It's a Bloomin' Day

My Clematis is so pretty right now- it looks like a hundred blooms easily. When we moved in, it was dormant at the light post. We had no idea what color it would turn out to be. Now the light post is completely hidden by the purple blooms.

My Peonies continue to bloom even though it seems so late this year. Usually they bloom by Mother's Day. We keep cutting them and have a beautiful vase on the counter in the kitchen. The bad thing about Peonies is that they harbor ants so we have to shake them really well before bringing them inside. We still get a few hitchhikers on the counter for a few hours each time.

Today I'm going to play with new quilt designs and maybe see a movie later with my son. We've had Bar-B-Q's for two days and I'm ready for a change! Enjoy your day.

Sunday Evening

I had the sweetest emails this week from some of you and they really did help me feel better. I've noticed I don't get a lot of comments on this blog but I do get a lot of private emails and I enjoy them. Thank you for the well wishes.

I had a smaller number of entries this week for the drawing, probably a lot to do with a holiday weekend also, so I decided to let everyone who entered have the chart or pattern that was listed as your choice. If you forgot to tell me which title you want, and a few of you forgot, I will email you this week to decide. One of you forgot your address, oh my, but that to will be OK this time around!

Remember to honor the fallen soldiers and those who have served our country tomorrow during Memorial Day. The sacrifice to our country is felt closer to my home than many realize. I had a son-in-law who was killed at age 21 during Marine Recon Training in 2002. Please pray for our troops.

The Sunday Evening Post

What started out to be a great week ended with a upper respiratory ailment. I guess I picked up germs on the grocery cart and here I sit out of breath and still coughing. The good news is, all I had to do all week was design. I really had a good time and designed enough quilts for a year. OK, maybe that's a exaggeration but I did a lot of drawing this week. I lost my notebook last week and never looked back. I now possess a new one. To clarify, that was possess a new book, not me being possessed, even though I'm sure I fall into that category on occasion. I am rearing to go now with some sewing. The bad news is, I don't feel quite right yet so I'll have to wait a little longer to get started.

I'll have two new cross stitch charts out next week so watch for them.

Sarah is recovering nicely and back at home. I've enjoyed the company and after a while, she was actually taking care of me! My garden is slowing down due to excess rain but at least I don't have to water it. We had 89 degrees today and a few more very hot days coming in the future so it should jump start the tomatoes. My Clematis is blooming (purple) and I have a vase of pink Peonies on my kitchen counter. I sure looks pretty around here. Sorry I don't have the energy to go snap some pictures. Maybe tomorrow.

I did promise a drawing this week and I don't want to disappoint. To enter, email me by Saturday midnight with HOT in the title. Include your name and mailing address. I'll choose 2 winners to receive the cross stitch chart or quilt pattern of your choice. If you want, go check out the website and include your choice in your entry email. That will speed things up if you win! Thanks, and have fun looking! www.prairiegrovepeddler.com

New Week, New Adventures

I feel like last week my life was the "Perils of Pauline" so this week started off a lot better. Sarah is still with me and recovering nicely. We don't have to get up nights anymore. She still can't step down but she's got crutches and hobbles around. It's been fun having her hang out. We've watched a lot of movies together this week.

I never found the notebook but started a new one with fresh ideas, and it was probably time for that also. I can't wait to have some quiet time to get started on them. We've had a lot of family stuff going on this past month and I am getting more and more behind in work it seems. I've found that as I get older, I get less structured in my work routine. I play a lot more and spend more time with my kids and grand kids. It's the "future" empty nest syndrome I guess. My 15 yr old will be gone before I know it so I'm tying to savor each moment with him before he gets the "attitude". Thankfully, that hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile, the grand kids need attention also. I think I'll offer to babysit this weekend.

Sunday starts a new drawing so you'll have to check back to see what's offered.

Where did the week go?

I don't know how that happens. One day it's Monday and you blink, then it's Saturday. How does that happen? My life is a blur. Sarah had surgery on her foot this week and she's been here for me to take care of. It's a constant routine- setting the alarms at 1 am and 5 am for pain pills and ice packs. She's doing pretty good but still in a lot of pain.

