Warm Up America - The Pile is Still Growing!

Yep, my little stack of crocheted and knitted squares is still growing! I now have 31 in the pile; only 18 more to go and I will begin the process of sewing them all together into an afghan. The afghan will then be sent to the Warm Up America Foundation to be donated to a homeless shelter or hospital.

I've been using yarn given to me by Rose Rich a couple years ago when I was visiting her in Utah. I love being able to put that yarn to good use! Of course, I also have lots of stray skeins, partial skeins, and various sized balls of yarn hanging around from past projects, or projects that I never did get to. I'm digging into it all.

I got tired of the crocheting the same patterns (the ones provided at the Warm Up America Foundation's website), fun though they are, so I started looking around for more stitches to try. I dug up an old (unfinished, natch) afghan project I started a long time back. The pattern I was using is in a booklet called "63 Easy to Crochet Pattern Stitches - Combine to Make an Heirloom Afghan." The 63 patterns all make squares so I've just been modifying them to make a 7" x 9 " rectangle instead. It's been really fun trying out the different stitches.

I've found I can easily crochet at least one piece per evening, if I'm watching television; sometimes I will do more - just depends on how much time I spend in front of the t.v., which usually isn't a whole lot.

I've never actually joined a bunch of squares into an afghan before, so that may prove to be a bit of a challenge in spite of all the tips given at the Warm Up America Foundation's website. It'll certainly be something new to learn.

Any suggestions??

Me and the Warm Up America Foundation

I discovered Warm Up America a few years back. This awesome foundation provides knitted and/or crocheted afghan blankets, clothing, and accessories to people in hospices, shelters, hospitals, and nursing homes. The cool thing is that, to help out, all you or I have to do is knit or crochet one 7" x 9" rectangle and send it to them. That's it, to make a difference in someone's lfe. How cool is that?

Of course, if you want, you can knit or crochet an entire afghan. Or you could make 49 of the 7" x 9" rectangles and sew them all together into a complete blanket. Or, if you aren't that ambitious, or don't have a lot of time, you could just make one the next time you have to spend some time sitting in the car, doctor's office, or DMV, or when you are watching t.v. Slip it into an envelope and mail it to the good people at Warm Up America. The volunteers there collect them, organize them together in groups of 49, sew them together, and then donate them to wherever they are needed most.

The photos show my growing pile of rectangles. I've been going through a lot of leftover yarn that's just been sitting around in my closet. So nice to be putting it to good use! I can make about one-and-a-half rectangles while watching a couple of hours of t.v. in the evening. My goal is to make and/or gather together 49 rectangles AND sew them together so that I can send out a complete blanket this fall.

If you'd like to help me reach my goal, go to the Warm Up America website, download the simple knitting and crochet guidelines, break out your needles, hooks, and yarn, and get stitching! Be sure to read & follow the guidelines carefully. Check your gauge early on, to make sure your piece will end up the correct size. They must be as close to 7" x 9" as possible or they can't be used, and you wouldn't want all your hard work to go for naught.

Send me your pieces and when I have enough, I'll assemble them and, of course, take photos for the blog.

You can also send your pieces directly to Warm Up America, to the address on their website.

Questions? E-me!

Lotsa Finished Projects!

I've had a very productive few days! I put a self-imposed limit on my internet time and made great progress on my list of UFO's (UnFinished Objects). Here are the things I've completed:

A small cross-stitch piece of a hummingbird and flowers. I put it in its frame for this photo, but it's not "properly" framed quite yet. I need to stretch it on the backing so that the faint crease down the middle is gone. Still, it's SO close to being finished that I'm counting it!

This is a coffee cup cozy, for use with those cardboard cups you get from Starbuck's and other coffee houses. This was only an hour-long project, including cutting out the fabric and hand-sewing the button on. I followed Erin's tutorial as posted on her blog, House on Hill Road, and which you can find here. I made this as a gift for my friend, Chris, in Napa.

(By the way, I photographed my coffee cup cozy in the macro photo studio that Mike and I built using a 12x12x12 cardboard box, some tissue paper, and a sheet of posterboard. Want to make one of your own? Check out this tutorial at Strobist!)

Next, I finally finished my Bargello quilt!!! This pattern is from the book, "No-Sweat Flannel Quilts," by Beth Garretson and is called "A Bit of Bargello."

