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Monday, February 1, 2010

NEXT BEST THING TO A VACATION DAY...

When I woke up this morning at 6:50, I walked through the library from our bedroom and looked out the window. To the west was the moon.

To the east, the sun was coming up.



By 7:30 it looked like this....


By 7:45 the light provided a great opportunity for photographers.

Magnificent.


Everywhere I looked, the sun was emphasizing all the beauty that is around us.

Simple things.


The way the pigeons were sitting on the barn roof reminded me of a hood ornament on a car.


Dream headed out to the pasture while I was preparing the grain.




There was ice in the buckets this morning. I gave them a smack with my handy, dandy rubber mallet to get rid of the remaining water, then poured a little hot water in each one to get them totally ice free. I hang them next to the hydrant.


I put the hay in the pasture today as it was bathed in full sun.

Of course they had to come into the paddock for their heated water.





Brilliant!

Gary split some wood and brought it up to the house in the wheel barrow. He left it in the sun so the snow would melt off.




The pups were in and out all morning.


At 11, Madonna arrived and we were off to PF Chang's for lunch. We were supposed to go last Thursday, but decided against it because of the whiteouts.

Thank you Jenny and Kevin....for the gift cards you gave us for Christmas.

We got there around noon, so it was not crowded. The last time, when I went with Jenny, there were no tables and we had to sit at the bar.


I had hot and sour soup and Madonna had Won Ton.

We both ordered lettuce wraps and they were delicious.

The sauces had some real kick.

Yum.....

The we headed down to Anthropologie...my debut.

I LOVED IT!

The displays were off the charts. Ariana and Daniela would love to have this funky bed.

The clothing was unique and tasteful (tho too young for me). You needed to be tall and skinny not old and short.


How's this for a prop?


Now here is something I could fit into, and if I had a spare $6000, I would have bought it in a heartbeat. One of the most gorgeous leather couches I have ever seen.

Madonna found many different boxes that had "Philly" on them, one way or another. She wanted to get one for her daughter but they were not for sale.

One of the girls that worked in the store said they got them at a garage sale for 50 cents each!

Oh well....

While we were there, the temperature made it up to 26.


Then we made a quick stop at Michael's and I bought a tin of 36 Prismacolor colored pencils. I had a coupon for 40% off...it's a good thing!!!!! They were $64.99. Art supplies can be so expensive.

We drove back home and passed through the main part of Rochester....here's a shot of the city.


Home around three.

Gary had a Doctor's appointment and I did chores at 5.

Had to hurry, as we were supposed to be at Madonna's for dinner between 5:30 and 6.


Gary got there before me and they started putting together a bookcase.

The table was beautifully set.

Her kitchen is very French looking to me.

We had chicken and mushrooms in a delicious sauce, roasted potatoes and I brought a salad with pears.

I forgot to take a picture of the dessert....a fresh blueberry sauce on vanilla ice cream. But I did remember to catch a shot of the flowers.

and the wine.


Gary had a 7pm meeting at the Alumni House and I left around 7:45.

Here I am going through the village on the way home.

If you are not asleep yet, thanks for hangin' in. I don't get off the farm too much.
Night all.

10 comments:

Maery Rose said...

You sure pack a lot into a day!

CoyoteFe said...

That looked like a lovely day! We have an Anthro down here, but I have never been there for some reason. Now you can tell them that you drove them some business, although I too will not be buying the $6K leather sofa. I DO quite see you in the white blouse and jeans though. I say go for it!

Also, isn't it wonderful that even when a day is cold, it can look so beautiful?

Jo said...

What an uplifting and colourful post. You have a way of "selling" your day and the places you visit. Your turn of phrase and beautiful photos always make me feel I am there with you. Thanks for sharing your outing. Good on ya!

Sunny said...

What a lovely day, from beginning to end, thank you for taking me along...I don't get off the mountain too often!
Sunny :)

Gayle said...

You don't get off the farm much? I'd say you are always on the go!!

Dinner looked wonderful...great host you had.

The horses are lovely as usual. Nice to see them getting some sun. I know we are lighter here in the mornings and that is so nice.

Glennis said...

The day started so brightly and it seems to have continued all day and evening too, nice meal out too.
Makes up for the cold and snow probably!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a lovely day! I love those blue skies with snow on the ground days, too, as long as the wind is blowing too hard!

B : ) said...

What a day!! Anthropologie looks delicious - where is it?

Achieve1dream said...

You go and do more than I do lol. Looks like you had a lovely day. Beautiful pictures.

Frank said...

I'd say your day was just perfect. From the moon and sun all at once to some delicious looking food, you had fun. Even Tampa has PF Changs and interestingly, two blocks from our house is an Anthropologie. It is a truly unigue store and it's my daughter's favorite.

You had asked about Gasparilla, Tampa's annual invasion, parade and street fest. It began as a social group of well-to-do men (only) over a hundred years ago. The Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla was born. The name comes from a fictional pirate, Jose Gaspar, who robbed and pillaged the Tampa Bay area in the 18th century. The orginal men dressed as pirates, carried swords, road horses and "terrorized" the city...all in fun and to add a winter event to the social calender. They have a king, queen, court and the trappings. It has grown into a parade of over a hundred units, several dozen "krewes," a massive ship/boat invasion of the bay and riverfront at the convention center. 300,00-400,000 usually watch the parade along South Tampa's Bayshore Boulevard. It has grown rowdier with crazy New Orleans-style behavior, bead throwing, drinking, etc., etc. The police tried this year to tone it down a bit and made 400 arrests. Actually, it is a lot of fun if you are guests in a "corporate" tent with nice seating, food, cigars, wine, etc. Very civilized as thousands of parade particiapants march by. Lots of gun fire, cannons and horribly-scary pirates and other assorted Krewe members. The city and county governement take part, Florida's governor, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Tampa Bay Lightning hockey teams. It is wild and we live about 4 blocks from the parade route. It makes for a wild day (and night) so we usually clear out and go out of town. Our neighborhood survives...somehow.

Hope YOU'RE awake after this Tampa tale.