Christmas Letter 2013

Merry Christmas from me to you!

                                                         Photo from LDS.org

2013 was a busy year for me and my youngest daughter.  We had rented a very little one bedroom house in Lake county, California in December of 2011. 

We have been looking to rent a larger place.  We put an application in on a 3 bedroom apartment and we finally were accepted.

We moved just 3 weeks ago. So me, my daughter, the cats and my daughter's boyfriend are here now.

It is great to have my own bedroom and bathroom again!

We had a great loss this year of two family members.  My two youngest children's Dad -  Larry - passed away in August 2013.  It was a great shock when we found out they said he would not live more than few weeks.  No one or the Dr’s knew he was so ill.

We knew that my second daughter's ex-husband Matt was ill with terminal cancer of the lungs.   It was just very difficult because he died 2 days of Larry’s death. 

We look forward to 2014 with new plans and ideas.

I have been busy making the gifts and taking photos of them and highlight the patterns and how to information for the blog pages.  I have also begun to review books and movies.  My third daughter has added two pages of book reviews for the blog.

She works at the three libraries here in the county.   Her boyfriend graduated with 3 AA degrees and is getting ready to start his Bachelor’s degree. He is in the process of applying to colleges in the bay area.

Our three cats are getting into everything and learning about their new home.  

                 

                          Photo of me and the Cypress tree from my best friend Linda!

Me, my daughter and her boyfriend all wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

May the Lord bless you and your Families with Health ~Peace~ and Love

Cats, kitties, and more cats!

Big Changes:

First 

 The reason I have not been blogging.  We had two family members pass away within two days.

The first was a shock as we did not know how sick my ex-husband was.  Here he is in this photo back in 1995 with the birth of our 2nd grandchild.  Our son and daughter in the photo as well.

A week at the most before he passed away we found out that his illnesses over the last year turned out to be end stage liver disease.  He had a cough for months that he tried to get rid of with medication and Nebulizer machine to deliver the mist for asthma.  He was a long time sufferer of Diabetes.  He was in the hospital for a week then came home a day and then back to the hospital.  There was nothing to do for him except make him comfortable.  He passed away a month after his 68th Birthday on August 17, 2014. It has been very difficult for the kids and his 2nd wife.  

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The other death happened two days later.  This one we expected. My 2nd daughter's ex husband had been diagnosed with lung cancer.  We knew that he did not have much time left.   It was very difficult for their two sons and his stepson as well as for my daughter.  

One thing she and I found out - even though they were our ex-husbands we felt very much as a lot of people feel when their spouse passes away.  

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Crafting!

Back to crafting and other things!

So Cats, kitties and more cats!

I had mentioned before that I was going to start using Aida cloth that was size 7. That is pretty much the same grid size as regular plastic canvas or 7 holes per square inch.  Most Aida cloth patterns are for size 10 to 14.  I have done these in the past and here are my past Aida cloth projects:

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The first cats are the ones I have made in the last 4 months.  The first of the Aida cloth in size 7 is this cat!  Specifically "Grumpy Cat!"  

This is the pattern. The print out is for size 14 Aida cloth! I knew it would work fine for size 7 Aida cloth.  There was no actual color code for this pattern. So I had to use what I had on hand and purchased.  I used all six strands of DMC floss.

                         Here is the outline and eyes done.

                          Finished with the word "Whatever."

                               Close up of "Grumpy Cat!"

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Another Grumpy Cat

Almost done. The rest of the cat is white, so it is hard to see where I have left off, but the remainder is going to be white.  I am making several more for family and friends!  

More Kitties!

I found this pattern on Pinterest. It actually was in Russian!  Easy to see what was what on the pattern.  The tail in the original pattern was as large/wide as the legs. I wanted the tail to be thinner. So I enlarged the pattern by cutting out the original print and adding 1 inch to the outline.  I used felt for the eyes on this one as well as felt for the face and nose.  I embroidered the whiskers.

      

   After I finished it I realized I forgot to add the claws!

So I cut out more and also cut out the claws in white felt.  I did not like the face so I decided to just have the nose and eyes felt on the second and third ones.

I was not real happy with those either so the black and white ones and the pink ones just have puffy paint for the eyes nose and whiskers.

                     

 So I added the eyes and nose.   I need to add the wiggly eyes and whiskers next.  Then they will be done.

My cats!

 So this is Batman and Robin now just over one years old! They always sleep like this on my bed. My Mom crocheted that Afghan back in the 1970's!

Robin now sports a Blue collar. He likes to get my attention by sitting on the keyboard of the computer!

Batman sports a silver collar now and he loves to look out the window. I love the way the sun shone on his whiskers!

That is the update for now. Next blog update will be about moving day!  I will also have a blog about my trip to Washington state for the reunion.  We got home from the reunion and that is when my ex husband passed away - so I did not make the blog about the reunion with my Grand kids and 2 daughters.   So I will work on that!

I will be glad to email any of the patterns from any of my projects. Just ask me for which one you want and your email address.    :D

And last but not least: Inspiration

An awesome Poet Artist from Canada has this awesome website. Go see it at        Above The Rayn

Update July 7, 2013

Kittens and Benny 

The kittens are full size now as they turned one on May 19, 2013

Here is the latest photo of them.

You can see that the kittens look bigger than Benny

The kittens are indoor kitties as we want to keep it at way as we will be moving and more than likely will need to keep them from cars and such outside. They are as rambunctious ever!  It took a long time for Benny to tolerate the kittens.  Benny still tangles with Robin as Robin needs to get fixed. They are still adorable looking when they a sleeping!

