Yipee! School's Out!

Summer has arrived for my children. Their last day of school was yesterday. I don't know about you but I always had mixed feelings on the last day of school when I was a kid. It was bittersweet. I was excited that summer fun was starting but I was sad to be leaving my friends and teachers. Now, as a mom, I still feel that way! Since I was a teacher pre kids, I get that double whammy. Would you believe my youngest son had the stomach flu and missed the last two days of school! Yes, the stomach flu in June-it was going around his school UGH! He is still crying about it. He feels like he didn't really finish the 4th grade. Poor kid. I think he will feel that disappointment when he is thirty. He's just that kind of boy. He has two birthday parties lined up this week. That will help him get over it, no doubt. And so the summer fun begins...

The Day Has Finally Arrived!

Yes, the day is finally here.  I have been a crafter and stitcher forever!  When my children were young I started drawing stitchery designs by the dozens.  I have two filled notebooks of doodles and patterns ready to be stitched up.  Back when the kids were younger I actually stitched up a few of them then tucked them away until "someday" came and I would have more time to write up the instructions, supply list etc. etc.  If you are anything like me, you put everyone's needs, the housework, cooking, critters and yard work before anything else.  I have had this dream in my heart for so long, 15 years has gone by, the kids are a little older and guess what.  I have put some of those other household chores on hold to wrap up and publish my patterns.  I have over 30 designs with 6 of them listed so far on ETSY and Pattern Mart.  Yea!

I have many holiday designs, whimsical flowers, cute critters and samplers.

This was one of those things that I just HAD to do before the end of my life(which is hopefully a long way away).  I would have had so many regrets had I not taken the time to do this. My hope is that these stitcheries bring simple joy to both the stitcher and the recipient.  Now that I'm on my way, stay tuned for some free stitchery patterns right here.

We have baby chicks right now.  Wait 'till you see them...

I'm Back!

Gosh, it has been quite a horrendous 6 months.  We've had four deaths in our family.  Cancer has claimed two and complications from old age has taken two more to the angels.  Tending to households, sharing last days and funerals have appropriated great amounts of time  and  I've spent the last few months playing catch up, clean up and buck up trying to get myself back up on top.  I finally made it here, the view is still sad but looking up and I'm on my way to begin again.  Following the yellow brick road back to my life.

     I heard on one of the morning shows that Mattel is blaming moms for the slumping sales of Hot Wheels cars.  Really?  Pa-leeze!  Are you kiddin' me?  I have three boys.  When they were little I spent countless hours playing with Hot Wheels.  We set up tracks all over the house.  Taped track to the sofa and chairs, ran them down the stairs, rolled them into loop-d-loops,  crashed 'em, you name it, we would play for hours.
     At some point the teacher in me kicked in and we got out the ruler to measure the length of each cars' run.  We would run 25 cars, had a fast pile and slow pile and finally figured out which car was the fastest of all.  Then we hypothesized and analyzed why we thought that car ran the fastest.  We built bridges and buildings out of boxes to add to the track.  We all have very fond memories of our car days.
     I think kids have a lot of other toy choices now so cars have lost some of their appeal.  What's your take on this?

     I want to share one more thing today.  I happened upon a website for Leonie Dawson.   I am notorious for feeling that all of my ducks and chicks have to be in a row before I SHOULD do anything creative.  Laundry had to be washed and folded, the meals had to be gourmet, floors scrubbed etc.  UGH! Old school, I know.  I don't think the younger women feel that way.  That's another reason why my blog has been left untouched.  I felt that I had to have something profound to share before I should write.  I checked out Leonie and she gave me the kick in the seat I needed to Just Do It.  Check her out.  You might find a tidbit of wisdom that will give you the kick you need too.

