Some Old and Some New

Greetings my friends on a chilly Sunday afternoon.  It was a lovely, warm day today until a couple of hours ago and the cold weather from up North has made it to SoCal.  We're suppose to have freezing temps these next few nights!  I know, I shouldn't complain but it is unusual for most folks who live down here :)

There's so many things I want to share with you and write about.  But, sometimes I am at a loss for words.  My heart is heavy these past few days with yet another school shooting.  I admire those high school students who are now speaking up and I am with them all the way.  One day I will tell you the story about the school shooting that took place in our little town in Eastern Washington.  That will be for another time.

Besides babysitting my little grandchildren these past few days (morning, noon and night), I had a dinner party last week.  It's always enjoyable for me to plan the menu, set the table and all the other things that are needed.

This time I decided to use my Mom's Community Silverplate.  This flatware and chest have been around for as long as I can remember.  I think my Mom would have purchased it back in the early 1950's.  After my Mom passed away back in 1993, I kept this as a keepsake and didn't use it.  Until last weekend. . .

It so happened that I rediscovered this flatware through a dear blog friend I recently met via her blog.  Margaret has the same flatware and had written about it on her blog.  Of course I commented to say I have the same pattern!

  

It was so interesting to learn about the history of this flatware pattern.  The name of the pattern in the US is Coronation.  In the UK, it is known as Hampton Court.  Originally, it was designed and introduced back in 1936, in honor of Edward VIII becoming King of England.  Of course, as you know, he abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson.  Hence, the name was changed for the UK market but stayed the same for the US.  When I set my table last weekend I found that I do have a complete service for 8 along with an extra  dinner fork along with 8 extra teaspoons.  So, I hurried over to Ebay where I found a matching knife and dessert fork so that my set can now serve 9.  Hopefully, one day I can pass this set onto my little granddaughter for the next generation. 

Now for the new, the bed is complete.  After the bed arrived, it was another two weeks for the mattress to arrive via Costco.  It worked out great as Costco's price and quality couldn't be matched at the places I checked out.

Lilly was quite pleased to check out the new blanket and gave her approval :)

Between watching the little ones, cooking and cleaning and the never ending paperwork, I started on my new sock pattern.  It's a fun easy pattern and I love the yarn.  However, I'm finding it's a bit hard to work in the evenings as the dark yarn against the dark needles can be trying.

Yesterday, my husband and I had a wonderful time with an impromptu dinner at the beach followed by grocery shopping at my favorite Persian market.  So, there's plenty of goodies to make some nice dishes for the upcoming week.  I'll sign off now since my homemade vegetable soup is ready to serve along with homemade corn muffins.  It's cold outside!

It's always a joy to hear from you.  Please feel free to say "hi" if you  wish.

Until next time,

Pat

A Great Start to the New Year

 Happy New Year dear friends.  I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas holiday and a great start to the New Year.  I've had a wonderful holiday season with my family.

 

 Yesterday afternoon all the family ventured to the Montage Resort where we sat outside on the veranda and enjoyed coffee.  It was a perfect afternoon to watch the ocean and do a little people watching, too!  It was my daughter's idea (photo above) and we all agreed that this was a great way to start the New Year's Eve celebrations.

 

 Christmas at my home has been all boxed up until next year (although I hope the true meaning of Christmas is in my heart throughout the coming year).  My home is slowly coming back to it's normal, eclectic decor.  My dear son bought me these lovely pink carnations.  They brighten up the family room.

My beloved knitting needles have made a reappearance, too this season.  I'm knitting a pair of socks from the very talented Helen Stewart.  They're called Vintage Fairy Lights socks and you can find the info here on my Ravelry page. (Lilly insists on sitting my my lap when I'm knitting!)

I love to knit socks.  I taught myself how to knit them; unbeknownst to me that they can be a bit of a challenge. Luckily, I and my four DPN's get along very well.  I love the yarn I found on Etsy.  It's from Southern Skeins; she is an indie dyer from Florida.  Her yarn creations are so lovely and best of all, her prices are very reasonable!  My yarn is called "frosted berries"  which I thought was so appropriate for this project.

Speaking of the very talented Helen, she will be hosting The Handmade Sock Society.  There will be six sock patterns included in this KAL.  I can hardly wait until it begins in February.  Fun times ahead!

