Better

 It was alright to begin with, but now it's better.

I picked up this nifty little plant hanger at Burlington one afternoon while I was in the big city getting my six month mammogram done.  I had been wanting to hang a plant in this nook for a while.

I planned on making a plant hanger out of  yarn.  Ravelry has several cute patterns for crochet hangers.  But when I saw this one at the store I bought it knowing it would save me the trouble of making one myself.

Besides it was only seven dollars which is only a couple dollars more than what crochet patterns cost these days.  And it was cute so I went with it knowing I could tweak it once I got it home to make it more "me".

The cord holding the bowl was just knotted here and there which made it hang crooked.  It came apart really easy and in the trash it went.  I only saved the wooden beads.  Three simple chains holds everything in place.

I think Mr. Fox approves.

And I do too. 

 I know it's not a masterpiece but not everything has to be. 

 Simple is good too.  

I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend.

Happy new month of April!

Story of a Happy Green Tray...

I was only going to look.  

I promise!

I made a stop at our local charity shop yesterday to drop off a bag of food.  They have a food pantry there and about once a month I go in there to drop off a small bag of  groceries.  

Well you know I can't leave without making a quick round.  I spotted this vintage tray in the kitchen aisle.  It was in the corner under a few other plates but I have a trained eye.  I know to look beyond what's on the surface.

It was a little scuffed and scraped but in all fairness, it has been around a long time.  We all tend to get a few love lines on us when we've been around a while, right?  So I wasn't going to hold that against it.  Besides, it was marked 99 cents.  How can you walk away from a bargain like that? 

I payed the pretty girl at the counter (my daughter...yeah, she works there) and happily brought it home with me.

I think it fits right in.

I think it fills this little corner with the right amount of Spring cheer.  It reminds me somewhat of my moms kitchen of days gone by.

Retro vibes,

White and yellow daisies,

and on the first day of Spring...

Oh no, I could not resist it's charm...

So now it's mine...

And I am happy.

:)

Work Spaces...

When you share your small home with four other people,
your work space is anywhere and everywhere. 

At my house you'll find baskets of works in progress
tucked away in various corners around our home.

Many things started.
 None of them finished.

These things take time don't ya know.

Leaning towers of yarn stacked against a wall.

An array of grannies spread out on my desk.

Odds and ends everywhere.

Full skeins, loose ends, hooks, scissors...

I have to keep close what I might need.

 Messes tend to happen when something creative is in the works.

But even in this sometimes crowded house, no one seems to mind.  They're used to mom having her yarn all over the house.

Although it's not all messy.  Most of my stuff is neatly put away in plastic drawers and tubs in one of my closets.  But when I'm working on something I like to grab what I need and keep it out until I'm finished with it.

 Sometimes it's days. 

Sometimes those days turn into weeks.

 That's when a craft room would come in handy. But it's not to be.  Not for me anyway.  At least not right now.  Every room in this house is taken.  This little abode is completely full.  One of these days I will have my craft room.  One of these days...
 when this nest is empty.

 In the mean time I will do my best to be content with the small spaces I have.  Because as much as I love my yarn, I love my humans more.

Including this little fur ball.

A Strand of Hearts...

Here it is the beginning of March and I'm still in heart making mode.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I made a few of these during the Valentines holiday and decided to whip up a few more to turn into something.  A garland seemed like a practical use and since I'm in charge of the nursery at our church, I knew this would be perfect there.  

Disclaimer: 

This shelf is up high on the wall and I hid the ends so there are no strings left hanging. 

 Little hands can't reach it anyway.  I had to stand on a chair to hang it up there.  

 It adds a lot of color and cheer to the room.

Instructions aren't really necessary as these are fairly easy to put together.  There are many free heart patterns online.  Simply make as many or as few as you like, crochet them onto a chain strand and find a place in your home that needs a little happiness.

If you'd still like to see a pattern, follow my
link  here.

Family Life

Two doctor appointments

Two dentist appointments 

a holiday

Prom

and a new car

all in the span of one week.

 When my kids were little I used to think life would slow down when they got older.  But that hasn't been the case.  We are just as busy now, if not more.

Every week life throws us a different set of  tasks.
Some weeks are slower, other weeks are fuller.
But we manage to get through them,
just like we always have,  just like we always will.

Although sometimes on the full weeks I'd like to sneak in a nap or two.

Youngest daughter attended her junior prom.  She's not much for flaunt or frill. She and her date kept it simple with classic black and gold.
You can't go wrong with that combination.  It's elegant and timeless.

Who says you have to follow trends anyway?

Valentine's Day came and went.  Many flowers were bought.  A dozen roses to be exact.  Sent to dear sons girlfriend of two years, by him of course.  I also recall a giant teddy bear and a heart full of chocolates.

