Saturday, July 31, 2010

Giveaway Reminder

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter my 100 post giveaway and have a chance to win this

You can go here to find out all about it.  Since I don't know how to use one of those things that does it for you or can I recall what it is called, I will do this the old fashioned way, because that's what kinda girl I am.
I will put all entries in a hat (Mr. SS's favorite golf hat) and have him draw the winner.  Some of you will have 2 or 3 chances depending on how you played the game.
Remember there are goodies inside the bag too, that I have been picking up here or there.  I'll reveal the whole "package" and the winner on Sunday night Aug. 1st.

We are off again tomorrow for another little beach trip.  This time with 9 of the 10 grandkids and my youngest son and his wife (the ones that have given us 6 of the precious 10)

I'll leave you with my latest project. Another of my models for Strawberry Patches 

The hat and dress are completely reversible.  I personally like the blue and stripped hat the best,  but this one is cute too. Two outfits in one.  And just think...a little spill or dribble on one side, flip it over and clean clothes.  Hmmmm. I'm thinking I need some outfits like that.  (For the dribble, ya know. Don't laugh...you know what I mean)

Blossom and Bloomers by My Favorite Things.
Click on the Strawberry Patches link above to order the pattern and fabric.

I have a feeling, when a certain DIL sees this, I may have to make a couple more of these. But that's okay
because they are sew easy.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Rest of the Story

Sunday morning, we left Grover Beach and headed north to Morro Bay. It's about a half a hour's drive to the golf course to drop Mr. SS off to play the second day of his tournament. It was too early to shop, so, I grabbed me a Starbucks and headed for  Morro Rock and the beach. It was cloudy and overcast, but being raised in a beach town,  I didn't mind that a bit.
As soon as I parked and saw this, I knew I had to get out and walk on the beach.
I love to wiggle my toes in the sand. I pretty much had this to myself for a few minutes and after a short walk,  I just sat in the sand and wiggled. (My toes, that is)

It wasn't long before there were more beach worshipers invading my privacy,
so I found this bench and with my coffee, camera and book in hand, I sat here for a couple of hours.
This was my up close view of Morro Rock, with the clouds still hanging over the top.

The end of the rock where it meets the water
The Seagulls looking for food.

Wish I had brought something to feed them. This one came close and looked at me like he was hoping I had something.

I really enjoy the salt air smell of the ocean, listening to the waves as they crash on shore, and the feel of the sand.  Even though, I haven't lived near the beach for over 40 years, I am still a beach girl at heart.

But after a couple of hours, the crowds of people brought me back to reality, and it was off for one of my other passions....shopping.
I really didn't find much. I visited several antique stores, a couple of gift shops, a quilt shop and a unique little vintage trim and lace shop that I have been to many times before. I picked up some vintage buttons, which I do seem to love. I will show you those when I use them.

I just had time to get lunch and take it out to the golf course and wait for Mr. SS to finish.  I parked right across from the course where I could see him on a couple of greens, then sat and watched the sail boats on the bay.
Here's Morro Rock from where I sat.

Did I mention, that Mr. SS doesn't much care for the beach like I do. (Truth is, he doesn't like anything about it)  But as I sat there watching him golf, he looked so handsome in his golf shorts, it really doesn't matter, I just love him anyway.

Only 3 more days left to enter my 100 post giveaway here
to win this

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Coastal Getaway

Last Friday,  we took of for the central coast to visit our neighbors, Charles and Carol who have a house in Grover Beach, Ca. We have lived across the street from them for the past 6 years and have much in common.
Here they are standing next to their 1946 Chevy Truck that Charles has restored.
Behind them is their house in Grover Beach.
The second story is one room with a living area, complete with fireplace, kitchen, sleeping accomodations and a full bath. We were very comfortable there and Carol cooked great dinners for us. (kinda like a B&B).
Standing on the balcony, to the right beyond the trees is the ocean, so there is lots of cool beach air, which I love.
A little mini vacation.
Mr. SS and Charles golfed on Friday...27 holes...yep they have that in common.

