Shop news and very Creative websites

My tags are on sale this week with free shipping....only for this week however.....so if you don't want to take the chance of not winning my giveaway...you can still have some.......I just had to post this snowman as he's my favorite......and yes, I am having a giveaway....which ends on the 6th (why the 6th? it was my mom's birthday and is the birthday of one of my dearest friends)
here is the link to my Inspiration shop and the link for the giveaway is on the left side of the blog...
I have only one set of 4 redwork towels left! ..next year I plan on making more but not enough time now......I am also planning on making some very vintage embroidered pillows using patterns from the early part of the last century......and some bookmarks with scriptures...perhaps a Bible cover or two...more redwork,,,.lots of ideas brewing......also want to explore more crafting using vintage images......
Ten Two Studios is having their annual holiday countdown with free graphic images for each day of December.......here is the link...this will start tomorrow, Dec. 1st.....
I also wanted to mention another website called Artella Land..which is absolutely fantastic....and right now if you sign up for their newsletter, you can download a free copy (bless my frugal heart) of their 58 page ebook (pdf file) called Artella Mae's Altered Ancestors which usually costs around $18.00....... techniques for using old photos in artwork...very interesting and gives great inspiration.....

I am so sorry...I just realized I didn't give you the link for downloading the Artella ebook....here it is...just look at the bottom of the page for the downloading link....

These came in the mail today....the little gold shoe ornaments I won from Penniwigs !!
so pretty, and festive....please visit her blog when you get the chance if you haven't already...
they will have a place of honor on our tree...
This Saturday has been a quiet day for us..both of the boys are at the dog rescue so the house is very quiet.....its also a rainy day, it really poured last night, has sprinkled on and off all day...a real blessing...we are wondering if that means a wet winter...everyone here hopes so as we've had 4 years of drought.....we've been watching old black and white movies this afternoon and eating turkey sandwiches......Nick and Nora "The Thin Man" and others......

Yesterday ..my clothes dryer kept going and going......and the clothes weren't drying..the heating element seemed ok..so Alan took it apart and discovered the entire inside was clogged up with lint....he got the shop vac and cleaned it all out...works fine now so something that needs to be done every so often......I always clean out the lint trap but the lint had worked its way down into the workings of the dryer itself...could have started a fire.....we were thankful we found out about it before anything happened......I know one day we'll need a new one..we've had this set about 10 years. So if you haven't cleaned out your dryer...you may want to....on ours the front bottom panel pops out..........

The Day After

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving..we had tons of food and were very thankful......still have lots left, except I think our 18 year old raided the turkey last night....this happens about every year....its getting to be a tradition....the boys put the leaf in the table......and set it for me...

Alan wanted me to read about the first Thanksgiving by Rush Limbaugh.... which I did (I highly recommend )..we then prayed, holding hands as a family..the reading sparked a interesting discussion about socialism vs free market principles..who the pilgrims were, their beliefs and compared all of that to our beliefs today...we all agreed we liked to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter (Resurrection Day), something the early settlers didn't do...as they saw no scriptural basis but we think as the Israelites had feast and fast days, there is some basis for holidays (holy days) and its good to be thankful to the One who provides so bountifully.....

I cleaned off the table..its getting a little beat up now after 20 years of dinners....the boys ate there when they were little.....there are marks where they hit the top of the table with their first spoons....lots of memories.....

Later we watched a TV movie on the history channel about the First Thanksgiving and facts we didn't know...it was a 180 minute movie so the boys lost interest about half way through and decided to hang out with their friends but I think they made a good effort.....and we all learned something new.........
Alan and I would love to visit the Plimoth plantation..maybe one day when our ship comes in....the website is very informative....did you know the early pilgrims got along well with the
Wampanoag Indians for the most part......they did trespass to begin with and got into some trouble but once they understood, they became allies and friends.
We ended the evening with hot apple cider and pumpkin pie (homemade, sugar free, of course)

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you and yours a very happy Thankful day tomorrow.......now off to make pies!

Tuesday Chat

Is your turkey getting thawed out? Are the pies done? Is the bread getting dried out for dressing? Not me....our son has a whole dinner ordered and he will be bringing over everything tomorrow..all I have to do is heat it up on Thursday..rather nice........but I am making a sugar free pumpkin pie tomorrow.....for my sweet hubby and he is going to make his famous cranberry relish which is to die for......one year we made so much (cranberries were cheap that year) we froze pints of it and had it through January....good to snack on and so healthy.....

If you have little ones, or will be having some visiting and need some little fun ideas for them to be amused...no greater source I can recommend is The Toymaker...
this site has so much..hard for me to describe but believe me..you will have loads of fun exploring....I have posting the link here this is for the Christmas page..you will find the greatest little paper crafts to do....from making a little mouse that actually will roll across the floor( via a marble) to an elf ball, paper mazes, coloring pages..all kinds of fun things for children to make and play with, adults too.. its all free also...they do have paypal button for donations.....and you can sign up for a free newsletter which comes out 3 times a year.

I won! + a great video

Guess what I won! These fabulous little silver (I stand corrected they are old gold) shoe ornaments from Penniwigs..thank you so much...I usually never win anything....these shoes remind me of my mother, she adored pretty shoes...every time we go to the mall, we'd have to hit every shoe store...after she went into the home (she had dementia to the point I could no longer take care of her), we went through her closet and found over 150 pairs of lovely shoes, still in their boxes.....I know she would have loved these......if you haven't visited Penniwigs..please do..she has free graphics just about every day and the best earrings in her Etsy shop that would make wonderful gifts...

