Pampering yourself is a definite thing that is necessary for once in a while.

yep, to thine own self be true.

So, today, with all the sun and then near 60 degree weather I spent most of it outside and running errands. I was happy I got 8 hours of sleep again last night!
I also pampered myself at the beauty shop getting my hair trimmed and colored.
Then I moseyed over to the Taco Bell and had Nacho's Supreme in the car basking in the sun.
Then I moseyed over to the quilt store with much heel stomping and trying to resist but to find backing material for the charm pack I got a couple of weeks ago. It struck me I didn't get the backing fabric and she had sold out of most of it and I chose something more simple but still complimentary to put on the back of my new simple small table top quilt for the Spring.
I walked about enjoying every second of looking through fabrics and then zippered over to get that Pedicure and Manicure that I haven't ha since last August. It was heavenly. It was a unique experience in that watching people was entertaining and one in particular was only 3 years old arguing with her mother about the color of her toes and nails. She got the full manicure and pedicure, which I don't understand because I was 30 years old before I got one. I try to relax while they are rubbing and massaging my hands and feet but a 3 year old was screaming because she didn' get her way and the parent was scolding constantly because she couldn't be still long enough for them to dry....DUH, she's 3. She pitched a tantrum until her mama would let her paint neon orange and pink for every other toenail and fingernail. Sometimes I don't understand folks. Well, alot of times I don't.

Went over to the thrift store to check for any vintage stash or cuties and I found some that I will post pics tomorrow.
And then rode home in my disposible flip flops in the nice weather.
So, overall a great day to pamper myself.

Started on my bathroom project and I think I pulled out more than I thought I every had. 2 bags, 1 donation for stuff I'll never use or didn't work, and one for trash.
That's a project that will be onging in the morning and hope to finish by lunch.

I found at the quilt store a dicontinued fabric that has tiny stripes with small red tulips in them. I'm hoping to make a simple curtain just for change in my bathroom tomorrow. My bathroom window is really small, the smallest in the whole house so this can't be too hard.

Abbie missed me lots so I had to hold her instead of stitch tonight. She was happy.

Ren is snoozing away.

I'm getting sleepy now and will post my finds tomorrow, stay-tuned.
Hope your Saturday was restful and productive.

Nite nite,
Jennifer

Miss Abbie says~~~~

My mommy is almost finished with her sampler.

But I say........that watching Tiger Woods speech is boring. Let's change the channel, Mommie.

I mean I know that a Tiger never loses his stripes, you know what I mean?

Like a leapard doesn't lose his spots? Is that the saying? Well, I haven't lost mine, see!

I so sweet with my spots though.

Mommie please hold me instead of stitching that sampler!

Love you,

Abigail

Friday Finds

Today was much better waking up. The first night this week I slept over 3 hours in a row. I think I crashed in early from sheer exhaustion, I think I fell asleep bent over my stitching on the frame and woke up to finish the border all the way across the bottom. Then, I slept till the alarm went off at 6am. Got a B12 injection yesterday and recently started back taking vitamins regularly. I had really gotten out of the routine almost 6 months now and I can tell a huge difference when I've been off vitamins.

When I clean house really well, like organizing and vacuuming behind shoes in closets and under beds and on and on........then, I'm really stressed. I guess sometimes it's a good thing, so cleaning will get done.
Well this week, I totally was into closet cleaning and under furniture on hands and knees cleaning baseboards and the like. So not like me. And behind my dresser I found this pic that somehow fell off the back and has been under it for a while.


Look at this wee feller. This is Brandon's birth pic. He was little bitty. All 5 lbs and 9 oz's of him!
Where did the time go?
I can still smell the baby powder just looking at this pic.


And then another find tonight is this cookie. Yes, this is a dinner size plate. After eating Mexican we went by a country general store and they had these huge cookies....I mean huge. I picked the chocolate one and starting to nibble on it.

They also have many varieties of coffee, ground there to your liking and put in a brown bag. I chose a big scoop of Southern Pecan and use the old grinding machine and this will be my treat for the week of morning coffee. They even had a coffee that was Strawberry-covered Chocolate flavor and I had to stick my head in every glass container to smell the beans! This one didn't come in Decaf or I would have gotten it first.

Supper was late as work was extremely busy today (must be the post Valentine's/ pre weekend rush) and I was so tired when I got home at almost 7pm. I cannot discuss work issues for obvious reasons but in general let's say, I could tell you some wild cases in a GYN office if I could!

So, we ate out Mexican tonight.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day in the near 60 degree mark.

I plan to stay outside doing as much as possible, running errands and soaking in the sunlight while I can.

I need to , at some point this weekend, take my bathroom completely apart and clean in the deep crevices of cabinets I haven't peeked in a couple of years. Do I want to do that or not?

