My Daddy's Sculpture

Recently I've reconnected with my Auntie Helen's daughter, Nancy.  Helen is my father's oldest sister so naturally Nancy is my first cousin.  Nancy and I met each other again at my Aunt Helen's 84th birthday tea party in January and we hadn't seen each other in years and years.  Today Michael and I met Nancy for lunch in Sacramento to catch up a bit and she brought something for me that my Daddy made in 1949 when he was only sixteen and still in high school. 

Apparently, my dad gave his sister, Helen, this little sculpture he made sometime shortly after he made it.  She held onto it all these years.  It's signed and dated on the bottom.  Nancy said her mom dated it.  Anyway, Auntie Helen gave it to Nancy over twenty five years ago and Nancy has kept it safe and in perfect condition and she brought it wrapped up in tissue in a little gift bag to give to me today.  Thank you, Nancy!  I'll treasure this forever, it means so very much to me.  I'm thrilled.  He's beautiful and I'm so grateful to own him.

Here he is.  Ta-da!

His little hat comes off.

Look at the texture in his hair.

Here is his special little nook where I can enjoy looking at him.  I've used museum wax to secure underneath him and to secure his hat on his head.  Wouldn't want that to fall off in an earthquake or while dusting!  He's sort of yellowish with a greenish cast. 

I'm in love.

Going Places

Cabinet.

We received a custom order for this cabinet to be made without the bottom open shelf.  Just the cabinet with the doors going all the way down and an inside shelf centered.  The piece will be functional but they're going to use it as wall decor only.  It's going to be displayed at the Los Taquitos Restaurant in the Phoenix Int. Airport.  Cool, huh?

Our Hike

On Sunday we hiked Rockville Hills Park because we hadn't been there in such a long time and wanted a change of scenery.  We forgot how very beautiful it is.

We entered at the Green Valley entrance and headed straight up the hill following the towers.

Turned left at Middle Mystic Trail.  All the trail markers are totally new to us.  We had to think hard about the last time we were up at Rockville and determined that it was approximately four years. 

At the top of the hill are open meadows, poppies and lupines and wild irises and various other wildflowers scattered here and there with sweeping vistas of Twin Sisters and Twin Brothers.

On the trail we encounter twisted Manzanita trees with beautifully smooth and rich red bark.

Wooded areas with mossy covered emerald green rocks and you quite expect a little leprechaun to pop out.

Shady oak trees.

The pond reflecting sky and puffy clouds and trees. 

Counting Sheep

Michael and I bought a Memory Foam mattress a little less than two years ago.  It was never the most comfortable mattress for us but we lived with it and didn't have any problems to speak of.  Until recently.  It compressed over time and was lumpy and caused me many sleepless nights and backaches. 

A few weeks ago we drove to San Rafael to check out two mattress companies: Duxiana and The Natural Mattress Store, which has a very restful looking front page on their website.  They both had some very good reviews on Yelp and elsewhere.  I was curious after doing some research on the internet and wanted to lay on them for myself. Michael wouldn't even sit on one because he was being stubborn about the price and their return policies.  Which was nil. 

Last week our friends, Sharyn and Greg, mentioned that they have a Sleep Number bed and love it and had nothing but good things to say about it.  We drove to the Sleep Number Vacaville store that same night and the friendly sales lady walked us through the different beds and had us lay on each one.  She didn't push us toward the more expensive one nor pressure us in any way to make a choice and purchase a mattress right away.  She gave us room to play with the remote and lay on each mattress as long as we needed.  She even let us try out the different pillows.

The two that I liked the best was the i8 and the i10.  The difference between the two basically is the foam mattress topper.  We ended up ordering the i8 Sleep Number bed and it was delivered yesterday afternoon.  Yay!  The two delivery guys removed our old (not so old but truly awful) lumpy and sagging mattress and box spring and they installed the new bed quick as a snap.  Michael was busy working in the garage on some orders and I stayed inside the house but gave the two men room to work without me hovering over them.  After about ten minutes I went in to check on the progress and was hoping to see some of the bed assembly.  I was too late!  Or they were too quick!  They had the bed set up and even had my bed skirt in place.

Last night was one of the most comfortable nights I'd had in years and the bonus is that Michael loves it, too.    

Garden Tea Party

I had a garden tea party in my backyard yesterday.  There were twenty two ladies present.  Two women couldn't make it.  One had to cancel because she was experiencing back pain.  My cousin, Darlene, couldn't come because she just began chemotherapy treatments for a very recent lung cancer diagnosis.  I'm so very sorry, Darlene, and you were sorely missed.  Aunt Yvonne wanted to see you. 

On Friday I cleaned house and Mike cleaned the yard and windows.

