Progress!

I have not had much time to stitch lately but wanted to share my progress.  I am coming close to the end.  This is a fun piece to stitch.  I have some ornaments to stitch that are calling my name from my stitchy stash. 

 

Today was a really good day.  My sweetheart took me out for breakfast at our favorite breakfast place.   It was nice to sit, chat and relax.  Recently he bought me a really cool vertical planter for herbs, so afterwards we went to Costco to get huge bags of soil.  This planter has several levels.  I love cooking with fresh herbs, and I was able to plant whole seed packets in the planter.  It is really cool to garden this way.

 

Last year Bill built a huge raised bed for growing veggies.  We have a gorgeous selection of lettuces and spinach right now.  Lettuce you have grown from seed is especially delicious.  It really is fun to grow your own food, and I think it tastes even better than store bought.  I may have to research some delicious salad dressings to serve on top. 

 

So now it is a quiet evening.  Liesl is cuddled up to her daddy, sleeping.  I am thinking about the week ahead.  I am also thinking about what a beautiful weekend this has been.  Sometimes you get to have a weekend that almost feels like a mini vacation.  I am so grateful that this was the case this weekend.  What a blessing.

 

 

 

 

Catching Up!

Well, this has been quite a week!  This has been a busy few weeks at work.  I really love my job, so it has been good to get things accomplished during this season.  Bill had to travel to a medical conference last weekend, and I had to travel for my job on Monday.  So we have been on the move.  Fortunately, we had a big date night planned for Wednesday.  Garrison Keillor was appearing in Santa Cruz.  We bought our tickets months ago so we got really close seats.  I love Garrison Keillor!  Bill had not seen him live before.  As a side note, Bill has a good sense of humor, but does not really laugh, per se.  He sort of chuckles when something is funny.  For the first time ever, I got to see him repeatedly crack up.  I have never seen him laugh that hard.  It was truly a gift.  Garrison was brilliant.  He is such an artist and for two hours we got to put aside everything except being in the moment.  If you ever get the chance to see him live, seize the opportunity!

 

So after a crazy week, we decided to put Liesl in the car, packed her an extra meal and the three of us headed out for adventure.  We drove up to Santa Cruz again.  There is an amazing place in Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley called Love Apple Farms.  April through June,  Love Apple Farms sells over 100 varieties of heirloom tomato plants.  I love home grown tomatoes and usually plant a number of plants.  This place is absolutely awesome.  Here is a link so you can check 'em out: http://www.growbetterveggies.com/growbetterveggies/

 

We bought several plants and tomato growing accoutrements.  On the same site is a lovely store which sells a variety of really lovely and interesting things.  They are called "Ivy's Porch".  They had some beautiful and well priced antiques.  Bill loves table settings and beautiful serving pieces and bought a Chippendale cake server, pie server and a Chippendale dish.  They are so beautiful.  Ivy's Porch sits on land with the most beautiful gardens.  Here are a few photos:

 



 

After this stop we were off to Corralitos Market, which is well known in this area for their amazing meats and sausages.  We did a little shopping and then treated ourselves to a couple of their Cheesy Bavarian sausage sandwiches for lunch.  We had a nice little picnic, then decided it was time to head toward home.  The area that we live in is well known for its agriculture and is referred to as The Salad Bowl of the World.  So there is a lot of great produce readily available.  We stopped at one of the roadside stands and bought really fresh produce for the week.  

 

We had such a fun adventure today and enjoyed just being together, the three of us.  Liesl is always up for adventure and really goes on car trips very well.  We got home this afternoon, whereupon all three of us decided that it was time for a well earned nap.  It has been a great day and we are now looking forward to watching a quiet evening watching a movie.   I feel so blessed for the gift of this day!