Birthdays, Bitty Blocks and Hummingbird Ornaments...

My mother turned 91 yesterday!  She and my Dad live about 10 miles from our house, in a patio home at a retirement center.  It's close to a few stores and she can walk over and get groceries and prescriptions, hardware, sandwiches, etc, very convenient for them.  Anyway, I thought I would show her off a little, Mum is a fun lady and always good for some laughs.  Pops takes real good care of her, too, which is just great.  We took her a few presents but didn't stay long as she had an appt at the doctor's for a minor thing.  Isn't she CUTE?!  We call her The Mumster.

 My friend Gayla had her annual ornament party this past Tuesday, another fun successful swap of ornaments and stories and ideas, it was a great evening!  These are the ornaments from this year-

 

 They are all so cute and fun and different.  It's always fun to find out what your friends have been making and Gayla throws the best stinkin' parties!  All the food was delish and the girls were all so much fun, and you can see for yourself how cute the ornies are!  One can even be worn as a bracelet, the blue wire one, how cool is THAT?  And the ball of yarn with the needles, love that, too.  Actually, I'm thrilled with them all, what a nice assortment!

 While I was in TX recently, 2 of my friends (Jennifer and Lisa) and I made these little hummingbird ornaments.  They are made with peanuts and are from a Birds and Blooms pattern.  We think they came out even cuter than the pattern.  :)  We made lots of extras so we could all have some to hand out to our friends.  Because of the fun shapes of peanuts, they all turned out different, all 45 of them!  And we changed them a bit- We used red nail polish for their throats and then added some glitter to them, and used shiny ribbon for the wings instead of tulle or netting.  And black beaks.  They were fun and easy to make and everyone that has seen them, has liked them. 

Oh, look!  Bitty Blocks!  LOL  The theme was winter and I made icy thermometers and cardinals.  The red part of the thermometer is red plastic from a container lid. 

I forgot to get a group photo of the cardinals, rats! 

So that's what I've been doing- I hope you all are ready for the holidays and have a safe and happy one!

Christmas with the parents and other fun stuff!

We had a really nice, stress-free holiday this year, again.  My parents came over for a dinner of prime rib, roasted potatoes, broccoli, warm rolls and spiced peaches.  Key lime pie for dessert with real whipped cream made by my husband.  He also cooked the meat to perfection in our convection oven, that convection feature really sears the juices into the meat.  And he was so helpful around the house, too, getting ready for company, he dusted and cleaned the chandelier and did dishes for me.  I have such a wonderful husband and I know it.  After we ate, we played a game called "Fact or Crap" and it was fun and informative.  We all had a great time.  Sent half the leftovers home with the parents so they were set for dinners for a couple of nights.

We were also dealing with a sick kitty- Gravey stopped eating around Tuesday and we took her to the vet where it was discovered that she had a fever and was sick to her tummy AND she had round worms. A shot, some antibiotics and a topical de-wormer, along with 3 days of us force-feeding her watered down baby food, and she finally started eating on her own late on Christmas day, which was a huge relief for us, we were very worried about her.  She's still getting her antibiotic, but is obviously feeling back to her sweet, rascally self!  Yay for that.  She found a folded up, unfinished quilt to rest on as she recovered. 

I finally put together one of the mini quilts made from swapped bitty blocks.  These blocks finish up at 3" square.  This is the circus set, I only made the one in the bottom left corner, the guy falling off the trapeze.  :)  The other 8 were made by friends.  I did a simple quilting on it and I really like how it turned out.  Currently we're swapping birds, that's going to make a really cute quilt. 

You can see the quilting better on the back.

I also made a couple of special order sewing caddies for a friend to give her moms for Christmas.  She sent me the fabrics and this is what I came up with.  Almost identical so the moms won't fight over them.  :) 

Inside-

I finished up one of my 2 hexagon quilts and gave this one to my mother for her 90th birthday that she celebrated last week!  She likes it, she's all about color, too.  That is obviously where I get it from! 



I hope everyone had lovely holidays, too, I know we did.  Have a great New Year's Eve, too!

Paisley.... we won the lottery when we got her...

