A Busy Weekend and a Memorial Day Moment

FRIDAY: 
My friend "J" and I went to Placerville. We hit one of the biggest Thrift stores in Placerville.

 Snowline Hospice is the biggest Thrift store I've think I have ever been in. It's clean and well organized with very reasonable prices. We were in THRIFT STORE HEAVEN for hours.
Then we got hungry. I don't know Placerville very well and "J" does, so I asked her to pick a nice place for lunch. It would be my treat for her birthday and we were celebrating. So we went to
THE SEQUOIA.

This is a beautiful restaurant. It's a very old house that has been restored. If you like ghost stories you can read about this mansion and its strange happenings here. 
The food was delicious. After lunch we hit another thrift store. 
This is what you will need....

These were all my wonderful "finds".

The LEATHER purse, the wool sweater and the shirt were $3.50, $3.00 & $3.00. All the other things were $1.00 each. Oh, sorry.... the little frame with a hand painted picture in it was only $.50 
I looked up that cup on an antique site and found it for sale. They were asking $25.00 for it. I just love it when that happens. My thrifty heart just starts pumping more blood and I get a warm fuzzy feeling all over. Do bargains do that to you too?
We had a great day. The weather was beautiful and cool. The drive on highway 49 was wonderful. Everything was green and the rivers were full.
*********************
SATURDAY:
This was my "yucky" day. The day of eating cookie dough and seeing angry Gerbera Daisys. Maybe I "thrifted" too much the day before.
The grand babies were suppose to come up here. They were bringing Mommy and Daddy with them and staying overnight but they called and said that they had a change of plans.  Too much work and not enough time. We understood... Boo hoo! We made plans to go to Micky's Grove in a couple of weeks. Life gets busy when you have kids, jobs and a house to take care of. I remember this well. It's OK. I will see them next weekend. I'm going down to my sister's tomorrow and I will be there until  next Sunday.
So Saturday was a bust. The only good thing was that I finished knitting my "Andalusian" wool scarf and went to bed early. 
**************** 
SUNDAY:
I slept until 9:00 a.m. This is just strange. Got up and had some coffee. Took a shower and The Prospector says, " Did you remember that we are going to Ione?' 
I kind of thought that he might change his mind. I should know better. When it comes to TRAINS, TRACTORS,AUTOMOBILES or the acquisition of GOLD I should never ASS/U/ME that he will forget or change his plans. We were going to take the kids to see the train show in Ione. This show is called the Ione Railfair and Vintage Motorfest. It's sponsored by the Historic Amador Central Railroad Assoc.
The Prospector still wanted to go,so we got in the car and drove down to Ione, about a 20 minute drive west of Jackson. to see the show.
This was a bigger show than I expected. You can see the website here. There were all kinds of antique farm machinery, a few classic autos like a great old fire truck.

...and a model train exhibit.

A beautiful Wells Fargo Wagon that I got to sit in and someone took my picture in it. 

I'm waving from the window. It was very elegant. Wish it had been hitched to some horses. What fun it would have been to really ride in it. There were no windows... just canvas rolls that could be lowered to protect you from the elements. I imagine that this was not enough to keep the hot, cold , dusty and windy weather from making the trip unpleasant but it was better than nothing and, back in the day, folks probably thought this was innovative . Still, what an experience it would have been and it sure would have beat walking.
We found out that the tickets for the Speeders, the individual rail cars that give rides, were sold out. This is a 20 mile trip in one of these motorcars that travels on the old railway back up toward Jackson. This was the first time that they had ever been SOLD OUT. Now I was glad that the grand boys weren't with us. They would have been so disappointed.
 We decided to go on the Skagit Motorcar. This is a 30 minute ride for $3.00  This was like a taste of the longer trip so we boarded the SKAGIT. 

This was fun. We had a very informative engineer who told us a lot about these rail cars. This motorcar transported the railroad workers to jobs on the rail lines. It was very noisy and clickity clackity, but the scenery was beautiful and I saw parts of Ione that I hadn't seen before. When we came to one of the highways, two of the men got out and stopped traffic so we could cross the highway safely.
The driver reversed the car and we returned to the "station", which was really the Ione Junior High School.
We had lunch and bought some Kettle Corn to take home. 

Then we looked at all the old farm and railroad machinery. 

The Prospector found just what he was looking for but it wasn't for sale. Darn! He's been talking tractors every since.

Here are some prices for travel in that fancy Wells Fargo buggy in 1867.

Which one is the model and which is real.? Top left is a little tiny model of a lumber hauler. I thought that was a cool way to show how detailed the models are. The "logs" are small branches.
Finally the "Speeders" came back from the morning trip. We watched them all come into the "Station". 

