What I've been working on!

I wanted to share with you what I've been working on the past few days.....snowmen! Last year I purchased a couple of small snowmen for our tree, and this year I went back to get some more, but the store didn't have them. DH said, well, why not make your own surely it can't be too hard! Well, with his help here is what we have come up with. All this out of my scrap bag of fabrics and craft supplies. We have made enough to cover my year-round tree. I've decided I want some lace for garland for the tree, but need to make a run to Wal-mart for that. Hopefully, tomorrow I can get a photo of the tree taken and posted. We are very proud of ourselves!

The top photo is an angel that was given to me by a friend from church. It is made using yo-yo's, a thin dowel stick, a very small flower pot and a round ball for the head. The halo is wire, and the head and halo are painted gold, as is the small flower pot for the base. The angel wings are gold ribbon wired together and hot glued on the back. There is a card around her neck which reads.....

Friend Angel

This darling little angel

will watch over all

you do. She'll be a

reminder that you are

loved too!!!

These would be very easy to make also.

I can't believe I'm into all this craft stuff! Oh me, oh my, there is never enough time to do all the things in my "to do" baskets! If I live to be a 100 (which I plan on doing), I will complete everything.

I also want to take this time to wish each of you a very Blessed New Year and hope good health for each of you during the coming year.

Happy New Year!

Sharing a Bit of Christmas, finally!

The top photo is our new snow family that came to live with us this holiday season. They will bet to remain with us during the month of January, before being put into their boxes to rest for several months!

The second photo is small gifts I received from friends on a stitching group I belong to. We are a small group of ladies that enjoy stitching and sharing. From Judy, there came a card with a mitten shape on the front with a needle attached, now how did she know I have a hard time keeping up with needles. From Nancy, a beautiful card that will look very nice on my January snow tree. From Britt, in Germany, another beautiful card with a miniture ornament inside. From Christine, a really cute card with a snowman being adorned like a cowboy, and inside was a skein of WDW thread, Sugar Plum. From Joni, another beautiful card with two skeins of Carrie's Threads. I have never stitched with these threads, so will have to find a chart to use them on. The colors are Olives and Too Blue. And from Heidi, our list mom, a beautiful card which I can't read, since it is in Dutch and a ribbon set for making pinkeeps in 2008. Thank you ladies for thinking of me. I love each item and your thoughtfulness.

The third photo is a couple of gifts I received from Tresa, my best friend from church. Tresa is so talented. She painted the Santa on a brick and added the cap. This was my gift from her last year. And this year she made the cat from holiday fabric. They add so much to our holiday decorations.

And finally, this was our Christmas tree this year! With Wayne's health the way it is, we didn't want to bother putting up the large tree and doing all the decorating that we normally do. One year, I didn't get Christmas decorations down until July 4th, and would not have taken them down then, but we were having a family event here.

I hope each of you had a Blessed Christmas and I wish each of you many Blessings and Good Health in the new year of 2008.

Blessings,

Barbara

An Interesting Day!

My DH had cataract surgery yesterday on his right eye. He spent most of yesterday afternoon napping in his recliner. This morning we had to see the doctor in his office to get the patch removed and the eye checked. The nurse removed the patch and PANIC......he could not see, everything was a blur. But, before we left the doctor's office things were better and Dr. Butler said it would take a couple of days for the eye to clear up, but that everything would be fine. So today we have spent the day putting drops, to different kinds, in his eyes and watching the clock to make sure we do it every two hours. We get to do this for 3 days, then only one kind of drop for the next 4 weeks. Then, next Monday, he has the other eye done, and we do the same thing all over again! Life will be very interesting here.

I haven't done much with my Christmas decorating. I need to get myself in gear, as we are having friends over this Sunday evening for refreshments. Also, need to decide what I'm going to serve. I know I will be having hot apple cider and the Creamy Apple Dessert I posted on my recipe Blog, www.granniesrecipes.barbara.blogspot.com

I'm still stitching on some small Christmas decorations for my tree. A friend at TOPS this morning (I weighed in at 7:30 this morning and left), gave me a handmade quitted ornament for the tree. It is a Santa and so very cute. Maybe I will get a photo posted in the next few days.

