I Love Mondays! And Blogging Buddies!

I'll bet you don't hear that often (the Monday part)! I'm a person who needs solitude on occasion, and Monday is my "all alone" day. It was a sunny day most of the time, I got a lot done, and enjoyed some reading on the patio.

I finished Jennifer Chiaverini's latest book today, Aloha Quilt. It takes place on Maui, and I have to say, I've been homesick for Hawaii all day! Jennifer includes a lot of history in most of her books, and this one was no exception. I learned a lot about Hawaii that I don't think too many of us know. I Googled some of the things she wrote about and now want to spend time reading more.

I had such a nice surprise on Saturday. One of my blog friends, Sharon from California Breeze, came to Colorado to visit her brother and his family. She called me Saturday morning to chat, and said it would be fun if we could get together, but they were heading in the opposite direction for a day of sight-seeing. About 3:00 she called again - her nieces decided she needed to meet her blogging buddy and they love to drive - so they hopped back in the car and headed north. They picked up pizza and arrived at my place around 6:00.

We had such a nice visit - Sharon is one of those cyber friends that I met when I first started blogging - we had a common life situation that brought us together and we've kept in touch by e-mail as well as blogging. She said when she drove down the culdesac, she knew immediately which house was mine, based on pictures I've posted. She enjoyed checking out my back yard as well.




The girls spend Saturday nights with us, so they were here for the fun. They had a great time entertaining Sharon with songs and games. Sharon enjoyed reading to the big girls before they went to bed. They want her and her nieces to come back again soon to play some more. (The twins are noticeably absent - they were in bed early because of their new favorite words - "No Nap!" They resist sleeping in the daytime with all their little spirits no matter how long we leave them in their beds - thus, early bedtime!)




The quiz meet finally took place this week-end in Colorado Springs. The kids left Friday right after school, stayed in a nice hotel, swam in the pool, worked hard at the meet, ate at a fun restaurant on the way home, and arrived home around 5:00 Saturday afternoon. Care Bear is very proud of her bronze trophy --






Earlier on Saturday, we had a wedding at our church - the couple is in their 80s. What fun! The flavor was western - the groom wore a black cowboy hat and the bride wore a beautiful western-styled ensemble. I wish them all the happiness possible!






The flowers in our yard are out in profusion - they have really loved the wet weather we've had lately, even if we humans haven't. We're due for more of the wet stuff again later this week - just in time for our visit from our Cambodian friends - they're coming Friday through Monday. What fun!

I know I post way too many flower pictures, but I just can't resist. I love the traditional daffodils, but I really love the different varieties --

Which one do you like the best?


Then there are the primrose showing their smiling faces --

Last year I gave DC a variety of bulbs for his birthday - I didn't think they were going to make a showing this year after all, but suddenly they are everywhere - They are literally bouncing in the breeze - the sun shining through them is luminiscent.














When these are all gone, we're planning to put in lots of impatiens - we have so much shade that we have to put in something that can grow in the lovely shade.

Next up - hopefully all those iris we transplanted last year from my friend, the Iris Lady.

Have a great week!