Charlie's Garden

This secluded spot is a very special garden on my brother's property. You can't see it from the house or the road, but it is at the front of the house, just up a little hill from the morning gazebo. A narrow winding path leads to this quiet place. The statue you see to the left of centre in this pic is actually in the centre of the garden, and the rocks in the bottom right of the pic make a complete circle around her. If you think of the circle of stones as a clock, I am standing at 6 o'clock to take the picture.
In the pic below my brother is standing at 4:30 on the clock, and this is where his dear dog Charlie is buried. 4:30 was Charlie's favorite time of day, and this is his garden, so it just seemed fitting to make that spot his final resting place.
You can read more about Charlie here and see a picture too. He was quite the dog and was VERY loved.

Whole new take on the Family Tree!

As you might be able to tell from this pic of my brother, he has quite the sense of humour. It is a tad quirky at times, and off the wall, but very creative.
As you can see from the picture below and in my other post about our little holiday, he has a fabulous piece of property in the country. The house is nestled in the middle of five acres of trees and wildflowers, and offers beautiful views of these in all directions from large windows and sprawling decks. I was fascinated to discover during this trip that brother dear combined his love of art, his quirky sense of humour and his creative bent to provide us with a whole new take on the Family Tree. He has designated different trees situated around the house for each member of the family. He has reasons for picking each tree and has quite the description of each one and the characteristics they mirror of their namesakes.

Below is a view of my tree from the deck. It is rather tall, fairly straight, and has a bit of a flare. To help you find it in this pic, AC marked it with a small red box. AC's tree is just off to the right of my tree is this pic, but it is hidden from view at this angle. We will go down and take a closer look at both of them.
Here is the closer view. I am on the extreme left and AC is on the far right. He is the large dark tree with the splotch of sunlight on it. You can't see his face too clearly in this pic, but my face is quite clear. The monkey on the bench between us is reading a book of Darwin! Too funny!
Can you see the resemblance now?
AC is making friends with his tree here...
and here. Can you see the likeness now?
I just had to get brother to pose for the pic too. He was quite enjoying showing us his "Family Trees", and we were fascinated to meet them all.
I thought they were great, and look forward to visiting them again soon. I just might bring my book next time and sit beside the monkey for a little chat.

Little Holiday

We packed up the car and headed off to visit my brother and his wife this week. They live in the most beautiful spot in the country, and it is always a delight to spend time with them in this fabulous haven.

Let me take you on a little tour. Below we have the scene that greets us at the end of the winding driveway into the property. Pretty huh?
Just to the left of that parking area is this little nook to enjoy morning shade and cool breezes.
View from the deck...
Lord and Lady of the Manor
Time for a hug for my big brother.
Sisters of the heart. I really love this girl!
In her element. Yes she really makes it look easy when she whips up some pretty fabulous meals...
and she won't let me help at all. I don't mind that one little bit
.Big brother keeps the wine glasses filled and makes fabulous coffee to compliment the delicious meals
AC enjoys the view from the deck...
and the furry kids keep an eye on one and all.
We move from our morning coffee at this end of the deck...
to our after dinner coffee in the covered gazebo at the other end of the deck.
I feel like I am in the lap of luxury when at their house. Thanks guys for treating us royally and making us feel so welcomed and loved.

The tour continues tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Not ready yet...

Smudge loves to come to this park, and spends a lot of time at the top of this slide, but she can't quite work up the courage to go down by herself. She climbs to the top, which isn't easy, and then just stands there peering down the long red tube. Buppa has actually taken her down a few times, but she is not ready to do it herself - yet! One of these days she will take the plunge and wonder what took her so long to step out and enjoy the ride.
In the meantime she is quite happy to play on this teeter-totter as long as Buppa helps out by bouncing the other side.

Chat with Amma

Jboy and Amma had a nice chat at the water park while Mommy and Buppa were busy keeping an eye on sister.
I think he was quite impressed with the fact that he could see himself in my glasses. Even he knows that he is getting cuter every day!

Water Fun - cont'd

While Smudge ran and played in the water, we took turns minding Jboy. Here I am trying to shoo some flies away with my sun hat.
Jboy thought that was great fun. Silly Amma!
Meanwhile, Smudge frolicked happily.


I found it rather amazing that with all the water toys placed around the park, lots of kids gathered at the drain! I guess it was fascinating to watch the water go down the drain.

Water Fun

Amazingly enough we had sunshine the other day, and it was warm enough to go to the water park. Will wonders never cease? We thought it was the perfect day to take Smudge to the Waterpark, so we lathered her up with sunscreen, dressed her in a UV protective swimsuit, topped off the outfit with a UV filtering sunhat, and let her run free at the park. She had a blast...
while little brother looked on.
Mommy took her for a walk along the beach...
and Smudge enjoyed high stepping in the puddles along the shore.
Soon it was time to go up to the play area again and try to take control of one of the water guns.
She lost that battle, so skipped off to play in the puddles again.
Her little feet didn't stop long in one spot, and she was one wet and tired little munchkin when it was time to go home.

Stay tuned for part two tomorrow.

Gangin' Up on Buppa

Oh oh. I think I caught Smudge and Winnie cookin' up a plan to...
gang up on Buppa!
I don't think Buppa minded at all.

Shopping With Smudge

We thought we might take Smudge to the park or maybe the beach today, but storm clouds rolled in and soon put a damper on those plans. So we took her grocery shopping with us and she thought that was pretty wonderful too. While the rain poured down outside she ran up and down the aisles in the store.
Stopping every so often to look at a display,
but was soon off and running again. This picture is rather blurry I know, but life is a blur at times trying to keep up with this little one.
She did stop to say hello to this lawn ornament, pat its nose and give it a hug, but then continued to lead us on a merry chase through the store.
What fun on a rainy afternoon.

Chin Up Amma

At least that is what I think Jboy is saying in this pic. Cute huh?
Or he could be saying, "Goodness, six months old already. Where has the time gone?"

Anywhere, anytime is story time.

Smudge does love reading stories with Buppa. Anywhere, anytime is fine with her. Even if Jboy gets his feet in the way and almost pushes her off the story-time blanket, she can block out the distractions and zero in on the book.
Jboy on the other hand is easily distracted and...
might even be persuaded to have a snooze while big sister enjoys a story in peace.

Ahhhhhh!

This sure doesn't happen very often with Jboy, so AC ran for a camera when the little munchkin fell asleep on Amma's shoulder. Smudge used to do it all the time, but Jboy just wouldn't settle in for a snuggle like Smudge would. I tried the old magic one more time the other day, and it worked.
Oh the pure joy of cuddling a sleeping baby!

After the ice cream

After the ice cream it was time for a game of hop-scotch...
then run as fast as I can and see if Amma or Buppa can keep up!