Time for more drops in DH's eye!

A new month begins!

Today is the first day of December and I have all my Fall decorations down and put away. Now it is on to Christmas decorations. We aren't going to put every thing up this year....there will only be one tree, here in the gathering room, center pieces on the dining room table and kitchen table. A few assorted items on other tables around the house, wreaths on all three doors, candles in the windows, and Christmas CD's in the player. No fireplace mantel decorations, no large flocked tree in the living room and gathering room, and no small trees in the three bedrooms.

But...we will be thankful for our health, our home, our son and DIL, and our wonderful grandchildren. Wayne and I will spend a very quiet Christmas here at home, as the doctor's do not think it wise for him to travel this year, with the urinary tract problem and the COPD. My shopping is done. I need to wrap everything and get it all in the mail this next week.

Wayne is having his first cataract surgery this Monday on the right eye and the left eye done the following Monday. We are also anticipating prostate surgery sometime this month. He has been busy all week doing things in the yard, getting wood where I can handle it for the fireplace and the wood stove. Making sure both vehicles are serviced and in good condition, as I will be doing most, or all, of the driving.

Today was very windy, however, the temp did get up into the lower 60's, but it sure looked much colder from my kitchen window. It really looked like it could snow, but the temp was way too high.

Well, I've rambled enough for today. Time to stitch a bit and watch the Missouri/Oklahoma game. Of course, we are hoping Missouri wins!

Another year old!

Well, it's Happy Birthday to ME! Yes, I am a Halloween birthday gal. I was born 65 years ago today, except it was on a Saturday and I was born at 12 noon. I always told my mom I was born in time for lunch!

We had a guiet day. I had a meeting at church with our pastor this morning, home for lunch, then to Joplin to have my eyes examined and set up cataract surgeries in January for myself. We ate dinner at a place in Joplin, called The Red Onion, a very nice place and excellent food. We shared a great dessert, Pumpkin Cheesecake, very rich, but very tasty. We did stop at a book store between the doctor's office and dinner, but neither one of us found anything we wanted to purchase. Then home for cups of pumpkin spice International coffee before a cozy fire in the fireplace.

I heard from our son in Germany. He called while we were having lunch to say Happy Birthday and see how we were doing. I had received a package from them on Monday, and waited until today to open it. I will post a photo tomorrow. The grandchildren called this evening with wishes for "grannie" and to tell me of their fun and games tonight. So my day was complete.

We have to be back in Joplin in the morning at 9 a.m. for DH to see the urologist and hopefully get a good report.

I hope everyone's day was as good as mine,

Barbara

Almost like Fall!

I can't believe this weather. We have had 3 digit temps since the 1st of August, then yesterday it was in the 90's and today it's in the 80's. It looks and feels just like a beautiful Fall day, and I love it.

We've had an eventful weekend here in the Ozarks. The funeral service for the three shooting victims last Sunday was held yesterday, in Anderson which is aboout 10 miles from here. Today the Congregational Church, where the shootings happened had a memorial service. The Micronesian's from all over came for the funeral service and the memorial service. They are a very close community of people. My DH has worked for some of these people over the years and found them to be very kind and friendly people and love to be living the USA. There was also a healing service later this afternoon to help our community as a whole get over this terrible tragic. My heart goes out to all of these people.

Not much else is happening here. We attended Sunday School and church this morning, and went to a friend's house for lunch. Debbie asked me bring the dessert and I made a pineapple pie and a chocolate snack cake, and came home empty handed! You can see the recipes on my recipe Blog.

I cross stitched a bit yesterday, not making much progress, but every stitch counts!

I leave you with this:

Weatherwise, it's such a groovy day.

