The Woz, Steve Wozniak and Finder Babies in Fresno California

Steve Wozniak, known as "Woz," is a legend in the personal computer revolution of the 1970s. He developed the Apple I computer and made history with Steve Jobs when they co-founded Apple Computer. Woz was the electronics engineer, Jobs was the public image.

Woz came to Fresno and I was there with a gift from, FMUG, Fresno Mac Users Group. We gave him Finder Babies I created in 2009. Woz loves humor and was a prankster so this was for the kid in Woz.

Doug Cox is our president and "Your Mac Guy," here with Woz.

 

I'm an Apple girl, all the way back to when I bought the Apple II Plus. By then Woz was no longer at Apple but he was the genius that started it all. I still have and use my 1983 favorite recipe book I printed from my first computer.

My souvenir. Signed!

It was the first sell out for the San Joaquin Valley Town Hall series at the Saroyan theater. The food at the VIP reception was fabulous, loved the stuffed mushrooms.

The Finder Baby faces are the Finder icon on Apple computers.

They come complete with birth certificates.

It was my son Doug's idea that the baby should have a red cape, the story is on my Treadle Lady website. This page.

There is a short video clip on the website that doesn't seem to work on all browsers so try a different one if you want to see a Finder Baby birth. Later I had to make a girly icon baby. Here they are on my cutting table.

The babies are listed in my Treadle Lady Etsy Shop.

Carmel-by-the-Sea Day Trip

Carmel-by-the-Sea draws us to it several times a year. Last time we went with Lisa and the boys during the summer. We had the inevitable whining from a teenager wanting to go home.

Yesterday we went alone and spent seven hours exploring, eating, looking through some shops and galleries, walking the beach and more exploring. It was a gorgeous day.

We discovered this pedestrian walkway halfway through a block of homes.

We liked the combination of stone and wooden fence.

If our library looked like this in Fresno I would want to spend time there every day. It is two levels and even has a fireplace.

 

Old habits are hard to break, we tend to go to the same restaurant for a few years till another entices us so it was La Bicyclette again for lunch. This month they have a weekly dish inspired by the impressionists. This week George Seurat and his pointillism work was featured. This was the special menu for the week's dish, printed like a postcard.

 

Jan had one of the burgers and fries. He asked for his Dutch style with mayonnaise. No ketchup. I chose the pointillism inspired dish.

Carmel is such a dog friendly town, some restaurants even have doggie menus for their outdoor seating. Here is Bistro Beaujolais, angus beef patty or grilled chicken $5.95, side of bacon $3.95, steamed veggies $3.95, scrambled eggs $3.95, add bacon for $1.95. Ice H2O on request. A little doggie in the corner dreams, "I love Carmel." The metal sculpture frog holds a bucket of doggie biscuits.

On to a walk on the beach, here overlooking from street level.

On the way down the steps was a rinse off area and dog bowl for water.

From the beach looking up towards the street level. All the brown streaks in the sand is dried seaweed.

This fresh seaweed was interesting with the light shining through the 4 to 5 inch wide ribbon-like leaves. The pods and stems are rubbery.

We walked the length of the beach then up to street level again.

As we were leaving we drove an area we hadn't been and saw this home. Did the architect or home owner realize it was going to look so whimsical?

Grizelda the Witch at My Castle Shed

Years ago when my sons were small I and a neighbor dressed as scary witches. The little children were so frightened on Halloween they would not come down the walkway for their treats.

When I became a grandma I decided to become Grizelda the Clown Witch. Who could be frightened of her? My orange crushed hat has a spider web and a rubber spider dangles from the edge. You can see my green felt hooked nose. In the photo above for my Treadle Lady site I posed in front of the Paris Cabinet and sewed on my German Gritzner treadle sewing machine.

When my son Doug and Lisa came over with Davis their heads were shaking. Doug lovingly said, "Mom, you are such a geek." Yes!!! And I love being one. After a couple of years of teasing that stopped and about the 5th year Lisa said, "I want to be a clown witch." Another "Yes!!!" So I whipped up her adorable costume, a much cuter version with a short sassy skirt.

After becoming Grizelda the Clown Witch I designed and made a Halloween quilt with a hand painted scene. Several years ago I asked hubby to paint the scene that I designed for my quilt so I could make Halloween cards, the quilt didn't photograph as clearly as I wanted. Here is the painting he did, propped up on a chair in the castle shed the other day.

When my grandsons were small they used to point to the witch in the quilt and say, "Grandma, that's you." What a compliment! The books on the shelf in the painting are, Potions, Witches Who's Who, Pumpkin Cookbook, Frog Care and it was the title of the last book that sealed my identity, Clown Witch Costumes.

Last week I put up spider web garland banners to decorate my castle shed and then posted the PDF file for sale to make them in my Etsy shop. Here is link.

