A Long Overdue Visit and Old Sac

 

A couple of weeks ago, my sweet Sacramento cousin, Judy asked if she could "commission" me to make a fall purse for her (I made her the yellow and blue one in June) She wanted black and red.

Well, I had the perfect fabric already to make her a bag. When I finished it, I showed it to Mr. SS and commented I would have to find a way to send it to her as her birthday was coming up.  (I'll post pictures of it next week)

Being my Mr. SS, he said, "Let's take it to her"

So yesterday was her birthday and we drove to Sacramento, Ca. for the weekend.

 

We wanted to take her to dinner and ended up going to Joe's Crab Shack in Old Town Sacramento.

We sat at a wonderful window seat and just as the sun was going down got a picture of the Sacramento River.

Something you need to know about me...I grew up allergic to all fish and discovered about age 18 that I had outgrown it.

Usually the smell of fish makes me want to run for cover, but I knew Mr. SS would love it and so I decided I would tough it out

 

In a hole in the center of the table was a bucket with a roll of paper towels

and a bucket of forks.

The waiter explained the bucket was for discarded shells.

Looks like fun already!!

 

 

We ordered an appetizer of Crab Nachos.

At first I tried to pull a few chips out without the "dreaded" crab , but after getting a little taste of the concoction...yummmm. I loved it. I dug in for more of the good stuff.

Mr. SS ordered  " The Great Hook-up"

Coconut Shrimp

Shrimp stuffed with Crab

Fish and Chips

Hush Puppies

Coleslaw

And even after sharing nachos with us, he ate "the whole thing"

Any wonder that he has a tummy ache this morning?

 

Judy and I ordered the Aruba Salad which included Coconut Shrimp.

You could order it with chicken, but hey, I'm in a "Crab Shack" for heavens sake...soooo

I went out of my comfort zone and ordered it as is.

It was delicious.

I enjoyed every bite of those little toasted coconut shrimp.

Of course it helped that I dipped them in a sweet pineapple something that was just as yummy and combined with the salad covered in blue cheese, bacon, candied pecans, and a strawberry vinegarette dressing ,it is a wonder I don't have a tummy ache this morning.

 

After dinner we drove though Old Sac with it's cobbled stone streets and cute shops

Only the places to eat were open, so we didn't get out and it was too dark for my little

point and shoot camera.

 

We drove by the capital building not far away and it was so lit up I tried a picture.

Dark, but you get the idea.

 

Today, Judy and I are off to Home Goods and Hobby Lobby.

Guess I am being rewarded for

being so brave and eating fish last night.

(As if the meal it's self wasn't reward enough.)

 

 

 

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!



Pinterest Try Tuesday # 2

I didn't intend to let a whole week pass before I posted again, but here it is Monday night and time to post another pinterest try.

I decided to try a brownie recipe I pinned not too long ago. This one got my attention because of the peanut butter. Mr. SS loves PB. In fact, have I ever told you he has a PB and J sandwich everyday for lunch. I used to think I would treat him to a ham and cheese or something I had leftover for lunch and he would say "Lunch was good today, but where was my PB and J?"  So for 43 plus years, I just give up and make him his favorite.

He loves brownies too, so this one should get his approval.

I found the recipe here and her version looks quite different than mine.

She added some changes and refers to where she got the recipe. I went there to get the printable recipe.

You can get that here.

There at the bottom of the post, she notes she adapted it from Nestle.

I just thought it funny that now, I am posting another slightly different version, so you are getting it 4 ways.

I gathered the ingredients at about 7:00am because with the heat, I have been doing no baking all summer.

Mr. SS woke to the smell of brownies in the oven.

This is a one bowl recipe and goes together very quickly.

Sugar, butter and water in the microwave.

Add chocolate and PB chips. I didn't have any PB chips, so I used all chocolate.

Mmmm smells so good.

Add egg and vanilla

Flour and baking soda

After spraying with Pam, I used an ice cream scoop to fill the tin.

While they baked, I mixed up the PB. I only had 1/2 cup and decided to add powdered sugar and vanilla to make it more like a frosting.

It was a little thicker than just the PB would have been. I wish I would have made more of an indention in the brownies (like the recipe recommended) but I just scooped on the PB frosting, thinking it would melt down a little. It didn't....and I used all my chips, so no chips on top.

Guess what Mr. SS had for breakfast when he got up.

Yes, he did. They were a little hard to get  out of the pan, and even though they are a little different from the original, I was assured by Mr. SS that they were delicious.

I had another pin to share, but it may take a while to see if it works, so will share it next week.

