Mail Man

I've been wanting to share with you a picture of our local "Mail Man" for quite some time. I finally stopped and took a picture today. Isn't he just the cutest?

Do any of you have unique mail boxes where you live?

Luck of the Irish!

I'm really excited and humbled to have won not one but three giveaways recently! How cool is that?

First off I entered a contest over at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure to name the quilt she just finished. Kim is one amazing quilter and always, always puts her creative spin on whatever she is working on. She was making the pattern, Rabbits Prefer Chocolate, but changed it up to where the rabbits were traveling around instead of the original Easter candy theme. I submitted my idea for the new name and I won!!!! You can read about it here. You can't imagine how excited I was!!!!! Just ask my family.....


The prize was two Redwork Renaissance charm packs and as you can see, Kim sent background yardage as well. How sweet was that?

The next prize was from Thelma over at Cupcakes and Daisies. Thelma is one creative and prolific quilter. Go check out her blog and her list of lifetime quilts. Amazing. She knows Carrie Nelson over at Miss Rosie's and thought, rightly so, that her Schnibbles pattern, Bibelot, should be named "T is for Thelma"

Carrie heard about it and sent Thelma a pattern with the name "fixed". She also sent extra for Thelma to give away. I tell you, I love quilters. They are so generous.

I was one of the fortunate winners!!!! So guess what I'm going to do? Put on your thinking caps........ I'm going to make T is for Thelma out of Redwork Renaissance!!!! How cool is that? My way of paying homage to two very wonderful quilting blog friends.

I mentioned three giveaways. I also entered a giveaway over at Susan Wigg's blog, A View From Here. Susan is one of my very favorite authors. Her books are wonderful. She lives up in Washington and has the most awe inspiring views of our Navy ships going out to sea from her yard. Spectactular!!! We had to guess what something was and I won (with a little help from my Naval Officer son!). Susan is sending me (Susan herself!!!! Little star struck here!!!!!) one of her books. I can't wait to get it and see what it is.

Thank you so much again to Kim, Carrie, Thelma and Susan!!!!!!!! You gals rock!

Just Peachy!

I know that I have shared with you all pictures of the almond trees in our area. They never cease to amaze me with their beauty. It occurred to me that I haven't show you pictures of some of the other orchards in our area.

I stopped and took these pictures the other day on my way into Modesto.

No, they are not pink almond blossoms. They are peach blossoms!

Acres and acres of pink!!

Just beautiful!

They look like rows and rows of pink tutus!

Later on the blossoms will fall. In their place will be huge, juicy peaches! Millions of them!!! This summer they will be harvested and taken to the local canneries, one of which is very close to where I live. On a hot summer day you can smell the peaches being canned. Heavenly!!! There are also orchards of apricots and cherries that will be blooming soon.

Highway 120 comes through town and goes on up into the mountains. That's one of the ways you can get to Yosemite National Park which is about a two hour drive from here. All along the highway are produce stands where the campers and tourists can stop and get fresh local produce to take with them on their journey. Along with almonds, peaches, apricots, and cherries, you can purchase tomatoes, sweet corn, melons, etc., depending on what month it is. You can even stop and get fresh cheese and homemade pies. All available to make your picnic just perfect.

How cool is that?

Camellia Time

It's Camellia time in the valley! They are right up there next to lilacs as my favorite flowers. This red beauty is Yuletide and starts blooming around Christmas time. It's a winter blooming Sasanqua camelia which I've mentioned before here.

I have them all over the garden, in every nook and cranny and even in pots.





There are many Camellia shows going on now, including the Modesto Camellia Show at the E & J Gallo Winery Administration Building next weekend. Check you local papers to see if you have one in your area and plan on visiting. You won't be disappointed.

Have a wonderful weekend!! Looks like we are in for some rain so YAY for us!!!

Central Valley California in the Spring

Connor

11/21/01 - 2/21/12
Rest in peace, dear Connor. You will be missed.

Please stop on over and give your love and condolences to Yvonne.

Retreat

I thought I had better post some of the pictures from the quilting retreat I went on last weekend. We had such a wonderful time!!! The weather could not have been more perfect!