I am especially happy about getting this done because I actually put together the quilt top 2 or maybe even 3 years ago, got it machine-quilted by Paula Gallagher of Quilt-in-Time in Benicia (as far as I know she doesn't have a website or I would list it), and then, for various reasons the quilt got put away and just remained stored in a closet, nearly forgotten.

When I took it out recently to finish it, I had to search all over for the fabric strips I was sure I had cut to make the binding. Two days later I finally found the strips at the bottom of a container of scraps. I stitched them together, then onto the quilt, and then did the hand-stitching while watching a movie. DONE!

By the way, for the BEST instructions EVER on how to bind a quilt, check out this tutorial at the Gratz Industries blog. Easy to follow, gorgeous results!

My bargello quilt is lap size and now I really regret not making it at least a twin-size. Bargello strip piecing goes really fast and looks great. Plus I just LOVE the colors. And look how cute it is on my white iron daybed!

Not to mention how pretty it looks next to the eyelet bedskirt on that same bed. ARGH, should have made it twin-size, and should have made two of them! I'll know better next time.

I spent much of today in the sewing room again, with Scout as company, as usual. She loves the sewing maching, she loves fabric, and she loves the warm ironing board. Now if I could just teach her to thread a needle!

My project today was this purse, the pattern is called "La Borsetta" by Meredith Burns. I bought the pattern and fabric at the Patchwork Cat quilt shop in Benicia. Sadly, the Cat is no more, as it's owner, Bonnie, closed it a couple of months ago. I still miss it! She had The Best fabric, and a lot that were cat-related, of course.

So the first photo shows the purse when it is laying down flat. This photo shows how it expands and can sit up by itself. It turned out really cute, I think. There are pockets on both the front and back, a ribbon and button closure, and two shoulder straps. Don't you love the cats 'n coffee themed fabric?

It's fully lined inside with another, coordinating fabric, and is a perfect size for an on-the-go knitting project, or just as a fun weekend bag. I do believe I'll be using it when I go off to Pacific Grove for a scrapbookers getaway this weekend, dahhh-ling!

An Outing with Yarn Yumminess

So one-half of the team who housesat for us last year during our 8-week sailing cruise, Mary (of Richard and Mary), is currently nearby in San Jose at a housesit there. Mary and I took advantage of being within 90 minutes of each other to meet halfway, in Dublin, CA., for lunch. It has been almost exactly one year since we saw each other and it was fun to get together and catch up on each other's lives.

We had lunch at Taqueria Los Pericos and, luckily for us, we arrived at 11:30 so we ordered, got seated, and were eating when the lunch crowd arrived. The line went out the door! Mary had researched the restaurant on-line since neither of us is familiar with Dublin and it was as good (and popular) as reported. And reasonable, too, always a plus! Mary had the tostada and I had nachos and both dishes were fresh, tasted great, and arrived quickly.

Afterwards we visited a nearby yarn shop, That Yarn Shop, at 7164 Regional Street, where we spent...oh, I don't want to say how long, oohing and aahing over the yummy yarns! Wow, I think I picked up fingered and rubbed on my face a skein of every brand and type of yarn in the entire store! I took the picture below when I got home, but it definitely doesn't do the yarn justice.I can't wait to knit with these yarns, they're so soft...I have plans for them but can't say what those plans are just in case I get an item or two done in time to give away for Christmas! Of course, my gifts-to-be-made list is soooo long, and there's not nearly enough time to do everything. Still, I'm having a lot fun trying. Oh, the yarn info is: blue/purple blend is by Teseo in Italy, 55% Wool and 45% Microfibre, the red/gray/black variegated is by Berroco in Uxbridge, MA., and is 41% wool and 59% rayon. (I don't like 100% wool as I find it scratchy against my skin.)

It was a really nice outing, especially since I've been at my computer almost constantly for the past week or so, working on client projects for my digital scrapbook business. So nice to get out of the house and, once I was across the Benicia/Martinez Bridge which was socked in with fog like most of Benicia, I found myself in sunshine! Gorgeous, warm sunshine.

I have got to get out more!

Holiday Mystery Gifts Knit-along

I recently got involved in the Holiday Mystery Gifts knit-along via yahoogroups and we're having a Blast! Here is a pic of the current mystery project:
What is it? I don't know yet!! The guesses among the knitters have been absolutely wild as you can imagine; I mean, look at the shape of it so far, lol! For these mystery projects we are given clues for 7 days. Each clue has a portion of the knitting pattern, so you knit each portion over the 7 days. At the end of the week we will have a completed . . . . something or other!

