Through the eyes of a child

Do you ever just sit and wish that you could go back in time, when every day was a new adventure and you were discovering wonderful things about the world around you for the first time and looking at it in such awe ?

Yesterday Reagan and I were driving down the highway and she was just taking in everything and asking a bazillion questions, mostly about the hay bales that she was seeing in the fields and noting that some were huge and some not so big and was noting the different types of animals in those fields and whether they were worthy of a big hay bale or a smaller one.
Then she noticed the sky and how beautiful it was with big fluffy white clouds, some looking as though they were stretching on forever, others looking like big powder puffs, she was in absolute awe just taking it all in, and then she got that twinkle in her eye and asked "Are clouds made of cotton candy ?" I told her no, water vapor and she went onto explain how she thought the sky got to looking the way it did.
"I think someone got a reaaaaaaally long ladder, climbed up it and painted everything blue, then they got white paint and painted that over some of the blue and then for fun stuck some cotton candy up there for the birds."
There was no way I was going to tell her anything different, instead I just nodded and smiled and told her to look really closely and she might get to see some creatures living up in those clouds and sure enough, there was a dragon, a kitty, a dinosaur and an airplane up there too.

There are days when I would love to go back to the uncomplicated life of a four year old, but seeings as I can't, I'm going to enjoy taking a few minutes a day living life vicariously through her eyes, who knows maybe I'll learn something new too.

Help end world hunger

20 grains of rice at a time and test your word smarts
www.freerice.com

Winter blah

It's cold, windy, dreary and bleak and my mood is becoming the same.
Nothing seems to be inspiring me right now, I have not only writers block but sewing/crafting block too. I went to 3 fabric stores over the weekend and couldn't find any fabric I liked other than a bright crazy dotted laminated cotton, so I bought that and made a baby bib... WooHoo.
Maybe tomorrow I'll go buy the fixings and make a big pot of soup and some homemade rolls for dinner and hopefully that'll chase the blues away.

Gift giving

I've decided this year to carry on as I did at Christmas and make this year a handmade year of giving... I know there's no lead paint in my products and the chances of me sending out a recall are slim to none.
Here are my first 2 gifts of 2008 ... A cheery polka dot quilted purse for my friend Tracey and a dress complete w/ extra bling for Reagan's little friend Gracie.
I hope they both enjoy these gifts as much as I did making them.

Thanks Mum

for giving me the gift of being able to create.
My Mum started off her working career as a seamstress in a women's boutique and Bridal shop, she then went on to designing Wedding dresses.
I remember as a child, her making all of my dresses, she was always either sewing or knitting something.
At the time I did not share the love at all and I know it saddened her, though she never actually came out and told me, but little things she did and said led me to know she truly wanted me to share in her passion. For my 8th Birthday she gave me my first sewing machine, I was less than thrilled, fast forward to my teen years and I was doing a Home Economics homework assignment which was to sew a stuffed toy, I got my thumb too close to the needle and sure enough it went all the way through, I screamed and jerked, breaking the needle off in my thumb, I remember running out to the kitchen to tell Mum and was hoping she would remove the foreign object but no, to my horror, she got the biggest smile on her face and that twinkle in her eye and said "Congratulations, you are now a true seamstress." To this day I can feel the shock and confusion, I felt when she did nothing to help my poor throbbing thumb, but felt it was instead a time for celebration.
I wonder if maybe a part of my hesitancy to embrace needlework like she did was because I was intimidated by how well she worked. She would always give me short cuts when it came to my Home Ec homework,of course I'd fight her on it, because the teacher was telling me differently, Mum would just shrug, roll her eyes and let me have at it. Everything she did always turned out perfect, and she was fast, me I was slooooooow and not so perfect.
Fast forward to present day and Mum is no longer here and oh how I miss her, but in the last year my sewing machine has not being put away for more than 4 days, I sew every day, it has become my therapy. I love to look at fabrics and visualize what that piece of flat cloth could in fact materialize into, when I come to a bump in the road, I think "What would Mum do ?" and generally the answer comes to me, maybe not right away but eventually, sometimes even as I sleep. I have now started my own busines, creating things for others, I love it and I especially love it when I know the recipient is getting as much joy from it as I did creating it. Now I know why my Mum was so keen for me to get on board the sewing train.
In the last couple of days I've made a purse for my BFF for her Birthday and today I designed and put together my first dress, for Reagan's best friend. Never in a million years did I think that one day I too would be designing dresses.
This evening as I sat thinking about this blog, wondering what to write, I had such a peace and happiness wash over me, I started thinking about the things I've created in the last few days, about some orders I've just received and how truly blessed I feel and then the date hit me, January 14th.
January 14th 1993 we laid my Mom to rest, January 14th 2000 I mis carried a baby girl at the end of my 2nd trimester, January 14th 2004 we laid my Dad to rest.
In past years I have absolutely hated and dreaded this time of year, especially todays anniversary of such sad things, but today I have felt nothing but happiness and joy I didn't even realise the date until 30 minutes ago.
I believe my Mom not only gave me a gift that sat unrealised until the last year, but she has also given me the best form of therapy ever.
When I am sat at my sewing machine, the whiles of the world fall away and it is just me, my fabric, the hum of the machine and my thoughts, my sewing takes me to my happy place.

Thanks Mum, I love and miss you.

That's my girl

Ben was listening to something on the computer last night with headphones, Reagan could see the video but not hear the music, so asked if she could listen too, the conversation went a little like this...

REAGAN: Ben, can I listen to that too ?

BEN: Yes, when I'm finished.

REAGAN: Are you done yet ?

BEN: In a minute

REAGAN: UGH !!!! I'll just get some dessert, that's better anyway.

Yep, that's my girl, when all else fails, just shrug, walk away and reach for the icecrem.

My first project of 2008

Reagan found this cute penguin fleece at the fabric store and fell in love with it, so my first sewing project of the year was to make her a sweatshirt out of it.... she loves it ;-)

The Birds

UGH, it's like the Alfred Hitchcock movie 'The Birds', in our neighborhood the last 2
days. All of a sudden out of nowhere 100's (and I'm not exaggerating) of black birds arrive in our yards,yesterday was the first day and they completely covered 4 neighbors yards as well as the road running down the middle, this morning they embarked on our front yard and side yard as well as another neighbors house, it is the freakiest thing EVER, they are so loud and there are so many you can't see the grass and when they take flight again the sky is black with them.
Tomorrow if they come back I'm hoping to capture them on video or at least get a good photo of them. The picture above was taken from inside the house as they started to arrive this morning.

Happy 2008

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2008.