Hello My Dear Friends! Merry Christmas!!

Oh my gosh, it's been so long since I've written, I'd almost forgotten how to get on, write and post to my blog!

I have been so busy - I visited with family all over the country through October, and then began a series of oral surgeries.  Why do we women always think, 'ah, not a big deal, I'll be up and around in a couple of days!'  Really a good question - it's because WE ARE WOMEN!!  When did we take time being sick, or lazy or down when our children, or even our grandchildren were really little - we didn't - unless we were half dead!  Which may be the reason things hit us so hard now.  But, I digress.  The last surgery I had was a 3 hour bone graft 10 days ago.  Doc explained, 'going to be taking bone from the back of your jaw and screwing it in here (showing me on ex-rays, like that's really English to me!)  If we need to - we'll take some from the chin area - ack!  Wait a minute, CHIN AREA???  Like - isn't that going to leave a bruise?  'Donna, you're going to have quite a bruise anyway, this is major surgery.'  Hangs head - me, that is.  Well, at least it was scheduled after all of my business meetings.  My sweetie is still taking really good care of me.  Tonight - Christmas night, I ate my first full meal - last one for a while because I'm in a lot of pain now, but it was yummy, and I did get to help cook most of it.  We were able to laugh a bit throughout this entire process, no talking really because at first I sounded like Scooby Dooby Doo, then like Sylvester the Cat (still do when my mouth starts to hurt because my tongue swells badly.)  But we go on - life is good, it's wonderful, today is the day our Lord and Savior was born to save us all!

Our garden still has it's lovely visitors - even though we have had many nights at 25 degrees.  Because we are so close to the coast, we still get many, many hummingbirds.  They must know how much we love them, as we are still feeding them at the rate of - - - drum roll please - - - one half gallon of sugar water A DAY!!  We have two feeders up, about 10' apart or so, and they love our home we have for them!

It's really something to see so many birds feed in our yard, and then our neighbors for a block in all directions my get a stray bird once in a while.  The only thing I can think it could be is water.  They will not feed on tap water.  Ours is reverse osmosis and they'll drink regular water if it is boiled, but most people won't take the time to do that for them.  It's so worth it for us!

We have about 2 months when we have no birds at all, and take the feeders down - usually January or so, then one will go up for a month around March, then the other goes up shortly after that.  At first, we will get One male who will try to lay claim to the feeder - but when all come

home, and hundreds are here, there is no room for bossy boys here!  They say they come back to the same feeding area each year, and I must say, each year, we have had more and more birds.  Feeding one half gallon of sugar water a day is feeding a lot of birds - and they are a joy to watch.  These are the two feeders we have.  The blurs are 'birds in flight!'

Have you all been keeping your crafts up?  It's so much fun to create something with our hands!  I've been making tons of journals.  I love making them for gifts.  I can't seem to find my folder that has all the photos, so here's the latest one I made.  I made it for one of the ladies in our Daughters of the American Revolution chapter as a Christmas gift.  I loved having a tree, symbolizing the 'family tree' aspect of the group!

Then, as always, I have a crochet project in the works.  My friend told me of this pattern, though she never knew the name.  She said, 'all you do is double crochet 10, chain 10, until you have the length you want, then I'll show you how to twirl and tie it up.'  You know me, I'm always game for something new, so I double crochet, chained 10 to what I felt was a comfortable width, and length - it looked like this -

Then twist the chain 10, pull through the next chain 10 and repeat until all are finished.

It's actually very pretty and looks as if it's braided strands and not twisted and brought through. 

When all are twisted and brought through, I went around the entire afghan twice in a very nice half double crochet, placing 3 stitches in each corner to have it lay straight.  The color scheme I used was a variegated with dark brown, medium brown, orange, tan, and beige - 6 colors total.  The pattern was 5 rows of each 6 colors, 3 rows, 1 row to the variegated and then 1 row back, 3 back 5 back. 

