Meet the Knights Ferry Boutique

I wanted to introduce all of you to my friends at the Knights Ferry Boutique. They are a talented mother-daughter duo who create uniquely-sewn items. The mom, Pam, is an excellent seamstress and sews purses, jackets, pillows, and tea towels.

Entry at the Knights Ferry Boutique

Here's the entrance of the Knights Ferry Boutique. How quaint it is! Doesn't this entry just promise that there will be one-of-a-kind treasures inside? I just love the little, white picket fence!

Welcoming and cozy!

Pam is getting ready to remodel these front steps into a larger front porch. How fun! I can imagine the treasure troves of items she'll be able to display. I think it's just adorable as it is now!

Handmade purses and jewelry

Here's what their store looks like inside. For those of you near the town of Knights Ferry, it is worth the trip. Otherwise, the mother-daughter duo have an online store on Etsy found here. You can see they sell other items too like hand-painted signs, stylish jewelry, and hand-knit baby items.

Pam and Wendi with a customer

Here's a picture of my sweet friend, Pam (sitting), and her very cute daughter, Wendi (in the red). Come stop by and see them! Their location is 17631 Sonora Road, Oakdale, CA 95361. Their phone number is (209) 881-3378.

Knights Ferry's Peddler Faire

Early to the show we go, coffees and pastries in hand. Anita and I started off a little after 6:00 am this morning. We wanted to get to the Peddler Faire early. On the way there were so many Yard Sales, Oh! what to do?? Stop of course, we were finding all of these great things and buying them too. We needed to save room for what ever we bought at the faire also. So finally we said, " let's not stop anymore until we get to the faire". We were not disapointed, there were so many venders and great things to buy. We filled our bags and arms and returned to the SUV to unload everything. Hurry let's get back and find some more, we had so much fun.........

This is artist Michelle Maher she paints signs, furniture, ladders, etc. Michelle has the support of her dear husband, son, father and mother. They are such a wonderful family. Michelle has been so nice to paint some custom signs for The Green Pea and they are sooooo cute.

Here is Anita with Lucy (with a muzzle and a tummy harness) walking along with us, Lucy is not very fond of other dogs.....that is why she wears a muzzle. There is my friend Margarete waving. Anita is holding my paper holder/cutter that came from the old Knox dress shop that was in Sonora on Main Street for many, many years. It would make a sweet little shelf, I will take some pictures and show them later...

Tiramisu is growing up

Tiramisu is the sweetest little chicken, she runs so fast and gets on everything that is high. She is always on top of something. I found her a little friend so that she could have some company. I was telling one of my customers about them and she asked if I would please take a chicken of hers that was getting pecked to death by all her other chickens!!! Oh yes! I said, I will be right over to get her. So we have three happy chickens now, so far they all get along well together... I will have pics of all of them soon.


Tiramisu looking down at her friends as she walks the railing of the patio chair.


Tiramise looking pretty on the garden bench. I think she really likes her picture taken...

Escalon's Red Hat Ladies

Last week I had the pleasure of having about thirty of The Red Hat Ladies come in and browse the Green Pea. They all remembered over the years when The Pea was a hardware store and they like the transformation to an antique store. The Hat Ladies had just finished eating a wonderful lunch next door at Leonardo's Cafe. Lets see now! have a nice lunch with friends and then shop, sounds like a good time to me......



Look at the very pretty lady showing me her hat decorated with lots of flowers. Red and purple they were everywhere all over the store........



This is Phyllis standing with the ladies at Leonardo's. Just getting ready to visit with me.


Here they are getting their picture taken, we could not fit all of them in at once. So we took a few more pictures. Thank you ladies for the visit. Blessings, Sandi

Mr. Pea's Custom Bookcases

I mentioned in a prior post that Mr. Pea went out to visit our daughter in Texas for 5 days. My daughter likes to sew and she has a spare bedroom upstairs in her house that she had converted into a sewing room. She was running out of space to keep all of her fabrics, so she asked her dad to build her some built-ins with shelving. To keep the integrity of the bedroom in case it ever needed to be converted back, they created two "bookcases" on either side of a window and a window seat. The window seat has three drawers in it for her to keep her patterns.

My daughter took pictures for me of their busy week and just sent them my way. They ran out of time and didn't get the entire project completed, but I think it turned out just fabulous! Plus it gives Mr. Pea another excuse to visit our daughter again.

