Love Blooms in Grandma's Garden

I love making cards and scrapbook layouts.  My sweet daughter introduced me to making cards and scrapping several years back when she became a consultant with one of the big home sales stamping companies.  And we've come a long way baby!  It use to be we cut the paper and slapped on some embellishments and wrote on the card.  Then, stamps - love the cling on stamps with the acrylic blocks you can see through!  A rainbow of inks, pads and pens, now sprays and paints, glitter and embossing mediums - we have just about everything!  I say "just about" because every time I think we have it all, something new comes out!

I love my Cricut Expression! When these machines came out it, endless possibilities came with it - but let's just do a bit of show and tell.  There are some marvelous teachers who have blogs for all of our hobbies.  My favorites are the hobbies I love to do - crocheting, polymer clay, sewing, card making and scrapping ...

2 pages for the boys

I was fortunate enough to win a prize from Monique Griffin designs ~ a two 12"x12" page layout kit called "In Bloom."

2 pages for the girls

The kit included all of the paper, embellishments and directions for use with my Cricut and A Child's Year cartridge (not included in kit.)
I prefer using 9"x9" books, so I did a bit of extra cutting and came up with a few changes (which I shared with Monique.)  There was more than enough of everything to make the four 9x9 pages instead of two 12x12's.

Thanks for taking a peak!  What ever your hobby is, there are so many wonderful ladies willing to share their talents with us!

It's a great time to start making our Christmas Cards!  Or are you like me and wait until the last minute!?  I have promised myself and my sweetie I'm going to start right away!  I'll post when I do!

Blessings,
Donna

Happy Birthday to - - - -

During the last three or so months of the year, we celebrate the birthdays of all of our grandchildren, beginning with our oldest grandson Ryan, who turned 21 around the end of September.  October is Elise, now 9, Isaac, turned 11, and today, my sweetie's special day.  November brings both my son, Jeffrey, and grandson, Jeffrey, who will be 18.  December will be our youngest granddaughter's, Leila, 6th birthday just a bit before we celebrate the birth of our precious Lord, Jesus.

I had the opportunity to spend several days with my youngest three last week and we had so much fun.

Isaac's wish came true for his birthday!   He received the latest Apple device that has all of the latest and greatest apps.  Mom made him this really cool cake when Dad took him and a group of his friends out to dinner and a show "Real Steel," a robot movie.

My Daughter in law is very creative at making the cupcake cakes and decorated cup cakes.  This was actually made from box mix to finished cake in less than 4 hours.  Not bad at all!  The picture doesn't do the cake decorating any justice!  Here's a better photo - -

OK - This is a bit better!  The kids were really surprised when they came home from the movie and saw the robot.  Actually, I think all they really saw at this point was more SUGAR!!!  And, did they leave the tray shaking!!!  One little cupcake was all that was left after they were finished!

The week before Elise celebrated with a sleepover with several friends and they all decorated their own cupcakes.  All of the girls had so much fun creating their own "signature designs!"

So, this year we had the two eldest turn 21 and 18 - both milestone birthdays, and the three youngest 11, 9 and soon to be 6.  Time flies by ~ so whether you are celebrating children's or your grandchildren birthdays, be sure to have a great time and enjoy the memories.

Many blessings and best wishes to all having birthdays,
Donna

Cranberry Orange Bread (no egg yolks)

One of our favorite sweet breads during the holidays is my Cranberry Orange Bread.  It took me countless attempts to get this recipe darn near perfect!  I'm talking a couple of years, honestly.  No yolks is the reason.  Since I'm allergic to egg yolks, baking can be a problem.  Without boring you to no end, just believe me when I say, "It is finally fit for a King!"  At least my King, and Princes, and Princesses!

I serve this all year when we have the desire, but during the holidays it's a must!  We have it for company, give it as gifts with homemade jams, or just because.  I love scratch cooking and baking, so for me, it's no big deal to get a loaf of bread going!  I love, love, love cooking and baking!

I'm taking a couple of loaves to my little wee ones when I visit later this week.  Kids love this bread, little kids, big kids, all kids!  It's as yummy as it looks here - big, scrumptious, juicy cranberries, orange zest and pulp in the juice - it's so good just like this, or with a little butter, or cream cheese - oh my - mmmmm, really good!

Like I said it took many years and lots of failed attempts, but I finally got it down, and I'd love to share it with you!

Cranberry Orange Bread
2 cups flour **                             1 cup orange juice*
1 cup oats                                   1 Tbsp orange zest
1 cup sugar                                 1/3 cup oil
1/2 tsp baking soda                      4 egg whites
1/2 tsp baking powder                  1 cup chopped
1/2 tsp salt                                      cranberries***
***If you cannot find any fresh, or don't have any frozen on hand, purchase the dried ones (I've used Ocean Spray brand) and soak them for about an hour or so in warm water.  Drain, chop and use as above. 
Measure a heaping cup of whole berries, frozen or fresh, and rinse - leave in colander until noted below. 
Also - do not thaw frozen berries before rinsing and chopping or they will become a soggy, red mess.
**I use bread flour or King Arthur All Purpose flour.
*I use 1 orange for zest and juice, then fill the cup with regular orange juice.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour bottom of one standard loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans.

