WTF?? Lou and I were out at the local mall today looking for drapes for the bedroom - more on that later. What totally amazed me was that at both JCPenney's and Sears they already had Christmas items on display! There were artifical Christmas trees and decorations galore (I am not kidding)....is this not the 20th of September.......more than 3 months prior to Christmas on December 25th????? Honestly, I cannot recall a time when Christmas things were out this early. I repeat......WTF?
I mean, really, come on, Halloween is still almost six weeks away. Maybe next year we can start the Christmas season in August......then July....a few more years and I say, just leave it up all year round.
Back to the drapes. We must be old school since we were looking to replace our pleated, drawstring drapes that were wearing out and the hooks were disintegrating. There was literally only one style of pleated drapes and everything is the slide type, no more drawstring. We came home disappointed and empty-handed......then Lou hunted around the garage and found a bag of extra drape parts. We had enough rings to replace the broken ones......shook the dust out of the curtains, put them back up on the "new" rings and called it good.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
FILOLI GARDENS - FLOWERS & MORE FLOWERS
Today we headed to the Filoli House & Gardens about 30 miles south of San Francisco. This was another of Lou's day trip discoveries. He keeps finding interesting places to visit. I lived in the Bay Area for 50 years and never knew this place existed. It is a stately old mansion built in 1917 with incredible gardens!
I assumed that the owners were named Filoli (an old Italian family??), but I was wrong - the Bourn family built the house and the Roths bought it after the Bourn's deaths. The name was derived from the first two letters of Mr. Bourn's credo - "Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life" - FI-LO-LI.
I was totally impressed by the beautiful, unique and varied flowers that grew everywhere. The volunteers change the fresh flower arrangements in the house every Tuesday.
My inside photos of the house weren't the greatest but the gardens were stunning! In just about three hours of wandering around I took 131 pictures. Narrowing down which ones to include here was not easy. The gardens were divided into many smaller themes - a sunken garden, a rose garden, a fruit garden, etc. I can easily see how Mrs. Bourn or Mrs. Roth could spend hours enjoying the gardens.
These are just a few of the stunningly beautiful flowers that greeted us everywhere we turned. The gardens were well designed with colors and styles that complimented each other. There is also a fruit orchard, a swimming pool and a tennis court on the property.
Following our visit to Filoli, Lou planned to drive a few miles south to Stanford University where we could go to the top of the Hoover Tower for a great view of the campus. Fortunately, it wasn't far out of our way because we arrived to find it closed for renovation until mid-October - a fact that the website neglected to mention.
I assumed that the owners were named Filoli (an old Italian family??), but I was wrong - the Bourn family built the house and the Roths bought it after the Bourn's deaths. The name was derived from the first two letters of Mr. Bourn's credo - "Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life" - FI-LO-LI.
I was totally impressed by the beautiful, unique and varied flowers that grew everywhere. The volunteers change the fresh flower arrangements in the house every Tuesday.
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| The front entrance to Filoli House |
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| The back of Filoli House |
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| Another view of the rear of the house |
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| One of the lovely flower arrangements in the library |
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| There must have been 20 or 30 floral arrangements on the ground floor of the house |
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| The Sunken Garden - the first one you see as you leave the house |
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| The entry way into one of the several garden houses |
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| A view of the reflecting pond in the Sunken Garden |
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| One of many colorful and varied garden areas |
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| A sundial backed by a large bed of blooming flowers |
These are just a few of the stunningly beautiful flowers that greeted us everywhere we turned. The gardens were well designed with colors and styles that complimented each other. There is also a fruit orchard, a swimming pool and a tennis court on the property.
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| One of my favorites - Naked Ladies (Amaryllis) - I love their sweet, savory fragrance |
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| These bright blue flowers (Morning Glories) were everywhere on vines lining a pathway |
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| It amazes me how God creates so many varieties of exquisite flowers (Hibiscus) |
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| I loved the numerous shades of color in this large bloom (Hybrid Cabbage Rose) |
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| I'm a sucker for white roses - they are so simple and beautiful |
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| I love this photo, it is one of my favorites (Dahlia - thanks M'Lynn for your flower IDs) |
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| The Hoover Tower on Stanford University |
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| A building on the grounds of Stanford University |
Sunday, September 11, 2011
9/11 REMEMBERED
It has been ten years since the first jet crashed into the World Trade Center followed by three other horrific crashes that took thousands of lives. There are a few events in our lifetimes where each person knows exactly where they were when it happened. I was at home in my apartment in Stockton when Allen called to tell me to turn on the TV. I had just met Lou a few months before and Darrin was living in El Paso flying for a small cargo airline.
