The Kid is Alright . . .

Two nights ago I got the phone call no mother wants to hear,

"Mom, (sobs), we were in a car accident"

Heart stops.

Then beats too fast. Must focus and pull it together.

The kid is okay. Broken collar bone.

I'll take a broken collar bone.

It could have been a hundred times worse.

So here we are three days before the kid is the Maid of Honor

in her friend's wedding . . .

The sling the hospital gave us will never work!

We need something sassy and clever.

Thanks goodness we had just the stuff to put

these lovelies together.

I hope this doesn't gross you out, but I took a picture of the xray.

I knew the kid would want to see it to confirm she really had

a broken collar bone. Don't ask.

This most adorable flower arrangement arrived

from the kid's work buddies.

And it looks just like Mocha!!

So here I am making ice bags, fetching advil,

plumping pillows, brushing hair . . .

And thanking God every minute that

my darling daughter is still right here next to me.

2011 Here I come!

I went for a really nice walk yesterday.

Contemplating the turn of the calendar.

I don't feel any differently today than I did yesterday,

but I think this time of year causes us to reflect.

It has been a tumultuous couple of years for me.

Life sometimes changes in quarter inch segments,

and sometimes it hits you in the face like a brick.

I got hit with the brick and since then

the quarter inches have been piling up.

I am grateful that I am ending the year in a better

place than I began it.

I think I have finally found my footing again.

So it is with great reflection that I have decided to

embrace all the "good" and the "bad" things that

happened in my life.

I now know that all of the events of my life have lead me to this point.

I think I can now accept them all lovingly, even the painful ones.

This is one of our beaches.
Something you may not know about me is . . .
I am a Justice of the Peace.


In Connecticut we are blessed to be able to have same sex marriages.

Two weeks ago at this beach, in the freezing, windy cold,
I married two couples, one both men, the other both women.

The joy of the day was overwhelming.
And so was the temperature!

What I took away from that day was the the pure love
these couples had for each other.
They were embracing something they had wanted for a long time,
but were not permitted to have.

It really made me start to think about all I have that I take for granted.




So for today, and hopefully all the days that follow,
I am going to look at everything with clear attention . . .
with presence of mind.
With gratefulness for everything in my life.

My friends. Old and new!

My daughter


My family.


My community.


My fabric. no just kidding, well maybe not.

I think I better sign off, it's getting alittle deep around here.

Beading

I used to be a "beader."

I made lovely necklaces and earrings.

I even made my own beads out of clay.

That must have been a million years ago . . .

My very good friend Nancy wanted an eyeglass chain for Christmas.

She has lost two or three pairs of very expensive reading glasses

and has now decided eyeglass chains aren't so bad.

Please . . . we are of a "certain" age now.

So I made her two. One is a mermaidy green beach glass look . . .

And one in a bright colorful, I can find these look.

I swear they have made the holes in those beads smaller since I tried to make

something with beads!

Really, I could barely see the holes, it was more like intuition to get them on the wire.

I also "made" this . . .

My other great friend, Anne, gave me this crystal last night.

It has very amazing energies. Hey, I could use some amazing energies!
Especially this week.


I was given explicit instructions to wrap wire around it and hang it from my neck.
This only took three tries to get the right amount of wire
so you could still see the crystal and it won't take a nose dive from the chain.

I think this is going to be my new favorite luck charm.

Do you have something that brings you luck that you love to wear???

The Evolution of My Circle Quilt

I made a quilt 8 years ago using this star block. The fabric was deep jeweled country themed colors. That quilt kept everyone cozy on my couch for years. Sadly that quilt doesn't live on my couch anymore . . . it left with the person I made it for. So, I decided that to help heal my heart I needed to make a new quilt to keep us cozy.

I decided to make a block based on the same star quilt components, but to turn it inside out and make it fresh and modern, just like the fresh and new start I needed to make.


You can see these two blocks together have the same number of squares and the same number of half square triangle squares. The light and dark contrast changed and so it did for me too.


So here is the new quilt top. I loved blue, green and white, but also wanted to spark it up with a pink and yellow block, you always need an element of surprise!

I am still thinking about the quilting on this one. I have a few ideas. The back will be pieced with a cute sheet and those two blocks above.
Mostly I just love that I turned that pain inside out and now have a new quilt for my cozy couch and that I am moving forward.


On another note . . . I dragged out my log holder today.
Another change of season that I am welcoming with an open heart.