Happy Spring and St. Patrick's Day...

 

Happy Spring and St. Patrick's Day to one and all!  Wanna know why Mr. Robin is peering down into the cup?  Well, it's because when I dusted him before the photo, I broke his little legs!  Ouch.  A little hot glue will fix him right up!  But for now I thought he looked inquisitive about the cup's contents.  :)

This shamrock tea cup lives in my great-grandmother's curved-glass-fronted china cabinet year round.  I walk by it at least a dozen times a day and think of my mother.  

Today would have been Mom's 110th birthday.  She collected tea cups, and when I found this Crown Staffordshire bone china teacup with its shamrocks and sweet scalloped rim, I knew it had to come home with me to await Mom's next birthday.  That was decades and decades ago.

We have beautiful sunshine today.  Carey is out planting his garden.  Rudy is napping at my side.  I need to do a few chores, but it would be such a shame to interrupt Rudy's dreams.  :)

Trick or treats...treats, please...

 

This makes me LOL!  I call him Tri-RUDY-tops.  He held so still that we were done with our photo shoot in about half a minute.  I think this might fall under my friend the retired colonel's old 7-P rule...prior proper planning prevents piss-poor performance.  :)

I chose a small space to take the photo where Rudy could be easily, yet comfortably, contained undistracted; the entry area of my home office worked perfectly.  I hung a piece of black fabric on the back of the door for a backdrop.  I pulled up my rolling office chair set to its lowest setting for the 'photographer' to sit on (because 'she'...cough cough...has trouble getting up off the floor...poor old crone).  I put on Rudy's 'costume.'  And presto, change-o!  We were done.  Oh, and that sharp-eyed expression is him staring at my front pocket which he knows is full of treats!  What a good boy!

Kasey had given me his 'costume' last year for my birthday, but I didn't get around to taking a photo, so this year I made it a priority (Hey, another 'P' word!  LOL)

Wishing All Hallows Eve brings only treats to you all, dear readers.

Merry Christmas...

...and wishing...

This is not the least bit reverent, but I received it today in a text from a friend, and I couldn't resist, since I had nothing better to blog.

We have had a quiet day, as we shared last night with the kids and had a wonderful time.  Out of the seven gift cards we gave to the kids and grandkids, only three of them found the gift cards without being coached to keep looking.

Beau got a jar of Snack Crackers with a gift certificate to a specialty meats shop in a Christmas envelope taped to the outside of the jar.  He thought the envelope was just decorating the jar.  :)

Kasey got a box of chocolate covered cherries, with a gift certificate for two 1-hour massage sessions taped to the bottom of the box.  I swear she would have thrown the box away when it was empty if I hadn't just come out and told her.  LOL

Chandler and Bobby both got grocery gift cards to help with their grocery and/or gasoline purchases since they are both in college.  Chandler's card was adhered to a canister of pancake mix with a container of maple syrup.  And Bobby's was adhered to a jar of Cheezy Snack Crackers.  They both totally overlooked their cards also.

The youngest three found theirs easily.  

Diego received a big stocking filled with 52 ounces of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing.  I tucked a prepaid credit card inside the box, as he is saving for a new laptop.

Caitlyn had been the only one to actually tell me what she wanted (a new phone case) and sent me a link to the exact one.  Now THAT'S the way to get exactly what you want.  :)  The case didn't cost as much as what the others received, so I tucked a prepaid card inside her box as well.

Chloe is our primper, and she had added "Sephora gift card" to her Christmas list.  I wanted to 'personalize' it by adding something, so Kasey suggested she needed a makeup bag.  I tucked the gift card into the bag with sample-sized face wash and masque.

After panicking a week or so ago when I had only nailed down two of their seven gifts, I am pleased with how things turned out.  I managed to keep all gifting fairly equitable, and personalized the cards/certificates by adding them to items that each person really likes.

Oh, and I didn't mention what we gave Jared.  He got a stockpile of sandwiches from a favorite sandwich shop in our hometown.  Since we now live three hours away, they are a rare treat.  I placed a BIG order, and Carey made the trip to pick them up.  They are now all in the freezer, and Jared is as happy as a clam to have them to look forward to over the next couple of months (or weeks depending on how hungry he is).  :)

Happy Valentine's Day...

Blurry photo...sorry

I want to send out some love on this Valentine's Day to all of you who visit the blog.  I love reading your comments, and count the blog friends I've come to know over the years as friends in real life too.  

I found this wreath and unpainted letters at Joann's recently.  I've been wanting to do something different with the mantel decor for awhile, so I splurged.  (Though, of course, I used coupons and made the most practical choices possible.)  I actually bought more letters than just these, and will show soon when I take down the 'love' at the end of the month.  I already had white paint to paint the letters.  