Have you tried anything you saw on Pinterest this week. If you have, please post about it,  share and I will post your link at the end of this post so others can come see what you tried.

I promise to be back with some fun posts this week. Last week just got away from me. Maybe it's this incessant heat or all the activities going on with the kids, or maybe just a little bit of laziness...but most likely too much time spent on Pinterest .  LOL

Hope to see what you have tried.

Suzanne @ Notes from the Patch linked the cutest Pinterest Try plus a lot more. Click on her name and go see the fun

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!

Pinterest Try Tuesday

I know a lot of you are like me and have joined the Pinterest band wagon. I admit it. I am addicted.

It is so fun, like looking through magazines and having a place to save all those things I am interested in. Only I don't have to tear out the pages and collect notebooks of ideas.

It's all there in the computer, available to look at with a click of the mouse.

The only thing is, I'm spending so much time pinning, I never go back to look at what I have pinned.

A couple of weeks ago, though, I pinned a cute little tissue holder with thoughts of making them for my granddaughters.  I decided right then to stop and make them and just got 6 of them cut out when my friend,Suzanne posted a tutorial for making tissue holders and pinned them.

They sure looked easier than the ones I had cut out, so I  cut out 6 using her method.

So now I have 12 tissue holders made.

All because I am hooked on Pinterest.

I ran to the Dollar Tree to find some of those little packs of tissues.

8 for $1.00...now that's a bargain.

The sun was almost down when I got home, but  I got those little babies loaded up with tissues just in time to snap some pics.

This is the first one I pinned. It is perfect for the scraps I have left from making my Girlie Girl purses.

It's all folded and the only sewing you do is around the outside before it is turned.

Of course I couldn't resist the little stacked buttons, but it really doesn't need them.

You can find the tutorial for this style here

Suzanne says they are like potato chips, you know  you just can't make one.

So here is my basket of potato chips.

These are made from Suzanne' tutorial. You will find that here

Both styles were easy, fast and they don't take much fabric. Great little gift when you just wanna give something. I'm really glad I have some extras on hand.

The blogger that posted the first one, suggested making a mug rug to match, add a cup filled with tea bags or instant soup and with a tissue holder, you have a nice gift for a friend who isn't feeling well.

You can see how to make the mug rug  to match on her link too.

Okay, so there you are. I tried something I pinned. In fact two things.

I am going to try to post something once a week on Monday night for Tuesday's post.

It might be a recipe next time, a home decorating idea,a tablescape, a gardening idea, a DIY, or how about one of those great household tips I've been seeing.  Just about anything I pin on Pinterest will do. And I pin ALOT.

Won't you join me?  If you post about a Pinterest Try, come back and tell me and I'll post a link right here at the end of my post to your post.  If  I see there is any interest in this, I will try to get that linky thingy so you can link on my blog.

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!

Happy Birthday

Just a quick post to celebrate my first grandchild's birthday.

Kyle is 18 today. He had a rough time coming into this world but you would never know it now.

How can I have a grandchild that is 18 yrs. old. Where oh where does time go?

We went to Tehachapi to watch him play football tonight. He is captain of the team and plays offensive center. He's number 77. You can just see one 7 but he's the one that has his hand on the football.

He 's a big boy  man at almost 6'4 and is taller than his Dad, our son Scott.

Mr. SS, Kyle's Papaw is giving him some pointers about the game, which he does after every game.

Lots of cousins to congratulate him after a game.

 Kyle and his Great Gram.

 Kyle and his Uncle Brandon, who can't stand it because Kyle is as tall as he is.
We won't tell him we can see him standing on his tip toes.

He is so sweet to stand around on the field after every game talking to family instead of rushing off with the others to the locker room.

His Dad and both Uncles played Tehachapi Warrior football, so he is the 4th  holding up the Warrior tradition for our family. He even has the same number except my sons were all number 7.

My other two grandsons won't be attending High School there, so...

Thanks Kyle for being the last of  Parks men to play Warrior Football

We are so proud of the man you have become, but my heart still considers you my first little grandbaby.

Happy Birthday!!

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!

Pillow Talk

My granddaughter Kobi got to choose a new look for her room this summer. She sold her Barbi dolls in a garage sale to help pay for the bedding. After all she is ten now and still had the room we did for her when she was two, so she chose zebra and hot pink.  While she was away at camp her Mom painted and fixed up everything to surprise her. She bought fabric and those cute buttons you see on the pillow.

So I got the pillow made just in time for the surprise when she came home.

I loved the buttons so much and decided to use them in her name. I hand embroidered around the one I used for the O because it wasn't quite big enough. I know the I  isn't  lower case, but wanted to use the other button to dot it...creative license, you know.  Remember you can click the photo to enlarge if you want.

