Fires (again!)

Its never a surprise when the Santa Ana winds blow into town. But the force behind them this year has been mind-boggling! I have a very good idea of the power behind a hurricane now. The fires began Saturday night, and the nearby Malibu fires were believed to have started from downed power lines. I was actually clueless to what had happened until Sunday around 2:00, when the sky got that familiar orange tint. By 3:30, the inside of the house was so dark, Jenna and I ventured outside.











The top photo is from our front yard, facing East (notice the flecks of ash, caught by the flash)...the bottom photo is facing West at 3:30 pm, Sunday. It is the gas station just around the corner from our house.




What I saw at 3:30 was a tiny red blot in the dark brown sky...and then the sun disappeared! Then I noticed that the street lamps had automatically turned on. All the neighbors' light-sensitive lamps were on! Later that evening I had a choir practice at a church building across town. It was super-smoky there, and when I got home I noticed my hair was still clinging to that Bonfire smell. I have been on the edge of tears these past 4 days...and sometimes I just let them flow. What tugs at my heart the most? Small things, like the horses running scared inside their corral; the photos of firefighters taking cat-naps (sitting up, of course); the TV reporter who is covering his own house burning to the ground (Kimmell?); parents finding out their children are safe..and then they burst into tears, etc.

Its a very humbling time, and creates gratitude for even the mundane.

Like my friend Audrey, I see the crumbs on the countertops and the drips of KoolAid on the floors as a reminder that I can stop whining and start helping others less fortunate.

Sadly, the fires aren't over. I'll continue my vigilant watch.

My sister's cute Autumn decor

Well, she did it. My sister has just deflated my day. I wanted the day to be wonderful, but how can that be--now that I know how cute her house is, and how much fun she must have had while putting it together? Just scroll down to October 8th to see her photos of her quilts and house. *sigh* Did I need to mention that Happy Valley undoubtedly has that crisp chill in the air? Yeah--she had to go and take pictures outside as well. with the snow-covered mountains. I guess I'll just stare at my two $4.98 scarecrows (from Joanne's Fabrics) that I thought were going to add some punch to my under-designed, under-decorated home. The boy and girl scarecrows actually resemble $8.15 scarecrows (which were worthy of an entire page blogged exclusively on them)--but for now I can't revel in my thrifty shopping.

Do you think she will get my fun birthday card I picked out for her? It is her birthday on the 19th...and I might just have to blog about that. That will show her!

But seriously--I can't be too hard on her because she is the only family who reads my blogs! I love her to death.

My Pet, the Hornworm

My beautiful cherry tomatoes are hardly producing anymore, but imagine my surprise when I found two tag-a-long hornworms munching away on the plants. I just thought I'd share my photos of one of these giants. It almost looks cute--just enjoying the green tomato the same way I enjoy a bright red one. This particular caterpillar could stretch over 7 inches. I've seen Tomato Hornworms before and they have been fatter than my fingers. My plan was to document how large they become in a week's time. Unfortunately, the duo disappeared the day after these photos were shot. Hmmm...where would one hide a 5 inch long caterpillar? I know they only eat the tomato plants.......and tobacco leaves.... According to the linked website, those monsters are under foot!

Too bad they went missing. I was grooming them for my little friend, Lizzie. She will take any creepy-crawly pet she can get her hands on...the bigger the better. Thats the way I was when I was 7.

This first photo taken Tues, 9/25.














This photo taken 6 days later on 10/1. Notice the severe damage to the plant!

Pearls and Me

I was busy with a new project this past weekend. I'm selling pearls! I know...I expect you all to run and hide your checkbooks, but I'm not selling at the moment. I am, however, still thinking about the fun I had and what I saw.

Quick background to how I got into My Princess Pearls is 1) Wendy Bird started the foundation. 2) I became friends with her. 3) She moved out of California. 4) I met her at her store this summer in Utah and asked if I could do anything with her pearls in California since she left. Wendy set me up as a distributor and told me of an upcoming opportunity to sell her pearls at a Republican Women's convention in Palm Springs. I set it up, and here we are now. Fortunately, Wendy sent a fine person, Gail, to "help" me. Of course, Gail was the expert...I held onto her every word...regarding pearls, or about life. Gail is an amazing, beautiful woman I wish you all to meet. I wish I took a camera to record our adventures!

Funny thing about what we learned about our product and this particular convention. It's a finer jewelry than the partying, patriotic, Republican women wanted. Who could blame them? Of the nearly 45-ish booths at the convention, about 40 of us had "jewelry". Most of that jewelry was geared toward ladies with a flashier taste for sequined, red-white and blue, elephant anything! I saw humongous elephant belt buckles, sequined hat pins, sequined HATS with elephants, even a gold-painted elephant head (wine bottle holder). The Texas Republican booth was loaded with grand, sterling silver stars of every proportion. Go Texas! Although we were assigned a booth on the back row of vendors, we were slightly cheered to know the Ladies Room was nearby. We knew we would at least get exposure from women with weak bladders. A few ladies expressed their appreciation for our quality of ....everything. Hee hee.
Some popular sellers below...the Woven Button Bracelet (1/2 price was $10),
the Hand-woven Silk Wrap skirt (1/2 price to $20), and the Signature pearls in the top picture. I liked to dress up each day and drape myself with pearls to model. I even wrapped a skirt around me, sold it, and put on another. Was this a flea market in some tourist town? The skirt was popular not only because of the iridescent silk fabric, but because of the elephants in the pattern. I had my own pearls, like this cable bracelet, but I dared not wear the more expensive Slider Pearl necklace.
And I also found out this weekend that Wendy doesn't keep any of the money for herself. Any commission that would go to her is immediately put back into the foundation for things such as shipping more 'relief' boxes to the Philippines, buying more product from the Filipino women, rent on the tiny store she has in Lehi, etc. For Wendy, its all about supporting those families who are almost totally dependent on her efforts. Wow.