Our daughter is thrilled with the way it turned out.

Mr. Pea in his Texas workshop

Mr. Pea showed up for the task with a suitcase full of all kinds of goodies---a sander, nail guns, glues, clamps, etc. We were all surprised he got through security at the airport!

Routing the side of the bookcases

The bedroom is pictured below. The wall with the window is where the bookcases will go. Mr. Pea thought it was best to assemble the bookcases in the room itself since they were supposed to go to the ceiling.

The sides of the bookcases with the routed edges

Measuring to be sure the cases were "square"

Mr. Pea and Brad nailing in the backing

Sliding the first bookcase into place

Two cases installed!!

The window seat barely squeezed in!

Trimming the outside of the cases

Just beautiful!

Mr. Pea even added moulding to the top and to the baseboard

The bookcases caulked and sanded

This was as far as Mr. Pea got on the project. The hard part is over! Our daughter will cut and trim the shelving herself, then paint. She plans on sewing a window treatment and a matching seat cushion. Next time Mr. Pea goes out, he will complete the drawers.

I think Mr. Pea loves his daughter; don't you??

An Easter Chick

My darling chick, Tiramisu

Three weeks ago, as I was driving home from work, I saw something run across the street in front of me. It was a little black blur! I stopped alongside the road and combed the two-foot tall grass to discover a tiny little chick. It was peeping and its mommy was nowhere in sight. Being the softhearted, animal-lover that I am, I had to take it (he? she?) home.

The little chick was so hungry and thirsty! After getting it fed, we cuddled for awhile before I put it in a bird cage. I decided to name it "Tiramisu."

I have begun to let Tiramisu sleep in the bathroom at night, at least until it warms up outside. During the day I turn it loose to wander around my backyard and eat the bugs. As soon as the sun goes down in the evenings, I can hear it peeping on the back doorstep from inside the house. When I open the back door, Tiramisu hops right in and walks to the bathroom to go to bed. Since it is growing larger by the minute, I am hoping it will stay outside at night soon!

Historic Knights Ferry Gold Country Peddler's Faire

Now! this is a great faire, antiques, collectables and crafts. The food is great and admission is free, come rain or shine they will be there....8 am to 4 pm. Located by the covered bridge and Army Corp Park along the Stanislaus River. Sunday, April 26, 2009 there will be over 100 dealers.

Sue's Country Barn

Sue is opening up her barn again for a Spring Sale!

Sue's Country Barn
12607 E. Hwy 120 Manteca, CA 95336
Sale Begins: Thursday Evening, April 23rd
6:00 pm-9:00 pm
with Wine & Hors d'oeuvres

Friday April 24th thru Sunday May 3rd
OPEN DAILY 10:00 am-4:00 pm

cell:607-6013 Sue CASH OR CHECKS ONLY

Remember Sue always has a barn full of treasures!

Escalon's Annual Gas Bash

Mr. Hot Dog inside the work shop!

The Gas Bash is a well-kept secret until now. It is held in March each year at a private ranch in Escalon. The vendors sell antique and collectible signs, gas pumps, and gas station memos . This last year there were a few old telephone booths from England in the mix---they were so cool painted red.

Do you remember any of these?

I found an old ice cream sign I really wanted but it was too much $$ for me.

The owner of the ranch allows everyone to walk through his large work shop. What a treat! I really enjoyed all of the signs. Next year I will remind everyone when it comes to town.

Rocky Road Sundae Recipe

My Mr. Pea left me this week to visit our only daughter and son-in-law in Texas. Mr. Pea's birthday was last month and our Texas children gifted him a plane ticket. They are having fun together; Mr. Pea has them make out a "to-do" list for when he visits and they work on some home projects. I think a cornice board for the guest bedroom and some built-in bookcases were on the agenda for this visit.

Our daughter knows that Mr. Pea's favorite ice cream is rocky road. She had a special "birthday" dessert for him and his son-in-law (whose birthday is in two weeks!) to share.

Rocky Road Sundae

Mmmmm!! Layers of toasted walnuts, marshmallow cream, chocolate sauce, vanilla and chocolate ice creams on a cookie crust! This dessert was easy to make and was a real hit with the birthday boys.

