Part Two and Some Fun as Well

The final leg of our trip brought us down the coast and an overnight stay at our #4 son and DIL's home.  They are only a couple of hours from us, but it is always nice to be able to spend time with them and the grandchildren at their home.

We all packed up and headed to the local Farmer's Market, did a little shopping and picked up some yummy food for dinner.  We are blessed to have some fabulous fresh Farmer's Markets in our area almost every day of the week since our area is basically an agricultural area. The weather, however,  was cold and we awoke to frost on the rooftops in the morning.  I'm thinking that cannot make the farmers happy.



Globe artichokes.



Lilacs - the smell was to die for!!!!



A variety of fresh goodies.  I loved the golden beets.



Buckets of Calla Lilies.



Nothing like a fresh strawberry!



Aren't these colors great together?  A quilt idea?????

Our glass elevator attendant!

Never one to sit with idle hands while driving, I had many small projects that I had packed for the trip.  I made several hats for the grandchildren, finished my Birdie Stitches block and did some tatting.

Of course the first few days back home is filled with catching up on mail and laundry.  Can someone tell me how does a house get dusty when no one is even living in it!!!

While we were away some wonderful packages arrived in the mail for me so coming home was just like Christmas.  I had won several giveaways in March and they made their way to my house. 

First was a "everything green" giveaway from Maggie.  It was just packed full of wonderful "green" goodies including a beautiful hand quilted tote.

An inspirational Art Quilt book arrived from Sherri.

A lovely fall book and fabrics came from Vicki.

As well I received some fabulous cards from Tracey.  Tracey makes her cards from her photos that she takes around her farm in Australia.  I love how she places her quilts on her animals for the photos.

My Civil War blocks that I missed while I was away gave me hair pulling issues.  If there was a way to do a seam wrong, I found it.  I took so many stitches out that I almost threw them all away.  In the end I figured I could live with my Little Blue Basket having tan bases instead of blue.  Grrr.

This week's White House block gave me no problems.  Thank goodness!!!

I really love scrap quilts and have started a Spiderweb quilt.   Thanks to Wanda for some fabulous scraps (her quilts are to die for) and some fat quarters from Marilyn, my quilt is growing by the day.

One wonderful thing about returning home is to see how much the garden has grown.  Everything is really blooming out and the warmer temperatures are appreciated by us and the flowers.



This orchid merely had buds when we left.  We came home to this lovely showing.



My new iris garden is popping out all over.



As well, the roses are putting forth their first big flush of color.

I love the lavender.

It is a beautiful weekend in the neighborhood and the kids and grands will all be coming for a BBQ to celebrate the April birthdays.

On into April...

It seems mazing to me that we are getting ready to close the books on March.  In a blink of an eye the month is gone these days.  We came in like a lamb and will go out like a lion with a new storm heading to the West coast bringing more rain and wind.  The month has been glorious so far so you will not hear me complain.  Plus, I believe that Easter Sunday will be beautiful.

I had my doors and windows open yesterday and had an interesting experience.  A hummingbird flew right into the house.  Hello???  There was no way of getting this little guy out as he immediately flew to the top of the skylight.  I had to wait him out and he eventually just tired out and landed on the floor.  I was able to go over, pick him up and carry him outside.  I was worried that he was not going to be okay as he was so still and gave me no fight.  As soon as I placed him in a pot he flew away and landed in a high tree.  Guess he was no worse for the experience.

Spring has definitely been gorgeous so far.  The hills remain green from all the rain and the wildflowers have been abundant.  This past weekend we took off for a few days on a scenic drive to look at all of their blooming.  The rolling hills are covered with the California poppies, lupine, witches broom and many more.  It almost appears as though they are painted by the Master for our enjoyment.  It was breathtaking!  Photos would not do the landscape any justice, but you can catch a glimpse of what we enjoyed.

Do you think this guy knows it is April and there are months before Thanksgiving dinner?

We stayed for a couple of days at one of our favorite spots - Pismo Beach.  It is a great location and is close to where our #4 son and his family live as well as my brother and SIL.  We had a chance to get together with both so it was a great weekend.  The weather was beautiful with temperatures near 80* and sunny the whole time.

This is the time of the year where we can often see whales migrating north, but we were not so lucky this time.  We did see lots of dolfins playing and pelicans diving for food.  They are not quite the same, but delightful all the same.

Sunrise...

Sunset.....

Look at how deserted this gorgeous beach was.  With temperatures so warm and spring break going on I would have imagined it to be packed.

Pismo is near the college town of San Luis Obispo, a charming town.  We went for lunch there and I have to share a picture of their gum wall.  It is actually an alley and both sides are covered with chewed gum.  Can I say YUK????   I can't say that I see "art" in it as most people do.

A funny story took place outside of our balcony that I have to share.  There was a family with a little guy and a very LARGE dog.  Daddy took the little guy down to play with his new ball.  He was soooo excited....so was the dog with a very LARGE mouth.

Happy and excited little boy!!!!

What happened to that bouncing ball???  One bite is all it took.

There was not a lot of sewing going on here this week with being gone, but I did manage to finish my block for the Jelly Roll Quilt Along.  The colors should be perfect for fall when the last of the blocks are finished.

Two of the granddaughters will be here sewing their Easter dresses this week.  We went to the fabric store and selected the fabrics and notions so they are set to sew on Thursday.  I am looking forward to the day.

The tortoises are all out and wandering about the yard now.  The children love to feed them when they are here.

Taking time to smell the blossoms while picking the "orange balls".

We all need to take time to smell the flowers.  I hope everyone gets a chance to this week.

Happy Easter to all!