SOUTHERN BELLE RIBBON EMBROIDERY PILLOW

I just listed this Southern Belle pillow with my ribbon and other embroidery, at The Ruffled Rose....
Below is another pretty pillow that has just been listed on the new website, too. to visit, just click on the My Website Button to your right.


I have so many pretty things I am working on....not just with sewing, but with painting, too. Just keep checking back to see what is new!

Hope you are enjoying the afternoon,
Sweet Spring Hugs To All....
Jil

Rain, rain, rain and then more rain.....this is what it has been doing up in my little corner of the world....Port Huron, Michigan. We have not had, knock wood, the terrible storms that Okalahoma and Tennessee have been experiencing, just a steady rain. How terrifying those storms are! I know because I was born in Iowa and raised in Omaha, NE. and I well remember the force of the spring and summer storms. Those storms are how I wound up out in the deserts of Arizona. No, I was not blown there, my sweet Mom could no longer take them. My Dad traveled and she was left with my sister and me to weather those storms. She never showed it, but they nearly undid her! We had a finished basement the opened out onto the patio and back yard.....I can't tell you all the nights of mad dashes with our pillows for the downstairs! When she knew storms could occur she made up our comfy couches that were also day beds, just in case.

Not only has it rained and rained, but it is cold, too. So, inside projects are what we have been doing.....I had just finished the top of the end table, in the picture, and just took my brush and swiped it on the table.....then I had to get it done. hehe You see it here getting a second coat on the pedestal and the legs. It looks 100% better white and I am sorry I did not do it long ago. The only thing is, now I have to do those four dining room chairs....mercy, 100+ spindles. :-( I know my DH will be helping me as he always does even tho he has a not so great project going in the basement.....evidently I knocked two drain pipes coming from the second story, loose when I mowed the lawn. That basement wall let a little stream of water in. Our basement does not leak, but with all this rain and my carelessness well.... I made a lot of work for hubby. He had to move, with the crowbar, a huge workbench made with all 2 x 4's. He estimated it weighs about 1500 pounds! The only way to even get it to move was with his big crowbar and now he is sanding the whole wall in preparation to seal it. That one wall is the only wall in the basement not sealed and this is the first time in the eight years of being here it has leaked. Oh, I am so sorry.....but, that wall did need to be sealed.

Wishing you all some sunshine.....
Jil

MOTHERS DAY FLOWERS AND SWEET MEMORIES

Sending wishes to all the sweet Mama's out there that this day is perfect in all ways for each of you!


These gorgeous flowers were delivered this morning....I slept in a bit and my hubby had them waiting for me to see the first thing as I entered the kitchen....I was so surprised and pleased...they are from my NY daughter, Kym, and her family. She picked out the perfect bouquet...beautiful roses in two shades of pink and daisies with a filler with pink rosebud type flowers..(does anyone know what these are??? I would love to have some in my yard)...I love roses and daisies together....how did she remember? And, I love the polka dotted ribbons running thru it...another favorite of mine....polka dots....Thank you, dear Kym, and I hope you are having a happy happy Mothers Day!! (She is Mother to four amazing, smart and beautiful children!)
More pictures of these pretty posies....





My Beloved Mom 1908 - 1997 And Her Mom And Dad:


My dear Mom has been gone for many years now....13 this July, to be exact. I thought she was an amazing person as well as a Mother. This little picture of her which I keep on our old Hoosier Cabinet, is when she was 18 year old. Her parents are in the photo behind her....her Dad a country doctor that never turned anyone down, even in a blizzard or thunderstorm and her Mom, my beloved Granna, a registered nurse and a teacher. She gave readings and loved poetry and gave me my first lessons in embroidery and knitting.....

My Mom graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in the arts....there is a little story there, as her first love was music. She started out as a music major with an English minor. Mom was always a bit of a tomboy and she was on the womens basketball team as well as on their rowing team. During a basketball practice she broke her little finger. Knowing that her Dad, the doctor, would not allow her to play until he had set it and it had healed, she took matters into her own hands. She set her own finger and went on playing. Well, it did not have a happy ending.....The little finger on her left hand grew bent and stiff. You can imagine her Dad's reaction! Back in the 20's medicine is not what it is today, and they had not yet learned how to rebreak it and set it properly, so, she had to change her major because she no longer had the reach to play the piano and that was the instrument she was majoring in. Her new major became art.

Growing up, we always had a piano and Mom played it every day....beautifully, finger or not and she learned to reach those octaves anyway, and....she was a fabulous artist. She could draw and paint anything. She never needed books for inspiration....she had a head full of ideas and she was a true colorist!

She was very gifted in both music and art and when her nest grew empty, she became a Master Potter. At another time I will show some of her hand thrown pottery and some of her art. We had a theft at our home and all my paintings by her were stolen. It has taken me years to get over that and especially one little seascape of a beach in La Jolla that we spent many summers on with her and all my children. I do have the portrait she did of me when I was ten. It was not hanging at the time of the theft.

Mom and I were best friends and I treasure so many memories....she passed away of lung cancer in 1997 after ten years of not smoking. I still miss her soothing voice and her soft touch....her skin was always smooth, warm and soft. Do you know, that to this day, sometimes I will see something and immediately think...I must tell Mom, and it is still, today, with a start that I realize I can't. I was blessed to have this woman for my Mother and my friend! I love you Mom and I value all you taught me. I will never get over missing you!

Have a beautiful Mothers Day!
Jil

FLOWERS AND MORE FLOWERS.....

The storm clouds are moving in and I need to get out and cut the grass before it rains....I don't think it has even been a week since it's last cutting! Thank heavens we have a postage size yard, but it still takes me about half an hour...lol!

I went out to check my new rose...Baby Blue Rose..Above..and decided to take a few pictures...Spring posies do not last that long and you better enjoy them and soak in their beauty while the moment lasts.....I thought I would share some of natures finest....anything to keep away from that lawn mower...hahaha!

The lovely lilacs do not have the thick clumps of flowers they usually have, but they are as fragrant and pretty as always....Lilac is one of my favorite colors and these are beautiful! I wish they could bloom all summer!!








Bleeding Hearts, Violets And Lily Of The Valley

Sweet Violets and A Yard Ornament I Gifted Myself With A Few Years Ago


And, while we are talking flowers....here is my beautiful granddaughter, Michelle, last week for her senior prom...she is our youngest in Texas....


Michelle and James 2010

Well...No more dilly-dallying....out to that grass!
Enjoy The Day!
Jil