Finally, It Feels Like Fall!

It finally feels like Fall here in Southern California - yay!!! It rained yesterday and it was the perfect day to make some chicken stoup, which I did and it was yummy. I have enough leftover to have for lunch today. It is a very cloudy, beautiful day today with a temperature of 66 degrees. I love this kind of weather - especially since we just had the warmest October ever recorded (since the 1870s or thereabouts when they started keeping records of the temperature).

Today I'm tidying-up and organizing my office/craft room a bit so I can get busy making jewelry for my Etsy shop in time for Christmas. I've been missing my crafting mojo lately, but I think it's starting to come back. I perused some of my jewelry books last night for inspiration; I find that usually helps, and it did. I'll keep you posted (no pun intended) on my progress and share some of my creations here on my blog.

It sure is nice to have gained an extra hour - any extra time for creating is a bonus! Have a great day!

Halloween "Hike"

I took these photos this morning during C's and my weekly "hike" at Descanso Gardens. It is such a beautiful, clear fall day - it would be perfect if it wasn't so dang hot. It's been in the 90s for the last week and it was getting rather toasty by the time my cousin "C" and I had finished our hike/walk at 11:30. They were filming something there today and using a smoke machine which was nasty-smelling, but the effect it had on the rays of sunlight coming through the trees was spectacular! Lyrics from "Stairway to Heaven" came to mind ("..Rings of smoke through the trees..."). The trees look so pretty as their leaves are changing to their fall colors. I love this time of year.

They had decorated one of the trails with homemade Halloween decorations that were really clever using rakes, brooms and pumpkins. Toward the end of our hike we came upon the set that they were filming with the smoke machine - it was marked "Hunting". We could see some of the actors taking a break - they were dressed as cavemen! It reminded us of those silly Geico commercials. We came upon the other set marked "Garden of Eden" but couldn't get close enough to see what they were doing. Living so close to "Hollyweird" (as we call it), we see film sets quite often.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!

Halloween Jewelry

I finally added two items to my Etsy shop this afternoon - a charm necklace and a pin. I have more jewelry to take photos of and list in the next day or so. I love making jewelry, but I think if I had to pick a favorite kind, it would be my charm bracelets. They are a lot of work and take the most time, but I think the results are really worth it. They are so much prettier in person (my photography skills, or lack thereof, just don't do them justice).

Fall has officially arrived today - yay!!! This is definitely my favorite time of year. It was such a nice, mild day today but I hear that the Santa Ana Winds are going to pick up at the end of the week and it is supposed to be around 90 degrees. Ugh - I am so over summer weather. I don't mind the wind, in fact, I actually like it, but the threat of fires here in So. Cal. has everyone on edge this time of year. We've had some really horrific fires in the past this time of year. I pray that this year we will get through it without one.

Have a wonderful week and please check out my Etsy store for more additions. I will be blogging about them here also.