When It Rains, It Pours - Not Water!!

Things have been really quiet for the last week and a half. Not too much going on at work. Just daily routine things you can do in your sleep.

Then BOOM!!! everything breaks at once, and everyone needs to be fixed ASAP. So, I've spent all day 'putting out fires' as we call them. A co-worker and I have just spent the last hour walking someone on another campus through a problem. And it was a big problem. Fortunately, everything is now working.

This morning, all 10 HR reports dealing with retirements was showing too much money being submitted to everyone's retirement accounts. Fortunately, one fix took care of all of them, it just took a little time to figure out what that fix should be.

Other than that, it's 76 degrees outside. The sun is shining, and I'm going to pick up The Banty Hen from daycare in just a little while. Then my day will be happy again. WooHoo!

I hope you have had a great day. Pray for the flood victims in the NE. Love one another.

A Lousy Day And A Headache!

It has been less than an interesting day today. I've had a sinus headache along with a sinus infection for several days, and am taking an antibiotic for the infection. The antibiotic makes me about half sick to my stomach, so anytime I think about eating, I get queasy, and if you know me very well, you know I don't do without food for very long at a time. I just wish my head would stop hurting.

And, as if that isn't enough, we're having server problems here at work. Email, forget it. I can get to the internet, but no email, no working with our main program since it goes through our server to get to the internet. And most of the phones are dead. Thank goodness for cells.

Other than that, it's beautiful outside. Very few clouds in the sky, and 68 degrees.

I hope it's warm and sunny where you are. Pray for the rain soaked East Coast. Love one another.

They Both Fit!!!

For some strange reason, my blog wouldn't upload pictures earlier. However, it has gotten over it's mad spell or whatever was causing the problem. This is the dress from Kari Mecca's book that I've had since 2008 and finally got around to making something from. This same dress is shown using ric rack flowers and I wanted to make sure it fit before I spent a lot of time on that one. I think this fits just fine. Your opinion? She looks really good in these colors.
This little outfit fits like a glove. I was afraid it would be too big. That the pants would come to her ankles and the top would be more of a dress than a top. I was wrong again. I obviously have no eye for size and measurements. This is a size 3, and she will be 3 in June. She really likes this one because it's pink. I didn't have any trouble getting her to take off the dress, but she didn't want to take this off. I could have let her wear it around the house, but I want her mama to decide when she wears it. I am very pleased with both of them.

I hope you had a great weekend. The weather is beautiful today. Pray for people everywhere. Love one another.

Don't Start Anything On Friday, You Can't Finish!

My grandfather-in-law was a very superstitious man. He wouldn't walk under a ladder. If a black cat crossed in front of him, he would turn and go back. He threw salt over his left shoulder before he ate. And one big thing was to never start a job on Friday that you couldn't finish, because on Monday you'd go do something different.

Ok, so I don't know if going to Abilities Unlimited to look for silk ties means I began a project on Friday or not. I know for a fact, I won't get to do anything with them until next week, but when I get a bee in my bonnet, I'm not happy til I've at least taken the first steps toward the project goal.

For those of you who know me, you know I live alone, so you are probably wondering why I need silk ties, especially ones that came from a thrift shop. I saw this website about making silk dyed Easter eggs. You can see how to do it here. I decided I have to make some so I bought four. They had a lot more, but I didn't want to go overboard. I intend to blow the eggs out of their shell, and then dye them. You can leave the eggs in, but then you have to break them to get to the egg. If I go to this much trouble, I don't want them broken.

I'm keeping grandchidren this weekend, so no craftiness in my plans. Just got to keep the little ones safe and full. But I'll have to get the eggs done the first of next week, since Good Friday is one week from today.

I hope you are having a great day. Pray for grandparents everywhere. Love one another.

The Bird Sang At Midnight!

What kind of bird sings at midnight? Actually it was 1am, but I'm not sure the birds have gone to daylight savings time. They may not change til the end of the month, but regardless of whether it was midnight or 1, what business does a bird have singing that late at night. Doesn't it know that singing is the very best way for a cat to find it in the dark?

