Friend.....or Foe?

I hate dandelions.  I know, I know they are certainly not the biggest problem the world has to deal with.  But I loathe them.  Every year they multiply on our lawn, springing up between the flagstones on the path, competing with my tulips in the flower garden.  I can't poison them....and be known as the shallow, environmental terrorist that just couldn't deal with a little yellow flower on her precious lawn. 

 But, some people do, they have no conscience....and I drive by their luscious, green lawns....and I feel it...lawn envy.  I wish I  didn't know any better, I wish I could "just touch their leaves with a bit o'poison....and say goodbye to my little yellow friends...or that I could think they are beautiful.  My husband says...look at them and pretend they are in a beautiful Monet painting ...when I look at them....I swear they are organizing for an evil uprising..

What do you think?  

The British are coming....er...they're here.

Around 7 years ago my grandmother was reading our local paper when she came across a letter to the editor from a lady in London, England searching for any relatives of Thomas Rice.  My grandmother remembered seeing this name on a gravestone in the cemetery where her parents were buried.  She did a little research and found that he was related to her (us) so she sent a letter back to the lady in England with all the information she could gather and a picture of  the gravestone.

They began a letter writing friendship for the next year or so.  My grandmother was 84 at the time and she became enamored with everything British.  Eventually she invited the lady from England (Jan) and her sister (Gillian) to come to Canada and stay with her.  We thought Gram was crazy and worried a bit about her inviting  two almost strangers to stay with her but she would hear nothing of our concerns.

Jan and Gillian arrived and were perfectly lovely ladies.  We found through a bit of research that we were indeed cousins and a wonderful friendship between our families began.  Since this time they have returned almost yearly and their brother and his wife have come a couple times as well.  Some of our family have been to their home in London....including my grandmother who was 88 at the time.  

Yesterday we picked Jan up at the airport as she had planned a trip for Gram's 91st birthday which would have been on June 1st.  Sadly Gram passed away last weekend so she didn't get the chance to see her "English Lady" one more time.  Gram told us she knew from the letters that Jan would be a nice lady...almost reminds me of how I feel about the people who write the blogs that I read.  I think I would invite any of them into my home....and we would carry on like friends.  I think blogging is like a modern day pen-pal relationship...without the long wait by the mailbox...good thing because I'm kind of impatient.

We said goodbye to a special lady this weekend...........

Here she is with my nephew at his wedding last fall.  Gram would have been 91 this week, in fact we were planning her birthday party when she passed away this weekend.  What a special lady she was...after raising 5 kids (while operating a successful restaurant/cabin business) she found herself divorced at 49 (something not as common in 1969 as it is now).  Around this time she started painting for the first time in her life, turns out she was an artist as well.  She went on to sell hundreds of beautiful paintings and gave drawing/painting lessons until she was 85.  She also re-married a lovely man who was a widower and the two of them traveled all over Canada and the USA with their little travel trailer.  She was the classic grandmother....she thought her grandchildren were perfect (and we didn't have the heart to tell her any different!).  Gram had the best attitude, she loved to travel and go shopping.  She was always up for a road trip, even traveling to England when she was 88.  This weekend was spent sharing a lot of funny stories with my cousins who all came home for the funeral, it was bittersweet for sure.  We went through old pictures, told funny stories, drank some wine  and celebrated a life well-lived....I think Gram would have loved it.

Back to Reality....

We had a great vacation to California....but this week it's like we were never away.   I came back to messages from 4 stores placing their spring pottery orders...and of course they want it ASAP ( which is good because I'm sure the Visa bill from our trip is on its way).  Scott has to work away from his home office this week and next, Cameron is back at university taking a course in intersession and Isaac is back at school getting caught up on the work he missed while we were away.  So, for a change it's just me and this guy alone together all day....

