Well, Isn't That Just Peach-y!

The word I pulled from my "word jar" this week was PEACH.  I am really glad this word popped up as it allowed me to explore the many items currently listed on etsy when I typed it into the search bar.  As usual, I explored both the HANDMADE and the VINTAGE categories.  There was no lack of items to choose from.  My only problem was that I needed to narrow my selections down to four.  So here goes:

My first pick in the VINTAGE category is this beautiful beaded and lace sweater offered by 2 and 2 Together.  I think I had one like this way back when I was in high school - and that is going back a ways!  This great shop has some great vintage items.  However, they seem to specialize in beautifully crafted pillows featuring exotic and interesting graphics.  If you are in the market for a pillow, they are currently running a special of buy one and get one at half price.  Check them out!

I found these stunning handcrafted earrings in Jess Kay Designs glorious shop.  Hey!  These earrings would look great worn with that sweater above!  This shop in filled with some really gorgeous handcrafted jewelry.  It offers necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  All are unique and high quality.  When you are there, be sure to check out the Clearance Section - it is loaded with bargains!

Back over on the VINTAGE side of things, I found this great set of 4 Haviland Dinner Plates being offered by Jen's Closet.  This is a beatiful pattern that features delicate peach & taupe roses.  Whether you need to fill out a set you already have or just need a set of 4 dinner plates for special occassions, these are perfect.  I have a soft spot in my heart for vintage glassware.  If you do, you are sure to find something it this shop that you will fall in love with.  She has china, crystal, Fire King, Pyrex and much more.  She also offers vintage linen, clothing and barware,  Give your eyes a treat and visit this shop!

Anyone who knows me, will not be surprised that I picked this HANDMADE hat by LA Originals.  My family is soon to be blessed with a brand new baby girl so I was naturally drawn to this hat.  But you really need to check out this shop if you are on the hunt for a knit hat for either a boy or a girl!  The variety of hats offered here will blow your mind.  Hats with Fruits and Vegetables, Hats with pom poms, huge flowers and bows.  I spied some really unique little cowls over there too.  You just have to take a look!

So there you go for this week.  I wonder what word I will pull out of my word jar next week?  Can't wait to go exploring on etsy for more great finds!

etsy BEARS it all...............

I had a little trouble coming up with a theme for this week's etsy blog.  So I wrote down a bunch of words on little pieces of paper and tossed them in a bowl.  I drew one out and it was "bear".  What fun typing the single word "bear" into the seach bar and seeing all the possibilities!

Clickity Clack Collectibles has this most wonderful handmade bear named "Buino"  He is absolutely adorable!  Bruino is 18 inches tall, fully jointed and made from faux fur.  Please check out this shop - it is loaded with bears in many colors.  You will also find wonderful wooden puzzles and toys, purses and dolls.  This shop is well worth a browse!

Maybe VINTAGE bears are more to your liking.  If so, you have to go visit Eclectic Pelican!  This bear is very, very old and has tin eyes and nose.  He is perfect for the collector of old bears or as a display piece (especially at Christmas).  Eclectic Pelican sells a wide range of charming vintage.  The items I found there included drawer pulls, primatives, interesting stuff for the kitchen and clothing.  This is another great etsy find and I think you will have fun looking around this shop.

This one really caught my eye.  It is a beatifully hand knit bear by mKnits1.  This is just one of the many bears available in this shop.  What I really like is that this bear is so functional - it is durable and can be machined washed.  So after a lot of loving - which is bound to include a few drags through the dirt and food spills, he can be washed all brand spaking new and be ready to go!  He is 27 inches tall.   Check out mknits1 and I am sure you will find a cuddly bears that will steel your heart.

Christmas Angel  is offering this great VINTAGE fully jointed teddy bears from the 1940's.  You just have to love that face.  You know it is just saying "Come on!  Give me a hug!"  I really enjoyed my trip through this shop.  I was particularly struck by the wide variety of Paper Ephemera you can find here - postcards, photographs, etc.  If you are a collector of vintage Christmas ornaments - this is the place for you!  Christmas Angel has quite a few and all the prices are very reasonable!

All in all my "bear" search was quite a bit of fun.  Again, narrowing it down to just 4 items was a struggle.  If you are up for a good time, go over to etsy and type in "bears" in the search bar and be prepared for surprises and fun.  Or type in something else - it is an adventure waiting to happen!

