Yarnover Truck / Girls Day Out

Yesterday was a girls day out for my friend Judy and I.

We found out that the Yarnover Truck was going to be

in our area and planned a whole day around it.  

Our adventure started out with a 45 minute drive to Escondido and little antique shopping.

Judy got a great little antique table with a bowl/box top.  It's really cute!  

I think it could work great as a knit or crochet project holder next to her favorite stitch spot/chair.

You can see it in her blog post HERE.

Our next stop was lunch.  We found a BBQ restaurant and enjoyed yummy food and chat time.

Then...we were off to visit the Yarnover Truck!

If you haven't heard of it yet, it's a yarn shop on wheels that just opened this year.

They travel all around Southern California and provide yarn shopping fun at various places and events.

They were at two wineries this weekend, Orfila in Escondido on Saturday

and Oak Mountain Winery in Temecula on Sunday.  We went to Orfila Winery.

Here it is...The Yarn Over Truck!...

There were two tables set up outside for Baah Yarn and Ewe Ewe Yarn.

The colors were amazing!  So vibrant and gorgeous!

The truck itself is small and only accommodates a few people at a time.

There was a short line for waiting to go in.  It didn't take long and it was worth the wait.

The side walls of the truck are lined with shelves that are very organized and filled

with beautiful yarn.  Knitted and crocheted items are on display near the yarn 

each one is made from.  And, each one has a tag telling the pattern name, the yarn used, 

and how many skeins are needed for that project.  I love that!

I fell in love with a lacy crochet shawl.  It's very different from the ones I've been making

and exactly what I've been searching for.  It required two skeins of "Spud & Chloe" fine 

sock yarn.  I had no trouble deciding on a color.  My eyes went straight to this beautiful

pale turquoise...a color I've been wanting to make a shawl with.  In fact, I don't

even remember what other colors were available.  This color was it! 

It's superwash Merino and silk.  It's so soft and pretty!

There was a little check stand in the front of the truck to purchase yarn.

They even wrote the pattern name down for me so I can purchase it on Ravelry.

Judy bought a skein of yarn that was dyed specifically for the Yarn Over Truck.

It's called "Keep on Truckin'".  It's blue and teal and beautiful.

You can see it on her blog post.

The weather was spectacular yesterday and so was the scenery.

A perfect day and place to kick back, relax, and enjoy!

The winery was small and really nice.

I'd definitely like to go back there again someday.

We walked around and enjoyed the views and took a few pictures.

We had fun looking at the nearby houses and picking out our favorites.

Some of them were huge!

After the winery and yarn truck, we decided to head to the beach town of Encinitas.

It was only about 20 minutes away.  We visited two yarn shops that Judy had never been to, 

Common Threads and Black Sheep.  After walking through town, we took a walk on the 

beach and gathered some rocks to decorate with crochet...like the one in my "Rockin'" post.

We headed back home around six and the hour drive gave us more chat time.

What a fun day!  And, now we have more yarn and rocks to create with!

Rockin'

Blog land is such an inspiring place.

One of the blogs that has been inspiring me is, "T's Daily Treasures".

Her crochet covered rocks always catch my eye.

I've been admiring them for a while and couldn't resist any longer...I had to make one!

I made sure to pick up a rock when I was at the beach last weekend.  

Yesterday, I pulled some red crochet cotton from my stash and a size 6 crochet hook.

I found a pattern on Ravelry for "Lacy River Rocks".  It had three different options

and the directions were very clear and simple.  I made option three.

The pattern leaves a big hole in the back but I wanted mine to completely surround the rock.

A little improvising did the trick.  I wrapped the front and side section

 around the rock and crocheted it closed in the back.

My daughter thinks this is a bit silly and I understand...that crossed my mind too.

But, there's something about them that just drew me in and I had to try it.

Now, I'm addicted!  This was so much fun to make and I love how it looks.

I can't wait to make another one.  I have a feeling a trip to the beach is in my near future!

I like to think of it as natural, earth friendly art.  It's just cotton and a rock. 

So, there's nothing to harm the earth.  It can be used for decoration or as a paper weight.

And, it's fun and allows for creativity as no two are alike and I can do some improvising on each one.

Summer Splendor

My Summer Splendor doily is done!

I crocheted it with a size "H" hook and about 1.25 skeins / 800+ yards of Handicrafter Cotton.

I enlarged it a bit by repeating rounds 18-22 several more times and using some treble crochets

and improvisation on the final rows.  It helped.  However, if I were to make it again,

I'd start enlarging it earlier on in the project to make the larger size I wanted.  

The warm temps this week are perfect for blocking.  I blocked it outside so it would dry quickly.  

Our round patio table helped me to keep it even as I stretched it out to the size I wanted.  However,
I had no way of fastening it down to the table and it dried to a smaller size.  I had wanted it to be big enough to reach the edges of our kitchen table.  Oh well.  I love it anyway.

It looks great over our solid red table cloth.

I've been wanting to make a chunky, cotton, lacy doily for our table for a while now.

I can't believe it's moved from my imagination to my table!

Bloomers

Just thought I'd share photos of some of the pretty flowers blooming in my yard right now...

We just planted two Clematis a few weeks ago.  

They seem to be very happy and are blooming and growing like crazy.

I love the purply color!

These Amaryllis haven't bloomed in years.  I'm so happy to see them again!

The bulbs belonged to my grandmother who passed away when I was about 10.

So, these flowers are extra special to me.

Our Butterfly Iris is on it's second big bloom this year.

They're so pretty looking across the yard at them from my kitchen window.

And, the details up close are even prettier.

Have a beautiful day!

Beauty Beyond Words

Yesterday morning, my daughter finished her last final exam and her first year

at the university.  I drove over and picked her up after she was finished. 

