Flowers, Roses, Magnolias and more ~~~

3/8" Roses

Not real ones of course, but flowers, roses and magnolias for my cards!  And they are beautiful!!  I love making my own cards and altered art projects, but running down to the craft store and picking up a package of 5 to 7 for $5 or more (yes, we always use the 40% off coupons when we have them) but we're limited to color and style at the store!

Gorgeous Small Gardenas

I've done some online ordering, but this one company looks so good - so I took the plunge!  Oh my gosh ~ these roses and flowers are F A B U L O U S!!!  Wild Orchid Crafts ~ a company out of the United Kingdom.  Now, before that scares you off thinking, "Oh my gosh, shipping will be a fortune!  It's going to take forever to get here!  They must be really expensive!"         

Aster Daisy Flowers

No, no and no.  Shipping is very reasonable, free if you order over a certain amount.  It took less than 6 days to get here from the time I ordered to doorstep delivery - ordered on Wednesday night, shipped Thursday morning and arrived on Tuesday in the mail!  I can't beat the price with a coupon or a stick!  I bought some of these beauties 50 - 1 1/4" roses, for less than $6!  And these are all beauties!  But, you decide for yourself.  I decided for me, and I need to make a bunch of cards so I can place my next order!!  he he he!

So my dilemma was - open roses, rose buds, curly roses, cottage roses, tea roses, wild roses? ? ? 

Light colors?
     1" - bigger?

            Two toned?
                    Maybe a flower
                            and not a rose?

As you can see ~
    Nope, I couldn't decide!

I can't even get them
    All back inside!!





Hope to be showing you all some great cards soon!  I love making them!  I love giving them!  Now I'm off to buy ribbon and twine!

Also, I'm still working on my computer.  Seems Chrome, regular Blogger and the rest of the Computer Genies in the sky, are all working to irritate me - not succeeding - I'm just going with the flow on this.  Everyone is seeing something different and I don't know why.  Just know I'm trying to fix it!!

Blessings to all!!
Donna 

~ ~ Haaappy Birthday Toooo ME!!!

Yesterday was my birthday - actually a milestone birthday - so my daughter in law and wee ones came over to celebrate with us!  I made a nice dinner (I know, I know - but I love cooking, so it's not a chore for me to do it!!)  And Karla made the Cup Cakes!

Karla always makes the cutest cup cakes, they are honestly a gift themselves!

And of course, how do you decorate for Grandma?

Why ~ a garden of course!  Wait til you see these up close!

Soil made of crushed Oreo's, with the cream intact!

A head of lettuce with a mint M&M and Corn Flakes dipped in green frosting on top!

Radishes and Carrots made with Sour Balls, Corn Flakes, a bit of frosting, rolled Starburst - Cute!

And, three peas in a pod, again using taffy, frosting and sour balls!  Aren't they just the cutest?!

And, while the cup cakes are the cutest, these three little ones are the apple of my eye!

I love how Karla makes these, because she puts a thin layer of frosting on them to help them adhere, not a ton, so you can actually eat the entire cup cake!  They picked out a lovely card, it honestly brought tears to my eyes, as did my Sweetie's!

They only stayed one night - Bible Study Camp was having an evening of fun tonight they were so excited to get to - "Nerd Night!"

 Leila with two crooked pony tails!

Two

Nerdy

Kids!

Like Urkel in

Family Matters.

Snorts and all!

Could find a single extra

glass frame we had

hanging around

here forever! 

Wishing you all a Happy Wednesday - the weekend is fast approaching.  I'm trying to change the font on my blog, so hang in with me!  Had the kids over and needed all the time for storing up Grandma lovin' till I see them in a couple of weeks!  

Blessings to all!

Donna

And While I Was Away ~ ~ ~

As you can see, at least I hope you can - Lord knows these days with Blogger - there are a few changes with my blog!  First the color ~ it's a bit brighter, used a different script, honestly I haven't figured out what else!

I fixed dinner, my Sweetie and I watched a program, then he went back to work and I looked at my blog, and honestly - thought I was on someone else's page  -  IT WAS BLUE!!   With blue writing, barely seen through the blue on blue background.

So, what's a girl to do?  Well, I don't know - so I went in and of course with the new Blogger, nothing is the same in the design section (that's the inside part for those like me who know nothing about the design section!) so I tinkered around for a half an hour, said darn, and saved what I had tinkered with and tried to fix.  

However, it's a bit blinding now.  My original color is gone from the back ground selection.  So, tomorrow I will take another look in daylight and see if it's still blinding, or if it's just because I'm tired and frustrated.  I will go over to the blogger I introduced you all to a few posts back - she has some great tutorials.  So, I'll be looking at her blog, AGAIN!

May I ask - has anyone else had this problem??

Also, what do you think of the changes I did make??

Who better to ask than friends who look at my page from the other side?

