SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 9.30.12

check out AVILA VALLEY "BARN" here

Missed last week's SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY...

This week's words are:

YELLOW, GETTING READY, BRIGHT,

TEENY-TINY & CONNECTIONS.

Seaport Village, San Diego

I attended a two-day conference in San Diego this past week. Fabulous places to walk in the evening! The YELLOW cast on the horse & carriage was from the "glow" of the overhead lamps that dotted the path.

the "Barn"

Stopped by the "Barn" to purchase apples for the trip to San Diego. These pumpkins were labeled with their price per pound - GETTING READY for a busy weekend of pumpkin sales.

the "Barn"

Besides selling pumpkins & locally grown produce, the "Barn" also has a fabulous gift section. These BRIGHT colors are sure to chase the morning fog away!

San Diego 

From my hotel room, I could see the San Diego Padre's stadium, PETCO PARK, the bay, the rail system & the San Diego Convention Center... the orange umbrellas & tables looked TEENY TINY from my 21st floor room.

Avila Valley "Barn"

In the Fall, Avila Valley "Barn" has hayrides, animals (with roosters strutting loose throughout the grounds), a hay bale maze & picnic tables to enjoy ice creams (they make their own), pastries from their bakery, or to sit & relax. One of the picnic tables had this tic-tac-toe game. Just one more way to make a CONNECTION with your family!

All pictures taken (this week) with my Canon S100.

Next week's words are: SHADOW, KEYS, SMILE, UNEDITED & SPICE.

To see this week's "hunters" check Ashley's blog, Rambling & Photos.

CUTIE.... PATOOTIE...

AUTUMN COOKING...

CAKE LOVE ~ author, Warren Brown
{cookbook was gift from ACE on JPE's 60th Bday}

STARTER SCONES

{recipe on pg 108}

2 cups of flour

1/2 c turbinado sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter (very cold)

up to 1 cup heavy cream

1 egg

dash, splash vanilla extract

sea salt (for sprinkling)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment or a silicon mat.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder & salts. Whisk for 10 seconds and set aside.

3. Cut butter into small pieces, then cut into flour using your fingers or a fork. Once the butter & flour clump together when pinched, slowly add the cream (little at a time) while turning the dough. Stop when the dough easily forms a ball (you may not need to use all the cream).

4. The dough should feel light and barely moist. Place a handful on a lightly floured surface & shape into a 4-inch square, about 3/4 inch thick.

5. Cut square from corner to corner twice to make four triangles. Repeat with the remaining dough.

6. Mix the egg & vanilla together in a small bowl. Use a pastry brush to a dab the tops & sides.

7. Place scones on the prepared baking sheet sprinkle & the top with sugar & a tiny pinch of sea salt.

8. Bake about 15 minutes. Cool on racks for 5 minutes before serving.

PLAIN SCONE

Note: the author suggests you make this recipe several times until you get a feel for how the dough comes together. Then give it your own "spin"... by adding up to 1/2 c of dried fruits or nuts, or 1-2 tsp of freshly cut herbs.

JPE also made a crock pot of soup...

Using red lentils, fresh sweet potatoes, onions, celery, red peppers... Looks like 

AUTUMN, huh?

This has AUTUMN colors also...

There were several jars worthy of a science experiment.

OOPS!! We also cleaned out the fridge...

Missed SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY!

bummer!

will try to add them later
(but would be post dated).

INTERRUPTING...

trees along James Way

Today is the Autumnal Equinox... 

or the official start of autumn

{although JPE doesn't like losing those daylight hours}

AH... COFFEE...

STOP!!!

WHAT'S THAT??
Glancing out of the corner of my eye...
I thought I saw my neighbor's cat, Peanut!!!

I almost dropped my coffee cup!
A tiny possum was walking near my feet...

Snapped a few pictures while he hid from view!

What a surprise??!!
Do you think his/her appearance is a
S-I-G-N?

FIND YOUR DECORATING STYLE...

picture found here

One of my favorite blog, HOW ABOUT ORANGE, posted this SURVEY. With the Fall weather coming, I have an urge to deep clean for the holidays, declutter, rearrange furniture & tidy our living spaces.

It's been seven years since I've painted the condo (but, during that lapse, I did paint the interiors of ACE'S apartment & SLE'S condo)... so, I'm getting that "glazed look" when I pass the paint chip section at Orchard, Lowe's, Home Depot & Miner's ACE Hardware stores.

Never one to pass up a SURVEY, I played along...

I'm NEW COUNTRY.

