BESTIES!

From Team photo night at the gym.  L to R Alisha, Kaysa, David, Me, Becca, Brenda, Jill and Karena.

Cross-Stitch Lives!

...and apparently, so do I!  I know some of you must have been wondering what corner of the planet I had fallen off.  Over a month since my last post, bless me Father for I have..............ok, I'm getting off topic.  The topic being my latest (and ONLY) cross-stitch finish in ages.  Gymnast Ksenia Seymonova of Russia.  I must admit it was the colors of the leotard that drew me to stitch this design, another one of my self-made charts.

Quite a bit of "live" gymnastics going on too.  Little Level 4 Alayna is part of the much larger group that I coach now.  Tonight is Picture Night for the Team so I should be posting a few more of my lovely ladies very soon.

Back on the crafting front, I created this card for my mother's 77th Birthday that was on January 17th.  She also got this home-made pot holder.  Since she struggles with Parkinson's Disease I chose this design of pot holder to prevent spills and burns from lifting large pans or cookie sheets.  As things go I think my dad will get more use of it then my mom.  He seems to have taken over 90% of the household tasks.  My mother thinks this is only fair since she did 90% of the household task for the first 90% of their marriage!

It seems that I have tempted the Fates long enough and the computer is acting strange (yet again).  The layout of this post looks just fine right now.  Wait till I press the "post" button;  it's always a surprise what shows up.

Terra Nova

A new crafting obsession, terrarium-making.  Thanks to the inspiration of this new library book "Terrarium Craft".  I've always loved 'miniature worlds' and gardening.  This new craft adventure combines my love of dollhouses with my passion for working in the dirt.  The one pictured above has a Zen/Oriental theme and is for my friend Sharee's birthday on the 30th. 

This one is for my Baptist mother-in-law, so it has a decided more "neutral" feel to it.  The birdbath is a little glass candle holder from Wal Mart!

Another Christmas craft, knitting, went in the way of cowl-making over the past few months.  I made several for my mother to give to her friends as her own knitting skills have been hampered by Parkinson's Disease.  My mom used to churn out complex cabled sweaters in less then a week.  She still knits, though it be very slowly, as therapy for her hands.  I was glad to help her out and prove that all those hours spent teaching me to knit were not in vain.  This cowl is for my sister-in-law.  A bit of "bling" in silver and gold are added to the chunky black yarn.

A wonderful Amazon gift card arrived in this box from my brother and his family.  I just love Amazon and this gift is greatly appreciated by everyone at my house, especially Coal.

I didn't set up the big tree this year.  I added a few more owls to the little tree on the TV and I may bring down my silver chicken wire creation to put on top of the sewing machine table.  I'm finishing up a few last-minute alterations for some friends and then the lid will close on the sewing table so the tree can stand there.

If my computer allows I will post again soon.  If I don't get back on-line before the 25th, I wish a Very Merry Christmas to all!

Bloggedy, Blog, Blog, Blog.....................

Gymnastics coaching, gift making, Christmas card sending, cooking baking, cowl knitting, ornament stitching, house decorating...basically anything that doesn't involve this sorry excuse for a computer.  Today's record was 31 tries to get it to start up.  Blue screens, black screens, even some cool mosiac patterns.  But here I am, finally able to post.  So of course my photo editing software won't open!  I did find this photo from a few weeks ago.  Two lovely new friends from a local farm.  Gizmo is the big gray guy and his little calico buddy is one of the family of barn cats....two other siblings and the mom and dad cat.  All live peacefully together.

So that's me, putting myself out there "on-line".  Hopefully I can post some photos next time, but one never knows when that "next time" will be.

Wanting/Having

Wanting so much to blog in the last month or so, but my computer has been so uncooperative.  Wanting to share what I see outside and craft inside. 

 Wanting to reconnect with old firends and discover new ones.  Wanting to view all your blogs and make some comments.  Wanting to open myself up to the world of the productive again. Wanting to coach and thrive in my secret little gymnastics world.

Having the time, energy and creativity restored to me to make a few little things. 

Having people appreciate them  and even buy them from my Etsy shop. 

 Having so many dear, sweet, loyal and patient friends and FINALLY being able to see them again!

 Having a moment to stand on the Balance Beam and look out across my special world of gymnastics. 



Blurry..trembling with excitement!



Free To Be The Real Me

Gearing Up

Sounds harmless enough.  "Gearing up"sounds so productive, almost cheerful.  But not in my case.  It's the process I go through in order to travel (once again) for gymnastics.  As if Indianapolis two weeks ago wasn't bad enough, I am off tomorrow to Kent State University for Judge's Cup competition.  Why is it that something I am so passionate about can cause me such anxiety?  Who knows........  For nearly two years it's been nothing but worry and anxiety.  Everything becomes an effort, an event, a monumental task that I must pull myself through in order to move forward.  Judging, as opposed to coaching, offers better hourly wage and much more prestige and respect, but I have noticed that the friendships and  fun of coaching are just not there for me.  Infact I refer to it as the "Mean Girls Club".  They are quite a clique-y little bunch.  Maybe it's the required bland uniform.  Much like the old Catholic school uniforms I remember.  There were always that certain bunch of girls who made up for the drudgery of matching plaid by exercising the, shall we say, bolder aspects of their personalities.  This clique atmosphere combined with my long-time fear of traveling makes for an extended Gearing Up session.

My way of gearing up is to gear-down.  Back-to-basics.  I walk every morning in the fields with the cats.  This is as much to "train" them to go into the safe large back area of the property as it is to relieve my own stress.  Communing with Nature (aren't I just full of cliches this evening).

I also bake and cook a lot, satisfying my need to make sure no one starves to death for the 28 hours that I will be gone from home.



Yellow squash, Vidalia onion and Swiss cheese quiche

I did manage to get 5 pretty good judging assignments for this season.  Of course this will have little effect on the debt that has been accumulating over the past two years.  I look out at my patio and want to see pumpkins, gourds, mums, corn stalks, but there's none of it.  Nor will there be any of it in the foreseeable future.  You've heard of Charlie Brown Christmas, well I'm having a Charlie Brown Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  In the midst of my moaning and bitterness yesterday I got a sudden burst of creativity courtesy of Mother Nature.   I managed to create these three Autumn decorations out of things from my yard.  Grapevine, bittersweet and various dried weeds.  The brown wreath on my kitchen door I've entitled Yard Crap. Since it has a title that involves both Nature and a mild profanity this qualifies it as ART!

The cross-stitch starts from the previous post have become finishes.

The dolls also benefited from my "neurotic nesting".  A Christmas gown...........

and a prairie dress (complete with contrasting bloomers and bonnet).  Both for 18" dolls.

There is a substantial pile of cut-out items waiting to be sewn.

I finished  the day with a nice bike ride.  Since Bud is getting too old to walk long distances with me anymore, my bike has become my new companion.  Not as much of a conversationalist as Bud, but it will do.  These early Autumn days are such a mix of cool mornings and warm days that the cricket population has exploded.  This one perches harmlessly on the porch doorway.  While riding my bicycle I need some sort of safety goggles to make it through the onslaught of flying crickets.

I have heard that crickets are a symbol of good luck, so maybe this little guy is trying to tell me something.