Frank Sinatra

Blessings to all, dear friends,

Barbara

Five months ago!

Oh my, I can't believe it been also 5 months since I last posted on my Blog. A lot has happened since April 1. We were having a normal Sunday, or normal to us. DH and I were getting ready for bed and he started complaining of not being able to get a breathe. He was a smoker! It got so bad that I had to call 911 and get an ambulance here at once. My DH was suffocating to death. The ambulance did arrive in a matter of minutes with oxygen and everything of necessary means. They took him to the hospital and immediately admitted him and he spent the night in ICU attached to all sorts of medicial machinery. The next day he was admitted to a private room and stayed the week in the hospital on oxygen and taking steroid medicine. Needless to say, my DH DOES NOT SMOKE now. However, we have had a long struggle with meds, a sore mouth from the Advair and the nebulizer. Now, he is struggling with pains in his abdomen. They have ruled out gall bladder and an ulcer. This week we have been to the doctor 3 times for tests. They are still thinking it might be gall bladder, even though the test did not show that. Today was a cat scan of the pancreas and liver. Hopefully, we will know something the first part of next week. He is able to work some and gives him some pleasure, as he enjoys his work and the people he works for, (he is a self-employed contractor).

And, to add to all this, the stress of all this, added to my Lupus problems. It really flared up this time in my hands. Fortunately, I have been able to keep myself on my feet, but close to home. I have not been able to do any cross stitch or quilting during these months. I'm doing good to cook and keep house and care for DH. The last few days have been good however, and we are very thankful for that.

The weather here is VERY HOT, temps in the 3 digits. Everything is very dry and starting to look very droopy!

And finally, our beautiful little town, has a tragedy here last Sunday. A man entered a church here in town, actually the beautiful old church across from the building that we owned in town, and killed 3 people and injured several others. But, our town, always comes together, and supports each other, no matter what nationality you might be. Tomorrow is the funeral service for the 3 men and Sunday, the church in town is having an afternoon memorial service for their families and the families of the injured people. It is just a shame we had to make national news about something so sad.

Last Sunday was promotion Sunday in our church for the Sunday School children. I now have new 5th graders and my 5th graders are now 6th graders. I lost a group of great kids, as the 6th graders moved on to the youth department, but gained a new group of great kids. This Sunday I am having donuts, milk and juice for them and will be spending time getting to know our new members.

I am also going to head up the Wednesday night meals again at church. I won't be doing a lot of cooking, but they want me to be in charge and see that things run smoothly. I have all the menu's planned for the next six weeks and have several ladies lined up to work and grocery shop. I had actually resigned from this position, and our pastor came to visit with me, so, we'll see what happens.

I cross stitched the following Bible verse many-a-year-ago and it hangs in my dining room. I have read it several times a day during the past few months.

He gives strength to the weary and

increases the power of the weak...

Those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength,

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:29,31

Blessings to you, my friends,

Barbara

Our Barn and my Forsythia bush

Here you see my forsythia bush that survived the ice storm and my Iris that are coming up. The forsythia are beautiful this year, and tells us that Spring has arrived. The other photo's are of our new barn, that was built by the Mennonites and delivered to us this past week. It is 10' x 16'. A perfect place for storage and my DH tools, since we no longer have the building in town.

The above photo is our grandson, Eric. Today is his 15th birthday, and here you see him horsing around. I told him to smile pretty and this was what I got in response! DH will be celebrating his birthday tomorrow. My stepdad had his birthday yesterday and my mom will celebrate her birthday next Wednesday.

Today is the first day of Spring and it is beautiful here, sunny, in the upper 60's, BUT the wind will knock you over, it is so strong. However, I do love this time of year. The purple clovers have all bloomed out in the yard, my forsythia is blooming and the trees are starting to bud out. My jonquils have bloomed and are almost gone, since I lost some during the icy, cold weather. We also lost our mock orange bush and I'm not sure about my Rose of Sharon. Hopefully, this weekend will be nice and DH and I can work out in the yard and finishing cleaning up and do some planting and playing in the dirt.

