little elsie lane

Elsie Lane ~ 17 months old ~ Mar. 2012

Last Saturday we attended a wedding reception at our friends home in Waddell, Arizona. I remembered attending another wedding reception at their home exactly two years ago.

Well, you can imagine my surprise & delight when days later I realized I had captured similar photos of my two granddaughters at each of those events.

Emolyn Kate ~  24 months old ~ Feb. 2010

Of course Elsie wasn't even born two years ago when Emolyn's Grandma Beckie was married in 2010 and Emolyn was the little flowergirl. But it was fun to see Elsie holding a similar dandelion puff just like her big sister did two years earlier.

A lovely field of dandelion puffs make for little elsie photo ops.

So thankful for this little girl. Her and her sister are becoming great friends and will be such a help to their Mommy when the twins arrive in 6 weeks.

And speaking of the twins, Elsie loves to hug her baby brothers.

Elsie was forever wanting to sit next to the bubbling fountain and dip her hand in the water.

Doesn't she sorta look like Cindy Lou Who here?

Elsie gives the best hugs and the sweetest pats on the back ~ especially to her big sister Emolyn ~ whom she adores and calls Emma. Sometimes my heart bursts with such overwhelming love for these girls. How ever will I contain my love for their little brothers when I meet them soon!

vintage galvanized garden goods

I have been drawn to galvanized, industrial and vintage gardening goods ~ 

for as long as I can remember.

Vintage garden sprinklers being among my favorite finds.

I recently found the yellow digger & red hoe. Paid a dollar for each.

Vintage clothes pins and pulleys are a visual guilty pleasure for sure.

More vintage lawn sprinklers and hose nozzles.

Ok, I gotta come clean... no seriously, I finally spent an entire day deep-cleaning my backyard gardening bench and storage sheds for the first time since last summers freaky haboobs. Trust me, this 56 second time-lapse YouTube video will shock you. 

I am not kidding, everything pictured on this post was covered in a thick layer of dirty, powdery dust. Even though I tried cleaning before, I learned the hard way that it can take weeks, if not months for that kind of dust storm to settle.

And the best part of cleaning? Finding favorite finds that I forgot I had found! 

Who knew I had four rake-heads ~ which I will proudly hang my vintage gardening tools on, once they are hung on my backyard wall. 

And my motivation for taking on such a dirty job? My daughter Miranda and I are hosting a Twins Baby Shower in my backyard for my daughter-in-law Nicole this Saturday morning. 

SO excited!

I'm linking up with ~

SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY

vintage knitted pincushions

Remember these? When I found each of them many years ago, I was transported back in time... to a simpler time... learning to sew and discovering the joys of knitted pincushions.

 The pins would often come through the bottom and stick you. Or you had a heck of a time trying to find the needles that were buried. Often times resulting in pain and blood.

I must say, the plastic lid under the green one is quite the clever idea.

So trust me, these are for decoration only... to beautifully display my stick pin collection.

I know. I have way too many collections.

Oooh, cute story ~ my 4 year old granddaughter told me the other day that she wanted to start a collection. Seriously. She even had to slow down saying the word collection because she had never said it before. So I asked what is she going to collect? She said pinecones. Of course I was thrilled and actually a little emotional. I mean, cute or what! Ok, so I'm not so sure how thrilled her parents are. ha!

My mother-in-law gave me the knitted pincushion that her mother-in-law gave her many years ago. Mamaw Bean loved everything pink & blue, so naturally she would make herself a pink & blue pincushion. It is most likely well over 50 years old. And I simply adore it.
But I don't use it :)
Knitted pincushion tutorial found here.

Linking my post with ~
SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY

flowers & faucets in Phoenix

We came upon some lovely spring flowers while taking our granddaughters for a walk over the weekend. Love this time of year!

I also came upon an estate sale on the way home from church on Sunday. I know, what could possibly be left on a Sunday at 1pm? Well ~ JUNK! My favorite kind of leftovers. For starters, vintage faucets. In fact, three very different kinds of faucets. I have been looking for an old faucet for Emolyn's vintage kitchen for the past year. I now have three to choose from!

I also found vintage sprinklers & sprayers, various hooks, a set of numbers, a red hoe to hang on the wall, that galvanized bucket and last but certainly not least... a vintage shop light. Oh my goodness, look at the patina on that light.
And check out what they're doing with those beauties ~ 

Found here

I also have plans to make this ~ now that I've found my 4th red faucet handle! YES!

All in all, a wicked good weekend. Oh, I didn't tell you?
I went to WICKED at Grady Gammage!

