This is my apron

 

for the Sassy Apron Swap. See my entry below for explanation.

Busy, busy, busy.

Well, in between refereeing the battles between my daughter and my dog, I have managed to get a little crafting done. I have finished the knitting on Hilary's felted clogs and just need to felt them. I am waiting for a time when she is here so that I can be sure to fit them correctly.

In the papercrafting department, I have made a few more cards. I would love to get all my bday cards to friends and fambly made and stored away so that I can acknowledge yearly milestones in a timely fashion.

Yesterday, at the quilt shop where I work I bought everything to make a really cute and quick quilt. It is made entirely of charm squares and jellyrolls. Once I piece the top, I am going to cut into squares and quilt those to make pillows for my porch swing and rockers. I also plan to paint those as soon as the weather warms up a little. We have had lovely 100% wool at the shop for $19.99 a yard and it was not selling so yesterday the owner marked it down to $4.oo a yard. Guess which employee scored yards and yards of that???? I have no idea what I will do with it, but that's not the point is it?

The Sassy Apron Swap: I signed up over at My Byrd House for an apron swap. The theme was Spring. You had to make an apron with a Spring theme. It had to have a pocket and you were supposed to include a recipe. I got mine in the mail by the deadline and am now waiting to receive my apron from my swap partner. Can't wait.

Late today I took MC and Isabella to Knoxville to visit her husband's family. I spent a few precious hours looking at everything in Jo-Anne's fabrics. I really didn't buy much, just some lovely pink and green fabric to recover the seat in the little sette I found at the thrift shop in Orange, VA. Oh, and some yarn. Almost always yarn. Later we met the Husband at a great restaurant for dinner. I had scallops with polenta. Oh boy! So good! And for dessert the 3 of us shared a cannoli. So, obiviously, all the projectc I have listed that I am working on to the right of this post are going along great-except maybe for the diet. Actually, I am doing o.k. with it. NOt spectacular, but o.k.

At last! I can spill the beans!

 

 

Whew! I was about to pop with the anticipation and excitement. Several weeks ago, we bought our daughter MaryCatherine, who is stationed in Hawaii with her Navy husband, a ticket home to Tennessee while her husbnad is deployed. The original intent was to keep it a secret from both her sisters but circumstances dictated I tell her big sis. We did, however manage to keep our lips sealed from the other sister.

Boy did that entail a pack of lies mostly on my part! It's rather disconcerting, but I found that I am rather good at it. I had a lie for every possible situation that might arise. After a while my only problem was remembering which lie to back up with which lie.

At last the day arrived and we picked up our peeps at the airport. Baby Isabella was expectedly a little shy around us. But she is warming to us now and will actually come to us as long as her mom is near. We had a great plan for surprisng Sis. I called her and told her I had dropped her dad off at the airport for a business trip and that I wanted her to meet me at Starbucks for coffee afterward. We got there before she did and MC and babe hid in the bathroom. When the sister arrived, I looked at ther strangely and told her she needed to go and look in the bathroom mirror as she had something on her face. When she turned the handle of the door, out walks her sister! It was such fun and so funny!

She has been here a week and is slowly learning that living with Jasper the very excited dog means NEVER leaving anything within his reach. He regards everything as a tasty morsel. We won't even go into the many instances of dog fur flying and human red hair a flaming that has occured as MC learns this. "There are no bad dogs, just poorly trained people" is what our dog trainer told us. I am inclined to agree. I know I am slowly being whipped into shape by this dog. Hee hee, I think my MC is a slow learner.

Here's to several week's (hopefully) of enjoying MC and Isabella!

I've been away

 

 

visiting this little cherub. I have two more of these too! Am I blessed or what? My love for these little girls is so deep, I fall rock bottom everytime I look into one of their little faces.

This one lives in VA and this past week-end the husband and I drove up for a quick visit. We had a great time holding and cuddling this little girl. She loves a good cuddle. Even tho she hadn't seen us since Christmas, she was ready with a smile and didn't mind one bit being scooped up by this grandmother.

My daughter and I did a little shopping, mostly of the window kind. Although I did spend my gift card to the scrapbook store and then some. We also went to Macy's and checked out the Martha Stewart stuff. I am a huge MS fan, but I really wasn't awfully impressed with what I saw. Some of it was really nice but overall I thought it was overpriced.

On the way home we stopped in Orange , VA at a thrift store I have been wanting to check out for a while now. They had some really good stuff. I will take pictures in a dayn or so and my plans for a cute little sette I found there. Also got some neat glassware Can you ever have too much glassware? I use glass trays for organizing lots of stuff. Looks so pretty. I also found a cute white hobnail bedroom lamp complete with fru-fru ruffled shade. I think the Orange Va thrift store may have to be a regular stop when in VA.

I've been tagged!