The colors came out beautiful!  The size was a bit smaller than I first thought it would be, but never making it and not having much to go on, it's great.  My next one will be twice the size, as this is just for one.  But, it was given today to my newest granddaughter - my grandson was recently married and they are expecting their little wee one on March.  This will keep her nice and toasty.  The fringe was a new one for me, a triple knot.  I really like it, for fringe.  Only on one end.  I prefer no fringe because it always tickles or makes me think something is crawling on my neck when I'm sleeping.  But, it was a gift, so I fancied it up.  I read a pattern on Pinterest some time back and they had a variation of this as a ripple and called it Jacob's Ladder.

Also done a bit of sewing.  My little Wee One, Leila, asked for a Yoshi blanket for her gift.  So how does one make a Yoshi - well, first buy the material, then take it all to Colorado to my daughter there and ask her to help!  My son married an Angel and she sews like a professional, so she helped me.  Son made the Yoshi pattern, I cut, daughter did sewing - a family affair!

She loves it Auntie Kim!!  Thanks Uncle Jeff for helping, too!  And yes, each piece is sewn on separately!  It was a lot of pieces, a lot of work, I can't thank Kim enough as she has this beautiful, professional sewing machine that really hit the mark! 

These are my kids who do costuming professionally.  She does the sewing of costumes of fabrics and leathers,




he does all of the props or items fabricated in different metals or plastics.  They are an amazing team together!

And, so with that my good blogging buddies, as Yoshi to the right is ready to say good bye for now - I promise it won't be another 4 months before I stop back by.  I do get by to see many of your blogs, but have just not had time, as you read to leave messages.


May God bless each and every one of you, keep you safe, loved and forever thankful we live in the greatest country in the world. 

For those who have soldiers away from home, God bless you and them.  Thank them and thank you for your service to our country.  Without them standing on the front lines, keeping our liberty and freedom, and you all keeping the home fires burning, we would not live in the greatest country any longer.  God bless you all.

May you all have a wonderful, healthy, and Happy New Year!  May it be all you want it to be, bring you the happiness you deserve, the prosperity you work for and the health our Lord bestows on you.  This new year I look forward to better health, a brand new Great Granddaughter (Grandson and new Granddaughter will be having her in March) and a wonderful new year.

Blessings and hugs,
Donna

I Would Like To Introduce You All To ~ ~ ~

In my last post I shared with you our Christmas with our children and wee ones.  I suggested we go in order of age, thinking we'd start with Mom and Dad, since we had received ours via Internet - That's when Elise surprised Grandma and Grandpa with a gift of her own.  She did this without anyone knowing what she was doing - locked away in her bedroom.

Before I realized what was going on, she gave Grandpa a hand drawn picture and a visor  "i'm a #1 grandpa!" with strict instructions how to hang it properly.

And, without missing a beat, she picked up a box, handled it ever so gently and put it down in front of me.  With an "Oh c**p" look on my face, I looked straight at my son and said, "Uh, what's in the box?"  See why???


Air holes in the top of the box!!!

"Oh, this is not a kitten?"  Again, I get a shrug from my kids, professing not to know what is in the box.  Now, I'm getting nervous - Mom's allergic to cats, and she's not sneezing, it's not whining so it's not a puppy - the only other time I've seen this is when Albert's younger brother - 30 years ago - stored a box just like this one, under Albert's bed - in it ? ? ?  A snake! ! !  OK, they wouldn't give me a snake, Mom hates frogs, I HATE LIZARDS, maybe it's a turtle!!!  That'd be cute, right?  I went to shake the box - "NO!!  You have to open it like this, gently ~"

Guess what it is??

 

This, dear ones, is Rocksey!  My new pet!  She has two pretty pink bows in her hair holding up those pony tails! 

This cute little pet came with instructions - because after all, YOU cannot adopt a pet without instructions AND you also have RULES because the adopting agency, Elise, wants to make sure you do what you are supposed to do!  And, I had to sign for her!

So, my little Rocksey has been introduced to all of you in blogland, and I want you to know I take my responsibility very seriously.  As instructed, she was fed 5 leaves, covered with her hand made quilt and put to bed in her nest!

            
I would like to thank you all for indulging me my Christmas time with family.  These little ones are so precious to us.  And, while I have crafts and sewing I'm sure you'd rather see, these little ones love come visit my blog and see what I'm talking to all of you about!  I'm sure you'll all agree, we have a future craft master, a Martha Stewart, in the making.  She did this without anyone knowing, no help at all, she just thought this would be something we would enjoy.

