"Bloom Where You Are Planted"....

Hi Friends, Hope you are all doing well!....Here at our house, we are all doing better now, but have all been recovering from different degrees of the flu bug, which has had us down for a good part of a week. We have been resting & making lots of tea!...and I have been reading all your wonderful blogs!...it seems warm weather has finally come to all your homes!....I have so enjoyed looking at & reading all the photos & text about your flowers, patios & lush, green countryside & charming towns!...Yes, here in California we do have lots of sun & pleasant temperatures, but charming villages, not so much. And with clear skies a "constant", you really do tire of it!....My husband & I both grew up in Washington State where we had very distinct seasons, & we enjoyed the seasons as well living back east a few years ago....and I miss it terribly. We also happen to gravitate to old, dated "fixer-upper" houses, but for some reason we decided to purchase a new house in a large housing developement when moving back to Southern California?....Let me just say we will NEVER buy a new house again!....There is no privacy & the "neighbors"?...Most of them are very nice people, but the ones directly in back of us are so "disagreeable"!......OMGoodness!... I realize I am sounding like a spoiled child & "horrifically ungrateful" and that simply is not true. I do love my actual house, & I am surrounded by my happy, healthy family. For the time being this is our home. I need to embrace that fact & make it my own! I need to "Bloom where I'm planted" & adopt a better attitude! and from this point on, that's precisely what I'm going to do!....Someday I hope to find myself living in an old farmhouse on a hill, instead of in tract housing,... surrounded by green grass & tall trees, in place of freeways & mini-malls. However, for right now this is the place I am supposed to be. I'm going to enjoy what So. Cal has to offer,..... as well as all the incredible places I can experience when visiting all of you.
Our backyard & beautiful pool....18 months ago, this area was nothing more than a "dirt pit"??...My husband landscaped the backyard almost entirely by himself...he planted all the trees you see...He did a great job!.............

The" view" from across our yard....I like seeing the umbrellas "peeking above" the foliage....

The "view" from the edge of our house looking up toward the surrounding hills. We ended up purchasing the lot that would give us the most space...my husband anticipating his wife's need for "breathing room"!

This is at the other end of our yard....You are looking toward my "flower & vegetable garden". We had the stone wall put in along with my lovely arbor. In the middle of the arbor we had little stone benches added....Note: See how close those neighbors are!

"Daylilies & Daisies" planted in front of my very "English looking" stone wall... Question to my Blogger friends from the U.K?.....It does look something like you'd find in England, doesn't it??....(Lie if you must!).... :)