grief

 

Sean Bloom, a friend and dear member of our little church

community, passed away last Monday after an intense battle 

against intestinal cancer. He was only 39 years old. I have

been overcome by waves of sorrow re: losing him and over the 

loss his wife and four young children will bear. I also feel 

relief that he is free from the pain he endured and that his family 

can move out of the holding pattern they were in and 

back to some sort of life-giving rhythm. It's a strange ambivalence.

crocheted hearts

I've been crocheting hearts this week, 

following this pattern at Little Birdie Secrets. 

To be honest, my first attempt turned into a hat.

My second attempt was even less useful. 

More like an anatomically correct heart, perhaps?

I finally got the hang of it, though, and pumped these

little guys out at 6 minutes apiece. I used them to 

cover up a sewing repair on the back of one of

Ashton's brand new shirts which she had cut holes 

in (gasp) before even wearing it (sigh)! 

The shirt is cuter than ever, though, so we're good to go!

meet the muffins

cartoon class: donuts

Ashton and I took a parent-kid cartooning class

a few weeks ago during rodeo break. I've been 

either sick or busy or taking care of people who

are sick or busy since then, so this is the first I've

managed to post about it! Anyway, we worked on

complete cartoon strips and then moved on to just

making up little characters, which was by far the

more fun. Ashton has great ideas for characters

and is always designing them. This clip is pretty self-

explanatory. The tiny donut on top of the big donut

is, of course, the baby. There is always a baby 
(really -- there always is).

celebration

This is the only recent picture I could find of the hubs and I together --

usually one of us is holding the camera (this was auto-shoot in the wash
by our house)! Anyway, our 15th wedding anniversary was yesterday.
We had a great time reminiscing about the years we've spent together
and pondering what the next 15 might hold. Good times.

new chairs

I am feeling very blessed lately to have been able to order 18 
new chairs for our dining room. Living in a community house, 
we go through dining chairs like nobody's business. There's the 
wear and tear of nine people using them on a regular basis, 
plus all the friends we love to feed. But replacing chairs for 
a table that seats twelve at its smallest is pricey business, so 
we always get a bit nervous when this time approaches. So far, 
God has graciously provided a new set of chairs every time
we've gotten down to a metal folding chair or two in permanent
residence at the table. This round was no different. This time,
though, I was very excited to find affordable, wooden-seated
metal restaurant chairs which are comfy, pretty, and have a 
lifetime warranty! So maybe we'll be able to enjoy these even 
longer than the rest. Also, they shipped free (with a purchase of 
16 or more) and came so well protected that unwrapping them 
took longer than getting them assembled!

on snail mail

I ordered this package of d-rings and miscellaneous

handbag hardware from an etsy shop in Thailand

on the last day of January. Two weeks later, I had 

about lost hope of ever receiving it. At that point, I 

realized that I'm accustomed to getting things in the mail 

within a few days of ordering them! In fact, I sometimes 

receive an order the next day -- before I even start 

looking forward to it coming! This brought to mind 

the good ol' days, where anything ordered would take 

6-8 weeks to arrive. SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS!!! 

That's forty-two to fifty-six days of anticipation.

Do you remember checking the mailbox every day for

weeks on end? And then finally getting what you've been

waiting for? I kind of miss that rhythm of life. 

At least we still have rebates.  

in case you were wondering

... Christmas is over.

I know this every year when I finally toss my dead poinsettia.
Happy New Year!

my latest collection

Yep -- you guessed it! This is my collection of dead plants.

Well, the ones at the top are dead, anyway. 

Most of the plants toward the bottom are just hibernating.

In fact, many of them got trimmed back this morning

in preparation for the new spring growth that will

kick in any day now. And I tell you, I am looking forward

to it! As for these potted wonders, however, it's back

to the seed packet. I hope I can get inspired and motivated

before it's too hot to think. I guess I have a few days yet....

Don't let the "green" ground cover fool you -- that's just the dead

mesquite leaves that suddenly, simultaneously decided to let go on Wednesday,

covering our cars as well as the whole yard in a dense blanket of crunchiness.

the owl bag is finished!

 Ashton and I have completed the Night Owl Bag!

The picture below shows it complete with its blue 

corduroy straps. The bag is quite roomy.

It was a good starter sewing project for her, since

it has lots of long, straight seems to practice on.

As it is a gift for a friend, Ashton was certain it 

would need a label inside. I quite agreed.