Cozy April Morning

John usually rises before I do. He makes his side of the bed sort of, shuts off the nightlight, and heads down the stairs. When I hear the coffee pot perking along, I get up, too. Molly is usually waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, scampering all about. Nothing is quite as good for a gal's spirits as being greeted by a hyper poodle who has to go.

It is a rainy/hail-y morning so I settled into my cozy chair; John brought me my one cup of coffee for the day, and I crocheted, sipped, and listened to John read me snatches from the paper.

Seems our corner has a few unusuals in it. Last night, a man doused himself with gasoline and called his girlfriend to tell her what he'd done. She in turn called the police. They finally found him sitting in his car. When he saw the police, he took off running into the woods. The police briefly considered calling in the scout dogs, but reconsidered once they realized that it would be pretty easy to follow the scent themselves.

In other news, a man beaned his wife over the head twice with a rock and tossed her down an embankment. He lost his footing and fell down after her. Smart girl came to and wasted no time running to the police without wasting time helping him. Three hours later, the police found him in the woods and asked about the rock. Seems he collects rocks and had some in his backpack. Oops. No rocks in the backpack. Must've used them all already.

This case is really interesting because the husband is having an affair with an old girlfriend and his wife just inherited four million dollars. Hmmm...

***

Green Depression Glass...smooth segue, what? I thought about using my juicer to corral the ball of yarn. I think it would work if the ball were much smaller.

Thus ends my contribution to Blogdom. Perhaps I'll be more inspired tomorrow. ☺

Say, what's the crazy news from your corner?

Orange Tulips

Oh I am late today. Must be channeling the White Rabbit. Hope I can get this finished by 10:00. I began at 9:50. Yup, it's a race. (For what it's worth, I have noticed that I can get posts published much quicker using Blogger in Draft. See former posts in the last week for more information if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Last night we had to go fetch the rest of John's prescription. This is my latest pet peeve. The pharmacy doesn't have enough medication to fill the entire prescription and so we must return. With gas prices what they are, it is a real inconvenience. We have no home town pharmacy and must travel ten miles to get to the closest one.

It did give me the chance to pick up more tulips. This time, an in-pot one. How nicely it matches the orange tulips in my calendar. I always choose flowers to match my calendar don'tcha know. ;>

It came with one of those fussy wrappers that was so cute and Eastery, but not so good for the plant so I did this thing.  Yikes! 9:57 a.m.

So I set it in a bowl that wasn't pretty enough to display and then used a doily to pull up around it. That little pile of marshmallow bunnies? I LOVE stale marshmallows. Am I weird? Don't answer that!

*****

I wanted to show you something I've been inspired to try seeing it done so beautifully all over Blogdom.

It's a picture of the Pink Moon. Thank you, Aunt Amelia, for sharing *the information.*

I used one of *Kim Klassen's backgrounds,* put in a little pink, and used my photograph. I kind of like it. What do you think?

Here's the original photo.

Okay, it's 10:07 a.m. I'll drop in links later... (Done! 10:14 a.m.)

Helmet Day

And here's the mosaic that didn't make Mosaic Monday. Saturday was helmet day when the grands, thanks to their generous auntie, were gifted with brand new bike helmets. We traveled for about an hour to my daughter's favorite bike shop and the boys selected their own. What a treat! Then they requested Pizza Hut for lunch. Speaking of helmet...wouldja look at my hair? Ai yi yi. I think that I'd better get myself to the hairdresser pronto. Both boys have new bikes, but the baby grand just loves his Thomas the Train bike still and can't give it up to move on. So cute!

It was freezing Saturday, I'm very glad that the weather turned warmer again just in time for some rousing games of marbles with the grands yesterday afternoon. I wish that the camera had been out, but I was too busy playing and so was John. We got delightfully muddy and the boys were very pleased with their marble bags and marbles. Baby Grand is not too interested in the game, but terribly interested in the accoutrements. Older Grand is not only interested in the game, he's very good at the game winning twice. We did not play for keeps; we played for fun. And fun is what we had.

I just realized that I have passed a milestone here in Blogdom that should be recognized. Yesterday's post made my 1,000th. Let me think of a way to celebrate and I'll get back to you soon. I'd like to make it special.

So how was your weekend?

Easter Decor~Mosaic Monday

I often find Easter decorating inspiration in magazines. These are found in Country Living, Better Homes and Gardens, and Southern Living.

