Thankful Thursday :)

Good Afternoon all :)



I LOVE the idea that we, at least for one day a week, stop and think consciously about what we are Thankful for :)

click on photos to see larger images

Roses at the International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon

I am truly Thankful that we have this beautiful world renowned facility here in P.Town. Even when we were there on Sunday in the pouring rain, the Roses were lovely; brightening our afternoon as the low light and raindrops steadily fell. What is more amazing is that it is free and so is the parking!!! Anytime of the year it is gorgeous and you will always hear many a foreign accent there (apart from mine :)

There are also beautiful views of Downtown and Mountains in the Cascade range, mainly our beloved Mt. Hood.

Twilight over Mt. Hood :)

What are you Grateful for Today???

Hope you all have a wonderful Evening! :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Thankful Thursday :)

Good Afternoon all :)


Again I am joining My Blogger Buddy Annette at So Many Memories blog for "Thankful Thursday".

 I LOVE the idea that we, at least for one day a week, stop and think consciously about what we are Thankful for :)

Foothills Park, Lake Oswego, Oregon.

"Walkway to Water" Ramp leading to dock at Foothills Park, Lake Oswego, Oregon.

I am truly Thankful that we have beautiful parks around us, like this one, to go for walks, to play, see beautiful views and take some time to reflect. :)


Don't forget to pop over and visit Annette at So Many Memories to see what she is Thankful for today :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Day! :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Thankful Thursday :)

Good Morning all :)

My Blogger Buddy Annette at So Many Memories blog has a "Thankful Thursday" post every, well, Thursday and I LOVE the idea that we, at least for one day a week, stop and think consciously about what we are Thankful for :)

So, she will soon be making this a linked up posting and I am very excited about this :)

But I thought I would get on board now and join her today :)

Fall Leaves

This is what I am truly Thankful for; being able to go out and take photographs of these beautiful Fall Leaves :)

Don't forget to pop over and visit Annette at So Many Memories to see what she is Thankful for today :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Day! :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Vacationing in Napa Valley, California! Part One :)

Hi Everyone, I really hope your week is off to a wonderful beginning. :)

I wanted to share a little of the fun we had on our recent vacation to Napa Valley. I Hope you Enjoy it too! :)


I LOVE Napa Valley and of course with every vacation area I fall in love with, I really hope one day I get the opportunity to live there, even for a little while :) (Good luck with that one, says the little crazy guy sitting on my shoulder)  :(

The short flight from Portland to Sacramento is so easy; even the airports were no problem and it was a Friday afternoon. I was so excited. YAY!

I really LOVE taking photos out of the airplane windows with my zoom lens (Hello silly, you know there are double paned windows on this plane and the outside is covered in who knows what, I don't care, it is ZOOM or nothing (He! He!)

Click on photos to see larger images

Our plane coming into land at sunny Sacramento airport :)

Floor to ceiling towers of old cases in the baggage claim area of SAC airport, really cool :)

We rented a car for the next stage of our trip, an hour and a half drive. Once we left the fairly flat terrain surrounding Sacramento we wound our way thru Mountains roads, where we passed lots of cows, beautiful hanging moss, and a couple of gorgeous lakes (Lake Berryessa and Lake Hennessey).

Lovely Hanging Moss

Beautiful Lake Hennessey as the sun is setting :)

Another shot of Lake Hennessey.

With experience we know that as we arrive at Lake Hennessey we are not far from Rutherford and the Silverado Trail that will take us to our favourite place to stay in Napa Valley.

If you ever plan a trip to Napa Valley be sure to stay at The Wine Country Inn

I can't reccommend it highly enough. These people know their stuff and really know how to make you feel like you are on vacation straight away. The Inn is set in a beautiful quiet spot surrounded by lovely gardens, vines (of course, this is Napa :) and gorgeous vistas.

View from our balcony. Where we eat breakfast every morning (provided by the Inn :)

Another view from our balcony.

Courtyard

Patio where we sat most evenings eating the amazing appetizers the Inn provided and sampling the wines from the wineries that are invited in for the guests to enjoy! (a different one every evening) 

And the pool, what can I say about this?!?! It was relaxing, amazing, peaceful and I spent a lot of time here, PERFECT!!!

