068- Vacation Recap

What a wonderful vacation! I don't even know where to start!

So bear with me...

• Emmett, Sarah's car, performed like a champion even on the snows of Donner Pass and the very steep hills in San Francisco!
• We got to visit on the way out and on the way home Sarah, Ann and Wayne read the Princess Bride (I love spending time with *old-friend-books* AND we know that Little Joanie loves to be read to!)
• We got to see all the Bay Area family! Reconnecting is so wonderful... I love my family so much!
  
• We did family sealings at the Oakland Temple
• We went to Sue, Josh & little Sarah's ward dinner and not only got treated to a Seis de Marzo Fiesta but got to hear Josh sing Cielito Lindo and La Bomba with his back-up Mariachi band
• Leaving said fiesta I stepped off the curb on to large roca in the dark parking lot. I twisted my *good* ankle and went down on all fours and sent my chocolate cream pie sailing! (It was well wrapped, but much flatter!) The good news? I didn't tear my brand new jeans I just gotten that day. The bad news, yup, I did a *good* job and have blooming bruises on one palm, skinned knees and a blackish ankle (but when your ankles have been sprained as many times as mine have there is already so much scar tissue and damaged ligaments it isn't as painful as the first time... trust me, I know these things!)
• I got to split up my visit spending two nights at Rosehaven Cottage with Cindy and three nights with Sue and Chica.
• After Brent's delicious Sunday dinner Cindy, Sarah and I went to the hot tub to soak for a couple of hours. (Ah, that felt so good on my poor ankle.)
• I came home with a ginormous bag of fresh lemons that I shared with Sarah and Wayne & Ann. (Do I smell some Lemon Curd in my future?)
  

Lastly, here are some of the strong women in our family! What a blessing they are in my life! (BTW I thought to take this photo AFTER we were totally steamed in the hot tub!)



Interestingly, the hugging couple photo just above Chica is of Mom and Daddy when they were courting.

067- Revisiting the Past

I needed a day, Friday, to just have a few hours alone to visit the cemetery, remember, grieve, contemplate and regroup. Fortunately, my sweet family realized that and allowed me my seclusion.

I feel so blessed that I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life! There I find solace and strength to carry on rather than allow my heart to become rotten or cankered. What a blessing!



Sue left me with her truck so I could *do my thing* while she went on errands with Josh. I've been back to Livermore on many occasions since moving in August 1982 but I've never felt so calm and my mind so clear as this visit.

First I went on an explore to drive past and photograph the houses I lived in in my short 2.25 years there. (Do the present occupants wonder why this person is taking photos of their house?)

I spent a year and a half in this little house on Bernal. It served my purposes well and was the first house I'd ever lived in that had more than one bathroom! (Interestingly the cankered tree is directly across the street from this house that I lived in when my children passed away.)



When Gordon and I married I moved a short mile to his house. We lived there for just 9 months before moving to Palmdale. (This is the home of the olive tree and pyracantha bushes.)



I took a plant, a Bridget Heather, to the cemetery to Tony and Amanda's grave. I've never happened to be there before when another funeral was arriving. I had to move the truck down the street to the nearby shopping center and walk back to free up the narrow driveway. I sat and pondered the blessings of comfort I have received over the past 28 1/2 years. The words of an Easter Hymn went through my mind, "He is not here, for He has risen! " What a joy to contemplate that glorious resurrection day!



I am so grateful to know that Tony and Amanda are not here in this lovely little Roselawn Cemetery... what comfort to this mother's soul.

066- Finding Spring

One of the goals of this vacation was to find spring! Although I've never specifically made a trip to CA in the late winter with this purpose in mind I find that, without exception, I have made just such a trip each year since moving here. Somehow it just makes surviving 6-8 more weeks of cold, mountain winter weather bearable.

At Golden Gate park we found this group of men playing Reggae music; being *Little Joanie* I had to get up-close-and-personal! While the others hung back I went up and thanked them for their happy sound!



I was very impressed with the acrobat/gymnast fellow. He sent through his routine with nary a bobble. I can only imagine the strength he must have. Impressive!

On to the Botanical Gardens... spring, lovely spring! A perfect day in San Francisco... sunny, warm (high 50's) and no wind! What a delight!

