Thankfulness....

The joints in my hand bend to form a grip to hold my handwork
I can taste the savory spices in my son's favorite spaghetti sauce
The music of life, the early birds in the silence of the morning, the hum of wonderful electricity, a washing machine happily doing what it does best
The amazing texture of fabric zipping through my fingers as it is processed through my sewing machine, pleases me
My eyes can take in the sweet scene of a young mother with her seven children
My memory takes me to days of laughter with my sisters, golden days with friends on their porches and gardens, hugs with sleepy children as I read to them
I am able to walk long prayerful walks with the dog that I own that is uncannily like me
I have few abdominal muscles due to a 12 inch scar on my belly that I thank God for since my four babies entered the world amazingly via that 'little' scar
My grand baby seems to recognize my grammy voice on the phone
I have walls in my home
And running water
And flushing toilets
do you know how incredibly appreciative I am of those simple things?
My clothes may come from a used source but they were picked by me and not handed out by the Red Cross
My parents had flaws but I know they loved me in their own way and I know their names
My freezer is full
I have the joy of having lived this long and all the lessons/blessings/pain that I have known, has made me who I am

In light of terrible earthquakes, oppressive weather disasters, epidemics, I stand humbled and thankful..
What simple thing are you thankful for today?

Adult Children: The Goal

I know I talk about my girls a bit.
They are extraordinary and talented.
And my boys thusly so. Both the birthed ones and the in law variety.
And when you have the little ones running around, especially the boysie type, you expect noise, danger and dirt.
Then one day, they are doing their own laundry, fixing up their own digs and then the ultimate grown up thing; choosing their completer.
Man, did I do great in that area.
Eldest Son has grown up into this highly skilled, extraordinarily patient and compassionate human that has had the astute wisdom to select a Godly, loving, kind, brilliant spouse to complete his life.
She even has become a Cub/Illini Fan to polish off the complete package.
And now the piece de resistance: the two of them have ventured into the wild and woolly world of service/ministry that shall take them out of their comfort zone.
And I am so proud of them.
Boldness in the Lord is always to be commended and encouraged in our children, so to see this in action, has made my heart full....
They have opened up their lives by becoming a host home in an organization called Youth Connections. YC provides housing for those troubled youths in transition in the legal/familial situations. Temporary care for children and teens while foster care is being arranged. A difficult thing; lots of emotion and change for these kids in the midst of huge alteration in their lives.
Their first guest came yesterday and will be with them till foster arrangements can be made.

I shall pray for this young girl as she shares the peaceful spirit that exists in Eldest Son and Lovely Wife's home...
May they all be blessed....

Busy Thursday

How does a Busy Thursday start?
1. Head off to school to turn Loving Tree into Wishing Tree.
Stop first at the library to get several St. Patrick's Day books to share with my Favorite First Graders.
(One little boy even complemented me on my new haircut. Gotta love first graders.)
Have each one of them tell us the wish that they had while they put up their Lucky Shamrocks on the Wish Tree.
Break your heart. 'I wish my brother lived with me'...things like that...

2. Turn into Nurse Ratchet to help Crazy Dee back to Crazy Health.
First stop: New Diet.
Big long list for her hubby so that we can implement immediately a heart healthy diet.
CD just happens to love veggies and fish so we are good.
Take her blood pressure, make sure the meds are ingested, stick her finger to test blood sugar and go hide all the Girl Scout cookies.
Prepare a fiber/iron/cholesterol helping breakfast cereal for tomorrow morning.
Make sure she's taking 'laps' around the house after each bathroom visit.
Arrange her multitudinous floral arrangements so that she can see them well from her vantage point.
Make sure my Nurse Hat that I made for the occasion is where I left it and out of reach of eager grand children's hands.

3. Tuck CD in carefully and back to the elementary school to pick up my little friend Lily for an evening full of seven year old activities:
a). Long walk with dog.
b). Get a fire going so that she can cook hot dogs for part of her supper.
c). Prepare the real supper which she ate as well. And a large apple, some grapes and I was impressed. Whew.
d.) Make snicker doodles. Eat a lot of the batter to boot. Don't you think mixing the dough with your hands just feels better? Certainly more fun when you can lick your fingers! What a girl!
e) Search storage for more tempera paints but ending up only using the blue that we could find. If you only got one color, blue is a good choice.

f.)Pack up the cookies and the little Paddy's Day pin I made for her while she painted my dining room blue and off I take her to her home where math problems await.
Math Problems are not allowed at her friend Debbie's house.
Just fun. Not that math isn't fun, Daddy Mike- Math Teacher. No offense.