Having a Baby - Then and Now

My oldest daughter just had a birthday the other day.  My youngest daughter is having a baby in July.  I guess these two things combined to make me start remembering and thinking about having babies and how different it is today from what was way back in 1969 when my first child was born.

Remember?  They made you stay in the hospital for a minimum for 5 days!  Jeez!  What the heck for???  And it wasn't even any fun!  You did not have your child in the room with you.  Oh No!  The babies were all kept in the nursery behind glass.  You could walk down there and stare through the window at your child - but you could not touch!

The nurse would bring your baby to you at feeding time all wrapped up tightly in a receiving blanket and you got the priviledge of feeding your child during the day.  Not at night!  You needed your rest, you know.  And absolutely NO ONE could be in the room with you when you were feeding your child - not even the father!

Speaking of fathers - these poor guys never even got to touch their child the whole time they were in the hospital!  They only could gaze at them from behind that nasty glass partition.  They were not allowed in the delivery room and they were not allowed to touch their baby until the day you brought it home.  How crazy was that!?

I remember one time when the nurse brought my beautiful little girl in for feeding and I just could not help myself - I unwrapped her from that tightly wrapped blanket.  I wanted to count toes and touch her knees and just behold the wonder of it all.  When the nurse came in and discovered my sin you would have thought that I was dangling her out the window by her feet!  Man, did she scream at me!  Oh the horror of it all.  She snatched that child from me, wrapped her up and stormed out of the room leaving me feeling like the worst mother on the face of the earth!  What have I done!  I UNWRAPPED her!  I have ruined her before I even took her home.  Somebody shoot me!

Lots of other things have floated through my head about the differences between then and now.  Things like no such thing as disposable diapers, plastic pants that got all crinkly and hard in the dryer, sterilizing bottles, tee shirts with snaps (no onsies back then) diaper rash (remember Desitin?), no car seats.  Oh and this one - You absolutely  NEVER put your baby to bed laying in his/her back!  Heaven forbid.  You must ALWAYS put your child to bed on its stomach - to prevent choking.

Yes, lots of changes between then and now.  But one thing that has not and never will change -  The joy of having a child.  The wonder at watching him/her grow.  The miracle of gazing upon a sleeping face and knowing all is good with the world.

Celebrating the Winter Olympics with ETSY

It wasn't difficult for me to come up with a theme for this week's blog about etsy.  I mean, isn't everyone watching at least some of the Winter Olympic events.  So I typed in "winter olympics" as my search keyword and was once again amazed at the number of items I was able to pull up and the variety of things available - both HANDMADE and VINTAGE.  Again, it was hard for me to make my choices - but here they are:

I fell in love with this original oil painting by Janice Trane Jones.  I love the period feel of this painting.  I also love that it highlights one of the Olympic events that does not get a lot of coverage.  This shop is filled with wonderful original oils (more that 50) and watercolors.  The subject matter runs the gambit from country landscapes, sea scapes to flowers.  Go on over and browse through this shop and give yourself a real treat!

On the VINTAGE side of things on etsy, I found this great set of cuff links and tie bar being offered by ReADressedResale.  These are a great Vintage collectible from the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games.  Perfect for the collector or the sports lover.  They can be displayed or worn.  This shop has a very interesting collection of vintage items that range  from more cuff links, Fiesta Ware and clothing.  You will surely enjoy your visit!

Back on the HANDMADE front, I found this great tile pendant celebrating the SPEED SKATER.  This pendent has been upcycled from a scrabble tile by Indy&Cleo.  This is a most interesting shop.  They have all kinds of upcycled tiles that cover a wide range of subject matter.  More speed skaters, flowers and geomatrics to name a few.  They also have some darling Sock Monkey items and other original art.  Give them a browse!

My final selection in the VINTAGE category is this beautiful scarf listed by MADMENVINTAGE.  This is a beauty from the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games.  Remember that US Hockey Team?  MadMen have an extremely interesting collection of vintage offerings.  Thye seem to specialize in quality vintage clothing, but they do throw in some fun surprises - like globes, bow ties and even a typewriter.  It is a fun step back in time to browse through this shop.  I think you will really enjoy the trip!

Well, that's it for this week.  If you have not visited etsy yet, please take a few minutes to check it out.  Look at the shops I have highlighted here.  Or, be adventurous and type in a keyword - any keyword - in the search box and see what you come up with.  I think you will be surprised and pleased!

