Christmas is almost here!

Christmas is almost here!  This time of the year brings back so many memories......
Hugh Christmas trees that came home on Thanksgiving weekend.  So tall they had to be carried in and out several times to get the right height.  Every piece of furniture had to moved around to make sure it could fit in front of the living room windows.  Hearing my mother's statement of "Well, Paul" several times on that evening. Watching my father getting more and more frustrated with the lights, figuring out which bulb had blown and him making sure the bubble lights were lined up correctly on the tree so we could see them.  Waiting for Santa Claus and making sure my father still thought I believed.  Then my parents going Christmas shopping, but they couldn't go too early because my father would have to give us at least one present before the big day.....well actually it would be a present to enjoy and something new to wear to the family Christmas party.

The food that was prepared in that old country kitchen....my father's ham, Aunt Matt's pecan pies, my mother's chocolate pies and lemon pies with meringe topping toasted a golden brown, the several kinds of dressing (ham and oyster)......But mostly everyone being together and being happy.  Just enjoying each other.....

Then the family Christmas party.....Grandma and Aunt Mildred's homebaked cookies, Uncle Don's ham, my father's baked beans, my mother's banana pudding, Aunt Geraldine's fruit cake, There again everyone just being together.  Every child knowing they were going home with presents.   Grandma's gently presence that brought everyone together.....Sometimes I miss her so much.

Christmas Hats for Grandsons

These are the hats that I knitted for my grandsons for Christmas.  I incorporated a pattern for a Sock Monkey hat by Nicole Montgomery, a dinosaur design that can be found at www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dinosaur-chart , and a minecraft  chart www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/minecraft-inspired-hat  I also found the skull pattern and the large minecraft online.  I am looking forward to seeing their faces when they open their presents on Christmas Eve.  These hats were knitted in the round on two size four circular needles.  I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn.

      

           

Safe Harbor Gone

Sometimes it is difficult to walk away from what was once a safe harbor.  If you have become accustomed in knowing that this was a place you could go and feel welcome and safe.  Suddenly, due to changes in life it no longer is a safe harbor, a place to go and feel at home.  There are times when it is best to walk away. 

This is a hard lesson at times.  One that I should have become accustomed to over the years, but it doesn't make it any less bothersome. 

Voices

You every notice how hearing a voice from long ago takes you back?  I just got off the phone with one of favorite cousins.  Suddenly, the sounds of yesteryear are there.  We spoke of how much he thought of my dad.  Just the voice brings comfort, warm feelings.  Good memories..........

Baby set work in progress

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 This is a small baby set that I am working on.  I have started the hat and still have the booties to make to go along with it.  Since it is a newborn size I will probably use the stitch pattern to design a pair of baby mitts to go with.

Green Shawl

This is a shawl that I finished recently.  I was going to add to a small shop in one of our local stores.  This is the first shawl that I have designed.  I had found the shell pattern in a pattern book and added it to the design.

This is when it was a work in progress. 

As you can see there is a slight variation of color.  I had accidently picked up a different shade from the bin at the local store.  But it did work out.  It was a slightly deeper shade of the soft green.

This is the leaf edge stitch that I added to the live stitches to finish the shawl and this is the first time that I had used this type of finishing.  The little lump sitting on the middle of the shawl is a little rabbit that I made for my grandson out of the yarn that was used to knit this shawl.

Live, Love, Laugh

Our family recently lost a very special person.  When I looked around her home I saw these words in so many places.  Live, Love, Laugh.......

She was so cherished by so many.  She touched so many lives.  A very bright light went out.

If there is one thing that comes from her passing, I hope that we all realize how quickly even the brightest light can be extinguished.
  

When I walked into her home for the first time I felt how empty it was.  I  kept listening for her footstep, her quick wit, her beautiful smile, her warmth.  My heart broke for her husband and her children.  I felt devastated and alone.

But by the time we were leaving, I could feel her there still loving all of us.  She had finally released her love to come showering back over us.  She will still be in so many places.

We do need to follow her advice of Live, Love, Laugh.  We need to remember the good times.  Keep her memory alive and let the soft, gentle light be a reminder that she may be gone but she is still loving us.

The passing of our friend

You know it is always so sad.  In all reality we are going to out live our pets.  Our Sadie had been with us for 12 years and we finally had to let her go.  She fought a valiant fight but it was truly time.  At times she was an interesting character.  She was definitely an ALPHA-FEMALE.  She didn't back down from anyone.  But that at times made it difficult to handle her in the home.  At the same time she was very loyal.  I always knew when I was at home or the children were at home she would stand between us and the world.  They would have to take her out to get past her.  But with her temperament life was sometimes interesting.  She cleaned out roasting pans.  You didn't dare leave rising bread where she get to it.  Her favorite thing is the morning was to play keep away with my socks when I was trying to get ready for work.