Sigh.
My kind of day....
Full of friends, crafts, laughing, children...
Thank you Lord.....

Spring Forward

New things around me are making the prospect of Spring that much enjoyable...

1. New windows! Clearer views and warmer rooms...
2. New curtains made last night to celebrate new windows...
3. And most importantly, my friend Crazy Dee is home from the hospital, awaiting a triple bypass next month. In the interim, my time here may be sketchy as I care for her nutritional, social and most importantly, humoral needs of the day while her hubby is away from her side.

So why should this matter to you, most noble reader??
Because all this newness has made me pine for another......

"Summer Tote Bag Giveaway of the Grandest Kind!!!!!!!!'

Yes! You read it right!!
Come April, mama's collection will reveal the latest design for summer wear!
Thanks to Tennessee Trish for her helpful input and the hour or so spent loitering at the basketball game last night, watching all the young girls and their stylin bags, I believe I have come up with a pretty dandy tote to carry into summer!!!

Okay.
I can just see you now figuring out how to wangle this grand creation out of my thread stained hands.
Here is the deal.
In 721 words or more, let me know while you need mama's collection Free and Fabulous Summer Bag.
Send it via mamascollection127@gmail.comGive it your best shot.
Make things up.
Plead with me purse bankruptcy.
Send photos of your most pitiful summer purse and why it really needs replacing.
Tell me why owning a mama's collection is so important to you.
(Not that what you write will have any bearing on if you win or not; I just like reading!)
The drawing will be based on comments left on my blog in the month of March or fore mentioned email essay. The winning name will be drawn at random, probably by my Faithful Sewing Room Assistant, Dixie. Last drawing was conducted by The Hubby and he's probably still tired from all the hoopla....

So, get those thinking caps on!
Prepare you plea for the purse!
Bring on summer prepared and really stylin.......

Happy Springing Forward!

How Exciting!

Look! Look!
Aha!!
After last weeks inundation with snow, did I really think that, even though the calendar says that in Southern Indiana, little greeny things should be ready to pop up out of their winter's slumber?
Being a pessimist by birth but an optimist by second birth, I would have to honestly say that I didn't have a clue!
But there it was on Sunny Saturday!! Just waitin for me to scream in admiration as Hubby pointed out his green find, 'Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy' Lookie there!! It's coming!!! Despite the black snow, mud and slush, the beauty of a sprouting spring is a comin'!!

The reason Hubby and I were outside peeking around was the fact that this was the weekend for The Big Window Installation!
New Unique Dining Room Windows to replace the baggy saggy sad ole windows from the 60's remodel.
And how do I know that it was the 60's? ( early winter 1963 to be exact!) Well, it was from another archeological dig around This Old House.
Pictured here is a scrap of newspaper found in some holes in the insulation. I can see it now. Anxious to get the freekin paneling up before the holidays, you notice that the old school insulation that was available at that time, was lacking in completeness, you grab the Wednesday ads on the counter nearby, rip off a hunk, and cram it rather undelicately, into the gaping holes. Never mind that mice look for this kind of oversight all the time, or that, in time, the paper would get crumbly and lack the superior insulating quality it's known for, Thanksgiving was approaching and short cuts were in order.

So here is the ad I found in the bundled crumbling ball that was stuffed in a raging hole in the insulation. Chatty Cathy Dolls for 8.99!! As a ten year old in 1963, I remember ogling these dolls in stores and in the TV commercials. However, I was more a baby doll kinda girl and having the same comments made over and over really didn't interest me. I loved playing with them at my friends house, but I enjoyed my own commentary with my little dollies especially when my Next to the Oldest Sister would play the straight man for the comical conversation that my dolls were wont to have.
But I digress.

So here is the Wreck of the Single Pane Windows that happened in our dining room this weekend.
These windows worked okay for the 50 years that they served. You could see out of them but as soon as I moved in and allowed them to be opened most of summer, the rain's moisture had it's way with them. Warping and scaling were their undoing.

