Look What I Made!

Simple pink yo yos that I had done a while back stitched onto a piece of linen lying around set into purchased shadow box. Too cute present for a new baby girls room. I will be doing more of these. Loved it!

Give Thanks and Praise

For Mom's good Dr. report
For another healthy baby girl
For a little order in my house
For an exhausted puppy who can not walk even a step further and lays down on the ground, refusing to move, bringing smiles and laughter to others
For a good project
For a loving man
For addressing my Father at his 70th birthday bash
For a great weight workout
For benign report of a friend's daughter's brain tumor

Oh, it was not all thanks and praise this week. I made some mistakes with my daughters, ignored my husband, spent too much time running for good things, then complaining about it. It took me all week to realize the goodness of it all.

SPC - Food - No time

No time to sit and eat, running late to class, needing a bit of sugar, hence the frosted mini wheats, water to offset the vast amounts of coffee before breakfast,
"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say "Hello", goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"

Gratitude Friday

Creative Daisy culiminates her week with gratitudes, Jeanne at Spiral is daily. I'm sure there are others out there that list their gratitudes, whether they be simple or complex. I like the idea. It's too easy to complain about the things that go wrong with our days our weeks. I had some nice times over the past week or so.

Crossing the bay bridge always brings a smile to my face. The kids used to look at me when we crossed.

Making dinner for my Mom and children then eating with them. What a simple, wonderful thing to do.

The smell of wood smoke.

A possible new friend and project.

A new to me wool blanket with satin edging that kept me warm last night.



Tonight I am home alone. I'm sorting through my studio to make room for the Project Linus quilts we picked up. My neighbor, possible new friend, has lured me in to this endeavor. I'm looking forward to a service project, a new contact, and someone in close proximity. She and I will share the duties with another woman of picking up donations from the local Wal-Mart, inventory them in, label quilts, and drop them off at another friend's house.

Contemplation

Have you ever wandered lonely through the woods?
And everything there feels just as it should
You're part of the life there
You're part of something good
If you've ever wandered lonely through the woods

If you've ever wandered lonlely through the woods

Have you ever stared into a starry sky?
Lying on your back you're asking why
What's the purpose I wonder who am I
If you've ever stared into a starry sky

Have you ever stared into a starry sky

Have you ever been out walking in the snow?
Tried to get back to where you were before
You always end up not knowing where to go
Have you ever been out walking in the snow?

If you'd ever been out walking you would know

-Brandi Carlile
go to music, The Story, #6 Have You Ever

A Keeper

Last night, among other things, I made a scruptious dinner. That doesn't happen very often. It's not that I can not cook, it's that I don't. No pictures as what wasn't eaten last night, I just finished for lunch.
2-3 pieces of hot italian sausage, crumbled
lots of garlic
brown sausage and garlic together
Add a jar of marinara sauce
add some red wine -big glug - last night I used a Grenache by the name of "Bitch" (a photo was taken of Mom holding the bottle with a glass also)
simmer
add chopped fresh basil, nice big handful
add some cream, enough to turn it a delightful orange color maybe 1/4 cup

Serve over fresh tortellini, with a caesar salad, and good crusty bread. Oh, let's not forget that Audrey and I made an apple pie. Mmmmm.

Neither one of my children like sausage, Emma does not like pasta with tomato sauce, so for them to wolf this down was quite an accomplishment.

Vignettes

vi·gnette /vɪnˈyɛt/n.
any small, pleasing picture or view.
A short scene or incident, as from a movie.
To describe in a brief way.
Hello! Do you remember me? I took a bit of a blogging break, not intentional and not all that advantageous. It just made me stress about how I would come back, what I would find worthy of words. So here I am and here are some scenes from my break.

Family gathering. The ladies again.

, A father and his daughters.The middle set of sisters, out of the three sets present.

We had all gathered for the last concert on the patio at Lansdowne Christian Church, my father's church. The Nitty Gritty Church band was playing, who are from Christian Temple, the church my Mom, sister and I attend. It was, as usual, a festive, animated crowd, and when the concert ended, no one wanted to leave.

