Thankful...

A tornado whipped through this area last Friday. I heard about this baby who was found miles away from her home...struggled for life, and wished that I could hold her and love her, maybe adopt her. ♥ Sadly, she didn't make it...and was buried with her family. It makes me realize how God has blessed us.I will enjoy every moment God has given us together...AND remember to thank Him.Although I try to do my best to vote for the people and issues who will keep America the land of the free...I am reminded that only God is the one who ultimately has control over everything. Am I worthy of His generosity?
Why have I been so blessed?
I need to be more diligent in giving thanks! ♥

Yarn along...slowly but surely.

Last week I finished the back of the little red vest (atop the books under the skein of yarn) and started on the front...

It's coming along nicely, I think I'll be done by next week's Yarn Along!

We're still reading the Bible. I love Genesis...and so do my girls. I got an awesome book from the library called One-Yard Wonders, filled with instructions of how to make things from a dog bed to a handbag or flirty skirt with just 1 yard of fabric. I am also reading a book written in 1949 called Nineteen Eighty-Four by Eric Blair (published under the pseudonym George Orwell), a very political book, government watching everything you do. Big Brother is watching you. Scary that this is the way our country may be going. Have you read it?

P.S. The results from the primary polls here in Ohio show that 37% of the people pick Rick Santorum and 38% of the votes went for Mitt Romney. A little disappointing, in my opinion.

Voting tomorrow in Ohio!

It's known as Super Tuesday, because so many states are voting in the Republican primaries. I consider myself a "crunchy conservative" actually, not a Republican. I love America, for the way it was founded, a place for the British to escape and obtain religious freedom!

I like to bring fabric bags to the grocery store, I recycle and reuse as many glass jars as I can, I save plastic bottle caps (to make snowmen like the fellow above AND other art projects), I like planting trees and growing vegetable in our backyard garden without the use of any chemical pesticides, we are conscious of what kinds of seeds we buy...heirloom and non-GMO. We have 2 chickens to get the freshest eggs. We thank God for all the freedoms we have and want to treat the earth He gave us well.

Tomorrow, I'm voting for Rick Santorum! I ♥ his "made in America" plan. I like to avoid buying things not made in America. If we have a problem, debt or lack of jobs....don't you think maybe we should try to buy American made products? And American grown fruits and vegetables?

Please vote!

(for whomever you choose, I just feel that MORE people should vote, if you care about our future)

Yarn along: back of vest

This is the red vest I started last week for my nephew...the back is almost done, not perfectly, but it will be wearable. I'm making it in size 3-6 months using the pattern for "tank top" from The Baby Knits Book by Debbie Bliss.We started from the beginning reading about a chapter a day of Genesis. The creation of the world is so beautifully written...

Two of my favorite things are knitting or crocheting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So...what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

Join in the Yarn along!

Start of Great Lent...

Prostration: when one falls to your knees and humbly bows one's head to the ground. ♥ My girls love saying this together every morning and night during Great Lent:

"O Lord and Master of my life, a spirit of idleness, despondency, ambition, and idle talking give me not.
But rather a spirit of chastity, humble-mindedness, patience, and love bestow upon me Thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my failings and not condemn my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen."

My etsy shop...

I ♥ to bake. So I decided to add some baked goods to my etsy shop (see picture-link to the right)! I plan to add an artisan rosemary bread loaf soon. I will be adding more cards and drawings also.
Here's a goofy picture of the girls and me with red foil covered chocolate lips from Graeter's (scrumptious chocolates made locally...in Dayton, Ohio) in our backyard! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. ♥ ♥ ♥

Yarn along...and Great Lent preparation!

I'm knitting a little vest for my nephew, Theodore. Red wool yarn by Patons.

My 10 year old read the book The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner and read the next 3 books in the series and recommended them to me, so that's what I'm reading right now.
I can't believe my daughter is suggesting books to me!!!

And I've been sewing...very unprofessional, but a star design... Did you notice the polka dot fabric is leftover from the pajama pants I made over the weekend? My 8 year old daughter loves it, so it is for her, a mini quilt for Honey (one of her teddy bears). ♥

I got a card from a friend in the mail yesterday, with this bag of tea inside. Pukka - Three Ginger. Oh, it's so good. I added a bit of honey and milk. As you can see I made another batch of the Lemon Poppyseed cookies.

Anyhow, I hope to get a box of that tea! I'm going to check and see if Whole Foods sells it.

