Fire Station opens with a Big Bang

While visiting with our daughter, so grandpa could get another load of wood, we went to the local firestations open house. It was quite interesting. They had lots of fire and safety tips.

Lawren got to help one of the firemen hold the hose while it sprayed water.


Lawren riding on the old fashion firetruck with her mommy and grandpa murphy.

She really enjoyed watching the Arsen Puppy get ready for the performance that they were showing later.

Lawren liked Smokey the Bear but she did not want him touching her.

I think the highlight of the the whole day was Lawren in the jumpy house. She just loves them

Almost Time

wmode="transparent" align="middle" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" >

Pumpkins Galore

Friday, during lunch time, Tom and I made a quick trip out to our favorite nursery. They were having a Fall sale, lots of pumpkins, 3 for $5.00. Rows and rows of gorgeous fall pansies, I love pansies.

A whole wagon of pumpkins to choose from.

They were making homemade Apple Butter. I had been online earlier looking for a good recipe to make some.
Tom is standing on the side talking to the gentleman and getting the directions to make it. Problem is, I don't have a big copper kettle.


These mums were absolutely beautiful. The perfect fall colors.

This is my attempt at decorating my porch for fall....I know, I need some more pratice.

Tea Time!

Today, Dore' and I decided to have lunch. I suggested the new tea shop here in town. So, we had lunch there. I am considering a tea party for my birthday, I wanted to check out my options. It was just adorable there. The food was tasty, and the tea, Peach Ice Tea, herbal, I didn't even have to add sugar, it was delicious.

One of the windows from the sidewalk, so cute.

One of the many seating areas.

The scone counter. We didn't try any, will save that for my party.

Another seating area.

Dore' nice and satisfied.
After we had our lunch, we walked around the room and took pictures. I took them with my phone.

A covered seating area. Not sure what you have to do or who you have to be to sit in here, but what a nice idea.

I thought this was a cute little teapot lamp.

They also host children's tea parties, and adults.

The tea room where the parties are held.

There is another tea room here, we stopped there on our way home. If your interested in checking it out go to The Silver Tea Pot.I found these there and had to have a couple.

Home Improvement

My kitchen chairs have been in dyer need of a change. They were stained and dirty. Lots of years of use. I decided to head to Joann's Fabric today and buy some material.
When Shelly and Ryan were here visiting, we took some time to go check fabric out. I never did post the pics from that trip, will have to get those posted.
Anyway, I found this material, Waverly, and really liked it. Their not pink, like the picture is portraying, the material is red and beige.Here's the new look. Tom and I managed to cover six chairs this afternoon. I love it. Now I am going to have to change my window coverings. That will be done some other weekend. We also planted 120 tulip bulbs this morning. Only 180 more to go. Yeah....I painted it. I seriously took into consideration every ones opinion. As I looked around the neighborhood and our property, well, it's not like I live in the country. So, I decided to paint the door. I am just a city slicker, or some could say, a valley girl..like, for sure. I am thinking about painting some of the trim to match the windows. Not sure about that tho. It takes me forever to make up my mind. I still don't have a top for our vanity in the master bathroom. Hey, I will make a decision soon.
Found this idea in a magazine. I bought the basket at Michael's today, on sale. I have a magazine fetish, I hate throwing them away. There is always good ideas for decorating or whatever, so I tend to hang on to them...for a very long time. Well, here is a good idea. Use any kind of basket you want, or decorative box, put some file folders inside and label them, kitchen, bath, bedroom, patio, whatever you want. Now I can go through my magazines and tear out the pages I want to keep and throw the magazine away. Good idea right!

Special Visitor

Today, Tortera came to visit us at the office. She is a little Chihuahua-mix. She belongs to Dr. Tran and Nancy, well she is really Nancy's pal.
I might add that she was named after a Pokemon charater.
Occasionally she gets to come to the office. We also babysit her at times. No, I don't get any extra pay for it. But, Melissa and I really enjoy her company. When she was just a little puppy, she fit in the pocket of our scrubs. Yea, we would stick her in there. So cute.
At times she is a little fearful. When Nancy leaves her, she will whine and shiver for a while.

Well, today when we got back from lunch, she decided to take up residence in my chair. I didn't have the heart to move her, so I just moved the chair back and got another chair. She seems to be quite content now and I don't want to upset her.
She is being a good girl.

Murphy's visit Murphy's

We took a trip up to Big Trees last Sabbath with Sean and his family. Big Trees is located right after the town of Murphy's. Here we are standing inside one of the Redwood trees.
They are beautiful.

