Hello all!
It's been a while since I posted. I think I'm going to change things up just a little bit... it will be new for me, by posting lessons on how to make certain items. I'm doing this because I am starting a 4H group that is working on Home Economics. The lessons will center mostly around needle work, machine sewing, gardening and food preservation. One of the main things my students and members will do is to make a journal of their learning... no matter what they want to learn. The journals and the items made will be entered into the yearly county agricultural fair (held in our county in August). I am excited to share the knowledge given to me by my mom and great Aunt Mary... also from trial and error. 

A perfect example is the Peach Jam I made this year... and forgot an ingredient! So, actually it is more like topping for pancakes, waffles or ice cream than toast!

However, my Salsa was awesome! (*I didn't get to taste it myself, I'm allergic to onions).

The best part of this Salsa? All the ingredients were absolutely FREE. What wasn't grown in my own garden, was given to me by friends... the best part of preserving my own food for my family? A taste of summer in the midst of winter, when it's cold, rainy, snowy or just downright COLD!

The other thing I like about winter is the time to make handmade and homemade items. Some I give as gifts and others are made for clients... a way to supplement my income. (Substitute teachers don't work all the time, nor do they make good money... enough to keep the wolves at bay at best).

So, needlework is one of the things I enjoy while watching a movie or visiting with friends...

These are several items I've made in the past year... all gifts. The top is a 6 foot shawl made in my own pattern for my daughter for her birthday (last year in her 20's), the middle is a diaper bag for my cousin and his girl friend, expecting their first bundle of joy... and the bottom is a Memory quilt made for a special friend who lost her son. He was in the Army and passed away a little over a year ago... Giving and making items for others can be very satisfying. It is something that you can't just go buy another one at a store, it is special, and made for one person in particular... so they are special from the fabric, the design, right down to the stitches... 

So, my first lesson will be the shawl. Why? Because a friend of mine asked me to share... So, this will be the very first time I have done a lesson on my blog... be patient with me!! 

So, I will begin to get the lesson and the pattern together... 

Until then, blessings and happy stitching to all!!

Why?

I find myself asking the question "Why?" a lot lately...

Our world seems to be changing, and not necessarily for the good either. I have seen firsthand that what was "tabu" in the past in now acceptable... and I ask myself, "Why?"

What makes one person's or a group's "right" more acceptable or condoned than another's?

What changed to make it okay in a job/career to drop the ball, and other's pay for the thoughtless actions of other's acceptable?

Who believes that being down right rude and hurtful is acceptable and okay just because "they can" ?

Seriously, our world is falling apart... and it is doing so at the detriment to everything and everyone living on it... WHY?

What the heck is "politically correct" anyway... what ever happened to being "moral" or "ethical" or just "humane"?  

How can someone live with themselves for being the bully we preach against to our children, yet we don't walk the line we have drawn; we don't follow our words with actions, then wonder why our children don't either...  

Where did this come from, you might ask... Well, to be perfectly honest, I have been watching people the last few months and listening to their words, watching their actions and shaking my head in amazement (not always in a good way either).

Over the past few years, I have watched a "church" who states they follow God's law, yet do anything but be the loving Christian that Jesus portrayed when it comes to warriors (military) funerals and the families of those who have fallen.

I have seen people who are in high levels of authority treat their employees like slaves and less than acceptable human beings.  When they are called out (rarely) and reprimanded for the awful treatment of others, those who were treated badly are not given back the rewards they have earned... so what was the difference? (*this is also like the officer who beat a woman walking on the highway who just lay there and protected her face... but not the only example I have witnessed lately).

In the past 3+ months, I have watched people (some of them immediate family members, which just blows my mind), treat a widow with small children in awful, demeaning, and horendous ways...  From doing a "fundraiser" in the families name, then stealing the money... to Telling the widow she is the cause of her husband's death (even though she was at home and the death occured at work)... SERIOUSLY??  To top it off, the "family" told the widow's young children that their mom never loved their daddy and was only out to "get rid of them too"...   The woman is lucky I am not in the immediate area.  

