Lofthouse

Saturday afternoon I meandered out to the mailbox to see if I received any mail other than monthly bills and to my surprise, there was a teal blue package. I thought to myself, I don't remember ordering anything because that is when I usually get a package. I take a closer look and see this giant stamp with the Queen on it and I knew, it was from England. 

A big thank you to my friend Anne who has such a fascinating blog called Marmalade and Catmint.  She is a dear sweet person who knew I was doing some genealogical research in the village of  Lofthouse for my cousin Al who lives in Calgary, Canada. She sent me a unique tea towel with pictures of historic buildings in Lofthouse. 

It is such a large tea towel that I could not get a complete photo of the whole cloth. Thanks again Anne. What wonderful photos of the historic buildings, I love it!


I had a special order last week for a necklace to match the bracelet that I had sold to Carol, a friend of mine from our swimming class.
Pink agate on silver became my latest project and she loved it. What do you think for my first wired necklace?

Last Bliss in July

On Friday I like to connect with Liv Lane's Little Bliss list so here's mine for the week.

1. Tis blissful to think about the past. I couldn't resist taking this photo of past designs. The poodle makes me think of the poodle skirts back in the 50s - although I never owned one but I did wear my hair in a pony tail. The swinger with the red beads and hat - that is how I felt in the 60's although I never owned a red hat. I always wanted a fancy hat but no one wore them here. They were a luxury item and we were poor. They did wear them in New York and San Francisco but I lived hundreds of miles from those places.


I can just see myself in a black chemise with long white pearls and white gloves that came above the elbows and black pointy-toed heels. I wore heels everywhere except with pants (trousers for the Brits). Back in the 60s, there were dressing rules.  With short sleeves, you wore long gloves; with long sleeves, you wore little kid gloves. Your shoes should match your dress - never wear red heels with a black dress.

2. Tis blissful to see our American Flag but this last week, it flew half mast for those killed in a movie theatre in Colorado. No breeze that day to make the flag flow - God knew that we as American's were hurting. My Canadian cousin thinks that the American Dream is dead and we are falling apart in our country.  In some respects that seems true but I don't think the American Dream is dead. I think we can come out of this era with changes to make our country better and our heal wounds.

3. Tis blissful to see such beautiful white fluffy clouds in the sky. Mother nature at her best - we have the good with the bad otherwise we would never appreciate the good.


4. Tis blissful to enjoy a day with a friend. On the 24th I had lunch out with my friend Shirley who recently had neck surgery. She is still unable to drive so I picked her up and off we went. After our lunch, I drove up American Fork Canyon into the tops of the rockies. We are blessed that the fire did not go in that direction and burn down the abundance of trees that grow there.

Hair Cut

New breed - I think not but someone was creative in a summer hair cut.

Days of 47 Parade

Flags are flying, people are off work and today is the largest parade in Utah. We are celebrating the Pioneers who crossed the plains - most of them on foot, a few riding horses and some who drove the wagons. The only people who do not get a holiday off are the Federal Government workers.


One of my youngest pioneers who came early to the valley of Salt Lake was Henry Eames at the young age of 18. He left his home at Garway Hill, Herefordshire, England sailing across the Atlantic ocean in 1851 on the ship Olympus. He met up with his sister Mary Ann and brother-in-law John Carver at St. Louis, Missouri. They crossed the plains in 1854 to Utah. Henry married Emma Beecroft from Kingston Upon Hull, England. She came to Utah with her parents. Henry died at a very young age of 40 leaving 7 children but only 4 survived childhood.

Henry Eames

Alonzo Knight the youngest son of 10 children of Stephen and Polly Knight lived in Marlow, New Hampshire. His father died when Alonzo was 10. He and his mother Polly Pierce Knight left their home in 1849; they crossed the plains in 1850. 

Alonzo was short one month being 91 at his death in 1921.

 Polly married a second husband Rufus Forbush in Utah. She is one of my older pioneers. She died being a widow twice at age 88 in 1876.

Zoo Bus

We have a city bus here and there driving through the streets of Salt Lake City with art on the rear or down the sides like this one but not like this one. This one really makes you stand up and take flight in the other direction.  I don't know about you but I would not even want to get near this one. This artist is very talented but ewe.

This lady really wanted her knees to show. What do you think? Maybe, it's the latest style with a jig and a jag and peekaboo knees. I wonder what the back looks like.


I'd like to show off my latest creation of earrings.  I am so enamored by them that I've seriously thought of not selling them at my Etsy shop.  This is the link to my shop: Dian's Earrings

Come take a peek.  It costs nothing to just look.

Carry your plants with you

I saw this on Etsy yesterday and I just couldn't resist sharing it. There were also mini plant holders that you can attach to a bicycle. Myself, I would rather just enjoy looking at plants in nature.


I received the 6th letter from Bolivia from my cousin Bart and his wife Suzy.  They are serving a mission together at the Cochabama LDS Temple. Their first week was a bit rocky because of altitude sickness but they have adjusted and are doing fine.

Apparently, there is a large statue of Christ there just like the one in Rio.  The photo of the one below is in Cochabama.

When I Ran

The sunshine is back today. It didn't rain much this weekend but we got enough to give the plants and flowers a little extra moisture. 

A Little More Bliss In July

It may be hot but I'm liking July much

better than May and June. Less migraines.

I like to connect to Liv Lane's Little Bliss List on Fridays.