"A good laugh fills your home with Sunshine."

Happy St. Pat's Day!

March is here and I am way behind. This month our grandson, Eric will turn 15 and my Dear Hubby will also add another year, as will my Mom and stepdad!

The yahoo stitching group I belong to did an Irish Exchange this month for St. Pat's Day. We were instructed to mail a St. Pat's Day card with 6 skeins of green thread. My partner was Margaret, who is from England, but now lives in Spain. Margaret and I have known each other for several years now and she is a very gracious, caring lady. And her stitching is beautiful. I received from her a lovely, beautiful pinkeep, with a quaker motif stitched in green, trimmed with green ribbon and pearl pins. This is so lovely and something I will add to my treasure box and keep forever. She also included, not only 6 skeins of thread, Crescent Colours Meadow Green; Six Strands Sweet, Spice Drop; WDW, Hunter; and 3 silks from Vicki at Hand-dyed fibers, Hunter, Spring Green, and Emerald. All of these were from her own stash. She also included a card with a quote from Maya Angelou, "There is an intimate laughter to be found only among friends." Also was included a small packet of kleenex with Froggy Friends designs on them and a beautiful post card, since she could not find a St. Pat's Day card, with scenes of Spain and places that Margaret has visitied. All of this was enclosed in a lime green drawstring bag. You can see all of this in the top photo on the left, and the photo on the right shows the pinkeep.

And to my pleasure a few days later, I received a card from Margaret, saying that a good friend in England had helped her find a St. Patty's Day card for me, and to add to all of this, she had filled the card with shamrock confetti and included another skein of thread from Ozark Sampler, Sea Cucumber. Dear Margaret, I cannot thank you enough for all of these wonderful goodies. You have been so gracious to me over the years.

To each of you I wish you a very Happy St. Patty's Day, remember to wear green and have a cup of green tea, its good for you!

Another Christmas finish!

Here you see my second Christmas ornament finish for 2007. This one is from Lizzie Kate, Happy Holidays, from the 2006 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments magazine. It turned out very nicely and was a quick stitch. I stitched it up Saturday while it was raining. I am thinking of stitching it on a piece of green felt with a green ribbon hanger and pulling threads to fringe the edges of the fabric.

I didn't get much stitched on Beatrix Potter this past Saturday during our 3 p.m. time. We had some friends drop it and it was lovely to visit with them and have coffee and pie. I actually had an apple pie fresh from the oven with ice cream.

Today is a busy day with doctor's appointments for myself, delivering meals-on-meals and Maggie has a vet appointment this afternoon to start her shots. And I need to pick up some meds for Annabelle. It seems she has taken the "kennel cough" from Maggie. Now this is going to be fun giving meds to a cat!

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the heart.

Maggie Mae!

Well, Maggie Mae has certainly made herself at home here with us. Here you can see her sitting on Annabelle's climbing/scratching post looking at the birds through the window! She also plays with the ball on the string, which is more than Annabelle does! Of course, Annabelle is still very upset, because we have a DOG in the house!

Unfortunately, Maggie has been sick this week. She has had "kennel cough". The vet tells me this is not uncommon for puppies coming out of animal shelters. So we have been giving her antibiotics, cough syrup and children tylenol. She goes back to the vet this Monday afternoon. But, believe me, I can tell you she is feeling much better. She is just a sweetie.

While at Wal-mart yesterday, I picked up a new book, Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky. I've read a few good reviews on this so thought I would give it a try. I've read one or two other books by this author and enjoyed them. Hope this one is good.

Today, is a rather quite day here at home. I've stitched this morning on my Christmas ornament that is on my February schedule. I'm doing the Lizzie Kate, Happy Holidays, from the 2006 Just Cross Stitch Christmas ornaments magazine. It is working up rather pretty. This afternoon at 3 p.m. I will stitch on Beatrix Potter's Quaker Sampler. This is the time the stitching group, FTLOS, has set aside to stitch on a project.