Also, twice a week new knitting and crocheting patterns are posted. You pick the ones you want to make and go for it. All the designs are originals created by members of the group, and all are suitable to be given as gifts, so doing this now, with Christmas coming couldn't be better timing!

If you enjoy knitting or crocheting at all you'll definitely want to come join the fun. It's a great, and very friendly and helpful, group of ladies, and a fantastic way to improve your knitting skills. There's always someone to help you over a rough spot in a pattern, or to give advice on yarn and needles, plus there's a big gallery of photos of completed and in-progress projects.

I'm tellin' ya, you'll love it!

Eensy Knitted Sweater

Here is an itty-bitty sweater that I knitted over the last couple of days. I downloaded the free pattern here. I love this lady's craft blog, it is called Wee Wonderfuls and she has some of the most amazing stuff there, including lots of patterns for free or a very reasonable fee. I ordered the pattern to make the Kitty that will wear this little sweater (the pattern also includes a Bear and a Bunny but I'm partial to kitties).

The pattern for the eensy cardigan was easy to follow, even for a novice knitter like me, and then I got to delve into my button collection for the perfect buttons. I added the little heart button just because I thought it would go nicely on the sweater. I may make a few more of these, that's how much fun it was. I have found I really enjoy small projects, that I can complete in just a few days. I like larger projects, too, but the small ones allow more frequent satisfaction at completing an item.

Now that I've got my buttons out I've started putting together combinations of button styles and colors that I like and am going to try my hand at a few bracelets. That will keep me busy until I receive the pattern for the Kitty who already has a sweater to wear!

Two Finished Projects

THE SOCKS ARE DONE!!!

Yep, there are now TWO finished socks and they are almost the same size! I've even carefully hand-washed them and blocked them and they are now ready to wear. I had a good time knitting these socks and will definitely make another pair . . . uh, after I finish a few MORE of my unfinished projects.

Here is another project I just finished. It's a cross-stitch piece of an orange tabby cat (of course!) with a mockingbird perched on his head helping himself to a few bits of fur to use in building his nest. I love the look on the cat's face! I have watched my own cats being dive-bombed by mockingbirds so this particular pattern was very enjoyable to stitch.
Finally, here's a photo of a snowy egret that my friend Susan and I saw during our walk at the Benicia Marina this morning. Gotta love those yellow feet!
Big storms are on their way to us here in northern California; the temp is already dropping and heavy rain is predicted. Other than a trip to the Oakland airport tomorrow evening I should be able to hunker down here at home. Times like this make me very grateful that I'm self-employed and have the ability to work from home.

Happy New Year!!!

From our house to yours! Here's a photo of hubby Mike reading in front of the fireplace on New Year's Eve. That's our little girl tabby, Scout, in the catbed. We had all three of our cats in front of the fire all evening. It was a nice quiet New Year's . . . we relaxed in front of the fire and t.v. until midnight when we opened the back door so that we could hear the neighbors banging on pots and pans, shooting off firecrackers, and yelling "Happy new year!!" It was great! Jack and Scout didn't think so, though, and ran under our bed to escape the noise. Bo didn't even notice because he's pretty much deaf!

Today we slept late (ok, the cats and I did - Mike was up early) and are spending the day inside where it's warm. I have had a cold so am not at all inclined to go anywhere today. I'm so happy it's January because that's my favorite month of the year. It's a time for new beginnings, but it's also a time to do a little hibernating, putter around the house in slippers, pull out old needlework projects and finish them, handwash a few delicate things, take naps, bake bread or cookies (or both!) and stir up a big pot of tapioca pudding with extra vanilla. It's the quiet after the storm of the holidays.

I'm also dreaming about spring, and what kinds of flowers I'll plant in my garden this year, and wondering when the first buds will appear on our fruit trees. Living in California, we don't have a brutal winter like so many other parts of the country, but we certainly have our share of cold, wet, and dreary days. It's partly cloudy today, and there's a cold wind shaking the last of the leaves off the trees and outside in the cat's garden the first of the daffodils has come up! Brave little yellow faces, I think of them as being the first sign of spring . . . but it's only January First! I wonder if that means an early, early spring this year? Or perhaps a long, slow, and gentle awakening. . .

