The Best Excercise Often Starts At Home

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We love to be able to set out on foot beginning on our doorstep on these cool summer nights.  The photos were taken on my morning walk this past week.

Each time we pass by this tree (Cassia Leptophylla – Gold Medallion Tree), my heart sings…

The vibrant bursts of yellow…

A great way to make my little heart beat faster is to take on these hills.  One of the hills = 175 feet climb to the top.  We try to do that hill x 2 per walk these days.

The best part is the nice big rock in the bottom center of this picture.  This is the place hubby and I rest and cool down before going indoors.  I’m already looking forward to this walk again with hubby this evening…

It’s said “you learn something new every day”.  I learned more about my feet this week as they were put to the “test” at the shoe store.  And I learned the type of shoe that best suits my feet.  Cheers to new shoes and happy feet, minus the fuss of band-aids.  This pair is made for walking/hiking and I’m in love that I feel like I’m walking on clouds.

Happy Weekend!

Blessings – Debbie

Shopping For Luau Duds and Exercise

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This is me yesterday (late morning).  I’m at Pacific beach to find some wears for hubby and me for an upcoming Luau party.  This is the little shop where I found our duds.

After about 45 min of walking and shopping, I nailed our outfits.  This is taken on the passenger side of my car (SUV) and here is where I enjoyed my (packed) lunch and bottle of water.

After lunch I hit this trail.

I find this to be one of my favorite spots to exercise.  It was also a time to enjoy meditating and taking in the glorious day.

I believe I could walk this (seemingly endless) 20 something mile walk every day.

With a cool 76 degrees + the sea breeze made for the most amazing weather.

I could never tire of this most beautiful place we like to call home.  I know one day I will miss this so I plan to take it in for as long as we are here.

Blessings – Debbie

Summer in San Diego

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Summer in southern CA is not known for plenty of rain.  In fact, we won’t look for any rain until fall or winter.

It’s a time when all sprinklers need a good check.  Our gardener does such a great job keeping up the garden.

He’s off checking more sprinklers…It was a fun day in the yard (yesterday) as hubby and I were helping out too.  I guess somebody had to be out there taking pictures to document our fun.

Each zone was thoroughly checked to ensure all plants and trees are getting their needs met.

The flowering trees of summer.

And a rose.

A shot of my hand (taken yesterday afternoon) in the healing process.  The pain is gone and the scabs are nearly (picked off) gone by this morning.

While my hands are healing, we’ve taken to walking the trail instead of riding.  We look to have our full gear soon such that we can ride again.

This was taken last evening on the trail.

This was part of our view.

We enjoyed all of this at a cool 75 degrees.

I love Summer in San Diego!

Blessings – Debbie

Happy Independence Day

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Hubby has had a nice 4 day weekend.  We are taking advantage of it right around the house.  Chilling together would have to be the thing we enjoy most and if we get to do it at home, even better.  So we’ll be staying in again today doing a little bit of relaxing and crossing a few more things off our to do list.

For lunch, I craved hot and spicy turkey sausage with peppers and onions.  So good!  But I can’t say hubby was into this like me, this was mine all mine.

I’m thankful my hands are healing and I’m able to do so much more than I could do (without my hands hurting) a couple of days ago.

Hubby is still kissing my hands and making them feel all better each day.  I’m thankful for everything he’s done for me this past week.  Things like cut a watermelon open, take me grocery shopping, peal vegetables and cut them up, bandage my wounds when they hurt, kept a clean kitchen even down to cleaning the counters, opened my bottles of water and constantly ask if there was anything he could do.  He never ceases to amaze me and I never want to take his love for me for granted.

Blessings – Debbie

June Happenings

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I can’t think of a better way to kick off the month of July than to kick off June from my list of things to do.  I hate being this far behind and only seeing three posts last month has me a bit disappointed.  There is only one way up and that = start where I left off and catch up as much as possible.

Time was spent in the studio creating – this vase stands 21″ tall.

Another creation…

I find the garden to be a soothing place to chill, even if it is for just a short break.  Picture taken just outside my kitchen window.

Fresh summer produce – these guys have already made some amazing strawberry smoothies.

A little statue in the garden – love him.

Time in the studio – one of my favorite pastimes…

Creating what comes to mind…

And letting some things go with the flow…

I started my diet in June and I feel really good with the progress I’ve already made.  Just thought I’d throw that in here somewhere.

Hubby and I spent many hours last month around the pool table.  I’m thrilled he takes the time to help me improve.

Another joy last month was taking pix in the garden and playing with them in Lightroom.

