Lovely Calming Lavender...

Have you ever created a lavender wand?  Simply made with long stems of lavender buds and ribbon.  This one in the photo was made by my French friend (no blog) Catherine.  I learned how to make them several years ago when I visited Cache Creek Lavender Farm to harvest lavender for drying.  They had a workshop on how to make the wands and I was thrilled to learn.   Many years ago a wonderful elderly lady gave me a wand that she had made many years before.  Although it was very dry and brittle it still had that wonderful lavender aroma when you placed it between your hands and gently rolled it back and forth to release the calming scent.  I was quite intrigued with her gift to me. 

This year I was visiting my French friend Catherine and she generously went out to her lavender garden and snipped some long stems of lavender for me.  Then she proceeded to teach me how to make this lovely lavender basket with ribbon.  I am smitten with this and thrilled beyond words to know how to make these.  I actually made this one while Catherine made a separate one.  Her basket handle was much better than mine as it was more rounded on top.  I am pleased with this one being my very first attempt at a lavender basket.  Next year when the lavender is in season I shall be wanting to visit a lavender farm and harvest lots to make these gems.  They make wonderful gifts and last for a very long time.  I still have sachets I made and filled years ago that are in my closet amongst my clothes.  I believe they also retard pests from eating cloth which is a nice bonus. 
What have you created with lavender stems and/or buds? 
Our weather has been glorious the last several days.  Very cool and beautiful blue skies.  We did actually have 5 minutes of rain one evening.  I was literally outside thanking the heavens and praying it would continue.  They were the largest rain drops I had ever seen.  I am grateful for any rain even if it was only 5 minutes of moisture.  It is supposed to once again turn very warm this week.  I have begun my annual Whooly Thyme trimming on my flagstone seating area at the pond.  It will take me many hours and many days to complete this task.  I have to get on my hands and knees to find the flagstones and cut the Whooly Trim.  I use my orange handled Fiskars scissors as they work the very best for me.  I do love our pond and seating area.  Every year I share photos.  Maybe when I finish I will post another photo. 
My High on Life July tag line is working well for me.  Each and every day I am finding a solid reason why I choose this to focus on this month.  I prefer to be happy and have a positive attitude rather than get down with all the drama that can surround us in this daily life.  Creative Bliss and High on Life July my friends...

Sewing and Beading...

My little dress sewing is done for now.  Not by choice but by necessity.  I was sewing along and BOOM!  My machine had a metal on metal wreck and is now in for service.  I was able to sew four dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World.  Hopefully I was also able to introduce others to this wonderful charity project and they will contribute.  My daughter actually bought this little fabric for me years ago and it was just the perfect adorable addition to sewing a dress.

This is one of the four dresses I sewed.  I had fun putting pockets and ties together.  Thinking of the girl who might wear this dress and hoping it brings a big smile to her face along with lots of love into her heart. 

I also did a tiny bit of beading.  A friend had a very small childhood necklace that she thought would be fun to wear from time to time however it needed to be restrung and lengthened.  I selected some very small silver beads to add to the tiny little faux pearls and hopefully she will like it as much as I do.  It can always be put back together as it was when she wore it as a little girl. 
Now it is time for me to sort and purge my office desk.  Not something I look forward to doing but it is necessary.  I don't know why I save every little scrap of paper and paper clip and...and...and!
I hope you are enjoying your Summer/Winter and Creating what You Love.  High on Life July...

Mr. C's Roses...

 
When I met my wonderful husband to be we each were well into the halfway point of our lives.  We became friends and fell in love with one another.  We made certain by dating for ten years.  Then we decided it was time to actually marry and make our future together...as "do-overs".  We have just celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary and couldn't be happier together. 

Mr. C never had time for plants or flowers until I came along.  I don't have my Grandma's green thumbs but I do appreciate beautiful plants.  Thankfully Mr. C has come to not only appreciate them but to also grow them.  He is partial to roses.  The deer ate all our roses when we first planted them so after lots of struggles with every deer repellent method known to mankind, Mr. C installed a black deer fence for the backyard.  Now he has his beloved roses.

This particular bush is a David Austen brand from Texas.  I cannot remember the "proper" name so we merely call it our Yellow Rose of Texas.  The blooms are spectacular.  Not much fragrance but so lovely to look at. 

On many days our home is filled with roses right from Mr. C's garden. We feel very blessed.  When we dated we always gave one another one red rose and one white rose.  Of course we had to buy them from the florist back then.  Why one red rose and one white rose?  Red for Passion and White for Truth.  That is how we continue to honor our "do-over" marriage.  Communication is the key to any relationship and we feel it is the most important element of happiness and longevity.  Happy Anniversary Mr. C.
Thankfully no crazy fireworks to light dry tinder here in our little piece of paradise.  I do appreciate all of your prayers for rain and I am not giving up on Mother Nature.  She will eventually bless us with water.  For now we conserve and try to keep us safe with clearing dry brown weeds.  I spent Saturday filling three large trash bags for collection.  It remains hot here but I prefer the heat to freezing cold temperatures.  Mr. C marched in a huge parade in Danville California.  The Devil Mountain Brigade has marched in this parade for something like 42 years and the crowds prove how much they appreciate this group. 
This year I am selecting a word each month.  Something that speaks to me as I progress along my journey.  June it was JOY.  And I truly did find JOY in each and every day.  Now for July it would be easy to once again select JOY however I am challenging myself to more positive experiences.  Therefore July it shall be "High on Life July".  I am going to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative as the song so appropriately said long ago.  When I get frustrated or overwhelmed it is easy for me to become negative and that is not where I want to be.  Positive and Happy is my place of preference.  So with that said, July and I are "High on Life".  Creative Bliss for all...