I'm ambivalent about making new year's resolutions this year . . . it's always frustrating to make them and then not keep them. Last year I resolved to buy only American-made products for a year. That lasted about two days! Have you ever tried to buy anything (besides food) that wasn't made in China, or another asian country? Try it -- it's really eye-opening.

This year I'll need to come up with something easier. I'm thinking I will simply resolve to finish whatever I start without getting sidetracked onto something else. Actually, that might not be easy at all . . . as anyone who has ever watched me clean house can attest. Instead of working methodically through the house one room at a time I operate more like a ball in a pinball machine bouncing from one room to the next with no logical plan. I can tell you this is not at all condusive to getting the house cleaning done; it takes a lot longer, and usually I end up with all the rooms sorta clean but none of them completely clean and then finally I pick up a book to put it away and instead I sit down on the couch and read. Well, but at least reading takes my mind off the dirty house!

A happy and prosperous New Year's to all, whether or not your house is clean!

Departure Day !

Hard to believe this day has finally arrived! The boat is provisioned, the dinghy is on-board, the new genoa sail has been test-fitted, and, gulp, it's just about time to Go.

We're still at home at the moment. Mike is mowing the lawn. I'm doing some last-minute cleaning of floors, updating my blog, checking e-mail and, in a few minutes, I'm going to bake some cookies to welcome our housesitters. Around three Richard will arrive and it will be time to say good-bye to the cats. That will be the hardest part. I miss them already! They know something's up. Scout is stuck to me like glue, and Jack has been following me around the house head-butting me or biting my leg every chance he gets.

We're disappointed in the weather. It's overcast, gloomy, and rainy today. We will probably have rain tonight. I just hope it doesn't rain tomorrow night because that is when we will be doing our first overnight sail. We'll be taking turns through the night, one of us at the helm to keep the boat on course, the other sleeping. Every two hours we will switch. Mike calls it "two on, two off." I call it "two terror, two comatose." I'm not crazy about standing watch alone in the middle of the night. It's so dark! The moon is new right now, too, so there won't even be much moonlight. Well, you've heard the saying, "every day, do something that scares you." With experience I'll get braver. And the further south we go the warmer the weather will be.

I'm also a little disappointed in my current health status. I've had a bad cold w/cough for several days now, and today I'm feeling achey all over as though I'm coming down with the flu. So annoying, just when I need to be at my best. Well, I've got plenty of meds so will just have to battle it through and hope to feel a little better each day.

A friend from County of Napa, Nancy, asked me yesterday on the phone, "what are you going to do all day?" She is worried I will be bored. True, sailing can be boring -- we certainly won't be speeding along like in a speedboat. It's a very leisurely way to travel, and you have to be patient and just enjoy being out on the water. Mike loves that, as well as any sea life we come across, the phosphoresence of the water at night, even watching for changes in the weather. He is a born sailor even though he suffers from motion sickness! The first few days will be the worst for him, but he'll take dramamine and hang in there until he acclimates to the motion of the boat.

As for me, I have so many hobbies that I could fill the days four times over. I will be doing lots of digital scrapbooking on my laptop, as well as keeping a detailed journal of our trip, updating my blog whenever I can, photographing absolutely everything, knitting socks, reading, cross-stitching, and cooking meals. All of those things will keep me very busy during my leisure time, also known as any time that Captain Mike doesn't have me busy following his orders to 'swab the deck' or 'trim the sheets!'

We'll be thinking of you all during our trip. Enjoy the Fall, take care and, please, keep in touch!

The Sailing Vessel "Mirage" & The Sock

As promised earlier, here is a photo of the Mirage. It's not the best photo because, as you can see, she was in dry-dock in the Napa Marina, up on props, and with no sails set, and everyone knows sailboats are at their prettiest in the water with all sails flying. Hard to get a photo like that, though, when the photographer (me) is onboard! Isn't she a pretty boat, though? All that "stuff" on her stern, partially covering her name, is our self-steering windvane. The blade of the windvane is not attached, but am sure I'll be getting photos of that during our cruise. It's a great device which frees us up to do other things, when we are on a set course, but needless to say we can't just go below and take a nap! The self-steering device may keep us on course (or close to it) but it can't recognize an obstacle in our path, or tell us when we're venturing too close to a rocky shore. Still, it's nice not to have to stand at the wheel every second while we're under way.

