My Forty-Something Year Old Fuschia Lives On

Scroll down for Mosaic & Blue Monday,
Ruby Tuesday, My World, and Outdoor Wednesday

but first, belatedly ...



Skies are grey in June
here in California
but my HOUSE is blue

Tiny though my yard
is ... I take delight in it
each and every day ;-)

Click to embiggen for better viewing ...

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."
Cherokee Indian Proverb

1. As usual for June here in Southern California at the beach, our skies have been gloomy in the morning (and occasionally all day long), but my garden is doing well. From personal experience as a Native Californian, I know the cooler weather WILL pass eventually so I'm just trying to enjoy 'what is' right now ... Just for the JOY of it! Today's post focuses on an elderly Fuschia I brought with me in a hanging basket from a previous home and which planted itself in the ground decades ago when the hanging basket fell apart.

2. I always enjoy catching up with my retired friends on the second Monday of each month, my sister (whenever she has a cell signal and calls me from the road), and neighbors when I work in my yard ... Just for the JOY of it! This week provided many opportunities to connect with others social for both Molly and myself ;-)

3. I'm happy to be able to help out a friend (dealing with serious health issues) by providing transportation for her after she was involved in an auto accident last week. Fortunately the Subaru protected her from injury by coming apart as it was intended to do ... but as a result, the car's a total loss so she'll be looking to purchase a used vehicle in the weeks ahead. After listening to her talk enthusiastically about her marvelous twice-weekly craft classes for more than a year, I observed one first-hand on Wednesday and met the friendly folks who all encouraged ME to sign up for the classes next Fall.

4. Jennifer Louden's assistant Deb has set up a Google Group for the upcoming 2010 Taos Writer's Retreat participants so we can renew old friendships and get acquainted with new folks as we prepare for the gathering at the Mable Dodge Luhan house later this summer. Sadly, I suspect I must have done something inadvertently when I updated my profile there because I'm unable to connect at the moment, but hopefully that will be corrected soon.

5. Although I'm not much of a sports fan (with the exception of the four major tennis tournaments), I did watch the last two Lakers vs. Celtics games and found the last one quite exciting. I'm looking forward to upcoming Wimbledon matches over the next two weeks and have my DVR set to record coverage on ESPN so I can watch as time permits.

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in Shadow Shot Sunday, Today's Flowers,
Friday's Fave Five, Finding Beauty, Just for the Joy of It,
Blue Monday, Mosaic Monday, Ruby Tuesday,
My World, and Outdoor Wednesday

It's been a while since I've blogged with any regularity and even longer since I've visited virtual friends in the Blogosphere ... but rest assured that my reader continues to collect your posts and I'm confident that eventually life will slow down enough for me to spend more time at the computer. In the meantime ... thanks for your patience. I hope all is well with you and yours.

See my Daily Gratitude List
in the sidebar at Small Reflections
and the lists I've transferred to Happily Retired Gal

What are some blessings in YOUR life currently?

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'

go to My Blog Rolls and/or click on the
Blog Your Blessings logo
above Really Good Things.

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

Blessed Be ... and so it is!

Thought for Today
"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them." Kahlil Gibran

Daily Delights ...

Scroll down for my belated
Finding Beauty, FaveFive, & Just for Joy
... then Camera Critters, Pet Pride,
Shadow Shot Sunday, and Macro Monday


Straight out of the camera ...


... flipped with Poster Edges


Watercolor Filter

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for others
participating in Today's Flowers, Mellow Yellow, & Mosaic Monday

belatedly ...

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for others
participating in Friday's Fave Five & Just for the JOY of it

1. Although I'm a day late with my 'joy-filled' Friday Faves & Finding Beauty again this week, I've truly enjoyed watching many exceptionally exciting men's & women's tennis matches this past week at the French Open ... (Just for the JOY of it) ... generating some ending with rather unexpected results along the way (see my T13 this week at Small Reflections for details).

2. I just finished watching Saturday morning's competitive Women's Championship Match (although I confess that I was hoping for a 3rd set because the tennis was such fun to watch) ... and I'm looking forward to the promise of another competitive Men's Championship Match on Sunday ... Just for the JOY of it!

3. I've savored the colorful flowers in my own yard and around the neighborhood this past week as the weather improved bringing more sunshine.

4. Time to take care of myself and my health last week when it seemed like I was coming down with a cold and playing with Photoshop Elements filters ... Just for the JOY of it!

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for others
participating in Finding Beauty and Macro Monday

5. Watching Molly play with her neighborhood 'fur-friends' and visiting with their 'people' as I snap photos to share is always a pleasure. It's sad to think that Aloha will be moving soon, but hopefully the next family to move in will have a dog to play with too ... Just for the JOY of it!

Another play date
Aloha is moving soon
with her family

Straight out of the Camera


Watercolor filter in PSE6


Poster Edges

Click to embiggen for better viewing and for
others participating in Camera Critters, Pet Pride,
Shadow Shot Sunday and Mosaic Monday

Thought for Today
"In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less ..." Lee Iacocca

Miscellaneous Monday Memes and Musings

“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Scroll down for Macro Monday

“Education is hanging around until you’ve caught on.”
Robert Frost


Straight out of the camera above
Poster Edges below

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Today's Flowers,
Mosaic Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday

“Never interrupt someone
doing something you said couldn’t be done.”
Amelia Earhart

As I began writing notes in my belated Christmas/Easter cards to family & friends over the weekend, I realized that I lost my address database list when the Inspiron 9100 hard drive crashed ... so I'll need to scrounge up addresses from hither and yon then create a NEW list in Word 2010. I'm hoping I can figure out how because I don't think my right arm is going to cooperate if I have to address all those envelopes by hand.

I enjoyed visiting blogs over the weekend to do some 'catch up' from last week when taking breaks from note writing to rest my arm, but realize this morning that I never got around to Blogging my Blessings yesterday ... so methinks I'll take a few minutes this morning to do so.

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."
Cherokee Indian Proverb

1. Our weather this past week has been lovely and I enjoyed sitting on the patio as planned (adding notes to the cards I plan to send this week) ... visiting with passers by who stopped to admire the colorful view. Here's my first strawberry of the season:

2. The fur-kids kept me company and Molly enjoyed greeting folks & playing with a variety of fur-friends in the neighborhood.

3. My Veterans Honor rose seems to be doing just fine on the parkway. I'm watering it every other day for a couple of weeks as the gardener suggested. It's been pretty dry here lately (though some rain is predicted for later in the week). I'm planning to water the whole yard this morning before I head to my Windows 7 class at 11:30.

4. One of my Amaryllis plants has a 5th bloom instead of the usual four ... I wonder how unusual this is?

5. Methunk I'd seen my last purple & yellow iris this year ... but another has joined the one I shared in my previous post here as the yellow ones begin to open too. Pretty kewl ;-)

6. My hen & chicks continue to bloom ...

and the cactus I though had died seems to be sprouting new growth. Will wonders never cease?

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in Macro Monday

See my Daily Gratitude List
in the sidebar at Small Reflections
and the lists I've transferred to Happily Retired Gal

What are some blessings in YOUR life currently?

For others who 'Blog Their Blessings'

go to My Blog Rolls and/or click on the
Blog Your Blessings logo
above Really Good Things.

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

Blessed Be ... and so it is!

Thought for Today
"If you don't appreciate what you have in life right now, whatever it is, you will never realize your purpose. Without appreciation, you will never become strong enough to respect yourself." Caroline Myss