#91 Scrappy Quilt

I just love this little quilt. It is a baby quilt. No baby in mind, just a pattern I've been wanting to try for a very long time. I save my scraps and trim them up into various sized pieces, store them in an organized fashion, then pull them out when I need them. This was perfect for those little baggies! Another finished project while I had time at home.

#90 Reflections

Another task checked off of my "To Do" list....clean house! My floors were so clean, I could've eaten off of them. ('course, I have that 5 second rule in my life, so technically, I eat off of them anytime!)

#89 Spring Break is over

I'm getting ready for work again....man, those 11 days just flew past me. (I'd taken 2 extra days on top of the vacation.) I was able to complete many things on my "To Do" list; I think I'll take this week to document the completion of some of those projects/tasts.
This is a quilted purse I started at the quilting retreat and just finished. I tried to find a button to go with it but Jo-ann's wanted $5 for a single, plain button. Nope. I think I have some Fimo dough so that I can make my own. The inside is loaded with pockets; one for a cell phone, which I don't own, so I'll have to find fun things to put inside.....or maybe I'll donate this back to my quilt guild for the Fall boutique since it is quite large for me. I prefer the small handbags that hold a tiny wallet, a tube of lipstick and aspirin!

#88 Home from market day

Coming home from town, I always look for a glimpse of our house....this is about 6 miles away and our house is a dot on the side of the hillside.

#87 Love Bugs

Just before we left for Seattle, I took this photo of my mini daffodils and two love bugs basking in the sunshine. (Trust me, there were two of them....one is hiding behind a flower.) We call them love bugs because they are more often than not, joined in pairs! I think they are really Maple Bugs.

#86 Market Day

Awhile back, Amy posted a photo of her fridge; thinking of her photo, I believe I need to go to market! Although after shopping, I'll add a few items, I still can't fill my fridge. My pantry and tiny freezer are the same way. (What in the heck do we eat anyway?) One of those items is homemade rye bread I just tried. Good, but not great...I may play with the recipe before tossing it.

#85 Nice view

When in WA, we were invited to dinner at my sister-in-law's and brother's home. All my siblings were there, (as mentioned prior.) I couldn't help but take this photo as the sun was going down through the clouds, fishermen were getting their last few casts in, and laughter was pouring out from the house behind me. (This is the view from the deck off of the dining room. )

#84 Great Nephew

Ina and our great nephew, Raymond. I prefer to call him R3 because my brother, Ray, always added a Roman numeral III to the end of his name as a kid, even though he was the first.

R3 is so precious. He allowed us to pass him around from one set of outstretched arms to the next and each time, he would just stare at the features of the latest person holding him. Never a complaint!

#79-83 Trip to WA

We hadn't been back "home" to see Mom in ages....so long that it was an actual shock to see her old 5 acre farm, house and barn are now ready for new homes. Knowing she sold to a developer and actually seeing the barn and house gone were two different things.

No sooner had we unloaded the car when Mom was fixing dinner. I walked away for a minute and returned to the kitchen to see Jack at the sink helping Mom out.

Jack wired some lights in for Mom's hall closet and pantry. She can now see what she is digging for!

Part of our visit was spent putting this dang puzzle together. It was a "Clue" mystery puzzle. We read a story and had no photo to guide us through the puzzle. A fun place for family to gather.

Ina and I decided that we are twins because we feel so close. Of course, I was born first... like 4 years before her!

Saying good-bye to Ina is always hard for me. She is so loving that she just uplifts my spirit. This is her cute blue mini.

On our drive home, I saw this Lamborghini and just had to take the photo. We don't see these too often.

All in all, it was a great visit. Short, but wonderful. We got to see all my brothers and their wives...only one missing in action, my bil, Warren. Who just so happens to be in Oregon right now on his way north in his little red mini.

#78 Headed North

Bags are packed once again - this time we are headed north instead of south. Get ready, Mom, 'cuz here we come!

#77 Not a New Thrift Store?

No, I'm not opening a thrift store. This is my work space. I was taking inventory of all our thrift store purchases from last year for our 2nd Annual Thrifty Fashion Show and Tea. The students purchase outfits from a local thrift store for the least price, model it at our show as the audience enjoys tea and cookies. The tables are set with items purchased at thrift shops!

A local shop donates plants for us to put into the tea pots/pitchers for center pieces, businesses sponsor tables so little advertisements are at each place, kids decorate placemats and the show is on!

#76 Sudoku

This little game has saved my sanity more than once.

#75 Comin' Home Again

We've done a lot of leaving and coming home the past year. I love both directions. I'm usually sad leaving family until I see this view. If you know just where to look, you can see a quick flash of our house nestled in the trees on a hillside. (It is actually below the one that shows up in this photo.) It just feels good that we have once again landed in familiar territory.

