Is there no end to the crafts?

Just as I think that I have seen every craft imaginable, something new comes along. Just when I think that there is nothing new to be seen in the arts and crafts world, something new comes along. And just as I think that I have made all my choices in the crafts world and am done spending money on new crafts, SOMETHING NEW COMES ALONG!!!

I just discovered this interest new craft and had to share it with you. It really is quite interesting. I may have to try one just for the fun of it. They are Temari Balls. From the web site: "Temari has become a creative art form of breath-taking splendor. It has survived the thousand years because of its endless design potential and creative possibilities."

Ash Wednesday

Leon and I went to our church's Ash Wednesday service last night. I have not really observed Ash Wednesday in the past. I was certainly aware of it and it was a part of our church calendar, but aside from that I didn't really pay too much attention.

I understand the discipline intended when you give something up; but always struggled a bit with what that had to do with spirituality.

I was very inspired by the service at our church last night and have committed to attempt to use these 40 days of lent to examine my spirituality and how it fits into my life. Our pastor gave such a wonderful message; communion and the ashes were meaningful; and the symbolism and tradition was comforting. I am so glad I went!!!

Memories (and a funny story)

Upon returning home from Indianapolis, I have been meaning to write about a memory I had while I was helping out with Abby.

One of the things that I did while in Indy was to deliver Abby to and from preschool. The process has clearly been planned out by the preschool teachers and the parents are expected to adhere to the rules for drop off and pick up. I was instructed by Carrie exactly how to proceed. Once I pulled into the back parking lot, I unhooked Abby from her car seat. She crawled up into the front seat and I pulled into the line of cars which wound from the back parking lot through to the front parking lot as each car unloaded it's precious cargo. The teachers come out and physically take each child from the car and they are taken into the church for preschool. The parent, or in my case, grandparent does not have to get out of the car at all. At the pickup time, the reverse happens, the child is physically put into the car, then I pull into the back parking lot and fasten her into her car seat.

There is something inherently satisfying about dropping your grandchild off for preschool. Since I only had to drive up and someone else took over, I had time to really appreciate the feeling. I'm not sure if the feeling comes from stepping in for that short time and experiencing her day; or if it has to do with the feeling that here I am, involved in her life and being the grandma dropping off my little one while mommy is home with a new baby. I think it also had to do with the normalcy of preschool and the gifts which both Abby and myself are able to enjoy. At any rate, I had the luxury of remembering back to when my girls were little and a funny story that I feel I must share.

This particular story is about Lissy and a particularly difficult morning that we had before school when she was in elementary school. I will just take a guess and say about 3rd grade. Difficult mornings often consisted of not agreeing about much of anything, which could include clothes, breakfast, chores, after-school instructions or any combination of these things. So this morning, Lissy and I just absolutely clashed, which ultimately resulted in tears and anger and starting both our days in awful moods. I went off to work and she went off to school still mad at each other for some very insignificant reason ( I assume all mothers and daughters experience this.)

I got to work feeling very regretful and sad that I had allowed both of our days to start out like this. So I decided that I would call her at school to tell her to have a good day. I called the school and asked to speak to her and they allowed me to do that. She was called to the office and when she picked up the phone and said 'Hello"; I began my heartwrenching, sad story, telling her that I was so sorry and that I loved her; that I wanted her to have a good day; that she meant the world to me; that we would not have any more mornings like that again (even though we did) and on and on.... When I was all done with my 'I'm so sorry' speech, I hear a little voice say "Who is this?" So I reply, well who is THIS? The little voice says "This is Melissa St____ly".

Okay I just poured out my heart to the wrong Melissa. So with some semblance of dignity, I tell this other little girl to please send my Melissa to the phone. I managed to work up another good "have a good day" message for my Lissy , but it just wasn't as good the second time.

As Lissy and I talked about it later, she says that when Melissa St__ly came back to the room, all she said was "I think it's your mom".

