I Have Always Loved KMart.......Check out their Christmas Ad for Joe Boxer ~ Show Your Joe

We don't have a Kmart in our area anymore.......

My husband and I always talk about the fact we hate that there is not a Kmart close to us here in Ft. Worth. We miss shopping there at times.

When we went to Colorado a couple of weekends ago, we made it a point to stop into the local Kmart in Loveland Colorado. It was just like the Kmart that used to be close to us and we had a good time going down memory lane and when the kids were small, as we walked down the isles.

This Christmas ad for Joe Boxer is just what I needed to put a smile on my face this morning! Very clever indeed Kmart......go ahead, turn your speakers up and enjoy a little Christmas music......Joe Boxer Style!!

Vintage Thingie Thursday: A Colorado Ghost Town

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday

If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a really good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies on display that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

The State of Colorado has many ghost towns and places to explore. One of my very favorite is the little Town of St. Elmo that is nestled in the heart of the Fourteener Mountains.

You will still find many original buildings standing today.

The little town is full of character and charm. Walking down these streets in the early spring or summer is a real treat. There are not a lot of tourist during the off seasons, and it is nice to walk and hear the wind rustling in the aspens.

St. Elmo was originally settled in 1878 and was made official in the 1880's when gold and silver began to bring many people to the area. Though it was first called Forest City, the smallest town's name was changed when the post office objected because there were too many towns with the same name. The new name was derived by Griffith Evans, one of the founders, who was reading a romantic nineteenth-century novel by the same name.

In 1881 Anton Stark, a cattleman brought a herd to the railroad and was so taken with the town that he and his family quickly took up residence. Anton became a section boss for one of the local mines and his wife, Anna, ran a general store and the Home Comfort Hotel, which later became home to the post office and telegraph office.

The survival of the town was largely due to the Stark family and their descendents, who remained the sole year-round residents for many years. According to local legend, perhaps at least one of them, Annabelle Stark,still keeps a ghostly watch over the town.

Today, St. Elmo is one of the most preserved ghost towns in Colorado. It is a haven for hiking enthusiast, and ATV trails. In the fall, it is breathtaking to visit here when the aspen trees turn and litter the mountain sides with gold.

Renovations such as this old school house are underway thanks the the Historical Society of Buena Vista, which is the little town that sits at the base of these mountains.

The streets of this ghost town are literally crawling with folks in the summer time. The winding roads that lead into this small town are lined with trucks, trailers, and ATV as the off road trails around St. Elmo are some of the best in the Colorado mountains. 

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of this vintage ghost town and some of the original structures that still stand today.

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday and hope you have a wonderful week.

Vintage Thingie Thursday: Casa Neverlandia - Austin, Texas

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday

If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a really good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies on display that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

I have mentioned here before that my daughter lives in Austin, Texas and it is always fun to go and visit and experience all the "Austin" things....weird and all. In fact, the more out of the norm, the better! 

Last week, I told you about a shop and the food trucks on South Congress and how much we enjoy them. Another aspect I love about that part of Austin are the homes just off of South Congress. They are a mix of eclectic homes, some of them in their original condition, but many have been redone and are most amazing in their decor and style. I always wonder about the people who live inside those houses, always want their story or a part of their story. It holds a magical sort of allure for me and I tell my family all the time, that if I lived in Austin, I'd want to live here in this area. If I could not do that, there is one other area I really love that has the same feel. My daughter just laughs and rolls her eyes......not her style at all!

Last month, when we were in Austin, we were getting ready to head home and had to walk through some of these streets in the neighborhoods to get to where we parked our car....ummmm.....yes, the parking could be a little better, as we had to walk several blocks......but that turned out to be a wonderful thing.

We happened by this house once we found the car and made a wrong turn. Turns out to be the right turn...would you just look at this house...I was mesmerized and forced, yes forced my husband to stop. And would you believe this time, there was a story that went with this mystical house. Oh. Joy.

The house has this sign out front and was fantastic information about the  owners and the house. (Click the photo to read this information.) It is hard to imagine the house being purchased for 13K in 1979.

How many times do you see a fantastic home and wonder about it and the occupants? I was really interested in reading this sign, but was more fascinated with what I was looking at. The house is magnificent, everywhere you look is something fantastic and unique that was used in the homes decor.

