Favorite photos

These are some of my favorite pictures from Spain and Portugal. I just had to share them.....

This is a garden in the city of Ronda, where the bridge that i so dearly love, is located and I did a LOT of rock climbing and hiking,

This is the Plaza De Espana, where scene 9 in Starwars Episode II was filmed.

This is where i went cliff diving in Portugal

This is a perfect pool of water formed below the Cueva Del Gato, just south of Ronda Spain

This is part of the Roman Ruins in Italica Spain, just west of Sevilla.

Names in the Sand

I have to share something wonderful a friend of mine named Emily is doing. She has a blog on Blogger called "Names in the sand" where you can submit the name of a loved one who has died, and she forward the information to her sister, who loves on the North shore of Oahu Hawaii. Her sister then goes out to the beach and writes their names in the sand. Below are the names of my angels, she wrote in the sand for me just yesterday. I am printing these photos off and putting them in a memorry album.....

Below is a picture I took in Southern Spain a few summers ago. Everywhere I go, I always write Emily's name in the sand, and this particular location is the base of the Rock of Gibraltar. It's not the best angle, but it was the only way I could get the rock, water and her name. I have always loved this picture.

Post Secret..... and other good stuff

I have to mention, I was wildly excited yesterday afternoon, when I logged onto one of my favorite websites "Post Secret" and discovered MY SECRET was posted on the web page! I have included a few "examples" from several weeks for those who don't know about "Post Secret".

Post Secret is a "community art project" where people take images and write their secrets on them, and mail them to Frank Warren, who lives at Copperridge Rd, in Germantown Maryland. He receives about 1500 per week, and separates out his favorite, posting them on line every Sunday morning. Usually there are between 6 and 20 on line and THIS week - mine is among them.

I have to say it feels SO incredibly good to have MY secret be no longer a "secret". It's somewhat validating. ANYWAY...Frank Warren has compiled 4 books from the many secrets he has received, and the profits of these books go to benefit 1-800-suicide, a non profit suicide helpline.

Oh, and before I forget to mention, I bought my new sofa on Friday, and am wildly excited about it. This is the new sofa in my living room. YAY me. It was the last piece of furniture I needed to replace from the divorce. Now everything is officially MINE and wasn't OURS. I LOVE that feeling, and even 4 years later, find it wonderfully healing.....

How to ride a wild boar....

The wolves are curious, but as Kate learned.... definitely NOT on the attack! Her fear of Wolves, at least for now, seems to be cured. Molly demonstrates the curiosity of said wolf.....

Too cute for words.....

Kate demonstrates how to rde a wild boar side saddle. She's SO creative.

Enjoying our last day of indian summer, before the cold weather blows in.

Molly approved.....

I have to share this.... Molly brought home her planner for school, and at the top of the page was written this slogan: "I'm Molly Gurik, and I aprove this message." I asked her if she had been told to write this at school, and she said no - it was her own idea. How cute. Molly has been following the election closely and keeping tabs on issues. Our local area runs an advertisement which shows images of howling wolves and begins with... "The wolves are on the attack.... wolves hiding as lobbyists in Washington...." Kate is now terrified - not only wolves, but also that anyone who goes to Washington will be attacked by them. She now asks me daily if I ever have to go to Washington, and I assure her I do not. Our plane DID land in Washington DC on the way home from Disney in August, and she has commented we were certainly fortunate not to have been attacked while there! . I had fancied the idea of a weekend trip to DC with them next year, but I think I'd better let Kat's fear subside first. *sigh.....Other than a newly developed fear of wolves, we are all just fine.....

*Edited to add: PLEASE remember to get out and VOTE tomorrow, if you haven't voted early!!!!!

They're not edible - but I CAN make....

FABULOUS flower arrangements! YAY for me. I may be a terrible cook, but my home looks and smells lovely.
These are all arrangements I created for Emily's grave recently. The Gerber Daisies were fabulous - and as it turns out, deer LOVE to eat them. They were beautiful for only a few days before being munched - but I'm sure Sweet Emmy got a chuckle out of having these lovely creatures all round her special spot.
I tool this arrangement out for her birthday, and I was SO pleased.... the sunflowers I grew myself, and the others were all purchased by my lovely mother. How perfect it was, that 3 sunflowers (representing each of my daughters) bloomed on the morning of August 25th! THAT was my angel working, I just know it!

These are the sunflowers I took out a few weeks ago. Again, I grew all of them myself, and sadly "IKE" blew through our area and took all of them down. These were the only survivors. We do have one small sunflower blooming this morning, and Kate pointed it out to me with glee. I was thrilled.
This is an arrangement from last fall
This is a traditional white arrangement. I always take white flowers on Emily's angel day, and this year, I really outdid myself. I was SO proud, I had my friend Jeni take a photo of me with it! How vain am I ...

Interesting use of an oven...

My Sweet Cousins L and L have been gleefully bantering back and forth on their blogs all summer long. They blog about wonderful veggies from their CSA deliveries, creative recipes from their fabulous cook books and their vine ripened tomatoes (still on the vine) which are free for anyone to take - and I would, if I lived within 500 miles of said tomatoes. I have very much enjoyed the "photo show quality" pictures (especially this weeks shots of the 3 legged carrot) posted by my dear cousin L. I have to admit they are pretty enough, I am actually tempted to eat a vegetable! However, It has been pointed out to me throughout the summer months, I have posted NO beautiful photos of my cooking creations!... So I figure this picture is long overdue. Pictured above is the lovely Tostitos pizza I made for dinner last night. I followed the directions on the box exactly, and I just don't understand what happened. Please note, there are NO shadows on this picture.... the poor pizza REALLY IS that black! Also, I will not be offended if you laugh out loud at this picture. Even I laughed when I walked into the kitchen and found my dinner in this sad, sad state. On a positive note, my monthly check of my smoke detectors is now complete and they are in working order!
Above is a photo sent to me by a friend, of the Green Veggies in her local store. Please look VERY carefully at the picture, and note why (at the age of 32) I still refuse to eat anything that's green.... I have a terrible chlorophyll allergy.... true story. Well - maybe not completely true....
This photo, I took myself. They are the lovely sunflowers I grew in my front yard. I simply adore sunflowers. I grow them every year, and as part of my "green living" I use them to block the sun coming in my front window, which heats up my living room almost unbearably. These sunflowers cut my air conditioning usage significantly, and save me approximately $10-15 per month in energy costs! If I may say so, did a mighty fine job with them this year. I openly admit I do NOT have lovely cooking creations in my home, but I always have lovely flower arrangements. That is a separate post, which will be coming soon....
Finally, look at this adorable child. She's just beautiful! I GREW HER all by myself! It's true!!! And check out that attitude..... who could grow a child with such attitude, other than me. She was aggravated because I made her sit in about 30 chairs and proceeded to take pictures of her in each one. We are furniture shopping, and I need her to sit in each chair, so when I get the photos home, I know approximately how large the chair is - based on the amount of room Kate takes up in said chair. This IS the chair we are going to purchase (I have finally decided) and I look forward to having it in my home. It's a bit "loud" but that's OK. I will find a fabulous sage pillow to rest in the corner, and it will look stunning in my living room.

*********Edited to add: My new favorite song is called "Angels on the Moon" by Thriving Ivory. If you have not heard this song, you absolutely HAVE to listen to it. Maybe it just speaks to me - but WOW... what a song! Oh, and "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas is still running a close second. What wonderful music is out there these days!!!!