Burford Designs

Super Busy Saturday

Tomorrow is officially the start of the holiday season in my neck of the woods.  This little town, along with a few of the neighboring border towns, is hosting several holiday themed shopping experiences. 

 

In town one of the local charity/ thrift shops is holding their annual Christmas sale in the town's high school cafeteria.  All year long the ladies that run the God’s Provision Thrift store sort through donations and gather goods, mostly holiday related, to sell at this event and to promote their little shop.  What is particularly funny is that they get some good business at this show from people who didn’t know the business existed, even though the shop is actually in front of the high school... you have to pass the business to get to the high school.

 

Then at the local junior high in the gym the Lioness Club is hosting their annual holiday craft fair.  There is generally a pretty good turnout for this event and Mommy and I like to go and occasionally buy from local crafters.

 

In a little town south of us there is another annual event happening, the Blanchard Community Center Holiday Bazaar featuring arts and crafts, holiday decorations and refreshments.  Mommy and I haven't been to this one before and we will see if we make it tomorrow.

 

All three of these events run from 9 AM to 4 PM.

 

Another large event happening tomorrow is in the neighboring towns of Oldtown, Idaho and Newport, Washington.  It is the 3^rd installment of Who Let The Girls Out (WLTGO ), a compendium of seven woman owned stores in the area.  It all began a year ago when these women got together and decided to host an event that would get people, especially women out to visit these great local stores, to gather with girlfriends, have a good time and maybe shop a little too.  It was such a huge hit that they decided that they couldn’t wait an entire year to hold another event so they held another WLTGO in May.  It was a great event. 

Each shop had specials along with yummy snacks and drinks and a passport to get stamped at each shop so that you could enter to win one of several fabulous prizes.  Along with the passport there were also specials from other local businesses.  This year, along with the other specials, the local movie theater The Roxy is showing a chick flick (they did this last year as well) for a special price for those participating in WLTGO. This year’s feature is the romantic drama Love Happens starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart.

WLTGO runs from 9 AM to 6 PM and the movie starts at 7:30 PM.

It's sure to be a busy (and fun) Saturday!  I’ll try and take pictures to post and share all of these businesses and events with all of you.

MaryJanesFarm: Buggy, Barter, and Boogie

The weekend of July 4^th, MaryJanesFarm will be back with their annual Farm Fair.  This time the main fair (with vendors) will be held in Oakesdale, Washington (down in the Palouse) where MaryJane owns an historic flour mill.

Mommy and I applied to be vendors (we haven’t heard yea or nay yet).  It’s a juried  event and they are only allowing thirty vendors.  All applications were due March 2, so I’m hoping to hear one way or another soon.

The crew at MaryJanesFarm have put together a great weekend; this is from the Farm Fair site:

“It all starts and ends in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho— home to a shimmering crystal-blue lake with white-sand beaches and the new MaryJanesFarm store at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Plaza Shops.

Friday night, farmgirls will gather for a reception in the plaza lobby, complete with mall-wide specials, big-band music, skits, raffles, and snacks galore.

On Saturday, you’ll tune up your buggy and prepare to barter up and down the Palouse, taking in breathtaking countryside and quaint communities along our designated route. Each community has activities planned—yard sales, street fairs, food vendors, farm visits, artisan demos, and more. When you arrive in Oakesdale, you’ll make a beeline to MaryJane’s Historic Flour Mill, where you’ll shop ’til you drop for antiques, farm collectibles, whimsical crafts, furniture, and whatnots too numerous to mention; meet up with other farmgirls and their kin for pony rides and old-fashioned lawn games; and boogie to live music all day long. Local ladies will be serving homemade pie and other 4th of July favorites, and we’ll even have a drop-off location for shipping home your loot! If you choose, you can end the evening back in Coeur d’Alene for spectacular Sunday, you’ll join other farmgirls and their families for “A Day of Simple Organics” at Settler’s Creek farm in Coeur d’Alene. This fantastic find of MaryJane’s is not just an event venue, but also a local food producer for many of the area’s restaurants, as well as a farm school for schools and tourists. You’ll gather in their beautiful, grassy amphitheater for surprise guest speakers, music, local vendors, and fabulous organic food including beef kabobs (made from MaryJane’s organic beef), corn on the cob, strawberry shortcake, wine, and more. Get involved in the Chapter Challenge — display your chapter’s creative skills by designing and decorating a complete table concept! Tickets for this event are $30.”

