School is Out...Kinda!

This morning, Aidan's first grade had their awards ceremony. School is officially still in until noon on Friday; but...after the program they announced that the children did not have to attend these "extra days" if they did not want to...because nothing academic was going to be accomplished. Boy, school is sure different than when I went...back in the stone ages!Aidan got certificates in several areas of study.

 I know it's just the first grade...but I have hopes for the remainder of the grades! About 40% of the children did good in the reading, math, spelling...but only five of the children (about 5%) got the Neat Handwriting certificate. (She did not get that from me sadly...my penmanship is horrible!) (I do take full credit for the other certificates...as far as "genes" can contribute anyway!)Here she is...with her A Honor Roll ribbon...photo is terrible...but you can see she is very proud!

We have celebrated with a fresh strawberry shortcake and a picnic out in the back yard. Didn't get photos of those...but we had fun! Now, we shall retire for a "Granny Nap!" 

Marvelous Monday Motifs - 5/23/11

You can read all about my idea for Marvelous Monday Motifs here. Today we have pages 9-10 of the J. F. Ingalls Company, 1886 Catalog of Perforated Parchment Stamping Patterns. 

Please NOTE: This catalog is not under copyright any longer; but the scanned version released to the public domain on 17 July 2007 (the source of my information) does come with restrictions. None of these designs can be sold. They are for your individual use.

In a Funk...

For some reason I'm just in a real funk lately! I just don't feel up to even picking up a needle. I'm not sick, just have no energy. I find myself sitting and starring at the wall! I have Chronic Fatique Syndrome but have not had a "bout" in a long time...sure hope that's not what this is! Perhaps it's just that the temps are getting so much warmer so fast. Today, it's in the 90's...last week it was in the 70's. Someone needs to come over and give me a swift kick in the you-know-where and get me moving again!I need to remember this....

  

French Script Saturday -- A

Here's another embroidery monogram motif! Hope you find a good project for it's use!

Today is Linda's Birthday...

And, she is having a celebration! Check out her blogpost today at Stray Stitches and enter her give-a-way!

My Dad the Soldier

Today, I thought I share some photos of my dad...when he was in the Army. 

He was in the infantry and drove a fuel truck. He was wounded in action and spent the remainder of his life in a good deal of pain from multiple back surgeries. 

(Dad is top left)

Regardless of his injuries, he never had a bad word to say about the military, his job during those years, or the country.

Garden Update 5-19

Here is a view of the right side of the back yard. Mom and I are sharing the garden spot this year. She has three rows on the left of the picture; I have four rows to the right of the picture, next to the fence.  We are not in competition…although she does say every few days “you got the good dirt, and your plants are getting bigger because of that”. I have absolutely no doubt that THAT is completely true…cause I do not profess to have any SKILL at gardening at all! I’m hoping for plain ole dumb luck!

The corn is closest to the fence. And, it TOO CLOSE to the fence…so I’ll be picking ears of corn only from the inside of the row…as I will not be able to get my self squeezed between mature corn and the fence when it’s time to pick!

Here are the remainder of my rows…and I’ve tried to label them as much for my memory as for your information! Next to the corn is a row of Lima beans and some Jalapeno pepper plants. Next to that is a half row of green beans…and the remainder was not planted for a while. Then, I put in some Crowder peas for my brother…as I don’t eat them. My last row has tomatoes and okra will finish out the row. It takes okra a while to come up because it needs really warm ground. At the very end of the rows…across the back side is some yellow crooked neck squash.

In total, I’ll have six summer squash plants…so should have plenty! I love fresh squash…and so does Aidan. But, there will be extra…so if you want some come on over this summer!

Lastly are my little cucumber plants. I sure hope these really take hold soon and start to look better. There are five plants, and these two are the best of them. This area gets a lot of water it seems…so I’m not so sure these will be hardy enough to last! Keeping my fingers crossed…cause Aidan and I LOVE cucumbers!!
I’ll keep ya’ll posted as the garden progresses!

