Dogmom Diva

After Christmas Sew Along–Week 1

2012-01-02T13:01:00.001-08:00

How many of you crafters or sewists have some unfinished projects, or want to do some sewing just for yourself now that the holidays are in our rear view mirror? I know that I have a huge stash of beautiful fabrics that need to be sewn into something! Seems the last few months all my sewing has been for others..during the next few weeks I am definitely going to make something for ME.

Anyway, if this describes you, join me in participating with Karen at Sew Much 2 Luv. Karen is hosting this fun group..each week participants post a picture or two of what they finished on her Flickr group page, and each Saturday she will pick a winner and someone will get a neat prize!

I need motivation and Karen came up with the right thing for me! Follow me each week as I post my progress! Better yet, join us!

A Pink and Happy New Year!

2011-12-30T20:14:00.001-08:00

Well, it’s been over a month since I have posted for Pink Saturday..I was ill and ended up hospitalized for a few days in early December, I am better now and getting better each day..I’ve missed you all very much and plan to start the new year with a clear mind and positive thoughts!

Thought I would share some fun pink images for New Years…

Who doesn’t love Betty Boop?!

Let the New Year begin!

Please stop by and say hello to our lovely Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, she hosts our pinkies each and every Saturday…also try to visit a few of my pinkie friends and say hello, it’s a wonderful way to make new friends!

Have a Happy New Year and a blessed weekend!

Year of Enchantment!

2011-12-28T13:35:00.001-08:00

Do you like to read? Craft? Sew? Cook? Well, head on over to Val’s Year of Enchantment blog, leave her a comment and she will add you to the list of participants and put your name on the sidebar!

3rd Annual Year of Enchantment

I have not participated in Val’s YOE in the past, but it looks fun, so join me!

I’m back, I think..

2011-12-20T12:07:00.001-08:00

I have been off the radar for a few weeks, ended up in the hospital for a few days earlier this month, and then I just lost my ‘mojo’. I have not done any sewing since right after Thanksgiving, but I did work on an apron hem this morning so maybe the ‘mojo’ is returning, I hope. I never want to feel that bad and ill again ever!

I also was finding that I was too ‘connected’..Connected to my cell phone, connected to Facebook, and too connected with my blog, so a break was definitely in order. My cell phone has been off since the first of December, I have my hubby here with me most of the time, and anyone can reach me via his phone..I am seriously thinking about discontinuing my cell phone, probably not right away, but in the future..It would save us a lot of money and to be honest I am very rarely not with Carl.

I am trying to check my email two or three times a day, if only to weed the unwanted stuff and not miss something from friends..You never know what might be in there waiting! And Facebook is in the background, check it occasionally..its funny, all this technology and I wonder if any of you, like me, are needing a break from all of it??

We are getting ready to drive to NorCal this weekend to spend Grace Lily’s first Christmas with her and our son and daughter in love..She is almost 7 months old, my this is going fast! Here are a couple of new pictures of our girl..

I know, I know, that was more than a ‘couple’, I just can’t help myself!

Have a wonderful week and thank you for stopping by!

Don’t You Hate it When you forget your passwords??

2011-11-24T22:46:00.001-08:00

Well, I thought that was as good a title as any..As a matter of fact, I got signed out of my yahoo account and could not remember my password. Drats. I got ‘hacked’ a couple weeks ago, and had to change it. I finally figured it out, but dang I hate that I even had to change it. Stupid hackers. Get a job. ‘Nuff said.

How was your Thanksgiving? We did zip, nada, zilch. We have a wonderful neighbor who brought over an entire dinner for us about 6 tonight..he had cooked a huge meal..before you feel sorry for us, we are having our Thanksgiving tomorrow (Friday) with our son Dan, girl Netti, and the kids’ friends Eric and Jen..and my folks are invited to come over of course. So the chicken nuggets I stuck in the oven will be good in a day or two..or be a fine treat for the doglets.

It’s been a rough week..I won’t gloss it over..my Depression is getting harder to gloss over, folks. My doctor changed my medication about 3 weeks ago and boy, I hope this new stuff kicks in. And as unsure I am at times about about myself and being able to cope..I am fully and so aware of many in such worse shape than we. And today I was thinking back to when I was in my early 20’s, with not a hint of the depression that would strike me 20 years later. I have been fighting this for at least 18 years…it struck with a vengeance in 1993 and although I have had a lot of years of doing ‘ok’, this past year for some reason has been a ‘bad one’. But I will get through this, I have a lot to live for and that is that!

Thankful for my family. Especially our little Grace Lily who has come into our lives this year..Oh my, and to think we will welcome another little one this upcoming May is a double blessing, as we seriously did not think grand parenting would be blessed upon us. Ever. The hard part of this is living over 500 miles away..tough, really tough. Hoping we can rectify that somehow in the next few years, for now we have dependable wheels on the car and will try to make a trip up north every couple months anyway…Glad Christmas is not too far off, its been a month since we have seen Gracie and from what we are told she is crawling like a crazygirl! Thankful for Facebook and text and picture messaging, we get frequent updates from the kids.

I am stockpiling little things for her, shopping is fun for a baby girl, I tell ya! But we are financially in a tighter way this year, so smarter shopping..it’s being together that counts..But this mom still needs to give a few gifts, anyway.

Our family:

Dan and his sweet girl Annette

Scott and his wife Melainie, parents of Gracie:

and Gracie!

My sis Cindy and her husband, Bruce, who live in Illinois:

My brother, Raymond:

My Mom and Dad:

and of course, the doglets!

India

Gracie

and Halo

and of course, our extended family and can’t forget our wonderful friends. I am also thankful for my BLOG friends, a few I have met in person and all are treasured..thank you for being there for ME.

Jealous

2011-11-13T04:33:00.001-08:00

Ok, I admit it, I get jealous..it’s a nasty word and feeling, isn’t it. Right now my main issue is dreaming up snappy ideas and titles for my blogs..How do you witty and bright bloggers come up with ideas to write about..??

I think my problem is I do not have a ‘NICHE’ blog..I don’t speak of decorating much., but I guess I could take some shots of the house and talk about how I decided to do what I did here, decorating style anyway. There are some awesome decorators out there in blogland who blog about decorating, I love reading their blogs but my niche is definitely not décor! Still a work in progress after 2 1/2 years..

I do like to sew my aprons and trying to branch out into other items. I have not sewn for many, many years until the spring of 2010 I got involved in a couple of awesome apron swaps with other bloggers led by Val at Yarni Gras and also Shawnee at Flirty Apron Swap. I can’t tell you how much fun I have had participating in these swaps and they got me sewing again after probably 20 years. In addition to giving and receiving such fun and aprons and goodies, my sewing skills are much better than they were and it makes me want to move on to other items such as handbags and home décor items! So the apron thing is a fun thing for me to blog about, but does that get ‘old’ for you all to read all the time? I dunno.

P. S. these aprons are all for sale, they really are needing new homes!

I am also blessed to blog about our Grace Lily and my adult kids..I probably don’t blog about the kids and their busy lives very often, again is any one interested in reading about my family? I also have a sister I am very close to even though she lives in Illinois and I am in southern California and a brother and parents who live close by..

Oldest son Dan and his girl, Netti

Scott and his wife Melainie

Their daughter Grace Lily and one on the way

Me, my sis Cindy and our little brother Raymond, very OLD pictures!

And our parents, married in December, 1950 and celebrating 61 years of marriage on Christmas eve! How awesome is THAT!

And of course there are our three dogs, Gracie, India and Halo..and no, baby Grace was not named after the dog, lol…now if the new baby is named India or Halo, I will know it’s a conspiracy. These dogs are elderly but they still get into trouble here at the house, the other day we came home to one of them grabbing an entire loaf of nice wheat bread off the counter, we came home to shreds of plastic in the family room and thank goodness they did not eat the clips holding the bag closed, oh and I think there was a bagel left, too. And we have one that likes to tip over the bathroom trash can when we are gone..so they are pretty interesting and could qualify for doggy day care!

Then there is travel and scenery. We don’t travel much right now unless it’s heading north to visit with Scott, Lainie and Gracie..but that is travel and I’m sure there are interesting things along our route we could stop and check out. So I am making a vow to keep my camera with me for capturing interesting things along our route!

Any way, I am at a loss most days for a catchy blog title, any help appreciated!

Pink Saturday Musings..

2011-11-11T21:41:00.001-08:00

Hello to all my pink friends, I am still in a blog fog, but I don’t want to stop posting so will wing it I guess!

I am in the process of preparing for a HUGE giveaway, I should have all the details in the next few days, so stay tuned….yes it is that big..my biggest giveaway yet..just working on a few details..

Here is my normal pink picture, of course it’s my girl Grace Lily..This is her 5 month picture..I might be biased but this girl is a cutie..

I hope everyone has a wonderful PINK weekend, be sure to stop by and give some love to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, and also to visit some of our other pink posters!

Don’t forget to stay tuned for the upcoming giveaway!

Pink Saturday and What’s better than a Sale

2011-11-04T23:12:00.001-07:00

I don’t very often promote my ETSY shop on my blog, but I have some wonderful hand crafted aprons that are for sale, and wit over tnh the holidays coming up, I placed them on a better sale, 20% off al aprons currently in my shop..would like to pass these cute aprons along for gifts and how better at a better price!

Head on over to my ETSY Shop and take a look around, if you find something for a nice gift or for yourself (come on, you know we all like to treat ourselves to an thing or is from time to time..

I will be listing a few Holiday aprons in full size and also half hostess styles, so stay tuned…I love crafting these and I hope it shows!

Here are a few available:

and..

and check out this hoot! What fun this one would be..

I have so much fabric, ok I admit it, I am a fabric a holic, what can I say! Any who! I have about any kind of style and colors you can imagine sooo if you would like a custom apron, let me know!

I would so like to thank our sweet Beverly at How sweet the Sound, please stop by and say hi and that I sent you! So many special pinkies sign up each and every Saturday and its so much fun and enlightening to read our other pinkies stories!

Thank you for stopping by..I can’t leave a post without a picture of my sweet Grace Lily

Grampy Carl with Gracie

With her sweet mamma..

Gramma Barb and Gracie

At the pumpkin farm..

My favorite..

thank you for indulging me today.. Grace just turned 5 months old and guess what! We found out while on our trip up north that the kids are expecting another little one mid May, 2012…So Grace will be a big sister! We are very excited, Grace is a bonus for Dogpaw and I, the more the merrier..we could not be more excited..so we we will be very, very busy late next spring and early summer helping out these young grandkids..and could not be happier!

