Tolentreasures

Sometimes it just takes the smallest items or incident to make you realize that you might have a problem. For me it was not when I took pictures of my sewing room and then could not post them lest everyone out there in Blogland think that I am a crazy hoarder, or even when my husband ever so gently mentioned that I needed to clean the basement or worse yet when my daughters told me that they were wishing me to die of a slowly progressing terminal illness instead of a sudden death because that way I would have time to get rid of all my treasures and they would not have to do it. Please also note that they did not say the word TREASURES, I had to correct their language and change their description to a more acceptable word. It was not even when watching those hoarder shows that I sometimes feel such a kinship to those people or when my dear husband suggested that I am just a minor trauma or a light bump on the head away from becoming one of them. No, it was not any of those things.......

They are on my mind this year. They are one of my favorite flowers and I have never planted any. So this is the year. I have all that space along my garage where we ripped out the shrubs a week or so ago and I can see these lovely blooming glads all along there. Hopefully my minimal green thumb will allow them to look something like these. We have a funny story in our family involving gladiolus that has been told over and over. I am going to share it with you here. Ok , my kids who have heard it already many times can just finish reading this blog now and go dust and sweep or something. Someone else might just actually find this funny if it is the FIRST time that you heard it instead of the SEVENTY-FIRST time that you have heard it. My paternal grandmother suffered from very early dementia. At the time the word Alzheimer's was not even heard of, at least it was not ever mentioned in her case. She was in her 40's when the signs started appearing and that was in the l...

It happened, I knew it would! He tolerated my sickness, he built walls with pillows between us in the bed, he sprayed, he told me that I was sick because I don't eat right, I don't take care of myself, I forget my vitamins, I don't get enough sleep. He told me that he was the picture of health, he exercises, he takes vitamins, he gets enough sleep, he eats right, he takes care of himself. And then... Mark the time... 4:30 AM this morning and the words that struck terror. "WHERE IS THE VICKS ?" OH MY GOSH, NO!!! ANYTHING BUT THAT, PLEASE DON'T LET HIM BE SICK! And he is. He has a cold, despite the healthy food, despite the intense amounts of vitamins, sleep and exercise, he is sick. Well at least it justifies my haphazard approach to my health. So this morning, since I was awake from finding the Vicks, my sewing room was a disaster, it has been that way for awhile and getting worse. I don't mind the chaos, but this was bordering on the hoarder syndrom...

First of all, have you heard the song Fireflies, by Owl City? It has been playing on the radio for awhile now. In the interest of not being sued for plagiarism, I won't put the lyrics here, you will have to search it to hear it. My mind keeps changing the lyrics. I can't help it. I keep singing it my own way. You would not believe your luck, If 10,000 ladybugs, just up and died right on your rugs. 'Cause they fill my bedroom up and even my coffee cup. You'd think I'd try to vacuum them up, That's all the lyrics that I have managed to come up with so far. Sure, I'm not a lyricist, (wait until I try to spell check that one) but the song just keeps swirling in my head. You see, seven years ago when we added on to our house in the pre -blissful matrimonial state that we were in, I thought white carpet would be so nice in our bedroom. After all, do you really need to wear your shoes in there? And the skylights, or should I say LadyBug Attractors, well t...

I have included the links at the bottom of this post for the info on these flowers. Ever the one to try to figure out how to make any project into a recliner project, I had to think on this one for awhile. While I enjoy the burning and putting them together, it was cutting and measuring all those squares that I didn't like doing. Then it came to me. I cut the smallest circle out of the lining fabric. Did I mention that these are made from the linings of the wool jackets that I cut up yesterday? Anyway, back to the smallest circle. Cut it about the size of a quarter, then pin it to the lining in another area with a straight pin. Cut the next circle a little bigger, pin both of those back on the lining and cut again. These don't have to be precise, they are better if they are a little wavy. Read either of the links for the rest of the steps. The next one for these involves a candle and while I would love to burn all of these tonight, dear hubby just went to bed and I ...

A little over a week ago it looked like this http://tolentreasures.blogspot.com/2010/03/dirt-everywhere.html I thought it would take all summer to get it back. Last night with the help of that backhoe that you see in the background of this pic, John and I managed to get it back this far. I have MORE blisters. My summer hands have had too long of a rest! And thanks to the guys that dug it up to begin with, the path was not so hard to put back together. The rock wall was a bit of a challenge, but I persevered. This is my little kitchen garden. It is right under my kitchen window and I plant fresh herbs, you can barely see the perennial chives and sage and thyme that are already growing there and managed to survive the beating that they took. A tomato plant, some onions and a few pepper plants and it makes the perfect size, manageable garden for me. Now to plant some grass! When I hit the chair last night, I finally managed to finish this penny rug. Not sure who it is for,...

for that little blond head of Gracelyn's . Mommy and Daddy are taking her to Disney World at the end of this month and we wouldn't want her visit to see the Princesses upset by a little sore head. This should give her enough to hopefully match all of her clothes. Fun to make and I even got to play with all the decorative stitches on my sewing machine. This is Mom's flower garden quilt that she is working on. A man in her church, whose wife passed away, gave Mom fabric that had belonged to his wife. This quilt was in with it and was partially finished. Mom is finishing it and giving it back to him. Another beautiful spring day, marred only by the fact that my taxes are not even at the accountant's yet. I need to get that done, what a load off my mind that would be! Maybe today!