A break

I took a little break from making the cradle purses. Well, I made one more today, but tonight I finished this little quilt for K's. dolly. After looking at it from a distance, I can see that I should've paid a little more attention to the placement of the squares. Not that it matters. I'm sure K. and her doll won't even notice! It should be big enough to go around the dolls she's currently playing with.

Bedtime. I need to start trying to get at least 7 hours of sleep. That means I need to go to sleep by 11:30 - 5 minutes from now! lol Jim would say that's not a problem for me. Soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm usually out. Unfortunately, I can bet that I'll wake up about 1:30 or 2:00 to go potty. Ah well...

I can't stop!

Making these cradle purses! They are so quick and easy they're addicting. Luckily, I have lots of leftover yarn in my stash. Although, I do have to untangle some of the yarn before use because one special little girl loves to play in Grama's pile of yarn! That's just fine by me. Especially when I can get Papaw to help untangle! lol


The next two pictures just had to be taken. When I saw her standing with her hands behind her back, I thought it was the cutest thing! Then, Auntie Judy reminded me that Mom (Big Grama) used to stand that way! I can just see Mom now, her short, muscular legs, standing with her hands clasped behind her back. Maybe some things are just hereditary, huh?
And, of course, her favorite thing to do when she tires of playing with her toys...dump them all out and get in the basket! That's after she's turned it upside down and tried climbing on it but, since it's a wicker basket, it kept collapsing. Guess she figured it was safer to be IN it than ON it.

This last picture is typical K. She's a smiley baby and it makes Grama's heart melt.

April and K. came by the shop yesterday and brought me a drink. Thank you! It was such a pleasant surprise to have them come by. Joe had been by a bit earlier and then I saw Rob at the house when he and Jim got home from golfing. So, I was blessed to see ALL my chilluns yesterday! Except my granddaughter, Brittany, whom I think of daily and wish she lived closer than OKC. :-(

I need to get going now. Will meet one of my consultants at the shop for a Scentsy warmer trade and then I think I'll make a WalMart run to see if I can find more dolls for the aforementioned addiction! Have a great Sunday, ya'll!

Cradle purses

The pretty little pink and white cradle purse is K's. I gave it to her this morning and she spent most of the time putting the doll back in the purse and taking it out again. Then she played with the little blanket by stretching it and placing it on top of her head. lol I think she likes it.
The yellow and white purse I made for K's cousin, M. who had a birthday last week. I'm late with her gift, but I hope she'll forgive me once she sees it. She was two this birthday.


I'm writing this on my laptop at Rob and April's while K is napping. Well, she is not asleep yet, but she's resting in her crib. Yesterday she did not nap until her mama got home after 5. I plan on letting her "relax" in her crib for about an hour and then I can't stand not to have her in here with me when she's awake. So, I'll get her out of her bed and then it'll be almost time for lunch. Although, sometimes when I go in to get her, she's not ready to get out. I'm getting a little heavy-lidded myself. I may take a cat nap before I bring her back into the living room. Or, I'll start another cradle purse...

Monday mending

Before and after shot of a little sundress that had a hole in need of mending. I asked April if I could bring it home and try my hand at it. I think it came out nice! I hope she and K. like it.

This is a typical picture of K. She loves any and all books and will literally drop where she is and start turning pages. I don't know how common it is, but she's 14 months old and she knows when the pages are upside down! Personally, I think that's amazing for her age. I've seen her do it several times while sitting on my lap. If she opens the book upside down, she'll look at it for a quick minute and turn it right side up. Grama thinks she's a genius! lol
I crocheted this little doll blanket for K's dolly. She loves wrapping her up in it. She also has me wrap the doll in a bigger blanket so she can unwrap, etc., etc.. Keeps us busy.