In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients together and mix well.

In a smaller bowl, whisk egg whites.  Add orange juice, zest and oil, and whisk all together.
Add wet ingredients to large bowl of dry ingredients, and stir until well mixed.
Set aside and chop berries in food processor (or chopper if you don't have a food processor) until berries are chopped NOT MINCED.  Add directly to bowl and fold in gently, but thoroughly.  Dough should not be red, just see berries mixed, so don't over mix.
Pour in to pan(s) and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes (45 to 50 minutes for mini pans.)
Allow to cool for 15 minutes in pan, turn out and continue cooling. 
Slice, serve and mmm mmmm enjoy!!

A chunk of Heaven!!!

Just a side note - - - when cranberries come in to the supermarkets, I buy bags and bags of them, and throw them directly in to the freezer.  Don't wash them before hand, don't take them out of the bag, don't put a second bag around them.  Just as you buy them from the grower, they are made to go directly into the freezer, if so desired.  And, do I ever!  Usually 10 bags, if I can find that many!  How long do they last - well I've heard tell that it's that magical one year, like most things.  But this year, I am using my 2009 berries.  I had to make mine last as long as I could because last year my supermarket didn't get many in, and the restaurants got in before I did and well - I have really had to stretch mine.


Fresh cranberries are only available for a few short weeks a year.  Then they are gone again until the following year.  The reason?  Well, besides being the time of year for harvesting them, most are purchased by large companies who dry them, and/or mix them in to the yummy granola and cereal products we love so much, which quite honestly leave precious few for us who love to cook with them fresh, not dried.

Please, if you have any questions, just send me an email, or leave a message hear and I'll do my best to answer.  Cooking is such a joy, so don't struggle with something and get discouraged!

I'd love to know if you've tried this, so drop a note!

Many blessings,
Donna


**My recipes are published, so please respect my hard work with any I list and don't take credit as your own.

Horse Tote and a Kitty Cat Pillow

I finished two small projects today for my little granddaughters.  During my last visit with them we ran off to JoAnn's and were able to spend a couple of hours.  Never enough time when it comes to looking at craft items, is there?  Nope - there isn't!  I went in originally to find some material for myself, and had my little wee one with me.  She loves to look at all of the material with me, too.  Then sister joined us and we ended up finding material for projects for them.  Now that's a real surprise, right!?

Elise loves horses and is taking riding lessons, which even includes caring for the horses.  She not only has her time riding the horse each week, but on one of her days, she is to groom and care for the horse. 

Sweet thing that she is, she always remembers to take her horse a treat.  Last time I visited, she took an apple!  So, when I asked what she wanted me to make for her, she asked for a tote bag, to put her riding shoes, maybe a sweater, treats for the horse.  So, this is what I came up with.  No pattern, none needed really.   I made a double pocket on the front, completely lined and padded.  I really wanted it to be nice and strong, yet comfy for her, and washable!

Leila on the other hand wanted to have kitties.  "What would you like Grandma to make with the kitties on it?"  Very matter of fact as she walked towards the cutting counter, "A pillow!"  Well, that was easy!  Even had a spare pillow form at home that fit the bill!

I sat down yesterday and got the pillow finished, and today - the tote.  I know they will love them. 

"My little sweethearts"

Blessings, Donna

Introducing - - -

My friends, you've asked before about my wonderful sweetie, who dislikes having his picture taken more than anyone else I know and usually will not smile to the camera -

- well, while out picking tomatoes (we planted tomatoes and peppers right under our family room window) I decided to snap a few!  This one is taken through the screen, sorry for the lines through it, but this next one shows his

wonderful smile, while showing off his tomatoes!  He went on picking, filling up about a quarter of this basket and now I'm off to search for a salsa recipe I can use to can these gems!

So my friends, this is Don!  The love of my life, my sweetheart, my best friend ~

Blessings, Donna

How I Keep My Yarn Orgainzed

I've had friends ask how I keep my yarn and hooks organized, so here are a few of the ways I have found work for me.  I love yarn, all kinds, colors, fibers, and they just seem to propagate in my closet!  So I have found large, clear plastic bins or recycled heavy plastic bags (like the ones they use when you buy new sheets or blankets) are an excellent choice for me.

This way I can see exactly what's in which bin or bag, and it keeps yucky odors from getting in to the fibers.  

I try to separate yarns by types -

Acrylic 4 ply, any colors; Chenille; Simply Soft; HomeSpun; Cotton - which is in the smaller bags here, and so on.  I have found this easier for me.  I don't know how many times, when I kept them in big plastic store bags, I'd start opening bags for a project and had yarn everywhere and still didn't find what I needed and went out and bought more (like that's such a terrible thing - he he he!) only to put it away after using what I needed and found what I couldn't find when I needed it.  

I found larger pencil boxes the children use are  perfectly sized for my crochet hooks, holding all of them along with my small scissors, row markers and needles.  I keep my round knitters in their bag, knitting needles in a large empty pretzel barrel, and voila - organized!   At least enough for me!