The store in Coeur d’Alene is fabulous, Mommy and I went there a few weekends ago…but that story will have to wait for another day.

Happy Thursday!!

Strawberry Fields Forever

After my day on the farms and with such a haul of strawberries I had to set about saving them.  Originally Mommy wanted to make strawberry preserves but is not set up to can right now so we cleaned the berries and put some up in the fridge with sugar for desserts (yummy fresh strawberries and sugar biscuits) and a strawberry jello salad.  The rest I washed, hulled and put in the freezer especially since I love fruit smoothies and strawberries with real flavor make them even better.

So these went from this

to this

(washed)

and then this

(hulled)

and finally this

They are delicious at every stage.

I can't wait to get some more and put them up for the winter.

Out on the Farm

That's where I spent my weekend.  Mommy and I went to several farms at Greenbluff, Washington.  There are several farms/businesses there and they have a growers association site that lists and maps the different farms, what's available and when, and any other special happenings.  I really love that area and going from farm to farm.  The area is jam-packed during the weekends in autumn...a lot of the larger farms have special events - live music, train rides, pumpkin picking, mazes, etc.  Last fall we went apple picking there and it was fun so we decided to go and get some "U-pick" strawberries for 99 cents a pound and see what the spring/summer harvests would be like.

Driving around we noticed the cherry trees were full of fruit and I told Mommy that it looked like another week until they would be ready to pick and probably just a bit longer for the apricot trees...the joys of having grown up around orchards is knowing when fruits are ripe for the picking.

We went to Siemers Farm first.  This is one of those places that are super busy and packed during the fall...they have a couple of mazes (corn and hay), a giant castle, pirate ship, live music and tons of things to do.  They also have a tractor, a train and drum cars to take people to the different fields for picking and the train just to give tours of the farm. 

Here's the tractor that brought us to the strawberry field and then picked us up when we were finished

We spent a while out there picking strawberries and popping some in our mouths...they have the best flavor.  This was our haul from the field.

Our last stop was High Country Orchard a great gift store, produce stand and cafe.  They have wonderful food and great prices.  We met and spoke with JoAnne who owns HCO with her husband (he was out on his truck getting the area ready for a wedding that was happening later in the day).  She is very friendly and kind, telling us about the area and her store, I could really tell she is enjoying what she's doing. 

They have U-pick cherries, apricots, peaches, raspberries and apples.  The cherries are getting really close.  Here are some Queen Anne cherries and some Rainier ones as well

(Aren't they gorgeous?!)

I would highly recommend stopping there if you are ever in the area.  All of Joe and JoAnne's employees were so friendly and helpful, each giving us a different piece of the picture of HCO and the area.  It was a very enjoyable day.

Here's hoping you can get some fresh summer produce.

Happy Tuesday!!

Baby Boy Visit: Days Six - Eight

Day Six - Thursday:  I took Baby Boy (along with Mommy) to my old stomping grounds of Sandpoint, Idaho.  They're only my old stomping grounds because I used to work over there and know my way around...where to eat, shop, and see some of the best views of the area. 

It was a rainy gray day but that didn't bother us.  Our first visit was to take Baby Boy across the Long Bridge.  Remember now, he's traveling from San Francisco so he knows a bit about traveling along bridges.  However, this one is long and really low to the water, and the view while traveling north from Sagle into Sandpoint is gorgeous.  From there I drove him through the downtown corridor and onto my favorite little bakery:  Pine St Bakery.

We had coffee

and some yummy pastries.  I don't seem to have any pictures of those though.  I guess we ate them up too quickly...or Mr Monkey did...I couldn't really tell you.

After getting some sustenance and waiting out the brief hail storm, we walked downtown Sandpoint and visited some of the more unique shops.