Back to veggies

Well, I have a confession to make. I just got back from Indianapolis and I wasn't very good in my WW program. Now granted, as one WW friend said, "life happens, move on"; but there is still all that time that I could have been losing and instead probably gained. But today, I am back on the wagon, have been on the treadmill and made a beautiful vegetable salad this afternoon.

We went to church this morning and stopped at the Andersons on the way home. They have really good, really reasonable produce, so we often stop on our way home. They had a sample salad with all kinds of colorful vegetables and a dressing. It was really pretty and looked really good, so I decided to try it at home. Here are a couple of pictures of how it looked. We got a really good strawberry viniagrette dressing and as the little Campbells girl says -- Umm Umm Good!!!!!

I bet a little bit of fruit would be good in it too, strawberries or mandarin oranges. Just thought of that - maybe next time. Also, Leon put a little bit of goat cheese on his.

The Dalai Lama's rules

I was doing some surfing the other day and came across the Dalai Lama's rules for living. I have a lot of respect for this religious leader and think he probably has discovered the secret to serenity and peace. We all have stresses and chaos in our lives and perhaps he does not. He certainly is well taken care of and probably does not have many worries. But nevertheless, I found his rules to be a very good goal to work toward. I thought I would share and it is always good to read them again. Perhaps I should send them to the Israeli's, Palestinians, Taliban and all other warring peoples.

Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living

At the start of the new millennium the Dalai Lama apparently issued eighteen rules for living. Since word travels slowly in the digital age these have only just reached me. Here they are.

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:
   1. Respect for self
   2. Respect for others
   3. Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it

Lily Noelle

I am now the grandmother of two darling little girls. Lily Noelle is a day old and just as gorgeous as can be. I came on Thursday to be with Carrie and to help with Abby. I am on vacation and will be here for a week. I am looking forward to having fun with Abby, bonding with Lily and helping out Matt and Carrie for this first week of their new life.

I hope to blog on a regular basis while here. Of course, my computer goes everywhere with me.

There is nothing quite the same as holding a brand new baby. It is absolutely beyond description.

CPSIA Blog In Day

Well, in surfing my blogs today, it appears that an issue has arisen regarding the lead in items which come into contact. First of all, I want to say that we certainly need to protect our children, however in reading these blogs, things do seem to be out of hand. The impact is to handmade items, as I understand it.

I will just direct your attention and let you make your own judgement. Following are the blogs where the issue is defined and your help is asked. Be sure to find the 1/28 entry.



http://sarahjanestudios.com/blog/
http://www.allsorts.typepad.com/

Bathroom Bond Time

Sounds like a scary title, huh? Actually I have a really cute story to share. I was laying in bed this morning waiting to get up and get ready for work. Leon was already up and in the shower and I am literally never awake when he is getting ready. But for some reason, I was awake this morning. Those of you who have cats know that they start moving around when we do in the morning, which includes walking over our lumps in the bed, breathing in our faces, walking from the bed onto the bedside tables and generally being a pain in the you-know-what. So I am laying there, with my eyes still closed, but I can feel them doing the morning routine.

I heard Max jump off the bed and head into the bathroom. Our bathroom door closes, but does not latch, (I really do need to see about getting that fixed). So he knows that he can just lean into the door, it will open and he can get into the bathroom with Leon. All of a sudden, I heard Leon's voice saying "Hey buddy, where have you been. I'm almost done now." It was so sweet. Apparently every morning, while I am Zzzz-ing, Max and Leon are bonding. Max loves the heat of the bathroom, when someone is showering and sometimes he comes in with me, but he and Leon have a routine.

