A Taco Corral

I have often struggled with earbuds; I want to take them with me, but they get so tangled up in my purse that I don’t bother — and then I wish I had them. I tried putting them into one of my little crocheted bags, but that wasn’t any better.

While waiting in San Francisco International Airport for my flight home last week I wanted something to read. I didn’t want to empty the battery on my phone, so I bought a magazine (Real Simple, September issue). I don’t do this very often because magazines are really designed to sell you something, and I don’t want to buy. Anyway, there in the pages (p. 56) I saw:ad

My first thought was, “That looks like it would work as good as the twist tie I am currently using and it looks a lot nicer.” My second thought was, of course, “I could crochet one.” So I did:TacoCorralUsing 100% mercerized cotton and a 2.5mm crochet hook I started with an adjustable ring and single crocheted in a continuous circle for about 2.75 inches (diameter). At the end of the ninth row I made a 3-chain gap to be used for the button hole. I finished row 10 with a crab stitch. Going to my button box I found a pretty matching button — and there you have it.

Now, I will tell you soon how well it works.

Kiwi Crates

Trina bought a subscription to Kiwi Crates for Mina. Once a month a box of creative materials arrives by mail. Mina loves “Mina mail” — when picking up the package at the complex office Mina knew immediately which package was hers.

The first activity Mina and I did together was making a sailboat. The boat was very simple yet fun to make. The base was a foam shape with a slit for the mast and another three in the rear for the rudder. The kit contained paint to decorate the sails, but it needed 24 hours to dry so we decorated two sails and left the third one plain (until the next day) so we could take our boat out to the water fountain right away. It sailed quite well!

Mommy and Mina made a kite today. An amazingly simple design that worked really well. Mina had a wonderful time running around with her kite. Pirate Gramma had to give chase a few times, and even got that kite once!

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A Beach Day

My purpose for coming to California is primarily to spend time with my kids. And that is what I’ve been doing. I love it! The little ones are so special!

map: Santa Clara to Pescadero Beach map: Santa Clara to Pescadero Beach[/caption]

The drive is indescribable; you have to experience it. Though the mountains, the trees, the drops, it is amazing.

We had sun and heat until about a mile from the beach when the clouds obscured the sun and the temperature dropped:

IMG_2011We put on jackets and had fun anyway:

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About 5:30 we headed home again, leaving the cloud and the cool behind:

IMG_2063It was a fun trip!

Ellen & Agnes

Today I took my mother for a road trip. We drove to Hanover — it was a lovely day for a drive — and had lunch with her sister, Ellen. Ellen is 91, two years older than Mom; they are the surviving children of Sam & Barbara (Jantzi) Roth. [Yes, I am named after my two Grandmas – Barbara and Annie (Steinmann) Gingerich.]

Ellen & Agnes
Ellen & Agnes

It was a very nice visit. But it did tire Mom out (and me, too)!

I took a moment to drop in on my good friend Marjorie Snyder (visit her blog at The Adventures of Granpa and Grandma Snyder) as I was just a block from her home. She and her granddaughters had been baking. Thanks for the chocolate chip cookies, girls!