A DAY TRIP

Mark and I took  a day trip to Carlsbad, CA on Thursday. It was a rainy morning here but it turned out to be a nice day in Carlsbad. We wanted to go to a garden shop that we like a lot. We used to live in the area years ago. We have also stayed here in town several times for a few days. We love the town.

We have a favorite restaurant we go to called Jay's. So first we went over to the garden shop which at this time of year has the Flower Fields growing. It is an amazing thing to see. We didn't pay to go inside this year because we have done that a few times. 

We did end up finding plants that will work in our yard. After almost 16 years in the house some things just needed to be replaced. We were happy with what we found. We also had a wonderful lunch at Jay's. 

Those are fields of Ranunculus. 

They go about a mile long.

They harvest these for Mother's day.

A few ocean views....

I got a small ranunculus plant for myself to grow. 

This is a Protea we bought a few weeks ago.

Our garden is doing well too!

We haven't decided where to plant this yet but it is a Dwarf Lilac bush. I never knew that Lilac bushes grew here. A friend of mine who I played bunko with for years recently posted hers on Facebook. I was so surprised. These have been grown to live in our climate. I'm so excited! I couldn't believe we found one. 

Bought a bouquet of Rununculus to take home. 

Have a lovely week ahead of you. Mark has his second eye being done today for his cataracts. His first eye has turned out great. Hopefully later this week we are going to go to a casino. I could sit all day at a Keno machine. Wish me luck.  

"B" IS FOR.....

BABY AND BLOSSOMS

No, I'm not doing the challenge this month. Just writing a post about some flowers and baby James! 

These two are smiles for his gramps! 

 Just a silly grin. Not sure what he was looking at!

Our lemon tree is full of flowers.

Hawthorns are in full bloom. 

We do not know what the white blooming flower is. 

It's a bulb that comes up every year in this flower pot. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

LAST FRIDAY.....

.....was perfect!  Mark and I spent a few hours in the town of Carlsbad in San Diego. We haven't been in awhile and it turned out to be a perfect day. The weather at the beach was wonderful. 

We like to go eat at Jay's and some of the Flower Fields were in bloom. Carlsbad is an awesome town, one of our favorites. It would be a dream come true to be able to retire there. 

We didn't pay to go inside to see the fields this year. We did that a couple of years ago and you can see photos here. We do love the Armstrong Nursery and bought some new plants for our backyard. I also like to go in and pick up a bouquet of the Ranunculus flowers. 

We walked on the beach which was awesome. Nothing better than feeling the sand on your feet and the water tickling your toes. I could only go so far so I sat on some large rocks while Mark continued walking a little longer. 

 Some close up photos of the flowers to enjoy.....

It's a Good Friday. Enjoy your weekend! 

A ROOM WITH A VIEW

Mark and I were in San Diego last week and we were right on the harbor. The bridge you see in these photos is the Coronado Bridge which takes you over to the world renowned Hotel Del Coronado. We have been there several times since we moved to Southern California but have never actually stayed there.

You can see the rooftop of the Hotel Del zoomed in.

Our hotel had an awesome pool area.

On Wednesday we stopped in Carlsbad on the ride up to eat at our favorite place called Jay's Gourmet. You will see it in another photo because we also stopped on the way home Friday. After we got settled in at the hotel we went and walked around Seaport Village. I did a little shopping but really didn't buy anything!

We didn't want another meal so we stayed in. Mark is a member of the Marriott Club so their is a special Concierge Lounge in full service Marriott's where you can go to have drinks and they have appetizers for you to eat. They also do desserts later in the evening and breakfast in the morning. It's all free of charge. 

Before this awesome dinner at The Palm Restaurant on Thursday we had spent the afternoon at the San Diego Zoo. I have a post coming on Sunday! This was an excellent meal in the Gaslamp Quarter. We have a had a lot of awesome steaks in our years together but we agreed these were the best ever! 

So Friday on the way home we had a few stops to make. Like I mentioned earlier we stopped at Jay's to have lunch in Carlsbad, one of our most favorite towns. We took the scenic route from the harbor all the way to Carlsbad which took us through many popular beach towns like Del Mar. We stopped in La Jolla so I could go to the Julian Bakery to pick up some low carb bread. (We lived in the La Jolla area for 9 months when we moved to California from Illinois)

Carlsbad is where the Flower Fields are located and this is the time of year they are in bloom. I wanted to pick up a few bouquets for myself. We did not pay the fee to go into the fields because we just did that last Spring and also wanted to be heading home before traffic got ugly. Didn't have time to walk in the sand but I did see the ocean along the way! 

You can see all my pictures from last year HERE 
and you won't be disappointed!

Here are a few shots of the Ranunculus
I brought home last week. 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND....

RANUNCULUS

(Don't forget to click on the pictures to see them enlarged)

ra·nun·cu·lus

Last Saturday morning Mark and I left the house at 7:30 in the morning and headed to Carlsbad, Ca. (San Diego area) Last year when we went to see The Flower Fields they were not in bloom. So I made sure I checked and we waited until they were 100% in bloom. It only lasts a few weeks. I don't know if I ever mentioned that Carlsbad is one of our favorite towns on the coast and we have spent many wonderful weekends staying there over the years.

This one is so different. Every once in while you would see a

few in the fields that look like poppies.

 These are some close-ups taken in the fields.

And we walked on the beach and

ate at our favorite restaurant Jay's!

Look at this very modern beach house!

These are the flowers I bought to take home.

I just love when they are buds.

More buds!

 These are some of my favorites

that I wanted to share with you.

Hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!