When I got up at 5 this morning, the water was running pretty fast. After checking it out, I found that the softener had backwashed at 2 am and never shut off. Great! I shutter to see the next water bill! We just bought the Culligan a few months back so I'm waiting for them to show up any minute. I actually called Culligan at 5 am this morning and someone actually answered, not a machine. That's service!

I have been working on new designs this week around caring for Sarah. I did spend a lot of the week searching. I lost my notebook with all of my drawings and notes for future designs. I take it everywhere and it could be anywhere. I ripped this place apart this week and still never found it. Heart broken, I started a new notebook. What's a girl to do after all?

I'll still keep my eye out for it but I started a whole new notebook with all new designs. Out with the old, in with the new. Today is another day.

Welcome Weekend

We finally made it to the local greenhouse this week. We have a lovely little place called Strawberry Hill here outside of town and they had too much to select from. As usual, I over purchased and have a lot of flowers leftover for pots. Grace and Sarah went with me and we picked out some beauties. I got them all planted this week and now I need a little Miracle grow once they take root. I can tell you they look better in the flat they they do all spread out in my flower beds! Time will change that though.

We have a great old tree that fell at one time in it's life and the previous owners left it to grow sideways. We now have a beautiful bed around it. It's hard to tell but the back of this tree is leaning! I also got Marigolds, Impatiens, Heather and lots of vegetables.

Other than that, I spent most of the week with family, making up for all of the time I ignored them when I was busy working in fabric. I did some babysitting and we had 2 year old Nathan over last evening just to hang out with us. It was a very good week. I guess I really needed a break.

Today's $40 Gift Certificate Winner

This week just flew by me so fast that I didn't have time to think about it. Yesterday we had a garage sale, you know all of that stuff I found when I moved, and had a huge turn out. WE started at 6 am and by noon, I'd gotten rid of most everything. My garage got a good cleaning and most of the boxes being stored there are gone now.

After the sale, I ran up to Anna's house. She's my Amish friend that lives about 30 minutes north. We sat and visited for a while. While I was there, she got an order for 30 dozen eggs so the rest of the time together, we counted eggs. She told me the story of when her daughter Ida Mae broke her leg this past Winter. I knew she'd broken it but I didn't hear all of the details until yesterday.

On Christmas, Ida was milking the cows and her cow stepped back on her leg. She crawled away from the cow and her husband helped pull her away from the rest of the cows. He had to hitch a horse to a buggy to travel to his mothers house to get help to get Ida out of the barn. He then had to travel 4 miles with the buggy to use a phone to call a ride to the hospital. They can't afford an ambulance so they had to find a driver who was home that day.

Unfortunately, once they got to the hospital in the nearest town, there were no surgeons due to being Christmas Day and they gave her pain medicine, casted her leg and told her to return the next week for surgery.
I just can't imagine the pain she endured for those hours between the actual break and the ER visit.

This is 4 months later and she can finally move around the house as she was bed ridden for months. I know she has small children and I know her life was tough for a long time and she needed a lot of family to come and help her. Even using the outhouse would be a major ordeal when you think about it.

The reason I even mention it is because I was thinking how good we have it today. We have indoor plumbing. We get our milk from the grocery store. We don't have to start a fire early in the morning just to feed the family. WE don't have to scrub the laundry by hand and hang it out to dry. We all carry cell phones and have access to emergency services. We have cars for transport. We are so spoiled today when you think of the way our grandmothers lived. My grandmother also used a wood stove for cooking and had a well for water plus an outhouse. I really have a new respect for technology and I'm so thankful I live now.

We do have a winner for the $40 gift certificate-it's Lynn from Nova Scotia. Congratulations Lynn! I'm going to skip this week since Sunday is Mother's Day and I know I'll be busy all day with my family. Watch for next week for an all new drawing. I plan to do a lot of planting flowers this week, I'll blog when I do!