The Blue Hour and Laura's Farm Garden... A Couple of Favorites

Christine at the Vista Woman blog passed on the neatest information earlier this week!  The Blue Hour is a set amount of time early in the morning, as show here, and late in the afternoon where, when photographed, the sky is an incredible blue (looked dark when I took the photo!).  There is even a website, bluehoursite, about this that will tell you when your blue hour is! 

This one was taken later... see how the blue is beginning to fade.  These are straight out of the camera.  How cool is that??? 

And, then there is this... {sigh}... I have admired this piece ever since Laura started to work on it. Now, it lives here with us... man, we have had a great couple of weeks on art that stirs our hearts!  It is Laura's interpretation of Farm Garden by Gustav Klimt.  He is one of my favorite artists and Laura's creative rug hooking elevates a craft to an art form.  Now, to get it hung!!

Check out her blog:  Beehive Rug Hooking

I'm linking these to Sandi's Friday Favorites... because they are my favorites this week!!  =)

Sweet Notes and Artwork

Yesterday afternoon, I received TWO sweet, sweet notes... This one from Little Man (and his momma).  Isn't that the cutest little horse you have ever seen?  Noni loves her some hand-art.

This one was from Kathy, my dear, dear friend and hair artist!  I drew the pitiful little sketch on the right last Friday when I went to enjoy having my hair done.  She looked right at that pitiful sketch and ...

Created just what I was looking for.

Women tend to either be longer-hair-wearers or shorter-hair-wearers.  I, for the greater number of years,  have been a longer-hair-wearer.  There have been four times in my life that I have drastically shortened my hair... This is one of them.  I am lovin' my new do!  Thank you so much, Kathy!  You are indeed an artist with a razor and a pair of scissors!

PS- Yes, Novilla's permanent residence is the Brick Street Bungalow and I loved the guesses!  ;)

Novilla Dorado

Texans and Longhorns, they go together like bread and butter.

Add some sensational art work by local talent, Cassie Edmonds and you have Novilla Dorado.

  Cassie, a self-taught mosaic artist, came to our home; visited with us; and, then created this original work of art.  She named it Novilla Dorado, which translates as golden steer.  I am dreaming about one of her other pieces in Blue Moon Gallery, Hot Springs, AR!  She worked her mosaic magic on a vintage dress mannequin.  The work is titled Dancing in the Midnight Garden. 

Check her out.

These are all Cassie's photos she shared with me.

Lacy Tank Dress and a Preview...

Finished this little project Sunday evening.  It is oh, so soft!

It was a fun knit... spent some time on it during my passenger part of the Griswold drive.

The yarn is Comfort DK by Berroco in color 2705. 

Pattern is from Simple 1-2-3 Knitting.

Designer:  Beth Walker-O'Brien

This is the latest addition to our home... can you guess what it is?  Its name is Novilla Dorado, by Cassie Edmonds... More to come.

A Favorite...

Amanda made this photo on our recent Griswold Vacation.  I love it!  There is Pop Pop, Little Man, Noni, Momma and Dad.  Thank you, Amanda, for letting me show it off! 

I have resumed my early morning walks this week.  After the summer solstice, the days begin to shorten... the change is so very gradual it takes awhile to really notice.  The scales have tipped... I can really tell the days are getting shorter... and, there is the "back to school" smell in the air... the grass doesn't smell like spring anymore... there are enough clippings and decline from the heat that a slight scent of decomposing (in a good way) floats behind the cut grass fragrance.  Change is in the air.

This post is to link to Sandi's Friday Favorites.  Have a great Friday ya'll!

Wonderful Gifts From Linda at My Kind of Cooking

While I was away, I had the good fortune of winning a wonderful gift from Linda at My Kind of Cooking!!  She sent me one of her cookbooks and a snazzy apron to boot!  I could hardly wait to try a recipe, since I have loved every one I have tried off of her blog.

These recipes are all easy and quick to put together.

This Peachy Pork Roast immediately caught my eye.  Evan has a serious weakness for fruit and LOVES it savory or sweet!

This is so simple!  Sear a pork loin roast.

Add a 16 ounce can of peaches (in heavy syrup) and 1/4 c. chili sauce.  I did add more chili sauce and I coated the pork loin with Tony Cachere's Cajun Seasoning... We are all about the spice in this house. 

Put the roast in a crock pot, cover it with the peach mixture and let it cook!  Evan passed through the house a few times over the course of the day and couldn't help but comment on, "something is sure smelling good in here."  I love to be able to get out and run my errands and come home to the smell of something cooking.

