Sleep over.....

Loving Monsoon season!

 

 

 I found this in my drafts. Never got around to publish it.  Sister had just lost her Hubby and was having a hard time after his death. She would stay with me when the grief became hard for her to bear.. 

 

 

 

Sis spent the night -first time in over 50 years- she found out how I really live. I am a closet hoarder-there I said it!! She told me it was time  to get organized!! Now how she expects a 69 yr. old dyslexic, scattered, ADHD person to change is beyond me! I always wanted to be able to know where anything I needed would be in a proper place. Believe me I have tried, but always get so stressed I have to take a break .Most breaks lasted years..  She should have worked on me years sooner!  We stared in the kitchen and this is what came out of my top cabinet's. 

 

 

 All this on the counter tops and island have been stored for years. At the least, 99 % of the stuff was never used. She ask why I keep all these things . Some of the things I just liked, were old, belonged to my Grandmother, some were gifts and others were just a darn good bargain. She told me that each piece that I wanted to keep, had to be displayed and if not then I had to  get rid of it! That is how I was able to give it up. I didn't find any that I really wanted to keep out except a sugar jar. I loved this little jar. I kept it on display for a few days. I got tired of looking at it, didn't match my décor, but couldn't make myself  donate it, so I  hid it on the top shelf in the very back where she wouldn't see it. Think of that, only one piece out of all the mess that I wanted to keep! This is going to be fun after all! It sure felt like a huge burden lifted from me-a burden I never knew existed!

 

 

The plan was her coming back to finish my whole house but her death got in the way.......

Spring Update

On the road coming back home from Tucson I saw this beautiful sunset. I don't take very many sunset photos as I am usually in my east-facing back yard paradise. This was a pleasure to see most of the way home.

Lolly follows me everywhere and loves smelling all the flowers in the garden. She now weights 4lbs 6 oz. Her first birthday was December 28, 2011.

Shasta daisies bloomed this week and I'm waiting for all my wildflowers to bloom!

My climbing nasturtium is loving our beautiful weather, which has been running in the high 70s.

Another great grandchild on the way! My first grandson is going to be a father! I found this cute vase at Goodwill, and added the flowers for the mother-to-be.

I pruned the grape vine (it's either a Thompson or a red flame) and made the grape wreath from the trimmings. I'm hoping this second season produce some grapes.

Here's a few things in my garden that I love:

My turtle planter that I found in Indiana about 10 years ago. Turr Tull hasn't ventured out yet to join him again. The winter has been very mild. Yesterday it was 81 degrees, warm enough for Turr Tull to wake up and join the world again!

My adorable turtle watering can.

More smiles-Hubby will be finished with his second round of Chemo in March. Only three months on this time--now the plan is to stay in remission for another year! And, another smile as I stepped on the scales today--7 pounds gone!!! Yeah!

One thing I don't like is my laptop! I barely touch anything and photos disappear, color changes, then it takes off to other websites. I need to get a wireless keyboard to go along with the wireless mouse. I should have just bought a PC. Maybe I'd post more if it wasn't such a frustration!

Results Are In!!

GREAT~ Ultrasound clearly displayed that it's a GIRL!

~ My Granddaughter's Precious Moments collection~

For over 20 years I have displayed her Precious Moments collection in my Grandmother's cabinet. I started, and then added to, the various collections for each of the Grandchildren. It was agreed that I would watch over them until I deemed it was time that they could take proper care of them. Well, this collection's time has come! They are soon going to grace little Great-Granddaughter's nursery. She will be born in early August and Ryder will have a baby sister.

All this happiness has caused me to go off my diet! A box of chocolate to celebrate! I am now off the pre-wedding diet that I started yesterday in preparation for my Grandson's April wedding. He'll just have to put up with a fat grandmother in the family wedding photos!

Trucks, Gnomes and Rocks, All In One Post!

How much longer will this old truck last? We can't afford a payment, so we are hoping for a long, long time!

My grandson-in-law is a die-hard Bronco fan. The whole family, including the one-month old baby boy, all dress in bronco jerseys every game day. So...when he saw this NFL Bronco football/old granny garden gnome, he immediately thought of me and got me an early Christmas gift! I quickly found a perfect spot for her. She is so cute. My grand kids call me Minnie, and this little Minnie Me will be watching over my garden at night. I don't look this grannyfied but I still think of it as a Minnie Me. I keep the back gate locked so no one can come in, so I don't think she will be kidnapped. I know there are people out there that want to free the gnomes but Minnie Me will be well cared for, living among the flowers.