1. Had a delightful girl's day out with my friend Ann. We dined at Rib City in American Fork and smacked our lips at every bite

of those killer ribs.

2. Every morning after my beeline for the bathroom, I let my younger cat Abby outside for her morning inspection.  Next, I

head to my computer to devour blogs. While I am writing comments, I feel two little paws from Babe and a loud purr. He thinks that when I am at my computer that it is his time for grooming. I grab his brush and give him a ten times over - get him all prettied up for the day. Plus a head scratch or two and a back rub. He bats his baby blue eyes at me as he leaves to take another nap.

3. I am getting a nice little tan from swimming in the
outdoor town pool for my water aerobics class.  It
is so much fun to swim outside in the morning and
look at the gorgeous view of our rocky mountains.

4. Love the flowers that are blooming in my yard - they 
give me a blissful moment whenever I look at them.
My neighbor behind me always plants lots of flowers
and I enjoy their flowers too because we have no fences
between us.

Sunshine Award

I received the Sunshine Award from Lyn at EveryDayLife. I'd like to thank her and have added her to my daily read blogger list.  She has such glorious photos on her blog. I am a little slow in passing on this award and almost forgot it but better late than never, right?

Here are my questions and answers:

1. Favorite color - red or purple and maybe both - I would love to join the Red Hat Society but there is not a chapter that is close to me.  Still thinking it over.

2. What is your favorite animal?  Cats of course. I share my domain with two of them.

3. What is your favorite non alcoholic drink? Hot chocolate.  I don't drink alcohol anyway!

4. Do you prefer Twitter or Facebook? I actually like my blog friends the best. I don't Twitter so when my daughter reminds me, I look at Facebook.  I do like it when Facebook reminds me of birthdays, though.

5. What is your passion?  It has changed through the years. Dancing was always my passion, then genealogy - now it is making jewelry.

6. What is your favorite pattern? Swirls and curves - Celtic. Something similar to these earrings.

 7. Do you prefer giving or receiving?  I do like to give and help others - it brings such joy.

8. Favorite number?  I don't know that I really have one but if I were to choose, it would be 10.

9. What is your favorite day of the week?  When I was working, it was Friday, or course. Now that I am retired, it's any day without a migraine.


I have chosen a few blogs to pass the Sunshine award to:

1. Jo at Through The Key Hole

2. Shopgirl at Back of the Moon.

3. Deb at Just Cats.

4. Snap at Tales from Twisty Lane.

5. Kathy at Postcards from the PP

I love the catchy blog titles that these lovely bloggers have chosen.

Sittin on a Pot

Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves
for they shall never cease to be amused.

Snake River Gorge

While in Idaho, I took photos of the Snake River Gorge that runs through magic valley near Twin Falls.  Evel Knieval attempted to jump his motorcycle over this gorge in 1974.  Knievel’s  televised motorcycle jumps represent four of the twenty most-watched, including the number 1 spot, ABC’s Wide World of Sports events in history. His achievements and failures, including his record 35 broken bones, earned him several entries in the Guinness Book of World Records. 

The gorge is a mile strait down to the Snake River from the bridge and the bridge is 1500 feet across.

Down inside the gorge area.

Nice view of the Snake River that winds its way across the whole bottom half of the State of Idaho.


Robbie Knievel the son of Evel has followed in his father's footsteps as many sons do and made a career out of jumping a different style motor bike.

Finally a Blissful Week

I love to connect to Liv Lane's Little Bliss List on Friday to remember the good things in my life.

1. McCall, Idaho 

McCall Lake is one of those lakes that 

dreams are made of where you sail off

into the blue and see deer through the

pines and large lake trout jumping

at the flying critters. 

If you look to the right, Vic was holding

his waffle cone that held at least half of

a half gallon of ice cream.  I had one 

giant scoop of lemon with a gigantic scoop

of blueberry cheesecake

ice cream. There was so much I could

not finish it and let me tell you, there

was not one ounce of diet anything in these

cones.  They were the real McCoy. The little

ice cream shop is well hidden behind 

stores on the main street. To get there you

have to drive into an alley to see the front

of the store. It seems to be a hidden secret
for locals but word spreads.

I have two visual memories of McCall from

my past - driving 100 miles per hour in a

1968 Corvette toward McCall - thrilling

me to the bone because it was my favorite

car and I'd never driven that fast ever.

The other glimpse from the past was me 

driving to McCall in the winter and the

road was like a tunnel with snow packed

over 6 foot tall on both sides of the road.

McCall is famous for skiing - a total

resort town.

2. Big brother helping baby sister with her
shoes

August is getting closer and I'll be in California
again.  Can't wait!


3. Our Blessed Free Country

I love that I am free to choose.
I can worship as I please, 
I can get in my car an drive where I please,
 I can eat or not eat as I please,
I can shop or not where I please.
I can read or write what I please,
The list goes on and on.  
We Americans are truly blessed.

Hospital Outing

I took my sweet neighbor to the Provo Hospital

to have all her pre-op work done - she's having

neck surgery on Friday. While waiting, I

of course, had to visit the ladies room. I visit 

every bathroom in town it seems. Across

the hall was a really intriguing gift shop.

Anyone for pantaloons? I thought these looked

cute enough for my granddaughter R.

I thought this adorable little dress

would thrill my little N.

After being poked, prodded, wired

and all the testing was done, it

was time for a scrumptious lunch.

Saw this owl pitcher at our favorite eatery -

Kneaders. I'd like to take him home - he's

the right color and shape.