Knitting like crazy - what's on the needles

I am having so much fun knitting and have been learning so much. I started about 6 months ago, having not knitted since I was a pre- teenager. I have always crocheted, but knitting is really pretty new. Since I started, I have learned to knit in the round, (that means juggling 5 needles at one time in order to knit something round without a seam). That is really pretty amazing, for me! I have experimented with cables, although I have not made anything. That is really cool and I am waiting for just the right pattern. I think the key thing is finding small projects, so that I don't start something and then not feel like finished it. The perfect project for knitting in the round is a baby cap. I have made 4 caps, but they just weren't quite right, but I just finished the fifth one and I think that I finally have it right. So the four that I have finished will be donated and this one will go to the new little person in my family. I just hope that it fits. I hope that doesn't sound bad to donate the ones that I am not happy with. I actually plan to make some more to donate. By the way, if you knit and want to donate baby hats for newborns, I can get you the address. It is a great program!
Having finished the hat(s), I am now working on a neck warmer. These are quite the fashion statement right now and they are really pretty easy and have great patterns. They just go around your neck under your coat like a scarf. This one will have buttons on it and will button around the neck. Any takers? I think it will be done in a couple of weeks. Here is a picture of mine and a picture of the one on the pattern. Can you tell which is which? Of course you can, I still need lots of practice. Mine is on the second one. Plus I have a ways to go yet.

pictures of doll clothes

Okay, I finished up the doll clothes and wanted to share. I think adjustments to the patterns will be necessary, but am anxious to get busy.

Doll clothes for Abby

I have found a way to make a dent in my fabric stash and please a very special little girl, all at the same time. Remember the doll clothes we used to play with when we were little. Well, I am planning to make some. Actually I have already made two things, but am unsure about the size. I measured the dolls, when I was at Carries last time, but am making my own patterns so, the measurements that I got are so irrelevant that I really need to back off until I see the dolls again. But, I am excited and am carefully following instructions from the 'new mother' that Abby has to be able to put them on and take them off by herself. (which means velcro and elastic). I am enjoying thinking of ideas and deciding which fabrics Abby would like. So far, I have made a pair of jeans and a pajama sac. I am going to wait to make any more until I test these on the baby (oh, her name is Annie). I think it will be fun for her to dress her doll while Carrie is dressing the new baby. I may add pictures of my creations later today, but here is what Annie looks like.

Puzzle time

First of all, I need to pat myself on the back for a minute. I changed the background all by myself with just one phone call to Lissy to confirm something that I already knew.. I really do love black and white and thought this one was nice for a change. What do you think? Well it is a three day weekend for both Leon and I and we are taking it easy. He is playing his WII Indiana Jones game and I, of course, am surfing the net and catching up on my posting. It is cold cold cold here, although it is better today. I have often said that I could live in Alaska and I still maintain that is true, because it was surely colder here than in Anchorage yesterday. I actually am a bit of a weather bug and do keep track of the Anchorage temperatures.

This is the one time of year when I get an urge to do a jigsaw puzzle. I do one about once a year and it is almost always in January. Christmas hustle bustle is over and I just feel like staying in and being cozy, so that is when I feel like doing a puzzle. My sister and I used to do puzzles in the winter time and I think that is where I picked up the bug for it. So I picked up two puzzles a couple of weeks ago and started on one of them. It is a puzzle of a Rockwell print and I just think the Rockwell paintings are so homey anyhow. Middle America and all that, so I tried that one first. I started it about two weeks ago and it is not together yet, although some of it is pretty complete. Now, mind you, I have done a puzzle or two in my life, but this one is a bugger, excuse the crass language. Believe me, Sandi will attest to our puzzle skills. I have had whole sections together and everything looked perfect, from the way the picture looks to the puzzle pieces fitting together and had to tear it all apart and re-do it. It is still not right because one side is longer than the other and I can't imagine where the problem is. So the end of the story is --- this is not fun anymore and I am going to tear it apart. There is a certain amount of pride that I have to swallow to do it, but life is too darn short to agonize over a darn puzzle. Plus I have another one that I am going to start, and it is a different brand altogether, so it is bound to be better. I cannot imagine that I have lost my touch and by the way " I think there is a piece missing" --- Sound familiar, Sandi????

