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...............

Now THIS is Texas!

  “The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.”

― George Bernard Shaw

Last week I took a short trip to visit my MIL.....the lovely lady who has been my MIL for the past 45 years!  I'm not still married to her son but she is still "family"...........the darling lady on the right is my SIL.....another member of my family for the past 45 years..........These are Grandma and Auntie to my two eldest sons.....

 The trip is a short one....under 200 miles and takes one through what is known as "Guadalupe Pass"........one of our country's beautiful National Parks................

 

This Peak is named "El Capitan"

 and strange as it may seem, for the past 40 years or so I always thought it was named "Guadalupe Peak".....turns out that Guadalupe Peak is actually behind El Capitan and not visible from this angle..........go figure....lol

I've always said that New Mexico and Texas have some of the most beautiful and diverse scenery.......you can be in the mountains with pine trees in the morning and in the desert in the afternoon...........Guadalupe Pass National Park is in Texas....about 30 miles from the New Mexico border.............

I guess that's it for the tour today........I am a little down today with an intestinal virus.....prayers welcomed!  TaTa for now......





 

Done and Done! Now it's time to sew!

 “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

― Marcel Proust


Whew!  I finally finished my patio project! Last fall I started pulling all the grass out of the cracks between the stepping stones in the cement patio we had made a couple of years ago because the grass had not just been growing in the cracks of the stepping stones but had begun to spread on top of them and was beginning to all but obliterate any sign of them..............I also gave away my patio table because it is just too hot to sit out there and planted an apricot tree in the middle...............

At left is how the grass looked before it completely took over.....really pretty...THEN.....but I wish I had taken a photo of what it looked like at the end of last summer when I decided the grass had to go because it was nothing like this..............grass was just taking over the whole thing....covering most of the stepping stones in several areas................



But it was also nothing like this.....which is how it looked before we poured the stepping stones in the patio.....

 

And I think I discovered why I had such a hard time digging the hole for the tree.....I have about 8-10 inches of really good dirt and then I start to hit rocks.....down at the end of the block I saw this cut-away view of what the earth looks like in this area!  Rocks and then more rocks!

 So anyway............I'm done and I hope that the paver sand I put in the cracks won't blow away....lol.............and now it's time to see if I can get some sewing done...........Ta-ta for now......

 

I'm ready for Spring!

  “Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.”

― Dalai Lama

While so many of my blogging friends are having to deal with snow and ice and winter....here in West Texas, we have been having some hints of spring........in fact I have been working in the back yard already......

I started removing the grass from the cracks in a stepping stone patio area because instead of growing in the cracks, the Bermuda grass had begun to completely cover the stones in several places.  I finished with all of the cracks last week and now just need to fill them with sand...........

I am also trying to get an Apricot tree planted in this same area but have learned that there are a few rocks to get through first........so, instead, I decided to sew!

My headboard has an area that has a wicker area which got torn about 20-something years ago when I moved into this house.  I loved the bed so I covered a thin piece of plywood and inserted it into the spot to cover the wicker.  I now have 3 different inserts which I change from time to time.  Last year I made one to go with my Little Apples quilt that I wasn't thrilled with so today I made this and covered over the one I didn't like.

 .....and here is how it looks with Little Apples Quilt.............So now the winter bedspread has been put away and I'm ready for Spring!  (Well.......the electric blanket might still be on the bed.....lol)

 and even my hyacinths have peeked their heads out with the warmer weather...........

................and I have some blooms on my dwarf  peach tree...................

 

Tomorrow I will get outside again and see if the water I've been dripping into the place where I want to plant the Apricot tree has helped soften the ground any so I can get back to digging..........and that's about it.......so Ta-Ta for now..........