Poodle Puppies Three Weeks Old




Brother and sister meeting eye to eye...




One minute before the little girl flipped herself out of the whelping box (to the padded bed I leave on the outside). Time for another board in the slot.

My Own Little Shop...A dream come true!



Once upon a time there was a little girl whose Dad and Grandpa owned a hardware store in Hollydale, California. She loved spending time in the store, touching the tools so shiny and strong, smelling the comfortingly familiar blend of steel, wood, and paint. The little girl helped Grandma dust and put things where they went. She ran her small fingers over the curved edge of the hammer, the teak wood salad bowls, and the myriad of pipe fittings. "This stuff is important" she thought. "It is real." She worked in the hardware store as a teen and young adult, never losing respect for the power, the security, the utility of the items in the family store. The girl loved to weigh out the nails and screws into brown paper bags. And the mathematical magic of mixing paint never grew old. She dreamed of having a shop of her own one day. She wanted to put these treasures to work!
Sometime last winter Mark, with some help from Matthew, built a wall between the living area and the kitchen of the Grace-House. He hung the door perfectly and put together work-tables with storage underneath. THE SHOP was born.
The girl (I mean me, the 59 year old middle-aged woman) painted the walls and added trim, hung pegboard and arranged her tools in a way that made sense to her. It is so wonderful to have at my fingertips tools I knew I had somewhere, but could never find because they were scattered among sheds, vehicles, and the house.




This is the other side of the wall, which shapes a completely functional kitchen (see the fridge on the right and the table on the left?). In the center is the "Craft Cupboard" which Jesse helped me build when he was out last week. Just today I organized beautiful wools and cotton threads that were purchased 25-33 years ago and are in perfect condition. I so look forward to weaving again, probably more when I retire. But to have everything in its' place is a long step toward that reality. 




This is the other side of the kitchen (stove on the left). The bedroom is currently full of "yard-sale" stuff from all of my cleaning out, but soon the Grace-House will accommodate guests again with a lovely bedroom/bath and kitchen...and an added feature of a shop sandwiched in between.




These are the cupboards that Jesse and I built in the shop last week. On the right, the paints and sundries are filling the shelves! When I gathered everything up for that area I was amazed to find that I had at least seven paint rollers. 'Guess it was time to put it all together!
On the left is the cupboard where I will organize my collection (okay, it's true I can't pass up a can of nails at a yard-sale) of fasteners and other hardware. I can't over express the joy of walking right over to locate that hinge or nail or screw when it is needed.




Ahhhhhh!




This morning I wanted to repair a rocking chair that I got for Canyon when he was a baby. It was a weathered oak rocker built in 1905 that I refurbished with lots of love. During some horse-play a few months ago, one of the rockers snapped completely off! What a pleasure it was to have everything at my fingertips to glue and strap-clamp the leg dowel-ends into the rocker, drill holes deep into the legs, set long screws as support rods, and make a putty from the sawdust of the chair and some wood glue to cover the screw heads.




A little red paint and it's as good as new. Or old. it's good.

I might add that the inspiration for finally getting this shop going was the desire to make picture frames from some of the wood from "the old house" where my children were born. I gave these as gifts to the kids for Christmas last year....one with a photograph of the old house as it was when we lived in it..and one with a picture of the three of them. Yes, I am somewhat sentimental.




And when I just want to plan out the next project, contemplate the essence, or take a break, I sit in the "Queen and King" chairs who had their humble beginning in Grandma and Grandpa's house so many years ago. Perhaps this will be their final resting place...unless I decide to refurbish them in my shop....A Dream Come True.
The end.

Golden Cherry Baby Duckling

 

 

It's garlic time!!!!

I love garlic harvest time! It was so fun to have Jesse Here to help me with the digging and cleaning. We did this last Monday.

 I keep the garlic in a dry, warm, shady place to dry for a few days. I am careful not to let the bulbs touch each other at first...to avoid the dreaded  turquoise fungus!

 

 

By Thursday evening the garlic was ready to braid. I sat out in the cooling air and wove about 15 braids from 150 bulbs. My favorite part is bringing it all into the house and hanging the braids in the kitchen where they will add flavor and nutrition to my culinary efforts throughout the year.

