A finished project~

 Finally sat at the sewing/craft table. What should have taken maybe an hour took much longer. My hand is still not flexible..... dexterity is limited still. 

It is looking so good but the scab/dry skin around the incision is sore and causing stiffness. the good news is that I started therapy Wednesday. I will have 4 weeks and home exercises....6 of them to do daily. When out and about I will wear a cotton hand sleeve to protect it. 

So what about the project? 

A Continuous needle and thread holder..... design by Carolyn Foley.

The pouch area (where the needle threader is) holds a spool of thread and on the felt are 5 threaded needles. When you want to use one, simply take out the needle and just pull the thread through and cut off where you ned it leaving the other 4 needles threaded. Now, when needing more thread, instead of threading the needle repeat by pulling out the next needle and continue sewing. Put the first needle back on the felt. the only time to re-thread is when all needles are empty. Nifty....right.

A Yo-yo is sewn to each side as the piece is rolled and secured. I definitely will be making some to send off here and there. Maybe now with the therapy and stretching the hand I will be able to be creative again sooner than not.

A few weeks ago Lisa and I were talking about rings. Specifically that we each wanted a thumb ring. Alan chimed in with ...."okay, go and get them". Well you did not have to tell us twice! 

We bought them and they needed to be sized. Mine came in but we are still waiting for Lisa's. I will show hers as soon as it is on her finger. Meantime, I love wearing mine. Alan spoils us. 

The rose garden is doing well. One day they will all bloom at the same time. This is Chicago Peace Rose. Hard to see but it has a tinge of yellow with the pink. Glad you visited and chatted today. Thank you for your kind words and for your friendship.

Sunrise and a ring

Somedays start good and get better.

After posting here yesterday morning I looked out my kitchen window to see a dramatic sunrise. I see them often and never tire of looking to the sky at sunrise or sunset. Then a short time later as I passed the same window....

there was Oliver enjoying his breakfast buffet of Fountain Grass along with his statue  buddy. He is so tiny... so adorable.

I went for my hairdresser appointment and came home to seeing that the mail was delivered.

Pleasant surprise that the beads from Fire Mountain arrived a day early. I may have over ordered but just did not want to run short. Since I have an appointment to have the auto starter put into the car this afternoon, I probably will not start it today....tomorrow will be just fine. The other piece of mail...

When The Brother Alan and Lisa were here we went to Scottsdale for our usual Italian meal and of course some shopping. Alan was buying this ring (Lisa on the left) and also bought a matching one (me on the right) for me. It was being sized and mailed to me. So pretty! Lucky to have such a thoughtful brother. Both of them care for me and about me....lucky am I.

So, today will be kind of boring after yesterday. So far there has been no more rain around here, but the humidity yesterday was awful. Having the starter finally is going to be a big help. Oh, and the kitchen light...finally figured how to remove the cover and the light bulb needs replacing but I could not get it out. I have not even attempted the water system yet. I think this is a weekend project! In the meantime, I will enjoy finishing my coffee and relaxing before swishing some clothes in the washer. Glad we chatted...thank you for the kind words and your friendship.

It would have been.....

Today is another one of those days for me. Today would have been my 48th anniversary. Each year I posted a cheerful memory of our wedding day, mine and Dennis' special day. I feel sad but also there is that special place in my heart that remembers the delight I felt when we walked out of church as Mr and Mrs. .... my Denny and me. I was 23 and he was 24. It was 1970.

The story is old and true. It was love at first sight for both of us. Quite an unlikely match really. Me sort of preppy and he sort of hippy but it was a good match that lasted 47 years. Some people questioned  how he could marry a gal who could not cook and did not do housework and this and that. His answer was simple, "I will teach her". I did not even know how to use the washing machine! You see, Dennis lived on his own since he was 16 and then joined the Army so he was very capable of living on his own. In the beginning we cooked together and divided the household chores and it worked. We lived our first year in his 2 room house on a country road far removed from the city lights...as a matter of fact, our street had no lights and ended at the lake! Our mail was delivered to the top of the road at pole #3. I loved it.

Our rings are there for me to touch each day, a symbol of our love.
Our vows said "until death do us part"....I will always be his Graz and he will be My Denny and tonight I will drink a glass of wine to celebrate the wonderful memories. Thankful that we met and married and shared a life together.

A new week

Yesterday I actually stopped for gas...I know so what. It is a big deal for me as this was my second time. There were three guys at the next pump; they had a truck towing a boat and a car. One of the guys noticed my hesitation and he stood with me to make sure I was doing okay. He said, "we live in a crazy world but there are good people too" He was indeed a good and caring person. I am lucky to always be around good people who care. The first time and the last, was June 17th...so, at this rate I only have to deal with gas once a month. Today is clean the pond day...I wish there was someone I could find for this task.  I hope to get out there real soon before it gets any warmer. Right now it is partly sunny but no rain expected....just heat and humidity.
Today I will start with the Words explanations...

I stitched all the words in the order of release but laid them out my own way. The first was Love...just right for us. I embroidered the date of our wedding on the patch, and added two pink hearts. Pink was the color for my wedding. I truly fell in love at first sight and he with me. We were fortunate to have a caring loving marriage for 47 years. I put our wedding picture in a tatted heart. and hand wrote our names . That is a Token of Love charm next to the heart. Dennis thought I should add the crocheted flowers with seed beads someplace on the banner....right at the top.

In the crocheted circle I attached our original wedding rings...again with a pink ribbon. I am on my 4th ring...and last.

Denny really hated to take his off but due to the edema had no choice. He asked me to take it home and put it back into the box and in my jewelry box where it has been. He told me how happy he had been being married to me and that the ring reminded him everyday. When I started this banner Denny helped picked out some of the embellishments and thread colors. This truly was a project of love for me.  Donna has since the start of this project released other words and just this weekend 2 more. Tomorrow another word and embellishments. Today a little more Denny's Angel tatting and maybe poor neglected Alice will sit with me. Right now, I think it is time to get outside and clean the pond. Thank you for visiting with me and for following my new journey. Thank you for the caring and kind words and most of all your friendship. Let's have a good day.....