Karen

I’m Getting Ahead Of Myself But I Gotta Show You This!

I want to tell you about my visit from Gaelyn from Geogypsy, and how we went to the gem and mineral show in Quartzsite, but I am just too excited about the stuff we Lynda and I have been making that I am jumping ahead to show you:

I love pink things, and this here necklace is pink. It is made with rose quartz and glass and crystal beads. It turned out really good, better than I thought it would.

(click on the pictures to see them better)

This one is made with Chinese turquoise nuggets. I like to take old things apart and use the parts in new pieces, so the chain used in this necklace came from a junkstore find. It looks really good, too.

A few years ago, my mother-in-love, Nana, gave me some lessons in wire wrapping, (Thank you, Nana!) but I have not done much of it until now. I made the bracelet below with the green beads, then Lynda made the one with the purple beads. Mine turned out pretty good, except that the beads I used were too big so it made the overall bracelet too big. We are going to a wire wrapping class next week to learn how to do some other things, and we can hardly wait to go!

I bought these 18mm turquoise beads at the show, because I had an idea for a necklace in my head (yeah, that happens too much). I spent today making all those little curly links for a chain, then Lynda showed me how to make jump links, which is a pretty handy thing to know. I have been making each one separate, which is a major pain in the arse! But look how easy it is here:

And here you can see a little bit of the chain and how the beads look with it. And I put that tape measure in there so you see how big the beads are. It is going to be awesome!

0 Shares

The Fab Spencer Is A Superboy!

Karen · 8 Comments

My FabGrandson, Spencer, asked for “a new real dog, not a toy” for Christmas. His Mommy, my daughter, Emily, told him that Santa sent her a note and told her where to go to find a good dog, because he couldn’t put a puppy in his sleigh. So, they went to the animal shelter in their town, and found a golden lab mixed puppy. They named her Sophie.

Sophie had contracted the parvo virus somewhere along the line, and was very sick the week after Christmas, and spent several days in a doggie hospital, but she survived, and is now back home. Sophie, the Superdog and her boy, Spencer. Aren’t they both just the cutest?

0 Shares

Sunset In The Desert

Karen · 4 Comments

0 Shares

A Drive To Wickenburg

Karen · 2 Comments

We had to drive over to Wickenburg the other day to pick up a prescription for FabGrandpa’s thyroid meds. It is about a 75 mile drive with some fantastic scenery along the way.

I loved this sign, out in the middle of nowhere, for a now defunct business:

In one of the tiny towns on the way, Aguila, Arizona, there was a flea market on the side of the road. We stopped to take a look. There was a produce vendor there with these great peppers:

Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. All the peppers on a plate, one dollar:

Habaneros

Dried chilis:

More dried chilis:

And MORE dried chilis:

No wonder that southwestern food is so hot!

0 Shares

A Pantry Challenge

Karen · 7 Comments

One of my blogger friends, Talina, from Harvest of Daily Life, posted a picture of her refrigerator, and issued a challenge to her readers of showing theirs, too. So, I accept the challenge and do it one better. I am showing you my refrigerator AND my pantry. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are:

My little freezer:

The refrigerator:

The OTHER refrigerator, you know, the one with beer, wine, and eggs:

My snack cabinet:

My spice rack(s): and the crockpot

Fabgrandpa’s snack cabinet:

The pantry:

So, now that I have shown you mine, show me yours, hahaha!

0 Shares

Budget Report Week 9 Cash Monday (OK, I’m A Little Late With This)

Karen · 6 Comments

When Monday arrived this week, we counted up and found that I still had $45.90 in my pocket, and FabGrandpa still had $30. It was a great week, and we still were able to have some fun. We went out to breakfast twice, both times at Black Rock RV Village Cafe. They have a pretty good breakfast special. We drove over to Quartzsite, and browsed the flea markets there. We also did the drive up to Lake Havasu City and had both lunch and dinner up there.

Because we did so well last week, we only took $200 out of the bank this week. So, doing the math, FabGrandma style, (hahahaha) the bottom line is, not counting the disastrous week of Christmas, we had $75.90 in our pockets, took out $100 less than we were “allowed” to, add all that to the bottom line from week 7, and that puts us under budget THIS week by $297.21, which ALMOST makes up for the horribleness of week 8. And THAT makes me feel all better.

0 Shares

Lake Havasu City

Karen · 11 Comments

We left Parker and Parker Dam, and drove on up to Lake Havasu City. Our first stop in Lake Havasu City was at Basha, a grocery store, to pick up a few supplies to take home, and get some lunch. We all got some Chinese take out and ate it right there in the cafe. On the way out, we saw this:

That’s not something you see every day! They also had covered parking in the parking lot there, which is something I have never seen before. Of course, it does get really hot there in the summer, so I am sure that is why they have it.

I did not realize that Lake Havasu City is where they moved London Bridge! We drove over the bridge, then turned around and drove back over.

We were waiting for our friends, Terri and Rob, to call us and tell us where to meet them, so we went to Hastings, a book store, and hung around for a while. When they called us, the place where they wanted us to meet them was just on the other side of London Bridge. So, we drove over again.

Barley Brothers Brewery was the place. They make a coffee beer that FabGrandpa loves! He says it is just the right combination of caffeine and alcohol. See how dark that beer is? We ordered lunch and drinks, and had a wonderful time visiting with our friends.

I ordered the Grilled Salmon Cobb Salad. It was delish!

Lynda and Charlie ordered the nachos. They said it was very good, too.

We had such a good time with our friends. Here we all are, FabGrandpa, Rob, and Terri on the left; Charlie, Lynda, and me on the right. And you can see London Bridge right out the window.

0 Shares

Lake Havasu City

Karen · 6 Comments

On Saturday, we drove up to Lake Havasu City. Wow! The drive up took about 2 hours, and the scenery was gorgeous. One thing I have found about Arizona, is that the scenery looks different around every bend in the road.

The first place we stopped was Parker Dam, in Parker, Arizona:

They say the Colorado River is the damed-est river in the United States!

0 Shares