The colors, the glass, the siding, the paint, the landscaping, the front door, every where you looked was a fantastic array of beauty on this one house.

I wanted to go up and ring the door bell, just to get a closer look. My husband kept telling me and my daughter to get in the car before someone called the police. Reluctantly, we got in the car....

....but not until I thought once more about walking up these steps for a closer look. The house is spectacular nestled in the trees of this eclectic  neighborhood.

I know this weeks Vintage Thingie is a bit different, but I wanted to show you how fantastic homes can be in this town that would like to stay weird. If I am not careful and keep out of these neighborhoods, I just might find myself trying to relocate there. I fear I'd fit right in and be right at home.

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday!!! .....and I guess I should say, ALL of Austin is not like this..it is rather normal and sorta boring....I prefer the more wilder side of things that this town has to offer. *wink * wink !!

How Will I Fill That Extra Hour????

Dachshunds....they serve as alarm clocks without ever having to actually set a clock. With the time change...I had an extra hour to sleep and get some rest before I started my day.....

My two dachshunds, Bailey and Sammie however did not see it that way and promptly woke me up at 4:15am. Nice.....Thanks so much! Once I am awake, I might as well just get up!!

So.....I had decided to fill that extra hour with a worthy effort I had committed to earlier in the week.

I read about a take action project to help with some comfort for Hurricane Sandy victims via Lane's Blog. Seems Erin from My Patchwork Life has decided to TAKE ACTION and make some quilts to send to the devastated East Coast. This is fantastic, and knowing I'd love to do something, but with time always a factor and sewing these days, I thought making a few blocks was doable.

She is asking for SIMPLE disappearing 4 patch blocks, they are a large block version and quick and easy to make! Erin requested florals and a solid or a fabric that reads a solid. Click HERE to see her post about the blocks.

So at 4:30am I decided to cut the blocks and will get them sewn together and off to Erin early this week. One hour....an extra hour at that, and what a difference I can make with a few simple blocks. What better way to spend that extra 60 minutes? I certainly feel better about this project than I would cleaning bathrooms during that hour!

Oh...and incase you are wondering what else was going on while I was cutting fabric at the wee early morning hours.....maybe you thought there were games of tag, or fetch with dog toys, or exploring what could be lurking in the back yard by two little dogs....

Not a chance....in fact...it was RATHER QUIET as these two early risers must have gotten the message that the time had changed...as they went back to bed...and decided to get some more shut eye!  Imagine that!!!

If you'd like to help in a small way...stop off and visit Erin and sew a couple of blocks today with that extra hour!!! Big impact....small effort......always heart warming!

Vintage Thingie Thursday: Dublin Dr. Pepper Bottling Company

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a really good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies on display that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Dublin Dr. Pepper Bottling Company in Dublin Texas. Right after they announced they would not be producing the Dr Pepper after a dispute on trademark. It was a sad day for die hard Dublin Dr. Pepper drinkers here in Texas

The building has lots of old vintage signs and memorabilia. There were lots of people there trying to get their hands on the last of the bottled Dr. Pepper.

This is the bottling company front that faces the main street.

Thought this was a neat sign.

 According to Wiki:

Dublin Dr Pepper was the popular name for a style of Dr Pepper soft drink made by the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company in Dublin, Texas. Dublin Dr Pepper followed the original recipe, using cane sugar as the sweetener as opposed to newer high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The Dublin plant formula's use of sugar made it popular among soda fans. According to the corporate headquarters at Dr Pepper Snapple Group, this resulted in clashes with other bottlers and the parent company of Dr Pepper. On 12 January 2012, it was announced that Dublin Dr. Pepper will no longer be produced, after the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company settled the trademark dispute instigated by Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

Dr Pepper debuted in Waco, Texas in 1885. The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling is the oldest remaining Dr Pepper bottler, producing the beverage continuously since 1891. As the soft drink's first independently owned bottler, owner Sam Houston Prim was given first choice of franchises when franchising of Dr Pepper started in 1925 and, instead of a larger area, chose to formalize existing, smaller territory, which has remained unchanged.
Most of the machinery in the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling dates to the 1930s and the plant only runs once a month, enough to refill the roughly 2,000 glass bottles that have circulated for decades. Since the 1990s, it has outsourced most of its production to Temple Bottling Company, a larger independent Dr Pepper bottler in Texas.