And here is our Best Window Installer and Interesting Person in General, Dustin of Indianapolis.
He never once critized my awful housekeeping habits as he unearthed forgotten corners of my dining room. Embarrasing, really. We did share recipes and he found out that I hang my homemade noodles from the ceiling.
A good weekend....
Quick! Go out and look in your yard for the promise of Spring and tell me about it!!! Hoooray!!!!

Flore's Skirt

I heard of this organization via 'i have to say' blog' by Randi (ihavetosay.typepad.com.) Sewing Seeds is a non profit, organizing sewists to ban together to sew skirts for the little girls in Haiti.
What a grand thing to do; bright,new skirts, new little skirts for little girls with no one to care if they have a swirly, fun skirt to make them feel feminine and special.
A lovely idea.
So I found a .99 pattern from Simplicity.
Ordered some lightweight seersucker for Haiti's oppresive heat and raided my extensive gingham supply from Auction Pauline's stash.

A sunny Saturday to make a joyful skirt for an anonymous little girl that I called Flore.
I prayed for her in the process of making her special skirt.
I prayed that in the wearing of this made-just-for-her skirt, that she would feel loved and cared for.
I prayed that she would know that someone in the United States thought of her and is concerned for her welfare and for the simplicity and joy that a little girl feels with a brand new piece of clothing.

As I placed my tag inside the waistline that says mama's collection on it, I realized that the chances of Flore having a mama, are slim.

Lord, protect my new friend Flore.
Made she be protected and safe and may she hear of You for hope, strength and love.
May she find peace in the chaos of her country right now.
And may she wear your grace as she wears her new twirly skirt....
Amen.

Ponderings of the Thread Kind...

In February of 1972, I began a job at a brand new fabric store, called Fabricland in Springfield Illinois.
I was 'in charge' of ordering some of the notions, thread and tapes etc.
I clearly remember the color numbers and that the small Coats and Clark's thread cost 30 cents and the large spool, 60 cents.
Today I used some of Auction Pauline Hill's thread that had a very faded sticker from Kmart stating, 5 for 1.00.
The thread had never been used and seem to run through my machine just fine. Didn't seem to be weak in the piece that I was working on.
So here is how my mind works:
As I unwound the thread from it's little slit on top that keeps it together, I began to think about Pauline and when she purchased this thread from long ago.
Was she wearing a lightweight cotton house dress that she had made the summer before? And why was she in Kmart? Surely this was before the Blue Light Specials. Did the Kmart of long ago, host sewing/craft sales? Was Aunt Lydia's Rug Yarn on sale for 45 cents a skein that week?
Was she wearing her long braided hair wrapped in a bun or was she on the way to her weekly beauty salon appointment?
Did she wear nylons on that hot day? If so, did she use elastic garters that she could roll down to her ankles in the privacy of her sewing room?
And why did she need the thread? Another house dress? Repairing a skirt for her sister who is hard to fit?
Was her casserole in the oven or was she leaving it up to Earl that night? Was he going to use their homemade brick Bar-B-Cue that he and his brothers made the summer before. Did she have her potato salad made already? Was it stored in her Pyrex refrigerator bowl?
When she walked up to the cashier and they discussed the heat and the good yarn sale, did the checker notice the Evening in Paris talcum that she used liberally on stuffy days?
And when the cashier completed the sale on her hand cranked cash register, did she have to break a roll of pennies to complete the change to Pauline?

I warned you that I was strange...

Before I reached for Pauline's 'New' Thread, I was completing another spool of thread on my latest project...
Just how many miles of thread have I gone through in my 37 year sewing career?
And spools? Zillions thrown in landfills with my carbon blueprint on them.
Perhaps I better get another audio book...My mind seems to be going a bit silly....

Any way, here are some of my Thread Pondering Projects from this week...
Another ChristiWristlet....

Another Coupon Holder to match New RP-Friends New Bag!

Another Summer Blankie for the Childbirth Conference!
And a Friendly Owlie SpittyUp cloth for the craft show....

Yay Sewing! Yay Thread!! Yay Vivid Imaginations!!!

We Have to Go Back, Kate!

Back in the day,
(don't you dread that opening??)
Before pre packaged, helper-helper, microwave, fast food options,
We made do.
'We' meaning my mom and her generation. What I was raised with.
Supper usually had no easy quick options. (at least none that you would be so brash to share)
A Shepherd's Pie supper was a convenient way to re invent your leftovers.
And my family enjoys it.

