La Joie De Vivre

A glimpse of Summer

made an appearance in the yard yesterday. In no time at all, I switched my gears to shorts and tank tops. The yard needed to be weeded, and a couple of trees needed to be cut. The local nurseries were packed with families working on similar projects. One thing led to another and before we knew it, the entire day was spent in the yard. Things are starting to look pretty good and I feel a great sense of accomplishments. I love spending time in the garden. Today, we are off to the beach in search of pretty landscapes. The sun is trying to come out. Regardless, we are going. 

The sun umbrella is up. Time to get going......

 

 

Yard work

The season has arrived. 

The bulbs have been removed from the planter boxes in my kitchen windows and are drying in the shed until next fall.

The gerbera daysies are waiting to be planted. 

I have purchased some snapdragon, zinnias, red verbena, dianthus.

My whiskey barrels are all cleaned up and ready to go. This year, I am re-planting my herb garden with a variety pack of French herbs. Most of my cooking is Mediterranean, this should work well. 

Time to get busy.

After ten years

It was time to change the lawn.

Jeff the tool man was up for the task. Not me!

I had to quietly and quickly escape the house before I was to find myself being  recruited for this project.  And so I did. I went to the market, purchased my weekly staples of organic vegetables took extra time, then went home. By then the project was well under control. Spring was trying to make an appearance, so I got my favorite hammock on the back patio, put my shorts on grabbed the camera and starred at the clouds. 

Ever since I was a child, I have always liked starring at clouds. I like their shape and how fast they move closer to one another. I also use them to dream. When I was little, I used to think that they were giant cotton balls, and my goal  one day was to walk on them. Then I took a science class, and it all ruined it for me. I am having a very lazy day and loving every minute of it. Tomorrow is the annual Eugene marathon. My Doc is running it. I will be there to cheer him on and take his picture. I hope that it all goes well for him. Until next time. Be well. 

In the yard today

 
I took a walk in the yard this afternoon. All is in bloom. For the most part, it looks good. But there is always room for improvement. The bulbs have finished their cycle. It is time to remove them and plant an herb garden.The weekend is upon us. I have 2 days  to get everything in shape. 

 

Labor Day

Well I don't know about you but my Labor Day was indeed a day of absolute LABOR!. There was yard work to be done and that we did. US Husband went out a brought back 4 yards of fresh dirt to be spread around the raised bed, however before we could spread the dirt there was a lot of cleaning to be done. This was the mess that I/we created... 

The before look....

 

 

  It was time to get to work.... 

    

 

Et Voila !

It may not appear as though a lot was done, but I beg you to believe the contrary. Needless to say, after shoveling,  hauling 4 yards of dirt my back was dead and so was I. It was well worth it. The yard is back being properly manicured. I still have to transplant some bulbs, which by the way was something on my list of things to do today, but I completely spaced out. Oh well... there is always tomorrow. This weekend is all about R & R. U.S Hubby went to the cabin to play golf and fish. I am enjoying my personal time at home. Tomorrow early am I will be at the park for my exercise. Then I will plant my bulbs and start my weekly "cooking derby". It is nice to be able to plan my week this way. It allows me to exercise after work and not feel bad about coming home at 8:00 pm or so. I don't have to cook when I get home  and I am not  concerned about what's for dinner. It is also a nice way to balance our nutrition and stay healthy. I am making a few changes in my Core Align class and my upcoming  schedule is bound to be a little crazy until I get into an earlier class. In time it will all sort itself out. Mike my trainer is a great person and I know that he will help me  accordingly. The weather is slowly changing to fall. The days are shorter, the nights are cooler but we are still able to enjoy some sun.  Life is good and all is well. I hope that the same applies to you. Until next time..... laugh plenty, love dearly, exercise daily and remember to be happy !. Love always. Moi