So I will leave you with the extent of what I got accomplished. Between Max (that's my cat) thinking he was helping me do the puzzle and the inferior workmanship of the producer, I just didn't have a chance. Okay maybe I had a chance, just not the will.

January thoughts

Hello to everyone. I have truly neglected my blog lately, but the new year is here and I have lots of stuff that I am wanting to do. So I wanted to let you all know where I was and what's going on. Resolutions become boring, but the new year is always a time to re-assess where we are at and remind ourselves of where we are going and what new paths we might wish to take. With that said, I have two new things that I will be working on this year, well really three, I guess. First of all the indirect thing is that later this month, I will be helping to welcome a beautiful new baby girl into the family. I am looking forward to it and with the birth of my second grandchild, family dynamics will change and everyone will sort of settle into a new order. Change is a good thing and our family has done a fair amount of it lately. In the past year, we have welcomed Chad into our family, on an official basis. We have considered him family for quite a while now, and are so happy to have him here. Leon has closed a business and we have settled into the 8 to 5 routine that so many people live. Not a change for me, but a substantial change for Leon. It has been a year of some difficult times and some very joyous times. All in all, I am very grateful for everything I have and all the people in my life. I am truly blessed and consider the hard times as character building experiences. What is the saying, "into each life a little rain must fall". Also it certainly helps to be able to look back and assess your life, rather than trying to make sense of everything as it happens.

One of the new things that I will be doing this year. First of all, in my attempt to become more active in our church, I am starting a new group called "Between the Lines". It is a Christian fiction book club. We will be meeting once a month and my first meeting is next Tuesday (please bow your head right now and say a prayer for me). I am a bit nervous, but also excited and hopeful that it will work. My vision is to create a group that runs itself, is close-knit and enjoys gentle or christian fiction books. I would like to meet in a home environment or a 'coffee house' place - someplace comfortable and easy. If anyone has suggestions for books, let me know, although the more I explore, the more I find that there is a lot of stuff out there.

The second thing that I will be working on is a change or addition to my business training. In looking toward the future, it is clear that retirement is not too far away. I do not think it would be healthy for me to totally retire, although I certainly look forward to cutting my hours. Anyhow, I am exploring the possibility of going into an accounting field (I know, boring!), to transition into. I really do enjoy working with numbers and making things balance. My manager has helped me to network with two accountants outside the bank and there are 2 accountants that work as underwriters at the credit center. It is a new skill and I will need more training, so all of that is open for me to explore. Imagine my retirement with a little accounting business on the side. Pretty cool, eh. My options are open and I have lots of ideas about how to proceed. I'll check back with you next January and let you know how I did.

Regarding the picture. I found this picture on a "Stumble" site and fell in love with it. Also, I know my background is still Christmasy, but the site I use for my backgrounds is down temporarily, so I will not be able to change it until it comes back up.

Wildlights at the zoo

I got the most wonderful Christmas present from my husband. I got a membership to the Columbus Zoo. We have talked about getting one for some time, but just never took the step to get one. Now with our family growing like crazy, a new baby and a new son-in-law (not in the same nuclear family, mind you), now we can take advantage of some of the wonderful things going on at the zoo, and take guests with us. We get free parking and are able to enter at a no waiting area. We went to "Wildlights" on Saturday night and it was absolutely spectacular. The lights are absolutely brilliant and are just absolutely everywhere. We weren't able to stay long, although we did wait in line on the street for over an hour, but I was able to get a few pictures. I am hoping to get back this week to get more pictures, but the last day is January 3, so we'll see if I really make it.

I am still learning to take night pictures. My camera has a night setting, but am unsure if the flash should be on or off. The pictures here do not do justice to the beauty of the lights.

I found the following pictures on Flickr, which are much better than mine.

Musings (for the new year)

As the events of the past year wind down toward an end and the new year approaches, I have had an opportunity to reflect on my life and the lives of others; how we interact and relate and expectations that we have of each other and society in general. Winter has been difficult for me over the past 10-15 years, due to the seasonal affective tendencies that I have, so perhaps my musings are a little on the heavier side, but they are still a part of me. I am just going to ramble a bit.

