Under a Blue Moon

Saturday Drive

One of my readers told me I was slacking off on my posting. Okay I’m married to him and he didn’t really use the word slacking but obviously I’ve neglected this blog.

No good reason –

Yesterday the disgruntled reader and I took a drive up to La Grange to visit his mother and her new husband, Richard. They were spending the weekend up at their cabin on his acreage. He owns 1000 acres between Lake Don Pedro and McClure Lake. The property consists of rolling hills, oak trees, babbling creeks and views for miles. There is even a spot where you can see both lakes.

Patricia, my mother in law, is probably the most elegant woman I know. She is an artist and decorator and can truly turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse. When Rick was growing up it was just him, his sister and his mother. Even when money was scarce you couldn’t tell by looking. No money for a Christmas tree? No matter – she just cut some branches from a shrub and arranged them on the wall in the shape of tree and decorated that.

When Rick and I were first dating Patricia was working at a wallpaper store. She said they were looking for additional help so I started working with her. It was probably the most fun I have ever had at a job. Patricia is elegant but she also has a wicked sense of humor and fun. After hours we would change the music piping into the store and I can still see Patricia sweeping the floors singing Devo’s "Whip It" in her Ferragamo pumps.

There came a decree from the corporate offices that all employees had to wear a bright orange apron while working. This just did not go with Patricia’s fashion sensibilities and she refused. The manager really didn’t care one way or the other but the district manager insisted. Patricia refused. Firing was threatened. Patricia finally acquiesced and went into the break room to put on her orange apron. She came out with it carefully fashioned into a turban on her head. She spent the day waiting on customers so attired.

They never said HOW it had to be worn.

The cabin is a rustic little affair – one bedroom, a kitchen cobbled together from cast off cabinets and appliances. When Patricia first started going up there it was all bare wood and floors. Now it is painted her signature rosy cream, with oriental carpets and there is a crystal chandelier hanging in the sunroom.

Seriously – just because you are practically camping it doesn’t mean you have to do without elegant lighting.

Patricia and Richard are going to build a proper house on the property and they picked a lovely site. Views of the lake from one direction and views of the vineyards they are getting ready to plant from another. You can just make out the vineyard spot in the picture below. It’s the cleared out rectangle right in the very middle of the picture.

You would have to have such spectacular views to compete with the house Patricia is designing.

I finished something…almost

Okay so technically I’m not done with this project because I still have to turn it into a tea cozy but I DID get the embroidery done. Thanks mostly to Primrose Design and Princess Nimble-Thimble – both have on-line tutorials. I can’t tell you how often I had to go back and figure how to do a French knot again.

I think if I was to do this over again I would have just done a daisy chain stitch for the flower petals. But since my transfer pencil wasn’t cooperating I filled in the design on the transfer so I could see it on the fabric. So I was kind of committed at that point.

The backside of this is a hot mess but we won’t go there. I tried to not hop around with my thread too much but there are a few places where you can see the threads through the fabric.

Here’s a tip for you – keep your transfer close by so you can refer to it. There were a few places I stitched where I shouldn’t have. Then again a better transfer would have shown up better.

I think I might have to move the eyes on both the birds – they don’t look quite right to me. Then again, maybe I’ll just leave well enough alone.

Now I have to figure out how to make a tea cozy…

I think whatever tomfoolery was going on with my banner has sorted itself out. You should see bleeding hearts with the blog title. I wish the font was crisper looking – but that’s what you get with my rudimentary graphic skills.

Housekeeping

I didn’t mean to change my banner. I was fooling around with an image and when I went to add the blog name to it I realized that I had lost the font I like to use in the great hard drive crash of 2007.

So I thought I cancelled out of everything and when I looked at my blog I saw the old banner (with the roses and mirrored tray) but my sister casually mentioned she like the bleeding hearts. Silly Typepad. Or silly me – I’m not sure which.

So I scrambled around and by some stroke of good fortune found my font on a free fonts website. Whew. Well almost whew. I uploaded the NEW new banner and I can’t see that it took – now I see the banner without a title. What do you see?