 I'm blessed with closet space - not too much because I'm always running out of room, but enough.  So, using half of this closet for yarn (the other half is my paper and photos I'll show in a separate post) it's about 51/2 feet of storage, works great for two large bins lengthwise, side by side, stacked 3 and 4 high.  I use paper handled or cloth bags for WIP's.

So, this is how I have found I can live with my yarn - rather, my family can live with me and my yarn!

Continued blessings,
Donna

An Oval Petal Pillow

After sharing the round Blooming Flower Cushion I crocheted using the pattern by Lucy at Attic24 I decided to change it up a bit and make an oval one!

As with the round cushion, the edges are a bit wavy, leaving room for a pillow cushion being quite rounded. 

Thank you Lucy for the inspiration to try something on my own!  This one was a ton of fun, I guess because I would sit in bed watching TV in the evenings, and wonder if it would even turn out or not - and I think it did!

Lucy, at Attic24 is amazing, and if you enjoy crocheting, check her blog.   I think you will love her work!

Hope October is filled with lots of good things for all of you!  The weather is changing, which means some Fall colors added to our landscaped mountains, cooler weather (I'm glad to have 70's and 80's after a Summer of 90's and 100's) and its getting closer to my favorite time of year - Christmas!!!  I love everything about the season!  I will be posting more about Christmas in the coming weeks!

May you find love and joy in everything you do, everyone you meet, and everything you see!

Blessings to all of you! 
Donna

Great Yardsale Find!

WOW!!  I love to go out early Saturday mornings and see what treasures there might be at Estate and Garage Sales. 

One Saturday this summer I came across a young woman who was selling a ton of Grandma's hand me downs she had no use nor desire to keep.  As I looked through some old coats, picked up old buttons (why do we have to buy those old buttons??) I commented on a beautiful old couch that was definitely from the early 1900's she thought she might sell for $15 dollars.  If I'd had the room for it, I would have bought it - but I don't.  I did let her know it was worth a lot more.  I haven't seen a couch from that era in that great of condition, hand carved wood all along the back, the arms, and the claw feet.  Original fabric that was in quite good condition since it was about 100 years old.  She knew it was worth a lot more, but she'd just picked it up from storage, and needed the money badly. 

Seeing I really liked old treasures, she went back in to the garage and brought this stole out ~ I had already picked up a few things and she was a really nice young woman in a very bad position.  I told her things were temporary and would get better.  She sold this to me for $3 - THREE DOLLARS - and yes, it is real, all hand sewn, and gorgeous condition!  A friend is coming down from San Francisco and will be taking it up to a furrier for an appraisal.  It is beautiful!  She said she wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it.  So sweet.

I have also been blessed with some beautiful glass pieces, punch bowl sets, snack sets and tea cups this summer.  My buddy and I went out today and only found a bit - I picked up some beautiful glass snack trays. 

Have you been treasure hunting lately?  I'd love to hear about your treasures!

Many blessings, Donna

Galaxy Stitch Scarf

When my friend, Stitch of Love, first posted the beautiful Galaxy Stitch Scarf for her dear Uncle, I knew I wanted to make one.  It was a new stitch for me, although I have been crocheting for many years.

My daughter in law received one I made for her birthday in February in a pattern I made up (can't get the photo to load, so I need to take another one!)  My son, who never asks for anything, said jokingly under his breath, "wish someone would make me a scarf." So, you know I just had to do it!  I made it and then before actually giving it to him, asked if he would like it longer - long story short - it's about 8 feet long.  He wanted to wear it doubled over and through the middle.

This is a beautiful stitch, and I used Caron Simply Soft yarn, so this is really soft and warm.  Happy Birthday, Albert!  A little late, but it is as long as two scarves!

I used this You Tube video from Teresa.  This woman is absolutely the best teacher by far for crocheting, knitting, beginner, intermediate, advanced, left hand and right hand. She is amazing.  If you love crocheting or knitting, please check her out.  A-MA-ZING!!!

Thanks for taking a peek.  God bless!
Donna

Laura Bush ~ An Evening To Remember

My son, Albert, invited me to hear Laura Bush, our gracious former First Lady Lady, at West Hills Community College in Lemoore, California.  This new arena, and campus, is only 5 minutes from their home and was very comfortable.  We had great seats, and honestly saw her up close and personal.

Mrs. Bush has a wonderful sense of humor and looks just as beautiful as she did in the White House.  She spoke of her work, the first National Book Festival, launched at the Library of Congress on the Saturday, just a few days prior to September 11, 2001;  how the events of 9-11-01 changed the everything for President Bush and his presidency, their lives in the White House, our lives as every day citizens of a country that had been brutally violated by terrorism; and the work she is doing in her current role as Honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade.

Mrs. Bush also talked about her work with breast cancer awareness, now including cervical cancer testing and treatment, both here and around the world.

Time to say good evening to one of my favorite First Ladies.  It looks as though she is looking right at us saying, "Good Bye!"

After leaving the program, we met up with Karla and the children and had a yummy dinner.  Thank you, Son, for a wonderful, and very memorable, evening.

Blessings,
Donna

Fresh Zucchini Bread (with no egg yolks)

Mmmm - for me, there's nothing tastier than home made, fresh, sweet bread right out of the oven!  One of my favorites is my own recipe for Zucchini Bread, yolk-less of course! 

