Memorial Crosses in Layffete

I have posted before about the crosses on the Hill in Layffete... If you go back to the beginning of my blog posts. You will find my original post there. Here I am showing you more pictures of the crosses. Each cross is one of our Americans that has lost his or her life in the Iraq War!!

These were right across the street where we parked.

This is looking left down the hill, about the center of the hill is where I am standing.

This is a photo of the right of the center of the hill.

This is the center of the Hill.

My mom told me, the law suits to try and remove the crosses have stopped. The crosses will remain. The man that owns the land has stated he will keep the crosses up there always. There has been several crosses lost due to vandalism. The organization that is helping take care of the crosses, replace them as they are destroyed. But the State of California passed a new law that no other memorials like this can be erected. To my understanding the numbers are change each day or when there is a casualty of the war.

I can tell you after being there when there was only a few hundred crosses.. going out there three years later. It was over whelming... seeing all those crosses.. each one represents one man or woman that sacrificed their lives so we many live as a free Nation.

Please remember to say a pray for those serving our country with honor!!!

My Day in Monterey

I thought I would share a few photos of my day in Monterey Ca with all of you. It's always a very nice day trip for us to take while I am out there. It always amazes me how many people are out walking around, riding bikes, sitting on benches.. and so forth. Don't those people work?????

We ate Fish and Chips on the boardwalk at Fisherman's Wharf. Here is where we ate.. lol it seems like we always eat at this restaurant every time we come.. and believe it or not we some how end up at the same table each time also :)

Here is what the view looked like from our table. Isn't it wonderful. My Uncle and I discussed how much it possibly cost to keep a boat moored there at the pier. I bet its more than I make in a month!!!!

I could not resist taking photos of these pretty California Poppies :)

Looking from one side of the board walk to the other on the pier ;)

Here are some of the local residents sun bathing... even though the temps were only in the low 50's :)

Aren't they cute... one of the seals swam by the Restaurant while we were eating. It is so fun watching them move about. They are so graceful and so pretty swimming in the water. I must admit they are sort of loud with all their barking.

Here is a photo of the surf. The waves were not as big as I though they would be for this time of year. There were some guys getting prepared to go out and hang 10 even though the waves were not big:)


Here is another wonderful photo of the ocean :)

I have decided this is the house I would purchase if I could own a house in Monterey.

Isn't it pretty.. it sits up on the hill and it over looks the ocean :) Wouldn't that be a wonderful site to wake up to each morning.

The Surf :)

Here is how it look out the front window of the SUV all the way there and back.. and this isn't even the commute traffic!!!!!

Daily Laugh.....Long but funny :O) (a few Mild cuss words)

If you didn't see this on the Tonight show, I hope you're sitting down when you read it. This is probably the funniest date story ever, first date or not!!! We have all had bad dates... but this takes the cake. This just tells you how tough it is to be single now adays. This was on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno. Jay went into the audience to find the most embarrassing first date that a woman ever had. The winner described her worst first date experience. There was absolutely no question as to why her tale took the prize! She said it was midwinter... snowing and quite cold... and the guy had taken her skiing in the mountains outside Salt Lake City , Utah . It was a day trip (no overnight).

They were strangers, after all, and truly had never met before. The outing was fun but relatively uneventful until they were headed home late that afternoon. They were driving back down the mountain, when she gradually began to realize that she should not have had that extra latte. They were about an hour away from anywhere with a restroom and in the middle of nowhere! Her companion suggested she try to hold it, which she did for a while. Unfortunately, because of the heavy snow and slow going, there came a point where she told him that he had better stop and let her pee beside the road, or it would be the front seat of his car. They stopped and she quickly crawled out beside the car, yanked her pants down and started. In the deep snow she didn't have good footing, so she let her butt rest against the rear fender to steady herself. Her companion stood on the side of the car watching for traffic and indeed was a real gentleman and refrained from peeking. All she could think about was the relief she felt despite the rather embarrassing nature of the situation. Upon finishing however, she soon became aware of another sensation. As she bent to pull up her pants, the young lady discovered her buttocks were firmly glued against the car's fender. Thoughts of tongues frozen to pump handles immediately came to mind as she attempted to disengage her flesh from the icy metal. It was quickly apparent that she had a brand new problem due to the extreme cold. Horrified by her plight and yet aware of the humour of the moment, she answered her date's concerns about "what is taking so long" with a reply that indeed, she was "freezing her butt off and in need of some assistance!" He came around the car as she tried to cover herself with her sweater and then, as she looked imploringly into his eyes, he burst out laughing. She too, got the giggles and when they finally managed to compose themselves, they assessed her dilemma. Obviously, as hysterical as the situation was, they also were faced with a real problem. Both agreed it would take something hot to free her chilly cheeks from the grip of the icy metal! Thinking about what had gotten her into the predicament in the first place, both quickly realized that there was only one way to get her free. So, as she looked the other way, her first-time date proceeded to unzip his pants and pee her butt off the fender. As the audience screamed in laughter, she took the Tonight Show prize hands down... or perhaps that should be "pants down." ... And you thought your first date was embarrassing. Jay Leno's comment ... "This gives a whole new meaning to being pissed off.

