The Shop Boy

If you have been to Peapod this week, you have greeted by my boy who has been running the shop after school this week.  Yep, he is the reason for this week's weird open hours.  He's been a big super helper around the house and the shop while his mama recovers from her illness.  I've been sick for the past two weeks and it probably takes another week or two until I come back to the shop. My plan was to close the shop for the whole month, but the boy stepped up and volunteered to keep the shop open even for just two hours a day.  He woke up early, took Dash for a walk, made himself lunch, went to school, then to the shop.  After work, he came home, took the dog for a walk again, did groceries, and took very good care of his sick mama. Not to mention his endless loads of homework.  Did I mention that he goes to highly academic high school?  One of the best in both San Francisco and the entire state of California.  Well, I was raised to be humble and modest and never brag, but today I am bragging out loud!  Usually nothing wakes him up in the middle of the night, but he jumped up and ran to my room to make me feel better after he heard me in pain.  I am so grateful for having such a super boy in my life.  So stop by and say hi to my super hero boy.  Oh, I still have a tube under my left arm, but I am starting to feel better now.

Here is the boy helping me at a street fair several years ago...

Sew & Tell

Oh, August!  I feel like summer is almost over.  School starts soon for many big kids, but those little ones are lucky, still being able to enjoy the summer and be little kids...in those handmade outfits by their moms, grandmas, or aunts.

The first one is Alison's Ice Cream Dress for her little girl.  A classic summer dress! 

And here is a fairy tale dress that Grandma Carol made for her granddaughter.  Another classic summer dress!

And here is Jenner's two tiered skirt for her little Georgia.  She got a bit camera shy and didn't want to put it on, but she held it for the camera.  Thank you Georgia.

And this After-school Shirt and Pants were made by Aunt Laurel for her niece. 

 

The back side of the pants...

Aunt Laurel also made this Tea Party Sundress.  It's screaming summer!

All are so cute and full of love!  Little girls, it's a special thing to have someone who makes you clothes!  Enjoy it as much as you can.  I know one day you will be telling someone about you growing up with these handmade clothes that your family members made.  Lots of people have told me how they should've appreciated it more when they were kids.  Thank you, everyone!

Camping Trip 2013

So how was your July?  Mine was okay, but life was a bit unpredictable for me and my boy.  We couldn't make any plans in advance due to some emergencies, but we found a week open so we took off on the road North.

But, something was different this year...yeah, look who's driving!  Until this day, Dash and I were forced to experience some scary moments on the city streets, but he was getting better. Imagine a newly licensed teenager driving a stick shift on the hilly San Francisco streets.  Gasp!

Yep, it's our annual getaway from the fog road trip.  Driving through the valley town...enjoying the heat for a moment...

This city dog whined so much for water...

So his wish was granted...

We stopped by the beach to play with the sand...this is why I love road trips so much...being able to stop anywhere and whenever you want...

Stopped by to see wild elk off the road...

Hard to see, but they were there...

Now can you see them?

Ahhh...Dash finally started to enjoy the trip...

Here we were...by far the best campground ever for us...

It's in the old deep green Redwoods.  Lucky us.  The weather was gorgeous throughout our stay.

We actually visited here last summer for a day hike when we were camping further North inland (to avoid the fog) and fell in love with this place.  It is so green, quiet, and each site is very private.

A shot from last year...

A year later...

Surrounding deep green bushes divide each site creating intimacy.  You park your car on the driveway and it blocks the view from the road.  Now you have nice privacy.  This site was okay, but many others were much deeper and hidden in the bushes.

This was our site, and it was located on a hill.  We didn't have a driveway, but the site had a stairway instead.  It was very cute and cozy like an apartment in the city. 

See?  You go up on the stairs and people can't even see our tent.  We parked the car on the road shoulder next to the stairs.  It was like a San Francisco apartment in the woods.  We loved it!  There were more sites like this nestled on top of stairs.

No camping without hot cocoa with marshmallows in the morning...

Why do I always forget to bring a bowl?

The boy loves to cook in the woods...

What's he making with huevos?

Yep, it would be a breakfast burrito.  He is an expert at making it...

Though doing the dishes is not our favorite thing to do while camping, we really enjoy cooking in the woods.  Sure, we have to make a few compromises, but we still consider ourselves gourmet campers :-)

Lunch was served...

Look, I even organized the locker.  It felt good :-)

Nectarine...another reason to love summer...

We even made a cobbler in the woods.  This photo was actually from the last camping trip.  I mixed all the ingredients to make the dough and brought it in a Ziploc bag.  At the camp site, I placed the sliced nectarines in a double layered tin foil bowl and covered it with tin foil.

I knew I needed a cast iron skillet for baking in the direct fire, but hoped for the best...

Burnt on the bottom, but other than that, it was delish!

Crocheted a little dish washing "sponge."  If you use 100 % acrylic yarn to make it, you don't need dish soap to do the dishes.  Perfect for camping!

Yep, I packed my sewing box this time...

An after dinner walk...we love to see how other folks set up their sites (without being nosy, of course).  While we were annoyed by one loud neighbor who turned the radio up to full volume (we were like oh no, not Detroit Lake again), we met a beautiful senior couple with an Airstream, a cute teardrop camper towed by a mother and an early teen daughter team, and a group of friendly senior folks from Southern California.

The campground is located just five miles south of Crescent City.  So we visited its beach everyday to let Dash run off leash.  Dash ran and screamed, "Freedoooom." 

Have I told you that Dash absolutely hates to get wet?  Well, something came onto him that day.  He ran like a possessed dog and jumped in the water. 

At sunset, the tide was low.  And Dash encountered something he'd never seen before...

We took a day trip to Arcata just to hang out...

Another day trip...to Oregon in search for a rental kayak place.  No luck...

Just wandering around the area...a shot from last year...

So we had another great camping trip again.  The boy loves to go camping.  And I'm glad he does. He appreciates nature and the environment and peaceful quality time together.  We talked more than we do at home.  Talked about what, you ask?  Yeah, we talked about life :-)  I'm just glad I started this tradition...

Here is the boy 6 years ago excited about to try our newly purchased tent at our first tent camping trip at American River.

Oh, wait, this was actually the first camping trip.  The same year, same summer, I took him to the East side of the Sierras to see the historical ghost town called Bodie and stayed in a small family operated campground which offered a covered wagon accommodation.  I blogged about the trip, but the post was lost during my blog move.  Anyway, the trip was a blast and we just got hooked with pioneer experiences.  After we went home, we bought a tent and other camping gear and went camping again to see the historical sites along Highway 49.

We loved the setting!  It was  adorable!!!  The little creek ran at our door steps and we had a private access to it too.

Hey, this could have been an Airstream during the pioneer days :-)

The inside was pretty roomy...

Looks pretty comfy, huh?  But, I didn't sleep at all at night.  It was freezing, but I only had a couple blankets on me.  I underestimated the Sierra's quick temperature drop at night.  It was around 30 degrees.  The boy had one, but I didn't own a sleeping bag back then.  I bought one for myself after this trip.

Ah...the boy was still shorter than mama...and no dog...