For the last 14 years, we've been lucky enough to have a sweet collie girl named Paisley Maree. She came to us at the ripe old age of 3 months when her previous owners decided to have her put to sleep because she had a problem with fleas and mange and they didn't want to bother with her. Their loss was our gain. The vet was a friend of ours and was at our house when that call came in, to have her put down. She immediately offered her to us and we jumped at the chance. I mean, who doesn't love a collie, or the thought of having one? Turns out, collies are the NICEST dogs. And Paisley, who had every reason in the world to be miserable (infection raging, pustules flaring, sores weeping, and many flea bites, etc) was the happiest little puppy with the most tremendous spirit. She looked positively gruesome but we didn't care, we fell in love with this pup at our first meeting. All she wanted was to cuddle and play and scamper. So undemanding, she would take a nap where ever she was and that pink chair was a favorite spot, she would stick her head under there and snooze.

The vet convinced us that her face would eventually grow hair (they later admitted that they didn't really know that for sure but were hopeful) and we treated her mange with a daily dose of Interceptor, a once-a-month heartworm pill. It was sort of an expensive experimental treatment, not one recommended by the AVMA, or whatever it's called, but it darn sure worked. About 60 pills later, she was clean of mange mites.

She grew up to be just like she was as a pup, happy, fun and calm, but quirky. She would go for a walk (before we had a fence) and always come home toting something, either she'd find an old bottle in the woods or tree branch, a long deer or cow bone, something, it was a riot.

Paisley and I were really close, she wouldn't leave my side when I was sick in bed for a week, many years ago, and she continued to show that same kind of devotion for her whole life.

She and the other dogs had a game of stealing Daddy's hats. She didn't much like to wear them, though. :) Camo was not her color.

She was a real beauty, in our eyes.

Paisley had a few other problems, but nothing we couldn't deal with. She never lost her appetite, meals were a favorite time of day for her.

Monday, July 19, 2010 she had to be put to sleep. Her sweet heart was failing her and she couldn't get enough oxygen in her blood, she was constantly panting hard and no matter what we tried, it was getting worse. She was exhausted, she had given all she had to stay with us and it about killed us to make that final trip to the vet's office. We had her for just over 14 years and it was not enough. I miss my sweet girl but I'm glad she's not suffering anymore. The house feels so quiet and empty and I just hate this. My husband is so good to me, with the extra hugs and pats and kisses. He misses her too, he was the best daddy that girl could have wished for.

We'll miss you forever, Sweet Pea.

Family visits and a couple of photos....

Both of my brothers descended upon northwest Arkansas last week to visit us and the parents. Steve and his wife, Nelly, stayed with us and John stayed at the parents' house. We had a great time together even though I didn't get to see them all that much except in the mornings. Of all times, my boss called me to work a couple of days during that time.

Mum wanted a photo of the 3 kids, so we obliged her after a nice dinner on our verandah.

Steve, me, John
54, 53, 55

Steve, John, Pops

Steve and Nelly

Nelly is a lovely lady and we just love her to bits. While she was here, I foisted a set of dinnerware on her, my Pfaltzgraf Naturewood dinnerware that we just never used, service for 8, lots of pieces. I boxed it all up and we crammed it into their car when they left to drive back to FL. Phew! I have room in my cupboards again! Yay. lol

And we took the opportunity to get a photo of the 2 of us, too, it's a little dark because it's under a roof, like the others, but it'll do.

If you're curious, the little house in the background is our pump house, it covers the well and keeps it from freezing in the winter.

It was great to see everyone, it's been at least 2 years since we were all together like this. I know the parents enjoyed it immensely!

Potholder Pass II sucessfully completed!

I participated in a potholder swap and was lucky enough to receive these from spottedstonestudio, much to my delight.  Krista also sent me 3 lovely batik fat quarters to go along with them and a really sweet note.  This is one seriously talented lady and I so appreciate the time and trouble she went to to make these for me.  She has 3 kids and one is just a sweet little baby, I don't know how she gets anything done, but she does and she does it so well.  And to add to the coolness factor, she lives way up north in Alaska!  

