flowers ...

2009-11-08T08:14:00.000-05:00

... got moved Here.

College Tours

2009-11-07T08:08:00.008-05:00

Our son who is a high school senior this year is planning to go for Sound Recording Technology (SRT) as a major of study. We started going to colleges this summer and our first stop was the Rochester Institute of Technology. We've been to this college before, for this is the same place where they go for Robotics competitions. Although RIT is a very prestigious technology college, if your major is in other areas like engineering, our son was not really impressed with their music curriculum, so forget this one! Our son's feeling for this college? ... cold! lol

On our way to RIT these lovely geese crossing the road stopped the traffic. ;)

A month after visiting RIT, we went to Fredonia College. Hubby miscalculated the time to get there, plus there was a detour so we were really late for the group tour. I didn't even have a chance to take pictures. What I like about this college was that the tour was more organized than RIT and their recording studio is more impressive. Their unique program? Animation, music business/theater, sound recording, video production and sports management. Our son's feeling for FC? ... warm!

Last month we visited Ithaca College. Now we are really impressed with this college! It has 3 state-of-the-art recording studios and 100% of SRT graduates find jobs after graduating! Now, that is really important and impressive! I hope it will stay that way! hah! We also learned that IC is rich in internships and fieldworks and that they even have affiliations with studios as far as Los Angeles, CA and abroad! Also, IC has over 90 practice rooms, close to 200 pianos and a lot of halls/auditoriums for students to practice and/or perform in. Now we're talkin' ... this college is really a school of music; students have the finest tools at their fingertips!...hard to beat that! lol They even have an IC television program! Student/faculty ratio: 10 to 1 so students have a lot of time to work one-on-one with their faculty. And oh, the view! Ithaca College is set high on a hill overlooking beautiful Cayuga Lake, and all of the student dorms have a gorgeous view of that ... see photo (...and this was taken on a dark, cloudy, rainy day!). Our tour guide said that in the summer there are so many students out on the sloping campus over the lake that it looks like a day at the beach! Our son's feeling for IC? HOT! lol

We'll probably tour 1-2 more colleges before our son makes up his mind. We're just glad and happy that he is considering going to a NY college instead of out-of-state ... he is our baby, 'ya know! ;)

Today's Flowers - Wild Flowers

2009-10-31T21:46:00.017-04:00

Thistle

...close up

Queen Anne's Lace

... different shades of wild asters

Clover

Ash tree ... before (can't resists to show you this one) ;)

... after

For more of TF, please click "Here"

Soccer Game

2009-10-27T18:25:00.011-04:00

Ok, guys, here I am again, bragging of my son stepping up to the plate and making great saves. lol (all photos can be enlarged by clicking)
October 15, 2009, our first snow of the year, (can you believe that, it's only mid-October!) when our son's soccer team played against the undefeated soccer team it was very cold and dreary, but the game nonetheless was very exciting. I heard one parent yell, "Where else can you find excitement paying just $1.00 admission?!". First half was a tie, second half was still a tie, so they played two ten-minute overtimes. Now, if you are a follower of my blog, you know that our son is a goalie. Both teams played hard, and what with snow and the grass being wet there was a lot of falling and sliding. Unfortunately, at the last seconds of the second overtime, our son's foot slipped before jumping to catch the ball and he was not able to block the ball, and the other team scored! (The ground was wet and muddy by that time). Oh well, somebody has to win, right? Below is a photo of the playing field; they played at night and it really was cold! Imagine yourself soaked with wet snow and mud in a very cold temp; that was how our son felt after the game... brrrr! Their team is called, Big Green machine! lol (green/white uniform or sometimes green/green , like the last photo)

The following weekend was a homecoming game. As with school tradition, some kids cut their hair mohawk style, or paint it green, the school color. In this photo, the senior players were honored; that's our son in orange/black uniform. Since our son's hair is short, he elected to shave it instead, but he was the one who gave his team mates a hair cut. Although the other team tried many times to take a shot, unfortunately they never found the back of the net. This time our team WON! 2-0 It was a shutout game! Yay! This game was also a qualifier for sectionals.

Last night was their first sectional game, and boy was it exciting! And of course here I am again, the proud mama telling everybody who listens how exciting the game was! There was a lot of jostling for the ball. Even though we parents of the players were cold and shivering watching and cheering, we will do it again, and again. I am not a good sports writer so here goes what happened ...
Our team scored the first half, the other team retaliated and scored the second half, so it's now a tie. Then our team scored again, so it's now 2-1. Two minutes before it was over both teams are now very aggressive. The other team did what I call a bullet kick (fast and quick kick in the upper corner of the net) and our son was able to block it by hitting the ball volley ball style so the ball went behind the net. Parents as well as fans were screaming with delight! Then the other team did another bullet kick and our son was able to block it again with the same style! Parents were on fire; there was a cacophony of cheers from our team's fans. Wow, what excitement, and this happened with like a minute left. With a few seconds left, and with my adrenaline going up, the other team tried again for another goal and this time the ball was shot lower so our son was down on the ground blocking the ball, he was able to block it, but the ball got away from him, so the other team did a follow up and tried another shot but luckily they missed the net. (There was a lot of tension but, oh, what a relief!) lol. With 12 seconds left, our son has to kick the ball and I kept yelling, "kill time, kill time", and as soon as he kicked the ball, the buzzer was heard and it was over! They won, they won! Ha, ha! All in all this was a well-played game, a battle of two good teams from start to finish. Both teams played an outstanding game!

When I went to sign him out, (he rode in the school bus to the game, and usually comes home with us) other parents were telling me, "This is Will's best game so far!" or "Will did an excellent job!" Others gave me a hug ... and being the humble parent that I am, hah! I said, "they all played hard, it was a team effort, and they made us all proud!" ;) The boys have been really working hard in practice and it shows.

Note: the last two photos were taken during the day, at other games. The sectional game that I described above was held at night and unfortunately I did not take photos but that's 'mah boy in action! lol

Today's Flowers # 63

2009-10-25T09:07:00.005-04:00

It's Today's Flowers once again. Click here to visit participants all over the world.

In the spring, I prune my Butterfly bush to this.

... by summer, it looks like this.

... Fall. The cycle of life.

Today's Flowers # 62

2009-10-18T09:25:00.005-04:00

To see exotic, rare and lovely flowers, please click Here.

Begonia ...

Orchid ...

African violet ... they are all my indoor plants.

Today's Flowers #61

2009-10-11T10:26:00.008-04:00

For more of TF please click Here.
and see amazing blooms all over the world.
In the Fall almost all my plants look like these ...

... but we also have these! Rainbow of colors and ... soccer! yay!

Today's Flowers #60

2009-10-04T09:15:00.005-04:00

Oops ... i almost forgot...it's Today's Flowers Sunday! To visit pictures of lovely and rare flowers from around the world please visit the TF team by clicking Here.

Snapdragon, I love them as cut flowers. They come in a variety of colors and size.

This was originally given by a friend but it re-seeds and come up every year ... sadly, I don't know the name. One of these days, I will look it up. It is nice to use as fillers in a bouquet.

Wild morning glory, so invasive but provides greenery on our deck railing.

Happy Sunday everyone!

My neck-of-the-wood

2009-10-03T08:26:00.011-04:00

For my family, friends and in between, lol ... here's what's going on in my neck-of-the-woods.
Soccer games started a couple of months ago ... meaning rain or snow, win or lose we are there to support our son, who is the goalie, and his team, and it's all worth it!

Street dance .... another yet successful performance of the Funk Uncle band, where our son is the lead guitarist, raising funds for the local hospice house. For more Funk Uncle post click Here.

Our little town had a Grape Festival last weekend, and to promote our church, we had a bake sale. Our cookies were sold out by 2:30 p.m. We also offered free coffee and orange drink for everybody. A picture of our space, beside our church, setting up for the day.

Sometime in the afternoon, I walked around the festival a little bit, and can you spot the human scarecrow?

Here's another display at the festival ... have you seen the biggest rocking horse? You need a step ladder to get up on this one! ... a life size!

Here's another angle.

Have a grape weekend everybodeeeee!

Today's Flowers #59

2009-09-27T10:39:00.009-04:00

Hubby and I visited a garden store last weekend to buy a gift certificate for a co-worker/friend who is retiring. While there, I looked around and found these ...my new treasures ...
Shrimp plant.

Bougainvillea trelis ...

Thanks to the TF team for hosting today's flowers.

Today's Flowers #58 - Digital Macro Shots

2009-09-19T20:16:00.012-04:00

Time for Today's Flowers again. To see who are participating and if you are a gardener or not but loves to see spectacular, rare, versatile and exotic flowers anyway, please visit the TF team composed of Valkyrien, Pupo, Denise and Santilli.

Sweet and charming Petunia.

The rugged beauty of Streptocarpus, never fails to give me pleasure.

Glowing bracts Bougainvillea. I waited many moons to see it blooms. ;)

Stunning and the only survivor of my lilies that escapes the deer.

An old-timer fiery bee balm ... hummingbirds find them heavenly!

Today's Flowers #57 - Nature's Bounties

2009-09-12T08:42:00.016-04:00

All these shots are from different places I've visited ... they are not from my garden. For more of Today's Flowers, please click here.