1. Southern Living

2. Southern Living

3. Southern Living

4. Country Living

5. Better Homes and Gardens

6. Better Homes and Gardens

7. Country Living

OOPS! I have no idea what happened here...the entire post slipped off when I tried to shift a photo. Silly Blogger!

Linking to Mary at Little Red House.
A wonderful week to you!

Palm Sunday

God has never taken his eyes off you. Not for a millisecond. He's always near. He lives to hear your heartbeat. He loves to hear your prayers. He'd die for your sin before he'd let you die in your sin. And he did.

What do you do with such a  Savior? Don't you sing to him? Don't you celebrate him in baptism, elevate him in Communion? Don't you bow a knee, lower a head, hammer a nail, feed the poor, and lift up your gift in worship? Of course you do.

Worship God. Applaud him loud and often. For your sake, you need it.

And for heaven's sake, he deserves it. ~Max Lucado from Cure for the Common Life

The people gave him a wonderful welcome, some throwing their coats on the street, others spreading out rushes they had cut in the fields. Running ahead and following after, they were calling out,

Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in God's name!

Blessed the coming kingdom of our father David!

Hosanna in highest heaven!

Mark 11:8–10

Comments are off

Blessed are the Flexible

It doesn't matter how many times I clear off the clutter from the refrigerator, it all just piles right back on. Let's see, I still have the book page envelope from Aunt Ess being held on by the butterflies John gave me, an empty grocery list, the little thing I tossed together using an old day calendar, Brenda's recipe for Cowboy Cookies juxtaposed nicely with a diet my doctor gave me. And that little windmill? I used to think it was tacky, tacky, tacky hanging on my grandmother's refrigerator. Now I think that it's just about the dearest thing ever.

Diet? Oh that. Well I'm not doing so great with it. I'm using food to medicate. Weight is a lot like the clutter on my refrigerator.

Anyway, my sister is not here and there is much to be done, which means I'm it. There are extra concerns when a memorial service and a committal service must be separated because of winter weather. Though I try not to borrow any trouble from tomorrow (weeks from now), I'm already imagining the griefs that will be revisited after we've all hobbled along so very well since January. And I'm thinking about all those who could not make the memorial service who wished to come instead to the committal service so there's a bit of planning to be done and I do not excel at such things. That was always Mother's department.

My sister has a brand new job where she doesn't want to make waves. She's already put in for a weekend to come home for the graveside service and now we learn that she chose the one weekend of the summer with a wedding planned so both of my mother's pastors are unavailable. We'll just have to move directly on to Plan B. You know what they say about "plan b" don't you? If Plan B were any good, we'd have called it Plan A. At least it's teaching me all over again to never assume.

It's the little things like this that I find so unsettling. I don't know why. Life happens. Flexibility is important or as a friend used to say, "Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken."

Anyway, it's a gloriously sunny day so even if the temps are chilly, it'll be good to be out doing my errands. I'll try to look at it that way. My doctor asked with raised eyebrow, "Do you have trouble getting out of the house?" My response was that I don't like it, but I can do it when I must. Today I must.

You have a lovely Friday and a blessed Palm Sunday weekend.

Blogger in Draft, Et Cetera

This is what I took from yesterday's post: perhaps I should be working in Blogger in Draft. Today I am. So far, so good.

Thank you to everyone who participated in my poll. I'm keeping it up through the end of April so please consider answering the questions if you haven't already. What I am learning is that some bloggers have nearly zero problems and the rest of us have far too many. Blogging should be fun; it should not take one blogger three times as long to accomplish the same task because her pictures are disappearing or because her text won't stay formatted. Here's to happier blogging!

***

Thought I'd share how much snow has gone in a week. It's amazing what a little sun, warmer temps, and a lot of rain can do.

1. Snow gone, sap buckets gone, too (Does this mean I must redo my header?)

2. Daffodil buds

3. Everlasting (a very pretty ground cover popping through)

4. Azalea bush and Toby

5. A lot of sand on front lawn...a lot of raking to be done (Remember my crazy neighbor plowing his yard of snow onto my lawn? I should offer him a rake.)

6. The plate border survived the winter

7. Side lawn's ruts raked out (thanks to John) and forsythia bushes beyond...no blooms yet

8. Plenty of snow patches still about

9. Something new coming  up (I have no idea what it is); something old coming up (a sprig of grass)

Fascinating, say what?!

I sincerely hope that your spring is way ahead of mine! Enjoy a happy day...

