Ten Years As A Blogger!

This month marks the tenth anniversary of our blog here at Gold Country Girls.
With over 3000 posts now under our belts, my sisters and I would like to say thank you to every single person who has ever read (and, hopefully, enjoyed?) one of our posts.
We three do write about a wide variety of subjects, so it is my hope that there truly may be something for everyone here, if you were to go back and pore through our "archives".
 Please be prepared to sit a spell and linger for a while, if you do! There's an awful lot to read and a myriad of pictures to go along with all of the text.
I also wanted to ask our loyal readers to please "Forgive Me"!

 For what?
For my lack of regular posts, of course!
I have been devoting all of my time to working on my business selling vintage goods, and also to the long-neglected task of organizing all of the things I want or plan to sell, and also to putting my house and storage areas in to some sort of  order, rather than the disorganized chaotic mess it has all been for far too long.
This has left me with little to no time for blogging, as I am also now working at Mountain Treasures at least one day a week here in Sonora.
Writing this blog is still important to me, but it does require a fair amount of time, and that is what has been lacking.
I fully intend to start posting more often, and I will be trying my very hardest to do just that!

On a completely different subject, I wanted to share with you all today a photo of our Mother that I found when looking through old family photos at Tina's while I was at her house for a visit last month to celebrate her birthday.
(Oh, and that vintage sheet music above is Tina's too - I loved it and had to snap a photo of it!)

I did not remember Mother having one of those great, colorful embroidered burlap bags, but the proof is in the picture.
 (I do wish I knew what color it was, though! I'm sure it was colorful, not that you can tell in this black and white photo.)
That's not a very good picture of our mom, so here's one of my favorites of her school teacher photos, taken somewhere around the same time frame, so that you can see how pretty she was:

 Didn't she just have the loveliest smile?
Yes, she really did. We miss you, Momma!
Okay, so back to those beautiful embroidered bags - here are some much more colorful photos of some that I have found.
 We'll start with the most colorful:

 And next we have this lovely one in aqua and white:

 And one in brown and russet tones:

 And last of all, a cool sort of zig-zag pattern in pink, black and yellow:

I love them, but I don't use them, so I'm planning to offer them for sale - just as soon as I can find the time!
 (The one in the first photo has already sold.)
So, that concludes the colorful part of today's celebratory post.
And thank you again, dear readers, for sticking with us for the last decade.
And if you have just found us, PLEASE comment; the comments make us so incredibly happy - because it makes us feel as though we are actually connecting with people out there in this big wide world.
:)

Finally - Tina is back!

This will be very short. Just wanted to let you all know out there in Bloggerland that I have a new (well, new to me - reconditioned) laptop and I can finally blog again. It has been since July so I have lots of ideas in my head for posts. Watch for me again on Wednesdays!

Here is a photo from 1979 at a backyard wedding for dear friends Cindy and Joe (still dear friends and still married!)
Left to right Cathie, Chuk (rest in peace my dear friend), hubby Rich, yours truly (in my patchwork dress I made), and Janet. Molly, Joe and Cindy's dog (long gone over the rainbow bridge) in front of our feet.

Ash B., A New Shop Owner In Jamestown

The brick and mortar shop where I sell my wares in Jamestown, California (formerly A Flowers), has a new name and a new owner.
Ashley Beighley - the daughter of the previous owner - has taken over, and has renamed the shop "Ash B."

The shop is located at 18190 Main Street, and I just thought I'd share a few photos I took a while back with you today.

(I need to get some pictures inside, too, I guess.)
 The shop is in an old house built back in the 1800's.

Lori is selling some of her handmade items there, too!
You can see some of them in the picture below, along with some of my greeting cards I make with antique postcards:

If you're ever in the area, stop on by!
 I usually work on Thursdays.
We'd love to see you!

Just A Couple Of Little Things I've Been Doing...

A quick post today, with just a couple of photos.
Here is a photo of some of the Christmas cards I have been making using antique postcards:

 And I finally got a few more crewel and needlepoint pictures hung up on the wall above the bed in the guest room:

I love the way they all look together!

