A Birthday Visit to San Francisco

 

What a wonderful view of San Francisco!

  What a great place to begin our visit with my son to celebrate his 50th birthday.

The very first thing we did after leaving the airport was to visit Bernal Hill.  I had been there before, so I knew what the view was like...and it's the neighborhood my son lives in...so, I felt Kelly had to see it first.  It's so beautiful!!!

 

And, here are Scott and Kelly....taking in the view.  

See, it's a beautiful view of the city

 

And, you can see different parts of the city as you go around the hill.  It was really windy that day and the walk up is steep, so I had to work hard to get there.  Worth it though.   Click on these to make them larger and you will see lots more.

 

See.

 

 Boats in the distance.....it feels like the world at your feet.

 

 Chilly too, while it was over 100 back home!  (And, the fog coming in...I'll talk more about that in another post.)

 

Scott.

  Once again taking photos.  If I lived at his house, not too far below this hill...well, I'd never get a thing done because there is a great view from his living room window.  You'll see it.

 

Gorgeous!

 

 One of my favorite things about San Francisco is the FOG.  It's beautiful and it feels good too.

Kelly is going to get a good dose of it right here.

 

 Ok.  If you were on the street looking at the front of Scott's house....these places would be to the left.  As a matter of fact, I took this photo looking out the side window of his kitchen.  I love that big house with the blue door. The door looks really small, but it's not.  

 

 And these places are facing the back of his house...so if you sit out there on his deck, this is what you see.  It's fascinating.  I don't know how they figure out what electric lines go where.  (That's probably the Old Navy Man talking to me.)

 

So, if you are on Scott's deck and look to the right....this would be two of his neighbors. 

 

 And, this is his house, so if you are on the deck....well this is your view!  I'm just nuts over it!

 

 Just had to throw this in....there are more succulents in SF than I have seen anywhere.  This one was small....but it's HUGE now.  It's at least a foot across!

 

 Amazing!

 

 See it next to Scott.  HUGE! 

 And, here are my two kids.  I love seeing them talk like this as it doesn't happen very often these days.  Precious hours!!!!

 

 So, here is the view from Scott's living room.  You must click to see larger...it's a wonderful sight.

And, there is something going on morning, noon and night.  I'd really never get a thing done for looking out all the time!

 

 He, evidently, has grown used to the view....like most people these days....looking at that phone.  (I do too much of it myself.)

 

 And, here he is with his sister....now on the computer.  I love listening to them chat about whatever they are looking up. 

 

Another photo of the living room.  A sunnier day.  

 

 And, here is his house.  Well, his and his three roommates.  It is a four bedroom house.  The living room, where you saw that gorgeous view is at the top, along with the kitchen.  Bedrooms, and bathrooms, on two levels along with the garage on the first floor.  They pay dearly for it and at this point in time are lucky to have it.  Rent in SF is way crazy, and I do mean WAY!

 

And, here we are having a lovely breakfast.  At a tiny old restaurant....has about eight tables. They serve a really good breakfast!!!  And, oh, what fun....breakfast with my two.  It's a privilege, for sure.

More coming soon about the trip and other things too!

until next time,

BE WELL

from

Bird Nest Cottage

♥️♥️♥️

Giveaway WINNER

 

Well, I had a great visit to San Francisco.  I'll tell more about that in my next post, but now, I'll announce the winner of my Giveaway.   I had the assistance of my son in choosing the winner and she is: 

 Carol, from Indiana.  

I'll be sending out an email to her this evening.  Thank you all for your comments and emails regarding this Giveaway.  I plan on having another one to celebrate my birthday in October, so I hope you will keep visiting.  It also will involve a book or two and who knows what else.

 

When I announced the Giveaway, I didn't have the inside of the heart box done...but here it is. 

I couldn't make up my mind what words to use.  While on my trip, I decided to use BE YOURSELF.

It's the best way to live, don't you think?    Here is one of my very favorite quotes, which inspired this Giveaway:

"Nobody can be exactly like me, even I have trouble doing it."

Tallulah Bankhead

 

This is the first little "box" like this I've done....with more in mind.  I have been saving boxes of all kinds and materials to do this.....so, there will be more coming as time goes by.  I'll use different stitches and trims, etc.  

 

 I really do think it is very good advice!

 

 And, of course...there IS that HEART!!

until next time

BE WELL 

FROM

BIRD NEST COTTAGE

♥️♥️♥️

Little Bird Books and a Giveaway

 

 Do you remember this little cabinet included in my post of June 17th?

 Well, it DID have a different bird on top, so it looks a tad different than that photo I used.  Here, on top, I have placed the cutest black 'sewing bird,'  a pincushion made by my dear friend, Kay.  And, I've moved it...here for the photograph near a window, then in another spot in the living room for an undetermined amount of time (below), like I do everything else.

  

Here...the new spot.  I like that the blackbird pincushion shows up so well here....oh, and let me say - there IS mail in the mailbox!  So, the little cabinet will rest here until I get the urge to move it somewhere else....at some other time.  

 

And, now, for the whole point of this blog post...the inside of that little cabinet.  Little books all about the birds.  FUN!!!  

