Little Ms.DIY strikes again!

 “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”― Mark Twain

Well the truth is that I haven't gotten any sewing done for nearly two weeks now...........part of the reason was the 4th of July holiday of which I can say I did nothing but enjoy myself.........went to New Mexico and saw my siblings, Mom and Dad,  my children and grandchildren and nieces, nephews and the beautiful ladies my sons are in love with............so there was just no time to sew.............

This week I decided to make some birdseed cakes, some hummingbird nectar and a squirrel feeder........yes, I am the acorn that hasn't fallen far from the tree...........my sweet Daddy has made lots of garden decorations........wooden toys.....etc, and I love doing it too.............my Mama used to can fruit and make jelly so she taught me to enjoy the kitchen...........

Here are my creations for the week............

 Hopefully next week I can get back to Dorothy and the rest of the Oz characters........but if not......you can find me in the backyard watching all the wild critters................

 

One Flower Thursday.....again.....and some turtle fun..............

Values are like fingerprints. Nobody's are the same, but you leave 'em all over everything you do.— Elvis Presley


I am still not sure where I want Dorothy's friends to be in the poppy field but here is one thought................

 I think I will try a few layouts before I decide.................

In earlier posts I have shown you some photos of our two turtles, Donnie and Stevie, and here are some more.......these two little ladies are so different from each other!  The big one, Donnie, loves vegetables....mostly fruits like watermelon and apricots where the little one, Stevie, is a protein lover!  She loves hamburger!

And just as they have different palates.......they both like water but Donnie likes the spa.......................

 

 and Stevie likes to swim in the great outdoors......lol......these little gals make my day!

I am linking up with Karen's One Flower Wednesday page and I hope you will go check out the other flowers there........

Just Click HERE...........

Hope you are all having a wonderful day............talk to you next time!

Thursday morning with One Flower Wednesday..............

 To thrive in life you need three bones. A wishbone. A backbone. And a funny bone.— Reba McEntire



I am adding a new flower to the Magic poppies scene...........here is the scarecrow in the poppies............

 ....and you can see his friends in the second photo waiting for their flower to be made............I will show you one or two of them next week and hopefully the following week I can sew them into the scene with sleeping Dorothy....................

The week I was gone on vacation was hard on my grass......it has been so hot.............I had been "nursing" some areas I had gotten a little too zealous with in killing some crabgrass.......unfortunately I killed some of the good lawn and was trying to get some new grass to grow.........with nobody here to keep it wet, I lost some of the new grass so today I am off to buy some more seed and start back again..............so I will just say Ta-Ta for now..................talk to you soon.............

 

On my Way back home on One Flower Wednesday

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.— Oscar Wilde

I am on my way back home after a wonderful 10 day vacation.  By the time I get back home I will have driven over 1200 miles!  I have had such a good time and now it is time to get back home and back to work............

While I was here I managed to sew together some "pavers" I guess I will call them........not really flowers but some additions to the Talking Apple Tree scene..............

 

these hexies, together with the flower I showed you last week go sewed together just like this........................

 

Please remember to go check out the other flowers growing in Karen's garden at One Flower Wednesday.........just click HERE

I am setting this to auto-post at midnight and I will be taking off early tomorrow right after my kids get off to work and school. My son took some wonderful photos today of the family so I will just say goodnight for now and share one last photo of my vacation time.  I will talk to you again when I get home......ta-ta for now.... 

 

 

 

oops!

One kind word can warm three winter months.— Japanese Proverb




Don't know exactly how it happened but I was in the middle of getting my post for One Flower Wednesday done ahead of time when.........whoosh!...........it just took off and published before I was even done with it, let alone waiting until Wednesday............so here is what I call my "disclaimer post"....lol

I am still at my son's house until Wednesday when I will head back home and work as usual..........til then I am still enjoying my vacation.

Here are a few photos of my family that I've taken while I've been on my visit.......

Now lets see if I can get this published correctly.......lol....

I'll see you again on One Flower Wednesday......Ta-Ta for now!

 

 
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A Day late but not a flower short for One Flower Wednesday..........

 
  "No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another --- Charles Dickens


I am late for OFW this week but with a good excuse:  I am visiting my family in DFW for a week and I have been busy giving my grandsons their "Nana-time"........so I know I am forgiven...right?

I was lucky enough to be here on a day I could attend Awards Day at my Grandson's school...........here he is accepting his award........(Nana couldn't get a photo of his face.....)

 

I actually did have my flower ready and I should have also had my post ready but I went from working Friday and Saturday night to sleeping on Sunday to getting ready to drive 400 miles on Monday and managing to get packed on Monday too.........anyway.......here I am and here is my flower for Wednesday this week...........another flower ready to sew into the Talking Tree scene............. 

 

 

 Before I left on my trip I snapped a quick photo of my design wall........I wanted to put up the Oz scenes I had so far to get an idea of how it might look............I'm sure there will be lots of changes but this is somewhat like I have been seeing it in my head................

