Have a Lovely Day

I hope you all have a lovely Friday!  May your weekend be sunny! 

You + Me

I’ve been making lots of stuff lately.

Mostly I’ve been making lots and lots of stumps. 

Yep, stumps. 

I love love love the little carving.  I see all sorts of possibilities here.  I made one with “S & W” in a heart.  And I love it too. 

I’ll show ya later. 

For now, I'm off to enjoy the most beautiful weather we’ve had all week. 

Good Timber

The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.


The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.


Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.


Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.


-Douglas Malloch

The World Is Mine

Today upon a bus, I saw a lovely maiden with golden hair.

I envied her, and I wished I were as fair.

When suddenly she rose to leave,

I saw her hobble down the aisle.

She had one foot and wore a crutch.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine,

I have two feet the world is mine.

And when I stopped to buy some sweets,

The lad who sold them had such charm.

I talked with him, he seemed so glad.

And as I left, he said to me,

"Thank you.  You've been so kind.

It's nice to talk with folks like you.

You see," he said,  "I'm blind."

Oh God, forgive me when I whine,

I have two eyes the world is mine.

Later while walking down the street,

I saw a child with eyes of blue.

He stood and watched the others play,

It seemed he knew not what to do.

I stopped a moment then I said,

"Why don't you join the others dear?"

He looked ahead without a word.

And then I knew he could not hear.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine,

I have two ears the world is mine.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine.

With feet to take me where I'd go.

With eyes to see the sunset's glow.

With ears to hear what I'd know.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine.

I'm blessed indeed, the world is mine.

-Red Foley

A Mother’s Heart

I love my mother.  She is truly one of my best friends.  My mom (along with my dad) knows better than anyone how to mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.  I don’t know how she does it, but when my world comes crashing down, sometimes she’s the only one with the words to mend my broken heart.  I want to be just like that.  I want to be just like her.

While I delight to honor my mother on this special day, I am always mindful of those who feel left out.  Those who would love to have babies, but can’t.  Those who would love to be married, but aren’t.  Those who have lost mothers.  Those who have lost children.  Sometimes the reminders can be so very painful.

I know what it’s like to be left out.  To be skipped over.  To be told that my contributions don’t count.  I know what it feels like to feel alone and forgotten. 

So while I honor my wonderful mother, and mother in law, I also honor all of the other women who have reached out to me with a mothers heart.  Whether or not they have children of their own.  Your contributions DO count.  Your efforts matter!  Your kindness and goodness matter, especially to me!  I am so grateful for you and for the impact you have had on my life.  I’m grateful for the texts/phone calls/e-mails/letters that come right when I need it the most.  I wanted to celebrate you special ladies today too.  Sending a big hug to those who need it!

Love,

Me    

Quilt Numero Dos

TA-DA!!! It’s finally finished!  This one was also almost entirely hand-stitched.  Hence the reason it took me several months to complete.  Though lots of people think I’m crazy, I am a big fan of sewing by hand.  I worked on this quilt at the airport, in the doctors office, in the car waiting to pick up Spencer…  I love being able to work on crafty projects when I have a bit of spare time.
 

I LOVE how the final product turned out.  It’s random scrappy hodge-podge of colors brightens up pictures of picnics and outings.  It just makes me happy!  And I love that it contains a little piece of all of my sewing projects so far.  It's already filled with good memories.  I have definitely been bitten by the quilting bug.  I’m working on my third quilt and already have plans for my fourth.   

I asked Spencer to hold the quilt up so I could get a couple of shots of it all spread out.  This wasn’t quite what I had in mind.  Silly boy. 

Little lamb.  I already have plans for another photo shoot featuring this quilt (just can’t get enough).  Stay tuned.