Lightroom fun…

The joy of Lightroom, I can’t seem to get enough.

We’re also busy downsizing.  After much thought and consideration, we came to the conclusion that it’s time to part with our china.  I spent time taking lots of pix for craigslist.  Love that place!

On the evening of June 27th, I had a little accident.

I had a spill off my bike Tuesday evening = Two hands messed up + one very sore knee + 1 scraped up arm + a scrapped up tummy (my stretchy pants did not stay in place).  I think I’m going to be ok.  Hubby says “next time I’m going to have you in full body armor” and I won’t argue with him either.

The above picture was taken after airing my hand 24 hours.  Hubby wanted me to see the Doctor (yesterday), I’m glad I did.  At least we know there’s no infection and the antibacterial soap and prescribed ointment should do the trick.  The Doctor also wanted x-rays of my knee, the results came back normal.  It will take 4 – 6 weeks for my knee to feel happy again.  I certainly can live with that.

Cheers to July 1st, it’s a new month and time to get back on track.

Blessings – Debbie

Mom and Dad Visit San Diego – The End

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I realize I’m so far behind on the blog.  So far behind that I’m not liking it one bit.  So I decided today that I would compress mom and dad’s rest of the visit into one (huge) post.  Be prepared for lots of pix in this entry.

A pic of us in the garden.

This was my parents second full day, a day we wanted to just chill around the house.

This picture was taken on our street several doors down.

It truly was a day filled with lots of this…

and that…

And gathering around this table for great outdoor dining.

And this was brought into the mix each day.

Ah, evenings around the fire, so nice…

The next day (Sunday) we worshiped at Shadow Mountain in San Diego

My parents from where we were sitting.

A visit to Old Town Sunday afternoon.

Where we stopped for a little Sunday dinner.

Pop noticed the sign, I wanted a pic of him with it.

Back home in the backyard… A nice place to relax during the afternoon/evening hours.

One of the many massive boulders in our backyard.  If pop could have slipped this baby in his suitcase, I believe it would be in his backyard back home.

My parents in the backyard after a day well spent.

This brings us to our last full day together.  Monday June 13th was the day we went to Point Loma.

It was a day to enjoy the Pacific, where the ocean and cliffs meet.

We watched this ship sail out of the harbor…

And enjoyed the view.  The sign below warns of the recent falling rock.

Even though the sun was still hiding that morning, we found beauty in this day.

The view below of the cliffs (where we were earlier) as we drove up to the top of Point Loma.

Another view…

Point Loma – My parents with the National Monument.

A view of the harbor, Navy Base and downtown San Diego from the other side of Point Loma.  The sun was working hard to chase the clouds away.

Our next stop (the same day) was Mount Soledad.

The sweeping views from there are amazing.  Looking North up the coast of southern California.

From Mount Soledad looking south.  We can see downtown San Diego on the left meeting the horizon.  We can also see Mexico, Point Loma, Coronado Island and many other cool places from the top of this mountain.

At day’s end, we enjoyed our last dinner outdoors and our last visit around the fire.

Soon darkness fell and our fire went out.  The next best thing to do was to come indoors and shoot pool.  Another important thing was to bake fresh oatmeal choc chip cookies.  And yes, fresh coffee was served.  Then again, we had fresh coffee morning and evening each day (while they were in town) whether we needed it or not.

This wraps up our nice little family visit with my parents.  We were so delighted to see them and already look forward to our next visit.

Blessings – Debbie

My Parents Visit San Diego Day 1

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My parents flew into town last Thursday for a nice little visit with us out here in San Diego.

On Friday, June 10th we drove into downtown San Diego and crossed the Coronado Bridge for a little tour of Coronado island.

We snapped a few pix – below is the famous Hotel Del.

Next stop – USS Midway Museum, one of America’s longest-serving aircraft carriers.

Mom and dad on deck.

Hubby and I were shot in the Midway Brig AKA the prison for sailors who got out of hand while on the ship.

The pretty view from the deck with the Coronado Bridge in the background and the famous kiss statue in the foreground.

There was something special about being on the deck where many served our country.

Hubby and Pop on deck.

The “famous kiss” statue.

After our tour downtown, we moved along to oceanfront dinner reservations.  We arrived a bit early so we enjoyed a little stroll out back.

My folks, the two that helped shape me into who I am today.  I’m so blessed.

The evening hours were centered around visiting, coffee and shooting pool.  I can’t think of a better way to spend time with family than this.