Did I tell you that I rarely listen to recipes and even when I use them, I change, alter, dare I say, improve them.
And last nights Roast Reconfiguration was a hit to the two men that I feed around here. Only complaint? Not enough!

So here is my current Shepherd's Pie (isn't it funny that I made it on 'Lost' night...Get it? Shepherd? Jack? Oh never mind......)Recipe

Jack Shepherd Pie (yeah, I know....!)

Leftover Roast (beef, pork, hamburger) will do; amounts will vary(of course)
Leftover roasted carrots
Leftover peas (plus some additional frozen peas I threw in for good measure)
1 cup beef boullion
1 tbs minced dry onion
2 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp Seasoned Salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 tbs flour
2 Cups leftover mashed potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cubed fontina cheese (or any soft, mild cheese)

Spray inside of a 1- 1/2 qt casserole with a Pam like substance.
Chop leftover veggies and meat (minus mashed potatoes) and place in casserole.
Add cubed fontina
Mix seasonings and tomato paste in heated boullion.
Mix in flour. Blend well.
Add thickened mixture into leftovers and mix well.
Throw in those extra peas. Or any other vegetable that you like; If canned, drain first.
Spread mashed potatoes over top of it all. Spread to seal.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese over potatoes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes till it's hot and bubbly and slightly browned.
Yum.
We added a mixed green salad. Dinner rolls would have been divine if we weren't all watching our carb intake....

Enjoy this new look at an old recipe!

And On It Goes....

Ho Hum.
I believe it there was a text box over Miss Dixie, that is exactly what it would say.
No Walkies.
No sniffing her little world in our little town.
Good to be curled up next to Boss, but her little heart pines for the adventures of her twice daily walks.
And boy, do I agree.
Dixie and I are accountability partners. I give her the experiences of roaming around whilst tethered to her responsible owner and she makes me get up and out there every morning. We can easily cover 3 miles on a temperate day in the other three seasons.
However.
In this inclement, we are bound to the areas shoveled and salted lest one of us takes a tumble that would render us helpless to each other.
And I have found that not many people take shoveling seriously these days. Today, we forged a path out amongst the populace only to find the street our only option. The downtown shopkeepers obediently have cleared a way to their closed shops, but alas, for the most part, homeowners are staying near their hearth.
In defense, what other walkers are out there in weather like this? Dixie and I are kinda lone wolfs these days in the walking world.
But a walk we had, and it was a nice, albeit messy.
Coming in, shedding my layers, wiping off mucky paws, and heading upstairs to the happy, joyful land of creating...
Summer blankies, three so far...

And a nice little stash developing..
Good way to banish the winter blahs..
Surround yourself with a promise of brighter days by drinking in the colors of really fun fabric..

Go ahead. Make something cheerful today.....

Boot(ie) Weather

In a scene repeated for the third time in two weeks, we once again embrace our Winterly Tools and fight the Gifts of Nature.
Hubby and I watched this amount start yesterday on our way home from Bloomington. Little did we know that when we said, in unison, Here it comes!, did we ever figure on 12 inches.
So.
It's here and once again I do what comes naturally...
OFF TO THE SEWING ROOM!
One more snowfall brings us closer to spring, Spring brings us closer to gardening and gardening makes me abandon the inside of my house for another few months until the heat of summer forces me indoors for respites.
Much sewing to accomplish and an Etsy shop to still start and more work on the book.
So snow on. (please forgive my selfishness)

Today's project:
Amy Butler's Cutie Booties.
Like most of Beloved Amy's patterns, I strongly desired more sketches for my poor non technical brain. But tis good practice for me to stretch it a bit every now and then.
Pretty, bright fabrics from Randi at Fresh Squeezed Fabrics made me forget the howling and blowing of snow off my roof outside my sewing room window. Brrrrrr.

Don't you love fun linings?

And here are the completed little Cutie Booties!
Adorable, huh?
(The second one was harder to do than the first. What?! Told you about that left brain situation I have)
Sunny, bright, fun addition to my growing inventory for the childbirth conference.

Unless I can be convinced otherwise.......

Yummy!

