Another successful pop up shop and California Dreamin' turned into another reality

Yet again its been ages since I last posted and I have a good excuse I have been busy and away visiting and staying with a good friend in California for the Spring Break, or Easter holidays as we in England call it.  I've also been busy with another pop up shop which was held in time for Mother's Day over here which was in March.

The event was a busy day and culminated in orders which I had to complete in time to go away.  I made a success of £80 on the day which was really good.  One brilliant idea my husband had was to take a portfolio of all the cushions I have done in the past for people to look at which also helped with orders being taken.

As it was coming up to Mother's day I made some cushions that seemed apt for the occasion.

Four orders were taken which gave me 2 weeks to stitch and complete before I went away to California.

Easter break then saw me and my daughter jet over to Sacramento in California for a long overdue visit to stay with a friend who lives there.  Last time we went was summer 2010 and whilst we travelled down to London Heathrow and flew via Calgary in Canada, this time we decided to travel from our local airport at Norwich here in East Anglia and from there it was a transfer at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam for an 11 hour flight to Los Angeles, before transferring to Sacramento for our 3rd and final flight.  It was a long day as we were up and ready to leave Lowestoft at 4 am and we landed in Sacramento at 3.30 pm which was 11.30 pm back here in England.  We certainly don't do anything by halves, but it saved my husband a 6 hour road trip to Heathrow Airport and back home again.

Unlike last time when we visited and were stopped by the Highway Patrol, this time we introduced ourselves over a Mexican and after a long 4 year wait, Victoria was finally able to get her first Frozen Yoghurt which she had been waiting for.

We even had the opportunity to catch up with some old friends.....

And New.....I am Lisa Wilson on the left, and on the right is also Lisa Wilson

Last time, when we went to California we did a road trip with my friend Jackie.  During that time we visited Yosemite National Park and South Lake Tahoe.  This time we decided to travel north up Highway 1 and head for Mendocino County, staying in Mendocino itself.  For those who can remember Angela Lansbury in 'Murder She Wrote'  Mendocino was the setting for the fictional 'Cabot Cove' in the long running series.

Mendocino Hotel but we stayed at the back in their garden suite as we had 2 dogs with us too.  A lovely place to stay.

Blair House....Jessica Fletcher's fictional home

Whilst we were in Mendocino County we also visited Fort Bragg and Glass Beach.  Used previously as a dumping site, it is now a visitor attraction with all the glass that was dumped smoothed out by the sea and mingling with the stones.

I also loved the various colours of the Pacific Ocean which I tried to capture on my camera.

Before leaving California, as California was populated during the Gold Rush Days, we decided to try our hand at Gold Panning.

Victoria trying her hand at panning for gold.

With little success

Our mode of transport. first owned by my friend's dad and we kept getting so many compliments off people when we stopped at traffic lights etc

All in all, we had a great time over in Sacramento and are planning to revisit next year for the Spring break.  A 4 year delay was too long to wait.  It was soon time fly home to England via Portland, Oregan en route to Amsterdam again.  Our return journey was 20 hours long but it was worth it.

And its time to start stitching again!!!!