Last week I finally got my Halloween decorations put up–well, some of them!

Aren’t these just the cutest little trick-or-treaters ever?

I love the expressions on their faces.

Halloween hats on the armoire.

A windowsill of silly fun.

I’ve had this cat pillow for years–and still love it!

Pumpkin people.

Candles on the fireplace.

My BOO chair and the most adorable crepe paper nut cups.  Do you remember nut cups?

The dining room table all decked out.

The centerpiece.

Towel rack on the kitchen butcher block (that came from my dad’s store).

Noise maker.

Candy, anyone?

Bring on the little goblins!

Well, I’d like to think so.  I had the sweetest letter from Tamsin Harvey, the proprietor of Berrima Patchwork and Crafts in New South Wales, Australia.

In it, she says that she stocks a range of my fabrics and would love to put a piece on display that’s been signed by me!  She included a piece of my Blue Swallow Print from the Sweet Pea line from Studio Anna Lena.  She also included a Sharpie pen and a return envelope.  Now sweet is that!

I just has to post a few more photos from harvest–and some of our grandkids who were here to help!

Justin got hip boots for Christmas last year.  He’s right at home in the bog.

That paddle is really heavy, but at six, he’s ready for the task.

I never get tired of watching the totes fill up.

I gave up my hip boots years ago.  I’ll cook and drive truck, but I stay out of the bog.  Oh, there’s a “bogged down” joke here somewhere!  But, I do have the most stylish boots of all!

This is 2-1/2 year old Carson, getting the feel of the leaf rake.  We’ll have him shoveling before long.

He likes to ride on the tractor with his daddy, Doug.

I made the mistake of saying his boots were muddy, at which point he shook them off his feet and wouldn’t put them on again!

Megan, Kyle and Marie.  Who says harvest isn’t fun?

Another trailer loaded and ready to deliver to the receiving station.

Knee deep in berries.

Here’s Marie with her paddle.

Here’s Marie after she stepped in the ditch!

Back home.  We didn’t make Peyton work in the bogs–not this year.

And isn’t this cute of Carson on our front porch?

Another cranberry harvest is behind us.  Bob can take a big breath and relax!  He always stresses so during harvest.

One of our favorite things during harvest is having strangers stop by the bog to see what we’re doing.  We love to share the process with them.  Cranberry farming is so unique.  We call our little talks Cranberry 101.  I thought it would be fun to share it here, too.

Cranberries grow on vines in naturally occurring peat bogs.  They are not under water except during harvest.

If you look carefully, you can see the berries growing in amongst the vines.

When its time for harvest, we flood the bogs with water from our irrigation ponds.

Once the water covers the vines, a machine called a beater is driven over the vines.  It has a reel on the front with small steel bars.  The reel rotates and knocks the berries off the vines.  Cranberries are hollow in the middle, and they float to the surface of the water.

Once they’re floating, we use booms and paddles to bring them to one end of the field.

An elevator conveys the berries into totes on the trailers.  There is also a stream of water washing away leaves and debris as the berries ride up the elevator.

Filling the totes.

There’s between 1000 and 1100 pounds of cranberries in each tote.  That’s a lot of little red berries!

As members of the Ocean Spray Co-op, all we have to do is deliver our crop to the local receiving station, where they are cleaned and hauled off to freezer to await further processing.  All of our fruit is used for processing (not sold fresh in little bags).  Because we have good color, most of it will probably go for juice.  So, think of us next time you have a glass!

Jayne, our live-in babysitter from 1956 – 1959, came to visit us in Long Beach in 1965.  We had moved to a new-to-us house a short time before.  When Jayne was here recently, she shared these photos she’d taken then.

Here’s our house.

I loved the big yard, and the first thing I asked for was a dog!  You see, in the past, when I’d asked for a dog, my parents always said we didn’t have a big enough yard.

I was the only one in the family that was a pet lover, but my parents agreed.  This is our dog, Cinnamon.

It was fun not only seeing photos of us, but of the house and furnishings, too.  I had these chairs in my first home many years later, and Sally had them after that!

Ditto with this bedroom set.  In fact, it was in Sally’s guest room until just a year or two ago.

The kitchen didn’t have a dishwasher, but my mom solved that problem.  She had a portable one on the back porch.  Nice curlers, Mom!

My grandparents must have driven down from Raymond to see Jayne.  Here’s Grandpa with “my” car.

And Grandma.  She always wore dresses in those days.

Here I am with our neighbors (who were like grandparents) Nanny and Mr. Reisner.

My Aunt Evelyn and cousin Jim.

Butch Jasperson was a high school boy who lived with us.  I remember the big thing for the high school boys then was to have their pants pegged–the legs narrowed.  The school administration didn’t like the tight pants, so they passed a rule that the boys had to be able to drop a golf ball down the leg of their pants!  Oh, and the girls had to kneel on the floor, and the hems of their skirts had to touch the floor!

I mentioned in the last post that I think Jayne had a crush on my cousin, Jim.  Here they are again–and Jayne with curlers in her hair!

When Jayne was there, Mom and Dad had just returned from their first trip to Hawaii.

They brought leis for everyone!

Sid and Sally are checking out the kissing Hawaiian dolls.

And I’m trying on my grass skirt!

I’m so excited about our upcoming retreat.  There are six spaces left, so if you could use a little uninterrupted time to work on your projects (as in Christmas is coming!), won’t you join us?

Days – You have the option of a three or four day retreat.  The four day retreat is an additional $75.00–but think of what you can get done!  THREE Day Retreat – Friday, November 6-Sunday, November 8.  FOUR Day Retreat – Thursday, November 5 – Sunday, November 8.

