HOLDING MY BREATH

Those of you that have followed my blog have heard me talking about my Aunt Mary.  She was or is my Mother's only sibling.  And she is the last of that generation in my family.  She was 89 on her birthday last September.  She is mostly blind with only limited vision but in really good health for her age.  She only takes 1 bloodpressure pill a day and an arthitis pill once a week.  Pretty good for 89 in this day of MD's prescribing med for any ol' reason. 

This picture was taken when Don and I got married June of 2009.  She has had 2 birthdays since then but still looks the same.  She goes once a week to get her hair done and every 2 weeks to get her nails done.  My aunt has been a good Christian her entire life and faithful worker in her church. 
This past Friday, Christmas Eve, she was in her kitchen and fell and broke her leg at the hip.  They pinned it Sunday morning and today she was transfered to a rehab facility to get back on her feet.  So far she is doing pretty good with only a couple of periods of confusion.  She hit her head and had to have several stitches on her face, so we are holding our breath that the injury won't cause any later problems.  I guess we are really concerned about that because her mother did almost exactly the same thing and never knew she was in this world again til she died.  When Grandmother got hurt and had all the Alzheimer like symptoms I wasn't satisfied with the MD's just blowing it off as dementia or regular Alzheimer's.  I was with my Grandmother when she fell.  We were getting in the car to go Christmas shopping and she lost her balance getting in the car.  The surgeon said the leg broke and then she fell because of the type of break it was.  My Grandmother was talking to me when she fell and she had never had any signs of any kind of dementia.  I kept hunting ( I worked in a critical care unit at the time) thru the medical magazines and books and asking questions until I found an article a doctor had written about "traumatic onset Alzheimers" .  It is real and it is caused by a head injury.  Needless to say, we are scared to death of history repeating itself.  Please join us in prayer for my aunt and for my cousin, Sheryl.  Being the only child with only her mother left, she has the immediate responsibility for taking care of Aunt Mary.  Right now those two need all our prayers and support.  
May the Blessing of Our Lord be with each of you in this New Year.
Love,
Mary

BLESSINGS OF THE SEASON

TO ALL OF MY FOLLOWERS AND VISITORS ~

MAY THE BLESSINGS OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR BE WITH YOU DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MARY AND DON

MORE LAST MINUTE

Well the vest is coming along. Today I laid out the red roses (her favorite color and flower) and started the background ribbon and embroidery.

I tried the roses with no extra colors and with yellow and blue flowers. I think I will stick with the red roses and other red flowers and will add some blue beading with the green and red beading. 

















I have done the background embroidery and used straight pins to hold the bulky flowers in place. I will not sew them on until I sew the vest together. I am pretty good at hiding the stitches and not going thru to the lining, so I don't worry about that.

I am holding down the ribbon with green seed beads and using a varigated green embroidery floss and my favorite stitch - the feather stitch to spread out beaded flowers and buds.

I have a collection of embroidery hoops. Some of them my mother and grand mother used 80 years ago.  They are the best, made with strong wood and brass screws.  They may never fall apart, atleast in my life time.  They  weigh more than the newer cheap hoops that fall apart and the rivets fall out that hold the screws.  They (the newer ones) are just chinese garbage. My older ones were made in England and the US back when people made things to last and were proud of their products.  I guess I need to get off of my soap box and get back to work.


Tonight we went to church. We had our Christmas service and communion. It was done in candle light and was so pretty.  It was just a simple service of carols and special music. John Tidwell played his guitar and sang some lovely carols. He has such a beautiful baritone voice and plays classical guitar style. He is a local disc jockey at 97.7 The Peach in Chilton county (our neighbor county).  Chilton is renowned for their peach crops and rival Georgia in production.  He did the music at our wedding last year and brought tears to my eyes when he sang "Annie's Song" by John Denver.  That is such a beautiful love song. Anyway, he always provides beautiful music at our little church. 
After the sevice we gathered in the kitchen and OD'ed on sweets and lots of out of this world food.  We have one lady that has a catering business and she always brings such scrumptious food.  All of the ladies are really good cooks and of course being Baptist we all try to out do each other in a friendly rivalry. As Don says: 'It makes for some fantastic food.' He never wants to miss a meal at church.  I guess this is all for today. I am going to get up in the morning and finish the vest.
PS they are using that 4 letter 'cuss word' that starts with s and ends with a 'w' for Christmas day.  That would really be something.  I have only seen one White Christmas in my life and I had to fly 5000 miles to Alaska for it. 
Merry Christmas to all and don't forget the real reason for the season. Our Lord and Savior's Birth.
Mary