Not a pillow, but I made a valance too. Still have another pillow to make, but didn't get  it done yet

Then my friend asked me to make pillows for her fifth wheel. She always just gives me the fabric and lets me do what I want. It's fun to do them all a little different.

This one is a rectangle. The rest are squares. I used the center of the flowers to cover the buttons and used a binding around the edge.  The other three have different covered cording.

I added a black frame around the floral and then a border of the stripe on the bias.

A pretty glass bead fringe to dress this one up.

Triangles with a big black button to finish it off.

This one I just made for fun. Last spring I found this embroidery pattern somewhere. I can't seem to find where I found it, but probably on Pinterest. I would give someone credit if I could, so if anyone wants to claim it or knows where it came from let me know and I will link to it.

I love to embroider and did most of this sitting in the shade in a campground this summer.

I especially love redwork and I found the tiniest red buttons in my button box that just fit.

You know by now how I love buttons.

Anyway...I had just started the embroidery when this line of fabric(A Walk in the Woods, by Aneela Hoey for Moda) was featured at a Bernina Club I attended at Strawberry Patches.  When Annette showed it to the group, she said most of it had sold but if anyone wanted the sample six 1/2 yd. cuts, they could buy them. I quickly grabbed them after the meeting for my embroidery. Of course I have tons left, so maybe some of my Girlie Girl purses will get made.

I strip pieced the borders and  used the red to frame the embroidery. Then I fussy cut a :Little Red Riding Hood for each corner.

I had fun with the back and used a stripped piece I had left over from the front.

I used a binding for the edge again, like a quilt binding.

A close up of the buttons shows that I need to move the buttons over so the strip meets the stitching.

Funny what you see in a close-up picture. Uh-Oh

I know I have shown you this pillow before, but found this picture in my files of it on my bed in the blue and white trailer. Someday, my Dresden Plate quilt will join it.

This was just before we left this summer and I was getting the trailer ready to go. I even ironed my pillow cases and the top sheet where it turns back. 

I used Mary Ellen's Best Press. If you have never used it for pressing...gotta try it. It smells so fresh and takes out the wrinkles without making it stiff.

(Did this because of you, Suzanne.)

Okay, I didn't make this one, but I want to. Since I just came home from the beach, I couldn't resist adding this to my Pillow Talk.

www.completely-coastal.com

Linking to Cindy's Romantic Home  for Show and Tell Friday
Honey @ 2805 for Potpouri Friday

Sherry@ The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday



 

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!

Guess Where I Am

 

Yes I am!!

Yesterday we took off from our "hot" RV cottage in Bakersfield for a visit with our dear friends who have a home in Grover Beach. Before we even went to their house, I asked Mr. SS to drive down to the beach (just a few blocks from their house) so I could wiggle my toes in the sand.  Being the ever Mr. SS, he did just that.  Have I told you that he doesn't like the sand or salt water at all, but he sure knows this girl does.

 

 

This morning, my friend Carol and I drove just a couple miles down the road to Arroyo Grande to visit the Antique shops and go to the Farmers Market. I have given you an extensive tour of the market before, but wanted to show you this sweet girl and her cookies.  Now this is my kind of booth. Of course the cookies looked delicious, but I looove all that glass and the cute display. Look at the fresh flowers and isn't she just the cutest thing. She was so flattered that I would want her picture. She said her boyfriend doesn't think she is photogenic...I'd like to talk to that boy!!

 

Anyway...loved all her containers and wow look at those gigantic cookies.

She had scones under cake domes  too.

 

 

The rest of the market was the typical.  We bought mostly things for dinner tonight.

White peaches, corn on the cob, a variety of lettuces, tomatoes and salad fixins. The usual red, yellow and orange bell peppers and a first for me a purple one.

Then of course the last stop was the kettle corn booth...can't resist me some kettle corn...to take home to Mr. SS, of course.

 

On our way out of town, we crossed this green bridge, which I have crossed many times in the past, but this time is was decorated with pretty baskets of flowers. It made me want to go home and plant some fall color. Well not until we enjoy a couple more cool beach days here.

 

A little closer, so you can see the hanging baskets better.

 

 

We will be here until Monday afternoon. Tommorow afternoon, we are going to a concert in the park nearby and then before we come home on Monday will visit the Avila Barn where they grow lots of fresh fruits and veggies and I'm hoping to find  some pumpkins to take home.

 

I'm in the mood for FALL!!

 

Hope you are enjoying a lazy fun Labor Day weekend.

 

 

 

 

God is Good!!

Life is Good!!