Hmmm.......needs it bad and my goal is to declutter as I go.

I don't know about the female readers here, but we tend to collect a body wash, shampoo, conditioner, mascara, etc in every kind and have a plethora of collections surrounding the tub and under the cabinet.

All those lipsticks that just didn't look right or I didn't like or the free gifts with purchase bags I have accumulated over the years need decluttering soon to simplify the morning routine a bit.

Now, guys don't tend to collect this stuff, but ladies, let's admit it.........we love it! (or I do). I'm kicking my heels right now and trying to deny that I'm a high maintenance girl.

As I get older though, it's not quite as high maintenance, thank goodness. I just come to accept some things are going to change and I'm ok with that.

So, now that I have rambled on 5 or 6 subjects in a about 2 paragraphs, you wonder if I talk in circles? yep.

Back to my chocolate cookie..............and stitching till I fall asleep. I need to catch up on news. I think that's why I slept so good last night. I didn't turn the news on not even once in the evening.

But I guess tonight I will and if I have to sit and listen to Tiger Wood's apology, I will just turn it to something else while I stitch. I just can't sit and listen to that. I'm from the Augusta area, or near there, grew up there and know of the Master's golf tournament but never had the luxury of knowing someone wealthy enough or be of wealth to buy tickets and attend. Anyway, I think Tiger's apology is just his way to be done with his 13 or 15 or ever how many little "indiscretions" so he can ease back into the Master's coming up soon. It's so obvious.

So it comes down to listening to Obama or Tiger Woods probably..........

whatever is on O'Reilly Factor is what I'll listen to probably. I like Bill O'Reilly. He's pretty fair. Most of the time...LOL

Have a great evening!

Jennifer

Thrifty Thursday

The best thrift store find for frames is this one:
$1.99---It's an oval 5 x7 beautiful wood frame I found mixed in alot of junk at a thrift store.
God help me please. I can't stitch enough for all the fabric and frames I have collected.

It's got a nice deep inset and metal thingies to secure it when framing. I love it.

That's what I call a bargain. I will add it to my collection and I'm sure a sampler I finish will fit nicely into this one day and become part of my new sampler wall upstairs.

Do you like rummaging through thrift stores?

You just never know what you might find!

You know what I would love to do one day? I would love to take a week off during the hugest yard sale that is yearly. I'm not sure where it starts but it goes I think through 3 states. I think it's in August.

Wouldn't that be a nice road trip?

Jennifer

Matches made in heaven

I've admired the Hilliar Scissors long enough......since I included them in the Christmas giveaway, so I ordered some from Tanya and they came in the mail today. I love them! I matched them up right away with one of the scissor fobs from Sandy in NJ.

Makes a great match to me!


Fixing to work on Emma project and I matched it with.......
(besides Mr. Knightley).....


This old, very old frame I got off Ebay. It's kinda bummed on the right side but it has character and I like it with this sampler.

So, here is another match today.

On my day off, so many things, so little time...........

Jennifer

Hope this isn't too late but.........

First, I have reconsidered going to a private blog and staying public as is. I have had hundreds of personal emails, hundreds I tell you, of folks that have been the most kind and loving gave me names for invites and expressed concerns and I reconsidered at this time because mainly, several pointed out that my blog couldn't be read in the Google Reader and that's how I and everybody usually reads daily, unless you just favorite it to your computer.....but anyway, right now, I am staying the way it is. Hope no one gets offended by my war talk and opinions on stitching and relationships and the like.
If I could figure out how to still be on Google Reader and not have to go through so much to get there, then I could change it. Otherwise, I do thank the hundreds of people who have written me and I'm so sorry for the confusion it created.
Please bear with me. Right now it's tough going without the details, and I think I would probably best not change anything major right now. Wait till the storm rides........

Secondly, it's late, but the winner of the Valentines giveaway, is JULES!
Yep, congratulations, Jules you will be getting a very nice pair of sterling silver Claddaugh Irish earrings which just arrived in the mail yesterday from Ireland. I was kinda wondering as I've never ordered from there if the quality would be good and they are perfect, polished, with French wires and on the back is the SS.925 symbol.
The name of the place is TRK Claddagh House, Bailybrit-Galway, Ireland.

Katie Scarlet would be proud herself! I seriously may have to order me a pair too one day. I love these.

Can't you hear Scarlet say, "Oh Rhett, you devil you!"

And of course the BAP (I won't put what this stands for but learned in this giveaway from somebody what it means) LOL. It's big, it's detailed, it's soooooooo Rhett and Scarlet in one of the moments of showing his chivalry and her pleasant little determination to keep her integrity after the war and make her dress from draperies. Remember that scene. Oh I do........Oh how I love Rhett because he never hurt her, he always loved her no matter what....well except at the end and if you pick up the movie, Scarlett, it finishes the story in a great way.

