Never In Her Wildest Dreams!

It has been forever since I last visited this site and frankly have not had anything too exciting to add, until now..........




It started on a beautiful Fall day......seat belt tight in a classy black 1960 Alfa Romeo. Destination, Infineon Raceway in Sonoma for the Classic Sports Racing Group's Charity Challenge. DLV had invited me to join him on this adventure and drive over in his Alfa beauty. We scooted along happily through the open countryside with assorted lunch supplies in the cooler.

With just a slight chill in the air we checked through the gates and slowly drove through the line up of spotless shiny machines with the roar of engines gearing up. Never have I seen so many incredible cars, Alfa's, Ferrari's, Austin Martin's, McLaren's, Porches to name a few. This elite hobby not only requires a vintage race car but also involves having expert mechanics and equipment on hand. It is amazing to me that the owners and drivers take these expensive and beloved machines out and put them to the test of racing.



With one challenging question and a generous offer from DLV, I found myself trading a ticket for a helmet. I then entered the roped off area and waited for the 1960 Austin Martin (James Bond style) that would whisk me off around the track. The driver, Tom Price is also the owner of this car. Strapped in tight with hands gripping the seat we went around that curvy roadway three times hitting about 120 miles per hour. That is the fastest I have ever gone in a car - with the twists and turns I rather imagined it to be at least 200 miles an hour!



A thrill of a lifetime. DLV you really know how to make a day fun, fabulous and never to be forgotten.

What could possibly top that??

She Got One Of Her Wishes

One of my dreams has always been to see a performance of the famous Lippizzaner Stallions. Last night was the night that dream came true. The evening was warm, the air still. Armed with a camera, I settled down in a perfect spot to watch the show with some of my friends. The announcer entered the ring followed by a single line of some of the most beautiful horses I have ever seen.. The show began..........





The Lippizzan horses are an Austrian treasure, highly trained and skilled they have served as masters in military defense, where rider and horse become one. They set the standards of Dressage, the elegant dance and precise execution of commands. They did not disappoint.

Imagine though for a moment, how you might react if you had never known two of your closest friends were also the masters of two of these horses. How I ever collected myself from the shear shock of recognition, is still a mystery. Due to the fact that the horses and riders are in constant movement I was able to capture fairly good pictures, just slightly blurred. These two remarkable women,Louie and Darby, were the stars of the show. Louie was even wearing her pearls , very Vittonish.








An evening I will never forget, stunning horses, talented and gifted friends, truly a wish come true! Another Photoshop moment.

Oh My..........

Every year my front yard is different. Each autumn I always intend to put in more perennials and evergreen plants to avoid having a winter yard that is completely bare. I do have a few plants that hold down the fort during the winter but not enough to make it look established. So each spring and summer I run out and buy whatever is in bloom. Can't resist that instant color! Then slowly as fall advances things start to die back and there I am again wishing I had planted more "throughout the year plants". In an effort to reform, I shall post this blog as a promise I will heed my own words of wisdom this year.

In the meantime, I invite you to view my front yard and see what I see each time I drive in the driveway. This first picture shows the view towards the house with the birdbath and surrounding flowers. My delphiniums this year have been spectacular....multiplying each year and getting bigger. Of course having a birdbath right in one's front yard is hard to resist hanging around if you go by the name of Mocha or Little Girl (as seen in lower left corner).






I probably have not mentioned that my Little Girl is very talented. She has the energy of 10 cats. Once she gets riled up she can leap the highest of obstacles. Poor Mocha, being older and pretty much a "stay at home kinda guy" he wonders why she puts so much work into traveling about and leaping over tall buildings.. He is content to sit and watch. I guess he figures if she is out flying around he has the prime spot, close to the birdbath without competition. She has the energy, he has the smarts. Of course I must again give credit to Photoshop for letting Mocha and Little Girl be a part of my garden photos. It also gets credit for erasing my neighbors house in the first picture....it not only looks better in the photograph but also is something to wish for.






Geez, it is Friday the 13th of June. I like to look at Friday the 13th as a lucky day, so far it has been. Hmmmmmmm, let's see what shall I plant in my little yard this weekend??

She's Run Amuck

This just cracks me up. A friend of mine has a fabulous job as a designer for a large shopping mall developer. He is working on several projects in California and asked if I might be able to help out as a freelance designer once in a while. He asked me if I could manipulate this interior elevation of a mall they were working on . I just could not resist putting a little bit of a twist on the concept and decided to share this today. Any comments are appreciated, so feel free to add one.

Thank goodness it is Friday again, two days ahead to run amuck with abandon.

What has this girl been doing?

Oh geeeeeeez, as you can see I am not very consistent about getting posts posted. With the support and direction of Kay Cee, I have been instructed to get this thing going, to get myself out there into the world of daily blogging. I mean gosh, why the heck not just add my babble too. I might have something interesting to share, let's see.

Hmmmmmm, first off, I have stopped pulling my hair out, thankfully my computer and I have made a truce and are on friendly terms again. The techs are still talking to me so I guess the world is right again for now.

I recently purchased the Photoshop and Illustrator CS2 Bibles. Big hefty things, really quite comprehensive. I am slowly working through them and hope to expand my use of these incredible programs. I have never taken a class and have just learned "on the job". Although, I know there is so much more I could do and many a shortcut I have been unaware of. Shortly, a CAD program will be available, a whole new arena to explore. Most of our work has been in 2-D format but now we will have the ability to do mock up in 3-D for our product development as well.


I often think of the early 80's working in a large Architecture Interior Design firm in San Francisco. All drawings were done on drafting tables, supply closets full of lead, erasers, tracing paper, graph paper to name a few things. The first purchase of a computer was to replace the memory typewriter that the Secretary used for writing all the correspondence and proposals (one person did this, amazing for such a large firm, amazing woman). The printer was a huge thing with big tractor feed. Wow, that was about 25 years ago........what happened???

Anyway, here are some of the designs I have done recently. I must acknowledge and thank my computer, scanner, and primarily, Photoshop. These are not the most technically complicated pieces but just simple and fun.. Would like to see them as rug designs.....hmmmm maybe someday!

They Are Driving Me Crazy!

Crimeny, I have been dealing with computer problems for almost two weeks now and have started pulling my hair out, as you can see. We, my precious little techies (the ones driving me crazy) and I have had numerous conversations about trying to fix the problem, so far problem is winning. Techies are now curt and irritated, will start ignoring my calls I am sure. So today I give up and will give it a go once more tomorrow. Always better to handle problems early in the day. Speaking of the day, it is May 1st and a simply beautiful one at that! This may help in restoring my mood.

This needs a touch of Photoshopping!

Here is a pic of me...........hmmmmmmmm I am not fond of having my picture taken, but you might as well see me as I am. I plan to post fast so this goes down to archives - FAST!!