Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Raggedy Jan

Speaking of fall decorating, I just discovered this Etsy seller, Raggedy Jan and her wonderful hand painted items....just love them..I've always admired painters and artists.....she takes ordinary teapots, kettles, old irons, and other things and makes them into works of art....she is a Midwest artist from Missouri.....above is one of my favorites.....her prices are quite reasonable also......with so much of the gifts in the stores coming from China...handmade is the way to go for gifts or for your own home if at all possible......I would love for the handmade movement to spread..

Its taken me a few weeks to get back into stitching...Mrs. Quack's death hit me a little hard...I finished a old project and am working on a few new ones.....our weather is slowly cooling off, although we have had a few hot days yet..but the nights are wonderful, in the 60s....with the cooler weather, you feel like baking, crafting and getting ready for the holidays..at least I do..

Monday, September 26, 2011

Fall Crafting

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One thing that was sent to us after my dear MIL's passing was this wonderful vintage washboard...Alan made a box for it and I filled it with some  autumn goodies...including a black crow...think it looks good...I also got some pretty Christmas findings for later...thought I'd change it out for the different seasons...
My friend, Nancy from Huggins Haven just finished this wonderful raggedy quilt and has it for sale....
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It measures 47" by 55" and has 3 layers..nice and warm for the chilly nights ahead of us......she is selling it so if you are interested... you can reach her through her blog....Huggins Haven...
I have several of her raggedy runners and candle mats..Just like them so much......here is one I have on a ledge in our dining room....
Photobucket

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Saturday Evening

Can't believe I haven't posted since last Wednesday! Been really busy.....we've been doing alot of gardening and the yard started to show some improvement + doing work inside also....cleaned all the ceilings and ceiling fans which was a hard but worthwhile job....and started cleaning out closets....got ours all done...so much nicer!

Alan cleaned out the garage also and so there is alot more room now...you can actually see the floor again.....he also put up extra lights so he can do some woodworking, eventually....I want to get him a scroll saw for Christmas....for puzzles and other things.
Years ago, when we were first married..he made rocking horses like the one above which we sold on consignment...he still has the templates for these...I still think they are rather cute.....with a new grand son, our thoughts are going towards handmade toys and puzzles as he grows....I've also been looking for an old fashioned teddy bear with a windup music box inside...can I find one? no, no one seems to have them anymore.....I had one when I was a baby, both the boys had them too.everything is digital now but I love the soothing sound of a music box....mine had Brahms Lullaby...

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Riverside House

This is a house we  rekeyed yesterday in Riverside...south Riverside has many country type large lots with horse trails and  interesting  houses....this house stands on about 2 acres.., its sold and we re keyed it through the escrow company for the new owners....its 5 bedrooms and 3 fireplaces....thought you might like to see the inside...its lovely and interesting..


 Here is the living room, very large with a brick fireplace, open beam ceiling.....



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This is the second fireplace in the family room.....about the only thing I would change in the house is the bad green carpeting..
This is the third fireplace in the master bedroom....this room is upstairs with a private balcony....you can tell by the wallpaper this would put up in the 90s..the bath has a jacuzzi tub and a separate shower....I had a photo but am having trouble with pictures loading.

 Here is the kitchen..lots of cabinets.....

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Outside is another room with two sets of French doors.....


I took this last photo from the balcony upstairs...the property has a barn and some out buildings......
we both give a blessing when we are finished on the house...wishing the new owners much joy.......its too much house for us at our ages...but great for a young family....be a great place to grow  up.....lots of room, especially if  you had a houseful of boys.....
More work today in San Diego county...3 jobs that we know of....most of these are escrow re keys, unlike last year when it was foreclosures......we are truly thankful....

Kay sent me a wonderful TRUE story...