This is the week before Great Lent starts...and this year I participated in a felt swap, each person designed a piece for each day until Pascha. Along with each visual element (which I think I'll sew onto a large piece of fabric like a quilt), there are readings:

GOSPEL READING	EVENT IN LIFE OF CHRIST	SYMBOL
Luke 2:41-52	12 Year Old Jesus in the Temple	#1 temple
Matthew 3:13-17	Baptism of Christ	#2 dove above water
Matthew 4:1-11	Jesus is Tempted by the devil	#3 stones in desert
Luke 5:1-11	Jesus Calls the First Disciples	#4 net with fish
John 2:1-12	First Miracle, Wedding in Cana	#5 water and wine jugs
Mark 2:23-3:5	Jesus and the Sabbath	#6 withered hand
John 1:43-51	Disciples Follow Jesus	#7 disciples/Sunday of Orthodoxy
Matthew 5:1-12	Sermon on the Mount	#8 mountain
Matthew 8:5-13	Jesus Heals Centurian's Servant	#9 centurian
Matthew 131-9	Parable of the Sower	#10 seeds beside/growing in soil w rocks and thorns
Mark 6:14-29	Death of John the Baptist	#11 platter
Matthew 14:22-33	Jesus Walks on Water	#12 feet on water
Mark 1:35-44	Jesus Heals Leper	#13 leper kneeling
Mark 2:1-12	Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man	#14 cot/cot being lowered with ropes
Luke 18:18	Rich Young Man	#15 needle with eye and camel
Mark 13:32-37	Second Coming	#16 alert sign
Matthew 15:22-28	Woman of Canaan	#17 little dogs eating crumbs
Matthew 18:23-35	Unforgiving Servant	#18 prison
Matthew 14:13-21	Jesus Feeds Five Thousand People	#19 loaves and fishes
Luke 1:24-38	Archangel Visits Mary	New Calendar extra symbol A - angel
Mark 2:14-17	Sinners are Welcome: Levi	#20 tax collection box
Mark 8:34-9:1	Jesus' First Prophecy of His Passion	#21 taking up cross/also Adoration of the Holy Cross
John 15:1-9	Jesus Teaches He is True Vine	#22 grapevine with grapes
Mark 5:35-43	Jesus and Jairus's Daughter	#23 girl sleeping in bed
Luke 10:25-37	Parable of Good Samaritan	#24 bandages and oil
Luke 15:1-7	Parable of Lost Sheep	#25 one lost sheep
Luke 7:11-17	Jesus Raises A Widow's Son	#26 open coffin
Mark 7:31-37	Jesus Heals a Deaf Man	#27 ear
Mark 9:17-31	Jesus Heals Mute & Second Prophecy	#28 fire/also Sunday of St. John of the Ladder
Matthew 13:31-32	Parable of the Mustard Seed	#29 mustard seed
Matthew 25:14-30	Parable of the Talents	#30 talent (coins) buried deep in ground
Luke 12:15-21	Foolish Rich Man	#31 full grain barn
Matthew 13:24-30	The Wheat and the Tares	#32 wheat and weeds
Luke 1:24-38	Archangel Visits Mary	Old Calendar extra symbol A - angel
Luke 18:10-14	Pharisee and Tax Collector	#33 megaphone
Mark 8:27-31	Peter's Confession	#34 question mark
Mark 10:32-45	Jesus' Third Prophecy of His Passion	#35 scourge (multi-thong whip)/also St. Mary of Egypt
Matthew 17:1-11	Transfiguration of Our Lord	#36 clothing white as light
John 10:11-15	The Good Shepherd	#37 shepherd's staff
John 9:1-11	Jesus Heals Blind Man	#38 hand with clay touching eyes
Matthew 22:1-14	Parable of Great Feast	#39 invitation
Luke 6:46-49	Jesus Teaches About the House Builders	#40 1 house sinking, 1 house firm foundation
John 11:1-45	Lazarus Saturday	#41 Lazarus with graveclothes
John 12:1-18	Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem	#42 palm branches
Matthew 24:3-35	Barren Fig Tree	#43 barren fig tree
Matthew 24:36-26:2	Parable of Ten Virgins	#44 oil lamp with flame
Matthew 26:6-16	Sinful woman annoints feet	#45 tears on foot
Matthew 26:21-39	Last Supper	#46 chalice
Luke 23:39-43	Crucifixion of Our Lord	#47 three crosses
Matthew 28:1-20	Holy Saturday	#48 tomb/cave with stone
John 1:1-17	The Resurrection of Christ	#49 empty cave or resurrected Christ on white oval