Pic spam, news spam, all kinda spam!

Ok so its been awhile since I've really sat down and updated. I've popped in news when I could or when it really had to be said but I'm so behind in other topics I decided now was as good a time to work on updating as ever.

This would have occured sooner but as I was finally dealing with the loss of our friends' son last month, the ugly drama llama tried to move in and live here as the result of a comment I made. Unfortunately, it resulted in my unfriending someone and if you're reading this, well then its' not you :). Disagreements are one thing but when someone dares try to get to me by going after my friends, ...... Well, I'm Hufflepuff, nuff said! The end result is this lj is now friends only. But its done, its over and the drama llama is in search of other housing.

We did have a quiet but lovely Valentine's Day with dinner at Leoncia's in Fort Smith which has become a very favorite place of ours. They make us feel like family when there. We had planned on ringing in 2009 there but both of us were fighting winter colds and just remained home and comfy. Joe gave me a huge Valentine Trevor (frog/toad) and his gift was a book he had been wanting on Cherokee history, legends and myths.

Christmas was a all too quick trip to Ohio to spend with Joe's mom and 4 of his 5 siblings (#5 lives in Lubbock). First time he's been able to visit them since our honeymoon in 2002 and first Christmas with them in about 20 years. It was great, fun, good food (Mom C makes an awesome fruitcake and I've now got her recipe) good times, all too short!
Us, in front of David & Jackie's tree Mom C, Joe, his brother David & Jackie



Christmas A.M. at Mom C's Opening her gift from us


The gift - I started this the weekend before when we knew we were going for sure



Oh and now that I finally was able to mail 99% (Cat, yours are here just waiting till a payday with extra for postage) of the Christmas gifts out, I can show you what my darling hubby has spent the past year working on for gifts this past Christmas for my fellow Crafty Witches and friends.









had posted this back before the holidays and I took photos but never got them uploaded till this week. Sooooooo here's my favorite mug(s) (can't decided on just one) and a bonus of fav glasses too!

I have 2 favorite mugs for coffee or tea. The firstone has the moon and stars, something I feel a very close connection with. The second my vampire mug *grins*. I alternate between the two of them at home.




For hot chocolate or a mug of soup/broth, I love these two tigger mugs both gifts from my husband.



And for the bonus round, my favorite drink glass also having the moon and stars on which was a wonderful thrift shop find as were the first two mugs. Oh and , I'm sure you recognize my lovely coaster *grins again*





And there was Christmas squeemail arriving here to be had!

made me a Hufflepuff Crafty Witch shirt (the Crafty Witch Leaky Cauldron is on the reverse side) Sugar Quill ornaments she made and dragon stickers!



knows how to make Christmas merry with a Bella Swan hat original pattern she created after seeing the movie a couple few lost count of times, yarn for my stash, beautiful hp House snowflakes and so many other goodies including a hand crafted twilight ornament in a black velvet bag!



From the kitchen of mmmm



All the way from the Land Down Under, hardhatcat sent TimTams, ornaments, Aussie treats and my favorite liquorice bullets and allsorts!





Ok I think I'm finally up to date! Whew!

Then again, no I'm not caught up! But it will be posted later *grins*

Today

Today was the funeral for John David Loven and I attempted to make the trip to Clinton, AR (3 1/2 hr drive)  Unfortunately, the weather did not permit this to happen as it took 90 minutes to drive the 45 minutes to Ft Smith and that was barely 1/4 of the trip with not enough time to comfortably make the rest of it and allow for any other problems on the way.

So I returned home, left a note on the guestbook at the above link and let her know I tried. 

If David will be holding service at his church Sunday, thinking that Joe and I will make that trip to support them as they return there.

Getting through a weekend

Been quiet this weekend, surfed in a kind of comatose manner. Been trying to absorb news we heard and that seems so unbelievable to us.


Our friends that pastor in Arkansas lost their youngest son. These are the friends I stayed with for the Metallica Concert. Their son was about 12-13 years old. They found he had hung himself Thursday night and was dead but was brought back in the ambulance though he did not breathe on his own after.

Friday night, peacefully and without a struggle, J passed over.

It's been ruled an accidental death as the investigators believe (and the hospital bore it out as well) that this young man was trying "Thrill Choking" for the buzz and instead it went horribly horribly wrong.

Joe and I still can't believe for this boy always seemed to be so positive and was quick to help when it was needed.

Please keep the Loven family in your thoughts and send healing love, energy and prayers their way as they go on from this.

Funeral's Tuesday and I'm currently trying to work out going to it as its 3.5 hours from here. If not, I'll be driving to see her at home the following week, after things settle down.

my word

Your Word is "Love"

You see life as possibility to form deep connections with a few people. Relationships are the center of your world, and you always take time to bond with those you love. You are caring and giving. You enjoy helping those you love. And when it comes to romantic love, you feel passionately ... even in a very long term relationship.