I hope you all had a wonderful start to a marvelous week!  I have seen so many blogs reminding us, "It's only six months til Christmas!"  I don't know about you, but I'm not running out to do any Christmas shopping.  I will admit, I look for those special gifts for those special people all year long, but with birthdays, anniversaries, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparent's Day, Easter, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Veteran's Day, Flag Day, I just love you days - I'll still need to go shopping in time for Christmas!  But, thanks to all who are reminding us - now I guess we'll start to see countdown clocks!

HAPPY JUNE everyone!
Lots of hugs,
Donna

PS  I just added the images throughout my post and the original color popped back on my screen - I'm really confused.  I guess it will just be a surprise each time??  Don't know what to think - I haven't a clue - maybe it will be a rainbow tomorrow.  I changed it to my favorite colors, though a bit bright - pinks!  Oh heavens!!

PPSS  Sneaky Momma - I'll be at your blog as soon as I can in the morning - now, after deleting some spaces, I've ended up with highlighting blocks around the paragraphs under the images - really - oh heavens!!

Grandma, Grandma - Let's Go Harvest!!

Oh my goodness, I can hear her now!  My grandchildren and daughter in law are coming next week to help me celebrate and when she sees the 'fruit on the vine' my little Leila will be grabbing the vegetable basket.  I'll need to get a small one.  Last year she was so disappointed when we took the big garden basket and had two squash and a tomato or two.  She looked up at me, pointed to the basket, and said, "How do we fill it up?  Is there more plants somewhere? This is not a harvest!"

Now - I'm going to show what we have today - and no laughing - it's still a young garden!  And, the plants were itty bitty or seeds - so we've come a long way, baby!

 3 Butternut Squash in the middle, 2 Spaghetti Squash - 1 on each end.



We took out over half of this side lawn to use for garden and trees.  In the background are our 4 Citrus Trees.  We have babied them for over 4 years, and this is their first time out in the elements.

Fruit almost ready on all 4 and new blossoms!  Good signs of being happy!






I know it looks like I may have gone overboard with the squash plants, but last year we had some that just didn't make it.  The weather again this year is crazy!  Near 100 last week - barely  80 tomorrow!  Here are the 2 Zucchini and 2 Yellow Crookneck!  So, I over planted - a little.




Lookie, lookie!!  Our first Zucchini!











And Yellow Squash!

3 Pepper plants - Red, Orange, Yellow.  And, a must, Tomatoes!

The Peach Tree is growing and getting very sturdy.  The new Blueberry looks great, too!  And it even has several of these.  Not enough for a pie, not even for a tart, but enough for Grandpa and Wee One to see if they are tasty!

And the favorite part of our yard ~ ~

Yep!  My Humming Birds!  You know how we love these little guys.  Papa and Mama birds!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend - be safe, be happy and have lots of fun!!

Blessings,
Donna

Just A Couple Of Cards - - -

Some times I need a card in a hurry. I like to keep a stash of cards I make myself.  All I have to then is print up a sentiment on a piece of paper, or vellum (my favorite), stick it down and Tad-ah!  All done!

But, when I need one for an extra special person or occasion, then it's back the table!

I need a little of this - yep, a few little fluffy feathers!

A piece of lace ~

A pretty flower ~

Some beads ~

Paper, oh, let's use two colors, some glue, ink the edges - always love that! 

OK, where's the cute little butterfly?

Perfect! Colors look great!

Now for some glue, some tape and some time - mix all together - Wow, this looks just fine!

OK, OK ~ a little cheesy maybe - the inside was much better.  This was for a Grand Dame, one of my fellow Daughters of the American Revolution sisters, just as an appreciation for all of the work she has done, along with her sister,  for the last 30+ years!  

This one is for her sister, who is our worker bee - well - she's 10 worker bee's all rolled in to one, that's for sure!  Actually, she brought her sister in to the organization!  How old are they, you ask?  Her sister, the Grand Dame will say, "Well, Dear, you never ask a lady her age, don't you know?  But if you must, I'll be 28 or so again this year!"

Ribbon with little flowers, a string of pearls, a rosette of lace to house roses and leaves, inked on the edges, and a personalized sentiment in side as I did for her sister.  These women are special to all of us in our El Paso de Robles Chapter, NSDAR.  

If any one is ever interested in finding out if the are related to an American Revolutionary soldier, nurse, supplier (and many others) and is interested in joining this elite organization, send me an email.  I would help you get in touch with someone in your area who would gladly speak with you.  It's a lot of hard work to prove your heritage, but very satisfying and rewarding once completing the work!

The weekend is upon us already!  Tomorrow is Friday!  I hope you all have a wonderful few days planned!  What ever you do, be safe and have lots of fun!  I know I will!!

Hugs and blessings,

Donna

Summer Canning Begins ~ ~ ~

Today was the first day of our canning!  Mmmm ~ strawberry season is right on track this year to be spectacular!  We live half way between Santa Maria and the Salinas areas where most strawberries are grown.  Which means great big, sweet berries are plentiful and very inexpensive!  Four pounds for $5 of giant, sweet strawberry's!!  