So nice to feel better again. You know, when you're not feeling well, you forget how nice it is to not be sick! At least I feel as though I'm never going to feel normal again when I'm sniffling, coughing and carrying on. I've actually worked on the badge quilt this past week. Not anywhere near finished, but making progress. I feel as if I only had one whole day to work on it, I'd get it done. But, life gets in the way and I end up doing more important things for the moment. Like, keeping K. overnight! We kept her this past Saturday night until Sunday around 2. She was such a good girl. She and Papaw are inseparable while she's here. She loves to run around outside and must have Papaw by her side to help her up and down the curbs. We get our exercise with that baby doll!

Got to get to bed. I've told Jim that I plan on getting to bed earlier but it always ends up being around 11 or so. I wake up at 6:30, if not sooner, so an earlier bedtime would be helpful. Goodnight and have a good week.

Happy Mother's Day

And a happy one it was! The entire weekend was very nice. We spent a night in Ruidoso with my sis to celebrate her birthday which had actually been on Tuesday. Birthdays are more fun when you can celebrate for at least a week! We also saw many of our relatives who are locals in the area including my Aunt D. and Uncle T., two of their sons and families and another cousin and his brood. It was so very nice!

There is no place like home, though, and Mother's Day ended with a visit from Rob, April and Miss K. They brought dinner in the form of pizza! Their gift to me (as if I needed more than their presence lol) was a beverage container with K's pictures in it! It's wonderful and I thank you guys!
My Mother's Day actually began on Friday when Joe stopped by the shop with this beautiful bouquet of flowers. What a nice surprise! They are now in a place of honor on my dining room table.

The final gift was a phone call from Brenda, my beautiful step-daughter in Houston. Always so good to hear from her. Thanks, B.!

Time now to shower and get ready to spend eight sweet hours with my little K. Have a great week, ya'll!

Some shots of K this week

A baby doll! She loves to wrap her dolly in the blanket. I think grama needs to make the dolly a quilt!

Lovin' her car seat. She sure enjoys looking out the window and listening to tunes.

Never too young to start texting? LOL Of course this is her play phone but she has found it very intriguing lately.

Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures. I took them with my phone and it's not the most up-to-date piece of technology I own. But, it's nice to have handy when Sweetie looks so cute!

A short little video of K

I took this the last time she stayed overnight with us. The picture she's so enthralled with is the one where her daddy is holding a baby.

This pictures shows a pair of crocheted socks I made the other day. The yarn I used is too thick but it made a nice pair of "hanging around the house" sockies.
I'll have to try the pattern with the yarn they actually recommend. I was just being frugal and using what I had on hand.

What are friends for?

To make your day brighter, of course! Look at the beautiful princess cake my friend, Kathee, made for my birthday. She is one talented mail carrier! In addition to being so cute, it's mmm-mmm good! There is moist chocolate pound cake under that gorgeous skirt. Thank you, Kath!


I am feeling mucho better today. Still coughing a bit, but I hear it's all the rage these days. It seems this bug is a bugger to get rid of. But, I worked all three days even though I didn't work as hard as I like to. Baby steps... Hopefully, next week I can do my usual five days in three.

I got home early today since it was part of my plan to take it easy. I really thought I'd go by Hobby Lobby and spend a little of my birthday card money, but I just wasn't "feelin" it. So, I stopped and picked up lunch for us and came on home. I really would like, and should want, to work on the police badge quilt. Here's a sneak peak at what I've started. I wish these were the only badges they wanted used on the quilt but there are many, many more. I'm still trying to decide how best to attach them to the quilt top. The quilt itself will probably be 6 blocks by 6 blocks. (Each block is formed with the plain light blue in the center surrounded by the darker strips.)

Now that I've caught ya'll up on my week, I'm going to take out my contacts and lay down for a short nap. Perhaps, when I awaken, I will have more energy to work on the quilt.

A little more K

One more shot of K in her little summer dress. I have not seen this little doll since last Wednesday. I've been sick since I left their house last week! I am definitely feeling much better and can't wait to see this baby girl! Tomorrow! By the way, the "table cover" on the round glass table is my snuggie. It was the closest thing to grab to cover the round glass edges so K won't hurt herself. We have old-fashioned furniture. lol We need what Rob and April have. An ottoman/coffee table covered in leather. No sharp edges.