Each one was unique. Each one is privately owned. They all belong to a club that does these trips on many different tracks that aren't being used by Railroad companies anymore. They maintain the tracks and clean up the litter along the line. Everyone looked like they were having a great time.
We watched them arrive and then we drove home.
Did you know this?

Next year we will bring the Beans (our grand kids) and get here early. I just know they would love going for a ride on these "Speeders".... and the "big kids" too. That would be their Daddy and Papa. This is like" riding the rails" without all the danger... just fun.
We got home and the dogs joined us in the living room for a nap.
Later in the evening we went over, with some cookies, to met our new neighbors. Actually not "new" but this is another story for another time.

Monday:
Today I stayed home. 
The Prospector drove up to met his brother in Pine Crest, to check out their campsite for their big week this summer. It's tradition. They always go up there to see where the site is that they have reserved..... to see how many vehicles, boats, trailers and tents they can squeeze into the space. 
They said that it was cold today. There was snow on the ground up in Pine Crest.... and  I think there will be snow there all summer. It's never going to stop this year. The fish will be frozen to the bottom of the lake all year. 
But, Oh the excitement. It's something to look forward to. It's tradition. 
I stayed home and cleaned the house, or should I say, the dog hair. Are your animals shedding. OMG! The hair is everywhere. 
Then I felted my "Andalusian" scarf. I bought this old wash board and it has come in so handy for felting.
Rub, rub, rub!! This took about 20 mins. of hot soapy water and rubbing with my hands, another 15 mins. of scrubbing on the washboard and then a few more minutes of hand rubbing. I rinsed it in cool water until all the soap was gone. 
I could feel it tightening up.  I love the feeling of the yarn going from limp and loose to heavy and strong. It's so satisfying. There's something so organic and magical about this process.

It turned out great. I stretched it, shaped it and left it to dry out on the porch.  Now I have to put some buttons on it or crochet some flowers.... or embellish it somehow.

 All day I was thinking about a boy named Barney Boyer. He was a year behind me in High School.  He was killed in the Viet Nam War in 1965. I don't know why I thought of him. I didn't know him well, but he was someone I knew who died in a war.... fighting for our country.... no wait.... not for his country. He was fighting to help the South Vietnamese against the NVC.  We were there to support South Vietnam. To fight the spread of Communism.
  Barney was probably about 20 years old. Do you think he really understood all the political implications?. I wonder...
What is a life worth? I want to say that he died in a "just" war, but I still don't think that we did the right thing over there in Viet Nam. We left the country too soon..... or maybe we should never have gone over their in the first place. But , I know one thing for sure. Barney Boyer died and he was just a boy.


I wore my POW bracelet today. It reads Maj. Henry Serex- 4/2/72.  I was 29 years old. I was pregnant with my second child.  This bracelet was my effort to support a war that I really didn't understand. When I look at this bracelet it reminds me that war is Hell on Earth and that there has got to be a better way. Don't you think so too?

Click on any of these photos to enlarge them. 
Talk to you in a week or so..... 

 

Flowers As Children..as Flowers.

I bought a Gerbera Daisy the other day. A real beauty with one flower opened and a few smaller ones ready to open up. I bought a yellow one for a friend and this pale coral one for myself.

I was going to plant the Daisy in the garden but I got too busy with my lemon bar meltdown during the week.. Today I repeated my bad behavior. This time I made "everything but the kitchen sink " cookies and ate most of the dough before it was cooked. I may need some serious intervention soon. I have been running amok in the kitchen. I've lost my ability to "just say no" to myself.
So the flower sat on the table waiting for good soil and a refreshing relocation. I just ignored it.
I was going into the kitchen to retrieve cookies from the oven when I noticed the Daisy on the table.
Oh my gosh, I thought, I have forgotten to water that poor plant and it's looking a bit pale.
I picked it up and set it on the sink... then I got the cookies out of the oven, put some more in, set the timer for another ten minutes, ate some cookie dough and walked back to the sink.
That's when I noticed the OTHER FLOWER IN THE POT.

IT was starring at me .....

And it seemed angry.... I thought I heard it say something and growl at me.
I lifted up the container and took a closer look.  Thinking that this odd flower was really two flowers pushed together, I check the stem.

It didn't look as angry from the backside. It was then that I realized  I was looking at was a very upset flower that had just wanted to be on its own, but it was born different, somehow attached, and not very happy about it. I watered the plant immediately and set the pot down in the sink to drain. 

 Poor thing. No wonder you're are so upset. You expected to stand on your own with a gorgeous array of petals, only to find another flower attached to your stem....vying for attention too.
It's true. You are different.. but you are interesting and unusual. Each flower has it's own personality. Be who you are: A magnificent anomaly.



