snippets of california...part III

this will be the last one 

and then one more of fabric i got

the most beautiful place on earth (to me)

Lake Tahoe

& Donnor Lake

 this is Donnor Lake, it's in Truckee, just before you get to Lake Tahoe

 it's hard to see, but there's a picnic area here and they have the rules posted

good luck reading them, the snow is covering it all

 look at the snow in front of their house

that's not melting anytime soon

 this is crazy........talk about cabin fever

 again.......i'd be so bored cooped up

you can tell the houses that don't have people in them year round

they've not been dug out at all

 i loved this, the way the snowed is layered on the river banks

 how bad do you really gotta pee?

leaving atlanta, the planes are lined up like MAD on the run way

i thought we'd never leave....

snippets of california...part II

thank you all for the nice comments on part I of "snippets of california"

(and, the ear wasn't that bad)

ready for part II?

 this is looking at the beach from the santa cruz beach boardwalk

the two figures you see wayyyy out there above the blue sign are E and grammy

 looking from the boardwalk to the santa cruz warf

 again, looking towards the warf

E and grammy are between the 2nd and 3rd orange barrels

 palm trees on the santa cruz boardwalk

i love palm trees, we don't have those here in the mountains

they obviously don't like them, they keep telling me rats live in them, ewww

 gg, tj's grandma.....it was very cold, like upper 40's and there were people in the ocean....

 who else.......yours truly and hers truly

 another view of the boardwalk

 remember these are cell phone pics

you can see me, tj and e waiting in line to ride the carousel

 volleyball anyone?

 this is capitola............it was even colder here and look at the people in the water

it was spring break for these folks, and they weren't wasting any time

 the two little kids sitting on the bank had a blast

we watched them for over an hour

 everyone was feeding this guy.......

 i would have loved to see capitola on a clear sunny day

 this restaurant hadn't yet opened for the season

 look how cloudy, rainy and just nasty it was

 after a tiring day on the boardwalk

enjoying some ice cream with gg

snippets of california...part I

so...we finally made it back from california

i thought i'd share my vacation with you all

we covered, santa cruz, san jose, capitola, lake tahoe, nevada county, ripon, sacramento,

donnor lake...we covered a big portion of the northern part

i took my NICE digital camera, but left the xd card here at home and for some

reason, we could not find a card in california

so, my cell phone pics will have to do

and they are not the best

 e on the flight out there, he was very nervous and did very well

however; on the flight back, it was very bumpy, rough flight, he got really sick, several times (ewww)

 at the Jelly Belly factory, what an awesome place,  me and tj had already been there years ago

we knew e would love it

we was going to take the tour, but it was spring break for them as well, and there was about 300 people waiting in line....we didn't want the tour that bad

 beautiful scenery on the way to san jose, and if you look closely you can see the moth ball fleet in the delta

 what a look...lol reading the information board about the moth ball fleet

 i realize this is a bad picture

this is for my california blog readers

we went to In & Out Burger, this was my first trip there

i had my burger wrapped in lettuce (since I can't have bread), so i think i missed the experience of such a great burger

the fries...called "animal style" came with cheese and grilled onions, those were pretty good

 tj grandma has a beautiful orange tree in her back yard, it was loaded too

e had the most fun picking oranges

he picked two grocery bags full and we had fresh orange juice the next morning

so pretty

 gg (great grandma) hid some easter eggs for e and they all had money inside

here he's counting his loot

 let me try to explain this one

i'm a country girl, we all know it and i'm a sucker for a BIG truck

i love em

and when i saw this one in the big city of san jose, i instantly felt at home

i saved the best one for last

i know this might be a normal price for some of you

but even at my local quilt shop that is expensive, their only $1.99

i was appalled by this price

i brought home something permanent from Lake Tahoe
not the tattoo, that's been there
see the little silver hoop in the middle of my ear?
yep...

honestly.....

honestly, i haven't even thought about blogging 

honestly, i'm going through one of the roughest times of my life

honestly, i did finish the turtle quilt, binding and all, i just haven't had the energy to walk outside and take a picture of it on the line

honestly, i haven't touched either sewing machine in weeks

and that's honestly all i've got right now

Another Hand Quilted Quilt Completed

this is the tree time BOM i did last year with Molly

i wasn't sure how to quilt this, so i just echoed around each tree

i quilted this in less than a week off and on

i've started another one and 1/4 done with it

 with flash

 without flash

up close of quilting

it was super windy outside today with snow flurries, so i had to take pics inside..

Thank God for Special Friends....

i've been completely out of the blogging loop

we have some issues with E right now

nothing medical

i can't share what's going on, it's just too personal

however; i did want to share what helps me get through this

messages like this from my friend are amazing

i sit and cry as i read it

i save it for when i need a little support, go back to it and sit and cry again

i'm a big cry baby, always have been

"my dear girl...feelings suck and are transitory and change a number of times a day. Even though it's hard as heck, ya gotta lean on what you know to be true, regardless of the feelings.

Truth: Tonya is never alone, even when she feels like it

Truth: Tonya is always loved, even when she doesn't feel like she is

Truth: Tonya is beautiful, even when she doesn't get that affirmation

Truth: Tonya is treasured beyond what she can even imagine, even when events and 'stuff' of life tell her otherwise

Truth: This 'stuff' will end, even when it feels endless.

Truth: Tomorrow will be different in some fashion. The stuff of today can never be repeated in exactness.

Truth: Tonya is so much stronger and more courageous than she knows, and she can handle anything.

Truth: God is cheering you on! 

Hold on, girl...you can make it!"

It's not quilting......

but it's still sewing..............

Tennessee Pride Pencil Case

 this one wasn't quite dry when I pictured it...

 so cute, and fabric lined, the same color as the zipper

 fabric lined the same color as that blue..

 this was a nacho chip bag, i cut it almost to small, i have two more though, i want the "Santitas" to show

 cape code chip bag for my mother in law, she loves all things lighthouse

 m&m's

peanut butter m&m's

 this one was a huge hit on Skittles Facebook page

 i don't like the outcome of this one, i could have placed the wrappers closer together

 super cute at only 2x2"

it's not nearly as wrinkled as it looks

i want to build a really big inventory of all the things i make

i know i said i would not do our county's apple festival again,

but.......

i'm really thinking about doing it again

however; this time i'll take all my crafty stuff and not just capri sun stuff

we'll see.........but until then, i will work on building my inventory

i'm working on hand quilting another quilt, i'm hooked

and trying to get over my second nasty cold of the month, YES 2 in one month....

my E hasn't gotten it, i'd rather have it then him.......