Every morning when I walk down my garden path, I’m sure to find a new surprise.
First there was a freshly showered upon rose that was waiting to be seen. I’m always excited as the roses show their first bloom.
On another day, I really was surprised to find this one. Miss Iris decided to make her appearance, and I didn’t even know I had planted her.
Now on to my new project for my grandsons.
Hubby and I have 3 grandsons and 1 granddaughter. And because it’s always so much easier to shop and sew for our granddaughter, our grandsons get left out sometimes.
But now it is their turn to receive a sewing surprise.
I found a little stash of fabric for boys.
I can’t say what I’m making, because my daughter and daughter-in-law read my blog, sometimes. I’m excited that I thought of something I could make for them and hope they will be excited when they receive it.♥♥
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Every single one of my grandchildren has experienced making tortillas. I really didn’t make them roll out tortillas, they asked if they could try. My youngest grandson wanted to help this week, so I left the last one for him to roll out and he did a great job.
He was really concentrating on the instructions I gave him, start in the center and roll down, then back to the center and roll the top part up, turn the tortilla and do the same thing over again, adding a little flour if the tortilla sticks to the rolling pin. By the way, these are just my instructions, I think it’s easier if you do it this way.
Because of them helping with this tradition of tortilla making, a few tortilla monsters have been created. If I know that a certain grandson is coming over, then I have to make more. But this fills me with joy that they can have homemade tortillas and not the cardboard tasting ones from the store. Well, I confess, we do eat those once in a while.
Here’s a tortilla that I rolled out, cooking on the comal.
That morning I was making papas and chorizo. Chorizo is Mexican sausage with eggs scrambled in the sausage, which is a touch greasy, but yum, it tastes so good! If you want to make it a little healthier you can do half soy chorizo and half of the real thing. Also you can line the serving bowl with paper towels so that they can soak up the grease.
There is only one person in our family that doesn’t care for chorizo and that is our son. He says, “Anything that needs 2 or 3 paper towels to soak up the grease can’t be good for you!”
Okay, I fibbed a little. Those are tater tots, not papas, but hey, I deserve a break sometimes.
I make my masa without a recipe, I just guestimate on the amount of ingredients that I need, but there are some good recipes out there. We use flour, baking powder, salt (optional), and shortening for the masa.
What is your favorite greasy food?
papas-potatoes
masa-dough
comal-cast iron grill
♥♥♥
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We took a little trip to the coast. This time to Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel. Dinner on Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf was nice and of course we had seafood after several free samples of Clam Chowder.
By the time we had finished dinner the cold breeze came in, so it was time to call it a night. After traveling and walking on the wharf we were beat.
In the morning we drove about 10 minutes to Pacific Grove, which is one of my favorite places. The quaint, colorful houses are such a treat to see.
Wow, this is what I call color!
Many of the homes have plaques in the front giving the date when they were built and who the original home owners were.
This yellow one is the Seven Gables Bed and Breakfast. If you make reservations it has to be done months in advance and it faces the ocean. Beautiful!
My hubby, the good sport, drove me up and down the narrow streets so I could get my pictures.
The homes are kept neat and their yards are immaculate. How I wish we could afford one.
Pacific Grove is best known for the Monarch butterflies that visit to escape the cold winter from October to March.
There’s a bike and walking trail along the coastline that is mostly rocks, which tempt people to climb them, but unfortunately people have lost their lives because of high surfs coming in at times causing them to fall into the rough waters.
And here’s good sport hubby, resting along the way.♥♥
This gorgeous plant, called Pride of Madeira, was also a great visual treat.♥♥
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Enjoying the view. (birds)
This is my cat that we’ve had for about 12 years. We think he is the one that is causing my wheezing. The other night I woke myself up because I was wheezing so loud.
But I will not give him up. My hubby bought him for me when I was going through a rough time. So he is here to stay!
I’ve had cats my whole life and I love them. I have one daughter that like cats and my other daughter and son don’t care a cat’s whisker for them.
I’m even starting a cat quilt.
This will be done in different shades of pink and gray.
And these cats watch me as I sew in my sewing room.
(Sorry about the dirty window.)
Have a 😀 day!
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I think leprechaun day is a good day to share our fairy garden.
The grandkids helped me make it last summer. They were all excited at the thought of helping to create one.
There are many ideas out there for fairy gardens, and it’s a great project for little ones with adult help.
We started out with a bird house and placed it on a little stand. We then built the walkway, made a little ladder leading up to the house, and hubby made a little bridge.
The children painted a mushroom with red paint and white polka dots.
There ‘s so much you can add to make it as elaborate as you would like. We kept it rather simple and rustic.
Don’t forget miniature plants, or maybe some moss. Just have fun and let the kids come up with different ideas.
Then, just enjoy!♥♥
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First bloom for this dianthus.
We are having fantastic spring like weather, no I am not bragging, but we are enjoying this warmth. Our old bones don’t like the cold. But this morning the weather people were saying there might be frost next week. Ugh!
My snap peas are finally growing.
And guess who loves to eat them. A certain little Mr.. I let him have 2 beans, and he still wanted more. “Enough,” I said, “I want some too!” “But you don’t like them as much as I do,” he answered.
Never argue with little Mr., because he owns the last word.
Finally, I get a calla lily.
And this is my vicious cactus, which is one of my favorites. You never want to get pricked by this one, it has some long mean needles on it!
♥♥♥
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I’ve been wanting to share this simple craft that you can do with your daughter, niece, granddaughter or just a friend, but my camera was not cooperating. For some reason the camera was not picking up their colors, so I had to take shots galore.
All you need is a plastic headband.
Some faux gems
Glue that works on plastic.
Then just have fun designing your little tiara.♥♥
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This post is dedicated to my grand kids and hope that they too will wonder about their past ancestors. Also, I want to include a blog buddy, who loves to use pictures as a way to express herself at http://squareonenotes.com/.
My father is the one standing in the middle, right behind his little brother.
This is the original photo, probably from 1911 and it always amazes me when I look at it and wonder what life was like back then. There are no smiles and I wonder why. I know that life was hard for my dad, he lost his mom not long after this picture. He worked very hard at an early age and he told me he started to smoke at the age of 12.
They have all passed on and taken their secrets and life stories with them.
Why didn’t I ask more questions about my grandparents.
They both passed away before I was even born.
I’m so fortunate to have this picture and another where my father is a toddler, but when the picture was taken, he turned his head and I can’t see his face. I wish so much I could see that little face.
I’ll continue with my genealogy and hope to find some answers. Somewhere, someone knows something and I need to find them.♥
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This is the way it starts. I’m using the rail fence pattern again. Someone in the family will be getting this for Christmas. I don’t care if you don’t like the colors or the pattern or the style. Someone in the family will get it. Surprise!
It’s starting to have a rustic look, or maybe it’s just the background. Our poor avocado tree on the left was zapped by the frost back in early December.
It’s going to have one more panel of the strips and then I’ll do something different.
Also, here is an update on my baby duck quilt. It’s finally finished. Yesterday I tried calling my friend to tell her, but there was no answer, I’m thinking the baby girl has arrived and my friend has gone up north to help out.
Mi casita, mi ranchito 