Spring is slowly coming...I found these in the woods by our house....

and these in my flower garden......

the garlic I planted last fall is up in the vegetable garden...

oh...and this guy again....with his prematurely gray face...I wonder if they make "Just for Dogs" hair dye...he's only 7....and I don't think his life is too stressful....

and this is where I'll be spending my days...in the studio....

so many mugs....and bowls....

Look at the boxes of clay beside my pottery wheel....yikes....lots of work to do...

That's it for excitement around here....oh..and did anyone notice that comments you have made on people's blogs are gone....and comments others have made on my posts are gone?  What's up?

Starstruck....

Yeah....that's Hugh Jackman on the left....and our son Cameron on the right.  We were staying in San Francisco at a hotel across from the Curran Theater and Hugh is performing there this week.  Every evening before and after his show he would come out and sign autographs, pose for pictures and talk to people.  

After watching this several times I convinced the boys to go down and get their picture taken with him....Isaac (always the younger brother) decided he would be the picture taker....he is in the next picture with the red and black hockey jacket on.....

I wanted to put the picture on Facebook so my sister-in-law( a big Hugh Jackman fan) could see it...but Cameron said "no Mom, you have to wait a few days....you don't want to look desperate, like that is the most exciting thing that has happened to you "  I said "but that IS the most exciting thing that has happened to me...lately...hell, for a LONG time".

I couldn't believe what a nice guy Hugh  seemed to be (yeah, I just use his first name now...I practically KNOW him).  One lady told him her mother was in the car and wasn't able to walk out to where the line up was and he went with her to the car and shook the mother's hand and posed for a picture.  

I found out that his wife is like 12 years older than him....that kind of endeared him to me too...oh and the Australian accent....I think you get the picture.

Dear Trader Joes....will you please move to Canada

Until today I was a "Trader Joe's" virgin.  I did not know what I was missing.  I have had a love affair with Target for some time now....even though Target is not in Canada either there are Target stores in Maine  which I visit a few times per year.  But there are no Trader Joe's in Maine as far as I know.

Anyway while we are in California I had to find a Trader Joe's.  I left Scott and the boys in the car while I ran in for a quick look around.  It was great, and the prices were unbelievable.  I went back to the car and told Scott he had to come in....he is not a shopper....I had to do a bit of convincing.  I told him there was lots of scotch...for a good price (strangely I didn't have to do much convincing).  The next thing I knew he had a cart...and was  enthusiastically filling it up....he was SHOPPING!   It was a miracle.

Now what to do with a huge bag of turkey jerky,  microbrewery beer, smoked gouda, etc, etc.   

California!

Wow, California is beautiful!  We are only on our second day here and have seen so much.  Death Valley was awesome with beautiful cactus blooming like this.....

The drive to Artist's Palate was breathtaking......

We stopped at Furnace Creek for a picnic lunch and had this visitor.....

I thought at first it was a dog...but...it was a coyote.  He stared longingly at my sandwich but I wouldn't share...so he moved on

.  

Cameron and Isaac both bought these retro aviator sunglasses for the trip, every time I look at them I crack up, they remind me of Crockett and Tubbs from "Miami Vice".

We left Death Vally kind of late in the day and made this crazy drive to Lone Pine, in the dark, on this twisty deserted road up a mountain pass with switchbacks...and no cell service.  I was sure we would plunge off a cliff, never to be seen again...which caused the men in my life to roll their eyes and call me a drama queen.  It was dark when we got to our hotel so in the morning when we stepped out of our room this was our view....Mt. Whitney.....gorgeous

This morning we drove around Lone Pine then made our way southwest and saw some amazing scenery on the way.

I snapped this picture below of the boys after I was told "Mom, we are not posing for any pictures...and don't even think of getting us to sit on one of those rocks together"...ah teenagers.  

Scott is being his regular patient self driving up and down twisty, mountain roads while the teenage sons in the back tell him to take the turns faster...and I tell him to slow down so we don't all plunge off the mountain, it's a wonder he doesn't leave us all on the roadside.