I received some beautiful and useful things for Christmas.  I love the perfume tray that my dear daughter and her family gave to me.  It sits on top of my Grandma's antique bird's eye maple chest which is in my closet.  It was fun to clean and rearrange the top of this much loved chest.

Lilly wanted to say "hello" to everyone.  She had a great holiday and is enjoying her catnip toys.  I hope everyone out there who has furry family loved ones, to wish them all the best for the New Year, too.

Thank you dear friends for being my friend and visiting my blog.  I wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

With my best wishes,

Pat

Lilly Update and Fires in SoCal

Thank you everyone for your get well wishes for my kitty, Lilly.  She has been doing well and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she is over this bout of illness.  She has her appetite back and being 17 pounds little, that's a good sign for sure.

Like many of you pet parents out there, when she became ill, I was so devastated as I've had her for over 10 years and during that time, she has never been sick.  Of course, she goes once a year for her annual vaccinations which cost a minimum.

So, the trip to the veterinarian was an eye opener for sure. She was a lovely, young doctor who was so kind.  She didn't have an answer right away but suggested a plan of treatment and then told me she'd give me the estimate.  I was perplexed but I waited and the assistant brought in the estimate which had a total price of $713.00!  Wow, a bit costly for sure.  The blood work was approximately $250.00 and the x-ray was $250.00.  Luckily, after a little discussion with the assistant, she suggested I give Lilly the medicine treatment (which was $201.00) and see how it goes.  Lilly received two medicines; one for acid reflux and one an antiobiotic, for one week.  So far, so good.  But, she's my baby and  if the symptoms return, of course I'm going to proceed with further testing.  It broke my heart to see her ill.

 

Many parts of our  beautiful, tranquil setting here in Southern California are up in flames at the moment.  Yesterday, a fire broke out which they named the Thomas Fire.  It started at 50 acres and this afternoon is has grown to more than 50,000 acres!  It's northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County and many structures have burned to the ground.  It's heartbreaking to see it on the TV.  There are a couple of more fires that broke out today.  The culprit is the Santa Ana Winds which started yesterday.  They are very strong, warm winds that wreck havoc with our dry, parched land.  They're expected to blow until early Friday morning.  Luckily, I haven't heard of any fires here in Orange County where I live.  Although, we have taken precaution and put away things outside and shut off the pool filter since it's filled with leaf debris. We are in a wait and see mode.  There are dry, parched hills which border both sides of the area where I live.   

I hope you are safe and warm wherever you may be.  I had a fun post ready to publish today but it's going to wait until another time.  

With my best wishes to you,

Pat

Beauty of Nature in Small Packages

Hello my dear friends.  I've had a great two days at home enjoying my favorite things; keeping house and cooking.  For some reason, I feel I have so much energy and have already started to plan for the holidays.  I hope this energy stays around for awhile :) read to the end of this blog post if you want to hear me rattle on. . .

I love to collect little dishes and such.  You know those tiny jars you get jam or honey in at a hotel?  This is a tiny little succulent that I'm trying to sprout and it's in one of those little jars in my kitchen window.  I love the symmetry of it all.

Last week I pulled out all the old tomato vines.  There was still a handful of green tomatoes on a couple of them.  Here they are in a little earthenware dish I bought in Spain.  I hope they turn red.  I did leave a few of the unripe one on top of the soil as last time they reseeded themselves and grew up to be lovely tomato plants.

I made a mini bouquet from the flowers I bought earlier in the week.  My little crystal vases were being used for something else so this is a Turkish tea glass I'm using as a vase!

This is a pumpkin candle.  I have a set of them that I use for decorating my fireplace mantle. It sure doesn't feel like fall. . . we are expecting the heat wave to hit tomorrow and they're saying it could break some records.  And, it's the end of October!  I'm a bit scared as with the heat they are saying the Santa Ana winds (which are fierce, hot winds) may be blowing.  That's a huge red flag for fires.  Where I live, there is a huge ravine (not sure if that's the word but it's a huge expense of lowland with higher ground on either side that goes for miles).  There are communities on both sides of it.  Actually, in the area where I live there are three different cities that connect along this ravine.  And, there are three  bridges that cross over it.  Last week, I saw a car parked off the road after crossing the bridge.  I first thought it was a police car scanning for speeders. But, there on the side of the car door was a sign "fire watch". I'm not sure if these are volunteers who provide this service or if it's part of the fire department.  Either way, it's a very smart idea as if that ravine ever caught fire, it could spread throughout all these communities.

