A Simple Woman's Daybook

 A Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window:  It's dark with a cold rain and forecast of rain changing to snow flurries...anywhere from simply flurries to 3 in.  That's snow forecasting in the South..Flip a coin cuz nobody really knows what's going to happen.

I am Thinking: of taking some old button down shirts and making aprons from them.  Check out these Pinterest pics. Aren't they adorable??  I'm thinking of gifts for Christmas??

I am Thankful for: Oh my Goodness, I'm so blessed Dear Lord, where do I begin to thank you?!  My first thought was of my precious Grandchildren...look at those faces...I could just eat them up!

From the Kitchen:  I made a Big pot of Veg. Soup with a pan of cornbread...yum!  We were tired of Thanksgiving leftovers and with it being so cold outside, a big pot of soup sounded not only delicious but cozy as in "comfort food".  Throw in some Chocolate pie and coffee and I'm in heaven. I've eaten WAAAY too much Coconut Creme Pie...Oh be-still my heart

I am Creating:   TWO Christmas Wall hangings and I plan to use this Twin Star block to make up some stars tonight from my Christmas Stash. Thanks Piece N Quilt

I am Reading:  The Help

Around the House:  All Thanksgiving decorations have been taken down and stored.  Christmas Decorations are sitting in boxes in my foyer waiting to go up.

One of MY Favorite Things:  The following pictures show the combination of TWO of my favorite things, Embroidery and Children's Literature.  This illustrator and fabric designer has embroidered Book covers of 3 well loved Children's books.  Have you read these books?  It's my understanding you can now order these patterns from Penguin Threads at Amazon.com and I intend to purchase them as soon as payday rolls around this week.

 

 I HAVE to PUT MY ALMA MATER in here since they won Sat. and are now Bowl eligible.

GO HERD!!!  WE ARE...MARSHALL

A Simple Grace Note:  #1 Husband was able to fix Breakfast this morning ....all by himself!  If you've been following, you know what a Big Deal this is given we are a month out of major shoulder surgery!  Thank You Lord!

My Simple Devotion:  My Favorite Scripture verse in all the Bible:

Countdown to Christmas

 COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. Isaiah 9:6-7

What are you doing to prepare for the Christmas Season?

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family.  Lots of food, laughter, games, PIE, Great Coffee...AHHH!!  I love Coconut Creme Pie and Coffee!

But now it's time to think about getting my Home ready for the Holidays and just the right gift for each person on my list.  I'm planning on giving many handmade items this year.  Please check out the following blog for a month of Christmas Tutorials

 Sew We Quilt 

I've got a great Quilt Ornament Tutorial to share as well as some "Secret Santa" projects I'm working on.  I've got to buy a new adapter for my camera so I can get the pictures from camera to Blog...some great pictures are sitting patiently and waiting to share with you.  I bought a new cord thinking the problem was in the cord but no such luck.  I now need an adapter for my little Kodak Share camera.  Please be patient with me and keep visiting.

#1 Husband goes back to Orthopedic Doctor this Wednesday!

We will know if he goes back to work full time, part time or not till Jan.  Physical Therapy has been extended for another month which makes me think he may only go back part time if at all.  Trithfully, as much as I would like to have him out of the house for a few days, he really isn't physically up to full time as of yet.  He can do more for himself...thank goodness...but still needs help with many activities involving the right arm lifting upward.

What are your sewing plans??  Let's share and don't forget to go to Sew We Quilt in December.

Blessings

 Isn't this a cute little embroidery pattern I found free by typing in free Holiday embroidery patterns

 

Blessings

Blessings to each of you as we here in America celebrate Thanksgiving! 

It has become one of my favorite if not my most favorite Holiday...

no presents, few decorations, just Good Food and Family!

I've not blogged much this past week as I have been getting my home ready for family. We won't have as large of a group this year but with just my immediate family there are 12...so that's a CROWD in my book!

