Monday, October 31, 2011

The Second African Flower Blanket

This is long over due.
How many weeks have I been promising to post a photo anyways,
too many for sure.
So I gathered up my last big project and the camera,
I headed outside before the sun went down.


 I started snapping pictures, several in fact.


I started thinking how amazing it is to make something 
pretty and useful from a bag of scraps.


This is the most color my back yard has seen all year.


Since I made this I have done a pretty crocheted shawl 
and I knitted scarf for my daughter. She wants to give them as
gifts to her best friend for Christmas.
I have also been knitting several more dishrags.
I like doing them because they are a quick and easy 
project, something that is almost mindless
when it comes to requiring
constant checking of a pattern. Sometimes I just need "easy" if you know what I mean. 

Saturday, October 29, 2011

My Lovely Mother-in-Law

Years ago, Edith taking care of the milk from their cow
I don't want to think of funerals. 
This whole week was consumed with sadness mingled with peace.
It was sad until I told myself enough is enough.
No more tears for a woman who lived a good life and is now where she has wanted to be for the past 15+ years. She out lived her husband by 20 years. She was married at 15 and was a grandma in her late 20's. She had 12 pregnancies and 6 of her babies died shortly after they were born. She outlived a daughter and a son, as well as many other relatives.
My first thought when I looked upon her still face was that she looked just like an angel.
She never cut her hair once she was saved, she was an Old Regular Baptist and lived strictly by the word of God, The Bible.
We mostly saw her wear her hair in a bun on top of her head. But on Friday it was down almost to her waist, a mantle of silver-white, framing her face. She wore a long-sleeved white cotton nightgown with a solid lace panel that had pale pink ribbons down the front. A pink ripple afghan was her blanket, she had made that years ago. I wondered at her choice of colors since I knew that her favorite color had always been purple. I remember her showing all these things to me once and telling me what they were for. Her hands rested on her stomach. I had to think to myself how hard those hands had worked in her 94 years. 
She was a shining light in all of our lives and we were so fortunate to have her love us. There are not many women like me who can say that they have been married to a man 41 years and never had one argument with his mother. 
Carl & Edith on their 50th wedding anniversary.
 I believe that she is in heaven now, surrounded by all those who preceded her and who she loved and lost while here on earth. Knowing that puts a smile on my face and lightens the sorrow in my heart. 
I have been so very blessed. 
I will miss her till my dying day.
♥♥♥


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Sad Monday, Death in the Family

Way too early this morning (Monday) the phone rang and it was my husband's one brother.
My mother-in-law, who turned 94 earlier this month was not doing well at the nursing home where she has resided for about 5 years now. 
Over the past few years she has had her ups and downs, always to rally and bounce back, but today it was different. They suggested the 
family had better come in to be at the bedside. 
My sweet mother-in-law was dying.
Over 41 years she has been a part of my life. I love her for what she gave to me, her loving son and years of kindness and caring. How lucky I have been to have had her in my life. She has been a Godly woman, and has been prepared to meet her maker for so many years.
We were all at the bedside for a few hours. For the most part God took her without a struggle. And when she stopped breathing I could still see where her heart beat there at the base of her neck, and then she was gone. 

Her work on this earth is done.
We know she is in a better place.
♥♥♥

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Catching My Breath

I know, I know, I have promised at least 2 times now to show you the second AF blanket.....honestly, I will, I just need to get busy and block it a bit......it won't be too much longer (I hope).....
In the meantime here is what is going on in my little corner 
of the world......
Yesterday....I decided to make spaghetti and meatballs.....
now wouldn't ya know it, I am up to my elbows, mixing all the ingredients with my hands and what do I hear coming from outside but some kind of buzzing, well like an engine of some sort and it is getting louder. Now we do live close to a small airport, and we do have a neighbor who has a small helicopter, but this was something I have heard before but just couldn't put my finger on it......I ran to the back window and OH MY!!!!!! It was the GOODYEAR BLIMP, right over top of my house!!!!!!




I am seeing it close up and personal and this is not the first time mind you, it has been around here several times in the past, only this time it is different, I have that super dooper new camera and crap! I need to wash my meatball hands, there is no way I can grab my camera with meatball goop all over my hands! So I run to wash them fast, fast, fast and go grab my camera, and in my haste I forget that I do not have that big long lens on it to telescope stuff far off, and by the time I got out on the deck you can see how far away that big flying cigar was! What a disappointment, a missed opportunity. I am even surprised I had the sense to remove the lens cover cap :(
I am quite the brain child here. 
 Later that evening I got busy and made up a batch of apple jelly. I am saving you the agony of photos of the mess I made.
It was around 9:30pm when I was ladling that sweet treat into jelly jars. No big top secret, just follow the directions on the SureJel box and you have it made.
Today it was a different story, my subjects were still life and not moving, (unless I rearranged them). During the night I could hear the "ping" of lids sealing. I love that sound :)
And now, for that Ta Da moment.....I will show off how pretty my jelly turned out.......



 
 This will be tasting sooooooo good when there is toast or biscuit around. And my camera, I just love it more each day. These 3 pics turned out pretty good and made up for all the disappointment I felt over that dang blimp :) I just love how the light shines through the jelly. In case you are wondering how it turned out that rosy pinkish color......Johnathon Apples, the skins are left on when you cook down the apples. Last year I took a jar to the gal who sold me the apples. She asked me how I got the jelly so pretty pink. She raises all kinds of fruits and never made any jelly from her Johnathon Apples. I wish I could share a jar with all of my blog friends. Until next time, have a wonderful weekend. Strap your camera around your neck and don't miss the opportunity for the "BIG ONE"

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Look What I Found

Okay, so I am cruising around the web, 
out for an evening stroll you might say, 
and what do I find but this......


