Sistering

My sister followed me back home on Sunday. She wanted a few days on the farm and a little R&R. The weather cooperated . It turned into a few day of achingly beautiful Spring weather that was warm and DRY. We just goofed off and had fun.
On Monday we drove into Sutter Creek and had lunch. We ate ice cream and shopped the south end of town. The Prospector always says, "Well, did we shop til we dropped?" and we say "Yep! We bought the town."
Truth be told.... the shopping part is getting a lot shorter as we get older.  So we don't spend hours walking up and down the street anymore. We form a strategy. We pick and choose the stores we really want to look at and then we only go into these stores. It's a matter of survival. I'm old. Sis is gaining on me.
After we had lunch we walked over to Yesterdays Heirlooms . I used amazing restraint. With all the beautiful Easter things and wonderful FREE PEOPLE clothing, which I can't afford anyway, but love. These clothes are really wild and unique styles. Kind of hippy style clothing with Anthropology prices.  But if I was in my 20's or 30's and had the money, I'd be buying this clothing .... and letting my hair grow to my waist.... and wearing flowers in my hair again.... Oh, yea!!
I invested heavily here. I bought a card. I liked what it said and reminded me that I need to be more careful about all human hearts and that loving kindness is always a better choice.

We moved on down the street to Topia Home and Garden. Well, you all know how I feel about Home & Garden. This is a very wonderful store at 33A Main St. that makes you go a little crazy when you walk inside.... and we did.

I bought this antique embroidered pillow. I fell in love with it . There it was.... sitting on a small, old sofa in the back of the store, with lots of other pillows. NO PRICE anywhere. I swear I heard it say, "Here I am. I need to go home with you. Forget me not." Yes, I'm pretty sure I heard the pillow say this to me. So this is why I had to pick it up and walk to the counter with it.... just to asked the price.
I'm not going to say how much it was, but I will tell you that it was almost 40% off the original price and that was when I knew I could not walk away. I bought it and haven't regretted it since. Look at the beautiful work that someone put into this.

The fabric is so soft and old.  The women who sold it to me said that her mother loved these pillows and she would buy them for her mother when she was alive. This pillow had memories. This was a well loved pillow and now it would have another wonderful home. How nice! A history, a remembrance..... no wonder the pillow was talking to me.
Now where shall I put it.... HERE? In my grandmother's old oak rocking chair?

Or HERE? In my mother's wicker chair?

Which do you like best?
Maybe I will switch it around and see which place the pillow seems most comfortable ... but right now I think I will keep it next to me in the tapestry recliner, where I sit all the time. It may have more to talk about and I want to hear what it has to say.
This beautiful old pillow sure does add something to my living room. Makes it seem like Spring is here and life is brighter.It's a good feeling.

The next day we went antiquing in Jackson. I bought some lace.

and a doily.

Each was only a dollar. This made me feel better about my splurge the day before.

On Wednesday we made felted soap. I showed Sis how to do it and from then on she went at it like a pro.

This is a fun and easy thing to do. You can spend a few hours with your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews making felted soap. Especially on a rainy day when there isn't much else to do. A few supplies and a little direction... that's all it takes. If you Google "Felted soap" you will have all the information you know what to do with. It's such fun..... and everyone smells good afterwards.

Look at all the beautiful soaps we made. It's a plate full of Easter.With little pieces of cotton doily felted in for exfoliation. Aren't they just the prettiest? Put them in an Easter basket for someone. I use little soaps I save from hotels, inexpensive soaps from CVS,Walgreen's and WalMart. Any soap that smells good and lathers well. I love Yardley's Lavender soap and it's not very expensive.
Sis made a most beautiful felted soap with Yardleys. It looks like a rock.  It's a soap rock. Kind of like a pet rock only softer and if you drop it in the shower it won't break a toe. Look at this one.

Isn't this wonderful?
You must try these felted soaps. They are useful and you will never need a wash cloth again.
I gave one to my youngest grandson last weekend. He is 4 yrs old. He held it, turned in in his hands, pulled at it and then said "Noni, how do you get the soap out of here?" He needed to have some fun with it in his bathtub to understand why Noni would wrap soap inside all that fuzzy stuff. I will let you know how this turns out the next time I'm there. I'm not sure he understood the concept of "fuzzy" soap.Maybe he can put it under his pillow at night (before he gets it wet) and it will make everything smell good.
So my sister left around noon yesterday. I will see her again in less than a week. We are driving up north, to Susanville, to celebrate our uncle's 90th birthday party. Should be fun.... if it doesn't snow and we get over the mountain passes. Our cousin is going with us so we can all take turns driving.

This was Tuesday evening.... Sis and I are sitting on the front porch, enjoying the beautiful weather.

The temperature was 72 degrees at 5:00 p.m. Honestly.

And the Tulip tree was showing off for us.

....Good ol' California Springtime.

What makes your soul bloom?

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom."  ~Terri Guillemets~

For me.... this.

Wordless Wednesday: Rainy Day Through the California Delta

How to have a really great birthday when you're six years old

First you invite all your really good friends and when they get there they tickle you until you're laughing so hard that you can hardly get your breath but it's still fun anyway.

And they just want to give you birthday tickles.

And they don't want to stop...

And then Daddy comes and says that you have to line up because the fun is beginning.

 You were already having lots of fun but you and your friends go line up and the rest of the fun begins....

This place is called Encore Gymnastics.

It's a gym for kids and you get to do all kinds of really fun stuff.

Like climbing a rock wall. It is scary but you keep trying and you can't fall because they have a rope and harness attached to you. So you keep climbing.

Your friend is climbing higher than you so you keep trying. You reach the red line.

The red line is half way but you are getting kind of afraid so you tell the guy on the ground that you want to come down. He tells you to let go and push away with your feet. It's fun to come down.

A few minutes later you try to climb again and this time you go further, above the red line.

It feels good this time and it's not so scary. Everyone tells you that you are brave and doing really good climbing.
You have so much fun.

You run and jump...

And swing....

And walk on a balance beam...

Then they let you be silly and you get to rest with your Dad for a while.

And then you have some more fun with you friends.

And your brother starts to look like he's getting really tired because he's only 4 years old.
Finally, you get to go into a room that has a big table and someone has fixed it all up with decorations, and food, and a birthday cake just for you. 

Your babysitter has made you a Lego cake with your name on it and it really looks like Legos. It's cool.
Then we have a great party. 

After the party we give everyone a bag of goodies to take home. We thank them for coming and we say goodbye.
Later, when we go home, there are some presents to open. 
What an awesome day !