I'm Still Here

I had a hard time signing into Blogger last week so that I could leave comments on many other blogs. I'm not sure if it is Blogger or my computer. If I haven't gotten to yours yet, know that I will and I am reading your blogs no matter what!

Our weather had calmed down alot! No wild storms - just rain every now and again. Other than that, nice days. Then we got hit again! The tornados from the midwest were moving towards us. We were reassured that they would weaken and there was no chance of danger. Suddenly, last Thursday around 10pm, the wind kicked up like nothing I have heard since Hurricane Hugo and there were alerts for our area to take immediate cover! A tornado! I was totally freaked out and grabbed my pocketbook (of all things to save) and told my family that if it carried me away (like Dorothy) I would at least have my ID on me and would not be a missing person! Funny the things that go through your mind. I always thought I would be gathering up my samplers if anything like this ever happened! It lasted about 35 minutes and quit as suddenly as it started. Once again, the storm left plenty of damage all around us. For some reason I can't post any pictures right now but I'm just glad we have power! Now we have Hurricane Season right around the corner!

I mentioned that I started a new piece on Mother's Day but I only got several stitches in before I set it down so it's not worth showing yet. What is wrong with me lately. Two months of kaos around here has taken it's toll on my stitching mojo and blogging! It's not over, by any means but I am hoping it has settled down enough that maybe I can start to pull the unraveled strings of my life back into place (a little at a time).

Thanks so much for sticking with me during this upside down period. Knowing you are all out there means so much to me! Until next time (and hopefully a more normal post) may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Stormy Weather

Another strong storm hit our area last week. It woke me up in the middle of night with extremely loud thunder and the room was lit up with all the intense lightening. The winds were bringing down trees and doing some major damage to the area but luckily not to our house or property. The weather had said we would get large hail again and it seemed that towns all around us did but it skipped by us. Good news.

Harold has told me about a family of geese that comes back every year to nest at their plant. I love all the stories he tells me about them. He said the guys can't understand why they come down there to nest and I told him it was because the geese know the spot and they consider the guys down there as family. Moma goose had four babies this year. Harold was at work during the storm and said the wind was blowing so hard that two of the babies were lost in the wind. He saw one of them trying to get back to moma and the wind was so hard, the poor little thing could not fight the strong wind. It kept falling and blowing backwards. He carried the baby over to the area where the moma had taken the other two babies for safety. Later another guy found the fourth baby under an engine and carried it to the same spot. A family reunited. I told Harold "see, she knows you guys care and considers you family". DH was afraid that moma goose would reject the two lost babies after being handled but he told me later that they are all together and doing fine.

There were several more storms this past weekend but nothing too bad until lightning hit our front yard! It didn't hit close enough to damage anything but the sound of it hitting was unreal! It even set off the smoke alarm. Some of our neighbors saw the flash of fire it created and ran outside to see if all was well too. That makes the second time lightning has hit our yard! What a scare. Did I mention that I am getting really tired of all these storms?

There were periods of sun over the weekend and during one I sat out on the deck to watch the birds. The warmth of the sun felt glorious to my cold natured side and I began to drift off as I soaked it all in until I was rudely (and painfully) awakened by a sneaky wasp that found his way up under my shirt and must have panicked (or not liked what he saw) when he couldn't find his way back out so he did the natural thing and really let me have it with his stinger - right in the stomach! Leaping to my feet, I was jumping around and yelling like I was doing some odd ritual dance when I saw him fly out from under my shirt and go on his merry way. At least he was happy.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a lot of stitching done lately. Life has been too hectic with DH on these odd hours. I plan to pick up some stitching again once everything (or at least a good chunk of it) gets back to normal around here again. Whenever that may be!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope to have some fun stitching news next time I post so be patient with me. Until then, may you have simple days.

New Look

The shingles arrived today for our new roof and they should begin working on it tomorrow unless there is rain. This is not our house but a picture of how the roof should look once it is completed. We plan to paint the house (hopefully within another month) and the colors we will be using are very similar to these in the picture.

I started a new piece on Mother's Day just to try and get my mojo rolling again. I don't like to work on more than one piece at a time so I am really pushing the buttons with three pieces in progress! Just one of those "what was I thinking" moments.

Otherwise, Mother's Day was very quite around here. No trips, no gifts (I told dh I would get something later), no big surprises. Just a day of peace and quite and doing whatever I wanted. A perfect day. I sat outside and watched the birds for awhile, made several phone calls, got several phone calls then watched a day long marathon of one of my favorite shows. Of course, I cooked but I fixed what I was in the mood for this time.

Harold has been on a different shift for awhile which totally throws my mental calendar out of whack. I hate when he works these hours but someone has to do it. He has another doctor appointment coming up and naturally I will be right by his side so I can hear first hand what the doctor has to say.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your visits and comments always brighten my day.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

I hope all mothers have a wonderful Mother's Day and I hope everyone else enjoys the day being with their mother on her special day.

Be sure to check out the wonderful giveaway at http://greyhousesamplers.blogspot.com for some lovely primitives.

Long time, No see!

There is an old saying that bad luck runs in three's. We had our three (or maybe it was four) so I am going to be positive and say it's over for awhile! Our house was damaged by the storms but it could have been a lot worse like so many other people who lost everything so that's a plus in our favor. Second plus is that the roofers should start to work on our new roof within several weeks. DH has had some bad times with his health but I still have him around and am extremely grateful for that. Having to get him ready for the hospital during a power outage taught me to be better prepared. I now have a set of "hospital" clothes for each of us that I can easily grab without having to look through the entire closet. I also bought a more powerful flashlight so that I can do what is necessary without stumbling around should there be another outage when DH needs to go to the hospital. The one I used last time was no stronger than a night light. Ugh. The new one even has a strong strobe light setting in the event I have to jump around the yard to flag down the ambulance again. That will definitely get their attention! Next on our list is to buy a small generator that will be just powerful enough to run his breathing equipment in the event of another power outage. Live and learn!

With everything that has happened I lost my stitching mojo somewhere along the way. I was shocked when I realized it had been almost a month since I had given any attention to my projects! Actually, the shock was because it really seemed so much longer. But after getting my basket in order again, I began stitching again. Unfortunately, nothing is far enough long for any progress photos yet. You know what they say -- "it's like riding a bike".

After last post when I decided it was time to spoil myself a little, I went hunting for a pattern or two that would brighten my spirits. I found Ann How by The Scarlett Letter and was in love. I have mentioned before how I love samplers with alphabets and meaningful verses plus it would be my first SL pattern! Double cha-ching! I decided to just go with the one chart because I will probably need some fabrics on down the road. An early Mother's Day present will be a justifiable excuse to go ahead and get it!

I have made my list of pieces I would like to stitch up before the end of the year. I have a little over 6 months to accomplish this. Can I do it? I would love to and I probably can as long as I don't go changing my mind or falling into another slump. *fingers crossed*

Thanks so much for stopping by. Your visits and comments really brighten my days. Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.