LEAP YEAR DAY!

Happy Birthday to those of you who only have one every 4 years!

A few weeks ago, I went out to Murrieta (1 1/2 hour drive) to visit my friend Tracy.  We decided to visit the Escondido Wine and Chocolate Festival.  It's only about a 30 min drive from her place.  We chose not to do the wine and chocolate tasting which cost 20 bucks since we found out that we both get hot flashes when we drink alcohol so we tasted the free samples of chocolate that were being given away.  YUM.  This was pre-Valentines day with small chocolatiers displaying their candy.  It was a fun day with perfect weather. 

Before arriving at the festival we stopped at a gift shop called Canterbury Gardens and Gifts.  We had thought there was an actual garden but mostly it was a gift shop.  They had so many pretty items.  Eye candy for sure. 

Then we stopped at a fabric shop called Yardage Town that reminded me of the fabric shops my mom and I went to when I was growing up.  It had that same smell and stairs that went to the "bargain" basement; the staff were nice and friendly. 

This was their Valentine window display.  I wanted to find some fabric with strawberries on it but it was out of stock. Tracy bought some ivory silk fabric to cover the buttons on the WEDDING DRESS that she is making for her daughter's wedding coming up this July!!!!!  It's gonna be gorgeous.  She is so talented.  I could kick myself for not taking photos while I was visiting of some ballet costumes that she's made.  Professional tutu making and boning, things I've never attempted in sewing. So darn pretty. 

We both ended up buying some hand made toffee by a small company in Carlsbad (north San Diego coast) called Toffee Box .  Yes, they do mail orders!  It is really delish.  I'm rationing it and having a little taste every day or two!

On our way back we stopped at none other than HOBBY LOBBY!  I've only heard about them but they were never out here in California.  So I finally got to see what they're all about.  I checked out the yarn section and just had to put my hands on the "I Love This Yarn"!  I didn't buy any since I have to finish what projects I've got and use up some of my stash like a good girl. WOW, it was a big store but we could only stay for a bit since Tracy's hubby was making us dinner and we didn't want to keep him waiting.  We have 3 stores here in So Cal now but none in Los Angeles County :(

 

YARN!

FLOWERS!

DECOR!

Hope you're having a relaxing evening!  Thanks for visiting.

HAPPY 2010!

Hi!  Hope you all are up without any hangovers and ready to tackle 2012.  This year has got to be better than last year!

I rang in the new year with some friends in their lovely craftsman home in an old part of Pasadena.  We had a delicious simple dinner of prime rib, asparagus, roasted fingerling potatoes and spinach salad.  Home made carrot cake for dessert! 

Here are some pics of last weekend with my  brother, mother, sis and her kids spending a gorgeous day at the beach.  We played games and Andy my bro, brought his metal detector and Josiah having been told not to go in the water just couldn't help himself since it was so darn nice out!

San Clemente Beach Sunset Dec. 26, 2011

The sun set on another year but we get a brand new one, yeah!  Make it a great one.  

Thanks blog friends for visiting me and making me laugh and inspiring me with all your food and crafting projects this past year.  I'll be back soon...

Some things I've been doing...

What's been happening around here that I meant to post about sooner:
I got a new "Welcome" mat back in June for the front door after someone stole my neighbors and mine back in May.  It's big, heavy, stiff and super scratchy.  Hopefully it will be enough of a deterrent for any future stealing of my mat!!

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Back in Mid August, a lady drove up the curb and hit a chair that got knocked into the window of the Mexican Restaurant a couple doors down from my shop.  I heard a loud bang and then went out, hurried back in and grabbed the camera and took these photos for the restaurant owner since he's my friend.  The lady's guardian angel was with her since she managed to go between 2 parked cars, 2 trees and up onto the sidewalk and just hit the chair into the window which broke but she could have smashed into the place and best of all is NO ONE WAS HURT!!  We found out later that she had a mild stroke and doesn't even remember going up the curb.  Temple City is a sleepy little place and not much excitement happens here!

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Also in August, my eldest brother and his wife invited our mutual friend, Tracy, her husband and me to go on their boat for the day.  We piled in his Jeep and headed northeast a bit to Silverwood Lake.  I hadn't been there in ages and we had such a nice day.  Being on the lake was so relaxing that I wanted to go out and buy a boat so I could feel that way all the time but of course that is not realistic!!!  We all had a great time.  I didn't want it to end.  Tracy brought cup cakes for my b-day and the frosting had melted off but hey still tasted yummy. 

Getting the boat in the water

Magical glistening water

Floating outhouses were on the lake

Long may you wave!

Bye, Silverwood hope to see ya again next year!

The crew

I've picked up my hooks after a seemingly long hiatus!  I want to make some holiday gifts.  I still have tendonitis in my finger that happened from too much gardening and I've tried giving it a bit of a rest.  So I should have some projects to share pretty soon.

This year has just blown by so fast and I've made some changes in my life that I will write about soon.  Hope you all have a terrific weekend and are warm, safe and dry. 

OXOX

Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEE!

Hi!  It's been awhile since I posted!  I've been super busy, I'll explain in another post...