It is called Field of Flowers and the pattern can be found on Etsy
and the shop owner is Ruecatt. I hope she does not mind that I posted her pic on my blog. I'm thinking I am giving her a bit of free advertising and so that would be okay. 
(The pattern is a $3 download, PDF format.)
Now get this, a few months back I was brain storming and wondering what I could do with all my small itty bitty scraps of yarn and I was thinking a plain blanket with tons of little crocheted flowers and leaves all over it would be something different, I've not seen anyone do one of those......
evidently I was loosing while I was snoozing cause here is one right under my nose!!!
Yeah, my mouth dropped to the floor and then 
I remembered this........



..........and this.........



I had bought these books specifically to embellish my
"original" blanket.
Well, so much for original, I would feel a bit like a copycat now. 
Anyways, Ruecatt has one lovely blanket and so to stimulate the economy and give her some business I bought the pattern. 
It is really no big deal that I didn't come up with the pattern first. There are no doubt several others floating around and I am just a Susie come lately, lol......happy crocheting. ♥
P.S. The book pics I took with the new camera. I love it!

New Camera/First Photos


This is the first time and my feeble attempt
with my new camera, but I am excited!!!
I want to make these pictures X-large for the blog but that would mean doing a different layout for the pages, grrrrrrrrrr!


 I think this photo was the prettiest of the whole lot. Tell me what you think.
 As you can see I am going to need a lot of practice
but have come to the conclusion that I will be having some fun
in the process.
 
 
I was a bit disappointed because it is now so late in the year that there wasn't too many interesting subjects to pick on in my back yard. The flowers are all but spent, but I did find these poke berries. 
The birds love them, but the droppings are messy and leave stains.
I should look into whether the berries could be used as a dye.
 

 Then there was my little patch of hens and chickens. Not one bit camera shy.
 

There was also the tiny hens and chicks with a nice big dandy lion weed growing in their midst.
(Mental note to self, need to do something about those weeds)


There is still some splendor among 
the flower pots 
that have 
seen better days. 
Even though the dead seed pods remain I got a fairly good shot of the marigold variety that I love the best. 
Not a year goes by that I don't have these pretty little flowers in my yard or pots to brighten up the place.
And that is about it for my first try with the camera. I love, love, love it! I am determined to get better as time goes by. Thanks to all of you for your offers to help and all the encouragement to press on and have some fun. My husband suggested we take a bit of a road trip sometime this week and find some interesting things to take pics of. It sounds like a winning idea to me. 
Next pics will be of the last AF blanket that I finished weeks ago but need to block a bit. That should be very colorful and a great subject.
Until then all of you have a great weekend. ♥

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Moving In The Right Direction

Yes, I am working on learning my camera,
Yes, I have taken 5 photos,
Imagine that!!!!!
Will I post the pics, oh no, they were taken of family  members
who will not speak to me again for snapping,
snapping, and snapping again pictures of people not prepared
to have their pictures taken in an impromptu
photo shoot.
I love how the camera will automatically focus, 
how the flash will pop up if I need more light.
I need to do that thingy where you get your pc to recognize 
your camera so you can download from the memory card.
I was so hoping to go outside and take a pic of that spider web that 
shows up on dewy mornings, all glistening of moisture.
I was hoping to get a pic of a bug or two.
I wish I would have had the camera ready last week 
when I had loaded garden brush in the wheel barrel to be burned along with tree and shrub trimmings........
I had scooped those dried things up with bare hands and my hubby
had then picked them out of the wheel barrel with his gloved hands to throw them on the fire.
I saw something looking out of the wheel barrel and it was a little SNAKE!
I said, "Is that a snake?" 
Yep, it was! What a great missed opportunity for me to get a pic.
See, at this point I am willing to take a picture of just about anything, just for the joy of knowing a bit more than the
"ON/OFF" button. 
Soon as it stops raining around here I will go out and have some fun, and my next post won't be so darn boring. I know everyone loves pics.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Found a Great Giveaway!

Check out the giveaway from one of the blogs I follow found here. It is for 4 reversible Borrego place mats and the matching napkins. Yvonne from the StoneGable has a lovely and interesting blog. You can find so many ideas and some yummy recipes. Check her out and see what is going on in her world.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Good Advice


I ran across this last evening and thought it appropriate for all parents to read. Some good sound advice. I do not know who to give the credit to for writing this, but whoever you are, THANK YOU for putting it down for all of us to read and benefit from. How many young women have been lost or have had their lives ruined because they didn't have a clue to any of this? And the last line about sons is so true too. Don't ever think your children aren't listening to you, because they are, no matter what they say. They learn by example, so be the parent you would love your children to be some day. ♥

Rayanna Meghan in New Mexico


Ahhhhhh..... just look at that smile! My youngest daughter Rayanna Meghan had her friend Susie snap a pic of her while they were wandering around the aspen trees in New Mexico. She is planning to snap some pics of the hot air balloons in Albuquerque (now did I spell that right?). She is my little traveler, my dare devil, sometimes my biggest worry for the fact that she isn't afraid of much..........needless to say, I loose hair, sleep and sometimes my religion over her travels, especially the one where she drove to New York City alone this past summer. It was not a good feeling when she snapped a pic of herself in Central Park, and then later with the Statue of Liberty behind her. You could have knocked me out of my chair when she posted those photos on Face Book and I saw them. I think my mouth dropped to the floor and I yelled at her dad, "DID MEGHAN TELL YOU SHE WAS GOING TO NEW YORK CITY?" That girl will be the death of me yet. She is 32 years old, but still my baby. Sometimes I can understand why animals eat their young. ♥


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