makes me feel good

Just because I haven't made a little dress in quite a long time, I wanted to try one and feel pretty pleased with my efforts. I have discovered that as I have aged I find sewing more pleasurable and get less frustrated with details. Used to be I hated all the finishing details of garment construction and now find I rather enjoy it. This is a cute little print with pink rosebuds on the stripes although that really didn't show up in my photo.

And a little more creativity-the altar flowers I made for church yesterday. Flower arranging can be very rewarding and it is probably time for me to try my hand at some more creative designs relying more on design elements and less on the natural beauty of the flowers.

dogs of our hearts

Today marks the 12th anniversary of Sadie living with us. This is one of my favorite pictures of her. She looks so elegant. I had a rough beginning with her, knew nothing about dogs and wasn't really sure I wanted one. My unexpected drive home with her from the Humane Society has been an often told story and really was rather ridiculously humerous.

This is Sadie with my nieces when they visited a few years ago (actually maybe more than a few). Sadie has always wanted to be in the thick of things.

Sadie in a family picture on Christmas day of 2003. One of my all time favorite pictures of all of my people. Becky's dog Cassie was just a baby.

My Sadie taken by me a few months ago, now in her declining years. She was thought to be 3 years old when we got her so she has reached a quite remarkable age for a big dog. I love her so much. She has brought many gifts to my life, the greatest of which is her unconditional love. Happy anniversary, my special girl!

The dogs of our hearts

This post is in memory of my sister Melissa's beautiful golden Lab, Max who sadly went to doggy heaven on Tuesday. Max was a sweet, loving and funny boy. Even my mom, who has a lifelong mistrust of dogs liked him quite a lot. These pictures are from his younger days. When I saw Max a year ago he was a really big boy. My love goes out to my sister, her husband Mike and the girls. I know they will always have wonderful memories of this sweetheart.

sweet little mama

In this my year of creativity and productivity, I've had a little dry spell. My sister-in-law Beth came for her yearly visit and we kept so busy, I didn't have time for projects last week. This week I've had several meetings and some catching up to do. Was feeling a little blah and depressed this morning. And then I saw this sweet little bird fly in to sit on her nest which is about 3 feet outside my bedroom window. I just hope Sadie's barking doesn't chase her away. She made me feel so happy that I cut out a pattern this afternoon.

Dale Chihuly

Beth and I had the 4-8 p.m. show for the Chihuly glass exhibit at Desert Botanical Gardens yesterday. I simply loved it.

unusual art work

This very unusual and thought provoking exhibit is being displayed at Civic Center library. I have been wanting to see it and decided to wait until Beth came.

The main portion of the works.

One I particularly liked.

The beaded ones were the most realistic looking.

something for everyone

My sister-in-law, Beth is visiting this week. Yesterday we spent all day out. Started with a visit to Penzey's Spices and ended up at this place for lunch.

Inside the restaurant, Beth must be telling me something funny.

This place has something for everyone. In addition to all the hunting and fishing gear, there is furniture, clothing, decorative items and a little food shop. All of their displays are quite elaborate. We had a good time.

The hunt is on

the getting ready

Preparing for the egg hunt, baskets at the ready

Uncle Dave helps Brazey with his new sandals

We always get a couple of mug shots of these guys

Almost time

my new screensaver

and a few of the other shots. Becky told me when I first got the camera that you need to take about 20 shots to get a good one. This group was taken by Beck.

Easter 2009

Alas, Deb is 61 years old in this Easter photo. Becky said we each got to find the number of eggs corresponding to our age. So Aaron could find 2, Jack-7 and Evan -8. The boys were aghast and I was voted out of the hunt.

Happy Easter!

I have completed several quiz things on Facebook recently and they often ask about your favorite holiday. I don't think I ever realized how much I enjoy Easter. It comes during my favorite season-spring. Growing up Catholic, Easter was always very important to us. There was always a new outfit and more heavy duty gifts than most of my friends received. This is me at probably about age 4 or 5 with my big Easter basket. Part of the Easter outfit also always included a hat. In this picture I look exactly like a child-size version of my Grandma Breene.

This was one of my favorite Easters. My "springcoat" (always said as though one word) was very light weight blue wool with velveteen collar and cuffs that I liked to stroke during Mass. My great-aunt Gerri and cousin Judy are the others in the picture. Judy was exactly 6 years older than me. I thought she was incredibly beautiful and she indeed was incredibly intelligent. My aunt made the suit she is wearing, special for Easter that year. I was always extremely impressed when anyone did home sewing as our own mother didn't do it. We must have had a very early Easter as the maple trees don't even appear in bud. I also loved that royal blue Chevrolet sitting in front of the house. It had big bench seats, that space behind the back seat where children of my generation liked to lay and look out the back window, and that big hump running down the center where we could stand gripping on to the front seatback when we went around sharp corners.

This is the year of the navy blue faille duster. My mom loved this garment and couldn't seem to get enough of me wearing it. I hated it, hated its three quarter sleeves, its 2 big buttons and its full cut. Looking at it now, I can see why my mom liked it so much- I do, too. My dad is wearing one of his beloved corduroy sports jackets. Wonder if everyone was wearing a tie that short. I think Dad was beginning a beard for our town's centennial celebration. My little sister Mona has a perm which was highly unusual for her and never stayed in very long. Neither of us look too happy.

I am in fifth grade in this picture. This was the first time my mom ever let me have a skirt and blouse. The skirt was navy blue pleats and I absolutely loved it. Did not love the hat that made big grooves in the sides of my head. During mass I would have to hold the hat away from alternate sides of my head and massage these indentations. I thought Catholic girls were meant to suffer. These are the simple joys of childhood.

Lenten project

My priest asked if I would make prayer beads as a gift to the teens in our church who will be having an overnight vigil on Easter eve. Over the past few days, I put together 11 sets of these. I like to do some kind of project for my church each year during Lent and these filled that square. Also made a little curtain for the guest room. The painting of the guest room was my project for last week and I will post some pictures as soon as a couple more things get put back together. I've been missing picture taking and my blog. Good to be back.