Be sure to sign up for my giveaway..if you would rather have another design and are the winner, let me know..I can make any design I have in my shop for you. In fact..I will change the rules slightly..for every ten sign ups, a new set so you will have a 1 in 10 chance of winning!


I just have to post this wonderful youtube video of the AMAZING Kings Firecrackers jump rope team exibition at the US Navy academy...


just watch the reaction of the crowd........be sure to watch it all the way through....these girls are totally awesome!

A Tag Giveaway!!!

I received another tag pattern from Primitive Stitches and just finished my first set of these Saint Nicolas tags....added jingle bells on Santas cap so they would make cute tree ornaments....
to open the holiday season, I am giving away this first set!
Here are the rules....just comment for one entry...if you blog, mention my giveaway on yours, link back to my blog for a second entry....
This giveaway will run until Dec. 6th where I will use the random generator to pick out the winner...for every 10 sign ups..I will add another set..so you have a 1 in 10 chance of winning!

Thursday at Our House

I just happened to run across a very interesting website called The First Thanksgiving
..Squanto's Garden and how it saved the first Thanksgiving......

You can download a free ebook with a total history of the Piligrims and their struggle with the poor soil of New England...how Squanto showed them how to garden..I haven't read it all but what I did read was very informative..as we have poor soil here too..you also, (of course there is always a catch with something that is free) get an advertisement for their fish emulsion product that sounds very good indeed...I know that fish emulsion is good gardening as when my dad would go fishing, he would take the trimmings, heads, tails, etc..and bury them in the flower beds...we had the most beautiful elephant ear plants and calla lilies in the San Diego neighborhood..maybe next spring, I will order some..a little late in the year right now..for gardening but the ebook is a winner....so check it if you are so inclined.........

speaking of gardening...do you remember the fig tree twig Alan planted in a pot this summer?
We were both so pleasantly surprised to find it growing, and leafing out...never realizing it would actually produce fruit but lo and behold!


A fig in November! the mini me tree is growing also...he may need to repot it...we are thinking of bringing it in the house soon as the nights are getting a mite chilly..almost down to freezing.....


We are having a difficult time financially right now so I covet your prayers.....don't want to go into details but we are praying the Lord will provide us with funds to cover so several important
bills..like getting our home modification, taxes, lawyer fees and more..of course, this all comes right during the holiday season...He is able, I know and have faith......
I am selling some of my treasured items to help. I have this very rare and special cooky plate on Ebay right now..been in the family for decades....its Californian pottery from the 1950s or late 40s........

Wednesday Dog of the Week

This is little Lucas...he is a Poodle, Toy/Bichon Frise mix...another senior at 8 years old..how old is that in doggy years....54? he is very healthy and had to be given up as his owner could no longer keep him.....the man brought him in crying as he loved him so.....times are tough...the first few days in the shelter are tough on the dogs too as they are confused and scared...most new comers are kept separate from the other dogs, given comfort and attention...if you think you'd like to help financially or as a volunteer or are interested in Lucas...please go to Sun City K-9 Rescue
I follow quite a few blogs...and one I am very fond of is Johanna Parker Design..she is a wonderful artist and I know you will enjoy clicking on the link and visiting her blog today.....very festive..I'm not going to say more, just go over and see if I'm right.......all I needed was some eggnog and holiday music to go along with me....
I am resisting the urge to start decorating this blog for Christmas...I will have to use all my self control to wait but did cave in on my other blog, Daniv's Newsletter..I posted a great video on there too, about candy cane making in a small town.......

Road Trip, Victorville, Ca

Here is a mince pie for Thanksgiving day...and again, so huge!

We drove up to Victorville, Ca on Sunday to re key a foreclosed house...its a nice drive up through the El Cajon pass.......and the traffic was fairly good..no back ups except for one spot where they were working on the side of the road.......on the way up, I spied a train coming round the bend...see if you can see it in the photo...you will have to click on it....

The house was in a new tract and I liked it...it had 3 bedrooms plus a room that could be used as a office, large living room with a fireplace, and a good sized kitchen with plenty of cupboards.....it was in very good condition also...I don't think the realtor will have a problem selling it....good neighborhood too with nice lawns and trees.......you really wouldn't know you were in the high desert......while Alan was working on a lock, I decided to stroll around the yard and found some cactus plants that were interesting.....

The spent flower heads look like birds heads, don't they? At least that's what it looked like to me from a distance.......

On the way back, we found this old chimney on the side of the freeway, standing all by itself...being shaded by a Joshua tree... Joshua trees dotted the landscape everywhere you look....sadly the high desert has been invaded by non-native weeds of all types....when we lived in Barstow in the 1960s, the desert floor was cleaner and didn't have all the weeds that you see now....it was mainly sand, rocks, cacti, Joshua trees and some mesquite.....the desert floor is scarred also by off road vehicle tracks..and takes centuries to recover. Thankfully, the county has now sectioned off certain areas for the off road crowd in order to save the desert....but damage has been done that the desert may never fully recover from.....in fact, when we lived there, we found covered wagon tracks off in the Calico mountain range from the silver miners that looked like they could have been made yesterday....the desert heals slowly...very slowly.