Sorry, this is a little blurry, it was taken while I was riding in a car.

Today's flowers #56 - Kiss me over the garden gate

2009-09-06T08:01:00.003-04:00

Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate! WOW, have you heard of such a name? ... that must be one of the longest names given to a plant! Also, I have these images of young couples sneaking kisses over the garden gate, don't you? A couple of years ago, a friend gave me KMOTGG seeds. She told me that they are heirloom seeds and described to me what the stems would look like so that I would not mistake it with a weed. Unfortunately no plants came up. Since then I learned that the seeds need a cold period before they will germinate. It was suggested that storing them in the refrigerator should do the trick, or store them in a cool garage or basement before planting them in the early spring.
I saw her again in the early spring of this year and told her that I didn't have any luck sowing those seeds. The following day she gave me eight plants that are already about 6-8 inches tall. I shared four to a few friends.
It's hard for me to describe the stems, so I took a picture. It almost looks like bamboo; with rings and that thingy covering it. :)

And here they are now, standing tall!

I just love these tiny bell-shaped, slightly fragrant, delicate pink flowers, elegantly draping the large heart-shaped leaves. It's too bad Japanese beetles devoured some of the leaves. I go around almost every afternoon with a soapy water container picking and drowning those pesky beetles!

Here's a close-up of these rare and colorful plants of yesteryear. I'm hoping that I will have more next year because although kmotgg is an annual the flowers produce seeds for new plants in the spring.

For more of Today's Flowers please visit the TF team.

Self-portrait

2009-09-01T20:33:00.002-04:00

It's a little dusty, but after all these years and with a new set of eyes, it's not all that bad. To know what I'm rambling about, please click here.

Today's Flowers #55 - Rose

2009-08-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

Rose - the queen of cut flowers. There must be thousands of varieties of roses; so many to choose from; one for every taste and size. Pictured below are my miniature roses. They are only about 1-1/2' tall, with tiny leaves and flowers and are excellent for potted plants. I bought these at an end-of-season sale 2 years ago for $2.49 each ... not bad for years of enjoyment! ;)
All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

This one is a climbing rose. I don't know what I did wrong this year, but it only gave me about 3 blooms!

This is an old-fashioned rose. It has very tiny thorny stems but the flowers are very fragrant! I believe their rose hips can be used for tea.

Here's another old-timer. The seven sisters rose, it's a cluster of beauties and every rose has a different shade of pink. It is an antique rose variety.

The two roses below were given to me by a friend who was re-arranging her garden beds in the early spring, and I was surprised to see it bloom the same year! I think these type of roses are known as "wild" roses.

... my friend told me that they are not only very hardy but resistant to disease as well. She even demonstrated how to propagate, which I want to try next summer.

The roses below are not from my garden but from a friend's garden.
I read it somewhere that if you want healthier roses, bury banana skins just below the surface of the soil. They provide calcium, sulfur, magnesium, phosphates, sodium and etc. to the soil. And if you plant garlic, and parsley by your roses, it will increase their scent and repel aphids.

I highly appreciate them in flower arrangements ... classic and elegant, don't you think?

To see more exotic and gorgeous flowers, please visit Today's Flowers hosted by Luiz, Denise, Valkyrien and Laerte.

Today's Flowers #54 - unique garden treats

2009-08-23T08:00:00.004-04:00

Time for Today's Flowers again! ... hosted by TF team, Luiz, Denise, Laerte & Valkyrien. Interested to participate? ... please visit their site.

Today, I am featuring treats from Mother Nature! lol It seems like every year I get new plants from the old and I don't even have to do anything. The 3 photos below are my original phlox ... noticed their solid colors?

... and then one year, I noticed this phlox with creamy-white centers.

... while this one is just the opposite. I don't remember planting these two, besides, I stopped planting phlox because deer love them... and i have a love-hate relationship with deer ;) Could it be the results of the top three above? ... i don't know.

Last year I harvested seeds of these fluted cosmos from a friend's garden, I remember the seeds were of pink, darker pink and white ...

... dark pink

... plain white

... and what a nice surprise when this pale/soft pink came up this year!

... here's another look of that pale pink

Here's an old timer burgundy-red cosmos, seeds were harvested from last year.

... pink/purplish cosmos

... white cosmos

... and another surprise! ... a very light pink cosmos w/ burgundy edging appeared this year! Each petal is outlined in burgundy-red! I will surely gather seeds from this breed.

...and how about this cosmos? I definitely did not have this last year. I love the look of its petals, like they were painted with a brush. It will be thrilling to watch what wonders will emerge next year.

... a close up.

Here's my favorite ... my solid peachy-orange colored hibiscus

... and then one day, I noticed one, just one multi-colored bloom! Is this unique or what?

... and how about a Siamese twin coneflower? lol ... certainly a double beauty and a double pleasure for me and the bees!

... can't resist to show you this!

Oh well, as they say, variety is the spice of life and I surely welcome new flowers each year. Thank you, Mother Nature!!!

Today's Flowers #53

2009-08-16T07:30:00.001-04:00

Today's flowers are: gladiola, sunflower and dahlia. I love planting these because once they bloom, they'll give you an instant bouquet!

... they are awesome in a vase!

If you're interested in participating Today's Flowers, please visit the TF team, Luiz, Denise, Laerte, and Valkyrien.

Middlesex Music Festival

2009-08-13T21:13:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday, our son's band, Funk Uncle, performed at the neighboring music festival. Hope you don't get tired of listening ... being the proud mama that I am, I just have to share this video! lol! Our son is the one wearing a green baseball hat and he is also the lead guitarist.

It also happened that the boy friend of our daughter was visiting from Delaware, so after watching our son's band, we all hurried home for a backyard picnic. I grilled the usual, hotdogs, hamburgers, steaks, and corn on the cob. From left to right, our daughter, Dan, and Dilara, our daughter's bff. They were roasting s'mores ;)

Today's flowers #52 - the other Rose

2009-08-09T07:30:00.005-04:00

Rose of Sharon, that is ... well it's not really a rose but part of hibiscus family. ;)
For Today's Flowers, I am featuring the beauty of Rose of Sharon. Pictured below is my all white RoS. I've seen shades of blue, red, violet, and pink with contrasting colored "eyes" but I seldom see an all white one.

If I remember the tag correctly, I think my RoS is called Diana, it is pure white with ruffled blooms.

What I love about Rose of Sharon is its profusion of buds! If you click to enlarge, you'll notice that it's loaded with buds! This gives them a long blooming period.

... a double or ruffled Rose of Sharon?

This one was taken at one of the gardens where I work. It's two in one, because a pink and white were grafted.

... close up.

See these blooms? ... butterflies and hummingbirds will find these irresistible.

Unlike Hibiscus, Rose of Sharon can stand up to frost. They leaf out late in the spring, so please do not declare them dead; I made this mistakes once and dug up what I planted the year before then I noticed that the roots look ok so I planted it back ... and sure enough, some sign of foliage started to show later, its not dead! :) what makes Rose of Sharon happy? ... give it a sunny spot, and humus-rich soil and it will reward you with profusion of blooms when summer comes!

Park Avenue Festival

2009-08-04T19:50:00.012-04:00

Last Saturday, our son was invited by the music organizer, Duncan to join a band and play at the Park Ave Festival, in a nearby city. They played from 10:00 am to 12:15 pm.
We arrived early to have enough time for him to set up. While they were setting up, I walked around the two mile arts & crafts display and looked around. I photographed a few displays with the vendor's permission. Pictured below is a dinner napkin folded to look like flowers, and the leaves act as a ring holder...very innovative, don't you think? I would have loved to buy a set but they were a little pricey for my budget. For four-ring holders alone, you pay $25.00; napkins range from $35 to $55.00 depending on size.

These wine glasses hold candles; I was told that they give nice reflections when lighted.

I love the way the vendor displayed her rings ... it caught my attention.

And here is a picture of Duncan (with the hat), Fran and Friends. Hubby and I are guessing our son must be one of the friends? lol I took videos but they are a bit long and it will take many hours to upload to YouTube.

While listening, hubby and I had Peach Paradise tea ... very refreshing!

... picture of our lunch. I had an Eggplant sandwich with sun dried tomatoes and provolone while hubby and our son had wraps.

... chicken caesar wrap.

... saved the best picture for last. I love the sense of humor of this old lady!

... and that my friends, was how I spent my weekend! How was yours?

Today's Flowers #51

2009-08-02T07:52:00.003-04:00

For Today's Flowers, hosted by Luiz, Denise, Laerte & Valkyrien, I am featuring blooms of my new plants this summer.

Dahlia

The following are Hollyhocks from seeds that I picked up at a friend's garden two summers ago. This is their first time to bloom.

Crazy Daisy, given to me by a friend. I love its feathery and quilled petals.

Cosmos, from seeds that I harvested from a friend's garden.

Daylily that escaped the deer. ;)

If you are interested to join Today's Flowers, just click the link.

Today's Flowers

2009-07-26T08:00:00.002-04:00

Time to show off my flowers again! yay! For "Today's Flowers" that is hosted by TF team, Santilli, Denise, Pupo & Valkyrien, I am featuring my miniature African violet called, Little Moonstone and Streptocarpus, both given by my good friend, Jean.
Jean enjoys propagating them, then share them to friends. She told me how to propagate, so one of these days, if successful I will show you the results. I documented it! ha ha
Pictured below are african violets and one streptocarpus; all from Jean.