Now I guess you are wondering how I knew this bird was singing at that crazy time of night. I was up! I usually go to bed, set my sleep timer on the tv for 90 minutes and never know when it kicks off. Not last night! I couldn't seem to turn my mind off. Then I'd get hot and kick off my cover, then I'd get cold and cover up again. Then I decided I was going to wear my bed completely out, so I got up and went to the couch. Believe me, there's nothing worth watching at that time of night.

Anyway, back to the singing bird. When I went to bed about 2ish, it was still singing. It was beginning to get on my last nerve. Sometime you just hope the cat wins.

I hope you are having a great day. Pray that all the Spring breakers make it home save, sound, and glad to be back. Love one another.

Finished Projects!

This is the project I've been working on. It's called Paisley(something), I can never remember the whole name. It is from AS&E Issue #83. I thought it would be a quick little outfit, since the smocking was a simple pattern. I'm thinking I can whip this out 'toot sweet'. WRONG!!!! Yes, the smocking didn't take too long. I'd never done the flower petals like these, but it worked up pretty fast.
Then came the cutting and sewing. There's just about 20 miles of piping(I'm exaggerating of course)and as much binding. It all had to be sewn together, and each seam took sewing three times. One seam to make the piping, one to sew it in place, and one to put the binding on. And the flounce to the top is a full circle. That's a long way baby. But I've extremely pleased with the outcome. I think it was definitely worth all the time I've put into it. Now, hopefully, it will fit.
Here is a closeup of the smocking. The petals on the flowers are made with a technique similar to making bouilion roses. My work never looks great, but usually looks better after the garment has been washed. I think that allows everything to get in place a little better--evens out the stitches.
In this one, you can see the buttons I used for the front. They are just decoration. It actually buttons down the back. These buttons are JHB, and I've had them for probably 25 years. I also had the ones down the back in my stash too. I'm working that stash down, just not too quickly.
This little project was next on my list. There are two ways to make this little pinafore/sundress. One has a lot of ric-rack flowers on it, and thus a lot of work. My intention is to see how this version fits before I spend the time on the other one. This one took about 4 hours from tracing the pattern pieces(all two of them)and cutting it out.
It goes together easily enough and this Kaufman fabric has such a good feel(hand)to it, that I think it will wear very well. The ribbon is two different ribbons. The turquoise ribbon is a bit darker than the light turquoise in the dress fabric, and the brown ribbon was a bit darker than the brown fabric, but I think they compliment each quite well.
Oh yes, and look at the buttons. They are the same as what I put on the other outfit. I was able to use all the buttons. I had six in all. Twenty five years ago these buttons cost $1.50 per card, I don't know what they'd cost today. I've been so surprised at how the cost of notions has jumped. Thread is like spun gold, and the color choices seem so limited. And this is at Hancocks. You'd think they'd have the best variety in town, especially since they are just about the only game in town. Their only competition if Hobby Lobby since our Wal-Mart doesn't carry fabric any more.

My next big project(after the little dress)will be matching quilts for my two granddaughters who share a room. Their Daddy built each a twin bed, and we have beautiful yellow fabric with flip flops all over it for the quilts. I'm anxious to get started on that as well.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. Pray that what I've made fits the Banty Hen. Love one another.

Same Song, Second Verse!

I know anyone who takes the time to read my blog is tired of hearing that I haven't finished my most recent project. I have 3 very good reasons, and here they are lying in front of the tv. Princess #2 looks quite the lady in her play dress and sneakers. And the pose leaves a lot to be desired. Superhero is wearing his new 'snake' boots. If you have these on when you are turkey hunting, the snakes can't bite through them. The Banty Hen is in the middle.
Saturday afternoon, the older two left, and the Banty Hen stayed. This is her Sunday morning after a Smores poptart watching Handy Manny.
As you may notice, she is in full control of the remote.
A Spiderman jug of milk will get the remote out of her hand. But she is still totally engrossed in Handy Manny.
After a bath and head wash, she got dressed and let me braid her hair.
Her hair is very fine, and not easy to braid.
She totally likes to ham it up for the camera, and says, 'take another one memaw'.
Her Mama is in Atlanta training for a new job. So that means I get extra time with both her and her brother(He's the one with the snake boots).
She let me comb her hair at least a dozen times. I french braided it, but it is so fine and silky that it didn't stay long. She was a very good girl all day long. She stayed with me Sunday night and I took her to school this morning.