In a nutshell, I think that life can be so hard when it comes to negotiating other peoples expectations. I think that most people, including myself, do the best that they can when it comes to doing the right thing and being a good person. We all have baggage, some more than others and it affects how we relate, adjust and behave. It seems that those with less baggage and cleaner, more adjusted lives have higher expectations due to their inexperience with difficulties and life's stumbling blocks. I think that I have had a fair amount of baggage, less than some and more than others; and I always try to look behind the 'supposed errors' that people make to give them the benefit of the doubt. I certainly don't always succeed. I am, after all, human. I think the difficulties in life sometimes give you a more balanced view of others and the fact that their behavior may result from their background and history.

It makes life difficult when people don't stop and take a minute to assess where another may be coming from. It makes life difficult when you know that your baggage may pass on to others, whether it be family or other people and put them into the unfortunate position of having to defend themselves against your baggage. It may be outright or very subtle, but it is hurtful to multiple people.

I heard a sermon once by a very wise pastor of ours. In fact, I swear this is true, his name was Pastor Wise. It has been years ago, so I really don't remember the entire thing, but one point has absolutely stuck with me for all of these years. The example was the classic tale of someone stealing from a grocery store, only to find out later that they were stealing because of no money and their children were hungry. The point which I try very hard to incorporate into my life is that in many situations, there is that one little bit of information that changes the whole situation. So often, we forget to consider that other little bit of information that changes everything.

None of us is perfect and I am far from it, but we all try to the extent that we can. I hope to continue to work on having understanding and compassion for others. Sometimes, it is easy to have it inside and harder to display it. That also is a goal of mine. I would also just urge others to look behind the action (or lack of action) that you consider wrong or out of order in an individual, to that little bit of information that may change the 'color' of the whole situation.

For the little things, I think it is important to put our little grievances to the "How important is it" test. Or from a well known author.. "Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff"

If you have stayed with me this far, I commend you. This has been cathartic for me. Thanks for listening and I promise that I will now go back to my friendly, happy and fun posts. Have a wonderful new year!!

photo courtesy of Flickr

Button Bouquets

Once again I have found the blog of an absolutely incredibly creative person. I had to share it with you. This is another example of the absolutely unending creativity of people that absolutely awes me and opens up my eyes to the world of art and ingenuity. I love these bouquets. She does bridal bouquets, and other really cool items. You really should click on the link. You will not be disappointed, plus I will be adding it to my favorites. I chose the pink for Abby and the red for Christmas, but all of them are amazing.

My favorite ornaments

Silent Night, Holy Night

From a secret Santa

From a friend

Made by the girls

I was sitting in my living room gazing at our beautiful Christmas tree and admiring the many beautiful ornaments that we have collected over the years. I thought I might share a few of my favorites with you, although it is very difficult to pick out favorites when I love them all. I have given some ornaments to the girls now that they have started lives of their own. I gave them any that they made, or were given to them by relatives and friends. We still have a wealth of ornaments and they all mean something. They have been given to me or Leon; or we have gotten them on our vacations. Very few, if any, ornaments are actually bought from the local department store specifically to obtain decorations for the tree. They all have some meaning. We have always gotten a real tree every year and this may be the last year. It becomes more and more expensive every year (this years tree was $65) and although the process is very special, it is wearing to have to get the tree home and wrestle it into a stand. We have often gone and cut our own, which makes it a bit cheaper, but that too adds to the work, as well. So, next year, we are considering an artificial tree. There is a part of me that is very sad, but I guess it is inevitable.

From our vacation to Gloucester, Massachusetts

A handcarved piece I gave to Leon

Little house that lights up - I just like it

Happy Heart Princess

Well, another member of my family has joined the blogging world. This world is quite captivating and there are just so many reasons that it appeals to people. I have just enjoyed the writing experience. I seem to write better than I speak, in many instances. It provides a way to allow people to peek into your life and gain inspiration for many things. It allows family members to keep in touch and many people use blogging to help promote their creations.