I see posts on social media of parent's delibertely putting their children in danger for the sake of money, freedom of responsibility, etc...  I see people treat animals as if they were nothing...   I see people use others, abuse others, put other's at risk, with no fear of reprisal or punishment... 

And the world takes it in stride as if it all means nothing... NOTHING!

What has happened that our world no longer cares for it's fellow man/woman/child/animal?

I fear for my family, country, world... 

And now what? Who else will ask "Why?"

Or am I the only one who is asking "Why?"

And why is that??

Trials and Tribulations...

I am catching up...
Okay, trials and tribulations come into our lives. Some say they are to help us become stronger; others say that without the valleys we would never appreciate the hills... 
For whatever reason God has to give this trial to my daughter and to my family, I don't know, but it sucks....
My one and only son in law, Joshua Russell Fulghum, Sr passed away last week, March 27, 2014 in a horrible work related accident. The death they say was immediate, however, without talking to the eye witnesses (the two workers who were with Josh at the time of the accident) to be sure.  Only my imagination is running rampant. Every time my eyes close, I see different scenerios in my minds eye... and I dream in color; vivid color. My medical background also offers different injuries and different outcomes of the accident. Granted, my daughter is suffering much worse than I... in fact, I cannot imagine the horrors she sees in her minds eye when she closes her eyes at night. She doesn't sleep much, she doesn't take anything to help her either... she is a nursing mother of a 4 month old little man. I thought I was doing "okay", then I spoke with someone the other day...


I was at my daughter's home, watching little man Henry... Ana had taken the other two children (Charity 7 and Joshua II 5) to school, then she went to the cemetery to spend some time with her husband...
The man who does some of the home repairs for her landlord stopped by, we had a conversation; he needed to talk, to tell someone who would understand the things he needed to tell... I am blessed and privileged that he chose to share this with me...

He said he was here with Ana working on the apartment when she got that fateful call that day; when the plant that Josh worked in told her that the love of her life was never coming home... he had been the fatality at their facility and had not survived, he had died.  He said, she fell to the floor and cried and screamed and he felt helpless... felt unsure of his path that day, why God had allowed him to be here to witness the pain that my daughter was feeling, as if she were the one dying inside... and in fact, she was. She has suffered an amputation of the Rock, the best friend, the soul mate that God had given her nearly 10 years prior...
He said that he didn't know who to call, what to do, how to handle it. He became one of the less than 1% of people in the world who is inadvertantly with someone when they get the earth shattering, life altering, relationship ending call of the sudden death of a spouse. He told me that he went home, laid on his sofa with the TV on, and just thought about his own life... He told me he had been offered a job with a good friend, however, that job would take him away from home for months at a time, and the job had risks to it... 
 He said that he believes that God told him, "This could be YOUR wife, receiving the news that there had been an accident at a work site... " after looking away, he turned to me and said, "I never ever want my wife to receive a call like that." he continued, "my work is boring and consistent... it pays my bills and I am comfortable in my life, and that is enough." 

I have cried often since he shared with me this story. I cry for my baby girl who had to suffer so on that day... who continues to suffer and go through the anguish of learning to live a life as a single mother... a position she never wished for.  

My daughter asks me now, "Why do people say they are sorry?? They didn't cause this situation, some didn't even know Josh."  How do you answer that?

As we each learn to live the life we have without an integral part of our family, please keep us in your prayers and thoughts... 

I will be back soon...

Update

Hello,
I haven't been here in a while and just wanted to say that life sometimes takes crazy turns... we all know this.
I have been caught up in my own life and issues as of late, forgetting that I need to keep all my obligations current, including my blog!!
So...
I have been doing a lot of creating, a lot of requested personalized projects and of course teaching. I have been blessed with a 3 week assignment at our local elementary school~ gotta love the rug rats!! (chuckling)
I have been sewing an indoor playhouse for my cousin's daughters; a set of curtains for a princess; a backpack for a friend's niece; making quilts for special friends on the loss of their child; planning a Breakfast and silent auction benefit for a friend's cousin who lost his battle with Scleraderma; and planning on catering Prom!! So yes, guess you can say I've been busy. I also have taken the past week to spend time with my youngest and my soldier son who was able to come for a short visit, first in 2 years... not long enough but I am blessed to have had the time I did with him.
What would you like to see? Step by steps for craft projects? Gardening tips and suggestions? What will you plant this year? I am looking forward to making my trellis to get my strawberry patch to grow UP this year instead of just out... I love to make jam from the benefits of my plants... started as just one plant and now they go crazy every spring!!
Well, will promise to do better... would love to know what you are working on, what you are thinking about for this springtime in your own garden!!