Random Photos - And Have I Really Been Doing This For Eight Years?

Today I just have a rather random assortment of photos for you.
We'll start with this lovely box of ornaments, below.
 I took it up to the counter and asked the young gal the price at the thrift store.
"Seventy-five cents".
Oh, um - let me think about that for a fraction of a second;
"Yes, I'll take them!"  (It does have a lid).
Gorgeous:

I took an afghan that my mother-in-law made years ago and put it on the sofa that has seen better days.
 The pillows were all thrift store finds.
I like how it looks:

Another thrift store had gotten a pretty darned cool donation of a bunch of vintage Bauer Pottery dishes.
 They were too good a deal to pass up, but I couldn't afford to buy all of it, so I got this set of four 9&1/2 inch plates.
Absolutely delighted to add them to my collection, yes I was:

I paid fifty cents for this cute matchbox  - here's the front of the "building"....

.. and the back:

It's not the real small size, it's actually about 4&1/2 by 3 inches.
It was empty; I added the new matchsticks when I got home.

On a completely different subject, today marks eight years since I began this blog.
 Here I am, 2729 posts later, still here.
Tina contributes on Wednesdays, and Lori still posts occasionally, also.
I hope you won't mind if I very politely ask that if you read - and hopefully, enjoy - our blog, won't you please consider taking a moment to comment if you haven't ever done so?
And if you wanted to become a "Follower", I would truly appreciate that, as well.
Most importantly, I hope that if you ARE a regular reader, whether you follow publicly and comment now and then, or read it privately and silently, that you will continue to do so until I/we cannot write it any more.
Thank you very much.
And I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Heidi

Pardon Me, But Isn't That A Tree ON YOUR HOUSE??

Why, yes - yes, it is:

We got a LOT of rain over the weekend.
During Sunday evening's storm, there were loud claps of thunder, lightning, pouring rain - the works!
I was fixing dinner, and we heard a loud boom.
 It almost just sounded like the loudest thunder - honestly, not unlike something we've heard before.
You know - the kind of thunder that seems to shake the house?
But I suspected it was something more this time.
We both ran outside in the rain, in different directions.
It was dark, but not completely at that point.
Yep, a tree fell onto the house.
Whoa.
This was the view from our bathroom window the next morning:

Believe it or not, we were unbelievably lucky.
It could have been a LOT worse!
 No windows broken, and the roof was not punctured nor damaged - only the gutters where the tree fell.

Less than twenty-four hours later, a group of three nice young men (who have done other work for us in the past) had carefully removed the tree, cut all of it up, and hauled it all away.
Like I said, we were VERY lucky.

I'm Late I'm Late! (with the blog), I've been a bit busy...

Normally when I start out my post, I say "Good Morning, Tina here", but it is now getting closer to "Good Evening". 

It's been one of those days. My hubby just got a new hip yesterday, and we got up at 2:30 in the morning to get to the hospital on time. He got some sleep while his hip was replaced, but I was glad to get home to the animals and left over Chinese food, and hit the hay as they say... we are both caught up on sleep now.

So this morning with all this going on, and add on 2 hours travel time, I just didn't have time for this blog and I figured "Oh Well"...

But it is almost evening and I am now home, after visiting Dear Hubby in the hospital. He made a friend in his roommate, who went home today. I arrived just in time to meet his wife and say goodbye. Someday when the two fellow patients are walking again they plan to golf together.

I decided to share a few photos I am proud of, alas, my computer has for some reason decided to freeze and become incredibly slow and apparently unwilling to upload any photos to the blog.

So instead, I am sharing my horoscope for tomorrow, Thursday, March 6th, because I find it a most incredibly wonderful prediction, and I can't wait to live out my day!


You'll delight in learning and think such interesting thoughts that it will be a joy to be inside your own mind and a treat for others to be in your company.

Tomorrow my husband hopes to come home from the hospital and I will pick him up about 1 pm, after spending the morning at a rehearsal with my Placerville Shakespeare Club Players group for a short and funny adaptation of Romeo and Juliet we will be performing in April. 

