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Persimmons

I had never heard of persimmons until I moved to California in 1999. Not until this year can I say that I actually like them. I tried them baked in a cookie once. Wasn't a fan. They were turned down at every chance after that. A friend of mine told me that they were delicious dried. She said they were like a peice of candy. That sparked my interest. I love dried fruit and I love candy. Last Thursday one of the Cello teachers gave me seven persimmons. (The variety not used for cooking) They were pretty good. So today I got around to drying some :). I won't lie. They don't taste like candy when dried. But they are pretty darn good. I'm glad I tried them again. Now I'm looking to ease the burden of an overloaded persimmon tree.
Here are my efforts:

Umbrella

This is my favorite from a photo shoot today - We weren't even planning on the umbrella. She happened to pull it out of her bag and, WOW - it worked!!

The Nursery

I'm not sure why it took me three babies to get into the whole "decorate the nursery" mode. It could be that we lived in apartments, didn't have the $ or the fact that this is my first girl AND we have a spare bedroom. Kindof. The "spare room" was my sew/computer/storage/make a mess room.
After months of finding other places for my sewing, computer and messy stuff, we finally had the room ready for painting, new closet doors, finishing the base boards and a crib!
I made the crib bumper, quilt and ruffle and added a touch of matching fabric to the already existing curtains. I LOVE the quilt. I started with a yard of blue euro floral fabric that I had and started adding prints to it. I cut random sized strips and added a wider border and backed it with a soft pink minky. I hand quilted it :).
When I was at Babies R Us registering for baby items I ran across the Jungle Luv nursery decor and I couldn't believe how the colors matched my fabrics EXACTLY!! So of course I had to have the little mobile and lamp!!
Recently on eBay I found sellers who were selling matching hand made Jungle Luv accessories. After a bit of thought I realized I could do the same. I purchased a roll of Jungle Luv wallpaper border and made some matching wall hangings.
There are a few more things I want to do for the nursery. I want to cover a cork board with fabric and batting somehow, but am not sure how to do that yet.

Stacking Bowls

I swiped these from my Dad's house during a visit a while back. He had just finished a ceramic making frenzy and dared show me his wares. I took the liberty of staking my claim on a few - or rather a stack. They add a touch of decor yet are super functional.

Aquarium

A quick trip this weekend to Monterey to see the aquarium again. These little jellies are my favorite thing there. Just like the flames of a campfire or the rolling ocean waves, I can watch them for hours.
Next Spring the aquarium will feature Sea Horses. I can't wait to them!