Big Bear Weekend

Where oh where does time go?  Summer is in full swing.  It is hot, hot, hot!!!  We went to Big Bear for the 4th of July weekend.  It was quite a different holiday weekend for us, as all of our children and their families were doing other things.  In years past, we always spent the 4th in Newport.  That is where our two girls and their families went.  My brother Dave has a boat there, and he graciously hosted the whole gang.  I have to admit, I was sure wishing I was there too.  Maybe next year.  Our son Drew was with his girlfriend and her family in Arizona.  So it was a quiet time for us in the mountains, but we still managed to have a lot of fun, and squeeze a lot in.  The first thing I did when we got there, was hang the bunting from the back deck.

We went out on the boat in the morning of July 04, and it was glorious for a couple of hours.

There were very dark and threatening looking clouds forming over the lake, and they were heading straight for us.  We anchored in the bay, and pretty soon our friends Mike and Randy came paddling along in a canoe.  (Look at those wrinkly knees!  Aren't the 50's grand????)

Mike and his wife Lee recently bought a fabulous place right on the water.  It is a stone's throw from my Mom's place.  We are having a lot of fun spending time with them and their family.  Mike's younger sister, Nancy, is a dear friend of mine.  We have been friends for over 40 years.  She was my Maid of Honor in our wedding.  Nancy went to college in Washington State, and made her life there.  So we only got to see one another every few years.  But she is back here now, and I am so happy about that!

Oh dear.  Not a very flattering photo of any of us ladies.  Nancy on the left, me, Tammy, and Lee.  Lee is Mike's wife, and Nancy's sister in law.  Tammy is Lee's sister.  Those two have been joined at the hip since I have known them.
We played a silly card game with them that had us all in stitches!  We laughed so hard!!!  This is a picture of the sun setting on the bay in front of Mike and Lee's house.  So pretty and peaceful.  And so very similar to the view of another lake near and dear to my heart.  Bass Lake.

The lake levels are very low.  Which is the case for all of our California lakes this year.  They have a primo spot on the lake!

This was not actually 4th of July that we were at their cabin.  On the 4th, while out on the lake, we got a big thunder storm.  Complete with lightening, wind, rain, an loud claps of thunder.  We headed in from the lake, and took cover in the cabin to wait it out.

It was actually chilly, and we both got comfy with our blankets, and next thing I knew, it was 3 hours later!  We had both fallen asleep, and nearly missed the fireworks altogether!  We cooked some  hot dogs and watched the fireworks from the deck instead of taking the boat out on the water.

The next day was a repeat of the day before.  More dark clouds forming earlier in the day.  Greg barely made it back from fishing before the storms began again.

So I took that as an opportunity to pop some tags in Big Bear City.  I took off in the rain, and it was slow going with holiday traffic on the roads.

Over the Stanfield Cut off, and through the woods.........

In search of a treasure.  I hit all of my favorite places, and braved the bumper to bumper traffic back to the cabin.  Here are my finds.
Two holiday table runners.  The flannel one on the right is really long.  It has delicate little applique leaves and  red bead berries on either end.  The other one is a fun patchwork print, with red ball fringe on each end.  The back is a complimentary green stripe.  Either side is pretty.

Both were in perfect condition. The longer one was 5 and the other was 4.
In another shop, I found this white and yellow crochet doily for a dollar.  And a brand new pair of red canvas Keds in my size, for one dollar.

At my last stop, I found this set of 5 chenille pumpkins and gourds.  I had to have them.  I have one at home, that I bought many years ago, and these will all go well together!  I paid 4 dollars for all five of them.

Someone put a lot of work into these.  The stems are brown corduroy, and the felted leaves are all embellished with some stitching for detail.  They all have little wire tendrils.  Not too bad for 15.00 spent, eh?  I love to thrift in Big Bear.  You can find some great bargains!
When I got back to the cabin, we headed out to meet up with some friends of ours who were spending the weekend in their cabin too.  Thea is a soul sister!  We met a few years ago, and are continually amazed at how much we have in common.  Our husbands too!  We both have three adult kids.  We both love to cook. We both have vitiligo!  We both love hand made items.  She is also quite an artist!  Which I am not!  We never are at a loss for words when we get together.  We met up at the Copper Q, a beautiful kitchen/cafe in downtown Big Bear.  They do weekend cooking demos, so we met for that, and the guys went out into the woods to collect firewood.
The demo was on White Chocolate Dipped Biscotti.  YUM!

After our blab fest and cooking demo, the guys met us back at The Copper Q, where we visited some more, before saying goodbye, as Greg and I had purchased presale tickets to go across the street and watch the movie, Tammy.

We both really enjoyed the movie!  After that, Greg and I headed back to the cabin and put a pizza in the oven for dinner.  Then walked over to our friends place for the evening.  Good times!!!!
We had hoped to hook up with Phil and Thea the next morning, but we wound up having to head back down the hill before we could. We will surely be back soon though, as we keep the boat up there in a slip for the entire summer season, til October.  Another great weekend in the pines!!!!!
Come on back tomorrow for a good recipe!
XO  Kris