Who Would Have Thought.....

...that when I bought this sweet dress for my granddaughter, way back before she was born......

...that it would look so perfectly precious on her?!!!!!!!!

Wanna see some Eye Candy?!!

Blew Bayou is anchored here for the night........me thinks the sailors will enjoy their view when they get up in the morning~~!

Ranguana Caye, Belize

Where is this island paradise—and how can you get there??
Ranguana Caye is a privately owned two-acre island, which is maintained and managed by The Inn at Robert’s Grove, Belize’s pre-eminent mainland beach resort. Ranguana is located 1⁄2 mile from Belize’s Barrier Reef and only 18 miles (a one hour boat ride) from the Placencia Peninusla, where Robert’s Grove is located, and from where trips to Ranguana depart. The caye has three charming, rustic wood cabanas built high on stilts with outside decks that offer cool breezes and breathtaking views. Each cabana is outfitted with one queen and one single bed and a private bathroom. A housekeeper freshens your room daily.

Da Easter Bunny is a'comin'!

And Lilli is practicing getting her Easter outfits ready!! Had a lil photo shoot today and I'll be back with the most glorious pics of ms. thang!! (showing NO bias here but really? cutest baby or what??!!!!)

Couldn't end the day without a few images of the sisters!!

YA THINK....???

...THOSE SAILORS ARE HAVING FUN??!!!!!!!

Gal Pals and Birthday Parties!

One night last week, my gal pals came over for dinner and vino. A crazy one, A, brought me a surprise.....in a Santa bag! She told me this was my present for NEXT yr....and I'm all whoa....talk about pre-planning!

But actually, she found the most awesome gift for me on a recent trip to New Orleans and she's preparing her house for re-modeling and didn't want it to get lost. Can we all relate? Oh yeah!!

Looky!!

The coolest wine glass EVER!

Last night, other said crazy gal pal, had a birthday celebration...which we will not mention numbers here cuz.....well, let's just put it this way.....She's the baby of our group......!

the one always posing for the camera!!

Good Times were had by all!!

A Busy Week for Blew Bayou Sailors!

um....make that Blew Bayou hikers!! Whew.....yep, they have been ALL over Guatamala this week and have used just about every type of transportation imaginable to do it. I know I won't get all the names right and until I get a written report from them, I'm just going to pinpoint their travels.....

I've already talked previously about their van ride, puddle jumper ride and taxi ride all in one day to Flores, to Guatamala City, to Antiqua, to Panajachel, to Lake Atitilan......another boat ride to the other side of the lake, where the "hippies" reside. Then more transportation back to Antiqua, where they hiked 2 hrs up to the volcano.....which they said was "too awe inspiring for words". Last night when I talked to the cap'n at the end of their volcano adventure......he sounded like an exhausted puppy. They are tired.....all of them......but so pumped about what they've just done!! Don't ya just love that feeling? Exhaustion mixed with exhiliaration??!!!!

So, they're spending ALL of today making their way back to the baby-Blew Bayou- where they know their beds are comfy and the showers are hot!! Cannot wait to get the full blown stories from ALL of them in their own words!!

For now, I'll leave you with some pics that cap'n sent me yesterday.,,,,,,I'm sure more will soon follow!

(will someone let me know if the pics are showing, plz?)

Flower Fun Friday!

Blue Skiies and Cupcakes!!!!

Our day here is beautiful, so before I go out, I thought I'd wish you a happy weekend and share

my flowers with you! My galpal, Katy, showed some beautiful flowers on her blog this week and she gave me the bug...so off to the grocery store I went to score some beauty. The girlfriends came over for a movie night, which actually turned into a vino night-heheh-and pasta and they were supposed to have cupcakes too. BUT....cupcakes turned into vino and we forgot!!

I've had some comments that tell me the pic from previous post is not showing up. Hmmm, it's showing up just fine for me so I need to work on that. Sure hope I can get it to show up cuz it's so cute! The cap'n sent me some pics last night and I plan to get those up this weekend too.

Everyone have a wonderful spring weekend.....I'm going to our lakehouse to play in the dirt and catch some rays!! As well as be a part of my good friend, julie's 50th birthday party shindings. I should have loads of party pics of this event, but getting their permission for blog reports may be harder to get! Heh.

I'm loving life right now. I feel so rich with family, friends, sunshine and a lower back that feels 95% better than it did this time last week! Amazing what feeling good can do for ya!! Love ya'll more than dirt!!

