~SUNDAY GRATITUDE~

I woke up this morning happy to have another day with my family, feeling very blessed to be alive.
No, I am not sick, (well, not that I know of anyway. :)) but my heart was heavy with the love and gratitude I felt for what I have been given in life.
Grateful for the clouds in the sky. We live in the desert, and so clouds are a gift. Rain? Even better still.
Just look at the lovely sky....Thank you God.

With my heart so full it wanted to burst, I gave thanks for all the fresh fruit I had, right in my own backyard.

Grateful for fruit that has yet to come. (if you look closely, you will see tiny little limes just beginning their lives.)

Grateful for a nectarine tree in bloom and all the bees that follow.

A desert hibiscus in full bloom....

Roses, with their sweet fragrance and beautiful blooms.

In full bloom, an aloe plant, great for burns.

Grateful for a full hummingbird feeder just waiting for life and the joy it brings.

Ah, but most of all, I am grateful for the opportunity to yet again, say THANK YOU LORD for another lazy Sunday.

~~~HAPPY PINK SATURDAY TO ALL~~~

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY

I am so excited to be able to participate in Pink Saturday this week. I have been so very busy and have missed my bloggie pink friends.

I am a soap a holic, yes, I confess, soap has been my obsession for many years now. I took a class years ago on making soap, but was a complete and utter failure.

I combined lemon grass and lavender into the soap thinking these scents would go so well together.

They did not. After letting the mixture set up for weeks, the final product smelled so bad, that I had to throw it all out.

Making soap has been in my blood ever since and I am planning on giving it another try.

Until then, I came up with an idea of soap pockets, and the above photo is an example of my first one.

This is just the sweetest idea for gift giving. This pretty pocket holds a beautiful bar of soap. What could be a nicer gift?  Gesh, I love this idea.

A little bit of vintage linen and some vintage buttons are icing on the cake to me. I plan on creating many more of these, soap included.

This pocket houses a bar of Italian soap, yes, made in Italy and has a scent of lemon.....Oh, I love that.

Fully lined too. I think I know what I will be giving my mom for Mother's Day this year. Why not pamper the ones you love?

Thank you Beverly for yet again all your hard work each week. If you would like to visit all the pinkies and see what they have been up to, please go to Beverly's blog, How Sweet The Sound for the links.

Have a great weekend, and be safe.

~~~Ahh, Winter In Arizona~~~

Oh yes, life is rough in AZ in January. These are roses from my garden. I cut them and placed them on my kitchen sil.

My roses bloom best this time of year, because some summer, they get fried. I hope you enjoy.

Come On Over~Lets Paint Together

I was going through my box of wooden shapes, when I came across some more of my snowmen.
I can't remember when I bought these, but they are so cute. I wanted to invite you in to paint with me.
You can purchase wooden shapes at any craft store, most of mine are from Hobby Lobby, but JoAnn's and Michael's carry them too.

Some shapes need a little sanding and cleaning up along the edges, so you have to watch for that. These are pretty clean and ready for a couple coats of cottage white paint. I also added some pink for the details of the shoes, scarfs, mittens and hats.
Once you have them painted the way you like, you can either paint some roses on the front, (that is if you have talent, I for one, was not born with that gene, so I use rose decals.)
I use Modge Podge to seal and add German Glass Glitter for a holiday sparkle.

Once the glass glitter has dried, you can begin to add any ribbons, lace, buttons or bobbles you like.
I have a love affair with handmade paper roses and so most of everything I create, has them added in one way or another. If you have wondered where you can find these little beauties, you can go HERE.
I use a hot glue gun to attach the ribbons and the roses, along with the faux pearls.

I added a large faux pearl to the tip of her hat, making her a cottage and shabby pom-pom.
I also enjoy using vintage and new seam binding ribbons. You can find those on ebay under the name of Zipper Stop. Love that company out of New York.

Two are alike, and the one above is a bit different. They are easy to make, would be beautiful on the tree, great as gifts, especially for teachers, and are perfect to decorate packages.
I hope you will give this a try, you will be hooked.
These and more can be found on my website, Someplace In Thyme.

