Fun company and new adventures

  Sure was fun to have a boy (Emerson) visiting us that wanted to play with the Harry Potter legos. Legos- we have multiple bins in our garage. That is what happens when you have boys and I see no sense in getting rid of them- we paid a small fortune for them over the years!  They did provide hours of entertainment for our boys and our puppy at the time who chewed on them midst shrieks of, " No Heather! Bad dog!". Perhaps Legos are the reason Tristan became an Architect.
    We had this family from Wisconsin stay with us two nights. We were very glad that they made us a part of their CA trip. They came Sunday night after a very long day which included a missed flight. They traveled from Milwaukee to Detroit to Salt Lake City and finally to San Diego. Murray came to the Milwaukee area to go to college so we have known him since he was barely growing whiskers! Charla came into our lives via her marriage to Murray.
   Monday it was off to the beach in Oceanside for us and poor Dave had to work:(

Emerson, Murray, and Elliot with their creation which included a farm field. 

The boys even played in the waves- pretty much Lake Michigan temperature in May!

Monday night was dinner out at La Caseta in Fallbrook.  Then a stop at FroYo.

Hmmm….. what flavor to choose….

Emerson looks like he was playing "Chubby Bunnies" !!

I have an addiction….

Star Jasmine

   Oh don't think I didn't see how fast you clicked on this blog post when you saw the title! No I am not confessing some horrible long kept secret. Now that I live in this wonderful Mediterranean climate I realize how much I love to plant and nurture. After living in Wisconsin which has about a 172 day growing season ( if we were lucky), this new climate astounds me! We have about a 300 day long growing season. And the options of what I can plant are almost unlimited. And thus began the ADDICTION.
    For example, today I very innocently went to the dump with a load of cardboard ( from 3 new toilets and a patio couch). Well, my car just drove me right over to the local hardware store that has a very nice lawn and garden center. There is also a very patient woman who works there named "Kathy". She has answered a myriad of questions from me as I tried to learn this new climate. Immediately upon entering the garden area I smelled jasmine. I have been enjoying the smell of that Star Jasmine on my walks ( see previous post). Well once I smelled I had to touch and then I had to buy! It needed a good home with someone who would nurture and love it. I will keep in on the patio to enjoy until it is done blooming for the year ( spring bloomer) and then plant it on our fence where it can spread itself out and intertwine happily on the fence rails. Right now I am sitting in the house quite aways from the front door and I can still smell the fragrance.
   Well then I saw some sweet little tomato plants that I assume will grow and produce many sweet cherry tomatoes for my enjoyment. And I already had pots for them at home so it was a perfect match!

 

My back patio garden- Gerbera daisies that survived the winter,  a succulent garden which was a gift from a beloved cousin, and a yellow mum- a bday present from that family with the 4 adorable blond children.

Parsley and basil flanked by the tomato plants

This is the Fruit Salad tree we were given by our Sunday morning meeting when my Mom died last May. It  has multiple different color and type of blooms since it will bear different fruits. Plum,apricot,nectarine and 2 types of peaches. 

And here is one of the reasons I bought those plants. Our house has 3 brand new toilets that  flush very well. 

And my new couch for the patio. For when I need a nap and just want to be LAZY!

Come walk with me!

Doesn't this look inviting? It is probably only 74 degrees or so- not quite pool weather.

    This blog post is dedicated to my friends who like to walk. For those who live back"east" where I migrated from, this is for you since we can't walk together. Linda D. and Lisi would love this walk! So today you are "walking " with me….. This is my usual walk when I am not on a mountain hike, a coastal stroll, or my Thursday AM walk/Starbucks stop. Slather on your sunscreen, put on your hat, grab your sunglasses, and your water.

We pass many citrus trees.

Luscious avocados.

Oh my! What is that sweet fragrance? Jasmine- can smell that long before you see it.

Not so pretty in my eyes anyway.

Roses

Even the mailboxes wear flowers.

And the fire hydrants also. African daisies.

Blindingly bright mounds of ice plant.

By the way you climbed a lengthy hill and this is looking back at the mountains/ high hills in the distance.  

Geraniums gone wild!

Lots of Birds of Paradise

Another well dressed mailbox.

You are sweating by now because you just hiked up this massive hill. There are no flat walks in Fallbrook!

Time to plant. Although you should have planted your cold weather vegetables back in Nov/Dec I believe.

The weather on your walk. It feels like about 80 by now because the sun is so intense.

One of the multitude of nurseries in Fallbrook. Maybe you will see these flowers in YOUR Stein's or Home Depot.

Heading home.

If you look really intently you can see a snow capped mountain just left of center.

This is so nice having you walk with me.

I have several friends like this that bark until I tell them they are, "A good boy". Then they look confused about whether they know me.

Not sure what this is but smell that fragrance!

And this…. not a usual sight in our neighborhood. We purchased a mattress at a very nice discount and it included removing our old set. Well imagine my surprise when I saw our set dumped about a block from our house! I promptly called the store and demanded that they come remove it or I was reporting them!

Wisteria

Some kind of yellow shrub rose with sea lavender.

A yard full of ganzias

Back home.

Come sit with me on the patio and have a cold drink.

Thanks for walking with me and I look forward to your visit!

Aloha from Maui

From our balcony

Aloha from Maui- our third and final island. We arrived at our beautiful resort just before sunset. It was the Makena Beach and Golf Resort on the southwest portion of the coast. A gorgeous location away from the hustle and bustle. This is the view from our balcony and my stylish shell lei presented to us at check in. Very fancy resort in a perfect location!

We had done a lot of driving around on the last 2 islands so we stayed at our resort the first day and relaxed on the beach.

Our beach- Turtle Bay- great snorkeling right from the beach.

I saw my first turtle while snorkeling! He/she looked just like this.

Our future home just up the coast from the resort.

Or maybe we will just build our dream home!

Nice pink iphone Dave! Talking to one of our boys.

We decided we needed a few photos ( I decided since Dave really doesn't care about such things) in something other than hiking clothes with baseball caps and sunglasses! This was the night of my birthday. Dave treated me to a delicious seafood buffet at our resort. I would have photos but some person forbid me…. It was photo worthy-even had an ice sculpture. 

Never can have too many sunset pics! Right from our beach.

Awwww….. still together after soooo many years!

Our resort

Plumeria

Dorsal fin

   After watching the North Pacific Humpback Whales from our beach, we decided we needed to see them up close. Our first plan was to rent a 2-person sea kayak. So we arranged it for 6:45 am on Sat so the ocean would be calmer. Well it was very rough and they didn't recommend going out since we weren't experienced. Change of plans- we booked a 2 hour whale watching cruise out of Wa'alaea Harbor. At only $30 pp it was a great value! We started seeing whales right away in the bay. There were multiple mom/baby sets. Very fun to watch the babies show off their skills!

A nice head lunge

The boats try to stay 100 yards away from the whales but this whale swam under our boat twice! This is looking right off the boat down through the water. Now if we had been in a kayak it would have been really exciting!

Nice fluke

and again….

Sunday we checked out of our resort and had the privilege of special meeting.  Saw some people we knew from WI and MN. Then we explored until time to go to the airport. Iao Valley and this is the Iao Needle

Then on to the scenic town of Pa'ia.

Ho'okipa Beach- known for perfect kite surfing conditions. They were really zipping along!

Our lunch/supper place- one more round of seafood

Fence of surfboards

Close up of the flowers at the restaurant.

Our last drive was along a high winding road with single lane stretches and no guard rails!  Beautiful views though.
Then on to the airport to take the red eye home. Mahalo for reading my travelogue!