On a quiet evening this week I took my wine glass and lap top out to write at my medieval style table in my castle shed. I had a little story idea about what is happening in the painting. I propped the painting in front of me so I could tell the story, suitable as a night time story for little children, no scariness. It will be posted in my Etsy shop soon. (Here is the link to the story card.)

The castle shed is so enticing, a great little place to escape and write or work.

Here are party favor baskets I designed a few years ago and made a fresh set.

 And pillow boxes that coordinate, great for Halloween treats.

Are you ready for Halloween or a bedtime story?

The Teapot Wall Pearl China Company Set

Recently, on our way home from church, we noticed an estate sale with everything half off. We made a U turn. What treasures might there be?

My teapot wall isn't large enough for all my teapots, there are a few on the Paris cabinet and a few in the kitchen and breakfast nook. I really don't need another teapot but......when you are offered such a bargain for a beauty you can't resist. It was offered for 25% less than half off, I wasn't even negotiating. It was in such perfect condition for three pieces it came home.

We were told most of the items had been stored away for many years. There are several of the same set for sale on the internet but all of them have the gold with lots of wear. This set is in perfect condition and looks right at home in front of the painting Jan did for me of the Tuck Box in Carmel, California.

It's made by the Pearl China Company in the 1950s or 1960s. Each piece has a swirled design and 22k gold. Here is another view. What a beauty!

What kind of a tea theme would this fit?

Looking Back a Year to My Garden Castle Shed

It's dusk and we just came in from having dinner outdoors by the garden castle shed. The solar lights are on and it looks complete though as I've said many times before, there are still lots of projects to do but for now it's satisfying.

Looking back here is the day Jan dug up all the plants in that corner of the yard.

Here was my foam core model that was to be only 8 feet high turrets and storage only in turrets. As work progressed we decided to make the whole form into storage and 11 feet high turrets. I wouldn't want to go back to that day in September 2014.

It's a little dark now but had to be in a good night photo from my castle shed.

New York Twin Towers Painting

Earlier in the summer Jan (pronounced yan) did a commissioned painting for a pilot friend. On June 11, 2000 the pilot was in New York and flew by the twin towers and took a photo from his cockpit. It was a memorable moment he wanted captured in a painting from his 4x6 inch photo.

Jan struggled with all the details but he persisted and did this fine painting that was 24x30 inches. I'm so proud of my hubby.

Copper Sconce for Castle Shed Torch Lights

Wow! The design worked out great.

Remember the August 3 blog entry? I described the pattern making process from paper. There were 9 paper patterns and it was number 8 that I liked the most. It's been melding in my mind how to make it. My jewelry making skills are for small pieces of jewelry as in my MaDil Designs Etsy shop.

The skills and tools are a little different for something much larger. Finally I figured out the best way to make it out of copper sheeting.

Do we have a copper sconce or a patat frit holder?  Dutch hubby keeps calling it that. In the Netherlands french fries are served in a paper cone holder and he keeps drooling wanting a batch topped with the traditional mayonnaise on top.

It looks like a perfect torch light sconce to me. 

Now on to make the second one and mount them to the castle shed. They just may appear for sale in my Etsy shop for sale by next week as indoor electric sconce lighting. There are ideas rolling in my head.

Can you visualize them under the torch lights? The final decision will be to leave them shiny copper to age on their own or verdigris them as I did the roof finials and flags.

Jones Serpentine Hand Crank Machine Base and Labor Day Weekend

What a gorgeous labor day weekend already. Last night we had a TGIF taco night for five neighbors that came over. There is nothing like a good soft taco, a little beer or wine, music in the background and friends you enjoy.

This afternoon we took a bike ride and now I'm sitting at the medieval table in my castle shed with the doors open and the sun setting. It's 84 degrees with only 20% humidity, very nice.

A few years ago I purchased a Jones Serpentine hand crank sewing machine, from about the year 1890. Some people call it the cat back. The feet have holes in the bottom and hubby made me a base with dowels to hold it in place. It's been unfinished wood for too long so I primed it a couple of days ago and will be adding a little teal color to the base so it won't be such a harsh contrast from the black sewing machine to white.

I grabbed a couple of containers with some mixed paint, one was green, the other blue. With a stir stick I pulled out a little of each into a small pie pan I use for mixing small amounts of paint. 

Since the paint has a little carpenter's chalk in it the drying time is about 10 minutes in the nice low humidity weather. The south turret where my painting station is at is perfect for afternoon projects with a little sun still coming in through the screens.

Quick as a snap it dried and I put the machine back in place, each foot over the protruding dowels.

Here it sits on my new medieval table before taking it back into the house.

The shadows are getting deeper.

Soon the solar lights inside the castle shed will come on and a little later the torch lights. Haven't made the light fixtures yet, sigh. Still lots to do but it has come a long way and has been a very enjoyable process.