Rainy Day Projects

Since yesterday was such a yucky, rainy day it was perfect opportunity to work on some ongoing projects done....and to start some new ones.

One of the things I had been wanting to do (in my scrapbooking closet organization love-fest....yes, I'm lovin' it), was to separate out some of the buttons....I hated going through this

every time I was looking for just the right button to use on a particular page.  I haven't finished, but I made a good start....

Much better!

Willie spent most of the day downstairs working on some of the boxes for our raised bed gardening.  Three of the six boxes are done...

the top one has the grid on so you can see what we mean by "square foot" gardening.  Depending on the crop, either one, four, eight or sixteen plants will go in each square....and be replanted with something else when that crop has stopped producing.  We have been doing a lot of reading on this method and are really excited about giving it a try....makes perfect sense!  So far we are going to go with three different kinds of tomatoes, chili peppers, sweet peppers, ball carrots, bush beans, radishes, peas, spinach, swiss chard and lettuce.  Oh....can't forget a few herbs for me!  Any other suggestions?  Remember, we are relative "newbies" at this - it has been forver years since we had any kind of garden.

While I was downstairs going through some things I ran across this... 

Sorry....I couldn't get it to orient on the page correctly.

....a cross-stitch project my mom (now 90) had started who-knows-how-many years ago.  I decided that it would be a great addition to our home, so thought I'd get busy and finish it.  Well, now I know WHY she had given up on it.  It is on linen - slightly nubby and uneven weave...great-looking, but a real bugger when it comes to keeping your stitches all nice and even!  But I am going to persevere...even working around some mistakes that she made after deciding that I didn't want to take out any of the stitches she had done.  You see, this got me to thinking of all of the hours that my mom had spent in doing different "crafty" things throughout my life.  She sewed most of her own and my clothes during my growing-up years.  She re-upholstered furniture, made drapes (the old pinch-pleated kind - eeeks!), crocheted beautiful intricate bedspreads, and in her later years she tried some new things....painting resinware figurines, pen and ink drawings on note cards, making purses...and quite a few occasional "Oh, that's cute, I thnk I'll make that" crafts.  So I guess you could say that I came by my love of all things "crafty" quite honestly.  It may not have been genetic, but I certainly was immersed in it from an early age.  So this cross-stitch project is kind of a tribute to her....you see, at 90 years of age, she no longer does any of those things (having recently given up crocheting....on a most basic level).  Vascular dementia and other aging factors have stolen from her the very things that she loved.  Not only does she no longer do any of those "crafty" things, she has given up on playing the piano....and music was always her "first love".  Playing the piano and organ were like breath to her....and now she can't remember how to do it.  Life....sometimes it just isn't easy....but I remind both my mom and dad, and myself, that God knows the bigger picture...and that He has a plan for us....even if we don't understand how that can be. 

So for now, with each stitch that I make, I will think of Mom and be grateful for all of the time and effort that she invested in teaching me a love of things "crafty".  Just one more thing in a looooong list of things for which I am grateful. 

What about you? Leave me a comment....I'd love to hear what you are grateful for today.

BTW - Biltmore photos tomorrow!