And, true to his nature, he LOVED this dinner (I did, too).  Peachy Pork Roast on Toasted Pine Nut Couscous with steamed broccolini.  His words,  "KILLER."  Thank you so much, Linda.  These are wonderful gifts and I will enjoy using them both!!  Go on over and check out her blog, if you haven't been there yet!  She has been at the Iowa State Fair!

Thanks again, Linda! 

The Last Griswolds Standing

Evan and I made it home a couple of hours ago... long enough to unpack, check things out and get a shower.  It was a long road home today; we were the last of the "Griswolds" standing, e.g. still out there.  The temperatures were in the 80's all across the Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama part of our journey.  It poured rain across Alabama.  We hit sunshine in Louisiana... and 106 degrees.  When we pulled into the driveway at 7 PM, the temperature was 100.  Welcome home! 

I hate long posts... but, I'm getting (only part of) the pictures of the Griswold Vacation up and out tonight! 

Little Man wasn't particularly enamoured with the aquarium... He's looking as if to say, "Mom, really?  How long do you expect me to look at these things?

There were some interesting critters... I'd never seen sting rays of such colors...

What's not to love about the hyacinth macaws?

Pop Pop fed the sting ray a shrimp... Somehow, we don't have a single shot of that!

Little Man petted them... Mostly, I think he liked getting to reach in the water!

Finding Nemo?

Could any visit to an aquarium be complete without the antics of these fun guys?

I have to say, his FAVORITES were in the gift shop! 

This was the next adventure... the Incline Railway.  One mile straight up the side of Lookout Mountain.  About the last quarter of a mile, I was not liking the odds on survival if the cables broke! 

While the purpose of our trip up the Incline Railway was to get to Point Park, I could not help admiring the beautiful old homes at the top!

We are hoping that Little Man will get an early start on loving his country and learning from our history.

I know without a doubt, if he could have this park ranger for his teacher, he would LOVE history.  The ranger was one of the best, most knowledgeable, most enthusiastic teachers I've heard.  He was excellent and I wish I had gotten his name.

The view down over Chattanooga and the Tennessee River was spectacular.  It is humbling to realize how many lives were lost and how difficult the terrain must have been for them.

Pop Pop had been out reading the notations on the monuments.

And, of course, there was some play time just for Little Man!

And, we all enjoyed watching him as he proudly extended his independent walking.  It was a great time... Now, it is good to be home.  Thanks for the memories Griswold Clan.  Love, Mom/Noni/Tanna

Nearing the end...

I so believe this statement.  Life is thrown at us sometimes... and is rough in spots... but, in the end, you make of it what you will.  Faith and attitude... make all the difference.

 

This Griswold Vacation is closing down... we've had reading and knitting and solitaire lessons... we've enjoyed excellent home cooking, as everyone has taken their turn.

We've seen vistas so beautiful, they take your breath away.

We've enjoyed FAMILY...

And FUN...

We've learned things...

And, enjoyed corny dinner cruises up the Tennessee River and back...  Part of our crew was here for only a short while, Zack wasn't able to make it and we missed him terribly.  But, the rest of the Griswolds, we are still enjoying every last moment of our time together...

Guest Post: How to tell if you're having a Griswold Vacation

Hello, Brickstreet Bungalow Blog Readers. I'm Amanda. Tanna is my mom, and she asked me to do a guest post today. I asked her what to write about, and she said it could be any subject - writer's choice.

So I thought I'd talk a little about our vacation. You see, our family is NOTORIOUS for having vacations of the Griswold variety. As in, Clark and family. In fact, for the last several months as we've been planning this vacation, we've affectionately referred to it only as "The Griswold."

We're only four days in, but here are some sure signs that you are indeed having a Griswold Vacation.

Sign #1: When someone in your party is asked to don roadkill attire in front of a large group of people in order to lure a live vulture to land on his or her arm.

Sign #2:When you turn your child loose in public in nothing but a diaper to enjoy a little cool-down in the water feature because the alternative is a meltdown in the 103 degree heat.

Sign #3:When you step into the Moon Pie General Store, and your first reaction is, "We must come here again before we leave to get more Moon Pies!"

Sign #4: When your trip involves going into a Goblin's Underpass.

And sucking in your gut as you walk through Fat Man's Squeeze.

Sign #5:You go on a 1980s-style dinner river cruise, and you almost bonk your child's head on the ceiling as you throw him up while dancing to Twist and Shout.

Sign #6: You enjoy the Cupid Shuffle line dance on the aforementioned dinner cruise while the musician duo strums their guitars and act like they are playing to the pre-recorded music track.

Sign #7: You know you're having a Griswold Vacation when you're left with a lot of really great memories of your time together.

What are your Griswold stories? Do you have any to share? We do like knowing we aren't the only Griswold vacationers out there...   =)