Boots Party, Pink Flowers Blooming and Istanbul, Turkey

This just now became a quad post, lol. I almost forgot about promising to join the Boots party hosted by http://ladybugfromtexas.blogspot.com/. I just got reminded by Dixie's comment so I went to my shoes closet in the garage to dig them out. They do need some dusting anyway to get them ready for I will be needing them soon. Please visit Deb and join in on the fun.
Do I have boots! But don't I have a lot of everything? LOL! I have knee highs, short boots, water proof boots and hiking boots. I also have cowboy boots but they are still in Florida.
But my very favorites are my brown Coach boots and the brown leather boots next to it for a more dressy look.
This post started with a double post but ended up to be a quad one.

I cannot believe how fast this week went by. I must have been having so much fun, or was I just doing so much work? Anyway, I find fun in work too so I was really having fun. Weekend is here again so we can show some pinks and go traveling. And I think I will link with Tootsie for Fertilizer Friday since I am showing plants, so this is actually a triple post. No wonder, the days go by so fast and I am having so much fun :-) Fertilizer Friday is hosted by Glenda. Please visit her at http://www.tootsietime.com/ and you will be amazed at her gardening abilities.I will have to post my Saturday posts today also because I will be out on an estate auction all day tomorrow. We are going today just to view what is being auctioned. I can't wait!! Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly. Go visit her at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/, enjoy her pink and then visit her participants and enjoy their pinks also.

I walked around the deck and backyard to check what pink blooms I am still having. It has been raining everyday so the plants are thriving. I cannot remember having this much rain in the fall in past years. I thought it rained a lot only in the spring but I am not complaining.

First is our hanging periwinkle. See how healthy it still is?

I think this a gaura. Please correct me if I am mistaken because somehow I have a hard time remembering names of different plants. I just buy and plant them when I like the look. Next to it is a heather, kinda pinkish but more of purple.

Now, this has been in the property before we even moved. I have no idea what it is and I just noticed it blooming.

It has pretty pink flowers. Can somebody tell me what it is please? Thanks.

I thought it was some kind of camelia at first cause we have a lot of camelias where it is located but it does not look like the others.

I planted these pink caladiums around the gazebo.

Sorry, I don't know what this is.

I have 2 of them and placed them on each side of the pool entrance. See the leaves in the pool? The polaris is working overtime but still cannot keep up. The wind has been blowing hard making the leaves fall from trees. I guess it's really Fall, even in the south. Do you see the pink mandevalias in the background? I also have Asian orchids next to them

More periwinkle in the gazebo.

Now, it's time for fun. Let's go sightseeing!

Turkey day is coming soon so let's go visit Istanbul in Turkey. I took my granddaughter, AJ and daughter, Tina with her hubby, Scott to go on a cruise with me and one of the port stops was Istanbul. Unfortunately, Tina, who was 5 months pregnant had cabin fever, literally, so she had to stay in bed. Actually she was so sick, running a high temp. Poor baby! AJ just wanted to stay and play at Camp Carnival so I took my son in law, Scott to tour the city with me.

We took a taxi and we were fortunate to get a driver who spoke English well and was able to tell us about the history of the city. Of course, you already know that Istanbul used to be called Constantinople, right? Do you remember the song "Istanbul, Constantinople....." ? Of course, you don't, cause you are not as old as I am, lol!

Below you will see the aqueduct. And look at the fish in the market. Can you believe how fresh and huge they are?

This is the Bosphorus. It was too cloudy, otherwise, you will see the Asian side, which is across the sea. The Bosphorus is 20-miles long and it joins the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea in Istanbul, and separates the continents of Europe and Asia.

This is where a vendor kept pushing to sell us a fake Izod jacket for $20. By the time it was ready for us to leave, the price went down to $5. Darn! I should have bought it at the price, LOL, but I was being stubborn because he was so pushy.

They had lots of monuments such as this. Sorry for the picture quality. The taxi was moving fast while I was taking it.

Look at the bird's eye view! Breathtaking!

Agia Sofia was a former orthodox basilica, now a mosque and a museum in Byzantine architecture. It was the largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years. There were so many mosques everywhere.

Gorgeous flowers!

I was on a mission to buy an authentic hand knotted Turkish rug for our formal dining room so I asked the taxi driver to take us to a store that sells good quality hand made rugs and this is where he took us. I felt sorry for my son in law after a while cause we were there for hours, while the store owner kept ordering his laborers to bring more rugs and spread them for me to see.

And I wanted a big one so these poor guys had to lift these heavy rolls of rugs through the stairs from another floor.

