Bazinga!

This song of happiness brought to you from the Neuman gardens

That is all.  Carry on. :)

Candy apple red

In the corner of my kitchen, amongst the clutter of canisters, coffee mugs holding handy teaspoons, and condiments, is a new(ish) queen of the counter ... Bruce's new coffee maker.  He loves this coffee maker .. and in true guy style .. he refers to it a Cadillac. 

 Most times, when he needs something new, I wander off to various stores looking for what I consider to be the best balance between functionality, price and since I'm a woman ... aesthetics.  When the last coffee pot broke, Bruce stepped up to the plate and insisted on purchasing this one himself since he's the sole coffee drinker in the Neuman house and has a substantially larger stake in its operation than I.  I think he actually hit a number stores over the course of two weeks before settling on this ... all the while haphazardly crafting his coffee with a filter over his mug.  So he took his time and when he brought this baby home .. he was very, very pleased with himself. If he could have revved it up like the candy red cadillac he named it .. he would have.  

You might have noticed that our kitchen has somewhat of a red theme going on ... some appliances, assorted knick knacks and trivets, even dinnerware upon occasion.  I've been on the lookout to replace our somewhat undersized fruit bowl for a number of years, but I'm cheap.  I refuse to pay $45 or $35 for a bowl to toss my bananas and pears into and watch them age past their preferred edible states. (Don't be judgin', I know it happens in your house too)  And to say I've been on the lookout is a bit of an understatement ... its been years I've been shopping.  I'll occasionally check over at Homesense while I'm there looking for something else ... and upon this latest visit, I came across two perfect solutions. One was a rather elegant oblong bowl with a sparkling white interior.  The other was this homage to Italian living ... and since I don't mind occasionally diving headlong into over-the-top ... here's the result.  It makes me smile whenever I look at it.  And it was only $12.99 ... so was the other bowl.  I may have to go back.

Spring is in the Air

I walked over to Cecile and Richard's place last weekend, to help her make some breakfast for the Huliguns while they were out on the water.  And I know that you folks in Alberta were in the middle of Mother Winter's last grasping demonstration of power, but here in Lala Land, it was all signs of spring ...

This is the jasmine outside my kitchen window.  Each year, it gets just that much more show-stopping

Fuzzy catkins on a tree stopped me.  Although they are sneezes budding out, they also look a lot like flowers!

When breezes play tag along the
streets .. there are always
cherry blossom casualties.

This has to be one of the best pictures I've taken in ages. The colors are simply amazing, the spring buds could not have been more dramatic and there's even a whimsical wee portal into the neighbor's yard.  This is at Cécile and Richard's.