It was sad to watch the once powerful and in control dog slowly lose herself.  But up until the very last day she laid in her spot where she see both the front and back doors and guard the basement door.   We will miss her.  But sometimes you have to make hard choices in life and once we were sure there was no way to stop her pain and that she was in constant pain we had to make the choice.

  Rest in peace my friend,

My confidant,

My protector,

At times my nemesis,

No one could clean a roasting pan like you,

Or the grandkids' plates faster

When you were a puppy,

Your favorite game was played regularly

Keep away....with my socks.

You were known by many names

Erminator, JoJo, Devil Dog, and I am sure much more

But you were our protector,

Our friend,

At times, Alpha Female of the family,

You had an "I don't think so" attitude

And you didn't mind letting people see it.

Be at peace now JoJo,

Chase those cats and footballs.

I hope someone has the water hose on

And you are jumping and barking.

We will miss you.

In progress shawl

This is a shawl that I have been working on.  It has kind of been moved to the back burner because I have been working on a cross stitch picture of my grandson but soon I will be deli gently working on my knitting projects again.

Raining again

I know that the rain is good for the tomatoes and It means no watering to do tonight.  But we have had so much rain.  Just enough sunshine to make the grass grow overnight.  But not enough dry weather to get the yard completely mowed.

But hopefully all this rain will mean the summer will not be as hot and dry.

Thought for today

It has become a struggle to keep my mind on what is important and how to rid myself of past anger.  I have to remember not to let folks stir up old angers and hurts.  It brings it right back to the present and that is not neccessary.

I have found that if you keep bringing up the old, bad memories it allows the bad to take control of your life and ruins what is good today.

There are times to walk away from what has hurt, angered, stressed you.  There are times to walk away from folks who have lied to you, used you and essentially left you holding the bag so to speak.  That is the time to straighten your shoulders and walk away from it.  Sometimes remembering old angers can rob you of a wonderful experience.

Getting Settled At Home

I am still getting into the process of being at home.  That is not having to get up and make the trek to work everyday and spend my day sitting behind a desk.  I have started working on organizing my yarn and material which by the way I have just about decided my stash will never be used up but I hope to be making a dent in all of it soon.

I also decided this week that my flower beds and the honeysuckle needed to part ways.  So I have been pulling, tugging,clipping away until the honeysuckle decided to bloom now i will have to slow down.  Allergies got to me this week.  But the blooming will be done and I can get back at it again.  Our yard smells like a perfume factory.  I don't mind a little honeysuckle but when it gets to the point that you cutting stems as large as small tree branches to get it out of your roses that is bad.

I also made several trips to town to take care of our animals.....surgery on the cat for some odd condition he has with his salivary glands and the annual on my gosh Petey's hotspot has turned into a HOTSPOT!!!!!  Both seem to be doing fine now.

I have been playing with ideas for knitting designs and more cross stitch designs.  As soon as I get the picture done of my grandson I will be clicking knitting needles and coming up with some designs for my  Etsy shop.  It is really time to move on to the next chapter of my story.  Of course, I will be spending more time with my grandchildren which over the summer will interfere some but that is the plus side of being a grandmother.

The picture of my grandson is coming along.  I want to get it done so I can hang it on the wall.  I have one of my other grandson but i don't want to hang his until I have the younger one done as well.  I have already picked the spots for them to hang in.

I will be posting pictures soon.

Working on cross stitch picture

I have been working on my second picture of my grandchildren. We are so blessed to have them both with us. Both of them has had their struggles starting right from the moment of birth, but we have been lucky that they have overcome their slow beginnings. I can remember this little guy in the nicu with tubes and oxygen. He was such a tiny little thing and he looked like a porcelain doll. He was born with CHD and later developed childhood epilepsy. But he is such a bright little boy. He talks constantly and greets each day with a smile. Soon we will find out if he has outgrown the epilepsy. He had to struggle and for some folks it was hard to understand the danger he was in and how he could not be exposed to cigarette smoke, perfumes, candles and just the night air. But he has managed through it all.

Retirement

I have retired from the workplace. Now I will have so much more time to work on knitting, cross stitch, quilting. I can hardly wait to get my spinning wheel and really have the time to learn to spin. There are so many things that I want to put my hands to. I have two quilts to finish for my daughters that have been handed down from my grandmother, great-grandmother and my uncle. I also have two quilts ready to quilt that I have made for grandson and my daughter. So many, many things. Hopefully, I will get my Etsy shop Somerset Stitchery on the move now.