Edited to Add: Thursday, 6:48 AM... I'm not putting up a new post today. Not much sense in it really since all of Blogdom is out playing. I just slapped in my latest backyard water feature in case anyone wandered in needing something new...eight seconds and it sounds so lovely.

Rolling Blog-Outs

When reading the book O*ne T*housand G*ifts, I thought a lot about the problem that I'm going to discuss today. The author suggests that any time we are disgruntled or unsettled it's because we are ungrateful and ungratitude is the source of all sin. Funny how the issue of blogs not updating becomes the perfect object lesson for my condition.

Yes, I have been sinning a lot. I am extremely annoyed by blogging these days because the systems seem to be failing. As a result, I find that I am ungrateful for the very host who allows me to play here in Blogdom. I hear about the troubles all over Blogdom — pictures are not uploading, comments are lost, pictures are lost, formatting doesn't hold, and the worst of all, in my book — a new post languishes for 12 hours. Now if my car wouldn't start for 12 hours, it'd be hauled off so fast. And another grumble is that there is no one to contact. No one. Crickets. We depend upon each other for information because it is impossible to get through to someone who can help.

Do you all visit *Known Blogger Issues*? At least that way, you can know what is not working and for how long it hasn't been working, and if there's any hope at all.

Please feel free to vent in comments. Let me know what's bugging you the most. Sometimes a blogger is so frustrated that I attempt to settle her down with a "There...there, it's just your turn. We all have them here in Blogdom. It'll right itself eventually."

Lately, I've decided that that is entirely too patronizing so I am preparing a survey that will sit high in my sidebar and I hope that everyone who blogs and visits here will feel free to fill it out. I'm eager to know your concerns, too.

Edited to Add: 10:25 am

Apparently, I have another growing entry expanding to gather in as much info as possible.

I Googled "Blogger in draft" and immediately my Dashboard popped up with a handy little box to click. I did. I don't know how it'll work not having tried it (or am I trying it now?) Using Blogger in draft is what Karen suggests will work better. Please read comments for further tips and suggestions.

ETA: Working in Blogger in Draft also provides a handy page for reporting any issues. I think that is very cool. See?

Just as a point of amusement, this is how it went putting together the poll on my sidebar. (Puleese fill it out. Pretty Please? Sugar on top?)

This is the story of my blogging life in a nutshell. ☺

We Were Not Thinking

"It's a good thing we didn't measure this," John puffed as he pushed the box spring up the stairs while I tugged from above.  "We'd never have bought it!"

And that is the truth of it. My Serta mattress needed replacing after seventeen years. It had a ten-year warranty as does the new one. (It isn't a Serta.) The new mattress is nearly two inches deeper than the old one necessitating new bedding, which we also didn't consider.

Further, we didn't consider needing a ladder, a catapault, a pole vault, a trampoline, something to climb into bed!

John's platform (top); my bench (below). The beautiful mattress in the middle and the impossible corner at right

How'd we sleep? Not very well. I'm a titch concerned actually. As we lay there staring at the ceiling last night, the ceiling's being so much closer to us now, John said, "I can feel my iliums."

"Stop talking that way," said I and rolled over to sleep.

We were still laughing about it this morning. I won't be laughing tomorrow morning if we don't sleep better tonight.

Easter Bread~Mosaic Monday

Left to Right:

Bread pans waiting, bread dough rising, dirty dishes piling, and the best loaf posing.

Until Easter 2008, I had never heard of this recipe. It was introduced to me by Lovella at What Matters Most. In fact, you'll find the link to her recipe on her sidebar. That year I wrote on the recipe: This is the most delicious bread I've ever eaten. Make it every Easter forever! I'm pretty sure that that's what you'd write on your recipe, too. It also has an interesting history. Check it all out at Lovella's place or at Mennonite Girls Can Cook. (Now they've got a beautiful mosaic!)

Though my Easter bread didn't turn out as well as in years past (all my own fault...too little flour), it still made some amazing toast and, slathered with apricot jam, it could've almost fooled me.

Linking to Mary at Little Red House. Mary, please, have a piece of toast. Anybody? I can make more!



Colossians 2:2–3

Blessings this day and through the coming days as we move toward Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. So much to think and wonder about...

Comments are closed...

My Version of Another Spring Wreath

Anyone who visits here for long knows that I tend to spiral around in big loops. Topics return again and again in ever widening circles. Such is the case today as I show you my version of *this spring wreath* mentioned a couple of weeks ago and hinted at just yesterday.