Just a few days after I transplanted the streptocarpus, a bud came up ...

... after a couple of weeks, aha! it showed me its color!

... a couple of close ups.

It's too bad that I forgot to take pictures of Jean's streptocarpus, she has quite a lot in gorgeous ranges of colors.

And this is the miniature African Violet, isn't it a charmer? ... I just love, love it! Each bloom is probably around a quarter inch in diameter.

... it's incredibly beautiful! It almost look like those Staffordshire fine bone china florals that are made in England.

This picture will give you an idea of how tiny this Little Moonstone is. I haven't put it in a pot of its own yet since Jean gave it to me, I hate to touch it while blooming.

If you want to participate in Today's Flowers please visit Luiz for more info. TF opens every Sunday at 2pm, GMT time.

Grassroots Festival

2009-07-24T07:49:00.003-04:00

Love festivals? ... please join me, put on your walking shoes and don't forget to bring an umbrella because for some reason, here in upstate NY, we've been getting a lot of rain! I am not complaining but it would be nice to have a decent day to enjoy outdoors... we have short summers as it is.
Anywho ... let's go and groove at the Grassroots festival of music and dance! ---------- > Click the link and find out what's going on in my neck of the wood. ;)

Today's Flowers

2009-07-19T08:57:00.016-04:00

Since I love gardening, I thought of participating in the Today's Flowers by Luiz and friends. If you visit his site you will see various participants posting all sort of gorgeous flowers ... some of them I've never even seen before! Instead of posting various blooms from my garden, I decided to post maybe two kinds at a time. Dahlias and Lilies are now showing off their beauties so here are my entries from my garden. Enjoy!

The following are from my friend, Josie's garden.

Simple Pleasures

2009-07-10T21:34:00.012-04:00

I consider myself lucky to live in an area where there is a bountiful supply of fresh fruits and vegetables from spring to fall like asparagus, strawberries, cherries, peas, apples, blueberries, peaches, grapes, tomatoes, etc. These bounties provide flavor and freshness that store-bought produce can not match.
Last weekend me and my friends went cherry picking at a nearby town. The taste of fresh, tree ripened fruit is reason enough to drive a few miles ... hard to top that! ;)

Climbing these cherry trees reminds me of when I was a little girl. We used to have guava, tamarind, star apple,and mango trees (these are tropical fruits) in our yard and us kids enjoyed going up as high as we could get on those trees. In this picture, we used a ladder to get to the top of the cherry tree.

Here we are, taking a break. Try to notice all those cherry trees behind us, there must have been a total of a hundred trees in this orchard.

The gang ...

After picking cherries, we drove to a hill where the owners live, to pay. One more reason that I appreciate where I live is the trust that the farmers extend to pickers. They are aware that all pickers have their fill first before starting to fill their bags. ;)
This is the view from the cherry owner's home. Imagine waking up with this view every morning? ... it's heaven!

Pretty soon road side stands like this one will be filled with produce. Notice that metal box at the left side in front? ... help yourself to the produce and drop your payment in that box. Nobody minds the "store" ... so trusting like in the good old days!
This pic was taken last fall.

Summer Bliss

2009-07-01T17:35:00.023-04:00

I don't know about you, but one way for me to unwind after a long day at work is to walk around my garden beds every afternoon ... yes, you heard it right, every single afternoon! ha ha My plants are beginning to show their beauty, so I took pictures of some of 'em that are in bloom.
I am sharing nature's beauty with all my blogger friends
... want to come and walk with me? ;)
All images can be enlarged.

Oriental Poppy - delicate and absolutely beautiful! Some of my poppies, the old-fashioned ones, multiply every year; they re-seed, require little care, but sadly they have a short blooming season. I have 3-4 other varieties but they are not blooming as yet except these.

... another poppy variety, a flaming beauty, don't you think? Oriental poppies do not like their roots being disturbed, so be sure to keep the root ball intact when transplanting.

Iris - looks so exotic and elegant! Irises provide so much joy and beauty for so little effort! I also use the leaves in floral arrangements for dramatic effects. This pic was taken in late spring.

Iris - I love its soft, pastel color. As in my previous post, Irises are available in myriad colors!

Nora Barlow Columbine - double blooms, excellent cut flowers! I adore this variety!

Columbine - another variety.

... and more columbine! he he he

Campanula or Canterbury Bell? - vivid blue bells. I also have the old-fashioned kind but they came and went before I was able to take pictures. ;)

Daylily - a beauty for a day! lol They are called that because each flower is only good for a day. Each stem, though, has several buds which will bloom one after another all through the summer. I love the fringed petals of this one. Hardy, and can withstand drought conditions. They are low maintenance beauties! You can't beat that! ha ha

Wild sweet pea - a real charmer and a favorite in aromatic garden! I like them because each bloom resembles a butterfly. You have to watch them though because they can be invasive. They multiply so fast even if you don't have a green thumb. ;)

Dahlia - there are so many varieties available today. They look as gorgeous in bouquets as they do in garden beds. I love them because the more you cut the flowers, the more they reward you with more blooms. And they bloom from early summer to late fall. Most of my dahlias are not ready to be shown yet.

Dahlia - I haven't tried this yet, but I read somewhere that if you dip the stem ends in boiling water for a second, it will make the blossom last longer in a floral arrangement. huh? ;)

Foxglove - I don't remember planting this one, a "gift" from the birdies, perhaps? ;)
Hummingbirds can't resist them.

And I'm sure you've heard a lot about my peonies. lol What I love about them is that the flowers provide a long-lasting and spectacular display from early to late summer.

There you have it my friends! Hope you enjoyed the walk and ... hope I inspired you to do some gardening too! lol

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYBODEEEEEE!!!

Street Dance Vid - Part 2

2009-06-13T20:37:00.003-04:00

I decided to show you this video too because this couple really looks like they were having a good time! Ha ha!
I told our son that he can make his guitar sing! ahem! lol

Street Dance

2009-06-10T18:40:00.007-04:00

Last weekend, our little town held a Spring Street Dance to benefit a local hospice house. This was not a typical street dance where there is breakdancing, hip hop, locking, etc. This event was held to raise funds and to give folks a chance to dance and have fun, featuring local bands in a nice outdoor setting. Featured were three bands: Hank & the Hustlers (country music), The Frank Hill Band (country/pop) and our son's Funk Uncle Band (funky) lol.

The 3 bands who each had their own stage, opened with country music, then went to pop and closed with funky music by Funk Uncle. It was funny because when the country/pop bands were playing it was interesting to watch older people swing dancing to the music. When Funk Uncle played, younger people flocked in front of their stage and started dancing! And boy, the girls were really rockin'! ha! ha! It was wonderfully fun and entertaining! The CD's that the Funk Uncle brought to the dance were sold out and some of the girls even asked for autographs! cool huh? ;) For those of you who are new to my blog, Funk Uncle is comprised of 16 to 17 year old boys, where our son is the lead guitarist. And for my regular and loyal friends/readers, I hope you don't get tired watching Funk Uncle! ;)

Being a proud parent that I am, ha, ha, below is a video that I took ... our son is the one wearing sunglasses. The boys were really busy that day because they had a marching band competition at a neighboring town then hurried up to set up their stage. They did not have time (except our son) to dress up a little. (I uploaded this video to my son's facebook ... so you should see more on youtube if you so desire)

Here's a picture of the first band. I didn't take a picture of the other one.

From the looks, seems like everybody enjoyed the free live entertainment; a good way to end the week, don't you agree?

A Must-See Iris Garden

2009-06-05T19:07:00.024-04:00

I meant to post what I have accomplished for the rest of my week off last week, but I am so excited to share these photos with everybody! You see, my friend, Judy, who is also into gardening, took me to an Iris farm this afternoon. We took off one hour early from work and drove about half an hour to arrive at what I call ... an Iris Museum! ha! ha!

From the road, this is what you will see, show-stopping colors! ... four acres of Iris, Peonies, Lupines, Daylilies, Clematis, etc. It's owned and operated by the Borglum family whom I understand are a retired couple who enjoy gardening.
(all photos can be enlarged by clicking)

Iris as far as your eyes can see! I definitely give the owners two exciting green thumbs up! lol I was so thrilled and excited I felt like a little kid! ... I could hardly believe what I was seeing, a rainbow of colors!

... a few close ups.

... many varieties of lupines, hundreds of them with a kaleidoscope of hues, and such elegance! Judy said, she's contemplating on starting a lupine garden bed for next year. Last year, we were both into daylilies, this year, iris, so maybe next year it will be lupines? nah, not for me, my garden is getting hard to manage. ;)

... these are just a few of the peonies, there were too many varieties to photograph. Aren't they gorgeous? I've never seen a two toned peonies before! ... and a yellow one? wow, how cool is that!
I was so excited that I called another friend, Josie (she helped me put up my garden wall) and asked if she will be busy this weekend. I want to bring her to that place because I'm pretty sure she'll enjoy it. Maybe I will take more photos then.

I already have a few iris in my yard, they are all pictured below. Iris are very self-sufficient, they multiply annually and most important, they are fuss-free! They grow in full sun or partial shade. They are also an excellent cut flowers, and smell so sweet.

