Hubby update and gift received

Thank you all so very much for your well wishes and keeping him in your thoughts. Mike came through his surgery fine. Doc said it was worse than he thought but got it cleaned up. Mike had a complete blockage in his artery in his leg by his groin. 2 bypasses and a lot of artery cleaning and he now has a pulse in his leg! It was so wonderful to hear that. We went in a 6am and he came out of surgery at 1:30pm. I didn't get to see him until 3:30 and then for only 15 minutes before I came home. It was a very long day. I sure wish it wasn't 90 minutes to get up there. It's going to be a lonnnnnnng week. That's how long he has to stay. At least a week.
Here he is talking to his anesthesiologist:

And here talking to Doc:

He sure is looking bored or is it worry? He was pretty nervous but he didn't complain.
On the way home I stopped and got a photo of the Skyway bridge on I275. I get a thrill every time I go over it. From the top you can see for miles.

When I got home there was a package in the mailbox. Look what Melinda sent me!

Isn't it beautiful? They are nesting bags. The little one is 5 inches long. And the sweetest pincushion! Thank you sweetie. It's a precious gift.

Off to hospital

We leave early in the morning for Bay Pines. My sweet hubby Michael is having surgery Tues. Tomorrow is a lot of testing. We will stay in a provided motel tomorrow night. I will come home Tuesday night after his surgery. They say he could be there a week. It is about a 90 minute drive. I will be driving up a few times. I'm not used to driving and it's a little scary for me. Here is a pic of my sweetie. This is his first bottle of homemade beer. (didn't taste very good LOL)

This photo was taken December 4, 2007. Hard to believe it's been a year already. Well, keep him in your thoughts please and send good wishes his way. Poor guy is scared to death.

The cookie plate is empty

It was a nice day yesterday. Would you believe I forgot to take any photos!!! Darn! Beautiful daughter Rhonda, sweet son-in-law Gil and grandson Kaz came over for dinner. Actually lunch. We ate at 1. I made a sirloin tip roast with potatoes, carrots, celery and onions. Rhonda brought my favorite, green bean casserole and macaroni and cheese. We had lemon bars and sugar cookies for desert. After we opened a few presents and played a few games, Rhonda took Kaz home,then we went to a friends house for drinks and karaoke. I was surely tired when we got home at 9 but stayed up for another 4 hours! We left our friends house early and it was only a few blocks away so when Rhonda and Gil left, they stopped by the house to get some left-overs LOL I always make enough for take-homes.
I sincerely hope you all had a wonderful day.

Ho Ho Ho and Jingle Jingle

A small flock of owls

It's hard to stop making these little cuties. The hardest part is the small yo-yo eyes. I've made 5 and it's a little easier. There are only 4 in the photo because the neighbor came over and it went home with her. A big thanks to Eileens Attic for the pattern. By the way, you should see her tree! Very pretty.

Kenny G and his Millenium Auld Lang Syne

If you have a few minutes, please listen to every word of this video. I've listened to it on cd several times and watched different versions of the video many times today. It brings tears to my eyes each time. I'm sure if you are around my age you will know each and every one. I love you all. Please have a safe holiday.

Some favorite ornaments, a winner and my back yard

I've been a member of several doll email lists for several years now. I thought I would show you a few ornaments from swaps from those lists. This first one was sent to me by Kat Lees in 2001. She hand painted light bulbs. Aren't they great?


This beautiful gal was made for me by Kerry Seymour in 2002. It's a pin doll that I sat on top of the tree. Seems Kerry and I got paired quite often! And take a look at that gorgeous Victorian boot that I won last week from Kerry's blog! It's her photo because I forgot to take one and I wanted to put it in this blog.



Last but not least I wanted to show you a photo I just took of my back yard. There are also 2 grapefruit trees to the right of the 2 orange trees. These are the juiciest oranges I've ever seen. I have to lean over the sink to eat them.

Playing with hearts

Yes, just playing around. ♥♥♥
Found this cute tutorial over at T at Purpleandpaisley thanks to Cheryl at Polka Dots and Rick Rack and been having fun with it ☺ Hope the ☼ is shining in your part of the world today.

Free Fabric

A new online fabric store has opened and she is giving away 2 yards fabric a week starting in January!
Check out Chris's blog. She has a link to her online store. I didn't get a chance to really go over it but I saw some very nice looking fabric at reasonable prices.

The last few days stuff...

It sure seems like the days are only 12 hours long instead of 24. They just whizz by. Thought I would show you one more photo of the black and white bag. This is the tote pattern by Penny Sturges at Quilts Illustrated.
I also made her a pin cushion and tissue holder.

