tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65299629863926803342024-02-06T20:15:58.504-08:00Gingerbread Crumbs & CompanyJust A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.comBlogger643125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-17162863134227411722015-06-13T10:26:00.001-07:002015-06-13T10:27:28.339-07:00Embarking on a new Adventure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJx8aWeoeIC-pZmDePcjk1o69ZF8Nvodv3ZTH-DR5i6Kv99iQ-kKNq2gVjPEHClIiFw0K22Uf6Z6LMqJqSr5m864j9WhRHDvuesMHX6ydIAng-IBOGutYCX8_cfpkc_0NhGfzstHQUmum/s1600/drape1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJx8aWeoeIC-pZmDePcjk1o69ZF8Nvodv3ZTH-DR5i6Kv99iQ-kKNq2gVjPEHClIiFw0K22Uf6Z6LMqJqSr5m864j9WhRHDvuesMHX6ydIAng-IBOGutYCX8_cfpkc_0NhGfzstHQUmum/s640/drape1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mademoiselle de la Croix needed a new covering.</td></tr>
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June 11, twenty-fifteen<br />
<br />
For my seventh birthday I
received my first sewing machine and have been sporadically stitching up
a storm since. Yes, sporadically. Its one of those things that happens
when I become inspired by something I've seen but don't want
to pay the exorbitant price.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCLmtRvGnCAae3kCF_L810wExKtTlaRztrSce6aY-FDM1xS7tq13gBNUagSA2qHrB1_XluyrSL1alnBPEbtY25k-hZAcI2hwJiV9lpvhEFKRfE0t-Lwb9SxXFZpDa4r9bGyxAWBN8Xk2C/s1600/drape2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCLmtRvGnCAae3kCF_L810wExKtTlaRztrSce6aY-FDM1xS7tq13gBNUagSA2qHrB1_XluyrSL1alnBPEbtY25k-hZAcI2hwJiV9lpvhEFKRfE0t-Lwb9SxXFZpDa4r9bGyxAWBN8Xk2C/s640/drape2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attempting to drape mademoiselle without damaging her original covering.</td></tr>
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OK so, I've never actually sewn clothes, unless it was a gathered skirt with an elastic waist or pantaloons, and have mostly made pillows, drapes, and little crafty
things. If the truth be known I'm intimidated by the thought of sewing a zipper, attempting to make button holes, and where in the world to place a dart. Other than that I'm pretty comfortable sewing just about anything. <br />
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About a year ago I discovered costume blogs. Did you know there were such things in the blog world? Neither did I, but let me tell you, I was so excited to find this other realm that I became completely obsessed. I merrily hopped down one rabbit trail after the other in search of costume inspiration, and the more rabbit trails I hopped down the more excited I became. Finally I'd found that there are other people on this planet who enjoyed playing dress up as much as I. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvqOQfF-cnqP82TYqFT0EvQ5tMVa2Egau49JVUsMhm_vAM3Ob9IWjLUaWh8hngIZ4hlYqa5ZjpyxcTsKD30sTnqazn6RqTQyqfRA0wjV4ns3Ah4BCU0WPS91lXNoc2f8zXbYhw3eVt_lu/s1600/drape4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvqOQfF-cnqP82TYqFT0EvQ5tMVa2Egau49JVUsMhm_vAM3Ob9IWjLUaWh8hngIZ4hlYqa5ZjpyxcTsKD30sTnqazn6RqTQyqfRA0wjV4ns3Ah4BCU0WPS91lXNoc2f8zXbYhw3eVt_lu/s640/drape4.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mademoiselle's original covering is coming apart at the seams so I added a bit of trim. </td></tr>
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About the same time I started volunteering at a <a href="http://library.anaheim.net/Library/Default3.aspx?Folder=Title&Folder2=Founders%27%20Park&articleID=4525" target="_blank">local historic park</a> and needed an appropriate costume to wear...that's when my research began!! While looking on-line for patterns.<br /><br />
When Mademoiselle overheard me having a conversation about this new adventure she begged to be included. Of course I was hesitant at first, as she tends to be a costume hog and covets all my best pieces, however after much convincing on her part I agreed that she could come along for the ride...or more appropriately, the fittings. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDJf8uPBJtgn_6Rs8F1TSfG4bWkHVPhwN8_CD-q3xrgxXJkwpkMFC8RVlZutkeJCI6L5iuXHQQGOkAqdGkj7aeIzzT53wmUrcFBdZUuXdRQtt2ulQWJdW0ZW6hy8i4GFqhFnlsub_LESA/s1600/drape5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDJf8uPBJtgn_6Rs8F1TSfG4bWkHVPhwN8_CD-q3xrgxXJkwpkMFC8RVlZutkeJCI6L5iuXHQQGOkAqdGkj7aeIzzT53wmUrcFBdZUuXdRQtt2ulQWJdW0ZW6hy8i4GFqhFnlsub_LESA/s640/drape5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mademoiselle spied a piece of lace in my bin and thought it would look lovely around her neck.</td></tr>
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We would have to start with a new covering since her old one was stained and embedded with rusty nails. And then there is the other problem...while she and I were born on the same year and are both the same size, as you and I well know, a size 10 then is not what it is now. <br />Do I expand her waist or diminish mine? This is a difficult question to answer so we will ignore it for the time being and carry on with our plans.<br />
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I have this gorgeous Edwardian blouse and once Mademoiselle's new covering was stitched together and sewn in place she insisted on trying it on. HA! it didn't fit her either...so sorry Mademoiselle!<br />I bought it on a whim, knowing I would never be able to wear it but loved all its delicate details. The inside lining is made of the most fragile silk and is in terrible condition while the outer lace is perfect except for one spot on the neck and a few rust marks from the hooks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQrQQQzDOuu239IOSs8ktsdkNfD_wInVIEG3njgIZV7EH6XzZXrWa1HXVksAiJPnODXYz29MprktQNoiyqd6QmRfvd2td8b2NEffhI0yMAy3oZR6tYoh_EnZvuYz9eDaQhvOrlWx0h2CQ/s1600/drape7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQrQQQzDOuu239IOSs8ktsdkNfD_wInVIEG3njgIZV7EH6XzZXrWa1HXVksAiJPnODXYz29MprktQNoiyqd6QmRfvd2td8b2NEffhI0yMAy3oZR6tYoh_EnZvuYz9eDaQhvOrlWx0h2CQ/s640/drape7.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It has a linen flounce around the lower edge.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWCMWFSeVw0bSIQ5v4DUFu-8Tm5do7cpMo5x_2agutgF4VtD9Dna5eFbBzcz8v0KNHDYVJ_GALaMB_i3slT74Ho_qgCjs5uJiOoiZ5D8NhK3KoTktXhM-YqgWkvDw5U-9PxaR4qph4SiX/s1600/drape8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWCMWFSeVw0bSIQ5v4DUFu-8Tm5do7cpMo5x_2agutgF4VtD9Dna5eFbBzcz8v0KNHDYVJ_GALaMB_i3slT74Ho_qgCjs5uJiOoiZ5D8NhK3KoTktXhM-YqgWkvDw5U-9PxaR4qph4SiX/s640/drape8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of the front yoke.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNcE80vN1fT0nYRyPC0ncd5UxutugJ0eieTjoo7HzS93AvYhJJ1uLKcMGcHBMcv3JzoeZ-7mXUNGHbuK0VC06GCeEW25Qr6b7LFW_f6oE8sRj31s_TIcvjQirp-pH60KW1EKGCUieGaxx/s1600/drape9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNcE80vN1fT0nYRyPC0ncd5UxutugJ0eieTjoo7HzS93AvYhJJ1uLKcMGcHBMcv3JzoeZ-7mXUNGHbuK0VC06GCeEW25Qr6b7LFW_f6oE8sRj31s_TIcvjQirp-pH60KW1EKGCUieGaxx/s640/drape9.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sleeve has a slight curve to the lace.</td></tr>
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So the two of us began our adventure and this is our current project. It's based on <a href="http://butterick.mccall.com/b6093-products-48788.php?page_id=147" target="_blank">this</a> pattern and for some insane reason I decided to do my own thing by reworking it. Uhm, not too smart on my part. I turned it into a wrap dress to eliminate the side zipper, which caused more problems than I ever imagined. Plus the pattern was too large and since I'm just learning to fit garments I had to modify it yet again, which explains the drawstring around the waist.<br /><br /> Am I done with the dress (or should I saw we)? Not quite, but we're almost there. I still have to make a belt, add some lace to the sleeves, and figure out what to do for the collar. For now the <a href="http://gingerbreadcrumbsandcompany.blogspot.com/2009/07/fabulous-flea-market-finds.html" target="_blank">White Ladies Edwardian collar</a> will suffice.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0-A-3IE26I_C6vzUkA1nXiAvY-gBBnFumXrpdDE7NrSDQvTpIlUOva15VD34j6wcN_pv8cowseHGVEK5T2gqA0xVzMo7WPW8EWEyhDAhyphenhyphen0W5HLrQpbx_vxyR5vAAjJVryaJELdyziOJo/s1600/drape12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0-A-3IE26I_C6vzUkA1nXiAvY-gBBnFumXrpdDE7NrSDQvTpIlUOva15VD34j6wcN_pv8cowseHGVEK5T2gqA0xVzMo7WPW8EWEyhDAhyphenhyphen0W5HLrQpbx_vxyR5vAAjJVryaJELdyziOJo/s320/drape12.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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After so many years Mademoiselle was more than excited to have the stolen collar back from the White Lady, but why the two of them insist on wearing it backwards is beyond me. I guess it's because they can't see :-D.<br />
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Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-12877257023942620022015-06-03T12:49:00.000-07:002015-06-03T12:49:43.994-07:00Wandering in the Desert<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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June 3, 2015<br />
When I was a child my family spent many weekends exploring old ghost towns, abandoned mine shafts (don't worry, it was only the men who explored those), and following dry washes in the desert. Those were lovely times, bouncing about on the backseat of the old English Land Rover, while trying to scale small rocky embankments blanketed with shifting sand. <br />
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We made many discoveries on our weekend outings, but none as memorable as our recent trip to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Dome_Landing,_Arizona" target="_blank">Castle Dome Museum</a> near the foothills of Yuma, Arizona.<br />
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The museum consists of 23 buildings. Some original to the ghost town while others are reconstructions typical of the era. They appear to be haphazardly strewn about with little rhyme or reason, and yet there's a certain charm to each ones placement amongst the cactus and rugged desert landscape.<br />
Many of the buildings serve as mini museums filled with beautiful old artifacts found while wandering in the desert.<br />
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One building in particular is the general store stocked with old canned goods, linens, and some of the latest fashions of the late nineteenth century, all faded and time worn.<br />
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As I stood there gazing into the display cases I imagined the women who would frequent the store each week to make their household purchases. <br />
Would they have a child on one hip and another in tow?<br />
Would they have a smile accompanied by a radiant glow?<br />
Or would they be tired and bent from the heat of the desert sun. <br />
Perhaps there would be enough money left to buy a new pair of shoes for the baby or a bolt of fabric for a new dress or maybe a pitcher to hold wildflowers...<br />
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Or perhaps there would be nothing left at all. <br />
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As I walked out the door of the old general store I began to ponder how often I romanticize the past with all its beautiful architecture, clothing and customs. How easy it is to daydream of being a Victorian lady clothed in petticoats and flowing gowns. How I've often said, "Why did the Lord choose to place me here instead of there." <br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(And yet even as I think on those questions I know that this is where He has placed me</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">and that this is the time that He has appointed for me). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">We continued to explore the other buildings...a church... a diner...and a hotel that was found by the couple who own the museum. One morning as they were taking their daily walk they happened upon it sitting in the middle of nowhere. Since it belonged to no-one they took it apart board by board and relocated it to the museum. Who says you can't find anything wonderful while wandering in the desert.<br /><br />After several hours of exploration the desert heat was becoming unbearable so we decided to drive back into town and leave the old ghost town behind, but hopefully we'll be back another day.</span> </span></div>
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Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-80309687718795479862015-02-11T11:36:00.002-08:002015-02-11T11:36:34.135-08:00So, where was I?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyXM0wq44is8lvTgs8aelDj8Bx_gKp2wh98lRf8yaeCIiAhGbsuQbEVxmQm8hRFs5O-79Yj95PBPFbr73WJApAwovUGNLOp64WVcgldohH8-j15D11PhDrsE1VoQjSO5Z2orx3sYIXJ4V/s1600/myrtleC1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyXM0wq44is8lvTgs8aelDj8Bx_gKp2wh98lRf8yaeCIiAhGbsuQbEVxmQm8hRFs5O-79Yj95PBPFbr73WJApAwovUGNLOp64WVcgldohH8-j15D11PhDrsE1VoQjSO5Z2orx3sYIXJ4V/s1600/myrtleC1.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
February 11, Twenty-fifteen<br />
It was little over a year ago. Hubby and I had just returned home from a trip
to Vancouver, B.C. when<em> I </em>decided to get back to this little blog of
mine. I was in the middle of drafting a post when the unthinkable happened…Hubby
had a heart attack…not one but two. In all my 53 years of life it had to be the
most frightening event I’ve experienced.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1I4cojt8WC7iVpY2foIdxx9sORQ-s2XULlqIb8G-5HO3AJwYu_JIVAxRGEmIQmZmukUs5ntujzrCLhWan-bR5xkhNkjhmMTaJ-znXgDUHb2fIiwkMI_jyCZF5upiNTVh_rOqae_qLABT6/s1600/myrtleC8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1I4cojt8WC7iVpY2foIdxx9sORQ-s2XULlqIb8G-5HO3AJwYu_JIVAxRGEmIQmZmukUs5ntujzrCLhWan-bR5xkhNkjhmMTaJ-znXgDUHb2fIiwkMI_jyCZF5upiNTVh_rOqae_qLABT6/s1600/myrtleC8.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
He’s always told me he was going to die young, but as his wife I just
collected those little comments and filed them away deep in the recesses of my
memory. I mean really, who sits around thinking about their death? I don’t, do
you?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Misr98AYNQPfiaePRO7d-gsY__5_CUlPO4F2AXvx5CEpto0sDtStynFa6twaAyLCcpWbfTf11i1jU9hm4ZVnMEz7rIiLryjW7dt_-VG0WWtqAA87Q1LHBQZpMZB5M5SjeGECDSGgPkMs/s1600/myrtleC5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Misr98AYNQPfiaePRO7d-gsY__5_CUlPO4F2AXvx5CEpto0sDtStynFa6twaAyLCcpWbfTf11i1jU9hm4ZVnMEz7rIiLryjW7dt_-VG0WWtqAA87Q1LHBQZpMZB5M5SjeGECDSGgPkMs/s1600/myrtleC5.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br />
From that day the hours, weeks, and years have quickly slipped by. I can’t
tell you where they’ve gone or what I've done with them…
<br />
Wait! yes, I do know…<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDGUNzGo1G5uXBDOYrJgPnenci_ydcHtsqnGvL6ih9EN_JnKuIEGJrSDyt8Pcd3LGgdvC5Dy-bumYgdrHf_xaiZp8gdnnShchVYhyA1wkg3F8T-yOGD10T8jPHO37WRbanuo7HqeA0vHO3/s1600/myrtleC4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDGUNzGo1G5uXBDOYrJgPnenci_ydcHtsqnGvL6ih9EN_JnKuIEGJrSDyt8Pcd3LGgdvC5Dy-bumYgdrHf_xaiZp8gdnnShchVYhyA1wkg3F8T-yOGD10T8jPHO37WRbanuo7HqeA0vHO3/s1600/myrtleC4.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I completed my Graphic Design course, started playing the lever harp, began