The picture above is taken from the book "Leading The Artful Life." I need a corner like that in my life. One of the main reasons we went to Carmel Valley this weekend is because we would like to move there. So we were getting the lay of the land, so to speak. We aren’t sure if we will end up buying a house on a small lot that needs a little updating or buying property and building new – Whatever we end up doing I want sunny windows and built in bookcases.

Another little bit of housekeeping – I changed one of my links to the right – The lovely and talented Sara, of the Winemaker’s Wife is moving into a new direction and her new blog and enterprise is called The House of Charm. Check it out.

Edited to add: I have no idea what is going on with the banner. I’m throwing up my hands today. I have renamed the image file and uploaded it and it still shows the no title banner. Maybe it will sort itself out – if not I’ll deal with it tomorrow.

Carmel Valley

We had one of those perfect weekends. We spent the day in Carmel Valley and Carmel on Saturday. I had the new camera along – still uneasy with it but that didn’t stop me from taking a ton of pictures.

I was trying to make it look like we were travelling around the world and not just wandering around a garden decor shop. I love these doors. I would have them outside, leading to a secret garden room.

I just liked the peeling, crusty paint on this column. It looks like something from Neptune’s watery castle.

Zen golfball holders.

Nicole wanted to take this one home but you had to buy the entire set. For $600! Not so zen.

How is this for a view? You can see why we want to move here.

Cheeky little fellow. Well I certainly can understand – it’s my favorite restaurant too.

Perfect scones, perfect weekend

Rick and I are off on a little sojourn. We never get away together so we are really looking forward to it.

I leave you with this recipe for the perfect scone. The recipe comes from USA Weekend food columnist Pam Anderson (not be confused with the other Pam Anderson of some renown). The key step is to freeze your butter and then grate it into the flour mixture. Perfect scones, every time. I like mine with currants in it but it is also good with a little bit of almond extract and chopped dried cherries.

And cutting them into little heart shapes doesn’t hurt either. Picture above ~~stolen~~ courtesy of my Niece because I forgot my camera.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup raisins (or dried currants)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in raisins.
In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.
Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

You’re my best friend

There are friends that come and go in your lifetime – people you connect with because you share a common interest, job, situation – and they slip away. Not forgotten or any less liked – you just move on. Then there are friends that you have for a lifetime.

I am so blessed in that I have four beautiful, funny, smart, supportive friends that are absolutely stuck with me because they are my sisters. There is just a bond there – a collection of memories, dna, philosophies, recipes and, let’s face it – shared physical characteristics, that keeps up together. Even though we can get on each other’s last nerve. Shared worries, shared joys. We are stuck with each other and would have it no other way.

Blessed, indeed.

I also have a cousin – who actually came into our family by marriage about 20-some odd years ago but I’ve known her since I was three years old. We met her family in Argentina in the early 60’s and our families’ paths crossed a number of times until finally she just married my cousin and formally (and legally) became one of us. Claudia has sat with us, when my parents were in intensive care for one reason or another, and we just told the nurses – yes she was one of the sisters – she had just as much right as us to be there. She held our hands, calmed up, cheered us on. She is wickedly funny too. And beautiful like you would not believe. I really feel it was destined she would be part of our family. Another blessing.

And there are those that don’t have to stick with you just because you are related (and may have recriminating information about you…) but are just as treasured. My friend Rhonda – my best friend – who answers my questions before I even ask them, who I can call at 2:00am to ask ‘what was the name of the actor that played the second Steven Carrington in Dynasty" and won’t hang up on me, who knows how much I really weigh, and how many glasses of wine I really drink (and doesn’t hold it against me), who knows, just by looking at me, what kind of mood I am in. Another blessing.

This post was meant to be about postcards and I haven’t been able to work in a word about them.

The cards above were sent to me by my niece’s best friend, Becca. That’s where I was going. What is a best friend but someone that knows your AUNT loves vintage postcards and sends them to her. And not only that but finds (and BIDS) on one with her family name. Becca is Sara’s treasured, and lifelong friend. I would like to co-op her as my friend – she is brainy, funny, insightful and obviously has a generous spirit.

Anyhoo – I wonder if we are distantly related to these people:

Do you do that? Look for things you know will bring a little spark to someone else’s life? That is what a friend does.

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