New Grand Son

Here is our new grandson...he was born on Monday....Jayden Ryder

7 lbs. 11 oz...21" long.....Happy Birthday and welcome to the world, Little guy!

Why Didn't I Think of That? continued

here are a few more brillant inventions from the email that was sent to me...several of them I am going to be looking for....love this idea of a hidden compartment...

Fast food?

 

I don't like messy paint cans when we are painting.... am always a little frustrated by what's available....this looks like it might work...

and finally....I think this is designed for the handicapped but would be wonderful for crafters also....

Happy Monday

I just discovered this Etsy artist...are not these magpies wonderful! Robyn is a California artist and her shop is something out of fairyland...hope you will visit and enjoy her creations as much as I have....
.Motherload Toad Factory

Its quite warm here today and windy.....great for drying clothes...I try to get outside and keep the bird bath full for our feathered friends....this time of year is hard on them..we noticed that the hummingbird feeder has constant visits now too......August is usually our hottest month.....today is about 98....which isn't by far the hottest we've experienced...usually August is in the 105 range.....
We try to get out early in the morning for yard work....started pulling out the corn stalks right now....I do have two dozen corn in the freezer....which will be nice this winter....some of the larger tomatoes are starting to get ripe so I may get to can a few quarts..and just enjoy the rest....
and now for some funnies....
A Merry Heart Doeth Good like a Medicine.....

Life is just a bowl of cherries...

We've been so busy this week...I come home and am just exhausted most days..plus I've been fighting a stomach thing..really nasty...but am feeling better this weekend.....these cherries we picked up at a local market down in San Diego county and wow...they are so good....meaty and delicious.....

 My good friend, Kay, sent me a cute email called Why didn't I think of that?" ...I like simple ideas that work....she and I both like the key holder..

This teapot holder would make up for less spillage...

 great idea for the corner cupboard..that space is often unusable....

and this cup holder is just..well, rather unique...!!

Tomato Sauce

We were looking at all the tiny tomatoes that have grown this year..wondering what to do with them...we thought the Amish Paste, Roma and others would be a good size..but they have only grown slightly larger than cherry tomatoes. I don't know if it was a mild spring and relatively cool summer....Alan picked a huge bowl of them and I decided to cook them down...and then run them through the food mill....

this is the result...

I let this sauce cook down most of the afternoon until it got nice and thick...then was able to can 7 pints! I added a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice to each jar to make sure they were acid enough.....I plan on making at least another canner full before we are done.....

We are growing some heirloom tomatoes in pots..they are doing much better and are actually a bigger size.....not ripe yet though...
.

They won't get sun burned like those in the ground as they are under the patio cover....may take a little longer to ripen but well worth it.....
we've been a little busy this week...two jobs today and possible two tomorrow......God is good!

Memories

Alan brought back this owl picture  we had given to Mom and Dad some 35+ years ago..it hung over their living room entry all that time..mom and dad owls, all 10 kids..its  held up well, don't you think?..I hung it up in our living room now...when we first were married, several of the children were still living at  home...these little owls looked over the family,( wish they could talk)....weddings, birth of grandchildren and great grandchildren, aunts/ uncles coming and going, loads of laughter and love, Bible studies, hot coffee and cards during the long Iowa winters. Birthday parties and anniversaries..over 40 Christmases all in a tiny house that had been built in 1898...the house has  been remodeled several times...

its just pecky cedar, with knots for the owls with googly eyes but means alot to us....so glad Alan was able to bring it back with him. It hangs above this wall  hanging below...

This Iowa wood wall hanging we bought one year in the Amish country, outside of Independence...there are many Amish farms with little shops on the properties....we would go with Mom and Dad...buying  treats and a few things to bring home...we used to drive back to Iowa every year before we had kids..after that we took the train, getting a sleeper berth..the boys have many happy memories of train travel as do we...the train we went on, no longer runs unfortunately. We both are  hoping to be able to get together with the other siblings in the next year..Mom wanted the kids to stick together..she wrote a wonderful letter to the family before she passed.....
The first year we went back to Iowa, I was a new bride and had never been out of California.....it was quite an adventure....I remember one night, sleeping upstairs in the loft..they had a summer thunder storm...I'd never seen anything like it....the sky was crashing, and bolts of lightening seemed to fill the little window where I perched, Alan, of course, slept through it....Dad came upstairs and sat with me, worried that I was scared..I was a little scared, but more in awe and wonder at the amazing storm...