The wreath is an artificial boxwood wreath.  The white flowers on the wreath are ones I use frequently in lots of ways.  The greenery on the wreath is so dense, that I just tucked the flowers in among it and they stayed quite securely without glue or being on picks, though probably not well enough if I was hanging it outside subject to wind.  This way, though, I can quickly and harmlessly remove them later to change out decor.

The potted hydrangea was a Valentine gift to us from Kasey & Beau (along with some yummy chocolate covered strawberries...mmmmm).  The little Westie on the left end is a vintage cast iron door stop that a sweet friend gave me years ago.

Do you change household decorations seasonally?  I get bored looking at the same thing for too long, and start yearning to gather objects from around the house to create a new vignette.  I mostly stick to the mantel.  

As retirement looms in the next few years, I have been thinking about downsizing.  Looking at house plans that are smaller, but still have storage that would allow decorations to be easily accessible to the living space (among other things that are subjects for a whole other post).

Merry Christmas...

Old photo with new edit.  

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Making it Monday (Christmas Eve edition)...

So I finished binding all the kids' quilts with an hour to spare.  I had so effectively procrastinated...cough, cough...that I had to do all the binding on the machine (I usually do the last step by hand).  By the time I was done, I had gotten pretty good at making it invisible.  I guarantee the kids will never know any different, and, on the upside, it is probably more sturdy.

In the wee hours of Sunday morning, as I was about halfway around in the final step of binding the third quilt, I realized that the bobbin was making a sound like it was getting critically low on thread.  I was so exhausted and just did not want to stop to reload the bobbin, so there was a lot of, 'oh please, please, please be enough on there to finish.'  There was...just barely.  And the spool was almost as low as the bobbin!

We had our Christmas together combined with Sunday family supper at Kasey and Beau's.  Beau cooked a prime rib on the grill.  Oh my goodness, it was SO delicious.

We also played a game of Not Parent Approved.  No skill required, and good for a few laughs.  Beau, who never wants to play games with us, loves this game.  :)

Now I have some breathing room.  I have two more quilts to bind but not a huge rush.  Then maybe I will have some time to read or cross-stitch or take a nap.  :)

Edited to add:  I had intended this to get posted Monday morning, but I forgot to hit 'publish.'  Earlier today I received a text from Kasey with two photos, saying this was how she found the girls when she went in to wake them this morning..."wrapped in Grandma's love."

Made my heart happy!  :)

2018 Christmas cards...

Christmas cards/letters have been sent.  Yea!  They went out a little late, but, hey, some years they don't go out till into the new year or not at all.

The majority were made using my Stampin' Up! Paper Pumpkin subscription box from last month (November 2018), but I mixed up the designs to stretch them.  I think if you used the instructions as intended it would have made ten cards (lined envelopes were included).

I got well over twenty cards by adding in a few different papers/card bases and mailed most of them in plain red envelopes.

I think this one was my favorite, and I totally copied someone else's design on this one, but couldn't find a name to give her credit.

For the majority I used this image of Scripture.

It's a little hard to tell in the photos, but the plaid paper has gold metallic lines as part of the plaid, and I used a gold metallic cardstock to back the Scripture image.

 Then I mixed it up a bit, and I pulled out the kit from last year that I never got around to using, and I made a few shaker cards.

This one really was the end of the line, and used up the last of the pine boughs.

All told I made about thirty cards, including two with cross-stitch tags that will be shown in another post.  I also slipped a copy of our Christmas letter into each envelope, and included a handwritten note as well on almost all.  Two cards I purchased from a local jewelry designer (because I just couldn't resist them), and Carey bought and mailed two cards on his own to his mother and another old friend.  (I mailed his mother one also, so she got two from us.  lol)

And though I still have lots of other preparations to make, I am happy that I got cards/letters off to so many this year.

Greetings for the day...

Happy Easter...

I hope everybody enjoyed Easter blessings today.  

I put together some teeny baskets (inspired by Rachel Tessman on Youtube) to hold some chocolate treats for the girls.  Then I found out Bobby had made a quick trip home and that we would get to see him, so I made another without the flowers.  :)

When we got there, he was grabbing a nap on the sofa.  I took a quick snap when he woke up.

And it's bluebonnet season again, so I managed (barely) to talk the girls into taking a few pictures out in them.

They were not thrilled, and refused to go to a spot that is a much better setting but too public for their liking.  That's okay.   I made each of these three photos of the kids into postcards using the Touchnote app.  Love that app.  Open the app, choose a photo from your phone, write a message, include an address, and they print and mail it snail mail to the recipient.  

If I remember correctly, the cost is about $2 per postcard.  I have quite a few credits that I purchased when they were having a special.  Carey's mom really likes getting pictures of the kids in the mail.  I also used it while we were on vacation to send postcards to the kids.  They are printed on nice thick, glossy postcards.  Fun mail!

