Saturday

3 pretty sisters......

Its early Saturday morning......we are supposed to have warm weather today...in the low 70s...but much of the country is under tornadoes, snow, ice, and other wet stuff...take care...nice day to stay home and enjoy your loved ones around the fireplace...
Did you hear some county here in Southern California is going to outlaw wood burning fireplaces? yes, because they are saying it causes air pollution....there will be a $500 fine if you are caught by the "fireplace police"....seems like the powers that be are taking away more freedoms away all the time.....plus with all the other problems, I think the police have better things to do than drive around looking for fireplace smoke....but such are the times we live in.....I wonder if that includes outdoor fireplaces?

This is a photo of a baseball camp....in the late 1800s...

I was pleasantly surprised to actually make my first sale in Etsy! We had found vintage advertisements at a thrift store last year...all sealed in acid free plastic sleeves for a small price....I listed a few in my Etsy store this last week just to see what would happen....I love old ads and such as well as old photos..

We have a great thrift shop here in Sun City....all the proceeds go to the Community Cupboard to help struggling families so the money goes for a good cause....many estates are donated and they get "new" things in all the time....I haven't gone lately but plan on going soon....also we have many estate sales in the area year round as this is a popular retirement area....I used to go every Thursday but as we are struggling ourselves now, haven't gone in several months....

I am hoping we can go out today and do some photography....on the way to my son's new school, I spied a hillside covered in blue lupine..beautiful! also many of the hills here are covered with California poppies....

Glad Tidings Blog Giveaway!

If you like primitives, please sign up for Penny Kings prim bunny giveaway...just click on the Glad Tidings Blog link here on the side of the blog.....

Here is a very old tintype..Civil War era

I was just listening to the news this morning...gas prices are going up to unheard of levels...we are now paying almost $3.50 a gallon and rising....they say flour is going up too and with that, all baked goods will go up....tough times.....I'm thinking of buying one of those huge sacks of flour at Costco and putting it in our garage freezer ...I think they are 25 lb. sacks...as I bake a lot and make our own bread occasionally....it might pay off....if we really go into a recession, a food cooperative might be a good thing....Alan and I were part of one back in the 70s when we were newlyweds...worked out great...just have to get organized and have a place to store bulk items....we have room in our garage..

The mourning dove is sitting on her nest! We were surprised yesterday to see her...didn't take them long to build one...and its exactly in the same location as last year...there was a strong wind last night but she never moved.....her mate flies in and feeds her....she doesn't worry but stays the course for the sake of her babies and God supplies her need.....

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In 1834 Edward Mote was considering the gracious experience of a Christian and wrote the words to the hymn “the immutable basis of a sinner’s hope.” One day while visiting a friend and his sick wife, they read scripture together and also wanted to sing a hymn, but no hymn book could be found. Mote had in his pocket the words to his hymn and read them to the family. The woman’s heart was greatly encouraged by the words and requested to keep them. Mote went home and realized that if these words can help one dying woman maybe it can help others so he rewrote the words and added some more verses and included it in his “Hymns of Praise” collection. Today this hymn has a different title. It is known as “The Solid Rock.”

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My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not rust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In ev’ry high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

Wednesday

Another good morning to you! how do you like this little person? For you doll makers out there, wouldn't she (or he?) make a cute doll? I know a few of you use old photos for inspiration....I guess this little person is wearing boots, at least that's what it looks like..and gloves too....the coat seems to wrap around the front and fasten at the shoulder or neck...

I helped Alan a little yesterday at a foreclosed house...when he went to re key it, he found the side garage door and the door into the house from the garage had been kicked in....the outer door wasn't even attached any more and the inner one wouldn't lock...guess the previous owner wasn't a happy camper about having to leave...lovely home though, and he did no damage inside.....Alan put a bid in for repair to the bank and they immediately accepted so we went to work.
He was able to replace the outer door and is going back this morning to finish the job and clean up a little...we forgot to take a broom yesterday. They just wanted the outer door fixed so I guess whoever buys the house will have to get the inner door fixed.
While we were there, several neighbors came over and said the owner had been a hot head. The HOA board president came over and said the previous owner had always been in violation of the rules...reminded me of a story our pastor told once...

An old farmer was leaning on his fence when a stranger came who asked him..
"what are the people like around here? We are thinking of moving.." The old farmer
replied "what were the people like where you are moving from?"
The stranger said "Oh, just terrible, nothing but problems, spreading rumors, lying,
not friendly.."
The old farmer said.."well, the same people live here"...so the stranger went away disappointed..
a day goes by and the farmer is again out by his fence when another stranger comes by..
and asks the same question..
The farmer again replied, "what are the people like where you are moving from?"
This second stranger says with a smile" Oh, just wonderful, friendly, helpful, we are really sad to leave "
The farmer said.."The same kind of people live here too, you'll love it".

Just a note..thanks Suzie for signing my guest book! Suzie is my niece and lives in Ft. Worth, Texas...