I painted a few rocks to fill in the empty spots in the flower garden. In just one month every empty space has been filled in and eventually all the rocks go into a bucket till next year.

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I'm having Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year and we will eat at a table outside with all the flowers in bloom around us. I will pick up my fresh organic turkey the day before Thanksgiving while the house is being cleaned, and while I get my hair done! Everyone will bring a dish, so I will have plenty of time! It should be a perfect 76 degrees outside. I can't wait!

More Nothing...

Since this is a "blog about nothing" and my complete lack of anything else to write about lately, I figured I'd show my collection of various button pins left over from the days I owned a health food store. I must have a trunkful of these somewhere around this house! Every vendor passed out plenty of them, and I just tossed them in a box over the years and forgot about them.







Some others are from who knows where. I don't sew or have ever belonged to a union. I think the Grand kids watched the Ninja Turtles while they were popular.






The oldest in the bunch is the Barry Goldwater button. Mr. Goldwater was an Arizona native who ran for President in 1964, with the campaign slogan, "In your gut you know he is right." He always said exactly what was on his mind and that cost him the election to Lyndon Johnson. I'm guessing on this as I was a young mother not interested at all in politics in those days.


These are going in the Goodwill box--another useless possession that keeps me attached to the past! Clutter often creeps back into my life but I find that at this age it is easier to release all the litter! According to the Chinese art of Feng Shui, "clutter clearing" is powerful and will bring amazing life changes. I wonder how much more I need to get rid of before the "purification" rewards come my way?

Connections To The Past

My Grandmother's dish cabinet stayed in the same spot in her dinning room for over 77 years. I acquired it after my uncles death in 1993.

The paper shelf liners were changed each month. We were paid fifty cents to dust and change the shelf papers. Another monthly chore was to clean the pantry. We had to organize the food and stuff and clean each shelf. I loved this job. The high top shelf was poorly lit and somewhat scary, but I loved dusting all the odds and ends that hadn't been used for years.

I would polish the wood till it gleamed. I love the smell of this Old English polish, which brings memories of past comforts and pleasures. I sometimes polish the cabinet just to have the fragrance in my home.

This ceramic frog was a gift from my Grandmother's only daughter, my aunt. It's from the 1940s, or maybe the early 1950s.

The wine carafe and the blue pitcher were saved from the Great 1907 San Francisco fire. They were living in the area at the time. The carafe had two wine classes were broken long ago. The carafe was the gift I chose from the cabinet as my wedding gift.

I'm not sure of the age of this iridescent, paper thin shell planter. It always sat near the coo coo clock on a high shelf. I love being surrounded by all my Grandmother's things. It is the connection to my family and my childhood. In today's world filled with swift changes and not knowing what lies ahead, it is important not to lose touch with the past that made us what we are. That is the key to real and lasting changes.

On The Road Again

We headed north to Flagstaff for a weekend of camping with my daughter and and son-in-law this past week. The beautiful red rock formations get their red coloring from a form of iron oxide that coats grains of quartz.









Taking a side trip to Jerome for lunch, we hiked up to the Haunted Hamburger for the best view and burger in the state! We stopped at the Nellie Bly Kaleidoscope Shop and I purchased yet another kaleidoscope! I started a collection for my first-born grandson when he was three, and have added one for each Christmas and birthday. His 26th birthday is coming up soon and he has an extraordinary collection!

Meandering on a steep bumpy dirt road, we passed a small pond and meadow where a generous FRIEND had set up camp for us! We were surrounded by the Fremont, Humphrey and Agassiz mountains.

The sight of the majestic ponderosa pines and quaking aspens left us breathless. This campground, Lockett Meadow, is only three hours from our home! We will take advantage of this outstanding discovery often!

Watching the striking aspens leaves quaking in the wind had me mesmerized.

We were comfy in the pop-up--the chairs were set up, wood cut and stacked for us, we could hardly wait for the bonfire !

As we explored the area we spotted a lone five-point bull elk feeding at the edge of the forest. Four muletail does came into the meadow that evening, and we saw three prong- horned antelope on the road. I couldn't get any of them to stand still while I focused the camera! Beautiful blue jay's, red robins and other birds that I can't identify were everywhere! One of the birds sang all through the night!

I guess it's never to late in life to have someone declare their love in the form of initial carvings! I think this was the first for me!