Candles for the birthday boys

Birthday boy Brad

Mr. Pea blowing out his candle

My daughter found the recipe on Epicurious.com and made a few alterations according to reviewer's recommendations. Here it is:

Rocky Road Sundae Recipe

Ingredients

For crust

• 1/2 bag of Oreo cookies (9 ounces)
  
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For milk chocolate fudge sauce

• 2/3 cup whipping cream
• 8 ounces imported milk chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For marshmallow sauce

• 4 cups miniature marshmallows (about 7 1/2 ounces)
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 quart vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
• 1 quart chocolate ice cream, slightly softened
  
• 1 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped (about 3 3/4 ounces)

Preparation

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Finely grind oreo cookies in processor. Add melted butter and process until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust until set, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Make milk chocolate fudge sauce:
Bring cream just to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add milk chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Let stand at room temperature until sauce cools and thickens slightly, about 20 minutes.

Make marshmallow sauce:
Combine marshmallows and cream in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Stir until marshmallows melt and mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from over water; stir in vanilla. Let stand until slightly cooled but still pourable, about 10 minutes.

Spread 1 quart chocolate ice cream evenly in cooled crust. Drop half of milk chocolate sauce by tablespoonfuls over ice cream, spacing apart. Sprinkle half of walnuts over sauce. Drizzle half of marshmallow sauce over walnuts. Freeze until sauces are set, about 10 minutes.

Spread 1 quart vanilla ice cream evenly in crust. Drop remaining milk chocolate sauce by tablespoonfuls over ice cream. Drizzle remaining marshmallow sauce over, allowing some chocolate sauce to show through. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts. Freeze until pie is firm, about 4 hours. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Cover tightly with foil. Keep frozen.)

Cut around pan sides to loosen. Let pie soften slightly at room temperature, about 10 minutes. Remove pan sides.

Old Town Escalon, California

Downtown Escalon, my building is the one with the flat awning . Look! dirt roads, horses and cars all along Main Street. My building was built in 1906 and most of the town burnt to the ground in 1920. I do not know the date of this picture but it's somewhere in between those dates.



Look at this beautiful old oak train station bench. It originally had six iron arm rests (I was told that the iron rests would keep anyone from being able to lie down on the bench). When the bench was no longer needed in the train station the city used it in the park in the state of Washington. Eventually it was purchased by a family in WA and they moved to Escalon. I bought it at an estate sale some years ago. The condition is great and it should be around for many years to come.



Here are some burlap hand made place mats with Bon Appe'tit embroidered acrossed them. They have sold very well, I have about eight of them left. Hurry if you are interested......

Blessings, Sandi

Meet Mr. Pea

My Texan daughter called the other day and said, "Let's go shopping at Canton next month!" After a quick scramble to find a flight deal online, our rendezvous was on! Oo-la-la, so much to do and see in Texas! Flea markets, the Dallas Trade Mart, the Design District---enough shopping to fill an entire week! To boot, my daughter will have her guest bedroom with the padded headboard put together in time for my stay and a mini photo shoot. How exciting!

I also have some new blogging friends that I would love to meet face to face while I am in Canton!

Some tastey treasures found here in Escalon

Back here at the home front, I have an important person to introduce you to. I'm embarrassed that I have not introduced this person to you sooner, as he has been instrumental in the very existence of The Green Pea. He has labored on the building everyday for two years until its grand opening, and has been my go-to handyman ever since. When I tell you that he is multi-talented, this is an understatement. This man has been my electrician and my plumber. He has installed my floors and has opened up and reinforced my basement. He has threaded a vacuum system through these century-old walls. He has preserved the integrity of this old building and has done so obligingly. Even more amazing is that he willingly has taken all this direction out of his sentiments for me---his wife.

Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Pea.

Mr. Pea assessing the door and archway he built

You are bound to find Mr. Pea staying busy around the store someplace. Here he is checking out the custom door he constructed. The doorway was so large he had to brick it in to make it a smaller opening. This area was once a livery stable and this doorway was wide enough to lead a horse through! (Poor Mr. Pea; he was once a golfer and look now what I have him doing!!)

More of Mr. Pea's handiwork

Currently Mr. Pea is laying down bricks in different rooms. He is even bricking the floor beneath the staircase that is now closet space. These bricks have yet to be grouted. I will update you with more pictures as he finishes. Hurry, Mr. Pea, I have some other projects I haven't told you about yet!! (Stay tuned for those too.)

Blessings,
Sandi