Things are not always as they seem . . .

Gorgeous home with nicely manicured front yard

Gee, what nice flowers!

Oh, never mind. They're from Michael's (aka FAKE!!!)

Aaaaargh!

Rocks

Real Rock

Fake Rock

(nice try though, and the bird poo droppings add a realistic touch)

Real Rock

Fake Rock

Duh!

Do people really think these fool anyone?

Are they any better looking than what they're attempting to disguise?

I don't think so!

Thanks, I feel much better now. Just had to get that off my chest! :)

Bloom . . . Wherever!

As I was out walking one morning last week, I happened to look down into the grate over the large drain at the side of the road. What caught my eye were some daisies growing in the most unlikely of spots in the dark.

Remember the old saying "Bloom Where You Are Planted"? Well, this proves you can bloom just about anywhere!

Balconies

On a recent morning walk around the 'hood, I decided to take pictures of balconies and see what people are doing with them. This one's not great, not terrible. But I think we can do better . . .

OK, this one's just sad. Perhaps a fake plant is better than a dead one. Looks like one person would be in the other person's face. Too aggressive for balcony sitting, in my opinion.

Possibly my favorite . . .

One option is to do absolutely nothing.

One of my favorites. A real plant and bistro chairs with personality!

I like the bistro set, but I'm deducting points for the fake orange flowers.

Not a bad attempt, but the plants are fake, so the greens will turn more and more turquoise.

And finally, my own false balcony outside my laundry room. A little spindly, but at least the geraniums are real.

Turkeys!

What is it? Oh, it's a turkey butt! Here he is!

And I think he's interested in her. Hope she's not interested in the bird food. I think she's a bit too big to fit on my bird feeders!

Not the most graceful bird, but hey, she can fly!

Most days, we have turkeys outside the fence. It's kind of unusual to have one inside the fence. My kitties don't know what to make of it since she's bigger than they are!

Hard Wood Floors

This week's project was to replace the carpet in the family room with hard wood floors. The contractor did a great job and I love the Santos Mahogany that we chose. The hardest part by far, was moving the 25 year-old braided ficus in and out of the room. We determined today that it weighs more than a refrigerator, and I'm beginning to think it weighs more than my piano. Needless to say, when we finally sell this house, it's going with it. Other than the ficus drama, it went well and I must say that I LOVE the end result! Of course, then it made the walls and base boards look shabby so we had to have those painted. And now my burgundy leather sofa and loveseat look really shabby and are in need of a major refurbishment. One thing leads to another, even when you're barely dipping your toe in the pond of "remodeling". Yikes!

Commute Pictures Part II

More commute pictures. Of course, it doesn't look like this the closer I get to Oakland. This is about a mile from my house. Still, it makes me go "ahhhhhhhh". :)

My favorite part of my daily commute

I cut through a new development near home where they've apparently liberally scattered wildflower seed around. I'm loving the wild lupins, California poppies, and abundant flowering clover. Puts me in the right frame of mind for the workday.