What Would You Make?

A couple of months ago, I came across these sweet wooden shapes and just had to have them. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them, so I set them aside for a rainy day.
I have been practicing painting roses and was hoping that my now I would be able to make my grand appearance and surprise everyone with how well I was doing......NOT going to happen this year anyway! :)
Maybe this time next year I will be able to show my work, but sadly, it's long from being good enough.
So.......

I used gorgeous roses decals and sugared the shapes with German glass glitter.

These sweet treasures hang from a pink ribbon and also have handmade paper roses and faux pearls at the top.

Even though they are not hand painted, I think they are just so pretty and perfect for holiday decor.

So you see, you don't have to be able to paint to make something special. I hope you will try this and share what you made. These would be perfect gift giving too.
This and more can be found on my website, SOMEPLACE IN THYME.

I AM STILL HERE

Working on a roll pillow, I finally finished her today. Made with pink teacup fabric and lots of florals, this is as pretty as can be. Venise Lace across the top too.

I haven't been able to sit in front of the computer to blog in a very long time. I have missed all of you and hope in the next couple of weeks, things will begin to slow down for me.

I would love nothing more than to be able to sit down with something wonderful to drink, relax and visit. Until then, be well, be safe and thank you so much for stopping by my friends.

~~Where Have I Been The Past Month?~~

Sometimes life has a way of throwing you a curve ball and you never see it coming.
Every year, hubby and I load our two babies (in the photo above) into the car and take off for a week to Colorado Springs to visit my MIL and her second husband Bill.
This year was going to be difficult as Bill was moved into an Assisted Living facility back in Jan, leaving mom all alone in a large five bedroom home overlooking Pikes Peak. We knew changes were coming, we just didn't know what changes, or when.
Mom is 87 years old, Bill is 91. I knew that going into the home the first time and not being greeted by this very loving and warm man, would be hard, but I didn't know if would hurt so much.
About a month before we were getting to leave on our annual road trip, we were speaking with my brother and sister in law in Denver, when we realized mom was beginning to have some problems of her own. We had all agreed that she could not longer be alone, and she had spoke of moving into an apt or a small condo.
Learning that she was having memory problems, trouble knowing and remembering what day it was, reading a calendar, things like that, we knew that some serious decisions had to be made for her own good and safety.
I don't think I have ever spoken so much to my sister in law as we did in those few weeks. Mom's memory loss was coming on too fast. We wondered if there was something wrong that had not be diagnosed.
Dawn (SIL) told me of her mother that was hallucinating by seeing people in cars that were not there.
Did you know that women over the age of 70 can have hallucinations when they have a UTI? It's very common place, although I had never heard of it, but it was a starting point.
Off to the doctor in what we all hoped was going to be a very simple diagnosis. That was not meant to be.
No UTI.
O.k, maybe some silent strokes.....
We had her neurologist give her a head scan and we found lots of good information there, but not necessarily what you might want to hear.
There is a lot going on in mom's 87 year old brain. Like for instance, some evidence of silent strokes. Those are the strokes that kill the blood vessels and eventually kill the area of the brain that no longer received blood from those vital vessels. So, memory loss......
I think you could call it some "dementia."
I found out that day that dementia is not a disease of it's own, like I had always thought, but it's a symptom of anything disease, such as good old age. :) We'll all be there if we are lucky enough.
"she won't get any better", he said, "she is going to only get worse." Of course, no one can predict how long that could take, maybe years, maybe months. It's any ones guess.
So, the decisions are coming fast and have to be made. I told my hubby, I have loved your mom for 40 years, lets bring her here to live with us. She will be well cared for, be so close to her grand children and will be able to get to know her great grand children. It's perfect for all concerned.
We thought about it, talked it over with the rest of the family and it was final.
I didn't want mom in a locked down facility, she is not ready for that step yet. It's so hard when you are between being able to live alone and have to give up your independence.
We have no idea how long we will be together, but it's all good and we are up to the challenges this will bring our family. After all, what is family there for, is not to help each other in any way we can.
Needless to say, we didn't have a vacation after all, but instead spent four days packing boxes and cleaning up, changing addresses and getting all the medical things sorted out.
We cut our vacation short and along with the help of our nephew, we brought mom and her car back with us. One big happy family....well, not always, this is very hard on her. it's not easy to be told you can't live alone, your memory is suffering and decision making abilities are impaired, but we are getting there one day at a time, one step at a time.
Dawn did ask the neurosurgeon about mom being able to drive and this is the advice he uses when the decision comes down to take the keys away:
IF you have an accident
IF you get a ticket
IF you get lost, it's hand them over. Pretty good advice I think.
Since then, I have been busy creating and doing what I love to do. Here are some recently listed items on my website, Someplace in Thyme