Bebe over at Peaches and Dreams has tagged me for a literary meme.
The rules are:1. The book must be over 123 pages.
2. Find page 123 in the book.
3. Read the first 5 sentences.
4. Post the next 3.
5. Tag 3 other people

"It's quite enough for the present, as you'll agree when I tell you where it is.""
"Tell then."
Laurie bent, and whispered three words in Jo's ear, which produced a comical change.

Any reader worth their salt probably recognizes these sentences are from "Little Women" It is a long-time favorite in my own family of little women. I remember reading it aloud to my 3 girls many years ago. Going to see the movie on the spur of the moment on a cold December night is also a favorite memory.

I tag Kelli at My Little Pink Lovebug, Peach at Peaches and Posh, and Tracy over at Notes From a Cottage Industry.

My ten card challenge (and crafty Jasper)

 

 

Well, it continues to snow, although lightly. The ridge across from my house is overgrown with Ivy and it looks as though someone took the sugar shaker and gave it a nice dusting. I am enjoying a hot Chai latte and piddling about on the computer.

I mentioned that I had challenged myself to make 10 cards out of the Feb. Paper Crafts mag without buying anything new becasue that is all I do, buy the stuff and look at it. Well, I am quite pleased to report that I have done just that. My card box is full of lots of nice cards. Some I left without a greeting so I can put whatever is needed when I send it. I even got my niece's wedding shower card made. I bet her mom is going to try and figure out which one it is when she reads this! If anyone is counting, you'll only count 9 cards because the little red one in the foreground is one of two. Those are for my two youngest little sweethearts. They are so close together in age, I tend to do most things for them just alike. Soo that lovely cherry fabric in the background? I loved it so much that I bought the entire bolt! Yeah, I stockpile fabric just like I do paper. But with 3 granddaughters I envision lovely little spring frocks all alike and with the leftovers some sweet little cushions for my porch swing and rockers.

That Jasper! While I was working away setting up my card display, he managed to get a roll of tape to snack on. By the time I realized what he was up to, the tape was history. I have been told that Labs will eat anything. I believe it. A local D.J. has a Lab and he ate his owner's $1500 SuperBowl tickets! Quite frankly, I think anyone foolish enough to spend that kind of money on a football ticket, deserves to have them eaten. Think how much fabric and paper that would buy!

I just saw

 

5 snowflakes! Acutally, there were more but they were mixed with a little rain and maybe a sleet pellet or two. I was happy to see them, I grabbed this bottle and went outdoors to gather as many as I could. Can you see them all melty and sparkly in the bottle? I think I will put this on my shelf of "Little Things" to remind me of winter because tommorrow it will probably be in the 60's again. Or maybe I should mail it to my daughter in Hawaii...I bet she would like to see a snowflake or two herself.

I got a new car!!!!

Boy she's a beauty! Long, sleek lines, energy efficient, and a nice little flourish at the end. Hee, hee, hee! It's a new, big "A" broom.

Saturday, the husband and I were out doing our weekend grab a Starbucks and go to Lowe's thing. We had looked at all the pretty stuff when we turned down the cleaning aisle. As I stared at all the various methods the 21st century offers for cleaning floors, H picks up the biggest broom I've ever seen and asks, "Wanna new car? See how she drives."

I don't think he will get a Valentine...

To add insult to injury, I managed to run over my foot with my new broom/car today. I was rummaging about in my cleaning closet(a place I'm not overly familiar with)looking for toilet paper when I somehow knocked the big "A" broom from her perch high above my head. The thing came falling straight down at a high rate of speed and landed with a thud! on my slippered foot. The blunt end hit where my 4th toe's 1st joint is. Oh boy! It hurt! I was sure it was broken. It's not, but the bruise now occupies most of my toes and is heading for the bottom of my foot.

Like I said, I don't think H will be getting a Valentine.

P.S.
On another note, I just ate COLD brussels sprouts and thought they were good....Can you tell I am on a diet! To paraphrase Totie Fields. "I've been on this diet for 3 weeks and so far all I've lost is 3 weeks."

Valentines!

 

Tonight I finished up my girls' valnetines and wrapped them in cellophane and ribbon. Can you tell what they are? I hope not-that would ruin their surprise because they check here everyday. I am pretty pleased with them. I never finish a project with thinking there is room for improvement tho. I got the idea off of Theresa McFayden's Winterbella e-zine. I made one for me and then decided it would make a good vanlentine gift for my girls. Always thinkin' about my girls.

In other craft news, I have challenged myself to make 10 cards from the February Paper Crafts mag. I am always buying these things, perusing them, seeing things I like and then putting them ona shelf somewhere. And then, of course, I am always buying paper, and die-cuts, aand stamps, and fiber, and well, you get the idea. I bet you do it too. So, before Ican buy anything else, I must make the 10 cards with materials already on hand. I've made 6 so far! I am so happy!

