Another Firestorm

As day breaks here in Southern California we once again see what destruction can come from the dry winds. Our hearts go out to the people who have lost so much in this very exclusive area of California. For those who are unfamiliar with the area, I must tell you that it is gorgeous. News that I just received from my daughter's godmother, who lives near there, advises me that she believes it will be much worse than what we are hearing with possibly two hundred homes involved. She said that the speed at which it came upon them was unbelievable with walls of fire reigning down. The roads are narrow and trying to evacuate an area like that is a major undertaking. We all pray that the winds will die down enough for our firefighters, our heroes, to get a handle on the fire.

Our niece is a student at the college where the fire started, but she happened to be at Disneyland with her family yesterday. Word is that several of the buildings on the campus were burned with one dorm completely destroyed. It will make for an interesting rest of the school year for those students involved.

I haven't had much of a chance to post lately because I have been busy. So....what else is new?

With two new grandbabies this year I have been working on Christmas stockings. I am doing these two with felt kits with lots of embroidery and sewing on of sequins. It is not an easy project to pack up and take with you on the go, but they are fun to construct, none the less. The majority of the stockings that I have done in the past have been in counted cross stitch.

Work in progress....

Some of the cross stitched ones.

Our quilt guild meeting this week featured Sandi Cummings as our guest speaker. She had some wonderful slides to show of her work as well as photos of other quilter's work from gals in her quilt group. It is always interesting to see what others are working on. Sandi's works were quite contemporary and her eye for color is amazing.










We've also been busy with helping out with some of the little ones. It is always nice to be close enough that the parents can drop the kids off or we can run over for a few hours of "Grandma/Grandpa time."

I must say that Grandpa is always a good sport.

Is everyone else out there being bombarded with catalogs this year? It definitely gets worse each year. I think that I must have several trees worth of paper stuffed in my mailbox so far and it isn't even December yet. I cannot imagine what my house would look like if I kept all of them. THAT would be a fire hazard. My recycle bin is filled each week.



The advantage is that I have been doing a lot of my Christmas shopping through the catalogs this year. The little ones love to look through the toy catalogs when they are here and I get some great ideas from them. With twenty grandchildren it is nice to get a head start on the shopping.



Did everyone in the world (except me) know that Mother's Cookies went out of business at the beginning of October? Where am I ever going to be able to buy those delicious Taffy cookies again????? Now, I must admit, I love to bake cookies, but I cannot duplicate that recipe. There are very few cookies that I would actually BUY; Taffy cookies are one of those. I guess that we will be seeing more and more of this happening to companies that we have loved all these years.



Friday is finally here and the weekend is busy with plans of gardening and finishing some more sewing projects. I hope that each of you will be enjoying your weekend as well.

Time....

Is it possible that another week has actually slipped past? I know that the next few months will be filled with things to do and that 2009 will descend upon us in the blink of an eye. Why is it that as a child it seemed as though Christmas and our birthday would never come and yet, as an adult, they are here and gone so quickly?

I want time to slow down. I want to enjoy the days and hours more than I do. I love the holidays and I want to savor each minute with the little ones. I want to have the time to go out and work in the garden, sew, cook and quilt like I am not rushing to get it done. And.....I don't want to sound like an "old" person complaining that life is going too fast.

The cool weather has returned and the sweaters and sweatshirts have made their appearances in the wardrobe. I must say, it does feel good to wear them again. We actually enjoyed a little rain over the weekend -- a most welcome drink for our very thirsty hillsides. I am certain that the new grasses will soon dapple the landscape and refresh our senses.

Yesterday was surgery day for my arm. For a "tiny" spot, it surely looks as though I fought a good battle with someone. The Mohs procedure went well and they were able to remove all the skin cancer in the first cut. Thank goodness for that because I had a one and a half inch hole in my arm with the initial cut. I cannot imagine how big it would have been if they had to take more. I am thrilled to have it behind me despite the fact that I have more than 30 tiny stitches that will need to be removed next week. I think that I will ask the doctor to do the fine sewing on my next project as these stitches are the most precise and beautiful stitches one can imagine. At least the sutures on the inside will dissolve on their own.