I love the store Cabin Fever.   Just about everything in the store is available on the website.  The store itself is located on the corner of Cedar and 1st and has three different shop areas: upscale women's clothing, cabin/western furniture and accessories, and chippy paint/flea market reproductions.  Each area is like walking into a completely different store yet they all flow nicely together.  Here's a pic from the downstairs area

and I felt that this was vaguely familiar

and as I snapped this picture I remembered a blog post from Raised In Cotton.  How funny.

The owner of Cabin Fever is Rebecca and she is an absolute doll; very friendly and talkative so remember to say hi if you're ever in the area.

After walking around downtown and visiting the Cedar Street Bridge which used to be the outlet for Coldwater Creek and has now been converted into a mini mall with lots of unique shops.  I took Mommy and Baby Boy to the Healing Garden

It wasn't in bloom just yet, with the long winter and all, but there were some beauties and a little friend too...

 

We finished up our tourist part with some much needed lunch at Second Avenue Pizza.  It has THE BEST pizza I have ever had.  Baby Boy really liked it too.  He thought that coming from San Francisco he wouldn't like anything we had to offer up here other than relaxation. 

Food wise he really thought we couldn't compete.  But after the Mexican food the other day and now Pine Street Bakery and Second Avenue Pizza (and we weren't finished with him yet) he was thinking differently.

Day Seven - Friday:We went into Newport/Oldtown and went to River's Edge Treasures that I wrote about in yesterday's post for Show and Tell Sunday (so I showed pictures too).  Then we went into the pet store but they didn't have the monkeys we wanted to show him.  Too bad.

Baby Boy wanted to have lunch at the Mexican restaurant again so we went there and planned out what we were going to do for his last evening here.   We went to a few mores stores but kept him away from the storage sheds, he's seem too much of that place.  After all that we had to let him experience Nomad's, a little coffee shack by the pet store and River's Edge.  They make this blended coffee drink with ice cream and ice so it's not quite a shake, not quite a frapp but oh so sinfully delicious and rich. 

We then went home so he could rest and I could start on dinner.  Even though Mommy's birthday was on Thursday she decided to celebrate it on Friday.  I made her lasagna for dinner...

look at all those yummy, crispy and gooey layers.  Let's just say between Baby Boy and Daddy this meal was demolished.

Mommy also wanted a homemade cake...a coconut one at that.  I used Paula Deen's recipe for Jamie's Coconut Cake.  I'd never made it before but I've watched Paula make it quite a few times on her different shows.  The recipe is online thanks Food Network .  Mommy wanted it because she saw it on the cover of my latest issue of Good Housekeeping (May).  It turned out really well.  I would recommend allowing the cake to set for a couple of days in the fridge (which is mentioned in the recipe) with the filling on top/in between the layers to allow it to soak in a really meld the flavors together.

Day Eight - Saturday:  I didn't want to leave to take Baby Boy to the airport but we left early so that he would be there in plenty of time for his flight.  Mommy and I couldn't let a trip to Spokane go to waste so we spent the rest of the afternoon going to thrift stores and an art supply store. 

All in all it was a very nice visit and I'm glad that I got to see him.

Show and Tell Sunday

This is my first Show and Tell Sunday and I've already performed a major oopsy...I set the time to post for PM in stead of AM.  Dangnabit.  Oh well, I hope you enjoy it anyway.

*~*~*~*

Wow from Pirates to Treasure hunting...

Thanks to Cerri at Little Pink Studio for hosting this show and tell.  Our mission was to show our favorite place(s) to find treasures.  Seems fitting for this weekend after the Swashbuckler Soiree yesterday.

As always I can't just do one little thing so I have a few places to show and tell today. (Hopefully that makes ups for the late posting.)  There may be a little something for all tastes...a little bit country and a little rock 'n roll...well maybe not rock and roll so how about romantic, chippy cottage shabby chic.  That should do.

I know that Mommy told me never to pick up hitchhikers but I guess I can make an exception just this once.  Here we go, come along for the ride.   

The first little store called River's Edge Treasures. (No pun intended for this treasure hunt.)