I am looking forward to gathering up my hubby tomorrow and transporting him home, and sharing any interesting thoughts with him, and I know I will delight in learning my part in our play's sword fight and I hope it will be a treat for the other ladies to be in my company! 

But I am especially looking forward to "it will be a joy to be inside your own mind". Doesn't that sound like fun?

See you next Wednesday, when I might get lucky and be able to attach photos again... 

Inauguration Day

So - the day is really here!
There's just something so (pardon the overused word) AWESOME about it this time, isn't there??
It's exciting. You know, I don't expect miracles. I don't expect the new leader of our nation to solve all of the problems our country faces. How can you ever expect that from one man?
But, I'm hopeful. And that's a really nice feeling, don't you think?

Welcome to the White House, President Obama.
And God Bless America.

An Invitation

I got an invitation to a birthday party....

And that's where I will be today. My sweet little Grand Nephew is 3 years old today! He
looks kind of like that little boy above, I think.
It's been so long since I've seen him that he wasn't even speaking coherently yet! But he is now, and I can't wait to see the little tyke.Happy Birthday, Robby!

It's Been A Year.....

....it has, although it doesn't seem like it! I decided to do another post today, because it's the one year anniversary of my blog - or my Blogiversary! So, I thought maybe I would do a little giveaway, like I have seen so many other women in Blogland do.
We actually DO have a trunk in the basement, but the giveaway will include a much smaller version.
It's a little treasure chest full of (well, overflowing with) little gifts for the winner. Because I really do "treasure" all of you who read my blog , and I read and enjoy every single comment.
So, there's the little treasure trunk, a vintage postcard, a little floral china hanging plate, a little soap, a lavender sachet, pretty little pink fringed cotton napkin or small cloth, another cotton napkin with a little cross-stitched flower, two little bunches of posies (lily-of-the-valley, I think), and three blank Tasha Tudor greeting cards with envelopes. I admired Tasha so, and I haven't yet managed to compose a proper post as a tribute to her. I grew up with her books, and I have been a collector for many, many years.
If you are interested in entering, please just leave a comment on this post before Sept. 19th, and then I will pick a name out of a hat (or something.) Thank you for reading!

Belated Thank You(s) And My 300th Post

I have some rather belated thanks to send out to a few of my favorite bloggers. First of all, to Twyla and Lindsey of Two Crazy Crafters who gave me my an "I Love Your Blog" award on August 22nd. I really appreciate the award, and especially the fact that you love my blog. That means a lot to me.
Next, a special thank you, too, goes out to Emily at Livin' Vintage, who also named me among her list of favorite bloggers, and presented me with another "I Love Your Blog" award on August 30th. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Emily. It makes me happier than you know to think that some of you out there are reading and enjoying my blog on a regular basis.
And third, I want to say thank you to Kim from Camp Whimsy, who tagged me on Sept. 2nd to write seven random things about myself. Those random thoughts on other blogs are so much fun to read! And it's always nice to learn a little more about a favorite blogger. (I'm not sure whether or not it would be right to list 7 of my own due to my reasons below.)
Now, for an explanation of sorts: While I truly do appreciate these honors, I simply can't participate, for a variety of reasons. I hope you all will understand. I'm not good with "Rules". I don't know how to do links. And I'm just not comfortable with tagging 7 of my own favorite bloggers, who then are supposed to follow the rules, as well. Please don't be offended, these are just my personal feelings about it all, and I felt like I should explain so that you three wouldn't feel that I was ignoring you. I tried to do what I was "supposed" to one time, and it's just too much for me. I just can't. I don't think my blog has many readers, and each of you is very important to me! I sincerely hope this doesn't upset anyone, and that you will continue to read my little blog. It's fun for me, and I enjoy every comment.
So, please let me say again, as written on my vintage greeting cards - Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
Oh - and yes, this is my 300th post. I can hardly believe it.

