Now what?

I just started this candle wrap for my SIL's unity candle. Her wedding colors were burgundy and silver.
I called her to chat and to let her know I was working on the wrap. Imagine my surprise when she told me she was in the process of packing to move out. Her fiance had told her this morning that "he didn't want to get married anymore". Her wedding date was June 27th.
What could I say? She, like me, had waited a long time to find the right person. She thought she had found her soul mate, but it was not to be.
So now my question is: NOW WHAT? Now what do I do with this piece of needlework. Maroon (burgandy, actually) and silver are not the most popular colors.
I received the pattern from my friend Sandy who had made a couple of needleroll ornaments for my stitching for a cure project.
Since burgandy is the color for hemangiomas, a type of non-malignant cancer, I highly suspect (that is a phrase my grandmother used all the time. I will have to tell you more about her later) that I am going to make this into a needleroll ornament also.
I have already stitched the biggest part of the reverse double backstitch. It also has some herringbone stitches and your choice of a Rhodes heart or butterfly, along with some beadwork for flowers.
In the center where I was going to put their names, Sandy put the word cure on one and the word hope on the other. I think I will do the same.
This linen band will work nicely for a needleroll I think.
But I am truly sorry it is not going to be used for the purpose it was started for. I had dreams of them celebrating their 10th anniversary by lighting the candle.
I pray God has something even more special in line for my SIL.

Lions, and tigers and bears, oh my!

We have had so much fun this weekend. First of all we went to the zoo here, which was so lovely. The animals were quite playful. The pictures do not do them justice! For instance, what you can't see in the bear picture is that we were just a pane of glass away from touching that bear's nose. He was in the water, eating an apple! And the tiger was pacing.

This elephant was showing off for us. She would raise her trunk and flair her ears for all the photographers wanting to photograph her.

This baby bison was born just 3 hours before we photographed her. The umbilical cord and placenta were still attached to the mom. She stood up on her wobbly legs and tried to nurse, then had to lay down.
And finally, I told my husband I wanted to see a waterfall before I left this earth. While I may not see one in nature, this zoo had 4 of them and they were absolutely beautiful.
Here is a picture of my two grandkids and me in front of one of them.

We have had a wonderful weekend. Saturday we went bowling. The entire family, DD, DH, SIL and of course the grandkids. It was so much fun. I taught my grandson to "shake his tail feathers" when he threw the ball for good luck. That little bony rear end of his could really move!

And my daughter was amazed how great my grandkids could bowl!

One of the best things we did was to take my mom out with the whole family to our favorite hamburger joint. We wanted to take her to watch us bowl, but it started raining and she got soaked so she had to go home and we had to go without her.
Here is a picture of her with my daughter.

All in all it was the perfect weekend. Just perfect!

Little things

Little things mean so much. Like a dandelion picked from a field by your grandson for you.
My dear husband James did one of these little things this weekend.
The steering wheel cover on the vehicle I have been driving leaves a black residue on my hands and sometimes my clothes. It is much worse when it gets warm. I suspect it is some kind of adhesive that is oozing from the seams of the cover. This winter it hasn't been a problem, but now that warmer weather is here it seems like every evening when I drive home I have black on me.
I mentioned in passing how it irritated me and that I needed to go and pick up a new steering wheel cover to my husband.
That night when I returned home, there it was. A new steering wheel cover.
I know, I know. It is just a steering wheel cover. Probably only cost a few dollars.
But it meant so much to me. And was just so sweet of him.
Yep. Little things mean so much!

My anniversary

I will celebrate my 4th anniversary on May 28th. For those of you who don't know, I waited until I was 44 to get married for the first time. Did the whole big shebang. White dress with a 4 foot train, church wedding, my boss giving me away (my dad passed away before I could get married), just everything!
My husband is 14 years younger than me. He is my hunk of burning love!
Seriously, he is the man I waited all my life for and the love of my life. God truly blessed me with him.
I am thankful I have had 4 years with him and pray for many, many more! James, I love you!



These are pictures of the unity candle I had at my wedding. My good friend Lenna stitched this candle wrap for me. It is beautiful.
I am attempting to make one for my sister-in-law who is getting married this June. I pray I could do a job close to as nice as this one is.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is Donna's daughter, Jennifer. I have hijacked her blog to wish her a very special Mother's Day! My mom is my best friend and I love her more than words can say! I wanted to hijack this to let her and all her friends know the top ten reasons why I love my mommy!

