hidden art talent

Apparently my husband had a hidden art talent because he has started making these Hillbilly Ten Commandments for the craft shows that we do. He has had really good luck at selling them as well. He completely draws the picture freehand (and each one has a different picture) and does the lettering. I love the plain spoken English and how we are supposed to behave.

I miss the sixties

I have decided I miss the 60s with the exception of Viet Nam. I miss love beads, long hair on guys, the bell bottom jeans, and just the general acceptance we had for one another.
I miss the music, attending concerts with affordable ticket prices, I really miss ELVIS, and being a teeny bopper.

I think it was rather nice when we tried to find the best in each other, we didn't judge one another by the clothes we wore, the car we drove, what our parents did for a living, we pledged allegiance to the flag every morning and the Ten Commandments could be found in all public buildings.

When I went to college in the early 70s we were there because we had a desire to pursue an education, not because Mom and Dad could afford to put us there. We were encouraged to stand for something, even though we were very relaxed in our view of life in general the overall feeling was that we did care. We cared about our soldiers, we cared about our neighbors, we cared for what was happening to our communities, we just plain ole cared.

I am glad I lived through the 60s era, I wore my hair long, drove with my windows down playing music that the words could be understood, filling my car up with gas for $3 and we were taught respect.

I can tell you where I was when John F. Kennedy was killed as well as Bobby Kennedy. One of my mother's favorite phrases was "don't slam the door" which she meant was the screen door because we didn't have air conditioning.

Laying in the bed at night I took great comfort from the sound of crickets because in my mind it meant all was well for the night and there were no monsters lurking outside the door.
Sundays were spent at church, then off to Grandmama's house to eat dinner and usually spent the afternoon playing croquet. Can you even buy one of those croquet sets any more?

In all of our progress we have lost a great deal, I am just thankful I was there to see the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, Roy Rogers ride in to save the girl, Doris Day and Rock Hudson make comedies together, and knew everything would always end up right on the Cartwright ranch in Bonanza.
We weren't allowed to watch Jack Benny because my grandmother thought he was too gruff or his inuendoes just didn't suit her idea of suitable television watching. I can only imagine what she would think about what we have to guard our children from watching now.

But then again, we only had three channels on the television and someone was usually appointed every night to go out and turn the antennae until the picture was just right.

The sixties, they were good years. If there hadn't been a war raging in Viet Nam they would have been just about perfect.

Pumpkins and quilt making

I love pumpkins, I love seeing them in trailer loads, lined up on people's porches, mantles, wherever they choose to display them as well as pumpkin roll, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, if it's orange and looks like a pumpkin, then I just tend to drool and drool over it.

Don't you just love this time of the year? Cool night, cool mornings, the days aren't as hot, the air has a calmness about it that summer doesn't have, leaves are taking on a different color, mums everywhere, it is just a great time of the year.

I started yesterday on one of those Eleanor Burns quilt in a day projects. I know I haven't gotten to sit and work at it non stop, but I don't think I could complete one of these in a day. However, I will be very glad if I can complete this quilt in a week.

I made a specialty quilt, or at least that is what I would call it, of deers. Well, I invested way too much money into it to be able to recover my costs selling it at a craft show but I did manage to sell it Saturday at the Franklin Craft Show. I was so glad to see that quilt go, believe me, that one quilt had more blessings said over it than any other than I have made.

I told the lady who bought it she was certainly getting one of a kind there, because I would not ever make another one. It was made in the crazy quilt design and I was just about crazy when I finished it. I certainly hope her husband enjoys it because it had a lot of hours invested in it.

The morning found me cutting out potholders for the show we are doing this weekend, so if I can get all of those made and this "quilt in a day" I will have a full week invested as well as keeping the two grandbabies four days. I need an energy pill.

Oh, but the good news of the day, the new season of NCIS begins tonight.....doing a happy dance.

just a picture to share

I just wanted to share this photo I took of an old pump because it reminds me so much of the days of being at my grandmother's house and going out to pump water to set on the cabinet so we would have drinking and cooking water for the day. I just enjoy old things, old ways and the old way of life.

Have a good one

When you can't sleep

What do you do when you wake up at 2:30 a.m. and sleep eludes you no matter how hard you try to convince your brain it is time to go back to sleep, or rather you plead with your brain, please lets go back to sleep.

So, I get up, open me a Diet Mountain Dew and drag out some embroidery work to work on so maybe I can have it done in time for this weekend's craft show.

We accomplished a whole lot yesterday on moving my 76 year old mother out of this big two story, three bedroom house into a 2 bedroom apartment. There has been so much stuff to divide up between four daughters that I think yesterday just got the best of me and my state of mine.

We have already been working on this for a week, and still have more to go. Now it comes down to that nitty gritty grind, those of you have moved as much as I have know what I am talking about. You don't want to get rid of it, you don't want to really take it with you, so once again, you put it in a box and put it in the attic with all of those other boxes containing unwanted treasures.

Right now, there is just a pathway in my house from all of the "treasures" that have been brought here. But in the long run, it will be worth it, once all of the cleaning and garage has finally been finished.

Keep your fingers crossed we accomplish all of this by the end of the month.

Forgiveness

What is forgiveness?
There's no one definition of forgiveness. But in general, forgiveness is a decision to let go of resentments and thoughts of revenge. Forgiveness is the act of untying yourself from thoughts and feelings that bind you to the offense committed against you. This can reduce the power these feelings otherwise have over you, so that you can a live freer and happier life in the present. Forgiveness can even lead to feelings of understanding, empathy and compassion for the one who hurt you.

Doesn't forgiving someone mean you're forgetting or condoning what happened?
Absolutely not! Forgiving isn't the same as forgetting what happened to you. The act that hurt or offended you may always remain a part of your life. But forgiveness can lessen its grip on you and help you focus on other, positive parts of your life. Forgiveness also doesn't mean that you deny the other person's responsibility for hurting you, and it doesn't minimize or justify the wrong. You can forgive the person without excusing the act.

I recently posted this little thing on forgiveness on another blog in another venue and a person in my husband's family, whom I will never understand, lashed out at me for the comment and making the comment "his Christian wife."

She said it as if being a Christian was a bad thing. If you will notice, I didn't quote any scripture in the previous post, but for boy, she didn't like it at all.

Now, I am here to tell everyone, I am a Christian, I have been baptized and even though my walk with Jesus is not perfect, I do try to live a good life. I was so blown away by her being offended by these comments on forgiveness.

Life is so short, and when I think of some of the real problems people are going through right now it just saddens me to think we spend precious time bickering over the most trivial things.

I wish for everyone who reads this to have a good day, smile at someone and be kind, being mean is such an unattractive characteristic for anyone.

Negative energy

We have been bombarded with negative energy this past week and I have someway got to find a way to close the door and write the last chapter of all this negativity that has developed in my husband's family. So I am back, hopefully I can exert my energy into a blog and make it a far happier place to visit than where I have been.

If any of you have any advice on finding that inner peace and shutting out everyone else's negativity please pass it on, because it is badly needed in this house.

It's amazing how we can allow ourselves to get drug into other people's affairs, even though they are family, and then before we know it our temper gets the best of us and there we are lashing out. This is not the way I want to live my life. This was one of the main reasons why I left the world of journalism, I just couldn't take all of the negativity anymore.

So here we go, a new chapter in a new walk of life.