A girl wanted to conquer her fear of rock climbing... by going rock climbing with some experts. Half way up the mountain side, she lost one of her contacts. She remembered God’s attributes and prayed that since He saw everything to please let her find her contact.
At the end of the day after they’d descended and were on the trail  to the car they came upon some rock climbers going up to the same spot they had come from. One of the guys said, “Hey, has anyone lost a contact? I found one!” That was strange enough but how he found the contact was even stranger: he was walking along when he saw a little ant on a rock carrying along the contact on his back!
When the girl who prayed and got back her contact went home she told her father --who was a cartoonist. After he heard his daughter’s story he then drew a little ant with the caption, “Lord, I don’t know why You want me to carry this thing; I can’t eat it, it’s awfully heavy... but if this is
what You want me to do I’ll carry it for You!”
Some would call what happened to her a coincidence but those of us who know better would call this Providence – a loving God building up the faith of a young girl.

Monday, September 19, 2011

A Few More Shoes.....


A few more crazy artsy shoes for your enjoyment!..couldn't resist....



Can't quite figure out how these would fit..or would they?
Thank you, Kay...these were alot of fun to share......I don't wear high heels anymore..its pure comfort from now on....wore them alot when I was working.....now I just admire others on their high perches....give me a pair of K-Swiss and I am good to go.....

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Paula Primitives Giveaway!

Paula is giving up this lovely antique wool table centerpiece..she needs to get 100 followers so please sign up....Paula's Primitives....I really admire her work and her Etsy shop....here is another example.....

I went to our local thrift shop..picked up alot of things and then put many of them back...seems like my frugal nature came through...now, thinking back..should have kept them..sigh..tomorrow have jobs so the things will probably be gone....I found some nice handmade stuffed pumpkins (1.50 each),  and a cute vintage brown tea set with all the matching mugs ($7.00)...carried them around and then put them back...have you ever done that? I did find a basket for the apples and one more little individual casserole dish to finish the set I've been collecting....
now I have four...thought they'd be fun when I make the chicken pot pie...... you can freeze, and microwave these little dishes....I think they're from the 70s, at least the pretty flowers seem to say so....

if you haven't signed up for my September giveaway..please do....

Saturday, September 17, 2011

A Autumn Saturday

Busy, busy, busy..we were gone most of yesterday...doing re keys and hanging up lock boxes...Fannie Mae has changed the codes on the lockboxes so we have to occasionally re visit some of the foreclosed houses to switch them out...gave out business cards too...alot of driving but all in all this last week was very good indeed....so thankful for the work.., this work is such a blessing...got a call from a contractor we know who is in dire straits with no work in sight....please pray for him, his name is Dave....he has a younger family,  he does foreclosure clean outs, and home repair...

Cooler weather! Its great, isn't it? I've been trying to clean and decorate for the fall now....still can't quite believe we are keeping the house...we've lived with that weight for some time so it takes a bit to sink in...
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Found some apples that I had hung on the big Christmas tree we used to have...thinking of making a basket using them and cinnamon sticks for the fall.....all our baskets disappeared after the fire we had last year so may go to the thrift shop for replacements....the local one has a bin in the back full of baskets....cheap too. All of our Halloween decorations are gone also...we do get quite a few Trick or Treaters every year....usually about 30 - 50...
Thought I would share two fall graphics I've collected ...




(a hint...if you upload the graphic into something like Photobucket....and then paste it into your blog from there...you will get the flicker on the candle...for those of us who didn't grow up with computers)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Wonderful News!

We are so happy today....as you may know, we've been falling behind in our mortgage payments....and have been in contact with our mortgage holder...they've been wonderful to us...(hard to believe, right?)..this morning, we got an email saying that we'd been approved for a loan modification! The loan officer called a few minutes later all excited for us.Our loan payment was dropped by almost $500...and we start our new payments in December...we couldn't really believe it at first..but what a wonderful thing....feels like a giant weight is off of us...Yee Haw!