I  opted to buy plants for my two daughters.  This one for our oldest.

This one for our youngest.

Oldest daughter P purchased a new car.  She was still driving her first car that she got on her seventeenth birthday six years ago.  An upgrade was in order and it was comforting for her to have her dear old dad be there to do the negotiating.  That's what dad's are for after all.

The car is not new but it is new to her which is just as good.  Low miles, good price, 30mpg...
and the bonus is the alien green color.   So very New Mexico.
👽👽👽👽👽👽👽

Chicken Pot Pie...
comfort food for this family of five.

In the mean time, I'm out of my curly hair products.  I've squeezed every last bit I could out of them and I haven't  made it to Walgreens to pick up some more.

So while my hair may be a little frizzy and the balance in our checking account is running low...

this week's needs have been met,

 my heart is full,

and I am content.

♥♥♥♥♥


*** I've recently changed my settings to allow anyone to comment.  I had it set to allow only registered users and I apologize if some of you felt left out.  ***

Love is Giving ♥

Will you be my Valentine?

♥♥♥♥♥

Do you remember those Valentine cards we used to exchange in elementary school?  They always had that phrase written on them.

Be my Valentine!
♥♥♥♥♥

And there was always some kind of candy taped to them too like a heart shaped sucker.   It was so much fun to pull out our cards and read them one by one from the cardboard box we decorated with red construction paper.  Only to be followed by a party with homemade goodies.

Ahhh, Valentine's Day was fun back then.

In high school I was in NHS and every year we baked sugar cookies  and sold them to the students as a fund raiser.  They were big heart shaped cookies and we sprinkled them with sparkly glitter.  There were three different colors.

 Red glitter meant I love you. 

Pink glitter meant I like you. 

And the third color meant we're just friends but I can't remember what color it was.  It could have been yellow or maybe white.   

We sold them for only a few bucks each but the neat thing was that the cookies would be delivered in secret.  

((Secret Valentine))

We did the baking the night before in the school cafeteria.  The students had all week to place their order and when they did they gave us the locker number of the person the cookie was meant for.  We baked hundreds of cookies (seemed like it anyway) and sprinkled them all with glitter.  We knew exactly how many of each to make.  And when the baking was done we walked down the hallway sneaking cookies in peoples lockers.  

The next morning if you were lucky you would find a cookie in your locker, maybe even two or three, and then you spent the entire day wondering who sent it.  The suspense was big, especially if the cookie was a pink or red one.  A lot of whispering and giggling and note passing went on that day.  More than most other days that is.

☺️

A lot of fun Valentine memories.

School wasn't all that bad I suppose. 

There were fun times thrown in there too.

Hubby and I will celebrate Valentines day tomorrow on Thursday which is our regular date night.  Tonight for the family I will just serve Bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato sandwiches with a side of Kale, cranberry and pecan salad and for dessert I am making angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.  Nothing fancy but it's a church night so I have to keep it simple.

It's always nice to receive a valentine but LOVE is GIVING.

Why not bless someone today with a heart shaped glittery sugar cookie?

 I'm sure it would make their day.

A Sweet Hello...

You take a little break from blogging and before you

 know it three months have gone by...

My my!

  It's already February of a new year.

How crazy is that?

I did not intend for that much time to go by but you know how busy

 November and December are... 

and January just sneaked right past me.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

I do miss my blogging.  I just wonder if anyone misses me.  I know I don't have very many readers or followers but quietly on the inside I like to think that someone out there knows I exist and comes to find me here on my little speck of the world wide web.  I've thought about my blog and I don't want to let it go but sometime there's things going on in the real world that pull you away.  I know you all know what I mean.  The good thing is that my blog is always here and I can come back to it when life slows down a bit.  The rush of the holidays had me exhausted and I feel now that I'm getting my groove back.

The winter has been mild so far.  The wind has been blowing and everything is dusty and dry.  This is about the time of year I start longing for Spring.  Although I always feel guilty saying that because we should appreciate every day the Lord gives us.  And I do.  But the truth is I get bored with Winter very quickly and I begin looking forward to Spring, which I am happy to say, is not too far away.  

I don't have a lot of exciting things to share with you .  The few pictures I've taken are little snippets of my quiet life in New Mexico.

The pics are subtle and serene but I assure you the fullness of life is swirling all around this little abode, as it would with five people living here.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I have managed to do a little crocheting and knitting.  I'll share those things with you in future posts because I haven't photographed any of them yet. For now it just feels good to be back.  I have missed my blogging world and all the quiet joy it brings me to read your posts and partake in the sharing of our lives, as little or as much as we want to share, with each other.  It's a cyber community which I am happy to be a part of.