This looks like the picture of the previous embroidered heart block but it isn't. It's another "shower of hearts" for another grieving online buddy.

I have been lazy, lazy, lazy since Thursday morning. Thanks to Leota and the others at work for covering for me the last part of the week. But, I think I really needed the off-time. Jim has been so patient and helpful. Thanks, honey.

So, I will go have another cup of peppermint tea. Yes, Judy, I finally took your advice :-). Since I have a pretty good sized little patch of fresh peppermint growing right outside my kitchen window, I should've been doing this all along. I really couldn't smell the first cup I had this morning but my senses are slowly returning. Have a good night and stay healthy!

Hello, bloggerland friends!

Yes, I'm still here. First, let me say that taxes are done! Had to get that out of the way. This is the first year I have done them and I have to admit, it wasn't all that hard. With Judy's long distance help, Robert's local help with the 'puter and Jim making sure I didn't forget anything, we got 'er done! So, now maybe I can get back to working on some quilt blocks and crocheting.

I did have to get this little wallhanging done for a friend so it was a priority a few weeks ago. These blocks were made by older relatives in her family. She has two of the blocks and wanted them fixed up in order to gift them to special people.
These next three pictures are of my favorite little person! She got to spend the night with Grama and Papaw last Saturday while Mom and Dad went to the lake. In the first picture, she's looking at daddy holding a baby. I wonder if she thinks it's Kerrington he's holding? Actually it's my first granddaughter, Brittany, when she was a tiny thing. K was enthralled with the picture and would've probably carried it around with her if I'd let her.
The second picture finds her at the front door, knocking on it and calling "dada! dada!" Almost broke my heart. But she didn't cry at all while with us. She and her papaw are great friends.
The little zebra toy in the next picture was given to her by Auntie Judy. Someone gave it to Judy to pass on to K. She really enjoys it. By the way, the little dress is one I made her last summer hoping she'd be able to wear it this summer. Fits just right!

The final picture is a block I finished last night to send to a friend to ease her time of grief. I hope she feels the love we put in all our blocks to her.

Last, but not least. I am STILL sick! I went to the doctor last week and he diagnosed me with strep throat. I have been on antibiotics now for 10 days. The throat thing is a bit better, but I had to go back yesterday because I've been wheezing and coughing. Seems I have a viral infection due to allergies. They gave me a breathing treatment in the office which seemed to help temporarily and caused me to upchuck my dinner last night. Does it every time. I'm not so sure I'm going to work today. I hate to call in sick when I only work 3 days, but this is getting ridiculous! Yes, I rest, a lot, while staying with K, but I think I just need a few good days in the bed with nothing to do, as much as I love being with her. Jim has been so helpful. Bless his heart. He had to clean up my mess last night after he fixed my dinner! Please pray for his patience to continue. He's not feeling too hot either, what with some sciatic pain and all.

Alright, enough of the old folks health rant. I'm going to go shower and see if I feel up to getting to work. Have a great day!

Happy Birthday, Robert!

26 years ago. Actually, he was three days old in this picture, I think. It was windy that day, too! lol So hard to believe my baby is all grown up. In the next picture, he's holding his own baby girl! We've come full circle as we're intended to do.
Happy Birthday, dear, sweet Robert! We love you with all our hearts. You are an exemplary son! May the Lord grant you many more years of love and happiness with your little family! Love you!

How much do you love Grama?

Just a few pictures of K. It's been a while since I've posted. I have been diligently working on prayer shawls and have finally started the quilt with all the badges. Hopefully I'll have something to show this weekend.

This is a short post because, as I told Jim and Judy the other day, I feel as though I only bore people with the minutiae of my daily life. Suffice it to say that I stay busy doing what I do. The first three days of my week, though, are my favorite! I love my clients, but little Sweetie is my escape from the usual. We have more fun reading, dancing, singing, "getting" each other, eating, etc. She is a joy!