It's located at 203 E 4th St in Oldtown, Idaho next to the Ben Franklin store.  If you are ever traveling on Highway 2 between Idaho and Washington, Oldtown is the Idaho side and Newport is on the Washington side, not that it matters much since they are melded together.

They have many wonderful finds but have recently renovated and are justing getting some of there smaller treasures back in.  The store is owned by a very friendly couple John and Lona.  They're happy to tell you about the area and different happenings going on in north eastern Washington and northern Idaho.

Here's a couple of their kitcheny areas...

and if you like cowboys and western motifs

or are a little more rustic

Another fabulous place is the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  The link will take you to their store location page listed by state, so there's probably one in your area.  I shop at one in Hayden, Idaho located at 176 W Wyoming Ave, but I wouldn't worry about that address, you can't miss it if you're driving along Highway 95.  It's located next to a Ziggy's hardware store.

They sell some new but mostly used/reclaimed items.  If you are creative, crafty, like construction, need someplace to shop where your husband wouldn't mind going or any of the other myriad of excuses I could give you to visit...this is the place to go.

Here's Mommy checking out some wallpaper

some reclaimed windows

and lots and lots of paint

And other favorite place to shop, with the caveat being that Mommy has a spot there, is Shabby to Chic in midtown Coeur d'alene, Idaho, specifically 806 N 4th.  I have posted about it before and will probably have many more to come.  Here are a few pieces of eye candy from the store.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.  I always enjoy traveling companions.  If you're up to some more traveling check out the other show and tellers listed at Little Pink Studio.  Don't forget to look around the rest of the posts here in my blog and if you're up to it...leave a comment and let me know who you are so we're not strangers anymore.

Baby Boy Visit: Days Four & Five

Day Four - Tuesday: It was a nice day so Mommy, Baby Boy and I traveled to Spokane to be tourists.  I was the designated driver since Baby Boy wasn't familiar with the area and Mommy, who hadn't driven in months because she doesn't drive in inclement weather received a speeding ticket on her inaugural drive of the new year and now refuses to drive unless she absolutely has to. 

Our first order of business was Riverfront Park located in downtown Spokane.

I really wanted Baby Boy to see the Radio Flyer slide and get some pictures of it.

Sadly it wasn't feeling well (it was fenced off, probably for renovation) but that didn't stop us from traversing the park and taking lots and lots of pictures.  I can't wait to see the pictures from Baby Boy's new Holga camera they are really cool.

Both Baby Boy and I took pictures of the water but I'll wait to show you some of those.  I did like that the IMAX theater still had some Christmas decorations around

I can't believe the number of Christmas decorations I still see on people's houses and in their yards through March and April.  I guess since there's still snow on the ground they think it's okay...and yes, the lights are on at night.  So to see these in the park brought about some laughter.

After this we were in the middle of the park taking pictures of the different birds: ducks, geese, swans, gulls, etc and the clock tower.  Here's one of our friends...

I really loved seeing his feet paddle in the water.

We crossed the bridge and went on to see the Looff Carousel.  It is so beautiful and still functional.  I love the website I linked to because they have pictures of the individual carousel animals along with names, history and position if known.  The horses are gorgeous

but I also love the odd animals like Sneaky the tiger

and Billy Bob the goat and Geri the giraffe.  So lovely.  It was nicer to go in the middle of the week in spring which meant less people.  However Mommy and I have been there (back in August when we were at Antiques Roadshow) and it was crowded but not California crowded.  That's one thing we really like about living up here, the cities have what we want in terms of shopping, dining, theater, museums, etc but are not crowded by our standards so we can handle it and I have no problem driving and finding my way...thanks to years of driving in Sacramento, Santa Rosa and San Francisco.

We all needed some sustenance so I mentioned Cyrus O'Learys and since it was only a couple of blocks away that's where we headed next.  Each of us got something different and shared bites.  It was delish and we saved room for pie.  We each got different pie slices as well - Mommy got the Sour Cream Lemon, Baby Boy ordered Strawberry-Rhubarb (I hadn't had that before) and I had the Triple Chocolate Coconut Cream. Oh my goodness...it was so yummy.  I was leery about eating when I knew what we had planned next and although it was on my list of things I wanted to do...I was still uncertain...

