More squirrel antics...and a finished scarf!

Our little Moorpark "monkey" a.k.a. Squirrel figured out how to jump into the free hanging bird feeder!!! So funny!!!
When I snapped his picture above, he suddenly had this "uh oh, I'm caught" expression, and you should have seen him jump onto the patio below! He then scaled the stucco wall up to the roof of the house!!
Here is the finished scarf...pattern is one of the little "recipe" cards from The Little Box of Scarves, and I used Laines du Nord's Kiddy Print mohair and Eros ribbon yarns and I think it turned out so pretty!
The lace was simple yet delicate to knit with a very simple repeat for the entire scarf.
I'm glad that it got long enough so I could finished the scarf and enjoy it...and perhaps go and knit something else!

Moorpark Squirrels

Squirrels are something new to us in the suburbs of Moorpark...I'm sure there are plenty of them in the more rural areas, but in our housing track, it's something new. Sure, we'd see an occasional squirrel, but now we're seeing them in pairs playing on our backyard wall.
Makes for something very entertaining for me and the Maggi beagle dog...
When Maggi sees them, she goes tearing out after them with all her vim and vigor! So funny!! You wouldn't guess that Maggi is 9 years old running after these critters!
They just run away or sashay their tails at her! But the dog sure isn't bored!! And I have fun watching too...

Mom and Dad's birthdays...

We celebrated both my parents' birthdays since Dad's birthday is June 14 while my mom's is June 20...we try to pick a date somewhere in the middle. Mom received a wallet size of the Family portrait as well as a nice size picture of Will.
Dad is enjoying his Lena Horne cd set...he has the album, but this way, he can listen when he drives.
My sons, Will and Peter enjoying the festivities...we later went out to dinner at a yummy Greek restaurant.
For both their birthdays, we gifted them with the family portrait. It was finished just in time! I was thrilled to find a handsome frame at Michaels that fit right in with my parents' decor.

We had a wonderful celebration...sorry that my husband Frank and daughter Kara couldn't be there but they are coming home soon for the 4th of July weekend.

Ice Cream and Seals...

We had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend together in Monterey where we did a vast amount of walking and visited the piers and coastline. And probably every ice cream shop along the way!

We also were amused by the number of seals that were enjoying the sunshine. Some were sleeping at the boat ramp and sunning themselves.
Frank thought this was a cute boat house...it did have some cute lace curtains in the window...
We saw this seal posing for the cameras...really funny!
And this one just chilling on this rock with his belly in the air. He let out an "AR!" when the tide rose and covered him with water!
So back home again with memories of seals!! We also had a yummy bowl of clam chowder at one of the restaurants at the pier and did lots of walking. I even got to visit the Monarch yarn store in Pacific Grove and bought a very soft hank of silky mohair yarn!

Blackie's By the Sea

The years fly by, yet whenever I have a reunion of sorts with the pals I used to work with at Disneyland, it's as though no time has gone by...well, maybe not with the emotions...obviously, we have changed by way of having been married, had children or any of the other life changes.
But the sense of "family" and sense of humor and the fun times we've had will never change...
Such great old and new memories!!!
And reconnecting with people we so enjoyed in the past...revisited again!
I love seeing these happy faces...such a soft spot in my heart and a renewed appreciation for once working for the happiest place on earth!

Quaker Hornbook Finished!

I did the finishing work today for the With My Needle's Quaker Hornbook. Above you see that I had already carefully pressed my stitched piece with a hot dry iron using a tea towel inbetween to protect the hand dyed threads.
Here you see all my tools and supplies assembled. To the right is a small piece of Warm & Natural batting, while to the left is acid free self sticking mat board that's 1/16th of an inch thick.
I pinned the corners of the stitched design to block it a bit.
Here's the "craft size" of the Warm & Natural...only needed a little bit!
Here I adhered the batting to the self sticking mat board...got away without using glue here!
With my cord maker, I created a handmade cord from the same hand dyed thread that I stitched with...Cresent Colours Tartan Plaid...love the blues!
I had in my stash this wonderfully strong quilting thread by YLI which was the same color as my fabric Lakeside linen's Vintage Examplar.
Here I'm lacing the stitched piece to the batted mat board. I made sure that it was taunt and straight.

Here it is ready to be glued to the wooden hornbook which is made of maple...I had a hard time deciding which side to put it on since both sides had such character with knots in the wood. I almost hated to glue anything to it!
All glued on with cording delicately attached around the edges...gently tucked in the ends with a sharp wooden skewer...sure came in handy!
I love how it all turned out!! So glad I didn't put off the finishing like I usually do so that I can enjoy the hornbook! Finishing instructions were very detailed...reminded myself "Just do what it says!"
I added a thin leather strap and it looks so nice!!! You think someone will find it in an antique shop someday??

Mother's Day Weekend...

We had a very busy Mother's Day weekend...always great to see our children happy, and, boy, was Kara ever happy with her new car! It was ready for pick up, so on the way to my parents, we stop off at the Pacific VW dealership and Kara got her Jetta Sportswagon TDI...beautiful, safe vehicle!


Our salesperson, Nancy, was a joy to work with and took Kara under her wing showing her all the features and buttons of the new Jetta...wow, what a music system in the car, including an iPod hook in! The car even tells how many miles you have left in your gas tank...
What a happy girl!! And she had plenty to be happy about with this beautiful car!!
Off to show off the car at Opa and Oma's!! Everyone sure admired the car!
Peter was fascinated by the dashboard options concerning the iPod...

After all the excitement, it was time to celebrate a bit of Mother's Day! Mom got some yummy chocolates, a bunny statue for her garden, and an etui that was purchase on Etsy...


Quite a nice haul which made my mom very happy! We also took my parents out to dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant that they've been going to for over 40 years!!

Actual Mother's Day is a bit quiet as everyone went their separate ways...Kara and Frank back up north...poor Frank lost his driver! Peter studying and spending the last couple weeks in his dorm...Will working at Costco...so it's just me and the dog!! We'll be going for a walk soon...as I think about what a nice Mother's day this has been with a very happy girl in her new car...