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Saturday, December 28, 2013

All Christmas

Well I hope you had a great Christmas. We had a fun time here at our house. I gave some home made gifts...
Knitted cosmetic bag
 
Emergency clutch for car or backpack filled with everything under the sun
 
Chap stick stocking
 
Fingerless mitts
Slippers
Pinecone, cinnamon, Rosemary fire starters
(I added a flexible lighter and a bag of coffee to top it off)
 
Just a few simple home made things to say I love you.
 
When my Grandkids were small I started doing a scavenger hunt mainly to keep them occupied but then I began doing it to challenge their math skills and spelling and etc. Well, they have always loved it and low and behold even though I have a 16 year old and a 22 year old they still ask "Are you going to do a scavenger hunt?" This year I decided to challenge them to know more about their Grandma:)
 
Here is the first clue:

déjà vu
She is a mere three years older than thee “Granddaughter”
And he four more than you “Grandson”
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 Our Wedding picture
 
Next clue:
This belonged to my Dad (Your Great Grandfather) and he used it as a boy. Bigger than any you would see today and held the real thing instead of toy. You have walked by it many, many times and never paid attention. It holds things that were once needed but thanks to technology the flick of a switch will do.
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My Dad's tool box that now holds un-needed wood thanks to gas fireplace
 
Clue 3:

My Mother (Your Great Grandmother) taught me how to do this when I was about 9 years old. I started out making chains and then little rosettes. It has been a gift to me to be able to do this have made many things but only one pair of these have I ever made and I kept them and framed them as a gift to me.

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 crocheted pictures
 
Clue 4:

I hang on the wall and am 70 years old. I was given as a Christmas greeting by (your great grandfather) in 1943.

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My Dad was a Holsum Bakery Representative and gave these out as a Christmas greetings as noted on the little calendar below it. He went to war soon after. This was a hard one for them to find as it hangs on a wall in a little nook area but they got some nice gift cards off this one.
 
Last one:
 
When I was just a girl I would take the tiny key and walk down to the corner and on tip toe open it. Years later it required me to drive and a combination memorized instead of a key. I hold something different today but a replica I am of days gone by and sweet memories.
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Mail box replica bank
I added two $5.00 bills and they had to split the change
 
It makes some fun memories and even the adults try to figure them out!
 
Christmas Day hubby and I went up north and spent the night at the Prescott Resort. I love this hotel because of the view...
From our room over-looking Prescott
 
They had some pretty decorations...
 and every year they have a gingerbread house contest.....here are just a few:
 first place individual
 
 firehouse
 

and many, many more.

We took a walk down into the conference center to see if they had any new art that I liked and this one hit a soft spot...

And way in the corner at the very back was another cute little Christmas tree
Not all worked out as planned as the restaurant could not take any more reservations so Christmas dinner was chicken sticks at the bar (:

Next day we decided to come home a back way and boy did we take our life in our hands...
Snow and ice on top of the hill and hoping we didn't meet another crazy couple like us. But it was so pretty and pure it was worth the risks and besides Hubby had never tried out his four wheel drive.
 
 
Just one more stop before we landed home and that was at Rock Springs Cafe. This picture was in 1940.............
 
It has become known as the "have to stop and have a piece of pie place". They have the best pie ever and people from the valley drive all the way up here to pick them up and take them home. There are some of the old time things inside like the pie list on the wall:
 We had JD Pecan hmmmmm
The old time fireplace:
The tin ceiling:

and the plain old cement floor:

Easy off and on and so worth the stop for pie and coffee
 
Just New Years to go and we will be starting a new.


 


 
 
 


 
 





Saturday, December 21, 2013

Merry Christmas

Every year it seems to get harder for me to get into Christmas. I am not sure if it is because I am getting older, or if it is the fact that I live close to a large shopping mall and people act like crazy people behind the wheel of a car heading for some sale, or because my children AND grandchildren are grown and trying to give them something special gets harder and harder....there is only so many ways you can make a gift card exciting:) Oh sure we try to maintain some family traditions but as your family extends that becomes more difficult. I often wish for the days of old....
When the Christmas story was read
 
People sang Christmas carols and didn't remove the words "Christ the Savior"
 
There were no blow up decorations
 
Old non matching ornament's, tinsel and strung popcorn was the style
 
Homemade was the best
 
 
and affordable toys would surprise and thrill....
and every one needed something even if it was just some socks. We are so blessed everyday that we don't need a special day for gifts and sadly we can't trust giving to those who say they do.