Have a wonderful weekend, and yes I do read each of your comments, and I promise to try t be better about corresponding in the near future. I love reading all your blog stories!

May GOD bless each and everyone of you..

Hmmm…Being Brave on Pink Saturday!

2011-10-22T08:47:00.001-07:00

I have to apologize for my lack of motivation on my blog..I tell you I am in such a blog fog, hoping it passes quickly! I can’t stand not being able to blog like I want to..what do you do when you get a blog fog? How can I shake this off?

My friend Parsley posted a dare on one of her posts this week to be brave and post a picture of ourselves. I just saw the post so here goes:

This was taken a year ago while visiting my sis and brother in law at their farmhouse in western Illinois…Isn’t that an adorable apron, it was a gift from my sweet friend Karen, my daughter in love’s stepmom…It does say DOGMOM DIVA in pink on it..I just love it! So snazzy!

We are visiting our son and daughter in love and the lovely Grace Lily this weekend, we got here last night and will stay a few days, until Tuesday most likely…I have not had a chance to take more pictures but I will have plenty of picture taking opportunities these next few days.

While blog hopping earlier, I noticed that my dear friend Anne of Phamilyblog posted a picture of a new teapot she found…Here is an image of my Mary Kay teapot..I won it in a contest a few years ago and it’s one of my treasures…and so pretty in pink..

I had given some thought to having a giveaway for it, but so far I can’t part with it. Maybe one day!

Have a wonderful weekend, I love that you came to visit my blog and especially love your comments! Stop by and visit our sweet Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, she is our hostess with the mostest!

Plugging Along on a Pink Saturday..

2011-10-15T06:15:00.001-07:00

I really meant to get a post up last night for P.S. but as usual, was wracking my mind about something to post about. I swear my mind is blank for subjects lately. Does anyone else go through this? Or is it just me? Please say it’s not just me, or I might really start worrying about my jumbled brain more than I do already…

I’m linking up to sweet Beverly at How Sweet the Sound today, if you get time please stop by and visit Beverly and a few of our other sweet pinkies…I can’t think of a better way to spend the weekend than perhaps relaxing with a nice little pot of tea or coffee and reading some great blog posts!

I’ve been busy adding a few new aprons to my ETSY shop, would love to have you stop by and check them out..I have a few more yards of Halloween fabric so if anyone is looking for a cute Halloween apron, I have a couple listed and also some fabric to be sewn this week before we head up north to spend a few days with our son and daughter in love, and of course, Gracie…

Have a wonderful weekend, and I will be busy reading and commenting on your blogs, too!

Pink “Love”

2011-10-07T16:13:00.001-07:00

Happy Pink Saturday, I am actually writing this early, usually I am the last post up!

Thought I would share a cute little outfit I bought for my Grace Lily..She doesn’t have it yet, we will be travelling north to do some babysitting toward the end of the month and will give it to her then, but aside from a couple of new pictures of the little darling, this is my best pink!

I guess Strawberry Shortcake is making a comeback! It’s a 12 month size so it will fit her in two or three months I am guessing..I just thought it was ‘too cute’.

Here is a key ring that my friend made for me, I don’t drive much anymore so I have it hanging on my rack to make me smile when I see it..

Ok a couple of new pictures of Gracie, hope you don’t mind!

Her FOUR month picture..

With my son, her daddy..

Please join our dear Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and visit a few of our fellow pinkies while you are at it, some fun weekend blog reading!

October Pinks!

2011-10-01T04:05:00.001-07:00

Sorry I have been out of the loop for a few weeks, I have been at my sister’s farm home in NW Illinois since Sept. 20th..I promptly got sick two days after I arrived, most likely airborne illness from the flight. BAH! So took a couple of days to recuperate from that ordeal, and hit the ground running after that..I will be here a few more days, flying back home this upcoming Wednesday the 5th. I love being here, but have had my share of homesickness this time..Not sure where THAT came from, but have had a hard time, all the while having fun sister time.

Cindy on the left, me on the right..We took a little walk down her road the other morning and will go again today..the cool air is so refreshing from the summer heat Carl and I have been living with. Ahhhh…

Just some sights from the farm..fall colors are just beginning to show up, and so pretty to this southern California girl!

Guess I better put some pinks in here, hehe..

In Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Pink Saturday, I am linking up with our sweet Beverly at How Sweet The Sound today, please stop by to visit her and some of our other sweet pinkies…I can’t think of a better way to relax and read this weekend! God Bless you all…

Friday Night Sew-In!

2011-09-16T07:56:00.001-07:00

It’s that time again, Friday Night Sew-In! I have two aprons in progress, both are for Halloween so I am excited to get those finished..

Oh wow, I love FABRIC..I was shocked when I was inventory-ing my fabric closet at how much I have so am putting myself on a self imposed, oh what is the word for it, well I am not buying fabric except for holiday fabric on sale..sounds good, we’ll see how THAT goes, lol. I do need thread and interfacing so I guess that doesn’t count.

Anyway, if you would like to join Friday Night Sew-In, head on over to Handmade by Heidi and sign up, Easy Peasy! And if you get a chance, stop by my ETSY shop at Designs by DogmomDiva, I will be adding a few new items soon!

Have a wonderful weekend!

9/11~Almost Fall~Pink Saturday

2011-09-10T05:49:00.001-07:00

Hello friends, would like to offer my thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families as the upcoming 10th anniversary of the vicious attacks on our country approaches…I will never forget that day, and although we live across the country in California, I can say that so many on the west coast also felt the pain and anguish that day and in the days and months and years that followed. It was a normal Tuesday, I was up to sip my coffee before getting dressed and heading to work that day..I turned on the Today Show and the hosts were talking about a plane crash in NY..I glanced at the TV and saw the 2nd plane hit the building. I don’t really remember what happened after that, I woke my husband and younger son who lived at home still..watched the bedroom tv while I got ready for work and heard someone say that the Pentagon had been attacked..at this point I wasn’t sure if I could make the drive to work..I was so upset but the school year had just started and I had things I had to take care of..on the way I was listening to talk radio and heard them say one of the towers fell..when I got to work we found a tv in the AV room and wheeled it into the library building where I worked and I can tell you no work got done for the library clerk, the textbook clerk, or me that day..so sad and tragic. And one thing I remember is the disbelief that this could happen. I don’t think anyone knew that day how our everyday lives would change from that point on..God’s blessings on all on this milestone anniversary.

My week. Hubby has been gone since Monday, he headed up north to spend a few days on Shasta Lake with younger son and son’s father in law on their houseboat..Guy time. In the meantime our s/c unit went on the fritz..It didn’t completely crash but I had to keep shutting the compressor on and on off for two days manually at the breaker as it would not stop when the inside fan cycled on and off..AAARGH..the a/c guy repaired it on Wednesday late in the day, glory be!..its still way too hot here to do without a/c, highs this week were in the 105-108 range..hoping for some ‘cooler’ temps this upcoming week.

Hubby will be home tomorrow and hoping he brings some new pictures of Grace Lily as I sent him with a camera..Hard to tell, lol! I did get a few from my daughter in love, Gracie is getting so big, almost 4 months old..She is my pink for the week

Looks like she is getting ready to crawl soon..she’s working on it!

Have a wonderful week, and I am linking up to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, please stop by and say hello! Always a great time reading the Pink Saturday posts..

Fall’s Pink Blooms

2011-09-02T23:23:00.001-07:00

Most of us think of ‘fall’ flowers as the beautiful browns and golden yellows, but I went on a search of some beautiful fall pinks..

How about the lovely coleus..

Or some purplish asters..

I’m not sure what this is, but I love it!

Love these mums..

Finally, just a pretty fall bouquet…enjoy!

I am linking up to our sweet Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. Please stop by to say hello and also visit some of our fellow Pinkies while you are there..

Have a wonderful first weekend of Fall, and also a wonderful Labor Day, a time to relax, rewind and reminisce the summer that has just passed. Thank you for stopping by and I love your comments!

September!

2011-09-02T04:40:00.001-07:00

I love the month of September, I truly do..After the long, hot summer here in the desert, are we ready for Fall! And September marks a new beginning, cooler weather is coming and Fall decorating. It’s really my favorite time of year. What is your favorite time?

I’ll be doing a Pink Saturday post tomorrow, so come on back to visit! My last post was a downer to write and read, but I needed to get something out of my system because I feel better now..I know God does not make mistakes, although it seems like we have made so many the least few years, we have been in each house for a reason, and we are HERE now for a reason..in time we will make it back up to Northern California nearer to our little granddaughter, and you know about the time we are able to do that our older son will probably marry and give us a grandchild, and he lives in Southern California not very far from us..then I will be torn! But for now, our roots are here and I am going to learn to be happy where I am..I thank those that left sweet comments for me, I was glad to know I wasn’t alone in how I was feeling.

Now, the newest picture of Grace Lily, at 3 months old:

Look at that sweet, sweet smile..Gramma loves you, sweetie♥

Old Houses

2011-08-28T13:08:00.001-07:00

Well my mind has been a mental desert of late, and when I do think I’m not really thinking straight, and now my husband is upset with me.

Question, do any of you that have moved around have problems when it comes to seeing your old houses? Is it just me? Maybe my problem with ‘driving by the old place’ has less to do with the actual house, but regrets in leaving it. It all started innocently enough, this journey of ours. We were stable one, honest we were. We lived in our ‘first house’ for almost 19 years. Wow! We left that house due to the neighborhood deteriorating to the point of having gang bangers move in next door. And to tell you the conflict we had in leaving that house, or rather, most likely the conflict I had, we had it listed and delisted THREE times before we actually sold it. Our 2nd house was so much better, upscale neighborhood, newer home, swimming pool. We were there for almost 6 years.

We decided to sell that home because hubs was wanting to retire and I had become ill with the Epstein Barr Virus that has turned into this awful Fibromyalgia and I was not sure I could continue working. So we sold our home in July, 2003. We made some money on it and decided to move closer to my folks out here in the desert, but not IN the desert, as we didn’t like the desert..We bought a brand new home and moved in.