My dear friend Kathy (the teacher I assist at the preschool) bought tickets for her and I to see WICKED! Oh my gosh, WHAT A THRILL! Such a superb cast. 

My husband & I saw WICKED with our daughter Miranda three years ago while visiting her in London. I remember turning to my daughter at intermission, with tears pouring down my face (they had finished with "Defying Gravity") and I told her how proud I was that she took a chance, defied gravity and moved to London by herself to study for a semester. One of the most memorable moments of our entire trip. You can see that post HERE.

This time I am sitting next to a faithful friend... one who has loved and accepted me through a very difficult season in my life. As I'm watching the musical this time, I am reminded of those in my life, who have made a difference for maybe a season, or for an entire lifetime... those precious divine contacts that because I knew them, I've been changed for good.

A Wisconsin Farmer's Tribute ~ YouTube

I'm a farmer's daughter from Wisconsin. And my Dad was the most dedicated, hardworking farmer I have ever known. He would have been 86 last week. And I am missing him... this good and kind, respected man of character that always had a smile on his face.
When I first heard Paul Harvey's "So God Made a Farmer" speech on a similar YouTube video, I knew that one day I would take photos of my Dad from all his years of farming and make a video using Paul Harvey's moving narration. He delivered this speech at a National FFA Convention in 1978. I'm telling you, no one does it better than Paul Harvey. You see, we grew up listening to him three times a day on the radio ~ his News and Comment and The Rest of the Story segments are long remembered in the Larson family, and a particulate favorite with my Dad, as he always had the radio on in the barn.
And I also thought it rather ironic that my brother Ron, who would later purchase the farm from my Dad in 1988, graduated from high school in 1977 and made the decision to farm with my Dad around the time of this speech, which makes it all the more meaningful.
My Dad never really "retired" from farming. Oh, he may have milked his last cow in 1988, but continued to farm in every sense of the word till his passing in 2009 at the age of 83.
All the images in the video were taken on the farm where I grew up, by either myself or a family member over a span of 50 years. The 350 acre farm is located along Timber Creek in Jackson County near Osseo, Wisconsin.
A big thank you to my husband Randy and son Shawn for helping me make this happen. I am so thankful to have my Dad's memory preserved in this way. I hope you enjoy it.
Be sure to turn your volume up and you can also click the square box in the lower right corner to enlarge and fill your screen. Thanks again for watching!

Emolyn's 4

Happy Birthday Emolyn Kate!

Emolyn & Belle must be cousins or something. Check out the eyes! 

 A week ago we celebrated Emolyn's birthday at Nicole's grandparents home.

Emolyn's Aunt Michelle made the most amazing Little Mermaid cake ~ both inside and out! 

Emolyn's Mommy is patiently nesting identical twin boys

and ironically they are each about the same size Emolyn was when she was born at 33 weeks, although she stayed the weight of a 28 week old, which is where the boys are now.

So we're praying the boys stay put and continue to grow healthy and strong till they're delivered sometime in April. Oh my gosh, this is really going to happen!

Emolyn loves shoes just like her Daddy did ~ and still does!

So Emolyn's Grandpa John got her Sketchers that light up and sparkle. 

And as you can see, Emolyn's little sister Elsie lights up any room she enters. What a sweetheart!

Emolyn's Pop Pop and Daddy are most likely swapping apps or something. 

I tell ya, boys and their iPhones...

Check out Shawn's yellow iPhone case made from a vinyl record ~ found here.

Ciao Bella boots

Have you ever wanted something real bad, but then convinced yourself that you really didn't, because in all honesty, you just couldn't justify the cost? I do that a lot. So last fall while pinning outfits on my Pinterest fashion board, I noticed that most of my images featured riding boots. And for a while I convinced myself that I needed boots. So I kept my eyes out for a good deal. But by the time boots around these parts go on clearance, winter is pretty much over. And so was my longing for boots.

Well, yesterday I walked into Savers and found these Ciao Bella boots half-off for $6.50! We're talkin' these very boots. (retail $198.00) The very color I wanted. My very size. Which made me very happy. Oh, and very soft, real leather. I know, I am very blessed!

Melrose District

You know how it goes, you can make all the plans in the world, but it always ends up unfolding as it should. And it's those little surprises that make the journey all the more delightful... reminding me to just enjoy the ride. So Friday morning Barb, Grace & I made plans to meet up at the Copper Star Coffee Shop, visit awhile and then scour the Melrose District. But plans changed and it was just Barb & I. We sat outside the Copper Star and shared to our heart's content and then headed over to Sweet Salvage. YES! What are the chances we'd make plans on the very weekend of Sweet Salvage!

