Can you hear it?

The sound of the ocean is like no other.  I wish I could hear it more frequently.

California

Oh California how I love thee.

A treasure in Carlsbad

Vacations are not complete without a visit to a local community garden.

I found this one in Carlsbad, CA.  We had to settle for seeing it from the outside.  All entrances were locked.  It's fun to compare these gardens to ours in Arizona.

Blueberry Cake

We never seem to finish the big container of blueberries we get at Costco. I put on the "What cn make with these things" hat and looked up a blueberry cake recipe.

Voila!

C'est tres bon.

Interest Based Bargaining

Here's a bit from FMCS:

A Different Way to Negotiate
Known by many names and practiced in many variations and settings: Win-Win Bargaining, Mutual Gains, Principled or Interest-Based Negotiation, Interest-Based Problem Solving, Best Practice or Integrative Bargaining. No matter which variation is used, Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) may offer parties more flexibility than traditional bargaining, not locking them into predetermined issues and bargaining positions. Instead, the process begins with understanding the problem and identifying the interests that underlie each side’s issues and positions.

One Community - July

One Community is a monthly photo project in which participants photograph their homes and community with a theme in mind. The theme varies by month. The goal is to both showcase similarities and differences in our communities worldwide – and bring us all closer together in understanding through art.

This month’s words were selected by Sue. They are: nostalgia, season, celebrate and Red, White, and Blue!

Nostalgia.  A son misses his father, and times when the relationship was loving and equal.

Season. Sunflowers are special.  They grow in the summer. They need regular watering or they die in this scorching AZ heat.

 

Celebrate.   Percussion students sing Happy Birthday to their Director.

Red, White, and Blue.  My recently deceased sister in law loved red, white, and blue everything.  I love boxes. This is for the two of us.


One Community participants include:
Sarah is a life-long Missourian who shares her home with her husband, one (soon to be 2) son(s), and an old grumpy dachshund. Like every good Midwesterner, she can (and will) talk to you at length about the weather.  Sarah blogs at www.beautyschooldropout.net.

Colleen lives with her handsome hubster and two feisty felines in Portland, Oregon. She loves rain and sun (in that order), words and pictures, and chatting up the neighbors. She blogs at: www.underaredroof.com

Rebekah lives in Kilkenny, Ireland with her husband. An American by birth, she’s discovering what it means to be an expat on the Emerald Isle. She blogs at: www.honeysucklelife.com 

Kara is a cheerful nerd living in downtown Phoenix, AZ with her law-studying husband and an anxious pound puppy. She works full time in the mental health field but in her off time enjoys sunshine, great food and the occasional craft beer. She blogs at: www.sunshine-cupcakes.com
Wife and Mom to a houseful of boys in sunny San Diego; word geek and all-kinds-of writer; maker of things both creative and useful. Sue is now blogging again at nobaddays.wordpress.com.

Teresa lives in Massachusetts with her husband, college aged daughter and two crazy cats.  She is a creative spirit who tries to find the lesson, blessing and humor in everything and she blogs at http://laughteramongtears.blogspot.com/

Stephanie is a lifelong Wyomingite with ranch girl roots.  She has her own marketing and graphic design business and in her free time, she enjoys knitting, fishing with her boyfriend, and team roping.  She blogs at: www.nowicanseethemoon.co  

Eduarda  is a curious, visual creature who believes all pictures tell a story.  She hails from Mozambique, via Portugal and NJ, and now is desert rat living with her husband and two teenage daughters in Chandler, AZ.  She blogs at: http://of-blue.blogspot.com/

Grapes of Duda

Planted in 2011 this vine is producing grapes.  Now I have to learn how to prune it in the fall.