A little overkill on the dressing.

The weekend was busy. We had the little ones over for dinner and trick or treating on Friday night. We have so few children that come around our neighborhood anymore and our friends always enjoy seeing the grandchildren.

Loving the built in muscles.

The smallest pumpkin.

Sorting through "the stash."

Saturday night we did a big turkey dinner with my sister, her husband and my mom. It was an eventful evening as it seemed nothing was going right. I always start my turkey off for the first half hour at 500* to brown it and then lower the temperature to finish it off. When I went to lower the temperature I turned the second of the double ovens temperature to the desired temp. About an hour into it we realized what I had done. It was actually great tasting, but done before I had planned. Bad start!




When my mother arrived she happened to run off the sidewalk in her power wheelchair and into the mud on two tires. My dear husband was out with the hose trying to gently remove all the mud from the tire grooves and somehow managed to get a little moisture on the battery connection which made the chair inoperable. We disengaged the power and had to push the chair (with my mom in it) into the house. Those chairs are heavy!! Bad post start!




While enjoying a glass of wine before dinner and laughing about our events, we heard this thunderous crash with breaking glass. Not knowing what to think, we ventured to find the source. For some unknown reason the top glass shelf in my curio cabinet came crashing down onto the middle shelf which crashed down on the lower shelf. Why it happened is still a mystery, but suffice it to say that it was a disaster as I had my Lladro figurines and Waterford crystal inside. Bad middle!




We did, however, thoroughly enjoy our dinner and visit together. Our SIL was working so our daughter and the new baby came over and joined us for dinner as well. Good ending!





Sunday evening we had dinner in Santa Barbara with my husband's cousin and her husband, Erno. It was absolutely delightful. Erno has just written book that was released this week, Stealth Germs. He gave us an autographed copy and it is excellent. Although he is a doctor, this was written for the lay person to understand. It is basically how they are finding that many of these persistent symptoms and illnesses can actually be "germs" lying dormant within the body and not picked up by the doctors. It is definitely worth the read.





I am sure that everyone is as happy as I am that this election process is finally OVER! I was so sick and tired of the phone calls, junk mail, banners and street signers. We now know the results and can get on with our lives. Heather had a great post yesterday about how good life is no matter what and it does put in perspective all our stress and angst over elections.





And now it is onwards to the follow up appointment on my arm. Hopefully, that will include a smaller bandage. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week ahead of them.

A Win, Parties and All Else

Yahoo! I won the most wonderful gifts in the Fall into Fall Giveaway from Doris at Threads of Conversation. Inside the package was the cutest bag filled with all sorts of goodies. Check it out.

I love it all -- the fabric, the book, the green (my favorite color) bag and a VERY handy lanyard to keep tract of my scissors. Boy! Do I need THAT!!!!

It has been a rather hectic week around here, but what else is new? Between houseguests, repairmen, babysitting, dental and doctor appointments, parties and sewing the week has flown past me.

Our son, DIL and grandson were down for the weekend. It was a party weekend for all of us starting off Saturday with a birthday party for Miss P's 3rd birthday.

There were lots of goodies before dinner ......

and lots of cherished gifts being loved at the same time -- jacket, shoes, doll, umbrella and a roll of gum. How much better can life get?

The John De*ere tractor gift was the hit of the party and loved by all the little ones.

Sunday was another party to meet the new baby. Of course he was loved by all and was passed from one to another. Can anyone ever get enough baby love?

This one isn't too sure when his mom held the tiny one.

Miss M

Master Z

Of course what party would be complete without a brownie topped with whipped cream?

Our eldest son had a slight mishap last week while diving for lobsters. He slipped on rocks when getting back to the boat and managed to obtain a freak break in the foot. At this photo he was waiting for the swelling to go down enough for surgery to be done. The surgery itself was finally done this a.m. and two pins were placed in the severed bone to try to reattach it. He is on bedrest with the foot elevated for five days and then in a wheelchair for the next 5-6 weeks.

He is not feeling this chipper right now.