More mom stories to follow.

PINK SATURDAY HAPPINESS

This week I have been very busy working in my studio, so once again my pinkie shares are going to be my work. I hope you don't tire of seeing the things I create. My garden is not producing anything exciting and so these will have to do.
A strawberry cake with two petite fours.....yep, they are fake, but don't they look good enough to eat?

Just look at that yummy top. Handmade paper roses, pansies, faux pearls and some rhinestones too.

Three sweet mini snowpeople in a vintage jello mold. These can also be used as ornaments, as they have ribbon hangers. Perfect teachers or hostess gift.

A trio of very sweet pink gingerbread ornies. These are large and measure approx. 6" in length.

So cute and look good enough to eat, sugared with german glass glitter too! Yummy Yum Yum.....

When I was a child, one of my favorite stories was "The Three Little Kittens" so of course a set of mini mittens reminds me of that story.....only I didn't loss any mittens....HA!

These too, are sugared and just as cute as can be.

Last but certainly not least is another beautiful stocking. I am happy to say that most have sold, but this beautiful lady is available.

All this and more can be found on my website, Someplace In Thyme.
I would love to take a moment to tell all of you how much I appreciate your comments and your blogger friendships. This time of year seems to be a perfect time for reflection on our lives and how we affect those in our lives. You have all blessed me beyond belief and I appreciate you more than you could know. My wish is that each and everyone of you have a safe, loving and wonderful Thanksgiving. Be warm and be happy and most of all, HAPPY PINK SATURDAY!!!
Thank you Beverly from How Sweet The Sound for all you do to make this possible. I appreciate you so much and all your hard work. You can find all the participants for this week's Pink Saturday on Beverly's blog, so please go over and offer your lovely comments to as many posts as possible.

WELCOME TO PINK SATURDAY

It's unbelievable to me what is growing in my garden now. Who would think you would have roses and other blooms in November?

Living in the desert takes some getting used to, and after 7 years, we still don't "get it." Fall color doesn't hit until December and by then, it doesn't matter much. Fall is long over and we are into winter......strange.

Now that the summer heat is gone, we are left with day time temps in the 70's while the nights are in the 40's, so the garden has come back to life.

Roses are blooming again and there is lots of life to be seen.

Please don't get me wrong, my garden doesn't look anywhere near as nice as it does in spring, but while some places are having snow, I will take this!! HA!

Even my bougainvillea are blooming this time of year, although I think they love the heat and show it with blooms all year long.

How about a little bit of Texas sage.....smells good too.

I wish you were here to enjoy this with me, you could sit here in this lovely rocker.

Isn't this pillow just beautiful. I bought this on ebay a few years back from a very talented seller that sadly is no longer selling. I miss her.......even tho I create pillows for the cottage industry, I love to purchase from others in the same venue...

My hibiscus say thank you for visiting this week and leaving such nice comments. I want to thank Beverly from How Sweet The Sound for once again bringing us all together for a little pinkie fun. You can find the list of pink participants on Beverly's blog. I hope you enjoyed your tour of my little part of the world and now I am off to visit as many wonderful blogging buddies as I can.