This great old advertising sign was inside the store where they sold t-shirts and Drinks. I love this old sign, reminds me of my childhood for some reason.

I hope you enjoyed these vintage signs as my Vintage Thingie today....do you drink Dr. Pepper?? My husband does and so does my son, but I am not a huge fan of it myself! Have a great Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Crumb Along - Part One of Sewing

I told you yesterday about a crumb along Jo is hosting over at Jo's Country Junction. Every Tuesday is when new instructions on the block construction is posted and today was the first sewing part. I made three blocks.

Wouldn't you know it, the first thing right off the bat is flying geese blocks? The only flying geese blocks I have ever made were in my very first quilt and I have not attempted another since. Thing is....this time, they are not supposed to be straight! You'd think that would be no problem...but for the first 15 minutes...I kept thinking...this can not be right.

But....I remembered Jo saying there is no right or wrong so I just kept on sewing......but boy, do these geese look like they could use some help!

I trucked on and finally finished three. But would you get a look at those geese....ahem! There is a second part of this weeks instructions which is to make some more single geese blocks that I believe will be part of a star block next week....and would you believe the other block that is rather intimidating to me are STAR blocks!!! Nothing like starting off worried that I won't even finish parts one and two....but I plugged away.....hope they are right.....

Here is all three......I am using all scraps and crumbs, strings and pieces of left over blocks for this quilt....yes and I am sure it will be every bit as bright and bold as my last finish.......I think I am gonna like it!!!

Don't forget, it is not to late to join the fun......perfectionist personalities should be warned....it is a strain....but honestly, I may never go back to sewing a straight block or seam again!!

Jo has a link up HERE to take a peek at what other quilters have done with their first blocks.....be sure to take a look, should be fun!

I Save Crumbs And It Is A Good Thing!

As if I have nothing else in the world to do, this morning I found a great new quilt along that of course I have decided I need to join. What a fantastic way to use up crumb scraps that "I" seem to not be able to throw away.


Jo is hosting this wonderful quilt along and IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN in on the fun! Every Tuesday for 10 weeks will be a new post up on this adventure. Click here to see last weeks post, or click the button on my sidebar and you can get there.....Tomorrow the fun begins!! After finishing my "Begging Quilt" project, scroll down if you missed it over the weekend, I have decided I love, love, LOVE scrappy quilts and this new quilt along is perfect!!

So I am really hoping I can turn something like THIS.......and this is just a portion of what I have saved....into.......

Jo's quilt top she made for her daughter....it is exquisite!

............Something as fantastic as this!!!

So if you have been wanting to try this quilting technique....go by and visit Jo and grab her button!! This should be a lot of fun...I mean after all.....if you are like me, you have no other projects on the back burner.....right????

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: Hartsel Colorado's only Restaurant and Bar

It is hard sometimes not to judge a book by its cover....in this case....this only restaurant in Hartsel Colorado is a clear reason why to follow that advice.

This little hole in the wall restaurant and bar is really a gem of a place to stop and eat.....even if there is not another restaurant for nearly 20 miles. Formally The HOB aka Hartsel's Only Bar or from the locals I heard tell HOB stood for Hateful Old Bit**.....who was the lady that ran the place...I don't know about the later, but it is indeed the only bar around these parts too. We discovered it is now called Highline Cafe and the article about the new name change was found in The Flume newspaper online, here if you care to read about it......you know you have nothing better to do!

Anyway...when you walk in the doors, it is like a step back in time. This is far from a five star environment, believe me. The furniture, fixtures and decor appear to have been there since the beginning of time.....and most likely has been.  You just have to really look past all the old furniture and decor and just have a seat and order your meal......

Here in the front window this particular afternoon was sun tea brewing for all to see! I have to admit, they do have the best tea around, and I guess this is the reason why. The staff is friendly enough I guess....certainly not stellar. But once you get your meal, all of that fades away and all you can think about is how wonderful your meal is.