Having food allergies means you do a lot of scratch cooking and baking.  We have a few in our household and so I have learned to bake and cook eliminating egg yolks, molds (like mushrooms and any foods that are fermented, which are many), beef (yes, cow!!) and fresh milk.  You can usually get around the kitchen pretty good eliminating the listed foods, until you come to the egg yolks.  It's very difficult to bake fresh cookies, sweet breads, cakes, etc, because the proteins in the yolk help these items in the rising, texture and flavor.

I love to cook, so for me, working around these problems is not a big deal.  But it has been a lot of trial and error, well worth trial and error!  he he he!  I'm listing the recipe below, and hope you will try it.

Zucchini Bread  
3 egg whites                                            3 cups flour**
1 cup oil                                                 1 tsp baking powder
2 cups sugar                                           1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla                                            1 tsp salt
4 cups grated zucchini*                           3 tsp cinnamon

*Wash zucchini, DO NOT PEEL, do not seed unless you have giant zucchinis from your garden (you'll know what I mean if you grew them yourself!)  Course grate zucchini and squeeze out excess liquid.
**I use bread flour or King Arthur All Purpose flour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour 2 standard bread pans (or 6 mini pans.)
Sift all dry ingredients together in small bowl and set aside.
Beat egg whites, oil, sugar and vanilla together.
Stir in zucchini, now add all dry ingredients and blend well.
Evenly distribute into 2 bread pans, bake for 60 to 75 minutes.  Remove from oven when inserted knife comes out clean (a few crumbs are OK.)  Cool for 10 minutes in pan, turn out on cooling rack.

Serve warm or cool.  Freezes extremely well.

Let me know if you have any questions.  This is great bread and hopefully some of you will try it!


Many blessings,
Donna


**My recipes are published, so please respect my hard work with any I list and don't take credit as your own.

Blooming Flower Pillow

This beautiful pattern in another I found on Attic 24.  Lucy is a marvelous teacher of our happy crochet hooks!  Her patterns are very easy to follow, lots of photos throughout the project, and a grand sense of humor!

Here is my take on the Blooming Flower Cushion (Pillow - for me) to be happily displayed on the children's guest bed, along with the Hexagon Afghan, also one of Lucy's patterns!

I love the way the colors pop on the petals.  I will be sewing the pillow form and stuffing it, attaching the back side, later this week.

Lucy is great at reminding all of us who are in the US to exchange the UK terms with American. I've tried patterns before and become very frustrated and completely wasted time crocheting a pattern and not having it come out correctly because of this.  It's great of Lucy to remind us and give us the various stitches to use.  The back side of the pillow uses the same color variations, only no ruffles, just double crochet throughout the entire back side until the last, joining row. 

This has been another great project to use up left over yarn.  I only have a bit of this left, so I'd better get to crocheting some new projects!

Thank you, Lucy, for another great pattern!
Continued blessings, all!
Donna

 

Grandparents Day with My Wee Ones

Hi Everyone!  It's so nice to be back and writing again online!  I pray you've all been wonderful and busy!  I have been doing a lot of crocheting and hope to post some photos of my latest projects early next week!

On September 9th, my granddaughter, Elise, invited me to school with her to have lunch and a presentation for Grandparents Day.  I was so glad I was able to attend this year.

My son and I went to the school to watch each class sing a song to the grandparents who were able to attend and then eat lunch with them in the grass courtyard area.  Of course, they all sang like Angels (don't we all think our children do?)  Along with Elise, her older brother, Isaac, and younger sister, Leila, dad and I ate Pepperoni Pizza, and I received hand made cards from the kids.

Being a grandparent is high on my list of what I am most grateful for in my life.  To have five wonderful grandchildren is such a blessing.  My daughter has two handsome sons, Ryan who will be 21 in just a few days, and Jeffrey who will be 18 in a couple of short months.  I have been blessed to have all of them relatively close and watch them grow up and spend time with them.  Of course, it's never enough time.

Isaac on the far left, Leila in the middle and Elise standing on my right.  It was a very hot day and thank goodness we found a nice cool tree to sit under.

Thank you for making Grandma feel so special!  I love you all so much!

Thanks for taking a peak at my wee ones!

Many blessings,
Donna

25 Things for Charity

I just joined a new group - 25 Things for Charity.  This is not a commitment to send everything or actually anything to this particular group.  The rules are the simplest I've ever read in a group ~

The Rules
There are none. Craft as many items as you want, send them to where ever you want, and then let them know about it.  That is the most important part - share your charity crafting pictures and favorite charities.

Honestly, I don't know how long I will stay in the group, as I'm so new, less than a few hours.  But, I love the idea.  It keeps my charity work front and center for me.  I am not (as they do not) recommending to any one to donate to a certain group.  I do have a few groups near and dear to me and, actually, this has encouraged me to do a little more in the crocheting and crafting department. 

I will share mine with you, but encourage you to find what touches your heart.  I love giving to my local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) group.  I am a proud member.  Our chapter has been very active making lapgans, scarves, caps, gloves, and tons more, along with donations of other items veterans and soldiers in the Veteran's Hospital in Fresno, California, may find comforting.  We have so many talented and giving ladies in our group!