Place – The retreat will be at the Falls Creek Retreat Center.  The Retreat Center is 35 miles west of Chehalis on Highway 6.  I taught there a few months ago, and it’s a lovely facility.  We will be sewing in the gymnasium, so we’ll have plenty of room to spread out.

People – There will be 64 of us, including three “staff” members.  Staff members are Robin Anderson, Monica Solorio-Snow and me!

Meals – The 3 day retreat includes 5 meals–dinner on Friday night, three meals on Saturday and brunch on Sunday.  The 4 day retreat includes 8 meals–dinner on Thursday, three meals on Friday and Saturday and brunch on Sunday.

Accommodations – We will be split between the Creekside Lodge and Cedar Lodge.  Each lodge has a lovely sitting room as well as the bedrooms.  Everyone will have their own bed.  Bedrooms have between 2 and 5 beds.  Each bedroom has its own bath.

Structure – You are free to do your own thing at the retreat–work on UFO’s, start a new project–whatever you desire.  The only thing we ask is that you not bring embroidery machines and have them running continually.  I will also be offering a mystery class to those who would like to participate.  Email me if you’d like details on that.  The Anna Lena Staff will be there to offer assistance with your projects.  These often lead to impromptu demonstrations.

Cost – THREE Day Retreat – Friday, November 6-Sunday, November 8 – $199.00

FOUR Day Retreat – Thursday, November 5 – Sunday, November 8 – $274.00

Click here to sign up.  We’re going to have a blast!

In 1956 my parents advertised in the Portland, Oregonian for a live-in baby sitter to help with their three children–my brother, then called Bobby, was 4, I was three and my sister, Sally, almost 1.  In those days, Portland was a world away.  Now it’s about a two and a half hour drive, and it probably wasn’t too much more than that back then, but we just didn’t take those kinds of drives!  And this is what Long Beach looked like!  Probably quite a shock for a city girl.

Anyway, the ad was answered, and Jayne, who was starting her sophomore year in high school, came to live with us.  Today we’d call her a nanny, but not back then.  Here she is, holding our cat, Fluffy Mayonnaise.

Jayne stayed with us for the next three years.  She was like a member of our family, even going to Disneyland with us!  She made a whopping $10.00 a week.  After high school graduation, she moved back to Portland  She visited once or twice when we got older, but then we completely lost track of her.  Surprise of surprise, she just came back to Long Beach for her 50th class reunion!  We had a great visit, and she brought some wonderful old photos with her.

Here we are in Disneyland.  Sally was too little to come–and still hasn’t quite gotten over the fact that she was left home.

Jayne still refers to my grandparents as “grandma” and “grandpa.”  Here’s my Grandpa Kennedy in his garden.

She had several photos of my cousin, Jim.

I think she may have had a crush on him!

Oops, Jim with a broken foot.

Jim holding my brother and me.

Jim and I share a love of horses, but here he’s giving my brother a ride.

Not only did he have a horse, he had a nice car, too!  Actually, I think it was the family car, and not just Jim’s.

This is Jim’s mom, my Aunt Evelyn.  See the car in the garage.  That’s my grandpa’s 1954 Dodge.  He gave it to me in 1970 and I still have it!

This is my favorite of all the photos.  It’s my Grandma and Grandpa Kennedy and all of their grandkids.  On the left is Jim, holding his dog, Dukey, then my cousin Cheryl and me.  On the right is my cousin Susan, my brother, Bobby (today known as Sid) and Sally, my sister, is on Grandpa’s lap.

Teardrops

Teardrop trailers are just so darned cute.  And we saw from new to old.

This one was quite old, although I don’t remember seeing the year on it.  The most amazing thing was the all the canvas “add-ons.”  There was a huge one in the back, and two on the side.

One of the side ones was tall enough so you could stand up inside.  It was a changing room!

All the comforts of home–just outside!

Isn’t this adorable?

Believe it or not, it was built in 1946!  Somebody has lovingly restored it.

Cozy sleeping quarters.

This one is also from 1946.  I love the wood on it.

Another beautiful restoration job.

This setup really brought a smile to my face.  I never saw anyone around it, but doesn’t it just remind you of an old miner’s set up.

Ah, he never found gold, but he’s liking the lifestyle–thinks he’ll just stay put!

Shiny Ones

Airstreams weren’t the only shiny, aluminum trailers at the rally.

This is a 1959 Streamline.

Even the inside was shiny metal–shiny PINK metal!

This cool trailer with the corrugated sides is an Airfloat built in 1952.

There were several Airstreams, including this 1951 Flying Cloud.

This 1950 Silver Steak Clipper looked like something out of a science fiction movie!

But the most amazing of all was this 1936 Bolus.

Talk about your space age look!  And it has a front entrance.

Just inside the entrance is the tiny little galley kitchen–all aluminum.

And here’s a shot of the living/sleeping area.

Two weekends ago, Bob and I went to Lynden, Washington for the Tin Can Tourist Rally.  Oh, what Fun!

There were lots of vintage trailers, like these painted ones!  This one is a Mercury.

Here’s an old Aloha.  Check out the pineapple lights!

Great space age detail!

I love the matching awning on this one.

And this one.  It’s a Shasta, a very popular brand.

This one was painted to match a vintage Ford Fairlane.

And how about this Pumpkin trailer!?!

This aqua beauty is a Masterbuilt.  I love the windows.

Here’s an Aloha with a Tiki theme.

It’s hard to beat sunny yellow, like on this Aladdin.

More tomorrow!