What to get into next......????

It's official! I've found a new craft to dabble in! Needle felting!! I checked out some books from the library and it looks so easy...especially to have such an adorable finished product! My first shot at it will be pumpkins and I can't wait until my kit gets here which I ordered from Bear Creek Designs on Etsy.
Then maybe on to the birds..cause you folks know how much I love birds!

Meanwhile, I've been embroidering and trying my hands at a few other things. I'm taking the "handmade challenge" (www.buyhandmade.org) for Christmas this year and am trying to make all of our Christmas gifts or support other handmade-artists by purchasing their wares as gifts.

Well, I'm off to scrub the bathroom and then, if time allows, cut out a dress pattern for Abby that I have been dying to make! (Check out that link over there to the left for The Handmade Dress- we're doing the Miss Madeline!)

God goes before you!

Marla

Just about me....

So this has nothing whatsoever to do with the kids, or family, or gardening, or homeschooling......it's just about me.

I have been inspired by some new and precious friends to be more me. With that in mind, I'm announcing to the world, via Blogspot, that I have decided to come out from under the "merely exist until my kids hit a more independent stage" cloud that I have been under the last eight years. My children are big enough now to do more on their own and I find that I have a little more time for me now. Time for sewing. Time for reading. Time for embroidering and cross-stitching. Time for doing the things I enjoy, things that make me me!

So I'm back, World! Get ready for some creativity!

P.S. Are you under that cloud? May I inspire you to find the you that has been lying asleep for sew long? (Intended mis-spelling, by the way) Come have a cup of tea- I have an open door and a lovely cup just waiting for you. And I can probably find a needle and a piece of fabric underneath this Operation Christmas Child stuff somewhere........

Bend it like...Babsy?

Abby doesn't have too high of an opinion of soccer. I am quite proud of her for giving it a shot...but I definitely don't see it becoming a life-long pursuit or dream of hers! Though I must say, she looks awfully cute in her soccer get-up! This is Coach Andy with his girls. They like to play with their hair, turn cartwheels, and play with each other MUCH more than they like to listen to Coach Cain. DO you see the level of attention given?

I mean, Cristina's face pretty much says it all!

Underneath

I found this beauty lying dormant under layer upon layer of paint and wallpaper in our hallway. Our 1920s bungalow has many hidden surprises just waiting to be found! This piece actually looks as though it is pencil drawn wallpaper! I asked Andy, "May we keep her....as a reminder?"

The truth is, you never know what's underneath, do you? It may be something beautiful, it may be something horrid- but ya just never know until you start digging. And what do you do with it once you find it? Do you just cover it up with another layer of paint? Or perhaps, do you triumphantly display it as a lost bit of beauty....found again?

One way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon.....

This afternoon we took a trip 5 miles up the road to the Bass Pro Shop. We are not hunters. I love to fly fish, but we only did with Daddy. We are not camo-wearing Alabamians. However, this is a great family adventure for us as we get to pet lots of animals that one usually is not able to get into close proximity with! (And who really cares if they're dead??)

This is only one small section of the main floor!

There's always something fun for the kids to do. (And Ben and Abby too!)

P.S. Don't you hate when the kids track over your freshly mopped floor?

Ode to a Tree

Wednesday Ben and I heard a noise out front so we went to the porch to investigate. Imagine our surprise when we saw a truck from the city- come to fell our lovely Elm. She was a beautiful tree, but we had watched her slow decline as a loved one with a fatal illness. Finally, this year, Elm produced no real leaves and our hearts were broken, for we knew she was gone.

Ben watched with snack in hand while I snapped off a few pictures of Elm. And before the big truck comes to haul her away, I inscribed her with the highest honor of all treedom.....

And now, a haiku.....

She was beautiful

A Belle in her day

Nearly a century old

Bird sanctuary

You never truly appreciate trees until you live somewhere there aren't any.

Battle of the 'Birds

Since my last post, the word has gone forth and EVERY hummingbird in central Alabama has graced our feeders! One day, feeling adventurous, I decided to refill the feeders and see if the birds would come near me. (This blossomed from last year's experience of me trying to rehang a feeder, all the while being pecked in the head by a very obviously STARVING hummingbird!) I hid behind th iron-work on my front porch with a feeder in my hand. In about 20 minutes, after being smelled and brushed by tiny wings, they began feeding from my hand! Then one little Precious landed in my hair! It was very beautiful and very exhilarating.

I only wish someone had taken a picture......