Gotta Love the Sun!

Wow!  We have finally had two days in a row where the sun came out.  Now, I don't mean it kind of peeked out  here and there through the cloud cover.  It actually came out and shone down upon me in its' full glory!

It felt soooooooo good!  I think I have a "spring in my step".  I did a blog a few days ago about gardening and sticking my toes in the mud but I have to now admit - that was really wishful thinking and faith.  I mean, it really seemed like maybe warmer weather was just going to take a pass this year.  No sun, no fun - or something dire like that!

But out old Mr. Sun came and now I can close my eyes and feel that warm mud oozing up between my toes!  I can see myself sitting out on the deck, face turned up absorbing the heat, sipping an ice cold lemonade!  Ah!  Bring It On!  Oh yeah, I can also hear myself lamenting the heat and wishing for the cooler weather to come back.  Happens every year.

I guess I am just so darned happy that I live in an area of the country/world where I can enjoy the four seasons, anticpate the coming change and complain!  Complaining about the weather is a favorite pasttime of us midwesterners - and thankfully - our weather patterns are very accommodating and condusive to complaints.

Spring is coming! Really! It is!

OK.  So I am sitting here looking out the window and the snow is piled up to my knees, the thermometer says is a whopping 14 degrees out there and I think I should go put a warmer sweater on.  So why am I thinking about Spring and gardening?  Well, the new seed catelogues are starting to come in the mail, for one reason.  That surely puts one into mind of summer and digging in the dirt and the smell of lilacs wafting through the air - right?

But another reason I have been thinking about spring and planting and toes in the mud is because I have been browsing around in etsy shops that carry all sorts of things for the outdoor garden.  I was amazed once again by the variety of stuff that is on this site.  It seems that no matter what your particular interest is, the talented folks over at etsy have something for you.

My Victory Garden  is the perfect place to start your search for things for your garden.  This is a beautiful shop that specializes in Heirloom seeds - both vegetable and flower.  The lettuce pictured above is called DRUNKEN WOMAN LETTUCE!  You just can't go wrong with that!  Browse through this shop and you will find some hard to find seeds that will really get your juices running to get out there and plant something!  And, this shop also offers gift certificates which is great if you need a gift for a gardener but really don't know for sure what they need or want - they can pick their own!

One of the best things about gardening is that it attracks all kinds of birds and butterflies to your yard.  I really fell in love with this darling birdhouse from Jenny's Tole Shed.  Check it out!  This shop is full of all kinds of handpainted, unique items - not just birdhouse.  It is well worth your time to brownse through.

The Succulent Garden  is a real fun shop to look through.  This shop specializes in homegrown succulent plants.  You will find some great cuttings, rooted plants, air plants and so much more.  I discovered some things there that I had never heard of before.  This shop also offers Gift Certificates for ease in gift giving.  Take some time to check out this most interesting shop!

The last shop I have chosen for this series on etsy is just pure eye candy for me!  True Connection has a wide variety of items made from recyled wood.  They have a motto "Saving Life One Tree At A Time!"  You just have to love that!  The artiistically crafted offerings in this shop includes birdhouses, birdfeeders, a wide variety of benches and tons of other furniture - both indoor and outdoor.  I believe that you can also custom order things if you don't find exactly what you are looking for.  Give this shop a look see and you will be amazed!

I hope that you all are enjoying this series on etsy.  I am determined to hunt through etsy to discover all the wonderful things that are out there.  My goal is to mix it up as much as possible and to find the unexpected.  I also want to mix up the HANDMADE and VINTAGE as much as possible.  I am open to suggestions on themes that you would like to see featured here.  Keep those cards and letters coming, folks!

Flashes of Memory

I recently had an email exchange with one of my cousins in which I had shared a little childhood memory with her.  It was a rather insignifcant memory - just something I used to do once in a while when I was a little girl.

But for some reason recalling this memory from my childhood seems to have opened a floodgate of memories.  Ever since this email exchange, I have been having the most amazing flashes of memories from those days long gone by!  Little vignettes of my childhood flash through my mind in little bits of what is almost like one minute videos of people, places and things that I have not thought about in years. 

There does not seem to be anything special about the memories that come forward - they are totally random.  They are not necessily memories of really important stuff either - just stuff.  For instance, last night as I was falling asleep, I had a flashing memory of myself and a good childhood friend, Margie, running down an old gravel road barefoot!  We were running and laughing and must have been heading somewhere fun!  I mean, I could feel the gravel under my feet!  It was a hot summer day and we were running so fast I was getting one of those stitches in my side.