Vacation to Washington State

My daughter and I are getting ready for vacation and Family reunion!   I cannot wait to see my other two daughters and my 6 grand kids! I will blog photos when I return!

Happy Summer!

Felt Flowers I made - free pattern templates - links here

                           May Flowers I made

Spring crafts:

I made about 30 flowers and the lady bugs, bees, and butterflies.

It was great to do and everyone liked them.  See the Sewing tab above for the how to and pattern.

We still have the same horsey lawnmower from next door. I do not know his name, but he sure loves to eat our lawn!  As soon as the next round or rain has come and gone and the ground is dry, the fence will be repaired and he will no longer be able to mow our lawn for us!

Other news:

We have made a decision on where we will be moving to next in September or October.

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The kittens:
The kittens will be one years old soon!  Their birthday is May 19, 2013.
We take a lot of photos and I am writing a story all about them and our other cat Benny. See Stories tab for their story. They have gotten so big, they are the same size as Benny, just not as long legs as him. Here is a photo of all three cats a couple of months ago.

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Other Crafts:

I am making more crafts with plastic canvas. See Plastic Canvas tab.




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Our Family Reunion:

We will be meeting up again this summer. This year my oldest daughter and family are moving to back Washington state from Minnesota. So it will be easier for next years visit, they will already be there!  I look forward to having all four of my kids together this time. It has been almost 10 years since we were all together!  I am so happy about this years visit and my family reunion!

That ends this blog entry for now!

:D

The Horse Lawnmower

          SPRING IS HERE!

 

No lawnmower needed!

The horse from next door loves our lawn, He comes over for a few days each week now for a month.  So we do not have to mow the lawn at all!   Great, yes? Photo from Feb 15 2013.

I took this one today. Hard to see his face but at least he was closer today

New happenings!

I  made some cute things for Easter gifts. Here are some of the baskets I made for the family.

I cut out the basket and stitched it on using large satin string. Then I glued a second handle on the inside of the first handle I stitched on. Net time I will stitch both together and through the length also to strengthen it.

Go to the Sewing tab above to see the pattern and how to. 

My daughter made some yummy cookies and brownies for every one as well. Four hours down and four hours back to my brother's house. The weather was great, sunny and no rain. Five of us in the car was really rough on the one who sat in the middle in the back. Not a true bench seat but has 3 sets of seat belts. The bench has two indents to make it like bucket seats. Guess they think the person who sits in the middle may be in a booster seat or something for a child. Oh well, next time, next month, we bring a nice pillow for the middle!

Next project:

I will be making some more felt items, specifically some felt flowers. I am trying to finish some bunnies from felt for Sunday, I only need to make one for one person. The rest I will make after that. I have 80% done as they are all cut out. I just need to glue and or sew them. Each item takes 15 minutes to 1 hour.  See the Sewing tab at the top for the bunnies.  I have to space out what I do because of the following 2 reasons:

So you see these are the two reasons I have to find time when they are napping and I am not napping. It is sort of like when you have small kids. You either are awake when they are asleep or try to do things when they are preoccupied.

NEW BLOG PAGES:

I have been writing pages about my dolls, my embroidery, my vision loss, my 2002 Olympic experience as a volunteer, and how I get around as a legally blind person.  So that is 5 pages so far. I will add those stories in the stories tab above.

HAPPY EASTER!

Surprise in my Lilac tree!

Surprise in my Lilac tree!  2013

I saw this paining and it is very close or the same one my daughter had. I really liked it a lot. I love the colors and the subject. It is pretty close to the Mermaid story. I am still looking for the author and title etc. When I find it I will add it here.

I have decided to add all my crafts here.
Just click on the tab above for the different crafts I am making.

I am so glad that winter is just about over!  Sunday is St Patrick's day and then Wednesday March 20th is the first day of Spring.
My lilac tree is starting to bloom!

           This is some of my Lilacs from our Lilac tree.

I used to have so many pretty vases! Since I moved all my things like that are in storage. I am planning a trip this summer to go get all my things! I am moving again and we are renting a house! So I am so excited to have my own room and hopefully my own bathroom, that is the plan!

In the mean time I need to go through things and sort out unnecessary items. I have done this over 60 times now so I am getting to be an expert about it.

I am so glad it is getting warm enough that we do not even use the electric heater in the morning.  We stopped using the wood stove a month ago! It has been almost two weeks since it is no longer below 32 at night. It was a real chore to get the wood, get the kindling, split the kindling and light the fire.  I will be happy to move and not have to use a woodstove to keep warm!
More rain will be coming and I enjoy the rain. I do miss that about living in Washington state.

Now back to making lists of things to do for the move! I probably should make a blog post about the 20 best things to do to prepare to move! ☺

My new blog

Butterfly's are one of my favorite things!
About me:
I make homemade gifts with Plastic canvas and yarn; cloth dolls that I embroider and sew their clothes. 

I love kitties and cats and currently we have 2 brother kitties - Batman and Robin and an older male Benny. all three were rescued cats that were abandoned soon after birth and left in a box in the parking lot at the Library where my daughter worked.

I enjoy the Holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween. I enjoy photography and take photos with my smartphone camera and or a digital camera - nothing fancy as I am legally blind and have not used a Canon or Nikon SLR in 20 years. 

I love roses - all colors! My favorite is pink roses. 

I used to do quite a lot of sewing - now it is just minor things because I have had enough of sewing my fingers...


If you enjoy my blog - send a comment of what you would like to know or see about me or my projects. ☺