I hope you had as much fun as I did. I do love me some grandchildren.

I also hope you are having a great day. Pray for those less fortunate. Love one another.

Stroll Down Memory Lane!

My oldest daughter called me last night. She always asks what I'm doing. My answer is usually that I'm watching tv, or maybe sewing. Last night I told her I was 'strolling down memory lane'. Of course she laughed at me, so I explained. A gentleman in our community died the other day, and his funeral is today. In my mother's picture box, I knew at one time there was a picture of this man and his wife made around 1954. I wanted to find it and take it to his daughter today so I went through the 'picture box'. The thing about looking for a specific picture is that you can't just glance at the pictures you come to, you have to examine them. In examining them, I basically got lost in time. I rarely look at these pictures. This picture box stopped growing with my mother's death. Many of the people in those pictures I don't know. Probably 80% have no names on them, and the only way I know about when they were made is that old pictures have a month and year printed in the border.

The gentleman who died was ten years younger than my dad, but they grew up in the same community, my dad having moved there when he was in his early teens. Many people who did not know them really well, often got them confused. They got each other's parts bills from the implement company, and once my mother got a pickup truck load of geese that the other man had bought. Over the years, it was sort of a joke, but my mom and dad were really good friends with the family. I didn't find the picture. I've put it somewhere with the intention of getting it to them, and don't know where it is.

His younger sister taught school, and when my younger brother was born, I was summoned to her room. When she told me I had a baby brother, I cried. I wanted a sister.

Thanks for listening to my stroll. I hope you are having a good day(it's beautiful here). Pray for those who have lost loved ones. Love one another.

Here's My Excuse!

Yes, this is the reason I was unable to work on my sewing project Tuesday night. This is the Banty Hen and she keeps me hopping when she's at the house.
I wouldn't have it any other way. I did work on the project last night. I'm about ready to attach the flounce to the top part of the bodice.
The one problem I have is that I don't like the buttons I bought to go on it. I thought they'd be perfect, but I don't like them at all, so I'm going to have to fall back and regroup. I think when I get it ready for buttons, I'm going to take it to the fabric store and pick them out. I just had a scrap of material when I picked the ones I have.

Tonight I have to keep the grandchildren while parents go to teacher conferences. It'll be about 8ish before I get home. I brought the project with me to do some of the hand work. Whether I'll get anything done or not remains to be seen.

And I have a confession to make. I didn't watch 'The Quiet Man' last night. When I got home the Celtic Ladies were singing on PBS so I watched(listened)to them. The music was grand.

I hope you are having a great day today. Pray for me tonight as I try to keep up with four, seven and younger. Love one another.

Happy St. Patrick's Day To You!

Were there ever any snakes in Ireland? I find it hard to believe that any one could run them all out if there indeed were snakes there. But it makes for a good opportunity to enjoy the day, cook some unusual food, wear something green, and for those who imbibe, it's another excuse to get drunk.

My youngest granddaughter spent the night with me last night. She didn't have anything green, so I made her a 3 leaf clover out of ric rack, added a pearl, and hot glued it to a barrett. I hope it stayed in her hair.

I was with a friend in Savannah one year just a couple weeks after St. Patrick's Day. This is a big holiday there. The gal driving the tour train said that eveyone in Savannah was Irish on March 17th. I think Jackson, Mississippi has a big parade and party on this day as well. I think this is the holiday that the Sweet Potato Queens participate in a parade too.

To my knowledge, there aren't any really big parties around my neck of the woods, but to all those who get wound up for this holiday, I hope it is all you want it to be. I'm thinking in honor of the day, I may watch 'The Quiet Man' with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara tonight. You can't get any more Irish than that.

I hope you are having a good St. Patty's Day. Pray for all those who will end up in jail for their celebrations. Love one another.