I have never been one to always be looking back.  Well, I do somethimes think about my childhood and feel lucky to have lived in the time and place that I did.  See this early blog I wrote about my hometown of Winneconne.  Once in a while through the years my kids will ask about life "way back then" and I would tell them about the games we played (Annie Annie Over, Kick the Can) or the things we did that I would NEVER allow them to do - like play in an old abandoned barn, take long, long (and I mean all day) walks just following the railroad tracks just because.

But most of the time, I am content to live in today.  I acknowledge that my past - for better or worse - had a great deal of influence in shaping me into the person I am today.  But otherwise, I just sort of left the past in the past.  But I have to say these flashes of memories are fun!  I rather enjoy laying in the grass again with Janie Gavin and watching the clouds go by and finding shapes in them.  And I always loved swimming in the Wolf River so it was kind of fun to have that great flash of me running down the dock and jumping in and feeling that icy water cool my summer hot skin.

So come on memories - show me some more!

Time To Get Your Green on - Etsy Style!

You know what they say - On St. Patrick's Day everybody is Irish! So now is the time to get your GREEN on!

I was browsing around etsy and checking out all the St. Patrick's Day stuff trying to select some items to help me kick off my series to showcase the many shopping opportunities available on this astounding site. I really had a hard time making my selections - but here goes...........

In the HANDMADE category, I love this great pillowcase dress made by Little Sweetie Boutique. I can just see a sweet little leprechaun dancing around in it! Check out the whole shop. She has tons more of these lovely pillowcase dress in all kinds of fabric themes. I am sure you will find something there to please any little girl on your list. Most are available in the size of your choice from 6 months to 5 years.

On the VINTAGE side of things, I picked this really super
nice rhinestone Shamrock brooch. You will find this
in CricketCapers shop. While you are there, check out
all the other wonderful vintage items showcased there
They really run the gambit - clothes, purses, jewelry an
so much more!





Further checking into the many VINTAGE items out there is etsy land, I discovered this really neat Irish Mug in YesterdaysMemories09 shop. Can't you just see yourself sipping a cup of Irish Coffee? Need a recipe? Check this site - they have a bunch! cooks.com. If you are looking for some unique and interesting VINTAGE items - this shop is a good place to start your search.

My final find in the HANDMADE arena, was this super Kiss Me, I'm Irish apron by Grandma Hansen. Maybe you could put this on while you are whipping up that Irish Coffee! This shop is loaded with all kinds of neat stuff! She has aprons for every occasion. Many NFL themed aprons, aprons for kids, bonnets and hats for toddlers - just lots of fun stuff!




Well, that's it for my first in this on-going series to highlight all the talented folks over at etsy. I am setting a goal of once a week. I am going to try to change up the theme and keep a good mixture of both HANDMADE and VINTAGE. I welcome suggestions about themes for this series. In the meantime, check out etsy and see what you have been missing!

Linking problems

I apologize to anyone having problems with my links. For some reason they are not working in the posting I did yesterday. I am working with blogspot to try to figure out what the problem is. When we figure it out, I will make the appropriate changes so that you can use my links.

I will hold off on #1 in my etsy series until this is resolved.

And it isn't even Friday the 13th!

Changing

Wow! I have been really, really negligent with this blog. I knew it has been a while - just didn't realize how long of a while it had been.

I guess it is because I have been so busy with my shops on etsy. I have 2 now so I keep going back and forth between the two and never seem to have time for anything else. I have greatly scaled back on the grannyscloset shop while I try to figure out what I want to start making in the handmade category next.

Most of my time lately has been in the I Love Vintage Stuff shop that I share with my daughters. Vintage and antiques has always been where my heart was and I am so much enjoying getting back to it. There is something about the hunt for vintage/antiques that just makes it ever so satisfying to me.

In case you have not discovered it, etsy is a most wonderful place! It is a site that was established for people who make stuff and they want to sell it - all kinds of stuff - fine art, jewelry, clothing, bizarre stuff. Just think it and it is probably there. Later on, etsy also included persons who were selling vintage stuff (vintage being 20 years or older). When I saw that, I was thrilled. Now I could work with both of my loves all in the same place!

