Five February Favorites.......

1) I love it in the Desert Southwest this time of year because I love the chance to garden in February. With sunny days and temperatures in the 70's all week, I have wanted nothing more than to be outside. Not that I've been toiling in the dirt every minute......there has been plenty of backyard swing time for relaxing, writing, and of course my absolute favorite pastime of reading. Now the weather forecast for the next three days is rain so I'll be moving it inside temporarily.......and I'm thinking right off the top of my head that maybe I'll be watching some favorite dvd's while I'm at it......maybe a cozy fire, a window opened (just enough to smell the garden as it rains), and some movies like "The Secret Garden" and "Singing in the Rain". Have any more suggestions for rainy/and or garden themed movies?

2) One of my favorite roses, and always a great performer, is Joseph's Coat. Isn't it lovely? It's a great rose ( it acts as a full-blown climber here) and it consistently puts on a show in February and throughout the year..... even in our hot summers! I've always been amazed that it has performed better in my garden than in my father-in-law's gorgeous San Diego Garden (go here if you want to see my post about his backyard). He was so disappointed in his plant that he finally took it out......and he's impressed with mine ......go figure.

3) Speaking of rain.....I was so excited when I downloaded pics of our last rain. The photos of the beautiful rainbow outside our front door turned out so well. The skies were beginning to clear but I knew there wasn't much daylight left. If you're anything like me you're always wanting to get that perfect shot......and we know how that usually goes......but I was very pleased with these. Rainbows can't help but make you happy......and taking decent pictures of them makes you feel pretty good too. :)

4) This is one of my better looking watering cans. I have a couple of others that have seen better days.....I keep using them of course but they don't look that good anymore. No matter what kind of watering system that is set up in your garden, nothing takes the place of a watering can....... One of those things you can't do without. I was determined to take a photo of mine ( there's a first time for everything) and so I just quickly took it where it had been last left. As it turns out you're now able to see one of the corners in my garden that needs attention! That's not what I intended, but I'm going to blame the weeds in this corner on the recent rains. Yep, that's what I'm doing.

5) Finally this last favorite thing about this February is that it is my middle sister Joan's birthday month.......in fact her birthday is tomorrow. Here is a photo of her 5th birthday. I'm on her left and my baby sister Jane is on the right. Joan recently had some very serious complications during a routine surgery and had to be hospitalized for several days. She went through a rough time but praise the Lord she is home now, doing well, with a good Dr's report. The Lord is so good! I'm particularly grateful to be able to wish her a happy birthday this year! So Happy Birthday Sister. Love you much.

This post is linked to the following lovely blogs. Be sure to drop by and check each one out. Their individual buttons can be found in my sidebar. Enjoy!

ABC Wednesday....#6

Friday's Fave Five at Living to Tell the Story

Inspired By.... at The Inspired Room

Looking at the Sky Friday at Crazy Working Mom

Friday Fertilizer at Tootsie Time

Friday Fragments at Half Past Kissin' Time

Finding Beauty at Dippity Road

Skywatch Friday at Skywatch Friday

Today's Flowers at Today's Flowers

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Don't you just love a child's ability to have fun wherever they are, whatever they're doing?

A snowy day at Christopher Creek Arizona

Summer in San Diego

It's a good quality to have, don't you think?

I'm linking today with , Outdoor Wednesday, and Three or More Tuesdays. Be sure to drop by these lovely blogs and take a look. You'll be glad you did.

Valentine's Day Past.......Romance, Sleeping In, and Leftover Cheesecake

Valentine's Day around here has been rather quiet and uneventful......and that's just the way we wanted it.

You see we had a party here last night.

We moved most of the furniture out and set a table for fourteen in front of the fireplace. With a little background music by Michael Buble' and Rod Stewart it was all very romantic. Before dinner was over every couple had shared the story of their first date. Funny, sweet, romantic.....all at the same time. 

A little after-dinner dancing, pictures to prove what talented friends we have, and custom cds made for each couple to take home with them........all made it a special night to remember. *

It's so much fun to share an evening with good friends!

Needless to say, however, it was a late evening. By the time we were finished with cleanup it was very very late......though I do believe we looked a little more cheerful than this couple. After all, romance was still in the air even at 3 am!

Then all too soon the SUN was up.........

But WE weren't!   

                                                                                    
Gotta admit we did sleep in this morning........ till almost eleven o'clock to be exact. Can't remember when we last did that! But it was so lovely and it felt so good. No breakfast. Just a little cheesecake and a bottle of Martinelli sparkling cider (left over from the party) for our lunch. Yes, that was what we had for lunch.

Consequently, it is now eleven o'clock PM and neither one of us is sleepy. We're on our way to bed though. Jim is getting some popcorn popped right now as I speak. (okay, I'll admit there hasn't been a lot of good nutrition going on around here today) Anyway, we have our choice of three movies to watch before we fall asleep. We've seen all three repeatedly and we don't mind watching either of them again. So I guess we'll decide when we crawl into bed, all warm and toasty with our bowls of popcorn.

So on this Valentine evening will it be.........

Music and Lyrics with Huge Grant and Drew Barrymore.........

The Wedding Date with Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney...... .....or.....

The Holiday with Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Jack Black? Good night......hope you had a lovely Valentines Day too.

*For an even longer description of the party you can visit my original post here