Where Did Monday Go?

What happened to Monday? I know we all dred Monday's because we have to go back to work. Our weekend is over, caput, ended. But all of a sudden I looked at the clock yesterday and it was 4:00pm, and I had to be out of here by 4:15. Needless to say, there was no post yesterday. I don't usually post on the weekends since posting at home is a slow laborious thing. I need to have my pc cleaned up and maybe things would go faster.

My project for the Banty Hen is under construction. I finished the capris, and am working on the top. I have part of it sewed together, but had to stop and make more piping. I like putting the inset in place, the flounce on the bottom of the shirt, the sleeves, the buttons and buttonholes. I think it is turning out nicely. I'll have pictures when it's finished.

In the meantime, I've begun thinking about my next project. Below are a couple of pictures of the same dress shown two different ways. The first one is made of two fabrics, with lots of ric rack flowers around the bottom and a cluster at the top. I'm currently working on the flowers. instead of yellow and blue, I'm making it yellow and aqua.
But before I spend all my time on a dress that I'm not sure will fit, I'm going to make the one below. My DIL likes turquoise and brown, and I found this fabric and it felt good. It's Pima, so it should wash and wear really well. I thought I'd make it first, and see how it fits, then I'll know what to do on the one above. I have a question since I don't particularly like the brown with turquoise dots, I'm not sure which piece should be the middle. I don't really like the idea of the brown being next to her face(she's only 2 1/2), but I really think the brighter color should be the focal point of the dress. Should I go ahead and put the brown at the top and bottom, or put it in the middle? I also need to put some trim on it, I'll have to give that some thought as well. I hate making decisions.

I hope you are having a great week. Pray for those in need. Love one another.

Card Party Last Night!

We played Conasta last night. It's our once a month game. The stakes are a whole $25, and all the food the hostess has prepared.

When we started 28 years ago, we talked about labor and delivery, now we talk about what knee we need to have fixed or the arthritic joints that hurt because of the weather. There are six of the original 12 who started playing. We lost one because she moved. We lost one because her husband didn't like her spending time with friends. We lost one because she found some type of religion that made having fun a sin(literally). A couple left because they had too many obligations to commit to spending one night a month with the rest of us. We miss them, but we have replaced them over time and have a fun bunch of gals.

We hope our arthritic hands will allow us to continue to hold the cards and our old timers will allow us to play a game before we forget what we are doing once we get to the old folks home. And by the way, I hear that in the interest of being politically correct, we are no longer senior citizens, we are now to be called old people.

Which do you think is better--old people or senior citizens? Preferrably, I want to be called ALIVE, but that's just me!

I hope you have a great weekend planned. Pray for those you love. Love one another.

Stormy Weather!

Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky...stormy weather. Great song, unfortunate weather. We had some pretty bad storms roll through Arkansas last night. Fortunately, I was in just the right spot for nothing to happen except a bit of thunder, lightening and some rain. Others weren't so lucky. One of my co-workers lives in Randloph County. His jeep got beaten pretty badly from the hail as he was on his way home.

I made it home from church before it even started raining in my neck of the woods. Today, however, the sun is shining and it's in the high sixties. We went out at noon without even a jacket on. That was really nice. From my office window, I can see the daycare workers strolling some of the kiddies around. They do this pretty often weather permitting. What's fun is going by and seeing all the little kids riding trikes on the sidewalks. They have some pretty good traffic jams.

It's been a beautiful day, and I think the rest of the week is going to be nice as well. Spring is on it's way. My neighbor has daffodils blooming. I think my son killed all mine with roundup last year. He doesn't like trimming, so he kills. If I were paying, I'd probably complain.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. Pray for the tornado victims. Love one another.

Friends in Blogville!

Blogville is a large community of people who love to share themselves with the world. It's a tight knit community. We share thoughts, ideas, problems, recipes, sewing tips, photography. You name it, and if there's a way, we will share it right here in our own little corner of the blogisphere.

I've been blogging for about 2 years. I have been reading blogs for about that long as well. For a long time, my family didn't know that I had a blog or was posting regularly. But I finally told them, and they are my most faithful commentors.

