VALENTINE LOVE

The longer I am with my wonderful husband  (23 years now) the more I love him. I truly don’t know

what life would be like without him now. We enjoy each others company still…we work together…

we have tv shows that we both love to watch and look forward to and we both respect each other.

Growing older with someone is not always easy. I think a sense of humor helps. He makes me

laugh and for that I am very grateful. He’s got my back and that is so important to me. We are

more than husband and wife…we are friends too. I hope you all have someone that loves you

and supports you in every way. This is dedicated to my guy……And since Love Is The Essence

Of God……him too….without him…we would not be together. Here’s my handsome guy…..

Happy Valentines Honey…….And to all of you!!

 

 

2012… The Winter That Wasn’t

So far, this winter has been pretty mild with no storms to speak of

on the horizon. Kind of a false start winter. We got a little bit of

snow and then it stopped coming. Warm days and cool nights have

definitely helped us all out with the fuel bills for sure. I do wonder

if the future for Maine winters in my area are changing and will

look more like a winter/spring mix? Maybe we should start calling

winter Sprinter? Something is definitely going on here. I overheard

someone at the grocery store talking about it the other day. He

said the lake near his home, has turned to ice in the winter for as

long as he could remember (and he was old). This year it had not.

That seemed very odd to him. In the little town I live in, there is

an annual fishing derby on our lake. It had to be cancelled for the

first time and rescheduled because the ice was not safe or frozen

deep enough. Do

any of you notice changes in your winter? Just wondering……

I have been getting through the days by crafting. I am making

bottlecap pincushions once again. Here’s a picture I got from

the internet of some pretty ones………………………………………………….

    They are a lot of fun to

make.   I will share some photos when I am done. Every Thursday

evening I have had a bunch of girlfriends come by and we read and

just hang out and talk. It has been such a blessing. Some days

when I think I am just going crazy from “stuff” happening in my life,

they seem to bring me back to where I need to be. There have been

some real tough  (emotional) times since Christmas,  but God is seeing us

through, no matter what the problem may be. I was told recently

that I need to set boundaries around myself. Do any of you do that?

Do you have boundaries? I don’t think I ever have had them in my

life. Here’s what wikipedia says about them…BOUNDARIES

It definitely makes sense and it’s about time I set some I guess. I

am looking for a good slow cook pork dish. Got any ideas? Hope

you are all well and getting through the winter or in some cases

Sprinter!…..without the blues…….

 

Food….Snow…Favorites…

We finally got a little more snow. It is really starting to look like winter. Most Mainers get a little bit worried

if we don’t get snow. There are all sorts of superstitions about what will happen. Some are probably true

and I know that many are just old wives tales. You’ll always hear folks talking about it though. Here is a photo

after the plow guy left….. It was such a stormy day, I decided to make a big pan of stuffed

shells. I usually do cheese stuffed but really wanted the meat ones this time. They came out fantastic!! I had

a  homemade  meat sauce that I had previously frozen that the shells sat on and also had a sprinkling on top.

Here’s a photo of them right out of the oven……..  Don’t they look yummy! Oh you bet they

were! My husband and I were in Jumbo Shell heaven for a couple of days! Most of you know I have a craft room

in the upstairs of my home that used to be one of my kids bedrooms. Recently, our friends Mary and Heath gave us

a twin bed. I have not had a bed in there for years. When my son stayed the night he slept on an inflatable mattress

that we had. So…I now have a bed up there and I love it. I went up and took some photos to show you. The bed

is just a plain stained wooden framed twin that I plan on painting at some point….See that heart shaped

pillow on the bed?….My friend Susan made that for me. It is hand quilted and hand dyed. The “night stand” is a metal

filing cabinet with vintage table cloths on it. The wicker lamp was given to me by my mother in law Alice…….

 The chair I got at a yard sale for a couple dollars and the pillow on the chair I made myself.  I rescued this

wicker chair from a trip to the dump and gave it a coat of paint….. then dressed it up with vintage cloths. It

still needs another coat of paint and some work but I love it. I made this patchwork pillow I keep on it. I am

getting to the age where I thoroughly enjoy my “old finds” that I stuff into my little room! I love the combination of chimes and

my poster of Guitar chords hanging together…. Both from separate yard sales, they just seem to belong

together to me. Another yard sale find I adore is this vintage flower dish from Japan…. Of course the

shape grabs your attention and then the color is so vibrant!! Eye candy. I love my little room and always feel so

comfy cozy when I walk in and out of there. On another note….we love to watch the American Pickers on the history channel.

