I WON! I WON! I WON!.....

I have never won anything in my life and I was just notified that I won a random drawing for a quilting book. It is the newest book called Hop To It by Edyta Sitar, a very popular speaker and quilt maker.
Below see some of her work and also the link to the blog where I commented and won. It pays to read blogs and comment. At least it did me.





http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/2009/07/13/hop-to-it/

Soooo, you think you're too old and can't exercise

I guess it's never too late to start.....


Check out this little sweetie....he's adorable.
http://inspirationmanifestation.com/206/100-year-old-amazing-tennis-player.php

A good way to spend a Friday afternoon....

The phone rang around 11:00 and it was Dianna, my daughter-in-law, and she was on her way to Santa Rosa with her mother, Irene, and her oldest son, Tobin. They wanted to know if I would like to join them on a little trip to Healdsburg to pick up some wine for a friend of theirs.
Armida is snuggled away at the edge of Healdsburg and some of the initial directions even confused Irene's GPS system. We drove up and up a winding road to the top of a hill and there it was. Beautiful!!! I took this picture from the deck where we sat and ate the lunch that Dianna had packed and surprised us with..........


It is a given with this family, outing = camera........


See what I mean........



Amazing how green and beautiful it is since this is such a warm climate....



As Dianna stalks another victim to shoot.....with the camera....


Checking out the pictures taken.......see, it's all about the pictures!!!!



Ahhhhh......our ride is here and it's time to go. What a lovely little surprise for me.


NO ! ! !......not our ride, but that's how they do it around here. You join a Wine Country Tour and go from winery to winery in style, letting someone else drive.

1953

Were you a kid in the Fifties or earlier? Everybody makes fun of our childhood! Comedians joke. Grandkids snicker. Twenty-somethings shudder and say "Eeeew!" But was our childhood really all that bad?

Judge for yourself:

In 1953:

The US population was less than 150 million ... Yet you knew more people then, and knew them better ...And that was good.

The average annual salary was under $3,000 ... Yet our parents could put some of it away for a rainy day and still live a decent life ...And that was good.

A loaf of bread cost about 15 cents ... But it was safe for a five-year-old to skate to the store and buy one ...And that was good.

Prime-time meant I Love Lucy, Ozzie and Harriett, and Lassie ... So nobody'd ever heard of ratings or filters ... And that was good.

We didn't have air-conditioning ... So the windows stayed up and half a dozen mothers ran outside when you fell off your bike ...And that was good.

Your teacher was either Miss Matthews or Mrs. Logan or Mr. Adkins...But not Ms Becky or Mr. Dan ... And that was good.

The only hazardous material you knew about ... Was a patch of grassburrs around the light pole at the corner ... And that was good.

Most families needed only one job ... Meaning Mom was home when school let out ...And that was good.

You loved to climb into a fresh bed ... Because sheets were dried on the clothesline ...And that was good.

People generally lived in the same hometown with their relatives ...So "child care" meant grandparents or aunts and uncles ...And that was good.

TV was in black-and-white, if you had TV at all ... But all outdoors was in glorious color... And that was certainly good.

Your Dad knew how to adjust everybody's carburetor ... And the Dad next door knew how to adjust all the TV knobs ... And that was very good.

Your grandma grew snap beans in the back yard ... And chickens behind the garage ... And that was definitely good.

And just when you were about to do something really bad ... Chances were you'd run into your Dad's high school coach ... Or the nosy old lady from up the street ... Or your little sister's piano teacher ...Or somebody from church ... ALL of whom knew your parents' phone number...and YOUR first name....and even that was good.

Through the Knothole

What could have possibly been behind that fence that could have sent all those mature women, scrambling, climbing, lifting someone up, risking injury, possibly breaking the law.....................

Here it is.........a house!!! Was it a celebrities house? No.....just a house.
Albeit a nice house......it's just a house. Girls, we need to get a life again.

The Caper

Isn't this a beautiful scene! How picturesque! It was taken by a friend who has joined up with the notorious "Biddys" of Washington State. She is not old enough to be a true biddy but she is a "Biddy Buddy" and we all love her. She takes beautiful pictures........the scene is the Pacific Ocean in all it's glory. The occasion, a week long outing with some of the Biddy's and some "Biddy Buddys".


Isn't this a lovely picture of a group of mature women, walking the beach, enjoying the camaraderie, the smells, the sand, the sun, the spiritual friendships, God's glory..........


"Oh Look! What have we here? Is that property that adjoins the beach? Let's go up and see who lives there.....come on you guys, up here.......follow us."

"Wow, this place is awesome! Look at the beautiful house and look at the beautiful landscaping.
I know we can't get in but let's just peek through the knot holes and cracks in the fence."

Farkle Face says, "You guys, I really want to see in there, isn't there some way to get in or at least get a better look?" Someone else replies, "No, we are too old and mature to break into someone's yard.......aren't we?"

Well, guess not because obviously this Senior Citizen, with a little from her friends, scaled a wall, and.......


reached inside and unlocked the gate.......

Don't believe me......see below!!!

And the really funny thing is the fact that these women are all in their late 60's and have been pulling these sort of shenanigans for most of their lives and now we have the pictures to prove it. Thanks Cbev for providing me with so much laughter.....I truly felt like I was there.

Celebrating My Girlfriends...."the Biddys"

I really love my friends. Since I had such a small family, my girlfriends have always been my "family". I have spent as many holidays at their houses or their family's houses as I ever did my own growing up.
You can't pick your siblings but you CAN pick your girlfriends and I have done a wonderful job of that. (not good at picking a mate but really good at picking my "Pals")
This isn't a picture of us. It could be if we had known each other when we were this age.


We are all about the same age, give or take a few years, but other than that, the differences start......High brow, low brow, and everything in between. Fancy tastes, home-style tastes, in the middle tastes and in some cases, no taste at all. But we won't go there as this is a tribute not a roast. NO, this isn't a picture of when we were younger. Trust me, we never looked like this!!!!!
We have been through love affairs, broken hearts, broken parts, divorces, loss of parents, the loss of a child, diets, diseases like Cancer, that are really scary and others that are just pesky. We have shared with each other, gotten angry with each other, cried with each other, prayed with each other but most of all we have laughed and laughed and laughed. Pulled jokes, pranks, and some down right dirty tricks stealing treasures from each other. We have baby sat for each others kids, animals, relatives, including the newest generation, the grand kids. We have ridden together in hot cars, old trucks, RV's , on motorbikes, buses, airplanes, and on horses side by side.
Now here is a more believable picture. Ha ha haaa!!

We have secret sayings like "who's a pompus ass", and "the older we get the goofier we get" and there is always, "the men may come and the men may go but we've still got each other". When someone says it, we all crack up, much to the amazement of those who don't get it.
We had added new people over the years as we really are a loving group and if you can stand us then we guess we can stand you. But you gotta be able to laugh or be laughed at and to see the humor in the mundane. It's just part of being called a "Biddy".

We have a new generation of Biddy's.....our daughter's and daughter-in-laws and hopefully they will carry on this wonderful tradition by being Itty Bitty Biddys or Biddy's in training. I know one, for sure cares this title proudly.

Since I branched off and headed to California I have had the good fortune to find another wonderful group of friends here in Santa Rosa. The SR chapter of Biddys are a fine group of ladies who are loving, supportive, and also love to laugh.

Here is to all of you, My Dears, and I hope and pray that the last time we see each other in this life will not be the last time we ever see each other.
Thanks for so many wonderful years and many, many more to come.

'Good friends are like stars.........You don't always see them, but you know they are always there'