We'd only been in the gardens a few minutes when Cindy, my little bee chah-mah (actually a squir-rell chah-mah), made friends with the funny little squirrels (But, daddy, I WANT a squir-rell!) We noticed that some of them followed us around like a little bunch of dogs... do you suppose it was the smell of the tortilla chips!



Right off we were greeted with beautiful magnolia trees.



And just down the path... tulip trees. I found, upon further investigation today, that magnolia and tulip trees are from the same genus.



Cindy spotted this plum tree in bloom. I would have mistaken it for an apple tree... shows how much I know!



My very botanical name for this tree is a Muppet Pine! I truly don't know what variety of pine tree this is, but it looked like it belonged with all the Muppet characters. The needles were 10-12 inches long and hung down like Animal's hair! It swished in the light breezes.



I just love trees... isn't this a perfect specimen of what a tree should look like? It is some sort of Japanese tree, but that is all I remember. How can a naked tree be so beautiful? I can only imagine how it will look in full bloom or leaf!



I saw these beautiful lavender-colored berries on a tree, but I don't know what they are either.



After trekking around for a couple of hours we headed back to the entrance only to find that it had been closed and locked! Dun-dun-dun... We were directed by a vague sign to the *after-hours* exit. (What, do you suppose, would have been wrong with placing the after-hours exit by the entrance? Hmm, I'll have to think on this one!)

So we bravely toiled onward...



The good news is that if we hadn't made this detour I would have missed this magnificent Monterrey Cypress. Compare its size to the tiny humans in the lower right of the photo!



And these ginormous hens and chicks must be on steroids. They were the size of dinner plates!



We finally reached Miss Sarah's car tired, slightly foot sore, but very pleased with our outing!

065- San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers

Thursday found us in San Francisco for the day; one of those happy places in my heart. Whenever we went to my grandparents in Oakland we would usually go site-seeing San Francisco: Fleishhacker Zoo, Fairy Land, Lombardy Street, and Golden Gate Park.

Golden Gate Park was one of Sarah’s chosen destinations. Our first stop was the Conservatory of Flowers. What an amazing place!



There were four separate rooms; each with their own ecosystem but constant throughout was the orchids. The fifth room was a little gift shop.



One of the first things I notice was that *they* had all these funky, florescent colored lights shining on the plants. What? That was odd. Ah, then I saw that it was the sunlight coming in through the stained glass... beautiful.



In the main or entry room (the domed center room) they had misters running that were guaranteed to frizz or flatten anyone's hair speedy-quick. I found this little collection of misted water on a ginormous leaf.



And hiding in a mossy corner was this-



The next room we entered was to the left and was heavy with the heady scent of citrus blossoms.



After a few minutes it became almost over powering! And look who I found in there! My family! (niece Sarah and sister Ann)



I found Cindy in a quiet corner contemplating the beauty... just so Cindy-like.



In the other wing there were two rooms of very diverse temperatures: one quite cool and the other steamy and jungle like.

I was surprised to find that the adaptable orchid likes the cool quite well.





When I went from the cool room to the steamy room it took several minutes for my camera lens to unfog!



And what do we find in the jungle? Scary things, let me tell you... carnivorous plants (fortunately none of the same variety as Little Shop of Horrors!) The signs explain that they have adapted so well to this carnivorous life-style that they don't like fertilizer and get their nutrients from digesting little bugs.



So after only twelve photos I will stop with this particular tour! I could do an entire post on just the orchids.

064- Joanie Explores Rosehaven Gardens

I spent the first night at my niece's house... I could hardly wait to go out for an explore with my camera! I just love Rosehaven gardens; they remind me so much of going to Grama and Granddad's house in Oakland even though Rosehaven is north and east of Oakland.

The first thing I saw peeking in the window was a old carmel colored camellia. But this, THIS is what they look like new, beautiful and covered with raindrops from last night's storm.



I made such a bee-line for the camellia that I walked right past this beautiful tulip, still closed and hiding in the shade.



But in the back garden is one of the happiest of Bay Area treats... a lemon tree. I used to love to go get a fresh lemon off Grama's tree and eat it with salt! (Yeah, and I've eaten off the enamel on my front teeth and they are so super sensitive!)



When my great-grandfather immigrated from Ireland he finally found what he was looking for in Oakland with the beautiful, verdant, green hills. Can you just smell the green?