Just goes to show, one should take action if you are behind and make some calls...you never know until you try...don't give up! God may open a door for you! There are several programs out there to help....we tried the Keep Your Home California 
but it didn't work for us as our mortgage  holder doesn't take any government help (actually good for them!) but it may work for someone else so I added the link.....there are other government programs in different states....that are similar.
Our weather is getting cooler....still fairly warm during the days though...feels like fall and we are so enjoying it. Planning another trip up to Oak Glen for apples....maybe this weekend in celebration of our good news...our back yard looks bad right now as with the financial weight over our heads and it being so hot, we just didn't have the energy to garden....but as those things are lifting, I'll be out there more clearing out the garden and the flower beds...we also have plans to re stain our fencing...have the stain but not the energy so that will be a fall project too.....maybe I can get the younger adults to help.
Here is the latest of our grandson....he is all of 11 lbs now and a month old....such a cutie!
He loves his grandpa!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Peaceful Housewife and Specials for a Dear Friend



As I said yesterday, I was asked to review recipes from the Peaceful Housewife.....her selling blog includes many organic, green and healthy cleaning products...if you have little ones running around, or health issues, particularly allergies (and we do here), or just want to be frugal...you might want to check out her site...The link will send you to the page where she has the Ebook I am giving away....it has over 30 recipes for homemade cleaning products....and the good thing about this is that I can feel free of opening this up to my overseas friends also as long as I have their email address...I will be giving away two of these little books...no requirements, just comment and if you don't have a blog where I can contact you...please send me your email address at vargasondanielle@gmail.com.

The giveaway will last for 10 days and this giveaway is separate from my regular monthly one.....

I made the recipe for laundry soap and am including it here...having a hard time this morning loading photos so sorry about that..but the recipe was fairly easy to put together..although I had to look in several stores to find the washing soda...maybe  you will have better luck...

1 bar soap (popular choices are Fels Naptha, Zote, Kiss My Face Pure Olive Oil Soap, or Ivory) (I used Ivory)
1 - 2 cups washing soda (also known as sodium carbonate)
1-2 cups borax
Grate the soap using a old cheese grater or food processor. Mix in washing soda  and borax...Experiment to see what works best for you...I like it about 50-50...you can scent this if you wish with essential oils. Use 1 to 2 Tablespoon per load. This did a good job...with prices going up all the time...might be something you might consider doing....it makes enough to wash about 20 loads or so, depending on how large your loads are...we have 6 in the house with the baby so I am washing at least one load a day...can't even imagine if they used cloth diapers!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.



I also wanted to mention that my friend Nancy from Huggins Haven is having a special...buy 3 items and get the 4th one for half price...she makes the most useful and darling things.....wish I can post a photo...sigh..will they ever get Blogger fixed? or perhaps its my computer, its a dinosaur..
anyway, Nancy is trying to get funds to help her furry babies and she can explain it (with photos, lucky her) better than I can so hope you will go over, say hello and check out her goodies...I love her grocery bags and use them all the time.

Monday, September 12, 2011

More Shoes...and tomorrow, a giveaway...

Going to show more of the shoes designed by the Jewish designer, Kobi Levi...I don't think anyone would really wear them but they're fun to look at....more museum quality than anything else...artistic though....




and to my mind, I think the one pair below are the weirdest.....



Tomorrow I will be reviewing a recipe from the Peaceful Housewife and giving away 2 of the Ebooks that she has published with over 30 recipes for housecleaning supplies that are organic, handmade, and natural....

Sunday, September 11, 2011

9-11-11 and thoughts about the future...

How times have changed..just 10 years ago, after the horrible unspeakable tragedy, flags were flown from every home, and overpass....help flowed to New York in the form of blood donations, fire fighters and rescue workers flew in from all 50 states, funds were set up for survivors and loved ones, everyone from every part of this great country came together as never before in my lifetime....prayers were sent to God above for comfort, healing and encouragement....and He did answer many times over...

Flash forward to 2011..our country is split deeply , mob rule is creeping in, and a offensive Moslem mosque is being built close to ground zero...the firefighters that you see above were not even invited to the 10th year memorial as there "wasn't enough room" and prayer is not allowed. TV news is full of violent accusations and name calling...mainly by those who have an agenda of progressive double speak.

Friends, the Tea Party is made of up people like yourself, moms and dads, grandparents, working class people, who have gotten up off their couches, out of their work trucks,  and raised their voices...the great majority of Americans who never really get involved in politics except to vote.