volunteering at an Historic Park (where I get to play dress up…happy me), and
have been trying to get my house in order. Not having much luck with that one
and I’m beginning to think it will never happen in my life time! OI!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-RL2MWD0DKZXDmckKKTygxI0V-9zFHWlIhH4IhNYOAaqICXD_mYY6jUIqy1O8gIuWbuhjjmjSZvuOAFyvl0S4lAUOfYy7mXUIK8j78RyWJShW83WbxsN2wyHdGk2Yv2RVZKbsLWRFkqr/s1600/myrtleC2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-RL2MWD0DKZXDmckKKTygxI0V-9zFHWlIhH4IhNYOAaqICXD_mYY6jUIqy1O8gIuWbuhjjmjSZvuOAFyvl0S4lAUOfYy7mXUIK8j78RyWJShW83WbxsN2wyHdGk2Yv2RVZKbsLWRFkqr/s1600/myrtleC2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And so, we find ourselves 1-1/2 months into Twenty-fifteen, wondering what
sort of adventures are in store for this new year? Many I hope, and I hope to be
back to this little place in the blogosphere…oh how I have missed it and missed
you!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1zJlFT3W9tq2nwLfg-uEv3KT1vSWC0p7F_Fpbn9ie3rJiG2xpETB_tsuSy2n-XpPDKR-w8h_Gj7rQdeOp2JFh0Q_SKt1q1e55wFpcjDrm-7J5Azbs_g32LdKqCe14XdL-QFeANmrkWf5/s1600/myrtleC6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1zJlFT3W9tq2nwLfg-uEv3KT1vSWC0p7F_Fpbn9ie3rJiG2xpETB_tsuSy2n-XpPDKR-w8h_Gj7rQdeOp2JFh0Q_SKt1q1e55wFpcjDrm-7J5Azbs_g32LdKqCe14XdL-QFeANmrkWf5/s1600/myrtleC6.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
And in case you were wondering about the Hubby, his first heart attack was at
home while the second was in the ER and he lived to tell about them both…thank
you Jesus!!!<br />
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(All images were taken at Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens, San
Diego, CA)</div>
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Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-41516944790700905802013-09-05T13:28:00.001-07:002013-09-13T07:38:06.055-07:00They never did make it to Victoria…<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-RTgGKGuNHnc/UijpCFRBJXI/AAAAAAAAG6M/5AxgXuzMizo/s1600-h/hatley1small3.jpg"><img title="hatley1small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="hatley1small" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVM136sWvGChCsEO2Uqydj4CoREWk7Vu2bFtvhXnlusQTmUJuipY8hKRpWgPKKRmbo5_BuAM56ZtQFIg30DyVxS8_f0m1TMhpRgrSnY5rHHHJohtsKxHoa3s3d_vQxRUSMitPfOU-CNi1/?imgmax=800" width="374" height="574"></a></p> <p>Do you remember the old Diorama at Knott’s Berry Farm? The one where a family is crossing the plains, in a covered wagon, and the little girl says to her mother, “Momma, I’m hungry.” I know Dear, just go to sleep,” her mother replies. Then the narrator in his deep booming voice comes on to say…”They never did make it that night.” Well, that’s how I felt about Victoria…we never did make it to the Inner Harbor, even though we made it to the island. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-PV5LzbttUa0/UijpGFIlNcI/AAAAAAAAG6c/dKHprdhag-8/s1600-h/hatley2small3.jpg"><img title="hatley2small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="hatley2small" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-eV4nw40VMiE/UijpHorO1JI/AAAAAAAAG6k/c2tjlBnvLDo/hatley2small_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="636" height="436"></a></p> <p>We had a little bit of a problem with our GPS that kept sending us round and round and round in circles. Our plan was to meet up with some old friends, who had relocated to the island several years before, after we had visited Hatley Castle for my garden fix. <br>The day was so hot and I had dressed for cooler weather...much cooler. OI was it hot! So hot that we only stayed a very short while at the castle. After a brisk walk through the rose garden I found myself heading back to the parking lot striping off layers of clothing as I went. First the boots next the stockings, then I dropped my petticoat on the pavement, and if I could’ve taken off my sweater, I would have, but I didn’t for fear of frightening the Canadian geese. <br><br>We stood there by the car waiting in the sweltering heat, until our friends finally arrived.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Fou5C6ak-xg/UijpKND06TI/AAAAAAAAG6s/psUC-_mxgdk/s1600-h/hatley3small7.jpg"><img title="hatley3small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="hatley3small" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-aB8csY4D0bg/UijpLdldvYI/AAAAAAAAG60/AjmsCZnY4p0/hatley3small_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="598" height="410"></a></p> <p>Did you know Victoria has traffic jams? Neither did we! So, instead of heading into the traffic we went straight to our friend’s house that over looks the sea. Such a beautiful sight to wake up to each and every day.<br>We had such a delightful time and were taken such good care of that I would have been perfectly happy to spend the rest of my holiday visiting with them, however we had a room waiting for us in Vancouver and a concert to attend. Oh yes, a concert, which was part of the reason we were there in the first place.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GNKqA8DQ57Q/UijpO8jSQCI/AAAAAAAAG68/nGZ6H78AZDM/s1600-h/hatley5small3.jpg"><img title="hatley5small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="hatley5small" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-dWFolw1LItw/UijpQuOghCI/AAAAAAAAG7E/7lokn7fyBA4/hatley5small_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="651" height="446"></a></p> <p>You see, when I originally decided to take this little Holiday, I thought it would be fun to plan it around an event. And that event just happened to be a Loreena McKennitt concert that I THOUGHT was on Vancouver Island. But as it turned out it was on the mainland. So at the very last minute all of our arrangements had to be changed. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-AcugEJOPhrM/UijpSl4DY6I/AAAAAAAAG7M/L9h7ed0i5Zw/s1600-h/hatley79.jpg"><img title="hatley7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="hatley7" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-sgd27kbkNCk/UijpUQy8EOI/AAAAAAAAG7U/cpYN8PWtsK4/hatley7_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="485" height="752"></a></p> <p>The original plan was to fly into SeaTac Sunday morning, rent a car, hop on the Ferry, and spend four days at a lovely Inn on the island. The concert wasn’t until Tuesday evening so we’d have plenty of time for sight-seeing and visiting with our friends while we were there. In the planning…after I booked our flight and hotel…I decided to print out an itinerary and map out all the locations so we would know distances and how best to spend our time. The concert was to be held in the Queen Victoria Theater that I thought must be located behind the government buildings along the Inner Harbor. As the map route came into view my panic rose as I realized the concert was 3 hours and a ferry ride away from our hotel…Nooooo!</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-KL_nj3WWPI4/UijpXjvtxxI/AAAAAAAAG7c/TNYPQAVh7co/s1600-h/hatley6small3.jpg"><img title="hatley6small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="hatley6small" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WLpX54hLeNg/UijpZfQtrCI/AAAAAAAAG7k/3VuBxrwRj70/hatley6small_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="648" height="444"></a></p> <p>In a panic, I quickly picked up the phone, and started canceling reservations to make new ones closer to the concert hall. What a pickle I found myself in! I certainly wasn’t looking forward to telling the hubby about my huge blunder and how everything had to be cancelled as well as re-arranged.<br>So our four days on the island turned into one, we added another Ferry ride and booked a hotel on the mainland.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Vgx50xjYFNc/UijpbHVxnBI/AAAAAAAAG7s/de8C86snlWo/s1600-h/hatley8small4.jpg"><img title="hatley8small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="hatley8small" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-AtkUuGlflEc/UijpcyFqmnI/AAAAAAAAG70/HsxM2EgeKUc/hatley8small_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="486" height="754"></a></p> <p>We ended up spending Monday night at our friends house and a quiet Tuesday morning visiting before driving to the ferry terminal and heading to Vancouver.<br>And so our journey continued…</p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-25448033395274848322013-09-02T10:14:00.001-07:002013-09-02T10:14:28.732-07:00On a Holiday…<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-wPl1fQDszMA/UiTHF4MCdCI/AAAAAAAAG4E/1jDYjvT4HJY/s1600-h/ferry1small%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="ferry1small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="ferry1small" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tYK9wXrOqmY/UiTHGxVUm4I/AAAAAAAAG4M/AWHAnMQi7Ts/ferry1small_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="629" height="431"></a></p> <p>August 11, Twenty-thirteen,<br><br>hubby and I decided to set out on a long awaited adventure. One that I have been dreaming about for several years. A little Holiday that would allow us to soar high above the clouds, quietly glide through picturesque islands, swathed in mornings misty fog, then safely land on distant shores…hubby’s homeland…Canada! I don’t know why, but this country has stolen a piece of my heart. After years of living in the Big City, I’ve decided I’m not a Big City girl. I much prefer the wild spaces where the mountains reach the sands that tumble into the sea.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ksJEw1UsNwY/UiTHI7mv19I/AAAAAAAAG4U/xquOQCwAGP4/s1600-h/anacortes1small%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="anacortes1small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="anacortes1small" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFmGEG57TZFAwm4lSudqKXc3V9P8z0xAzHQIeHHkIPcZ7KibKzlG3sn4_3WeRxOV_HEJ3xT1VS1K-izPHY0lU9IJG0Z6Z7GWAbmcpQDI3yH9_FDstp-W7QkAI5nb_J-9_6LM5ZqCTk3Z3/?imgmax=800" width="629" height="431"></a></p> <p>There’s something to be said about the openness of the sea and the calming effect it has on ones soul…at least on mine. These past few years, I’ve felt a certain restless of heart, that seems only to be tamed by the raging sea. I am both at home and at peace, while reminded of the smallness of who I am and the immensity of the God that I love…and Who first loved me. </p> <p><font size="1">(Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,<sup> </sup>and in the midst of the seven lampstands <i>One</i> like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. <sup> </sup>His head and hair <i>were</i> white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;<sup> </sup>His feet <i>were</i> like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters. <sup></sup>He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance <i>was</i> like the sun shining in its strength. <sup> </sup>And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. <sup> </sup>I <i>am</i> He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.)</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-OrBENGCmw6U/UiTHLc0PdAI/AAAAAAAAG4k/PfIR9vxaYco/s1600-h/ferry2small%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="ferry2small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="ferry2small" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEideQ0xXZPjKxTGwbr7L7lqWRLmifBh1386lHhxwc0R-KYaxswDjsBm5c1NEmXCCJZeCMp48oDQVQpj-UMFn0QujlNF9YAZGEONg07ExX0iJKDfrl0Rnk-xUHhHfdmSPzOHdx384qXYVTWc/?imgmax=800" width="616" height="427"></a></p> <p>We had been here a <a href="http://gingerbreadcrumbsandcompany.blogspot.com/2009/10/sunrise-over-san-juan.html" target="_blank">few years before</a> and I was captivated by its rugged natural beauty. Something we rarely see in a city made of concrete and steel.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-1XafW3mcmcg/UiTHOMpU1_I/AAAAAAAAG40/KmNvAG3ZPkc/s1600-h/ferry3small%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="ferry3small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="ferry3small" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-zblIWoyl7Wc/UiTHPZe5xbI/AAAAAAAAG48/KDADlvWHbfU/ferry3small_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="616" height="422"></a></p> <p><font size="1">(These images are from our Ferry ride starting in Anacortes, WA and ending in Sydney B.C.)</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iA6PYcv0cZk/UiTHRwXd12I/AAAAAAAAG5E/BTGR2e2e6TA/s1600-h/ferry4small%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="ferry4small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="ferry4small" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VrDyfMOJpxk/UiTHTZOrmnI/AAAAAAAAG5M/3teLxVpC2Tk/ferry4small_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="625" height="428"></a></p> <p>We sailed into Friday Harbor Monday morning…</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jdh50dUKjJs/UiTHVhYXALI/AAAAAAAAG5U/PUl1tKc68hE/s1600-h/IMG_0168%25255B13%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0168" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_0168" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-aT9-PRK4uvs/UiTHXXGLXTI/AAAAAAAAG5c/Zvm2bMIRlHs/IMG_0168_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="598" height="462"></a></p> <p>and I was sad to see that this beautiful Victorian had been torn down and replaced with shops. I guess progress continues its march across the landscape, even in town’s that appear not to be touched by time. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-efY5V_t_f4o/UiTHZFSeeJI/AAAAAAAAG5k/RZtvcOKoZ9s/s1600-h/ferry6small%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="ferry6small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="ferry6small" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-nV38PpLTL5Y/UiTHaA3z7GI/AAAAAAAAG5s/LZBLk4HJRSM/ferry6small_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="606" height="415"></a></p> <p>We continued on our journey until we came to our destination…Sydney B.C. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-046FHJHZWAo/UiTHbv3fhDI/AAAAAAAAG50/IGdmv0oNKWc/s1600-h/ferry5small%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="ferry5small" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="ferry5small" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-rE1F99rMiyY/UiTHckulICI/AAAAAAAAG58/JOdew3DSehA/ferry5small_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="613" height="420"></a></p> <p>along the road we passed many many signs as we drove into Victoria…which we never saw. But that’s a tale for another day.</p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-22681869146379982862013-08-08T09:29:00.001-07:002013-08-08T09:29:04.055-07:00It all began here…<p>In the old abandoned rose garden</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ADDOupNvXWM/UgPG4R-LLNI/AAAAAAAAG1s/B_RCtTUC6rE/s1600-h/arbor01%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="arbor01" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="arbor01" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-039JAmxc2X0/UgPG5p91HWI/AAAAAAAAG10/48AtsgXtWZY/arbor01_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="391" height="531"></a></p> <p>Where once there were nine beautiful rose bushes…growing…thriving…producing gorgeous, fragrant, flowers. And then the weeds set in…they took over. Hubby and I would go round and round about the weeds and what to do with them. He is an avid fan of Round Up, while I prefer to pull the infernal things out by their roots. So, the debate began about what to do with the area in question.