This is one of my newer collections. I think it is called Royal Blue Batik Iris and it is a re-bloomer, meaning it will bloom in the spring, summer and again in the fall. Too bad the rest of my newer ones are still tight buds so I can't show you.

The farm owners are selling their iris for $7.00 per clump but if you buy 10 clumps, you get 2 clumps for free. Judy and I decided to go for the 10 + 2 and divided it among ourselves. It was really a bargain because one clump consisted of about 6 to 12 rhizomes. It was fun because you dig your own, so we tried to look for bigger clumps for more rhizomes, and more rhizomes mean more plants, right?

And these are my share after Judy and I split the clumps. Twelve bags, each bag is one variety and contained about 3-6 rhizomes. If you enlarge, try to notice the lightest purple on top, somewhere in the middle, it is speckled, and we've never seen another clump of that kind in the farm (the worm on one of the bags is free) lol. I always receive garden catalogs in the mail and they are selling 7 plants for $30.00 plus shipping and handling, so I think Judy and I got a real bargain.
Now, my problem is, where in the heck will I plant these?! I promised myself not to start another garden bed anymore because it's getting unmanageable ... hmmmm, maybe I will just intermingle them with my other plants. Sounds good, eh?

The Beauty of a Garden

2009-05-29T15:17:00.018-04:00

One Saturday, I went and helped my friend, Josie put up a garden wall in front of their house. It was getting difficult for her husband to mow that sloping part of their yard because of his bad knees.
Below is a picture of what we were working on ...
(all photos can be enlarged by clicking)

This is what it looks like after 2 days of hard work! ... but it was worth it, don't you think? It's hard to see, but Josie planted beautiful roses, dahlias, gladiolas, and I don't know what else. I'm pretty sure it will be a beautiful display of flowers once they start blooming.

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you'll probably remember how my front yard looked "blah" in the winter. I've been debating on what to do to give it a little ommph! When I saw my friend's completed garden wall, I said, "that's it, that's what I will do with mine!" ;)
So, I took a week off from work, and my friends, Josie and Cecilia came and helped me spruce up the place. Pictured below is the before ...

... and after. There was a lot of hauling and digging. I could hardly move the next day; my whole body ached, very back- breaking work for sure, but the red blocks made a lot of difference! Sometime next year, I will strategically plant a few dwarf pines or yews, that will stay green in the winter. I think it will look nice with Christmas lights.

Remember also, when this same friend, Josie came and helped me start a new garden bed by our walkway? If you click the link, that's how it looked like then.

Anyhow, at first, we put two layers of blocks along the walkway, but I decided that it looked like too much, so we came up with just two layers in front as a garden wall, and one layer along the walkway as edging. I think it's more pleasing to the eye that way.

This is what the other side looks like. There are dahlias, zinnias, poppies, cosmos and marigolds growing in here, that is why I can't really dump some mulch yet.

The next day, Josie came back and helped me weed our peonies. I swear, sometimes, grasses and weeds grow as fast at the plants themselves.
This is before ...

... and after. I can almost feel my peonies thanking us! lol Now they can "breathe".
To save my aching back and rickety knees, I decided to use those landscape fabrics, covered with mulch to prevent weeds/grass from growing back.

It's amazing what you can do in a matter of two days. We were even able to weed, mulch and plant a few geraniums and snapdragons around some of my bushes/trees.

... like this one.

... and these. Next time, I will show you what I've accomplished for the rest of my week; a very busy and tiring but productive week off indeed! And hey, I lost 6 lbs from all these exertions by the way! ;)

Homing Pigeons

2009-05-25T21:48:00.007-04:00

Have you heard of homing pigeons before? Probably a lot of you have. Not me though (hey, I grew up in the boondocks.) lol
Last week we celebrated Memorial Day at the facility where I work. Part of the celebration was to release 25 pigeons in the air. That was my first time to hear about pigeons having the ability to go home where they were raised. I was so amazed and flabbergasted that I had to talk to the owner. She said they started training homing pigeons at an early age. They encourage them to fly around the house or porch first at around 1 month old to give them freedom to explore their surroundings. They normally don't give them food before they do this so that the birds will go back in the house to feed. Once they are trained to go back, they will drive a few miles away from their house and release them again. They always make sure that there is food waiting for the birds at home as rewards. They keep doing this, increasing the distance gradually until the birds are fully trained to return home. Pictured below is the owner, getting ready to release the pigeons.

... off they go!

It's hard to see (white speckles in the sky) but they circled about 3 times, waiting for the rest of them before they headed home.

The owner said they get requests from weddings, birthdays, graduation parties and even funerals for their birds to "show off." ;)
Now that I think about it, birds do migrate to the south in the winter so they must have this ability and/or instinct to navigate, so now I wonder if other kinds of birds can be trained too, to come home. Hmmmm?

What'sup ...?

2009-05-10T08:10:00.018-04:00

TODAY is Mother's Day, so greetings to all mothers, grandmamas, step-moms and everybody in between! ;)
The ladies of our church and a few friends from other churches were treated, and served a scrumptious breakfast by the men yesterday (Saturday), hosted by Bobo, the clown. Bobo was a member of the Ringling Brothers Circus, and was married to one of the Wallenda sisters; a member of the famous Wallenda flying troupe. His wife and son died in a horrible car accident. One of these days, I'll interview him and post it here. The story of his life's struggle is quite interesting and he loves sharing it.
Pictured below is Bobo, without his make up.

A busy day yesterday! Early Saturday morning our son and his Funk Uncle's band went to Blackdog recording studio, to record a CD. They've been dreaming of having a CD done for a long time, so this is like a dream come true for their group.

Saturday afternoon or early evening, was Prom Night! As soon as we got back from the recording studio, our son jumped in the bathroom and took a shower. A few minutes later, I heard a "bye mom!", and I said, "Wait, I want to take a picture!" He says, "I'm already late, mom, I was supposed to be at our meeting place by 5:30!" (it was already a little past 6 pm). Of course that won't fly by me, so he obliged by posing a few seconds with a "forced" smile on his face! ;)

... I took another shot while he was loading his stuff. Our son just got his junior driver's license this year and is not allowed to drive after 9pm yet, so his dad drove him to their meeting place and after the prom, was picked up by the mother of his friend where he stayed the night along with other boys. I should have went with them when he was dropped off to take more photos with his date and friends, but I was in the middle of something.

This was prom night last year, that's our son in a purple tux and his date in a purple gown.

...nice couple if I may say so myself! ;)

Prom nights bring good memories for me too. I particularly remember selecting the most popular songs to be played for the occasion; stamping our feet dancing to the music, "Knock Three Times", that was our "rock 'n roll" then ... and slow dancing with my high school crush, to the song, "Honey" lol ... boy, I'm really showing my age! ;) Over time, proms are surely a-changin' ... we didn't have formal dinner at a restaurant before nor after the prom; we didn't have limos either. Although our proms were not as elaborate and expensive as nowadays, they were still good memories just the same. How were your promenades?

Re-awakening ...

2009-04-25T11:58:00.005-04:00

April is the month of spring and spring flowers emerges from the ground before we even know it. I am always amazed at how fast plants grow in each season. Below is a picture of my peonies patch last Saturday.

...this is how they look like this Saturday.
Also, pretty soon, we will be mowing the lawn too, then we will be seeing lush, green, neat yards all over.

... our peonies in front of the house, some of them are about a foot and a half tall already.

Our Forsythia last Saturday.
Forsythia also makes an excellent cut flowers. I normally cut a few branches while the buds are tight and "force" them to bloom indoor, the blooms last longer in the vase that way.

...this is how it looks like this Saturday. I love the arching sprays of vibrant yellow blooms. Though forsythia's season of bloom is short, about 2 weeks, the beauty and charm brighten up any lawn, don't you agree?

And God made them all ... aren't we blessed?

Gardening 101

2009-04-18T09:46:00.023-04:00

Here in upstate New York, we normally start planting our annual plants around Memorial Day (5/25/09) because by then your garden will be safe from the danger of frost. This does not necessarily mean though that we can't start working on our gardens before that. So for the past 3 weekends I've been busy raking, pruning and uncovering my perennial plants. Below is a Fall pic of my Butterfly Bush. I let it go like this then prune it to about 1-2 ft. in early Spring. I know I took a picture last summer of how big and tall it became by summertime but I can't find the pic in my photo folder.

This is what it looks like after I pruned it (corner of the garden bed.) I did the same thing with my roses, except roses are pruned moderately.

The garden above (taken last year) looks like this by early Summer. A spectacular display! When I have more time, I really would like to design my garden. I bet it is so relaxing to have a rock garden or similar with benches and a water fountain; a place to read a good book, to dream, take a nap or just to sit and relax with friends.

For those of you who are not into gardening but interested to know, annuals/biennials are plants that only live one/two years. Gardeners love to intermingle them with perennials because they bloom all summer and are often long-lasting if you want a bouquet.

Perennials on the other hand, are the mainstay of the garden. They come back year after year but only bloom once each year. Some of them, though, will reward you with colorful foliage in the Fall or after it blooms.