People who don't like conflict and avoid confrontation, who normally just want to live their lives in peace and quiet. The total agenda of the Tea Party is for a small efficient government, lower taxes, balanced budget and lower deficit. We want all Americans to succeed and we believe the best way to succeed is to get our government to follow the Constitution as it was written. In some ways, like our founding fathers who left their farms and somewhat comfortable lives to sacrifice for freedom..many of them died penniless after the war but their sacrifice enabled our life yet today but for how long?

We want  government to get out of the way of small business as this is what creates jobs and is the backbone of our great nation. Government cannot create jobs!

We want term limits so corruption which is common place in Washington D.C. can be cut off.

We want our children and grandchildren to grow up free without owing the government thousands of dollars...our dear baby grandson  owes the government $46,000  just by being born..ask yourself, is this right?

A book you will find interesting is Anne Coulter's Demonic...she goes back in history and traces mob rule which is fascinating...compares our American Revolution with the French Revolution ...we get books on cd and listen to them while we travel for work...we both learned so much about the French revolution..how terrible and bloody it was, how atheistic compared to our American one which was Christian..did you know that Thomas Paine was involved in the French Revolution? He almost got the guillotine himself when the mob turned on him...and only through the intervention by James Monroe did he secure his release.

Do we want that bloody mob rule today?

Hope if you are reading this and thinking about the last 10 years...what will the next 10 be like? Its up to all of us in next years election to decide if we want to keep going in the direction the country is headed...we are on the brink.....can we afford another 4 years with the current regime in the White House and Congress? think and pray about it..please.. spread the word....

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Friday, September 9, 2011

Friday Shoe Time


Another hot day here...it's been in the 100s all week..we had a small garage sale this morning and made about $50.00 which was surprising as we didn't think we had much to sell but one never knows....

My friend Kay did it again and sent me these photos of shoes designed by an Israeli designer, Kobi Levi..hope you enjoy them..like she said, he has alot of time on his hands..LOL...

Woof!






These are just a few...can't imagine wearing them, can you?


We were not effected by the power outage that hit all of San Diego...some places still don't have power a day later. It snarled traffic very badly as you can expect. Glad we didn't have any jobs down there much of the week.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

More Thoughts on a Wednesday

My son discovered that a Barn owl had made a nest in the tree in front of our house.....I normally like owls as you know and can't really fault the owl...she was only doing what comes naturally to feed her young...if we had known she was there, we would have taken better precautions so I guess its partially our fault, Mrs. Q is gone...seemed strange this morning to get up and not hear her....I don't think we are going to get any more animals..its just too hard when they leave us....seems harder as we age, doesn't it? perhaps because we've already lost so much in the way of loved ones....

Alan and I were talking and looking forward to the Lord's return, when animals won't be predators any more and "the lion will lie down with the lamb"...


Isaiah 11:6"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them."

Isaiah Chapter 65:25
"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD."

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

RIP

we woke up this morning to our oldest son's knocking at our bedroom door..he had gotten up for work, and noticed that our dear duck, Mrs. Quack, had met a cruel end...some predator (we all suspect it was a white owl) had attacked her in the yard early this morning...none of us heard any thing...Alan had the sad duty of burying her next to our beloved Smoky who had passed away last year.....We can be comforted in the fact that she had a good life here with us...Rest in Peace, pretty duck..we will miss you...

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Easy Chicken Pot Pie and some random thoughts

This is such a no brainer and yet so yummy...my kids have been asking me to make it every Sunday for the past month....I just made it up but there are very similar things on the internet....
We go to Costco about every two to three months and stock up on canned goods and meat....we get the large pack of canned chicken breast and also the very wonderful dried instant mashed potato flakes...
I use two cans of the chicken which I put our big old iron deep skillet...break up the large chunks..then add one  can of mixed vegetables, drained and one can of cream of chicken soup....I don't drain the chicken as the broth mixes with the soup which is what you want..mix these ingrediants well, heating gently...while I am doing this I heat the oven up to 350 or so......when all is mixed well, I make a pot of instant mashed potatoes and when its done...put big dollops of the potatoes across the top of the chicken mixture...and then some grated cheese....slide this mixture into the hot oven and bake for about 20 minutes or so...the potatoes get a little brown on top usually..and thats it...
I can never keep leftovers of this as its gone immediately......and my kids think I am a great cook...and who am I to disagree? usually serve with a green salad and perhaps some type of fruit...