Baker's Rack

Here's our newest addition to our home. I was able to acquire this beautiful baker's rack from our new renters. They are downsizing to move into town and I was lucky enough to get this nice, nice piece of furniture. I've always wanted one to put right in this spot in the dining room. The turkey platters are the ones we have used at Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember. The yellow gravy dish and bowl are two of my favorite pieces from their house. Now I've got to get some barstools that will match somewhat! Our old ones are in dire need of retirement.

The renters will begin to move in tomorrow. It's been a whirlwind of emotions cleaning out the house getting it ready for them. I hope they enjoy living there as much as Mom and Dad did.

Time for bed. Hop on over to April's blog to read about K's boo boo! lol

Short month, long story

The proof is in the pudding..er, posting - wait, make that "non-posting". I am not a good blogger. lol Maybe at one time I was an excellent blogger, but no more, it seems. Before I begin a long diatribe, I will treat you to a couple of current pictures of our Miss K.

She is modeling a little hoodie vest I crocheted for her. What a joy she is! I told Jim last night that I sure miss the little toot when I don't see her for a few days. How can you not fall in love with a precious baby like this? Especially when you take care of her three days a week and she rests on your chest to fall asleep. Or, when she just lies in the crook of your arm and reaches out to stroke your arm with the softest little hand. Then there are those open mouth kisses that come at you with no request. She's walking now and will toddle toward me with her story book in hand. The return of her mama and daddy at day's end elicits squeals of delight and smiles to melt the stoniest heart. When she hears her Auntie Judy and/or Papaw Jim on the phone, she just wants to kiss the phone. Jude, I try to remember to show her your picture every day so you won't be a stranger when you come home. Next month is her first birthday!

As you can probably guess I could go on and on about Miss K. But, there have been other things happening in the past two weeks since I last posted. Let's see..there's been jury duty, cleaning out Mom and Dad's house to get it ready for renters, a stomach bug, fever blisters, prayer shawls, friends and surgeries, etc. Oh my.

Thank goodness that I have not been chosen to serve on a jury. I've shown up for all but one of my jury summons and have been sent home with others not chosen. Several of the cases have been DUI cases and I have to admit to the lawyers that I am not at all comfortable with a case dealing with alcohol. I have strong opinions on the subject so apparently, I wouldn't be a fair juror. Works for me.

Yes, we are going to rent Mom and Dad's house for now. A friend of the family and her husband had been looking for a place and I am more than happy to be able to help them. I think they will be fine renters and it will be nice to know that the place is being taken care of. Not to mention that it will help with the house payment. So, cleaning out 50 plus years of memories has been a little stressful, to say the least. Since I am the only one left in town to get this done, with a LOT of help from my husband, sons and friends, it's been a little rough. Our living room is filling up with boxes filled with things I'm not quite sure what to do with. We're trying to get the furniture sold to whomever needs what we have before we finally take the rest to a consignment store. I hope I've managed to save things that my sister and brother would like. Judy did specify a few things and I know she wishes she could be here to help. By the way, she is LOVING her job in Las Cruces and I am so happy for her!

I have forgotten to take pictures of the prayer shawls I've made for friends recently. It seems that several of my buddies have had to go under the knife for various reasons, mostly heart repairs. My closest friend will have surgery on Monday to help ease her headaches. It will be neck surgery, the kind where they go in through the front of your throat to work on the back of the neck. Scary stuff.. That's Leota, for those of you that know her. I made her a bright red prayer shawl since she loves red. The sister of a co-worker, Dolores, had open heart surgery so I have a shawl ready for her. One of my favorite clients also underwent heart surgery last week and her shawl is almost ready.

Truth be told, I need to be working on getting my tax info ready for Judy when she comes home in March for K's birthday. So, I will leave you now in order to get cracking on some of that before James wakes up and my day starts. We will spend a good chunk of the day at Dad's house. Until next time..

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!