Be not simply good, but good for something. Thoreau

My Stitching and More!

Today, I'm sharing some of my stitching. The top left photo shows the Santa I stitched in January for the ornament of the month SAL we are doing in one of the cross stitch groups, For the Love of Stitching, I belong to. I am going to back it with red fabric and put a red ribbon hanger on it. This month, February, I am working on the Lizzie Kate ornament, Happy Holidays, from the 2006 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament mazagine.

The photo on the right shows the new stash I received in the mail on Tuesday. I ordered this from Amy at Down Sunshine Lane. By the way, Amy gives great service. The Lizzie Kate, Coffee Crazy, chart is adorable. I also ordered the banners and pillows to display the charts in, and these are so cute when you see them in person. The new Blackbird Designs book, With Needle & Thread is wonderful. One of the designs in it is, Tis Halloween, and since my birthday is on Halloween, this will be a must to stitch, and it is stitched with Crescent Colors threads, which I love to stitch with. Another design in the book that I especially like is, My Quaker House. Actually I really love all the designs in the book.

The two bottom photo's are of Beatrix Potter's Quaker Sampler which I am presently working on the same group I mentioned above. Mine is stitched on 18 count Antique Ivory fabric, using DMC thread 815. I haven't had a lot of time to work on it, but do enjoy stitching this chart.

I have another order coming from Mary Kathryn at Handcrafts Online. She is another great lady to do business with, and also gives excellent service. Receiving new stash is always like receiving a wonderful birthday gift or Christmas gift for me!

My only wish is that I had more hours in the day to stitch. For me, it so relaxing to sit down and put needle to fabric to create something beautiful. I love to cross stitch. As Helen Keller once said, "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."

Catching Up!

Valentine's Day has come and gone. My Hubby brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and I wanted everyone to see what my friend, Renee sent to me from France. This is a friend, I just recently got acquainted with through our Blogs. She hand made the Valentine and cross stitched an initial "B" on it for me, the bookmark is also cross stitched with another "B" on it. This bookmark I have placed in my Bible and use it daily. The free kit is a DMC kit, called The Sloe Fairy with Aida fabric, DMC threads, needle, chart and picture mount all included. Thank You so very much Renee.

The other photo is a table runner I quilted for my dining room table last week. My friend, Marie, who recently had by-pass heart surgery, was a guest in our home last week and it was easier for me to quilt this table runner, rather than work on my cross stitch. I love patrotic items, and sunflowers! By the way, Marie, is doing very well.

The weather here has turned to Spring! It was in the upper 60's today and suppose to stay this way until Saturday, when it drops down into the 30's again.

The stitching group, for the love of stitching, is doing a SAL of the Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler. I am stitching on 18 count Antique Ivory fabric with DMC thread 815. A lovely lady, Roberta from Florida is leading this SAL. I have been trying to stitch on mine each Saturday at 3 p.m. and several in the group join together to stitch and have a cup of tea or coffee.

Today, when I came home the mail brought me the wonderful package of goodies I had ordered from Down Sunshine Lane, a great online cross stitch shop. I will share my goodies with you tomorrow.

I want to share this recipe with you today. It is a Paula Deen recipe. Enjoy!

Pine Bark

35 Saltine crackers

1 cup butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

5 (4-ounce) milk chocolate bars, broken into pieces

Preheat over to 400 degrees.

Line a 15 by 10 x 1 inch jelly roll pan with tin foil. Lightly spray foil with a non-stick cooking spray.

Place saltine crackers, salty side up, in prepared pan. In a saucepan, boil butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Pour mixture over crackers and bake for 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from oven, top with candy bars, and spread evenly as chocolate begins to melt. Cool slightly and transfer onto waxed paper. Allow to cool completely.