I'll send a braid to each of my kids soon.

Yummm!!!

A Rare Treat!

Apricots! Sweet and beautiful. I like them best picked warm and popped right into my mouth.

Poodle Puppies Two Weeks Old

Except for the fact that they each weigh more than a pound now, these little babies don't look a whole lot different from last week. Their eyes are still closed (except for maybe the tiniest slit) and they spend 90% of their day sleeping (and the other 10% nursing). Mocha is such a devoted Mama although she will leave them for short bits of time now. They crawl around in their whelping box a bit more and make a few more squeaks. I am wondering ifthey were born a bit early and have been playing catch-up. I love to stroke their soft shiny hair and hold them for a couple minutes here and there. I'll bet the three week picture will show some developmental changes! Stay tuned....

A Grandma's Delight

When he was just four years old, my oldest grandson, Jesse, started coming to Gram's house for a visit every summer. We spent many happy hours going on adventures, swimming, playing games and simply enjoying each other's company. For the past few years, Jesse was wholly immersed in the activities of adolescence and did not make it out to my house for his summer stay. Now nineteen years old, Jesse spent this Sunday-Thursday with me and I was thrilled. We worked hard, ate heartily, and had great conversations for four fabulous days! I'm a happy Grandma!

Jesse helped me dig up and clean the garlic on Monday. I'll probably get it braided this evening.






                                                                                   

              Over the next few days we worked on storage shelves in my Grace-house shop and kitchen. It was so much fun measuring, cutting and assembling the shelves (I am determined these will further help me organize my life...and eliminate what I don't need!). Jess and I thought that each unit was better than the one before. Our experience paid off! On the left is the "fastener" cupboard where I will store the nails, screws, and myriad collection of hardware. I love them almost as much

as my tools themselves. Growing up in my dad and Grandpa's hardware store is wired into who I am!

On the right is the "paint and sundries" cupboard which is already housing the many buckets and cans of color I count on when I am finishing or freshening up a project. And all the things I need to make it happen. Jesse and I both agreed that my "craft supplies" cupboard (below) in the Grace-house kitchen turned out the best.

This week was a Grandma's delight is so many ways. I am reminded what a lucky Gram I am!

Mocha's Babies One Week Old

This picture was taken when Mocha's puppies were one week old (June 7th, 2012). They dutifully doubled their birth weights by this age. The brown female actually did a bit better than that; she is an avid eater! Toryn (her male , another miniature poodle, is the daddy) will take her pick of the two, and I will sell the other after careful screening for a good home. We decided to let them keep their tails. "Docking" is becoming more controversial all the time and is actually banned in many developed countries, where the practice was deemed cruel and unnecessary (Canada, Australia, England, Netherlands, etc.). These sweet babies still look somewhat like fattened sausages that twitch once in awhile. I can't wait for their eyes to open and their legs to hold them up!

So sweet....

It's a cherry year! So sweet. I find myself going out frequently to the rapidly ripening fruit and admiring the ruby red jewels dangling from their spurs. I pop a few into my mouth testing for  that perfect blend of sweet nectar with true tart cherry flavor. The real thing.

And I'm not the only one sampling the juicy treats. Despite my netting (which requires a ridiculous amount of effort on my part), an average of one bird a day finds the tiniest opening in. I then create a large escape hole which for some reason takes the feathered friend quite a bit longer to locate (or perhaps the bird is simply lingering to get a few more cherries down before flying off).

Stocking up....! The first batch of cherries to preserve for the next year (or often two or three). Five and a half pounds of cherries from the Stella tree (just a drop in the bucket) pitted one at a time, produce 3 quarts of cherries to pop in the freezer. These are great for tarts and pies of course, but my personal favorite is to blend them with with other garden treasures in a cool refreshing smoothie.

Mocha's babies on 6-1-12, one day old.

 

A New Effort

I'm going to make an effort at blogging again. I really like the idea of sharing photos and news and just sort of documenting parts of my day. If I can hang in there with learning the how-to details, I'll be fine! Here goes with post #1. Since I'm callong my blog Mandala Gardens in honor of the designed beauty I am surrounded by, I'll attach this yummy and colorful bowl of greens from my garden- a daily delight this time of year.