My ongoing theme is to use things I already have. I tried this project and failed with some teal green yarn so I did have to purchase the proper color. At the price ($4.49 per skein), I purchased one Fun Fur in lime. Fearing that just one would not be enough to wrap a wreath form, I decided to use an old 8x10 picture frame. That way, I could have the grassy wreath and the square wreath I am so fond of.

I needn't have worried because it took about half of the Fun Fur.

Then I decided that I should make my own white flowers using crochet thread with that itty bitty crochet hook. I haven't used that stuff in years and it was a challenge for me. I managed to make three giving them yellow centers.

I made a little "Happy Spring" sign...

and hung it on the front door. (That door is so going to be painted this spring if it ever warms up enough.)

**Now I have more ideas so this may not be the last you see of this poor little thing.

We are supposed to be receiving our best days of spring thus far this weekend. We're going to enjoy them with family and by being outside a bit. Yay!

Have a delightful weekend yourself!

**

It needed something...

yellow ribbon on green wreath on yellow door

It's Not Easy Being Green...

...and it may not matter much. That's just this gal's opinion. We recycle, reuse, repurpose, create treasure from trash, and try not to be wasteful. I've spoken about this before and have even featured the local dump transfer station on my blog more than once *here* and *here.* It came as something of a shock to learn last summer that our recycled items had no place to go. The townspeople continue to practice recycling and the town just unloads it all to the same pit where it is buried. Guess they want to keep us in practice because, if we dared to show up doing what they're ultimately going to do anyway, we'd not be allowed to use the facility. Talk about a case of the Emperor's having no clothes.

So it was with some amusement that I listened to the teenage clerk at Joann's gush on and on and on about my purchase of a reusable bag. She thanked me and told me how wise I was explaining in great detail the horrors of plastic shopping bags. Finally, I could take it no longer and told her my real reason for its purchase. "Oh, I have no plans to use this when coming to Joann's," I told her, "it's just cheaper than a basket for storing my crafting projects." I think I took the wind out of her sails, though she valiantly replied, "That's a very good idea!"

Cute graphics; cute handle (John wants the inches to be inches, but that's his little problem.)

Prior to its purchase, the living room looked as if it were a crafter's nightmare. Crocheting on the arm of this chair and that one, too. A ball of yarn partially unwound on the floor...Fioré was obviously up to tricks. Little posies in this pile and that. Now let's see what's in the bag.

See those tiny little clothespins? Some of you know the true plans I have for them, but I also discovered that they keep the balls of yarn from unraveling. And, at last, the real shade of green that I need for that spring wreath I've been wanting to do. The former one was made with teal, which didn't make for realistic looking grass at all, unless you're lost in the chocolate factory with Willy Wonka. That plastic lunch bag is for collecting all the little yarn leavings for nest kits for the birds. My trees and shrubs have little gifts of yarn everywhere. Hmmm, now the yard looks like a crafter's nightmare. Hope those birds find my gifts soon.

My last blessing from Joann's was this chocolate covered Peep. Have you tried one?

They're good!

Enjoy your day...

The Dirty Truth

Oh it's a right regular fright show around here. Today is April 7, 2011. These pictures were taken yesterday afternoon. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. I am surrounded by snow and ice. Which of these pictures would you think I like best? Bingo. The one on the top. It looks like icy hieroglyphics.

Last year? Last year on April 4, 2010, my backyard looked like this; it was shirtsleeve and flip-flop weather.Wonder when we'll see scenes like this again? And. what. in. the. world. is John doing with Jake?

Keeping a Blog Private

Bless you, bless you, bless you to those who rose to the challenge of answering yesterday's question. Your varied responses prove that there is more than one way to do a thing. Lovella answered in the simplest of ways and I'm sharing her response up front:

The new private blog which is unseen at all is easy peasy. In your edit profile ..simply unclick the blog you do not want to be visible on your profile. I am not sure if that is what you mean but from what I can tell you want it completely invisible. . .for only family to read. You would give them permissions in the permission slot.

Edit Profile is found in the Dashboard Section

Several options are listed

Including which blogs to display

As you can see, I have two blogs. *I decided to show only one on my profile. As Lovella says, "easy peasy." Thank you, Lovella!

Now all of the above was for those of you who, like me, didn't know. Go forth and create a private blog...oh the possibilities!