THE LAST MINUTE

I am going to try something I have never done on a blog.  I am going to show you how I work. Some background first.
 My Aunt Mary is 89 years old.  She has a very comfortable income and can buy anything she really wants.  She is partially blind (limited vision), but that is her only health problem.  She used to be easy to buy Christmas presents for because she would try any craft and usually master it. She loved to read, collected cookbooks, loved to cook, entertain and travel. Now because of her limited vision she mostly watches (or listens to Fox News tv) and talks on the phone.  Her only trips are to get her hair done once a week, and her nails once every two weeks (nail polish really does stay on her nails that good, I can't keep it on 24 hours without chipping). All of this has really made it hard to figure out what she would like and use when getting her Christmas presents.  We have already gone thru getting the talking clocks, oversize tv remotes, talking watches, talking phones that tells you who or what number is calling, cuddle blankets, lap quilts, bed quilts,  everything Alabama football and Braves baseball, a cd player with favorite books on cd etc. She loves vests. I have made her vests for every holiday, Alabama vests, Braves vest (paid a fortune bidding on 1 yard of braves material on EBAY). I have beaded some of her vests. She really likes that. I have never made her a ribbon embroidery decorated vests.  I don't know how I missed that one. Every year I have racked my brain for something for birthdays and Christmas, I just missed that one completely.  This is the year.  Of course I didn't think of it til the last minute and for some reason I have been so lethargic (that is the only word I can think of that covers the way I have felt about Christmas) this year. So this is going to be a last minute thing.  I spent almost a week just plotting this vest out in my head and FINDING the fabric I wanted to use.  It seems there is ALWAYS the big hunt for the fabric especially since I have hundreds of yards of fabric.  So just for the next couple of days (I have to have this ready by Christmas Eve), I am photographing everything I do to make this vest. Wish me luck because I KNOW there will be things I want to use that I will not be able to find.

So here are the first pictures.  I finally found my pattern that fits her. And finally found the black brocaded rayon fabric I wanted and the black batiste to back it for the embroidery.  I have it basted together so it won't move around too much.  I used a beading needle to baste with (really slides thru the fabrics easy) and pink thread so I can find it to rip it out.
My next entry will show the layout of the design.  Til then say a prayer for me that I can keep it together and stay on the project.
Mary

GIVEAWAYS, SNOW AND CHRISTMAS

Today the sky is clear and oh so verrry coooold.  For Alabama the high outside my front door is supposed to get all the way up to 32F.  Oh that is sooooo warm LOL.  It looks sunny and warm but oh it isn't. The weathermen are still saying we will have a chance for freezing rain by Wednesday morning.  I hope not.  Alabamians do NOT do well with freezing rain or ice.  And on top of that it has been years since we have had any.  The nitwits here think it is just clear snow. I will NOT leave my house period.  Having broken a wrist when I was in college on ice I know better.  I may be hard headed but not THAT hard headed. It hurt. I can still remember it propped up on pillows in my grandmother's bed with blankets draped over it to keep it warm.  It hurt.  That was the last time I ever remember the doctor coming to the house. It was January 1966. Brother have times changed since then.  I wasn't even doing something silly then, I was standing still watching for traffic and my brothers were up the street at the top of the hill waiting for me to give the 'all clear' so they could make a run down the hill (five blocks) on their new sled. I gave the signal and turned to watch them and my feet flew out from under me and I landed on my left wrist.  The sad part was I was a music major at Samford University and my major instrument was the viola.  Now you can see the significance of breaking the left wrist.   I never had a decent vibrato again.
Oh well the twists and turns of life.  That is all I will say about snow today. And ice.
Now about giveaways.  Heirloom Gypsy is have a delightful giveaway.  Some keys, a pinafore (beautiful), a silver spoon ornament and  vintage crochet trim and lace and last but not least a demitasse cup and saucer.  So hurry over and get your name in the pot and check out all the other pretties she has. The button is in the upper right hand corner and here is a link http://heirloomgypsy.blogspot.com/ .
Now about Christmas. As you can see from my Christmas countdown widget above it is less than 2 weeks til Christmas.  I was out Saturday morning about 10 AM and there was hardly anyone at the grocery store or on the road.  I guess the hard financial times have every where.  They have hit us, for sure.  We have to be careful with penny.  This year I am sending out Christmas cards and not buying but a couple of gifts.  I have the stamps left from last year and the cards, too, for that matter. I like to stay in touch with friends and relations that live far away. We rarely see each other any more except at funerals.  No more of the visits atleast once a year like when I was young.  Most of us are getting too old to travel much on our own.  And oddly enough the ones of us left don't have hardly any children to take us places like my parents did for their parents.  Hadn't really thought about that until just now.  My husband never had any children, I don't have any children, most of my cousins in Tennessee don't have any children.  Weird how so many of us never even married or married late in life (like I did at 62), yet all of us were raised old fashion to not have children without benefit of marriage.  I guess we are a literally a dying generation.  Well so much for the pensive thoughts for this time of the year.  We must remember what this season celebrates. The birth of our Lord and Savior. 
 THAT is the MOST IMPORTANT THING. THANK YOU, GOD, FOR SENDING YOUR SON.
Mary