And finally, a beautiful spring sky... just for me.



Oh, I do love the San Francisco Bay Area.

063- Rosehaven Cottage

Oh, my, oh my! I've only taken 330 photos in the last 48 hours! Shall I just post them all today and call it good for the rest of the year?

That, we know, won't happen... I will hoard them and pet them and look at them like I do my fabric! Well, that probably won't happen either. So for today I share with you my niece's wonderful Rosehaven Cottage.


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My sister's family lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is always such a happy place to me. My mom was born and raised here as was my granddad before her. My parents met and were married here. We always visited family here when I was growing up. My daddy died here. I lived here for 2 years, this is where Gordon and I met and married. This is where my sweet children, Tony and Amanda, are buried. There is so much of life and living and dying that is all wrapped up in this beautiful area. So much of my heart belongs here.

I will be back with more posts about my wonderful Bay Area visit in future posts. We came searching for spring and we've found it in the verdant hill of the Bay Area. As an aside, Papa and puppy are enjoying winter, complete with 8" of new snow back home in Springville... I think we chose the perfect time to escape to spring.

062- Battle Mountain

My sweet niece, Sarah, spends her days herding ickle-kinders AND she lives in a colder Utah than I do. She was in need of a dose of spring so she planned a trip to CA to find it! She started by inviting her folks (my sister) but when our other sister heard that they were coming to the Bay Area they twisted my arm to come along. Can you see my “twistered-airm”?

So bright and early this-day we rendezvoused in Salt Lake City and headed off across the Bonneville Salt Flats. This is a trip I don’t make so much anymore. If I’m headed to CA I usually take the southern route down I-15. But this trip across I-80 is so familiar. We used to drive it before it was I-80!! Both of my sisters went to BYU to college so we would make “that-long-ol’-drive”, usually at night, across the salt flats... with retreads that go flap-a-ta-flap-a-ta-flap-a-ta-flap-a-ta. We became intimately acquainted with all of the landmarks.

By 1964 I was so homesick for my sisters that Mom decided that she would let me go for a summer visit. Back in those days the California Zephyr Vistadome (railroad) went from Keddie to Provo overnight. Mom figured that she could put me on the train at 5:30pm and Sue could pick me up on the other end 14 hours later.

Once on the train I went straight up to the Vista-Dome... that was my haven! I was a big girl on my own! (I was 11 1/2... what a wonderful safe time! A little girl traveling alone and SAFE!) I had company, two elderly ladies. They sat near me (looking back they probably did it on purpose so they could keep an eye on this precocious little girl traveling alone!)

As we approached Battle Mountain (in the middle of nowhere!... oh wait, that is the middle of Nevada. Literally the MIDDLE of Nevada) one of the ladies asked her friend, “So where do you suppose we are?”

Always vigilant, I piped right up, “We’re in Battle Mountain! You can see the big BM on the mountain!”

061- Cowboy Quilt

I love all things cowboy! Growing up I was a such tomboy. I WAS Roy Rogers (not Dale Evans); complete with pearl handled pistols. I've collected (read-hoarded) these wonderful cowboy/cowgirl fabrics for several years; most of them are Alexander Henry designs. (They also had a Dick and Jane line that I'm hoarding!)

So this happy cowboy quilt, complete with minkie backing, is winging it's way to West Virginia to our newest little grandson. Happy snuggling baby-guy!

060- Winter Moonrise

Oh my... so many things to blog about today! But this is what won out- a moonrise over Hobble Creek Canyon. My friend Debra called and said I needed to get outside with my camera and capture this. Funny girl! Doesn't she know it's cold outside? I love how the clouds are curled around... it looks like a scene from Nightmare Before Christmas!


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On the other topics-

Today is the 1st day of March and it was a beautiful day; sunny, warm (well, warm for Utah, in the 50's) and promises of the end of winter. I can't/won't complain about our mild winter. I've enjoyed the break.

We had a special visitor today, but you'll have to wait to hear more about that later. (Don't you just hate it when people do that?)

The Tender Mercies of the Lord

This is a video recently released. I remember listing to this conference address as I cried because I have felt to frequently those tender mercies of the Lord. I add my testimony to Elder Bednar's.