Here are 3 ladies from the Victorian era....a studio photo.....lovely dresses

Our mourning doves have returned! They are building a new nest in the same tree...how fun! as I said in an earlier post, I wasn't sure if they would nest in the same place but that question has been answered....guess they didn't like the gourd birdhouse, it would have been too small for them anyway....its amazing to me...once the eggs are laid, its only about 10-12 days until they hatch...they usually have two eggs...the babies stay in the nest about another 12 days or so and then start venturing on their own....last year the two babies hid under our rose bushes...we have one climbing rose bush that is huge until they got more confidence...

Our nectarine tree is going to start blooming any time now...its covered with buds and there are a few that have opened...I want to post a photo when its covered with pink flowers...hope we get a few nectarines this year...

also I wanted to mention that the EZshoppe yard sale doesn't start officially until tomorrow, the 5th..they are going to have drawings and games so don't miss getting in on the fun....prizes too! I am not doing it this year but my dear friend Nancy is so please take a look. She has some nice things listed, over 100 items..

I've been Featured on Etsy!

I went to check my email this afternoon and found out one of my Etsy store listings has been featured in the Etsy treasury!
Last year Alan and I went to the local thrift store and found a stack of vintage advertising all in acid free sleeves....
Memories of a Bygone Era
http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php
you will have to past this address in as blogger is not working with adding links onto posts for some reason...or go to the home page of Etsy and click on Treasury..

mine is the Bulldog Suspender Ad

Good Monday Morning!

Here is a very old photo..sweet baby girl..I craft with a lot of old photos...if you haven't seen my journal jars, please take a look, either in my
Etsy store or my online store....I am working on a cigar box ...I thought it would make a good box to store handmade greeting cards in.....with stamps and a pen...

I slept with a heating pad last night, seemed to help a little....hopefully today will be better for my back...not fun when you can't bend over....

we had a wind storm last night...lots of branches down and our portable basketball hoop blew over on the patio....made quite a noise in the night...the newspaper said that the wind in some places was blowing at over 70 mph!

I was outside yesterday watching the mourning doves...there is a pair and I think they want to nest in the sumac tree again but were leery as I had put a birdhouse in it that I got from Nancy Huggins, (you can check out her things through Inside Nana's Head on the side link list)so I moved the house to our fig tree instead....they are the sweetest birds...I really like doves...the topping on our wedding cake some 34 years ago now were two white doves.

Nancy is participating in the EZshoppe Yard Sale this week...I have put a banner link on the left side that goes to her booth...she is selling many Stephen King books, nice cross stitch kits, fabric, records, etc...don't you just love yard sales? I found several things I liked...what about you? She has one of the bird houses I got from her for sale also...the birds just love gourd birdhouses.

Please sign my guest book.....you are always welcome here to snag any of the vintage photos I post for your own collection...some of the ones I post are from our family and some I found in various places on the internet...all public domain so no worries!
My guest book is at the bottom of the blog..

here is a vintage French postcard, enjoy!
I woke up with a back ache...probably from pulling weeds in our rose garden.....so many weeds after all the rain we've had...my roses are starting to grow and I need to dose them with some epsom salts...they thrive on it...we also intent on planting more sunflowers along the fence line...might as well plant things I know grow well here...
Our mourning doves are back again also....last year they made a nest in our African Sumac tree and laid several clutches of eggs, raised the chicks and left in the fall..
the nest blew down. I don't know if they nest in the same place every year or not...guess we will find out....

Saturday

Good morning, here is a nice photo of a cafeteria...probably in the late 20s or 30s...
I wonder what kind of meals they served.?..it does say Breakfast Served on the banner at the back of the room...everything looks sparkling clean and ready for business...

we got a call yesterday from a mortgage company in Scottsdale, AZ to do a re keying job here in Menifee...that is very encouraging...nice when our advertising pays off and all our hard work is rewarded...hopefully, any work they need done in this area will be done by Alan's Residential Lock from now on...Alan and our son Matt are there now, rekeying a foreclosed home...all these homes are in nice areas...we went by the house yesterday and spoke to the next door neighbor...evidently the family slipped out in the night and the house was all closed up for several months....It didn't look bad though, the lawn was green and the roses were blooming...guess the rain we had helped.

Alan and Matt went to a large home last weekend...huge....almost what I would consider a mansion....lovely outside and in...on the island in the kitchen was a note, saying "We didn't want to leave", how sad is that?

I just don't understand mortgage companies who evict homeowners...nothing is selling and the homes stay empty for months, losing money for the mortgage company...why not let the homeowner stay and pay what they can..? You can't even flip a house right now....someone tried to do that in our neighborhood, bought it at auction, repaired it and now it sits, with both a "for sale" and "for rent" sign on it.
I understand the company has the right to foreclose but something should be worked out with the homeowner until the house sells or the owner can make payments...this is getting ridiculous...some neighborhoods look like ghost towns...