While The Kids Were Away ~ ~ ~

OK, OK ~ This isn't what you thought by the title, but I couldn't help it!  It just fit!!!

So, I've shown you "How I Spent My Summer Vacation"  parts 1 & 2, and I had a really great time, most of the time - Didn't really like chasing dogs half asleep (me - not the dogs!)  because that was the best form of exercise, or for a good time first thing in the morning (because it wasn't!)  However, I loved taking care of the wee ones and cooking!

When Mom and Dad got home from their vacation, oh - did I mention they spent one week in Spain and one week in Italy?  Well, they did, and the photos they sent back were spectacular! The countryside in both countries was beautiful, the museums, the Cathedrals!  Magnificent!! Stunning photos, and even a few of them thrown in - and they are a handsome couple!  They were smart and took private tours and said it was worth every penny!  Best way to see a country, or even states, we're not familiar with!

Grandpa, for all his efforts - taking me shopping before I went, helping me pack, taking care of the house and garden in my absence, and missing me a lot (I missed him, too!) received these beautiful Italian Gloves!

And, The Glove Fits!!  Beautiful brown leather gloves, purchased in Italy!!

Sure will keep him warm in the cold weather of winter!

And, very nice for driving, too!

They took private tours of both the Sistine Chapel and saw the works of Michelangelo! Something I can only imagine and take that tour online!  They said it was MAGNIFICENT!!!  And, by taking the private tour, they saw things you wouldn't normally see - so if anyone is planning a trip to Italy, and you want to see it, they highly recommend paying the extra dollars for this tour.

When they spent time in the Vatican, they stopped in the Vatican Gift Shop and purchased my new Rosary and this beautiful box with the carving of the Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus.  I've had many Rosary's - I was given my Baba's 2, one that he prayed daily with, and a very large wooden one given to him by a Priest, and others that belonged to family elders.  But the only one I ever was given to me as mine personally was a plastic one given to me when I made my 1st Holy Communion and this one.  This is absolutely beautiful.  Many don't understand this as a beautiful object, Catholics not only see the beauty of it, but know the significance of it.  The box, when opened plays a tune I am unfamiliar with, I will ask a dear friend what it is.

I will keep these by my bedside always and thank my lovely daughter in law and son.  Thank you both so much, both mean a great deal to me!

That's it for this evening.

Blessings everyone!
Donna

They're Back!!!

These two are keeping a watchful eye - maybe even directing traffic!

You all know how I love our Hummingbirds!  Well, we've been a bit worried we may have lost their homing in on our home because of a new development being built behind us.  And, for the first couple of months of the season, we had a few birds - but this last week, we went from feeding 1 quart of syrup each week to 1 quart of syrup A DAY!!  Yes, you read correctly - a quart a week - to a quart a day!!

The five blurs are those coming in and going out!  It's a busy feeder!

A second feeder will need to be put up this weekend to accommodate all of the birds.  I counted 19 at one time trying to feed this morning.  (Before dawn, and I couldn't get my camera set up quickly enough.)

All are beautiful, the males have the gorgeous iridescent neck and head feathers!

The males are so beautiful with their bright purple/pink iridescent head colors.  We love having them fly in - but with this crazy weather - are they going north or south?  Coming inland from the Coast?  Our weather patterns have - well - been rather unusual as they have been over much of the US and probably the world!

The blurs are birds coming and going!  I was so amazed this morning!

Honestly, no matter to me, to us, about what or why - they are here now and we love feeding them and caring for them!  Next year we hope to have a spraying fountain with mist for them to bathe in and a butterfly bath and feeder.  These are the closest things to pets we have and we love caring for them while they visit us!

Would love to see some from other parts of the US as the colors are so vibrant and beautiful!

Have a marvelous weekend, my friends!
Blessings,
Donna 

* * * And Time Flies By * * *

I cannot believe it has been a week since my last post!  A couple of wonderful friends wrote and asked if I was doing OK, if the family was well, was everything going alright?  Yes, yes and yes! I've just been really busy and time, literally just flew by!

A lot has happened in all our lives!  Does it seem to anyone else, the older we get, the faster time goes by?  I remember family elders saying that, and of course when we were kids we thought anyone as old as are parents didn't know what they're talking about!  When we were teenagers, time went by so slowly we could hardly wait to get out of the house!  Oh, but then came the rat race of college, working, families, and we all thought, "Ah, as soon as they're raised we'll be able to relax and enjoy life!"

So, here we are and time seems to go by so fast, it almost feels like we're on a fast train!  All these sights keep just keep going by, or we by them, so fast!  I thought of that when Don called me to look out our living room window two evenings ago to see this view ~ "Honey come look at this!"

I ran out quickly to take this photo!  Isn't this sunset incredible!?  We must slow down and notice the small blessings in our lives, and this is one of them!

I'll be back tomorrow, I would love to share some of the cards and journals I've been making.  I'll be by to visit all of my blogging buddies tomorrow, too.  Right now, just know I think of you all often and keep all of you in my prayers!

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

~ Monterey Bay, California ~

For over 30 years, our home was 15 minutes or less from this magnificant beauty!

These two photos were taken in the parking lot of the Monterey Beach Hotel, the first hotel allowed to be built on the beach in the Bay.  I worked here for several years.  First as the Executive Secretary for the General Manager.  Then as Assistant to the Owner of the properties.   Yeah, this was a tough place to work!  I had lunch every day overlooking this beauty!  These photos face west, and south west.

This was taken from the other side of the Bay facing east.  Yesterday was one of those beautiful sunny days on the Bay!

