So, what has "my boy Bryce" been up to this week? Well, he has spent some time with "my baby Bo", his nephew, and also been quite busy at Country Roads. I will let the pictures do the talking!
It is amazing how fast the displays and inventory changes at Country Roads. Seriously, there is something new each and every day that has been brought into the store. We've had some dealers moving around and a couple of new one's moving in. I should have some pictures of the "new" looks up soon!
Good morning and happy "White Wednesday"! I'm running a bit late this morning, and actually have been running a bit late with everything the past couple of weeks! SoCal has finally got it's summer sunshine, and I love it! This week, my "White Wednesday" pictures come from Tim and Lisa's area here at Country Roads. Hope you enjoy them!!
I hope each and every one of you are enjoying summer. It is such a special time. Life somehow "should" slow down a bit and we get to be lazy. So enjoy it while you can because it will be gone in the blink of an eye and we will be knee deep in the holidays!
And before I close, I had to share a picture of "my baby boy Bo" only minutes after his birth last Friday. Riley was so excited as were we all. He arrived a couple of weeks early and of course looks much different than he does in the picture. I wish you all a great "White Wednesday" and enjoy these summer days of ours and if you live local, be sure to stop by Country Roads for a visit! Take care.
Sometimes when I walk through Country Roads and take pictures, I'm just amazed at some of the stuff that is in the store. So, today, I thought I would share just a small portion of some of the pictures I took!
I think you might agree with me, right? No words were needed!!
If you come in to shop at Country Roads today, you might see quite a few of these signs pictured above. These are our "HOLD" tags that have been made into "SOLD" tags because we ran out of the "SOLD" tags! I'm not complaining and the store is full of these signs right now. We had an amazing week-end, and I'm so grateful for all of you that shopped with us, thank you!
We also had the pleasure of Mr. & Mrs Money Ring coming over from Japan to shop with us! We have called him "Money Ring" for so long that I have forgotten what his and his wife's names are. The name stuck because Money Ring wears a ring that has a large dollar sign on it covered in diamonds. Mrs. Money Ring wears a ring, I believe, that is in the shape of a horseshoe, and it is also covered in diamonds. I have a copy of a Japanese magazine that Hidea, one of our Country Roads dealers, gave me a few years ago. The magazine had done an article on Money Ring and his studio in Japan. There was a picture of his hand with the ring. Hidea translated it for us, and it said, "at Country Roads in America they call me Money Ring". Both Money Ring and his wife are truly the nicest people you will ever meet and so easy to work with. Below are some pictures of not only their purchases, but a lot of other stuff that has sold over the past few days!!
I was just blown away by how busy we were this week-end. I'm definitely not complaining and it keeps that "hope" alive in my heart that Country Roads really is an awesome store. And from my heart, a big "thank you" to each of you that shopped with us and also congratulated me on my new grandson. Your words always hold a special place in my heart, thank you!
Riley and I have been having slumber parties the past two nights. While Riley was partying like a rock star last night due to the LONG nap she took at the hospital right before I picked her up, I couldn't keep my eyes open! I'm in a very grateful mood this morning. My heart is filled with love and I know how very, very blessed my life is. It also has been a very long time since I've been this exhausted!! As everyone knows, I have a new grandson named "Bodhi". Katie had told me the meaning of the name, but in my whirlwind life I live, I had to google it to remember what she said. Actually, yesterday I had to ask her again, what time he was born! I was there, but I'm running on adrenalin right now!!
Bodhi is pronounced "Bodie", and since "ya'll" know my mom's Texas roots, I have a feeling that the nickname "Bo" will stick pretty easily! That's my mom as a baby on the porch of her home in Texas. I've also been thinking a lot about my mom and dad right now, how excited they would be. A new life does that to you! I "know they know" about Bo, that is just how life works. As I held Bo last night, I couldn't help just starring and thinking as I looked at this little grandson of mine. I mentioned how I have "thinking" issues anyway. I can never stop THINKING! But when you hold a brand new life in your arms, your blood, your family, it does take your breath away. The timing of his birth, being early and all, really worked out well. Brande, who has been traveling with the "Lilith Tour" and gone the past few weeks, was in Irvine last night. So, today she is home, meets Bo, we get to have dinner together and life is pretty darn good right now and again I know how blessed I am, believe me!
Marcela commented on my blog post yesterday with this:So glad the store was busy today, Sue. In Argentina they say that babies come to us with prosperity under their arms...they might be right!! She really got that one right. Yesterday was so unbelievable busy. It wasn't a sale, there was nothing special going on, we were just insanely busy!! You have no idea. I've thought about THAT a lot, and when I read Marcela's quote, she pretty much opened my eyes and heart. I'm like everyone, this past year or so isn't easy so you do what you have to do. You stay positive and work as hard as you can, and you know, it all comes together somehow. My girls, Carol and Yesi, came down to the hospital last night after working the grueling day we had. We did NOT sit down ALL day long! These girls, are MY girls. I love them like my own kids. I watched them both hold Bodhi for a long time. Yesi wouldn't let him go and finally Carol wanted a turn! Family, couldn't ask for more. So, with all that said, I have a shitload of work ahead of me this morning. Yesterday was the 10th which is dealer statement day. Magically, only one dealer came in for her packet which was awesome because I hadn't finished putting them together!! See, things just went so well yesterday. If I wasn't so tired, I would be doing the happy dance. I know written words can't really convey that much feeling. But when I write, "thank you, thank you, thank you" please know that goes out to all of you straight from my heart! And even my "BSC" customers aren't gonna get to me today! (I hope)
Last night I took Riley home from the hospital and she spent the night with me. We had our own little slumber party. She was so sweet, and it was nice to give her some special time just for the two of us. I had a few pictures, but "blogger" has decided I don't have storage to post them or something for them and I'm just too exhausted right now to figure it out. If any of you know the magic answer, I would love to hear it! PLUS, I need to leave for "the store" within and hour. These past few days have gone by so quickly. Katie had some minor problems last night but is fine now. I sat last night holding Bodhi at the hospital. That is him above. I hadn't had much time to bond with him because of probably just everything that has been going on. There is something so innocent and pure about a newborn baby. I know soon he will look so different than this picture in a few days. They grow so fast. And with all that said, I need to get some work done and prepare for another slumber party tonight after work when I pick up Riley at the hospital. Gramma needs to add grocery shopping to her mile long list of stuff to get done! And "thank you" to everyone for all the warm wishes. They are appreciated. Take care.