So, I am going to start a new series in my blog. Hopefully this will entice me to be more proactive with this blog stuff and maybe upload some pictures now and again. I am going to try at least once a week to may a blog entry to highlight some of the GREAT FINDS on etsy. I probably will try to have a theme to each entry. I know for sure that I am going to mix it up as much as possible - some HANDMADE and some VINTAGE. I love both!

So my next blog entry will be my first in the series. Hopefully it won't be the last! Give me some feedback. Do you like it? Have a theme suggestions. Get a new hobby?

I have decided that living on an island is not all that bad. Once you accept the fact that there really isn't anyone else there - no one hiding behind a palm tree or nobody living on the other side of the island who wants to sits around the fire with you, it gets to be not so bad. There can be something calming about the oneness of it all - just you and maybe............Wilson.

Gardening - Knees hate it, soul loves it

I have been a gardener for most of my adult life. Every spring (actually it starts in February) I start to think about what I am going to plant, where I am going to plant it and how much of the stuff I planted last year is going to withstand the winter and come forth when the ground begins to warm.

As I age, it gets a little harder every year to crawl around on hands and knees to dig the dirt, pull the weeds and nip the fading blossoms. I am usually full of aches and pains every spring from bending and pulling. But it is worth it. Right now I am eagerly awaiting my lupin (pictured below) to come into full bloom. They really came back in full force this year. This is the most blossoms I have ever had on one plant. Pure Soul Food!



The other bonus in flower gardening is being able to bring all these wonderful scents into the house. My lilacs are just about ready. Can you see that the buds are almost fully opened? In a few days they will be ready to come inside to become eye and nose candy for Grampy and me. And, about the time they are done, my peonies will be ready to take over the "good smell" duties. Pure Soul Food!



In the meantime, while I await the lupin and lilac to reach full bloom, I sooth my soul with the Columbine. Aren't these beautiful? This is only their second year gracing my gardening, but already they are offering me some wonderful sights and hinting at how wonderful they will be in the years to come. Pure Soul Food!

So, the knees will just have to suffer! The back can ache, the nails can be broken and jagged. I need my Soul Food and my garden gives it to me every day!

Bad Granny!

I have been a Bad Granny! It appears that I have not posted anything in my blog for a long, long time. Guess I need to find a good excuse as to why this is so. So - here goes. See if this excuse works for you.

A couple of years ago I purchased a brand new sewing machine. It is a glorious sewing machine! It has bells. It has whistles. It has doodads on it that I still don't know what they doo or dad. But little did I know when I purchased it, brought it home and set it up that the darned thing TALKED!.

Yes! It talks to me. Whenever I start to do something like make a blog entry or check and respond to email it starts talking to me. It is the DEVIL! You should hear it when I try to do something like head for the closet that holds the vacuum!

Ewww! It takes on that low, sultry voice and starts in. "Hey, Baby. Come on over here. Take a seat. I am waiting for you. I have a full bobbin"

And it just goes on and on. "Remember that brand new needle you just gave me? Well, it is here all shiny and new just waiting to caress that new fabric that came in the mail 2 days ago. Yes, I saw that package. I know what it is. Let me push the chair out for you, baby. We have things to do."

So there you have it - that is why I have not posted is such a long time. I think I need to find out where Mr. Sewing Machine's mouth is and cover it with duct tape or something so I can get something done around here!

But it is not all the machine's fault. I guess part of the blame needs to go to that new etsy shop that I started with my daughters at the end of December. You see, we started it because we all had way too much antique and vintage stuff around that we really needed to get rid of. Both my daughter Tracy and I had gobs of vintage jewelry, paper ephemera, sewing patterns and stuff. We thought that this would be a great way to sell some of this stuff - you know - so we could buy more stuff! Well, it has been highly successful! I sold out almost everything I had in very short order. And - of course - I had to buy more so I could sell that too! I love antiqueing, treasure hunting and going to garage sales. Results? No blogging for a long, long time.

I still have my original handmade etsy shop going but right now I am pretty much only selling off already finished items. I have not created any new stuff for the shop for quite some time now. Overall, between the shop and the annual craft sale in Minneapolis, I have sold around 3 thousand needle bags and I am kind of tired of making them. I will be going into a new handmade direction in that shop as soon as a good idea falls out of the sky. I keep looking up but so far - nothing.