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-R8bgFMbg7LU/UgPG8urqE6I/AAAAAAAAG18/VVGUy095mOM/s1600-h/arbor03%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="arbor03" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="arbor03" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-l1IU20ys3C4/UgPG_CnPoOI/AAAAAAAAG2E/wm_uGkUPccQ/arbor03_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="564" height="454"></a></p> <p>A certain someone (that would be me) came up with the idea of ripping the entire garden out…posts and pickets included…and adding a sleeping porch to the side of the garage. I’ve always loved the idea of having somewhere to escape, from our hot summers, and a sleeping porch seemed the perfect solution. So we ripped out the roses and another year went by.</p> <p>This year…2013…we decided to host Easter at Brambleberry Cottage and as I looked at the view from my kitchen window I was faced with a 16’x8’ pile of dirt…filled with weeds…still no sleeping porch…”but what about an Arbor covered in grapevines,” I thought to myself? That seemed like a perfect solution…so we began to dream and plan and build.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0wY4g9wq_XI/UgPHBYth9FI/AAAAAAAAG2M/cgxpN_QVb0g/s1600-h/arbor02%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="arbor02" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="arbor02" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-uHov3Z1ES8g/UgPHCmitfZI/AAAAAAAAG2U/xY6_Byd_tvk/arbor02_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="562" height="440"></a></p> <p>By Easter we had the posts and cross beams up as well as a pea gravel floor beneath, but no paint and I debated as to whether I wanted to paint at all. What about just leaving the wood as it was. But I, being a girl who LOVES COLOR was not about to paint it white!!! I am so OVER WHITE!!! Now don’t get me wrong because I do enjoy all the varying shades that white has to offer, as long as they’re mixed with texture, texture, texture! But white by itself with just white…no thank you!<br>God has created so many gorgeous hues, shades, and tints in nature, as well as giving us red and green cones to view all the colors of a rainbow. So why would we want to limit our eyes to just whites?</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-JV__YK4dyjc/UgPHErw8KRI/AAAAAAAAG2c/mi2VuwB2Ehw/s1600-h/arbor4%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="arbor4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="arbor4" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7v8iKHOXoxI/UgPHFjrFdmI/AAAAAAAAG2k/VtpS79G5y9g/arbor4_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="593" height="406"></a></p> <p>Well, I can see that I’ve gone off on a little rabbit trail and need to find my way back to what I was thinking. Oh yes! The arbor and color. As you can see I decided to go with green. It’s a lovely shade that my images don’t quite reflect, but I would have to say it’s close to leaf green.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-piiHkWN7iSU/UgPHHIRekVI/AAAAAAAAG2s/xywRamy0HqM/s1600-h/arbor1%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="arbor1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="arbor1" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nW-Pjm1eQYc/UgPHI7CWsmI/AAAAAAAAG20/N3EYXkg40SA/arbor1_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="564" height="880"></a></p> <p>Then I decided to add a back wall to my arbor. <br>1. To block the view of the ugly cypress trees from my kitchen window, and<br>2. To add a back drop for the iron bed I bought for the sleeping porch.<br>The question again…to paint or not to paint? I decided to leave the back natural because I loved the varying knots and grain of the shiplap. The lattice was salvaged from our old garden fence that had fallen to pieces and was hiding behind the garage. Plus, it just happened to be the perfect size.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-eHIG-Wg4OYQ/UgPHJ8N0GcI/AAAAAAAAG28/qhzX7nVGw3g/s1600-h/arbor3%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="arbor3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="arbor3" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-cTc-xk1E2g0/UgPHLOb0fJI/AAAAAAAAG3E/c3yPxX8fo5U/arbor3_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="567" height="879"></a></p> <p>Oh! I see another rabbit trail…shall we follow it for a moment? Why yes, I think we shall…<br>when I went out my front door yesterday morning, to pick these roses, I walked right through a giant spider web. It would seem that this spider has taken up residence in my wisteria because this morning he was there again. Right in the middle of the arched vines. Luckily hubby saw him before he stepped off the porch.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FxESNgXafTw/UgPHMkQ2NoI/AAAAAAAAG3M/oQfMXnn2CP0/s1600-h/arbor5%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="arbor5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="arbor5" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EJlU1QvjpEw/UgPHONS-zqI/AAAAAAAAG3U/z6ph97FtusY/arbor5_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="568" height="888"></a></p> <p>Sometimes, in the cool of the morning, I like to come back here and play my harp. Did you know I had taken up playing the harp? It is the chosen instrument of Angels, Elves, and Faeries so why would I not want to learn how to play it? <br>I’ve heard it said that the harp is the easiest instrument to pick up and play, but the hardest instrument to master. Me thinks that’s an understatement! Try learning to play the harp, read music, and get your fingering straight all at the same time. It is really difficult…especially when you try to play with your toes…she giggles to herself.</p> <p>Do you have an instrument you play?</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-echU_nuhu6k/UgPHQF0Yu5I/AAAAAAAAG3c/cmnm9dxAHNA/s1600-h/arbor2%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="arbor2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="arbor2" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rq7QU-LX5rI/UgPHRKHqL1I/AAAAAAAAG3k/zFvlu2Un4A0/arbor2_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="575" height="394"></a></p> <p>I’ve been staring at this piece for months. It’s a beautiful arrangement by <a href="http://www.quinlanroad.com/homepage/index.asp?LangType=1033" target="_blank">Loreena McKennitt</a> called Bonny Portmore and a difficult piece to learn when you have the tune in your head but not necessarily the notes. But I will learn this piece if it takes me a year…or two…or three. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZbeZuIa4vrU/UgPHSQTyvRI/AAAAAAAAG3s/7ekbJCk-de4/s1600-h/arbor6%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="arbor6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="arbor6" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-re5B8KiTSQg/UgPHTsG3fKI/AAAAAAAAG30/RaYCf-yyv0k/arbor6_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="575" height="908"></a></p> <p>There is still so much work left to do back here, so until it gets done, I’ll continue to dream and plan and create. </p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-61386861620992105302013-08-06T11:58:00.002-07:002013-08-06T11:58:22.811-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-73709483375098506552013-06-07T14:46:00.001-07:002013-09-13T07:39:05.074-07:00Remnants of my past<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-UjtX7hVrRis/UbJUADIVELI/AAAAAAAAGxk/5VFFVOUpEuA/s1600-h/Yuma14.jpg"><img title="Yuma1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma1" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VYPlWp2RF7Y/UbJUBDWG_1I/AAAAAAAAGxs/mVsW2Lk1hbw/Yuma1_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="499" height="392"></a></p> <p>Mother’s Day weekend, Twenty-thirteen.<br>Hubby and I decided to go spend the weekend in Yuma AZ. A place I spent part of my childhood, a place I loathed, a place my mother feels I ran away from. Maybe I did, I don’t really know, but what I do know is that when I was old enough, I got out of Dodge and swore never to return. At some point each of them left too, only to return a short while later and that’s where they are to this day. Rooted deeply into the brown parched ground of the old desert town.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZEEQ4xTFqLk/UbJUDi3yEwI/AAAAAAAAGx0/kcEVIQWmKCM/s1600-h/Yuma23.jpg"><img title="Yuma2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma2" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tbWKPetCJxw/UbJUEwFu2BI/AAAAAAAAGx8/jjyKSv_IFjU/Yuma2_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="505" height="390"></a></p> <p><em><font size="1">(The old counter where I spent much of my eighth grade, collecting money from clients, and totaling out the books at the end of each day).<br><br></font></em>When we cross over the muddy green waters of the Colorado, and pull into town, we always make a right onto 1st Street, then pass the old brick house where I once lived. About a mile down the road we make a left onto Avenue B. And that’s where they always greet me…so many forgotten memories flooding back to the forefront of my mind. There, stands the old shop that was once owned by my grandparents and now its sole owner, my papa. It didn’t come to him easily, In fact there was a huge price to be paid. The cost? His own personal dreams, shattered then tucked away in a little box, as the life he planned for his family was altered, and new plans were made by another. But it is finally his and he’s putting his own personal mark on the place, plus he’s cleaning it up at the same time.<br>My old grand-dad would part with nothing!</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_Udzku2GIdo/UbJUG_iIRVI/AAAAAAAAGyE/t7F0JdFaT34/s1600-h/Yuma133.jpg"><img title="Yuma13" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma13" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3lzDnSzdCJc/UbJUHp6rn_I/AAAAAAAAGyM/pUTawHhr4xk/Yuma13_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="323" height="250"></a><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-97MmihA4gGQ/UbJUJOYpbVI/AAAAAAAAGyU/OLAUCEKM6ew/s1600-h/Yuma83.jpg"><img title="Yuma8" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma8" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dCEAt7iXTog/UbJUJ8eIU8I/AAAAAAAAGyc/58kAYW0JFGw/Yuma8_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="217" height="294"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-YiPnzVEtbdY/UbJUMOYTrSI/AAAAAAAAGyk/vk3rNiEGdvE/s1600-h/Yuma119.jpg"><img title="Yuma11" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma11" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-MAbC9coKyNc/UbJUNYzZDTI/AAAAAAAAGys/FO723GnxH7M/Yuma11_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="424"></a><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ge7PeiRkixk/UbJUPX3g7jI/AAAAAAAAGy0/GzBtnQVWkjs/s1600-h/Yuma33.jpg"><img title="Yuma3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma3" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-iJ4na9SLpUI/UbJUQmwp3lI/AAAAAAAAGy8/llgxRGZLa6g/Yuma3_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="419"></a></p> <p>There is all manner of interesting objects hanging or propped precariously against the walls and I wonder if one of those objects might contain my papa’s hidden dreams. Does he take them down and sift through them from time to time…wondering what might have been, what could have been, but never was? Does he sometimes wonder, or is he content with the way his life turned out.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-6OvbQXUohy0/UbJUS_fTw8I/AAAAAAAAGzE/wC6E25KcY04/s1600-h/Yuma123.jpg"><img title="Yuma12" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma12" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-RAgMLT73-Ss/UbJUT-AUI8I/AAAAAAAAGzM/5145tO-ZGE4/Yuma12_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="475" height="367"></a></p> <p> In the back yard of the old shop is where the true treasures can be found… </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-5YEJqTCuvzI/UbJUVbpxVPI/AAAAAAAAGzU/rrE8QZzaFFI/s1600-h/Yuma94.jpg"><img title="Yuma9" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma9" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-5K29Q62Gt6s/UbJUWonXbnI/AAAAAAAAGzc/u2ouGdjXvFw/Yuma9_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="502" height="689"></a></p> <p>The faint indentations of my childhood memories, reminiscent of the old vehicles deteriorating in the yard. Riddled with rusting holes and battered by the desert sands. Some of those memories are fond while others of them are not so. <br>Take this old Ford Vanette for example. I still recall the morning when my papa stopped five blocks from my high school to drop me off. My choice, of course. For what young sophomore wants to be seen driving around in an old Ford Vanette with two 6 foot long yellow #2 pencils on top? And then the humiliation to follow, that same afternoon in the cafeteria when one of the varsity football players shouted from one end of the room to the other, “Hey, Hilsinger! I saw you get out of that giant bread truck with the yellow pencils on top! Where’d your dad get such a weird truck?” Like Bilbo Baggins used to do when wandering through the woods, I wish I could have reached into my pocket to slip on my magic ring, only to vanish in thin air.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Yc4CjXLK3jc/UbJUYV_zuhI/AAAAAAAAGzk/Qw-DyPmpXbU/s1600-h/Yuma55.jpg"><img title="Yuma5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma5" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-g5u9ToQ72hk/UbJUZ4j7M8I/AAAAAAAAGzs/MRPK7EUww2g/Yuma5_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="543" height="750"></a></p> <p>Now I look at this lovely rusted heap and wonder to myself, “how much do you think it would cost to restore the old thing? Would it be worth it? Would it finally be redeemed in the eyes of a young impressionable girl, as something worthy?” Aah, one has to wonder.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_azkAU4MoOU/UbJUcQkJsMI/AAAAAAAAGz0/2MXlVWB4igo/s1600-h/Yuma43.jpg"><img title="Yuma4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma4" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-RZBrdzU6dQs/UbJUdlVXP8I/AAAAAAAAGz8/K3ba7m6e4bg/Yuma4_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="540" height="417"></a></p> <p>Sadly, it has seen better days and most likely will continue to sit there until all hope for it is lost. Funny, but that’s how I felt about living in that dry parched town.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-fIQVpmEoWKs/UbJUgK8nzHI/AAAAAAAAG0E/ibixY4FOg9c/s1600-h/Yuma63.jpg"><img title="Yuma6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma6" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHLRhAfKzYF57N8zWXxRjawayjKoE6xO1hlPsVf7lkbPsSYGH9gGyCl7c2hLLl_cbTKfbGsLz39dqNf49KZ4HTkKwlPd_5_JlPZ4wP7WScoF4suXMz3gXobH9DF0gV8n9142E7W6WJ5c-5/?imgmax=800" width="580" height="448"></a></p> <p>The old Mustang! Now she holds better memories for me. Memories of our family driving along the coast. Singing songs and stopping to buy peanuts from the “Peanut Lady” along the Palos Verdes peninsula. I still remember the day my papa brought her home. He wanted the fast back model, but mom being a little more realistic knew that you couldn’t fit three kids in the back seat of a fast back. “Really, Cloyce Hilsinger, what ever were you thinking?” He did get to drop the car off at Earl Schieb’s and have her painted candy apple red when I was in kindergarten. Now the red has faded and the old copper color is beginning to fade too.