 

 

Ok that's all I have for today..............if you haven't already, please remember to check out the other flowers at Karen's One Flower Wednesday....click on the link to go there.......

 

I will talk to you again next time............Ta-Ta for now!

 

 



One Flower Wednesday....."Magic Poppies will make her sleeeeeeep........"

Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, we need only take a deep breath and say, "Yes," and hope will reappear.— Monroe Forester

I got the Oz poppy fabric I had ordered and was barely able to make the flower with Dorothy asleep in the Poppy Field.............each flower that I make as a scene actually needs three of the printed scenes in order to make one flower but the half yard I ordered was cut so that there were only 2 Dorothy asleep scenes in it so I had to sort of finagle another piece in there using the tin man's hat to make the rest of Dorothy's sleeve............can you tell???

 

I don't have any poppies (magic or otherwise...lol) but I thought she looked pretty good sleeping in my Desert primroses.......

I will probably try to sew this flower together with the poppy-hexie flowers I had made earlier............

I also got some more of the talking tree fabric I had ordered so I can hopefully begin finishing out the talking tree scene, as well...............
so that is it for this Wednesday on my blog but Karen has more lovelies for you to see on her One Flower Wednesday Page.........please click on the link to go there too!  So I will talk to you soon..........ta-ta for now.............






 

One Flower Wednesday............Dorothy and the Talking Trees

   “If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.”― Robert Brault 


I ran into some problems when trying to make my flower for this week.  I was just not happy with the fabric I had to make the tops of the two trees below so I ordered some more fabric and it didn't get here in time to make the flower.......I'll owe you one for next week but in the meantime..........here is where I sewed last week's flower............

 I hope all of you Moms had a wonderful Mother's Day this weekend.  Mine was wonderful.  I heard from all my children and grandchildren and also talked to my own Mother.

 I hope all of you all will join me today in checking out all the pretty flowers growing at Karen's One Flower Wednesday...........I'm headed there right now.......come along!

Out with Apricots.....In with St. Francis!

 Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.  --Francis of Assisi


Do you all remember all the hoop-la with me planting the apricot tree earlier this year?  Well, at first it looked like it was going to do well.........it began growing new leaves and even had ONE little apricot on it so I was happy....and then, all of a sudden, it began to dry up and die................so I guess it wasn't happy with that hard ground I tried to plant it in...............

Anyway...........I decided that the area probably was never going to nurture anything more than flowers on the surface soil so out it came.................and here is my new idea instead:

 I added the solar light in back so he will have a light at night............I adapted the garden stake in back that was sort of obstructed in the previous photo........I will see tonight if it actually works............lol..............

So anyway.............I'm happy because I have wanted a large St. Francis for years and have never found one I liked until now........and since the Apricot tree wasn't cooperating...........well, as Pa Ingalls (and my Sis) always say......."all's well that ends well"................

I'm headed upstairs to see if I can get a design wall put up in my sewing room so I can start putting the sections of the Oz hanging up............then I will try to get a little nap in before starting my work week again tonight............so Ta-Ta for now...........







 

One Flower Wednesday--3 times a Charm!

   “Trust is to human relationships what faith is to gospel living. It is the beginning place, the foundation upon which more can be built. Where trust is, love can flourish.”― Barbara Smith

 Yes I am on a roll!......posting OFW 3 weeks in a row now, as Dorothy and her friends have made it back solidly into the WIP pile........
This week's flower (plus a petal) will go into the "Talking AppleTree" scene in the Oz hanging............

 ....and, of course,  I'm going to make you wait til next week to show you what I have so far in the Talking Tree scene...........

but now I'll show you where I sewed last week's flower.........the one with the flying chair.........I sort of clipped the top of the flower when I photographed it, but you get the idea.......this scene photographed really yellow....it is really more of a beige-brown color.......I hope to transition the tornado skies from the brown to green to blend them into the scene I showed you last week where Dorothy's house landed on the witch near Munchkinland....

Thanks to Karen at One Flower Wednesday for providing a wonderful place to show our flowers and keep us blogging!  Please click the link to check out the other flowers growing there........

So there you go...........see you next week in the talking tree forest.........Ta-Ta for now........................

Nice visit home and Donnie & Stevie are out!

Someday all you’ll have to light the way will be a single ray of hope, and that will be enough— Kobi Yamada

Last week I went home to New Mexico to visit Mom and Dad, my Sis and Bro..............

We had a wonderful visit.........Mom and Dad and I went and visited some of our ancestors as we went on some cemetery visits.......

I know I've mentioned to you all that I have been researching my family tree now for several years and am quite active in a website called "FindAGrave" which posts memorials with photographs of our ancestors showing where they are buried.  There are thousands of volunteers (myself included) who photograph headstones for researchers looking for their ancestors.......so anyway I was missing some tombstone photos so Mom, Dad,and I went on a day trip and had a good time.......
We also visited the place where my Dad was born and grew up......It was wonderful to spend the time with them and hear their stories and recollections of the "olden days"........

