Grandbaby No. 3 Has Arrived

Nothing is sweeter than gazing at that precious face.

And touching that soft skin.

Only a few hours old

And capturing a mother adoring her new baby.

And cherishing the sight of a big "brudder" holding his baby "brudder" for the first time.

Life is sweet.  Especially new life.

I love being a "GranZ"

Green Day

Do you celebrate St. Patrick's day?

The closest I am to being Irish is the fact that my mother's name is "Patricia".  When I was young, I "celebrated" by making sure I wore green to school so I wouldn't get pinched.  After I got married I adopted this fun holiday by gathering family together and eating.  That is what St. Patrick's Day is all about.  Eating and drinking.

Tonight we had family over for a traditional dinner of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and bread. This is the easiest dinner on the planet for all you have to do is throw the corned beef and veggies in the crock pot in the morning and let it cook all day.  I must say it was yummy.

Crock pots rock.

 For dessert, we had green mint ice cream topped with with some chocolate mint cookies.

Cookies on a vintage three tiered tray.

I pulled out my green and splattered them throughout.

My windowsill above the sink

A collection of green glass

Some green on the island

Family + Food = Loveliness

I'll leave you with this....

The Making of a Baby Quilt

It is finished.  A quilt for my little grandson who is due any day now.


I love making baby quilts.  .
I've made quilts for each of my children, my grandchildren, my nieces and some friends.

Let me share the process I went through with this quilt:

I started by going  through my stash and pulling out what grabbed me.  It took awhile...I pulled, put back, pulled, put back.  I even used fabric from my "scrap drawer".  You never know when those smaller scraps can come in handy.


Next to decide which design to make?  Do I make strips?  Nine patch?  Log cabin?

So many choices.
Keep It Simple kept running through my head .

For this quilt I decided to use (A) as my inspiration fabric. I wanted to cut strips of this fabric to use as a border.

Next, (B)  I  threw the fabrics together on the floor while choosing what I will use for the field squares.  Needed to visualize what it would look like

Since I decided to make triangles in the main field,  I cut strips of fabric 5 3/4 in wide (C) and then
 cut those strips into 5 3/4 in squares (D).


Now, let me show you how I made those triangles.


After piecing the triangle squares together, sewing the border, grabbing some natural cotton batting. and  choosing the backing, I came up with this:

 





And then I hand quilted away....


I can't wait  to wrap up my new little grandbabe in this sweet quilt.

Kissed By the Rain

Love waking up in the morning after a night of rain. My garden loves it too.

Japanese Flowering Cherry in full bloom in my front yard

Newly planted urn on my front porch

Purple freesias that smell divine

And white freesia in a potted lemon bush

My absolute favorite freesia.

Nothing beats the climate here in California.  Nothing.

Happy Valentines Day

And another vintage Valentine from my collection:

Happy love day.

Knitting for the First Time in Almost Fifty Years

There was very kind lady in my church who taught the 9-11 year old girls how to knit, crochet and embroider. I can't remember her name, but I do remember going to her house, sitting in her little living room and watching her gentle worn hands teaching us a new skill.    Every time I pass her house (which is right off Grant Road in Los Altos), I think of her.

Ever since then, I have had a desire to knit but have been intimidated by it.   I know how to sew,  embroider, quilt, needlepoint...but knitting, well that has always scared the bejesus out of me.  I have been in awe of those who create such beautiful things with yarn.

For Christmas, my dear husband gave me a knitting class put on by a wonderful store in town called uncommon threads , a full service yarn shop which is filled with all sorts of knitting and crocheting supplies.

In two class sessions, we learned how to cast on, knit, purl, make some holes, and cast off.
This is my finished sample product:

There are all sorts of mistakes and I was tempted to rip it all out and start over.
 My daughter encouraged me to keep it.
I think I will find a nice little spot on the wall in my sewing room to hang it.

At first I felt awkward and clumsy but after awhile got into the rhythm of knitting/purling.  I soon felt that nice calming affect that knitting provides.  And I understand why it has become so popular.

I can already envision some serious knitting projects in my future.  I see knitted scarfs, baby hats, blankets, and perhaps a sweater (eventually).  Before I get ahead of my self though, I think I should continue with  a lot more practice.

 A LOT more.

An Afternoon in the City By the Bay

Spent the afternoon with these three....
 

Such a cute family

Starting at the Asian Art Museum, which is housed in the old San Francisco main library.

Chandelier in the Samsung Hall at Asian Art Museum

Love these quotes which are engraved in the cornice above the loggia and grand staircase.

We then walked (over a mile up and down SF hills) to Grace Cathedral to view this beautiful art installation using 20 miles of ribbon.

Beautiful...highly recommend you check it out.  It will be removed at the end of the month.

It was fun to walk the Labryinth

How do you like my Cole Hahn "glitter shoes"?

He did the whole thing!

In front of the beautiful bronze front doors to Grace Cathedral

Ended the day by walking (another mile or so) to Chinatown and eating at Great Eastern restaurant
(my favorite and has been voted best by Zagat since 2006).  There are pictures of President Obama eating here in 2010.

Chinatown at dusk on February 1st.

 Oh, so deelish.

A most wonderful afternoon spent in my favorite city by the bay.