 

I know the heading of this post is beauty of nature in "small" packages but I just had to share a photo of Lilly this morning during her morning naptime.  She's not "small" but to me she is so beautiful.  And, she is such a sweet natured kitty.  My little two year old granddaughter was here last week and loved petting Lilly.  Lilly was so kind to her.  I think they are good friends now.

I have a question/survey to ask you my dear readers.  Do you read blogs or other social media sites where you feel the author writing these pieces has real likes or dislikes?  For instance, I read a lot of blogs and they span many subjects.  But, there are a couple of them whose main theme is being thrifty.  I love to shop for a bargain as do most people.  But the more I read some of these blogs, the more I am totally dismayed.  It appears that these people are very closed minded and set in their ways unless you follow the same path they do.  Examples would be:  

- buying clothes from a department store - never!

- travel/take a cruise - never!

-shopping at an upscale grocery store -never!

-buying a designer/name brand item - never!

The list could go on and on.  I have likes and dislikes but I never ever would try and push my agenda onto someone else.  Hey, if you want to buy a no name brand or buy a designer brand, that's up to you.  But, don't bash people who don't think like you.  I'm finding it very rude sometimes.  And, their opinions are not limited to consumer goods.  Oh no.  Some of them are ethnocentric as they don't want anything to do with America and they frequently share this on their blogs.  It puzzles me as to why people who know nothing about someone, can hold such negative opinions. I've met some very dear friends abroad via my blog; friends that I hope to meet in person one day and visit their lovely countries.  I truly feel we should embrace what we have in common rather than divide.   Anyway, that's my rattling on tonight and it has nothing to do with nature and yet it does have to do with one's own nature.  I try my hardest to never offend anyone or make anyone feel they don't belong.  We should be embracing the beauty of this world we live in regardless of where or what country we live in.

Enjoy your day everyone.  Lilly sends you her meows.

With my best wishes,

Pat

Walking Tour & Lilly's Story.....

Hi everyone.  This is a two part post today.  We'll go on a mini tour around my neighborhood and end with a story about Lilly (my cat).

It's a lovely day so why don't we go for a walk?  So, without further ado, let's gets started.....

 Stepping out the front door...

 I see one of the many hillsides in my neighborhood.....

A pink flowering bush on the hillside....

Turning the corner, I see a unique pine tree.....

And a majestic palm tree.....

Walking up the hillside, I see the rain ditches which fill quickly when it rains....

I discover a patch of prickly pear cacti....

Going down the hill I see the landscaping on the hills.....

And, I stop to look at this lovely rose in all it's beauty...

I pass by our little park......

And I look up at the majestic palms against the beautiful sky....

And, I see the lovely backdrop of our mountains.....

And, I'm back at home again....

I hope you have enjoyed this mini tour.....

Now, I will tell you about Lilly.  She had so many kind comments and questions asked about her, I thought I would tell you a little bit about her life.

People have written and asked if she is as friendly, and sweet as she looks and I have to say yes, yes, yes!  Lilly is a rescue kitty.  My poor little Pumpkin had passed away from diabetes in 2005.  A year and a half later, in 2007, we found Lilly.  I found Lilly on  Petco's Petfinder.  I used to search this site to sooth my broken heart after losing my dear Pumpkin.  When It was time to get another cat, I found Lilly on this site.  She originally was rescued from an animal hoarder.  Lilly was two years old and staying with a foster Mom.  It was a beautiful, warm winter day (in the high 60's) and we drove to a city north of Seattle.  It was a little bit of a drive for us.  I went inside the home where Lilly was staying.   The lady told me, "I had a cat that was a lap cat but she was adopted and I don't think Lilly will be a lap cat".....Little Lilly was hiding underneath a sofa and there was about 8 cats in that room.  She was listed as "medium" size but as soon as I saw her, I knew that she was a "large" cat.  Immediately, I thought of her getting diabetes.