Back in college (at UC Davis) I loved to visit the Social Sciences and Humanities Building, aka Death Star.  It is a huge building of classrooms and mazes that just didn't fit with the rest of the campus let alone the surrounding farmland.  There are many layers to this building, both inside and out, and it's a great place to play hide and seek.  There is one part that I tended to have trouble with...the glass walkway (shown below connecting the two buildings)

I've had a fear of heights/falling ever since an accident involving a roof, youthful stupidity and falling...oh and the time just shortly after that when Mommy put me on a ride at the fair by myself (I was eight) and the ride got stuck with me in the air spinning for about fifteen minutes (never really likes rides ever since then either).  Anyway, I'm fine inside buildings, in a plane, etc.  However other areas where there is less structure, less control, I get a little tense.  I usually end up confronting the fear and tension but it's not so easy.

After lunch we headed to this excited dread...Spokane Falls Skyride.

Mommy was visibly and audibly scared and didn't want to go.  We were already at the counter to buy tickets when she decided not to go.  Both Baby Boy and I told her that she was going and Baby Boy told her not to be a wuss.  The lady behind the plexiglass then chimed in and said that it was very safe and she'd even give us a discount.  That was it, our tickets bought and we were off to the ride.

Mommy white-knuckled the beginning of the trip (the whole thing takes about fifteen minutes with several stops so that you can enjoy the view, open the windows and take pictures) and I told her that I was scared too.  She didn't believe me until Baby Boy said "Then you won't be going on a ski lift then."  And I quickly and sharply answered "No, I won't."

I was the first to stand up and move around and I opened up both windows.  Mommy was better at this point and we really enjoyed the views and the falls.  This was at the beginning of the trip...

and then we were moving again and passed a few other cars

and we stopped again.  This time we were in the turn around area and I was able to get a few clearer photos with the windows down.

 

Mommy was fine the entire trip...then we stopped to disembark and there was a loud pop as the doors unlocked and opened and she screamed and I mean SCREAMED, twice.  Baby Boy and I laughed and she began yammering "that isn't funny."  Oh, but it was...

We then left the park to check out a building that we saw in the distance.  We parked the van and crossed the street to get a full view of this magnificent structure

Baby Boy and I still didn't know what it was.  Then this gentleman was leaving his place of employment (in the parking lot across the street - where this photo was taken) and asked if I wanted a brochure.  I said certainly and he disappeared inside again.  After a few more shots from differing angles I walked towards the door of the office and saw that it read "Prosecutor's Office" and I knew I was looking at the Spokane County Courthouse.  Baby Boy and I really loved that the trees weren't in bloom yet so we could get these unobstructed pictures but we also wished that the trees were in their full glory so that they would be just as beautiful as the building.

It was a lot of fun being a tourist for the day instead of just a thrifting consumer.  And on our way out of town Mommy had me stop by Yoke's so she could buy a Cyrus O'Learys pie to share with Daddy.

Day Five - Wednesday:  More snow.  This time lots of it.  Baby Boy came in with his camera and showed me the video he took of the tremendous snowfall.   I heard noises on the video and said it sounded more like rain off of our metal roof.  He thought a moment and realized that it was just the sound of the dryer running.  Baby Boy was shocked by the snow...he knew that I was constantly telling him about it and how much of it there really was, but until he really experienced it he didn't understand just how much snow there was. 

See you all tomorrow for Scrappy Jessi's "Favorite Childhood Toy Party."  Friday I'll have another fabulous find and Saturday I plan to wrap up Baby Boy's visit with days six, seven and eight.  Enjoy!!

Baby Boy Visit: Days One - Three

Day One - Saturday:  Mommy and I picked Baby Boy up from the airport...almost on time.  Mommy has this thing with being punctual...it just doesn't happen.  It has always been a fight, dilemma, obstacle to overcome and issue to accept.  What's really funny is the day before, Baby Boy called Mommy and asked if she was going to pick him up...wondering if she really was going to show up.  I laughed.  Had it just been me, he knew that I would be there well before his plane arrived, however with Mommy in tow it just isn't the same, luckily we were just a few (read ten-fifteen) minutes late. 

