Happy New Year and a look back

I just decided to dress up my blog for the spring. Yes, a early spring but spring all the same. Here in southern California, winter is very mild and some of our flowers bloom year round. It has gotten colder but mild so far anyway.  No rain either which is disappointing but not unexpected.

2017 was a hard year for us, losing our house wasn't on the agenda when we started out the year but sadly it did  happen. The unsual thing that has happened is the second lein holder who evicted us now paid all the back payments to the first. Of course, when we were forced to leave, we didn't make any house payments but paid  our new rent. Hence there were back owned payments that the second. recently paid along with two months of additional payments. Very curious and never heard of if you believe our agent who has worked in real estate for many years.She is investigating to see if she can find out anything. She represents us to the mortage companies. A mystery for sure and only time will tell what the second has in mind. Frankly, I think they really don't know what they're doing. Its just a small company of 12 employees.

I am hoping and praying that 2018 will be a great year for not only us but my readers too.  wishing you health, joy and happiness!

Vintage Postcards for Christmas

I 'm sharing some darling vintage postcard graphics. I got these from some guys that I've known for some time when I had another blog and crafted with vintage graphics. I made some great memory jars using them.
They have a Facebook page, Vintage Image Craft

 Of course, as I love cats, I shared all the cat postcards!

Peanut butter, cookies and the Christmas house

I get Birds and Blooms magazine. When I read the latest issue, they suggested putting peanut butter on the bark of the tree for the birds. As we get alot of migrating birds here, I decided to try it. My! has it been successful or what? This morning I saw alot of birds feasting on the peanut butter so I recommend doing this as its so easy and the birds sure appreciate it. They were actually fighting for first place!

I'm in the middle of baking peanut butter cookies. Our oldest son just loves them and often asks me to make him some. This time of year seems like cooky baking time to me so there ya go! I always use real butter in my cookies. It really makes a difference.

Here is a photo of the 4 of us at the Christmas house I spoke of in my last post. I'm next to the big guy who looks like Santa. Our good friends and we had a wonderful time there.

here are a few photos...

 They have Christmas villages both inside and outside. Plus give out hot apple cider and food . They only ask for canned goods for our Community Cupboard to help low income people. Last year they were able to give the Cupboard 10,000 lbs of food.

Menifee Christmas House and a great loss.

Every year, a wonderful family here in Menifee, decoate the first floor of their home for their neighbors and friends. They estimate they have had 14,000 visitors last year. Its truly a wonderful thing and creates such a great spirit in the community. There is no charge and they only ask for people to bring canned goods for the Community Cupboard that helps low income people with food. Its all good will and good times.
There is a complete write up of it, much better than I've expressed. Just click on this link..

Menifee Christmas House 

and you can also view a terrific video here....Menifee Christmas house video

If you are in the area, please visit and you won't be disappointed. Its open every night until Christmas and starts at 5 every evening.

We are mourning the death of a wonderful friend. He was a great guy and was someone immediately became friends with everyone. Warm, generous, and caring man. He left this earth doing good all his life and will be greatly missed. Sadly, Agent Orange struck again as he was a veteran of Vietnam.
Rest in peace, dear brother and good friend, Joseph Balatoni. One of a kind and too good for this world
Here he is with his wife, Kay (of many years and my best friend). He leaves behind his wife and 4 children, one grandchild and other family members.

Cross Stitch Kits

I found some cute little ornament cross stitch kits so if you'd like one or more, let me know. I'll make you a good deal. I think the patterns would be great for card making too so if they don't sell, that's what I'm going to do with them. Cute!
They are all factory sealed and come with cloth, needle, directions and floss.  These are listed in my Etsy shop and you can find that on the left hand side of this blog.

sold!

Mannheim Steamroller ~ Christmas Album

Salt and Pepper Collection

I started collecting Christmas salt and peppers a few years ago. Here are a few of them..

Its a fun collection and brightens up our kitchen. I put them on the wide window sill we have now. I got most of them on Etsy so if you like them, that's a good place to look. One hint, go to new sellers as they usually list them at a lower price. Most of these I got for $5.00 or under. Some on sale too after the holidays.
I have others but these were all that fit on the shelf.

I also decorated our washboard....it was inherited by Alan's mom and he put a box on the bottom for decorations. I do it every season.

As Alan's mom loved cardinals, I was able to find some to accent the box.

I figured out how to post some music..hope you enjoy it. 

Christmas Decorating

I have negelected this blog terribly, I know. Its been a rough few months, this year has been very tough.

Losing our house was only one of a series of trials and our health is something we're dealing with. Getting older isn't fun. Alan's diabetes, acid reflex and IBS tend to rule our lives some days. My aching arthitic knees don't help either.

I decided to get an exercise machine for my knees and try to work out every day on it. The workout does seem to help somewhat. Its only been a couple of weeks but I can see and feel the difference. in a good way.

Meanwhile, we're getting ready for Christmas. Our living room is small so we decided to get a smaller tree. Its a four foot one and I put it on a round table we had.

It quite colorful and has LED bulbs so it really cheers up the room. The tablecloth is a barkcloth old one that I inherited and the red topper was one my grandmother (my mom's) embroidered. Not the best photo I know. Our regular star for the top of the tree is too large so we'll be looking for a smaller lighter one.

This pinecone wreath was done by my grandmother around 50 years ago. She made one for each of her children (my dad) and I've kept it all these years. She always said you can make something from nothing. The back is  just heavy cardboard, some of the cones are wired in and many are just glued. It has a wire on the back for hanging. If you click on the photo, it really shows how pretty this is.