Tomorrow it's back to work, so I need to go pack a lunch.  Have a great week, everybody!

2018 word of the year and goals...

Two thousand seventeen was not my most productive year...all that time reading, I guess.

My mother always said, "Have something to show for your time."  She was not a big fan of reading for that reason...very hard to read and knit (or sew or bake or clean) at the same time.

I had already decided not to do another reading challenge this year (not that I won't be reading).  Then I started thinking about what my focus for the year should be, and the word 'produce' popped into my head for many reasons.

• I feel the need to be more creatively productive.  (see definition verb 1 above)
• There are jobs needing doing around the house.  (see definition verb 2 above)
• I need to work on my health.  (see definition noun 1 above)

With my word of the year being 'produce,' here is my goals list for the year:

Attempt to reset sleep patterns -- this means I will strive to be early(er) to bed and early(er) to rise.

Eat breakfast -- that is my main health goal for the year.  I've decided to try a breakfast smoothie as a way of getting more fruits, vegetables, vitamins/nutrients, and fiber into each day.  

Be more productive both in work and creativity -- chores and art covered by the same goal?  Yes!  Produce!

and continue to:

Write it down -- continue with weekly listing goals and to-dos...this is the best way of keeping me on track and making progress  

Finances -- focus on frugality, weekly blog post for accountability (It did keep me thinking about it when I knew I had to blog weekly, so I guess I will keep it up.)

Home -- Swiffer one room daily 

Reduce possessions -- Divest myself of ten large items (furniture, etc)  I can't think of one thing that I managed to get rid of in 2017.  I will list items this year.

Quilting -- complete ten quilts/quilted projects  (keeping this at ten, though I only finished 4 projects last year)

Read the One-Year Bible

52 Letters in 52 Weeks

And with that I will wish you all a very Happy and Healthy (and productive) New Year!

Now there's Dasher and Dancer and Prancer...

Rudy may get coal in his stocking for being such a camera hog, but maybe not since Carey didn't want to be in the picture anyway.  :)  But we ALL want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Today is Tuesday...

toilet paper snowman - consumable gift everyone can use

Today I...

...saw the sun come up

...ran the cleaning cycle on the counter-top ice maker...repeatedly...then wiped it down inside and out

...did some laundry...but there is still more

...braved the hordes and shopped for Thanksgiving groceries...I forgot the red grapes

...put the groceries away

...ran the dishwasher

...took a nap

...had a nice long phone chat with my sister

...caught myself using the phrase 'hoity toity'  

...assembled a box full o' fun gift

...did some more laundry...but there is still more

...cleaned the bathroom sink/vanity


...had a nice long phone chat with my bff

...made ice 

...searched my craft stash for some clear bags for a craft project

...actually found said clear bags, and more than enough for project!!!

...used Paint program to draw/print snowman face for project

...assembled and photographed a prototype of project...see above...an effort to gift consumables that will not be clutter for recipient (and with a sense of fun)...I'm pretty sure everyone could use this...thanks Pamela for the inspiration link in your Christmas in July

...cleaned up Rudy tummy expulsion...he took my tp gag gift literally  :(

...washed my hands several times

...cleaned out fridge

...took out garbage

...put new trash liners in all the waste baskets

...emailed a friend some requested information

...emptied dishwasher

Happy Mother's Day...

I was going through an old deed box this week.  In it were some bank and tax records, dating from as far back as the 1800s, from the family of a great-aunt by marriage.  She and my great-uncle had no children, so my mother 'inherited' a lot of their household items, and somehow I ended up with this box.  It was somewhat interesting to see what the notice, and subsequent conclusion, of an IRS tax audit from the early 1900s looked like.  (Incidentally, after the audit the IRS refunded $34 that had been overpaid by this individual.)  What does one do with this stuff?  It surely has no relevance for anyone, but its history...  

Also in the box were lots and lots of canceled stamps torn off from the corner of their envelopes.  One of which caught my attention with its very appropriate message for today...a three cent stamp from 1934 'in memory and in honor of the mothers of America'.  

As long as I can remember, my mother would say, "You'll have fun going through all this stuff someday."  Hmmm...  So I imagine her patting my shoulder as I slide the box, with all of its content, back on the shelf.  I guess I do it in memory and honor of her.  (Note to daughter: you can dispose of of all this one day.  I promise not to haunt you.  I cannot, however, promise that your grandmother won't.)

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers around the world today!

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

These aren't exactly Irish shamrocks, but since the word shamrock comes from the Irish word meaning 'young clover or little clover', I guess these are Texas shamrocks.  They're not exactly proof of a well-kept lawn, but their appearance in the spring always makes me smile.

Happy birthday to my Mom.  Today would have been her 101st.