Taken from the Southwestern side of the Bay, although not clear, show the mountains around Santa Cruz!

A beautiful Cypress Tree right on the ocean front!

                                                                                    

Monterey Harbor and Fisherman's Wharf.

 

 

So why ever move from such a beautiful place?   With the year round temperature average of 65 to 68 degrees, mostly foggy, almost always damp weather?  I mean - in the winter, when much of the country is freezing their toes off, and in the summer, others could fry eggs on the sidewalk, everyone loves the Coastal areas! 

 

Well, we move because we found another beautiful place to live - El Paseo de Robles.  We actually have seasons and we love it.  We have nice hot summers, with some days well over 100, and some freezing temperatures during the winter.  But for the most part, we have a little piece of heaven here on earth, and we love it.  We're still close to the beach, should we want to go - 40 minutes or so.  Close to the National Forests, just a couple of hours.  We still live in the Salad Bowl of the World, so our produce is wonderful!

 

So for now, we're Californians, and will stay in California.  Always?  Probably not ~ not to a snowy area though as my Sweetie grew up around the Boston area and says he will never shovel snow again, it's why he moved to California.  For now, here we are.   In the "new" wine country!  he he he!

 

Have a wonderful Sunday, and a wonderful new week!

Blessings,

Donna

Beautiful West Coast Sunset

I wanted to share a photo we are blessed to see almost every day.  Here's the view from our living room window.

Sometimes we take for granted the little things in life, God's beauty.  Over the mountains, as the crow flies is the Pacific Ocean. 

Sometimes it feels really good to just sit back and reflect, smile and be thankful!  I wish you all a wonderful weekend.

I'm planning a weekend of packing up Christmas (sniff, sniff) and getting some crafting done.  What do you have planned, going away for the three day weekend?  Staying home getting caught up, crafting, sewing? 

What ever you do, what ever you have planned or will plan, be blessed, be happy and be safe!
((Hugs))
Donna

The True Meaning Of Christmas In Our Home

For us, like many of you, the true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love it all ~ the wreaths, the trees all lit up with beautiful lights, the different ornaments and telling the stories behind each one (if there is one), the fudge, cookies and cakes (oh yum!!) and gifts we give to our loved ones and friends.  The kids, and then the grandkids, were taught the first Christmas gifts were the gifts brought from the Magi, the Wise Men, who traveled by camels from far away lands to give the Baby gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Teaching them the Magi followed a star which hung over the stable in Bethlehem.  In the fields, the shepherds heard the Angels singing and were told of the great news of the Baby in the stable in town.

For Don and I, Christmas is centered around Christ.  We try to keep the reason for the season front and center as much as possible. Over the next few weeks, I'll visit many of your blogs and see what you are displaying as I love to see how everyone decorates!  You are all so creative and make such beautiful displays!  And, I'll show some of the vignettes and trees, wreaths, and cards I make, the goodies baked.  In each room in our home, there is one theme that runs constant - a Nativity Scene is displayed to remind us what to focus on.

 

This Nativity was handed down to me by my Granny.  She brought it with her from New York and she had replaced it with another.  It was given to me the year my daughter was born.  I remember playing with it myself as a child.  She asked me if I had one, and she knew times were really tight for us.  She took this out and gave it to me in a shoe box - and you know, for years, I used that shoe box as the stable, covering it with the sheet I use as a snow blanket!  I bought this stable about 8 or 9 years ago for $3 or so after Christmas!  It was meant for my Nativity, don't you think?

My sisters, cousins and I would pretend we were playing the parts of the Nativity.  My children did the same thing, as did the older grandchildren and now the young ones are.  I remember one year when our two oldest grandsons and our daughter lived with us, every morning Ryan (now 21) would go off to school and make sure each piece was in the exact right place.  During the day his brother, Jeff, (now 18) would take each piece, people and animals alike, and crowd them all around the the manger so they "could all see the Baby!"  For Ryan, it was like torture, he would run in each day to find the Nativity "ALL MESSED UP!"  He would promptly fix it and watch that little brother didn't touch it the rest of the evening.  Next day, same thing!  Jeff so wanted everyone to see Baby Jesus!  

I love Christmas, and I love it all.  And, while I know where my center is, this time of year I'm filled with excitement.  I just love it, and I know many of you do, too!  I've seen some of the beautiful ideas and decorating you've already done and can't wait to see more of them!  Thanks for taking a peak at my very old Nativity.  Near as we can tell, it is around 75 to 80 years old.  As you can see in some of the photos, some pieces are very well worn from being handled by so many little hands.  And, isn't that what He asked?  "Bring the children to Me...I wish everyone were like little children, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these,"  (Taken from stories in Matthew, Mark and Luke.)

I wish us all a very Merry and Blessed Christmas season!

Donna

A Must Share With My Friends - WHY GOD MADE MOMS

This is too cute not to share with you all of you!  DO NOT DRINK LIQUID while reading this - seriously!

Enjoy!

WHY GOD MADE MOMS - - - - - - - - -

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?

3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.

2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.

3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Is this adorable?  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Blessings,

Donna

What A Beautiful Sunset

Today was my oral surgery, which went very well.  Only one tooth had to be removed in the end.  My surgeon saved a second, Praise The Lord!  Now comes the healing!

         I woke up just in time for this gorgeous Sunset!

And then, it was back to bed!  Maybe I'll be up in time for the Sunrise!

Thank you for your prayers and happy thoughts!

Blessings,

Donna