Anyway, I will try to be a little more regular in my posting here. I mean, I do muse alot and probably should write some of it down while the mind still sorta functions.

All Packed and Ready To Go!

OK! I am ready! Well, at least as ready as I am going to get. The BIG Craft Sale is tomorrow in Minneapolis. No Coast Craft O Rama actually starts today, but for logistical reasons, I only participate on Saturday.

I have all my junk (I am too modest to say Treasures) packed and ready. Grampy and I are heading up to my daughter's house today and then we are all making the trek from Eau Claire to Minneapolis early tomorrow morning. Grampy serves as the grunt to help with the heavy lifting and my daughter is my sales assistant. I could not do this sale without either of them! I am grateful that they are willing to give up a weekend to indulge my hobby. And I cannot forget the other daughter - she is the co-founder of this successful annual craft sale! If she was not so involved with this sale I doubt I would even make the trip to Minneapolis to participate.

It is with a little mixed emotion that I prepare for this sale. For reasons that I do not want to make public right now, this is probably the last year that I will be taking part in this sale. I think I will really miss the excitement of the event. But I probably will not miss the pressure of getting enough product ready each year to make it worth it for me and my family to to make the trip.

Without the pressure of having to have such a huge stockpile ready, I think I will be more inclined to do some experimenting with new and exciting items to sell at my etsy and my madeitmyself on-line shops. I have wanted to get into some other things that are maybe a little more adventurous and creative but have been reluctant to take the time.

More importantly, however, is that I feel that I never have time to sew for my grandchildren. They are the whole reason I got back into sewing in the first place after a 10-year lapse! So, now perhaps I will have time to sew for them more often AND to keep up with my shops and still have some semblance of a life!

Anyway, wish me luck tomorrow! I will post again to let you know how it all went.

Getting Ready for the Big Craft Sale!

As many of you know, I participate in only one craft sale a year. it is NoCoast Craft O Rama in Minneapolis. Besides being a super wonderful sale, I take part is this one because my daughter is one of the co-founders. She and a group of wonderfully bright and talented gals started up this annual event 4 years ago. It keeps growing and growing and is fast becoming one of the "must do" Holiday events in the Minneapolis area.

My other daughter has always gone with me to be my sales assistant. And believe me - I could not do this without her! The second year of this event I had made us some vendor aprons to keep our money, pens, and other misc. items in during the sale. They worked ok but they were not great. I had just slapped them out with some fabric I had laying around and, other than serving their purpose, they did not have much appeal.

But this year, I am taking it up a notch! I found these great vendor aprons made by MyLittle who has a great shop over at Made it Myself (referenced in my last post). She embroidered my shop name on them. How classy is that!

Here they are. If you need vendor aprons - give this shop a look-see!

Halloween

Wow! This was a great Hallowe'en for Granny and Grampy! We went to visit with our granddaughters and go out Trick or Treating with them. The weather could not have been better! And the kids were out in huge numbers. I mean the streets were loaded with goblins and witches and spidermen and bunny rabbits and all kinds of fun and interesting creatures.

I love going to visit my grandkids at this time of year. They always have the most creative costumes that they put together with the help of their very creative mom. And the people in this small community really go all out. Lots of the grown ups wear costumes, they houses are decked out with some of the most creative and fun decorations I have ever seen!

Here are a few more of the creativeness we saw on Halloween night:

Still Trying to Learn the New Camera

So I got this new camera a while back and am having mixed success in learning all the ins and outs of using it. It is a Canon Rebel. I like it because it is a digital camera but has features that Grampy and I missed when we gave up our 35mm manual camera - the ability to take lots of shots without the delay you get with a digital, having a zoom lens and focusing ability. One of my favorite settings in the "Sports" setting which allows me to just hold the button down and the camera will take about 5 or 6 rapid shots. This is especially useful when trying to get photographs of my grandkids when they are riding their bikes or doing gymnastics.

The above shots are not very good, I admit. I was trying to get some good shots out my patio door of the birds at the feeder. I was trying to catch some in flight using the Sports setting. The lighting wasn't very good and the darned birds were just too quick for me most of the time. I sorta just stood there with the camera aimed at the feeder and was trying to catch some as they were flying in. Unfortunately, they were already landed before I started clicking - bummer!

But, I will keep trying. So along with the pictures I posted some time back of the Red Tailed Hawk that adopted us, I thought I'd post a couple of my not so hot bird pictures here and maybe we can see how I progress as I post some more in the future. Winter should be a good time for getting some great bird shots!

