American Harvest

We are certain that everyone loves their hometown, their city, and their favorite destination.  But San Francisco is different than any other place on earth.  Wherever you go in the City By The Bay, the vistas are breathtaking, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the San Francisco Bay to the East, the Marin coastline to the north and the beautiful peninsula to the south.  The food is incredible, beginning with San Francisco’s sour dough bread.  Here are just a few glimpses of this magnificent city.  Many of the photos were taken by my sister, Suzanne, when she and Terry (my favorite brother-in-law) attended the Black and White Ball.  WARNING:  viewing the following photos may cause you to break out in song, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”.

Here is one of the venues of the Black and White Ball before things got started.

There is no other bridge in the world like the Golden Gate Bridge, the view is from San Francisco looking toward to Marin County.

The Transamerica Pyramid building makes San Francisco’s skyline one of the most recognizable skylines in the world.

It seems that Coit Tower stands proudly above the City from almost any vantage point.

San Francisco’s China Town has fabulous restaurants.  This is Debbee Thibault’s favorite!

We try to go here when Debbee visits us.

SF’s Playland was torn down years ago, unfortunately.  But many of the items from Playland can now be found at the Musee Mechanical on Fisherman’s Wharf.  This is Laughing Sal, who greets visitors with a very loud and sometimes frightening laugh.

Here is another view of the beautiful Coit Tower.  When visiting SF, you should go inside the tower to see the magnificent murals.

This is Lombard Street, the “Crookedest Street in the World”.

A view of the San Francisco Bay Bridge looking toward the Oakland Hills.

Alcatraz Island is a great place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there!  It is a fun excursion, but seriously cold out there on the bay.

Christopher Columbus looks out to the Golden Gate.

Known for its hills, San Francisco is beautiful from every angle.

I think that the building in this shot is Mission Delores.  Please correct me if I am wrong.

Here is the perfectly manicured gardens in Golden Gate Park between the Aquarium and the DeYoung Museum.

To the west lies the beautiful blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Are you still singing?…..”when I come home to you, San Francisco…”

I decided about two weeks ago to blog about decorating with statuary and yard art. Then, I opened my copy of Today’s Vintage and read an interesting article on the same topic. So instead of writing my own copy, please take a look at the article in Today’s Vintage magazine.  Pictured above is a fountain which is one of our favorite items in our yard, because it belonged to Rodger’s aunt and uncle.  His aunt and uncle loved to garden.  This was one of the first items that they bought for their yard back in the 1940′s.

Here are pictures of some of my favorite items in my own garden as well as my sons’ yards.

A beautiful coleus was planted in a vintage European planter with a statue of a little boy holding a fish.  This is on my front porch.

Jeremy hung two old windows on either side of a vintage screen door.  The garage wall was a blank canvas for yard art!

An outside room between the garage and house is decorated with bright, fun items.  Jeremy and Amy love Disneyland too, so they framed and hung posters of Disneyland attractions on the walls.  A wire basket of vintage billiard balls sits on the Dr. Pepper patio set.  This is a great ‘room’ for entertaining his high school cross country team.

Noel and Sarah placed a love seat on their backyard patio.  It is a perfect spot for relaxing after dinner.

Every yard should have a water feature.  Ringo loves to drink out of the fountain.

Rodger is crazy for these vintage garden gnomes.  He even has gotten our sons hooked on them.

An old metal headboard serves as a trellis for pole beans and basil.

A new gazing ball adds color and sparkle to our yard.  Gazing balls were particularly popular during the Victorian period.

We just purchased this “stone” bench for our backyard.  It is five feet long and curved.  Rodger needs to get some ground cover planted around it now!

I will post more yard pictures soon if you are interested.  Please leave a comment!

Well, you guys were not very successful in answering these 10 simple questions.   Simple I say, but Sharon disagrees….not all were so simple.

#1.  This is in the queue for the ride Indiana Jones Adventure.

#2.  Reconstruction is what’s going on in the Rivers of America at Disneyland.

#3.  On the left is Cruella de Ville, on the right is Sharon…please do not mistake them for each other!

#4.  I am looking at the pond between Frontierland to the left and Adventureland to the right.

#5.  No NOT gears…it’s a Hidden Mickey!

#6.  There’s a Hidden Mickey in the doorway to the Disney Vault store in Downtown Disney.

#7.  I’m the Blue Fairy.

#8.  I’m Pluto and I play the drums just like Rodger.

#9.  I’m Minnie Mouse and I’m running to”take a break”.

#10. Who’s the leader of the club?  No doubts here, it’s Mickey Mouse!

Stay tuned for another game and I guarantee it will be much easier!  Check back soon for a very easy game.