Rainbows!!

I've been having WAY too much fun taking pictures lately! Here is a glimmer of light for a few minutes after a big storm today. Just enough to make a beautiful rainbow!

Done and Sent!

I finished the diaper bag, bib, and receiving blanket for the grandbaby! Of course I bought a bunch of stuff too. I found the cutest outfits at Old Navy, I haven't shopped there for a long time and was really surprised by the cute baby things! And although my Irish Dad died a few years ago, he would have bought something for St. Patrick's Day, so there is an Irish bib included in his honor! It is exactly 1 month till the due date (today) and I am on "pins and needles" with excitement and anticipation!!!! Here is the collection:

Can't wait till she gets it!! I was going to pack it all sweet and nice, ended up STUFFING it all into a one rate shipping box. LOL! oh well.....

Beautiful pictures

Just thought I'd post another round of nice San Fransisco pictures, from my son, after a rather crummy day. Enjoy!

 

 

I promise this ends well!

Finally, a bright sunny day in Sacramento. I had been putting off an errand, about an hour away, long enough. So I set out, didn't get 5 miles from my house, on a busy street, when I watched a golden lab run out and get hit by the car in front of me! I call 911 (3) times before I got through ( Isn't that a great thought!) I told them what happened and they said they would try to get animal control out....right.....The dog was BIG, and I wasn't sure if she would want me to touch her, so I just stayed near talking, ready to pounce on her if she were to run in the street again, and waited. Finally a man stopped and being braver than me, looked at the tags and called the owner. Another military (YAY!) lady stopped and we were all able to get the dog on a sheet I had in my trunk and get the poor dog to the vet. Thankfully, I think the dog will be ok. Just makes me furious that the guy that hit her didn't stop and at least 300 cars passed us by before Dan stopped to help. Thank you, Dan and the military lady!!!!!! It was a shaky trip up the hill after that, but I got home safe and sound. I'm glad I chose errands today........got to see a few good guys in action!

Thanks for the Pictures, Tom!

My son has been taking some interesting pictures, lately, with his cell phone. He has spent the last few weekends exploring San Fransisco, by land AND by sea! Thanks, sweetie, for letting me share these (and show off my handsome son!):

 

  

 

Thank goodness someone is doing something interesting around here! After my very taxing, (doing the taxes) weekend, I had nothing...... Thanks Tommy!!

Diaper bag

I had a busy week at the sewing machine. I finished a small tote, 2 handbags, took pictures and got them listed. I have one more to finish today. I also made this diaper bag for my daughter and son-in-law. I found a bunch of these great canvas belts at a thrift store. With a little reworking, they make a great adjustable strap.

The first pic is the front, the second is the back, and there are a ton of pockets inside and on the front flap. There is also 5 pockets on the inside.  I think it turned out well, (after 3 days of ripping and resewing)! I hope they love it!

I made a Card!

Just thought I'd tell ya! ( I am practicing for the baby book I am going to make) Sure hope I don't mess it up!

New Light Box!!

Ok, this is definitely OVER KILL!! This light box is BIG!! But, the other one was too small for some of my bags. This one is also collapse-able,(as soon as I figure that part out) came with 2 large lights, 4 different colored backdrops and a tripod. And I have visions of  Grandeur, photographing the new grandchild! What more could anyone want?
Some of you on FB might remember the light box disscussion we had about a month ago. Well, a little birdie mentioned it to my husband, and for an early BDay present, he bought me one from  Hammacher Schlemmer  !! Thank you Honey! (and thank you "little birdie").
I am going to use it for the first time, today, since I finally have some new bags to photograph. Wish me luck!!
(this is sitting on a full size bed......big, huh!)

 

A Glimpse of Spring

You just can't beat Sacramento for the early and beautiful glimps of spring, IN FEBRUARY! I grew up in Wisconsin, so I do know how to appreciate this!! We are in the midst of our first glimpse, a week of mid-sixty degree days, things starting to bloom....absolutely the best reason to live here! Here is a little peek of things to come in your neck of the woods. I know some of you are going thru some unseasonably bad weather (sorry) I promise you will get here soon! Until then, please enjoy these pictures!

Just a little joke for us Grandmas.......

Grandmas, don’t know everything….

Little  Tony was 9 years old and was staying with his grandmother for a few  days.
He’d  been playing outside with the other kids for a while when he came into  the house  and asked her, “Grandma,  what’s that thing called when two people sleep in the same room and one  is on top of the other?”

She  was a little taken back, but she decided to tell him the truth.   “It’s  called sexual intercourse, darling”

Little  Tony said, “Oh, OK”, and went back  outside to play with the other kids.
A few minutes later he came back in and said angrily,
“Grandma, it  isn’t called sexual intercourse, It’s  called Bunk Beds, and  Jimmy’s mom wants to talk to you.”

My Mom sent me this joke this morning! Way to go Mom! Love ya.

Daily Dose of Smiles!

I wish I remembered how I even found these, but I don't. All I know is they just cracked me up and I had to have them, so I bought them. Everytime I see them I  laugh! Fuzzington www.fuzzington.etsy.com  makes the most creative little things from pipe cleaners! And like they say "Who knew pipe cleaners could be so cute?"