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASBGU-uDVzTN0QBa_qFdUy3DlQxfS_ROGa6sRaNED2c9MwiGeboNtrUNiaueVhPPJ9IPi8aVNRcamCdG3rB4N5YaMDOL5wq_4mdvXyp9zp0nE8Jptj-rd9Qw7El8xIVD7l_HXYhvfHs9c/s1600-h/Yuma104.jpg"><img title="Yuma10" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma10" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cGwALBxfLFE/UbJUlP_vV9I/AAAAAAAAG0c/3VKDPitbxnk/Yuma10_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="638" height="498"></a></p> <p>I think hubby was asking himself the same question that I was asking about the old Vanette…”hmm, what would it take to restore this old girl. Would it be worth it?” He once had a Camaro Rally Sport that he called his sweetheart and I for one do not know if I could handle the competition of another lady in his life. Even if she is just a rusted bucket of bolts and rubber hoses “-).</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-siewguPdDHY/UbJUmoPldXI/AAAAAAAAG0k/87ywb8naLo4/s1600-h/Yuma74.jpg"><img title="Yuma7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Yuma7" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-CBYN52I60Ec/UbJUnp0SF-I/AAAAAAAAG0s/0u1U_2hkOLI/Yuma7_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="448" height="614"></a></p> <p>So, we spent a lovely weekend in the old desert town and when it was time to leave,<br>I realized that I never ran away, I just went back home.</p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-50304942005081847272013-03-29T08:10:00.001-07:002013-03-29T08:10:04.834-07:00<p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rKTpfipgSQU/UVWuxil2sPI/AAAAAAAAGwU/GxGxMDtetvY/s1600-h/Book%252520of%252520Hours%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="Book of Hours" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Book of Hours" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lcQAXp0HfcY/UVWuy3t2TZI/AAAAAAAAGwc/gbU8iqrxiAk/Book%252520of%252520Hours_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="253" height="395"></a></p> <p align="center">Sense the sorrow untold, as you look down the road<br>At the clamoring crowd drawing near<br>Feel the heat of the day, as you look down the way<br>Hear the shouts of Hosanna the King<br><br>Oh, daughter of Zion your time's drawing near<br>Don't forsake Him, oh don't pass it by<br>On the foal of a donkey as the prophets had said<br>Passing by you, He rides on to die<br></p> <p align="center">Come now little foal, though your not very old<br>Come and bear your first burden bravely<br>Walk so softly upon all the coats and the palms<br>Bare the One on your back oh so gently<br></p> <p align="center">Midst the shouting so loud and the joy of the crowd<br>There is One who is riding in silence<br>For He knows the ones here will be fleeing in fear<br>When their shepherd is taken away<br></p> <p align="center">Oh, daughter of Zion your time's drawing near<br>Don't forsake Him, oh don't pass it by<br>On the foal of a donkey as the prophets had said<br>Passing by you, He rides on to die</p> <p align="center"><br>Soon the thorn cursed ground will bring forth a crown<br>And this Jesus will seem to be beaten<br>But He'll conquer alone both the shroud and the stone<br>And the prophesies will be completed</p> <p align="center">Oh, daughter of Zion your time's drawing near<br>Don't forsake Him, oh don't pass it by<br>On the foal of a donkey as the prophets had said<br>Passing by you, He rides on to die</p> <p align="center">Music and Lyrics by:<br><a href="http://www.michaelcard.com/" target="_blank">Michael Card</a></p> <p align="center">image: Book of Hours</p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-38283341069850741122013-02-19T09:07:00.001-08:002013-02-19T09:07:36.066-08:00All Hail the Chief!<p>Of course you must know that I’m referring to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! <br>The One Who holds the universe in His hands and covers Himself with light as a garment. <br>The One Who stretched out the heavens as a curtain… It is He to whom I refer.</p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8Ttaa2vPkGU/USOxH2tUC9I/AAAAAAAAGu4/-oniG_MxyI4/s1600-h/DSC07516%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="DSC07516" border="0" alt="DSC07516" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-bbroDoabGKU/USOxJWl3DtI/AAAAAAAAGvA/op2eLqPr1c0/DSC07516_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="593" height="462"></a> <p>I was reminded of this scripture last week on a day when we were supposed to have rain. The rain came, along with a pelting wind that drove it against the side of my wee crumbling cottage. But then I noticed something else. Not the gentle sound of rain drops splashing against the windows but something more like rocks being thrown from above. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Wa37c2p1D3Y/USOxKpI-FgI/AAAAAAAAGvI/DwBCug0Fz88/s1600-h/DSC07512%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="DSC07512" border="0" alt="DSC07512" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-opfdbKo4Ffw/USOxMHoUYHI/AAAAAAAAGvQ/XWnKm0dyQ-Q/DSC07512_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="587" height="457"></a></p> <p>I peered out the window and saw that my backyard was being covered in tiny white hail.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-5BUWsJbk27w/USOxNhCSL4I/AAAAAAAAGvY/FfWJiCVMJF8/s1600-h/DSC07510%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="DSC07510" border="0" alt="DSC07510" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-NM6uewmowJA/USOxOyyPqbI/AAAAAAAAGvg/GfHLXSUNO0c/DSC07510_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="411" height="552"></a></p> <p>Streaks of it blanketing everything in its icy coldness. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-MsiWy4RnH8g/USOxRkxSaZI/AAAAAAAAGvo/tc6JUAMhBG8/s1600-h/DSC07513%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="DSC07513" border="0" alt="DSC07513" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-37TQKHw9q_A/USOxTHgsFfI/AAAAAAAAGvw/MuaX72hWJBo/DSC07513_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="597" height="465"></a></p> <p>Usually when it hails, in our little hamlet, it hits the ground only to melt within minutes, but this time it decided to stick around for well over an hour. In all my years of living here I’ve never seen anything quite like it, but then strange things are happening in the heavens and I think stranger things are yet to come.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-SDjGeloRXr8/USOxUYazBrI/AAAAAAAAGv4/ae6cv9H0DLg/s1600-h/DSC07514%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="DSC07514" border="0" alt="DSC07514" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-KM69ATQPsOY/USOxVvtog0I/AAAAAAAAGwA/JBqQt9KLtNo/DSC07514_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="610" height="475"></a></p> <p>Today it’s supposed to rain again. So far all we have are gray, dreary skies.<br>What’s going on in your world?</p> <p align="center"><em>Bless the Lord, O my soul!</em> <p align="center"><em>O Lord my God, You are very great:<br>You are clothed with honor and majesty,<br>Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,<br>Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.</em></p> <p align="center"><em>He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,<br>Who makes the clouds His chariot,<br>Who walks on the wings of the wind,<br>Who makes His angels spirits,<br>His ministers a flame of fire.</em></p> <p align="center"><em>You who laid the foundations of the earth,<br>So that it should not be moved forever,<br>You covered it with the deep as with a garment;<br>The waters stood above the mountains.<br>At Your rebuke they fled;<br>At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.<br>They went up over the mountains;<br>They went down into the valleys,<br>To the place which You founded for them.<br>You have set a boundary that they may not pass over,<br>That they may not return to cover the earth.</em></p> <p align="center"><em>Psalm 104: 1-9</em></p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-14182138143794787822013-01-11T09:34:00.001-08:002013-01-11T09:34:39.690-08:00Music, Color, Light, & Sound!<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UX_-9hwstJ8/UPBMsOYCn_I/AAAAAAAAGrs/Fyh-bmhybbE/s1600-h/madentrance%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="madentrance" border="0" alt="madentrance" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Q_2a0k7c3jY/UPBMtUormQI/AAAAAAAAGr0/-AWXqkw_S4s/madentrance_thumb%25255B8%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="411" height="564"></a></p> <p>Well, here it is, January 11, 2013! AND I am late again! Me thinks I might need to change my name to McTwisp…after all, “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!”<br>Even though I’m late, I thought it would be appropriate for my first post of the year to be some how party related. We did make it through the end of 2012, did we not? That should be something to throw a party about, but I never had a doubt.<br>Hubby and I thought about throwing an End of the World party but it landed on the same night as a study we were doing at church on the Emergent Church…scary stuff, but then I digress, so I’ll leave that for another time.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-XF_MtL4U0KM/UPBMv36K7hI/AAAAAAAAGsA/DG8yHeDvBGY/s1600-h/madentrance2%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="madentrance2" border="0" alt="madentrance2" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-79uNRFoOROg/UPBMxNgijHI/AAAAAAAAGsI/vyGBuj8u91Y/madentrance2_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="626" height="496"></a></p> <p>This past December my hubby decided to buy himself an annual pass to Disneyland…something he hasn’t done in over 10 years. How could I resist not re-newing mine even though I was about to give mine up. So one night we stepped out of the Muppet theater to see this party going on.<br>It looked like great fun! It was!!</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-y5ek34C-7Is/UPBMy3pF-ZI/AAAAAAAAGsQ/QwMKAgrqsyk/s1600-h/stage%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="stage" border="0" alt="stage" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1zOttXUmDHc/UPBMz0LY3iI/AAAAAAAAGsY/Qh8crqEx47s/stage_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="422" height="554"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mALXudFAHLc/UPBM3ljAA0I/AAAAAAAAGsg/-ffu7T1vCZo/s1600-h/stage2%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="stage2" border="0" alt="stage2" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-PlK9H-PcFkM/UPBM4-un-UI/AAAAAAAAGso/UwERLW09vuI/stage2_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="589" height="468"></a></p> <p>The stage was brightly lit in blues and purples with swinging lanterns overhead.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-9Lo-kF6dz4Q/UPBM6Kbvz3I/AAAAAAAAGsw/tfIqwYL79rg/s1600-h/alice4%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="alice4" border="0" alt="alice4" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-EPxfsA0OvLs/UPBM6zxV0kI/AAAAAAAAGs4/CfC4V-irUIs/alice4_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="302" height="419"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi91jXNvZKulIdTF4zRkt6uydIf1q75SQ2ydCq0O6B0HbQtfwg0hxv1IiMr-vPavBMuWFXh3VIf92pW10ayyIJKxPCV8wcB1ZNCYJfC1CWGpj_qi6LjMBv6S82IJJl1pL7NlpJguPUDScoa/s1600-h/alice5%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="alice5" border="0" alt="alice5" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-E2dwNmgkHxY/UPBM9GpEnVI/AAAAAAAAGtI/h95walv-OjY/alice5_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="306" height="420"></a></p> <p>And the band was made up of the Mad Hatter, Alice, and the white Rabbit…they were pretty good if I do say so myself!!! Hubby and I don’t usually attend such parties, however it being inside California Adventure we decided it couldn’t get too out of hand.<br>We only stayed for a few songs since it felt like it was below freezing outside, but we plan to go back on Friday night when they’ll be playing again. Apparently they play every weekend.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-cBx9E8CsNM4/UPBM_HBflXI/AAAAAAAAGtQ/fnPsUgzKgAE/s1600-h/aliceBand3%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="aliceBand3" border="0" alt="aliceBand3" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-yz3_uCIOZko/UPBNAUW7F5I/AAAAAAAAGtY/vJKGT6j9KCE/aliceBand3_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="609" height="484"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-G0rYIlkcRxA/UPBNBkPzQ7I/AAAAAAAAGtg/Ku-Bp3vdodY/s1600-h/aliceBand%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="aliceBand" border="0" alt="aliceBand" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3__tPDuseGwIoheCoNRvLTFvKXYLLCVEn7JgNSYQ8U7TMIugJQsQ1wCRH1w4PXCci6ZPFBRDTrk0ql772xIOOpgat2uKpCDhM3aY4GGllCog-Ds7Rt2MGi3XrN-DA7aDGoM55uQuhX2m/?imgmax=800" width="636" height="764"></a></p> <p>Don’t you LOVE the costumes?? I do!! But then I love most costumes!!!</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4yrnPJAN-A0/UPBNEX6I3wI/AAAAAAAAGtw/XqSWkIvNKQo/s1600-h/alice6%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="alice6" border="0" alt="alice6" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-bYU-qjcqo94/UPBNFkTfePI/AAAAAAAAGt4/XFkPQDmhlIo/alice6_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="520" height="691"></a></p> <p>Alice’s ruffled skirt is especially darling...</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-eLFRhM7i0wo/UPBNHaJj6MI/AAAAAAAAGuA/WpXP9ZLLTYU/s1600-h/aliceRuffles%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="aliceRuffles" border="0" alt="aliceRuffles" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-QkyeE-O9c0I/UPBNIlfyOVI/AAAAAAAAGuI/V9ho07XH6ic/aliceRuffles_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="618" height="443"></a></p> <p>Who would have thought to add little “This Way, That Way” tags to their costume? Maybe Alice needs a few reminders of which way to go or maybe she wears them for the poor wandering souls who get lost in Underland. But, whatever, I think it’s one of the cutest details I’ve seen in quite awhile!!!!</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-LeW1C7hoo2o/UPBNJ0uCFzI/AAAAAAAAGuQ/VYQlcUMal4w/s1600-h/aliceBand2%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="aliceBand2" border="0" alt="aliceBand2" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-YklqPOl07Ck/UPBNLdAR3QI/AAAAAAAAGuY/Y33_ryGXEf0/aliceBand2_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="630" height="843"></a>Okay, back to reality.