Another is our local Women's Shelter.  I had no idea how much these groups do for battered and abused women and children.  We had a family member who needed assistance and were amazed at what is offered, no strings attached, just helping women and children who are in terrible and desperate situations!  This sometimes means the difference between life and death, in extreme cases.

The last one is Loaves and Fishes, a group who feeds the hungry.  While it is a Christian organization, there again are no strings attached when it comes to religion.  They feed people who are hungry!  Singles and families in our local area, who don't have enough money left and the end of the month, or have no money at any time of the month.  It's not just at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas when so may of us think of giving to our local food banks or shelters, our friends and neighbors are hungry all year long! 

What do I have to do?  We don't HAVE to do anything.  We may do anything we want to do.  I know many of us don't have a lot of extra money to give, but maybe we could buy a couple of extra cans of soup, or vegetables when they are on sale.  Start a box, and when it's full, take it down.

No extra money?  Do you craft?  What about a comfort scarf, or shawl, a cap, gloves?  Maybe you use beads, polymer clay, woodwork - what craft do you have?  We are all blessed with something!  Make a little something, and give it with love to cheer someone.

Time!  Do you have an extra hour or two a week to help out?  That's a gift of one's self, and we hardly ever think of it!  Give up an extra hour or two of TV time and help someone or some group.

My most important gift - prayer.  This is personal - say what you want to God - He listens to everything we say, and answers every prayer. 

Do what you can, what you are lead to do.

Many blessings,
Donna

Hexagon Afghan

I finished this beautiful afghan a couple of months ago.  I originally made it as a throw for the children's guest bed, but it grew into more of a spread!  I used a total of 195 hexagons, 13 long by 15 wide.

This "Hexagon Afghan" is made of all the little bits of yarn we have left over from projects passed.  You know . . . all of those partial skeins.  The leftovers that won't really go with anything else, and there's not enough yarn left to even make a cap with or colors we needed to use with another project, but by itself it just didn't seem to go with anything - like the bright orange!  I took all the bits and strands and made this afghan with it.  Like all crocheters, I save everything that's left over.  Some little balls of yarn were no more than two yards or so - you just never know what you'll need or when you'll need it!  

This was a great "take a long" project.  I took this every time I was going to be in the car for more than 20 minutes or traveling away from home.  What I liked best about this project is I made step one, just the inner part of the hexagon and make five or six from one color, start another color and so on.  I made 100 to start with, of the centers.  Then I did the second round on all of them.  Then the third.  I laid them all out before starting the last, adjoining row.  It did end up almost double than I had originally planned.

Mixing the colors so none looked exactly alike.  True scraps!  In fact I didn't use any new skeins at all!  All were left overs!  All were done in acrylic yarn from different yarn companies, but all were the same weight.  As I got to the fourth and final round of the hexagon, the joining row, this is where having all of them laid out really helped.  This turned out to be a lot of fun!  I'd forgotten how much yarn I have! 

While putting this together, I had to use the guest bed to lay them all out because, as you can see, I needed there to be a way to make sure I mixed up the colors well.

I love seeing what we all do with our left overs!  This reminded me a bit of quilting.  I bit of this and that and beauty appears!

Blessings and thank you for taking a look at my project!
Donna

Grow Camp Meltdown Replaced

I wrote a post on July 3rd about the terrible meltdown we had with our Grow Camp Greenhouse.  I also mentioned we were not able to get a response from the US Distributor by phone or email.  We ended up going through Costco, where we originally purchased our Grow Camp Greenhouse.  We purchased the 4'x4', along with the 4'x4' extension, which is quite pricey, over $500, for the unit alone (this price is pretty standard regardless of where you purchase it.)  This doesn't cover the cost of the soil mixture, water system or garden plants.  So, the entire endeavor was closer to $1,000.  We felt at the time, well worth the initial cost, as we would use this garden greenhouse for many years, and heaven forbid, if it had to be moved for any reason, it could be.  We really didn't want to use a permanent brick and mortar structure.

To refresh - here's what happened after only one year!!!  As you might guess, walking to the back yard and the two of us talking about what we were going to grow this year and finding this - well - to say we were stunned would be an understatement!!  We tried calling the US Distributor, no answer, no answering machine, no email response.  We called Costco.

I had been told by an employee last year when we were looking to buy a completely different item, after asking about the guarantee or warranty process with Costco, "Ma'am, the entire time I've worked here, if a customer has a problem with something they buy, all they have to do is bring it back.  No problems.  Costco stands behind the products they sell!"  Well, I don't know about you all, but I've been there, done that, and it's not always the case AFTER there's a problem!

I have to say Costco stood behind this product 100% and then some!  After one, only one, phone call to let them know what the problem was, we received an email saying they would be sending a truck to pick it up, ship it back, and we would be refunded 100%.  From the time we contacted Costco to the time we were refunded our money, was right around 30 days!  No problems, no stalling, just customer service that is outstanding!

I sure hope those of you who contacted me personally don't experience the problems we did, and that the ones you are experiencing can be easily resolved.