I put this raggedy runner on the coffee table. It was made by my good friend, Nancy Huggins. The candle holder is vintage also, from the 60s. Its very pretty at night when lit.

This little angel music box was one I bought at the Lawerence Welk resort when I worked in the gift shop there.(1980s) It plays Joy to the World. and I have red candle holders thoughour the book shelves. They reallly brillant at night.

We did have a beautiful nativity set we put out every year however it was destroyed when we have our fire. We had bought it when we were young. Sadly, we haven't had the funds to get another one, maybe one day.

If you're a young person reading this blog, don't fault us old folks if we surround ourselves with old things. Many of the decorations are family and bring us closer to those loved ones who have passed away. Especially at Christmas time, we think of all those Christmases years ago when our parents and other family members were still with us. I think its ok as long as its not overdone. We don't want to live in the past but we do want to honor, remember it and them.

Hope as the Christmas season gets underway, you are blest with family, good food and fun. We're going to a White Elephant Party this coming weekend and look forward to it every year. Some very good friends of ours hold it at their house every year. If you've never been to one, they are alot of fun.
Its the highlight of the year for us.

Tags

I've been working like crazy on embroidery. Making alot of tags for the holidays as they are a popular item in my Etsy shop....They really make cute gift tags for packages as well as used in holiday decorating.

we go to a White Elephant party every year with some dear friends and I decorate the package with one of these tags. Everyone likes them and they have something to take home to use as a tree decoration afterwards.

I have quite a few listed and will be adding more in the coming days. They all come with tying ribbon so they're ready for whatever you have planned.

All proceeds go to helping us stay above the water and have a nice Christmas. Life is a stuggle sometimes as we all know. Living mainly on Social Security is difficult.

My Etsy shop, Cute Puppies, A Table Topper and more

As I last posted, I've been restocking my Etsy shop. Here are two flour sack type towels with cute vintage puppies I hand embroidered. This is one of my favorite patterns. I made a pillow top for a friend with this same pattern as her daughters puppy looks similar to these little guys. You will find these towels in my Etsy shop which is posted on the left of this blog.

Here a close up for oen of the puppies, he has green eyes and is so cute. This was really fun to stitch.

I also listed this table topper. I emroidered little houses all around the inside of the square cloth. They are in shades of terra-cotta, blue, gold and green. Rather multi-colored. The houses are rather interesting.

This cloth is nicely finished also and measures 30 by 30 inches. This again can be found in my Etsy shop.

                              Lots of tags are listed too. Many for the holidays .

These are all primitie style and I get the patterns from Primitive Stitches. Brenda is a talented designer.They make nice tree ornaments as well as used in accenting wreaths, or hanging on a knob. I use them to garnish gifts also for the annual White Elephant party we attend every December. A nice little extra.

The world is rather crazy right now, isn't it? One emergency after another. Praying for Las Vegas and our nation.

Olive trees and Shop News

Thought I'd share what's outside of our little hole in the wall condo. These are olive trees and this time of year, they are really loaded with olives.

Olives have to be cured to be eatable. From last years rain, they are so loaded, it woud have been a shame to havethem  go to waste.

We found out to our joy that there were Italian people who harvest these every year. One group came a few weeks ago and then yesterday another group came. They gather the olives, gallon buckets of them and take them home to cure.

Alan spoke with them and they invited him to help them which he did. He found out that they knew some of the Italian contracters we befriended in our old town of Vista, California. In fact, one of the men had the same last name so they could have been related. Small world!

I guess we're starting to get adjusted to being here. Its hard to go from a 4 bedroom home with a huge garden and yard to a tiny condo. For some time, its felt like we're just visiting or on vacation. God's ways are not our ways but His ways are always the best.

I've been slowly restocking my Etsy shop. Making alot of fabric tags for the holidays.

I will be listing more in the next few weeks and months. Not just tags either, some new cards, towels and wall hangings. Hopefully by next year, I'll be back on track. It takes alot of time to get organized!

Crochet and Rocking Horses

I crocheted two baby afghans some time ago. They were made with very soft baby yarn. Its an amazing yarn, so soft and warm.
The first one is a giant granny square...its done in white, green and blue.

I enjoy crocheting and will probably start doing it again. I still have my hooks and just need some yarn. Back in the early days, Alan and I made things to sell in a little gift shop. I made crocheted stuffed animals and he made rocking horses.....

The animals were something like this, I had alot of fun crocheting these and did sell quite  a few of them back in the day. Now they have so many cute patterns! Back then, it was much harder to find patterns as there was no internet. I'd buy crochet magazines and go to the library for pattens.

and Alan's horses were like this

I got these images from Google search, these aren't ours. We made ours back in the late 1970s. He would made the horses and I'd paint the features on them. He sold a few of these too. He made a miniature one also which I put out at Christmas time.

The second afghan I made is a ripple one. Its Alan's favorite pattern and is an easy one.

As you can see, its the same color and yarn as the first one/ This one is rather small though, I guess I may have run out of yarn. I think I may use it in my mom's doll buggy. Nice for a doll.

I do love the ripple pattern and thinking of making a large one for our living room. Afghans make nice gifts too.

 Another warm day here, but its getting cooler. Hopefully the fall is coming, Its been a long deary hot summer.We're slowly recovering from losing our nice house and garden. I have sure missed homegrown tomatoes and vegeables. Plus our dining room table, I didn't realize how much we used it and now, not having it is difficult. Praying about that, definitely!