<br>School starts in less then a month and I had planned to get much accomplished during my time off, but sometimes life takes different twists and turns. Our washer and dryer have both given up the ghost and I’m waiting for a new set to be delivered on Tuesday. Hubby and I were both horrified at the price! And I do mean HORRIFIED!!! We kept walking away and then going back. The salesman tried directing us to something I didn’t want, as they often do. So we ended up going home then coming back again. OI! How I hate buying huge appliances!!! </p> <p>Well, I must be off for now, but one of my resolutions for this year was to blog more, so hopefully I’ll be back sooner then later.<br>I hope you all have a lovely weekend…until next time…</p> <p>xoxo Cori</p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-12592295724834387222012-12-29T20:00:00.001-08:002012-12-29T20:00:58.528-08:00Merry after Christmas!<p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-YAVMH6cFZhk/UN-8MP9HL_I/AAAAAAAAGow/MRGZ-RDbhWs/s1600-h/Buffet2012%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Buffet2012" border="0" alt="Buffet2012" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-pm242Merm2U/UN-8NeUxVnI/AAAAAAAAGo4/2KhgsUN8a2o/Buffet2012_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="439" height="672"></a></p> <p>Once again. I missed Christmas in Bloglandia, but to those of you who happen to stop by, <br>“Merry Christmas” from my cottage to yours!! <br>It has been awhile, hasn’t it? I think I say that each time I stop in and each time it feels like more time has passed since my last visit. Thankfully I"’ve been given a moment to catch my breath and hopefully catch up with many of you.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hx_sY6JwfRY/UN-8Phx8y6I/AAAAAAAAGpA/8yIxNxqIccA/s1600-h/harp%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="harp" border="0" alt="harp" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-8YnD1XsH0Ls/UN-8Qv7U66I/AAAAAAAAGpI/-jiR2Ord5m0/harp_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="356" height="538"></a></p> <p>We had a wonderful, peaceful Christmas spent with Jim’s family…Good food, children’s laughter, and just being us. For the first time in many many years I actually baked and had my plates ready when the neighbor's stopped by. I’m sure they wondered what was up since Cori is never on time.</p> <p>For my 51st birthday Jimmy bought me a harp. It’s a pixie harp with 19 strings which, is perfect for me being one of my nick-names is “Pixie Queen.” I’m sitting here laughing to myself so I’ll go off on a little bunny trail and explain. You see, I have a friend…we’ll just call her Honey Bee. One day Honey Bee and I were bored when we noticed a book of baby names lying on the shelf, so we decided to look up the definitions of our names. Her definition was, you guessed…Honey Bee while mine was a pixie like creature that dwells in a hollow near a stream. So Pixie Queen I became…ok…hopping off the bunny trail and back to my new harp.<br> I read on the internet that before you play your harp, you are to give it a name, since they are not considered to be mere in-adamant objects, but each one having a unique personality of its own. So I decided to give mine an Elvish name, what else could I do? After much research and debating I decided to name her Erulissë (Air-oo-lee-say) which means Grace. There were so many beautiful Elvish names to choose, but I kept going back to this one. I like the way it gently rolls off the tongue. I’ve been playing and tuning her each day, but need to find a teacher.</p> <p>So, you now know that I got a harp for my Birthday, but where else have I been and what have I been doing? I’ve spent the most intense semester in all my years of schooling…thankfully it’s over, but while I was there I learned…</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-pUNxC4bQE8o/UN-8RnTpBRI/AAAAAAAAGpQ/aKKtwNptxZw/s1600-h/1%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="1" border="0" alt="1" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-h8-AWfPh7qE/UN-8R3QeMbI/AAAAAAAAGpY/I0sTcHqaovs/1_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="108" height="108"></a><font size="2">How to paint in Photoshop.</font><br>I took a class and we painted trucks, apples, robots, and all manner of boy things. It was so much fun! I also learned that somewhere inside my heart is a children’s story waiting to be written down on paper.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-U2jzqzpRPFs/UN-8TaQ4EsI/AAAAAAAAGpg/okSsRaGt97w/s1600-h/cGagnier_FINAL%252520truck%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="cGagnier_FINAL truck" border="0" alt="cGagnier_FINAL truck" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-l6CG6gc6rkU/UN-8UpatPRI/AAAAAAAAGps/kbZp2ovpC2I/cGagnier_FINAL%252520truck_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="651" height="440"></a></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-QisLlrOS7MU/UN-8VHTpLAI/AAAAAAAAGp0/lrUSZQtEswU/s1600-h/2%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="2" border="0" alt="2" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-kotAEiKcI4s/UN-8WAJIjeI/AAAAAAAAGp8/kUUFs7Bn94g/2_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="108" height="108"></a></p> <p><font size="2">I opened a Bakery</font> (fictitious of course) and created every imaginable piece of packaging that I could think of. I also learned that things created in Illustrator don’t transfer well to the web “-(.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-EEP9uCDwa7k/UN-8W5mJgeI/AAAAAAAAGqE/Rllo0slhPGQ/s1600-h/bakerybusiness%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="bakerybusiness" border="0" alt="bakerybusiness" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zMCxCGt8rXs/UN-8XsHAm9I/AAAAAAAAGqM/LVCNxRMhWxE/bakerybusiness_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="325" height="192"></a> </p> <p> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-7SyXWuU34KE/UN-8YAa1HmI/AAAAAAAAGqU/Vmq2dNg5W8E/s1600-h/shortbread%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="shortbread" border="0" alt="shortbread" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-eNsT_ZbR9DU/UN-8Yxg8Q1I/AAAAAAAAGqc/wHy1OEGDmg4/shortbread_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="323" height="412"></a></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-e0vBf7VTDKM/UN-8ZRIBCAI/AAAAAAAAGqk/A2jVACOc6ow/s1600-h/3%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="3" border="0" alt="3" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGszjUkyBP7ctn7NNw3rqgycUDsclE2TEdmuyuXnsK0ih_TEy0GvMsIOtAsFG2weN5_ttKVZoWf5Dcmc61Dw-GLQj9m5Ts5eeDWuYwuh0zi5NJJHnAflOs-9pPWyp_c-Ttr48rAvQUbnwK/?imgmax=800" width="108" height="108"></a></p> <p>I learned that not every picture you see on the internet is real and that if you take a great amount of time and care, you can create your own little visual worlds.<br>Next time you look at a photo look real hard.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-6qmRheQXdmM/UN-8cC2RSaI/AAAAAAAAGq0/xyJXllKKAhg/s1600-h/castleMontage_cGagnier%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="castleMontage_cGagnier" border="0" alt="castleMontage_cGagnier" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-aHJ66LQculE/UN-8dYgHrPI/AAAAAAAAGq8/VizImPU-Xzw/castleMontage_cGagnier_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="611" height="485"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6MGCsDFvtIE/UN-8d8FLFWI/AAAAAAAAGrE/3R-PXsoaZrc/s1600-h/4%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="4" border="0" alt="4" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lxiC3Azl7A4/UN-8ePvRZ6I/AAAAAAAAGrM/Z-lK7RNntx8/4_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="108" height="108"></a></p> <p>And I’ve learned, that when you are ready to come down off your shelf, God will move you in a new direction, but I’ll tell you about that later.</p> <p>If I don’t make it back before New Year’s I hope you all have a lovely one and please be safe! It’s a crazy world we live in!!</p> <p>Until next time…<br>xoxo Cori</p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-84288385765884074692012-09-21T14:46:00.001-07:002012-09-21T14:46:33.225-07:00Flying High over the sky’s of Southern California<p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-xWA7JhJLsLs/UFzgI_AW6WI/AAAAAAAAGn8/-vMkT30xug4/s1600-h/endeaver1%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="endeaver1" border="0" alt="endeaver1" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ETnf68Jg15Q/UFzgLVxLfOI/AAAAAAAAGoE/MOqFVSwPzm4/endeaver1_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="656" height="442"></a></p> <p>If you’ve been watching the news you probably know that today was the day when the Space shutter Endeavor made her last flight.<br>Hubby called, from work, to remind me that she would be doing a fly-by over the magic kingdom, but sadly I forgot, until I pulled onto Magic Way and landed in the middle of a traffic jam. I couldn’t get to Down Town Disney for anything and then it dawned on me. “Oh yeah, today is the day that the space shuttle was doing her fly-by.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zfk4CVCFChw/UFzgNFBRFFI/AAAAAAAAGoM/t_-ik6Vxthc/s1600-h/endeaver2%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="endeaver2" border="0" alt="endeaver2" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-anDita8KK14/UFzgN74nTYI/AAAAAAAAGoU/wTlKJWEM1eA/endeaver2_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="670" height="528"></a></p> <p>People were pulling into the huge Disney parking structure to watch from the roof top. Me? I pulled around the corner into a parking lot of a near-by hotel. There sat a woman on the tail gate of her truck and a man in a lawn chair with a cooler. I asked if they were there to watch the shuttle. “Yep.” They had the same thing in mind. The woman told me to pull up a seat next to her so I did and the three of us talked for about an hour.<br>The sun was blazing hot and people were starting to leave just as we heard the turbine engines of the 747 that carried her to her final destination. <br>Was it an exciting moment in the life of this 50 year old woman? You bet it was!!!</p> <p>Did you get to see her final flight and where were you when she flew by?</p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-7066569504433979982012-09-09T17:23:00.001-07:002012-09-09T17:23:05.303-07:00The Vintage Marketplace<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ryTHipLflII/UE0yf4dmSDI/AAAAAAAAGlc/GiQ9J1Y1Qok/s1600-h/vintage9-9-126.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="vintage9-9-12" border="0" alt="vintage9-9-12" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5De8BGyGdXHj1ChHvVWfFEDLJB1-HQkFusICi32STsiKo63bQGe2MxxVz5Ew1JkthsfDsy26c8AxnG7OMY9k1PZ36bggTLAjfMYRKxNVP00ZqoGfSFa4m1_SQQOXWVYs0wfAiWpiuXDy6/?imgmax=800" width="635" height="447"></a></p> <p>Hello Hello! Once again I’ve managed to find my way back to this special little place in the blogisphere. A place where we share little snippets of our lives, dreams, and the inner workings of our hearts. <br>I love it here and have been inspired by so many of you, but alas, life has a way of twisting and turning while traveling down its own path. Sometimes, if we fail to pay attention the path leads us to who knows where and that’s where I’ve been of late, the land of “Who Knows Where,” doing “Who Knows What.” Life, school, working on my cottage, and other such things. Sometimes I feel like one day melds into a month and then a year. An entire year gone in three days…do you feel that way too?<br><br>Anywho, this past weekend I decided to take time off from Who Knows Where and visit The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vintage-Marketplace/142866075779195" target="_blank">Vintage Marketplace</a> in Rainbow, CA. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6mg6jxSZBRS_I7OxiYsfUNyvH12q6LUnj92M43wKocN8VEvsRUonmZEv01hhi2U6od6sAFvW3Qpa7T8wbcUu11AlZmnCu6YUGG-mlkpjdNDOXbuRudO6hEe9BxedFNFXtM0bVfbTGpWE/s1600-h/vintage4-9-125.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="vintage4-9-12" border="0" alt="vintage4-9-12" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--BkhWW5_i98/UE0ykiHwmtI/AAAAAAAAGl0/eZa_cKgE7G0/vintage4-9-12_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="442" height="677"></a></p> <p>I’ve been following Christie and Rita on pinterest so naturally I was curious to see what the two were up to. Oh, in case you didn’t know, <a href="http://chateaudefleurs.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Christie</a> and <a href="http://mammabellarte.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Rita</a> are the two talented women who host the Vintage Marketplace four times a year.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-427kIgH2ibE/UE0ymhgufVI/AAAAAAAAGl8/kpCvsDdLXHI/s1600-h/vintage2-9-124.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="vintage2-9-12" border="0" alt="vintage2-9-12" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-RweMuqP1Of0/UE0yoD0DOjI/AAAAAAAAGmE/zItLbJikryY/vintage2-9-12_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="670" height="456"></a></p> <p>This darling old truck set the stage for the entrance and was the perfect place for a photo opp, which would explain The many girly girls dressed in lace just waiting to have their pictures taken on the bails of hay. Me? I just wanted to take the truck home, but all I got were a few pictures…such is life “-).</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-kaXnfSDXMek/UE0ypUXGrGI/AAAAAAAAGmM/8sLo1A3YTGA/s1600-h/vintage7-9-124.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="vintage7-9-12" border="0" alt="vintage7-9-12" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-OKlH709Xzf8/UE0yq4qQnEI/AAAAAAAAGmU/broy1tAKr30/vintage7-9-12_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="643" height="469"></a></p> <p>There were so many beautiful displays and the vendor’s tents were works of art themselves. Above is one of the sweet little arm chairs Rita had upholstered in burlap and Christie painted with her signature roses. I talk (or type) as if I know them, don’t I? In case you are wondering, “no I don’t” but I did get to wear Rita’s socks once and I always stop and say hi to Christie, even tho I’ve never introduced myself. I’m a wee bit shy at times. <em>Note to self</em>…”never leave home without a pair of socks in your bag because you just never know when you may run into the perfect pair of boots.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-5C1LHVmpOVw/UE0yrrBLmXI/AAAAAAAAGmc/JWzYh5RP0uk/s1600-h/vintage8-9-124.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="vintage8-9-12" border="0" alt="vintage8-9-12" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-v3h361TYsOE/UE0ytLHJSpI/AAAAAAAAGmk/0NO5iRJ5Qjg/vintage8-9-12_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="659" height="454"></a></p> <p>I loved this pink tufted chair but decided to pass it up since I have six of my own waiting for my upholstery skills to be put back to use. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-SiLkgbTeMRA/UE0yu4PlsWI/AAAAAAAAGms/huxuUwwnjBA/s1600-h/vintage3-9-125.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="vintage3-9-12" border="0" alt="vintage3-9-12" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TtGvfPul7YE/UE0ywS6_ytI/AAAAAAAAGm0/NkTX0RYo1-s/vintage3-9-12_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="426" height="652"></a></p> <p>One of my favorite vendors was there…<a href="http://sweetmagnoliasfarm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Sweet Magnolias Farm</a>. It’s a mother daughter duo and they always have the sweetest set up. Their theme for this event was glampin’. I thought the converted chicken coop idea was darling, but of course it wasn’t a chicken coop at all, but then I suppose if you had an abandoned chicken coop in your backyard it would be a perfect spot for an afternoon nap provided it had a comfy day bed.