Christmas Pics

These are little vignettes around the house and on the mantle.  I see you wondering were is the xmas tree?  Right now the tree says he is naked except for bubblers but hoping for help soon.  He may just get something simple due to knee pain!!

Don't you just love my felt reindeer?  I have a whole herd of them, red, green and white.  They have little elves or dolls riding them.  Ta Ta..... gotta decorate more.

Christmas Mania

I am a decorating maniac as evidenced by the multiple boxes of decorations in the garage.  Unfortunately this year I took the wk after TDay to decorate and had a flareup of arthritis to my knees so things are a bit scaled down.  Here are some pics of my snow scene, setting New England.  I especially love the red coated hunters with their dogs chasing a fox. 

Thanksgiving Blessings to All.

We have had quite a week here at the Manor.  I did a bad thing and put some stuff down the garbage disposal (Mediterranean Lemons) and it stopped up.  So my darling husband after dressing me down has spent the last 2 days trying to get it open.  Finally today he accomplished it.  So now we have a dirty, messy kitchen along with 2 loads of dishes before I can start my cooking for tommorrow.  We are having about 14 and I assigned everyone a dish to bring so I only have the turkey, ham, dressing, potatos and gravy, brussel sprouts, a walnut pie and a strawberry cake.  Which is quite a bit less than I usually have as I usually don't let anyone bring anything, but this year I have a hurt knee.  I do love to cook and have lots of people around on the holidays so am looking forward to tommorrow.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of hugs, kisses and love.  Remember its not the place or the food its the love.  Talk to you after the holiday.  Deb.

Favorite Fall Treat

One of my favorite fall treats is candied apples.  Not those pretending to be candy apples made with caramel, but real ones like you get at the county fair.  Aren't they beautiful?  We cut them off the core and eat them in pieces.  I made 11 and gave 6 to the little kids down the street and I know they will love them.  Also check out my fall kitchen vignette.  I love it.  Happy Fall.............All the good stuff especially pumpkin, nuts, apples, warm fires, beautiful fall leaves and lots of love.

Antiquing on the Central Coast of California

I had to work on the Central Coast on Monday so we went over on Sunday and antiqued in Morro Bay and then in Los Alamos on Monday afternoon.  I didn't find any Monterey Furniture but did get a couple of good finds.  The wooden monk is about 12 inches tall and carved by Leonhard Heinrich in Germany.  The price was unbelievable.  I found the embroidery and knife block at Castaways in Morro Bay for pennies.  Now I just have to figure out a project for the embroidery squares.    

Thinking of Fall

I was out and about today and realized the leaves are finally falling from the trees.  I love fall, it starts my favorite season and leads right into the great Christmas season.  I thought to myself, my poor blog has been being ignored since Christian was born and we have had our lil darlin Hannah so much.  But things are looking up, as he may go home this week!!! In any case please be patient while I get my blog up to speed.  Thats me in the pic getting ready for Thanksgiving with friends and family.  Ta Ta....

Baby Christian

Just a quick update on our baby boy.  He has been extubated, is on oxygen via a nose cannula and is able to have 1 small bottle feeding a day.  Our DIL is pumping like mad to have breast milk, the best of course, for him.  I am staying away since I have a little cold and sore throat, but I was so happy that my mom who is great grandma got to spend time with him at the hospital.  Thanks for all your comments and prayers.  Deb

New Grandson-Christian

We have a new grandson Christian Robert, but he was born about 1 month too early.  He was pretty sick and things have been touch and go, but as of today it looks like he will be with us for a while.  Christian has been on a ventilator with antibiotics and other problems, but may get to try being off the vent tommorrow.  I will keep you updated on his progress and get a pic on when he gets all his tubes removed. 

Monterey Furniture, Be Still My Beating Heart!!

I am in love with Monterey Furniture.  True Monterey is marked with a horseshoe and/or the name.  We were antiquing at the Antique Society in Sebastopol and saw this desk.  It is not marked, but the finish and the painting are so cute.  Our home is Old California or Hacienda style so this fit right in.  It was out of our price range, but the man who had the space came by and wanted to move it so we were able to bring it home where it was meant to be all along!! Are there any other lovers of this type of furniture? 

Cute Trailers from Vintage Rally

Here are some cute trailers from the rally.  The one on the left is called a tear drop that was home built.  It sure looks vintage!

