There's a Strange Truck in the Driveway

 

And a strange man in my house.

He's not really a strange man... he's an old friend who went to school with The Prospector and has come down from Washington State to visit. 

We are so glad he's here. 

Lot's of reminiscing going on.

Lot's of talk about " The good old days".

The only thing missing is... his wife, Ginny. 

With all the fishing going on, it would be nice if you were here to keep me company. I can just take so much talk about big fish and "Remember Manteca when it was mostly chicken ranches and no freeways. 

We could be shopping... and having lunch together, girl. 

They went fishing again this morning. I think I will go for a hike or FELT something.

 This is the man who stood up for us when we got married and we did the same for them... in Manteca... when it was all chicken farms...

 He and the Prospector have known each other for a long time.

It's a good visit.

A Gift in my Mailbox

I wasn't going to create a post today, but I have to tell you what I found in my mailbox this afternoon. I had my gourd group meeting all morning and then meet some friends in Sutter Creek for lunch. I hadn't seen two of the ladies for a long time so we had a lot to catch up on. By late afternoon I drove back home, stopping at our mailbox, on the highway, to pick up our mail. When I opened it there was a package inside from Jan Ely of Little Pink Houses (pinkhousepages.blogspot.com). While reading each others blogs we found out that we were raised in the same town and had lots of memories of being little kids there. We had emailed each other with questions and "..Do you remember?" this and "What street did you live on?", etc. So when I was down at my mom's last month. I went to her store in Walnut Creek called Room With a Past and surprised her. We talked and had a good mini moment together because , after all, she was busy with lots of customers and needed to be paying attention to "business". I gave her a gourd pin I made for her and then bought some goodies from her store. It was so good to see her.
Well, today I get this package. She sent me a wonderful vintage cup that she embellished with a bird nest, flowers and her lovely tag attached with a bow. I had seen them in her store. They were so sweet and creative. I spent my money on other things ,like an old antique hand trowel and an old Spreckles sugar bag (that I made into a pillow) and a few more embellishments for my art work. Then one of Jan's recent blogs reminded me of those charming little bird nests and how I had passed up the opportunity to buy one in her shop and how I might be able to buy one from her again....., and then she sends me one. I have it on my guest bedroom nightstand for my visitors to enjoy and I can see it from my computer desk too. It's such a dear thing. Keep being creative Jan, and thank you so much. See you next month.