Here's what we've had built for our fall and winter garden -  and while it is made of stone, there is no mortar, just interlocking stone - this will work just fine!

We found a Gardening Supply site showing how to build a PVC structure with some material used in the professional gardens in the Northeast of the US.  We figure if it will work there to keep the plants nice and warm, it will work well here on the Central Coast of California!  I'll show our handiwork when we finish this process.

On an other note, Ames Tiedeman, the US Distributor of the Grow Camp Greenhouse, actually contacted me via my blog email around the same time we were being refunded!  He wanted me to phone him, gave me his number, and when I called - I was told he would be out of the office for a week!  After emailing him and asking why I was being contacted and how he got my email, he wrote back and said, "We just want you happy!" 

I'm happy now!  Thank you Costco!!

I'll be taking photos of the garden where we have our squash planted this year.  Our zucchini and butternut squash plants are really producing well this year!!  Yeah!!  We planted them in a more protected spot this year from the wind.  I'm making lots of zucchini bread and we'll have lots of winter squash!

Many blessings,
Donna

Last Day Of The Month

I can hardly believe July is over!  Oh my gosh, summer barely arrived and it's already almost gone!  The grandchildren go back to school in less than 3 weeks! 

We've accomplished a great deal in the past couple of weeks.  The vegetable planter has been rebuilt, the lawns have been cut in half and removed to cut down on water usage and increase edible garden areas for vegetables and fruits, our kitchen has had Rev-A-Shelves installed in the cabinets for easier access, half of our master closets have been converted to shelving units and updated, the office closet has been rebuilt, my craft room has had shelves installed, and our garage has been cleaned with new shelf closets installed and the rest cleaned! 

Whew - a ton of stuff done in such a short period of time!  I wish I could take credit for all of the work - but I really was only allowed to point where every thing was to go and the rest was done by our son who drove out from Colorado, our youngest grandson, and our gardener.

This week I will be staying with my three youngest grandchildren while mommy and daddy are vacationing in Hawaii for a week!

I will be updating more later this week - thank you for stopping by!  I will also be updating on my post regarding the Grow Camp and the resolution of the fiasco we had with the terrible melt down.  (See prior post.)  And, I'll catch up on all of the goings on!

Blessings,
Donna

Peach, Mango and Strawberry Jams!!

Wow, it's been a great year for tasty fruit!  With the crazy weather we've had this spring and summer (so far) our fruit has had lots of blemishes, which means lots of tasty fruit at great prices.  Strawberries were again 88 cents a pound today!  If I hadn't already put up about 80 pounds of fruit - 40 or so in jam and 40 or so in fresh frozen - we'd be picking up more than just a few pounds to munch on this week!

Mangos came in at 2 and 3 for $1, so - yep - I put up a lot of mango jam.  Oh my goodness, it is really tasty!  I love jams with big chunks of fruit!  spreads so nice on fresh warm bread!  Yummy!!

Last week, my daughter in law brought me over a large crate of fresh peaches she was able to pick up for $6.  SIX DOLLARS!!!  Oh my heavens - Elise, my oldest granddaughter (8 years old) helped me and we put up 12 small, 15 medium, and 12 large jars of peach jam.  5 batches,  20 pounds of peaches just in jam and we had a big bowl left for ice cream topping or just eating!!  There's nothing like fresh fruit picked that day or a day or two before. 

Of all of the jams this year, Elise and I agreed, the peach takes the prize, hands down!  It tastes so good - oh my gosh!  I wish I could give everyone a spoonful through the screen!

I'm sorry for the farmers not being able selling their fruit for top prices because of the late frosts and freezes, but blessings for us getting such tasty fruits for so little in price!  Now blueberries - I'd really like to pick up another 20 or more pounds of blueberries for the freezer.  It's a bit late in the year for them, but one can dream!

I pray everyone is having a safe and wonderful summer vacation.  I've been enjoying my grandchildren and the great weather we've been having!

Blessings,
Donna

GrowCamp Greenhouse Meltdown

Oh, how we wanted a small greenhouse, mostly to try to grow some vegetables all year.  We also wanted to be able to get a head start on the growing season by growing our seedlings out doors in the greenhouse, then to the ground after the freezing weather and frosts had finally warmed up.  It was built last summer (early summer) and we were delighted with the results.  We had fresh tomatoes and bell peppers through December and the freezing weather really hit hard this year (for our California area)!  The Grow Camp Greenhouse system seemed too good to be true!

Last year, towards the end of the growing season, I did notice a slight bulging on one of the ends of the base unit.  When I called the company, they hadn't heard any similar problems and said they didn't think it would hurt the integrity of the greenhouse.

This spring, we asked our gardener to refresh the soil with Amend and we made sure the water system was ready to go.  We purchased some of our plants, and lots of seeds.  Because we, like most of the US, missed spring and had a roller coaster of weather, and many nights hitting lows not conducive with growing or sprouting seeds, we kept waiting for the right time.  All of a sudden, our temperatures hit 100 for a couple of days, then back down to very cold, warm, then cold.  (Like everyone else!)

