Mowing time

This is a Cleveland Pear tree which is starting to blossom in our yard. It doesn't bear fruit, but has gorgeous blossoms in the spring. Soon it will be covered and is gorgeous for a week or two.

I think this tree is a Red Maple....green leaves in summer, but these red "buds" in spring and red/orange leaves in the fall. These buds look so unusual and will become what we used to call "spinners" because they look and twirl like a helicopter blade as they spin to the ground. The spinners have a seed in each and hope to take root wherever they drop. We pull out a lot of little seedlings in the spring. They are so unique on the tree, but a mess on the ground.

And last but not least, this is a cute little violet growing in the grass...I love to see these in the Spring and usually mow over them before I realize they are there. This one, and another, I actually stopped and pulled the grass around them and let them be for now.

This is my nature post for today...haven't done any stitchery this week, but wanted to let everyone know that I am still here and enjoying these 80 degree temps for our weekend!

Giveaway

Vickie at Mid-Ohio Knitter is having a cool giveaway....a jelly roll in this scrapbag. Head on over and throw your name in the hat!!

April Done

I have April completed!! I'm not really happy with the stitching on this one. I wondered why, and was examining it closely and then realized I never put Whisper Weft on the back of this one. It really does make a difference, especially with the stitches showing.
The amount of stitching on these BOM's is so simple that I have gone a little crazy with the fabric that I finish them with. I really like all of the fabrics that I have chosen and especially this lavender one. I have had it for awhile and thought it looked good with the extra flowers that I added on the "grass stems". A good idea that I saw on Tudy's blog.

Onward to my next project.

Gorgeous Weather

Since I'm still not feeling very good today and can't work out in the yard like I would like too, I went outside armed with my camera instead and took these photos of some great color.

The first shot is Grape Hyacinths. They border our front in the spring and multiply like crazy! Then of course is the cute little pansy face....they are such an old fashioned flower and I just love them.

How long??

This is a picture of my sweet daughter, Laura and her nephew, my youngest grandson, Oliver. Laura is the one that had the stent taken out today in the urologist's office. I guess it is the LPN coming out in me, but I just had to post a picture of this "thing" that was in her for the past several weeks. She did really well on the table and the procedure went pretty quick, for me anyway sitting there looking on. As he pulled everything out at the end and "flopped" this long blue thing up onto the tray, she said "that was the stent????" in quite a mortified voice. After he and his nurse left the room, we both got out our cell phones and proceeded to take a picture so we could send it to the rest of the family and have them be horrified also. It must be at least 12 inches long with these squiggles at the end. I really do need to google the length of a ureter!
She is doing fine and we pray that the ureter doesn't collapse again. He gave her a Rx for pain meds., just in case it does. Then we will have to go to Plan B. Hopefully not!

Friday with the Crud

Hello fellow bloggers. I just wanted to send along a little "hi" to everyone today even though I feel like cr**! The sun is out and it is supposed to get into the 60's today and 70's tomorrow...woot, woot! The sun is enough to make you feel better, but my head feels very large and my nose is red and I cough pretty good also. I think I got this wonderful bug from hubby...his only lasted 3 days though. Mine, I think will be a lot longer.
I have to go to the Drs. office with my sweet daughter, Laura, to get that nasty stent taken out of her ureter. No anesthesia, people! If she was wee little, they would sedate her. We will see how this goes. The ureter may collapse again and she will be in all of that pain once more. Pray for her and a positive outcome all of you great blog friends! And hopefully my crud will get better also!

Siggys on their Way

Those siggy blocks were a lot of fun to work on. I honed my skills in piecing and squaring up into a nice 6 1/2" block. These pictures show my chain piecing skills also. This is a big deal for me. I have not done a lot of block making....I really enjoyed this and am anxious to start on my next project.

I am so mad at myself for not taking a picture of the whole group of blocks, 24 of them, before I put them in a padded envelope and mailed them off to Connie for sorting and shipping. The block below is my block. We kept our own and shipped the rest. Our group had 24 members and I am looking forward to a nice wallhanging in the end. Picking borders, backing and binding is new also. I can hardly wait to finish this one.

Happy Easter

My wish for each and everyone of you in blogland is a happy, joyous Easter Day with loved ones. Eat some chocolate too!!

Caught up for March

I sure wish it would get clear and sunny soon so that my pictures start looking better. It is very dreary today and snowing off and on. I layed this by a large window and still only got brightness on one side. Where is the sun?
I did get caught up on my March stitcheries last night. I need to trace the April ones, but the next few days will be spent finishing my siggy blocks. They really are fun to make and going together really easy thanks to Connie's great instructions! Pictures to follow this week.

Easter Outfits from another Century

I think this idea that Eileen had for posting our Easter outfits of years ago was really cool. I love nostalgia and this is it! As you will see, I come from a time before color photos when I was real young. The first photo is of my brother and I when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I do remember that the little coat and bonnet set was navy and white. I really love navy for Easter...maybe with yellow, one of my favorite colors.

The next photo is from 1952. I was almost 5 years old and look, I am wearing the same coat, minus the white color and cuffs. My mother certainly got her money's worth from that little coat. I think it still looks cute...especially with the new bonnet and tiny corsage! Of course the shoulder bag really makes the outfit!! My brother is 5 years older then me....gotta love the fedora....he looks like a mini Humphrey Bogart!!

