Treasures

The weekend's over. Here in the US, we have the Veteran's Day observance on Monday, but my office is open and we're all working. No mail service. The courts are closed. But we're working. So sad! Aren't you sorry for me?

I'd be really sorry for me except that this has been a really nice weekend. Why? Well, I'm not quite sure. With all the cleaning and organizing I did on Saturday, you'd think I'd feel I needed another day off, but I don't. By the time I went to bed Saturday night, I felt like I had accomplished a lot, and it felt really good. I even managed to hook up my printer.

On Sunday, a good friend and I went out to the local flea market/farmers' market, hunting for treasures. I wrote a week or so ago about the Somerset Home magazine I had found at the bookstore; since then, I've gotten a couple more of their publications, and I'm terribly fascinated by some of these "altered art" techniques. In fact, over the past week, I've been shopping and collecting all kinds of "art" stuff, like scrapbook papers and various other miscellaneous items. We took the trip to the flea market today to see what I could find that might be interesting to incorporate into some of the projects I'd like to work on.

It rained all day Saturday and we were afraid we might get rained on. The clouds were threatening when we first started out (photo at the top), but the sky soon cleared and the day was pretty nice. Our local flea market is huge, and many of the vendors have permanent booths, selling cheap, plastic, imported junk. There is a section of day vendors though--people who come to sell at the flea market instead of having a garage sale at home. Then there are a few vendors who fall somewhere in between--they don't have the commercial, cheap "junk" but they do have a nicer quality of used "treasures," and those are the ones we headed for, although we did browse a few "garage sale" booths.

Here are some of the "treasures" I brought home.

I think those flasks will look pretty neat covered with decorative paper and images and "stuff." And who could resist the Mona Lisa? Especially when she was only $1? I don't know what I'll do with her, but I like the strong graphics. There are several projects I've seen that use plated flatware, so I picked up a few items. Then there's a little metal tray and sitting on that is a perfume bottle--something I also thought would look pretty neat if it was decorated.

We found one booth that had all sorts of little things--coins, keys, pins, dice, nails, etc. I bought several things from that guy--these can all be added to creations such as journals and random "art" projects. The metal stars are new items that I purchased from another vendor.

Then the books. The same guy who had the coins and things had this dues book from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America dated from the mid 40s. My friend talked him down to $2 for the book--a piece of history that may well turn up in a project one day. We moved on, and at another booth, for another couple dollars I got a McGuffey "Third Eclectic Reader." There's no publishing date on it, but I know they were used in schools when my parents were kids and even before. It's pretty tattered and beat up, but the pages will make a great background for a few projects. At a large used book booth, I found a song book and two art history books, all of which can be incorporated into whatever I make.

Finally, before we left, we visited the farmers' market located on the other side of the flea market grounds. I was surprised at how many fruits and vegetables are still available as we're approaching the winter months.

Good prices too! We both left with several bags of produce. We had a little mishap, though, when my friend dropped her bag of avocados. Actually, she dropped them twice! I sure hope she made a batch of guacamole, 'cause those babies are going to be mush!

We ended our trip by going out to lunch and having salads and sandwiches. Oh, and did I mention we started out at Starbucks before the flea market? But you probably figured that out, right? In my world, every adventure starts at Starbucks!

After I returned home, the rest of the day was spent making a big pot of homemade chicken and veggie soup and working on that tree skirt I didn't get to on Saturday. I've finished piecing the top but I still need to add some applique.

Now it's bed time and the weekend's over, but I've enjoyed it. I think that facing the work week isn't quite so bad when you've had a nice weekend, don't you? I hope you've enjoyed yours!

I Didn't Mean To Do It

I had my day all planned out. I was going to clean house early and then work on a tree skirt for a swap. I was going to hook up the printer I got with my computer last year. The one I still haven't hooked up. The one I bought paper for the other day.