These are 4 pound packages, so you can see how large they are, no green, even on the very bottom tips.  They are field ripened and just as sweet as can be.  The eight pounds we put up today we had 2 berries that spoiled, 7 that were a bit too bruised for the jam, so we just ate them, and the rest - well they cooked up to 7 pint jars, and 1 half pint jar!

I thought there would be more ~ you too?  Well, I forgot a pint does take a pound of fruit. We got to taste a bit left on the bottom of the pot - oh yummyness heaven!!

Today we made a double batch at once.  Holy strawberries did that take a long time to bring to a boil!  Normally I do half pint jars because I gift so many (one year I even made 1/2 CUP sizes - total waste of a good jar and time!)  So tomorrow - I have 18 half pint jars to do!  

I'll make one batch at a time to speed up the process.  I know - it does sound backward.

So, what about you?  Do any of you can your own veggies or fruit?  Do you make jams or jellies?  I'm growing lots of beets, hoping to can those this year!

Oh my gosh!!  I just remembered!!  For Christmas, our youngest son and daughter in law bought us a food dehydrator and I think it's time to crack the box and learn to make fruit roll ups, or dried fruit!  Oh yum - now I can hardly wait for mangoes to come in to season!  Dried mangoes are just soooo, so so good!  As a matter of fact, mango jam, roll ups - frozen. 

Oh my, I'd better get going - I need to get the dehydrator how to book out and read it in bed tonight!  So, nightie night!

Blessing to all!

Hugs,

Donna

A Little Of This, A Little Of That

Yesterday, my Sweetie and I went up to Monterey to meet with friends and colleagues, I did a bit of craft shopping and then out for seafood dinner in Moss Landing, California (half way between Santa Cruz and Monterey).

I love visiting Beverly's Fabrics and Crafts as we don't really have a local fabric shop in town.  When I do get up to the Salinas area, I visit the store.  As I walked in, I noticed they had a few clearance tables set up and I took a quick gander.  The manager, Marilyn, said, "Donna, grab one of those bags and fill it up with anything you want, as much as you can fit in, for only $7.99."  I thought, right, probably worse than junk, as it wasn't the first day of the sale.

7"x11"x13" sized bag

After checking the fabric upstairs, which was a bust this trip on fabric, I again took a look at the clearance tables, and this time, Marilyn handed me the bag and said, "Just look - see if you find anything!" Well, like all of you, among my favorite words are clearance and sale.

At first, I found some buttons, couple of stamp pads, but not much - then Marilyn said, "All these tables."  I asked, "Anything?  As long as it fits?"  "YEP!"

OK Ladies, who know what happens next right?  Now it's almost as if it's a challenge that we fill this bag up with as much junk, I mean stuff, that makes it worth filling up this bag and paying that ginormous price of $7.99!  Challenge on!!  And, let me tell you, I usually get quite a bargain, but this time I honestly hit pay dirt!

I really made out.  When my Sweetie came by to pick me up, he went to grab the bag by the handles and oops - took two hands to pick up my monster bag!  Yep, those pots are terracotta garden pots!  Two are 8 1/2" wide by 7 1/2 high, two are 6" x 5 1/2 and one is 7 x 6 1/2. I nested three in one stack, two in the other.  Then I filled them both with tons of buttons and jewelry parts and pieces.  Put the first one in, stacked the books in on the side, along with the stamp blocks, adding more all around the pots.  The second pot went in on its side with more stuff stacked all around.  Well, I was close to being full, but reminded we needed to meet friends for dinner, so I took my bag and headed to the check out.

Off to Moss Landing.  It's a nice drive along Hwy 1 right next to the Pacific Coast.  The weather was blue skies and clear, but a tad on the chilly side (it is along the coast!)  I always have to get close to the sea animals and take pictures!

 

I think this is some kind of boat dock or something.  There is a walkway down to the area, but it's locked up tight right now.  These are all male Harbor Seals.  The females are all still in the San Diego area.  My Sweetie walked down with me all the way down to the end, I wanted to see the baby where the big, fat grandpa seal was barking! This walkway is SOLID Harbor Seals!!  Hundreds and hundreds.  I don't know if it was getting close to eating time or because many of us had ventured down closer to them - but they started barking - LOUDLY!

This big guy started barking and the little one fell off!   After several attempts, right up on Grandpa's back.  I don't know why they don't get squished!

They are really piled 4 or 5 seals on top of each other all the was down the dock!  So, all the while we're trying not to step on the sea gull poop to get photos, and these guys stink to high heaven!!  

Then along come the cutest of the ocean critters!  The Sea Otter!! She would come up and rub and roll her hands together like she was washing!  Then dove down and got dinner and a rock and slammed them together! Then she did the entire process again!  I just love them!

So this was my Tuesday!  I had lots of fun, love seeing the Ocean and know how blessed we are to live so close to the Coast!  Oh - I forgot to tell you how much my $7.99 bag would have cost at retail - as near as I can tell.  Some items no longer had the original tag, so I used the sale price that was on them - ready???

A WHOPPING $773.00

plus the bag was $1.99

So, right around $775.00

Not too shabby,

not too shabby at all!

Blessings to all,

Hugs,

Donna