Saturday was reserved for my baking.  The weather was a little on the warm side this time of year for having the oven on all day.  Our neighbor from across the street, Richard, came over while I was busy baking.  He and Mike sat in the kitchen, keeping me company for a little over three hours.  They two sat at the kitchen table and watched me go over my recipes and mix up one batch after another of this or that, all the while Mike kept trying to sneak or beg for samples.  We had Richard busting up.  Whenever he wants to get his kicks he just wanders over to our place to see what we're up to.  Which is usually his form of entertainment.  ha ha

I made chocolate chip scones, plain scones, Russian tea-cakes, coconut chews, mini lemon tarts, mini strawberry glace pies, chicken filling and lastly, egg salad filling. 

Thanks to Richard, I ended up making one more thing.  He remarked, "You know what you need, Lisa?"  I said, "What is that, Richard?"  He said, "You need something green."  I asked, "You mean for St. Patrick's Day?"  He said, "Yeah!"

I knew that there were some egg whites in a container in the frig and thought a good plan of action was to make some kind of meringue shell (green) filled goodie and settled on Divine Lime Pies.  So I made that, too, and I think it was one of the more popular things.  Everyone loved them.  So thank you, Richard.    

I don't usually get to spend all day cooking like this, so it was a fun treat for me.  Although, next time, I'm definitely going to spread things out and freeze some cookies and scones ahead of time.  It's just that I've been busy working and haven't had any time to do anything ahead of time.  I hardly even ever have time to cook dinner for the two of us after working all day.  Most days we just eat what is in the house or run to Raleys to grab something.  A cooked tri-tip, a salad from the deli, things like that and call it dinner.

I went through my vintage linens, washed and ironed them and got everything ready.  Just because something might be a little tattered or stained, I don't get rid of it.  A little hole can be repaired and a small stain here or there doesn't bother me.  If it did, I could always sew a pretty repair patch on it to cover it up and give it some character.

I didn't get as many pictures as I'd hoped to.  I was busy and also forgot.  One thing I'm mad at myself for is not getting Shilah making the tea and Angelina making the little labels for the teapots.  Darn it!  Thank you for making the raspberry scones, helping to make the tea and getting all of that ready and for assembling the sandwiches, Shilah!  Thank you, Angelina for your help!  Thank you for your help making the egg sandwiches and for making the cookie balls, Pam!  Thank you for making the cucumber sandwiches, Jan!  Thank you for making the Tiramisu, Oana!  Thank you for making the little desserts, Tipti!

And a thank you for my little hostess gifts, to Auntie Helen for the teapot and cozy and Barbara for the teacup and tea bags!  So sweet of you both to think of me that way.  Hope I didn't leave anyone out.  If I did: Thank you!!  And thank you to everyone that showed up and I hope you all had a good time.  Who knows, we might have another one next year.  What a delightful way to welcome spring.  Gives us an excuse to do some spring cleaning and get the yard ready for summer.

Purchased potted flowers for table decor and I dressed up the pots with taped on paper scraps.

Uncle Richard hung around and sat here for a time observing all of the ladies.

My clothesline is adorned with various pink fabrics and some bunting to dress it up.

The back porch tea room, seating for eight.

See our heart on the wall?  That's a new item for our shop and you can find it here.  We can do these in pretty much any size, with or without the metal ring heart.

The table is ready, time to eat!

Angelina trying to decide what to go for first.

So many goodies.  Shilah brought some raspberry chocolate scones.

A friend brought some chocolate goodies.  There was enough food leftover so that everyone got to take home a small plate filled with goodies.

Shilah and Melinda, friends since high school.

Jen and her sweet little baby girl.  Shilah and Jen have been friends for many years, too.

A Few Excellent Foreign Movies.

Scene from Remembrance.

Some very good movies that Michael and I recently watched.  

Remembrance.

Scene from Mother of Mine.

Mother of Mine.

The Hunt.

The little girl in this movie, The Hunt, did an outstanding job.  She's adorable.

 Interview with Thomas Vinterberg on how they rewrote the character for Mads Mikkelsen.  By the way, I totally love Mads Mikkelsen.  He's a fabulous actor, up there with the best and he also stars in the two films below, A Royal Affair and After the Wedding.

A Royal Affair.

Scene from A Royal Affair.

After the Wedding.

New Jewelry Organizer

Link here.

I've had this jewelry organizer in the back of my mind for months and months and finally made it.  We can customize this to your needs.  The one shown is made of our Rustic Old Wood and I put a clear coat sealer on it.  There is a ring holder, plenty of hooks, a shelf, two earring holders for both fish wire earrings and the bottom one is for post type earrings.

We have three different sizes and can change the measurements to suit your needs.
40 tall x 18 wide x 4.5 deep
44 tall x 20 wide x 4.5 deep
48 tall x 24 wide x 5 deep

Blowing in the Wind

Our newest tree art for home decor.  

Here is the LINK.