There is no better exercise for strengthening the heart than reaching down and lifting up another.

We have a new addition to our family!

The photo at top is me with my new hair color and hair style!!!! Boy, it is WHITE! And with me is my new baby! The photo is really not very good of either of us!

This photo is our new baby. This is Maggie Mae! We adopted her Saturday, February 10. The Humane Society said they thought she was about 2 years old, she is brown and tan, and she has some longhaired dachshund in her, but her legs are longer than a dachshund. I will be taking her to the vet this week, so I will see what he says about her breed. She is very lovable and loves in sit in my chair with me. Our cat, Annabelle, is really having a hard time with having another animal in the house. She has been hid out ever since we came home with Maggie. I only hope this situation works out. All Maggie wants to do is play with her, but Annabelle thinks she owns the place! Cats, strange creatures!

Sharing a Bit of My Life!

The above photo is about half of the students in my 5th/6th grade Sunday School class. These preteens are a real challenge to teach! They know more about life at 11 and 12 years of age than I did when I married at age 23! They are a lively, chatty, lovable group of preteens, and a joy to be with each Sunday. It takes me a part of each day to study my lesson for the week and many hours in prayer during the week to prepare to teach. Since we can't be with our grandchildren very often, these preteens fill that void. My granddaughter, Courtney, was a part of this group when they lived with us and then again this past summer. Courtney, is the one that inspired me to volunteer to teach this age group when they were looking for a teacher. I had always taught 3rd /4th graders, and they are a real joy to teach, but this group of boys and girls has my heart!

"Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. " Proverbs 22:6

A Quiet Weekend!

This has been a quiet weekend for us. The temps are very cold, nothing about 32 for several days. The above photo is Mr. Woody Snowman, who keeps me company in my kitchen every winter. I made beef stew and cornbread for us and we delivered some to my friend, Marie and her daughter, Theresa. I also made a Cream Cheese Danish, which is yummy.

Cream Cheese Danish

2 cans fat-free crescent rolls

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with "Pam".

Press 1 can of crescent rolls into bottom of pan. Making sure to press seams together. You may have to stretch the dough to fit the bottom only.

Mix together until creamy:

2 8-oz packages of fat-free cream cheese

1 cup Splenda

1 egg yolk (save white)

1 tsp vanilla

Spread cream cheese mixture on top of crescent rolls. Cover with second can of crescent rolls. Slightly beat egg white and brush on tope of crescent rolls. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Drizzle with 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 tsp milk.

A Very Sad Day!

Today has been a very SAD day for me. My dog, EmilyAnne, was hit by a car last night and died. Emmy and Fred, our 80 pound, outside dog, who has been living in my utility room for the past 3 weeks because of the weather, somehow got out of their fenced in back yard last night and made their way to the highway. Emmy was killed instantly, which I am thankful for. My DH was out in his truck looking for them and came upon her just after she was hit. Fred made his way home across the field, and when Emmy was not with him I knew something had happened to her. DH picked her up and brought her home and he buried her this morning. She was 6 1/2 year old, and I had gotten her when she was 6 weeks old. A little ball of black fur. She was truly MY dog, my shadow. I miss her terribly and have had a very SAD day. She was not a pedigree dog, just part terrier and dashhound, but a little bundle of joy, that shared my life for such a short while.

"To get the full value of JOY, You must have Somebody to divide it with." Mark Twain

My little corner of the World!

February is here. Oh my, where does the time go! We have snow with ice under it, very slick here. But....I don't want to talk about the weather today. Today, I want to share my little corner of the world with you. This is my stitching, reading, Bible study corner in the Gathering Room of my home. This is where I spent part of my time, doing what I enjoy. The photo on the right shows my Little Corner of the World! You can see I have cross stitch items all over, a few books on the end table. BTW, the end table is one my DH made from an old sewing machine stand. My Ott light to help me see those charts and baskets of threads, needles, scissosrs, hoops and whatever else I might need. This is also where I enjoy cups of tea and sweets!