This brings me to the new member of my family to enter blogging, my sis. She is the creator of a book called the Happy Heart Princess and has them for sale on her new blog. You can keep up with her there, and her ventures and (ad)ventures. You may even hear about her loves: Kita, the cat and Joey and Baby, her dogs. Baby has an especially interesting story, which may make it onto her blog.

She also does individualized princess paintings of children based upon their interests and characteristics. Take a look, maybe you will see something you like! I have added her blog to my favorites list.

Quiche - with my new mixer

My new mixer!!!


I had a taste for quiche last weekend and decided to break out my new birthday mixer that I got from Matt, Carrie and Abby and just go ahead and make some up. Now my birthday is actually today, but they gave me my gift when I was there for Thanksgiving.

The mixer that I had was a joke to them and probably to anyone else who saw it, but it worked and in the -recycle it instead of buying new- green environment that is so prevalent and popular today, my mixer was quite the trendy mixer. At least it took a long time to get it to a landfill. Please allow me a bit of license to ramble a bit while I describe it. It was a 34 year old burst of power Sunbeam portable mixer. The color was a beautiful gold. The slide switch that you use to change the speeds had fallen off many years ago and I just used the metal "sticky out thing" that the plastic switch had fallen off of. It worked just fine. Somewhere throughout the years, the cord got lost as well. It was a cord with one end that plugged into the mixer and the other end plugged into the outlet. Somehow, I ended up with two cords that I could use on it, one was for the electric knife and I really don't know where the other one came from. The problem was that neither cord really fit quite right, so I either had to hold the cord into the mixer while I held the mixer with the other hand; or I had to plug it back into the mixer every three seconds. That part really was a pain!!!!! Anyhow, that mixer made a lot of cookies, beat a lot of potatoes, and other various items. It was a part of our family and the kids will always remember 'Moms mixer' and laugh. That alone is worth it. It is now a part of our family history, slight though it may be. A little thing, but kind of fun to think about it and you gotta give me credit for 'being green'.

So the first thing that I used my new mixer on was a spinach quiche. At Lyndsay's shower, they had a spinach dish that was so good, so I looked for a recipe and made a quiche. It was UmmmUmmm Good!! And really easy, which certainly helps with the 'intimidation' factor. I will include the recipe, although I just found it on the foodnetwork website.

Here it is:
4 eggs
1 C half and half
1/2 C Mayonnaise
2 T Flour
Mix in a medium mixing bowl

Add:
1/3 C minced onions
Salt and garlic powder to taste
8 oz. of swiss or cheddar cheese (I used cheddar)
1 pkg frozen spinach (I thawed, drained and squeezed the liquid out - but the recipe didn't say you had to)

Pour into a prepared pie shell (I cheated and bought one). Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hr. (mine took a full hour).

Ready for the oven!!!!!

The final product-- Yumm!!

Your personal rainbow

I came across this little fun website that gives you a personalized rainbow, based upon how you answer some preference questions. Kind of interesting and I was very surprised by how my rainbow turned out. Very boring actually! I found the site on another blog and her rainbow had all the colors. I'm not sure if I'm weird or just like blue. Give it a try.

Your rainbow is intensely shaded blue, violet, and white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a tranquil person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it. People depend on you to make them feel secure.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Hey Mom, What's for dinner (Thanksgiving Day)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Carrie and Matts house. And of course, Abby was all excited about Thanksgiving and so this picture is absolutely great. The adults were all hustling around trying to get the food around and get all those last minute details taken care of before sitting down together. I couldn't resist the opportunity to snap this picture of Abby patiently waiting for the big turkey to appear.

Of course, Matt was working hard on it and eventually we all sat down and had turkey.
We also had to watch Lissy, until Chad saw to it that her hands were safely out of the way.