On the way home the other day going past a canal I happened to notice some odd ducks swimming. I was only a couple blocks from home so got the camera and took off. A wonderful treat for me. A pair of Hooded Mergansers!!! Lifers for my list. Oh, that means this is the first time I've ever seen them. I'm a birdwatcher and have several hundred on my list in my lifetime of keeping track. I wish the male had been displaying. If he had then his feathers on his head would have been standing up in a wonderful hairdo. Here they are.
This guy just cracks me up. I love them! This is a Wood Stork. He is showing off for a potential mate. Isn't he beautiful?

And, last but not least, I thought I would show you a few of my snowmen and a little reindeer I made the other day. Hmmm, should have used brown thread! LOL He's a cutie. (This one now lives at my daughter's home) I'm off to make a herd of them. TA...

This is my first project for the B&W quilt challenge. Not a quilt though LOL. This tote pattern is by Penny Sturges.
It's called the Charm Party Tote. I used 37 different fabrics here that I cut myself. There are 2 large inside pockets. That took awhile! This bag is for someone else but I was really tempted to keep it myself! :D This is the first thing I've done in a long time that I really liked.

Hope

This just makes me want to scream! How heartless can people be that treat an animal like this. Please go to Angie's site and read about this pretty baby. There are several deals and a pattern give away by Pea.

Holiday Eating Tips - HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

I received this in one of my doll list emails. I wish I knew who the author is to give credit.

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat step #3.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across some thing really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Have a great holiday season!

Button, button, who's got the button? Lot's of B&W!

I decided to organize my buttons. Heaven only knows why I have so many and what I'm going to do with them. They are all in plastic bags now, most sorted by color. I managed to get 3 plastic shoe box bins down to one of the larger ones. Pinky sure wanted to play with them. But wait! I still have more scattered in all my bins that are not unpacked yet. *groan*


I joined a B&W and one other color quilt challenge, button over there >>>> on side. I didn't have too many b&w fabrics so I ordered from Jane. Great, fast service! Great variety. This is what I had. This pretty yellow is my other color:


This is what I got from Jane:

They are all washed now and hanging on the line to dry. Going to be a lot of ironing pretty soon. Can't wait to get started on my project. I'm not a quilter. The sewing together will be fine but as far as quilting it...don't know, might have to take it out to let pay someone else do it.

A few things

First, hop over and see what Sheri Howard is giving away. It's so cute!!! She has a nice blog.

Second, hubby was supposed to have peripheral bypass surgery on Tuesday. They just called him and the doc had to cancel for a few days because he has 2 emergencies first. He was happy (scared, ya know?) but then said dang, better sooner than later. Now he has to worry longer. :(

Third, I'm through with all my swaps and have time to make something for me but what??? I've went through all my patterns, books, magazines and just can't decide! Well, I'll let you know LOL

Last but not least, here is a photo of Pinky on her couch. It's out on the lanai. She loves it. When not on it, she's rolling around like a silly on that cold concrete floor.

Heart needlecase has wings (to TX)

Back on Wednesday, November 26, 2008 I had my 3000th. visitor since I started counting. I mentioned she was from Rotan, Texas. A couple days later I got a sweet letter from her. She mentioned how she liked my blog and she really liked the heart shaped needle case I designed for my partner in this swap. Well, I decided to make her one. It's on it's way to her now. Hope you like it hon!!! edit: I just looked at the photo and the little butterfly button is sewn on upside down!!! LOL

Robyn's give away

Robyn over at Daisy Quilts is having a giveaway! Some really cute things too! Click on her button over there on the right under the Christmas tree and you will go right over to her blog to enter!

Snowman/woman Swap & More!

Thought I'd show you a photo of the snow gal I made for my partner and the snow baby. Mom is a free pattern by Deanna Hogan of Blue Heron Dolls and can be found HERE. There is a link to her Picture trail to see many, many different ones she created. Baby is made with 2 styrofoam balls and a baby sock. It has a large washer glued to the bottom under the sock for stability. I also included a snowman pin, bell necklace and foam snowmen. Forgot to take photos of it all. :/ The photo on the right is the cute little guy I got from my partner VivLyn.




Kerry, at Attic Rose Creations, is having a 300 post give-away. Check out her beautiful Victorian boot. Many years ago I was in an online swap. We all used this pattern by Jacqueline Uetz. The photo of mine that I sent Kerry (and the shoe too) is not very good. I needle-tatted the lavender trim at the top. The other side has a small scissor pocket and flap that lifts up for needles.
First one mine to Kerry. The beautiful shoe on the right was made for me by Kerry Seymour. June 2003

Cute, cute, cute snowman ornament!

You really have to go HERE and see the cutest little snowman ornaments!! I sure hope I can find some time to make a few. I was just in Viv's santa swap and these would have been perfect! I have mine all packed and ready for the mail tomorrow.