Blessings – Debbie

Our Little Road Trip

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Why is it that when I get behind on the blog, all other posts have to wait?  I’ve been wanting to post our little venture from last weekend all week-long.  I also have more things to post but I seem to want to post things in order.  So, here we go back to a week ago Friday.  Cheers to getting caught up and more posts to come from this past week.

The long and winding road trip – Hubby took the corners nice and slow as I have a tendency to get a wee bit car sick.  Luckily the motion didn’t bother me too much.  He’s such a good driver.

Follow the curve in the road…

It was such a pretty drive.

The views were ever-changing…

An hour later we arrived to this quaint little town…

Mil’ Fluer Cochin Bantum Chickens – These cute guys roamed around the outdoors of the galleries.  Too cute, I’ve never seen the like in my life.

I was smitten…

This is the home where the chickens live.

We shopped…

It was the first time I’ve seen these Coke bottles, I thought they were picture worthy.

We had a nice little lunch at the local Italian restaurant.

1 horse power right here waiting to give another ride around town.

Last but not least we used yelp to find the best rated pie company.  Let me back up and say…You can’t go to Julian without getting a piece of apple pie.  There are many places that offer pie but we were in search for the top rated company.  The other pie companies may be great but we were delighted with our choice.  Thank you yelp!

We enjoyed our visit but that pie had to be the highlight of our day.  After all, it was one of the main reasons we went.  It’s cool sometimes to break out and see what the fuss is all about.  It was a great experience.

Blessings – Debbie

First Pottery Reveal Since 2007

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Most of my friends know I haven’t been in my studio since 2007.  To make a very long story short, we moved from TX (the last place I had a studio) in 07 to NY.  We stayed in an apartment while our home in TX sold.  Then our belongings were shipped to storage while we finished building our home in NY.

Things didn’t go so well with hubby’s job in NY as the program he was working on got canceled by President Obama.  Then we were off on our next great adventure to beautiful Southern CA where we now call home.  This pretty much brings us up to speed.  I now have an amazing pottery studio and I’m so thankful for my dearest who invested so much time getting it all set up.

I’ve come full circle…Remember this bag from the previous post?  Well here she is fresh out of the glaze firing.

Another piece (I think of this glaze as stormy blue) hot off the press.  The glaze firing took these all the way up to 2,170 degrees F.

Handles – I think we’ll be seeing this glaze on handles in the future.

Here’s the other bag (from the last post) all dressed and ready to go.

The handles, side and inside were coated with this delicious gold/black undertone glaze.

We should be sharing 4 more bags all dressed and ready to go sometime next week.

Words can’t describe how happy I am to be doing what I want to do when I grow up.

Blessings – Debbie

The Last Couple Of Days

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Tuesday was another big day.  Not only was it my birthday but it was the first time we fired the kiln (for a glaze firing) since 2007.

It was a day to keep really good records of the kiln temperature every 1/2 hour (not a requirement, something we wanted to do for interest sake).  It was fun to record and sometimes I was out there jotting every 10 min (not something we’ll do again).  The records will help us in the future, especially if the kiln is not firing right/taking too long to fire.  Then we will know to check the coils and health of the kiln right away…

So during one of my 30 minutes away from the kiln, I took interest in this butterfly.  He/she allowed me to get especially close.

The wings – I could see this as fabric with that beautiful trim along the edge of a long flowing dress.

I took pictures of roses while in the garden…

Here’s a couple of test tiles (the end result) that were in that glaze firing.  Note:  The glaze firing top temperature reaches 2,170 degrees F and held there for 15 min before the kiln turns itself off.

Remember how I made these test samples?   Now they serve as my guide based on how the glaze will respond to the clay body I’m using.

Yesterday was a day full of glazing.

The bell (in the above pic) on the top right would be the color I used on the lid of the purse below.  That spring green color on the flower is the color I used on the base of the bag.

The same colors were applied to this bag as well.

A labor of love is all I can say.  Words can’t begin to describe how much fun I have when I’m in the zone.  Lets just say I had no breakfast, only coffee and from 9 – 5 I didn’t so much as have a drink, use the lady’s room or have lunch.  I was totally in the zone all day.  Now these guys are in the zone as the kiln was fired up at 5:30am.  I couldn’t help myself nor could I get back to sleep.  As I told hubby, “a million things are going through my brain per second”.

I have so much to be thankful for.  I’m especially grateful hubby shows interest and supports my greatest desires.

Blessings – Debbie

Testing 1 2 3

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Yesterday was Huge!  It was a big deal around here as the kiln fired once again for the first time in since 2007.  I’m back and happy to have a full running studio after all this time.