Saturday, Carol and I took off early to find some garage sales.
She shares the love of the hunt with me.
It was so much fun riding around in this. People wave and smile.  I would ask Carol if that was someone she knew. She said "No, it's the truck. " Really fun!!
I didn't get pictures of her finds, but she found much more than I did.
I came home with this set of silverplate flatware.  Eight placesettings plus serving pieces.
Due to my lack of picture taking ability, you can't really see the pattern, but today as I was unpacking the pieces and thinking how much I liked them, it suddenly hit me....Last April I bought Ice Tea spoons that I loved.  I got them out, and you might remember this picture.
They are the same pattern as these Iced Tea Spoons, and I didn't even realize it when I bought them.  I am so excited. The best part is I got the 8 place settings and serving pieces for $10.00.  I will love using it in my next tablescape.
The only other thing I found other than a book, was also flatware.
I paid only $5.00 for four placesettings. I am giving these to my friend Gail at http://www.victorianatheart.blogspot.com/.
She does the best tablscapes and can build a whole theme from one thing. I know these will inspire her to create a great tablescape. Check out her blog (click on her name or blog name) to see this upcoming one and the ones she has already created.

After we unloaded from our garage sale shopping, we took off again for a farmers market in Arroyo Grande, just a few miles down the road.
Here we were met by music,
saw artwork
tasted fruit
tasted more fruit
bought veggies for dinner


Look at that baby zuccini and squash.
I made my special zuccinni for dinner that night.
I promise to share that recipe soon.
Carol made fresh homemade salsa and that was an ingredient in my zuccini dish.
Yummmm!

Of course I never pass up a fresh bag of

Then as we were leaving we saw this guy. Even Carol was catching on to my  need for pictures to blog about. LOL. She said, "Oh, you have to get a picture of him for your blog."
He cooporated and let me walk right up to him. He even turned his head to pose.

Even though we had tasted strawberries from 4 different vendors, Carol said she knew of a stand that had fresher ones, so we went here, just down the street from her house.
Loved the 2 flags they were flying. Took this for you, Suzanne.
We bought a half flat of these
after tasting, of course.

Next post will take place in Morro Bay.


Giveaway still open for a few more days. You have until July 31st to go here and leave a comment to be entered to win this





Thursday, July 22, 2010

Sew On and Sew On and a Cool Down

Remember this
It came out like this (worn by Kenzi, a friend's grandaughter in Alice in Wonderland as one of the Queen of Heart's attendents.)

These were a special order for a Strawberry Patches customer for her nursery.
4 baskets lined with a mix and match of 4 fabrics.
Very fun to do, as I used to do a lot of basket liners and hadn't done them in a while.

Four of these aprons to take to my friend who has the gift and antique shop in Long Beach, Ca.
I did the machine embroidery only on these. The aprons came from Walmart. I used to buy them at Smart and Final, but I like these much better and the colors were a little brighter.  And only $6.00.  I'm thinking I could embelish these with some cute fabric and trims too...well not these, because they have been delivered already, but certainly a creative thought or two went through my head.

I also started the cutest little baby outfit and hat this week, but will wait to show it when it's finished.

That was the sewing part of this post. The cool down was getting to go to Long Beach to deliver the aprons, take my friend MariEllen out to lunch for her birthday and bid on a JOB which is a kitchen addition and remodel for her cousin, Lana, who is her partner at Aunt Fanny's.
After temperatures in the 100's all week here in Bakersfield, the cool beach air was heaven.
It's always a little nostalgic going to Long Beach, because we grew up and were married there.

Tomorrow we go to Morro Bay another cool beach town for a golf tournament for Mr. SS and some R&R (and maybe a little shopping) for me.  We have neighbors who have a house near there, where we can stay and enjoy the coolness.

Don't forget, if you haven't entered my giveaway go here and leave a comment.
It will be open until July 31st.


Sunday, July 18, 2010

Celebrate!!

When I first learned a little about blogging, I would see giveaways and wonder...why?  One of the first I entered was for the bloggers 100th post.  Well, I said to myself, I could never find enough to say to log 100 posts. Mr. SS would differ with that statement, but I really believed it.
Here I am just eight months later, celebrating 100 posts.  Yeah!! I can't believe it.