Our first order of business, according to Mommy, was to take Baby Boy to a thrift store, because according to her he REALLY wanted to go, but in reality he was indifferent to it.  It did give him a great story to tell though.  While Mommy was checking out I ran in the back to grab something I forgot.  By the time I got back the check out lady wasn't there anymore.  I asked Baby Boy where she went and he just shrugged.  I went to ring the bell but it was broken.  Baby Boy and I just laughed. 

At this point a lady walked through the front door of the store and asked rather loudly, "Excuse me sir, do you see me?"

I could hear the "err" sound as Baby Boy cocked his head to the side and looked in the woman's direction.  He didn't answer.

The lady frantically repeated, "Excuse me sir, do you see me?  Do you see me carrying this ironing board?"

Baby Boy again just stood their looking at her quizzically. 

I began giggling as I now understood what she was trying to get at...she wanted to make sure someone saw her walk in with the ironing board so that they wouldn't think she was stealing it when she walked out with it.  Both Mommy and I said we saw her and she was happy.  Then all of us had a huge laugh as the woman understood why Baby Boy hadn't answered her...she realized that her question without context, might seem strange. 

What she didn't know what that it wasn't really strange to Baby Boy.  He was actually used to daily confrontations with the homeless and the mentally ill who roam the streets of San Francisco as he walks to work or home.  In order to survive he had to learn to tune out rants and ramblings and ambiguous questions.  In addition to those dealings, him having watched one too many SciFi shows/movies where people's molecules get displaced and they become invisible, and the fact that he didn't think he'd run into anything like this in Idaho he was understandably perplexed.

After that we ran a few more errands and then took him home to see the area that we were always talking about and he had only seen in pictures.  However, before we got home Mommy has me stop off at her storage shed so she could drop off a couple of chairs we purchased so that Daddy wouldn't see them.  Until she finishes a few more projects he said he didn't want to see more stuff being brought home...so items get dropped off at storage, for now.

Day Two - Sunday: Mommy, Baby Boy and I started the day with a walk around the property.  There's still a bit of snow but not as much as last week.  Baby Boy and I hiked into the woods and then came back across our property and to the highway so he could see the ant hills.  The are really cool and really creepy at the same time.  If you are the least bit squeamish don't pay attention to the following photo... and certainly don't click on it to enlarge it...

After the walk, the family (Mommy, Daddy, Baby Boy and I) took a nice Sunday drive to show Baby Boy the Priest Lake area.  It is simply a gorgeous, breathtaking place.

We are certainly not at a loss for bodies of water around here.  Each one so blue and so beautiful and so different from California water.  There were several lakes and rivers I have frequented since I was a kid - Lake Mendocino, Clear Lake, the Russian River and even the Pacific Ocean.  But none come close to the gorgeousness of what is around here.

Chase Lake (close to Priest Lake) is a sportsman's lake that is apparently a hidden gem in this area and still very frozen right now.  We had to park and hike a bit through the frozen tundra to get to the lake (at the boat dock) but look at that view.

Then we traveled further north to the Coolin area of Priest Lake where we stopped off at the Cavanaugh Bay Resort.  On occasion, during the summer, we will drive there and eat dinner out on the deck.  It's a great place to relax, have a good meal and watch the private puddle-jumper type planes fly in.  The "airport" aka the landing strip is directly across the road from the restaurant/marina and people fly in to stay at one of the many cabins in the area and some fly in just for a meal.

It's amazing the color difference is between these two lakes.  Chase Lake was still very winter and Priest Lake is spring.

Day Three - Monday:  Baby Boy needed to rest so we just spent the day around the house and around town.  We were planning on traveling to Spokane but the weather was snowy and wet so we went to some local thrift shops and a fabulous Mexican restaurant in the next town over.  Of course the trip wouldn't be complete without a stop by storage again.  Baby Boy was becoming very familiar with this area of town.