All that being said.... I hope this Christmas is a good one for you and that his shinning light will last the whole year through.
 
 

Monday, December 16, 2013

The great debate

Yes, you are seeing right...these are two rolls of toilet paper and the great debate is do you have yours over or under? Well, after much research and etc. it has been concluded that over is the best....


for all these reasons why but they didn't add the most important one...you can make the cute little point with the one sheet like they do in the motels:)
 
So how about it, if you are a under person are you going to change?

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

A day at the races

Turf  Paradise race track opened its doors January 7, 1956, making Valley history as the first organized professional sports franchise in Arizona. That was over 50 years ago and I had never gone to a horse race until yesterday when some people who own a race horse invited us to come. What a time I had!!
I love learning new things and seeing new things so being able to go and ask tons of questions was right up my alley.
I was surprised that you can stand eye level with the dirt track and watch them cross the finish line...
Of course they go by so fast that you can't begin to see what is really happening. You can watch the races from the outside or the glassed in area and they have little TV's on the table so you can see the race when it is on the far side of the track.
 
 
They have a pamphlet that lists all the upcoming races and has lots of stats that I asked about. It tells everything from how old the horse is to who owns it and who trains it and who the jockey is, its odds of winning and lots more.
 
The people that invited us just recently purchased this horse and it has made a great showing..here is a video I found of a interview with Tarmara.
 
The rest of the pictures I post are all from Facebook.
This is the starting gate which can be moved to different areas of the track and before a horse is allowed to race at this track they have to be qualified that they can enter the gates properly. Turf paradise has two tracks, one dirt and one turf as you can see from this picture.....
 Some horses will run on both tracks but some prefer one or the other. The dirt track produces the fastest times. The condition of the track is of the greatest importance and is prepared before each race. A hole in the ground could be deadly for a horse. The other thing I learned is that when a horse is running he is on only one foot at a time and that means that all thousand pounds plus is on that skinny ankle.  I found this picture that shows this...
Amazing isn't it!!
 
There are many people involved in this sport from the owners, to the stable caretakers, to the vets and jockey's and on and on and every gets a piece of the pie. There are even riders that escort the horses to the starting gates and they get $15.00 for that.
 
The jockey can only weigh a certain amount but that includes the saddle so when the race is finished they are required to take the saddle with them and weigh. Also the winning horse is required to have a urine test to check for drugs after the race. You know me...I had to ask "just how do you get a horse to pee".....................Whistle. That's right, they whistle and horse pees.
 
Look how they perch on the horses back. Being a jockey is one of the most dangerous jobs there is. I am currently reading some articles about that and it is just fascinating but balance and being able to key in with the horse is the most critical of all. Our friends first jockey wasn't able to get him to change gates (making the opposite leg of the starting leg become the lead ) and not until they found this jockey, Jorge Carreno, was this accomplished and he has ran away from the pack on every race since.
 
I loved this picture......
All four in the air and look at those hip muscles and his nose flaring!!!
 
 Magnificent!
 
 

 

Friday, December 6, 2013

Knitting

The other day fellow blogger "Wyoming Breezes" posted about her "knitting nest" I had never really thought of it like that before but indeed I have one:)
Current project
 
 Holds all my needles and etc.
 
More needles and a few often used patterns
 
but here is where the stash is.....
For shame, for shame......
 
I mostly knit for preemie babies so yarn lasts a long time and I have more of what most people consider scraps, now if I can just get a little more inventive on mixing my colors I may do okay.
 
It was also interesting to find out that my friend has a least three or four projects on needles at the same time whereas I only do one project at a time with the exception of some crochet things I started many years ago and need to finish.
 
So, how about you?  Do you have a knitting nest?  Do you have more than one project going at a time?
Knit on Knitters....It is way cheaper than therapy.
 