I posted a picture yesterday, and complained about the fact that I'm not good at taking pictures, and Jennifer from the Cotton Wife(who is a fantastic photographer) told me about a button that looks like a flower on my camera that would help with my close up problem. I thought this was so sweet of her to take her time and tell me this since she is so incredibly busy. Thank you so much, I'd never noticed that button before. On one of the quilt blogs I read, I posted a question about the size of the blocks she had made. I immediately got a sweet response. I'm thinking you can ask people most anything and they graciously respond.

I just had to brag a little on my blog friends. You all are a special bunch of folks.

Have a great day. Pray for Becky at Twisted Fencepost. She has lost her last sibling. Love one another.

My New Project

I'm not the greatest at taking pictures, and my camera isn't the greatest at showing close up detail. I've finished the inset for The Banty Hen's play set. I hope to have it pretty much done by the weekend. She loves pink, and that is the main color. This little inset worked up very quickly, the technique for the flowers was something I had not done before. The outer petals start out like a bouillon rose, but instead of wrapping your needle, you cast on your thread like you were going to knit. I wish my pictures were better so you could see. Some came out perfectly. Others--not so much, but washing usually evens out any bobbles in smocking, so there's hope yet. My grandmother-in-law used to say,'who'll ever notice on a galloping horse', so maybe no one will notice any imperfections.
One thing I like about the AS&E books is that there are lots of techniques I've never done before, and they really add to the work.
I had a couple of friends ask to see a more up close picture of the dress Princess#2 wore in the pageant. If you double click, they will enlarge. I should have made some pictures of her closer up, but like I say, I'm not very good with a camera.

I hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday. Pray for those in need. Love another.

And If For Any Reason The Queen Cannot Fulfill Her Duties!

Our little Princess #2 became First Alterate in the Ms Bearcat pageant at her school. We are very proud of her. We were concerned that she might decide she didn't want to participate at the last minute. But she was so excited, and kept assuring us that she knew exactly what to do, and she did. She walked, did her turns perfectly, smiled at the judges and did a great job.
The people behind me kept saying,'you can tell she's been in pageants before', and when it was over they said they had her picked to win. While my head was growing bigger with each comment, I kept quiet and listened. This was her first and probably only pageant. Her mom isn't into that sort of thing, and it can get pretty expensive. There isn't anyone in our family that has the kind of money it takes to do this sort of thing. We were just surprised at how well she 'performed' and that she participated.

When we got home, we were talking about the pageant, and we were saying the little thing about if the queen can't fulfill her duties(what duties?), then first alternate would step in. My daughter(her mother)said, there's always the possibility that a playboy photoshoot could show up and cause her to lose her crown. At 5 years old, I don't think there is much chance, but the main thing is that P#2 had a good time, and she was perfectly happy with her sash, trophy and gift bag.
I hope you had a great weekend and are planning to have a good week ahead. Pray for people who are in pain. Love one another.

A Long, Long, Long Week!

I really think my title today deserves the word 'long' four times, but was afraid I'd scare everyone off. It has been a long week. I woke up about 4:30 this morning and wondered if it was Friday or Saturday. I went back to sleep and when the alarm went off, I knew it wasn't Saturday. I don't set the alarm on Saturday. So my day started off on the wrong foot.

I've been dreaming some crazy stuff lately, and last night was no exception. In part of my dream, the girl down the hall from me at work and I was milking. We weren't milking anything ordinary. We were milking a giraffe. First, I'd hold it's head and talk to it to keep it calm while my co-worker milked, then she would talk to it, and I'd milk for a while. I'm not sure what we were planning to do with the milk, but when we were finished, we only had about a quart, so either we are really inexperienced at this, or it's just hard to do.

So, do you have crazy dreams? If so, what is something you've dreamed that makes absolutely no sense? I've bared my sleeping soul here, you should too.

Hope everyone has a great weekend(looks like the weather is going to cooperate). Pray for the homeless. Love one another.

Calling All Parrotheads!!!