I happen to love hamburgers, and this place has the best burgers I have had in a mighty long time. They also have buffalo burgers that the locals claim to be wonderful, but I never have tried one of those. All I can say is the best burgers this side of the Rockies are happening at this little hole in the wall restaurant......and let me tell you about the fresh cut, homemade fries.....oh, they are simply sinful!

When we were there a couple of weeks ago at our cabin, we ate here twice that week. It was real treat for me, as I am always cooking and cleaning up when we are at our cabin. So I already had my hamburger for the week, and I forgot to take a picture...sorry....but this is what I ordered on our second visit......this club sandwich was amazing....simply amazing. The veggies were the freshest and the meats were the tastiest from anything I have ever had here at home! Lots of food and it cost very little.....of course I love that it came with the famous homemade fries!

This little hole in the wall place serves American and Mexican food that is very good. Breakfast is amazing too with homemade hash browns that your granny could have made!!

I don't know if some would classify this little place as a diner or a dive....but I can attest it does not matter, the food alone outweighs the decor and service and the atmosphere is a step back in time and super fun to experience. It does not hurt that the mountains serve as a beautiful backdrop to this little place....next time your in the area.....be sure and stop by and give it a try....remember....it is Hartsel Colorado's only eating and drinking establishments....you can't miss it!!

The Week Before The Super Bowl - A Look At The Stadium Grounds

WARNING: This is a picture loaded post, but I know I have a few Packers fans that visit my blog and I am sure a few Steelers fans as well. I thought you'd like a up close and not so personal look at the place to avoid at all cost this coming week!

Of course the signage is everywhere. From every restaurant in four directions welcoming football fans to all the Super Bowl signage around the stadium itself.

And we are not talking small signs, I am talking HUGE signs. Huge outdoor screens to watching the game in the parking lot. Extra tickets were sold at $200.00 a pop to be able to stand in the parking lot to watch these huge screens during the game......ummmm.....no thanks.

All of the main roads around the stadium have announcements for road closures....On a day to day basis, this is a traffic problem area, and I simply can not imagine what this will be this next week. I have to admit, I won't be traveling in that area for the next two weeks. No way.

People were lined up for stadium tours. The parking lot was full. This was on Sunday, one week before the game and already cars everywhere.

All surrounding parking areas around the stadium have now become tent city. Not small tents mind you, but building size tents.

There are antennae everywhere. The major cell phone companies have set up a huge station there to try and support all the millions of additional phones for the area. I fear we will be lucky to even get a call to work over super bowl weekend.

Here is another look at the stadium, this parking lot had lots of golf carts and personnel on the other side, so I am not sure what this lot is stationed for.

 As we were doing a drive by of the stadium, I no sooner asked my husband if he thought there were already fans here in North Texas when I looked on the side of the road, and I saw two Green Bay fans walking down the street. So, yes, we have fans a week early, and the weather this week is supposed to be the coldest we have had since 1997. Nothing like welcoming fans used to frigid weather with a little of our own.

Here is the main street that runs by the stadium, only one lane open, this was a Sunday morning, and the traffic was already a mess.....this week, it will be a nightmare.

Attendants were stationed at every entrance as well as policemen.

This is a photo with half the signs installed. The other player will be on the right of the super bowl trophy sign and they were putting it up as we went by.

Again, tents and signs everywhere!

It is amazing how this has come together in such a short amount of time it seems. Everything from landscaping to new freeways have been built. It has been a lot of work, but looks like they are ready for the crowds.

Certainly the beer companies were not to be left out, very large signs are on the corners of the streets.

This was an amazing thing to see, the size of this is lost in the photos. It is gigantic in scale. Really an amazing sight to see.

From super large signs, to the smaller signs, super bowl fever has hit us here in our area. Our local news is full of stories, turn on the radio and that is what they talk about. We have been warned to visit local restaurants off the beaten path, avoid this area when possible, and find alternate routes on  your daily commute that will take you around this super bowl frenzy area.

I thought the World Series was an event to behold....never could have imagined all the fan-fare surrounding Super Bowl here in our area. It has been a wild time.

For all you who are far away from this mass confusion, thought you'd like a little peak at to the super bowl happenings the week before the main event. From what we saw, you'd think this past Sunday was super bowl Sunday.....it is a mad house in Arlington, Texas!