Elise, my sweetie, we will treasure these gifts forever!  I promise to feed Rocksey and cover her each night!  Oh, and she told me she's looking forward to your next visit!  Love you!!

Blessings to all, and to all, Happy New Year!
Donna 

Sharing Our Excitement Of Christmas!

I had the opportunity to show you the afghan I made for my son and his wife a couple of days ago.  They came to celebrate Christmas with us on the 29th and 30th, and I would love to show you what makes the effort of crocheting these large projects so worth the time!

Karla and Albert loved this and I'm not sure she put it down very much at all after opening it!  First there was a nap, then fell asleep watching TV, then wore it around herself on the way home the next evening so she could nap on the way home ~ this makes it all worth it!

Then we had a bit of fun with the children.  Kind of played a few jokes!  Isaac is 11 now and this pre teen age is difficult to buy for, so Grandpa put the stoppers on me and decided we'd get him a gift card.  For a young one, how the heck do you wrap a gift card??  So, here's what we did - -

CLOTHES!!!



Yep, looks like...



Grandma bought me ... a ... shirt??? We have been explaining to the children this is not their birthdays, it's the day we celebrate the birthday of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

So, are you sure that's all that's in the box, Isaac?  I had crumpled up about 10 sheets of tissue paper and taped the gift card to the bottom of the box!  "Now, that's what I'm talking about, I get to shop for me!"

Next up was Elise!  We went oldest to youngest on purpose!  Elise is probably the most easy going, loveable young lady who is satisified with everything.  So, we put her charished, asked for item right on top!



Hmmm, clothing ...

She asked Grandma for warm jammies like sister had (a fleece nightgown),  and sure was hoping for ...



Her Webkinz Mini Schnauzer!  With a secret code, of course!

Oh, she did get warm fleece nightgowns and a velour sweatsuit, but, heck - the little Lucy dog was the best!

Last but not least is the wee one, Leila.  Now this one, when she asks Grandma or Grandpa for something, she usually gets it.  But, she can't know she's getting what she wants all the time!  Last year she told me, "I would like a gray and white striped kitty."  So, obediently we searched the web and found a Webkinz Grey Tabby Cat.  And we created a little - no scratch that - a medium sized little monster, that has learned you can buy stuff from the computer and get a tracking box!  (FedEx tracking #'s to see where your package is!)  She now has 21 or 22 of these things, and it has been announced that it is the last one!  (Yeah right - only if she thinks she has enough is it enough!)  Last year, she opened her gift, a box of clothes, and looked back saying, "this is not what I asked for!"  and almost cried before she found a note left in the manger with Baby Jesus that said to look in and around the tree to see what you can see and find the little eyes peering back at me!  So we looked all over the tree and she found Mrs. Whiskers!  She was so very happy!

Fast forward to this year!  She asked for, "A Signature Orange Tabby Cat," Webkinz of course.

WHAT???  Where's the Signature Orange Tabby Cat???  This is clothes!  Clothes I tell ya!

Now trust me, after last year, this one had looked that tree up one side and down the other.  All year long we have hidden them all over the house.  When I go to visit, she goes through my luggage to find her treasure, and she opens the box to find WARM JAMMIES??!!  Wait a minute - - -

 Wait a minute ...

What's this hiding in my shirt?  Could it be, could it??  Yes, it is!  It's the Orange Tabby - MR. WHISKERS!

I'm very, very happy!!

Tomorrow I will show you what our treasured gifts were from our young lady, Elise.  She has quite the crafting thumb and was very creative.  In fact, mom and dad didn't even know she made something for us until we opened our gifts - and they are - priceless.

Happy New Year - may you be blessed!

Donna

Beautiful Gift From A Beautiful Friend

I received a beautiful, and unexpected gift from someone so sweet!  Mary from Hope-Filled Living Magazine sent these lovely gifts ~ ~ ~

This beautiful Pashmina scarf, a wooden ornament, a Mini Scrapbook Kit, and a Paper Collage Kit.  Mary also made this beautiful candle tag.  My sweet Karla opened it and we looked at it together, it is so soft and feels so nice wrapped around your neck.  It is heavenly!

