Damage Control , a Goat Show and a Little Bit of Heaven

Everything else held up rather well during the storm on Wednesday but the Irises took a beating. Poor things look like someone aimed and fired at them with a shotgun. The leaves were left hanging by a thread and the beautiful one that grew up through the garden art was battered beyond help.
I cut the broken stems and picked off what was beyond help. There were a lot of new buds that didn't get damaged underneath so a few days of sunshine should open them up and make the garden look pretty again.

Tomorrow is the Cal-Am Dairy Goat Show in Plymouth, CA.

With the generosity of some friends in my gourd club, I was able to put two baskets together for the BEST OF SHOW prizes that will be given to two owners of the best dairy goats in the show. Believe it or not the straw hats, the basket shredding and the ribbon all came from the DOLLAR STORE. I love that place.
I want to thank Sylvia( that's her gold leafed, flowered gourd), Janice(the goat with the golden horns) and Christie, who's gourd will be in the silent auction and I know someone who is going to bid on it all ready. I will post pictures of Christie's gourd on the weekend. I messed up the first ones I took. I thank all of you, from the bottom of my heart for contributing gourds for this show. They look so beautiful and will make the awards and auction so much more attractive this year.

A complete change of subject here; but have you seen these ice cream bars?

I may have discovered NIRVANA and the only way to control my ice-cream obsession and late night binges. Weight Watchers has a NEW ice cream bar that's...OMG!... rich, raspberry filled and covered with DARK CHOCOLATE. I think I may have died and gone to ice cream heaven. They are so delicious and only 170 calories for 2 bars...yes, TWO BARS. One bar may suffice for some of you but, for those of us that crave desserts , TWO of these are... DECADENT. One after lunch,...and one after dinner,.... two after dinner. One for breakfast... oops! Sorry. OK, I admit it. The first day that I bought them I had one BEFORE lunch. But I was heading into a busy day and I needed extra strength.
For all of you folks out there that consider dessert to be the 5th major food group this is the answer to your passions, a response for "What small step can I take to really being a good weight-watching person?" and.... just a little bit of heaven.
FIND THEM. Indulge.... Trust me on this.

Ode To Spring

What flower this be..cold and wet?

The Snowball bush has left me yet? But wait...
Tis not a flower, tis a clod of hail.

And my garden looks all frozen and frail.
The sky was dark, The earth was white.
It was a fearful, awesome sight.

(We had a spring storm move over us yesterday afternoon that just about rearranged the landscape around here. Lightening, thunder and hail rained down on us. It was a purple cell on the weather channel. Quite exciting but, oh, my poor irises and roses.
I think Mother Nature is having a hard time letting go this year. She loves to speak in excesses when she knows that Summer is coming. Like a child that knows how to get attention, she decided to have a tantrum yesterday and let us know that she is still, and always will be, someone who commands respect.
I think this was her last hurrah until next year. Today, the sun shines...

Vintage Thursday on Wednesday Night

When my sister and I were in Cambria, CA. on our vacation. I bought this soup plate in an wonderful antique store on Main St. I always wanted one of these plates after seeing one in a magazine and in a blogging friend's kitchen. So, when I spotted this one I decided to splurge and buy it. The mark on the back says it was made in Japan and below "Japan" are the initials *B.F.K.* . It's also stamped with some symbols that were pressed into it before it was fired. I love this plate and hope I can find more information about it. If anyone out there knows anything about this kind of plate, please let me know.

These two necklaces were at the local thrift store. I needed pearls for some jewelry I'm making and these were very pretty ones with all the connections and clasps too. The "choker" with the rhinestones was $2.00 and the other one was $1.50. What a deal

I love old jewelry. It's so fun to use old pieces of jewelry in something that you make. I will be making some gourd jewelry again soon and with my new skills, from the workshop, I hope to be able to make some pretty sparkly pieces. We all need a little BLING in our lives and these old necklaces should add a lot of "pretty" to whatever I make.
Lastly....