Hope you enjoy Jules! Please send me your mailing address and I will mail them out this week.

Here's the status of my Love Garden.
Burning Love is the loser. It has one tiny tiny bud if you look with a magnifier. That's typical.

Strawberries are doing ok, or at least better than the Burning Love plant.

And the most abundant plant right now at our house is Forget-me-nots! They are blasting out of this container and I will have to move them to a bigger home so they will marry more and have more babies for the Spring.......LOL

Third, just want to tell you that you are the best stitching friends anyone could ever have and I love you all dearly. Thanks for putting up with me and my wishy-washiness, panickiness (is that word), melancholy, free spirit.

I made this little pillow in 1981, almost 30 years ago! WOOO I'm getting old! And it still sits by me in my stitching chair.

Back to the day. I worked on cleaning a bedroom out and it's getting there. I didn't realize how many dust bunnies could propagate under furniture. I may be taking some Benadryl just to clean up today. But it's always fun at the things I find while I'm stooping under the bed and in the closets, things I thought I lost, some things I never missed in the first place......so donation time. I got one closet finished last night about 1am. I'm off today so hope to completely finish this room.

Have a great day!

Jennifer

P. S. This morning while arranging the music Playlist which you may or may not like ??? I have several songs that are political and if you are in a good mood to get spirit for USA, listen to the Taliban Song number 2 first then scroll down to the number 14........ It's not one I put on first to hear but if you are into American spirit right now while we are kicking some......well, listen to this and Brandon, if you get this where you are, listen, you'll like it! love mama.

A finish and a special Valentine's gift

I just finished and framed When This you See from the Valentine Booklet by the Sampler Girl. I didn't stitch all weekend and had most of it done by Friday night but this weekend was a bit stressful on top of stressful so I wasn't in the mood to stitch.

I had picked up the frame at a thrift store last week for 4.00 and it had some scratches on it but minimal. I enjoy rummaging through old stuff like that and picked up several other ones as well.
I put it here in a corner of the downstairs bedroom. The collage in the box on top of the sampler is actually several of my old things when I was a little girl, like my hand mirror and comb, first gloves, one of my Easter bows, and a couple of lockets, one with my pic in it when I was in the 5th grade.

I had originally worked on this color Antique Green 32 count with Crescent colors and Belle Soie for another place but it didn't work out.

This is the pic of a handsome man that was in that frame. I really do not like to throw away pics but I have no idea who this man is. There is no name on it.

My other joy to share is over the weekend I received a wonderful, package from Sandy in NJ. She is the sweetest person I know and is so thoughtful. She had wrapped in beautiful lavender organza paper with a green bow all the goodies for a Valentine's gifts.

And I was awed and amazed that someone would get this much for me! Again, it couldn't have come at a better time.

Take a look-see at these she put in there........I couldn't believe not one, not two but THREE scissors fobs and I so needed these! Aren't they pretty? I love the hearts on the bottoms.

Then, she had 2 stitching projects that holds promise for Spring. They are Shepherd's Bush and the colors are beautiful! This one is the Easter treat bag.....I LOVE IT!

And this one is also a Shepherd's Bush complete kit with matting. I LOVE IT TOO! :)

And then to top it off she put 2 books that I am so proud to have now. Scarlett and then the story of Rhett Butler.

I think she must have adopted me. LOL (just joking Sandy) I was so excited when I opened this and it made my weekend so special, almost made me cry.

Well, I best get back to Ren, he is wondering through the hallway blindly "looking" for me and whining. He is a sad sight right now. He is febile, senile, and oh, just plain sad. I hold him but sometimes nothing calms him down but overall he is still with a ravenous appetite and sleeps alot. Sometimes he just sits and stares at the wall. I don't even think he sees there is a wall in front of him and sometimes, like tonight he has this Sundowners' syndrome where he paces and goes around in circles after dark. His arthritis medicine is enabling him to move more around the house but he runs into things as he is totally blind.

I think he would like to see Brandon one more time and he is waiting to see him and aggravate him like he used to! LOL

Miss Abbie hasn't really gotten alot of attention this weekend as I've had alot of other to deal with but maybe tomorrow I can give her more attention.

Well, I need to get back and finish the Emma project sampler. I'm still awaiting that frame in the mail, have no idea what this old frame from Ebay will look like but I know it's bummed a little. This one will go upstairs in another special spot that I"ve picked to put Jane Austen samplers.