Oh yes.
Had a good ol' Valentine Dinner.
Our new friends, the TwoJoes, took us to Chapman's, a lovely local restaurant.
Pianist, silver, candles, linen, scrumptious food. And grand company. Snow falling outside and Roasted Amish Chicken with Pecan Sauce. Did I really get my camera out and take a photo of my Mixed Greens Salad?
You bet.
Yummy.

Other Yummies:
Crazy Dee, in appreciation for the covering of all her dining room chairs, Valentine Gifted me with this wonderful Brighton leather pocket tape measure! Do you think she has more fabric plans for me? She had it enclosed in this wonderful little red clasp purse, all of three inches wide.
Yummy.

A bit ago, I received my fabric orders for a Childbirth Conference in March.
Lots of seersucker from Joann's for my summer baby bankies....

Then!
Oh Yummy of Yummies!!
My fresh squeezed fabric order!! (check out the fresh squeezed fabric etsy shop)
Beautiful colors!
Soft, gorgeous material!
I have folded an unfolded this good good stuff just to handle it.
Then I get to actually sew with it!
Cannot wait!

I told you!
Yummy!

40 Years Ago Tonight

Call it kismet.
Call it lucky.
Call it providential.
We call it God's Sovereign Plan...

Forty years ago tonight, after meeting briefly at a basketball game that night and talking for hours on the phone that week, my future husband and I head to my home, courtesy of his cousin, my best friend...
The blurry sensation of emotion taking over, infatuation guiding my heart is still with me today as I reflect on that pivotal night..

Hubby has always been a gentleman.
Opening doors, pulling out chairs, walking on the outside of sidewalk, small considerate things.
So it made sense for this young 17 year old that had been raised right, to walk his date for the next night's Valentine Dance, up to her door.
It was a bit snowy and slick in spots.
I reached my front door with him close behind.
I turned around, he on the top step, me on the porch. Even in height.
He tells me good night and says that he is looking forward to the dance the next night.
Have no idea which one us drew closer first. I prefer to believe that we met halfway.
The fireworks of excitement that coursed through my 16 year old, never been kissed heart made me almost swoon...
During this rather lengthy meaningful kiss, a firetruck roared down the street, sirens going, lights circling the neighborhood, mirroring my inner thoughts and feelings....
My hand on the doorknob, I wave goodbye as he and his cousin depart down the driveway.
I stumble (literally) into my living room, sitting in the nearest chair by the door. A headache had been plaguing me for most of the evening (massive excitement!) and I ask my mom for an aspirin.
That's when I realized I could not even swallow, by heart pounding and my breathing so fast paced.
After choking profusely and having to listen to my mother and sister giggle at me and my obvious love sick condition, I prepared for bed counting the minutes when I could see him again......

Ahhhhh; young love...
Now Long Term Love....
Still embracing the roots of early love; enjoying the growth that it brought...

Happy Valentine's Day, Patcho.......

Treasure Trove!

Sweet Sharon, my neighbor down the road, recently gifted me in a most wonderful way.
She had a collection of magazines. Found in the attic of her childhood home when she was but a young girl and she has been the caretaker of these historical documents till she gave them to me yesterday.
They are amazing.
The ads, the stories, the photos, all freeze frames of a different time, quickens my heart rate and causes of sighs and exclamations to emit from my amazed self.
Take a look for yourself....

I believe I should have been born in the 30's! Look at this lovely home! I could move right in! Notice the dates on these beauties!

Can you read this date? July 31, 1918! World War I!
There is another edition on the 100th anniversary of the Civil War...Hubby is looking through that one....

Isn't this adorable! The photography is fabulous artistry!
And the name of this one! 'Pictorial Review combined with Delineator; rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

1960, 1937, 1926..
History in the day to day...
The full page ad singing the praises of Crisco!
So interesting...

And my favorite thus far...
The Camel Ad!
'To ward off fatigue...get a lift with a Camel!.....'I get a new feeling of well-being and vim. Camels never upset my nerves'....Words like: vim, lift, nerves, restored energy.....Wonder what fate those poor misinformed, misguided cigarette promoters met?

Oh, you haven't heard the last from these valuable documents....
Thank you Sweet Sharon!!!

Cabin Fever Crazies

I haven't cleaned my pantry since I moved here. Ten years ago. Plus.
Are you tsk-tsking?
Let us just say that I preferred a higher calling, putting much more important things in the way of Clean Pantryness.
Yeah. I don't believe it either.
Yet this is what it was getting to look like.
Canned goods stuffed her and there.
Other things crammed where they could get crammed.
Sad, really.