1. She is just as crafty as I am if not more!
2. She listens to me rant about my kids (and then tells me how it's my fault!)
3. We both love the spa and always know when in doubt hair and makeup is the perfect present!
4. She taught me how to cook.
5. She loved me enough for both a mom and a dad.
6. She is the prettiest lady in the whole wide world.
7. She can make me smile.
8. She cries at all the emotional shows on TV (but still makes fun of me for being the same way).
9. She gave me her beautiful eyes.
10. She gave birth to me and raised me to be the mother I am today so I can celebrate this day too.

I love you mommy! Now you have speakers so turn up your volume and listen to the CD I was going to burn for you, but this works better!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all! We all had a mother, good, bad or indifferent. I have a lovely mother. Her name is Jan.
Let me tell you about my mother. She and my father married when she was 14 and he was 17 and no she wasn't pregnant. She didn't have me until she was 21.
At the age of 30, yes, 30 she had a massive stroke. Then 6 months later another stroke. They did an angiogram and found out that she had a rare benign tumor on her heart valve. She became the 3rd person in Waco, TX to have open heart surgery to remove the tumor.
But the stroke had done major damage. At that time they didn't have the clot busting drugs they do now. Or the physical therapy techniques. So everything mom lost, was lost for good.
Included was her eyesight in her left eye, the entire right side of her body was paralyzed and most importantly her speech was gone.
She is now 69. She has lived this way for 39 years. At first she could walk with a cane, then a walker. She has fallen so many times she has pretty much broken most of her bones. Her spine is a crumbling mass of tiny fractures.
So now she is in a wheelchair. When she stands to transfer into the bathroom or into her chair or bed, she is completely bent over, like she is reaching to pick up something.
But let me tell you something the stroke did not take. HER SMILE. She smiles all the time. Everyone that sees her can't help but smile. Strangers in the places we go just warm up to her.
She is pretty much confined to home, but Saturday is beauty shop day and we better not miss beauty shop day or all he-- breaks loose. Lord help us if it is raining or icy. The next week will be miserable if she misses beauty shop day. They treat her like she is a celebrity there. They make coffee just for her and even after she is done getting her hair done, they wait for her to finish her coffee.
Today my sister, her daughter and my sister's boyfriend joined us for lunch. This is a picture of my sister & her daughter & Mom & me.
Tell me the truth. Didn't her smile make you smile too?

I am baaaacckkkk!

Thanks to my mom and sister I am back online with a new computer! I will have lots of pictures to and more updates to post. Right now I just have lots of catching up to do. Thanks so much for the prayers and kind thoughts. It has been stressful, but we are getting through it!

Update from Donna's daughter

This is Donna's Daughter, Jennifer. Donna had a lightening strike on her house. All 4 of her TVs are out, the water heater is out, the dishwasher is out, the hallway light is out and most importantly her computer is gone. She will not be online until she gets computer access again.

My Saturday and the infamous biscornu

I had a lovely Saturday. My EGA had our annual May luncheon and despite some minor catering problems, it was wonderful. The food was good and the fellowship even better. I laughed and talked and ate myself into needing a nap afterward. Here are some photos of the luncheon:





And now about the biscornu. I passed out the fabric, threads, etc and instructions for the biscornu at the luncheon.
I had stitched most of the top of the biscornu before my friend Lenna took it over for me in an effort to keep my sanity (I only needed 3 small specialty stitches on the top). She did the backside and put it together.
It shouldn't surprise you that with all the problems I had with it when I was stitching it that I would have problems with taking a picture of it now that it is finished. I took 10 photos, all of which are blurry. Here are two of the best (if you can say best in this situation).


Now, let me give some people their "props". Thanks to Lenna for finishing this for me. You are an angel. Thanks to Mary Ann & Dana for helping me with the supplies for this project. Thanks to Mary for sending me her finished biscornus to show as examples. And thanks to all of you who have encouraged me.
I will be giving this little jewel away at a later date. I still have to teach the class this month and next. Wish me luck!
P.S. You might have noticed I now have a Facebook Badge. I am now on Facebook. Come visit me there if you like. I know NOTHING of Facebook but had many requests to join Facebook so I gave in!