Almost ready to hit the Trail...

We are getting last minute "things to do" done before we head out to California to visit with family for the Holiday...

 Decorating, wrapping gifts, baking cookies etc... Ahh, the wonderful smell of cookies baking.

 

Even got in a little junktiquing time...

 found this fabulous 'Penguine' ice bucket! Wahoo!!!

 found a cute little ceramic trailer to add to my collection.

 love this cute child size ironing board....

 got some sewing time in too!, I made this hat and a pair of fingerless gloves, from a very shrunk down cashmere sweater...

 I also made this head band...

 and 2 scarves from another over shrunk sweater...

 

I love cashmere and love the scarves I make from them.

I'll have to wait until I return from visiting family before I can do anymore sewing and crafting.

 

Have a Wonderful Christmas...

 

Winter Express...

I spent the better part of Wednesday writing out our Christmas cards,,,,, so today was go and play day!

We stopped in at 'World Market' store,,, and picked up a few goodies,,, I spotted these little carved wooden Woodland decorations,, ($39.00) and was thrilled to see them because I have one on my kitchen window ledge...

I had to switch out the lights as the one I have came from Germany, it is a sweet gift from my childhood best friend in Meimsheim.

The electrical plug/lights is set up for Euro power.. now it has an American plug.

 

We also we drove further into town and stopped off at the only and best German Deli in all of Spokane and stocked up on my favorite cookies. as well as European style lunch meats and cheese.

Oh Yum! I got my favorite Lebkuchen cookies, Marzipan, Topkuss, Wine/brandy beans and Pear Brandy chocolates...and lots of other goodies... I felt like I was back in Germany, with family and friends back in Flein, Leingarten, Heilbronn and Meimsheim...Germany... oh I miss being there but having German goodies makes me happy.

 oh sigh,,, I miss being in Germany,,,

 oh, and yes I bought a bottle of Gluhwein .... YUM! Gluhwein is a warmed spiced wine. with a wedge of orange in it.

 

.here is a quick glimpse of Stadt Zentrumm, center of town, Heilbronn... getting ready and setting up the Christmas Market.

Soon people will be strolling around the market area, buying sweet hand made ornaments and decorations as well as warm spiced nuts and Gluhwein.

Oh to be there,,,, hopefully next year.

 

 

 

OOPS! I missed a few comments..

Hmmmm, not sure what's going on, but I use to get emails when visitors would comment on my blog posts.. but have not received any notifications since November 20th..

 

Glad I went into my account,, and saw all the pending comments.

 

I thank you all for your sweet remarks.

HoHoHo!

 

 

My 'Elf on a Shelf"

I recall the little felt 'Elves' that my aunt would put out for Christmas, which I loved.. fast forward, many years later, I came across a few in 2nd Hand stores, but here is my newest "Elf"...

 HaHaHa!...so here is the story,,, my sweet grandkiddo called me last night asking if I could make a Elf costume for him for an upcoming school event... (in a few days)....

 fortunately I happen to have just enough wool felt in my fabric stash, along with silver ric rac and red pompoms...

an hour and a half later... Voila',,, a Elf costume.... now all his mama has to do is 'borrow' a pair of red or white tights from one of his sister's... lol!

HoHoHo!

Here Comes Mr & Mrs Santa Claus...

Here comes Mr & Mrs Santa Claus,,, also known by our Grand kiddos as Opa and Oma...

ok, so actually, these are not really us,, but just as cute!

1963 Anna Lee dolls... I just think they are adorable!

 

As for the sweet cross stitch table cloth, I found it at a local Thrift store for $1.99.. EEK!

It appeared to never have been used nor laundered... so I washed and ironed it and have it out on display,,,  unlike it's past owner, I intend to use and display it yearly. It is to lovely to keep hidden away in a closet.

HoHoHo...

 

Keeping Busy...

I still feel the loss of my sweet Peekie kitty,, but I muddle through...

The weather has turned bitterly cold and I spend more time in my sewing room...

I managed to finished up a few projects.

I crocheted some more dish rags, and 2 dish towel tops.

I also stitched up Holiday Mittens to tuck in little gifts for Christmas.

 rather then make little stocking to stuff,,, I made these mittens which are easier to tuck in little gifts...

I machine embroidered the recipient's name on them. It's hard to see, but some of the mittens are sparklie and I embellished each one with bits of scrap trims.....

( you can click on the picture to see them better.)

 I made this fun MCM pillow case... it is being used by 'Lucy-grace'...(my rag doll) 

 I stitched up this panel, now to hand embellish it with beads and trim before I apply the backing...

hopefully it won't end up in my UFO pile! haha! it measures 38x58,,,

 I pulled out my stash of Christmas fabric,,, oops! I've been collecting....

 I have a lot of 'fat quarters' as well as multiple yardage fabric.

I even discovered fabrics I don't recall buying... lol!

A Very Sad Sunday..

We had a very heart breaking day yesterday,,,

My sweet 17 year old Himi, Peekaboo,, passed away.

We knew her time with us, was near,,

I was cradling her in my arms when she took her last few breaths.... my hear just broke....

 

 

 

 

She was my little side kick,, when she wasn't napping...
There are a million and one things I will miss about her,,, from the moment I first held her as a 6week old kitten to the last moment when I held her and she crossed over the Rainbow Bridge..
I will never run out of tears... my heart is broken,, but I would do it all over again, to have her in my arms again..
17 years of sweetness..... I love you my sweet Peekaboo...

 

BOO fest, come and gone...