:) :) :) :)))) It's Break Time!!!!!

I was a bit behind sewing on my swaps.. I am in two Valentine's day Apron swaps on Swap-Bot and one Winter in the Kitchen Apron swap there also.

Well ladies TA DA!!!! >>>>>> holds out her hands wide with huge grin on her face.

I have all three aprons completed and one pair of Mittens finished... Oh yes I even made a Furbaby harness too, for my Etsy Pet Apparel Shop.... I did all of this today!!!! Sort of reminds me of Shawnee when she had her cooking classes at the Church this last year!!! I did some power sewing. I will try and get those Photos along with some other stuff posted tomorrow :)

OOPS I can only post a taste of two of them as they are for Jenn from Lipstick and Laundry. I don't want to spoil her surprise ;) LOL it seems like she always gets me as a partner she has to sew for!!! So it was my turn to get her several times in a row. I hope she loves the aprons.. of course they are not per the pattern I always have to do modifications on them :) I tell you all three of these aprons are hard for me to give up.. they turned out fantastic... if I say so myself :)

Now I have to tell you all about my mitten swap... I had to make one handcrafted set of mittens. I could make them out of any fabric I wanted too, I decided on Fleece. I chose to make them with an old Kiwk Sew Pattern. I was really shocked at how big the sizes are. My Medium was more like an XL. Thankfully I was able to make them a bit smaller without having to take them all apart. I also made one of those matching scarfs out of the same fleece material. ;) I really don't know anyone that wears mittens anymore.. but if she was to wear them I think she could simply put them over her gloves for more warmth.

Winter in the Kitchen Swap... from Swap-Bot

Yes I cheated on the picture....I have so many things to Photograph.. But I know you don't mind seeing one of Val's lovely Photographs. :) I just wanted to post this lovely apron right now!!!! This sweet creation came from Val at Yarni-Gras. Don't you just love the wonderful little snowmen???? I sure do!!!! I also love the sweet extras that she encluded in my package... there was cookies, recipes, a wonderful book to read as I sipped my cocoa, and a fun key chain as I collect them.

I love hot cocoa:) and Val sent me a new snowman mug to drink it in too.

LOveLY JUst LoVeLY!!!!!!!!

Thank you Val for such a wonderful fun apron and swap!!!!

Saturday Post

Let me ask you do you ever wake up where no amount of Caffeine or Chocolate will put you in a better mood???????. I don't know about you ...but I can just wake up looking and feeling like this little guy:

If you don't know who this is.... let me introduce you to Grumpy!!!

Today is one of my Grumpy Days... so how can I go to bed ok and wake up in a foul mood? I live alone with my creatures.. and they didn't bite me or scream or yell at me so what is the deal???

I think it was the Crazies that called all night at work last night, and it wasn't even a full moon!!!!! One of my regular crazies starting calling at 3:30 am and did not stop calling until I went home. No sooner than I would hang up from him.. then he was calling back. That was about 4 hours of listening to him!!!! I listened to him talk about when he was a kid... then he would cry then he would laugh, cuss, then he would make inappropriate statements.... on and on it went all morning.

I have to keep telling myself I love my job!!!!!!

Then to top that off. I would have to put him on hold and talk to one of the other regular crazies that calls... and says.... STOP THE TRAFFIC!!!!! ........he always screams this into the phone...
Well sweet bloggie friends.... all of us in our right mind know that's not going to happen.... Stopping traffic is not an option on his arterial street. It's a main traffic street for the sub-division he lives in. Well this guy calls about 10 times a night. Most nights sometimes more...Both of these guys start calling after they have bent the elbow a few times with hard liquor.. so I have to tell you by the time I drive home from work I am literally screaming in my truck.. to let out some of the frustration of talking to them all night/morning. Thank goodness I don't get drunk crazy women calling.. I think that would really put me over the top!!!!

So back to the story at hand.. I had to set the story for this item:) no matter how Grumpy I wake up this song puts me into a better mood. I really do have to get up out of my chair and do a jig.

This song is posted here on my blog... so I invite you to join me when your in a bad frame of mind... so you can get up and tap those toes and get happy.... here is the name of the song:
Streetcorner Symphony ....by Rob Thomas.
Enjoy my friends... and thanks for letting me blow off a bit of work baggage :)

Speaking of:

::: BREAKING NEWS ::: In 2009 the government will start deporting all the mentally ill people. I started crying when I thought of you.

Run my little crazy friend,

run!