It was a really nice home, but we didn’t really care for the area, so we stayed there a year, this was still a boom time for real estate so we made some money on that one. We decided to go BIG and move to Northern CA, buy a house with property and possibly be able to put a granny house on the property for my folks to live in as we had discussed all this with them and they seemed to wanted to do something different as they got older. So we found a nice ranch home on 2.5 acres about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento and moved in there in Oct. 2004.

I got a job at a local junior high school in the library and we waited for my folks to fix up and sell their home..well the longer we waited the less they seemed to want to come up north, and we realized that we had just bit off more than we could handle financially. So..we decided to sell and move with my folks to the St. George, UT area..we thought this might work as it was closer to southern CA and our older son, and my folks other grandsons still in SoCal. We found a really beautiful home with a ‘wing’ for my folks. We moved in there in Oct. 2005.

Do you see a pattern here?? We lost some money on the Nor Cal home, not disastrously so, but the boom was over. Well, as much as we thought living with my folks would work out, it just did not..they moved back to the desert in January 2008, and we were sitting in a house too big for us, and too expensive..so you know how this story goes..we sold it in August 2008, and lost $100,000 on it. UGH..so we were in the same shape as most folks were at that point. We decided we needed to just chill out in our little 800 sq. foot mobile home we had bought the year before in WA state, as a summer getaway from the awful desert heat of St. George..we put everything in storage there in Utah, and with a car full of dogs and a truck and trailer full of our belongings, settled into our little cottage.

Not ideal for living full time, but we were relieved to be financially free of a house and mortgage..we only had a small space rent monthly. Now we had furnished the cottage with the basics and of course added our creature for the duration. it was a long winter with snow, ice and rain..and we were squeezed pretty tight. We decided we wanted to go back to Northern CA, our younger son lived there and was getting married that spring..except as much as the housing had dropped in CA, in the area we wanted to go, it was still too expensive for us. I guess we just got tired and stopped thinking straight, but when my folks called that there were several homes for sale in their development we started thinking maybe we should just head back south..and that is what as we did. I think we felt rushed as we had a couple of neighbors in this mobile home park we lived in that just seemed to hate us and our dogs..We had some temporary fencing rigged for the dogs, and we never let them outside for any length of time except to do their ‘duty’ and come back in..but one neighbor tried to hit India the brown dog one day and that did it.

No one hits our dogs..we felt pressured to find something so we bought the place we are in now..this was in May, 2009.

We live 4 blocks from my folks in the desert we said we would never live in. Our house is small, yes I know I am lucky to have it, but if we had been thinking straight, we would have held out for a bigger house and in retrospect should have tried to find a house up north. Now we have a granddaughter who lives 550 miles away, we are in the desert neither of us can stand, and we are financially stuck for now. I know, so many would love to have a house like ours, we are lucky, etc..when I am thinking straight I know that..but it does not stop me from yearning to go back up north almost every day. I work on those thoughts every day, I try to push them out of my mind, but they are THERE. We can’t make enough money on this house to even put down on something else as housing in our county is one of the worst in the state. And I don’t think we are really ready to chuck it all and leave..our payment is lower here than it would even be to rent this same house, so selling is not an option.

Now, old houses..my problem is that I can’t even stand to drive past them. I guess that stems from so many regrets at leaving each one, it hurts my heart to see them. I’d love to not feel that way. But I do. We have made some poor decisions and now we are ‘paying’ for them. It seems that once we sold that 2nd house we loved so much, it was all downhill from there. Do I wish I could go back a few years and do different. Oh yeah. But no one can go backwards.

Hubby is upset with me, he got a message from old neighbors from the brand new house we lived in that our house is for sale again and they would love to have us move back..he wants to go stop by and see them, and I can’t do it. So he is upset. I know I need to ‘buck up’ and go, for his sake. But it’s going to hurt my heart to see my old house empty and think, we should have stayed there. I loved the floor plan and the area has grown up now with shops, etc..and now it’s for sale again. I know I should go with him to visit them. I do. I can’t explain to him that it hurts my heart. I don’t think he would understand. It’s just a reminder of dumb mistakes for me.

My question is, has anyone else ever felt this way, or is it just me that can’t handle seeing my old houses, and to me that just amplifies the mistakes we have made.

Would appreciate any thoughts..

Busy Saturday…

2011-08-20T12:09:00.001-07:00

Let’s see if I can find some pinks for today…

Gracie with my mom..

With my husband, G-pa!

Me and G-Pa with the little miss..

Grace Lily and her parents are visiting us this weekend, so we are having a small family and friends gathering at our little home this afternoon..They say Love Grows Best in Little Houses…we shall see.

Please join up with our sweet Beverly for Pink Saturday..You can find Beverly’s blog at How Sweet the Sound…please stop by and say hello..Saturday’s are a not to miss around here!

Have a wonderful week!

Mental Desert

2011-08-10T11:13:00.001-07:00

I have to say it, I have nothing to write about. Does this ever happen to you? Surely, there must be something interesting going on in life to write about..but..I can’t think of a thing. I have been reading some of the many blogs I follow, and wonder to myself..how do these peeps keep thinking of catchy things to write about? Any suggestions of things I can write about out there?

We are traveling tomorrow up north to visit with our son, wife and the sweet Grace Lily..so looking forward to that. She will be 3 months old on the 28th of this month, time is flying..

I am tired of summer..It’s hot and brown here in the desert. Do you desert dwellers EVER get used to it? I keep trying to see the beauty, but it escapes me completely. In my mind, anyway, I need to live in the green trees. One day.

I need to lose some serious weight. Soon. I joined the Weight Watchers online about a month or so ago and can’t seem to stay on track. I want those younger, healthy days back. I could move around better and lose weight when I tried..and sometimes when I didn’t really try. Seriously, between the fibro, the fatigue and the medications, I am worried that I am stuck at Huge-O forever. I want my old body back. Now.

Well, I have vented and don’t really feel any better..so will close and go finish my laundry and hide under the covers until this feeling passes. And it will..thanks for listening!

Pink Sweetness

2011-08-06T23:33:00.001-07:00

Well this is almost ‘past’ Saturday, but I don’t like to let a weekend go by without a Pink Saturday post..it’s just not the same, and hopefully tomorrow I will have time to read through everyone’s posts and sweet comments! We had a busy day today, our son and girlfriend surprised us with a surprise visit, and brought goodies to bbq..burgers and ribs..they also paid a surprise visit to my mom, who lives a few blocks away, as she just got out of the hospital last night after a scare on Wednesday..She is 84 years young, had been sick for a couple days, fever and hard to breathe, so we had the paramedics come and take her to the hospital..she spent a couple days there, had lots of tests, seems to have COPD..I talked to her tonight, she sounds like her same self, so that is good..I appreciate all the prayers that were said in her behalf.

Ok now on to Pink Saturday. I have a few new pictures of our sweet little grand girl Grace Lily to share..thank you for indulging this first time grandma..

With her daddy, our son..

Her two month old photo

With her mama at a baseball game..note the pink Angels onesie! Already a fan!

I hope you all are having a great weekend, be sure to stop by and say hi to our sweet Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, and visit some of our other pink ladies!

A Summer’s Day’s Pinks

2011-07-30T12:05:00.001-07:00

Well it is just too darn hot and muggy here to go outside to take any pink pictures, even though our bougainvillea is blooming like mad, as are our Mexican bird of paradise, so pretty…We are getting the tail end of a monsoon coming at us from Arizona and the Baja…enough to make it humid and muggy, but not a lick of rain..BOO!

Anyway, in celebration of Pink Saturday and staying INDOORS, I thought I would share some new fabric I just received..I am so anxious to fashion these fabrics into aprons, time now to put your dibs in! Taking orders!

These are called Sugar Roses…Ah what stunning fabric and vibrant color..isn’t it scrumptious?

I am going to pair it with this..

Or maybe a cute paisley?

Paired with this..

Lastly, some sweet glittery fairy fabric

Paired with this..

So..am I on the right track?? Will get these sewn up this week and get them listed in my ETSY Shop..

I am sharing this for Pink Saturday, please visit our sweet hostess Beverly over at How Sweet the Sound, and while you are there, pay a visit to some of my fellow Pinkies!

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend~

Barb

And A Flirty Aloha to you!

2011-07-27T16:54:00.001-07:00

have to tell you, I am so excited! I received my Flirty Apron Swap box from my partner, Sally at Glamping Cowgirl. Inside the box was a beautiful reversible Aloha apron, and lots of goodies, too!

Thank you to Sally, I love everything and I know a lot of work and thought went into your package to me!

Here is what I sent to my swap partner..not sure if she has received it yet or not so not going to blow it by telling you who she is! I hope she likes mermaids!

I’m going to keep the tuck in’s a secret for now!

I love participating in these apron swaps, I meet the nicest ladies and it’s so much fun!

Friday Night Sew In Result!

2011-07-24T09:55:00.001-07:00

Just a brief post, getting ready to upload my FNSI pictures to our Flickr group, check them out at Flickr – FNSI. Love FNSI, it’s a great way to get a project finished while enjoying seeing what the other members are working on..be sure to take a look at what the other members are up to!

Pink for a Reason

2011-07-22T23:07:00.001-07:00

My mom gave me a good idea for a theme for this week’s pinks.. Check out Mary Maxim Needlework and Crafts, and their page of ideas to honor Breast Cancer Awareness…here are a few items that are featured:

A cute tote!

How about pink ruffled yarn?

A pretty knit throw…

Or a gorgeous shawl..

And for quilters..

I know that the official Breast Cancer Awareness month is not until the fall months, but it’s always the right time to remember!

Please join me with Beverly and my fellow Pinkies at How Sweet The Sound, while you are visiting please say hello to Beverly and a few of my other pink sisters..

Have a fab week..

P.S. Please visit my ETSY shop that I opened this week..I am continuing to add items, and I would love to know what you think! Thank you!

Friday Night Sew In…Be There!

2011-07-22T05:10:00.001-07:00

I am participating in this month’s Friday Night Sew In. Head over to visit Handmade By Heidi for more info and sign ups…and get those unfinished projects OUT and FINISH one!

I personally will be finishing up my apron for the Flirty Aloha Apron Swap, tuck in’s are ready and when the apron is finished by tonight I can get it in the mail to my partner by the deadline which is tomorrow! Here is my fabric:

Oh and be sure to visit my ETSY SHOP and let me know what you think..more items for sale to be added daily..

So Easy Lampshade Re-do and Giveaway!

