today was the kind of day we minnesotans dream of...blue skys, warm breezes, mosquitoes mostly still hatching in a pond somewhere, and~ i am on a weeks vacation from work!

my list of things i want to get done this week is long and i knocked a few things off it, but i also had a couple surprise visits from friends and i had a quiet dinner out on the deck while reading a magazine  and retouching pictures (the hubs trap shoots on wed.'s) then i took a walk and listened to the sounds of summer all around me- what could be better? i'm in my glider swing on the deck and i can hear the kids and parents yelling at their little league baseball game just up the street and i have a fountain on the deck that is babbling away...

i spent the past couple of days at a dear friends in alexandria and it was so marvelous that i told her i felt like oprah had sent me to a spa somewhere! here's some pictures of her wonderful, newly remodeled home. she is the queen of a lot of things-not the least of which is making a house charming and welcoming. (yes this is the friend who invented "bed prizes"...like i've told you before on my blog, when you stay here-no matter what time of day it is when you get there, you just want to yawn a few times and announce that you're all in and might just head to bed, cause you cannot WAIT to see what surprises she's got deliciously waiting for you on your bed!) 

yep...this dreamy bed with the basket of goodies was waiting just for me! : )

this is the sunroom. doesn't it just make you want to burst into song? "you are my sunshine, my only
sunshine...you make me happy~ when skies are grey........."

this big old chair below was made from an old door and trim from the original house- isn't it grand?

leslie and i are both freaks for great sayings...this was one of my favorite things in her new home. she bought the sign that said "today i will be happier than a bird with a french fry"...then went and bought french fries and took them to the shore and fed seagulls till she got the picture to frame with it! now if that isn't the cat's pajamas i don't know what is!!!

these santos angels sit in a serene corner~

these pillows are on the front hall bench

i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw this piece of art on the family room wall...just last week i'd been looking at it online and wondering if i should buy it! this girlfriend and i have so much the same taste...it's no wonder we're like frick and frack- lavern and shirley or thelma and louise when we're together! : )  leslie, as always i feel very blessed by you, being with you recharges my batteries in so many ways- thanks again for the hospitality!!!

* i have to tell you that our big old doggie went to heaven yesterday~ he's been a part of our family for 12 years and he was my hubbie's best friend, the house feels awfully empty today and my sweetie's heart is hurting. he loves animals and these two had a VERY special bond. we knew it was coming, but that didn't make it any easier for us. although our blaze weighed 115 lbs. he was one of the most gentle dogs i've even known. i think everyone in town recognized him, as he and lars walked about ten thousand miles together, side by side. their daily walk included a stop at byerlys where blaze would wait patiently outside, (drooling) : ) while his boy went inside and bought him a chocolate donut. he was a hunting dog but he never really liked guns- he just liked the going along part- wherever dale went, blaze wanted to be too. i always said "he was a lover, not a fighter"- he was huge but he was scared of any loud noise. and the broom. fireworks? no thank you for blazer.

do you think our pets go to heaven? i do~ people love their pets. they love them as much as their humans sometimes~ surely that kind of love will be rewarded and we will see them again someday. isn't it a great visual to think of a beloved dog running to meet you  again someday, tail a waggin, ball in his mouth, ready to have his belly rubbed?

blaze, we hope you are doing a doggie dance on the clouds today, with hips that no longer hurt and a big smile on your face! and i hope that there are chocolate donuts for bed snacks in heaven.
* you will be missed big brown dog, you were such a good boy~

                                                  xo, beth