This is getting really old!

Okay, California has been on fire since June 11th. It's been smoky most of the time since then.

You see the lovely picture of the Sutter Buttes on the top of my blog? Well that was taken one evening when the clouds were so pretty.

This is my view today. Yuck!
Here's a creepy sunset picture...

Hey, we Californian's are breathing this stuff! I started coughing because of a cold the week before the fires started. Well, that cough just wouldn't go away, I was driving my husband nutty. He kept telling me, "go see the doctor!" I figured that the cough would go away when the smoke cleared. Well, the smoke wouldn't clear and my cough wouldn't go away. I finally went to the doctor this week and left with an inhaler thingy! That seems to be helping more or less.


Here is a picture I took of Half Dome in the Yosemite Valley a couple of weeks ago. The smoke seems to everywhere.
Okay, enough complaining from me. I just had to get that off of my chest. (I wish I could get it out of my chest too!)

Near Sighted Veggies?

This may look like a yellow squash wearing glasses. But it's much more than that!
These are Jacob's new glasses. He broke his old ones, again. Recently I'd heard about Zenni Optical
on a radio program and how great and affordable the glasses are. So I decided to go ahead and give them a try. Well I have to tell you, I am not disappointed! Jacob bought these glasses...These are titanium frames and they fit him very well. Would you like to know what I paid for these? $300? $250? Nope.
How about $48! Yes, $48 for the lenses and frames! Plus some fun little clip on sun shades.
I am not kidding about this place! Metal frame and lenses starting at $8!
It took two weeks to get them, so if your not in a big hurry it's no big deal. At these prices you could have several pairs!

A Week in Paradise

We spent a week in Yosemite with Maury's cousin Jack and his two boys, Jake and Jordy. We really had a good time.
We did some hiking, enjoyed more by some than others. My favorite was playing in the water at the end of the hikes. And Taryn, well, let's just say she did make it to the top of Vernal Falls after lots of encouragement.


Here we have Jordy and his culinary creation, Yosemite Slam's. On the last night of camping we were making yummy creations of refrigerator rolls wrapped around a stick and cooked over the camp fire. Well, Jordy had the brilliant idea of taking those rolls and wrapping them around marshmallows. (I have to admit that I was totally skeptical about the idea.)

So he went ahead and tried it
.
Guess what?! They were great! A picture is worth a thousand words!

By the end of the night we were tucking in a bit a chocolate and they just couldn't be beat. This little creation will definitely take the place of smores at our campfires from now on! When the chocolate went in I finally gave in to the temptation and ate just one. YUM, YUM, YUMMY!!!

One day we went to this really cool ghost town called Bodie. If you ever have a chance to go you should. It's really big and has a lot of houses and a big stamp mill that they used in the process of mining the gold.

Of course when we got there Jacob had to use the outhouse. That boy! (jk)

By the way, Jake got his drivers permit yesterday and began drivers training today. I know I should be nervous and scared, but I'm just so excited for him. At the same time I wonder how in the world I could possibly have a kid old enough to drive. I did the math and it is possible! NUTS!

My Great Idea That Someone Else Will Make Money With...

Last night I went to my local Goodwill store. I hadn't been in ages and I had time to kill.
In my community we have a large population of East Indians. The women dress in saris' and the fabrics are always bright and beautiful, very flashy!
Well I went up to the rack where I thought I'd find fabric or linens and I was amazed at the beautiful selection of fabrics that were there. Upon closer inspection I realized that they were the scarfs that the Indian women wear over the shoulder. Each one was at least 1 yard of fabric and I just knew that somehow I could repurpose them and turn them into retro aprons!



Here is a peek at the few I did buy.





I found a fun idea on this blog. The assignment is to post my "Bucket List" here, for all the world to see. Now I've only told a couple of people about my bucket list, my husband being one, and I'm embarrassed at how simple it is, but I hate to be disappointed! So here it goes...

My Bucket List
1. Stand in a warm rain shower. (in California we have no summer rains) I felt a little in Hawaii but I want more.
2. See fireflies.
3. See New England in the Fall.
4. Buy an outfit right out of the window display, no matter the cost!
5. Make a gourmet dinner, and enjoy the process, not stress out.
6. Enjoy hiking with my husband.
7. Go to Hawaii. Check! I went in March to see my sister and her husband.
8. Win first place with one of my dogs.

That's all I have for now. All very doable and safe. That's me!