What's kept me busy..

Here are a couple of pictures I took of K last week. She's growing so fast and is trying to take her first steps. She will let go and walk a step and then fall into the couch or table, whatever is closer. One of these days...
The little rocking chair she is standing near is one that I, her 54 year old gramma, sat in when I was her age. I have a picture somewhere of me sitting in it, but I can't find it right now. The chair has been recovered several times, but it's still the same chair. All the kids in our family have had a chance to sit in it through the years.


I hope my brother does not read my blog until after he receives his birthday package. I made this little wallhanging for him. One of the first quilts I made was one with pictures of Mom and Dad and after Dad passed, Robert asked for it. So, I promised Henry I'd make him one all his own.

No quilting going on

No quilting going on, except for a little bit of embroidery on quilt blocks, but a lot of crocheting happening around here. My QOR friends are an endless source of ideas and projects. Talk centered around "prayer shawls" a few weeks ago. I showed a picture of the first one I made in a previous post. Here you see a white one I made for a birthday gift. The crocheted rosary is made of the same yarn as the prayer shawl and will go along with the shawl. I found the rosary pattern while surfing for another prayer shawl pattern.


Crochet projects are much easier to pick up, and put down, especially while a person is not feeling up to par. Yup, the old flu bug has hit us. Kerrington came home with it first (at least that's where we think it started. She actually cut another tooth and we thought that might've made her sick). But, then her daddy got sick, I got sick and now her momma is sick. K, Robert and I are about to get over it, I think, but April is still pukey. Check her blog to see a picture of her swollen ankle after her fall.

I've been up about two hours now and I can feel that I'm slowy fading. I will sit in the glider for a while and do some crocheting and then I'll probably go lie down. Jim has been so great in helping me while I've been down. I've had him running back and forth with Tylenol, crackers, ginger ale, etc. I don't know how ya'll do it that live alone. I feel for you. I hope you all are well and don't get this crud!

Staying busy

Many moons ago (about three or four months, actually) I received a gift card from Homespun Hearth. Remember when I made a top for them when they needed some made up quickly? Anyway, that was my payment and I finally ordered something with it. These two blocks are the beginning of the project that came as a kit. I've decided that having a kit, (all the fabric included) is the only way I am going to get back into the quilting swing. These blocks need to be embroidered and then I'll work on two more. Never mind that I have a truckload of other projects I should be doing. THIS is what I want to do now.
Before I received the quilt kit in the mail, I worked on one more crocheted item. This little sweater went to a friend's niece who is having a little girl in a few weeks. I also made a little hat to match but forgot to take a picture. After I took the pic of the sweater, I added a pink ribbon around the neck. Very cute.

Another crochet project I've been working on is a prayer shawl. Actually, several of them. The gals in my QOR group were talking about them the other day and I was intrigued. So, I did a little research and came up with a pattern to use.
I hope to make up several more to keep on hand. There is always someone who can use a prayer shawl.

"A Prayer Shawl is a knitted, crocheted or quilted shawl. It is made to be given to a person in need with the intent to shelter, comfort and give solace to the recipient. It enfolds the wearer in a warm tangible hug.
Why is it called a prayer shawl? As each shawl is being created, its maker is in prayer for the future recipient. The Shawl Ministry group often prays together for the recipients.
A prayer may start by affirming the Lord’s love and mercy and go on to ask that he show mercy to, or give comfort to the receiver of the shawl. It may ask for restored health or faith for the receiver. The prayers are heartfelt and individual to specific needs." Taken from BellaOnline. Maybe doing this will help me get a bit more centered, too.

I was able to come home early today because K's other grandparents relieved me of my babysitting duties. They had been in Lubbock and stopped by to visit and so I took them up on it. April was home, too, since she severely sprained her ankle last week and was up on it too long at work yesterday. I was going to go get supplies for work, but the wind was too fierce. I decided to come home and blog.

This weekend is my oldest son's 35th birthday. We will probably celebrate by going out to dinner as we do for everyone's birthday. Time to do a Google search for some of the items he requested.

Judy's new digs

If you look closely, you can see the three amigos in the doorway. We were leaving to go to the store and they lined up to say goodbye. There's Paco, Zed, and Sunshine.
Here's a shot of her new kitchen as seen from the hall that goes to the master bedroom. It's a four bedroom house with lots of room for boxes as you can see in the living room shot.

The living room view is taken from the front door.

She has no cable until Tuesday but finally got her internet hooked up. That's her lifeline these days! We get on Windows Live Messenger and can see each other with our cameras and talk in real time. Pretty nifty. I'm talking to her as I type.

Tomorrow is her first day at her new job. We got to meet one of her associates and her husband while we were there. She's in good hands. Thanks, Lorri and Jim, for taking care of her for us! They are the best!