What's Your Word?

Self Portrait Sunday 2009 (SPS 2009) #1

So my friend, quietish, used to organize SPS.. Self Portrait Sunday where we'd each have to post a self portrait of some kind every Sunday. I sort of lost track of doing that and just learned SPS is up and running again. This time, our friend Kelly got it going again. I decided to join in as it will serve as incentive for me to keep getting healthier since photos don't lie. Ok, I'll admit it's not going to be body shots every week, but this week, I share the photo my hubby and I had taken while we celebrated Christmas in Ohio. Why not join in?

Christmas Squee Mail

Recently received wonderful Christmas Squee Mail in the past two weeks from

jennbrad52
hp5freak
ofenjen
hardhatcat
lezlishae
fyrestar1

and a wonderful Christmas drabble from elvenlaughter! Also a box from my daughter!

And loved everything. Would have posted sooner but had been trying to get everything together for our trip to Ohio which was wonderful

Photos later

*dashes up the stairs*

Have been spending the last week and a half working and getting together several projects. A friend asked me to make a baby blanket for their grandson - Yellow border, Dark blue center and athe word NAVY in yellow in the center. The mom was in the Navy and the dad still is. Graphed out a project for my walking partner's grandson and up to 130 mini cauldrons for the OKC Yule Ball.

Joe and I have also been fighting colds and trying to avoid the 'he gave it to me/igave it to him/he gave.." merrygoround. So for so good but it did halt the walking for a bit and with the cold temps and the holidays, Maria and I put are taking a few weeks off till after New Years. Going to see what the temps do after the holidays to figure when we can start back up again.

Managed to actually get some cards mailed out this year, first year I have in a few.

AND, for the first time since we moved here, Joe has enough days off that we can actually do something for the holidays and so when I get off work today, we're heading to Bucyrus Ohio to visit his mom and siblings (4 out fo 5, #5 lives in Lubbock, TX) for Christmas. While I've been able to go back and see my mom (and dad before he died) since we've moved to Oklahoma, Joe hasn't been able to and hasn't seen his mom since our wedding 6 1/2 years ago. So off we go. 14.5 hour drive should arrive early morning tomorrow. Plans are for everyone to gather at one of his brothers for Christmas dinner.

Managed to find some small gifts for his siblings and their spouses to take with us and last night finished an afghan for his mother (did I mention I didn't hink of doing it till after we decided for sure we were going this Saturday???) Since mom doesn't even have a computer, I'll probably be offline till we get back sometime Sunday unless I can pick up wireless somewhere. So....

From Joe and I, we wish you the most wonderful Christmas/Yule and until then, perhaps I should light the tree so you can enjoy that while I'm gone???

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Catching up with things...

Well I've been meaning to post all this and planned last Friday to update but my internet went down and couldn't be fixed till Monday night. But finally, here it is.

Firstly, I had promised some photos of awesome squeemail received and here they are.

From , the most wonderfully warm and comfy pair of crocheted Maryjane slippers which I wear all the time at home.



The same day, I also received a package from

scowling_hermit

that contained the gorgeous painting she did of a water dragon (my own Nessie picture :) ) and the awesome Halloween banner.



Also, and I did a personal Twilight Trade and her package arrived full of fabulous goodies A paperpieced Twilight Bag, Twi stationary, Twi Journal all made by her. Bookmarks, stickers and some LaPush beach fabric. An Australia pencil set as well as Liquorice Bullets (mmmmmmm and think chocolate Good & Plenty!), Allsorts (which can be gotten in the US just not where I live) and Tim Tams and yes, I've done my first Tim Tam Slam. Oh and ? The new Target in Ft. Smith does not have TimTams :( She also included a book of dog sweater patterns with a cute set of knitting needles (little dogs on top)





Thank you all for the wonderful squeeness!!!

I've been getting some crochet done... 107 of 200 mini cauldrons done for the OKC Yule Ball... here's 50 of them



A Molly Sweater that Accio_lily on Leaky Cauldron has been waiting for for months!



Several 12" blocks in a CAL I'm in on Ravelry that will become an afghan for my bedroom and a Team Edward Tote that is the prize for the newest challenge

And my squeemail this wee was my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that I won on friday (just before the internet died) at Hogshead.org!. However, I have yet to read it as dear hubby grabbed it last night and hasn't finished yet.

Tonight we're going out. The place we went to on Halloween has the same group coming back for "Celtic Christmas Night' and we're going to it for a while. Weekend is mostly just relaxing at home and crafting.