So this post isn't about me, my family, my home, my cooking or my sewing...well maybe a little about my sewing.

This post is about you!! Yes you.  I want to have a giveaway, so one of you who read or follow me can win.  I appreciate each and every one of you who reads my blog and leaves a comment.  It is fun getting comments and I always follow up with a visit to your blog.  And if you don't have a blog I appreciate you too, and will answer with an email.

This is what I am giving away to one of you, and after you see the pictures, I'll tell you how you can enter to win.
This is where my sewing comes in, because I made this for one of you.




I started this almost a year ago when we were in Tucson on a job. I had lost interest until my friend Suzanne posted about a bag she had been given by a customer/friend.
Click on her name to read about it and see her cute bag. It is the smaller purse version of this tote which is Bow Tucks by Quilts Illistrated.
I knew right away I wanted to finish this tote and use it for my very 1st giveaway.

Anyway....back to how you can win. 
 1.  Leave a comment (even if you don't have a blog, check back and if you win you can e-mail me how to send it to you)
  2.  Become a follower (Google on my sidebar).  If you are already a follower, leave a comment telling me so.
 3.  Last, if you have a blog, please mention my giveaway on your blog and leave a link and come back and leave me a comment telling me you did so.

You will have until July 31st to enter and I will announce the winner on Aug. 1st.

As I reread this, I thought you might think you need to do all three to get a chance to win. You will get one entry for each one. Of course I would love it if you do all three and have three chances to win.
This will be an out of the hat draw and I will have Mr. SS draw.  I don't know how to do it any other way...yet.

Oh! One more thing.  Since this is a roomy tote with lots of pockets, there will be some suprises inside.



Thursday, July 15, 2010

Summer Cloche Party

I'm joining Marty for her Cloche Party. Click on her name to visit her blog, see her cloche displays and a whole lot of other inspirational blogs.

In the next few pictures you will see some of my favorite cloches and apothocary and candy jars.
                                         
Can you guess why this is my favorite cloche picture? Yep....chocolate with out the calories
The book in the background was given to me by my friends, Gail and Ruth. (If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see my initials on the book) Funny, huh?

You've probably seen pictures of my kitchen and there are always lemons around.
This sits on the center of my island when it isn't decorated for a holiday.
Also you can see a cloche with a lemon cake candle, and an old cheese dome with faux crackers.

Here's a better view of the cake candle.

Lemons in a large candy jar

Another jar with sliced lemons.

This ginger jar has cornmeal. Mr. SS loves his cornbread and I keep the cornmeal handy.

These are antique jars that I keep more of our favorite things handy in.  That would be beans, rice and pasta.
You probably saw this cloche and these candy jars in my reacent 4th of July post.


This is my largest cloche that sits on the table next to Mr. SS's recliner.  The large bible is his Mom's family bible and one he loves to share with the grandkids.

This little cloche with the birds and fleur de lis sits on a little table next to the fireplace in my dining area.

I have several more cloches and lots more jars, but didn't want to repeat too many I have posted about before.  I just told a friend, that when I look at these pictures, I see that I am a little crazy when it comes to buying glass of any kind....cloches, jars, pedestal plates, dishes, colbalt, milk glass...oh my!!
Don't forget to stop by http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ for lots of "cloche love".

While I am thinking about it, because I wanted to do this on my last post and forgot, please go to Barb's blog by clicking on her name.  She is having a great giveaway, but I also want you to meet her. She is the sweetest lady and I have really enjoyed getting to know her through her blog and email.
I won a giveaway on her blog a while back and have been following her since.
Stop by and tell her I said Hi.

You will also want to go here for another great giveaway. Marie-Madeline Studio is having a giveaway for a bundle of  Flower Sugar 2 fabrics by Lecien. I love these fabrics and know you will too.


And speaking of giveaways.....drum roll please.....My next post will be my 100th. I can't believe it.
I will be celebrating with a giveaway, so check back and find out about it.