Since lobster season just opened a few weeks ago, I told him that he could now relate to the football players who get injured the first game and are out for the season. There is some consolation in the fact that he had caught his limit of lobsters before the accident.

This has also been a week for working on Halloween costumes with the grandchildren. It would be nice to have them make up their minds before the last week when the fabric stores are so short on supplies.

I did manage to get a photo of Master A in his snail outfit. It is really funny when he is crawling, but in this photo he was much more interested in climbing.

Our weather has been glorious. I love the heat and we have had such wonderfully warm weather. They are saying that it has been the warmest October on record. Too bad that the days are so much shorter as I would love to see more of this. I guess it is making up for the summer that did not exist.

I will sign off for now because I am awaiting two more grandchildren to come over to sew costumes for Friday. I hope that everyone will get lots of treats and NO tricks this week.

Happy Birthday, K

Yesterday was our beautiful daughter's 26th birthday. Where have the years gone? She was a delightful surprise after having four sons. This was before the use of ultrasounds and the deliveries were all a surprise to the parents.

I worked in the same hospital where I delivered and was surrounded by my friends. I had worked the night before I delivered and had actually made up pink crib cards because I was so convinced that this baby was a girl. I could not convince my husband so it was a complete shock to him when they announced, "It's a girl." Being the eldest of six brothers and then having four sons of his own, one can understand his shock.

Pink!!! Pink cards, pink flowers, pink dolls, pink clothes.........everything was pink. It was such a foreign color to us, but she quickly captured the hearts of everyone. The boys placed her in the pram and took her for a walk through the neighborhood to show her off the day we came home from the hospital. Mind you, the boys were 7 - 12 years older than she was. We have enjoyed our "surprise" over the years and now she is a new mommy herself.

The weekend provided some good time with my two oldest granddaughters. Their school has an auction coming up in November and they wanted to make a quilt to put up for bids. We worked on a snowman quilt, but we still have our handwork to finish up. They also wanted to learn how to make the quilted postcards so they could make them for their friends. I love the creative minds of children. The freedom is so wonderful.

Guess what arrived in my mail this week. I was a winner in Pea's Halloween Giveaway and look at all these lovely gifts.

I love them all, Pea. Thank you. For anyone who does not follow Pea's blog, you don't know what you are missing. She is one of the kindest and most generous bloggers out there. As well, she has an incredible blog -- always interesting.

Our third son and his family had their Christmas photos taken this week. I know, it's hard to imagine that it is that time of the year already. It's always a challenge to get everyone to smile at the same time, but I think the gal captured them pretty well.

I guess that I have rambled on long enough here. I hope that everyone is enjoying their week and will continue to do so.

Fire Season

Living in Southern California provides us a "season" that is unique to us. It is a time when the Santa Ana winds blow with fury. They are very dry, hot winds that come in from the deserts. The sky is gloriously blue and the air is crystal clear. However.....it also brings the terrible fires for which we are well known. This has been our week of fires. There has been fire "activity" all around us and we are all acutely aware of the extreme care that we must take in preparing our homes and neighborhoods for the times when we are threatened. It is a sad moment for all of the folks who have lost so much. Our hearts and prayers go out to them.

The helicopters have been flying back and forth with their scooper baskets loaded with water. They fly low and the deep "woof, woof, woof" of the aircraft can easily be heard all day.

We have firefighters from all over the West fighting these fires. I was glad to see that perhaps they were able to get a little sleep and a shower after their heroic efforts.

One big project that we do is to have our eucalyptus and palm trees trimmed. For some reason the tree trimmers showed up to do their work with howling winds. I would think only a crazy person would climb a sixty foot tree and dangle from it's branches during weather like that. I guess I must be wrong. Check out this job.

See the little man high up in the tree? See the wind as the cut sections blow away? Oh dear....not a job for the faint of heart.

Our son was down to meet the new baby with his little guy over the weekend. He looks so big compared to the new baby and he is so much fun.

He loved a few bubbles in the whirlpool tub.

As promised...a glimpse of him in his snail outfit. I will post a better one from his parents (once they stop laughing each time they dress him in the costume).

