Dorothy and the Red Pair of Shoes

Several years ago, Michael and I went to a Line Dancing Class. It was lots of fun but work got in the way.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Lynda, who is really into Line Dancing, got me back in the groove. Now, if you know me, you'd know it's quite a sight to see me follow a choreographed dance activity. I am left handed. That means, my left is my right; and my right is my left. Need I say more about that? Then, there is this extra thing I do. For some reason, my feet seem to add an extra step to the sequence. So, not only am I turning the wrong way, I am also getting in the way with my delayed steps. Does this remind you of some people in aerobics classes?

I think this is also one of the reasons I could not abide corporate jobs. I just can't abide conforming guidelines. (Now for those of you in the mortgage business, that'll take you somewhere else in the financial world.) I love to dance! So, I make up my steps and enjoy myself. Being married to an Irishman at one time taught me that fun is about enjoying yourself and not the steps.

But what do I do now in the case of Line Dancing? Line Dancing, got it?
I am fine when our instructor, Carma, (she is an inspiration) breaks down the steps. However, when she puts it all together - I am the one making a mess in the dance floor. Definitely not in "Line" with the others executing those steps so gracefully.

The brand new red cowboy boots. You heard of Dorothy and her red shoes right? Well, something happened last week. All of a sudden, I am getting in step with the group. Lynda and Patt noticed it and immediately, we all said: It's the shoes!. Needless to say, I will stay and persevere and if I am not in line, at least I shall have fun. Also, there's Lynda, Patt, Teri, Elaine and Angel only too willing to teach me. Gaining friends and burning a bit of calories along the way is a very good incentive too.

Talk about supportive, just 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, this sweet, kind lady took my hand in class and guided me through the steps. Really don't know her but I can't wait for her return from vacation to do the steps with her. And, that's one thing I can say: people in the group don't care if I didn't get the steps right away. They are supportive and just want to have fun. AND, when the weather is cold, dreary and wet - line dancing is just the ticket to lift your mood up.

Line Dancing, care to join us?

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Thanksgiving on the Road and the bumpity bumps along the road

It was five years ago this Thanksgiving Day that we were on the road in a UHaul truck containing pieces that we could not get into the BIG moving van that was also on its way. We were moving to Sequim, Washington. We were so eager to get to our new home that we decided to forego Thanksgiving Day with the family. Michael and I dubbed it the "Sequim Chapter of our Life".

There we were in the freeway, when suddenly we heard a pop! we had a flat tire. I was so afraid and Michael eased our Uhaul van into the center divider where we waited for about two hours for the repair guy who just sat down to this Thanksgiving dinner at his home.

Then we thought, OK things are fine and we're on the road again. But, darn if we didn't get a second tire blowout! Michael left me on the side of a lonely offramp (after all, everybody was with their families enjoying Thanksgiving). He had to locate a phone to call in our 2nd blowout. A longer wait this time for the repair guy who has to locate something or another to fix our problem. Of course, his Thanksgiving Day was also interrupted. At this time, I am getting worried about this trip and the company we chose to rent our moving van from.

With each blowout, we hear things shifting about inside the back of the van. But, frankly, I really didn't want to see what was going on. I mean, I have my not so meager collection of Lladro there, my antique Grandfather clock, along with several Orchids, in bloom no less. I couldn't face what might be a disastrous sight. Michael tried to reassure me that all's well.

Tired and jubilant, we arrived the following morning, only too eager to view a home that we purchased a couple of months ago and had not seen since then. (With the downturn of property values in San Diego at the time, needless to say, we were worried if we can make it.)

The contractor we hired to do complete the remodeling to the house by our move in date (he had 2 months to do this) hardly made any progress except for the demolition. So, we slept in the smaller bedroom, camping style. You know, nothing but a blanket and bed sheet between us and the floor. We hung a bed sheet to protect us from all the dust and mess going on in other parts of the house. But, we didn't mind it at all. We made it! The promise of a new chapter buoyed our spirits.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Here's the house before all the remodeling and landscaping of 5 years.



Here's a current picture:

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Driftwood and Art

One weekend, Michael and I were sort of ambling about. We decided to check out the Events section of the paper and noticed that there was a Driftwood Association event in town. It was fascinating how ugly pieces of wood were transformed into a piece of art!

Always in the lookout for things to do during the Fall and Winter months, I decided to enroll in Driftwood Sculpting. I came to our first class with a big rather complicated looking piece of wood (looked the the rock spires in Silent City in Bryce Amphitheater from Bryce Point, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA). Most of the others did the same. Our instructor advised us that they were too complicated for our class and had us pick pieces of wood from a stack she had in the corner.

After endless cleaning, my piece of wood is evolving into either a skeleton of a hog head or from a different perspective, an interesting free form sculpture. I've been sanding it to a shine as you can see from the 2 pictures attached. This is not the finished product yet and if I may say so - IT IS LOOKING PRETTY DARN GOOD!

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Ladies Dinner Party and How to lengthen Peonies blooming time

I was at an All Ladies dinner party last Friday. It was loads of fun and my girl friend Lynda went all out with the spread. Scallops wrapped with bacon, Spinach balls, cheese and crackers, and spiced nuts for hors d'ouvre accompanied by non-ending mixture of drinks, wine and champagne. Then for dinner, we had Crab Cakes with Lemon Butter Sauce topped with Tomato salsa, Rotolo (yummy italian dish) for the main course and Tiramisu and Pumpkin Cream Cheese roll for dessert choices. We were stuffed and truly grateful for this wonderful meal! What a fantastic hostess/cook she is!

Then, as conversations go - one of the ladies brought up my website and peonies. She indicated that she didn't know there were so many varieties. She complained, however, that the plant is short lived when in bloom. And so, I explained to her how to lengthen the blooming time of peonies.

Her comment inspired me to create a pdf file title "Peonies Blooming Time". I just posted it on my website www.ilovepeonies.com. I hope that this helps you in your selection of peonies. Living here in the Pacific Northwest, one of the things I decided is that I will have flowers and color during all 4 seasons. I didn't want to face fall and especially bleak winter with nothing going on in my garden. And so, I chose plants and trees that would provide color during these seasons.

Thus, the Peonies Blooming Times. It takes a little bit of time to download because it has a lot of pictures to show you the colors of the peonies in bloom during specific times. This guide will help you choose cultivars that will lengthen the time to enjoy the peonies!

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Welcome to "In the Garden of Life!"

I thought of an all encompassing title to cover topics I'd be posting, which could be anywhere from my Passion about Peonies, Gardening, Bread Baking, Desserts, Cooking, home decorating and home remodeling, hobbies such as hunting for mushrooms, drawing, hiking, sewing and driftwood sculpting to name a few.

With the heavy emphasis on gardening, I thought why not "In the Garden of Life". Our life is like a Garden. We come up with ideas (the seed), whether it's about our careers, relationships, family, friends, hobbies, health, our dreams. Then we move forward with this idea (planting the seed) we begin to nurture it with good soil, amending it with nutrients to ensure its growth, cultivate it and wait for the reward of our work with the beautiful plants, trees and flowers. We share it with our family, friends, neighbors, and the birds, the bees, the butterflies, and even in my case with CZ, my cat, who seems to delight in accompanying me when I work in the garden; practice her runs and catching skills! In The Garden of Life provides us with a way to express ourselves, relax, be with nature and meditate about life.

So there you have it. Again, Welcome to "In the Garden of Life".

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