Here's my patch of peonies. It is hard to see but I had raked three rows of the dead leaves and four more to go, including the Iris patch! Leaving the dead foliage in the winter is a matter of preference for gardeners. I leave mine for plant protection and also to help improve the soil. There are nutrients in fallen leaves.

A close-up of the peonies starting to appear.

A picture of the peonies and Iris by early summmer; aren't they a joy to look at? (again, photo was taken last year)

Here is one of my peonies. We have white, pink, very light pink and maroon colors. One thing I like about peonies, they are low maintenance once they are established. They have sweet, fragrant flowers and are excellent as cut flowers because of their long vase-life of a week to 10 days.

...more of last year's peonies.

Did you know that one of the first signs of the coming of a new season in my area are the delicate, white blossoms of a plant called Common Snowdrop? Here's a picture of the plant and they come back year after year with no care at all.

Last weekend, I started planting my Dahlias. They are annuals, but because they are buried underground, they should be safe from frost. Planting them early will give them a head start. So by early summer, I should be rewarded with beautiful blooms! Dahlias can not stand freezing temps, so they need to be dug up before winter, and I store mine in our basement. Pictured below is one of my Dahlias last year.

...more of last's year Dahlias.

I don't claim to be an expert gardener but still wants to share what little I know just the same. ;) I welcome any tips, suggestions, and comments from you though, so if you have any, shoot it my way! lol

Happy Easter!

2009-04-10T17:33:00.003-04:00

Looks like the Easter Bunny is standing guard for Sunday. As i got out from my car from work Friday afternoon, I saw this bunny sitting by our propane tank. Are you laying Easter eggs, Mr. Bunny? ;)

Have a Happy Easter, everyone!

My order has arrived!

2009-03-22T18:52:00.011-04:00

My blogger friend Tracy was having a close- out sale so I ordered a few pieces of jewelry from her Etsy shop. They came last week, but I haven't had time to talk about it until now. See the package below? It came all the way from Norway! Tracy is very talented. She's very good at jewelry making, knitting and even used to paint! So go on over and visit her Etsy shop, you might find that thing that you'd been looking for! She's offering discount on shipping and handling too, so ... there you go! ;)

The jewelries were wrapped in soft pink tissues and she even enclosed a tag.

... and voila! Here they are! Aren't they cute? It takes some skill to make these, especially the necklace; so delicate! She even enclosed an extra bracelet. Thanks Tracy! That was a very nice surprise! I will treasure them all!

I tried it on ... and I love the look. I wore it to work the other day and received a lot of compliments.

... and the bracelets? They stretch, so no problem putting them on. All in all, they will be nice accessories to any fashion style! Thanks again, Tracy; love, love them, especially since they came from YOU!

A Day in My Life

2009-03-14T13:27:00.018-04:00

Hello there, my name is Oreo. Welcome to my office.

... I know that computer mouse is here somewhere!

... argh! more junk mail!

...sitting by the telephone, screening phone calls. No need for caller ID!

... I make a mean cup of coffee!

Mr. Jones can see you now.

... right this way, please.

... this food looked better on TV!

... noontime siestas are not only in Mexico!

I'm pooped!

Boy, this is hard life!

... sigh ... another day, another dollar!

Self-portrait

2009-03-07T08:56:00.000-05:00

You can find "me" here my art blog... lol

Photo meme tag ...

2009-02-24T20:06:00.005-05:00

I normally don't do tags, but this tag from Monica is a no brainer for me that I decided to play along. ;)

The rule? Go to your 6th photo folder, select the sixth photo and post it. I laughed out loud when this photo came up! A boxer short that was given to my son by one of his buddies. I remember taking picture when he showed it to me...it was funny then and still is funny now.

I am not tagging anyone but please feel free to do the photo meme tag if one so wishes.

Golden Age Postcards

2009-02-07T15:32:00.002-05:00

To view them, please click here.
I have forgotten all about them until Redlan gave me the idea.

Let there be light ...

2009-02-01T08:32:00.035-05:00

Ever wonder how many lights you have at home? I went around our house but didn't bother to count them because I know we have more stored away in the barn. Anyways, here is a parade of lamps that brings style and also light dark hallways and rooms in our home.
Below is a maiden art nouveau light. We bought this in Canada; the store had a life- size mermaid floor lamp too which hubby preferred but it was too big and the shipping and handling alone cost an arm and a leg so we settled with this smaller version; height-27" and the "shade" is fan-shaped frosted glass.

Swing-arm desk lamp (maybe an electrical version of a whale oil lamp). I bought it at a moving sale; shade has a perforated hand painted leaf/flower design in pastels.

Very common and casual table lamp.

Part of my milk glass collection... they are not in use.

Glass-base table lamp; if I am not mistaken, my mother-in-law made the shade; she was very much into crafts. Not in use.

Miniature lamp, lost among my plants.

Brass table lamp by the telephone.

Milk glass hurricane style table lamp.

Hurricane table lamp, the top is the main light, bottom is a night light. This is one of my favorites. This is a beautiful antique-style table lamp patterned after classic oil-burning lamps from the Victorian era. The design features blue roses on very light blue tinted glass. Switch controls top as main light and the bottom as night light. I bought it at a yard sale.

... main light.

Another hurricane table lamp with glass base and a ceramic garden jar table lamp...from a moving sale.

Tall table lamp, not so sure but this looks like Kathy Ireland brand. Base is gold finish with yellow faux marble accents. I plan to re-do the shade with black and white toile.

Tall table lamp, set, brass base with interesting design decorated with red tear drop crystals, red velvet shade. Also, a porcelain and an oil table lamps, with hand made shade by my mother-in-law.

...part of the red shade lamp set above.

Wall lights...

Our only floor lamp... an old timer.

Recessed lights.

Tiffany style ceiling lights ...

I can't believe I have all these. Now, you'll probably wonder how many lamps you have yourself.
Have a great day everyone!

Funk Uncle

2009-01-22T16:05:00.002-05:00

Our son participated in a school's talent show, his Funk Uncle band performed the closing act.

The video is now uploaded ... just click here to listen. Thanks my sweet friends for putting up with this proud mama! ;)

They're backkkk ....!

2009-01-20T19:13:00.003-05:00

Please go here to see who or what I'm rambling about... lol

Snow Day

2009-01-11T09:45:00.009-05:00

Since one of my blogger friend, Redlan, enjoys seeing photos of snow and since it snowed all night last night, this morning I went outside and took more pictures of our backyard.
Pictured here is our apple tree. You'll notice a tree house that is now falling apart. When our kids were little, they used to enjoy going up there.

... view at a different angle.

I love how the snow outlined the tree branches in this photo. This is an ash tree.

See what we have to go through every time we get snow? Uncover our cars! We don't have a garage so we park them on our driveway, exposed to weather conditions.

This is how much snow we have after the guy plowed our driveway...about 4 ft. tall which is not too bad, other times it's taller than this.

This is the same angle as the one I posted below, can you tell the difference?

Ready in a jiffy

2009-01-10T15:32:00.012-05:00

Picture of my backyard. It's been snowing for a few days.

This time of year and as the weather dips below freezing point, I love to cook comfort foods for the family. I normally "shoot from the hip" like looking in the refrigerator or pantry and see what needs to be cooked while it's fresh.

I only measure my ingredients when I'm baking cakes, cookies and pastries. For all others, I "guesstimate" ;) Pictured below is one of my...ahem, specialties. It has simple ingredients, tastes delish and it's one of those 30 minute meals. :) I love it with buttered French or Italian bread.

In case you dare to try, here's the more or less recipe.

1 lb 90% lean ground beef or ground sirloin steak
1 Tb cornstarch or flour
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
4 Tb water

4 cups water
4-5 pcs thinly sliced fresh ginger
1 large potato, cut in small cubes
1 large tomato, diced

Mix first 5 ingredients; set aside.

Boil water with ginger slices. Add potato and tomato, simmer till done. Season to taste.
Turn up heat and add beef mixture. Stir to separate beef.
Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. Enjoy!

Propagating an African Violet

2009-01-05T20:32:00.010-05:00

I love African Violets, that is why when one of my friends told me how to propagate them, I was ecstatic!

I tried it for the first time this summer. I was intimidated at first but hey, there's no harm in trying, right? In this picture, I was also potting cuttings from my other indoor plants.

This is what I was told, and believe me, it worked! Snip a leaf from a healthy African Violet. Cut the leaf part in half so that the nutrients will be concentrated in the new plants. Cover the stem lightly with potting soil and keep it moist. I kept the pot on our front porch, with plenty of light, but not direct sunlight.

I used a potting soil especially for African Violets, but you can use any other potting soil, I believe.

After about 6-8 weeks, tadaaaa! ... new plants from the old! Isn't this rewarding? It only required a simple method, a little patience, minimal work and the result was successful! If you look closely, there are 2 new plants in here. My friend said she usually gently separates the "babies" from the "mother" leaf, and after a few weeks it will reward you with more babies. I opted not to do that.
I have to 'fess up though, the photo below was started in early summer while the photos above were taken in the Fall and because of the cold temps I kept them by our window. Sadly, only one out of three African Violets made it but it's not looking good ... not getting enough light, I assumed. Next time, I will attempt to propagate again in the summer now that I know it worked.
So there, you have it my good friends... how to propagate an African Violet. Happy gardening! ;)

P.S.
From reading about African Violets, (opinion varies though) you're not supposed to wet their leaves, so I let the pot sits on a tray or dish, and fill the dish with water. I took a picture of my African Violets that are in my office just to give you an idea. AND they like their roots crowded, so don't plant them in big pots.