Mom had her spinal fusion surgery on the following Tuesday. She spent an agonizing week at the hospital. It was not quite what she expected, the nursing staff was lacking, and the recovery was slow. Upon release, she spent two weeks with Auntie and Uncle in West Virginia in the throws of luxury and pampering. Each time I visited, I was amazed at her progress. I know the love and care she received from her sister and her husband were the key. She is now home, adjusting to life alone, well, with a cat (who is delighted to have her home) and receiving many visitors and tons of food.

A late September trip to the beach. We almost always go in September to Ocean City, when the crowds are smaller. This year, we went to Bethany Beach instead, staying on the Military post. We did all the usually beachy things, sunbathe, swim, walk, look for shells. We walked the boardwalk, shopped the shoppy shops, had dinner at Mangos. We had wonderful sunny weather, a bit of rain, and wind.

Family portrait.

The view from Mangos of boardwalk and beach.

Do people really buy these stupid, irritating, barking, snorting, things, that usually fall over resembling a turtle stuck on its back unable to get up?

Walking to the beach.

Precious girls.
Communicating.

Home life:

The addition of a puppy. Honey Bunch, Honey Bear, Honeysuckle Rose. Take your pick. Or you can just call her Pepper.
Do you like a little Honey with your Apple?
Even the old man, Gus, aka Handsome Rob likes a little Honey.

The subtraction of one puppy. Apple Sunshine went to live with Emma. Boohoo.

Homecoming Cuties. These two have been friends for many years, having met through camp. Always a bit awkward at first, they warm up quickly. But, leaving Audrey with a bunch of strangers, these two still in their awkward stage, her giving me this look that said "help" and whispering "I can't" just nearly killed me. The next day, a good report was given and a good time was had.

Finally managed to get a ride in, although Black Betty must have been a bit miffed at me because she was not shifting as she should be. She might need a check up.

Things I've made:

Embroidery on the edge of baby socks for gifts.

A baby hat, made from this pattern. It was larger than I desired so I felted to size.

And a baby T with embellishment from a discarded dress from one of my girls.

Two more girl hats to make and one boy, plus a hat for my masseuse.

A story to share:

Gus is aging. He is constantly thirsty and constantly urinating so constantly needing to go outside or have his water dish filled. He has been checked and is fine, just aging. Anyway, My Handsome Prince wakes in the middle of the night, because he is aging too, and needs to use the bathroom. He comes back to bed and immediately falls back asleep, and I know this from a little tell tale breathing pattern that we won't talk about. All of this wakes me. I hear Gus pacing in the kitchen and panting so loud I wonder why no one else is awake. I get up, give him some water, go back to bed. Still I hear panting. So, I get up again, let him out and he stands so long with his leg up he almost falls over. Comes back in, I go back to bed, yes, still, panting. More water finally does the trick. He comes into our room, leans against the bed and lies down. Meanwhile, through all this, My Handsome Prince is still sleeping, making his own breathing noise. I am fuming. Why didn't he hear or pay attention when he got up? Why me? I truly hate to get up at night. Anyway, I get back in bed, way over on my side, on the very edge, so much so that I could fall out, with my back to the MHP. In the morning, not mad, but wanting to bring the situation to light, I told him this story. When I got to the part about sleeping on the edge, he promptly says "Well, that'll teach me, won't it?" I nearly snorted my coffee out my nose. We love to laugh.

The King in his hiding place. Audrey and I are both creeped out by the King in the Burger King commercials. He is just too creepy! One of the rare times going to BK, we received this guy in a kids meal. We play a game where we hide him for the other to find. He's hidden in wreaths, looked down from ceiling fans, appeared in bag of dog food, he even made his way to Italy in a certain young ladies suitcase. She almost threw him out that time! I love this little game we play and it always makes me laugh when I find him, and sometimes that takes weeks.