It was a bisque firing on low/slow up to 1888 degrees.  It took a full 12 hours and 11 min. to reach temperature.  I wasn’t able to capture the full 1888 degrees but this was pretty close.  She’s a hot one right there.

I had to wait for it to cool to 200 degrees before opening.  Finally just after 9 this morning she reached 199 and I opened her as fast as I could.  Everything on the top shelf turned out just fine.  I’m waiting on hubby to help me with the rest.

I have 9 new glazes and put these test tiles to the test.  Each one holds 1 coat on the bottom, 2 coats on the left side and 3 coats on the right side.  This test will let me know how many coats to apply (to the good stuff) based on the results.

I’ve also been working on some new designs.  I can’t wait to give these a go!  Hubby gave me a French curve several years ago.  I’m learning to enjoy it more and more.  I love using it for these type projects.

The kiln will be busy again tomorrow as this time I’ll be running those test samples through.  The results should be in Wednesday.  I can’t wait to see how the glazes react to not only the flat surfaces but to see how they respond/pull away from the areas with pattern.

I’m so blessed my hubby works so hard to make my studio all that it can be.  He helped me so much over the weekend – He: put up more shelves in the studio for the kiln furniture, helped me recover my wedging table with fresh new canvas, ensured proper venting for the kiln such that we could fire it up and so much more.  He not only makes things happen but he makes them happen joyfully.  I’m so blessed.

And after all that, he asked if I’d like to join him for a lunch date today.  It was so yummy and nice to visit a little while with him this afternoon.

Blessings – Debbie

Hubby's Home

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As I made my way towards the airport, I had a rush of excitement knowing hubby would be home from his business trip.

I’ve seen/passed by this anchor many times.  But today as I passed by, it spoke to me.  It was a huge reminder of the way I feel in our relationship.  I feel secure, at peace and filled with contentment knowing whatever happens, he will always there.  With him by my side, I feel that strong sense of stability knowing that whatever happens “we are in this together”.  That’s a big deal.

I made my way to my favorite spot to park and wait, aka the cell phone lot.  Thank you San Diego Airport for providing this for us.  I love arriving 30 or so minutes early such that if he gets in early, I’m right there to pick him up.

It’s not such a bad place to hang out either.  Check out the view from where I’m parked.  I was standing on the running board of my car (SUV – I always refer to it as my car), that’s the top of the car you see in the bottom of the pic.

More views from where I’m parked.

Based on the time I knew hubby was flying in, I started taking pictures of this plane coming in.  I had a sneaking suspicion hubby was in there.

I was right…

As I watched this US Airways flight land, my phone rang and hubby was on the other end saying “honey, I’m home”!

Welcome home my love, I’ll be right there!

Moments later his arms were around me and I decided then and there I never wanted him to go on business without me.  Of course I decide that every time he leaves and he contends he never wants to leave home without me.  If only it were that easy.

To be sure, we are spending the rest of the weekend catching up on visits and games and more visits and most importantly, just spending the weekend together.  I’m whole again and it feels good.

Happy Weekend My Friends!

Blessings – Debbie

A Craving and A Want

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A Craving – Last evening around 11 pm I got a craving for egg salad and coffee.  Crazy, right?  I knew the moment my feet hit the floor this morning that my craving for coffee had to be filled.  And I knew for lunch my egg salad craving would be filled.

Luckily the sun came out and warmed up enough to enjoy a nice patio lunch complete with BBQ popchips and my diet soda with lime in a goblet.  The fork on the side was for scooping up anything that fell out of my sandwich.

As you can see, some salad did fall out…

I made the most of it as I scooped it on my popchips.

A Want – Ever since we got our new phones, I’ve wanted a new purse such that my new phone will fit.  My old purse phone slot was just a tad small.

When it comes to a purse, I’m not picky about brand as I’m just dandy with my last purse from Wal-Mart.  But what I am picky about are a few details.

The handbag must have three separate compartments on the outside #1 – for a phone  #2 – built-in wallet #3 – a pocket for car keys – The strap on the outside must be adjustable – And I like a rather small purse.  Not too much to ask for right?

I’ve been shopping the local Wal-Marts and such for a while but couldn’t find anything to match just what I was looking for.  But today my friends, I had to make a trip to Macy’s to pick up some shirts for hubby.  I thought, why not check out the handbags while I’m here?  I’m so glad I did as I got this guy 40% off and it totally rocked all my qualifications for a handbag.

Here she is completely filled with all my stuff.   Would you like to have a look?