Here's Grandpa and I taking a break with Keiran. Keiran didn't need the break, Grandpa and I did.

Just to give you an idea as to how big the trees are, here is Keiran with his arms stretched out at the base of the tree. The root's on a Redwood can encompass an acre of land, their roots are very shallow, making it easy to fall over.

Keiran standing inside one of the trees.

When this area was discovered, back in the 1800's, they cut this tree down with intentions of sending it to New York to show the massive trees that exist here. They used the base as a dance floor, and the tree as a bowling alley lane. Apparently the New Yorkers weren't impressed. Come on Cecelia, what is up with you guys?

Another resting spot. Yeah, we needed another break, the area is BIG.

Keiran wanted to go swimming in the river, so we drove over there after our hike around the forest.
Sean and Keiran did get wet. Well, Sean got his feet wet, Keiran got wet up to his waist. The water was very cold. They found the perfect spot to sit and enjoy the water with it's imponderable beauty.

In case your wondering why I am posting this while at work. Not to worry, with this computer, it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to load pics...I am entitled to two 15 minute breaks.

It's Here!!!!

Oh what..Oh what could be in this box?????
This big box arrived Thursday and I knew exactly what was inside.

As some of you know, I have wanted a Bernina sewing machine for a few years now. When I started taking a quilting class, you have a choice of a Bernina or Elna. I chose the Bernina. It is made in Switzerland and sews perfect stitches.
I have been trying to purchase one on Ebay for quite some time. Every time I put in a bid I get outbid. Well, last week there were several on Ebay. They would go between $900-$960.00. I really didn't want to pay that much. There was one you could buy instantly for around $1200. I don't think so. Although they are worth every penny, I had set my mind to a certain amount and was sticking to it.
This particular one was ending on the weekend. I put it a low bid just to see what would happen. I kept watching it, no one was bidding. I knew that the closer it got to the end, more people would start bidding. Sure enough, someone put in a little higher bid. I decided to cap off at a certain amount, $725.00. But, I didn't put my bid in until a few seconds before it ended...and whaa-law...I won.
I would say, if there is something you really want on Ebay, bid on the weekend, everybody else is either partying or shopping...hehehehe
The infamous Bernina.

I decided to set it up tonight to test it out....it works great!

This is a pic of the next project I want to make. It is called French Roses. Go to Dore's blog, she has more pics of it. You can get to hers from mine.
Click on the pic, it will enlarge, it is absolutely adorable.

A closer look.

Help!!!!

We had a new front door installed, now I am not sure what to do. Should I paint it an off white, or stain it? Give me your opinion, please.

Click on the pictures to enlarge and get a better view.

Back To Reality

Well, we made it back from Disney and our visit with Ryan,Shelly and Corey.
We had a great time. Ryan keeps saying that we wore him out...I think it is the other way around. I will post pictures as soon as I get some extra time. I feel like these past few weeks have been like a whirl wind. I had to jam and get all my paper work done so I could hand the church treasure job over the new treasure.
I have pics to post of our camping trip, visit with Lawren when we got a load of wood and, of course, Disneyland.
This week will be filled with getting my house cleaned up, oh yea, we had our favorite son-in-law install a new front door. Can't wait to share that pic with you.
I am helping host a progressive dinner on Sunday, so, I am trying to decorate for the fall. Don't forget I have quilting twice a week, the quilt is coming along nicely. I finally bought my Bernina 1130. Got it on ebay. I should receive it sometime this week. I am so excited. I will be able to really jam on my quilt.
Well, I am at work. Seems like this is the only time I have to blog...while at work...not good.
TTFN

FYI

Gone to Disneyland.....

Extreme Makeover

Tom and I went over to help the Lewis' move back into their home. It was a year ago in August that their house burnt. I took some pics of the move. By the way, I have more pics but not enough time to post them.
I am actually multi-tasking here. I am working on my quilt and trying to blog because I am tired of looking at the quilt's I can't have. I am half way finished with my 168 squares that I need. Next week we go on vacation and I will miss my quilting class. So, I have been trying to discipline myself in the evenings, which is hard for me since I tend to put things off until tomorrow. Why do something today that can be done tomorrow.
Anyway, I just thought I would share some pics so you all can see the progress with their home.
As I type, they are moved in, cable and all.
Here is Dore' packing up the rental home.

Dore' Sr. as spry as ever. She is such a delight.

The entrance, living & dining room.

The kitchen from the familyroom view.

The Family Room from the kitchen view.