The front-

The back-

Thank you, Krista, for making my first potholder swap so much fun!  I had a great time and I really love my potholders.  If my OVEN WAS WORKING, grrrr, I would actually contemplate using them.  (Long story- used the self-clean feature for the first time and now the entire oven and digital display is DEAD.  Not happy, nope, not at all.  Samsung appliances?  I won't ever buy them again.  This is the 4th problem we've had with our less than 2 year old appliances and 2 of them were in the first week!)  

Here's whatI sent my partner-hopefully she'll like it.  2 wonky potholders, some Pez fabric and a condiment wallet.  I also jazzed up a note card to match. 

the front-

The back-

I had fun making them, this was my first wonky star and I think it turned out great.   I learned how to make this star from my friend Pamela, who has a great shop on Etsy.   She's another super talented lady and is very generous with her knowledge, which I so appreciate.

We had company come for the weekend so I've been busy cleaning house and then having fun with Jennifer and Charles.  The boys fished every day, all day, leaving us to our own devices, which was wonderful.  We cooked, ate, drank, watched movies, visited, laughed, ripped paper off my string blocks, sat in the sun, and just generally had a great time.  Oh, we sneaked in a visit to my mother, the Mumster, too.  That was good, she just loves Jennifer (it's mutual) and she considers her a daughter, because Jen "gets" her.  Mum is 89 but doesn't look it or act it.  

No photos of us, though, because we were too busy chillin'.  :)  It was a great weekend and we capped it off with little grown-up Easter baskets (cute Rubbermaid containers) at breakfast (I can't believe we didn't photograph them, the table looked fun) with chocolates, toys, notepad, fishing lures, gummy worms, Swedish fish, etc.  They were a hit! I hated to see them leave, but Charles and Jennifer both have to be at work tomorrow, darn it.  They're the best, easiest company, too.  SO helpful and fun.  We just LOVE them.  Travel safe, you two!

You didn't hear this from me, 'K?

Because you wouldn't want to get me into trouble, would you? Thank you!

Many many moons ago, when my husband was in the Navy and was in Vietnam, he got pulled out to attend and compete in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The host country gets to pick a new sport to add to the games and they picked judo. Jim was a black belt and had qualified before he went overseas, so when it was time, they pulled him out (he had 2 weeks left to serve in Vietnam- he worked with Special Forces teams and they extracted downed pilots, amongst other things) and he went to Tokyo, marched in with the US team wearing someone else's clothing, and just in general, had a fabulous time. He is NOT a braggart so everything I know about this has been dragged out of him over the last 25 years, painfully. ;) He didn't medal, unfortunately, and was eliminated before the quarter-finals, but he had a lot of fun hanging out with the Australian female swim team and was there when Dawn Fraser got in trouble for swimming in the Emperor's Moat.

I had to go digging to find this pin, it was buried with some other pins and cuff links.

And this was what he looked like before he went overseas- pretty stinkin' cute, huh? I'm sure his experiences in Vietnam (another thing he never talks about) hardened him up a bit and he probably looked a little more fierce by the time he got to Tokyo.

He sent his mother some cool stuff, too, from Japan. This is a mother-of-pearl inlaid table that has removable legs, I decided to hang it in my sewing room. He gave away his sake set and chopsticks.

Oh, and the kicker? After the Olympics were over, they sent him BACK into action for his last 2 weeks. Can you imagine what a culture shock that was? And how paranoid you would feel, knowing you were this close to going home? Of course, getting home was an experience, too- he was swept overboard by a rogue wave in the Pacific Ocean with about 20 other men standing in a lunch line on a ship. Some of the guys couldn't swim so while they waited to be rescued, he had to help some of them stay afloat. He's a Florida native and quite the swimmer/scuba diver so it was good that he was there. IN THOSE SHARK INFESTED WATERS!!!! Eeek. I'm so lucky that he lived long enough for me to meet him and fall in love with him.

Now, Mum's the word! You'd never hear any of this from him. He hates when I brag on him, but I just can't help it. He's the smartest, funniest man I've ever met. As we say around here- he's no slotfish. lol (A slotfish is one of a certain size that must be thrown back.)