One flower turns out "perfect".... What is perfect anyway? I'm partial to imperfection.

Another is born "different".... troublesome, not as easy to get along with. But it's just as worthy. 
It's still a perennial. It is of the same family as its siblings. Its petals might be brighter, noisier... you can feel the intensity of its personality. It's just a different "hybrid" soul.
Each flower is unique.... one of a kind.
We need to love them all, even if they are a little more difficult to grow.

Think how we started. We were all new and unformed. Life was filled with possibilities. 
Imagine you're a beginner... always a beginner, and have strength... and bloom.


Gerbera jamesonii.... the Transvaal Daisy:
Just give them partial shade and regular watering and they will thrive.

Looking for a Rainbow

For all the folks that have lost loved ones and their homes in the Tornadoes...

 and prayers  for Joplin, Missouri.

Do you ever have a day like this?

I knew when I woke up, yesterday, that it was going to be one of those days. I ate white bread for breakfast. I was cranky.  I felt fat...
So what did my lame and misguided ego do?

 It made lemon bars. I had no shame. I made them and I ate them before they even cooled off.

Did the Vinca stop growing through the rocks? No.

Did my body image improve ? I don't think so...

Did I find solace in "Nineteen ways to clear the clutter for good"?

Or, in the cute card that I bought to make someone else feel good?
Not really...

Did I feel like this all day? Pretty much...

Did anyone care?
@#$%^&*@#$%^&**************

Have you ever done this?
Does any of it make sense?
Did I eat half of those lemon bars without even taking them out of the cake pan?....
Yes, I did.


Do I feel better today?...... kind of.
But, I'm not looking into another mirror or weighing myself until that little black beetle
turns around and says,
 "Get a grip girl. Life is ups and downs... and sometimes, when you least expect it, someone is not careful about where they are stepping,  and it's all over with. So... LIGHTEN UP!....and thanks for watching where you walk."
Not likely you say?
Then I think I'll have another lemon bar......

Buttons, buttons... Who's got the buttons?

On Friday, when I almost ended my gardening career by doing too much outside, I finally came in for lunch.

Don't you just love it when you have really good left-overs? My husband has been fishin' on the Mokelumne a few times a week. It's kind of a competition to see who gets the biggest fish from the middle of the Middle Bar Bridge. It seems that you can't fish from the edges of the river because it's.... well, I'm not sure why.... but you can't. The water flows into the Pardee Reservoir. It's water shed at Middle Bar. You can't swim there either... naked or otherwise. He always seems to get some of the biggest fish from the bridge though and he always, well almost always, bring dinner home after a day down at the river.

This is fresh trout and cut up asparagus with some Balsamic dressing on it.
Dinner the night before was served hot, without the dressing. Now I was enjoying it a second time, cold, for lunch. That's what I call yummy leftovers. The dressing is just olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.
The Prospector had gone downtown and picked up the mail on the way back. There was a pink slip in it for me. You know.... the little slip of paper that tells you they couldn't get the package into the mailbox so you have to retrieve it at the local Post Office?
I was too pooped from gardening so I waited until Saturday to drive down and retrieve my package.
Well, on Saturday, I picked it up and look at this....
I knew right away who it was from....

My friend, Jan from Little Pink Houses, that I went to Benicia with recently, had sent a rather large package to me. She and I have a long standing debate about MONKEYS.
I don't care for them. She does.
I think they are kind of scary. She thinks they're "CUTE".
So what does she do.... one time  she sent me monkey slippers. This is the kind of friend that stretches the boundaries of friendship just a bit too far. IT'S always got to be about MONKEYS.
Anyway.... I saw this remark on the package and I knew it was from her..... well, by the return address too. She said " no monkeys" but you have to be careful with some obsessed monkey lovers, so I opened it very carefully.
AND WHAT IS THE FIRST THING I SEE?

Yes, she just had to give me pause for thought.
I lifted the paper up carefully. NO Monkeys in the box. Just two lovely paper bags, tied with pretty wrapping string..

that were filled with BUTTONS.

Look at all the wonderful buttons, medium to large, to very large. All very vintage and lovely.

Like this one that is 2 1/2 inches in diameter. and when you hold it up to the light it turns brown and translucent.

Or this one that's so "art nouveau" pretty.

Or one that looks like wood.

I love all of them and can't wait to used them on purses or scarves that are in the making.
Then at the bottom of the box was a great big red plastic ornament. Can you guess what this is for? What I will do with it?