Coastal Road Trip...

Three days, Seven hundred Fifty plus miles later and this is what we did and saw.  Fair Warning: Photo heavy post.  Our West Coast Lotus club and an interloper 1964 Corvette went on a whirlwind weekend trip.  We made it three days however some had to do it in two days.  Can you read...EXHAUSTING?!!!  This is the famous Monterey Wharf and yes the weather was this beautiful. 

Lots of water in the bay and assorted boats parked in the marina. 

Our small private group of two Lotus Esprits and the Corvette are enjoying some excellent fresh fish at a lovely little restaurant on the wharf.  The salmon had just been caught earlier in the day. YUM!

Driving Highway 1 along the Coast to Big Sur.  It is amazing how we take for granted just how spectacular our country is.

We stopped to enjoy a bit of salt air and the most beautiful view.

This historic bridge is amazing and was at this same Vista Point stop.

No extra space for parking so we really packed the cars tightly together.  Mr. C's black Lotus with the Magnolia interior is the one we maneuvered next to the guard rail. 

Here is some of our group along side this very sporty Lotus Elise in the proper Colin Chapman British Racing Green with Yellow stripe.  Colin Chapman was the founder of Lotus Cars.

We have reached our destination for the Grand Tour of Hearst Castle.  It was a bit disappointing as our Governor Brown declared to close all the Visitor Center bathrooms and only have Port-a-Potties in honor of our drought.  The outdoor Hearst Castle pool was also drained and dry.  For the price of our admission to only see three rooms, out of 165 in the residence, I would think they could afford some water.

If you have never seen Hearst Castle it is spectacular.  Here is a link.

This is the "receiving" room where famous people would gather at the end of a day playing tennis or horse-back riding or swimming.

This is merely a glimpse of the most beautiful and amazing indoor pool I have ever seen.  For you architecture buffs this house was designed by Julia Morgan out of San Francisco. 

To end our trip we gathered for dinner at the Sow's Ear in downtown Cambria and enjoyed a wonderful evening of food, fun and laughter.  All in all our trip was far too fast and we feel like we missed so much.  Having time schedules and rushing is not the way to do this lovely Coastal trip.
Thankfully we arrived safely home.  Our Heat Wave continues with no rain in any forecast for our area.  Fires continue to be the news of every day and so far...we have been spared. 
I was able to sew two dresses and will share them soon.  While at dinner and telling my friends about Dress a Girl Around the World the lady and daughter at the next table told me they are just finishing their batch of 3000 dresses.  I was gob-smacked to say the least.  Upon more chatting it turns out she and her daughter and their church make all these dresses.  WoW!!!  She inspired me to keep sewing.
Blessings and thank you for your friendship.  I adore this blogging community we share. 
As June comes to a close I can honestly say I did find my JOY in each and every day...sometimes it was a little search but it was always there.  Now I shall see what July holds in store for me and what word might inspire me.  I am liking a monthly word as opposed to an annual word.  Life is ever-changing and I want to be flexible and tolerant.  Creative Bliss is my forever that I follow...

Protective Terry Pockets...

My daughter has a new adventure in her business medley.  Here is her link to Creative Resource Solutions.   She has invested a large sum of money and she needed a solution to taking care of the expensive equipment.  So...along comes mom.  I decided along with her input that she needed some terry cloth pockets for protection of some of the parts.  Lets see what I have come up with.  I began with thick plush spa white hand towels.  Then I added some stitching lines and Velcro. 

Here I am sewing this towel with Velcro tabs for pocket closures.  I wasn't a fan of the Velcro and terry cloth as they didn't get along very well.  The Velcro loops kept attaching to the terry loops.

Here is my creation.  I folded the towel from each end to almost the center.  Now I have double pockets on each end of the towel. 

Here are the laser panels that need protection.  I slid them into the pockets on one end and the Velcro will hold everything safely inside the protective pockets. 

This is the very heavy base unit which I did not make anything for as it has its own sturdy handle for carrying.  Here is her link for this Renua Nlazer adventure she is now representing.  And I am very proud of her for passing all of the training and testing.

Here is the terry protective pockets with the laser panels on one end and the cording in another pocket on the other end.  One towel will hold two panels and cord units.  She has eight panels and therefore I created four double towel protective pocket sets. 

Here is her canvas bag that she will carry all the parts and things needed to go along with the base unit.  I will say the unit and the bag are both quite heavy so she will be getting her daily arm workouts just carrying these.

Here is the bag with all four pocket sets fully filled and ready for business.  I am happy to say my daughter was very pleased with my terry towel protective pockets solution.  Now let me cheer her on to a successful business venture.  I am so glad I was able to help her out in my own way.  Now if I lived closer to her I could let her give me the Nlaser treatments and see and feel results just like she has found to happen on herself.  However her high school girlfriend has volunteered to be her tester and testimonial.  You go girls...
Summer is here and in full bloom.  The heat is wonderful.  Maybe just a little less hot would be good.  Still waiting for much needed moisture. The Air Tankers are flying far too often and working way too many fires.  Thankfully none are terribly close to us...at this time.  My prayers are constant for a safe and fire-free year. 
I am spending time indoors sorting and organizing during the hottest part of each day.  My donation piles are growing and I am finding clear space in my closets.  This is something I really need to do but never enjoy.  I like donating but I do not like missing my clothes when I go to wear them, can't find them and then remember I gave them away. 
Summer Sunshine Smiles to all my favorite friends on this hemisphere...and...Winter Creative Bliss to all my favorite friends on the opposite hemisphere.  I adore each of you and I look forward to reading your comments you take your precious time to leave me.  Thank You...