Good night,

Jennifer

The true meaning of the Love Day

As by now, you probably have gathered that I write what's on my mind and sometimes I don't think it out first. Not a good trait to have in most situations.

However, I love to write and when I'm inspired to do so, it may be just something pretty small that struck me one day, a stitchy thought, an inspirational moment, or something just plain funny. Sometimes my fanciful thinking and writing is probably best left unsaid but I digress.....

Today while doing alot of soul-searching for answers, I came upon this highlighted in my old Bible on April 6th, 1975. While I'm not at the church doors every time they are opened, I do believe in God. I believe He sometimes gives us the answers to things we don't want to hear and sometimes He says no when we want a yes. This can be blurred by folks who are at every church event and do not live it in their lives.

I try not to dwell on memories but I can't help but remember the elementary school Valentine's Day experiences of exchanging all those little cards and carrying home a papersack full of wishes from all my classmates. I remember how much joy that brought to go home that night and open and reread each little card and the occasional candies that had sayings on them and having some innocent crushes. Remember those?

I remember writing out my cards to fellow classmates and in those days I was quite introverted so, I was a bit shy but excited at the same time, a little on the hyper side.......yep, hyper. I remember those large packs of cards always included bigger ones and I saved those for my teachers. Silly, it seems to be remembering Valentines like that but that's when love was simple and straight from the heart.

It really should be that way everyday, but especially on Valentine's Day.

My views of the love day were tainted over the years with different experiences I had but there was one constant that will stay with me forever. That is the Love Chapter, 1st Corinthians 13.
I'm guilty just as much as anyone else of having to remind myself that this is what real love is.

It's easy not to follow the Love Chapter sometimes. I had saved an image of "Love is" stitched in a huge piece that I always intended to order and stitch some day. I can't even remember the designer right now but I really liked it.

Once I saved the image on my laptop wallpaper. Years ago when I was single and going through some rough times, I actually wrote the characteristics of love in a simple form and put it on my refrigerator where every time I went to get a glass of tea, I could see it. At that time, I needed the reminder as life experiences blurred the lines of the meaning of love for me.

Strangely in my earlier elementary days, I thought love was a natural thing when now as the years roll on, each year I am convinced that love is an action and is not always the natural thing to do. It's sometimes hard to recognize. Sometimes, it's plain as day. But for whatever stage in life we are in, the words of 1st Corinthians, the Love Chapter, remain the same.

Without getting into the complexities of religion (and I really have some at times), I wanted to reread and meditate today on these verses. I realize as a human I'm not perfect but this version of Love seems to soothe me, just reading it slowly again and again.

I thought I would share with all readers here as I would love to give each and every one of you a box of chocolates and a Valentine's card but I can't feasibly accomplish that. This passage is from an old Scofield Reference Bible and the words may vary but the meaning is the same. Again, I'm not pushing a religion here, but just sharing my inspirations.

I think when I read about what Love is here, it reminded me of what love is not.

1st Corinthians chapter 13~~~

1- Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding bronze or a tinkling cymbal.

2-And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.

3-and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have love it profiteth me nothing.

4-Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not, love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5-Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil,

6-Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7-Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8-Love never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

9-For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10-But when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away.

11-When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12-For now we see in a mirror darkly; but then, face to face, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13-And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day in all parts of the world and that you are blessed with love, not only today, but always.

Jennifer

Photos: Funny To Freaky; See The People of Walmart - Photos - WSB Atlanta

Photos: Funny To Freaky; See The People of Walmart - Photos - WSB Atlanta

Happy Valentines Day 2010

Battle of Marjah started officially Feb13th in the early hours of the morning.

Mission is to clear the Taliban out of the province that has the highest number of poppy growers and replace with good Afghan trained army.

Even though sometimes I don't agree with the endless circle we are in, I'm still proud of the USA.

These are a few of the pics I found online as I follow this war. It's a daily read for me.

NATO involves many countries but the main ones in the Helmond Province is
Great Britain and USA. I'm sure there are others participating in this offensive and I pray for them as well.

From what I read, this battle was told ahead of time for warning so that there would be less civilian casualities and to give the Taliban time to flee, which really doesn't make sense to me. So, now they are in other places? Alrighty then.....

But it looks like the USA, Canada, and Britain kicked some a--- and they are today fighting fiercely in ground and air assaults. Please pray for our marines as they are the lead in this and are catching the brunt of it.

We should all be proud of the USA even if we don't agree with this war, if they are in it, you have to be proud of the fight they put up because we have some strong men out there.

I didn't put captions on these pictures as the faces tell the whole story themselves.

To all countries involved in this mission and especially USA (I'm a bit biased living in USA)--KICK SOME A----.

We love you and especially on this day, Happy Valentines, USA! My prayers are with you hourly.