2011-07-18T08:00:00.001-07:00

My dear friend Beverly at My Sew Sweet Studio is having a giveaway of some beautiful little watermelon basket and coasters that she made. Beverly is an extremely talented seamstress so you know they are beautiful and special!

Head on over to her blog and leave a comment to be entered in her giveaway!

Her tutorial on the lampshade re-do looks very easy amnd what a fun project to do this summer..be sure and let Beverly know that I sent ya!

Pink Saturday and Bastille Day!

2011-07-15T22:20:00.001-07:00

On July 14, 1789, civilians in Paris stormed the fortress prison known as the Bastille. This started the French Revolution. I thought it would be appropriate to find some fun pictures of Paris in celebration of Bastille Day. In May, 2007 Carl and I were on a transatlantic cruise and spent a day in Paris! I would love to go back and spend more time one day..

At the Cathedral of Notre Dame:

It was sooo beautiful outside and inside!

Near the Eiffel Tower, as you can tell it was a gloomy and rainy day, but Paris was beautiful nonetheless!

Now for some pretty pinks from Paris!

and of course, some pretty fabric!

I am linking up to sweet Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Be sure to visit Beverly and some of my sister Pinkies..We all love your visits and comments!

Have a pinkalicious week!

P.S. I just opened my ETSY shoppe at Designs by DogmomDiva. Stop by if you get a chance and let me know what you think! I am still adding items so check back now and then!

Larkspur And A Lily (Grace Lily, that is!)

2011-07-09T03:32:00.001-07:00

A warm, and especially warm welcome from the southern California desert, to the month of July. We chat a lot about birthstones, but how about some delightful information about the flower for the month of July, the beautiful Larkspur.

The long, slender stem of the larkspur becomes covered en magnificent blossoms, transforming it into a dignified self-contained bouquet. Much like a spear being covered with a wreath to communicate a peaceful negotiation, the larkspur is the flower of compromise, the ideal symbol of a win-win situation.

A few beautiful images of the Larkspur

Lovely, aren't they?

Now, we just returned from 8 wonderful days with our kids and granddaughter, Grace Lily..A pink post would not be the same for me without a few pictures of Gracie, as we call her…She is now almost 6 weeks old~

Ready for my first fireworks!

After bath, with my grandpa..

My grandma loves me~

Mommy called me her little bug!

Not sure if I like the swing or not!

Thank you for indulging me showing of my little Gracie..she is a light in our life!

Now, thanks to Miss Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for her hard work every week with Pink Saturday! Now, head on over to visit her and also take a few minutes to visit with some of our other pinkies!

Have a wonderful week!

Sweet Pinkness

2011-06-24T23:11:00.001-07:00

Well, my granddaughter Grace Lily is almost one month old now..we have not seen her since we came home from Northern California about three weeks ago, so this grandma is so anxious to hold this sweet thing in FOUR more days! Yes we are once again traveling to visit the kids and sweet Gracie.

I’ll have more pictures to share next time..

Linking up with sweet Beverly for Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound. Please visit Beverly and some of my dear pink friends!

How I Spent My Friday Night!

2011-06-18T14:34:00.001-07:00

Well, last night was the monthly Friday Night Sew In, and so I got comfy, put on my jammas, and got crackin’.

First, I needed to finish hand sewing the waistband of an apron that was almost finished..

there, now it’s done..

After that was done, I decided to cut out the fabric for my Paris apron..

How wonderful is this fabric..gosh I wish now I had purchased more!

I then put the finishing touches on a coffee cozy to match the above lacy apron

And on to the Paris apron…Oooh la la!

I actually got quite a bit done last night, I find that sewing calms my nerves and I love to see the different fabrics that I can put together and come out with a fab finished product..

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Fab Fabric

2011-06-17T22:34:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, I LOVE fabric. All kinds of fabric..My best kind of day is spent at a fabric store or quilt shop, or shopping online for fabric..since it’s Pink Saturday, I thought I would share one of my latest fabric bundle purchases.. I just love this group..will be making aprons for my soon to open ETSY shop (stay tuned!) and leftovers will go into cute little clothes for my sweet granddaughter Grace Lily.

Without further adieu

then there is this adorable fabric that I am working on right now

these two together are just too much! And here I am hard at work earlier this evening..

I am linking up with Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday, please stop by and leave a comment on her page, and visit a few of my fellow Pinkies!

Think Pink!

Friday Night Sew-In

2011-06-17T11:33:00.001-07:00

Do you have projects you need to finish, or even start? Well, join me and about 125 other bloggers tonight for Friday Night Sew In! Head on over to Friday Night Sew In Sign Ups and join me!

Fibro Flare..ugh

2011-06-14T11:47:00.001-07:00

This is getting so old..and it’s depressing. I try to put on a brave face for the most part, but I am just tired. Tired of this fibromyalgia and all that goes with it. For some reason I have this syndrome..did I do something in my earlier life to deserve this…no…no one gets this because they deserve it. I guess I got it because God must think I can handle it. And I can. Most days. Today, not so much.

It’s hard to explain a ‘flare’. I get really achy, like a flu achy. No fever, just achy..then my feet hurt. Well they hurt most days, but when I get a flare, they really hurt…they burn like they are on fire from the inside out. Meds, supposed to help, really don’t. Pain pills, supposed to help, really don’t. When I have a flare, not much helps. And sleep escapes me..most nights.

On the bright side, a flare lasts a few days and don’t happen in any regular way..sometimes I can predict one, as we have been real busy and I haven’t had enough sleep. Other times, they hit me like a ton of bricks.

I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me, I am just venting. This will pass..it always does..

Winner! Winner! Winner!

2011-06-12T11:56:00.001-07:00

Thank you kind ladies, there were 39 comments on my post for Pink Saturday’s Birthday a couple of weeks ago…and yes the fabric in the background IS the apron fabric, its called Church Flowers..Gorgeous!

as promised I had Dogpaw help me draw a winner earlier this morning!

He had a bit of help from our Dalmatian, Gracie!

The winner is …..

Lynn @ The vintage Nest!

Lynn, I am still working on your apron and goodies, will have them sent by the end of this week..we got a bit delayed visiting our new granddaughter up North, and busy at home, but I promise I am working on a nice package for you!

Please email me your full name and address so I can get these goodies off to you as soon as possible..

Thank you everyone for visiting my blog and leaving such kind comments! It means so much to me!

Two Peas in a Pod Now = Three

2011-06-10T19:56:00.001-07:00

I am linking up to Stephanie’s 2nd Annual Wedding Blog Party. Stephanie’s most favorite things are all things wedding so please visit her and also some of her wonderful participants!

My laptop crashed and most of my scanned wedding pictures were on it, I do have them on a disc SOMEWHERE, but instead of spinning my wheels trying to find that disc, I thought I would share some pictures from my younger son’s wedding in April, 2009..they were married at a beautiful country club in Las Vegas, weather was perfect, as was everything on that wonderful day!

These are not the professional pictures, many of these were taken by the brides late father, I think they are great!

Now, the best part, this sweet bride and groom of not long ago just gave my husband and I the BEST gift of all, our granddaughter Grace Lily, born May 28, 2011. She is the light of our eyes!

Isn’t she just precious!

Since Grace Lily is all decked out in Pink, I am going to link up also to Beverly’s Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound. If you get time, please stop by and say hello to her and some of the other pinkies!

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway that ends tomorrow evening..I will be picking a winner on Sunday, June 12th..go HERE. All you need to do is become a follower and leave a comment, easy peasy!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I love all your visits and comments!

Pink Is For Girls!

2011-06-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

She's here, meet Grace Lily, born May 28,6 lb 14 ounces and 20 inches long..at first glance I was in LOVE...our first grandchild..She is also the first grandchild for my daughter in law's mom and stepdad, and 2nd grandchild for my daughter in law's stepmom and recently deceased daddy. So she is indeed a golden child in our eyes.

I guess I am a bit biased, but I think she is such a pretty girl..she is adjusting to home, sleeping and eating and what goes with that! I can tell you this this child lacks for nothing! But most important of all is all the love you can feel in this home..A child makes this home complete!

I am linking up to Beverly at , she is the hostess with the mostest..Please stop by and say hi..and don't forget my Pink Saturday 3rd Birthday Giveaway from LAST Saturday's post.....we will pick a winner on Saturday, June 7 so you still have time to go back to that post and enter..I am still not sure exactly WHAT will be included in the giveaway, but for sure one of my handcrafted aprons!

Be sure to visit Beverly and some of my pink friends, we are a wonderful bunch of Pinkies!

She's Here, meet Grace Lily!

2011-05-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

We are over the moon excited to introduce you to our granddaughter, Grace Lily, born yesterday, May 28 at 4:50 am. She was 6 lb 14 oz and 20 inches long..Medium downy brown hair, blue eyes like her daddy. She has her mommy's nose and is a beauty..but then all Grandma's think they little ones are beauties, don't they...

A few pictures and then we need to head out to the hospital in a bit..

Love her like I never thought I could...

Happy Birthday Pink Saturday and a Giveaway!

2011-05-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

First off, Happy Birthday to our sweet Beverly and our wonderful Pink Saturday! I can't even imagine how many posts over a 3 year period have been written, but must be thousands!

We are at our son and daughter in law's in Northern California, waiting for our granddaughter Grace to be born, today or tomorrow..Hopefully today for my daughter in law's sake, she is in labor as I type! This will be our first grandchild, much loved and long awaited for! Guess what my next post will be...he he..

Since I am not home and not using my computer with my photos on it, I can't show you exactly WHICH item I will be giving away..I love surprises, don't you??? I know for sure it will be a summery APRON, handcrafted especially for one lucky winner, by ME! And a few random goodies tossed in...so..I'm not going to make it crazy for you to enter, please leave a comment and be a follower..that's it. Leave a comment for each, and I will have my sweet hubs draw a winner on Saturday, June 11th, and that's it!

Now for some pinks..

Carnations are one of my favorite flowers, I just LOVE their scent!

Have a wonderful Pink Saturday, visit Beverly and some other pinkies, I can guarantee a good time and probably more than a few giveaways! Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Dreaming of Pink..