Trip to N. California

We had a lovely time at the 4th annual Vintage Trailer Rally at Cassinis at Duncan Mills, CA.  I am putting up some pics of some cute trailers and then the inside of our 1964 Shasta with my staging.  The first pic is of our table settings and then the bed with some vintage cowboy stuff.  It was such fun and lots of people commented on how cute it was. 

Vintage Trailer Rally at Duncan Mills, CA

We are on our way to a vintage trailer rally at Cassinis.   There will be around 50 vintage trailers from around 1940 to 1970.  We have a 1964 Shasta trailer, silver and white with wings.  It is very cute, but needs some work.  When we got to my sons in Santa Rosa, I opened the door and the bottom fell off so first thing this am DH was repairing.  We are excited to see our fellow trailerites and it is fun as we have a cocktail party on Friday night then all the trailers are open on Saturday from 10:00 to 2:00pm.  Then a potluck on Saturday evening.  I brought some really cute stuff to stage my trailer and will post some pics next week.  Everyone have a great weekend and spend some quality time with your loved ones.  Life is short, love the ones your with!! Deb

I can see the Light at the End of the Tunnel.

Well, its Thursday, that means by tommorrow at this time I will be off for the weekend!! I always swear I will not live for weekends and vacations, but I find myself doing so. Doesn't most everyone that works? I have a lovely job working from home, going out to see patients about 2 or 3 times a month, traveling to areas of beautiful California, but this job is really so that I can get money to buy sewing stuff; fabric, laces, wonderful sewing and serging machines. But paying the bills cuts into that!! Oh well, at least I really like my job.

Great Give away at Artistic Halloween Queens

Jump on your broom and fly on over to Artistic Halloween Queens at http://artisticthalloweenqueens.blogspot.com/ and enter to win some great Halloween art!! Great site.

Recently Read Favorite Books

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

One Thousand White Women - Jim Fergus

Knight in Shining Armour - Judy Devereau

Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd

The Magician's Assistant - Ann Patchett

All Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum books

All Michael Jecks books

All Eliz Peters Amelia Peabody books

Laurie R. King-Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell series

Halloween Excitement

Allsorts is one of my favorite blogs.  She has created a special Halloween blog with lots of good scary halloween stuff.  Check it out!! www.allsorts.typepad.com/owlsorts/

Cart before the Horse Art Giveaway

Head over to Jo's blogspot and check it out.  She and her DH make interesting art and she is having a giveway to celebrate her blog.  http://www.thecartbeforethehorse.blogspot.com/

Recent Fun

We took a 4 day mini vacation this last weekend to Huntington Lake, CA. http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g32514-Huntington_Lake_California.html This is one of the most beautiful lakes in California and we usually sail there. This summer we decided not to take the Rapunzel (19' Macgregor sail boat) up as we were away for alot of weekends. We camped with our friends and we took our 3 yr old grand dtr with us. Talk about busy... a 3 yr old requires constant watching and care, but we had a great time and Hannah loved camping as she could make mudpies for Dexter, our terrier and get as dirty as she wanted. She just couldn't figure out why he would not eat them!! Pics to follow.

Is this Really My Life?

Do you ever feel like you are living someone else's life? I mean, are you living the life you planned? I was laying in bed this am thinking about how blessed we are to be healthy and happy with children and grandchild that are well. I was also excited to go out shopping, thinking of stopping at the thrift store and to the fabric store as we are going camping and I wanted a little hand project to do. I go out to get into the car via the front yard that looks like no one lives in our home. There are weeds everywhere, the bushes need to be trimmed, and the front porch and patio are filthy, which is interesting since my husband is not working at this time!! Then I look at the car and it is filthy. I have to take the hose and squirt it off before I can drive it or I cannot see out the windows!!! So I had this thought... This is not the life I planned and I feel like I am living someone else's life. I am wondering when do I get to live my life?

Blogging

I told you all in a past post that I have been blogging alot. I decided that I want my blog to reflect my life and as a place for my family to see some pics and know what is going on. I bought Tara Frey's book Blogging for Bliss and it is great. It explains why people set up blogs, how to set one up and lots of tips for making it beautiful. Eventually I want to have a link to photos so my family can see new photos of our travels around California. I am a nurse case manager and travel around California to see patients. Bob and Dexter d Dog travel with me and Bob calls it driving Miss Debbie. We always plan something fun and have a favorite Mexican Restaurant in almost all of the cities we have visited. So stay tuned and I would love some comments along way.... Happy Trails....

