We had a huge storm this weekend!  At our house we get snow every winter, but not a lot, so it's still an occasion.  It was so pretty to wake up to white all around.  I can always tell it has snowed first thing because it's so quiet.  And...it gets even quieter when the electricity goes off.  Argh. 

This is me, standing on my deck out front.  We decided to go to town and have breakfast....mmmm mmm....and to get warm!

 

After breakfast, we took a drive up the mountains to enjoy the snow.  I wanted to go by my daughter's new house, but she said we would be stuck for sure, so we just drove. 




Here I am again...we pulled over and took a picture.  Hubby is always taking pictures, but he is never IN  the picture.  I wish I had just taken my camera and snapped one of the two of us.  Hindsight.  

We stopped for gas at STP.  We have stopped here a billion times, and believe it or not, I never noticed this tree growing right through the building.  Now, that's country living!

 

I loved our snow day.  We have really missed winter this year.  It's almost spring, so it was good to get a taste of REAL winter!  Luckily, when we got home the power was back on.  Ah.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Farrell House!  Yep, hubby is Irish.  Me?  I'm German.  In America we are always saying stuff like that.  But, what does it mean?  Is my hubby really Irish?  What we mean when we say that is that somewhere in our family history there was at least one person who was Irish, German, Italian, etc.  I think if hubby was in Ireland right now, they would say that he is NOT Irish.  He is American.

Here is the real Irishman in his family. His Grandpa Farrell (hubby doesn't even know his first name) came from Ireland.  That's my hubby in the middle.

The family lore is that he took off the "O" in O'Farrell when he came here.  I have heard a few fun stories about his accent.  But, he died young enough for my hubby to have pretty vague memories of him.

Am I German?  Well, my Grandpa was the first person born in America in his family that came from Germany.  And, I had a German last name until I married. So, I have always said "I'm German".  But, I know next to nothing about the culture and history of these people who came here to America so long ago.

I guess that is all part of living in the Melting Pot of the world.  We are all American.  

But, TODAY.....we are ALL Irish.

Or pretending to be.

So. What fun and special thing are you doing on this holiday?  It's raining here, which has put a damper on some really fun local happenings.  Darn.  

As for me, I have a gig with my band tonight.  It's been a while and I'm really looking forward to it!  I will be posting an update on my band blog about it in next next couple of days.  Now, I have to go....so I can figure out what to wear!

The Princess Phone

I want one of these!!  

This one sold for only $12!

When I was a little girl, my mom had a Princess phone beside her bed.  It was adorable.  I'm pretty sure hers was blue.  

And, she had it on a nifty little stand just like this one. 

Back then, so many people had the exact same phone.  And, the exact same stand.  

Today there are so many more choices.  

With all the modern technology and the great phones we have these days, why aren't they cuter?

 

We all choose different decor themes, I like cottage and shabby, my daughter likes bohemian and modern.  But, our phone are almost the same.  What?  How does that work? Why aren't there more decorative phones available?  When you talked on a Princess phone you felt like a princess.  

This is my current phone. It speaks the number or name of the person who is calling, it can take a message, it can show me the phone number of who is calling or a history of who called, it has a list of commonly dialed numbers and soooo much more.  BUT..... What do you feel like on this phone?

Here are a few vintage ads for Princess phones....don't they make you want one right now?

If I do find a vintage Princess phone, will it even work?  Can you still use a rotary phone any more?

Appreciating technology...or being frustrated by it?

I'm writing this blog post from my laptop.  That should be amazing, right?  But, no.  I am frustrated because my main computer has some kind of issue with the internet and it's running really slow.   This frustrates me.  I just want it to WORK.  I told my husband that it was a slow as dial up. Who even remembers "dial up" anymore?  Remember that series of sounds that you would hear as the computer connected to the internet?  And, I remember being amazed by the internet.  In the beginning, it didn't matter that it was slow, because that was all we knew.  And, it was so cool to even have an internet connection.

Our rural phone company had DSL before some of the major cities in our area.  Wow.  That high speed connection literally changed our lives.  We used to have to drive to deliver large files that we can now just upload via the internet.  So, when things aren't working the way I want them to, why would I be frustrated?  Why wouldn't I just be grateful for all of the wonderful things that technology has made possible in my life?

If my computer doesn't work, I can switch to my laptop.  I can check my email on MY PHONE!  I can go online with my Iphone.  I have never been more in touch with the world that I am at this very moment.  And, I need that capability to find out what my Facebook friends are up to, play words with friends and other trivial things.  I need to  check the headlines to see what's happening.  Why do I NEED this?    I guess I don't.  But, I have become accustomed to it.  And, I like it.  And, I need to find out what the heck is wrong with my computer.  

This guy says it all.  It's comedian C.K. Louis on Conan O'Brien, talking about how "everything is amazing and nobody's happy".   I laugh every time I watch it.  Enjoy:

Touring this old building is like Time Travel

I interviewed a really nice person to day, Debbie Dunn.  She has taken over a very cool store in the town of Volcano in a very old historic building.  She says that the building has had a general store in it since 1852.  It has something in it from every generation.  I took a few pictures to share with you.  Let's take a time travel tour of the Country Store in Volcano California.