My Cookie Tray Runneth Over ...

2008-12-28T09:28:00.012-05:00

I am brain-dead after the holiday celebrations, so this led me to post pictures of cookies given by friends and cookies I baked because, as they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words!"

Pictured below is a family favorite. The recipe came from my mother-in-law. I always have to double the recipe because they disappear fast. :) I normally take out my cake decorating tools and outline the details of the cookie but I was a tad lazy this year, so I just spread the frosting on top and sprinkled colored sugar crystals on them. I also baked chocolate chunks and Snowball cookies.

Because we have so many cookies, I fixed a cookie tray for our Pastor today (Sunday); he said he doesn't mind a few day old cookies.... that they will be eaten nevertheless.

This tray was given by a good friend,(pastry tarts) it's filled with buko (young coconut), blueberry and walnut. Yum!

Pumpkin roll! ... given by another good friend, ummm, ummm, good, yummy! out of this world!

Yesterday my friend and I were hungry for "ensaimada" (sweet bun). Since we do not have a recipe we made our own version, like stuffing it with macapuno (sweet preserved young coconut.) Just after they were baked, we brushed the top with melted butter, sprinkled it with sugar and grated cheddar cheese. Pardon me, but I have to say, yummy again! lol
Now, I have to work hard to get back to my old figure, not that I had any to begin with by the way. :)

Hope your 2008 is great, and my home is wishing you all the best in 2009! Have a safe and healthy New Year my friends!

New York, here we come!

2008-12-16T19:51:00.025-05:00

Last weekend, a couple of my friends and I took a well-deserved trip to New York City, the city that never sleeps, to do a little Christmas shopping and to see the fabulous Christmas displays. Since I have friends who are excited to see pictures, I posted more of them this time than usual. Photos can be enlarged.

NY skyline from New Jersey, taken from inside our tour bus on our way home. It was overcast, that is why the picture is as clear as mud! lol

Radio City Music Hall ...

The following photos were taken at Times Square, night life.

More Times Square photos ...

If you look closely, you'll notice "Lady Liberty"; but beware, if you have a picture taken with her, it will cost you $5.00! :)

This was taken from inside Columbia Circle. Those "stars" change color from blue, orange, yellow, white and red; magnifico!

Outside view of the Saks building, isn't it gorgeous? Those "snow flakes" are attached to the building.

The famous Christmas tree at Rockeffeler Center, taken at night... a little dark. I can't get closer because there were hundreds of people trying to have pictures taken. Those tiny lights that look like floating in the sky are Christmas lights wrapped around trees.

Brooks Atkinson Theatre presents, Grease!

This last picture is me (middle) and my friends in the lobby of our hotel while waiting for our tour bus on Sunday.

Our itinerary ...
Friday night, we went to a concert, courtesy of my friend's son who lives in NYC. Thank you very much, Brad! As always, you are always so gracious. The concert was presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center featuring Daniel Muller-Schott, who is an outstanding cellist and Angela Hewitt, an excellent pianist, both played beautiful masterpieces of gamba sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was enjoyable and relaxing moments...I closed my eyes and let the music took me to la-la land! :)

Saturday morning was a sightseeing tour, and when the bus stopped at Chinatown we elected to get off to shop as we like. As in the previous year, we ate at our favorite Chinese restaurant! yummy! Sometime in the afternoon and because we did a lot of walking, we treated ourselves to a foot and back massage ... ahhh, heaven, it was hard to get up! lol

Saturday night, we went to see a broadway show, Grease. One of the cast members is Ace Young (as Kenickie) who became popular because he was a finalist in 2006 singing competition, "American Idol." Ashley Spencer, who played Sandy, was also a popular finalist on the talent competition series "Grease: You're the One That I Want" on TV.

Sunday, check out time!

Hope you enjoyed looking at these photos as much as I had fun taking pictures and sharing them with you.

Wishing all of you the happiest, warmest, joyous and peaceful holiday! Merry CHRISTmas my blogosphere friends! Stay safe!

Gift giving ...

2008-12-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

Most of us love holiday traditions, but when it comes to gift giving, I believe that there's plenty of room for being innovative.

When our kids were little we chose what kind of gifts to give them, and of course we always chose something educational and at the same time fun for them. They were so easy to please then; I have these memories of them waking us up early on Christmas day so we could all go downstairs and be surprised at what Santa brought them for Christmas. I will never let go of the memories of seeing their faces light up, and the sound of their screams of delight!

However, as they grew older, their taste for gifts changed; they didn't seem to enjoy our choices anymore. So I thought it's time for mom and dad to be more creative, I started asking them for a wish list. It will still be a surprise because they do not know what they are getting but at least we know that whatever they will get, it will be something that they really like and not something that will go to waste. I have to smile at how innovative their wish list was. There were stars on each item ... you could tell what they really, really wanted by the number of stars marked on each item. To this day, I still have those earlier wish lists. Pictured below are a couple, dated 2003 and 2005. My son was only 12 and 14 years old then.

Now that they are 17 and 22 years old respectively, and with the availability of online shopping, we let them pick one gift for Christmas online so that one is no longer a surprise, in addition to a wish list. It's really sad to do it this way but I guess this generation is completely different from my generation; we have to flow with the changes life brings. We really don't have to, but I hate to waste a hard earned dollars for something that they don't like or need.

Now, I am interested to know how is gift giving done in your family?

I hope, my dear friends that you are able to join together with your families and friends to celebrate the ho ho ho season! Have a MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

Four Seasons

2008-11-27T16:05:00.020-05:00

My goodness me, is it winter already? I barely had time to take my dahlias out off the ground! We normally run the lawn mower all over our yard to mulch the fallen leaves before good old winter comes, but it always sneaks up on us. We've been having snow almost everyday; luckily the roads are still a little warm so that the snow melts as soon as it touches the ground.

I thought it was interesting to get four season pictures of my front yard. It would be a nice subject to paint. What do you think of these? Personally, I think that I should take a much better pictures suitable for painting ... lol

Winter wonderland ...

Early spring and a lonesome tulip ...

Early summer ...

Summer ...

Fall; pulling up the annuals before winter comes.

Sad looking Fall. I like and enjoy the temp and the fall foliage's rainbow of colors in the fall but after that it's all ... blah?

Hmmm ... my front yard really looks so bare in the fall and winter, maybe an evergreen shrubs might help, they provide color year round and bet they will look beautiful and attractive with Christmas lights. Why didn't I think of that before!...lol

Leftover Paradise

2008-11-22T21:04:00.015-05:00

Last Friday, I took off early from work to go with my friend, Josie to a furniture (Gunlocke Outlet) store remnant's sale. When we got there, the store had thousands of yards of furniture fabrics and quality built furniture. I picked 7 rolls of fabric and my friend picked six. When we checked out, we thought they would measure the fabric, as that what's normally done at fabric stores. Imagine our surprise when the lady at the check out just estimated the price and said, "How does seven dollars sound to you?"
After we loaded them in the car, we were tempted to go back and get some more because they were practically just giving them away, but then we asked each other, "What will we do with them?" (if desired, pictures can be enlarged by clicking)

After I got home I decided to unroll and fold them instead. They ranged from 3 to 13 yards each roll, not bad, huh? My friend said she might make tote bags out of them and give them away for Christmas ... not a bad idea.
I don't know what to do with mine yet ... you know me, when I see a good buy, I get them anyway hoping that I might have a use for them someday.

To complete the day, before going home, Josie decided to show me how to make pan-de-sal (Philippine dinner rolls). I have to admit, she really makes a mean pan-de-sal! I did not realize that she doubled the recipe, so I ended up taking home a big bowl of dinner rolls! They tasted so good while warm. My hubby ate about half a dozen as soon as I got home!
Here's a picture of the dough being shaped ... they needed to rise before baking.

A picture of the baked dinner rolls; because it's homemade they are a little bit bigger than the regular pan de sals. It was a very productive and satisfying afternoon indeed for me and my friend, Josie!

Veterans Day

2008-11-08T09:39:00.004-05:00

On November 11, is a Veterans Day and I would like to give my THANKS to those veterans who have given so much to our country. We are enjoying our freedom because they made it free and keep it free. If you see a person wearing a military baseball cap/hat or wearing a military shirt, chances are, they are a veteran. I'd like to encourage you to please say "Thank You" to them to show your appreciation ... it is a very small price to pay for what all of us owe them.

Hi-school rockers hosted Hospeace House event

2008-10-26T17:09:00.008-04:00

The Funk Uncle band that is made up of four high school classmates, Sawyer, Will, Alex and Bryan hosted a coffee house last night to benefit a local Hospeace House. It was a blast! Their music was enjoyed by all. All proceeds that were raised during the event benefit the Hospeace House, which is a NYS certified four-bedroom home for the terminally ill.

This group, who started playing together about a year and a half ago, plays a jazzy and funky sort of music. On this video is Sawyer, who plays slap-style bass, Bryan on rhythm guitar and vocals, Will, our son and the lead guitarist and Alex, who mans the drums.