I decided to eat some cereal before starting on the house cleaning, so I carried my bowl into the Sweat Shop and turned on the TV. While munching and crunching, I looked around and I realized the Sweat Shop was no longer my happy little sanctuary--it was a disorganized, cluttered mess! By the time I finished my cereal, I had decided that I really MUST clean up my room.

Three hours later and things were looking much nicer in the Sweat Shop, but the rest of the house still needed to be cleaned. AND I still had a few Halloween decorations up that needed to be put away. AND I still had a few Thanksgiving decorations to get out.

Four and a half hours later, and the rest of the house was looking pretty good! The photo at the top is one of two placemats I made last year. Since I had my new Halloween placemats on the table this year, these haven't seen much action until now. Now these are out. Along with a few other Thanksgiving/Fall goodies.

In cleaning up the Sweat Shop, I came across a BOM kit from a class I had taken about a year and a half ago. I had almost finished the first block--it just had a little applique left. Ah ha! The applique pieces were all prepped, so I set the block and the pieces aside--it seemed a good project to take to work and work on during my lunch hour.

After cleaning the rest of the house, I returned to the Sweat Shop, thinking about that tree skirt. Then I saw the BOM block. And I realized my piecing really, really sucked! How did that happen?! And the fabrics I had used didn't have enough contrast. So I thought I'd just fix that block up so I could take it to work this week and finish the applique.

Four hours later and the block is fixed. Here's a photo:

Of course, it still needs that applique finished. And I still need to make five more blocks. And set them. And border them. So, just a bit left to do before that one's done. But I didn't mean to work on that block at all. I meant to work on a tree skirt. And I didn't mean to clean the Sweat Shop either. But I'm glad I did! Here are a couple photos of my tidy work space--sorry they're kind of dark, but it's getting late, the light's not that great, and I've spent the day doing stuff I never planned to do in the first place!

Sunshine and Apple Pie

In this part of the state of California, it wouldn't really be fall without a trip up to Apple Hill. Apple Hill is comprised of quite a few small farms and orchards that open up in the fall (some year round) and sell their produce to the public. Apple Hill is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, off Highway 50 just past Placerville heading east--not too far from the site where gold was discovered back in 1849.

On weekends, the Apple Hill area is jam packed with "tourists" in search of a good apple pie. Many of the farms have craft booths and other activities. Each year, my husband and I make the trip to buy apples and other goodies, and we usually go on a weekday to miss the crowds. Not this year, though--we braved the crowds yesterday.

This was our first stop. Starbucks in Placerville, of course!

There was really only one place I wanted to go to--Boa Vista Orchards--and I know how to get there the back way, so the crowds weren't too horrendous. Of course, even the "back way" has a little traffic!

The red barn-looking buildings are one of the participating growers. See those grape vines to the left? Apple Hill also has several vineyards with wine tasting and sales.

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Ah, we finally arrived at Boa Vista Orchards. They have a HUGE open building filled with produce--mostly apples but quite a few other things as well.

Besides two half bushels of apples, I picked up some nice, juicy tomatoes, apple cider, apple pumpkin butter, soup and chili spices, and a bunch of little pumpkins.

I took this photo for Sharon over at Red Geranium Cottage because Sharon is challenged when it comes to making pie crust. Dough balls, Sharon!!! That's actually one of my secrets--most of my pie-making is done in the fall with apples, and I just buy enough dough balls to make the number of pies I want to make. The dough is fresh and homemade, and several of the farms sell these dough balls. Yum!

After loading up the car, my husband and I headed back to Placerville for a late lunch of sandwiches at Sweetie Pie's. The weather was wonderful, and we sat out on the open air porch. Look at that blue sky!

Across the street was this old building--I just took a photo to give you an idea of some of the older, historic buildings in Placerville.

Then we headed home to Sacramento--I'm sure the city is down there somewhere!

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And look what I found when I unloaded my purchases! (Okay, I actually found TWO! Two for $10--couldn't pass up that deal!)

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Yes, my husband and I are dieting, but we really couldn't go to Apple Hill and NOT get apple pie. Could we? No! So we decided we'd skip dinner and go right to the dessert. Sure tasted good with a little (lite) vanilla ice cream on top!

