It does not seem like a year has gone by already. But it has, one year ago today my Mom died..

Spring Flowers

Even though the weather is yucky, cold and rainy...my little blue flowers are blooming. The whole side of our yard is covered in them. Even if the sun is not shining the lawn looks springy. Plus the occasional dandelion adds more color. I like color in the lawn I don't care what is blooming to provide it..even the dandelions. Of course we can not mow the lawn till the flowers are done blooming.

I am thinking that at the rate they are spreading, the whole lawn should be covered with these flowers by next year. Of course there are also blue violets blooming in parts of the lawn as well.

Lot's of nice color. My tulips are starting to shed their blooms, probably has been to cold for them. The phlox are in full bloom.....funny thing last year they were all purple, this year some of them have turned pink...have no idea why. Some of the pink ones are right next to the original purple ones. I hope they don't all turn pink. I liked them better as purple.

My new, well planted last fall, lilac bushes are having little clusters of flowers on them. It was fun to see what color they would be. Bought them at the end of the season, and some of them no longer had tags saying what color they would bloom.

The rock garden is in full bloom, so much so that it is getting hard to see the rocks. I need more rocks.

SPRING?????

I thought spring was here...but I guess it was only a passing idea. Have been waiting for a somewhat nice day. One where it is not windy, rainy, or so cold I need a winter jacket. I have a lot of things that I need to finish, but they need to be done outside, and in this weather it is almost impossible.
I can't wait for the HOT weather to get here, and then to stay here. I am tired of the yucky cold, windy, and rainy weather that has been hanging around.
My flowers don't know if they should keep blooming or just crawl back down into the ground. My ferns are all curled up.

A fun project

I love to stain and varnish furniture...it just seems to come alive when that first swipe of stain is put on. I love to see the grain appear. This table is solid oak. It is not as "red" as it appears in the picture, it is a soft walnut color in real life. But my camera insisted it should turn out with this red cast to it.

EASTER

HE IS RISEN!

The Crucifixion

JESUS DEATH - 60 SECONDS ~~~
For the next 60 seconds, set aside whatever you're doing and take this opportunity! Let's see if Satan can stop this...
THE (SCIENTIFIC) DEATH OF JESUS At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to the death penalty. At the time crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst criminals condemned to be crucified. Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus, for unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion Jesus was nailed to the cross by His hands and feet, rather than tied... Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long. The nails were driven into His wrist. Not into His palms as is commonly portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder.
The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the Wrist, that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support himself, so that He could breathe.
Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus He was forced to support Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could not support himself with His legs for long because of the pain, so He was forced to alternate between arching His back and using his legs just to continue to breath.
Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, the courage. Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours. Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering? A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from his wounds.
From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side...
But do we remember the many wounds made to his body. A hammer driving large nails through the wrists, the feet overlapped and a nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear.
And... before the nails and the spear, Jesus was whipped and beaten. The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating so horrific that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face.
The crown of thorns (two to three inch thorns) cut deeply into His scalp. Most men would not have survived this torture. " He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds.
The human adult body contains about 5 liters (just over a gallon) of blood. Jesus poured all 5 liters of his blood; He had three nails hammered into His body; a crown of thorns on His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His chest..
All these without mentioning the humiliation He passed after carrying His own cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd spat in his face and threw stones (the cross beam was almost 30 kg of weight, to which His hands were nailed).
Jesus had to endure this experience, so that you may have free access to God. So that your sins can be "washed" away. All of them, with no exception!
Don't ignore this.
JESUS CHRIST DIED...FOR YOU!

Handmade

I found this cute quote somewhere, have no idea who said it but I thought about it and it really sums it all up.


When I give to you what I make with my hands
I share with you my heart.

Embroidery machine

Since my embroidery machine and I have become friends, I have decided to try making some things that I used to make without using the embroidery machine.
The first thing on that list was mending my pants...looks so much better to have something pretty there instead of a regular patch.
The next thing on my list was making postcards.
I learned how to make them several years ago, but never embroidered on them before.
The trick is to find a design that will fit the 4 x 6 inch card.

Spring Forward...................

I love the weekend when daylight savings begins....first I get more daylight in the evenings, and I get more done it seems. Funny how darkness, and not the actual time makes me feel it is later than it actually is.

The other thing I like about daylight savings time is, Sunday morning church service....You can tell the people who forgot to set their clocks, they are arriving as the rest of us are leaving.

I don't mind getting up in the dark, as I do not get up that early, and when I do get up it is already light...But OH how I LOVE having that feeling that the days have gotten longer and I can work so much later than I used to. And the sunlight is out longer, I love the sunlight it is so energizing.