I have jury duty in the morning so I better get my clothes together. I've unpacked but I should do some laundry. I won't get to see Kerrington for another day!

Well into the New Year

Day Two of 2010 already. Many people seem to think the thing to do is to set goals. Yes, goals. Not resolutions. I'm not any good at keeping resolutions but give me a goal, especially one with a due date attached to it and it's pretty much done. At the moment, my goals are as follows:

1. Start, and finish, Christmas/birthday gifts for my brother and sis-in-law. Time just got away from me and I didn't get theirs in the mail. Their birthdays are in February, so that's my time limit.

2. Continue finishing the BOMs I embroidered and/or appliqued the past year and gave to Brenda, April and Judy. I sent Brenda six months worth of the calendars and April and Judy have the first three months to display. There are my deadlines - Brenda needs hers by June and April and Judy need theirs each month starting in April.

3. I also need to work on a quilt for a client and her brother. She brought me tons of police badges that they want incorporated into a quilt. If anyone has ANY ideas on how I should do this, PLEASE send me your thoughts. I figured I'd quilt-as-you-go since I'm sure it will get extremely heavy with the badges.

Here's a little K picture for your enjoyment. This was taken on Christmas Eve. Rob and April and K spent their New Year's Day with April's family as per their tradition. I hope they got some really good pictures of our baby doll at her first New Year's Day/Christmas family get-together! hint, hint...lol They came over to our house afterwards and we all went out to Shogun's for a final Friday night dinner with Judy until she gets back here for a weekend.

Back to my goals..
4. The most pressing goal is to help get Judy moved to Las Cruces. This coming Thursday will find us on our way there to set her up in her temporary digs. Please pray that the weather stays nice for our trip there and mine back.

There are many, many other "goals" but I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that my sewing room and extra bedroom will get a facelift this year, or else! Jim is very diligent about keeping the rest of the house decent enough for company and I hope he knows how much I appreciate that, especially the appearance of the "dish fairy" every day or so. lol

It's Saturday morning and I need to get ready for work. I will try to get to work early to replace calendars and set out the new Scentsy warmer. Check it out at www.scentsy.com/4886

Oh, last, but not least..I need to take the few Christmas decorations down that finally went up a few weeks ago!

Goodies!

Just a couple of pictures to show you the Kindle that Judy gave me and the Advent goodies from Tammy in Virginia. Thanks, Tammy! I so enjoyed opening a little gift every day in December. I hope to pass on the tradition next Christmas.

For those of you that are wondering what a Kindle is, here's a picture of it. It is a wireless reading device. You can access over 390,000 books, including 101 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers, plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Wow. Most new releases are $9.99, and you can find many books for less and some are free. Carry it in your purse and you no longer have to sit in a line with nothing to do! I love it! Thanks, Judy! Oh, I made the cover for the Kindle because I didn't want to get it dirty while I showed it off :-).

Today was a day I knew would eventually arrive. Judy, Joe, Brittany and I spent the afternoon going through Mom and Dad's clothes and other things. Most of Mom's clothes had been distributed to those who needed them but we had not even touched Dad's closet. We are, by no means, finished, but have put a pretty good dent in it all. I still want to move some major pieces of furniture but I think we'll have to consider renting a storage shed for a while. We knew we had to get moving on this since Ms. Judy is making her big move to Las Cruces in eleven days!

Time now to hit the sack. A Kerrington day tomorrow!

Christmas 2009

Here are my two granddaughters, ready to open gifts on Christmas Eve.
Brittany saved the best for last. The Wii is from Mom and Dad. Can't wait to play a game with her!
Christmas overload!

We had a most enjoyable Christmas Eve at Rob and April's house. They graciously hosted our gift opening extravaganza even though April worked on Christmas Eve and helped her mom get home from the hospital. (Glad to report that "Gramille" is on the mend and feeling better.) April baked an apple pie and a decadent chocolate brownie delight for us to munch on after Judy's posole and the tamales we bought. April also had appetizers, ie., dip and veggies and crackers. She thinks of everything! After opening gifts, we were all so tired (especially those of us who worked that day ;-) So, we all returned to our respective homes and left Rob and April with most of the mess. Thank you so much for having us again this year, guys!

Christmas Day was spent being lazy, mostly. I worked on a cover for my Kindle (pictures later - I should be getting ready for work) and then Judy came over around 1 p.m. to fix the turkey that Jim won in a drawing during a golf tournament a few weeks ago. We took out frozen chili with pork and dressing from Thanksgiving and had a delicious dinner on the table in no time. Joe and Brit came by and ate with us and Rob, April and K came by later. We got to see K in her cute little pink trench coat that was a gift from Auntie J. Too cute!