The deep freeze of 2014

Oh MyGosh, is it cold out there! The thermometer says -10 and winds are about 35 miles an hour (doing the wind chill math, it is about -45)
I remember the blowing and drifting snow from the late 70's and early 80's were higher and more than now, the temps weren't always so brutal though. I remember sitting at the dining room table with old hurricane lanterns and playing board games... we were lucky and had natural gas space heaters (hooked up as perm. heaters) in the dining and living rooms, so heat was never a real issue. We learned to find something to do. We had battery operated radios for news... mine was a round yellow one from Panasonic... Loved that radio!

I found this photo of one just like mine on eBay. 

oh, the good old days....

These conditions make me think back on the pioneers and those who had to live in these conditions without benefit of internet, tv, no indoor plumbing, no electricity, limited telephone (remember party lines??)... those were the days!

Over all... BE SAFE, take lots of photos to show your grandkids,,, and stay warm!

No energy...

Have you ever had that day (or days, weeks, etc) that you just Can't. Get. Going???
Yep, that's where I am today (and yesterday)...
I have a mile high list of "To Do's" and just can't muster up the energy to do anything...
I DID help cut and re stack some wood in preparation for this next round of Artic Cold weather coming from the North Pole to my back door, laundry, shower, dishes, dinner (warmed up left overs)...
However, I am going to TRY to do some required sewing and some additional items (yes, I will post how to's and what for's)... I am also trying to decide on a "change" ...
Prepare taxes, real estate, or something else... not sure. I do love to teach and 99% of the time LOVE LOVE LOVE my students!!
So, stay tuned and please consider commenting and/or sharing my blog with others...
Love to all,
Momma Karen

Stitching things together...

When you feel at a loss, loose ends everywhere you turn, what to do seems to be the question I ask myself... do you do the same??
Well, today was one of those days...
I began working on a few special items, I can't say what they are for, just know this... every stitch, every cut of the cloth, every inch of these projects give me an opportunity to pray for the final recipients... will share the basics, the issues I find myself in (I have never made these particular patterns before.... and they are a challenge!)

This is the base pattern, however, I have never been known to follow a pattern completely... because I get started, and then I say to myself... "This would be cool..." and go off and change things!

The cutting of the pattern pieces was my first challenge. Trying to find something I could use as a template. I thought I knew the size I wanted; I was wrong!! I also thought it would be like this 8 point star (also called the Texas Lone Star) However, it ended up being a 6 point star... ( I don't know the actual name of the 6 pointed star block) It doesn't really matter, the purpose is not the name, it is the end product.

Have you ever made a quilt? How did you start? How did you choose the design? To be truthful, I looked on Pinterest and I searched on Bing.com

I was lucky to find templates for a large star, a small star and a really, really small star!!

A pillow sounds like an awesome idea for the small star template, the really really small star is a hand sewn type, which I am not up to at this time!! 

I am also doing another stitching idea on the one quilt (I can tell you that is what the end product will be) will have a meaningful poem hand stitched around the outside. I first thought I would just stitch it to one of the blocks, however, I have my best ideas when I am sleeping... sounds a little weird, but it is the God's honest truth!! Anyway, I thought I would just start in the bottom left corner and stitch the poem around the outside border of the quilt... I think it will look awesome (hoping my mind's eye and reality are on the same page!)

If you are interested in seeing some of the quilts I have looked at, just go to Pinterest and follow me... 

Good things always come from the heart... and from the hands... handmade and homemade make it worth the wait, don't you think?