After looking at a lot of them, I was down to my best 2 choices but I still could not decide, so I took pictures and I asked the store owner if he has a computer so I could email them to my husband who can help me decide. Luckily, he had a computer and although it was very slow, I was able to send pictures to John who I had to get out of bed to get to his computer. It was in the middle of the night in US at the time but he was glad to hear from me. We decided on the one below. The colors are much better in person cause the light was reflecting on the rug. We opted for a lighter colored one because we have a dark wall paper in the dining room and I did not want the room to get any darker. The rug arrived at home even before I got home. And here it is now in our dining room. Do you think we made the right choice?

We also went shopping at Grand Bazaar. Grand is an understatement. It was REALLY, REALLY huge and was so crowded. It was an indoor shopping area with alleys of shops going in all directions. We kept losing our guide but we had a lot of fun shopping.

And you think I look too short standing next to Scott? My daughter who is married to him is even shorter, LOL! He was a basketball player in school and she was a gymnast.

I hope you enjoyed touring with us today. I would love to see some of your travel pictures too.

If you have any sightseeing pictures you want to share with us, please come and join me by adding your name and permalink below. Please copy the Sightseeing logo on your post to let other bloggers know that you are participating and to spread the word about the meme. Thanks!

Thanks also to Deb, Beverly and Tootsie for another fun pink and fertilizing event and for the boots party..

Filipino Food in Polish Pottery

I think I'll go for all 3 meme's...getting ambitious here but actually, I am just trying to kill 3 birds with one stone since I have been pressed with time. Please visit our ever loyal and concientious bloggers who host these memes week after week after week. Please visit all of them and all their participants for the most creative tables, magnificent blues and delicious food. Pick up a recipe here and there. Tablescape Monday is hosted by Susan of http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/.
Blue Monday is hosted by Sally at http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/.
Foodie Friday is hosted by http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Thanks Susan, Sally and Gollum, for making our lives more exciting.

On Wednesday (today), I hosted a luncheon for my friends. For a small gathering like this, we usually just eat on our round table in the kitchen by the fireplace. But I decided to set the table in the formal dining room so I can do it the day before. John and I use the round table regularly so I could not set that table in advance. I had to cook a lot and did not think I would have enough time to finish everything if I also had to set the table on the same morning.

Below is the table setting before the food was added. I usually arrange the serving dishes too so I know exactly what food goes where.
Do you remember when I told you I decided to collect Polish pottery? When I decide on something, I get serious about it and I have accumulated quite a few. I used some of them here.

I really like this dinner plate. It is so unusual. I like the addition of orange to it. I did not serve any salad so no salad plates here.
The rectangular dish is for the peach cobbler which I served with Creole cream cheese ice cream. Yummy! If you have not tried it, you ought to.

The peach cobbler will go in those dessert cups. Do you see the salt and pepper shakers?

I served both tea and coffee and placed the pots in warmers so I can prepare the drinks in advance. This pot is where the tea went.

and this was for the coffee.

Now, here are the dishes (plates) with the dishes (food).

We had what we call Pancit Palabok, which is rice noodles served with shrimp sauce and garnished with hard boiled eggs, crushed pork rinds, fried garlic, sliced onion leaves and calamundin or lemon.

I also grilled a whole fish stuffed with onions and tomatoes, sauteed vegetables with shrimp and pork and shrimp with curry and potatoes. (my Indian friend brought us that). For dessert, I made almond jello with Mandarin oranges and peach cobbler with Creole cream cheese ice cream (didn't I say that already?). And of course, we had rice. I eat rice in every meal except breakfast though sometimes, I have fried rice for breakfast too, lol.

I hope you enjoyed my post for today. Thank you so much for coming by and thanks to our 3 gracious hostesses, Susan, Sally and Gollum.

Pink Ballerinas and Red Rock, Nevada

Saturday is here and we need to go sightseeing but first, let's show off our pinks and join Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/. Visit her and her participants to see more awesome pinkness!
I have a pair of ballerinas in pink tutus. I bought the bisque figurine from Vanna a while back when she was still actively blogging. Vanna, we want you back! Where are you?

They are now in a cloche displayed in our living room. Aren't they cute?

For Sightseeing Saturday, we will go to Red Rock Canyon in Nevada. It is very close to Las Vegas. The rocks will take your breath away the moment you enter the canyon.

I meet with my College classmates once a year and this is where we went last Nov. We don't bring any family member with us. We stayed at one of my classmate's condo in Las Vegas. She lives in Southern CA but owns a condo there. We had a great time as we always do on every reunion.

Aren't the rock formations gorgeous? It was a good hike too!

If you have something to share with us, please link below. Thanks!




Thanks, Beverly for hosting another pink Sat. and thank you all for coming!