2011-05-20T22:40:00.001-07:00

With my granddaughter Grace soon to be born, I can’t help but dream in pink. I am the mom to two boys..and I always hoped and prayed I would have a granddaughter one day to spoil, and my dream is coming true..Grace’s due date is June 2nd, we are hoping for her mom’s sake, that she will come any time now…

I haven’t done a LOT of shopping for little Grace, with 3 grandmas, she is probably the best dressed little baby girl for the next few months and my sweet daughter in law said she is out of room and doesn’t need a thing for a while, but one can look, right? I found this website called Zulily that specializes in deals for kids clothing, toys and some things for adults and the home, too. Be sure to go and check that site out..some awesome deals..Anyway, I have been dreaming of pink:

or if those are a bit on the wild side, how about

All images and items are from the shops at Zulily..

Linking up with Beverly at How Sweet the Sound..stop on by and say hi to our sweet hostess and some of my fellow pinkies..or is it fella pinkies..hmm..well just go say hi to some of the pinkies..they are the best!

National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, May 12

2011-05-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

I am doing a blog post for this special day..it helps me to know I am not alone in this daily battle with Fibromyalgia. For some good information, check out this website:

National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

As tired as I am of having this syndrome, I fear I am at the beginning of a very long illness..my most recent issues, aside from the body pain, has been the pain in my feet. It’s called neuralgia and my feet feel like they are on fire. I don’t know how else to describe it..Oh I wish I could just put on my walking shoes and take a nice long walk..thank goodness I do have days the pain is not as bad, but the bad days really hurt. This has been a life changer, no doubt.

I am also at a crossroads with my Social Security Disability case..as most of you know, the judge denied my claim after my hearing in late January. After all that wait of two+ months, DENIED. Can I tell you how disheartening that was. I wish these people in charge could walk in my shoes for a few days, it would be clear to them the limitations most of us have. So I have a couple choices..My attorney rep is going to file an appeal..However, after waiting for another 12-18 months, the appeal hearing would be before the same judge. I can’t even guess as to what the point of that is, but it is what it is…basically he would be hearing my claim against his decision. That can’t be a good outcome at all. The other option I have is filing a new claim, start from scratch and hope with the documentation that I have, an approval would be given. I am considering changing attorneys and having one here in CA to start the new claim..I don’t relish the thought of starting over, but I almost see no other option..regardless of what I do, the appeal will go forward, as I have nothing to lose and an approval to gain. I am leaning towards doing the appeal and hiring a CA attorney and file from scratch here in CA.

Anyway, this is what is happening…I have gotten over my ‘mad’ at the judge and at this point just feel overwhelming disappointment and sadness at his decision. If only the folks at Social Security could spend a few days in my shoes.

My hope for all Fibromyalgia sufferer’s would be pain free days and nights..I don’t think that is too much to ask, is it? And my wish would be for others to become informed about Fibromyalgia and be more understanding when I can’t do something. I am blessed with a husband who ‘gets’ it, along with a few good friends who understand..that’s a lot more than some Fibro sufferers.

Make it a great day…

Happy Mother’s Day!

2011-05-07T06:59:00.001-07:00

How nice that Pink Saturday and Mother’s Day coincide this week..I would like to share some pictures of my mom, still spry at 83 years of age…

Her wedding reception in 1950!

Mom and Dad today, 60 years later!

And how about some Pink since it IS Pink Saturday!

I received this pink Grandma brag book from Becca in North Dakota as part of her apron swap package to me..just a few more weeks and baby Grace will be here!

My favorite flowers, roses

Thank you for stopping by! Linking up to Beverly’s Pink Saturday, please stop over and say hello and visit some of my sister pinkies!

Happy Mother’s Day and have a wonderful week!

Giveaway at A Gathering Place!

2011-05-03T05:47:00.001-07:00

Stop by and say hi to Rebecca at A Gathering Place and enter her awesome giveaway…Rebecca is so talented, and she is giving away a few of her beautiful handmade items…check it out! Deadline is May 15th!

In the Pink and of feeling blank

2011-04-29T23:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Pink Saturday, I should have tried to post something a bit earlier, but it’s not even Saturday yet in my part of the world so I guess better later than never..

Hats. Pink Hats..The Royal Wedding, why I have a fascination with the ladies’ hats and fascinators. I had never heard that term before..the new Duchess of Cambridge has a fondness for them..here are a couple to enjoy

and a famous one worn by Catherine, now the Duchess,

Please stop by to say hi to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and thank her for being our hostess each week for Pink Saturday…

I have to say that I have not blogged much lately, I feel like I haven’t much to ‘say’ for some reason..Now why is that? Is it a writer’s tiredness? I’ve jusst totally drawing a blank when it comes to posting. I don’t know, but I do know that I am going to try to get out more and experience some life outside of the house this next week, and share what I discover! Have a great weekend, and I am going to make a lot of effort to visit more of my fellow pinkines this weekend.

Hoppy Easter

2011-04-23T04:24:00.001-07:00

Just a little post to wish all of you a happy Pink Saturday and a blessed Easter or Passover. I don’t have any new pictures to share this week, so will go to my trusty Google images for a few vintage pictures to enjoy!

Thank you to sweet Beverly for hosting our Pink Saturdays..You can visit her at How Sweet the Sound; please say hello to her and don’t forget to visit some of our other pinkies!

Thank you for visiting me this week, and may God bless each of you during this holiday season.

Pink Saturday

2011-04-15T23:19:00.001-07:00

I honestly have nothing in my house right now that is pink to show you..but we did take a walk around the neighborhood a few days ago and there were some gorgeous pinks out and about! Here are some pretty bougainvillea's at a neighbor’s home..

Now this is our front yard, this hibiscus is ready to bloom!

Now, this is not pink but a few of our neighbors have some neat sculptures and rocks in their yards..

Thanks for indulging me in showing my desert neighborhood..soon it will be too HOT to do much walking around..I am linking up to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound..please stop by and visit her and also some of my other pink friends..Have a blessed week!

Can You Say Pink (Tank Tops, that is)

2011-04-08T17:09:00.001-07:00

Happy Pink Saturday to all Pinkies…I thought since it’s a nice spring weekend in many parts of the country, I would share what many of us hope to be wearing soon..Even those of us who would never wear a tank top, including me! It’s just a sign of warmer days ahead after a very, very cold winter for many!

and finally..

I am linking up to sweet Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, so stop on by, say hi to her and check out a few of my Pinkie friends..Happy Pink Saturday!

Meet Me on Monday

2011-04-04T08:03:00.001-07:00

I am joining up with Java at Never Growing Old for today’s Meet Me on Monday..What a fun way to get to know a little bit about my fellow bloggers! Won’t you join us?? Just visit Java at Never Growing Old, and link up! Ok so here are today’s questions!

1. If you had to eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Oh..that would have to be chocolate, is that a food??

2. Do you write your blog posts in advance or the day you post them? No, rarely.

3. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? No, lucky enough so far

4. What is your favorite candle scent? That would be either a french vanilla

or maybe lavender

5. Coffee or tea? Coffee, with a spot of tea!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Joyful Easter Giveaway!

2011-04-01T07:51:00.001-07:00

Marydon at Blushing Rose is having a beautiful Easter giveaway..

Here are a few of the items included in the giveaway

So..head on over to visit sweet Marydon and get yourself entered for this fab giveaway!

Diapers, Cupcakes and Baby Grace!

2011-03-30T08:46:00.001-07:00

We held a baby shower this past Saturday for my daughter in law Melainie! She is due around May 30th and it was nice to be able to give her a party here in Southern California for our friends and family..It was not a huge turn out, but a lot of fun…Many thanks to my niece in law Jacqui and nephew Matt for allowing us to use their lovely home (it’s much bigger than mine), also to my sis Cindy and oldest son Dan’s girl Annette. I could not have done it without them!

I tried my hand at making a diaper cake, using disposable diapers. I thought it turned out kind of cute for a first time try and not being the most crafty soul on earth:

It was actually quite easy to make, and before the kids left for home on Sunday, we took it apart and now she has 90 size 2 diapers to use! It’s been forever since I bought disposable diapers, and they are so fitted and much nicer than the ones we used when the boys were little.

Jacqui and Cindy made these adorable displays also using disposable diapers and baby clothes

Aren’t they adorable?? I was so amazed at their talent!

This is the banner I put together for baby Grace

What a pretty table that was!

Here are a few random pictures of the festivities! Thanks to Melainie and our son Scott for coming south to visit us and let us shower them with love!

Hopefully a good time was had by all, and a big thank you to those who drove so far to make Scott and Lainie’s day so special!

Flirty Apron Swap Spring Fling!

2011-03-21T18:55:00.001-07:00

I just signed on for this swap! Won’t you join me? Just go to Spring Fling Flirty Apron Swap and register, hurry!

Pathetic

2011-03-20T06:28:00.001-07:00

I guess this picture says it all..

Yes, that would be my car. On a tow truck. Sad. Conked out last night and wouldn’t start again, so had to have it towed home..I think Carl would have preferred to torch it and give it a proper goodbye..It’s a 99 Olds Intrigue, bought new in November 1998. Oh how I love my car..up until a couple years ago we didn’t put any money into it..then the transmission conked out. We fixed it..It conked out again this past September but it was within the warranty timeline, so we towed it up to Newcastle to have it fixed. Now this. We won’t put much money in it..and according to our internet research last night, it could be a small thing, or could be terminal. Just wanted to let you know, she is just a tired machine but has been a gem for many, many years. Sad.

A Desert-y Saturday

2011-03-18T22:32:00.001-07:00

I guess I am not too late for Pink Saturday, have been under the weather with a stomach bug since last weekend, today is the first ‘normal’ day I have had all week..Anyway, healthier thoughts!

I sat outside the other evening watching the sunset..I had been stuck inside for a couple days, and we had a few warm days and I just HAD to take my camera, of course..such a pretty sunset..I almost missed it..

I love the itty bit bit of pink in this cactus..so pretty!

If you look REAL close you can see some small pink blooms on the bougainvillea starting to pop!

I am linking up with Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday..Prayers for those in Japan who are suffering, and my heart breaks for all the animals, also..I am one of those who feel totally helpless and really all we can do is offer prayers for all.

Have a great Saturday!

Cutie Patootie Apron Giveaway!

2011-03-18T10:33:00.001-07:00

Head on over to This and That and enter this giveaway for this adorable girls’ apron

Winner will be drawn on March 21st, so hurry!

Happy Saturday

2011-03-05T09:47:00.001-08:00

Today is a much better Saturday than last Saturday, boy was I in a MOOD..I didn’t feel well and that colors my thoughts a lot of the time..But today is better..Thanks to a couple of good friends’ support, I am trying to wake each day with a positive thought and also we are trying to take some kind of walk each day..It’s tough some days, the wind blows so hard a lot of the time, but we have been trying. No guarantees that each day I will feel as good as the one before, but I am trying to go with the ups and downs.