Today I battled the grocery store for the upteenth time this week!

I'm making my own pumpkin pies this year

I use the recipe on the back of the can of Libby's Pumpkin Pie Mix.

DeWIcious according to 3 yr. old Sidekick Scott

He was quite upset that Grandmama left him home with PaPaw while she went grocery shopping!

"But you'll be all alone?!" cried Sidekick Scott.

A 3 yr. old doesn't understand that being all alone can sometimes be a gift!

I'll be back later this weekend perhaps not till Monday depending on how I feel.  I usually decorate the house for Christmas on the Sat./Sun. after Thanksgiving now that I've given in to having an artificial tree.  I stood my ground for years...LIVE TREE ONLY..until I finally got tired of the pine needles and the shortened amount of time I could leave my Christmas tree up and I gave in to putting up a FAKE TREE.  I must admit, I can't tell the difference.  Now that I'm older and the experience of going to a Christmas Tree farm, picking out the perfect tree, and cutting it down is but a delightful memory, putting up my fake tree is quite nice.

So...

GIVE THANKS

 Remember your American Thanksgiving History

and of course enjoy some sage Thanksgiving wisdom from our always festive

Maxine

Enjoy Past Thanksgiving Memories when our children were small

Why on earth are those two little spunky girls snarling up there noses? The one on the end with the blue T-Shirt is the Baby of the family, still spunky and the Laugh Factory of our Family!

THANKS-FOR-GIVING US RYAN 10 YRS. AGO

THANKS-FOR-GIVING US RYAN

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY

Look at that face...that smile!!!  Is that Opey Taylor?

The following pictures are in CELEBRATION of my First Grandchild, Ryan.

Ryan's birth was one of the TOP 5 events in my Life.

Golly Gee, he's funny little boy!

Cooking with Grandmama

at the Smithsonian Museum

Lincoln Memorial facing the Washington Monument

He's a Winner!

Christmas Morning

Brothers...almost inseparable

Ryan and Baby Brother

Ryan and cousin James

He's serious about his fishing

ALL BOY with a TENDEREST of HEARTS

I DO LOVE THIS CHILD

Thanks for indulging me with Grandpeep Pictures

but hey...

It was his Birthday!!!!

Blessings

Back Seat Driving

My Day with #1 Husband

You just thought you had heard it all!  Yep, things were going WAAAAY too smoothly with the Mister's surgery recovery.  Now granted, he's on his 2nd prescription of pain meds.  NEVER, in the 40 years I've known this man has he EVER taken more than 3-5 pain pills from any prescription...in fact he prides himself on having a much higher pain threshold than any normal human being.  According to Mr. Know It All, his ability to suffer through pain could be described as almost Super Human.

UNTIL......

ROTATOR CUFF SURGERY OCT. 2011

Against my better judgement I give in and let #1 husband drive himself to therapy...it's only a 6-7 mile drive.  How much trouble could he get into??  Right??

WRONG!!

I get this strange call around 10:15 a.m. from the mister wanting me to come get him because he isn't feeling too well.  I'm a little concerned but given that he called me himself I'm not overly concerned at this point.  I get Sidekick's shoes on as well as my own and give a passing glance at my appearance...granted I had just thrown on a pair of jeans and one of my old summer pull overs intending on cleaning house.  I DID have on CLEAN Underwear...just in case.  Hey, I'm no fool.  Didn't your mother warn you to always wear clean underwear because you never knew when you might have an accident and have to go to the hospital?  I may have looked like crap on the outside but my Granny Panties were WHITE with NO HOLES, thank you very much!

I drive the 6 miles to the Physical Therapy clinic when I see RED LIGHTS FLASHING from the top of the Rescue Squad Truck!!  Ok, I'm NOW Overly Concerned!!!  I grab Sidekick from his car seat (do child seat restraints have a hidden rule that they will NOT open when you're in a hurry?)  I'm running into the PT office hoping it's NOT My MISTER the red lights are there for...but no such luck!