When we were settling our bill with the Napa Marina, I looked at the total and said, "I could fly to Italy and back for that!" Mike didn't bat an eye since he already knew what to expect. After awhile, a special truck trundled over, lifted Mirage and put back in the water. Mike and I sailed her to Angel Island that afternoon/early evening and then anchored off China Beach for the night. The next day we docked at the Alameda Marina. Mike says she's much faster now that she's got a just-cleaned and painted bottom.

Here is a photo of the San Francisco Bay as we were nearing Angel Island.

What a gorgeous evening. There's just nothing like a full moon when you're out on a sailboat.

Ok, now for the Sock Update: It's DONE! ONE sock is done! Of course, as my sister Karen would say, now I'm faced with knitting another one exactly like it when I might rather go on to a new project. Actually, I'm quite looking forward to knitting the same sock again...the practice will be good for me, and now that I know how to execute the heel and toe, it's not so scary.

When I tried to lay the sock out on my desk and take a picture of it my cat, Scout, decided it was HER sock. If I tried to get it away from her she sunk her claws into it. So I just let her have it (or think I was letting her have it). Later, she wandered off and I took the opportunity to hide it!

It looks blue in the photo, but actually it's purple, as the photos in previous posts show. I tried it on, too. It's just a tad big. It would probably fit my husband (though a little snugly) but he didn't seem too enthusiastic about the colors so I'm going to keep them for myself. I used natural fibers so I will block them to make them a little more snug on my feet. Can't wait to wear these on a cold night on the boat!

Sock and Sailing Update

I'm definitely making progress on my sock! As you can see from the photo, I've made it around the heel, and am now working down the foot, toward the toe. The heel was a little tricky, and I had to get out my good old reference book, "Stitch 'N Bitch," by Debbie Stoller when I ran across this abbreviation -- ssk -- in the directions. Huh?? Turns out that's a slip, slip, knit which I found out makes a cool decrease stitch. It was a little tricky to get the hang of, but I did it! There are a few small flaws in my sock, but overall I'm quite happy with it. I can just see myself on those cold nights aboard the Mirage wearing these purple and green warmies to bed. Of course, by the time we get to Mexico and the warmer weather they will get packed away with the rest of the foul-weather clothing.

Speaking of our sailing trip to Mexico, we have found our housesitters! A really nice couple, originally from Idaho and who just sold their home there. They are now traveling around the U.S. and Canada, housesitting, and experiencing different areas of the continent. They seem like just the type of people who will enjoy living in our home with our cats, and who we can trust to look after both as though their own. Boy, is that a load off my mind. Now I need to get my house in tip-top shape so I'm not embarrassed to have them living here!

Mike thinks he will be done with bottom-scraping and painting on the boat today, and will schedule her to be put back in the water tomorrow afternoon. At that point he wants to start the trip back to Alameda with a stop somewhere part-way to anchor for the night, then finish the journey on Wednesday. I'll be going with him. It will be a good time to take a close look at how much storage space we have on-board, and make some decisions on how much we can realistically carry with us on our trip. We already know we can't possibly take enough food for 8 weeks and will have to re-provision along the way. We'll also study maps to get familiar with all available ports along the coast where we can stop for overnight stays. I'm crossing my fingers that we won't have to do too many all-nighters, at least on the southward journey.

Yes, I know I need to post a photo of the Mirage, and I'll do that as soon as I take one! I've been looking through my pictures and, so far, I don't see any. The Mirage is like the second child. Our first boat, Little Debbie, got her photo taken constantly; the Mirage . . . not so! I hadn't even realized it. So I'll try to remedy that in the next couple of days!

I'm Knitting Socks!

I'm knitting my first pair of socks! I have had this Eggplant yarn (and some Green Apple for the contrasting color) for nigh on to a year now. I bought it at Article Pract (www.articlepract.com) in Berkeley, CA.; it's Cascade 100% Superwash Wool and lovely to work with.

I put off starting this project because I'd never knit with double-pointed needles, let alone 5 at a time, and I was, well, intimidated! Nor could I decipher the instructions, being such a beginner knitter. Scarves are what I do best!

