Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Remembering Gary Day!

Word of Warning... post may bring some to tears......


Now this picture brings back some memories!!! This was taken in 1974 right before we got married!

Saturday, April 26, 2003 11:40 am  the moment my life changed forever.... the day my dear sweet Gary died, my husband of  28 1/2 years, the father of my daughters, the grandfather my grandbabies would never know.  I can go back to that time in a blink of an eye, I have a video in my mind I can replay from the day we learned he had cancer, till the very day he died...  I loved him with all of my being,  he was a good, kind and loving husband and father....  With each grandchild that has been born I have wept, because they would never know him,  with each milestone made in each of my daughters lives because he was not here!  Yes, Life does go on (and by the way do not tell a grieving person, life goes on or it will get better, they do not want to hear that, trust me)  .... but it is never the same when you lose someone so very dear to you!  Oh... YES I also have a video that I can replay of all the wonderful memories we made together, how proud he was of his daughters, how he delighted in hearing their voices and sometimes giving them lectures on the phone (even though he sometimes knew they really were not listening he kept talking anyway!)

Since I have remarried...  some may think I do not care anymore.. but that is the farthest thing from the truth!  There is not a day goes by that I do not think of Gary!

Lonliness is a horrible thing to endure.... So just let me say this... if you have someone in your life that has lost their mate and they are alone... take them to lunch now and then... take them to a movie, take them to Sunday Dinner....Call them!  See if they need help with something they would not of ordinarily have done...  And still while you are doing all of this with them and for them they still feel ALONE in the world....  I am so thankful for my family and friends who walked through the valley with me.  I am thankful I have a Savior who Loves me and Comforted me when no one on this earth could!  I HAVE A HOPE in Christ that I will see Gary one day in Heaven!

Nancy

Monday, April 25, 2011

Benefits of being a passenger!

We just got back from a road trip, and besides enjoying the visit with family I enjoy being a passenger and knitting as the miles pass by (and on a 5 hour trip you can sure get a lot finished)!  I finished a poncho for Miss Capri, my other purple lover and also made a newborn hat!  I did get some slippers done for an old friend and mailed them off to her (she wanted some slippers like her grandmother used to make)!  So here are my pictures of all of the above!

House Slippers for Donna  ( I mailed these out last week!)

Another View an old pattern I had not used in years, it was actually the first pattern I ever used way back in the day!

A hat for a newborn prop for my photographer daughter

Jilane's Poncho after I steamed the edges... it looks so much better!

Capri's Purple Poncho!

a newborn headband!


That is all I have for today!

Nancy

Friday, April 22, 2011

More Knitting......

Just finished a Poncho for Grandaughter #2 Ms. Jilane and she is normally a purple lover but this time she requested Red! This was an easy knit and the pattern was free on Ravelry!  This was a fun knit and rather quick!  I may steam the edges..... it is supposed to have a ruffle effect on the bottom but it kind of curls up along with it!





Flower was done with a little I-Cord maker! 

some New Scrumptious Yarn for baby hats!  It is Soft and from Muench called Big Baby... ordered this from Yarnmarket.com

It is Easter Weekend and so very thankful I serve a RISEN SAVIOR!!!

Nancy

Monday, April 18, 2011

T A X DAY

Just put my taxes in the mail.... well at least I think I did.... they already closed when I got there at 3:55 so I put them in the mailbox outside which is supposed to be picked up at 4:15 but who knows? If not I will get a notice and will be sending our wonderful government more money!

I think the government should hire Dave Ramsey as a Financial Advisor although he just might pull the rest of his hair out!

On a more pleasant subject check out this awesome yarn I got last week....

Doesn't it look YUMMY???
hand spun wool.... not as soft as the baby alpaca below... but it will make a pretty felted purse!


This is baby alpaca and it is so incredibly soft!  I should of gotten 2 skeins of it also!



Hope you had an awesome start to this week!  I spent the morning cleaning....

