Thursday, September 19, 2013

Having Fun with Instagram of Course....



Technology sure changes fast, doesn't it?  I am always a bit slow in the uptake, but I do enjoy learning new tricks here and there.  So, yes, I have fallen for instagram and should probably let you know that is where I have been hiding out lately.  You can follow me there.  I am more likely to share updates there, especially concerning the shop. But I am enjoying being able to record our daily lives as well in a creative way.  So...here is my link.  Look forward to seeing you there!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

To Grieve for a Pet...

 

This week, we said goodbye to our sweet Ellie.  Ellie was our unexpected dog that we adopted just under 3 years ago.  She was the dog Matt found to be a "reading dog" for our kiddos.  She had been rescued by our vet from being put down when she could not breed anymore.  So we welcomed our worn out old mama dog into our home and she fast became part of the personality of our family. We kind of winced every once in awhile when we realized how much we loved her and the fact that we also knew the majority of her years were already over when she joined us.  We unfortunately were right in that we did not get as many years as we would have liked with her.

Ellie's liver was failing, a few months ago she started going through bouts of not eating(which for this mama dog was a very big warning sign-Ellie loved food!)  Around that time took her in and got her treated for another chronic ear infection.  Looking back, I think the antibiotics for the ear infection may have just prolonged her life a bit and given us a few more months with her, because she did begin eating again.  But when she started not eating again this past week, I began watching much closer to everything else.  Sure enough, she began drinking excessively and then would loose all of it.  She was not even able to hold down water due to the extreme nausea she was experiencing.  The final thing that brought us to the vet was how jaundiced she became.  I couldn't even keep the tears from flowing when our vet looked in her mouth, it was that moment you know what the inevitable is and there is no more second guessing.

Before Matt and I took Ellie in to our vet, I talked individually with each of the kiddos the night before and expressed how important it was to say their goodbyes, for I knew, aside from a very big miracle, she would not be joining us on our trip home. I think the hardest thing was closing that door when Matt and I and Ellie left, leaving the kids...waiting...and wondering. One of those times I really wished I could be in two places at once.  There with them to comfort, but there with Ellie to say my goodbyes.

Matt and I had a long drive to the vet, we chose to keep Ellie's rescuer as our vet, and therefore it meant traveling quite aways out of town.  But we loved that-we loved the lack of "suburbanite money greedy" animal care.  Care that felt honest, compassionate, and genuine.  And here is a good example why.  As much as we wanted to grab Ellie up and run back home and pretend she was fine, we knew it was time.  Our vet asked if we would like to sit outside with her as she went to sleep-no sterile hospital type room, or tubes, or walls closing us in-something peaceful-something soothing.  He walked us through everything and then we sat under a big tree, as the wind blew, where we were able to talk to her and pet her, and cry together.  We were even able to laugh a bit as one of our vet's cats crawled all over us and rubbed against Ellie as she fell asleep.  We are so not cat people, but in that moment she was a bit of a comic relief and balm for what was taking place.  I was able to bury my face in Ellie's neck and just weep and not worry about time, or my surroundings, or the broken hearts of my kiddos that later I would need to tend to, I would be able to watch my strong husband weep over this silly dog too, and find him so sweet and be so thankful he had to get a "reading dog" for us even though I was mad at him when he called me while I was out running errands one day to ask "what do you think about getting a dog" when we had both agreed never to try a dog again after so many bad experiences we had had in the past.  never say never, right.  We were able to drive off, seeing her "sleeping" under the tree, so sweet, so peaceful in my mind.

So Ellie became the restorer of our faith in dogs, the restorer of faith that we can be good with a dog, she was our laughter and our comfort.  To say she will be missed, is a grave understatement.  We are now muddling through finding a new rhythm at home.  Everything reminds us of her and those sighs, that all of us make right now, are becoming known as the "Ellie" sighs.  So we stop and talk and cry if need be.  Our eyes probably appear quite tired, but it will pass.  We will move on slowly and let go of some of those reminders.  Her bowls are washed and set out in the garage, her blankets are washing and will be folded soon and put away for maybe someday.  I do not mind sweeping and vacuuming her hair as much, at some point I will see food in the garbage and not think it weird to still be there, when we sit down to eat it will at some point be normal not to see her waiting for food to be dropped, but it is going to be hard not hearing her paws overhead at night as I fall asleep, or see her waiting at the door to love on our visitors, it will be very hard to not see my dad and her playing and loving each others attention, I ache that Israel's new love for his "gog" was cut so short, I ache for the girls who adored her and dressed her up, used her a s a sled dog, and snuck her into their beds at night, I even ache for having to tell our neighbors, which I have not been ready yet to do, as they adored her too.  I will struggle when Matt is gone, not having her to guard us.  I will miss our campfires in which we had to always guard her tail for her as she would have lit it on fire if we didn't watch it for her.  Or our walks in which we dragged her by the end, the poor old thing.

We are, for the first time, experiencing the deep ache of losing a pet so loved.   We are s grateful for the time the Lord gave us with her.  God is so good.  His creation is so good.  Ellie was a gift from Him, we know this.

Friday, September 6, 2013

A Friday Recap...Said with Photos...


A post said with photos that are capturing our moments...
 Israel got a bit too excited about finding his sibling's stash of legos...he taste tested most of them....

Madison at my sister in law's wedding.  wow, she is stunningly beautiful with the heart to match.


Joslyn my nature girl all dressed up...how I love to study her beautiful face!!


My sister in law-so gorgeous.  She had a vintage inspired, magical and dreamy wedding.


Tenderness...they have been bonding now that Israel acknowledges Ellie's existence:)
Mittens of course...