.

I went out to the car and called my husband inside to look at her.  He said, "we've come this far, let's just get her".  I was hesitant but agreed.  We paid the adoption fee and took Lilly home.  She was a bit shy the first few days but after that, the rest is history.

She really is like a person.  She comes when her name is called, she loves to cuddle, either watching TV with my husband or sitting on my lap when I'm knitting or crocheting.  And, she loves to eat....so much so that she has an automatic feeder where her food is measured out each feeding.  She's the center of our home.  We are truly blessed by sharing our home with this lovely little creature.

Thank you again for taking the time to stop by and visit.  Feel free to leave a comment or sign up to follow my blog.   I always enjoy hearing from you.

Enjoy your weekend!

Pat
P.S.  This weekend I'm at the Handmade Harbour link party!

Undulating Waves Scarf, Vintage Doily and Knitted Pashmina WIP's

Hello everybody.  I'm Lilly (the namesake of this blog) and I'm writing to you today since my Mom has come down with a bad case of WIP's.  Yes, that's correct - she has discovered that she has a few "works in progress" that she has ignored and hidden away in the craft closet.

(Here's a picture of me, in case you forgot how I looked!)

So the first project my Mom pulled out was vintage doily pattern that she wrote about  here.

As you see, it's still not completed.  But look closely at the needlepoint bag with a cat...

The second project, was this undulating waves scarf.  My Mom tells me that this knitting pattern makes her go buggy. She does not enjoy working on this project and maybe that's why it's sitting tucked away in the corner of the closet. (The original link to this pattern no longer works but the pattern can be found  here on Ravelry....sorry for the inconvenience)

I like the pattern with the beads....please take a close look at the bag....

Finally, she has one more WIP.  She bought this yarn in San Francisco's Chinatown.  She knows it has wool but since she can't read Chinese, she doesn't know what other fibers.  She was starting to make a pashmina but alas it's been relegated to the closet...

She has like 10 skeins of this yarn!  I don't know what she will do with all that yarn.

I will leave you with a story of the needlepoint bags pictured above.  My Mom saw the first bag on etsy and fell in love with it since it has a beautiful (like me) cat on it.  She purchased it from the etsy artist who lived in France and made lovely bags out of old needlepoint canvases.  My Mom had bought a piece of needlepoint years and years ago for $1.00.  This needlepoint had been sitting around in the drawer for years.  She sent this needlepoint to this fabric artist in France who then designed the bag shown in the scarf picture.  She loves using these bags; especially since both have a history attached to them.  

Hopefully you have enjoyed hearing from me.  I"m afraid I need to sign off because I either need to take a nap or wait for my next feeding!

Have a wonderful day.
 

Meows from,

Lilly

Knitting Socks and Holiday Happenings

As I'm writing this tonight, the house is so quiet.  After a fun filled two 1/2 days of festivities, everyone has gone back to their places and it's just me and Lilly tonight (rest of the family went to the movies).  My Christmas trees are still up.  Usually I take them down the day after Christmas but this year I think I will let them stay until the new year and enjoy them a bit longer.  They've been up since Thanksgiving weekend!

We had a very nice Christmas.  In our family, the main festivities begin on Christmas eve and continue through Christmas day.  This year we attended Christmas eve church services for the first time in five years!  I grew up going to church but my family never attended on Christmas.  My husband and I started a new tradition years ago and that was to attend Christmas eve services.  I remember one year it had been so cold with snow coming down all day and the wind  blowing.  My parents always celebrated with us and we had eaten our dinner and opened our gifts.  We didn't make it to service that evening.  Until, my daughter and I decided to go to the 11:00 PM candlelight service.  I remember driving in the snow in our small town in Eastern Washington.  The fresh snow under the tires made such a lovely sound and it was so quiet outside with the new snowfall.  We had a big sedan car back then and it did very well in the snow.  The service was beautiful that evening with the moonlight coming through the stained glass windows of the church.  It's a Christmas eve that I'll always remember.