Yesterday was our monthly quilt guild meeting. We had a wonderful guest speaker who had flown in from Hawaii. Sylvia Pippen brought many of her quilts in which she works magic with applique and Japanese Sashiko. You can check out more of her designs at www.sylviapippendesigns.com/ . These are a couple of her pieces that she brought with her. All of the Sashiko - a running stitch of thick white cotton thread - is done by hand. Note also the details in her applique. It was amazing.



Thank you all for the wonderful birthday greetings. I had a fabulous day as I am so blessed.

Another Whirlwind Week

Today is a special day for a fellow blogger. It is Pea's birthday!!!! For anyone who does not follow Pea, she is an incredible blogger. She is warm, witty and a friend to all. Be sure to pop on over and wish her a happy birthday. Her blogging party should be special. This gal loves a party!




To say that the past week has been a whirlwind is putting it mildly. I have found myself chasing my tail much like a dog does and accomplishing just about as much, unfortunately.



Thank you everyone for the kind congratulations on the arrival of our newest grandson. Babies are such a blessing. Everyone here is thrilled and enjoying each little thing that he does. Okay, maybe not the middle of night feedings, but MOST everything else. Of course this is coming from a grandma who does not have to get up all night and function on little sleep. We can somehow relate to all of that, can't we?



My posting was quick after the arrival of the new baby. The reason for that was because I had a morning flight to San Francisco to meet my husband who was there on business. I had almost cancelled my trip because of the pending arrival of the wee one, but figured that it would be the perfect time to go as my daughter was going to be in the hospital for several days following the birth. We both flew back on Friday morning and Grandpa finally got to meet the newest grandson. He is a chubby, content little boy.




We both enjoyed ourselves immensely while we were in San Francisco. The city is beautiful and I doubt that I have ever had better weather than what we experienced while we were there. My husband loves the city as he went to college at USF in the 60s when the hippies were in Haight Ashbury. Lots has changed since that time. The city is one of those cities where it is so much fun to get out, walk and explore. They have so many interesting ethnic areas and stores that one cannot even begin to describe. They even have a fabric store that calls me to visit each time I am there. It is literally about five stories high. I practically drool the whole time as I look at the luscious fabrics for sale on each floor.

This is an athletic club on the top of the hill in the city. Can you imagine what the membership dues must be?

This was the view of the Bay from our hotel room. It was crystal clear and we loved it. The cable car stopped right in front of our hotel.

The Blue Angels were also in town and were practicing for a weekend show. Always incredibly impressive, they amazed us once again as they did a maneuver above the Golden Gate Bridge.

We were also able to take a tour out to the Napa Valley and Sonoma area wineries. These are always interesting to us as one of our sons works in the wine business in the central coast area of California. The two areas grow different types of grapes and produce different wines due to their temperature differences. Harvest is in full swing in both areas.

One of the wineries that we visited produces sparkling wines and the winery itself is absolutely gorgeous. There are many rock sculptures throughout the gardens and I couldn't pass up showing you a photo of the mushroom garden that I loved. I'd like to try something like that at my house.

Halloween will soon be here and my son and his wife asked me if I could come up with a snail outfit for their crawling little guy to wear. I was playing around a little with the idea this week and this is what I designed. It should look really cute when he is crawling about. I will have to get a photo of it with him wearing it.

The temperatures have taken a cold turn this week. Our low was actually 39* yesterday morning. It seems a little early to get temps that low for us. Let's hope that is not an indication of what the winter will be like here. Our farmers do not need another bad freeze this year. They are still recovering from one just two years ago.

I hope that everyone will have a wonderful week .

It's a Boy

Our daughter just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy - their first child. He was born exactly at midnight -- too bad it wasn't a New Year's Day baby!!!! She had a delightfully short labor of three hours and did great.

He is a beautiful little guy with lots of dark hair and a great set of lungs. Everyone is doing well and thrilled that he is now out in the big world. Congratulations to Mom and Dad. Happy birthday baby J.

More pictures to follow, of course, but it is now 2 a.m. and I am off to bed.