They just opened a new shop in Nashville. My sister in law Amy (who lives in Nashville) sent me a little package from their

new store the other day…..here’s a photo of it…… it’s a bumper sticker!! I have already put it on my car.

Their other store is called and it is in Iowa. Well…..I guess it is time to get some work done….I am getting

ready to take some photos of Old Marbles to put on Ebay for a friend. It’s a sunny day here on the plains….bright and beautiful.

I hope you are all doing well and staying creative during this long winter (for us northerners that is) but I don’t doubt that a

bit…..you are ALL extremely creative in so many ways!! Before I leave, I wanted to say that I found a recipe on

 Lick The Bowl Good blog that is out of this world good! I had a bin full of apples that I needed to use up, so  I made her

Fresh Apple cake with brown sugar glaze yesterday. As a matter of fact, I made two of them! One for us, and one for my

mother and father in law….plus two apple crumb pies! I had a lot of apples! Here is a link to her recipe for that wonderful

Apple cake to die for!!…. Fresh Apple Cake With Brown Sugar Glaze Try it….you’ll love it. I can’t wait to try another one of

her recipes…………  

 

 

Lazy Blogger Redo…..

I have been a terribly lazy blogger lately and I am also having problems with my blog.

There was a photo bucket icon that would just NOT go away. I don’t even know where it came from?

My husband is working on recapturing some of my old blog design…my header…etc.

Meanwhile I have a new temporary look (I think anyway) that’s not too bad. The other problem I have

with the blog is that it is repeating posts. It has to do with the layout having a double post box.

We can’t seem to get rid of it. Any ideas regarding this would be much appreciated? Thanks.

We survived the holidays. This year we had a lot going on and it left me emotionally drained.

Next year will be different. 2011 was not the greatest year for me. Right after Christmas I got

hit with a really bad flu/cold that set me back about 5 or 6 days. I felt like I was in a fog for that

whole time.My Kleenex box, my blanket, and my

cough drops were my best friends. I think I left the house just once. I  started feeling reclusive.

It’s been a long time since I have been hit with a cold or flu…..and I had my FLU shot this year!!

I don’t want it back….that was brutal. We got some snow the other day….YAY!! I was really

sick of looking at the dead grass in the middle of January! Now it looks normal. We got 6 to 8 inches

and it is perfectly white and wonderful. ~~ I am still selling antique marbles for a friend. It’s his

deal but I take the photos, do the write-ups and listing and mailing. Here’s a link to the

Ebay auction….. MainelyMarbles if you are interested.  I finished my blankets I have been

working on for both my adult kids before Christmas. I was furiously sewing every day, the

weeks before trying to get them done. I don’t have a sewing machine and I am not the

greatest seamstress but I get it done. Hopefully they will hold together!! Here are a few photos of

Kyle and Carissa and their new blankets Christmas day…………………………………………….

     <  < that is the two of them opening, and that

is my mother in law Alice in the photo in the background. I loved my new “fake tree” we got…..

Here they are holding them up……..below……. I added their first initial to each…..

Not the best picture but you get the idea. And here they are together after…..

The back of Carissa’s is a lavender fleece and Kyle’s is a chocolate fleece. She has a white satin binding and he has

a black satin binding. They are not your typical blankets…. just my style lap blankets. Don’t look too close!!

  I love Christmas but this year left me feeling kind of empty. I am in a slump I

guess…..time to do something about that. I have some positive things happening on the horizon in my

life and for that I am grateful. Sometimes things happen and you have no control over it or the people

involved in “it”.  Time to move on and give it all to God. January 3rd I lost my dear cousin to cancer.

I plan on doing a special post just for her soon. Gosh I hope I have not depressed any of you!! Sorry!

I have been in touch with Jean, Dawn’s mom, and Dawn has a surgery coming up soon and she also

broke her kneecap!! Ouchy….ouchy….ouchy OUCH!!! For God sakes….does this girl have to

go through anything else???? Please say a healing prayer for her ya’ll. Enuff’s enuff!!  Take care and

I will be back soon….I promise…..          ~ . . ~