The photo at the left shows one of my Pine Mountain Round Pillows I did a few years back when they came out with them. It was a monthly item, and I did all twelve of them.

The stitching group I belong to is doing a challenge each month. We are doing Christmas ornaments, several different SAL's, plus learning to do other crafts. I am trying to do a Christmas ornament is month and did stitch one in January. It is a small Santa and will post a photo for you later. I also stitched a Pine Mountain Valentine pillow and have another one in the works. I will post photo's of those also.

February the month of love! I love the month of February, it is a short month and we get to share our "love" with family and friends. I will be putting together a box of goodies for my grandchildren and Courtney's birthday is this month, she will be 12 years old.

My dear best friend, Marie, who has heart surgery this past Friday, came home yesterday afternoon. She had four by-passes and is really doing well for a 78 year young lovely lady. Her daughter, Theresa, has been here all week and will be staying through all of next week. They treat me like family and I love them like family. Marie and I are in TOPS together. She is such fun to be with, loves to shop, but she does not do cross stitch, but she does knit. The yellow and brown afghan on the back of chair was made by Marie for my birthday last October.

"This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Renee!

Renee,

You have left such nice comments on my Blog, but I cannot find your Blog to read. Please leave your Blog name for me to visit. I would love to read about the history of DMC threads, and yes, I will have a cup of coffee ready to enjoy while I read.

Things have been hectic to say the least!

I can't believe it has been over two weeks since I last posted to this Blog. But Mother Nature got in the way with a severe ice storm here in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri. We had three inches of ice on everything! Trees broke, power went out and left many people in the dark for over a week. Winter hit us on Friday evening, January 12 and on Saturday morning, many people got up to no electricity and no phone. Our electric did not go out until Sunday afternoon at about 4:30 p.m. and when you live in the country and are on a well, you have no water! BUT, I knew we would probably loose the power, so I had drawn water in the bathtub and in several 5 gallon pails and empty plastic milk cartons I had saved. Fortunately, we do have a wood heating stove in our home and three gas heaters for back-up. We were able to stay warm, but I cook on electic, so could not cook on the stove, but did manage to cook a little on the wood stove. We went until Wednesday evening about 9 p.m. without power and it came back on! Hip Hip Hooray! We had power all day Thursday and Thursday evening, THEN on Friday about 11 a.m. NO power again! Oh no, NO water in reserve! What to do............PRAY! Yeah, at about 4:30 it came back on. We do feel blesssed however, because today as I write this, two week later, there are still a few families without power.

My hubby has been very busy with his work, plumbing, trying to restore busted water lines in homes and businesses. And I have been doing my part, by helping to cook and feed the power companies that have sent their men into our town to help restore the power lines. The Missouri Baptist Convention has sent their chain-saw group to help trim and cut trees, clean-up yards and stack all the brush for pick-up. Our beautiful town looks like a war has hit us, there is so much damage all over town. It is hard to believe what has happened to us here. The photo's you see are just a small fraction of the damage, and they are only of the area here in my own front and back yards.

But, also, as I write this, life as we know it, is returning to normal. We did have church last Sunday and had a very good crowd. Hubby and had I two different families stay with us for a few days and enjoyed their fellowship greatly.

My best friend, Marie, was staying with here neighbors, who live next door, and they had a generator, so she was having a ball with them and their family. She said at one time there were 14 people staying there! She got to return to her home on Sunday, January 21. THEN, on Wednesday of this week, dear Marie had a heart attack. I just could not believe this was happening! Today, Friday, she had open heart surgery with 4 by-passes. The doctor says she is doing very well and came through the surgery well. When I left the hospital today, she was still asleep in ICU, and they said she would sleep for another 8 to 12 hours. They said she would probably move to her own private room sometime tomorrow and start rehab. I love this woman like my own mom. Her daughter, Theresa and I have become like sisters during these last few days, and her son, Carl, has a very special wife, Pam. They are such special people.