A few weeks ago, we decided we'd waited long enough, the weather finally settled down and the plants we had been taking in and out of the garage for sun and water were begging to be planted - so in the ground they went.  We were getting our seeds ready to sow in the Grow Camp - and couldn't believe our eyes!

Yes, this is a gigantic melt down!  We had a few days at 100+ degrees, but that is normal for our area!  We cool way down at night, with our coastal influence, and we'd read many reviews of owners who lived in the deserts and other weather extremes and read nothing like this!

As anyone who has purchased or is looking at purchasing this greenhouse system will attest, this is neither a flimsy nor cheap greenhouse.  Grow Camp Greenhouses are pricey, but would have been worth it except . . .


I will say, after only one phone call to Costco, explaining the problem (and keeping all of our receipts having the order number, invoice number, original paperwork to go along for proof of purchase) our problem was turned over to the Resolution Department.  We were told to expect a phone call to see how this would be taken care of.  Instead, I received an email from them, asking us to have the Grow Camp boxed up and it will be picked up in the next week.  I had requested a full refund, and have been promised by Costco it would be taken care of.

We've always heard Costco has an excellent return policy and will stand behind what they sell.  And, if they do what they've said, I will be one who will sing high praises here - I can't say the same thing about Grow Camp Greenhouse Systems, who has not answered any of our messages or emails.  I've noticed there are other online garden supply companies who are now carrying this product.  I do hope they stand behind this product if it happens to any one who purchases from them.

In the meantime, we're back to square one - and seriously looking at the old fashioned brick, raised garden bed.  For now, a smaller crop to be harvested before any cold weather begins in the fall>

Many blessings with any gardening you are doing!  I love growing little bits of this and that!  A few herbs, salad mix, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lots of zucchini (for zucchini bread!)   Oh yum!  I hope everything grows quickly!

Blessings,
Donna

From Pieces to Night Tables

I love yard sales, Estate sales, barn sales, rummage sales, block or neighborhood sales - I just love going through all of the stuff, junk as some people call it, to find treasures. 

My daughter is an expert at this.  She has a creative streak going through her with a pair of eyes that can find the inner beauty of a piece, or to find something in pieces and see it recycled or re-purposed.  Clean it, paint it, sand it, cut it up and make something else.  She's crazy good!  Amazingly talented.

I also love the hunt, to find something and turn it back into something useful, beautiful.  I've been on the look out for a pair of night tables for our adult guest room.  Not knowing quite the direction of the room yet - it was painted and now after a couple of years, we're not liking the color - so before I make the duvet cover matching the window dressing I've already made, I thought if I found some tables, I might just find a direction.

When I found these two tables a couple of weeks ago, my sweetheart rolled his eyes.  He is not like me - he does not like "used" furniture.  And, he took one look at these and thought I was crazy.  You see, I don't know about you, but I have wip's stashed everywhere!  I'm going to get to them all - as soon as I ...  I know I'm not the only one with projects all over the place!  I loved the dark cherry wood finish and the green marble tops.  When I took a look at them and I knew what had happened to them and just how to fix them.  After negotiating a great price, $15 for both tables, my garage sale buddy and I loaded these babies up and took them home.

Here they are - once I figured out the one table had been put together completely upside down, I removed the legs, turned them over, knocked off all of the pieces of wood from the marble (which had been glued on by guessing where they fit), glued all of the legs on properly, sides on the right way (some were upside down and backward), cleaned the crust of dirt and dust using a bit of elbow grease.  Then applying some good furniture polish and polishing the marble - well, as you can see, my little night tables look pretty darn good!

                                                                                                          
Last winter, my grandson helped me make a king size headboard.  He helped cut the wood, we added a sizable amount of padding for comfort, and covered it in a black suede type material.  It has a very simple curve and will add a lot to the room as well.  So, this time next month, the headboard will be hung (my Colorado Kids are coming out to visit and help with some things around the house) and I'll be on my way to finding the right color to put on the walls.  I think if we simply use a light gray, it will blend the room a bit more and everything will look in place.

This week when my buddy and I hit the sales, I'll be looking for pictures for the walls and a couple of larger lamps!  We'll see what we find!

Have fun with what ever you're working on!
Many blessings,
Donna

The Way We Celebrate Our Independence

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." 
~Erma Bombeck

I copied this from the Cricut Chirp Newsletter.  You gotta love a country that celebrates like this!

Most everyone who knows me, knows I'm a Patriot through and through.  Are we perfect as a people? Nope!  (Only One is perfect.)   Most of us try really hard to be good Americans, good people in general.  There are knuckle heads in every country, including ours.

If you happen to see a US Service Member, or a Veteran, be sure to say, "Thank you for your service to our country!  Because of you and those who serve with you, we are free to celebrate today!  My family and I appreciate your service and we're so proud of you!"

What ever you do this weekend, however you celebrate our independence, stay safe, have fun - most of all be proud to be an American!  I know I am!

Blessings for a wonderful holiday weekend,
Donna 

A Happy Birthday!

I celebrated my birthday over the weekend, and had a lovely time!

Our good friends drove down from Fairfield to stay with us, and cooked a birthday dinner for me!  How lovely is that?  They drove many hours, brought all of the ingredients, even a small camping grill, cooked and served dinner for Don and I!  It was lovely, and yummy, and so thoughtful of them!