When I did a Vintage Thursday post in March on these two plates I said I would show everyone what I did with the plates. Well here they are on my living room wall above the front window. I couldn't find another plate that looked good with these two, so I put the straw hat in the middle. I like it. It's nice for Spring and Summer. What do you think?

For other vintage- obsessed folks that have a love of old things take a look at Colorado Lady's blog. She is our hero and mentor.

Wordless Wednesday: Westover Field, Amador Co.

Dog Daze

It all starts with a "look". There is usually a short stand off with eye to eye contact and then the ruckus begins. Sometimes Carl is the top dog and he usually just sits on Cutter to subdue him. But recently Cutter has been getting bolder and his favorite trick is to grab Carl's collar and hold on as long as he can. They tumble and roll around the lawn with much growling and posturing. Then one of them will dash off across the garden and the other follows in pursuit. This game goes on, and on..., and on..., until they are both exhausted and then they go sit in the shade and rest. It's a game that is played out everyday all day long. This is what we call a "Corgi fest".

Cutter is unique. He looks like a miniature German Shepherd. I think when he's full grown he will be tougher that Carl and bigger. He was neglected and left outside all the time before he came to us. He was afraid of men and very shy of being in the house. He had lost the sparkle in his eyes and was weary of humanity.
He's learning to trust people here and is also learning that life can be safe and happy..., and fun. I wish I could give all neglected and abused animals this wonderful opportunity. I sometimes think that how we treat animals in this world is somehow connected to where we go afterwards and how good our marks are in the book of life. I guess that goes for how we treat people too, but animals are a choice and therefore we have a bigger responsibility to them.

Carl has only one question about all this....

"Is this guy going to stay with us FOREVER?"


Check out Angela's Blog for other critter stories.

Tatersmama is in Town

Saturday was a banner day in the little town of Murphy's, California. The weather was perfect. The tourists were flocking. Angel's Creek was high and flowing. The sun made everything sparkle and I finally got to meet TATERSMAMA.
Her real name is Kate and she is the nicest, funniest person you'll ever met. She has come to this little town to visit her son and family for three weeks. She flew 14 hours across the Pacific Ocean from Australia. She brought " the old guy" with her and a best friend.
I drove over from Amador County to meet Kate and  deliver a special gift. I found out that this hysterically funny blogger was as big a crack up as she seems on her blog. She is..., and what I also found out is that she's a very nice woman with a good heart and she has an honesty that is refreshing. The humor and infectious laugh is always right there ready to flow out all over everyone around her but she has, as all people who laugh easily, a quite sadness that is just underneath the surface that makes you want to give her a great big hug.

Kate is genuine. She is honest and is truly a "cup, half full" person. I actually think that she thinks her life is a FULL cuppa tea and I admire anyone who can look at life as a "journey"..., not always what you choose but  wonderful in many ways.
I met her son and his family, her grandchildren, and various relatives. We had lunch. The kids swam in the creek and played in the park. She talked about Australia and what it is like to live there. I watched a little 4 year old girl make a cheese and sausage sandwich with the finesse of a professional chef. Even though I wasn't family, everyone made me feel very comfortable.
I delivered a quilt to Kate that Roslyn of Ros The Quilter had sent to me..., asking me to deliver it to Kate. She lives in Arizona but was raised in Australia. She wanted to be there to met Kate but just couldn't make it. We missed you Roz. Kate was so touched by the quilt. I wish you could have been there to see her reaction. I regret that I didn't take a picture of the quilt with Kate. I have no excuse except that I was stuffing my face with food and talking too much. I'm sure that Kate will post some photos when she returns to Australia.
So now I've met Tatersmama and the honor was mine. People ask me why I blog. There are many reasons and they are varied . This weekend was one of them. Three years ago I didn't know any of the wonderful folks that I have connected with through my blogging "obsession". I guess there are worse "vices".
Kate's blog is called Tatersmama, Takes On Things. and if you need an Aussie, down home, funny way to start the day. Give a look. I kid you not. She's worth the trip.