#1 – The zipper compartment in the front for my phone – it slips in and out easy peasy.

#2 – The built-in wallet in the front – I love the way this functions

#3 – That lovely compartment in the back for keys – perfect

And last – The purse is small – just how I like it and that strap can be adjusted.  This was well worth the wait, I’m so happy with it.

On the inside I have a comb, lipstick, mints, a pen or two, sunglasses, a little bottle of Purell hand sanitizer and well, I can’t really think of anything else.

Some of the joys in life are enjoying the little things – like cravings and picnics, sunshine and goblets and handbags that come just the way we like them.  Makes me happy…

Blessings – Debbie

Fred's and Friendship Go Hand In Hand

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What yesterday afternoon and evening was filled with.  It truly was filled with friendship, laughter (lots of laughter), yummy dining and a nice visit into the evening hours.

I was invited up to my friend’s place (Beth) in downtown San Diego.  It was a nice low-key afternoon in her condo.  I also got to see her son AJ as he’s in town visiting for the summer.  I met AJ’s friend (Ethan) who is also staying with Beth as he’s working on an internship for the Navy this summer.

And I got to see sweet Mitzy again.  She could very well be the most well-behaved, loveable  pup on the face of the earth.  I totally wish I had taken another shot of her with the lighting in front of her.  But she’s too cute not to make the blog.

I love this shot of Beth and Mitzy with my phone and the fun app used to create the drawing.

Beth took this shot of me and used the drawing app.  Can you tell we were having fun?

Here we are in Old Town visiting Fred’s for Taco Tuesday.  AJ’s in the red shirt on the left, Beth is at the hostess station and Ethan is in the beige shirt on the right.

Yay for Fred’s good food!

Beth, AJ and Ethan

We enjoyed the outdoor seating.

AJ and Ethan – “Is you mean with wid it”

Two cool dudes – these two kept us laughing all night.  We laughed so hard our tummies hurt.

These two did not sign up for having their pictures taken together.  However, I had plans to at least take a stab at it.  I didn’t position them, just kindly asked them for a picture up there on the stairs.  Thank you AJ and Ethan!

My photographer brain was screaming “no gaps”.  I wanted to see if I could get them a bit closer.  This is the reaction I got.  Ethan giving the, are you serious look with a grin and AJ cracked up at the notion.  I like this raw emotion shot.

And one last shot of AJ (Ethan was already outta there) – The idea of “no gaps” didn’t go so well but I truly enjoyed the expressions so much more.  How fun.

Ethan did express an interest in getting a fun shot holding the sun at sunset.  He had it all planned out, all the way down to his expression and holding his chin with his other hand while looking at the sun in deep thought.  Or something like that, great idea Ethan.  As you can see, it was not working out as planned.

What do?  Ah, bring him into the picture as a silhouette, now that will work.

Ok Ethan, now bring your hand in towards you a little more while dropping it a couple of inches and kiss the sun.  That’s it…

Depending on the focus point, I had a crisp background and blurred subject like below.

Or a nice crisp subject with a blurred background as seen in this picture below.

This is the part I asked Ethan to pucker up and kiss the sun.  At that point the entire room broke in laughter, including him.  Cool pic tho, very cool.

He laughed so hard that he could no longer hold the sun or kiss it.

But we managed to stop laughing for just a bit to snap some more…

There are no words to express the amount of fun we all had.  I can still hear Beth in the background saying “I wish we were recording this”

And one last shot with the focus on the sun/background and the subject (Ethan) blurred.

The boys carried on with video games after this fun photo shoot and Beth and I dried our eyes from laughter and carried on with a nice little visit into the evening hours.

I hope I get to see these guys before they leave this summer.  If not, I enjoyed and will always remember the fun we had last evening.

Blessings – Debbie

A Cool Wet Chill and Plans

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A cool wet chill is in the air and coffee seemed the thing to have first thing this morning.  Then again, when is coffee not one of the first things to welcome first thing in the morning?

The garden is soaking up this weather, for sure.

And the wildflowers I planted several weeks ago are certain to enjoy the day too + they are finally happy!

I had to move the pot after they popped up the first time around as the birds or something got them.  I think these guys are going to thrive as they’re well on their way, I sure hope so.

On this rainy day – I slept in ’til 8am, caught up on google reader, showered, enjoyed some coffee, caught up with a dear friend, lounged/still lounging in pj’s, took a few pix, made afternoon and dinner plans…It should be a fun afternoon/evening!  More on that later…For now, it’s time to get out of the pj’s and hit the road…

Blessings – Debbie