Well, finally, BOOfest is come and gone.. all that is left id memories and candy wrappers...lol!

 

Because we live out in the country, we don't get 'Trick-or-Treaters like in the cities and subburbs.

But we do get a few lil' cuties at our door, Ok, so they are our grand kiddos and the kiddos of a friend out here.

We got a total of 6 lil' treaters... oh and one cute pup...

 Leilei in her witchy costume..

 Jaja in her "BOZO' wanna be clown costume...

 Aidee in his Super Hero costume... the blond wig cracks me up!

and our 'late in life' fur child, Ginger... she wasn't thrilled with this costume, but she tolerated it fr a whole 8 minutes! lololol!

I wonder what she will be next year? lol!

Remember Butter Dishes?

When I was a child growing up,, I remember mama leaving the butter out on the counter, in a covered butter dish..

Then somewhere as I grew up,, we were brainwashed into keeping our butter in the fridge..

My sister and I were talking about this the other day and wondered why??? if it is covered and not out in heat , ,, why not keep it out... After all, that's how we grew up with it..I remember mama leaving it out not just in cooler seasons, but even in summer... and here we are, still alive. lol!

 

So I went out and bought a new butter dish...

Yeepers! farm kitchen red!
Oh, and FYI... my husband grew up on margarine (yuck) and I was brought up on sweet, unsalted butter... So his margarine stays in the fridge and my butter is happy in it's new home..

Speaking of likes & dis-likes...
my hubby was brought up on Miracle Whip, margarine and sweet pickle relish..(which I detest).
I was brought up on mayonaise, butter and dill pickle relish... so on days when we have chicken/tuna/egg/potato salad... I have to make 2 batches,, his with his stuff and mine with my stuff!
Life in our kitchen is never boring!

 

 

Wine, Wine Wine...

We (hubby and me) received an unexpected package the other day,,

12 bottles of O'Leary Wines,  as in Kevin O'Leary from the T.V. show, "Shark Tank"..
I have a wine fridge for my white wines,, ,,but I had to go buy a small wine rack for my reds...
Life is rough,, Drink Wine! lol!

 

Repurposed Sweater...

 I love Cashmere sweaters,, and I use to love 'turtle neck sweaters',, but as I age, I find turtle necks to not be so comfortable anymore.

'Sew'.. I decided to open the neck line on this cashmere.. and now I can wear it again.

I used some left over Alpaca wool yarn, and bits of beads... and nestled down in front of the T.V., and crocheted on a boarder and then stitched on the beads, all in one evening.

VOILA! old sweater is new again.

Now to iron out the wrinkles,,, lol!

It's a Tea and Scones kinda Day...

It's a Tea and Scones kinda day...

 make 'em,,, bake 'em....

  warm and ready to serve...

 make a cup of tea...

and enjoy! Yum Yum yum... it's a perfect tea and scones kinda day,

A Visit from Mama...

I was fortunate that my sister and brother-n-law were able to bring mama up here for a visit.

It was a test run to see how she can handle flying,,, I will say Alaska Airlines was Awesome! They took care of mom so wonderfully.. They wheel chaired mom to the waiting area, onto the plane assisted in getting mom seated and then helping with mom off the plane.

I am very impressed with their care.

 

All in all mom was a trooper the whole time. I bought a wheel chair and walker for mom's stay up here...

We had a BBQ at our daughter's home,, talk about a full house,,, between kids, adults, cousins, and critters.. we had a fun time.

 mom, aka Oma,, and the great grands...

 Smooch fest.... Aiden, mom & Jada....

 We had lunch in an Irish Pub in town...(L to R),, mom, Brittnie and her soon to be hubby, Sam.

 Mom with grands & great grands.. (L to R), Evan, Meri, Aiden, mom, Jada & Soleil.

 Here we are in down town Spokane, ,, Soleil, me, mom and Gary.

 

Soleil, me, mom, Gary and Aiden and Jada.

 

Now we feel good about mom traveling with family... Mom's stroke has weakened her body,, but not her heart,, and she was so happy to be around her grand daughters, Meri and Brittnie and her great grand kiddos, Soleil, Jada and Aiden.

Hopefully she will be able to come back up here in the Spring.

Pulling up the Rear! lol!

Well, here I am again, Pulling up the Rear! lol!

I Have been up to my eyeballs in 'stuff', and unfortunately, I am remiss for not keeping up with my Blog.

Soooo, here we go!

 I finally got around to making a watch bracelet,,, and yes one of the watches still works.!!

 I made these 2 Lic. plate frames for two of  my Glamping Gal Pals...

 did a little machine embroidery, a sachet filled with lavender from my yard.

 made a key fob from YoYos and a cute garden button.

 Found my old "Knitting Nancy".. took me a few attempts to remember how to start it...lol!

 Crocheted some more cotton dish rags for little gifts. Tucked in some of my fresh lavender.

 I took inventory of all my sewing baskets,,, and yes they are all full with craft projects...

 I have wool projects in one, cross stitch in another, yoyos in yet another, and small penny rug projects in 2 small ones... and I have 3 more out in the trailers, with stash-n-go projects.

 Just finished pruning my lavender,, with Ginger's approval ...

 Autumn has taken it's toll on the trees.... now to get around to raking up all the leaves.

I went to a over the top fabulous Quilt show... there were several hundred Quilts on display.. I am in awe of the work these ladies do... Oh if only I were that talented...Some day.... 

 

Well that's it for now.....

Have a Blessed Sunday.