Now, that I live in sunny, warm, southern California, we don't have snow but we do have lighted palm trees!  But, I am thankful that we are together here as a family and can celebrate together too.  It really warmed my heart to attend my daughter and son-in-law's church on Christmas eve.  It was a beautiful, traditional service, like we used to have in the Lutheran Church.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to preach my religion, but it is a big part of who I am and since moving to California, I haven't really found a church family like the one I left back in Washington.   Maybe it's because I'm an empty nester or because I live in such a large metropolitan area.  It's different but that's OK.

Speaking of church, each year there are a couple of churches that host a huge New Year's party.  My husband and I have been going the last six years.  One is held at one of the local Orthodox parishes and the other is at a local Catholic parish.  Both of these churches are comprised of  Middle Eastern parishioners so the party comes complete with mezze, (appetizers), main course, dessert, beverages and live Middle Eastern music!  It should be a fun filled evening.

I've been so focused on getting my Christmas schedule in order that I haven't had much time for my knitting or crocheting.  I'm working on a fun crochet project that I will share that with you at a later date.  In the meantime, here is a picture of the socks I'm almost done knitting:

They are for my daughter.  She brought me the yarn and it was Red Heart worsted weight!  Not sock yarn but never fear...I looked online and found a simple quick  pattern * for socks using worsted weight yarn.  I'm not sure how they will wear but we will see....*note...I cast on 40 stitches instead of 44 stitches and it seems to be perfect measurement wise....

 I came across a new blog the other day entitled Winwick Mum .  She mentioned in her blog post about knitting socks and giving them in person to the one she made them for.  I so agree with her.  Socks can be time consuming but they are truly a work of art when made with the finest sock yarn and a beautiful pattern to match.  I love knitting socks but I must admit, that I haven't knitted any for about two years now.

My daughter had brought me some beautiful sock yarn from Germany.  I found a pattern I liked and started knitting.  This one sock went on a couple of vacations with me and even crossed the ocean one or two times.  I finally finished one sock.... only to try it on and see that the pattern had caused the tension with the yarn to be extremely tight and nonwearable.  Now, that one lonely sock sits upstairs in my craft closet all alone.  I need to get motivated again and start a new pair with a different pattern.

Here's a close-up of the herringbone pattern.....

The pattern for these socks was originally published in Interweave Knits, Winter 2008 under the title "Herringbone Rib Socks".  I'm afraid the pattern to me was a pain in the neck since you knit a stitch and then place the stitch back on the left hand needle to pass a stitch over it; thus the herringbone design is made.....

I'm afraid I've rambled on and on tonight.  If you don't hear from me again before the new year, I wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2015.  And, more importantly, thank you so much for visiting Lilly My Cat and also for signing up to follow this blog.

with my best wishes for the New Year,
Pat

The Cats of Istanbul

It's been a few weeks since I posted anything on this blog.  I was away on vacation with my family.  This time we ventured to Istanbul, Turkey.  I had never been to Turkey before and it did not disappoint!  I won't bore you with travel photos.  However, I will delight you with these wonderful pictures of the cats of Istanbul.

Istanbul inhabitants love their neighborhood cats and they take very good care of them.

Here is the lovely little white kitty that lived next door to the apartment we rented in the Cihangar district of Istanbul.  Her owner indicated that this little cat is deaf.  It warmed my heart that it had a good home and was loved.

As you can see, there's all colors and kinds of beautiful kitties.

These two kitties found a quiet place to take their cat naps!

As you walk through the neighborhood, you can see the shelters along with food bowls and water bowls that the people set out for their neighborhood cats.  According to the people we spoke with, the people of Istanbul really do love their cats and care for them.

Here's a photo of the neighborhood "cat house" that was at the end of our street.  Don't you love the design?

Here's another lovely little one, watching everyone from her perch.

This little tuxedo cat is beautiful with it's long fur.

During the ten days I spent in the lovely city of Istanbul, I saw many many cats.  And, there was only two that that some medical problem.  It warmed my heart that these lovely, innocent animals are being cared for by their community.

As to my own cat, Lilly, well she is a handful.  At 16 pounds, she keeps me very busy.  She was home alone while we were away and she did get into a little bit of trouble. Her latest activity is to shred paper.  She was so happy when we returned. She purred all night!

I wish each of you the very best and I hope to share with you next week my completed stripey blanket.  Please drop by Handmade Harbour and visit some wonderful blog sites where you will find lots of ideas to inspire you.

take care,
Pat