#74 - Missing photo

Today you see no photo. This is the space that was meant to hold photos of Kari and her family. However, we didn't go to see them....yet again. Jacob had a cold and Jarod was coughing in the morning. So we hopped in the car and made it over the mountains prior to a winter storm advisory today.
I am so bummed that I didn't get to love on our other grandsons. I can only imagine how much they have grown since we saw them last. Dang!
We need to live closer to our girls and our grandkids.....that's all there is to it.
Sad grandma, signing off.....

#64-73 - Catchin' up with Amy and Tammy

I've decided to catch up with Amy and Tammy and post along with them, just as if I'd started on January 1st....

For those of you who are curious, YES, we went through the gate which was NOT closed.

We visited this raptor center in Davis. Way cool.

Red tailed hawk - one of my favorites.

Jack and I took a ride to Sonoma. The freeway towards San Francisco were in need of repair. At least we didn't have to pay tolls to drive on rotten roads like we did when we went back East several years ago.

Tide flats outside of San Francisco.

Vineyards are quite common now days, but somehow, they are all a bit unique.

I miss the eucalyptus trees of Southern California....

#56-63 Last Chemo

How lucky are we? We were here to celebrate Kai's third birthday!

Don't Worry....Be Happy.....Grandpa will fix it! Have drill, will travel, that's his motto!

You've heard of Lunchables? Well, there are the Lovables!

Building together with Legos.

Some lovin' from Mom.

Zoe had a play day with her friend in the park.


Danette's last shave - now starts detoxing and her hair will start growing again!

Looks like the turkeys followed us from Oregon to the city!

#55 Wild Cloud

We will be on the lookout for just such clouds as we drive past Mt. Shasta today. Sometimes, they look just like what I imagine a flying saucer would look like!

I'll post from Danette's if I can, otherwise......I'll be back in a week!

#54 Mt. Shasta and Danette

Tomorrow we head to California not only to help Danette and her family, but to celebrate with them her LAST CHEMOTHERAPY INFUSION!! OMG, I am going to be grinning from ear to ear. This is a photo of Mount Shasta, CA which we took the last time we went to be with Danette. I'm going to be waving at it as we go by tomorrow!! This mountain makes me think of her because she has surely shown the strength of a mountain throughout this whole ordeal.

(The white behind the mountain is not a cloud but snow that the wind was blowing off of the back side of the mountain.)

#53 Yogurt

Someone loves plain yogurt in our family and it's not the horses! Jack eats 2 containers a week so I try to recycle them. I fill them will oats for the horses; premeasuring on the weekend for the next week. I just wish our market would have a dispenser so we could fill one container and not add all this plastic to the land fill. (I can only recycle so many!)

#52 Crashing the party

My quilt guild had a 4 day retreat down river. I was not able to go this year because I am saving all of my time off to use with family, if needed. A friend, Vi, and I decided to crash the retreat on Saturday. We talked and giggled all day long and even got to sew a bit. This is a group photo I took. Yes, some of them stay in their pj's all day long....too much fun.

#51 Read Across America

Okay, yesterday was celebrating Dr. Seuss and kids all across the country were reading. Our library is only open 3 half-days a week now due to budget cuts so we celebrated today. Little tikes came out of the woodwork to be read to by volunteers and by Patrick Duffy, actor, who lives in our neck of the world. He was without a doubt, a natural with those little ones who were quite fidgety. He surprised me with a wonderful sense of humor and an obvious love for kids. (I hope he doesn't mind my posting his picture.) The artwork was done by a talented volunteer. All in all, it was a great day - even though I never liked Dr. Seuss books until I reached my granny-age! Thank you, Mr. Duffy, for your time and energy and thanks to all the other volunteers to make this the first of an annual event for certain!

#50 Fairy Ring Tree

This is a Fairy Ring tree. It is what remained after the mother tree was cut down; life then circled the stump to create a ring of new trees. Did you know that good boys and girls may find surprises meant just for them inside this magical ring? True story. At the moment, there are no young ones nearby, just us old folks, thus the ring holds sweet memories.

#49 Flowers

This were from my grandsons, Joshua, Jacob and Jarod for Valentine's Day. I couldn't stop looking at the flowers, they were so beautiful. I miss those boys....growing up so fast and I rarely get to share in the growing.

#48 Granties' Quilt

3 years ago, my sisters-in-law, sister and I started a new tradition; making a baby quilt for new arrivals in our family. We decided that the grandmother-to-be would start the quilt by making the first row, then pass it along to the next person to add a row. We could set guidelines if we wanted, but when it was finished, it would go back to the grandma to finish. The process is called a row quilt. I decided to name it the Granties' Quilt. Here is my row for my niece's baby boy who is due in May.