A Most Wonderful Surprise Today!

There is a wonderful lady on a stitching group I belong to named, Heidi. Heidi lives with her husband, Jos, in Holland. I've mentioned her before on this Blog. She is a very talented your lady, who not only does cross stitch, but also quilts and a number of other crafts. Back before Christmas, she had sent me a beautiful cross stitch Christmas ornament magazine. Of course I can't read a word of the language, but I can read photo's. There are 34 pages of nothing but Christmas items to cross stitch. I love the banner on the front cover and hope to start stitching on some of these small charts in order to make this banner. Thank you so much Heidi for this treasure.

SO, THE SURPRISE..........................

This morning I was trying to get Skype to work on my computer, and as usual was having problems. I want to be able to actually talk with my wonderful stitching friend, Heidi, who lives in Holland. Jos, Heidi's DH came on line and was trying to walk me through the process and asked for my phone number. I thought that had something to do with getting Skype to work, so gave him my computer number and also our business number. Low and behold, about 5 minutes later, the business phone rang and it was Jos, I could not believe it!! He called to help me with the problem on Skype and finally decided that I needed to pull the computer out from the wall and check the wires for the microphone. I told him to give, "my love" to Heidi, and he said hang on, she is here, and sure enough there she was. This was almost like having her in person. She sounds just like I thought she would, so kind and pleasant. I was so excited that I couldn't hardly think of anything to ask her or talk about! We did visit for a short time and after hanging up I actually had to shed a few tears from excitement and happiness. Heidi, please forgive me for being such a "cluck" on the phone. This has simply made my day, not only for today, but for the week.

A Beautiful Gift ~ from a wonderful friend.

I received these beautiful pinkeeps from a very lovely, caring, generous lady during this past Christmas season. Nancy R. is a member of our online yahoo stitching group, " for the love of stitching". Nancy does such beautiful stitching and these pinkeeps are something that I will cherish and keep forever. Thank you so very much Nancy.

Nancy is decorating her home in South Carolina with her stitching projects. She has several of the first lady samplers, that are designed by Tanya Anderson, The Sampler Girl, finished and already hung in her home. Presently we are stitching on For Mrs. Jefferson: A Colonial Love Song. Nancy is leading us in the SAL. It is a beautiful, colorful Sampler. Tanya's website is: http://thesamplergirl.homestead.com/home.html

January ~ Snowpeople!

My Christmas decorations are down and my snowpeople are out! Meet Herman and Hannah, they sit on the shelf above my kitchen sink. Then we have Willy, Gilly, and Jilly they sit on the snowman quilted table topper on my kitchen table. And at my back door we have Fritz and Freda to greet our guests.

Beginning a New Year

We have begun a new year today. I can't believe that another year has passed. Some bad news today, a cousin, Suzanne, of DH has passed away due to cancer. She was a year or two younger than DH. Her service will be tomorrow. Unfortunately, she lives in Texas and we are unable to make the trip, but our Blessings are with the family at this time.

I've spent the day re-organizing my stitching and making a, very long, list of projects started, some UFO's I want to finish, ornaments I want to stitch during this year, exchanges I'm going to be doing for friends, and SAL's I am involved with and other's that will be starting. The list is a little intimidating at first look, but it does give me some goals for this new year. With many thanks to Heidi, a really lovely, friend from, For the Love of Stitching group, I think this list will help with my goals for the new year. Heidi is a multi-talented young lady who lives in The Netherlands with her DH Jos. This group has come to mean so much to me, as we have developed very close friendships during the past year. I've also joined another very active, chatty group, Stitchers Time Out (STO). I really don't know where they got this name, because there is never any "time out" on this group!

My heart also goes out to Mrs. Betty Ford, on the loss of her beloved husband, Gerald.

My Blessings for each of you, dear friends, is that you might have during this new year, the Blessings that your heart desires.

"You must do the things you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt