A Couple of Asses

Well I certainly hope you didn't think I meant anyone else!! These two belong to my brother Tomie (aka the good brother) and my sister-in-law Judy. They chose to raise asses instead of children, some choose to do both..

This handsome fellow is Bug, his brother is Harley. Bug thinks I'm funny ..

This is where they live, it was sooo cold, good thing the nephews are wearing their winter coats. Those of us with 2 legs were wishing we had warm fur coats for this outside fun!

This is 'Pumpkin' she is the newest, much awaited member of the family...

, We had a visit with our extended family Saturday, and it is always reassuring to see or hear that you are indeed normal if this group is anything to go by... We had dinner with aunts, uncles and cousins..when did the aunts and uncles start looking more like the grandparents, do these women not look a lot like their mother...

(obviously you would have had to have known their mother)

and the cousins start looking more like the aunts and uncles than themselves??? We don't get together often so it is always a shock to see how much they have aged...

Sunday included a trip to Clark County Expo, either people were a little cranky or Miss Lisa and I were very obnoxious... I choose to believe it was them ... How weird is it to take a picture in the bathroom mirror, I'm thinking that must have been Lisa's idea
It's not that easy to find someone to take a picture...
But after some expert training.. she did a good job...

The photographer, Susan is someone that we have both bought from many times. She has the most wonderful treasures and we had a great time in her booth, she was most likely sad to see us move on...I got pearls, a wonderful old journal that was blank inside and an old hard bound book with graph paper that was also blank. I had to give Dusty the graph book because along with containers we both also love writing on graph paper..

I was telling Lisa that I was going to start collecting old pearl necklaces and while I have several at home, on the mannequins and in jars I wanted to get lots and lots to sell and just to have.... Well, let's just say I was not the first person to have that idea...I kept seeing them in booths, had I taken pictures of them I would show them now... but since I didn't here are a few that I have ..

Who doesn't need pearls in their tiara??

Maybe the best part is the old clasps??? How about a collection of old pearl necklace clasps...that has to be an original idea???

Something Pretty

Rarely do I find pastel oil paintings, even more rare would be pink roses paintings. Which is just as well, because I wouldn't be able to part with them. I did find this painting earlier in the week, when I went shopping with my oldest son. Dusty could take my wallet and shop for me because he knows exactly what I want and pretty much what I would be willing to pay for it. The problem is.. when we go together he likes cool old stuff too and naturally I have to give it to him... Thankfully he isn't big on floral oil paintings, particularly pink roses..

What we both really like is containers, drawers, bins, anything to put things in and keep them organized. This is very ironic as we are neither organized, maybe we are both optimistic?? Have I mentioned lately how wonderful it is to have him back near us after having him being gone for 5 years!!

A busy day working can be described as stopping for coffee, shopping at thrift stores having lunch and more thrift shopping.. my oh my did I have a busy day at work yesterday! If your job is selling old stuff then it makes sense, the bonus is you can do it with a friend and have a great time! In this circumstance one of us had a great time and the other was busy looking for her hand sanitizer... How much fun could that be? I need to tone it down when I get home from"work" if I want Dave to continue believing that my job is just as much work as his...
This was a lovely piece that I found at Stars, a mall in Portland. The dealer was there and she said she had just brought it in.

Here are a couple of pillowcases that I found.

I love this wall paper. It will go in a suitcase or toolbox, I am constantly struggling with myself to buy things for a wider audience, but my basic philosophy is I buy what I like, therefore I have insurance. If it doesn't sale I have something I like.. Makes perfect sense to me, much like the busy day at work theory, I give to Dave...
I find that over time my taste and desires have changed. I'm pretty sure most people's do to some degree at least. If that were not true, we couldn't stay in business and if people didn't get tired of what they had, what would there be to buy at the thrift stores??? It is a wonderful cycle that makes my world go around...

Now That's Weird!

I know, the color is gone... I decided the pink/purple was too off.. So for now I will have white...Kind of boring I know, but better that than just plain wrong...

I've been tagged by Priscilla I am suppose to tell you 7 weird things about me and then pass it on...

The weird thing is I'm not weird it's everyone else, I'm the normal one... the truth is I know I'm weird but I've been this way so long it seems normal to me. On that note..

1. I don't like to drink water.. I like to swim and bathe in water but, I really don't like drinking it.

2. I love diet coke... not for swimming or bathing, but drinking... First thing in the morning, throughout the day and just a little sip before bed, what could be better than that?

3. I hate doing nothing. I don't like to sleep and I don't like vacations unless I can be doing something. I really prefer to be doing more than one thing at a time, several in fact (do you suppose there is a correlation to that and the diet coke?)

4. I typically think if one is good then 10 would be GREAT, which is why I always have more to do than I have time for...If I could just cut back on the sleep thing..

5. I very rarely go to movies, I think Titanic or Oceans Eleven was the last one I saw at a theater. If I do go, I fall asleep when the lights go off...I also don't do concerts or sporting events (unless it's my child or a friends)

6. Which leads to the fact that I don't know or have much interest about movie stars, musicians or professional athletes...I never know what people are talking about when these topics come up and I wouldn't recognize even the most famous if I saw them in an elevator...

7. Which of course leads to... I pretty much always strike up a conversation with someone in the elevator, grocery line, or wherever I am waiting for something to happen.

Hopefully I'm not really as weird as all this sounds, and I control these natural tendencies some of the time... I sound a little ADHD with some OCD thrown in for good measure??!!

Now I am to choose people to tell their secrets to the world....hmmm

Sheila at Halo Hill

Martha at Vintage Triffles

Cindy at Queen of Tarte

Pam at My Grandkids ROCK

Stephanie at The Hearts of Hartmann

I hope we find out that I am not the weirdest of the weird...


The cupcakes on Sunday turned out great, the picture didn't.. So instead of those pictures I have a sample of what I am taking to The Farm Chicks Show I am getting so excited!!!



I'm not sure the roses are going, but they are so pretty that I had to take a picture of them...



And while the camera was out I knew you would want to see a few buttons, what would you rather see than pink roses and white buttons??

Time for a New Look!

It has been way too long since I gave the blog a new look so today is the day. Too bad the 'pink' isn't just a little softer with a little less purple and a little more orange, but... close enough. I decided I like the white back ground for the pictures and I wanted the sidebar business on the other side. I definitely like change, that's why when I sweep the house I move around the furniture, which leads to changing the wall decor and all of that.. Which is why when I say I don't have time to clean house I am serious!!


Hmmmm... The quilt I showed of garden girls from the previous post, where I went on and on about the optical illusion...Well we measured it yesterday and they are indeed different sizes, so I guess... anything goes, wear what you like, forget the dark solid colors...You are what you are and maybe it is diet and exercise after all that controls how you look..

If you missed the quilt show at the Oregon Garden, you will for sure want to catch it next year, it is scheduled to be the last weekend in January 2009. My friend Lynn Williams was the volunteer driving force behind this fabulous first time show. She came to Silverton from the Seattle area and has been involved for years with quilting and quilt shows in state and national levels. It always helps to have someone with talent and experience on board if you want to execute something of this magnitude with such finesse.

There was a constant stream of people for both days of the show, which is why there are no pictures of the wonderful antique quilts, or maybe I forgot to take them because I was too busy laughing and talking with all the great women there?? Sorry about that, at times I can get a little distracted... Needles to say, it was a great weekend and I hope to be involved again next year.

I'm off to bake and decorate cupcakes for a reception after church today, it is a 75th birthday! I will take my camera and if I'm not to busy laughing and talking I will even use it!! Check back to see if it can really happen!

I promised!!

Here are a few shots from Cindy's show last Saturday

Here is transportation to get you where your going in STYLE
This happy shopper appears to be considering whether the crown is her size??

One of my jobs was shredding the paper, so I wanted you to see what a good job I did...