Happy Sunday!

Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord...

Lee Hill Primitives giveaway....

Eve is giving away this wonderful cute prairie doll with her pumpkin friend....I hope you will head on over to Lee Hill Primitives to sign up..it will end on August 23rd......she will be adding other items throughout the month.....this sweet little doll has a hand stitched face and I just love her expression....

Its another warm day again...dog days of summer so to speak...we had one job in San Diego today...it was a lock out but no one was at home, the family had left long before...then we got two local calls in the afternoon....the heat makes us both rather lazy and we have to push ourselves get to things done....you probably are in the same frame of mind...heat does sap the strength, doesn't it? so wishing for cooler days...
Meanwhile, I found a wonderful little package in the mail...my winnings from the PFTA Christmas in July giveaway...was pleasantly surprised to find these wonderful little rusty tin mittens with homespun ..they are so cute.....and look good on our antique cabinet....

They are from Joan at Vintage Keepsake Trunk...
Joan doesn't live too far from me, in Palm Desert, California and she makes the most wonderful creations....I was just browsing her shop..just look at this....

I feel so blest to have won something from this talented craftswoman...and hope you will visit her shop...going back to browse right now!

August Giveaway!

I decided to give away one of these nice August Blessings candle mats...so hope you will head on over to my other blog and sign up.......I also giving away 3 Snowman tags if I get 100 followers...its been my goal this summer and am only 20 away now.....Sweet Home Stitchery August Giveaway...the candle mat actually looks nicer than the photo...I've been having trouble with my camera focus..probably dropped it too many times!
am thinking of using this pattern and making it into a wall hanging.....think it would be nice by the front door or on the door....will let you know how that goes.....

Tuesday Chat

Phew! Are we all ready for fall? I sure am..although our summer so far hasn't been as hot as other years, its been more humid....it actually poured  rain most of yesterday morning....which is highly unusual...and this morning, its only 71 degrees but its 56% humidity..our normal humidity is around 15% or less...from what I've read online..many of you are experiencing unusual weather also...either no rain, or too much rain...hot temperatures...etc.


Our garden looks very sad right now..the heat has taken its toil......with lots of weeds too.....we are rethinking what we will do in the future..and we both think next year (if we get to keep the house that is) we will go completely to raised beds....we are both getting older and its just too hard to keep up with all the weeds..the only plants that look good yet are the tomatoes we grew in pots...all our tomato plants in the ground look sad although we are still getting tomatoes...most of them are small ..too small to can.....more like cherry tomatoes.....great in salads! We've been giving alot away and eating the rest....

Our little grand son should be here any day.....he is full term and ready to be born...so its just a matter of time..the little mama is walking alot, miserable of course  in this heat, eating hot food, etc. trying to encourage labor to start..although she is scared too..please pray everything goes right for her and little Jayden..the doctor says they are both perfectly healthy and Jayden is at a good weight. They were going to move into the trailer but decided its better to stay with us until after the baby is born..which I think is a wise idea.....

I won a giveaway! Was pleasantly surprised yesterday to get an email from the PAFA Etsy team for the Christmas in July giveaway....I won a set of rusty mitten ornies for the tree...and will take a photo when I receive them....as you know, last year we had a fire in our garage and much of our Christmas decor was destroyed so we've had to start over.

I've been deciding what to giveaway for August and think it will be a candle mat.....I will announce the giveaway tomorrow.....listed a few more things in my Etsy shop...and now have a widget which no matter how I tried last night couldn't get it to fit on this blog.....but its on Sweet Home Stitchery....wish I knew more HTML coding to make it fit but then of course, there weren't any computer  classes when I went to college!

I decided to go with the white background on my Etsy shop banner....you can see it here ..thanks for the feedback!