This guy came to the pool everyday for a chat, very friendly those Californian birds :)

Flowers beneath our balcony.

Ornamental Grass in one of the many garden settings around the Inn

The beautiful Agapanthus plant or Lily of the Nile :)

More lovely flowers from the Wine Country Inn's gardens :)

I was so excited when I saw this blossom :)

We decide to drive around the mountains a little more than we have before, of course Mt. St. Helena

 where the Author Robert Louis Stevenson lived for a while high up in an old mining camp. I am fascinated by the story of his life :)


As we drove around we came across this "Air Mail" box, I just had to share it with you, isn't it a crack up :)

"Air Mail" box :)

Then as we looked back at Mt. St. Helena we saw the beautiful outline of the ridge line against the evening sky, the light was ever changing and I took the next few photos from a couple of locations.

It was absolutely perfect :)

I really hope you enjoyed a little taste of Napa Valley, stay tuned for Part Two (What more????) Yep, wine and some fun restaurants :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

I'm Still Alive and Kicking :)

HI EVERYONE!

I just wanted to pop in to say a quick "Hi" and let you all know I am still alive and kicking (even if a little slow and a little, well, let's not call it lazy, I'd prefer to call it, still on extended vacation brain :)

The Summer was slow to get here and now Fall is with us and I am still trying to get my Spring cleaning done (He! He!)

Oh, well, with all the best intentions in the world to keep up with everything; I have definitely been dragging thru the months. Anyway, I wanted to share this new image with you. If you are like me and are dreading the months of rain to come this glowing image might brighten your day a little :)

I call it "Magical Pumpkins" when I had finished it I just thought of Cinderella (one of my all time favs :) and the Pumpkin being turned in to the coach, "You shall go to the Ball" YAY!! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Evening!

I will be back soon with some photos of our vacation to Napa Valley :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Is it Summer Yet?!?!?!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I know most of North America is sweltering but here in the Pacific Northwest we are still waiting for the Summer to start, we were teased with some unusually nice weather over the 4th July Holiday Weekend and then it has been very gloomy ever since. :(

Anyway before you ask, No, I haven't been in the witness protection programme or travelling the world taking stunning photos (in my dreams :)

What I have been doing is going on a little vaca, where, believe it or not, My Hubby and I ended up having a rather heated argument with some really rude, noisy, inconsiderate neighbouring guests and then the equally rude inconsiderate B. & B. owners and having to move from where we had been staying and looking for somewhere else to stay at Midnight, Oh Joy! Actually, once we had calmed down, it was a much nicer location! Whew! Disaster averted! And no lives were lost, YAY!

As with most Summers, the population of our home rises and falls with the tides. One Son was leaving as the other was returning from college and interim visits from their sister to celebrate B.Day etc., has kept me busy with the very exciting chores of lots of laundry, cleaning and cooking :)

Although, everyone helped with the cooking, so some great family meals with lots of conversations, fun and consumption of wonderful wines made for lovely memories. :)

People refer to us as "Empty Nesters" but I do not see anything empty about this nest, yet! (He! He!)

Anyway, in amongst the fun and games of teaching my Son to cook before he returns to college, of course he has the basics down, like picking up the phone to order pizza or chinese food, making mac and cheese, mash potatoes and walk across the street to the 24 hours Taco Bell (He! He!) I have actually managed to take a few photos, so before I forget and go back into the witness protection programme, I thought you might like to see some of them :)

Click on the photos to see larger images :)

Mauve Rose from my Garden :)

Fuchsias (hanging basket in my garden) SOOC

Birds on a Wire, I have been wanting to take a shot like this for a long time :)

Poppies (SOOC)

Lovely Rose, in my garden (SOOC)

Snowball Bush in my garden :)

Wishes

Fireworks

Swinging At The Fair :)

Snowball Bush, with a little colour change :)

Wisteria in my garden (SOOC)

Aster in my garden (SOOC)

Poppies in Southern Oregon (SOOC)

Peony in my Garden :)

More Birds on Wires as the Sunsets :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful Summer and staying cool :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.