Oh, I must tell you, our son also plays soccer (goalie) and on their homecoming day a couple of weeks ago, it was a sort of tradition for the boys varsity team to cut their hair Mohawk style! However, after a week or so, he asked me to cut it off, which we prefer anyway. But before I shaved it off, I said, "Wait, I'd like to take a picture first" which he graciously obliged! :)

... and here's the video, it's a little bit longer than my previous post.

Ladies & gents, it's a delight to introduce to you ...

2008-10-19T18:22:00.014-04:00

... my daughter! She was listening to a certain kind of music this afternoon. I asked, "who is singing that?" and she says, "that's me 'ma!" I am aware that whenever she's off from college she goes to visit one of her buddies, Ryan; they both love music and, from what I understand, he has a recording studio and they've been recording their music. What I didn't know (parents are always the last to know) is that they established a site and published some of their creations. :)
And so, to make a long story short, she forwarded me their site and, being the proud mama that I am, I just have to share it with all of you. lol Just click here.
The name of their site is holloway.tapes. My favorite is, Heavy Hands. They've been playing an open mic at a pub and sometimes at a coffee house. Now, I understand that they are not really as good yet and would probably benefit from voice lessons but this is a good start, don't you think?

Howooo, I am Bugs Bunny and I approve this blog! :)

These pictures were taken when Ryan and our daughter attended a wedding of a mutual friend. I guess they both got bored so they entertained themselves by making faces for the camera.
Who makes the best bugs bunny?
NO, I am Bugs Bunny and I support this blog! :)

Howdy doody, pardner!

... and here they are! the holloway.tapes duo!

Back by popular demand

2008-10-05T16:57:00.006-04:00

We received quite a few emails showing interest in a longer video of our son's Funk Uncle band. We are flattered, so below is a longer video and hope you enjoy it. The soloist is Bryan, on bass guitar is Sawyer, drummer is Alex and the lead guitarist (one wearing a backward green baseball cap) is our son, William.

Just a recap - these are 15 and 16 year old boys trying to raise funds for their next Robotics project.

An award for all of YOU!

2008-10-02T01:05:00.001-04:00

Penny of Lavender Hill Studio is passing this award to her readers. I picked it up to pass it on to all of you, my dear readers but I would like to make a special mention to Mari, Nona, Vicki, Jean, Connie and last but definitely not the least, Marina.
I have made so many good friends since blogging and for this Thankful Thursday that Rhondi of Rose Colored Glasses is hosting, I am very thankful for having friends like YOU!

Funk Uncle

2008-09-30T22:12:00.006-04:00

These pictures and a video is a sample of our son's performance during Naples Grape Festival; they played on Saturday and Sunday. These boys are only 15 & 16 years old. They had an open guitar case in front of them to raise funds for their Robotics team ... it was surprising to see how generous people were. The soloist is Bryan, lead guitarist is my son, on bass guitar is Sawyer and on drum is Alex. The guy playing the conga was having a good time listening at first then decided to join them. Oh yes, the name of their band is, Funk Uncle. :)

Funk Uncle

2008-09-30T19:09:00.001-04:00

Naples Grape Festival

2008-09-28T20:28:00.023-04:00

What a busy weekend! Our town is known for it's grapes and so every year we have our Naples Grape Festival This year it was held on September 27-28. This is a big fundraising for our town and helps boost our economy. To take advantage of the big crowd, our church held a bake and yard sale. Boy, my house never smelled so delicious; I baked about 6 dozen blueberry muffins and about two dozen pumpkin muffins. Other members baked dozens of banana breads, cookies, waffle cookies and brownies. If so desired, all photos can be enlarged.

Our town is quaint, quiet and charming. I took pictures of some of the buildings to give you an idea what our little town looks like. Below is the only pharmacy we have. My husband's studio is on the second floor.

Our town is into arts big time! The picture below called Artizanns houses works of various artisans. It offers original and affordable creations like pottery, wood, paintings, glass, sculptures and so much more.

Business owners still take care of their own sidewalks; below is a guy sweeping in front of his office. I conversed with him a little bit, I said, "Getting ready for tomorrow's festival?" and he answered, "yes, for a little curb appeal" lol

All over downtown, you'll see electric poles decorated like this.

This is our church bake sale display. We offered free coffee to go with our goodies.

The vendor beside our display is selling these pitchforks and spades. Aren't they creative? I bought one for my garden ... specially since he gave me a $5 discount! Notice the fire hydrant... all of our fire hydrants are painted ... you guessed it, purple! lol

Pictures of some of the entertainment. There was also live music, in fact our son's band called Funk Uncle played in front of their school, raising funds for their Robotics team where he is a member.

View of the busy street. Our festival is always very well attended, bumper to bumper traffic. About two years ago, the Food TV Network filmed our festival and it was aired on TV several times.

The festival includes juried arts and crafts displays from artisans who live around our region. There were all kinds of jewelry ... glass, sculptures, inspirationals etc.

The lady creating these delicate egg shells is just amazing. Look at the delicate designs. She said it takes her about 6 hours to complete a regular size egg. She also has a brooch made of an ostrich egg shell. I was tempted to buy one but they are too much for my budget.

These paintings are very good! He uses mixed media, clay and acrylic to make his works look dimensional.

Kettle popcorn! Hmmm ... smells so good!

And of course, there is always the World's Greatest Grape Pie contest it was the highlight of our festival. One of these days, I will attempt to enter the grape pie contest. lol
There are a lot of grape pie stands on almost every corner of our town, but my favorite is Monica's Pies. My daughter's first job was at Monica's.
And so my dear friends, you have it! Have a grape day!

Fall vegetables treat!

2008-09-25T01:01:00.001-04:00

For Thankful Thursday that Rhondi of Rose Colored Glasses is hosting, I am really thankful for fall fruits and vegetables that are grown locally. Last Monday afternoon a friend and I took a trip to the Blueberry Farm and picked veggies that you can only find at an Asian stores. The above photo is just a sample of what we harvested. As soon as I got home, I cooked a veggie stew right away ... you can't get any fresher than that! yummy!

Lance's 65th B'day

2008-09-20T11:47:00.001-04:00

September Birthdays

2008-09-20T08:16:00.008-04:00

I promised my friends to post their birthdays on my blog so here it is. Pictured below is Lance's arrival at a Chinese Buffet restaurant. It was a surprise party given by his sweet and beautiful Vietnamese wife, Nui.

... and here is the happy couple, Lance and Nui

Another good friend of ours, had her 90th birthday. This too was a surprise. We sent out birthday invitations to all her children and grandchildren. We held the party at the basement of our church last Sunday. When she walked in the church for the Sunday service she was surprised to see most of her loved ones; but she did not expect that a delicious dinner was also prepared for her, downstairs, complete with a clown and a musical couple serenading her. Bobo, the clown made several animal balloons for her.

Marion loves life and she's still a kid at heart. Gail and Russ, her caring and loving neighbors who call her "mom" did most of the decorating and cooking; and where in Sam Hill did they find this crow? It was a nice piece of decor, since she always calls herself an old crow! lol I have a video of Marion's party but it's too large for blogspot. It only allows me to upload up to 100mb. Darn! I'll try to edit it and see how that go.

... and of course, birthdays are not birthdays without a cake, so here is a picture of her cake ... my contribution. :) The idea of combining cake and cupcakes came from my friend, Gail and it's from Betty Crocker.
... neat.

Praise and Prayer Time

2008-09-14T19:28:00.005-04:00

Although the devastation of hurricane Ike will probably cost millions of dollars in Galveston, TX, I give praise that the more than 2,000 residents who elected to stay were rescued and transported to a safer place.

We still need prayers for the extensive damage done by the hurricane especially Houston, Galveston and south of Galveston, TX. It is being predicted that it will take months to rebuild, and weeks for the power to come back. Some oil pipelines and platforms were also damaged in the gulf. My sympathy and support goes to the residents who live in those regions.

We should also remember the train wreck near Los Angeles, California.

I FEEL SO BLESSED ...

2008-09-11T05:00:00.001-04:00

The month of September will surely go so fast for me. I've been busy at work and every weekend, and the remaining weekends are already booked. It started when one of my friends invited me to a supposed-to-be small birthday party for a few friends at the Blueberry Farm. This friend asked me to bring Pichi-Pichi and Kutsinta (these are Philippine delicacies) It was my first time to make them and I was glad they turned out good. (Pictured below)

However, when we got there, I was surprised when I saw all the preparations and the amount of food on the table including a lechon (pig roast). Pictured below is my friend trying to carve the roasted pig.

People started arriving and having fun. Here's a friend who loves to sing with the karaoke while the rest are dancing. Would you believe that the lady in a light brown top is in her 80's? She loves life ... and she loves to dance!

A few friends enjoying dancing with their spouses.

Picture of just a few who attended the party.

And this was my surprise ... my name was on the birthday cake along with the September birthday celebrants! My friends wanted to surprise me so mum was the word!

After all those delicious food, we went and picked blueberries just to burn some calories! lol

The following weekend, another friend invited me to her house to celebrate (again) my and a friend's birthday and a wedding anniversary of another friend. Needless to say, I need a lot of exercise to get rid of all these calories! There were just four of us but look at all these yummy desserts! I felt bad because I didn't take a picture of the meals. My friend prepared a feast fit for a queen! So for this Thankful Thursday that Rhondi of Rose Colored Glasses is hosting, I am very thankful for friends. What's a girl to do without them!