Ok, lets think PINK. Our pink jasmine is blooming in our backyard, here is a picture I took the other day (that is Carl and our dal Gracie and our lab mix India in the background). I am told it smells really good, I just can’t smell much right now due to sinus congestion, but I take Carl’s word for it

Our baby hummingbirds have flown the nest. I really miss watching them but hopefully the mama will use our tree to build another nest next time…I read that sometimes the mama bird will go back to the same tree over and over again, and that would suit us just fine. Next time we will fortify the nest to the tree, we had a near disaster this past Sunday night, the wind blew the next and baby birds to the ground..Carl fixed the nest and placed the babies back in it, sort of a makeshift thing

Well the next day one of the baby’s jumped out and started flying a couple feet off the ground, then the next baby, although he was kind of a big chicken..Mama was fluttering nearby..we saw them off and on for a couple days, now they are gone and I assume off to live their life.

Here is the mama bird watching over them! I hope she comes back!

Well the painting project is finished for now..our bedroom and bath, guest bath and office/studio need to be done but that is another project and another day..I am so pleased with the colors and how well it turned out..Carl is such a perfectionist and it usually shows

See there is SOME pink in my post, more like Cranberry but oh well..

Sorry about the messy bed..one of the dogs had been sitting there..I am going to change up the linens in here, this color is a soft greenish gray..love it!

Well thanks for indulging me and my sort of pink pictures today..Linking up to sweet Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for PINK SATURDAY..Please visit Beverly and some of my fellow pinkies! Always a treat!

Un-Pink

2011-02-26T07:07:00.001-08:00

I have no pinks for today..I am in a very un pink mood, not feeling well with vertigo and fatigue..I can usually handle the fatigue, but add vertigo to it and it’s almost unbearable. Not to be a downer today but I wanted to post something..My hubs recently finished painting several rooms in the house and I would love to share my entry..It’s a color called Cranberry Crush by BEHR paint. I love it..I thought at first it would be too dark, but I was just reading a blog earlier about decorating how WE like it, not how we think the world would like it. So I like it. A LOT.

I think it really pops with the white door and trim..

I’ll do a post during the week with the rest of the painting and finished job pictures..

I’m linking up to sweet Beverly at How Sweet the Sound today, head on over there and check out my fellow pinkies.

PS I have to vent. Sorry. And would like your opinions on this. One of the bloggers that I follow loosely just posted that she now has 10,000 followers. REALLY. Is there a point to that? I guess if I had THAT many followers and had all sorts of sponsors who paid me I would announce that, too. I don’t know, it bothers me. I like to think that I have a relationship with my followers, don’t you? I follow them, too. How can you follow 10,000 bloggers, you can’t. I have posted comments from time to time on this gal’s blog (and I am sure she is very nice), but she has never once posted on mine. I guess that bothers me a bit.

Ok I vented, how about some opinions on this..A little rabble rousing for the weekend!

Have a good one…

It’s All About the Pink!

2011-02-18T19:36:00.001-08:00

I wasn’t sure what to post tonight for Pink Saturday. Am I the only one who runs out of pink ideas? I don’t have a lot of pink flowers around the house, nor do I have a lot of pink clothes, or little girls around (yet) so how do you all come up with Pink week after week?

First, many thanks and kudos to our Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for being the hostess with the mostest! And please stop by to say hi to Beverly and also some of my pink sisters!

I participated in a fun apron swap recently, hosted by Shawnee at Flirty Apron Swap. Jen W. from Alaska had me as her swap sister and I got the most beautiful apron and box of goodies! Check out this apron!

Look at all the Pink! Oh My!

A cookbook from Alaska, and some handcrafted burp cloths for my new granddaughter! These will stay with me for when I am caring for the little sweetie♥

these are made out of vintage fabric from the 60’s and the reverse side is soft, soft chenille.

and for good measure, a couple of adorable teddy bears and a pretty pearl bracelet!

Thank you, Jen. W.!

Am I the luckiest gal or what! Have a wonderful and blessed weekend my sweet pinkies!

A Valentine Swap

2011-02-18T06:51:00.001-08:00

I was blessed to join in on Parsley’s Valentine Swap..I am a little behind in posting as we have been turned upside down and inside out by painting our family room, dining area and kitchen..just lost track of my blogging! The lovely Tina from North Carolina sent me a lovely swap package! She really took the time to get to know me a bit through my blog, and she scored!

Here are a few of the goodies I received!

I love Werther’s candies, thank you Tina!

I love the wonderful stitched ‘Friends’ hanging, also some beautiful embroidery scissors, which I don’t have, a rooster cross stitch for me to try out, a matching 2 year planner and note pad, with matching pen set, too! And such a nice card..would love to get to know you a little better, Tina! Sounds like we have much in common!

Thank you, Parsley, for giving Tina my name, I will treasure my goodies for a long, long time..

Blessings to you both..

Bad Hair and Pink Saturday

2011-02-11T15:42:00.001-08:00

Yes, there is a connection..let me explain. I live in the desert. The desert is not kind to skin OR hair. I use a ton of this

tons, I say..this hairspray is the one that works here in this windy climate. I have short hair and that probably helps..It’s also great for styling, when I feel like having style, lol. And it’s pink, so nothing but nothing gets better than this! I highly recommend it..I buy it online from the manufacturer, 3 or 4 at a time so I don’t run out. Horrors!

I am linking up to Pink Saturday, please visit our host Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Each and every Saturday she hosts our P.S. and also be sure to visit some of my fellow Pinkies while you are at it!

Over and out..

Crazy Socks!

2011-02-11T09:19:00.001-08:00

Hi, my dear friend Parsley at Seasons of my Mind is hosting a Crazy Socks party today..this is my contribution. I don’t wear socks very often as it is warm here almost all year, I am a barefoot kinda gal, and my feet get too hot for socks, but I do have a few pairs..now these are cute, but my faves are the soft fuzzy ones, I slather my lotion bar all over my feet and put on those soft socks and let the lotion try to soften my elephant feet..living in the desert, it’s BAAAAD is all I’ll say..Oh could I use a pedicure..where is my fairy godmother?!?

Ok, now that I’ve posted, head on over to see Parsley and post your own for the whole blogging world to see!

Valentine Tea Cup Trade!

2011-02-08T19:42:00.001-08:00

I did something a little different, for me, I recently participated in a Valentine Tea Cup trade, hosted by Sharon at Faith, Hope & Cherry Tea. My partner was the sweet Sue from Arizona, Sue does not have a blog, so here are some pictures of what I sent her!

I sent Sue a really pretty Valentine teacup, some delicious Vanilla Caramel Truffle Tea, a few spring-y recipe cards, and a handmade apron..I hope she enjoys her new treasures!

Now, Sue sent me a delightful package full of goodies!

So many wonderful goodies, thank you so very much, Sue! I love it all!

We Have a Winner!

2011-02-07T10:50:00.001-08:00

Hi friends, no I did not forget about my surprise giveaway! I got home late Saturday night from my trip to Washington state, and then yesterday I was so tired, I did not get a winner drawn until last night. I used the random generator, and the winner is…is..is..Number 29 MOLLYE!

Congrats to sweet Mollye, please send me your address so I can get your fabulous package off to you!

Ok now for the surprise, here is what Mollye won

A teapot, some divine Teavana Raspberry Riot loose tea, a container to keep the tea fresh, and one of my handcrafted coffee cozies for when Mollye gets her favorite tea or coffee away from home!

I hope Mollye enjoys her goodies, I had a lot of fun putting this giveaway together! Hugs to you!

Waiting in Washington & Giveaway Reminder!

2011-02-01T11:34:00.001-08:00

Hello blog friends, I am writing this from cold but sunny western Washington state. I arrived here on Saturday and will be leaving for So Cal this next Saturday. I came up here for a Social Security Disability Hearing that I have been waiting for for a long 18 months..It takes forever it seems..the hearing was yesterday and I was such a nervous wreck even last night I was shaking from the inside out..My attorney is very sharp and did a good job, the judge seemed compassionate and kind so will get a decision within 30-60 days..so the waiting begins..If you are of the mind to say a prayer for me, I would sure appreciate it and keeping me in your thoughts..Thanks.

Woke up this morning at my cousin Donna’s to freezing temps but the sun out…so pretty here, I truly miss the trees and green. I don’t miss the cold temps and the rain and snow. We lived up here for nearly a year and enjoyed our time here getting to be reacquainted with my cousins and enjoying a lot that the great Pacific Northwest had to offer us.

Not much planned for the rest of this week, just resting up from my testimony yesterday and spending time with family. Miss Carl and the dogs, also my folks, but will be back in SoCal soon enough.

Here are a few pictures

Cousin Sally’s birdfeeders

Tumwater Falls

Sally

Cousin Donna’s front yard

Donna’s home

Backyard

I’ll be posting more pictures as the week goes on, just checking in..

DON’T FORGET my surprise GIVEAWAY that ends this upcoming Saturday night, February 5th..Go HERE to enter, only entries on the original post will count towards the drawing, so head over there asap! Good luck!

A Valentine Giveaway!

2011-01-24T09:14:00.001-08:00

Marydon at Blushing Rose is having a beautiful giveaway and she would love for you to head over to her blog and enter. Here is what she is offering:

A beautiful teacup and cozy!

I’m a Winner!

2011-01-23T11:27:00.001-08:00

How’s that for a title? But I so am…I was the winner of Cat of Kittycat Cross Stitch Blog’s giveaway last month and I totally did not get this posted..I guess better late than never..sometimes I am more ‘with it’ than others.

Here is what I received from Cat

Thank you, Cat, for the awesome giveaway package, I love it all!

Saturday Pinks & Giveaway Reminder!

2011-01-22T05:47:00.001-08:00

Hey pinkies! I am at a loss. A loss for ideas for Pink Saturday..I totally have nothing pink around the house to take pictures of, this is the first week I have struggled to find anything pink.

First, thanks to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for being our hostess, please visit her page and also go say hi to some of our pinkies, they work so hard at getting pink posts up each and every Saturday!