Nancy

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Wednesday... Crafts and Technology



This week is passing by soooo quickly! I have been busy... I got a new toy over the weekend although it is a toy with a purpose... I need to start taking notes at a monthly business meeting and from my past life as a secretary and having gone this route before, I could never read my notes later! So I knew I was looking for a laptop and had been eying the I-Pad for a long time pun intended... I ended up going with the I Pad2 3G.... and you might ask "how are you going to take notes with that?" Well I bought the cute little wireless keyboard from Apple it ended up being cheaper and more portable than what I was looking at and for 9.99 I downloaded Pages which is Apple's form of Word.... So now that I am all set for the minute taking.... I needed something to protect it and the Smart cover took care of the front and not the back.... and hey I dont' want to scratch it all up in my purse! So I have searched and searched online to no avail... and I had bought some material and really stiff interfacing to put a lining in this....  (and knew I had bought a little extra fabric)


This is my latest knitting project a "Project Bag"  This is before the felting .. I will show a finished product when I am done!
 But now to the project at hand... I made an I-Pad sleeve this morning which I really like... I used some of the extra material for my felted bag!  I will do a tutorial later, I made it up as I went!  It will serve it's purpose quite well and it saved me money....  I may just have to open an Etsy shop after all and make some of these to sell!

and oh yes that is my toe sticking in the picture!


One of the neatest things I have downloaded was several different Bible's, (NIV and Message) and when in WiFI I have access to zillions more!  I did download a few games but don't tell my grandkids! Ha Ha!

Now onto the rest of my day.... gonna go give my husband a hand down at the shop, then onto the Knitting Nook in Eldridge, Iowa and to the newest knitting shop in the area "365 Days on a Farm Knitting shop and Boutique"  right next to the Buzz in Eldridge where the knitters meet every Wednesday!

Hoping you have a good rest of the week!

Nancy

Friday, April 8, 2011

Flowers, flowers everywhere!!

I got my craft on this morning!  ........Why is being crafty so messy?? Remember my clean craft room from a few weeks back?  Well I will spend the afternoon cleaning it back to its pristine condition!  Maybe I am just a messy person!  I spent the morning crafting I must be craving spring flowers because flowers were on the agenda!  For those of you always asking how I do the flowers here are pictures to show you how I did the following flowers!

this was done with felt I folded in half a piece that was approximately 3 1/2 inches wide and 14 inches long and cut on the fold until you have it all cut.

Then start rolling it up!

glue the back with a hot glue gone and oohh la la you will end up with flowers like these!

Another flower is cut 7 circles out of felt or fleece 1 3/4 inches

put a little dab of hot glue right about here.

pinch it right where the glue is!

start gluing them onto one of the circles which will be the back of the flower

ahhhh there you have it

add a button in the middle!

another flower almost the same as another one above here but this one is just one piece not folded over it is about  2 inches wide and about 12 - 14 inches long, start cutting into the fleece but not all the way to the edge!

roll it up and the back will look like this so then you will glue it


these are headbands for newborns.....

oh when I am craftin I am craftin.... took a straw wreath and wrapped yarn around it... have seen these all over blogland either done with yarn, twine, burlap etc....

I then wrapped the wreath with a contrasting yarn....
My daughter led me to a site that this really clever gal actually has craft classes and are making a wreath quite similiar to this one.... if you live in the Peoria, Illinois area you might just want to check her out!  She is quite talented!  Whoa Nellie Crafts
and added some flowers and lace....

oops another headband.... this was done with really wide ribbon that I put a gathering stich through one side and pulled it to gather it into this cute little flower and added a button...

another necklace

more headbands...

and more

Now onto the cleaning I'll be doing the rest of this dreary afternoon?  Yikes I really made a mess!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend....

Be Blessed!

Nancy

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A little crafty project....

A certain someone requested a flower necklace and so I got right to it and had to give it a try.....

Since my other post was all of my grandkids I thought I should show you something crafty I did this morning!!  Since I love making these flowers anyway it wasn't a chore!!!

nancy

A little getaway to Celebrate a 5 Year Old girl!

Headed south last weekend for Ms. Abigail's Chinese Birthday Party with family and a few of  her friends...  Amber went all out and had an Etsy shop make the girls kamona style dresses that were adorable and the decorations were awesome!

The Birthday Girl!


Wow her feet have grown!

Capri


Cousins.... Jilane and Abigail


Jagger and Mark


Otto

Jaxton

Chinese and Pinatas do go together!
Hope you have an awesome week!

Nancy