The booty

I had a little time to kill this morning so made a visit to the Gold Mine Thrift Store which is associated with Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church in Cave Creek. I volunteered at this shop for about 10 years. I spent $17.50 this morning and came away with this lot of goods. I bought the purse because I loved it but was also filled with smugness when I looked up this brand (Monsac) online and discovered that I had spent about 3% of its original price. Even though prices have increased in this shop, there is still a thrilling deal to be found.

A fun day

Today being President's Day, Linda had the day off so I drove down to her house to have an adventure with her. We went to Queen Creek Olive Mill where they have a small olive oil production. They sell the olive oil, olive oil beauty products and various food and gift items of the olive theme. Here is Linda peeking through the aisles.

This is the olive oil room with plain and infused olive oils for sale. I bought one bottle of plain and one of vanilla bean infused. At the little glass covered bar you pour small amounts and have a sniff or I guess a sip if you were so inclined.

There is also a little lunch counter with a quite delightful menu. We shared these items- a lime infused roasted chicken salad sandwich, a very tasty pasta salad and a wedge of Mexican lime infused olive oil cake. We loved the cake and thought we might duplicate it at home from the readily available recipe. We were however thwarted when we discovered we would need to purchase 2 bottles each of lime infused olive oil at $11.69 a pop. We certainly had a good time.

At several more stops I purchased these fun fabrics. Thanks, Linda for sharing your day off with me.

Such a girl

This is my friend Linda's sweet little cat, Peaches. Her name is perfect for her as she is a little dumpling who looks as if she came from a Mary Engelbreit illustration. I wanted her to sit on my lap but at least she stayed close by for a while.

What I did today

Throughout my adult life I have given as gifts most of my best projects and rarely make one of anything for myself so decided before I packed up the bag of fabric hearts, I would make one more valentine decoration for this house.

Here's how it looks in the kitchen with my carnations.

My other project was curtain panels for Mandy. She bought this Alexander Henry fabric online at a wonderful website selling all her artsy and Mexican folk art types of things. I love this print. It's called "Corazones", very nice quality and lovely to work with. I'm sure she will enjoy it. Good choice, Mandy.

The creativity

I made these cookies today for a church Valentine party that I attended tonight. They looked really nice and were quite tasty but probably wasted effort for this event. Since Den has given up all sweets, I kind of miss baking. So it was fun even so.

I have quite a few post card valentines and this is my favorite. May everyone enjoy their Valentine's Day.

Sweetest holiday celebrated a little early

Favorite vase is filled with one of my favorite flowers for Valentine's Day. I love carnations and feel that they are a much maligned flower. If you put a whole lot of them together, they are gorgeous. I bought a bunch of pink and a bunch of red and they make me happy. I have a feeling good old vase here is going to see a lot of use unless I find something else I like as much on one of my Ross and Marshall's runs.

Homemade valentines for my boys, partly because I couldn't find any manufactured ones I like and also because it's meant to be my year of creativity.
Mr M took me out tonight for an early valentine treat to dinner and a movie at Farelli's Cinema where you sit at tables and enjoy your dinner while watching the show. We saw "Marley and Me" and indulged ourselves with Angusburgers and fries. It was a lovely valentine gift even if I did have to scrub at my eyes and blow my nose a few big honking times. I'm not usually much of a Jennifer Anniston or Owen Wilson fan but liked both of them in this movie.

slow movers

Most days Sadie and I take a walk with Dennis and Jake. Sadie is going to be 15 years old soon. I'm happy that she can still get out for a little stroll even though it is now limited to down the street and around the corner about half a block. She does fairly well on the going portion with the very patient Jake dog by her side. It's pretty slow going on the return portion with much stopping and sniffing at all the mail boxes along the way. I love you so much, Sadie. She is the best dog an old lady could ever want.

Honoring Abe

Another post card from my collection. I grew up entrenched in all manner of things Abraham Lincoln. Born in Lincoln, Illinois; spent most primary school class trips visiting Lincoln locations-home, tomb, New Salem; as an adult lived in Mt Pulaski,IL where Lincoln was a circuit rider coming through to perform his works at the historic Mt. Pulaski Courthouse. Spent part of my driving years with license plates with Land of Lincoln across the top. Just recently saw a newly published book on the life of Lincoln and think I may try to read it. Although as a child I studied and memorized many facts about this popular president, I realize that I don't really know that much of his early life. I am very saddened that we have lumped together the days of honor of 2 of our most noteworthy presidents, think they each deserve their own celebration day.
So tomorrow on Mr. Lincoln's birthday I will try to do an act or 2 of kindness in his deserving memory.

Finally

Both the creativity and the productivity come together in the Valentine decorations that finally got finished. My friend Linda and I saw some Valentine mobiles at the mall a few weeks ago and I thought we could duplicate them. By the time we got all the print hearts made I was about out of the notion. When I started putting one together, totally hated it. So finally designed my own Valentine decoration which is much more in keeping with my personal style (in the event that I have one) and they are finally ready to put in the mail. I think they are way cuter than they look in the picture but here they are anyway. I am currently dealing with extreme camera frustration and anger. If I ever get it resolved to my satisfaction, will blog it.

In my opinion

These three boys are the cutest and smartest kids on earth and I hope that every other grandparent in the world feels the very same way about their grandchildren!

The festivities

Aaron gets a little help with the candles.

The kids all really enjoyed the cake and everyone had blue lips.

The banner. This is Zander. He was born the same day as my grandson Jack. A very sweet boy.

Aaron enjoyed opening the gifts with a little help from Mom.

Agua Caliente Park

This park was the location for my youngest grandson, Aaron's 2nd birthday party last Saturday. This is a peaceful and very beautiful park. It used to be someone's summer home and was dedicated as a park before we moved from Tucson in 1986. It is located only a couple of miles from the house where my girls grew up. The setting is a little different from anything else I have visited in Tucson. When I am at the park, I usually fantasize about the whole place being a home once again, specifically, my home.

My precious

Aaron is so cute. I love looking at pictures of him. His blonde hair and snappy dark brown eyes are a heart melting combination.

Tiny Target shopper

Aaron has always seemed to enjoy shopping at Target and Friday night was no exception. He carries around various objects and abandons them when he finds something else that suits his fancy. Usually likes a little snack, too.

Happy Birthday, Aaron

A precious baby- 2 years ago

An adorable little guy last year at Christmas time

And the sweet little punkin the day before his birthday playing in the yard. You are our sunshine, tiny tender!