Wednesday Wine Country Monograms -- B

Today, this post is brought to you by the letter "B". 

A Great Technique-Tip!

Susan Elliot of Plays with Needles had the greatest tip today on transferring "type" to your crazy quilt patch! It is so handy, I'll be using it for sure in the future! Hop on over there and check this out...and let her know I sent you! Follow her blog while you're at it...she has some great posts!

Sweeter Than Cotton Candy

Look at this little darling sleeping.

There just isn’t anything better than a good baby! Chevy, my nieces’ little bundle of joy spend the morning yesterday at Mom’s. I held her and she giggled and jumped up and down looking at my loud colored blouse. We had such fun. Then as I held her in my arms, she fell asleep. I had a hard time giving her up to her carrier!
Later on, I realized that I was a GREAT AUNT! Wow, that’s a rude awakening! I feel like I should start shopping for my walker and cane soon!
Reminds me of Aidan’s little enlightenment when she was two years old…”Nana, you have no memory…cause your hair is white.”. Yeah, she was right about that!!

Speaking of Aidan…here are some photos of her “garden”. She has a playhouse in the back yard. The front section has a little garden spot…mostly daffodils and her rose bush.

But, we also added two cherry tomato vines…one in each front corner. Hopefully, they will both do well. One is already having “baby tomatoes”.

We also planted a regular bush tomato on the front steps in a pot…and Aidan waters it almost every day. We’ll have to stake it and tie up the limbs before long so they don’t break off under the weight of the fruit. If you don’t have a garden…consider a couple of “pots”. They are great as distractions for little ones too! “Wink!”

Marvelous Monday Motifs - 5/16/11

You can read all about my idea for Marvelous Monday Motifs here. Today we have pages 7-8 of the J. F. Ingalls Company, 1886 Catalog of Perforated Parchment Stamping Patterns. 

Please NOTE: This catalog is not under copyright any longer; but the scanned version released to the public domain on 17 July 2007 (the source of my information) does come with restrictions. None of these designs can be sold. They are for your individual use.

Winners Have Been Notified!

 Winners of the Mother's Day Drawing have been selected via Random Number Generator, and have been notified. We had 91 entries in total! (Less comments, but some comments counted for multiple entries according to the rules posted).

 First Prize goes to "Connie". Go check out her blog and congratulate her!

The next prize "French Pages" goes to "Sara Beth". She also blogs!...go check it out here!

 And, the last prize "Love" goes to "Joyce Clark Frank". You can check her blog out here!

Congratulations to all the winners!

 We'll do another contest soon! I think it's about time to give some more jewelry away!...so stay tuned!

StitchMAP Moderator Challenge Swap

A few days ago, I shared a sneak peak photo of the challenge item I created for Amy. Well, I mailed it and she has received it…so I can blog the entire photo! Yea!

 The challenge was to take a beautiful peacock applique motif that Shari sent to all the Moderators at Christmas time…and create a special object for our swap partner. I started a crazy quilt project…hated it! Discarded it. I started a needle case…hated it! Discarded it. Then I was thinking that I really needed a creative muse to help me develop a real plan for this swap. Bingo! The light went on! And, I created my first “muse”. After creating her for Amy..I had to create one of my own…which ya’ll got to see right away! Here is Amy’s muse…with her peacock necklace…and hair clip!

 I did not think to take a photo of the peacock motif before I cut it into 3 pieces! The necklace only needed a short piece...and the remainder I put into the hair clip.

If you have not sewn a doll in a while...it is very enjoyable! I highly recommend it!

If you need a pattern, remember that there is a free one in the Yahoo Files...check that out on the Creative Muse post I did earlier. Here are some more photos!

Editorial Comment

Be advised that Blogger has had some issues of late. Some of my posts had to be re-posted after the system corrections were made.So, you might need to scroll over a couple of the "New" Old posts...to see the really new ones! Ha!Hugs!