O! M! G!

Look how cute???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is my DIL and the cap'n INSIDE that lil car!! How precious is that?? I'm assuming my son took the pic ... would have loved to see ALL of them in there..!! Everyone of them are very tall. Not sure what town this is in.....assuming Antiqua. They were heading across Lake Atitilan today to the "hippie side".....heehee. Can't wait to hear about that...!

Church on the Move!!

That's a phrase I picked up from my buddy, Snoop Dog! Yep, that's me and Snoop and Loco Lisa on one of our very crazy nights in WA!!

But anyway, now my family very often says "Church on the Move" when we are quickly moving from one place to the other.

And why this post title today? Because the Cap'n and his two first mates....my son and his wife --the Traveling Gypsies--are "Church on the Move"!! They locked up Blew Bayou and left her at Rio Dulce. Drove 3-4 hrs to Tikal National Park in Guatamala, where the Tikal ruins are. They explored the ruins all Sunday afternoon and stayed at the Jaquar Inn in the park. I had to chuckle at my brave daughter in law when I read that the hotel turns off all electricity at 9pm.....but they do have a few candles to loan out!!! Oh my!! Monday morning, they rode in a van to Flores where they then hopped a flight to Guatamala City......where they are in the hunt for the volcano....Antiqua, I think. (no lisa, not OUR Antiqua!!)

They are having a blast!! I haven't gotten any pics from them yet. Not much internet access where they've been but I'm sure when the pics come, they'll be amazing. My son is doing exactly what he's been wanting to do for a while now......hiking his butt off and living out of a backpack!! The cap'n kinda likes that way of life as well.........so happy they're getting to live out yet another dream!

OK.....REALLY????

Let me just paint this picture for you. Last Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning were beautiful spring days. Azure blue skiies with nary a cloud in them.....72-75 degrees. Felt sooooooooooo good. If this ol' gal's back hadn't been out, many new plants would have gone into the ground. In fact, yesterday I took a bike ride and took 'fleur' pics to share with you. HA. Loosiana.........good ol' Loosiana...........now we all know weird things happen around here. Often. From politics to education levels to weather. But really????? Snow sticking to the ground when I wake up this morning? Really??? Un-frickin-believable. Twice in one year? I have never seen snow fall twice in one yr in all of my life,,,and you all know that's a very long time! So..............sheesh. Lemme go see if there is any more wood downstairs for yet another fire!..I'm at our lakehouse and I gotta tell ya, this stuff isn't quite so beautiful when it is lying on my brand new jasmine blooms.....:(! And it is really coming down -- like I imagine it does in Yankeeville!!! Heheheheheh.

will be back to add pics as it accumulates....

Another First for Lilli!

Her first trip to the deer camp!! And her first ride on the 4-wheeler!!We all know that this will be ms. thang's 2nd home, since her dad spends most all of his free time here........it's a boy's paradise! His brothers, his friends and his family love to spend quality time here even when it's NOT deer season. They hunt deer, ducks, hogs....well, they don't really hunt the hogs....they just kinda play tag with them!.....and squirrels and hmmmmmm what else has four legs and is wild??!!!!!!! And oh yeah....crawfish. Lots and lots of crawfish! Get my drift here? This is where they really wanna be...........any day of the week. It's their playground, and their children, and their children, and their children will always have this place close to their hearts. And their father, the cap'n, is leaving a beautiful legacy for his children. Something that will always make them smile and think of him with love in their hearts!! Makes MY heart warm to see my kids so happy in their environment......a place of nature and beauty!

So................annie..er, Lilli.........git yur gun!!! I have a feeling this will be YOUR playground too!!

Their Travel Continues.......

I'm sorry but I just have to brag. Is this not the most awesome pic EVER?? That's my oldest boy and his gorgeous wife in front of the waterfall in the rainforest in LaCeiba, Honduras!! They had just finished hiking to the top of the mountain and this is the pot at the end of the rainbow.Believe me. I know all about this rainbow....I hiked to the top of it last yr when we were there and it took me ....oh, I dunno....prolly THREE times longer to get to the top than it took them...DUH!!! Hmppphhhh....20 yrs and outa shape does make a difference, ya'll!!

Anyway.........there are in route to the Rio Dulce in Guatamala as I type this. They left the island of Utila yesterday about 5pm and were going to sail all night to get there by noon today.