My friend, Nikki, and I always get up there ahead of time to get things set up and ready for the rest of our group. Since we are the Busy Beas, our little mascot is a bee. I had found bee windsocks at the local dollar store to greet the gals when they arrived.

Do you see the two doors on the top floor? That's the room that Nikki and I always share. Even though there are other beds in the room, no one else wants to share it with us. Why? We love having the doors wide open all night no matter how cold, windy, rainy or snowy it may be! Of course I bought electric blankets for us years ago, so we each take a bed by a door and snuggle down with the fresh air on our faces and listen to the distant frogs croaking. Aaaaahhh!!! (Yes, we are perfectly safe as there is no way to get up on the balcony unless you are a good climber and we all know how many sharp instruments quilters have with them!!!)

This is a pillow that Heather made for one of her boys. She found the free pattern here. She whipped it one in one day!!!! I really encourage everyone out there to take advantage of free patterns on the web. Although this looks like wool, it's actually the softest flannel. He loves to sit on the floor and read so I bet he loved it!

Joey worked on a civil war fabric applique quilt. She always does such wonderful work. She used to hate the "A" word, but now has embraced it and does such beautiful quilts with it.

I'm always glad they don't charge us more for electricity. Can you imagine?

Marion finished this quilt that she had previously started using Fig Tree fabrics. It was one she had seen, couldn't find the pattern for so she drafted it herself. It's a gift for her sister and I'm trying to figure out a way to convince her I'm her sister!!!

Another finish by Heather. She's quite the prolific quilter. She is one busy lady at home so she takes full advantage of her retreat time.

Debbie made this darling quilt along with some other baby quilts using minkie fabric.

There were lots of other finished projects but I didn't take pictures in the evening because the lighting was so bad. I had intentions of taking them the next day but forgot. I'll have the gals bring their projects, including mine, to our next Sunday Scrap Sew and take the pictures then.

We had so much fun. One of the highlights is always the food. You would not believe how well we eat!!!!! Nothing is store bought. Everything is fresh and no corners are cut as far as ingredients are concerned. We had spinach salad with fresh strawberries. Clam chowder that was homemade, not canned! Fresh homemade asparagus soup made with coconut milk and curry! Chicken lettuce wraps that I still have dreams of (I ate five that day). Our favorite baked egg plant. Fried pollenta with sun dried tomatoes. Beet salad made with fresh, not canned, beets. Tri-tip fit for a king. Let us have a moment of silence for the homemade cheesecake and creme brule. Our Monday breakfast is always made to order omelets. I'm telling you, I could feel my waste expanding with each meal! Not only is the food exquisite but the staff comes up and serves us, pampers us, and cleans up for us. They always have the coffee going for us and cater to any diet restrictions anyone might have. You would think that with all this the price would be sky high. Far from it. The price is less than half what other quilt retreat facilities charge. Seriously!

If you are looking for a retreat venue, whether it be for quilting, scrap booking or something else, and are anywhere near the Sonora area, you should consider Silver Spur. If you have any questions about them and what they can do for you, drop me an email!

Back to reality.....

Happy Valentine's Day

Sending you a Happy Valentine's Day greeting
from Miss Jean and Maggie!

Off To the Foothills

It's that time of year and I couldn't be more excited!
I am going from my little yellow house....

(Sorry about the pumpkins, this was the first picture I found!)

...to this little yellow house!

My quilting group is off to the foothills to our annual February quilting retreat. It's our tenth anniversary and the majority of those attending have survived all ten years!!!!

There will be lots of sewing, eating, laughing, sharing, movie watching and general rest and relaxation. Did I mention the food?

I'm getting ready and then leaving Friday so I won't be blogging 'till I get home next week.

Public Service Announcement

You all know by now that I am a committed dog lover and that our dog, Maggie is one spoiled little girl. She is currently taking a nap in the guest bedroom on top of the pillows covered with my prized vintage embroidered pillowcases. Pillowcases now covered in black Scottie hair. I don't mind, though. She's worth it.

My good Scottie friend, Lynn has written a post about dog safety that I feel every dog owner should read. I've mentioned in a previous post measures that I take and that you can take to make traveling with your dog as safe as possible.

Please hop on over and read Lynn's post about retractable dog leashes. She is committed to raising happy and healthy dogs and keeping them safe.

Thanks Lynn!!!!