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!