Happy Birthday Wishes........

to my sister, Judy!! I think she must be just a few months old in this picture and it appears she is none too happy for some reason. Our mother, Mary, doesn't seem too worried and I am looking on as if she is just the sweetest little thing in the world. And she was and still is. Have a great day, Judy!
As I look at that photo, I am amazed at how much my own daughter looks look her Grandma Mary. I'd love to have that couch that we are all sitting on although if I remember right, it was pretty to look at, but a little scratchy to sit on. LOL! My mother did my hair in those ringlet curls and as my sister got older, she did Judy's hair in ringlets, too. It's so much fun to look at old pictures! As I was looking for a special photo to post for Judy's birthday, I found one that I will share of us at Easter. And speaking of Easter, I've got something special coming up that will keep you all hoppin'!! More on what that might be in my next post.

Have a good day!

Sandi

Birthday Girl!

Today is my mother's birthday! Here she is with her china doll that was given to her when she was just a girl.
The doll was given to her by an elderly neighbor lady. Several years ago, my mother gave the doll to me. The dress the doll is wearing is one my mother made from scraps from a dress she made for me when I was a little girl. As she told me, it's not the right fabric for the doll's age but it's pretty. She made another dress for the doll that is a pale blue soft taffeta with embroidery so this sweet little miss can have a change of finery if needed. :-)

The dolls body is made from alphabet muslin so we took a picture so you could see it. At some time, adhesive tape was used to keep the little miss all in one piece. She could probably be repaired but we like her just as she is. :-)

The last couple of years, I've been with my mother on her birthday but this year it didn't work. I was hoping to get her up here for a visit about this time but think it will be later this fall. It's pretty at that time of year and not so hot, so it will probably work out better then. I found a lovely little gift for her, an antique pink depression glass candy dish but don't plan to mail it. It will wait til I see her. I trust the USPS with lots of packages but not this one! I sent her a card and gave her a call so she knows what is coming her way soon. :-)

Some of you have asked about my back problems so I'll give a quick update.......my back is still giving me some issues. I am trying to work around them and figuring out how I can do certain things and not cause myself further injury. The most inconvenient part is that it really bothers me to sit for prolonged periods of time and that is something one does when sewing or working at the computer. So, I'm totally readjusting how I do things. Do a little of this, a little of that.........which makes me a little crazy but I already kind of worked like that anyway. I am just refining my technique!

Now, tomorrow, I am going to post about those pincushions I made at Bonny's Retreat. Til then,........have a good afternoon!

Sandi

The story behind the Hershey bars........

And here it is..........my husband has been around a long time so you'd think he would have been thinking about what to get me for this big birthday.....but........the night before my birthday, he comes home from Menard's with a bag of supplies for basement projects and another one with two large Hershey bars. And he says....."I wanted you to know that I remembered your birthday but I couldn't figure out what to get you so maybe you can pick some place and we'll go out to eat this weekend." Okay, I was not amused. I've reached a point in my life where I don't need a lot but this required almost no thought on his part. I was not letting him off the hook on this one. I said "I don't want to go out to eat. I want a new iron." I had already done my homework and if he had just asked me for ideas, I would gladly have given them. I decided not to drop hints because I thought I'd let him surprise me. Soooooooooo, on Friday evening we went shopping for the "surprise birthday gift for me". To help me choose I had googled the Good Housekeeping Seal site and had three irons that I thought were the step-up from my old iron that I needed. And here it is...............

It's a Shark and I never thought I'd like a Shark but this one has no bite and it irons like a dream. So, I am happy with the iron, my husband will think harder the next time I reach some age milestone and by then I'll probably need a new iron again. Hee hee!

I really had a great birthday and I felt kind of like a "show-off" posting all those pictures of me smiling but I was having such a good time. Last night, I laid out all the cards I got, some from friends who came on my birthday but also other friends close-by like Pat and Sharon and others from far away, like Kaye and Pat. Thank you, thank you to each of you for the gifts, the cards (and e-mails and e-cards, too). It was a divine day!

Now, I have to show you this because it's the plant watering bulb that Carol gave me and it is going to keep this Jade plant alive. My friend Connie, gave me the plant about three years ago and somehow, I have managed to keep it alive but I can tell it is stressed living with me. With that watering bulb, it will now get the right amount of water and not be thirsty or too wet. I'm going to have to get one of these for my mom's living room plant. We have sewing thumbs, not green thumbs. :-)

One last picture for the night. I said I had sorted my books and magazines and when I was done this is what it looked like. We moved here a little over two years ago and the guys put up the book shelves and I just filled them with my books. Now I can actually find things!! Next thing to organize are my fabrics by color. It'll be months before I post a picture of that!! :-)

Have a good Monday! I'll be doing some sewing. I have strips to sew on that Old Red Barn Quilt Challenge and I need to stay caught up!! I'll keep you posted on that one!

Sandi

Happy Face!