***

In other news, my hands have seized up after all that crocheting so I'm all done with that for a while. I managed to move forward instead of in circles on the tiramisu blanket mentioned yesterday and now have a little white number suitable for John's little great-granddaughter's baby doll. It's kind of cute, but has a few minor issues the largest of which is that I changed the pattern. Still that edging and the woven ribbon are what make it for me. Some fine day, when my hands have calmed down, I'll get back to doing it properly.

Whatever am I going to talk about now that I can't discuss crocheting? ☺

My Crochet Skills AND a Question

What Went Wrong

So I've been growing in crochet skills by such leaps and bounds that I decided to whip up Alicia's Tiramisu Blanket with my leftover yarn from the little wreath.  I love her blog Posie Gets Cozy. I visit nearly every single day; I never say a peep; I'm that much in awe of what she does.  I just tried the button on her sidebar for the free directions and it isn't working (maybe it isn't working; it doesn't seem to be working; I dare not make any big pronouncements about blogging issues anymore).  I went the circuitous route and Googled finding it *here.*

It soon became evident that something was going terribly awry. Awry.Terribly. I had paid no attention to yarn weight and hook size; nevertheless, I didn't want to start all over. I'm so immature that way. I have very few bad memories of my mother, but one is that she always, without fail, made me start over a project gone wrong. I'd clutch the whatever to my chest yelling, "Nooooooo" and she'd wrest it from me and take it back to the last good stitch. My thinking was so what if I'm wearing a crocheted vest that is a size 22 on the top and a size 6 on the bottom. What's your point? Hers was no daughter of mine is going to create such an inferior piece of work.

Anyway, the short of it is that I decided to finish up at the end of the row, practice the edging, and make someone else suffer with the results.

Don't let those pitiful looks make you think that she doesn't love it. ☺

~*~*~*~

QUESTION:

For some time now, I've been wanting to write a private journal for my family. It would involve family matters and things only a family would be interested in.

PROBLEM:

I don't want to have that blog be attached on either end to my current profile. How do I get around that? Must I create an entirely new identity? New email?

Thank you for any advice you can give.

A happy Tuesday to you all...

Easter Decorating~Mosaic Monday

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This image will enlarge

Go figure! Just a quirk I finally learned about uploading images in Blogger. If selecting the largest image to share, readers can not enlarge them. If selecting large, medium or small, a reader can. No April Fool's joke. (Actually, some of you can get the larger image to enlarge. I'm still shaking my head.)

Thanks for visiting. Now have fun exploring by joining Mary for Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.

Wooly Snow

Soon the snow will be melted and I'll have a very clear object lesson in the mud. Mud is miserable. It sucks tires down and buries vehicles up to their hubcaps; it tracks over the drive, up the stairs, and right into the house. It takes vigorous work to be rid of it and, even then, nothing will ever be pristine again until new carpeting or new paint makes it right. Sin is just like that. I'm so glad that we have this promise and more like it — Jesus can clean us up; He Himself covers our sins. What must we do? Only to ask Him to come into our hearts and lives and have His way.

Doesn't the snow look like wool in all its melting puffiness?

An excellent and restful Sunday to you.

Comments are closed ...

Welcome Blocks, A Red Butterfly, and A Cross

A quick story/ies...

And since it's early morning...a shadowy story...and a story about things beyond the windowsill (ten inches of heavy snow...thank you for your sympathy.)

Another story...a red crocheted butterfly found in the depths of my mother's crochet basket. I received it as a God breeze and attached it to my wreath. My sister calls such moments "God winks." They are points in time when one feels as if there's been a connection with something beyond oneself. Since I have been considering attaching a butterfly to the wreath and had lamented not buying a gossamer one while at Michael's last weekend, to find a crocheted butterfly made by mother seems extra special and it is perfection...so much better than a gossamer one would've been.

Just dropping in a photo to show size and perspective of a vintage bookmark that I found in an old book. It says G&W Co. NYC printed in the U.S.A. on the back.

I've scanned it and you may feel free to snag it.

Have a very pleasant weekend...

Happy April Fool's Day!

This mosaic will not enlarge

Left to Right; Top to Bottom

When life gives you a lemon (photos 1–3), set the table, make breakfast, nibble on your bacon, grin at the cook, share the bounty by feeding the less fortunate, relax, finish your breakfast, and send appropriate greetings.

Just thought I'd share our first meal at the new table. It washed up like a dream.

Happy April Fool's Day! How many got the same "joke" that we did?

Edited to Add: I think I learned something new this morning. If I use the largest picture option, I can't click on it to enlarge the photo; if I use a smaller size option, I can.

This mosaic will enlarge