Today we had three jobs in Oceanside, ca..the first was a real beast as the front door lock wouldn't open..took Alan almost an hour to get the door open...he drilled and drilled, until the lock was completely destroyed and it still wouldn't open...finally he managed to pry it apart..this was a tough one as Oceanside was experiencing the hottest day of the year at 103 degrees...

the others weren't so bad..one was in a senior housing tract..guess the senior (we count ourselves in the group by the way) was a bit of a swinger and had parties with young girls, and drugs....all the neighbors let us know how glad they were he was leaving.....the house had a very interesting lay out with a inner courtyard with lots of potential but was in a very sad condition...

I mentioned to the realtor that Fannie Mae should give these type of houses, like the old Home Stead act...the homeowner would agree to live in the house for a period of years,and improve the property...in turn, the house would be deeded over to them...sounded good to me anyway..

.but then I get alot of "off the wall" ideas...for example, I think the best stimulus for the country would be to give every tax payer over the age of 55 or 60 a million dollars....think of it....we could all retire, opening up thousands and thousands of jobs for the younger people....part of the stipulation would be you would either pay off your home loan or buy a new house...which would  help the housing market....I could go on but  you get the idea.....

Monday, September 5, 2011

Working for a Livin....Labor Day fun



Just thought I'd post a fun video of Huey Lewis and the News from back in the 1980s...have a great day! its sprinkling here today but hope it clears off as we want to barbecue....

back at the time, I was working full time for Walmart..they were experimenting with a discount clothing store like Ross..actually we were right next door to Ross in Oceanside....great company to work for actually, it was called Designer Depot...good pay and benefits...I was a department supervisor and was being trained to be a manager...we had fashion shows, and company dinners in the back room...fun work.....unfortunately, Walmart decided to close it as on a national level it wasn't making a big enough profit which is always the bottom line, but it was the best job I ever had...we actually had better buys and nicer clothes than Ross...a great shoe department and the jewelry department was very good....when it was announced they were closing...all the employees cried as we loved it so.....I wonder if there are any companies now that their employees would feel the same for the same reason....hope so.....

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Happy Sunday!

Here is the latest grandson report...Jayden is growing well...I had to take a photo with him in his cute striped outfit...it was hard to focus..seemed like he moved every time I snapped a picture...wanted to get him with his eyes open....
We bought him a new stroller..its all terrain and his car seat can fit in it for now...most strollers these days seem to have car seats included which they didn't need..they actually got 5 car seats as gifts!  Later, when he's older, he can use the stroller as is....they used it for the first time last night when they went to the dog park..

I am going to be doing a review of an ebook by the Peaceful Housewife....trying some of her recipes for handmade cleaning products....and will be having a giveaway of the Ebook ..if you'd like to check out her website, its here...her cleaning products are all natural and eco-friendly....scented or unscented....her scents sound so yummy, like Japanese Cherry Blossom and Sun Ripened Fruit. With a new baby in the house, it seems really important to have gentle natural products to clean with. I've tried laundry soap before, which did a good job but her recipe is slightly different so I will let you know....


Our weather is still warm in the high 90s but the nights are getting cooler...in the 60s now..fall is in the air with the trees starting to drop their leaves....we had a family garden day today with our next door neighbors and their daughter (16) raked our shared front yard and even cleaned the gutters..which was very nice

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Giveaway Winner

Good morning, just a short post...I drew the winning number last night with the random generator...the winner is
Katy, from the Country Blossom..I will be emailing her for her address.....thanks to everyone who entered...almost up to 100 followers! and will be having another giveaway for September very soon so please check back.....