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Oi4ZzzEUtMg/UE0yyra-RqI/AAAAAAAAGm8/Ax9W6H2rR-s/s1600-h/vintage1-9_124.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="vintage1-9_12" border="0" alt="vintage1-9_12" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-1xEye4kN0cw/UE0yzx4o1VI/AAAAAAAAGnE/-IKUZVKw2fI/vintage1-9_12_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="575" height="399"></a></p> <p>The day turned out to be one of the hottest since I can’t remember when, but then many a day in southern Cal has been strange. Humid, hot, and always the sky filled with giant thunder heads. Very strange weather we are having. Very strange indeed. It was so hot that I didn’t stay as long as I would have liked, but I wouldn’t have missed the event either.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Q_u1gYngak4/UE0y2JlPW-I/AAAAAAAAGnM/SkxWKQ57Yug/s1600-h/vintage6-9-124.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="vintage6-9-12" border="0" alt="vintage6-9-12" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-p-2uYsOWcjY/UE0y3WWQx7I/AAAAAAAAGnU/pdOCae8pusM/vintage6-9-12_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="638" height="442"></a></p> <p>I came away with a darling shoulder bag crafted from fabric and peach colored lace, a new/old table scarf for my wee little backyard table, and a fun scrap of fabric embroidered with roses and butterflies. I’m still not sure how I’m going to put it to use, but I know I’ll think of something.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gSkBLqTPSRM/UE0y4dYhlJI/AAAAAAAAGnc/QwEwjQk8EEY/s1600-h/bonjour5.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="bonjour" border="0" alt="bonjour" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WYkBZq4diBg/UE0y55X-I7I/AAAAAAAAGnk/PDDQb-4GxdM/bonjour_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="685" height="430"></a></p> <p>All in all it was a wonderful day filled with tons of inspiration and eye candy. <br><br>Now back to reality…the new semester started two weeks ago and I have classes Monday thru Thursday. <br>You would have thought I’d be done by now, right? Me too! I call it one of those twists and turns along the path of life. Somehow things seem to take longer the older I get. Well, that’s life!</p> <p>I hope life has been treating you well and any twists and turns along your path have been blessings in disguise.<br>Until we meet again, in this wonderful little corner of the blogisphere…<br>xoxo cori </p> <p><a href="http://gingerbreadcrumbsandcompany.blogspot.com/search/label/Weekend%20Wandering" target="_blank">Pictures from a past Vintage Marketplace</a></p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-69739034115716459722012-06-22T09:16:00.001-07:002012-06-22T09:16:53.884-07:00An afternoon stroll down route 66<p> </p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gINiHOtvNAI/T-SaMrT73pI/AAAAAAAAGjc/BqYlXgDnPTE/s1600-h/carsland1%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="carsland1" border="0" alt="carsland1" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-gO829p5vv_4/T-SaOpradeI/AAAAAAAAGjk/m4TUJJXT2v4/carsland1_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="540" height="829"></a> <p><font size="3">Yesterday, I finished painting the baseboards in my living room so I thought I’d take a stroll down Route 66. Care to join me? I thought you might.<br>For about a year now all you could see were tall wooden walls and “Coming Soon” signs throughout the park, but last Friday the walls came down. The Big Reveal! Carsland in Disney’s California Adventure!</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-cbxVPLNFMLM/T-SaQVIGW1I/AAAAAAAAGjs/BBhwehGbdxk/s1600-h/carsland2%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="carsland2" border="0" alt="carsland2" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4i_AHp9wbXE/T-SaSKAV58I/AAAAAAAAGj0/JnzXN3oGXms/carsland2_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="477" height="732"></a></p> <p><font size="3">As you can see, traffic jams along the route. Wall to wall people. Oi Vey was it ever crowded!! There were people walking about with tires on their heads, which I failed to get pictures of, but I’m sure there will be plenty more opportunities. After all, Disney does pride themselves on the fact that they are a “Retail Destination” and no longer a family destination for making memories. Don’t get me wrong, I love the mouse and his magic kingdom, but one shouldn’t have to take out a loan in order to take the wife and kids on holiday…Oh! So sorry about the rabbit trail ranting. Where were we? Oh yes! Route 66.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-q_MKw6ScckQ/T-SaT9FrvRI/AAAAAAAAGj8/d6vFsQfmP94/s1600-h/carsland4%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="carsland4" border="0" alt="carsland4" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-uqZtB6ixGTM/T-SaU1pWoJI/AAAAAAAAGkE/gEWKaljaOwg/carsland4_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="592" height="416"></a></p> <p><font size="3">Everywhere you turned there were people people people. So many people that it was hard to get pictures of anything. So I did a lot of looking up.<br><font size="3">Speaking of looking up, up ahead you could see Flo’s Diner serving up an assortment of tasty treats. I couldn’t tell you what they were since it was so crowded, but it looked like fun. </font></font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-afLSITQXlbM/T-SaXXiBz3I/AAAAAAAAGkM/jCnbMFzNobM/s1600-h/carsland3%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="carsland3" border="0" alt="carsland3" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-JoWL0GQQr3o/T-SaYtryWCI/AAAAAAAAGkU/zhHZ-nKC8Ac/carsland3_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="624" height="372"></a></p> <p><font size="3">The interior of Flo’s was like stepping through a portal into the past. Black and white checkered floors and lots of 50’s décor. Flo and her fabulous girls were painted across one of the huge walls. The colors were just yummy.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_Rw1NTe0QzA/T-SabjPVWKI/AAAAAAAAGkc/DVeCDupLE-0/s1600-h/carsland6%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="carsland6" border="0" alt="carsland6" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ZI2PFgfWI_Q/T-SadBiIGUI/AAAAAAAAGkk/-U8NKf-Lwn0/carsland6_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="600" height="416"></a></p> <p><font size="3">After spending about an hour in the hot sun I decided to escape the crowds and headed to the new Ghirardelli Soda shop. I’ve always wanted to visit the original one in San Francisco, but never made it there. Now I understand it’s closed, so Disney’s will have to do. I stopped to enjoy a Ghirardelli Chocolate ice cream in a dark chocolate covered waffle cone. It was delicious!</font></p> <p><font size="3">After that I headed back home to do more work. Hubby and I decided that since the room was torn apart we may as well replace the trim around the windows. I think we may be working backwards, but often that is our way. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Have you ever taken a trip down route 66? I remember as a child road trips taken with my family. The three of us kids piling into the back seat of the old Cadillac and taking off for destinations unknown. I think the section of road I remember the most was in Holbrook Arizona with the <a href="http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10294" target="_blank">Wigwam Village Motel</a>. Does any one remember that place? How I longed to stay the night in one, but we always kept driving right passed the wigwams. Makes me wonder if they’re still there, but then since I added the link above, they must be “-).</font></p> <p><font size="3">So, if you have any memories of route 66, I’d love to know what they are “-). </font></p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-49390829436435667042012-06-21T12:26:00.001-07:002012-06-21T12:26:55.177-07:00It’s that Magical Fanciful Time of YeAr…<p> </p> <p align="center"><font size="6">Can you guess what it is?</font></p> <p><a href="http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/a_fanciful_twist/2012/06/mad-tea-party-2012-an-invitation.html"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="6a00d83451d99869e2017615ac4535970c" border="0" alt="6a00d83451d99869e2017615ac4535970c" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguRg-DWKqSwPNya50J7PMkwpKOxFABQd9uOAu2wi5qyEZr54nA5DTOEIi7GowzAtGp5R5vo4WPy7VrETzTFKxE_RfpdMTGFDgvR9H3buADe_feF8CFGgfDazLmjmcnrNQfX_j-iHbqHRoq/?imgmax=800" width="337" height="573"></a></p> <p> </p> <p align="center"><font size="5">It’s the 5th Annual</font> <font size="5"><font color="#ff2d96" size="6">MaD TeA PaRty</font> Hosted by the most adorable Fanciful Elfin creature to exist…Vanessa Valencia and her Beloved Beau…ThE MaD HaTTer…<br>(aka, Mister Lovee)! <br>It doesn’t get any funner than this in Bloglandia, <br>(and yes! “Funner” is a real word)<br>so won’t you join us for another fun filled wacky few days of blog hopping through the list of party goers?<br>I know I’ll be there and it would be fun to see you too!!</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#79552e" size="5">Don’t forget the date!</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#ff2d96" size="5"><font size="6">July 28th 2012</font> </font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#ff2d96" size="5">you can click on the image above for more details </font></p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-91317357360150608272012-06-15T09:18:00.001-07:002012-06-15T09:18:35.247-07:00Coming up for air<p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-b3k1IcZTRT4/T9tgJlKleTI/AAAAAAAAGho/yAqA6qK1ajY/s1600-h/paint1%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="paint1" border="0" alt="paint1" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GH6QA3_nnWY/T9tgLKP4GMI/AAAAAAAAGhw/Bf4NTQy3JLU/paint1_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="508" height="778"></a></p> <p><font size="4">Well, I managed to make it through another semester and am hoping to have only one more to go…hopefully! Last summer I took an online class in “code writing” which I really enjoyed, but I decided to take this summer off and get some projects done around my beloved Brambleberry Cottage. The effect time and neglect have had on our weence little dwelling is staggering. Where does one even begin? I decided to start with the living room. I have been in the mood for a bright springy color after staring at brown walls for the past 15 years. And yes! I did say “15.” I looked around one day and realized I was living in a time capsule…nothing had changed in 15 years. No furniture rearranging, no fresh new fabrics, no change at all. Quite disturbing for a girl who thrives on change. <br></font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-PHa3k3GKHfE/T9tgLwUl0dI/AAAAAAAAGh4/3twLNVEbsOQ/s1600-h/paint2%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="paint2" border="0" alt="paint2" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-eLqFjW0XjC8/T9tgMxLm6DI/AAAAAAAAGiA/T5cukHkzlQg/paint2_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="483" height="741"></a></p> <p><font size="4">So I painted the rooms green. This past week I finished the living room and entry and now I’m replacing the baseboards with help from my dear hubby. He gets to do all the measuring and cutting while I paint. <br>You can see to the left of the door the new moldings, which are very exciting in my way of thinking. I just love progress, don’t you? Even if it’s a bit slower than I’d like, but much depends on my hubby who has to work all day then come home to the wife who’s head is bubbling over with ideas, which in turn means more work for him. OH! See that front door? I’d Love for him to cut it in half and transform it into a Dutch door. Seems simple enough, right? Right! I might even paint the inside of it pink. I’m definitely painting the outside of it pink! Pink doors make me extraordinarily happy. </font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeLFLfTU4Hw7PqZUTxO3RZR8kas9USUciWmMqPhSXEe0vN8IV4e-FtuSYWExSWkFe0rIDmIypTK4ZfyFs2qrorguj3ZBHKCGdzK5CA4INaivLcLsUJUIqnctzTB_0tuObEsMcArVzycsH/s1600-h/paint3%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="paint3" border="0" alt="paint3" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-BdXuUCvCp_Y/T9tgQc2cRbI/AAAAAAAAGiQ/rgDEl6WqQyI/paint3_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="627" height="435"></a></p> <p><font size="4">Now here’s something that I’ve wanted to do for many many many years. Paint this old filthy fireplace white. Don’t get me wrong, I find the old brick to be very charming, however it’s also dark and dingy at the same time. While it worked well with the brown walls it seems perfectly out of place with the fresh spring green.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FKLYkXd_Xl0/T9tgSJIkvyI/AAAAAAAAGiY/iT_jl9YBkgo/s1600-h/paint4%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="paint4" border="0" alt="paint4" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-cSHH3UORl3w/T9tgS7UC9rI/AAAAAAAAGig/u5w4n-tYYEQ/paint4_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="566" height="393"></a></p> <p><font size="4">So, armed with a can of paint and a brush…viola! It is now white. Well, at this stage it’s only primed and there’s still more to come. </font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Kvlgfk11XMI/T9tgThDdXkI/AAAAAAAAGio/N3f_0SdqA5o/s1600-h/284923113895734214_1R35KOa8_c%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="284923113895734214_1R35KOa8_c" border="0" alt="284923113895734214_1R35KOa8_c" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-i4JYxAYWyic/T9tgUG15N1I/AAAAAAAAGiw/Ln_Y_CsjAY0/284923113895734214_1R35KOa8_c_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="213" height="587"></a><font size="4"> About 10 years ago I bought these gorgeous tiles from Dard Hunter’s grandson</font> <font size="4">while at a local Craftsman Faire. I had always planned to design a surround for the fireplace, but never got around to it, so, this is the year and I’m very excited about this as well. I wish you could see the colors in real life because the picture just doesn’t do them justice. They’re very vibrant and glossy looking. Beautiful to my eye. <br>Of course the existing mantle will be removed and replaced with a new one that will be fully integrated into the surround. Plus it will be removable just in case we move one day, which I’m sure will never happen, but just in case “-).</font></p> <p><font size="4">I also bought 15 yards of fabric from Calico Corners to make new drapes. They’re having a 20% off sale so the timing was perfect! I’m still waiting for it to arrive via post. It has a very English feel with its creamy yellow background and pink roses scattered among apple blossoms. The shades are all soft and muted tones. “Lovely,” says I.</font></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-8qDIWpk5DQ4/T9tgVZIrzfI/AAAAAAAAGi4/wrSF632xQG4/s1600-h/paint5%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="paint5" border="0" alt="paint5" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmoGYZhBEZhu-MoDmkKDDzvOr0jdrKZmZ_gxEMf4qpdpn1I5Gu-rsfT0pN4x3FlsshcjCP58GqvDd90P-Ym2Nwc7LvyQAxZZGV1UTHTgBBTeQLndTSqvOXqmKFgxVp8RCgvVzGWh21Q5g/?imgmax=800" width="630" height="437"></a></p> <p><font size="4">Then once all that is done I’ll be able to start re-arranging all the lovely little vignettes scattered about Brambleberry cottage. So much fun!</font></p> <p><font size="4">Do you have any fun plans for this summer?</font></p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-18022048536750341522012-04-18T08:40:00.001-07:002012-04-18T08:43:51.762-07:00A Song of God’s Majesty and Love…<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LSPVg10igGY/T47geaiw6-I/AAAAAAAAGhQ/OpdzvF43iTM/s1600-h/psalm145%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img alt="psalm145" border="0" height="295" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-CQiXaExYS9Q/T47gfCa_GDI/AAAAAAAAGhY/dxCEqI7oarM/psalm145_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="psalm145" width="429" /></a><br />