My last photo is of me, my Mom and my brother. I was almost 8 years old for this Easter. I remember this Spring coat very well. It was an unusual color....something like a fuchia/orange. The material was extremely nubby and the collar scratched my neck when it was buttoned up. I loved that purse. It was a clear plastic with pretty flowers painted on. My Easter bonnet was just a little something on the back of my head. I don't remember it. Let's not forget those white gloves...always had these each year...probably the same pair for many years in a row.

I just realized that these Easters were mostly about coats....wish I knew what little dresses were underneath. Of course I wouldn't be able to tell the color anyway. That is weather in NE Ohio!

There you have it....Sandy at Easter when I was little. Wow...heavy memories!

Eggs

Here are my dozen eggs for Easter. They were so much fun to make and I did them in only about 4 hours total. This was leisurely working also.
Now it is on to finish my siggy blocks for Cootie Bug 2's swap....can't wait to get all of them back and see everyone's work. More on that later.

Easter's A-Comin

Here are my eggs in progress. I found this great tutorial for fabric eggs over at Kim's blog. These were so much fun to make and since I took this picture I have all 12 stuffed and ready to whip stitch shut! I will post the finished product this weekend. Something new for 2009 Easter. Yow-hoo!! So easy and I used charm squares from several different packs. What could be easier then that?

I love this ceramic "egg on feet". I cannot remember where I got this from or who I got it from. I don't remember if it was in the family or just bought on a whim. Underneath it says NapcoWare. I googled that and I actually found one for sale. Not a whole lot of money, but I love this egg anyway. It is one of my favorite Easter decorations.

Another blogoversary and goodies

Cara, over at the Quilt Nook is celebrating her one year blogoversary and wants to give away this sweet eye candy. Stop on over and congratulate her.

A Neat Giveaway

There is a great giveaway over at Millie's Quilting for this gorgeous quilt and bunch of fabric carrots that are way too cute! What a cute idea for the Easter bunny. Head on over and sign up.

Happy Birthday

It really is a funny feeling sometimes as your children age and actually catch up to you!! My youngest, Amy, just turned 30. It seems that not that long ago she was born and then hanging onto my leg and not letting me go when she entered the first grade. I had just gone back to work for a dentist and she promised she would sit like a good girl and look at books all day if I would let her stay in the dentist's waiting room. Shortly after that she settled in and actually loved first grade. That teacher wound up by being her favorite of all her school years. She learned cross-stitch and did a simple heart for her at the end of the year. We celebrated her birthday yesterday and had a good time. Here she is with me during a really fun evening.

Wooly Bunny and Update

Here is Mr. (or Mrs.) Bunny waiting for that Spring holiday that he is associated with. This is one of the 6 woolies that I have made depicting either a holiday or season of the year. I really enjoyed making these and they are such a cute addition to a little corner of the foyer. He'll probably stay up until the end of April and then my woolie basket of flowers will take over on May Day, May 1st.

I have an update on my sweet daughter, Laura. She is going home this afternoon from the hospital. After 3 Cat Scans, multiple bloodwork and a procedure in surgery, the urologist has determined that she does NOT have any kidney stones. There is a calcification in her left ureter which made the ureter collapse and cause her all of this pain. He put a stint into the ureter and that will remain there for 3-4 weeks. Hopefully that will take care of the problem, but it might not. In that case she may need surgery. She is not in horrible pain any longer....such a blessing. I want to thank everyone that offered prayers and kind words since I posted last. I sincerely appreciate each and everyone of you!

Feeling a little sad...

Thought I would blog about the way I am feeling right now. I actually should be in bed, but just got home from our local hospital about an hour ago. My oldest daughter that had surgery earlier this month was admitted to Medina Hospital tonight. She had been in their ER on Saturday for horrible back pain and this turned out to be a kidney stone. They sent her home with lots of pain meds and a strainer....catch the stone. Well, this never happened and her pain has gotten worse. Back to the ER tonight and now they think there are 2 stones. She was admitted and will see a urologist sometime tomorrow.
I guess my point here is that no matter how old your child is, you still feel the same pain when they are hurting and you can't do anything about it! I felt so helpless for her until they put some pain meds into her IV tonight. She says that the pain is like or worse then labor pains. I hope we will get some answers tomorrow...thank goodness she is safe tonight!

50th giveaway

Head on over to Linda at Lavender Ridge to sign up for her great 50th Blog giveaway. What a great penny rug this is. Good luck, but I would love to have this!

A finish and a start...

This will be my new "start" as of tomorrow. I am in Connie's Siggy Swap over at Cootie Bug 2. I am in the second grouping and had a little less time to get my blocks made, but I also have put it off a little and now have to buckle down for the April 15th deadline. I want this to be fun and not frustrating. I don't have a lot of experience, but love the process of piecing the blocks and this should be exciting to exchange with others!


This is my latest finish. Three blocks down. I like the look of these little blocks so much and really look forward to the finished quilt.

Please no more snow....

Here is a picture of one of our outdoor cats...they are identical brothers, and I do mean identical! One is Elmo and the other is Petey...I truthfully do not know who is who, so can't tell you who this is. We inherited them from my daughter who was unable to have them inside her home anymore. They had to become acclimated to the outdoors here...they have done very well!

I love Spring, it is my favorite season of the year. We have had sun and mild temperatures lately and I love it. I shouldn't have, but I purchased a basket of pansies today. They are so pretty and I loved the basket with the mixed colors. Will try to plant them in some pots and then protect them when we get a big snowstorm, which I am sure we will get here in Ohio!!