My Labor Day Projects

2008-09-06T11:36:00.023-04:00

Last Sunday after church hubby and I went and checked out the newly opened Michaels Arts and Crafts Store at a neighboring city. It was their first weekend, so they were having a grand opening and they were giving away tote bags. I grabbed one and hubby did the same. I like bringing tote bags with me when I go grocery shopping nowadays so we don't end up with so many plastic grocery bags at home. Think green, right? (all photos can be enlarged by clicking)

Once inside, they were also having raffles and games. We participated in a sort of "Wheel of Fortune". My hubby who is a fan of Vanna White, jokingly asked where she was, believe it or not! lol! I won a tape measure and he won some kind of crayons... yipee! That tape measure will come in handy because it's small enough to go in my purse.

They had so many fall decorations that it inspired me to pick up a bit of stuff. I thought maybe I could make something for our front door since I was getting tired of the one that we have. And so, on Monday, Labor Day, I was laboring to do some crafts.
My first project was to fix a broken birdhouse that I picked up from a yard sale it was a leftover so it was free! I nailed a dowel at the bottom and hot glued the roof. Since it was a beautiful day, I was working at our deck.

The electrical outlet is by the wall so I did the hot gluing on top of our deck railing ... it felt awkward but what ever works, I guess. :) One of my dreams is to have my own sewing and arts and crafts room. That would be really neat.

And, tadaaaaa! Here it is! Ready to welcome guests! I will spray paint the dowel green to blend with the surrounding a little.

Now back to my door decor, my second project. Connie of Casa Maria Living inspired me to make this. I used the fall color silk foliage I bought at Michaels to decorate a cornucopia that I found in our store room. I attached ribbons, a bow, and plastic grapes, tweaked here and there and voila! ... my home made front door decor!

Here's a close up. Mr. Turkey looks a little "nekkid" so I think I will dress him up a little bit. I'll give him a bow tie and beads.

Here's how it looks like from the road ... personally, I like it since it's different from those traditional wreath.

Our Church

2008-08-31T08:09:00.007-04:00

Are you attached to your church? Pictured below is our church. (All photos can be enlarged)

I used to be a Roman Catholic but when I married my husband, who is a Baptist, I said we all worship the same God anyway, so I was baptized and became a member.

Anyways, for a little back ground, the First Baptist Church was organized in 1843 and was led by a new seminary graduate and meetings were held in a small house. A lot was purchased on 1853 and our church was built and completed on Thanksgiving Day in 1854; the cost was a whopping $5,000! It has gone through a lot of different Pastors and there was even a time where the door was closed due to inability to support a minister. For nearly three years the congregation worshiped with the other village churches until they hired a student who later was ordained in our church. During this ministry, the membership grew and they were able to install colored windows. In 1899, a baptistry was installed and in 1921 the church was wired with electricity. Additions, remodeling and repairs were done through the years.

The longest Pastor was Rev. Darius M. Ratcliff, who served for 27 years! During his ministry, he was responsible for organizing youth groups, purchasing a new organ, new restrooms and various improvements and repairs. His pastorate ended in 1959.

My parents-in-laws attended this church and so did their parents. They were pillars of the church, taking on responsibilities like cleaning, fund raising, serving in different committees, etc. Sometime in the 70's my husband painted a mural on the wall of the baptistry (pictured below) sadly enough, this painting is now peeling and is screaming to be re-painted. He used my mother-in-law (MIL), father-in-law and a few good friends as models for some of the figures. He is not too happy about the painting and said he painted it when he was younger and was lacking experience then.

It was also in the 70's when my hubby designed and installed this stained glass window. (pictured below) It is sitting on top of the front door. He also designed the new church steeple that replaces the old one which was torn down for safety reason. There are a lot of memories in this church. My hubby was big in "eating wood" when he was a baby (after he got his teeth), his teeth mark is in one of the pew because while seating on his parent's lap he would chew the pew in front. And at home he would kneel in front of his bedroom window and chew the window sill while watching his friends go to the movies; because he can't go so he would chew the wood instead. My husband was first married in this church also. It is sad because the last of the original family generations remaining who attended this church is my husband. We even have our "own" pew.
My hubby and I are officers of the executive board since 1983 and along with other God loving and dedicated church members, we do most of the planning and work in whatever our church needs.

Most of the members are elderly and dwindling ... we are trying to build the church's membership but younger generation these days prefers to worship in a more interactive service. I hate to see its door closed ... because over the years, I got attached to this small but warm and friendly church.

Thankful Thursday

2008-08-28T18:36:00.007-04:00

Rhondi of Rose Colored Glasses is hosting yet another Thankful Thursday. For a list of participants, please go visit her blog.

For Thankful Thursday, I selected a few Bible reference from "Our Daily Bread" booklet.

1. We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. (Colossians 1:3)

2. Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. (Galatians 6:9)

3. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. (2 Chronicles 16:9) To know that God sees us brings both conviction and comfort.

I am also thankful for this pumpkin that climbed my weigela bush, I have quite a few of them all over my yard. They were a Fall decor last year and we let them rot last winter; new growth from the seeds came up this spring. So that is the trick, leave them to the ground ... this year, I don't have to buy pumpkins, how about that? Saved me a few dollars! :)

Thankful Thursday

2008-08-21T21:04:00.005-04:00

Oh my, oh my ... this is a little late but I guess better late than never. Today is Thankful Thursday and I was so busy that I completely forgot all about it until Rhondi of Rose Colored Glasses reminded me. Thanks for the reminder, Rhondi.

Today, I am thankful for good friends. One of them came to my house early this morning so we could go blueberry picking. Thanks to the good weather, the blueberries are really sweet. We met up with another friend and the three of us went to the blueberry farm.
Since the owners are our friends, they gave us a discount, plus they let us pick some of their veggies like eggplant, purslane, (alugbati) and sweet potato tops. Afterwards, my friend invited us to have lunch at her house ... it was fun, and a relaxing day was had by the three of us. Thank you Inday and Josie for being such good friends!

Now let me end with this ... "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11

If ya gotta go ... ya gotta go!

2008-08-20T08:18:00.009-04:00

Summer is the time to take vacations, picnics, repairs, renovations, road construction, etc ...
Driving to church last Sunday, I heard my hubby laugh suddenly. I said to myself, "Has he gone wacko? What is he laughing about?" :) Then he said, "Well if you gotta go, you gotta go!"....and he pointed to a porta-potty sitting on the roof-top of the school that was being repaired.

It makes sense to keep one up there but it's still funny if you think about it, don't you think? :) Above is a closer look.

Thankful Thursday

2008-08-13T19:56:00.015-04:00

Yea! it's another Thankful Thursday! Rhondi of rose colored glasses is hosting this. Please visit her when you have a chance. I hope you are not tired of seeing pictures of flowers from my garden beds. Anyways, today I am thankful for my flowers, and pictured below are how I utilize them. Every Monday I bring a bouquet to work and display it in our waiting room for all patients to enjoy.

And on Saturday afternoon, I brought a bucket of flowers to our church to decorate the front part of our church ... for the congregation to enjoy. I normally give away the flowers after the service.

Here's a close-up of one of my church's flower arrangements.

Look how big these Dahlias are! I took a picture with a tape rule just to show you how big they are. They are bigger than the palm of my hand.

And above all, thank God for His continued creation and favorable weather to provide growth on all things He created.

P.S.
... in case you're wondering on the date, I saved this as draft Wed. night, and published Thursday a.m. before heading off to work. Thank you all for visiting!

Snow in August?!!

2008-08-11T19:27:00.006-04:00

Nope, it's not snow ... it's hail! We have had hail before but not this much. They were pea-size where we live, but on the news they were golf-ball-size in other areas. Yesterday, we had the longest thunderstorm that I can remember; from 6pm to past 10pm. Pouring rain, hail and lightning and thunder kept cracking in the sky. Luckily, we did not get any power outage. The wind brought down many tree limbs and broke a lot of my plants. It was dark and it was gloomy. I took a picture of our deck covered with hail because it fascinates me, but jumped back in because I was afraid of lightning.

This is what the sky looked like on our way back home before the thunderstorm; I took it from inside the car ... a storm was brewing alright. It looked like the storm was localized because part of the sky was light and shining and other part was really dark; it was mysterious almost but that was the beauty of it, and it made me decide to take a few shots. This picture would be a nice model to paint, wouldn't you say?

Thankful Thursday

2008-08-06T20:23:00.003-04:00

Today is Thankful Thursday ... already? lol ... time goes fast when you're having fun! I have a lot to be thankful for but for now I will just post part of one of my favorite hymns. Rhondi of Rose Colored Glasses is hosting a Thankful Thursday. Please visit her blog if you're interested to join. So, here goes ...

I'm Pressing on the Upward Way

I'm pressing on the upward way,
New heights I'm gaining every day;
Still praying as I'm onward bound,
"Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."

Lord, Lift me up and let me stand
By faith on heaven's table land,
A higher plane that I have found;
"Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."

I love this hymn ... it's very old, 1898. Have a wonderful Thursday everybody!

2008-08-04T21:22:00.001-04:00