Wedding

I just wanted to post a few pics of our nieces wedding. It was such a loving and fun time had by all. As I grow older I realize just how precious life is and it is so important to grab the people you love and draw them to you as often as you can. My mom is 78, she does well and enjoys life to the fullest sewing like a maniac for the whole family and I think this keeps her young. Hope you all had a good weekend, enjoy Sunday, my DH is in hog heaven with both the Giants and A's playing ball today.

Family musings

We attended the wedding of my darling niece Lauren. She has 2 beautiful sisters who were bridesmaids and they all looked so grownup and beautiful. They have had a hard time as their mom and dad (my brother) divorced a few years ago. Their mom and dad have not really gotten along and do not really talk to each other. I think though that I am more sad about the loss of their marriage after the wedding. My DH and I were good friends with them and we did quite a few things together. I consider Lauren's mom my best friend, but my relationship with my brother has been strained due to the events surrounding the divorce. I had not been at any events with both of them and just realized how sad it really is. My brother seemed lost and not a part of all of the festivities that he could have been if he had made better choices. My sister Kathy said something to me not long ago that made sense. People do not stop and think that the choices they make, to make themselves happy, affect everyone around them. It makes me teary eyed to think about it. But in spite of all of this it really was happy times for all and we wish them the best in their marriage. We sure danced our feet off!!

Summer and sewing thoughts

I added some new photos today. Our garden has turned out better than we ever thought and have had pounds and pounds of cucumbers, squash and 4 kinds of tomatoes. Hubby is planning a larger garden next year. I made several outfits for Miss Hannah and have started creating with vintage linens that have problems like rips or stains. I am quite good at getting out stains, but some just won't go!! The little white dress that ties at the neck was made from a long slip from the 1970s then I added the vintage embroidered linen to the front. It came out quite cute. I also made a pillowslip dress, but Hannah is quite thin and will grow into it. Our weather has cooled down to the upper 90s which is great. I would love to hear from some of my blog readers, please leave me a comment!!

Blogging

Happy Summer Heat - we are sweltering here in the Central Valley of CA. Over 100 every day. I haven't put a blog on for a while as I have been doing what I call "Blog Hopping". I go from blog to blog to blog. I really had no idea there are so many sewing and crafting blogs out there that are so creative. Their blogs make mine look boring and plain. So I am hoping in the next year to perk it up. I have a list of my favorites check them out. My fav is http://allsorts.typepad.com/
Our garden is putting out tons of yellow and red tomatos and some squash and peppers, but the cucumbers have been done in by the heat. We put a shade over the garden as the tomatos were cooking on the vine!!! We are having a sort of boring summer. We decided not to take the sail boat up to the lake as we had several summer weekends booked to go away. We haven't even been camping, but hope to get up to the lake soon. I hope summer is what everyone wants it to be. To me it is floating in the pool, eating tomatos with lots of salt, all kinds of fresh fruit and camping at the lake. Talk to you all soon. New pics waiting in my camera!!

Michael Jackson's passing

I have 3 boys, 35, 30 and 28. The 30 y/o took break dancing lessons about the time Michael Jackson was so popular. He had a glove and a red jacket like Michael. He still loves Michael Jackson and he and his sp are quite bummed by his death. He is a great loss to the entertainment industry and especially to his precious children. We will all miss him, but have great music and videos to remember him by. Go here to see a tribute to his moonwalk, it is quite entertaining!! http://www.eternalmoonwalk.com/

I am not old enought to be a Nana squared!!!

Well it is official, Miss Hannah is going to have a baby brother in November!! Bob and I are quite excited for Tyler and Natalie because boys are so precious. Don't get me wrong little girls are special, but a little boy :), oh my:0 they are the best. We raised 3 and what a load of fun. G.I. Joe, Big Wheels, Transformers, Skeletor and Star Wars. Little boys are not precocious like little girls, what you see is what you get!!

Morgan's (son #3) Great Adventure

Wanted you all to know that Morgan is filming 18 episodes of Stager Invaders with TLC. He is a Landscape Horticulturist in the L.A. area http://www.morganhuntgardener.com/ and is helping with the landscaping part of the show. It is based on helping people whose homes are going into foreclosure with getting the house and yard ready for sale. The show is on Tuesday nights at 8:00pm with 2 episodes.