Pinterest Addiction

     I have finally made my way to Pinterest!  Oh my gosh!  This site has me written all over it.  Pure eye candy for those of us who are visually motivated.  If you haven't checked it out yet, please do.  In the search box, type in something that interests you, like crafts, crochet, home, trees, food, whatever makes your heart sing.  Then sit back and click like crazy.  You will be rewarded with beautiful pictures that will make your eyes really smile.  I just joined last week and have spent way too much time pinning photos.  I'll slow down eventually but I'm just trying to get some boards established.  I think I will have to set a timer and allow myself about 10 minutes to pin or I could sit with some sweet tea and pin for hours-which I don't have time for.  I wonder if I could find a job that pays me  for simply pinning!
     Here's a little piece of advice if you start a Pinterest account of your own.  When I set up my boards I started with broad topics.  Now that I'm farther along in the process I have narrowed the boards down a bit.  For instance, one of my boards I called "CraftFabulous" and I pinned many crafty things that I love.  Now I wish I had subdivided those items a little farther and had separate  boards for crochet, embroidery, felt etc.  I may have to go back at some point and amend those original boards.
     So, go check it out and have fun with it.  If you are interested in checking out my pics you will find them under "The Pattern Shack".  Happy pinning!

More Joy From the Fair/Plug for 4-H

If you didn't make it to the fair this year you can visit vicariously below.  But first, I would like to sing praises  for    4-H.  Even though most of the pics I have shared are of the livestock,(cuz I love the critters) 4- H is so much more than animals.  It's leadership, citizenship, music, rocketry, animal/entomology/vet..study projects, writing, art, crafts, Lego building, food, photography, sewing, technology, entrepreneurship, shooting sports etc. etc.  So if you know of a child who perhaps, isn't big into sports but loves to do a lot of other activities, check out 4-H.  It might be just what that child needs to blossom.  It's the best kept secret out there!  Ok, I'll get off my soapbox and show those pics.

Thought I'd share a few more fair pics for all you farmy types.

                      Monster Truck Night

                             Mini Horses

                            Rocket Launch

                           Babies

                           More Mini's

A Week Of Fair Highlights

Well, Fair Week is over and we are all rested and on to other things this summer.  But we love the fair!  OK, true confessions time...I love the fair.  I simply love the fair.  Since I was a little girl, I have loved the fair.  Now that I'm a big girl I still love the fair.  It's not the rides or the games or anything like that.  It's the animals, crafts, food atmosphere, people watching, summer nights, lights and colors, night time shows, etc.  Anybody with me on that?  Any other fair lovers out there?

I submitted several crafty and food items this year-18 to be exact-(I know, a bit of over achieving this year.  I was scolding myself as I was up at midnight the night before baking a pie)...   but anyway, I won a ribbon for most of my exhibits, sometimes by default because I was the only person to enter in that category!  Not sure I would enter as many items next year.  It was crazy trying to finish up all three kids' projects, plus mine.

We took our new camper this year so that we would have a home base to come back to if we needed a break.  I took my stitching, thinking I'd get a chance to sit under the canopy and grab a few stitches here and there, but alas, that never happened.

This is our Buff Cochin Hen.  She took a third place ribbon.

Plus a photo of the Figure 8 races.  Stay tuned for a few more fair pics and photos of my winning crafts.

Last Step, Using Your Binder

OK,  so you have made dividers for your food groups and you have a binder full of torn out recipes.  Or maybe more than one binder.  I won't tell how many I have.  Now you can start using these to your heart's content.  Leaf through the pages, put a few recipes aside each week to try out and give 'em a whirl.  If you like them, write some notes on the recipe if you want, and file in the correct divider section.  Ah, but what to do with recipes that have several food groups mixed up on the page?  I put it in a special section marked "Mixed" or if I don't want to use the rest of the recipes on the page I either cut that one out and glue it to a blank sheet and file appropriately.  Or I simply write my notations on it, knowing there are other recipes on the page that I might want to try and I file it under "Mixed".
     So there you have it.  It's a simple way to tame all those recipe tear outs.  And honestly, it doesn't take that much time once you get on a roll.  Happy filing.