Well they can be and they are! Fuzzington twists and shapes the lowly pipe cleaner into adorable animals, bugs, and ornaments (to name a few).

My order came nicely packaged, and incluced a surprise bag of seeds to plant and decorate with my new "Fuzzies". Can't wait till spring!

 Visit their shop for a daily dose of smiles! Fuzzington also has a blog that I love visiting! http://fuzzington.blogspot.com/
Stop in to see their newest creations! Thank you Fuzzington!

Beware! Spatulas of mass destruction!

So, I'm going through securtity at Portland's airport, just trying to get home. Putting my shoes back on, empting the boxes, when the security lady came over and asked me if I have any weapons in my carry-on. Weapons? you ask? No, no weapons. How about a fork, or something sharp, she asks. My mind is whirling, did I bring my sewing scissors, hmm, no...no forks that I know of, nothing sharp. She says, well, we need to search your bag, can you step over here? Ok.... She opened my bag, reached in and pulled out this:

 

"the Weapon"

The security lady laughed and said if that was the worst thing she found on her shift, she would have a great night!

The moral of this story is, get to the airport early. You never know when YOU might be carrying a lethal weapon in your carry-on. (How am I going to bring that sewing scissors next time?)

St. Honore Boulangerie- Lake Oswego

I had another wonderful weekend in Lake Oswego, (Portland) with my daughter and son-in-law. We got the baby's crib up and the room put together. Ate at our favorite places, Pastini's and La Provence. Sunday morning my daughter and I got to hang out for coffee and pastries in beautiful downtown Lake Oswego, at St. Honore Boulangerie. One step inside and you feel like you are in France!

 

This place makes all their own pastries behind the counter. It is the most beautiful display you'll ever see. We found the last 2 seats available at the counter, where we were  able to watch a nice young man do his thing. It was a perfect place to take pictures!

The oven and copper hood were amazing !

It is almost impossible to choose from the huge display, this is only half of it!

We finally decided on 3 items to share: An apple pastry, an almond croissant, and my daughter's favorite, a brioche. (She actually made them from scratch once, they turned out well!)

aaaahhh, sweet memories! This place is a must visit if you are ever in the area! 

(Note: We were not able to stir up enough energy to visit the Indie- Handmade sale in Portland on Sunday as per prior post. Sorry we missed you!)

The last "Before Grandchild" visit

Lake Oswego, Oregon - So beautiful up here!

Hope to be here this weekend, to meet some of my fellow etsians!



As most of you know,  this is my last weekend visit with my daughter before my grandchild is born. It is the strangest feeling I've ever had. A mix of selfishness of having to share my daughter's affections and over the top excitement to have a new member of our family to love. It's all so weird. Did any of you Grandmas have these feelings? Are they normal?
The next time I go up there, it will be for the birth. Timing it right is going to be a nightmare! But we'll figure it out. There is a few last minute things to finish in the nursery, like buying the crib, and carrying it up a flight of stairs, and putting it together! Hopefully, we'll have enough energy for a few shopping trips (love the no tax thing). We might even have an afternoon with no rain! If we do make it to the Indie Show, I will post plenty of pictures. 
Got to run, see you in a few days!

Let us eat CAKE!!

This is the best chocolate fudge cake recipe ever! Turns out everytime, the only one I can make from scratch.........

 

ummmm, so good!

Recipe on the back of Herseys, unsweetened, cocoa box. The fudge frosting recipe is on there too.

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup Herseys cocoa
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup veg. oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup boiling water 

 Heat oven to 350* . Grease and flour 2- 9 in.round baking pans. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on med speed about 2 minutes, stir in boiling water. (batter will be very thin). Pour into pans.. Bake 30-35 min. or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pans, cool, frost.

Try it, you'll like it!

31 years!!

    

Today is our thirty first wedding anniversary! Thanks for the memories, Ric!
Love you!

 

 

(real vintage pics of us!)

                                      

Featured Artist - Christine Jones Photography

Now that I finally have a bit of a handle on blogging, I would like to feature a very talented Etsy artist. Christine had a contest awhile back for the 80th fan on her fanpage. http://www.facebook.com/ChristineJonesPhotography  I just happened to be it, (Yah!) so she sent me a  very generous collection of her beautifully done, photo cards, bookmarks and magnets! (Thank you!)

She has come a long way since then,  now 230 fans and growing! Christine has a wonderful shop on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChristineJonesPhotog  and an Artfire shop http://www.artfire.com/users/ChristineJonesPhotography  

Her work is includes an amazing array of nature inspired photos, in a variety of sizes .Here are some of my favorite examples:

 

-I love the simplicity of this one -

                                                            -  Dragonflys are my favorite-
                                                       

 

-This custom picture pendant is a great gift idea-

Christine Jones Photography  does casual , candid portrait photography in Memphis TN and the surrounding areas in addition to her  fine art photography prints,  photo note-cards, press printed note-cards, bookmarks, magnets, and photo jewelry. Christine has recently added her own website to her ventures, a work of art in itself!     

                                                         www.christinejonesphotog.com                                                                                                                                                                 

I wish she lived near me so I could use her services! 

Go ahead and spend a relaxing moment, looking at  nature, through the camera of Christine Jones!