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Florida

Well, it is Nov. and I was wanting to go for a little trip and really there is no place to visit this time of year that has better weather than here where I am, in Arizona, but not to be deterred, I made the decision since we had not really been to Florida other than to catch a cruise one time it would be a clever idea to fly to Tallahassee and rent a car and travel around a bit.
First stop was Apalachicola, Fl. which is clear to the bottom of the state from Tallahassee and about a two hour drive. The drive was easy but we were tired from the flight but arrived at  The Gibson Inn in plenty of time for drinks and dinner. A beautiful Inn that was built in 1907 of native Pine and black cypress and fully restored in 1985.
This was looking out of our window and one of the many bridges we crossed over. Rained all night and was able to open the window and listen to it hitting the tin roof :)


The room was lovely...
and I especially liked the embroidered/quilted bed set...
 
 
 
 
The bar was full of people that were into a football game so I asked two ladies if they would mind if we sat at their table and as it turns out it was a Mom and daughter. Got to talking with them and the daughter was quite a girl....she was a firefighter by trade and loved to fish as most people do in this area but she fished from a kayak! I have never heard of this before and she showed us some pictures which I asked her to send to me so I could share them on my blog...
How is that for cool and she even shared a picture of one of her catches
Enjoyed visiting with them and they suggested we drive around the town and I snapped a few pictures here and there...
 Shrimp boats
 
 
It was a small town with not much happening...even the dogs were looking for fun..

Can you imagine how upset this home owner is going to be when they come home....but boy did I laugh!
 
 
 
They also suggested we visit St. George Island (since it was Sunday and everything was closed) "note to self: Pick a different day to visit places"  So we did that and mostly saw lots of houses built up on stilts......
 
 

 
If  I had it to do over I would not have made this little detour and as mentioned above not added a Sunday to out trip.
 
Our next stop was at Cedar Key, Fl.
 which is all the way around the bay (four hour drive) and we stayed in the Island Hotel. Once we arrived here I was not sure if I wanted to stay,as it looked like it could use some repair so we asked where we could grab a beer and think on it. The lady said there is a bar down the road and to the left so we headed that way. Saw this place that looked more like a house and it didn't have any signs but the door was open and we could see it was a bar so we went in. The place was so full of cigarette smoke (I am a ex-smoker) thought, we will have to drink up fast and ordered a beer. The bartender said "Could I see your card?" We asked what card she would like to see and she said it was a private club. One of the patron's sitting at the bar said let them sign in I will sign for them (this particular man had few teeth  but was friendly enough so we signed in and it turns out it was the Eagles club).  We decided to stay and was glad we did as the place was nice. Loved the little bathroom and the beds and pillows were great!! Best stay of the whole trip.
 
 
 Had this great wrap around porch...
 
 
and dinner in the restaurant was great!! Wonderful fresh sea food.
 
A few picture of the drive....
 
 

 This was a little road off to the side and thought it was so pretty.......
 
 
Our next move was to Fernandina Beach which is across the whole state of Florida and on the east coast. We had the bright idea that we would take the coast line highway thinking it would be like the west coast highway but it isn't....only view is big houses on the shore and driving is hectic. Told hubby we best get lunch before we get out of the town area and we got the last little restaurant called The Reef. Think this was one of the few highlights of this part of the trip. A little place right on the beach that looked out to the ocean and the food was fantastic! This was the decoration in the bathroom...
 Sand right off the beach and a candle:)
 
 
 
 
Our goal was the Florida House and must say it was a disappointment. It has high ratings but I found it to not be up to very good period restoration...this was the only antique in the house..
 
 and they had already decorated for Christmas due to some special gathering (one of my pet peeves is to decorate before Thanksgiving).
 
It did have a very pretty patio area....
 
 
with a fun tequila bottle tree...
 but was not able to sit here very long between the nats (that bite) and the rain. They did not serve dinner except for catered events and the room was horrible. I should have refused it when she showed it to us...it was so small, it really shouldn't have been a room. Could only accommodate a queen size bed that was hard as a rock and had this step up into the bathroom that was a real  toe stub if you weren't remembering in the middle of the night...
 sorry it is so blurry.
 
Here is how much room hubby had to maneuver to the bathroom around the fireplace (another toe stub and he did hit his shoulder on the mantle that was sticking out into the room).
Like I said it was just way too small and it rained the whole day so even though the town was cute, could not walk around or anything.
 
The whole area is about fishing and loved this little boat in a little restaurant where we had lunch..
 
and this lamp in one of the hotels..
 
Travel is all about learning...you never know how things are going to turn out, just try to be flexible and learn from it.
 
Happy Trails