Nothing like a snowy Saturday with nothing to do (really?) to make lining some well worn shelves into Pantry Perfection.
I am VERY picky about shelf paper.
NO contact paper.
No marbly, fake wood grained, goose printy paper for me.
Hence you can see another excuse for stalling.
Why doesn't Amy Butler make shelf paper? I could see myself changing paper much more frequently(every 2 years?) to take advantage of her lively prints....
On a Shelf Paper Run to our friendly Ace/Ben Franklin, I began a conversation with Community Friend Carolyn about the sad offerings of shelf paper. I drifted into the fabric section and noticed the flannel back table cloth fabric by the yard.
Hmmmmm, I says to Hubby.
Hmmmmmm, he says back to me.
Hmmmmmmm, says Community Friend Carolyn...
It might just work.
Sturdy for the long hauls between changing. Wipeable. Easy to change when Amy Butler comes out with her shelf paper line.
Hubby goes one step beyond and suggests colored thumb tacks to fasten it down just to look good whilst holding on well.
I suggest hot glue for those pesky sagging areas.
Community Friend Carolyn thinks it could work and promptly cuts the random amount that I guestimated. I should have gone home to measure, but I was on a roll and I feared the momentum would stop if I went home to do such a rational thing.

Then zip, zip, some vacuuming here (ceiling cobwebs, errant rice and leaky dog/cat food bags), a good scrubbing, (there was that pesky dead mouse thing a few years ago), some can organizing (not alphabetical but category), some hot glue in strategic spots, cute little red and white thumb tacks, and, ta da!
Pantry Perfection!
Would I sound too nutty if I told you that I go to the pantry these days just to look at it?

Wouldn't you?

More Snow; More Diversions!

My heart goes out to all those on the east coast Waging War with the Season.
Coming from a northern region, I understand the irritation and frustration of dealing with snow that comes in feet.
But to have it so unrelenting, back to back with the understanding that the stuff will probably be still there nigh into April, well, it's just overwhelming....
I understand.
And you have my prayers as you struggle with the day to day.
On a much less overwhelming note, we have had our little smattering of snow and cold temperatures. In Southern Indiana, we get a few days to complain then, poof, it's melted and a memory. So, while it is still tangible, best to make the most of Snow Days, knowing that they are few and far between.
Thank Goodness.
Today I cleaned off the Land Rover and faced the freezing north wind and made my way over to the 2G's and their mama's house. Two under three. And a dog and cat. Can you say Cabin Fever? Time to stir things up a bit and reach into my Winter Bag of Tricks! What did I do on those mama time snow days? I made bread and noodles!
Let's teach the 2G's mama how to make homemade noodles!
And let's dry them up high to keep from nosy little hands and hairy doggies and interested kitties.
And besides, it looks so dang cool hanging way up high, drying themselves,readying for the hot chicken brothy goodness that we prepared before making the noodles. Did I mention that the 2G's papa's favorite meal is chicken and noodles? Vedy Good.

The 2G's mama prepared ahead of time for our Wednesday Visit by having all that it takes for Root Beer Floats!
This is Grant's First Root Beer Float! The sudsy goodness made his eyes squint and caused his mama and I to laugh hysterically.
Floats are just fun. Even with the snow flying outside. Sideways. EEk.

Driving to my friends, via the library and post office, I went by my little friend Lily's house, only to find the only snowman that I had seen all this past snowstormy week!
I pulled the car over and snapped a photo of this rare sighting, all the more precious cause I could visualize Lily's little family all outside, having a grand time with their daddy, making a snow memory. Years ago, I remember waking Baby Girl up from her winter slumber, just to take advantage of a wonderful packing snow. We worked a long while on what I thought was the best snowman ever. I do believe Baby Girl still wonders about a mom that wakes up her sleeping child for the sole purpose of playing in the snow. As an older mom, I saw the dire importance of imprinting memories in a more intense way than perhaps I did as a younger mama.
And my heart still warms when I think of that snowy morning.....

May you be making memories today.....

Snow Day Diversions

If you were to wake up to the glare of winter light being reflected of a bank of brand new snow, what would you do?