Well, what can I say ??

Someone sent this to me,

and dang it,

I'm NOT going alone!!!

I received this a few days ago .. took a few days to find the time to post it ;)

My dear friend AwtemNymf over at http://thefairewysperer.blogspot.com/ has given me an award. She a very sweet lady,Now I have to pass this on to 8 lovely ladies and I hope they would be to mad at me.

Meaning Of Award:

This blog invests and believes in Proximity- nearness in space, time and relationships.These blogs are exceedingly charming ( boy is she sure she got the right persons????????)These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends . They are not interested in prize for self- aggrandizement!
Our hope is that when the ribbon of these prizes are cut ,even more friendships are propagated.
Please give more attention to these writers! You are suppose to pass this award on to 8 fellow bloggers, to include the above text in there blog. So with new and wonderful friends ships formed I have given it to this 8 fabulous ladies.
1. Apron Valley Road
2. Yarni Gras
3. Carla
4. A Bite of Country Cupcakes
5. Frankenpug
6. Loves to Dream
7. Symple Tymes
8. Maria from my swaps :)

I have to say there are many many more bloggers that deserve this award!!! Thank you all for all the e-mails, laughs, tears, and just plain fun you have shared with me. :) Blessings to you all!!!!

I'm Behind!!!! :(

I am so behind on Photographing all my lovely aprons in the Holiday swaps and also some of the other wonderful fun swaps that I have been in. So over the next few weeks I will be posting Holiday Season stuff. I will be posting Ornaments, Christmas Stockings, Aprons, and the Slippers that I have received in my swap. Eye Candy is always nice no matter how late its posted. So please excuse me while I post the stuff I didn't get posted before Christmas. I feel its important to show off those wonderful aprons and other handcrafted items. Everyone loves to have their horn tooted and I am just the one to toot it for them :) So my sweet bloggy friends... thank you in advance for your patience for the late posting of your swaps and the length of time it has taken me to do it. I know everyone will enjoy them even though they are late being posted:)

Blessings :)

My Slippers

My partners have now received their slippers.. so I thought I would show you the finished product. I think they turned out really nice. I am sort of wondering how they are working out. If they are warm and comfortable :)

I would love to hear something about them.... I know my partners liked their slipppers. I got e-mails :) But they didn't say if they were cozy or not!!! I am thinking of making me a pair when I get caught up on all of my Apron Swaps :)

Comments from one of my swap partners regarding the slippers:

The slippers are really cozy. Nice to wear to bed when I’m really tired and cold because they aren’t tight and the 100% cotton makes them nice. As I get older I seem to need to wear more natural materials and less of the synthetics.
Nice to sew in as well as they are nice and light and still keep your feet warm. What pattern did you use for this, I may just have to purchase one!

Thank you for the wonderful feed back ..... the pattern was a Green Pepper.. I had to order it on line :)

4 Years in the Making :)

My youngest sister is a very talented young lady. I am always in Awe....She is a fantastic painter. She is always painting little Christmas ornaments that she gives to us yearly, or other fun hand-painted items. She is always painting something and gives these items to her family as Birthday gifts... or..... just a what-ever gift because I was thinking of you. I have received several of her lovely painted Christmas Ornaments and other fun painted items. I have to tell you it is a great honor to receive these lovely painted gifts from her. This year she was too busy at work and with family to make us her yearly ornament. How sad I was when I did not get one!!!!

So anyway back to the story at hand!!!

Several years ago.. when we had one of our sisters day out... I was looking at one of her magazines..... When I came across a hand-painted chair. This was in a Better Homes and Garden magazine. The chair was painted up in a Christmas theme. I said to my sister....... I love that chair!!!!! Why don't you paint one for me. Sure she said :)..... You know how it is in casual conversation. I figure she thought I wasn't serious. So I just forgot about it as I am sure she did too. I figured she thought I was joking .. because I know it would take a lot of work!!!

Then several years went by and nothing else was said. This year she called when I got home from CA and said you have to come over I have something for you. So of course I rushed right over ...

Not!!!!!!

It took a few days :) But here is what she had for me....................

Isn't this chair fantastic????? The entire chair is hand-painted. I am so thrilled. In fact its so nice I felt bad about taking it. I asked my sister if she really wanted to give it up!!! Did she wanted to keep it. She said "NO I painted that chair for you, because you wanted one. I am just sorry it took me 4 years to paint it" Well............ I tell you the 4 years was really worth it for this chair!!!

Here is the little snowman :)

I LOVE IT ... I LOVE IT!!!!!

This chair has little sparkly stuff in the snow that you can not see from the photograph. There is a really small little snow man in the snow. He is also hard to see in the photos... Sorry :( The photos do not show the real beauty of this chair.

Thank you My Sweet Sister for such a nice thoughtful and Beautiful handcrafted Gift.