BiFocals Suck!

As if the wrinkly skin and aching bones wasn't enough, old age had to further make itself known to me by requiring that I now needed to wear bifocals! Yuck!

Actually the adjustment from my prescription reading glasses (which I have worn for years) to bifocals was not that difficult with one major exception. I did not have the problem many have with going up and down stairs or with reading. Thankfully, I quickly found the right head position for machine and hand sewing. What I could not master was seeing the computer screen!

No matter what I did; no matter how I held me head; no matter how I tried to adjust the location/position of the screen it was just a big blur and kind of made me sick to look at it. I finally gave up and went back to see the eye doctor. Well, it turns out that the bifocals probably will never work for me when working on the computer and needed to see the full screen. You see, I have what is called a "lazy eye" and usually only use one eye (the left one) when looking straight forward. So finding that mid-range "sweet spot" for looking at the computer screen becomes much more complex and often impossible.

There is a solution, however. Per my eye doctor I am now using my old prescription reading glasses for computer work. Because the prescription for these is the same as the close range prescription in my new ones, she assured me that I am not doing any harm to my eyes by switching back and forth. She cautioned me, however, to only use the readers for the computer so that I continue to perfect my ability to use the bifocals.

So old age continues to creep up and play nasty little tricks on me. I am trying to fight back as best I can. I just got a new bike and am taking up bike riding after more than 20 years. I am having a little problem adjusting to the new-fangled bikes. I did get one that is made especially for people like me who learned to ride on the old fashioned biked that did not have the seat up so high and the handle bars straight out. That seems to be working pretty good for me but I still have to adjust to the skinny tires. Wish me luck and pray that I don't break a leg!

WWWG Street Team Finds

As I was browsing through the listings of my fellow etsy Wild Wise and Witty Grandmamas of Etsy Street Team members, I must have been thinking flowers! Maybe it is because summer is beginning to come to a close and the flowers in my garden are fading, the blossoms are getting smaller and everything seems to be preparing itself for the winter that lies just around the corner.



Whatever the reason, all three of my picks to feature this time all have a flower theme. So, although they are diverse items, they all speak to my love of flowers.










Stormeejean is the maker of this wonderful jacket. The soft, subdued colors are perfect. I think this jacket is so versatile that it works for the office, an evening out or even with a nice pair of casual pants for a walk around the Farmer's Market!











When I came across this beautiful Fused Dichroic Glass Pendant made by Firefly Glass Design I fell in love. Her shop is full of wonderfully designed pendants and deserve a closer look if you are in the market for a unique piece of jewelry for yourself or as a gift. Check her out and I am sure you will love what she has to offer and find her prices quite reasonable.









I suppose part of that "fading summer" mood I was in this morning is one of the reasons I was so drawn to Kelseys Korner because she has some of the most beautiful Christmas Ornaments I have seen in a long time! This Victorian Rose is so delicate! And she has many more to choose from, so please give her shop a look over! You will be glad you did.



So if you are like me and get a little sad when you think of the flowers fading and summer coming to a close, check out these lovely shops and find a way to have the flowers in your life all year around!

More Great Finds From WWWG etsy Street Team

I have been busy looking through all the shops of my fellow Street Team members and find that the variety and quality of items my fellow "old gals" are putting out on a daily basis is astounding! Here are three more sellers that deserve a closer look:

http://ennadoolf.etsy.com/ has a wonderful shop with a wide variety of items. If you are looking for some really beautiful Barbie Doll clothes, you really need to check her out! She has lots of these wonderful reversible dolls. I remember my daughter having one of these when she was little and she loved it

http://circleinthesand.etsy.com/ - this is another great seller! She has tons of vintage stuff, including buttons, patterns and Christmas items. Take a look - you will love it. And interspersed throughout her shop listings you will find some great handknit items for baby!

http://scottieacres.etsy.com/ - in keeping with her shop name, this seller seems to have a Scottie on everything in her shop! These cute little craft aprons, bibs, t-shirts and a whole lot more. So, if Scotties are your thing - you have got to check out this shop.

So enjoy checking these shops. If you would like to check out the other grandmama's who are nat letting the aging process interfere with the creative side of life, you can check out all the Wild, Wise & Witty Gramdmamas Street Team by entering wwwg team in the search bar at the top of the etsy page.