Li'l Smokey (The Bear)

There was another article in the paper the other day about Li'l Smokey, who was rescued in July by firefighter Adam Deem, after his paws had been badly burned in a forest fire. He named him after the original Smokey Bear, who was found in 1950 in New Mexico. They even have a blog about him at ltwc.typepad.com. He's being rehabilitated at Lake Tahoe Wildlife care, and he is healing.
I keep hearing about the fact that the original bear is Smokey Bear, not Smokey The Bear. Yeah, yeah, okay - but can you blame us for calling him that when the Little Golden Book, above, published in 1955 has that title? And the song we ALL know, below, written by Johnny Marks (also of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer fame) is called Ballad Of Smokey The Bear, with it's familiar chorus of "Smokey the Bear, Smokey The Bear...."
Even in this book published in 1960, the first line reads "Smokey the Bear Was worried."
I also have a later version of the Little Golden Book, with the background in yellow rather than blue:
I've been known to be quite stubborn - and I'll probably continue to call him Smokey The Bear. Because I feel like it.
They are even going to be setting up a 24 hour webcam for Li'l Smokey, so anyone who is interested can track his progress. Poor Li'l Smokey - I think and I hope that he will be fine.

Back To School

Well, are your kids back in school? The schools in this county all began either last week or this week. Looks like Betsy McCall had a nice walk to school back in the day! I hope there are still some areas in the country where kids can walk to school safely without worry?
Did you take a lunch box to school when you were little? I'd love to have one of these great Aladdin lunch kits now! I don't actually remember having a lunch box. If I did, I don't recall - and I'm pretty sure I would have saved it! We were lucky to have a new cafeteria built at our elementary school, and the food was REALLY good. Doris Richardson and Jill Potter were two of the fabulous cooks who worked there. Doris was a Farm Bureau member and those ladies know how to cook.
As long as I live, I will never get used to school starting before Labor Day. It never did while we were going, and so it never started in August. It just seems so WRONG to me. August is summer. It's just wrong.
(Both of these advertisements are from the September 1958 issue of McCall's magazine. I collect the Betsy pages. I used to cut them out and save them when I was little. I like to display them during the appropriate month or holiday season.)

Holiday At Niles Canyon

We took a little trip down to Sunol on the 4th for a special train ride on the Niles Canyon Railway and barbecue/picnic lunch. My stepson met us there, and it was he who took these pictures of the train.
A short ride from Sunol to Niles and back in a beautifully restored passenger car, and a nice lunch afterward.
We didn't win any of the prizes with our raffle tickets, but I found a really nice t-shirt for my husband in the gift shop, and he bought a book and the little pin I've shown here with their brochure.
It was fun! We even got home early, and I still got to watch my Boston Pops before bedtime. You see, it isn't the 4th for me unless I get to hear them play Stars and Stripes Forever, and act like I'm conducting, and see the fireworks. That's how we spent our holiday - I hope you enjoyed yours!

A Week Ago....

.....I was getting ready for the sale in Georgetown. I painted these little shelves and this tray, below, and added some of my favorite vintage decals:
My sister had lots of vintage linens for sale. I had a few, too, and some 70's vintage clothing.
And rather an eclectic assortment of other stuff - dishes, knickknacks, etc.
I found this great lovebirds doorstop (?); I'm using it as a bookend - we can always use something else to hold up books in this house!
Sorry it's not a very good picture. It's Art Nouveau style, and has a little acorn marking on the back, I think it's a reproduction of an Arts and Crafts period design. I liked it, and I didn't pay very much. The sale was kind of slow - we think people were busy doing other things on Father's Day. I'm not sure I want to do it next month - it will probably be a lot hotter by then!

Taking Off For The Weekend...

Just a quick post today - we went to the Farmer's Market this morning, and now I'm taking off to go see my sisters. We are going to (try to) sell stuff tomorrow in Georgetown.
The photo by Jim Arndt on this card cracks me up! I only WISH we had as much neat stuff as these ladies have for sale! (Card by Avanti Press) Please do not use image without permission...I hope they don't mind me using it!