From the outside it really doesn't look like much.  In fact, I can tell you that I have, in fact, walked past this store many many times and never once went inside.  I was truly missing out!

Right outside there are brick wall and rock walls.

Up the street....

Down the street....

Old plank wood floors that creak delightfully as you walk on them.  Do you see the wooden bar stools?  

On the right is a restaurant.  Look at the old vintage counter.  

The eating area surrounded by rock walls and lit by a skylight above.  There are vintage pictures of the store and the town all around.  

Same room, other side.  

 This brick oven is very old and is used currently to cook on.

These iron doors were there to protect the building from fires.  A fire back in the 1800's could destroy a whole town before they could put it out.  The rock walls were great protection against fire.  The iron doors would keep the fire from entering.  Debbie told me something I did not know.  They put a layer of dirt on top of the ceiling.  If the roof burned, it would get to the dirt and stop (hopefully), once again preventing the fire from spreading. 

The place is a veritable treasure trove of cool stuff in every nook and cranny.  This vintage light up sign was stuck in the storage room behind the iron doors.  I hope that Debbie resurrects it somehow.

This the the same room looking back from the iron doorway.

I love this vintage cigarette dispenser that is still in use in this store. From this vantage point you can see the two separate areas, on the left is the store and on the right is the restaurant.

This candy rack is vintage and makes me think of my childhood.  Debbie has added the candy bowls at the top for "penny" candy.

This store has served many generations.  You can almost see any one of them shopping here.  And, it's stocked right now with current inventory.

Debbie features local Amador County wines in the store.

Cool old meat display.  She plans to get it back in use.

What's back here?  It's fenced in....must be important.

Yep.  It's the old safe.

I can remember using a vintage/antique cash register like this one.  Or something like it anyway.  Aren't you just dying to start punching those buttons to make the drawer open?

Another storage room with an eclectic mix of stuff.  And, these interesting lamps just hanging over nothing in a corner.  What's the story here?

The storeroom ladder looks pretty old and vintage. 

I imagine these spikes were meant to keep the ladder from sliding.  But, I didn't see any holes for it.  Must go back for further inspection!!

This sign was for a pool that used to be where the park is now.  It was filled in long ago.  My husband has told me about swimming in that pool when he was little.  It was fun to see the sign that is the last proof that a community pool existed.  Debbie remembers swimming in it too.  This is the perfect final resting place for this nostalgic sign of a time gone by.

This is the picture that I sent to the paper to use with my article.  I like it because it shows both stores and Debbie.  She is so passionate about the building and the history.  I see her as a caretaker of a little piece of history and she takes it seriously.  She is eager to share her knowledge about the building and what it's been used for.  I really appreciate Debbie for giving me the tour, even the secret hidey places!  I was charmed by the building and by her enthusiasm.  I definitely plan to return to hang out and enjoy the ambiance.  I'm looking forward to a burger cooked in the brick oven. 

I say NO to DST! And on the subject of time...here is an art clock project for you!

We all had to set our clocks forward one hour.  Why?  I just don't see why we need to change the time twice a year.  It's called Daylight Savings Time, but the amount of daylight in a day has not really changed at all just by changing our clocks.  Many people say that it's done for farmers.  Is that so?  Why do ALL the people need to change their clocks for farmers?  Don't farmers work their own hours?  Can't they adjust their work time around daylight?  

I read that setting our clocks forward is good for outdoor businesses and sporting events.  That's fine with me.  Just don't fall back in the fall.  Just leave it.  There.  That's my 2 cents.  

Now on to a fun art project with a clock.  This clock that I used was in my closet and was already set on the correct time!  I didn't have to change a thing.

As for the project, I saw a clock somewhere on the internet that had rolled up magazines all around it.  I wanted to create one of my own, and so I did!  Here is the result:

I love it!  It's fun, wild and colorful.  I have it in my newly painted home office and it goes nicely with the aqua walls  This project was pretty quick and easy to do. In fact it would make a great arts and crafts project for kids.  

Here's how to do it.

You will need:

a clock

old magazines

tape

double sided tape

scissors

I used a clock I already had.  It's not a particularly cute clock, but I can see the number easily and I like that!  You could use any kind of wall clock.

Look through the magazines and choose colorful pictures.  The best ones have a lot of solid color on them.  It's better if the color goes all the way to the edge of the page, otherwise you will have a striped affect (which is fine too).   This one with the purple edge will look almost solid purple when it's rolled up.

And, so will this pink one.  I went through magazines and just tore out all the colors that I liked.

Next, start rolling from a corner.

As you roll keep on side tighter.

Keep rolling.

As you get to the end, fold under a little flap.

Tape the end to close it.  Don't worry if your pages are not rolled up all the same size.  It won't matter.  What WILL matter is that you have a small end and an open end.  This will make them fan out as you place them.

Place double sided tape all around the back of the clock where you will be placing the magazine pieces.

Make sure you have the entire area covered.

  

Start placing your magazine pieces, alternating colors.

After you place them all, press them down.

After you have them all placed on to the double stick tape, put on some regular tape on top to really hold the pieces down.

Turn it over and review your project.

Hang it on the wall, and enjoy!!

I really enjoyed this project and I'm in love with my new clock.   It's perfect in my new office!