Are you a Parrothead? Do you know what that is? If not, you don't know what you are missing. I am a huge Jimmy Buffet fan, but alas, I've never been to one of his concerts. And what's more, doesn't look like I'm going any time soon.

My chiropracter knows I'm a big Buffet fan. I went in the other day and he said,'Guess what I've got?' I didn't have a clue. He said he had Jimmy Buffet tickets for Nashville. I didn't know he was going to be in Nashville, but with a lovely price tag of 130 + handling, etc. these little jewels come to a whopping 157 dollars.

Slightly out of my price range. Then a consultant with our school, who is also a big Buffet fan says he has some extra tickets and I can get one from him for Indiana, but to have fun with this group, I'd have to come to Chicago to ride the bus with the rest of their group. Something tells me they are seriously going to be at the pre show. That would be like traveling around the world for me.

He's also going to be in St. Louis. Now I could drive up and spend the night and come back the next day, but again, tickets are out of this world. So, it basically looks like I'll just have to keep playing those cd's while driving down the road, and singing those songs I know by heart. And keep thinking that one of these days, I'm going to win the lottery and then I can get my own bus(along with a good looking driver)and make my way to all the concerts I want.

What is your favorite Jimmy Buffet song?

Hope you are having a good day. Pray for Parrotheads everywhere. Love one another.

So Much To Do, So Little Time

I promised yesterday that I'd have a picture of the things in my give-a-way that was won by Twisted FencePost. I mentioned that 'Twisted' won my prize, and the person I was talking to said,'you know someone named 'Twisted'? Yep that's me. I have a friend named Twisted. Without further adeiu, here is the picture. 'Twisted' will be receiving this when she sends me her mailing address.

I thought the birdhouse would remind us that soon the birds will be looking for homes in which to raise their babies. The green tea towels are for St. Patrick's Day, the little floral notepad is to list all those projects you want to finish, and the picture is one of my favorite scriptures,"Faith...Is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see".

Now it's on to my next project. Actually, I have three in mind. One is a little quilting project. It will be a wall hanging. Then, I've started a smocking project for The Banty Hen. She loves pink, so this pattern from AS&E issue 83 called Paisley something should look really cute on her. The top will be the pattern, and the pants will be solid(wonder how they'll look after she sits in a mud puddle in them?) The third thing is a sun dress from Kari Mecca's 'Sewing With Whimsy'. It has flowers made from rick rack, and I've been wanting to make something with it since I got it last year. Can you tell it takes me a while to make up my mind about projects? Oh, and I have to be in the right mood.

I hope you are having a great day today. Pray for those who are hungry and have no place to rest. Love one another.

My Give-A-Way

During the month of February, I posted that I was having a Give-A-Way. When I first announced it, I wasn't sure what would be in it. Especially since I was still working on the pageant dress, and didn't know if I'd have time to do something handmade or just some things I like that I thought a blogger might like as well.

I did get the pageant dress finished on Saturday. Even though it looks pink, it is snow white. Her mother will put the bling on the bodice this week. You'll notice it is in two pieces. That seems to be the fashion today. If you go to a rental shop, you can pick the bodice and the skirt separately and get exactly what you want.

I know you are much more interested in the winner of the give-a-way than the dress, but, had to throw in a couple of pics anyway.

I had 65 comments left on my blog during the month of February, and each comment was given a number. Since I couldn't find my random number generator, I asked my co-worker down the hall to pick a number between 1 and 65. If you know anything about racing, then you will know who her favorite driver is when I tell you she picked 29. In case you aren't a race fan(like me), you wouldn't know that is Kevin Harvick's Nascar Number. On my spreadsheet with everyone's name, the number 29 was Twisted FencePost. Congratulations Twisted. If you would send an email to shirleysmith@astate.edu with your mailing address, I'll get your gift in the mail. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow. I've been a bit scatterbrained lately, should have had a picture for today, but I keep blaming everything on that pageant dress(that I know you are tired of hearing me complain about).

The future Miss America's pageant is Saturday. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures of her in the dress next week.

Hope you are having a wonderful Monday. Pray for Chile. Love one another.