This is the text that I had on my phone from the cap'n when I got up this morning:

DATELINE 4AM 3.19.2010 26 MILES EAST OF CABO TRES PUNTAS, GUATAMALA WESTBOUND REPORT. DARK. (this must have been his entry into the boat log)

They are having a blast.........and what wonderful life experiences, not to mention the memories they are making............!!! Can't wait to hear how their crossing went....and if the "girl" had to do a nightshift at the wheel last night!!! heheh... I told her to be verah careful.... oncoming boats don't have "headlights"!!

edited to add: photo credit given to the cap'n of Blew Bayou!

Thru Thick & Thin.....

"Friends are the most important part of your life. Treasure the tears, treasure the laughter, but most importantly, treasure the memories."---Dave Brenner

When you feel down, or you're sick, or you need a shoulder...........or you just wanna have fun......nothing compares to an old fashioned friendship!

Been a little down and out the last few days and look what shows up on my doorstep!!

My friend, Laura, has been in my life since 1978. She's crazy....for real!....she's precious and she's oh, so very thoughtful. Not only did I receive these ^ 'happies' today, but my fridge now has spaghetti/meatballs, salad, soup, sandwich wraps and milky way cake!!

I was a bit blue this morning but tonight my heart is warm, happy and thankful that she's in my life!

cake time!!

Debby and Muneeba over at the Foodie Fans of the Pioneer Woman blog have a fun site where readers post their versions of recipes from Ree Drummond's cookbook. It's fun to see all the different interpretations of different foods. I've mentioned their game over there before......ya'll check it out.

Some peeps are coming over this week so I made Pioneer Woman's great grandmother Iny's Prune Cake. WAIT!! It's not a "prune" cake. Well......yes, it is. But if you don't tell anyone, they'll never know it's prunes.......DOES NOT TASTE LIKE PRUNES!! It's loaded with spices and actually tastes like a really, really moist spice cake. And the caramel icing?? To die for!

The cake actually soaks up the icing like a sponge so that when you eat it, it literally drips into your mouth. No lie!! This one is worth the calories, gang. Seriously.

One word? Y-U-M!!

Friendship..Spring...Junkin' & Playin'!

What kind of emotions do these pictures bring to you?





Calm, happy, relaxing...........could that be what you feel?





Know what emotions I feel? WooooooooooHooooooooo.......Road Trip!! I mean, really, what better kind of day to roll all the windows down, put your great big sunglasses on and take off!!
So.........our day Friday looked just like this and the woooohoooo took over my brain function...so off to south Loosiana I went. Just so happens that I have a wooohooo crazy friend that lives down there and will jump to the ocassion of fun at a moment's notice!! She had been telling me about all the cool junkin' spots in her neck of the woods and that's all it took. Takes me about 31/2 hrs to get there so by noon, I was pulling into the parking lot at the Antique SchoolHouse in Washington, LA!! (town of about 1000, I think!)
Do you see how large this bldg. is? Yep....filled to the brim with "stuff"!!




















Now, I have to explain that before I could anything, my mission was to find cracklin and boudin! A cajun delicacy that one MUST have when in south loosiana. You can get that stuff anywhere in LA but it is not authentic. When you walk into a Texaco station off the service road in Opelousas, where there are sooooo many cars parked, you know they've got just cooked, hot and spicy cracklins!! No lie. This stuff is as addictive as crack cocaine and tastes like heaven. Picked up some for my boys and ...well, let's just say my dinner, breakfast and lunch have all been the same thing since I got back!

















Now........just look at some of the booths in this place!
















Also visited here and few more in this sweet town before doing a lil bypass onto some back roads to the town of Glenmora to find more fun places..


Now, I'll just show you a few pics of the treasures I found. And cheap? Oh girl.....these places would bargain and I love a good bargain!!

















doesn't this table covering just covet ms. sophiejane?!!












Remember when I posted a pic of a lazysusan dip/chip dish that I found on an earlier trip? Well, just wait till you see what I found yesterday to go with it!! A lazysusan spice tray....and it's darling!



the tray BEFORE the aqua paint that I've become addicted to!

After!

The white frame above that has wire behind it? For my earrings~

Two little puppydogs were very happy to see me come home.....I tried to tell them how great my weekend was..........they were NOT amused!! (both in my chair with me!)