A decade later it still makes no sense and it still elicits tears and emotions to hear the individual stories. Countless people lost mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and friends. Many policemen and firefighters surely knew that by entering the chaos of those burning buildings their lives would end on September 11, 2001. Those who survived are now being diagnosed with cancer from breathing all the toxic fumes. Families were changed forever - and our country was changed forever.
A few years after 9/11, Lou and I visited Ground Zero. It was still rubble and big holes in the ground - an odd sight in the middle of Manhattan. We had lunch at a Burger King directly across from where the World Trade Center had stood. I wondered who was sitting where we were on September 11, 2001, eating their breakfast before heading to work when the first plane crashed into the tower? I doubt they could believe the magnitude of what they were witnessing.
Three years ago Lou and I stopped at the Memorial for Flight 93 in southern Pennsylvania. It was still just a makeshift monument honoring the men and women who chose to fight the terrorists and save countless lives while knowing theirs would end either way. It was one of the most sobering times of my life. Reading the names on the benches and looking out at the hole in the ground where the jet disintegrated into a million pieces as it hit the ground inverted, I could not wrap my brain around the horror they must have felt.
I could not stop thinking of my son who was on track to be an airline pilot at that time. One of the pilots on Flight 93 had attended San Jose State's aviation program just like Darrin. How did his mother learn of her son's fate? How did any of the mothers even begin to grasp what their heroic sons and daughters chose to do?
If there was any good that came out of that horrible act of terrorism, it is how literally everyone in our great country pulled together to emerge stronger and more determined to fight Al-Queda and all terrorism. I must admit that I rejoiced and cheered when President Obama announced this past year that we hunted down and killed Osama bin Laden.
Ten years later, as we honor all the incredible, amazing heros of that fateful day, it is my hope that we never let the terrorists win - be careful, smart and wary BUT go out and live your life accomplishing everything you want out of your time on earth. Travel the world, visit Ground Zero and the Flight 93 Memorial - and remember to thank God every day that you live in a world where such courage and bravery exists among ordinary people.
A decade later it still makes no sense and it still elicits tears and emotions to hear the individual stories. Countless people lost mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and friends. Many policemen and firefighters surely knew that by entering the chaos of those burning buildings their lives would end on September 11, 2001. Those who survived are now being diagnosed with cancer from breathing all the toxic fumes. Families were changed forever - and our country was changed forever.
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| The Waterfall Memorial Ceremony honoring 9/11 heroes |
Three years ago Lou and I stopped at the Memorial for Flight 93 in southern Pennsylvania. It was still just a makeshift monument honoring the men and women who chose to fight the terrorists and save countless lives while knowing theirs would end either way. It was one of the most sobering times of my life. Reading the names on the benches and looking out at the hole in the ground where the jet disintegrated into a million pieces as it hit the ground inverted, I could not wrap my brain around the horror they must have felt.
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| The Flight 93 Memorial that we visited - the field in back is where the plane crashed |
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| Benches showed the name of everyone on the flight - visitors added things on the fences |
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| The significance of some items is apparent, others we don't know |
If there was any good that came out of that horrible act of terrorism, it is how literally everyone in our great country pulled together to emerge stronger and more determined to fight Al-Queda and all terrorism. I must admit that I rejoiced and cheered when President Obama announced this past year that we hunted down and killed Osama bin Laden.
Ten years later, as we honor all the incredible, amazing heros of that fateful day, it is my hope that we never let the terrorists win - be careful, smart and wary BUT go out and live your life accomplishing everything you want out of your time on earth. Travel the world, visit Ground Zero and the Flight 93 Memorial - and remember to thank God every day that you live in a world where such courage and bravery exists among ordinary people.
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