Seeing as how it is nearing Valentine’s Day, I did a bit (and I mean a bit) of decorating yesterday. I love my silicone mini lights, I have them in several color themes for various holidays, they really brighten up my home.. I love my tags also, found them online at ETSY and printed and cut out myself..If I were feeling really crafty, I would embellish them, and I might still do that.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my surprise giveaway HERE! Deadline to enter will be Saturday, February 5th at 9 p.m. PST.

Enjoy!

A Groundhog Day Giveaway!

2011-01-18T21:00:00.001-08:00

My friend Sandy at RuralGal is hosting a surprise Groundhog Day Giveaway and since she is new to blogging, I wanted to send you all over to her blog and enter! Sandy lives near my sis in northwest Illinois in a charming home. She and her husband have an English Bulldog named Baxter and he is quite a character!

So, head over to Sandy’s BLOG and enter right away!

Pink Saturday and a Giveaway!

2011-01-14T18:57:00.001-08:00

Well, its that time again, yes Pink Saturday, but also for a giveaway..I have not had one for a couple months, and wanted to start the new year off right!

First, kudos to our lovely hostess Beverly, please stop by her blog at How Sweet the Sound and say hello, and also visit my fellow Pinkies..We love Pink Saturdays, it’s a chance for us to visit and uplift each other..Some weeks I need more uplifting than others to be honest, but I always have a smile on when visiting my Pinkies!

We had HUGE good news this week, we found out that our grandbaby-to-be is a G.I.R.L. I am the mom of sons, so to have a granddaughter on the way is icing on the cake, so to speak. So, I thought I would post some pictures of cute baby girls!

Now, for the giveaway..It’s a surprise. You have to TRUST me on this one, you will be very happy to win it! I thought it would be fun to just surprise the winner, what do ya say! So, here is what you need to do to enter. Just leave me a comment, that’s all. If you would like to follow my blog, I would love that, but I decided to not make you all go through hoops to enter my giveaway..So that’s it..Leave a comment!

Have a great week, hugs and love♥

Weekend Bloggy Reading Party!

2011-01-14T08:25:00.001-08:00

Hi, I am linking up to Amanda over at Serenity Now for her Weekend Bloggy Reading Party. Participants link up their fave post of the week. It’s so much fun to visit the other participants. Head on over for some fun!

Follow Friday 40 & Over!

2011-01-14T04:42:00.001-08:00

I haven’t linked up to Java’s Follow Friday 40 & over recently, think I felt a bit bogged down by things going on at home, but wanted to today..

Why don’t you follow along? It’s a great way to meet new bloggers and a lot of fun! Just head on over to Never Growing Old and sign up! Easy Peasy!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for my Pink Saturday post, I will be hosting a giveaway! Woot!

Today is my Blogoversary!

2011-01-13T05:30:00.001-08:00

That’s right, it’s my blog’s 3 year anniversary..I am not sure exactly why I started blogging, but I do believe it was an attempt to journal and also keep up with far away family members. It has turned out to be such a blessing to me and oh the friends I have made! I could never, ever have imagined 3 years ago that I would have over 200 followers..ME? But as I have found my blogging voice, followers have signed up.

Thanks to each of you for the most wonderful 3 years! Check in on Saturday the 15th, I am going to have a GIVEAWAY to celebrate this fine day! Can’t tell you about it now, but you have to stop by to enter. See you on Saturday!

Be My Cutie Pie Flirty Apron Swap

2011-01-09T18:15:00.001-08:00

Anyone want to join me in an apron swap? This one will be special because it’s Valentine’s Day themed!

Go to Be My Cutie Pie Flirty Apron Swap and register by January 15th..Hurry!♥♥♥♥♥♥

A Flaring Pink Saturday

2011-01-08T19:10:00.001-08:00

I’m sorry I did not get a post up today, my fibromyalgia is flaring today, although the hubs and I did get some things sorted and ready for giveaway..Hey a box is a box..It’s a start!

So now I have two boxes..it’s a huge start for the two of us packrats..So hard to look at something and not try to think ‘gee who gave this to us’ or ‘ maybe the upcoming grandchild will want this (NOT). And we will continue tomorrow.

I spent most of the day in my jammas and sleeping, when I am having a flare, I just need to stay in bed and sleep. Seems to help and when I sleep the pain is not as bad..It’s getting close to bedtime now and I feel the need for some more medication. Hoping this flare just lasts a day or two..not a week or two..

Anyway, some fun winter PINKS, of course

And I WILL be having my giveaway NEXT Saturday, I am just not well enough to do it this week! So come back!

Goals

2011-01-06T06:59:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, everyone has posted their goals this month..I am linking up to The Nesting Place so read along and better yet, join in.

I never thought much about goals for my home, but why not. I think my biggest goal for my home is to mentally come to love this place and realize it IS home. We bought this house when we lived out of state, sight unseen. Oh, my parents who live nearby had seen it, took pictures, and the price seemed right. But it’s small. At least for us, small. 1400 square feet. Our previous home was 2600 square feet, and we have about 4,000 square feet of STUFF.

We have STUFF in the closets, STUFF in the garage, STUFF all over the back patio. We can’t enjoy our backyard, too much STUFF. I know my hubs is as frustrated as I am and we are stuck as to where to even start.

My sis had a great idea. Rent a storage place temporarily. Go through the stuff and weed out what we can give away and the rest put in storage for a while. Get it out of the house. Because I honestly don’t know how much longer I can deal with it.

Now, that that is settled in my mind anyway, I need to learn to LOVE this house. Make it a home. I would rather be somewhere else, I have never gotten over selling our favorite home SEVEN years ago. It’s time to let it go, I know..It’s been gone longer than we lived there at this point, but we should never have sold that home. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do, but in retrospect probably the only thing that we regret the most in our lives. I’m trying, I really am, but it brings me to tears still when I think about it. How do I get over this? I can’t make this a home until I release that one.

This is a rambly post, sorry. Here is my goal for our home this year. Paint the interior. Sorry, but I can’t stand white walls and this place is full of them. And get rid of the STUFF. I think once those things are taken care of, I can move on. We are here for the duration, will not be moving so it really is in our best interest to make this our HOME.

What do you think and any suggestions for me??

Here are a few pictures:

Now the ugly

So..any ideas?

Pink Saturday and On to a New Year

2010-12-31T15:30:00.001-08:00

Not that this past year was that awful, we had our share of trials and tragedy…first and foremost in our minds is the loss in August of our daughter in law’s sweet dad Ed. He was only 53 years old, way to young and what a huge loss this has been for our family..You could not help but love Ed, he was bigger than life itself..and them bam..gone. But not forgotten and we know he is watching over our sweet daughter in law, son and his sweet wife Karen.

On the good news front, we found out in October that we are going to be first time grandparents at the end of May and that certainly lifted our spirits. Hubs and I have had a terrible financial struggle all year, but we made it through and when we found out the good baby news, it seemed to give us a reason to plod along, and that is what we are doing.

We can only think that 2011 gives us good things only, we all need a break here! But then many others in so much worse shape than we are and we remember those, also.

No huge plans for New Years, as usual. We are not party people, our plans are to have an early dinner with our neighbors and then be home in time to watch the ball drop, New York time, which is 9 pm our time. Maybe we can watch a movie, or there might be something on TV..Like I said, we are not the most exciting party people out there..Our idea of a good time is not bar hopping or fighting with the drunk drivers to get home safely.

We will wake up tomorrow and begin anew..we will be married 34 years this upcoming April and wow what a ride it has been! But we have so much to look forward to…we find out the gender of the baby in a couple of weeks, then we can really make plans.

Many thanks to our sweet Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and I will be linking up to her post. Please stop by and wish her a Happy New Year and visit some of the pinkies if you can..and here are some fun pink images for you to enjoy..

P.S. be sure to stop by next Saturday, January 8th, I am going to have a giveaway!

Happy New Year!

Wrapping up 2010

2010-12-28T19:32:00.001-08:00

Well, another Christmas has come and gone, another year is about in the tank, and it all went so fast!

We had a wonderful Christmas with our kids. We were not able to spend the day with our older son Dan but did see him before we left for Scott and Lainie’s. Never seems quite right to not all be together, but it is what it is. Maybe next year. And this time next year we will have a ‘maybe’ crawling grandbaby to celebrate and make the season all that much more special!

Here are just a few pictures of our Christmas celebration – enjoy!

Thanks for joining me on my Christmas 2010 journey! Many blessings to you all and a wonderful and hopeful New Year!

Merry Pink Saturday and a Blessed Christmas to All!

2010-12-24T11:46:00.001-08:00

This is just a short post wishing all a very Merry Christmas! We are at our son and daughter in law’s home, we arrived after a long drive yesterday. They live in Northern California..so a 9 hour drive for us..All was well and we arrived safely…plans for a laid back holiday for us, this time next year we will have a possibly crawling baby grandchild and lots to look forward to and keep us busy!

Just a few images of our Christmas so far..

Welcome to our Home!

Our son and daughter in law’s tree, love it!

So far that’s it will have more to share later I am sure.

Please stop by to see our sweet hostess Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and wish her a Merry Christmas..she works so hard at providing our Pink Saturdays each and every week.

Merry Christmas to all my sweet blog friends and loving wishes for a wonderful holiday and blessed 2011..

Hugs and love,

Barb

Just a post..

2010-12-16T02:29:00.001-08:00

Nothing in particular going on, or anything very important..Just a post…

I have been sleeping a lot..I have been in the midst of a ‘fibro flare’ for way over a week now..aside from the pain, I tend to be very sleepy. Maybe that is God’s way of helping me with the pain? I have been sleeping in the guest room lately, that bed has a feather bed and feels better on my sore body, but am going to give our bed a try tonight. I miss my hubby and my bedroom badly..we have a temperpedic mattress which has been wonderful, but I find it a bit too hard with the pain. But I am trying!

I missed Christmas Bunco Monday night. I only live about 60-90 miles from the girls, but it might as well be 600 miles..I don’t drive much anymore and with our finances I don’t always have a full tank of gas to get anywhere anyway. Makes it very hard, but I was having this flare up and no way could I make it. I have been away from my Bunco group for so long over our moves, etc..over the last 6 years, My dear bestest friends live about 60 miles away but it seems like forever, too. Both are busy with their lives with work and school, I hope I see them soon because I miss them both badly. I hope they know how much I love them:)

Had to give Halo a bath, oh boy did he STINK! He is all curled up now in a blankie and looks so sweet and innocent, NOT! Here he is all cuddled up after his bath..at least now he smells better!

