Exploring Birthdays

Someone just turned 2! Guess who? And peek a boo!

Hola Dora! How do we get to the birthday party?

Well, first, you go ACROSS the bridge...

Then you go OVER the mountain....

And AROUND the corner... and THEN you'll be at the party!

These two had a great time together this year.

The older one amazed at the little one..."She can TALK now!"

Big brother is showing how to take down that pinata

The birthday girl gave it her best!

What do we need? Backpack, Backpack....

This guy never leaves home without his light saber!

The sun actually warmed things up and Sarah, brought out the 'screen.

(We haven't had much call for that this year)





Things were very festive

Muchas Gracias, Dora. Wonderful party! Delishioso!

Pearls and Scallops for Miss Floribunda

I finally got the studio cleaned up enough to unearth the sewing machine. It was actually really nice to have the work table cleared off to use for a proper cutting table. My plan was to make a little dress with a crocheted bodice. The plan changed and decided to just make a plain dress....

And crochet a little capelet/cami, that coujld be worn over it, if desired. That way they could be laundered separately, and it would be more versatile.

I didn't have a pattern for the capelet, and am more of a knitter than a crocheter, so it's nothing to write home about...[or blog for that matter]

But it was kind of fun to create. If I were doing it again...I would create it more curved like the dress bodice, and would make the dress first, but life's a learning process right?

I do like the real shell, mother of pearl buttons.

I had never tried making scallopy lace edging before, and it turned out to be my favorite part, both in the actual crocheting of it, and the final project.

The BuZZzzzzz

The clover fields were all in their glory, as we drove past on our way to Jen's.

little bee nectar mini-markets on every corner

And high rise condos taking in the panoramic views.

The beekeepers have their hives in place, to take advantage of all those lovely blossoms.

On the home front, we had a swarm, that needed a home. I would have loved to have obliged, but contrary to how this picture appears....it was way up in a pine tree....higher than our orchard ladder will reach. (My zoom was at full capacity here) I probably would have tried something stupid to get it, but cooler heads prevailed and Jim forbade me to try. Sooooooo, our neighbors down the road with the big log house, who are loggers with tall equipment, I'm sure now have a new swarm to add to their collection. Forgive me if I sound bitter. I know we are not to covet our neighbors hives...but everytime we get a swarm high in one of our trees...I watch it give up on my hospitality and swirl it's little mini cyclone cloud self across the draw to their place. And their number of hives, just grows and grows. (We had 3 swarms come and go, here last year).
Maybe, a spoon full of honey would sweeten my disposition.

*Oh boy, that's stings worse than a bee...I just read the verse of the day, it's about loving your neighbor as yourself and not having a grudge against them. Do you remember the song from Fiddler on the Roof "Tradition"?

Well imagine that tune as you read this...CONVICTION, Conviction, Conviction.....

Father's Day

Sunday evening we "floated" into Salem, for a baseball game. It was pouring BUCKETS, until a few miles from the ballpark.

GO Volcanoes!

It didn't rain a single drop on us even with the ominus clouds looming over our heads.
We were prepared, with umbrellas, hoodies, quilts.......

Which gave the appearance of a unibomber cult.

The kids really had a fun time, and have been asking when we'll be going back.

There were huge plates of super nachos

and foot long hotdogs.

Josie's opinion is that there should also be foot long buns.

Thanks for making all of the arrangements, Kate.

Our peeps, as far as the eye can see.

Papa enjoyed himself.

Tori said, Papa must really like it, he's really LOUD.

????

Since it was Father's Day, I didn't pinch him too many times

for his emotional outbursts.

Guilt free Gardening

Welcome!

The pretty geranium from Anna, Joel, and the girls.

In addition to how their ruffly, cupped, leaves hold glistening, diamond like, water droplets;
I love the fresh acid green tiny blooms of Lady's Mantle .

And the sun and shadows on the tiny little champagne grapes,

(which make the yummiest, tart little homemade raisins)

The promise of dewy, summer morning, garden breakfasts of plump blueberries,

fresh,

hand to mouth.

Hearts-ease

I didn't plant any of it. It just re-seeded itself there.

I had struggled for years to have a nice little patch of it, like my Mom used to...

it never made it.
Now....voila!

A newer plant to me, in the past couple of years:

Jacob's Ladder.

(Do any Sunday Schools sing that song anymore?)

I love it's fern like, bracketed leaves.





With an extra UBER amount of rain, this spring, and family health issues;

I was feeling guilty about not getting a nice garden in.

Tori picked out a topsy turvy tomato planter for me for my birthday.

I put an organic "green Zebra" in it.






And planted organic Italian salad greens in potagers.

and a lone artichoke plant.

It's so tiny and yet, brings back memories of the vast fields of them, in nearby Castroville,

when we lived in Monterey California,

in the early years of our marriage.

Tori and I love artichokes. (Or is it the butter and lemon?)

There are a couple of squash plants, onions, and tomatoes, planted in the freshly weeded flower bed. I've decided to do what I can feasibly do, and then just like the hearts-ease...quit struggling, and be happy. "I like pesto as much as the next cat.....but why didn't you buy that organic catnip, when you had the chance?"

Tea Party minus the Politics

You may have noticed the needlework I was working on Sunday afternoon.

It's a teapot holder from a vintage pattern found here.

It's lined with a contrasting felt, and the layers are open in the middle, on the bottom half.

I thought it would make a cute hostess gift for a tea party that we were invited to.

Especially since our Bonny loves all things "tea".

You can't enter her country kitchen, without being offered a cup.

Friends often give her "tea" items as gifts.

(You may remember the wind chimes I made for her birthday)

This girl knows how to throw a tea party.

For embellishing her delicious scones: She has cute little tea themed spreaders for the butter, devonshire cream, lemon curd and the strawberry, and rose petal jams.

And this cute sign that claims "Will trade tea for gossip"

The girlies looked right at home in Bonny's old fashioned country kitchen in their vintage hats.

Bonny made little viola ice cubes for the water goblets.

The girls had brought their "fancy" dolls, and Bonny even provided doll tea cups for them as well.

There were fancy sugar cubes, with tongs...one lump or two?

And THREE kinds of tea!

This flowering one was called "Juliet's Kiss" and was a lovely Jasmine.

The cucumber sandwiches were a hit.....

and there were little chocolate ones, that had a salty sweetness to them.

The little stuffed tomatoes were yummy.

She made adorable little petit fours...

And pretty little puff pastry cups filled with fresh strawberries. The piece de resistance' were the little chocolate cups filled with bavarian creme, topped with fresh rasperries and a little chocolate filigree heart.

Bonny's kitchen has always been my favorite room in her home. I love the big old table in there, and the light that streams through the windows. She has an old vintage range. A few years ago, she and I did a re-do on all of her kitchen cabinets. They had been flat, birch ones, in need of re-finishing. We turned all of them into beadboard, using our router. We found reproduction hardware, and Bonny painted them out in white. We found a wallpaper that tied in her counter tops colors. It was a lot of fun.

She and I both have a love of vintage things and gardening. So for my birthday, she made me this planter with a thyme plant in it. Cute, huh?!

She spoiled us rotten. The girls had a blast, playing the old player piano, and running around outside with Toby.

He's such a sweet boy.

Bonny is one of the hardest working, giving persons, that I know. She has opened her home to friends and relatives who were between homes, for extended stays. Whether a person is there for a long while, or a few minutes: She is the living, breathing, definition of "Hospitality".

Unlike some people with welcome signs....she actually means it!