What a lot of fun we had today at the Oregon Garden. It was a perfect venue for a quilt show. There were over 400 people, which seemed like a great crowd to me for a first time show. The Oregon Garden is located in Silverton only a couple of miles from our house, it was nice not to have to travel a long distance. Then it is extra fun to be where you know lots of people going through, catching up with old friends and making new ones!!

Here is a view of my booth in the afternoon, it was so busy this morning that there wasn't time for pictures...

A new box I made for the Quilt Show with a "sewing theme".



The quilt in the background was bought by a lady that was going to give it to her best friend who recently broke her leg and was looking at a very long recovery. That seems like the perfect gift to me.
I like all the quilts, but my very favorite are still the old ones. (how many times do you think I have said that) I especially love the ones that have been used and washed, they are so soft and comfortable looking. Of course I wouldn't know that for certain, since there are signs everywhere that say, "please do not touch"...
Here are a few of my favorite "new" quilts.

This quilt is an optical illusion because the girls are the same size (basically) but don't some look larger than others? The moral to this story is... perhaps a solid skirt in a dark color is most flattering....

I ran out of batteries when I went to the side where the antique quilts were hung but I will take pictures of them tomorrow..

If you are anywhere within driving distance I would encourage you to make a trip to The Oregon Garden tomorrow January 12 10am until 4pm.

Hope to see you there!!

GO GO HURRY HURRY !!

I'm talking to myself again...
We made it to my parents last week, but didn't have time to shop for treasures along the way. I took a few minutes to take my serger in to have it fixed, but... it was only threaded the wrong way... hmmmm to much hurry hurry?
The next day was a go, go, hurry, hurry kind of day as well.
It was fun helping Isabel decorate her mantle, here are some of the shots of that adventure

The mantle is big enough to be a bedroom!!

Thankfully Isabel, had enough treasures to finish the mantle without going shopping... The adorable child is to give you an idea of size.. It's a perfect fit!

The left side of the mantle

the right side...
Lisa came to give us a hand. All done, smile, hug, lets go!!! Hurry, hurry!!

then it was of to help Cindy get ready for her sale! We about froze but.. we had a great time.. I will post pictures of that next time or you can go to either Lisa, Cindy or Sheila's blog to see what great treasures were there.

Today is the quilt show at the Oregon Gardens where I have a booth, so I must go, go, hurry, hurry!

Before I close I would ask you to please pray for my cousin Judy's grand baby Jack, who will be having surgery today, in Fresno California. He was born in November, with severe kidney and now they have discovered liver problems. This is big brother Henry and baby Jack.

Why Wait?

Is there a reason we need to wait?? I keep thinking I'll do a post when I have something ever so interesting or exciting to share..

Maybe I should take note from this young man, why wait for the wedding to have a sample of the cake?? Don't confuse that with the old saying "Why buy the cow if...."

This is a picture of the cake that Martha and I delivered on New Year's Eve and that young man is her son Jake. It was fun to see the preparations for the wedding, Martha did all the flowers and Jake took the photographs. No doubt he would be thrilled with this picture. I keep thinking of what someone told me, "you do so many things well, I'm surprised you don't take better pictures"... I'm sure no one will say that to Jake, as he is a recent graduate of the University of Oregon. I don't know the exact name of his degree is but it includes photography.
























The roses weren't pink but they were certainly beautiful!!

Today, Sam and I are off to Grandma's house its just a little over an hour south, we don't get there as often as we would like too. I thought we would do a little junking along the way... He can always find something he "must have". You know what they say, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."



I'm busy making aprons again, so as soon as one or two are finished I will post a picture. I'm getting ready for "Stitches in Bloom" a quilt show at the Oregon Garden. The date for that is January 11 and 12, 10am to 4pm. If you have questions the contact number is 503.874.8273 or www.oregongarden.org.

Tomorrow we are going to see our friends in Sherwood, I hope we don't get there so early we get them out of bed...