We planned to spend the day together to celebrate.

The weather was gorgeous.  Especially, near the coast.

It was sunny and warm with a perfect breeze and just the right amount of moisture in the air.

We decided to visit a nursery I've heard about for decades but never gone to...Roger's Gardens.

I expected it to be nice but that would be a HUGE understatement.

This place was a FEAST for the eyes.  There was beauty beyond words everywhere we looked.

I wasn't sure if it was ok to take photos but I couldn't resist.  If I'd only had my camera!

Thank goodness for the camera in my phone!

I think the Hydrangea area was my favorite.

They were grouped by color and soooo beautiful...

Gasp!

My daughter was lost in the beauty as well.

She was just as busy clicking away with her camera phone.

These purply/pink/green ones were her favorite.

I have no idea what these are.  I had so many plant names floating around

in my head by the time I saw them that I didn't even bother to look at the tags.

They look like tissue paper flowers.  So pretty!

Their hanging baskets were the prettiest I've ever seen!

They had lots of flowers, roses, garden plants, herbs, tropical plants and so much more.

 The succulent area was wonderful too.  I love how they surrounded this little potted tree with pretty

succulents and that the pot has holes around the side that they're peeking out of as well.  So cute!

I think this table/bench filled with succulents is wonderful too...

They had many wonderful indoor areas to shop in.

There were seeds, tools, planters and pots, fountains, garden furniture, and supplies you'd expect.

They also had decorator items, shells, Christmas decorations, fairy garden supplies and much more.

I like these paper flowers that were displayed in one of the buildings...

Some of them were displayed on branches high on the wall.

I'm not sure if the branches were metal or wood but I sure love the idea and the look.

I liked these chains with rocks and glass.

I think they're for rain water to come down to prevent splashing.

We don't get a whole lot of rain where I live but I think they'd be pretty as decorations.

Here are some that were made with smooth stones.

I think I like them even better.

There was a planter near the center of the nursery that had a big tree surrounded with
Baby Tears plants, flowers, and a big bunch of glass mushrooms and worms.

So colorful and cute!

This is just a small sample of the wonderful things to look at, enjoy, and buy

at Roger's Gardens.  I could probably spend a whole day there.  It's wonderful and such a

feast for the eyes.  I can't believe it took me so long to go there.  I'll definitely go back.

They had lots of plants I wanted to buy.  But, we had plans for the day and I knew 

the plants wouldn't be happy waiting around in a hot car all day.

My daughter and I had a wonderful day together.  We shopped, had lunch, relaxed in the jacuzzi,

and she cooked dinner for me.  She'll be coming home this week for the summer.

We're making plans for more fun day trips, crafty goals, and enjoying time together.

I'm so excited!  And, she's really looking forward to a break from her very intense school year.

More Fun Finds

I have some fun finds I'd love to share...

I recently saw a blog post about the 100th anniversary of Ball canning jars.

Turns out they're making some limited edition blue jars to celebrate.

I love canning jars and started collecting them when I was in my 20's.

So, this was exciting news.  I quickly went to the Ball website and found them.

However, the cost of shipping is about the same as the price of the set of jars.

I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much on jars that I don't really need.

I'm glad I waited because I found them today in my local Target store.

What a surprise!  Yay!  I now have the set of jars and didn't have to pay shipping.

They're pint size so they aren't very big.  But, isn't the blue color pretty?

I think it would be great if they'd make them in various sizes and sell them on a regular basis.

And, even better, I think it would be awesome if they made them in green, yellow, pink

and maybe some other colors too.  Wouldn't they be great? 

I could really use some small side tables and I've been searching for some at good prices. 

Last week, I popped into one of my favorite little antique shops and found a little side table

for only $28!  It was freshly painted with Annie Sloan paint and waxed.

It's cute, sturdy and the neutral color should work great in any room.

One down...still looking for more.  

A while ago, I remembered a beautiful metal tray my mom used have and asked her about it.

She recently found it and gave it to me.  It turns out that it was one of their wedding gifts.

That makes it even more special.  I didn't measure it but it looks like it's about 16"x20"

I found this wonderful Santo a couple of years ago...

 After I brought her home, I thought it would be nice to find something tall to set her on.

I thought an antique plant stand would be nice.  I began my search and eventually found

a black, wood stand that I thought would work perfectly.  And, it was less than $20.

I moved it out of the normal place to get a full photo of it.

Here's the base.  I love the chipped paint and worn, old look of it.

I'm not sure what it was originally but it's perfect to hold my Santo.

Now, to find the perfect places in my home to display my new treasures!  :-)

Floral Friday - Mandala

There's a blog I've been following for a while called, "Girl Unwinding".

She has lots of creative and wonderful posts.  Some of my favorites are called, "Mandala Monday".

She creates beautiful, simple, organic pieces of art with flowers and plant material.

I've been thinking of trying it for a while.

Creating one seems like a peaceful, meditative and wonderful way to start the day.

I finally gave it a try this morning after an early morning walk with my dog.

The morning was cool, sunny and beautiful.  I tried not to plan ahead.

Instead, I went into my backyard and gathered materials 

for one ring at a time and just started creating.

Here's my Mandala...

 I didn't allow myself to try for perfection.

That would have taken away from the peacefulness of it.

I did, however, wonder about the meaning of it and if there was a

certain number of rings or something that was traditional to the design.

I looked it up after my first Mandala and found out that they generally 

have a square in the middle that is surrounded by circles. 

The meanings and uses for them are quite varied.

I thought it would be fun to rearrange my findings and create another one.

And, another.  By the third one, I was enjoying the process even more.

I definitely want to do this again sometime.

Thank you to the creator of "Girl Unwinding" for the inspiration.

Peace.