Vintage Valentine Swap

I'm so excited to be a part of the 2nd Annual Vintage Valentine Swap, hosted by From My Cherry Heart. Go check out her site and join!

I began putting away the Christmas decorations and got out the Valentine stuff as soon as I got the email from Dolly saying I was in. I feel so lucky! I found a couple of valentines that my daughter made last year, and took the picture above to show her talent. She started her own blog, http://buttersnatcher.blogspot.com yesterday. I'm not sure I love that name, but with "Flaming Biscuits" as my own, I guess I'd better keep my mouth shut.

No More Cats

The vote is in: 3 to 1. Wonderful Husband, Lovely Daughter and Stinky Pete don't want any more cats. I guess I'll have to wait until I'm an old crazy lady, (with my roommate Lori,) to have my cat farm.

Pardon my Butt

I was delivering a collage to my friend Lori today, and I met "Stewie," one of her kittens. Every time I visit Lori, she's got a kitten that needs to come home with me. However, my cat Nala is a big-time hunter and isn't very friendly to other cats. She beats up on my old, frail barn cat and brings home dead rabbits all the time. Rabbits that are bigger than cute little Stewie. I'd love to bring Stewie home to live in my barn and catch mice (since old, frail barn cat fails at rodent control) but I'm so afraid I'll be bringing her to a bad end. If Nala doesn't beat her up, I'm afraid the horses will step on her. I must resist those big, blue eyes and her sassy attitude.

Merry Christmas to all . . .

And to all a Good Night!

Mittens ready, no snow

I love hanging my collection of little mittens. I wish I had certain little people here to fill those little mittens!

My daughter has been baking, my husband has been shopping and I've been busy doing nothing productive. I'm having a little trouble feeling festive this year. I miss my family, especially my son and his children. I hope next year we can all be together, either in California or here in North Carolina.

My husband and daughter both nixed the idea of me wearing my fabulous Christmas corsage to church on Sunday, saying I looked like a crazy old lady (which I am.) But I just read about using the corsages as tree decorations on a favorite blog, One Gal's Trash. Great idea! I feel like my efforts at crafting won't go to waste.

Christmas Wish - Snow!

This is a picture of our barn taken last winter. We haven't had any signs of snow coming in time for Christmas this year, but I'm not giving up hope! I shouldn't complain. We've had blue skies and fair temps for the last few days. It was beautiful today, just a little windy, but we didn't even need coats. I'm looking forward to a little Christmas cold snap so we can stay inside by the fire, watching movies. I might even craft a little bit, just for the fun of it. I'm usually under some deadline/due date/post office run type thing. It would be nice just to take my time and fool around with stuff. I might even lose my mind and try a little cooking/baking. That would really surprise my family. I'll tell them I was overtaken with the Christmas Spirit. Or maybe it was that jar of moonshine the neighbors gave us for Christmas.

For the "Pretty Little Christmas" post, we were supposed to post about something that makes our heart sing. I'm not a great photographer and my decor pictures turned out less than great, so I decided to post about something different.



Christmas Eve, 1983 my son born. He was my first and he was overdue. My doctor had examined me two days earlier and reported that I would be going into labor very soon, and he was leaving on vacation that afternoon. His partner would be delivering my baby. I came unglued. I had been driving over 90 miles roundtrip to Century City just so I could have this particular doctor and deliver at Cedars Sinai in Beverly Hills, because my parents wanted me to have "the best care." It wasn't so great. I had wildly uneven care. The resident on my case was sweet, a couple of my nurses were very rough, my doctor was overworked (8 other of his patients were also in labor) and I was very, very scared because my labor went on and on and on . . . until it was Christmas Eve. After a "Code Blue" was called on me at one point, after the baby's head "got stuck," after a C-section done with my epidural wearing off - after it all - I had Chris.



He was sort of worried looking, maybe a little mad about his head being a little swollen. I couldn't stop gazing at him. I wanted him in my bed with me at all times, which annoyed my nurses. He was a birthday present to my Mom, who was also born on Christmas Eve. She was thrilled to share her birthday with her first grandchild. But for me, he was my favorite Christmas present EVER.



I get teary every Christmas Eve thinking back to that long night. I can't imagine what that other mother, riding a donkey through the dark, looking for a place to rest, must have been feeling.



Peace on Earth and Merry Christmas to all of you!

Corsage Challenge

Making these corsages was so much fun! I made quite a few more than what I posted here, but my camera wasn't cooperating and I couldn't get good pics. It was a great project to use up the little bits and pieces of ribbon and ornament stuff that are too small for other projects. I'm going to put one of these on my tote bag for school and give the other ones to my friends. I'm sure my friend Lori needs one of these to wear on her coat at the Harmony Christmas Parade today.

Thank you Elizabeth Holcombe for posting this great tutorial and for hosting this Show and Tell. I can't wait to check out all the other corsages.