It's Jo's Birthday!

I am helping Jo celebrate her birthday with the Big Birthday Blog Hop....

She has assigned us a year to comment on and this is her comment for the year 1981

1981 - Jo was 15.  Jo has settled into High School life and has become involved in the school dramatical productions.  The first year they performed songs from Oliver, the next year it was a 1920s evening with assorted songs, sketches and a performance of The Magic Piano.  It was during these rehearsals that Jo was approached by the drama teacher who suggested that she might enjoy being involved with the stage lighting.  This was a tactful way of telling Jo she cannot sing!  Fortunately Jo loved operating the lighting desk and building the scaffold tower to adjust the lights (Health & Safety would have had a fit!).  Jo also discovered Drama was useful for getting out of unpopular lessons - "I can't do PE, we have a rehearsal"

Now I must say this was not an easy year for me....I found it difficult to comment but here it goes....
First of all in 1981 I was 34 years old. Old enough to have been her mom! I had been married 11 years.  A few tidbits about that year: The top selling car was Toyota,  the average cost of a gallon of gas in the US was $1.25,  in the UK it was a Royal Wedding: Lady Diana married Prince Charles,  Top film was Raiders of the Lost Ark,  popular boy name was Michael and for the girls Jennifer.  That year my birthday (February 3) was on a Tuesday!   A memory does come to mind.  I was working  my second year as a Social Director (all around activity and party planner) at a nursing facility in Rhode Island.  Mary was admitted as a full time resident the year before. She was a sweet soft spoken lady who used a wheelchair for mobility and we became fast friends. Her sons lived out of state, one in Florida and one in New York.  I became her "adopted daughter" as her NY son Joe called me. One day Mary handed me a gift.....her diamond engagement ring!

I was speechless. I had only known her a short time and besides, I could not accept a gift let alone this! It only fits on my pinky now. It is 18kt gold with lovely scrolls on each side of the diamond. She and her husband came from the Azores and married there in 1910. The next day I was called into the administrators office and Mary was sitting there. After speaking with son Joe in NY, the administrator handed me the ring! Papers were signed and it was legal. Mary lived to be 104. So I guess something special did happen that year after all. Jo also asked that we post a picture of something we stitched that we think she would like...

This was stitched in the eighties and I think Jo would agree with the sentiment.....we may be miles and an ocean apart but we are friends with ever holding hands or hugging or meeting....
Happy Birthday dear Jo and good wishes for many more celebrations. Thank you for letting me participate in this blog party. Thank you my dear friends for always stopping by and for your kind words. Have a great day. Be sure to stop by Jo's place and say Happy Birthday!

Keeping busy...most of the time

Oh how lazy I have been. The weather plays with being very hot to being hot and then pokes in with a comfortable few hours. I actually sat outside for a short time yesterday morning. The yard is a sad place right now....in between the few plants that are still surviving and those empty spots waiting for  sign of life. One of the survivors

I this Celosia. Dull rose at the bottom reaching up with a bit of pink to the flame of orange at the tips....lovely. There is another pot in the yard that is not at all the same....strange how that happens. Mr H bought a couple of plants yesterday to begin the repair to his garden. One of the other plants giving a show is

the Firecracker Bush with it's bright gold and orange flowers all over. It is about 4 feet wide and 6 feet high....and lights up it's place in the garden. This has been the first summer that we lost so many plants to the scorching heat.

Once the heat leaves and Mr H is feeling up to it things will be lovely once again. This has been the year for many new feathered friends visiting us. Daily the 2 woodpeckers stop by to drink form the hummingbird feeder (even though there is a bird bath just beneath it) and the hummers are fliting by all day. The large black raven stops by to drink form the bird bath and now I am finding him walking about the backyard too.  So busy it has been. Me? well, I am working on a Mill Hill southwest item..

I like to work on perforated paper and this one is has lots of beads...eventually. I decided I best get started on my Christmas ornaments....

This is a special one that will cross the states to Natalia...her 3rd Christmas. I have a few other patterns at the ready some will stay some will be in the mail. I ordered a new pattern..."Alice" and can not wait for it to arrive. It is Alice with Quaker motifs. My new PNPS magazine arrived yesterday so I will enjoy leafing through it again...again...again finding a new project I hope. Right now I need some food to start my day and while the temps are still comfortable, maybe sit outside with the magazine. Wish you could be sitting here with me, drinking a cup of tea or fresh ground coffee and chatting....Thank you for your cherished friendship and kind words. Hope you have a wonderful day.

Follow up note: Yvonne Buus, designer of the punch needle Mistletoe loves my finished piece....I received a nice note from her and she posted my picture to her Facebook page...... https://www.facebook.com/vintageheartprimitives/

Bee Happy is finished

Sat and sewed yesterday and managed to complete this project. I like the way the canvas tote absorbed the coffee dye. I hand stitched the cross stitch piece to the bag so that if I had to wash the tote I can easily remove the piece. Although I wanted it to be simple, I found the black lace piece and decided to add it.

The lining is just the way I wanted to dyed piece to look. I kept this part simple also; no pockets or fancy lining. I am really happy with the completed look. I would like to find a bee charm to add to the inside...just for fun. I should have and could have accomplished more yesterday but to be honest I got caught up with coverage of the 9/11 . Truth be told, I watched far too much and it did stress me a little. Today will be different. It is a cooler start to the day and it is expected to be around 100 but with some humidity. My mind is racing with projects that I want to start....embroidery, stumpwork, punch needle...where to begin?  I even want to do a bit of quilting. I saw a program with Dresden plate sunflower that looked nice. See? I am overloading my mind! I did steam my couple walking punch needle....

now just to think of how to complete it....I do like the colors now.  I may just mount it on a cutting type board to hang. I know that I do not want it on a box top....maybe a basket front. We shall see. My blogging anniversary will be coming up shortly... 6 years...who would have thought. I have noticed since I started blogging that some seem to have fallen by the wayside....or simply changed where/how they post, and how often they post. Life does make us change I suppose. Anyway, I am happy that my enthusiasm has remained and that you choose to visit with me. Thank you for your friendship and kind words....hope you have a great day.

~~~~~A quiet morning