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Every day I will bless You. And I will praise Your name forever and ever.<br />Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.</div>
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One generation shall praise Your works to another. And shall declare Your mighty acts.<br />I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts. And I will declare Your greatness.<br />They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, And shall sing of Your righteousness.</div>
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The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy.<br />The LORD is good to all, And HIs tender mercies are over all His works.</div>
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Psalm 145: 1-9</div>Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-52896165673863646672012-04-15T12:44:00.001-07:002012-04-15T12:44:22.855-07:00<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-EBR6Fjnn9AI/T4sk8mUOriI/AAAAAAAAGgQ/PqL6lv_v6Nw/s1600-h/noodling-doodling%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="noodling-doodling" border="0" alt="noodling-doodling" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-U_dHNfY1qfw/T4sk-A9ilWI/AAAAAAAAGgY/bxOSG_aU0iw/noodling-doodling_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="623" height="234"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="2"><font size="4">Well, maybe the “woe” is too strong a word, but at times it feels that way.</font> <br></font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">So, let’s see…where do I begin. I think the last time anyone in Bloglandia knew what was going on, here at Brambleberry Cottage, was last year. Maybe it’s time for an update. <br>Last year hubby was unemployed and much was accomplished around here. We painted and built and worked in the garden. We built raised vegetable beds in the backyard and nibbled on lettuce, radishes, and other yummy veggies. <br>My new semester started and with it came a new job for hubby. I think it’s a bit peculiar that his job at Boeing ended the first day of my last semester while his new job began the first day of this semester. But anywho, this semester has been both challenging and woeful.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-yEnlpbG0ND4/T4sk_P9x2KI/AAAAAAAAGgg/VEWDu67UHY4/s1600-h/Pollen-Playful%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Pollen-Playful" border="0" alt="Pollen-Playful" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-o3batdakwyc/T4sk_6sHAsI/AAAAAAAAGgo/_gMLlEwhJaE/Pollen-Playful_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="595"></a></p> <p><font size="3">I’m not sure what it is, but every time I’m enrolled in an art/graphics class I feel so inadequate about my abilities to create anything worth looking at…weird, don’t you think? Me too! Well, this semester I have two drawing classes, a sewing class, and Quick Print on Friday. I love my Quick Print class!!! I love my sewing class!!! I despise my Doodling & Noodling class as well as my Intro to Advertising and Graphic Arts…yuck! Yuck! Yuck. The two classes I despise (another strong and maybe overly dramatic word, I know) are Tuesday’s and Thursdays beginning at 8 am. I’m not sure about the other students, but I think 8 am is way too early to start class. We all shuffle through the door looking slightly catatonic and find our way to our seats.<br>So, this is where the “woe” comes in. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, my instructor and I seem to be at odds with one another and nothing I do is right.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-l5EARMbcKUY/T4slASLJpKI/AAAAAAAAGgw/aSSo_zZATtw/s1600-h/fish%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="fish" border="0" alt="fish" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tnIjpH7QizQ/T4slB9fN3lI/AAAAAAAAGg4/RWbhtx7xjnI/fish_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="473" height="685"></a></p> <p><font size="3">I’ll bet you didn’t know you were going to have to listen to me whine, did you? Please forgive me as I continue my tale of woe :-). <br>You may be wondering about my strange little pictures so I’ll tell you what they are. We were given an assignment where we had to create pictures that represented a word out of nothing but characters from 1 font family. These were a few of my finished designs. My instructor was not thrilled that I chose fonts from home instead of the computer lab, but after the fact I remembered that I specifically asked, “can I use fonts from home?” to which she replied, “I don’t think there should be a problem since they’ll be converted to outlines.” I think part of the problem may be that we are both forgetful and neither wants to fess up to it. Oh well, such is life. I keep telling myself to get over it and go on. Easier said then done. Am I making any sense or are you completely confused? </font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ARrKqH7x810/T4slDJRdiQI/AAAAAAAAGhA/jiUhkGFUPSk/s1600-h/speed%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="speed" border="0" alt="speed" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-I-EMaDllQLY/T4slEqkLmyI/AAAAAAAAGhI/hL7o32A1IgY/speed_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="485" height="698"></a></p> <p><font size="3">Any way the next assignment really has me stumped and I just can’t seem to get it done. The good thing is I only have 5-6 weeks left then I’ll be done for this semester and hopefully only 1 semester to go…but then there’s more Quick Print classes…so much fun for a girl who loves to print!!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">OK, I gotta run for now, but hopefully I’ll be back sooner than not.<br>Hope you all have a fun rest of the weekend!!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">xoxo Cori</font></p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-37012925042793659922012-04-11T09:26:00.001-07:002012-04-11T09:26:39.869-07:00After the Rains<p>What is it they say…”April showers bring May flowers.”<br>We have had plenty of rain this year and it’s been ever so glorious!</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-XRvzmxiru4M/T4WwUX53sxI/AAAAAAAAGfA/h_aCJS-N3sk/s1600-h/_IGP3006%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="_IGP3006" border="0" alt="_IGP3006" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-1NgNR2WE4Ro/T4WwWMk9dyI/AAAAAAAAGfI/8rYKODbRz90/_IGP3006_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="586" height="419"></a></p> <p>This morning, as I wondered through my garden, I noticed all the roses had opened over night. Almost as if they knew the rains were coming and wanted to bathe their petals in the gentle cleansing drops from heaven. Have you ever noticed how the light is different after a rain?<br>The sky is bluer, the clouds are fluffier, and the sounds of the earth ring clearer.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Pf8ZoY1uUz8/T4WwYzYNnPI/AAAAAAAAGfQ/82QOWFki_do/s1600-h/_IGP2996%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="_IGP2996" border="0" alt="_IGP2996" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sJ2JSxKUmIk/T4WwaK0-HcI/AAAAAAAAGfY/f5-7XgrRfGc/_IGP2996_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="559" height="388"></a><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-trtQfJscB7I/T4WweAkgOzI/AAAAAAAAGfg/BVmYDDl0LTA/s1600-h/_IGP3009%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="_IGP3009" border="0" alt="_IGP3009" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-LalyrZXvFGk/T4WwhSerzzI/AAAAAAAAGfo/ODPddE4ovyA/_IGP3009_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="601" height="425"></a></p> <p>Before going out to my garden this morning, I saw the funniest sight through the kitchen window. The back end of a huge possum strolling down the path with a head of lettuce tucked safely in its mouth. I would have loved to have taken a picture of her (or him), but my camera was in the other room. Apparently this little bunn missed it too.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFvJDKcnkEgdsj_aoeszvBAmHGqTr-euOTPSlcFoe8zED-XBPmEKlCTYAp9Va8TeK4E3CIUbDe_UlAlGCrFlPQvFMx4GqEwtsIO7vD0hpKUf3etd8FsSEiz9LMM7qPYm-k56rL16DjHY0/s1600-h/_IGP3014%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="_IGP3014" border="0" alt="_IGP3014" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GBvRTbwOAHE/T4WwpaGByrI/AAAAAAAAGf4/bz_kBPEZeoQ/_IGP3014_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="581" height="403"></a></p> <p>There have been two doves coo-cooing in the wisteria for days and I wonder if they’re the same two that fly in every spring. They build a nest in the branches of the vine and the mother patiently sits and waits for the appointed time, for her little clutch of babes to arrive. She is so quiet and still that you’d never know she was there. And no matter what’s going on below she will not abandon her wee ones. It’s amazing how the Lord has created in them a protectiveness for their young. I think we humans could learn a lesson or two from the doves.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-HROkkdmZ3ss/T4WwsPq98EI/AAAAAAAAGgA/gannvPVlMWA/s1600-h/_IGP3015%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="_IGP3015" border="0" alt="_IGP3015" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9tJr5kQjWM21WkjmfbLYmTW-9VbcLeV2IzNXDLWmdH3Ap8jGbWSK091aTYbbYfyxLK4uJR4TQ78Ii3PC9PSiw7-GXqlpX0sN05XMG5xSo69CTZNrBaLcFFX9rMoGegD_0-6beSZwBcwdk/?imgmax=800" width="477" height="731"></a></p> <p> I have two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a 3 hour gap in between so this is where I can be found during that time, daydreaming beneath the shade of the wisteria tendrils, while contemplating the heavens and all the riches they store…and ignoring my homework.<br>I think this has been the hardest semester I’ve had when it should have been the easiest. My Tuesday-Thursday classes are both drawing classes and drawing is not something I do well, at all!! So, I’m trying to spend time each day doodling and noodling, but that’s another story for another day.</p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-42965537516228435232012-03-31T13:53:00.001-07:002012-03-31T13:58:19.555-07:00I saw an old friend today<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-94SnjRj-zPc/T3dulCVoF1I/AAAAAAAAGeQ/6LkghxnChXo/s1600-h/whitewisteria12%25255B20%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="whitewisteria12" border="0" alt="whitewisteria12" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ghAgXxNlk1M/T3dumQltx0I/AAAAAAAAGeY/KHFyTJHs5rA/whitewisteria12_thumb%25255B18%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="467" height="304"></a></p> <p><font size="4">I saw an old friend today.<br>One I haven’t seen in years,<br>but each day, every day, I pass her craftsman cottage<br>on my way to school.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-IJ8tv3ckryA/T3dupYtHZlI/AAAAAAAAGeg/QzW5ot-ZMN4/s1600-h/_IGP2844-a%25255B14%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="_IGP2844-a" border="0" alt="_IGP2844-a" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-kRn6_FiU9Q0/T3duqjJOXxI/AAAAAAAAGeo/kLIJmzwiRZw/_IGP2844-a_thumb%25255B12%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="496" height="347"></a></p> <p><font size="4">And as I pass by I send up a little prayer <br>for her and those that are in her care.<br>I wonder how she is, how her life has been going<br>as I hurry on my way <br>and I say to myself, “if I see her tending her roses<br>I’ll stop to say hello,” but I’ve never seen her there…</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bJLed1aiWN0/T3dutQeew3I/AAAAAAAAGew/4Q4hWpFTOQQ/s1600-h/_IGP2853-a%25255B13%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="_IGP2853-a" border="0" alt="_IGP2853-a" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhite3pg0u5P_f58cjcrhoORtpDsdF61YfKsf9oCHOn4aHsmJOX_ZpkhguuHwlqFrtPmH_2ABF3R9Ac89XZgujvpXCXlSYbykuFAdL7Z1FlTpniyNf24Q8sHVmbGXvBflkeC4Lpo-KCp-BM/?imgmax=800" width="526" height="361"></a></p> <p><font size="4">Until today. A day when I had to hurry on my way.<br>Does she ever think of me or even remember my name?<br>Does she know that I am praying for her<br>sometimes twice a day? </font></p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-24636457506741452682012-01-16T10:13:00.001-08:002012-03-31T13:57:37.325-07:00Some Bunny thinks it’s Spring!<p><font size="4">Even though it’s still blustery cold outside!!!!<br><font size="4">But then Bunnies are always ready for spring even in the dead of winter.</font></font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Nuv-PfT4OM4/TxRovOsp0yI/AAAAAAAAGdA/mewCZKRGbGk/s1600-h/selfInMirror%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="selfInMirror" border="0" alt="selfInMirror" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-6H6dFBHzSwk/TxRowU9KPsI/AAAAAAAAGdI/X452Lu6-1TU/selfInMirror_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="509" height="723"></a></p> <p><font size="4">Last week my friend Nancy and I drove to Riverside to check out the historic Mission Inn…<br>but this post is not about that. <br>It’s more about what happened at the end of the day.<br>Nancy had been wanting a new camera and finally got one for her birthday, so who better to call then her shutterbug crazy friend Cori. Off we went for a day of picture taking, exploring, and just plain ol” fun!<br>I met Nancy that morning at her mechanic’s in Tustin just across the street from one of my favorite stores…”Whimsy.” have you heard of it? Have you been there? Twice a year, Whimsy hosts one of the most amazing Artisan Fairs filled with, well, amazing artists and their wares. It’s called “<a href="http://www.glitterfest.com/index.html" target="_blank">GLITTERFEST</a>,” and you guessed it! It’s filled with all kinds of glittery goodness.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Opmr50sjTMo/TxRoxJAI61I/AAAAAAAAGdQ/2JnJKaF5YkI/s1600-h/somebunny3%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="somebunny3" border="0" alt="somebunny3" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GO89yl-wrMU/TxRox70fKxI/AAAAAAAAGdY/VtCHoe6Fnsc/somebunny3_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="451" height="601"></a></p> <p align="left"><font size="4"><font size="2">(Me thinks this Bunny lady is taunting me with her tiara’s. Do you think she will let me try one on)?