This morning when I got home from work both our turtles were out and about............

Here is Donnie....

and Stevie.......

 

and Tinkerbell....aka "The Stalker"..........

 

 Well I have been awake since yesterday and worked the graveyard shift last night so I guess I'd better go to sleep so I can turn my clock around and be ready for work tomorrow morning bright and early!  Ta-Ta for now............

One Flower Wednesday.....Two in a Row!

Love what you have. Need what you want. Accept what you receive. Give what you can. Always remember, what goes around, comes around.   — Unknown

It's One Flower Wednesday again and believe it or not I have something to show you again............a flower and a teaser......first the flower.............yes that's a "flying chair" in one of the petals.....and the flower really isn't yellow but more of a beige/tan color that will go together with some of the other flowers I showed you over a year ago before Dorothy and her friends fell into my UFO pile...........

 Now that she is back in the WIP pile.......I will show you the teaser............in the form of some earlier flowers I showed you..............my new flower will be sewn to these below.....

This section I call the Kansas section.......stay tuned....next week I'll show it to you!  In the meantime, please click HERE to go to Karen's gardens at OFW and look at the other pretty flowers growing there..........

One Flower Wednesday

   “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about.”― Wayne Dyer

It has been awhile since I posted to One Flower Wednesday but I did do a little work on my Oz hanging to show you......I sewed several sections together and have this so far the largest
section.......

I found this new (to me anyway) Oz panel and liked the "surrender Dorothy" patch and will probaby use it in the hanging somewhere.............here is another photo without the busy background.....

I had originally thought I would use only the hexies on the hanging but now I think I might use other prints like the "Surrender Dorothy" piece and other stuff......I have so much Oz fabric now and I found a new piece with the rainbow that I might consider using instead of the original rainbow I started making below

I don't know...........my projects never seem to end up like I originally planned............so who knows what I will do........we will all be surprised, I guess...............

so anyway............I think I might go lay out some of the other sections and see how they look..............
Please remember to go check out the other lovely gardens at Karen's One Flower Wednesday...................

Some lovely Gifts.............

 “Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.”― Samuel Taylor Coleridge


As I promised...........here are some sewing projects............

First I want to show you the lovely Spring mini I received from my partner, Danette, in our SWF swap group:  Just look at that gorgeous hand stitching!  I just love this mini...thank you, Danette! 

and here is the mini I sent Danette.....it is a lovely free paper-piece pattern I found from Charise at her blog

I added the little flying bee with my embroidery machine...

My sister, Irene, not only "makes" me do lots of things but she also spoils me with lots of things.............look at this beautiful cover for my embroidery machine that she surprised me with!

Irene knows this is my favorite scripture and now I can see it everyday!  And as if that wasn't enough....she also gave me this adorable sewing pouch..........

 It has all these wonderful little pockets where I keep my spools
and a little pincushion in the middle.....I have found it to be perfect for my hexie tools! 

Irene also found some wonderful fat quarters at a church rummage sale, which she shared with me......

thanks, sis, for all these lovelies......and thanks, too, for being my first best friend!

Ida and Irene Circa 1954-ish

"It is Finished"

Why doesn't she Blog anymore?????

   “To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”― Gilbert K. Chesterton


Well it is quite simple, really........I somehow got hooked back into my genealogy research and I am lost somewhere back in time!  lol............
Back around 15+ years ago I was given a family tree software program and a few pieces of research by (yeah, you guessed it) my Sis, Irene.  She had begun to put together some of our family history but as soon as she saw how much interest I was showing in it, she packed it all up and handed it over to me.......

My Dad was always interested in the family history but back then the internet wasn't what it is today and what he had was by way of letters and copiers....well you get the picture.  "Back then" I would politely look at what he had, smile and nod,  but I never thought that it would become so important to me, as well.

My plan was to get together a binder for my Dad with as much information as I could................well one thing led to another and ended up writing a book which I dedicated to my Daddy.............The first edition of "Richardson:  Our Family's Story" came hot off the presses in June of 1999,  thanks to Irene, who helped me with the copying at our local Office Depot and then comb binding.....I presented it to my Dad on 4th of July, 1999.....it was all worthwhile to see the smile on his face....(and maybe a tear too....)

After that, in 2004, I found an "On Demand" printer who just needed a .pdf file, which the software created for me and the 2nd edition was published!  (You can see the link to it in my left sidebar) ....  In the 10 years since then I have met many new cousins and my research notebooks are bursting!

 My plan is to make a 3rd edition and add all the new information.............so that is where I have been......in my "time machine".........if you need me I can probably be found somewhere back in the 1800's...................

I do have some sewing stuff to show you but I'm saving it for my next post so you all stay tuned...............