But we got a little sidetracked. We couldn't pass up all those darling little boutiques.

Oh my gosh, the mere loveliness of this fabric made me want to go home and

 reproduce one for myself. (and reminds me of my friend Shannon)

You see this day was all about inspiration. And that it did. In boatloads.

I don't know if it's because I spent so much of my early years cutting out patterns, ironing them and pinning them onto fabric... but the mere sight of this crinoline made me let out a squeal. Ok, a big squeal. You can ask Barb!

 Mrs. McGillicutty is going to love one of these! I just know it.

It will be of no surprise to you that I saved all my favorite patterns from the 70's, but I have no intension of using them. It's half-off President's Day at most thrift stores today, so I will be buying several vintage patterns for the sole purpose of repurposing into layer upon layers of crinoline chic.

And then... we saw this. 

Quite frankly, we were too weirded out to actually pick it up. So I snipped, I mean snapped a quick one and moved on. I'm sorry. Forget you ever saw this.

Oh my ~ industrial ~ galvanized ~ vintage. 

My three favorite words. All in one glorious image.

When we finally arrived at Sweet Salvage, I could tell it had already been picked over, having started the day before. But oozing with inspiration none-the-less. I was blown away and already making plans to go again in a month.

yellow ranunculus

Yesterday I came upon a Yellow Ranunculus file among my garden photo files.

And they were taken exactly two years ago this month.

Oh how I would love a garden full of Ranunculus, Peonies, Cosmos and Hollyhocks.

The file was also full of lemon photos, as seen in the above image...

along with a blurred glimpse of our beloved Wiley dog. Oh how he is missed.

So I took one of those lemon images and made me a Springy new blog banner.

Oh, and I went to Sweet Salvage with a friend yesterday morning. WOW!

Post & pics coming soon!

Valentine mitten cookie

This poor mitten cookie was photographed in more ways than I care to share.

I'm not even sure when or if it ever got eaten. My family knew it was off limits till I got the shot I needed for Valentine's Day.

 I also knew that an Arizona 100th Birthday post would surely trump Valentine's Day, but I wanted a little something for the day after... or the day after that.

And speaking of mittens, today I shall take my mitten garland down. I always keep it up till Valentine's Day. That's about when it starts to feel like spring around these parts. In fact, my Lady Banks Rose in our front entrance popped its first blooms yesterday.

This is what I have to look forward to in the days and weeks ahead!

our Lady Banks Rose a couple years ago

Check out more home & garden posts @ SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY

Arizona's 100th Birthday

In the weeks leading up to Arizona's 100th Birthday, I was rather preoccupied with reading everything I could about Arizona's history. I love Arizona. But even more so now! I mean, did you know that Arizona grows enough cotton each year to make more than one pair of jeans for every person in the United States? I don't know about you, but I love knowing that little tidbit! And I am determined to explore Arizona's every nook 'n cranny this summer.
So yesterday we celebrated Arizona's 100th Birthday at the preschool ~ I brought turquoise jewelry & bolo ties for the kids to try on... aloe vera plants to scoop out and smear on their 'owies'... 100 copper pennies to play with... and Arizona flags to color and paint.

And this afternoon Randy & I attended the Centennial Celebration at our State Capitol.

I had never seen the copper dome up close. And get this ~

The amount of copper utilized to make the copper dome atop Arizona’s Capitol building 

is equivalent to the amount used in 4.8 million pennies. Wow!

We saw square dancing performed by some of Arizona's finest.

And we also saw Wayne Newton ~ "Mr. Las Vegas" himself ~ in concert!

Wow! The guy is amazing! He can play anything ~ piano, guitar, banjo and electric fiddle.

His rendition of "Orange Blossom Special" was a crowd favorite for sure!

100 FUN & FASCINATING FACTS ~

about the great state of Arizona!

Some of my favorites ~

• Arizona has 3,928 mountain peaks and summits—more mountains than any one of the other Mountain States (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming).
• There are more wilderness areas in Arizona than in the entire Midwest. Arizona alone has 90 wilderness areas, while the Midwest has 50.
• A saguaro cactus can store up to nine tons of water.
• The westernmost battle of the Civil War was fought at Picacho Pass on April 15, 1862 near Picacho Peak in Pinal County.
• From 1973 to 2007, Arizona was the only state with official state neckwear, the bola tie. In 2007, New Mexico also adopted the bola tie as the official State Tie.