Thanks Jeanne... and a Giveaway!

~ Jeanne ~

What is any better than blatant self promotion? When a good friend is taken with your illustrations and creates a post about them!

My sweet and gorgeous friend Jeanne posted about my Lifescapes here.

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If you haven't visited Jeanne ~ please do so now.

I am lucky to be a co-conspirator with her fabulous brain-child

The B-Well Report.

Please come visit us there also and make it part of your daily blog visits. We are treading our way to better overall health and well-being. We would love to hear from you.

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It amazes and thrills me daily that we meet and connect with such wonderful people through blogging. I just know that I will meet some of you in person one day.

To celebrate the summer, good friends and what blogging has meant to me, I am holding a giveaway!

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My gift to you will be a personal 11" X 14" Lifescape.

All you have to do is visit Jeanne at Collage for Life. Leave her a comment and then come back to me and tell me what your Lifescape would include and become a follower.

~Would you want a Lifescape about your life?

~A special surprise gift for a friend or relative?

~Would it contain all of the memories of a special holiday or vacation?

You get to chose~ it's your Lifescape!

Read all about Lifescapes here:

http://collageoflife-henrqs.blogspot.com/2010/06/loving-lifescapes.html.

Thanks Jeanne~

This giveaway will close on Sunday June 13 and the winner chosen randomly.

P.S..... If you mention my giveaway on your blog, you will receive an extra entry.

Bend and stretch...reach for the stars***

~Yoga~

~ Pilates~
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I am enrolling in Yoga and Pilates classes to strengthen my back and overall core and well-being.
I have taken yoga classes in the past and loved them- loved the flexibility, enjoyed the peacefulness of the classes... a mind cleanse if you will~ and how strong I felt.

I have never taken pilates before and I'm looking forward to it.
I will give them both some time, space out the classes and see which one I want to
become more involved with.
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I would love to know your thoughts on pilates~ I'm there for the yoga classes, but pilates~ I'm not so familiar.
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Images:

webstarter

Memorial Weekend~

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Beacon Hill- Boston

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Memorial Weekend

There is something about the cobbled streets, the quaint brick townhouses of Beacon Hill in Boston.

The way they proudly fly the Stars and Stripes.

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For those that have given the ultimate for our freedom and those that are still fighting~

We give Thanks.

Images:

Beacon Hill Homes

google search

Prelude to Summer~Memorial Day

~ Maine Veteran's Memorial Cemetery ~

Memorial Day weekend was always the prelude to summer. The family gatherings, special holidays and vacations.

Cottages are opened for the season, dates are set for coastal lobster bakes, the cupboards are well-stocked for frequent s'mores and life just becomes a little less hectic and a bit more fun.

It's important to remember the reason for the holiday weekend. The men and women that have fought and continue to fight to keep our country free.

It is a special day to remember those that lost their lives while fighting for our country.

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My Dad fought in World War 2~ he was a very handsome Navy man. Lucky for us, he made it home safely and met my Mom on leave in New York City~ the rest, as they say, is history. And a great love story was born.

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My birthday falls on Memorial Day weekend and back when that holiday was always on May 30th, there was always a parade-much like Memorial Day anywhere, America.

My Dad told me the parade was especially for me- my very own birthday parade.
Isn't that just the sweetest memory for a child?

My parents are both buried here at the

Maine Veteran's Memorial Cemetery.

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It is especially beautiful on Memorial Day.
The lanes are lined with large American flags and there is a flag at each site.

Let's not forget~

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... this parade is for you Dad.

My little Goldfish~

~Erin {in the yellow} part of the Goldfish T-Ball Team~

Probably ignoring the coach's suggestions and sizing things up on her own...

~Erin set for the play~

I love T-Ball for these little ones. No winners, no losers, no score. Each little girl does her very best and is proud to hit, run, play and learn the importance of sportsmanship.

All things in life should be so fair and so much fun!

Images:

Me

Eat Pray Love~

~Julia Roberts in India~

Did you see Julia Roberts on Oprah Monday?

She's such a great actress and seems to be very down to earth and steady-putting her children and husband ahead of her career.

She was talking about the upcoming release of Eat, Pray, Love.

Elizabeth Gilbert's book was such a pleasure to read and reread.

I am anxiously awaiting the movie, which is due to be released sometime in August.

I think it will be the perfect movie to see with a couple of girlfriends.

~*~

I also think it might be one of those DVDs that I will want to have in my collection to watch whenever the mood hits.

~*~

I love when Elizabeth was visiting Lucca, Italy and describes the figs...

..."But it's not just the meat that's wonderful in Lucca; it's the chestnuts, the peaches, the tumbling displays of figs, dear God, the figs..."

~Eat~


~Pray~

~Love~

Will you see it?

Images:

Search for Eat, Pray, Love

google

My file

Julia Roberts

Weekend Review~

~Saturday~

Our new raised beds were assembled this weekend and filled with a rich mixture of soils and compost. I am itching to get my hands in that soil and start planting. I've watered them down and have herbs ready to go. Next will come the long-range plans. Plant once on some things! Sort of the same idea as measure twice, cut once.

~Plotting my plots~
Pretty much all weekend


The above photo is very similar to what I would like to do with our back yard...
I would love to have the lawn dug up and have a series of raised beds and small in-ground beds.
Creating a cozy cottage garden.
All heavily mulched to cut way down on maintenance.
I have yet to present this idea to my DH for fear of a major eye-roll. My defence will be- although a fair amount of work at the early stages, there will be no ground maintenance such as mowing, weed whacking, raking, etc. And we are having a devil of a time with our young man that mows. And we all know I can't be trusted using a mower...
Wish me luck on this!




~Sunday~


While visiting one of the many fabulous garden centers in our area I picked up a good sized Rosemary...as my 6 year old plant was inadvertently left outside on an early frosty night last fall.

It will be a busy week of designing and shopping for the new raised beds along with planning my strategy on the major backyard renovation...



On Sunday I attended a lovely bridal luncheon.
We were served Kir Royales as we arrived and while introductions were made.
The luncheon was fresh, light and in season.
It was so much fun watching the gorgeous bride-to-be with her friends and bridesmaids.
I'm already looking forward to the August wedding on the coast of Maine~ we have reserved a cottage at the resort where the wedding will take place.
Who wants to think about driving home after an evening wedding?
~*~
It was a very productive weekend~ one that will give us lots of fresh vegetables, herbs and cut flowers this summer!

Thanks to my DH for his patience and all of his hard work.

I have a plan...

Images:

My files and google search