 

 The opened one on the table is very old, it's falling apart, but so beautiful still.  It's written in German, I think, so I can't read it....but I love it anyway!  More on the little book with the bird and the nest in a minute...but lets talk about the other books first.

 

 I think you can read them fairly well....The Blue Bird of Happiness book on the left, has been 'enhanced' with a bird bookmark...they are so cute!  Or, as I like to say they are "dear."

   

 The brown on the top there....another very old book.  It is also falling apart....I still like to take it out and look at it every now and again.

 

 See.  Many old photos.......1925.

  

The photos are still beautiful!

 

 Having nothing to do with the little books is this little baby slip....drawn for me in 2010 by Michelle Palmer.  Pen and ink on a vintage baby slip.  How great is that? 

 

 A close-up.

  

The reason I showed you the slip is because she also drew the sweetest bird and nest on a little journal....you can see it here on the left.  I just LOVE it!!!   And, the little book sometimes lives in this little cabinet. 

  

Here is a close-up of it.  Isn't it the sweetest thing?

  

Like I said, I bought these in 2010.  I don't know if she is still drawing and selling, or even posting on her blog at this point,  but if you are interested, you can contact her....click to enlarge. 

OR, 

Michelle Palmer

michellepalmerart.blogspot.com

email:  michart@rochester.rr.com

  

 And, this little journal is the GIVEAWAY.    It is sweet also.  Along side of it is a little heart box.

Also included.  It will have a little surprise in it for the winner and I will show the inside when I announce the winner.  So.......if you want it, kindly make a comment on this blog post, or send an email to me, making sure I have a way to contact you should you be that winner!  

The winner will be chosen on Thursday, July 26th 

As I  will be traveling part of this month,  so I will not be posting until the GIVEAWAY announcement night....going to California to visit my son for his 50th birthday.

(Where did that time go?) 

 I hope you enjoyed seeing the little books and will want to own this little bird journal and the heart.  So....comment or email. 

 Until next time

BE WELL

from

Bird Nest Cottage

♥️♥️♥️

 

Pincushions and Scissors

 

I decided over the weekend to post some pincushions....and because I had launched a search of the house and garage for any scissors that might live here, well, I decided to post the scissors also. To be honest, I'll fess up........there are about twenty more scissors than shown here.  Who knew?  Not so many pincushions, although I could have come up with a few more of those.  And, you don't think I'm a hoarder.  Oh, my!

 

  I love this pincushion....and the hat pins.  Also, There is a safety pin which holds four heart buttons,  given me many years ago by Mr. G.  Love them too....along with one of my favorites...that tiny key.

you can see it along the edge there, but you really have to look.  (Sorry about the light.  I need to work on making a place to take photographs, rather than willy nilly around the house.)

 

 This is simply a ball of crochet cotton into which I have pinned several vintage thread buttons and a piece of crochet.  Click to enlarge those buttons...they are old and fantastic!

  

 Another ball of crochet cotton.........with an old watch, etc.  Love the pink pins!!!

 

 Mr. G also gave me the bird pincushion.  It stands alone, but just for this photo, I sat it inside the top of the candleholder.  There are some pretty pink glass buttons and a tiny gold heart pinned into it....the little card is just a little section of one of my old business cards.  And, I love the vintage buttons in the bowl part of the candleholder.  

 

 I stitched the flowers in the center of this pincushion.  Another thing I made when we had the downtown studio.  It was fun.  I love the purchased pink flower trim around the edge which I also embellished with some beads.  Found the butterfly pin several years ago and have pinned it into different things over the years.

  

 And, now, scissors!!  I have never wandered over the house looking for scissors before.  I hate to say it...but there really are MORE, although this photo contains the best of them.  Some vintage scissors here too and are not in good shape,  but I felt I wanted them in the photo also.  The embroidery scissors are my favorites.  (Also, on the far left, five tiny scissors, which are really charms of a sort.  So tiny, so cute!)

 

 Here you see most of the embroidery scissors being held in place in a vintage flower bowl with a lid which is supposed to hold fresh flowers.  Well, scissors....flowers....why not?  The scissors in front on the vintage cloth are two of my favorites, both gifts.

 

 See that tiny key I was telling you about....yes, it's right there next to that center heart button.  So cute!  And, these favorite scissors are joined by a pair of black Gingher embroidery scissors.  I've had them for a long time.

 

 

 Gingher embroidery scissors with roses.......I also have a pair of shears in that pattern.  They are just great.

 

 And, here they are alongside a pair of vintage scissors.  They don't really cut any longer, but they look so cool with a lot of my vintage 'stuff.'

 

 These black scissors on the right...they are really old.  They couldn't cut either, but they are so sweet!

So, there you have it....lots of scissors.  I think they have multiplied like coat hangers do!  OMG!  I should be ashamed to have collected so many.  (Bet, I'm not the only one though.)

(BTW, below you will see those very scissors.  I have used a very old clear glass string of beads to hang from the handle.  And, they are sitting upon a vintage petticoat.  It, too, is falling apart, but is still so very beautiful!!!)

until next time

BE WELL

from

Bird Nest Cottage

♥️♥️♥️