Saturday

My day started at 4:00am. I could not sleep. I spent some time on my computer, browsing on You Tube and visiting other sites. By 6:00am I was already done with my shower. There was no reason for me  at this point  making an attempt going back to bed, so by 7:00am I went to the park for my exercise. I was back by 9:00am or so, and found U.S Hubby washing the kitchen floors. Nice !. After another shower, I decided to treat him for breakfast to our new local hang out "Midtown". We were there for the first time last weekend and had the most delicious breakfast. So I thought; why not try it again!!!. U.S Hubby loves to drive; so as a rule of thumb I let him be the one behind the wheels. He also loves having his picture taken. This is U.S Hubby driving me to breakfast this morning....

Can anyone guess what he is not looking at?????........ Yes that would be THE ROAD. It never seems to bother him and after 20+ years I am still alive. I am grateful to my guardian Angel.  

Breakfast was just like I remembered it . Scrumptious !. This is what I had...

I ate every single bite. Afterwards; we ran some errands to my favorite Korean market to reload on my Thai supplies then it was back to the house. The football game is on and the Ducks are presently winning. Yeah !. Kudos Ducks!. I like football, but I am not one of those people who stays in front of the TV for too long unless of course House or Without a Trace is on. So I took a little walk in the back yard. My gosh the yard is a mess. This weekend being a long one, there will be for sure some yard work in the planning. Not everything however looks bad. 

Tomorrow we are going to Bandon to the Cranberry festival. The local channels have been advertising about it all week. It should be pretty packed, but that does not bother me. There will be a lot of local artists displaying their work and let's not forget... the Ocean and lots of seafood to eat. My ultimate favorite. Until then.... so long. I hope that all is well with each and every one of you. Love always. Moi.

The yard

I felt like a stroll in the yard. I remember getting rid of all the weeds 2 weeks ago. To my surprise(.. or not!) they are back !. We had in mind to go on a bike ride tomorrow and tour the wineries but instead I think that we will stay close to home and do some yard work. Shucks!. The tomato plant is growing like crazy. I lost 4 of them the other day, due to excess weight. I put a wire cage for the branches to grow. I hope it will be help. The herb garden is looking good and so are my peppers. 

        

Progress on my Pizza planter box

A week ago, I started a Pizza planter box. The tomatoes are nicely growing, the basil is looking good and so is the cilantro. Today I added an Anaheim and a Thai Pepper plant and this is what it looks like

 



 I can't wait to harvest it all. I can think of many things that I will be making. One of my favorites is Pizza on the grill. It is quick and easy. I also did some yard work, but the weather is so warm that after three hours I was ready to call it quit. So I went to my Hammock, turned on the iPod and decided to sunbathe like a Euro. Jen will know what this means. I do not sunburn, and I am grateful for that. Overall, it's a good day.Jen's sister Jackie sent an email today reminding Jen that today is my Name day. In Europe, the name that you are given at birth has a Saint associated to it. All you have to do, is look at what day that Saint's day is and that day becomes your name day. St Christine is on July 24th. The celebration of your name day, is kinda sorta like a second Birthday. I remember growing up, getting a present and a homemade cake. In celebration of "My Day",  I  went to the market this morning and treated myself for a very nice bouquet of Hydrangeas. I love fresh flowers in the bedroom. There are a couple of Hydrangea plants in the yard facing the bedroom windows, but I don't want to cut the clusters. There are so pretty to look at. This is my name day bouquet.....

 I hope that all is well with each and everyone of you. Gros Bisous. Moi.

The Yard .....

it's progress as we approach summer. 

I hope that you enjoy what you see....(Yes... I do like Red!)

 



    
Enough work for the day... now it's time for my nap 

 

The Yard

Yesterday was another one of those Oregonian's banner days.The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was a great day for yard work.  Two years ago, I trimmed my Lilac bush to a point where I was slightly worried that I had killed it. Last year, I did not get any blooms. This year, I like what I see. I just LOVE my Lilac bush. The clusters smell so good.