Also spent time updateing my pages on Ravelry, Cut Out and Keep and Deviant Art as well as MyCraftivity.com I was rather excited when my internet came back on to see that one of my projecs on Cut Out and Keep is in the top 20! Which is my pizza recipe that I've made since my kids were in school and they love.

Currently been catching up on getting some Molly Sleeves made for other Mollys that are being waited on and the mini cauldrons as well as the other pieces for Mollys. Also, mailed out my cards for 's recipe swap this morning at the post office.

Still have to up date on the Metallica concert that was just fantastic! But now its time to get ready to go out.

My Rainbow

Your rainbow is shaded red.

What is says about you: You are a passionate person. You appreciate energetic people. You get bored easily and want friends who will keep up with you.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Until It Sleeps....

I'm sitting at my friend's kitchen table in Glenwood AR waiting for 5 pm to leave and head on to Little Rock for the Metallica concert tonight! (a birthday present from my hubby in Sept!) So excited, nervous, looking forward to it! And once it starts....

Mythical Creatures??? Who said they are???

gacked from

queen_lily_rose

Oh come on... don't tell me you're surprised? :D lol

Twilight SqueeMail from ...

Now that everyone's received theirs!






Thanks SOOO much :D

Got some fabulous squee mail over the past week from and

scowling_hermit

. Soon as I get pictures taken and uploaded I'll post those too :D

Harry, A History & Mission: Houston

SEKKRIT PROJECT #1:

Last week, a wonderful book was released: Harry, A History. Written by Melissa Anelli, of The Leaky Cauldron.org, the book contains a foreward by JKR herself and is available from Amazon and many bookstores. To celebrate with Melissa, the Crafty Witches wanted to do something to congratulate her and now that the package has been sent and the delivery confirmation shows its delivered I can show what sekkrit project #1 was :)



This week I also finished 2 more 'sekkrit projects' for a dear lady, who we know as DorisTLC, from The Leaky Cauldron.org as well. Doris lost everything that was in her house during Hurricane Ike yet once she was able to go back home... well, the Crafty Witches Craft Along announcement says it best:

Almost anyone who has ever visited Leaky Lounge knows of DorisTLC. Leaky's very own Project Manager, she is known far and wide as one of the most helpful, generous, and all-around nicest people you can ever have the pleasure of knowing. *bows to DorisTLC*

DorisTLC lost all of her material belongings in Hurricane Ike this year. (*shakes fist at Ike*) Her spirit, though, remained strong, and even in the midst of her own personal tragedy she was giving to others by finding volunteers to donate time and school supplies to Operation C.R.A.Y.O.N.. (How awesome is that?)

However, besides the Craft Along announced last week (and if you haven't checked it out please do so! ), the staff at Leaky decided to organize some support and love for Doris. and I were the lucky ones who got to travel to Houston this weekend and deliver it to Doris.




The afghan was crocheted in homespun and of course, a Molly for Doris :D More photos of the day are here. We had hoped to detour through Austin on our way home and catch up with and but time prevented that :( But next time :) As it was, we didn't get back to Rosemary's till 11 p.m. Saturday night and then this afternoon, hubby and I returned home. (or maybe yesterday afternoon already :D Lol) but it was a great weekend!

Halloween Fun

Tonight was the first Halloween Joe did not have to work since 2003 and we went to Leoncia's in Ft. Smith, AR. It's a New Orleans style restaurant which holds Celtic Night once a month and it happened to be tonight. We had a great time and went in costume -- I wore my Ren Faire market dress and Joe dressed as a cowboy......... Though considering we live in Oklahoma I wonder if anyone realized it was his costume :D LOL

The staff was all in costume too and we had a wonderful time. Also worked on a Molly there, got the back done and started one of the front pieces started.






Back home to relax with Bell, Book & Candle and some Vampire Red Wine... mmmmmm

To all my friends and fiends

The latest....

I have spent the past few afternoons listening to this........



It seems the city needs to replace its very old waterlines with pvc lines and they've reached the area around our house. So its a big cat with jackhammer going, small cat moving debris and digging and just loads of noise.

I've been distracting myself today working on a 'sekkrit project' for someone with a special event coming up. Started it at the doctor's office last week waiting on the doctor to come in after the nurse took out the stitches




And right now its here: But I'm stll working on it tonight.



Did get another Molly done and delivered to Chrissie just in time for the Wrock cruise she's going on. Have a great time Chrissie!



Right now, the sky ahs darkened and the wind picked up a bit earlier with the temperatures dropping a bit but none of the rain they said we might get today. But still nice weather to snuggle up with some crochet.

Okay, just to make a liar out of me, I no sooner typed the period for the preceding sentence when the rain started. :D