I put it out in the garden to take a picture of it. Pretty isn't it?
When the Prospector found some ruins of an old house near the river a few months back he brought me some broken pieces of old china and a little glass bottle. Do you remember the sweet little bottle? I did a post on it.
  Jan said that I should learn how to do mosaics with all the broken pieces. She has done some and they are beautiful. Then she told me  that she found a plastic ornament at, I think, the Dollar Store that she was going to cover with old broken pieces of china. I thought that was such a cool idea. Well, she sent me this big plastic ornament to cover with old china or mirror.... or glass. Last night I looked up how to do mosaics on eHow.com and now I have directions to transform this red orb into a thing of beauty.
They were no Monkeys in the box ... not even a small one hiding in a corner. But, what a box of goodies.
Now all I have to do is finish this....

 I'm making a purse out of an old sweater. It will look like this (below) when I get all the felted pieces together...

I've had such fun with it but I have this bad habit of getting the pieces together and then not finishing what I'm working on.  Like wanting someone to finish cleaning up my mess in the garden, I would like someone to finish this purse for me. I know... FINISH WHAT YOU START, GIRL!.
I love the flowers on the front.

I think I might just put one of Jan's buttons inside the flowers. What do you think?
I haven't attached any of this to the purse yet so I'm open to suggestions.
I have also mastered the "Andalusian" stitch in my knitting and will be felting this scarf soon. This scarf will need a nice big button or two on it for decoration. 

I'm using Lion Brand Fishermen's wool in Maple Tweed. I can't wait to finish it and felt it. This will be a long skinny scarf  that you can wrap around your neck a few times.

But I may put it on hold until I finish the purse.....
or do both, on and off, or cover the big red globe with mosaics,
or go outside and plant some ''red" yarrow next to my yellow one (another friends idea).

Finally there is time for everything.
Too much of EVERYTHING.
But it's what I was waiting for... and it's all WONDERFUL.

"Glory be to God for dappled things..."

When I went down to my sister's house for Easter, she had many beautiful decorations in her living room but one stood out above all others.
This is called a Santos Cage Doll.

These dolls were, in history, very large and carried in parades and religious pageants. They represent Christ, the Virgin Mary or Patron Saints.

Most are reproductions now, because many of the originals are in museums or damaged beyond repair.  You can learn more about these dolls at this site. This website also sells them.
Sis wanted to buy one of these dolls but they were really expensive. Well, as good things do happen, she was in (are you ready for this?) HOME GOODS one day and she found this reproduction cage doll sitting on a shelf just waiting for her.She grabbed it up and brought it home.

The top is a resin of some kind and the bottom part (the cage) is wood.The bodice and sleeves are hand painted and distressed.

The arms and hands are movable and can be posed in many positions.

OK!... RIKI?? DIANA?? Do you notice something hanging from lovely Madonna's shoulders?

Sis has adorned the doll with your jewelry.
I'm talking about Riki Shumacher and Diana Frey. These two artists are jewelry makers of extraordinary talent. Sis and I took a class from them last year in Pismo Beach.
We first met them at Asilomar Art and Soul. We all took a class from Nina Bagley. Then we found out that they were doing a workshop together at Riki's home in Pismo Beach and we knew what great jewelry makers they were... so we signed up. We had such a great time.

 The top one is Diana's. She always puts a little bling in her pieces. The bird and the words, "Nature beats in perfect tune.", the beautiful connections, the old rhinestones and pearls all make this such a lovely necklace.
The bottom one is Riki's. She is a master when it comes to soldering and her pieces always reflect nature in some way. Well, maybe not always, but quite a bit of the time. Above the nested egg it says "Sense of Wonder". I love this piece. Recently, Riki has been going in a  "blingy" direction.... branching out with bling. Can't wait to see some of her new work.
These two women are very good friends, so I think that they share ideas and blend their creative talents ... but you certainly can tell which necklace was made by which artist.  Each is very distinct.
Please check out Riki's blog called Riki Jewelry* Romantic Relics and
Diana's new blog called Tattered Adornments.
Sis has the talent to put all these things together and make her own "collage" of creativity. She does this all the time. It's a gift.
*********************
And as for the world coming to an end today?
I really don't think so. I may be wrong. No one knows anything for sure. but I don't think that God would start anything in Spring with all his efforts at their peak.
This morning I walked out into the garden and a butterfly landed on a rosebud. It took my breath away.... The astounding beauty of this butterfly on that rose. God would not destroy this.... or any part of this. I think that someone is misinformed.
This is what I consider "rapture".... a butterfly on a rosebud.
... and God saying, in my head, "It will be OK."

*********************

Pied Beauty

 Glory be to God for dappled things...

For skies of couple-color as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced-fold, fallow, and plough;

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

~Gerard Manley Hopkins~