Newborn babies all have a similiar look, don't they? This morning, and I'm so tired right now that I forget the time, my little grandson "Bodhi" was born. He was two weeks early and weighed in at 8lbs 3oz! Came out screaming with a head full of curly hair! Below, you see his big sister Riley getting her "big sister" braclets. Below are just a few random pictures I took this morning. As you know, I'll have many more up soon.
You know, as I held my little grandson for the first time, the words to Louis Armstrong's song kept running through my head. I think his lyrics below say it all!!
Many of you know that right behind Country Roads, right out those back doors, is a little garden area called, "Johnnye Merle Gardens & Nursery". Brande named it in honor of her Gramma and my Mom. What some of you may not realize is that garden means SO much to me. It is a great place to escape from a day when you feel you can't just answer anymore questions or your head will explode! Seriously, those days sadly are not that rare!
Sometimes I have made a quick beeline out those back doors after getting into an arguments with one of my kids at the counter. After all, the family that works and plays together, also argues together as well! So there are days I need an escape, a place where no one can find me. A place I go to "walkie-talkie" free as in, "oops, I forgot my walkie"! And I just walk around, look at the flowers, and try to get my mind off whatever we were arguing about so I won't return to the counter even more pissed off! Usually, my time spent in the garden cures the need to explode!
I think too much. I've always known that. My mind tends to wander, just like our morning glory has wandered all over our garden area. There are days it is hard for me to stay on task. My mind wants to travel to other places. I'll be out in the garden watching the bees. Then I wonder, "if bees are so smart, considering year after year the queen bee returns to the same spot to make a beehive and all the other bees follow her, then WHY don't the bees communicate well enough to warn each other never to drink from a pool! Why, because they drown! I can't tell you how many I rescue with my net at home. Johnnye Merle's is a good place to think about just random "stuff" without being disturbed!
Sometimes I like to think about my Mom and how she taught my kids about gardening. She so loved plants and her Texas bluebonnets! I think at times when I'm out there about the days my Dad and his Alzheimer's and my Mom and her dementia made me want to set up camp in the garden away from all the madness back then. But I also quickly remember about how my Dad paid Home Depot to install a garden window over their kitchen sink of their home. Why? Because he knew my Mom could no longer physically work in her flowerbeds and wanted her to be able to garden in some way, shape or form. I think a lot about the love they shared that I never understood nor had in my own marriage. 
On some days I just love to walk around in the garden, taking in all the beauty that she holds. We have wild parrots here in Old Towne. I often wonder why they are so loud? Are they each trying to talk over each other and that is the reason they make so much noise? And which parrot gets to decide when and where they go? Is it random, or have the parrots made the decision who should be their leader? Yes, I wonder about that has I watch them all beautifully fly away each day!
Johnnye Merle's has also shouldered many of my tears over the year as well. Things happen during work hours that you become aware of, and there are those days that you really just need to find some solitude quickly. I've shed many a tear over my own sorrows along with those of others as well. But most of the time when I visit the garden and nursery that was named after my mom, it is for the memories I hold dear to my heart. I think about Norm and Jeannie's daughter, Dee-Dee, that passed away a few years ago. Norm and Jeannie had set up a little area where Dee-Dee could sell herbs. And oh how Dee-Dee loved the feeling of having just a purpose for the day. You could see it in her eyes. She was our first original little gardener and never will I forget her coming up to our customers with her herbs in hand saying, "smell this"! It makes me smile as I write this.
I remember one Memorial Day standing in the garden with one of my customers. Her mom had died the year before. Both mom, daughter and her son always shopped together at Country Roads. The garden was a special place to them. Zach was still in a stroller when they first started coming in, and now he is a senior in high school. That Memorial day we stood together, shoulder to shoulder, as vintage jets flew overhead, near the cemetery where her mom is buried. The jets flew in the, "missing man formation". We stood side by side, starring together at the sky, not speaking as it was a time no words were necessary. It's those memories that make this garden that much more special to me!
There is a rosebush planted out in our gardens that is in the memory of Isabel. She was one of our dealers that passed away too young. I remember the night well that some of us gathered after hours to honor her memory at the store. Country Roads and our Johnnye Merle Gardens is just THAT kind of place, you know? Most of the time though, when I'm out in our gardens, I just walk around with a smile in my heart and feel good!! I guess I know, without ever thinking twice about it, that when I'm back there in "my secret garden", my Mom is watching over me and those I love! It's just that kind of place!