<br><br></font>Nancy’s car wasn’t ready by the time we made it back to the mechanic so we decided to venture across the street and visit <a href="http://www.vintagewhimzy.com/" target="_blank">Whimsy</a>. It’s a wee little store jam packed with all sort of creative wonders and in the back, right out of view of the front door, is my favorite section. I never know what I’m going to find there, but it’s always a delightful surprise. This day was no different!!! </font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5SrNO4eLkOw/TxRozAW1o6I/AAAAAAAAGdg/8hTZEa0oYg8/s1600-h/somebunny1%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="somebunny1" border="0" alt="somebunny1" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-RY3RKHbI7rk/TxRo0kFrYBI/AAAAAAAAGdo/YDQo032PyAw/somebunny1_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="554" height="851"></a></p> <p><font size="4">As I rounded the corner, there she was…all decked out for Spring. <br>All I could do was stand there and laugh at her ridiculous expression and choice of silly attire. It was almost as if she was yelling at me, “HEY YOU! Yeah you! Come here! I want to show you what I’ve got!! How would you like to buy one of my tiara’s???” Can you hear her too, or is it just me?</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ClJcAY_n8m0/TxRo1zZQyiI/AAAAAAAAGdw/ZJE4F64QZVo/s1600-h/glitterfest%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="glitterfest" border="0" alt="glitterfest" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tdbffNxH-vI/TxRo2vn-riI/AAAAAAAAGd4/XK3zbJBx9xg/glitterfest_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="357" height="520"></a></p> <p><font size="4">Anywho, this spring’s <a href="http://www.glitterfest.com/index.html" target="_blank">Glitterfest</a> will be held on March 10th and here’s a <a href="http://www.glitterfest.com/Spring2012-Artists.html" target="_blank">list</a> of some of the amazing artist who will be selling their wares…<br>oh! And wouldn’t that be funny if my Bunny lady friend would be there to greet all the guests at the door?? I think it would be most delightful!!</font></p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-55754258798408387982011-12-23T11:13:00.001-08:002012-03-31T13:59:19.236-07:00FuN things come in 3’s<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Hb3vzNiHLuA/TvTSe2z6pJI/AAAAAAAAGac/UO6G9bzK7yo/s1600-h/fun14.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="fun1" border="0" alt="fun1" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-rwtdL1CIr6A/TvTSfgxZYnI/AAAAAAAAGak/7ileiSbkjmo/fun1_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="614" height="426"></a></p> <p><font size="4">I’ve been very busy lately, what with Christmas being right around the corner, but if you were to ask me what I’ve been up to…well, I can’t rightly say. Isn’t that terrible?? I know…it is. But I can tell you that 3 fun things happened last weekend.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EDqBnF6J3m0/TvTShSdQ_BI/AAAAAAAAGas/7-p9SVwaCzU/s1600-h/fun25.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="fun2" border="0" alt="fun2" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9V0u7L3RB2Y/TvTSiqYQ_QI/AAAAAAAAGa0/ofP86BiPT5c/fun2_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="641" height="451"></a></p> <p><font size="4"><font size="5">I turned 50 for one, so Yes! I am now a 1/2 century old. <br></font>To celebrate my 50th I thought it would be fun to visit a few sights that were much older then me and since I’ve always wanted to ride the Funicular in down town LA and visit the Biltmore Hotel that was where hubby and I went to celebrate.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hxNq8xC1Fdo/TvTSkGHzaMI/AAAAAAAAGa8/X3b8o9lImtg/s1600-h/fun3%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="fun3" border="0" alt="fun3" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_oWCYbEn1nc/TvTSkmtmsNI/AAAAAAAAGbE/X0uxq-OaLhI/fun3_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="345" height="521"></a></p> <p><font size="4">This lovely little train/trolley is the shortest railway in the world and was built in 1901 where it was used to shuttle the Victorians from their homes on Bunker Hill to the business district below. I’ve always imagined it filled with ladies in Bustle gowns and men wearing bowler hats. It’s a short 298 ft. ride up the hill for the price of a quarter. </font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-u7GtfEFwAVw/TvTSlSKKGaI/AAAAAAAAGbM/Gqdt6yxx9oE/s1600-h/peppermint%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="peppermint" border="0" alt="peppermint" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-pW3-beHelnc/TvTSmKj1ZMI/AAAAAAAAGbU/qGgJezzJdLc/peppermint_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="424" height="649"></a></p> <p><font size="4">At the top of the Funicular we stopped at Starbuck’s for a refreshing frosty Peppermint Frappuccino…yum! </font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-4D5IhUTHJU4/TvTSoJlHDWI/AAAAAAAAGbc/_vrJLEe62DI/s1600-h/pershingSquare%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="pershingSquare" border="0" alt="pershingSquare" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-icEzZDU3gBM/TvTSpUTPdAI/AAAAAAAAGbk/GCG9gUHBicI/pershingSquare_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="625" height="433"></a></p> <p><font size="4">This is a view of the fountain in Pershing square taken from the top floor of the Biltmore. I had to lean wwwwaaaayyyyy out over the railing to get this picture and felt ever so dizzy when I pulled myself back. Interesting, now that I look at the picture there’s not a person in the square. It was a quiet day in LA,</font></p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zjzcDMjfFBU/TvTSrBEBUDI/AAAAAAAAGbs/Bh_4W7XIR6o/s1600-h/building1%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="building1" border="0" alt="building1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNfIAL2DaClupaEwl5R-ueUCiVtDNZ4ahUD4EViQf-E2mn0tywkNW6DbUu1v4eITzDC-qWqfXPzOECEmR5zCTGLxYcmUOe-ZQPWJvNEOHGLLPujWT-aFnYwiCLCRTTK7LwOg6wd7aw1KXW/?imgmax=800" width="549" height="381"></a> <p><font size="4">And this is a view of the roof lines directly across the street. There's so much beautiful stone work to see up there that it’s a shame you can’t see it well from below. I’m a wee bit crazy about architecture, in case you didn’t know “-).</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cGD6C0f1JtA/TvTStR4IqsI/AAAAAAAAGb8/_p1qM1irHnU/s1600-h/bathport%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="bathport" border="0" alt="bathport" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FRbAEXJ7v1o/TvTSuo-N2kI/AAAAAAAAGcE/xomeWcpEzts/bathport_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="596" height="554"></a> </p> <p><font size="4">Anywho, we hung out at the Biltmore for quite a while, walking up and down halls and exploring every corner. Here I am in the Ladies Room. I loved how the lights reflected in the mirror and formed an arc.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-P5kTwz8P1uQ/TvTSwEBkPcI/AAAAAAAAGcM/bmwTxxWMIQk/s1600-h/_IGP2424%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="_IGP2424" border="0" alt="_IGP2424" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YY3xPe3Pim0/TvTSxNCk0vI/AAAAAAAAGcU/vPycMx3yxfg/_IGP2424_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="465" height="713"></a></p> <p><font size="4">If you’ve never been to the Biltmore I highly recommend it…even if it is just to look around. There are amazing light fixtures every where. These are located in the atrium room, where many movies have been filmed. One of my favorites is a Bollywood version on Pride and Prejudice, titled, “Bride and Prejudice.” </font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBnzvwV0mMG6SM5deObyPzxOpekyQvgxfaARUnh8biMmWL9rb1g36gjD2cq3EzQfbguLhyLe63j247iFHmQ2KsQFucQue2pO-7Vr6P3VM17rIANaA0110oBNff0FHGFp7sUVLSUbkEG-fa/s1600-h/lobby%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="lobby" border="0" alt="lobby" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7KmCyoRehTU/TvTS0BF_M7I/AAAAAAAAGck/fkzLxMLx6Sw/lobby_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="620" height="410"></a></p> <p><font size="4">Hubby and I plopped ourselves in two comfy chairs and watched as people moved about in the main lobby. As I sat there, I thought to myself, “I could easily get used to this.” Everything was so beautiful! <br>Somewhere in my memory I remember telling my mother that I was born into the wrong family. I had this crazy notion that the stork who flew me was instructed to set me down at the Vanderbilt’s, but accidently dropped me and I rolled into my mother’s yard instead. Of course, she was delighted to have such a sweet child to care for. Yep! Wrong family indeed, but then the Lord had other plans for me…you know I’m just kidding right?</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7z4LX-I6Xqg/TvTS1p4VFKI/AAAAAAAAGcs/4SyN53NeqXI/s1600-h/_IGP2453%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="_IGP2453" border="0" alt="_IGP2453" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jANgYjb40ns/TvTS2rFTU4I/AAAAAAAAGc0/YMd2r3YgiN8/_IGP2453_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="421" height="644"></a></p> <p><font size="4">Well, I must get out of here for now and begin my Christmas baking, but I’ll be back later with more on the Biltmore. <br>If I don’t see you before then I hope you all have a <br></font><font size="6">VeRy MeRrY CHRISTmas!!!<br></font><font size="4">xoxo Cori</font></p> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-28304166626928410282011-12-15T20:04:00.001-08:002012-03-31T13:59:43.284-07:00Water Color Kittens<p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dA6OQJ6mxnI/TurDGKNT5II/AAAAAAAAGZE/xsg7u1YgWRQ/s1600-h/watercolorkitten1%25255B12%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="watercolorkitten1" border="0" alt="watercolorkitten1" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Z3ArI94IiA8/TurDHiqXJnI/AAAAAAAAGZM/InARNC4yuv8/watercolorkitten1_thumb%25255B10%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="487" height="746"></a></p> <p><font size="4">Hello! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I keep trying to find my blogging rhythm and every time I think I’ve found it, just like that, it slips away. I’m hoping 2012 will be better… when it comes to me and posting.</font></p> <p><font size="4">Can you believe that Christmas is just one week away? Me neither and I think it’s safe to say that I’m not exactly ready, but then I never am.<br>So where have I been lately, you ask? Well, I’ve been trudging through another semester of school. I say “trudging” because that’s the only way to describe what it’s been like. Even up to the last day with finals, my computer crashed 20 times. Oi Vey! Thankfully I’m done…until next semester.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Q2WRjtTzDOc/TurDJQgpHiI/AAAAAAAAGZU/8dGRneDwGkU/s1600-h/watercolorkitten3%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="watercolorkitten3" border="0" alt="watercolorkitten3" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jBDR37DKNeY/TurDKMiDudI/AAAAAAAAGZc/YL8i6PWendg/watercolorkitten3_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="601" height="417"></a></p> <p><font size="4">For Thanksgiving hubby and I decided to drive up North and spend the Holiday with one of my Aunts and cousins. We had a wonderful time enjoying the cold weather, slow pace, and the beautiful stars shining in the night sky. Living in Southern Cal a girl can easily forget that there are so many constellations overhead. I can’t tell you the last time I saw the Milky Way, but there it was, shining ever so brightly, illuminating the sky.</font></p> <p><font size="4">Since my Aunt’s house was filled to overflowing, hubby and I, along with our pups, spent our nights beyond the orchard in the motorhome. Many times throughout the night I woke and lay there gazing up at the stars. I think the stars remind me of how small I am and How Big my Lord and Savior is. After all, He is the One who flung the stars out into the universe.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YYS0LigNbAE/TurDLbFRhYI/AAAAAAAAGZk/mrj10QSaylE/s1600-h/watercolorkitten2%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="watercolorkitten2" border="0" alt="watercolorkitten2" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-RSK0b4xjNbU/TurDMjizOAI/AAAAAAAAGZs/OG3Up_3PP3M/watercolorkitten2_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="426" height="652"></a></p> <p><font size="4">The following morning we went into town to explore the local antiques shops. This is where I ran across these adorable water color kittens. Tucked beneath a pile of books was this half tattered children’s book with 3/4 of its pages missing. But the illustrations where so delicate and the colors exquisite. My pictures can’t possibly do them justice.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-J61O27bshp4/TurDNkhFdUI/AAAAAAAAGZ0/5yvJqy4pALI/s1600-h/watercolorkitten4%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="watercolorkitten4" border="0" alt="watercolorkitten4" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-oJ7aHCZAd_E/TurDOaCqSTI/AAAAAAAAGZ8/XwAYnqyMPXQ/watercolorkitten4_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="632" height="438"></a></p> <p><font size="4">As long as I can remember I have adored children’s books and this little one captivated my heart, so home with me it went. When we returned home I became curious about the markings and set off on a little fact finding mission.<br>What did I discover about my little tattered book…<br>It was published about 1893 by a well known author named Ernest Nister from Nuremburg, Germany. </font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-xT8HxFh7iwg/TurDQQmhofI/AAAAAAAAGaE/9mgf9Hhgt8g/s1600-h/watercolorkitten5%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="watercolorkitten5" border="0" alt="watercolorkitten5" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yu005CIR5ek/TurDRoKaRPI/AAAAAAAAGaM/oEpXiR6calU/watercolorkitten5_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="629" height="436"></a></p> <p><font size="4">He created many books having movable parts as well as pictures that dissolved into other pictures. And after my search I also discovered that many of the beautiful Victorian illustrations that I love so much were used in his publications.<br>Sweet little water color kittens <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" alt="Smile" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-_7mz1CvCI3I/TurDR3vxr9I/AAAAAAAAGaU/X_ePym1rchU/wlEmoticon-smile%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800"></font></p> <p><font size="4"><br><br> </p></font> Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529962986392680334.post-35645463586456661892011-12-14T11:10:00.000-08:002011-12-14T11:10:31.813-08:00<div style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Hello! I'm showing my niece how to upload images so please ignore this post ;-)</span></span>Just A Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15598085291422476354noreply@blogger.com1