SNOW AND GIVEAWAYS

Today we have snow flurries falling in Alabama.  Now I know all you folks that live in REAL snow country (including my brother in Wasilla, Alaska) are rolling on the floor laughing at some one getting excited about snow flurries . OK go ahead and laugh. I laugh too.  My husband (who was raised in snow country and has lived most of his life in snow country) is not laughing.  In fact if I utter THAT 4 letter word he gets upset and threatens to move us to Florida. I have tried to explain to him that Miami Fla has had snow before and not so many years ago. He just gets madder and said we would go to Arizona and I explained how the pilot of a Delta plane I was on pointed out all the snow on the ground as we flew over Arizona one time and showed him a calendar picture of snow in Arizona.  I think maybe I am not the only person in this 2 person household that has red roots in their hair. He does have a red headed temper when this red head points out things he does NOT want to hear LOL LOL.  Oh well I also went on to point out that the weatherman is predicting freezing rain and/or sleet for Tuesday nite and the last time we had freezing rain here was 1993 when we had 17 (that's right I said SEVENTEEN) INCHES OF SNOW on top of several inches of ice (freezing rain) and the power was out at our place for 12 DAYS.  We are so OVERDUE for snow and ice here in Alabama.  It actually frightens me with what we COULD have since we are so overdue.  Usually we don't go but a couple of years without a snow that sticks to the ground.  It really isn't much fun in Alabama when it snows or ices up.  Folks down here don't know how to respect snow and ice. And they sure don't know how to stay at home and OFF the roads.  We don't have that many sanders and salt trucks and NO SNOWPLOWS!!!!  The only people that get around even marginally safe are folks with 4 wheel drive and they don't really know how to get around on the ice that is usually under it all.
When we lose our power it is usually because some fool hit a light pole on the road.  I guess I should go and try to calm down my hubby and try not to upset him too much with the gleam of snow in my eyes every time I look out the window. And NO, none of the flakes have stuck but if you look real close in this picture you can see a few flakes flying by. LOL

NOO, those white dots on the picture are NOT lint on the lense of the camera!!   And stop laughing so hard.  I have enough to put up with listening to my husband !!! LOL LOL
On a better note I also wish to remind every one that Lynn at Teacupstitches is having one last giveaway this year on Christmas eve.  So click on her link and get your name in the pot.  She has some pretties to give away and what a Christmas present to your self if you win. 
So for now I need to go get the shovel out and shovel up the THREE big snow flakes that fell LOL.
May God bless each of you.
Mary

LESSONS AND CAROLS AND THRIFT SHOP FINDS

This past week has gone by in a blur.  I honestly believe 'they' have figured out how to speed up the passage of time.  That is what my mother believed and I think she is right.  Yesterday was Sunday dinner (a monthly affair) at our church.  The food was yummy and the folks were pleasurable.  Last night my hubby Don and I went down to the American Village to participate in "Nine Lessons and Carols" in the chapel at the Village.  The music was heavenly and the service brought home the meaning of the season.  In case any of you have never attended such a service, it follows first the prediction of Christ (in the old testement) thru the birth of Christ in scripture and song.  It was so beautiful.  The chapel at the village is styled after a similar colonial church with high back wood pews with no cushions at all.  Now I know why women of that era wore dresses with lots of petticoats and skirts.  Those pews were HARD.  My hubby said next year we will bring our own cushions to sit on LOL.  Even his rear end was feeling the effects of sitting for an hour plus.  But it was worth the SLIGHT discomfort to be there.  They had a reception with refreshments afterward. The hot cider they served was SOOOO GOOD.  I asked one of the hostesses if she knew which brand it was and she said it was plain apple juice and RED HOTS (THE CANDY) !!!!I am going to have to try to make some.  It was the first time I had every had hot cider and I really did like it. 

On a trip thru our local thrift store I found a 'gone with the wind' style lamp for the whole amount of $6.88 and 30% off of that.  It is a beautiful lamp.  It is frosted with a white stenciled motif of roses on both top globe and bottom.  There are several place where some of it is scratched off but I don't care.  Several years ago I had to sell some of my precious three tiered and antique lamps to pay the mortgage. It broke my heart to sell them, but keeping the house was more important.  I have one small one left that is a real antique and is pink.  I will NOT ever sell that one.  It may not be worth as much as the others were, but it is the only one I have left.  Here is  pic of my thrift store find.  $5.oo dollars is not bad for a pretty lamp and IT WORKS !!!
Well, I guess that is about all for today.
Hope all of you are well and may God bless each of you.
Mary