They made a new dish from 'Fine Dining' which was an Italian vegetable pasta dish.  All of the veggies were grilled separately, tossed with grilled Roma tomatoes and olive oil, served over linguini.  It was delicious!  I made fresh sourdough bread and a yummy sourdough chocolate cake (yes, I made my own birthday cake - and enjoyed every bite!!)

Sunday morning I made them a breakfast of fresh fruit (blueberries, strawberries and mangoes) and a new recipe for me, Blueberry Scones, which turned out to be the best scones I've had.  They were sweet, soft and so yummy with fresh blueberries!  (all of my recipes are from the King Arthur Flour website)

Last Friday, my youngest granddaughter, Leila, spent the day with me.  We were drawing pictures together and she asked me how old I was going to be on my birthday, I told her 59.  She said, "well, you know, when you turn 100 then you will be getting old, Grandma." God bless the little ones!  I don't feel old, so I'm not going to act old.  I'm only 59, after all!

Blessings and enjoy this wonderful new week,
Donna

For Someone Special

This is a word album I finished for a wonderful friend!  She is so kind and sweet, always so concerned for my health and well being.  Always asks about my family, how my garden is doing and my crocheting, as well as my other many hobbies.

I have a few little details to finish before I send it off to her. 

This is my first word album.  FRIEND.  It took a long while because I wanted to color coordinate it and after this, I will do what so many others I have seen on YouTube do, and that is to purchase a new paper collection so everything matches. 

There are many tags tucked away for her to put in special photos and to journal.  All the pages are different and have lots of goodies packed away. 

 
I made my own flowers by watching so many talented ladies on YouTube.   They are so good at teaching the rest of us how to make so many wonderful things.

I also crocheted a butterfly and have that flying through the pages as well. 

There is lace and ribbons, beads and do-dads.  I love working with different fibers, so this first album has a little of everything in it.





I can hardly wait to get this in the mail to her.  I'm hoping to have it mailed and in her hands in about 2 weeks.  We never know how fast the Post Man will deliver mail, though, do we?  I have a few other items to pick up and put in the box before it goes on its way.

Thank you for taking a peek, and I'd love feed back - now that I've finally figured out how to post my photos!

Blessings to all,
Donna

Summer Has Arrived!

Today is the second day of Summer and boy has it arrived!  We've had a few days now at 100+ degrees, but we are expecting some relief - 99 today, down to 96 tomorrow, then 91 or so for the next few days after.  Low 90's is perfect.  Very warm, but usually not too hot and we can get by with just the fans on.  The air conditioner makes my bones ache so much!  I just stay clear of the vents! 

My garden in loving the warm weather.  All of a sudden the squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers are so happy!  They are growing like weeds!  And, speaking of weeds, they are trying to grow right along with them! he he he!  It's a constant battle to keep them from taking over sometimes!  I think we may be harvesting a couple of tomatoes at weeks end.  Only a couple of small ones.  We never did find our patio tomatoes, so we'll make do with the pear tomatoes again this year.  These are supposed to cluster.  So far it's a cluster of 4 or 5 on 2 branches!  I think I may need to get the Miracle Gro on them!  Jump start after not having much of a Spring to get ready to grow.

Don went out this morning to check the water lines around the yard.  With this heat, we have to stay on top of the water lines to make sure we haven't sprung any leaks or rips in the lines.  He found our Grow Camp Greenhouse system we put in last year has melted down into a very large W in the middle and the top of the system has collapsed!  I had some slight concerns last year with some bulging on the sides, but the company was very unresponsive, so I simply called Costco this morning, we purchased through them, and they are offering to take care of calling the company for us and will offer a new one be delivered or our money refunded.  I'm very impressed with the customer service!  $600 is nothing to sneeze at and hardly a price to pay for only one year of service from a greenhouse system.  They will be getting back to me in the next few days, and I'll let you know how this turns out.

So, since the greenhouse won't work for my veggies this year, I may try potting my beets and carrots, lettuce, along with the herbs.  The peppers and tomatoes, and the cucumbers we planted in the Grow Camp last year, lasted until December or January.  So, I was really hoping for some row crops in it this year.  Plan B!

I have finished many of my projects.  I've finished a beautiful "Friend" album.  I will be showing photos of it later.  I have figured out how to download photos now.  Yeah!  How many months, or years, has it taken me?  I started, and finished, a cowl last week - no photos of that one - I no sooner completed it when I tried it on and it was huge!  I ripped it out and will reuse it on another.  I did leave a comment on Red Heart about it too.  It was exact to the measurements on the pattern, and was very simple and easy to complete.  I love cowls, and would rather wear them than a scarf most times.  I don't have to worry about the darn thing coming off or hanging in the way if I'm doing something.  I love to keep my neck warm, with my spinal injuries, it helps to keep the pain down.

That's it for today.  I'm busy downloading 800 or so photos I've taken since Christmas!  I want to get some new pages here on my blog, too.  I'll be back later to post some of them!

I wish every one a safe and happy summer!
Blessings,
Donna