Well, yesterday, my sister, Karen, came over and helped me get started on the sock. She's THE knitter in my family these days, and has knit all kinds of things, socks included. I never thought I'd actually knit socks, but so far it's going well! I love what Debbie Stoller says in her book, "Stitch 'n Bitch," about using double-pointed needles; that it's "like wrestling with an octopus..." That's exactly what it felt like when I first started out. As Karen told me, though, it's all a matter figuring out how I'm most comfortable holding the needles, so I tried to relax and just move the needles around until they felt right. Now I can't believe I was so hesitant to try this, it's really fun!

The photo shows 2.5 inches of ribbing on my first sock. Since I took the photo I've added about an inch-and-a-half of stockinette stitch (which, by the way, is a breeze when you knit "in the round" because you never have to purl)! So I'm highly encouraged and I'm thinking I'll actually knit this sock! Of course, Karen may have to come back when it's time to turn the heel....

Knit on!

All-Crafts Day

Sunday morning....ahhhh, my favorite day of the week. Because it's the "day of rest" I seldom feel compelled to clean, work in the yard, or run errands. I look at Sunday as a day to do only the things that bring me joy. Like spending time with family, friends, or my cats. Or indulging in one of my many hobbies.

Today I'll be working on some digital scrapbook pages, and creating digital elements to use in those pages. I recently upgraded my PhotoShop 7 to PhotoShop CS3 and, boy oh boy, is there a lot of new functionality to explore! I'm having a blast with it. Around mid-afternoon my sister, Karen, will arrive with her knitting bag and latest project. In anticipation I've pulled out a knitting project of my own; a pair of socks, my first, and which I've not knit a single stitch yet because I'm intimidated by the pattern and the req'd five double-sided needles. I'm hoping Karen will help me get started.

If I get discouraged or bored by the socks, I have many other projects to fall back on; an afghan that I'm crocheting one square at a time, several cross-stitch projects, a quilt that needs just the binding put on for it to be finished, and many others. Mike would be appalled if he knew! At least I have finally become disciplined enough NOT to buy more "stash" until I make a dent in what I already have squirrelled away.

In keeping with the All-Crafts Day theme, this morning I dropped Mike off in Alameda. He will sail his "craft," the sailing vessel Mirage, through the San Pablo Bay and up the Carquinez Strait toward Benicia. He's planning to anchor off-shore for the night then, very early in the a.m., motor past Mare Island and up the Napa River to the Napa Marina. They will haul the boat out of the water so that he can spend the majority of the week cleaning and re-painting the ol' girl's bottom, in readiness for our Great Sailing Adventure next month.

So, what a perfect day for an afternoon of needlecrafts with my littlest sister. Karen is truly the knitter in our family right now, she probably knits every single day and has completed dozens of things, including socks. I'm hoping she might also have some advice on mittens. I could use several pairs of warm mittens for the boat trip, especially when it's time to "bash back" north! Seems they'd make a nice (small) project to take on-board, too...

More about our planned Great Sailing Adventure soon!

Life - It's for Living

Hello . . . and welcome to my blog!

I'm excited about blogging; I found blogs recently, began reading various ones and, well, I'm hooked! I feel like I have friends all over the world now. It's different from e-mail and even instant-messenger type communication. Blogs are where people write about whatever is on their mind, going on in their lives, or interests them. You really get a feel for the depth of a person by reading their blog postings.

This is my personal blog. I also have a blog for my business, "Webajeb Digital Photo Albums & Portfolios" where I blog about my experiences in getting a small business up and running, how the business is growing and changing, and new products and specials. It's called BlogWebajeb and you are welcome to read it by simply going to my website www.webajeb.com and clicking on the Blog link at the top of the Home Page.

THIS blog, however, is where I'll get more personal . . . and blog about my life & experiences, my passions, my heartaches & worries, and all the exciting changes that are going on in my little corner of the world.

For example, would you believe my husband and I BOTH just quit our high-tech jobs??? I'll be talking about why, and what we're planning to do next.

Other topics I can't wait to talk (blog!) about: Family, friends, travel, holidays, the "Baja Ha Ha," sailing, photography, digital (and traditional) scrapbooking, reading, knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching, handicrafts (love handmade items!), sewing, hiking, camping, handmade books & journals, gardening, writing, family reunions, cooking, cats, animal rescue, and whatever else pops into my head! I hope you'll visit my blog often and, please, leave comments!

More soon! Meanwhile, feel free to email me anytime!