I am so often overwhelmed by the generosity and love I receive from my blogging friends and sisters here in blog land!  My husband is also surprised, in the business world, where he spends a lot of his time, this is not something that happens very often, if at all.  

Mary, thank you so very much for this lovely, lovely gift!  May your New Year be filled with joy, love and happiness!

Blessings,

Donna 

A Lasting Gift

I can finally post this picture of the afghan I made for my Son and Daughter in Law. We will be celebrating Christmas this evening with them and our wee ones, and I can hardly wait for them to open this.

I started one for them over a year ago and it just never came together right, and I couldn't get my mind in to it to figure it out. I prayed over the situation and finally figured out what was wrong. These are their colors ~ they love the warm tones, I on the other hand like cool tones and the first one had bright summer and winter colors, yellow, pink, lavender ~ you get the picture. This one is sage, with a warm brown and a matching variegated color. 

Afghans are something I truly enjoy working on.  I almost always have one in the works, and I already have the yarn for my next project!
 
Thanks for taking a peak!  I'll show an "after" photo later this evening or tomorrow!  I can't wait to see their faces!
 
Blessings to all,
Donna

A Spoonful Of Sugar

I received the most wonderful Christmas gift from a friend!  I had no idea when she showed it on her blog that it was actually under my tree when she had posted it (sneaky, huh?)  But, A Spoonful Of Sugar makes everything so wonderful!

And, look at this most beautiful of gifts!  I opened the envelope that was tucked under my tree with strict instructions "DON'T OPEN UNTIL DEC 25th!"  Yes, many of you will recognize the Spoonful of Sugar from our wonderul friend, Cindy Adkins.

Decoupaged on the inside of this spoon is a bundle of ribbon tied letters "from the heart" and dusted
with glitter.  It has pink seam binding and 5 small pink roses.  It is so beautiful!  The little card on the right has a photo of the Sacred Heart of Mary, (my name sake "Mary" in old Europe), and a medal of Our Lady of Lourdes (one of my favorite stories of visitations of the Blessed Mother) in France.

Also enclose in my gift is a Domino decoupaged with flowers tied with a pink ribbon laying atop a letter and envelope.  Down to the last intricate detail, everything is connected!  The metal tag on the chain spells out LIFE.  This little tag on the right is so true ~ "Life is Sweet" ~ so very, very sweet.

Thank you Cindy, from my heart I thank you for the kindness and love you have shown me.

I will display these beautiful items where everyone will see them when they visit my home and tell them about my sweet friend in Lousiana, and where I will see them every day for inspiration!

Blessings,
Donna

Merry Christmas!!!

From Don and I

to

all of you ~~

May the Light of the World

Our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ,

bless you with

Love, Joy

and

Happiness

this Christmas Season!!

 

Grandchildren - A Blessing From Our Lord

I'm sure any of you who are already blessed with grandchildren agree they are a blessing from our Lord.  Each one special, each one unique, different from one another in so many ways, yet the common thread?  We grandparents!  I am blessed with five.  My daughter has two boys who are already 21 and 18!  And then my son blessed us with three, a boy and two girls! 


Isaac, 11



Elise, 9














Leila, 6



Our Wee Ones













Just as our children hold a special part of our hearts, so do our precious grandchildren.  Isaac is my son's first born and only son.  Elise is my first granddaughter - oh my - I was so happy to finally have a granddaughter!  And Leila is our little wee one, the last grandchild we will have until greats come along - and I pray that's a few, no make that several, years from now!

Elise just started wearing glasses, and she told her daddy, "it's like seeing in HDMI!"  Isn't she just beautiful!

That's my bit of showing off - I have several projects I worked on for quite a while, but the people I made them for look at my blog, so I cannot share them with you!  Christmas day I plan on showing my hand made goodies.  Thank you for taking a peak at my blog.

I wish you all a wonderful and Merry Christmas.  May our Lord bless you and your loved ones!

Blessings,
Donna