This lone clump of flowers attracted hoards of butterflies. As I tried to get closer to focus the camera, they scattered! I couldn't scare off the beetles, bees, flies, and this one butterfly. It must have been the best pollen in Arizona!

All in all it was the 'best of everything' weekend!

I LOVE Gaudy!

On a recent spring garden tour one of the gardens had groups of vases and bottles that were placed in a few areas around the garden. Some were all blue, and one area had multiple colors, all different shapes and sizes. I liked the look so I started buying the colored glass whenever I would find them for under $2.00. Most were marked $3.99 at our local Goodwill Store, but when they had a half price sale, I could get them for under my target price. Eventually, I will fill up three tree wells at my daughter's home with my finds. I don't have any room at my place, and luckily my family lets me release my pent-up collector's drive by accommodating my ideas.







This is one of the latest finds at the local Goodwill. I stared buying brightly colored Mexican garden decor for the block wall that I was going to paint like the those at my daughter's side yard. I just love the bright colors, but I changed my mind about painting and just started hanging up yard art instead. This was priced at $4.99 on a half price day! I can't make myself even pay full price at the thrift shops! Is this a sad commentary of the times, a sign of old age, or just being smart? Probably all of these! I give away more to Goodwill than I buy, and I just don't want to pay them the original inflated price! Imagine that. A $75 Iguana for $4.99 at the full price, and I think that's too high!

This gaudy little planter almost makes up for not painting!

Here's more acquisitions. I tend to go overboard--so it looks like I will have to start storing more junk when the place starts looking like a Mexican restaurant on crack!

This sunflower has almost reached the top of the 8 foot bottle tree. The recent winds blew the plant over twice. We tied it to the bottle tree, covered the roots and I think it will make it!! The recent rains and clouds have helped and the newly planted Vincas as well. Oh! And it helped me too!!!

Trunk Keeper

I am the keeper of the old family trunk. My Grandfather born in Switzerland, and saw the wonders of this country in 1884 when, at age 19, he arrived in New York on a Swiss government business errand. On this visit he met and formed an acquaintance with Teddy Roosevelt, then a police commissioner in New York City. It was due to this acquaintance that, after several trips to the US, he decided to immigrate. On the last trip in 1895, he brought my Grandmother with him and they married in New York the day after arrival. After living on the California coast for a few years, they moved to Arizona, living in Mesa and Tempe before moving to west Maricopa County. In 1919 the family homesteaded on 160 acres of desert land. In just a few years, the desert wasteland blossomed and bloomed into an oasis and showplace.

The farm lane leading to the house was lined with almond trees, acres of wine grapes, fields of alfalfa for the Holstein dairy cows, an acre of citrus, black walnut and pecan trees, fig, pomegranate and date palms all surrounded the home. A screened porch wrapped around three sides of the home, and the on the last side, was a root cellar entrance. Canned vegetables, jams and the homemade wines from the grape harvest lined the cellar shelves, along with anything that needed to be kept out of the hot, dry heat. That included all the grand kids who loved to go into the dark, cool, scary place on the hottest of days. That musty smell of damp vegetation in the cellar, the distinct odor of cottonwood tree fungus, carnations, fig leaves and citrus blossoms are just a few odors that evoke so many childhood memories.

A vegetable and flower garden grew in the front yard, and another next to the dairy barn. They raised chickens, turkeys and calves, and after mowing season, they rented their fields for sheep to graze for a few weeks. I was born in a small house on the farm and lived there until my dad bought a dairy farm a few miles away.

Over the years, this old trunk and most of its contents survived the dry hot desert climate with only minimal damage. As children we looked forward to going though the old trunk, and I'm certain we destroyed a few things.

This old button bag that my aunt made as a child in the early 1920s held all the family's new and used buttons.

My grandparents had three healthy sons born at the very beginning of the twentieth century, then set of twin girls--deceased very young, another daughter who died in infancy in 1909 and then, another daughter in 1913 and a set of triplet boys in 1916. The triplet story later....

The trunk was filled with old books, pictures mostly unnamed, scarves, dollies, monogrammed hankies, dish towels, letters, postcards, and calling cards in beautiful cases.

A still intact Edelweiss, the national flower of Switzerland, was pressed and has been in the trunk for over 100 years! Remember the song from The Sound of Music?

Now and then, I rummage through the old trunk, and in those moments, I am home, a child once again!