There he sits, with 3 EMT's surrounding him and he turns around with that sheepish grin letting me know he REALLY didn't mean to cause such a scene.

It appears that the mister's Blood pressure bottomed out and he came close to passing out.  With a BP of 60-47, it was necessary to call 911.  

Since some of the mister's symptoms mimicked a small heart attack, a little trip to the ER was in order.  I make arrangements for me to drop off Sidekick on my way to the hospital.  Poor baby, he was so discombobulated when the EMT's put his PaPaw in that Big Ol Ambulance.  I tried my best to reassure the little fella but it's difficult to explain such complexities to a 3 yr. old.  (Sidebar: we called tonight to reassure Sidekick that PaPaw was Ok but seems he was too busy playing a video game to come to the phone... Geez...life can be so compartmentalized by a 3 yr. old!)

I get over a mile behind the Ambulance when I drop off my little man so in order to "legally speed" I turn on my Hazard lights....I know, I know it doesn't work....I can still get a ticket...but I figure it tells the other drivers to get OUTTA MY WAY...GMAMA has her PEDAL to the METAL!

I finally catch up to the Ambulance and while sitting at a red light my cell phone rings..but it's #1's name on the ID window??!!  What???..............Did #1 leave his phone back at the therapy clinic and they're calling to locate the phone's owner ?  Sure, that's probably it.

NOPE...IT'S THE MISTER, CALLING FROM THE BACK OF THE AMBULANCE TO TELL ME TO TURN OFF MY HAZARD LIGHTS!!

I MIGHT GET A TICKET!

 Yes, this is a real picture of the Gmama

Ok...it COULD have been me 40 yrs ago.

The Man is BACKSEAT DRIVING while Lying on a Gurney in the Back of a moving Ambulance that's transporting him to the ER!!!  Geez Louise............

Long story short, The Mister is FINE!!  He just "Fell out" as he calls it.   Evidently, his body reacted to the perfect storm of pain, pain meds.,needing to eat, and blood pressure dropping.  All blood work, EKG, heart, all looked perfectly normal.

NORMAL is a RELATIVE term when it comes to this man I married.  

For all the Aggravation he can give me, I think I'd like very much to keep the Mister around to aggravate me a lot longer.

and the adventure continues......

 

Memories Growing up in the 50's

If you grew up in the 50's...Raise your Hand!

The ICONIC DOLLHOUSE

I had this very same doll house!  Oh, the HOURS I spent pretending, rearranging the furniture...

I loved the tiny pink bathtub and toilet.  I even dreamed of growing up and building this very house.

Where is all the tiny furniture?  Someone actually found this in a thrift store.  Be still my beating heart!  If any of you find one, PLEASE tell me.  It is one of my Bucket List items.

I saw...I copied...I had to Share...

Aaah, such Good Memories?

What about Betsy McCall??

She came in every issue of my Mother's McCall's magazine.  I adored paper dolls...did you? I even *made* my own paper dolls out of the SEARS and J.C. Penny Catalogs.

S and H GREEN STAMPS

Remember licking these little stamps, putting them in booklets and saving them up to buy "stuff".  My Dad bought a lot of my necessities for setting up housekeeping from the S&H catalog.

Grocery stores and Gas *filling* stations gave out the stamps according to how much you purchased.

Green Stamp Booklet

This was almost as good as looking through the SEARS Catalog.

Of course all of these items are primarily American.  I would love to see some items from the 50's those of you in Canada and other parts of the world remember!

Psst...I've ordered an USB camera cord that  will allow me to take current pictures of my sewing projects.  My current cord got chewed by our Beagle, Copper and I've had to rely on my daughter for current photos.  This is not convenient for either of us and I certainly am anxious to show you some creations coming forth from "The Sewing Cave".  I had a major cleaning frenzy in my cave so I'm ready to "get busy".  I clean when I get nervous!

Blessings