Oh, the buying new stuff rule for this excercise doesn't include my 50 bux worth of "Doodle Dollars" I have waitingt to spend at Scrapdoodles in Fredericksburg, VA that I received for Christmas from my daughter Kelli. We are heading that way this coming weekend and I can't wait to go to that store. It is a really good one.

In other papercraft news, I am loving the paper pack I bought at Hobby Lobby from Cosmic Cricket. It's called "Dutch Girl" and it is so pretty. Lots of vintagey grayish blueish aqua and punches of red and a yellow color. I am using a lot of it in my 10 card challenge.

That's all folks!

P.S. When I say there is room for improvement on my projects for the girls, I don't mean the directions for the project itself, but imporvement on my workmanship. I had to go with a substitute for the main part of the project and it didn't work as well I hoped. Just wanted to clarify that.href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'>

Goin' to Tuny's

Today was one of those days when I just couldn't get my momentum up. It was raining Persians and Poodles outside making the house inside extra warm, inviting, and cozy. No matter how hard I tried and how much caffiene I consumed, I couldn't snap out of my lazy, drowsy state. Finally admitting defeat I headed upstairs to the guestroom for a short nap.

Well, wouldn't you know it, I wasn't really sleepy, just lazy, so instead of sleeping I lay there thinking and out of the blue came this memory from my childhood. It was one of my mother's favorite stories to tell on her two youngest daughters (me and a younger sis).

Growing up on a farm in rural Missouri in the 60's, there wasn't a lot of trappings in the way of entertainment unless you made it yourself. But that's the best kind really, and for me, it holds some of my best memories.

My father had rigged up a small lawn tractor in such a way that our older sister could drive the two younger ones around the farm. Some times she ventured further afield via little dirt roads to the country store that was the lifeblood of a small farming community. You went to Tuny's for sugar, gas, a coke, candy, and gossip. I still remember the smell of the interior and the squeeking the screendoor made as you stepped inside. To my younger sister and me, you just couldn't get any better than going to Tuny's for candy and a coke whether on the back of the tractor or in the backseat of our mother's car. As far we were concerned,when we got to Tuny's we had arrived. It was the ultimate road trip to a 4 year old and a 6 year old.

My father had a different idea of what constituted a road trip and loved planning family get-aways. One year, right after DisneyLand opened, he packed the Buick with luggage, food for road-side meals(the choice of food he made is a whole nuther story),and his 4 women plus an extra friend for big sis so she would have company other than the youngest ones. That alone should tell you how brave the man was to travel all alone with 5 females.

Over the next week or so we made our way west stopping to savor all the sights along the way. We have a photo album full of pictures of girls standing in front concrete tee-pees, with fake Indians and some of us standing at a respectful distance from tall cacti as old as the hills. There are pictures of us standing in front of the magnificence of the Grand Canyon my mother clutching with a death grip the clothing of the youngest as she threatens to go over the side. There is even one of me and my younger sis sitting in the trunk of the car. I am sure my mother was ready to put us there for the duration of the trip.

At last, California! The night we arrived and before visiting America's newest theme park, we were so exicted. Whatever Disneyland was, we were going there! The next day, tickets were bought, mouse ears were donned and we walked into the park. I remember we all stood there and just looked around us in amazement. Well, everyone but the youngest and I were amazed that is. I began to howl, youngest followed suit and I voiced our thoughts on the whole theme park thing with one simple statement. "We want to go to Tuny's!"

The paint, glitter, and glue

have been flying around here lately as I work on Valentine's Day lovelies for my 3 girls. I make 3 of everthing and have since the baby was born 21 years ago. Sometimes everything is alike ( as in this year) and some years I mix it up a bit. I remember the year I made 3 little bunnies-I didn't start them until 4 days before Easter, but I got them all made.

The Valentines this year were a little involved and have been the cause of more than one spell of hair pulling, but tonight I can breathe a sigh of relief and say, "Case closed".

Crud!

I think I am a stomach bug magnet-if there is one of the nasty critters within a huge radius it is going to land plunk in the middle of my digestive system. It made its presence known last night and today I am not so good. I was lying in bed covers piled on and the chills were so rigourous the bed was moving. And you know what I was thinking as my tummy rolled and I shook? "Hey! maybe I'll lose a pound or two!" It's sick I know. In an attempt to warm up and maybe settle the tum-tumm I am slowly sipping a cup of very hot strong Irish Breakfast tea.

I felt guilty about leaving the dog in his little cage all day so I brought upstairs with me and closed the bedroom door to prevent his roaming around. Didn't work. He wanted in bed too. Not gonna happen. I was lying there with only my nose sticking out and he kept poking it with his spongy jelly bean nose and whimpering. So back to the cage for Jasper.

We are having high winds today. I love the sounds of wind. It is creating a symphony as it moans and whistles and causes the trees and bushes to sway and scratch at the windows. Inside, all is cozy as I enjoy the music.

Well shoot! The tea is not working. Gotta go!