The Weekend's Here Again!

Addendum to Below Post: I'm not sure, but this might be a little funny. Sharon says it is, anyway. I got in some trouble before for not warning you, and I have personal knowledge of stuff like litigation, so please don't choke on your Cherrios or asphyxiate on your Diet Coke. Then again, maybe it's not funny--Sharon tends to laugh a lot, so you never really know.

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It's Friday night, and the weekend's here again! I know it was a short work week for those of us who had Monday off for Labor Day, but a couple tough days at work made for a week that seemed extremely L000000000NG! Yep, by the time Friday rolled around, this gal didn't feel quite so much like skipping, believe me! Well, until my husband greeted me at the door tonight with a Starbuck's iced latte! Wooo-hooo! (Don't tell him, but I had one at lunch too!)

And now a bit about me. Okay, yes, I DO know this whole blog is about ME, ME, ME, but this is personal stuff. I know some of you are anxiously following my beauty routines, right? Maybe someday I'll write a book entitled "Kim's Big Beauty Adventure," you'll all buy it, and I'll become rich! In the meantime, I'll pass along a few tips.

My big plan for this weekend's Saturday day-of-beauty is to clip my toenails. I was going to do it last weekend, but my eyebrows were getting a mite bushy, so I decided to switch plans. So, yes, this weekend my toenails will get their day. What to do, though, when you discover a chin hair as you're driving home from work? Do you put the toenails off for another week?

I don't do the Fly Lady thing, but I know lots of people who do, and it's my very vague understanding that the concept is to do a little bit at a time on a regular schedule, isn't it? So, with that in mind, I made the momentous decision that I could actually pluck the chin hair on FRIDAY NIGHT so I wouldn't be faced with too many beauty tasks all at once on Saturday. Brilliant, yes?

My blog posts have been noticeably and seriously devoid of photos for the past few days. I sure wish I had thought to take a photo of the plucked chin hair! Maybe I'll remember to photograph the toenail clippings tomorrow--that should draw a lot of traffic to my blog!

Okay, another thing about ME! I'm not one to bore you to death with the progress of my diet on a daily basis, but hey! This is my blog and I can do what I want! So I think I'll compromise and just occasionally bore you to death with my diet progress. Deal? So here's the exciting news: Today I put on a top that was fitting pretty snug before the diet, and now it's fitting pretty loose. Cool, huh?! It's good to see progress.

I don't think weighing is a good idea for me, so the only way I can really tell that I'm losing weight is by the fit of my clothes. If I weigh myself, I think it makes me concentrate too much on the whole "diet" aspect rather than the idea that I'm involved in a change of my lifestyle and eating habits. (Should I include this gem of wisdom in "Kim's Big Beauty Adventure," I wonder?)

Okay, so enough of the really personal stuff. What's on the agenda for the weekend? My husband has to work tomorrow and I think he's getting together with a friend in the evening, so I have some serious quilting plans. What a slacker I've been on the Hometown Christmas project! Not much of a role model for the other bloggers who are participating, but I hope to remedy that this weekend and get started. Yes, I DID get my kit dug out earlier in the week and the fabric has been sitting on my sewing table, but I've been in the living room most evenings, working on some applique. So, this weekend I'll get my Hometown Christmas commitment done and continue the applique I've been working on. By the end of the weekend, I hope to have more to show you than toenail clippings. Oh, and just in case you were wondering/worried/concerned/frightened, no, there's just no way I'm going to photograph nose hairs. But, if you really feel you need to see them, you can always wait and buy my book!

Day of Beauty

Weekends are a good time to primp and pamper a bit, don't you think? So, when a couple people at work asked me this week whether my hair was darker, I thought maybe it was time to do something. I don't normally color my hair except about once a year, usually sometime in the winter when it starts to seem kind of dull looking and BLAH! Then I just use something a shade or two brighter to liven things up a bit. Well, for whatever reason, that dull and BLAH! thing seems to have happened to my hair this summer instead.

