So the other day my kids were playing in this blow-up pool. I could hear them laughing and giggling and I peeked out the window and could tell they were pushing on the edges, water sloshing around everywhere and gooshing out the sides.

A couple of minutes later I see a blur of color out of the corner of my eye. I looked out again to find what you see in this photo above. You know, they couldn't even see where they were going. Wow, they don't even need water to have fun with a pool. Sometimes I wish I could be just their age and do all of that fun and goofy stuff right along with them. But then again, sometimes I do that anyway.

Gringo Jones in St. Louis

When we visited the St. Louis Botanical Gardens this week we made a stop at Gringo Jones. This is a uniquely, interesting shop on the corner, only about a block or two from the gardens. A true experience. It's one of those shops you walk in and think it's quaint and small, but you soon realize it keeps going on and on and on. I love those shops. Some rooms are outside and that's where I took these photos. There was so much to see in one little area, that we just had to stand in the middle and slowly spin around, trying to take it all in. Check out the cello in this picture. It's new use is a wine rack.

We've happily accepted the fact that this place has now been added as a must-stop shop on our way to the gardens.

This sundial was my fun purchase and new addition to my garden. There was another one with a broken tip that had the perfect amount of aging and "experience" that came along with it. It had been sitting in one of the outside rooms. I went with the new one, dial intact. After all, what fun would a sundial be for the kids if they can't really see it work? Besides, after a couple of rainy seasons and snow coverings I figure this new one will have the perfect amount of oldness to it. AND it will work.

My (pretend) Second Home

Upon arrival at the Missouri Botanical Garden on this beautiful, sunny morning, it was hard to miss these onion flowers just outside the door; greeting us with their surprisingly large, purple awesomeness. Even the butterflies came to whisper hello.
I couldn't resist capturing the image of this lady, capturing the image of the view in the photo below. She looked so peaceful sitting there. You can't tell by this photo but we were surrounded by one of the rose gardens. I could sit on these gray benches all afternoon and just drink in the scent of hundreds of blooming roses.
Now that I'm a garden member I feel somewhat like a part owner. Not really, but I get to pretend that I am. So I pictured how nice it would be to live like Monet at Giverny, with a house inside the Botanical Garden. It was easy to imagine painting whatever and whenever I liked.
These roses would be my first stop, paint brush in hand.

And all of my gardeners would wear these great hats.
And this would be my fairytale house. How handy it's already built on the grounds for me. (Actually, I'm told one of the employees normally lives there.) I would never have to leave.

Except to buy more paint.

If I could, I would make The Missouri Botanical Garden my second home. (Add an ocean and beachfront cottage and I'm there.) I don't live close enough to visit every day but I wish, wish, wish I could. I finally became a member this year and I get to take my own little personal field trip there tomorrow.

The photo here is from a year or two ago, but it's one of my favorites. I'm hoping to get some good pics tomorrow (sun, please!) and I can post more.