I don't know about you, but I high tailed it to the sewing room to begin a day of productive creative,activity! No stopping to put on make up! Forget washing the hair! Whose going to come out anyway? Yay!
Nothing like a forced homeboundedness to make the most creative urges realistic.

Good time to Think Spring by creating some summer bankies for the childbirth conference booth next month...
These useful little lightweight blankies, a brainchild of Most Loving/Interesting Friend, have always been a huge hit with mommies with summer babes...Just a little cover for those night breezes or too much air conditioning...
Thank you, MLI for such a fun, useful gifting idea for new moms...!
Hmmmmmmm...Isn't' there a birthday coming up for Baby Girl?! Oh yes! And even though she has already received her gift, as promised, a mama's collection donation should reach her via snail mail close to Her Day on Saturday...
Happy, happy birthday Baby Girl!

Another belated birthday gift for Faithful Friend's baby girl; inspired by the 2G's mama; a Wristlet of the Crocheted Kind! Fun to make; the first crochet pattern I ever made on my own!
Ah yes!
Defy the stuntedness of weather imposed exile!
Get crafting!!

We Interrupt Winter to Bring You a Summer Update!

The date is set!
The location is secured!
The workshop subjects are nearly completed!
The theme for the weekend is in the works!
A mother's helper is promised!
All is needed is a list of attendees!!

I have room in the one cottage for ten.
Are you one of them?
Leave a comment or email me to secure your spot!
You will not be disappointed!
From Chicago, from Ohio, from New Hampshire (I wish!) from wherever you are now, plan for this summer !!


'mama's collection of friends'
First Annual Retreat!
July 23-25
Leavenworth Inn, Leavenworth Indiana
Creating: From Creator to Our Hands
Share your craft, share your heart, share your love....

The Valentine Tree

Off I go on another Crafting House Call!
This time I go to our local elementary school to help spread the cause of promoting the love on Valentine's Day!
Valentine's Day.
A favorite of mine. Had my first kiss on Valentine's Eve and first date with The Hubby at a Valentine's Day dance in high school. Baby Girl was born 57 minutes before the Big V Day.
Holds a dear spot in my heart so I promote it at every turn.
I asked Teacher Friend if I could enter her domain and present her class a Valentine Loving Tree. This one is an enlargement of one that I made for my kids decades ago. Back then, I painted the branches of a bush white, placed the embellished twigs in a small bucket of sand and had the kids make small heart valentines that would promise a gift of doing to someone in the house. Signs like: 'I will do the dishes for my sister.' 'I will not complain about schoolwork', ' I will be kind' sort of messages accumulated on the little tree.
Lovely.
So here I start on a bigger scale for four times as many children.
I raided my garden for a large pot and then sacrificed to the Valentine gods, several Rose of Sharon bushes from the sleeping garden area.
Rose of Sharon branches are pretty light colored so I could skip the painting part of the project.
Pea Gravel, (thanks to Youngest Son who carried the quite cumbersome bag from parking lot wayyyyyyyyy to Teacher Friend's room for me, a weak old lady....:D)
took the place of messier sand. Our local school is a beautiful, well kept school so I did not want to be a messy crafter.

Back in the Sewing Room, I fashioned 14 little stuffed felt hearts with a simple design and blanket stitched all around, with a piece of ribbon to hang from, for a gift for each of the children. One suggested that he could hang his on his Christmas Tree, to which I heartily agreed...

Some card stock, doilies and an abundance of shiny thingys to make their creations spec-TAC-u-lar, and off they go to create their 'gifts'..

I might like to mention that some of Pauline Hill's auction goodies got put to use again! A plethora of goo gahs in a myriad of colors for just that shiny fascinating effect that children (and many adults apparently) love so much.
Several of Pauline's goo-gahs had prices on them: 3 for .67...Maybe 1965?

Several the little girls had pink shirts on that day. I pointed out to Friend Audrey that her shirt matched her valentine!
One little boy avoided the pink paper like the plague! I reminded him that maybe the recipient of his valentine, might like pink. He stated emphatically, 'NO ONE in my family likes pink!' Got it.

I would like to point out that Hubby found the gilded gold doilies and thought that I needed them for the children. Big hit.

And here we are, be-ribboned,be-lighted, be-ginghamed, be-adorned and a big hit in Teacher Friend's classroom!!

Might we see a Lucky Shamrock Tree and a Spring Fling Tree.....
Maybe....!