Good bye January 2009!!

Good bye to the longest month of the year!! OH....that's right........it has been the only month of the year!! LOL

WE have had snow, rain, flooding, windstorms, and due to the illness and recent loss of my father in law, January has seemed to be extra long for our family. WE are happy to be moving on into a new month looking forward to new and brighter days!!

Yet, I want to say that I have also been so blessed in this month by so many wonderful and loving friends. You have reached out to us with notes, calls, flowers, food, gifts, hugs, and tears!! Thank you to all my friends!! I love you all!!! Each one of you made the days more bearable!! We also got to spend some special time with family from far and near and treasure the memories we have of days gone by.

Last week I took two days to just stay at home and do mostly nothing!! Since I had not had a day since late December at home by myself or without anything major to tend to..........I decided I needed the down time!! I did a few chores and then sat and stitched while I watched some season 6 of 24!! My kids got me hooked on it!! So good!!

We ended the last day of January 2009 with our adorable granddaughter Addison!!

I picked her up on Friday morning after my MAMMOGRAM

(GO GET YOURS IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE IT YET!!)

She spent the night with us and most of the day today......... we played and played and played!! We played with dolls, tigger and pooh, ball, we made tents under the table, watched movies, read books, took naps, and played outside on the swing!!

It was so much fun!!

A special friend.....

My friend Renee was in town this weekend for some classes and I was so excited that we got to find a little bit of time to have some fun!! Jeff was our chauffeur for the evening which added to the fun!! We met up for a short but very fun time antiquing at Monticello and enjoyed a great dinner at Sayler's Country Kitchen!

Check out Renee's web page Liberty Star & blog to see more of how special and talented she is!!

I'm BACK!!

We are back home safe and sound after a long and quick trip to sunny California!! We left Ontario, CA to head home at 9:00 am on Monday and just kept going until we arrived home at 4:45 am on Tuesday!!! Thank you Jeff for doing ALL the driving and getting us home!!
The Road to California Quilt Show was lots of fun!!

After the long week we had here with Jeff's dad passing away and getting ready for the show I was not that enthusiastic about the trip........but...........
THANKS TO SPECIAL FRIENDS

who visited me at my booth and gave me lots so smiles, hugs, and encouraging words I am so

blessed for having been there!! Here are just a few of those friendly faces!!

It is always fun to see faces I regonize from previous years......THANKS FOR COMING BACK....some of you came every day!!
And so fun to make new friends too!! I was truly blessed by all who came!! Quilters are such special people!!


Delma & Sally
(Above)

Jill & (Mother) Betty
(RIGHT)

Cynthia (BELOW)

Brenda,

Regan,

&

Kim

AND.........my special friends from Stars and Scraps Quilt Shop

Judy, Cindy, Rachael, and Beth
And the weather was so nice!! I got to step outside a couple of times durin gthe day and take in a few sunny rays........this was the first year that I have been at the show and there was no wind.....
Speaking of wind.........we had a huge wind storm at home while we were gone.........lots of damage to may trees.......and homes and power outages!! We had a huge tree blow over on our property but fortunaly it only broke the picnic table.....the top of it missed Jeff's truck by a couple of feet!!


On the right is a home near us that was crushed by a tree!!



We are all unpacked......and getting ready for the weekend......we have family flying in for Jeff's dads' memorial service which will be this Sunday.....It will be a special time of remembering for us!! We so appreciated everyone who gave their condolences!

California or BUST!!!

And we are off!!! We are loaded up and off to California!! If you are in the area come and see us at our booth at Road to California in Ontario, CA. January 15-18 at the Convention Center!!

Dad's service will be when we return with a celebration of his life with all you loved him!!

See you when we get back.......Happy Stitching until then!!

Saying Good Bye.....

We said good bye to a father, father in law, grandfather, and great grandfather. My husband Jeff's father passed away Thursday afternoon.

The week has been long..... but too fast...........never enough time when things like this approach us. Even though we knew his time was short those last minutes seem to go so slow.........but way too fast and then he was gone. We rest knowing that he is in heaven with the Lord.

His room is empty and our hearts are sad......but they are filled with the love and memories that we hold so dear.

More NIGHT OWLS!!

Lots going on around here.........mostly late nights working on getting ready to leave for a show in southern california!! Hopefully to some sunshine!!
I showed these little owls awhile back but I am just finishing up the pattern for these little guys......NIGHT OWLS!! They are pincushions, make do's, and needlekeepers.


My good friend Sharon who lives on the complete opposite coast as I do........got a package with a couple of the owls in it. She will be teaching a class to make them later this spring.

I have been trying to talk her into creating a blog but with no luck!! She sent me these photos of her with her goodies so I am sharing them here with a picture of her!! She is a wonderfully talented friend who wears many hats!! She has a pattern company called Liberty Rose, A decorating consulting business called Liberty Design and Interiors, works and teaches classes at The Rusty Bucket which is a specialty gift shop in Apex, North Carolina, and hardest of all keeps her husband Mark in line!!!
In fact I am sure that Mark was a great help in taking these photos of Sharon......Thanks Mr. Mark!! Good Job!!
Thanks for sending the photos Sharon........sure wish I could sit at your table with you!!
You make a good owl........but I know you are NOT a NIGHT OWL!!!

But I am!! I will just be going to bed when you get up!!

Happy Dreams!!

Life is a "BLOG"!!

My intent was to write this blog entry before midnight on January 1, 2009 and it is now 1:00 am on January 2, 2009 and we just walked in the door.

So far 2009 has been interesting to say the least...............Jeff worked New Years Eve and did not get home until after 10:00 pm!! He has not gotten home earlier than 9:00 pm any night this week due to the back up of packages delayed from the recent snow we had here!!

NO WORRIES........we had no big celebration plans anyway......since I was home in bed since the night before with the STOMACH FLU!!! A NOT SO FUN WAY TO JUMP START my new years resolution of going on a diet!!

We planned on spending most of New Years day just resting.........taking a couple of naps........sipping on sprite....and nibbling on crackers!!

BUT..........there were other plans in store for us..........Jeff helped me gather up all the Christmas STUFF around the house and pile it on the table......empty the christmas tree and hauled it out to the burn pile. He even helped me vacume up all the pine needles.......

WATCHOUT FOR THE RED BEADS!!! YIKES!!!!

We had to take the whole vacume apart to get the beads unstuck.....and the vacume working again!!! I told my husband hang on.... I need to get the camera so I can add this to my blog....and that from now on......... "LIFE IS A BLOG"..........so watch out what he does!!!

Just about the time we got that all cleaned up.........WHAT's that?...........there's water in the basement!!!! It has been pouring here non stop......we got over 3 inches of rain today and the rivers are on flood watch!!! So we spent some time soaking up water and unclogging gutters!!!

Just sitting down to sip my sprite and nibble my crackers when the phone rang with news that Jeff's dad was on his way to the hospital in an ambulance!! He was diagnosed with lung cancer over a year ago and has been battling it ever since. He was having a hard time breathing even with his oxygen. At the hospital the report came back that he was extremely anemic.....that his red blood count was below 7. Any time he tried to move around made it hard for him to breath because the red blood cells were not able to carry the oxygen through the body. After much waiting in the ER ROOMS, the treatment determined was to have a blood transfusion which he is having right now. It will take about 8 hours total and they say he will feel much better afterwards!!

So, I am off to get some sleep before I head out to the hospital in the morning to take him back home. You just never know what each day with bring your way.........it's not always what you might have had planned..........but like the title of my new 2009 calendar says.........EACH DAY IS A GIFT!!! I am looking forward to tomorrows gift!!

Happy New Year a day late to everyone!!