Now you'd think with the occasional gray hair growing in, my hair would look a bit lighter, wouldn't you? And you'd certainly think that with dieting and eating healthy and all, if there was any fairness in this world, I should just magically turn into a radiant, natural blonde. Well, wouldn't you? But no!

I'm not much of a girlie girl. Sure, I appreciate a nice pedicure as well as the next woman, but I really don't spend a lot of time fussing. For instance, I don't go to the hair salon. It would be different if every hair stylist told me I had beautiful hair that was a pleasure to work with, but most of the time, they mutter about how straight and fine it is and what a pain it is to get the tangles out. So I stay out of the salon and my hair is down to my rear end now, but I put most of it into a braid and twist it up on top of my head which makes it fairly easy to care for. But I digress.

So, Friday night I stopped at Long's Drugs on the way home and perused my hair coloring choices. Do you have any idea how many different lines of hair color L'Oreal MAKES now? After awhile and a good deal of comparison, I settled on L'Oreal Superior Preference (because, darn it, I'm WORTH it!). There's another brand I like (but can't remember the name of) that's a two step process: first the hair color and then the hair highlights. I really like that one, but it takes about half a day to use and I just didn't feel like spending that much time. After all, I DID want to get in a little quilting time and blogging time. Not to mention the cleaning time, the cooking time, and the sleeping time.

Every Friday night my husband asks me what I have planned for the weekend, and every Friday night I answer, "Quilting." Is he a slow learner or what? One of these days, I'll have to think up an answer that will shock his socks off, but in the meantime, when he asked me the same old question last night, since I think he gets a little tired of the "quilting" answer, I told him I wasn't sure but that I needed to clean house. So this afternoon, he came in from working in the yard, found me at the computer, and asked, "So are you done cleaning the house yet?" "No," I answered, "Are you done living yet?" "No," he replied. No mention of how radiantly beautiful I looked after my L'Oreal treatment either. But, once again, I digress.

So now my hair is lighter and, by the way, my house is clean. Everything has been beautified here, in fact. And this Beauty Day Saturday thing is becoming a habit now. If you think back, you may remember that last week I shaved my legs. Today I colored my hair. And if I'm feeling particularly ambitious next Saturday, I just might just trim my toenails. I think I'm starting to get pretty good at this beauty thing and still manage to find time to quilt.

Saturday "Stuff"

I've kicked my husband out. For awhile, at least. I told him I was going to clean house and suggested he might like to go watch some soccer and get the heck out of my way--the girl's competitive team my son coaches has a couple of games today, and this was something my husband had mentioned doing. As he left, he said, "Okay, I'm going, and the house better be spotless when I get home." No, he wasn't really serious, but here I sit, catching up on my blog reading, being perverse about doing what I've been told to do!

To be fair, I have done a little more than read blogs. I took a bath and shaved my legs. Sometimes shaving seems like a big deal because I hate being bothered. I think I need to make myself a task list so I can check at least one thing off--shaving.

Can you tell I'm not real motivated today? It's 11 a.m. and I haven't even had breakfast yet--just a cup of coffee. Time to get busy, I think. I still have about a third of the blogs I read left to go, but I'll have to come back later to finish up. (Memo to self: Add "read blogs" to the "to do" list. That's something I should be able to get accomplished!)

Once I get my chores done, I have some "charming" little bundles of fabric goodness to play with in the Sweat Shop:

Scaredy Cat from Moda. I love the colors in this line, especially the blue. Since I have blue in my kitchen, I think that whatever I make will be intended for that room. I love Halloween--I think I've mentioned that before. In fact, I just love fall when our temps drop below 90 during the day.

So now I think I need to add "sewing" to my "to do" list. "To do" lists can be very self-affirming. I find if I make a big list of fun things and only a few not-so-fun things, at the end of the day, I feel like I've accomplished a lot--even if the stuff I've crossed off wasn't the stuff I was supposed to do to begin with!