HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2012

CHRISTMAS DAY - 12/25/2011

Cards, stockings, decorations and our tree.
Our annual Christmas set up

Family to spend time with on
Christmas Day
December 25, 2011

CHRISTMAS MORNING - 12/25/2011

We had a little visitor on Christmas morning
a green hummingbird
getting nectar from
my Pineapple Sage plant flowers

OUR ANNUAL FAMILY CHRISTMAS PHOTO

MERRY CHRISTMAS
FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS
Dan, Darlene, Erik and Oscar
December 2011

SHOPPING AT THE ROSEVILLE GALLERIA - 12/15/2011

Erik and I arrived at the Mall at Noon
We shopped, sat and ate and shopped more
There are over 200 stores/shops

We met a man who was selling CD's
that he and his partner recorded
Al Fabrizio plays the best sounding Italian Mandalin
and his partner plays guitar
I came home with one CD to enjoy
and a photo of me with Al

We left the Mall at 7pm
What a long and fun day with my son

OUR CAT SLEEPS AS MY HUSBAND PLAYS HIS GAME - 12/5/2011

Our cat Oscar loves to lay next to my husband
like this every evening and any time he can
even while he tries to play this crazy game

CHRISTMAS AT SUNRISE MALL

We went to the Mall last weekend
their Christmas tree was up
nearby
Santa sat waiting for children to
tell him their wishes for Christmas.

DICKENS STREET FAIRE - 11/26/2011

Today we went to the Dickens Street Faire
held in Old Town Elk Grove
Snow was brought in from the mountains
for the kids to play

Santa cruised through
in an old fire truck with sirens going

Wonderful holiday music
was a delight to stop and listen to

Lots of food and craft vendors
were enjoyed by many including us

There were rides on a buggy pulled by two horses

My purchase of the day
a
Soy Caramel Macchiato Candle
Wow, does it smell good in here
even without lighting it
which I do not plan to do

THANKSGIVING - 11/24/2011

Thanksgiving Day - November 24, 2011
Table set for our dinner
turkeys stuffed and on the BBQ's

Pumpkin Cheesecake
for dessert
What a wonderful dinner and a busy day,
so busy I forgot to take photos of our dinner
or the turkeys
one on gas and one on charcoals
delish!!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving

CHRISTMAS LAMP

Bored?? Me??
Yes, and usually at night.
I am supposed to be asleep, but cannot get tired enough,
so I decided to make a Christmas lamp shade
with some of my old (stored for a long time)
Christmas wrapping paper.
I made it a bit, well a lot too small
and was lucky
to have my small thrift store wine glass
for it to fit perfectly.
Guess I better call it a night.

FALL

I love the colors of Fall
All the trees are becoming so beautiful

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

I bought this shelf at a craft fair we recently went to
I came home and quickly found a place for it
along with some of my favorite things.
It makes me so very HAPPY,
filled with MEMORIES
and DREAMS

HAPPY HALLOWEEN - 10/31/2011

Happy Halloween to all.
I finally fixed today's photo problem.
Turned off my computer,
let it sit,
then turned it on and my photo was there.
I made two more Halloween lamps
that I added to one I had made already
and added some of our decorations.
Getting in the spirit of the day.
Thank you to Carol for getting me into making
these fun, cute and festive lamps.

FOLSOM HARVEST FESTIVAL - 10/29/2011

We went to the Harvest Festival
in Old Town Folsom
It warmed up in the afternoon to the 70's
to make it a wonderful day to walk the street
filled with lots of vendors
including a few we had see at a previous Festival

There was entertainment that drew many
with a great singer that you just had to move to
and a musician playing music

Dancers and what a view beyond

Old shops that we will go back to
but went into one that brought back memories
of our lives years ago
What a fun place to go to
and what a wonderful day we had
Brought lunches, so went back to the car
got our lunches and sat at a bench
where the light rail picks up and drops of people

LOOK WHAT WAS SITTING ON OUR FENCE - 10/27/2011

Look what was sitting on our fence
when my son and I got home
from shopping tonight.
Thinking it is a white dove,
though we have only had gray doves where we live,
so not sure where it came from,
but it was not too afraid of us
till my husband got really close to it
and it flew on the neighbors lattice overhang.
Will have to see if it is around tomorrow.
Lucky for this bird that all the cats
in the immediate area
are indoor cats wanting to get out and get it.
This bird is not around this morning,
but found out from a friend what it is:
A White Homing Pigeon
"They are specially bred this way;
so it probably escaped from a breeder.
These white pigeons are often released
as "white doves" at weddings.
They call them white doves,
but they're actually pigeons."