It was my b-day yesterday and I just couldn't justify closing the shop since I took a Saturday a couple weeks ago for my mom's b-day party.  So instead, I just told everyone that crossed my path yesterday that it was my b-day and I got lotsa happy b-day greetings.  I even had one customer who unbeknownst to me, likes to do karaoke and he sang a beautiful happy birthday song to me.  I've lost a little weight and so I felt I could get a little sponge cake with raspberries and whip cream to celebrate in the afternoon!

My sis, her hubby, JD and kids are coming up to stay the night and then JD is gonna do some electrical work and we'll go see the Griffith Park Observatory  that is just up the road from us because I've wanted them to see it before we moved away.  Then we'll come back and have some cake and ice cream for my b-day.

I hope you are doing something fun and staying cool!

Beach Weekend and Party

Hi, seems forever since I posted and quickly this is what I've been up to:

Of course working the shop like usual.  The credit card machine went psycho last Saturday and began spitting out paper from the printer.  Glad I got to work when I did to shut it all off.  I had to order another one and so my customers have had to write checks and pay with cash this week.  Inconvenient for them but I've gotten to keep all the money and not share a percentage with the banks (Visa/MC) :)

Looking for a place to move to since the house will go on the market pretty soon (I'm told).

Packing up items, bit by bit (I hate moving).
Slowed down on the planting since my finger needed a rest and it is doing better.  Just as well I'm taking the weekend off from gardening.

Planning the 80th birthday party for our mom whereas my sis has been doing the footwork.  Thanks, Yvonne!
We have about 60 people attending.

Tonight my daughter and I are driving down to my sis' to prepare for the party that will be held on Sunday.
We plan to sneak away from the party preparation for a little time tomorrow or Sunday and go to the beach and the pier and have an umbrella drink, just the two of us.  Here are some pics of San Clemente Beach where we are headed tonight.

Walking towards the San Clemente pier

South side of pier

See the Amtrak Train?

The train runs along the beach on it's way to San Diego

North side of the pier

Since my air conditioner is packed :( I picked up a couple of these temporary window screens at Big Lots for cheap and it's better than nuthin' to let cool night air in and keep the bugs out.  Thank goodness it cools down here at night.  Made in America, too!

Have a great weekend and I'll have some party pics for ya next week!

Renaissance Faire Pics

Here's the pics!  It was very warm by the time Tracy and I got there in the afternoon and the first thing we did was get a tall lemonade.  I drank the whole thing, ice and all.  We looked around at everything and of course there were many items I would've loved to get but hey, I'm moving soon and when I look at all the boxes of stuff I already packed up I know I don't really need anything more.  They had this guy that blows glass but he was taking a break when we went to his booth otherwise I'd have taken a pic of him.  He had the most gorgeous glass Hummingbird feeders; I wanted one sooooo bad.  No, I didn't take any pictures of them, sorry.  Maybe next year I'll get one if I have a garden to put one in!  If I purchased one, it would have stayed packed up for awhile (like so much of my other stuff has been) so I decided against it.  I didn't buy a thing!
 

Knitting!

 Potter!

 Blacksmith!

Fashionable!

 Head Wreaths!

 Woodcarver!

 Singing Wenches!

Huge Swings!

Men in Kilts!

We ended up eating ice cream and then later having a huge pickle and then we laughed at ourselves as neither of us could be preggie!  There was allot of food to choose from but we lacked an appetite since it was so hot.  It was a fun day indeed!

Fair Pix #3: Crochet +

Hiya!  First look what I won from Pammy Sue!  All her pretty Mandala circles that she was making she decided to give'em away and I was lucky and got one.  Isn't it pretty?  You can visit her here: scottysplace.blogspot.com and see all her crochet loveliness there. 

Here are some pix of County Fair projects that actually came out focused enough to post.

This shawl was so pretty.  Off-white chiffon type fabric strips were woven into it which looks like it might have had a ripple/wavy pattern to it.  Wished I could have seen it out of the case.  The display people I found out, were hired by the county fair to display the items and I learned on Ravelry (the facebook for yarnies) that some local members had sent their projects in to be displayed and when they went to the fair to see their items on display and if they'd won a ribbon they found some of  their projects inside out or upside down, etc.  The display company that was hired should have at least hired people that knew about knitting and crochet items so they could have displayed them correctly! 

I think that this was a knitted item.  I liked the use of color but would have left off the fringe.  They must of had so many participants enter so many items that they had them draped over each other...so much to see when it was all jumbled together.  How do ya like the gray mess in the pic on the right side?  The flash area was so white that it hurt my eyes so I just darkened it a bit so I wouldn't blind you while you were here visiting!

She did such a professional job on this.  See what I mean about the display?  Her stitches were all so neat and tidy! 

A purple felted elephant!

A crocheted hedgehog!

Hand-painted china

I decided to take the 3 day weekend so I could finish the kitchen.  Thank goodness Columbus discovered America so we could have the day off.  I'm going to make the rib recipe from Beverooni because it sounds so good to me right now and I'll actually have the time to do a bit of cooking.  Besides, maybe it will make the kitchen smell better than paint smell.  I'm off to make a list of groceries to get because I don't want to get in the car and go anywhere this wknd.  I want to finish my crochet project (pics coming next week) and finish the kitchen and eat ribs.  This turned out to be a very long winded post.  Hope you got thru it.  Have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!