Not much on tv, my feet are burning badly tonight..that is a big part of the fibromyalgia..it’s the nerve endings..some times it’s hard to walk..sometimes I feel a lot older than 57. But in my mind I am much younger, lol.

Ok aside from my dumb stuff, looking very much forward to spending Christmas with the kids..Family and friends are what it’s all about in life, it’s what we live for.

Like I said, just a post.

White, um Pink Christmas

2010-12-11T03:05:00.001-08:00

Happy Pink Saturday, I am a tad late in posting…was not feeling well the last few days and just could not write..My mind was blank..Not that it’s functioning right now but I have not missed a Pink Saturday in months and I don’t plan to miss one today, either.

Our sweet hostess Beverly over at How Sweet the Sound has asked us to post about a favorite Christmas movie..as much as I love National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

, my all time favorite has got to be White Christmas with Bing Crosby. I L.O.V.E. to watch that movie..I don’t think a season goes by without watching it at some point!

A very close third is

It would not be the Christmas season without all of these fun movies..they take us back to a simpler time and make us laugh and a good break from some of the stress of the season!

Have a wonderful week!

Marsha’s Sassy Ornament Exchange!

2010-12-05T04:22:00.001-08:00

I was a participant recently in a wonderful ornament exchange hosted by Marsha of Marsha's Musings..I received the most wonderful package from Diane who lives in snowy Pennsylvania! I am jealous – Diane has recently been on a cruise, lucky duck!

Diane does not have a blog, and I forgot to take pictures of what I sent to her, but it was a darling owl ornament and some fun goodies to go along. But I received the most wonderful package from here, here are a few pictures!

I love snowmen and Diane did not disappoint! Hubs and I are keeping the Christmas decorating down to a low roar this year, soo these were more welcomed than Diane could ever have known!

The pillow is so cute, it is a felt like fabric..

This guy has a special place on my mantle..

And let’s not forget my little tree!

This cute little place will soon hold cookies or fudge, yum!

Diane, thank you so much, this was fun and best of all I made a new friend!

Hugs sent to you!

A Yummy Pink Saturday

2010-12-03T20:24:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday to all and can you believe we are only 3 weeks until Christmas Day? Can it be? Unbelievable.

A big thank you to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for being our hostess with the mostest each week. And thank you for reading my silly musings week in and week out. I love my followers, thank you for being there and leaving such sweet comments!

Since it’s December, Beverly would like us to post a favorite holiday recipe this week. No, it doesn’t need to be pink, lol! One of my favorites is my mom’s cookies called Russian Tea Cakes..I love these. Mom found them in a Betty Crocker cookbook when I was young, so guessing this recipe is at least 50 years old..Its easy and they just melt in your mouth..

Russian Tea Cakes

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup finely chopped nuts

1/4 teaspoon salt

Powdered sugar

Heat oven to 400ºF.
Mix butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the vanilla in large bowl. Stir in flour, nuts and salt until dough holds together.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool slightly on wire rack.
Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar; cool on wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar again.

Enjoy!

Now that you are enjoying some delicious cookies and maybe some tea or coffee, I would like to introduce you to Viola of Along a Widowed Road. Viola has a son and a young daughter and I enjoy her blog so much..She is a new, as of last week, Pink Saturday participant, so head on over and say hi to this sweet gal!

Lastly, I found the answer to a prayer. They are called SIMPLE DELIGHTS Lotion Bars lovingly made and sold by Jill Jones who lives in west Texas!

Jill kindly sent me a lotion bar that has the most wonderful cocoa scent. YUM! I really wanted to try this as I have the worst, driest feet this side of Tokyo..we live in the desert and with the dryness and low humidity and wind here, my feet take a beating..I won’t post any before and after pictures, but after a week of using one of Jill’s lotion bars, my feet are smooth…the difference was noticeable after the first use…I am hooked and encourage any of you that have dry skin to give them a try..She also has lip balms…I can think of no better gift or stocking stuffer for a friend, family member or yourself! She is running a special right now, buy 5 bars medium or large get one free (SAME SIZE)

Please check out Jill’s Smilebox presentation and her website is Pathway to Purpose! Tell Jill I sent you! You can order via her website and her email is mjones6@suddenlink.net.

Have a wonderful Pink Saturday, and oh I have to post ONE pink picture. My daughter in law’s stepmom and my friend Karen sent this to me…isn’t this just SWEET?

The Dachshund & Pink Pig

This Dachshund is fostering this little guy for another mom who couldn't take care of him.
He had his eyes closed, but now they are open.

He is just a little bigger than her other pups.
She loves this little guy as much as the other puppies and she is nursing him back to health.
He is the cleanest pig-puppy ever, because she licks him all the time!
HIS NAME IS PINK.

Isn’t this precious?

Fantabulous Friday

2010-12-03T10:05:00.001-08:00

How’s that for a title! I love making up words..beauteous, loverly, all kinds of words describe these cute aprons I made. Is it self serving to be proud of my handiwork?? If it is, then I plead guilty!

I make them for my pleasure, but also to help keep me in fabric by selling..I have quite a few that need a new home, they would make a fun Christmas gift for your mom, daughter, friend, sister or even your Nana!

Check out my post HERE to see what I have available..Regularly priced at $24.95 for half aprons, until TOMORROW, December 4th, I am offering these already crafted aprons for $21.00, which is 15% off. Shiggaboom! Shipping is $4.90 for priority mail, get one in time to put under the tree…or here’s a novel thought, treat yourself!

Tomorrow is Pink Saturday and we will all be posting a favorite Christmas recipe so be sure to come back tomorrow!

We have a winner!

2010-11-30T22:17:00.001-08:00

Well, the winner of the $55 CSN gift certificate giveaway is none other than TA-DA!

Suzanne of Southern Inspiration! Suzanne, email me and I can give you the info to claim your awesome prize! And I want to see what you order, ok?!

Thank you everyone for participating and I wish I could give each of you a gift card but hey CSN is big on gift card giveaways and I’m sure I’ll be offering another one soon!

Don’t Forget..My Giveaway Ends Tonight!

2010-11-30T12:28:00.001-08:00

Just a quick reminder that if you have not left a comment on THIS BLOG POST to go over right away and do so..I am giving away a $55 gift card from CSN Stores.

Can you tell I am coveting a new bedding set for the guest room..oh well, can’t win my own giveaway, or could I??? Nah!!

Giveaway ends tonight at 9 p.m. Pacific Time..Hop to it!

Meet Me on Monday November 29, 2010

2010-11-28T21:48:00.001-08:00

Wow I just typed that November date and I cannot believe this year is almost in the books..It’s true the older we get, the faster it goes!

I love this meme and for some reason have not participated lately, well will change that RIGHT NOW! Also, head over to see Java at Never Growing Old and join in the fun..It’s fun to get to know each other a bit better!

Ok here are the questions for this week…

1. What is your favorite way to eat chicken? Fried

2. Have you decorated for Christmas yet? A little bit so far

3. What is your favorite article of clothing? My capris, I am lucky to be able to wear them most of the year here

4. Do you pay your bills online or write checks the old way? Lately I have been writing checks, seems to be easier for me to keep on track.

5. Do you make Christmas cookies? I try..Last year I burnt every single one..I don’t know what I was doing wrong, I think I was just in too much of a hurry:-/

Giveaway! Hurry Ends Monday, November 29th!

2010-11-28T19:23:00.001-08:00

Shawnee at Shawnee's Tangled Tales is having a wonderful giveaway of a Thirty One apron like this one

Or this one

Head right over to enter as the deadline is Monday, November 29th..

IT ARRIVED AND I ALMOST MISSED IT!

2010-11-26T21:53:00.001-08:00

I am going to post this for Pink Saturday, there is absolutely NOTHING pink in this post. Nada. Zip. But I don’t feel real well tonight and it’s the best I can manage

Oh wait, here’s some pink

Me in Pink..lol anyway, follow along on this post, I have the luck of getting such wonderful swap sisters, Amy is no exception! and please visit Miss Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and visit my Pink sisters! It’s my fave day of the week, my Pink Saturdays!

Sweet Amy, aka Lil Miss Muffin Pan, was my swap sister. Thank goodness my hubs went out to do yard work today or the FED EX box might have sat out there another day or so…EGADS. and thank goodness Amy posted a Hey Did You Get It? post which caught my attention! Attention noted!

For someone who calls herself a ‘novice’ seamstress, I have to say I think she is lyin through her teeth, lol!! My apron is gorgeolus!

It’s even reversible and I have no favorite, yet..and the tuck ins are amazing! Amy spelled out S.N.O.W. and here are my treats!

SOCKS to warm my feet!

and is this sweet, for my new grandbaby to be…is that wonderful, honest it made me cry I was so touched

A reversible oven mitt, and cute ornament

I have to tell you what was in this ROOSTER bag, a neck warmer. Amy noted that she thought it might help to warm in the microwave and warm my

hurting areas when my fibromyalgia is kicking up it’s heels..Wow. another tearjerker..Happy tears.

Here I am with the reverse side of the apron, Amy was concerned about the fit, but it’s fine!

Ok here is a face shot, I don’t normally photograph myself, but I made an exception for this lovely apron!

Thank you so much Amy, I will treasure the apron and the goodies always. Ok gonna cry again…so touched

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T19:06:00.001-08:00

Just a short post to wish my readers a very Happy Thanksgiving. I have been ‘fighting’ a headache for a couple days and one thing I am very thankful for is not having to cook the big meal tomorrow! Carl and I will be breaking bread at my sister’s son Matt and his wife Jacqui’s home not too far away, along with my folks. Dan and Netti both work tomorrow, and we will see them on Friday when they come out here to see us..We will be bbq’ing some steaks and fix in's..

Why the scary face, I have NO clue, lol…

We won’t be seeing Scott and Lainie, either due to distance. Scott will be working and Lainie will be heading to her aunt and uncle’s home with her Mom and Walt. I do believe they will be celebrating Thanksgiving with Scott over the weekend when he is off…

I hope that whatever you and yours will be doing for the holiday that it is safe and full of fun and good food!

The Big Reveal!

2010-11-22T19:07:00.001-08:00

Hi to Deena at Seasons of My Mind and fellow swappers! I was lucky enough that Diane from Nellie's Nest had my name! Goodness, what a bundle of treats she sent to me!

Take a look at this motherlode!

Diane, I feel so blessed to have received all these delightful items from you, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!