Happy Birthday, Mom.

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,

Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,

Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,

But only one mother the wide world over.

~George Cooper

Today my Mom would have been 86 years old. She has been gone now for almost twenty years. There are a million things that I wish I could tell her, and a million things that I wish she could share with me. She found such joy in the simple things like tending her garden and flowers. At times I feel her beside me when I hear the birds sing, or smell a rose in my yard. She loved nature and animals, and that was her greatest gift to me.

We can't leave it unadorned...

I'm as guilty as the next woman, probably more so. It's in our nature, we just can't leave things alone without dressing them up a bit. Take this scissor fob for example. While it's a perfectly wonderful pair of Ginghers, it needed something pretty hanging from it. So, I designed this fob, with the help of The Sampler Company's Book of Alphabets Motifs and Borders. It has some of my favorite things on it like saltbox houses, old keys, birds, sheep, willow trees, silhouettes, and of course, dogs. I have no doubt that men find this female behavior extremely odd. While we women think it's perfectly normal to add doodads to this and that, men would never follow suit. Can you imagine tool fobs? I wonder if DH would like one hanging from his power drill? I think not!

Stone by stone...

the building goes up. This wonderful design, "Our House" by The Goode Huswife, has been in my stash of charts for several years. With temperatures well over 100 degrees, I am so ready for Fall. We desert dwellers have to keep telling ourselves that it will cool off eventually. In the meantime, seeing pumpkins and falling leaves appear on the linen is a start. I'm stitching it over one on 28ct. Cashel~vintage country cream with one strand of Needlepoint silk.

Mission accomplished...

I had been on what seemed like an endless quest to find a new look for our entry way. Nothing seemed to work. The area really isn't big enough to accommodate much. While on a shopping expedition a few months back, I came across this cabinet at one of my favorite shops. It was love at first sight, however, I didn't buy it. I guess I needed to mull it over in my mind for a while. A very wise friend encouraged me to go back and get it. It didn't take much encouragement...I think it went something like this: "You know you want it". She was right. I'm happy that I bought it, and I love how it all came together. The penny rug was another project that I have always wanted to try my hand at. It was easy to do, but my fingers were really sore from pushing the needle through the triple layers.

Do you think she'll like it?

This recipe box was made as a thank-you gift for someone special. It's filled with coordinating dividers and some of my favorite recipes. I made five of these last Christmas. Each one with a different theme or style. A certain friend, and you know who you are, has asked me for the same recipe every single Thanksgiving for the last fifteen years! As a recipient of one, hopefully, she will be able to find it this year. We are all guilty of stashing recipes in drawers and so on. I was forced to organize my collection and throw away the ones that I'll never use. How nice it is to be able to find my favorite ginger cookie recipe instead of trying to remember which cookbook it was in.

A Fine Featherd Frock

I was restless last night...couldn't sleep. As I was flipping through the TV channels at 1:00 a.m., this idea came to me. When I told DH about it this morning, he looked at me as if I'd gone over the edge. Well, I like it. I've been on this "bird and nest" obsession lately. Bird stamps, bird folders, bird papers, and now bird dresses! My Mom was a bird lover, also. She always made sure there were plenty of filled feeders in her yard, especially in the winter, when snowy days made the pickings slim. Thanks, Mom, for passing on your love of nature to me.

I'm the Queen in here...

and this is my tiny kingdom, a.k.a. the laundry room. I prefer to call it the "studio". This is where creativity rules. Years ago, DH added the desk area and cabinets for me. In all probability, it was his way of getting me out of his kingdom, a.k.a the garage. Regardless, I am most grateful to have my own space. A place where I can surround myself with all the little things that make me happy. In here, I can listen to music while I play with paint, stamps, scrap booking stuff, and anything else that I want. DH is also my tech support. He sees to it that my computer and printer are always in perfect working condition. I probably don't thank him enough, however, it is much appreciated. Hark! I think I hear the trumpets sounding. No wait... it's the dryer buzzing, and I've got towels to fold.