(honestly, I tried tweaking my photo choices,

but this came up repeatedly)

I longed to be TRAVELER...

BUT those bright colors aren't part of my palette...

When JPE & I married, we blended Beachy-Cottage & Earthy-Mediterranean furnishings. Over the years, we've discarded (ummm... put into storage!) various pieces of furniture, paintings and home decor items... I feel we're ready for some changes... JPE encourages me to "do my thing" whether it be blogging, photography, book-making, reorganizing, etc... but the project I'm thinking of will require some upheaval for about a month. So... when to do that? I'm developing a time-line (urgghh... that organization "gene" is surfacing).

I'll keep you in the loop. But, I'm not one to share before & after pics... I don't want the embarrassment of previous decorating styles to come back & haunt me (ha!)... and it won't include structural changes... but paint, new flooring upstairs... AND most importantly, getting rid of this...

YEP - "cottage cheese" ceilings. When I bought my condo (summer of '99), I didn't think I had the money to hire someone to "scrape" the ceilings. I've kicked myself over that decision since... 1999! But, my dad & I were busy sanding, scraping, cleaning, tossing curtain rods & a broken trash compacter, patching holes, etc to look UP & consider another project. The ceilings were painted & actually are in great shape (not dried out, nor crumbing down on us) but I HATE the look.

So, I'm mapping a plan... trying to develop a timeline... & cost out the projects on my list...

I'd love to know about your style...

Visit HomeGoods-Stylescope - then -

leave me a message about your STYLE!!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 9.16.12

I had a lot of help with

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

this weekend!!

Both daughters & my mom

{as well as Lola}

participated in the hunt.

Here's our documentation for this week's words: 

KISS, ASKEW, FRAGRANT, SIMPLE, PLANT

Yesterday at Target, Allie found this hat! she's planning to wear it during story-time in her kindergarten class. She tried it on for Lola... which created lots of excitement... Lola just couldn't figure out what was on Allie's head! her initial reaction was puzzlement, followed by curiosity, excitement, and then KISSES!

ASKEW is brought to you by Stephanie (SLE) & Lola. Stephanie volunteered to have me take a picture of her eyebrow... which was ASKEW. And, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to share Lola's tail... which has a funny little kink in it! Yes, she's a Boston Terrier - No, her breeder didn't clip her tail... she was born with her tail ASKEW.

The four of us are NOT shoppers! but, yesterday, after brunch at HOBEE'S RESTAURANT, Allie needed to return something at Target... one thing lead to another & we found ourselves browsing the clothes ranks... our shopping expedition expanded to the shops on Castro St in Mountain View. Stephanie bought this wonderful, lightly scented FRAGRANCE at East-West Bookstore.

THERAPY, another store, has a lot of unusual items... Allie thought this picture would meet the qualifications for the word, PLANT. The caption on the right hand page reads, "Please stop buying my friends if you are just going to slowly kill them." The girls know I don't have the best luck keeping indoor plants alive!!!

To share the diversity of the items found at THERAPY, here are some birdcages. Not your average, SIMPLE birdcage... but, something SIMPLY adorable... anything but ordinary!

We had a blast visiting! I dropped Stephanie at the San Francisco Airport at 7am this morning... she's heading back to Washington DC. Later today, Mom & I will drive back to Arroyo Grande. 

Next week's words for SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY are:

CRACKED, FALLEN, ORDINARY COLOR, BOKEH & FENCE.

DISCOVERING NEW LANDS!

Pismo Beach staircase

Mom arrived on Amtrak, Thursday evening. 

We took off for Sunnyvale to visit with the "girls"

yesterday after work!

SLE flew out to San Francisco (last week) to work

on a fundraising project. 

Staying at Allie's (ACE) place in Sunnyvale.

Haven't all been together since last December!!!

GIRL-TIME!!!

NATURE'S WEALTH...

PLAYING BY THE RULES!

OUR LOVE-LY RASPBERRIES... NOT YET RIPE!

EVENTUALLY, TURNING BRILLANT SHADES OF RED,
BURGUNDY & PURPLE-RED...

ONLY TO BE SNATCHED...
BEFORE WE CAN PICK SOME FOR OUR BREAKFAST!

SOMEONE ISN'T PLAYING BY THE RULES...

WE'RE WILLING TO SHARE...
JUST LEAVE A FEW BERRIES FOR US... NOT JUST A FEW DRUPELETS.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 9.9.12

Check out the SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY links at Rambling & Photos.

Words this week are... 
MONOCHROMATIC, STARTS WITH THE LETTER..., UPSIDE DOWN, 
HAIR & SOFT.

