Ya Ya Ladybug

This coming year, 2024, will be a year of many changes for my husband and I. The changes will be both exciting and scary for us. So, stay tune as I write about what will be going on in our life!

On Thursday, March 19th the Govenor of California instigated the “Stay At Home” order for all Californians, except essential people. I do not know about anyone else, but I miss eating out.  Don’t get me wrong, I love cooking, but I am finding that I cook the same meals over and over (including desserts).  Boring!!!

Soooooooooo, to combat this I have been trying new recipes and I want to share one of those “finds” with you. It is for Slow Cooker Asian Sesame Chicken prepared by Jessica from her  Together As Family site. Talk about a super easy recipe.  It calls for only 4 ingredients (okay, make that really a total of 7 ingredients) and a slow cooker (crock pot). A couple of things to remember is: thaw out the chicken if using frozen chicken breast/thighs the day before in the refrigerator and roast the sesame seeds you use for garnish (makes all the difference in the world).

Can you say yummmmmmmmm! This recipe is a keeper. It is not only a great change to serve to the family, but it will be a crowd pleaser when served to company, that is when this pandemic order is lifted!

Well, that’s all for today. Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and well.♥

A couple of weeks ago, when the days started being sunny here in Northern California, the husband and I decided to make the great escape from home during this crazy pandemic and drove to the other end of town, to Riverbend Park, to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. So, here are a few things that I saw  on that “walk in the park” …

I love seeing the little things  …. like the colors of the various wild plants in bloom and seed pods that survived a stormy winter … the US & California flags moving in the gentle breeze we were experiencing that day … and a grate, with a fish design, that was put at the base of a young tree to protect its roots …

and … finding little prized possessions – a hand painted bunny rock – a Hot Wheels race car … left in the hope of making a passerby smile because they saw them and might, just might hide these little prizes in a new spot …

and … the couple enjoying each others company while fishing at the park’s river and seeing my hubby dressed for sun and wind … It was a very good day for that walk.

Thanks for stopping by and I can’t wait to share what wonders will be found on the next “walk in the park”♥♥♥

Greetings …

Today I decided to step away from making fabric face masks for the hospital and get some fresh air.  So, on this beautiful sunny Spring afternoon in Northern California, with my iPhone in hand, I did a walk-about in my backyard (nearly 1/4 acre) and photographic the flowers that are blooming there …

Hope you enjoyed a peek into my backyard.  I’m looking forward to the next two months  when many more plants will bloom. Until next time …. don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers (even if you have allergies) … be safe and stay well♥

About 2 years ago I joined a crafting club: Club G45.  G45 stands for Graphic 45 which is one of my all time favorite scrapbooking lines of paper, hardware, flowers, etc.

Well, as it appears I am never in a hurry to do things, I am finally completing some of those kits. The kit I chose this time to complete is from 2018, Volume 7 – Imagine: Wallet-Fold Envelope Album and Z-Fold Card Set.  Here are photos of the album and cards I completed  . . .

This kit was designed by Annette Green and I chose to follow her instructions to the letter and not make any changes. I love working with the G45 kits as they give detailed tutorials and they even make available how-to videos for each project. If you are interested in learning more about this creative company and the products/kits they produce you can check them out at http://www.g45papers.com

Soooooooo, that’s all for today . . . thanks for stopping by and until next time have a relaxing time . . . Linda♥

So, here it is after the Christmas holidays and 2-1/2 weeks into the new year. The hubs and I finally are on the upside of that nasty cold we caught in the middle of December (or more like gave to each other…hehehe).  And, of course, it is long past time to put away the Christmas decorations.

So, here I am enjoying the winter decorations I put out for January when I walk into a room and they jump out at me … that one Christmas decoration that got missed and it still hanging around in plain view and it’s not just one decoration, but two in the same room …

How is that possible??? … It’s not like we don’t use that room … we are in that bathroom quite a bit … so how is it that I (and hubby) overlooked these two decorations … that is the age old question and I’m blaming it on the cold meds this year … hahaha

That’s all for now.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great week… Linda♥

YAHOO!!! … I am finally getting my creative mojo back. Six days before Christmas I caught that nasty cold that’s going around and it has taken until January 2nd before I even felt like doing anything and that anything happened to be getting my crafting mojo back … YAHOO!!!

I finally finished making various cards … one is an original (the little bird with a Santa hat, sent out this year) and the others were from kits that I had purchased years ago from Paradise Scrapbook Boutique and Chico Scrapbook …

I still have that crafting mojo bug and have now started on a new scrapping project and I will talk more about that in my next post … till then … thanks for stopping by ♥♥♥

Wishing you and your loved ones a year full of joy, good health, peace, love, beautiful moments and treasured memories.

Wishing everyone a fun and safe Halloween …

Hi All …

I know it’s been a long time since I have posted anything on this site (since July 2017 YIKES!).  And as always I have a million and one reasons why I haven’t posted, but it basically boils down to “shear laziness” on my part. So, here is something I recently did this month with my husband …

I have lived 30+ years here in Oroville and recently my husband and I made a short trip to Vina, California. I have never been to Vina, which is about 45 minutes from where we live. There really is not much to see in Vina … a general grocery store … a post office … a few houses … and one other place that has made it world famous …it is the home of a Roman Catholic Trappist Abbey …  The Abbey of Our Lady of New Clairvaux …

The following is taken from the Church Tour brochure … “The monks of the Abbey of Our Lady of New Clairvaux belong to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, a Roman Catholic monastic order founded in the year A.D. 1098. Cistercian abbeys have been oases of prayer silence, beauty and light. The abbey church of New Clairvaux incorporates a completely restored 12th century ‘Chapter House’ that was originally part of the Santa Maria de Ovila Cistercian abbey in Spain. The Chapter House is the largest example of original Cistercian-Gothic architecture in the Wester Hemisphere, and the oldest building in the United States west of the Mississippi.  It encompasses a magnificent ripple-arched Gothic entry, and was painstakingly dismantled and shipped, stone by stone, to San Francisco after publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst acquired the edifice in 1930.  These sacred stones were then abandoned in Golden Gate Park during The Great Depression until their return to Cistercian soil, where they were awarded to New Clairvaux in 1994.”

On a personal note, my husband and I used to have dinner once a week with a man, Jim Rossas to be exact. One night over dinner Jim told us of how he use to play on a pile of rumble, back in the middle 1930’s, while his mom was at work at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.  Little did he know that this rubble was in fact the sacred stones. We are sad that Jim did not live long enough to see these stones reassembled into the Abbey’s new church.

Below are a few of the pictures that were taken during our visit of the church, the wine tasting room, the vineyard and the koi pond …

So, if you are looking for a peaceful place, to get away from the everyday stress, plan on making a little day trip to the Abbey of Our Lady of New Clairvaux in Vina, California.

Well, that’s about all for now. Thank you for stopping by and until next time … have a fantastic week!