If you don't like seeing someone happy, then you will have to stop reading this post. Hee hee! I had a really great birthday and the pictures that follow prove it. My "Crazy Quilting" friends arrived about 11:00 and my daughter, Collette, took the day off and joined us, too. We laughed a lot. We also enjoyed good food. We always do food well!! :-)

Here are from l. to r. ......Sue, Arlis, Carol and Adella..............

and Laurie, Pandora, Carol and Deanna..............

and me and Collette. She bought me the birthday tiara. I wore it all day. I forgot it was there it was so comfortable on my head!

Collette figured out that this was probably the first time she has been with me on my birthday since she graduated from high school. She wanted to make the day special for me and it was. She brought me the flowers on the table and this cake.......

and Carol brought a cake, too.......

Collette put just six candles on the cake so I wouldn't have to work so hard to blow them out and it also kept the cake from burning up! I managed to blow out all six candles in one big "poof". I am hoping I get my wish. Can't tell, remember, or it won't come true.

We all enjoyed a piece of each cake and both were really delicious! Thanks, Collette and Carol!!

Before we went into the living room to sew, I showed off the little lap dog that is going to take Kaiser's place. :-) When we got Kaiser, I was hoping for a cute little lap dog and my husband wanted a beagle. We ended up with the beagle which was not to grow to be more than 25 pounds. I've told this story before but Kaiser has more than beagle in him because he's tall, long and weighs every ounce of 45 lbs!!! Anyway, this pink LilKinz poodle is actually going off to my grandson who will add it to his collection but I sent him a note saying he can take care of it for me and bring it back to visit occasionally. Collette wanted the picture because the dog and the cake matched so well. :-)

After that, we all gathered in the living room and everybody got out their sewing. Collette remarked to me later that she thought it was so interesting how everyone both sewed while I was opening gifts and yet also paid close attention to the gifts I received. We don't want to miss a thing but we also make use of all stitching time!!

So, now the happy faces begin and Collette wasn't stitching but was instead taking pictures. I couldn't figure out just which ones to post but I decided to post a whole bunch because I am having such a good time and you only turn 60 once.

Deanna was very clever and wrapped her gifts in fat quarters. I unwrapped one fat quarter to find another fat quarter wrapped gift which was a CD called Liquid Silk, Native American Flute music (very relaxing) and then another fat quarter wrapped around a book called Ellen's Quilt. More on that when I am finished, as I have started reading it and don't like to put it down.

Sue got me this neat little key holder thing so you never lose your keys in the bottom of your purse. A woman must have invented this and I thank her for that!

And Carol got me a plant watering globe which means the Jade plant from my friend Connie is now assured of surviving. Everyone said the plant globe looked like an orb fit for a queen and thus, the picture you see.

Laurie gave me this pretty blue fabric and cool bath lotion. And, no, I am not sticking my tongue out at her. When I started this, I realized not every photo would be flattering.

Adella, who is sitting behind me gave me the sewing basket and she made the baked potato bag for the microwave. I'm hanging onto that sewing basket like someone's going to take it and run with it! LOL! I loved it. Plus, inside was a kitchen towel and a dragonfly note holder. :-)

Okay, the gifts just kept coming and I'm smiling big here because these are homemade jams and there is rhubarb in them!! Carol made them and I know they will be delicious. Haven't opened them yet but I will be tomorrow morning. :-)

All my friends know I love chocolate (probably a little too much, actually) so Pandora gave me a box of Mrs. Field's Chocolates and that lovely carnation fabric. I passed the chocolates around so we could all savor the goodies. I do love my chocolate but I am always willing to share.


Here's the last gift............a bag from Collette with a piece of cross stitch that she did for the front of the bag and inside..........a vintage poetry book, a Brambly Hedge book, a pretty pink doily she made to match a votive candle and other little goodies..............

including this...........

She saw this design in a book she bought (I'll get the book's title as it had lots of great projects in it) and while it was meant for a gift of cash or a gift certificate............... she filled it with ............ chocolate!

And speaking of chocolate............I got so much chocolate that my friends said I should grab all the chocolate and laugh like I was high on chocolate.

They made me laugh like this. It wasn't hard to do at all. Ha! Ha! Ha!

There's a story behind those large Hershey Bars and I'll have to save that one for Sunday afternoon.

It was a good day here in Minnesota as we got rain, lovely refreshing rain that was much needed. I'll also show you tomorrow what I got done while I listened to the rain on the roof.

See you then......

Sandi

What a Grand day!!!

And that's for sure! It was just about the best birthday ever!!! I have pictures to show you but a funny thing (actually not funny at all) happened at the end of the day. I typed the title of this post and then lost my internet connection at about 10:00 Tuesday night and then the phone connection went, too! I figured out how to get the phone service back but it has taken until now - noon on Wednesday - to solve the internet connection problem. Thank goodness my husband was at his desk at work and could help me "troubleshoot" the problem via phone. One particular little cord/connection was just a bit loose and once that was adjusted - poof - I am connected. I need some lunch now so will be back later with photos and more.
Sandi