MONOCHROMATIC

Samples of fabrics for some pillows!
The lighter background fabrics
will break up the
MONOCHROMATIC shades of the green.

STARTS WITH THE LETTER.... D 

Thinking about DAD... 
which STARTS WITH THE LETTER.... D.

UPSIDE DOWN 

Captured this spider - UPSIDE DOWN.

HAIR

Stopped by Avila Barn for some apples...

Check out the HAIR on this guy.

SOFT

This Peruvian flute was made with tree branches,

twine & decorated with some red dipped straw.

Believe me - the straw is SOFT to the touch.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY
is open to any blogger or person who has a Flickr or photo account
that can be shared & linked to Ashley's blog.
Get your camera out & plan to participate.

To give you a head start... the words are:
KISS, ASKEW, FRAGRANT, SIMPLE & PLANT

SIMPLE-NESS OF A SATURDAY...

last bouquet of sweetpeas...

raspberries from the garden...

froggy friend - hiding on the hose...

TIME TO PLAY...

Amazon River, Peru ~ July 2012
"PLAY
has been man's
most useful preoccupation."
~ Frank Caplan

Do you have time set aside
to PLAY
this weekend?

POLLY WANTS A CRACKER?

Monkey Island, Amazon, Peru ~ July 2012

PHOTO-HEART CONNECTION-AUGUST 2012

LYDIA - PISMO BEACH, CA 

PURE JOY!!!
Lydia's excitement is bubbling over...
she had just turned around to tell us "our" water was colder
than the water in Santa Monica.

Our CAMPING TRIP in Pismo Beach was
PURE JOY!!!

PICKING WILD BOYSENBERRIES was
PURE JOY!!! 

RIDING her BIKE on the Bob Jones Trail was
PURE JOY!!!

Nine-year old humor is
PURE JOY!!!

TEASING GRANDPA @ DINNER

It wasn't difficult to look through my August photos for a time
that spoke to my HEART.

Pictures tell the story!!

Kat Sloma @ Kat Eye Studio
hosts this monthly photo challenge - the guidelines
are listed HERE!

Oh... I'm supposed to comment on what I learned...
I've discovered, I CAN take pictures of kids, pets & other moving objects.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 9.2.12

 SHS - all pics taken 9.2.12

Checking in with my choices for SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY.

The words are:  

CANDID, TOYS, ANY OF THE SENSES, BATTERIES & HALF.

I limited myself to 30 minutes for this week's hunt.... it's overcast (foggy) this morning, so I had crummy light.... the pictures have been staged!! (I'll bet I'm NOT the only SHS participant who "stages" their findings?)

CANDID

JPE's Buddha was not cooperating this morning. I couldn't get her attention, so I snapped this CANDID shot of her. 

TOYS

When I came downstairs this morning, there was a strong fragrance... a fruity smell?? The nectarines were ripe... AND the "bouncy-ball" (as Lydia calls this TOY) was in the fruit dish. The gal that cleans our house must have put it there!!! (yes, I'm one of those lucky working women that has some help...  since JPE is working 3/4 time, we've cut our cleaning to every other week). BTW - This is the only picture that wasn't staged.

ANY OF THE SENSES

Breakfast this morning! UMMMM.... See Canyon Apples... with a smear of peanut butter... a Laughing Cow cheese... and some grapes. Eating uses all the SENSES! vision, hearing, smell, taste & touch. Think about it... am I correct?

BATTERIES

I needed a strong cup of coffee to get my BATTERIES going this morning. JPE's off backpacking in the back-country with some former students... I had to make my own pot of coffee!

HALF

This gourd has two different designs... HALF has stars & the other HALF has snowflakes. I purchased this Christmas ornament at the National Museum of the American Indian Museum in Washington DC. If you get a chance to visit the Smithsonian Museums, don't miss it! It's often overlooked due to the popularity of the other museums - most people spend their time at the American History Museum and the Air & Space Museum...

BTW - even if you don't spend time at the NMAI, make sure you eat in the Mitsitam Cafe!!! Mom & I spent several days exploring the museums & we planned our day to include meals there... just so we could sample more Native American foods.

Hope you enjoyed the pics from my 30 minute hunt!

Next week's words are: MONOCHROMATIC, STARTS WITH THE LETTER..., UPSIDE DOWN, HAIR & SOFT.

Don't forget - anyone can participate in SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY. Look for pictures of the five words for next week, then visit Ashley's blog to post them. You should check out the picture Ashley posted for CANDID - it's a crack-up!