ERIK'S JAZZ BAND PERFORMANCE - 10/25/2011

We love going to see our son perform in
the Jazz Band he is in
at our local Junior College

They sound wonderful this year
with a full band and a wonderful band director

I only wish the photos would come out better
which seems impossible with their lighting

or get it on video to share,
maybe next time

What a wonderful evening
and wonderful memories
as my husband's sister and our nephew
were able to make it
and enjoy it with us

SUNSET - 10/21/2011

I love a beautiful sunset
and will miss them with the change in time
in 2 weeks
as it will be dark before I can get
out and take photos

OSCAR

Sometimes I wonder what he is thinking

and sometimes I just look at him
and wonder how we got so lucky
to have our wonderful Oscar in our lives.

HALLOWEEN LAMPS - 10/14/2011

My friend started crafting once a week at her home
across the states with family and friends.
Since I do not live close,
she mailed a surprise to me,
a wine glass, template,
double sided tape and an LED light,
so I could get started making these cute little lamps
I bought Halloween and a variety of scrapbooking paper.
Another friend gave me more wine glasses
that she was going to give to Goodwill.
Last night I made 2 Halloween lamps
and today I made the pumpkin one.
The sky is the limit on the shades you can make
for holidays, for the time of year,
for baby or bridal showers
or just because you like the paper.
Thank you so much to my wonderful friend.
Now on to the next project soon.

DAVIS RANCH - HARVEST FESTIVAL - SLOUGHHOUSE - 10/8/2011

On Saturday, we packed up lunches
and drove to Davis Ranch to the
Harvest Festival in Sloughhouse

They had pumpkins and ghords piled up
so colorful and a great place to stop and
take photos

There was a country band that played music
until 3pm

There were lots of vendors

and lots of pumpkins for sale
that brought lots of families with their kids
and a few dogs

There were even some rides and fun
things for the kids to do

We had a lot of fun and it was
a perfect weather day

We will have to make this an annual trip
Not far from home and they have
three Festivals each year
Corn Festival - July
Ghord Festival - September
Harvest Festival - October

OSCAR - 10/4/2011

Oscar is so playful this morning, as usual,
having a great time in and out of his scratch post
and running around the house like TAZ

OFF TO THE BEACH - 9/21/2011

We crossed the Bay Bridge to get to the coast
I love the drive in so much

There was sunshine when we drove past Pacifica
and figured we would visit this beach later in the day

We wanted to head further south on the coast
where it was supposed to be warmer.
Much to our surprise there was no sunshine
at San Gregorio Beach, but an interested Seagull
that wanted to share our lunch.
We gave this one and those that
arrived the ends of our sandwiches
This one caught green grapes that we tossed to it.
Soon many Seagulls arrived
and this one screamed at the others
and bit them in the butt to stay away

then black birds arrived
fighting with this Seagull

Hubby said "Do you feel like we are in an
Alfred Hitchcock Movie?"

The view from our picnic table was
really nice even though there was no sun.
Since we left behind a 100 degree day at home,
we really enjoyed our nice cool visit
to San Gregorio Beach

A friend of mine wrote her name in the sand in Hawaii
hence this idea was born
I brought a stick from home
and wrote my name in the sand

Enjoyed the beach/ocean, tremendously

Wrote Dar and Dan in the sand
and Dan suggested to write the date (great idea)

The tripod was in the car so separate photos of us
It was a bit of a walk to get back to the car so did not
as we did not have a lot of time

I can still hear the sound of the ocean
and hope one day to find a seashell
that I can put to my ear to hear it

I took off my sandals before we got to the water
and walked in the warm sand and cold water
LOVED IT!!

Nice to have a husband with a long arm to take a
photo of us

My nice sandy feet
A wave came up behind me and got me wet
Dan laughed at me
as I was in and out of the water

We will go again as soon as we can

We stopped at the Pacifica Beach
on our way back and it was packed with people

It was still sunny there and people were having
a great time

But the fog was rolling in and a beautiful sight to see

We stopped at Costco and got a cooked chicken,
a bag of rolls and a Red Velvet cake
We brought Chinese Chicken Salad and Potato Salad
Mom heated me up her mashed potatoes and gravy (Yum!)
I called Rick P (who I went to Elementary School with)
He only lives one block away and nice to see him
two years after our reunion
Rick met us at my Mom's house where we had dinner,
a nice conversation and Rick took a photo of us all together
on my Mom's deck
What a wonderful day we had