GOT A MINUTE OR TWO

"P" is for Peacock   Taken at a   Retreat I attended.  Lovely grounds, a good time for a silence and solitude and a beautiful peacock to boot!  Someone forgot to tell the peacock to be quiet!! HaHa But the sounds of nature were refreshing.   To see all the other participants and how they use the Letter P, just click on the ABC Badge on my sidebar.

The Letter "O" is for OLD   Old Farm Wagon I'm sure this one covered many many acres in it's lifetime.   Old wagon with wooden spokes and tongue.      Absolutely love this old truck.    Here's another view of the old truck.  I loved it so much I did a watercolor of it below.   Watercolor by Wanda To see all the other participants for the Letter O, just click on the ABC Badge on my side bar and have fun surfing through all the O's. 

Last summer when I was visiting my brother his wife Becky gave me a CD of Noah Stewart.  I had never heard of him but immediately fell in love with his rich opera voice.  Since then I see there are numerous videos of his work on line. Noah was raised in Harlem by his mother, Patricia, a single parent from New Orleans whose strong values and work ethic she installed in her son.  His mother's self-sacrifice and strong belief in the value of education led to Noah being enrolled in the world-famous LaGuardia High School where he developed his strong musical potential, singing solo with the school choir and back-up with prominent acts such as Hootie and the Blowfish and Coolio.  His mentor, the great soprano Leontyne Price, encouraged him to attend The Julliard School, where he was awarded a full scholarship.  The rest is History. To see all the other participants in Mrs Nesbitt's wonderful meme just click on the ABC Badge on my sidebar.

THE LETTER "M" IS FOR "MOLLY"   "My favorite place is a square of sunshine on the couch."   "My next favorite thing is sleeping with my Tiger.  I feel so safe!"     "I love these kittens, and will watch and protect them."       "However, I do not like BIG cats, so stay out of my yard!"   "They think they're going on vacation without ME.  Not a chance ~ I'm not moving!!   We were given Molly as a gift 8 years ago.  Her owner was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and wanted Molly to have a good home.  She is family as you can see from these pictures.  I'm very happy that Edith thought we'd be the perfect family for Molly.   To see a clever introduction by Denise Nesbitt and all the other participants for ABC Wednesday, just click on the ABC Badge on my sidebar.      

The letter "H" is for HURT little sparrow.  When I go into the back yard, the birds all fly off from the feeders.  This day, they all flew away, but this one.  As I got closer, I realized he was HURT.  He had a large abscess on his face and one wing looked damaged.   He let me get closed enough to pick him up and didn't fight me.  I have him some water, and put him back in the feeder.  The next day, he tried to fly, and made it to the top of the cover over the BBQ. He stayed on that cover most of the day.  I would check in on him from time to time.  Then later that afternoon, he made the flight to the top of the fence.   I was cheering him on, saying "You can do it little bird, fly HOME to mommy".     He stayed on the fence all night...and the next morning, I saw him flutter those wings, and lifted himself off the fence and flew into a nearby tree in the neighbors yard.  I never saw him again, ...

  The letter "G" is for "GRANDSONS GROWING" up! This picture of me with Kaleb and Elijah was taken about 16 years ago.  They were darling little boys, and I was a younger looking Grandma (who still had red hair ~ haha)   This picture of me and Kaleb was taken a few weeks ago before he left for College in Illinois.  It's had to believe I held him on my lap and read him stories.  Now he's off to college on a Football Scholarship.  Where does the time go....they do GROW up and my hair turns gray. It's called Life!   Elijah is a Senior and enjoys his sport, Water Polo and these two grandsons are such a blessing to Don and me, and have proven their integrity and character.  And these are just two of our dozen grandchildren and ALL of them are GROWING UP!!   To see all the other ABC participants and what they have used for the Letter "G" just click on the ABC Wednesday Badge on my sidebar.  

THE LETTER "D" IS FOR DAIRY COW!   There is nothing unusual about a dairy cow, unless it's a dairy cow that likes to sit on her butt.  My friend Marlene's family own this Dairy.  Cows lay down, cows stand, but in all their years of running dairies, they had never seen a cow just sit down!      I think this is hilarious and maybe Bessy's milk sac just got too heavy!!  History tells us of the famous "Sitting Bull", but a sitting cow, that's pretty funny!   To see all the participants and the variety of Letter D, just click on the ABC Badge on my sidebar.

  Our letter this week is "C" and I'm using some pictures I took at the Descanso Chrysanthemum Society 79th Annual Flower Show.  It was called "Ocean of Mums" and indeed it was.  Descanso Gardens is a lovely place 15 minutes from our home, so I visit it often, and on this day got to enjoy Chrysanthemums that are loved world wide.  Such an array of different types.  Do you like Mums??   To see all the other participants for Letter "C" just click on the ABC Wednesday Badge on my sidebar.

The letter "U" is for "UNFURGETTABLES".  We walked through the Craft Fair in Montrose CA, Sunday after Church and found a booth called "Unfurgettables ".    We have friends with a Chihuahua and got them a note pad and pencil with a watercolor painting of a Chihuahua.  Know they will get a kick out of this. The picture of the bag is how they market their dog painting, including "foot print" tissue paper.  I thought this would be a UNIQUE way to USE the letter "U". To see all the UNFORGETTABLE uses of the letter U this week, just click on the ABC Wednesday Badge on my sidebar.

THE LETTER "T" IS FOR TEMPER!       My mother was 5 years old when this children's book was published in 1917.  I don't know if she ever read it.  I found it in a little antique store in Columbia, CA many years ago.  I was fascinated with the illustrations but the story really makes a point! A lesson on holding your TEMPER.     I can't believe I found this book on You Tube.  It worth the few minutes it takes to read it.   To see all the other participants of ABC Wednesday and the Letter "T" just click on the ABC Badge on my sidebar. 

  For the Letter "S" I am sharing some pictures of my Succulent Garden.  I'm not real smart on the details of succulents, but I sure enjoy watching them, grow, bloom and change colors.   My very favorite is in the upper right hand corner.  I call it my "Rock" succulent as that is what it looks like, but every year (and I've had it for over 5) the week of Easter one small blooms comes from the "rock".  It's a reminder that on Resurrection Sunday something wonderful happened and "The Rose of Sharon" (Christ) came out of the rock alive.  It did it again this year, and then a surprise as last Sunday (Pentecost Sunday) another bloom emerged.  I think my Rock Succulent is Spiritual.  HaHa.     I don't know the names of the different varieties I have, but the bottom right corner is almost black, but the flash of the camera gives it a different look.  Do you like succulents? To see all the other participants for ...

  We live less than an hour from the Ronald Regan Library in Simi Valley, CA.  We have visit it a couple times, taking friends who were visiting.  There is way to many pictures to share so I made a couple of collages.  The first one of President Regan and Air Force One, the second of Nancy and the grounds.   The grounds are beautiful, along with all the buildings and artifacts, but this huge portrait of Nancy Regan caught my eye.  It's really quite elegant.  There was also a display of some of the outfits she wore to special events at the White House, and that she wore them more that once to different occasions.  There has been much negative said about Nancy, but that impressed me, since there is so much waste going on in the White House.   If you every get a chance to visit the Library you won't be disappointed. I've deleted by "Other Blog" so my ABC Wednesday, Creative Tuesday and Sky Watch Friday will be on this one....