I spent some early morning hours this week enlarging a pattern that Israel has grown out of.  His new booties have slip grip on the bottom now.  Took a few tries, but he is walking everywhere now in the new pair.

Pillows...pillows...pillows...
of all kinds and styles...

Spent some time last weekend working through my scrap bins...I really liked the outcome and found it difficult not to steal them for my own...but I was good and they are in the shop.



Monday, August 19, 2013

I Have a New Partner...In Work...That is...

Just one week ago, in the later evening hours, I was, as usual, sewing....
But it was not going all to well.
Matt walked into the room and I said, "do you hear this?"
My good machine was sounding very funky, and was not working all too well either.
And within a few moments...It fried--nothing at all was happening.
It is a computerized machine-so...lots of problems.

Well, I went to bed feeling a bit unsettled.
It is very difficult to work(sew) without a machine.
I do have 2 back-ups, but they do not have the ability to do free motion quilting that I use for most of my work.  And they are turtles, causing me to work way too late into the early morning hours to fill orders.  I knew a new machine was in the future, but I wasn't completely settled on which one yet.  I knew the "broken" machine could possibly be fixed, but it would take my repair man months.  (we seriously need some more sewing machine repair men out there-especially for those of us that depend on it for our income.)

So, Tuesday morning, I took the morning off of school and finished up the research I had been doing on a new machine that was better suited to my needs.  This time, it needed to fit a few very crucial requirements...it needed to be a long arm(with the possibility of adapting to a large frame somewhere down the road), it had to have drop feed dogs for free motion quilting, it needed to have a knee lift presser foot, and it had to be FAST!  After reading a crazy amount of reviews, I decided on the brother PQ1500S.  It is a long arm, high speed, straight stitch machine with all of those requirements and one extra that I am now convinced is amazing.  It also has a thread cutter for when I am finished with a seam.  PERFECT.  The machine retails between $1200-$1400(or they just like to say that so you feel better about what you actually pay) and I was able to find it through amazon for under $700.  I purchased my husqvarna 5 years ago and paid almost the same price.  However, they are worlds apart-not even comparable!!  I did not do a lot of research before I bought the husqvarna emerald.  It was kind of a similar situation-an old machine broke and I had orders to fill.  I ran into the store pretty much breathless and exclaimed "I need a machine-TODAY!"  Pretty silly and impulsive.  It was certainly a great machine, lots of features, it was the first time I had a machine to free motion quilt on, and I loved that, but I could have done better if I had researched a bit. And the husqvarna will be an awesome backup, if it is in fact repairable, when I need to have the brother in for maintenance.

So I ordered the Brother Tuesday morning, it was on my doorstep by Wed at noon!!  I love amazon-always ahead of schedule on shipping!  The machine was incredibly easy to learn.  It was well thought out for the free motion quilter!  It is simple, completely sturdy, quiet, and very very fast-sewing at 1500 stitches per minute!  I have been able to complete my work load in half the time.  I told my mom that I was struggling with the hours I had to put in to provide what we needed and that I didn't know how I could do more or even keep up.  This has been such a sweet answer to prayer.  This new machine has provided the rest I need, frustration-less work, and much more beautiful craftsmanship.  I am looking forward to a long partnership with this guy.

I have been sewing up a storm since then.  Probably a bit of overkill, but I have had piles waiting for someday....when my machine actually works or I get a new one.  So here they are, the quilts that have finally been quilted with my new machine.  Along with a few place mats and bibs.








 

This machine shall also be a blessing to the mittens I do every year!  Looking forward to making that happen soon as well.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

A Good Week...

In the early morning while the kids did their independent studies, I worked on getting some veggies from the garden blanched and frozen...

This little man decided to UNtidy the kitchen while I worked.  The bummer for him is that once the mess making is over, he is stuck in it...is that not the perfect pout!?


 I also used some of the veggies for dinner...

 
 I made the pork chops in the crock pot-they are ranch pork chops complimented with garlic parmesan potatoes.
 
                                                   

And this little man...lost his first tooth this week!  Quite exciting.  In the morning when he woke to find 4 quarters under his pillow in place of the tooth, he was quite concerned about the tooth fairy...
He said, "I am not sure how this is a good deal for the tooth fairy, she gets a tiny little tooth and I get a whole lot of money."  I assured him, she is quite happy with the deal:)  Aren't little minds wonderful! He has the second tooth just about ready to make him a rich man-haha.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

What's for Dinner...and the Recipe...

We are back to school very faithfully now.  As I was out this evening, I passed the water park and at first was surprised to see it open.  I was forgetting that we are still in the midst of summer-ha.  Been buried in the books with the kiddos this week.  But we are just getting our rhythm down after all of the summer events that we took off of our studies for.  But the water park did remind me to get back to enjoying the beautiful weather this evening.

One of the best ways for me to keep us on track and allow me to be available to the kids during the school months, is to have dinner in the crock pot before 9 am.  I absolutely love smelling dinner all day long, and who doesn't love that extra little reminder that something did actually get accomplished when the day gets to those hairy, chaotic moments!

This is a favorite, at least amongst a some of us.  It is a creamy potato soup.  I will give the recipe and show my steps as well.  It is very simple and very yummy.

Here is the list of ingredients...

5 lbs russet potatoes-not peeled-and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
1 medium onion(I use about half due to preferences and health reasons)
5 teas minced garlic( it is 10 cloves if using fresh)
64 oz chicken stock or broth (8 cups)
16 oz of cream cheese, softened

Optional garnishes...

cheddar cheese, bacon, and chives

So let's begin...

 Cut up your potatoes...throw them in the crock...I have a large crock pot and this recipe fills it, just so you know.
 Cut up onions...throw them in...
 Add the 5 teas of minced garlic...
 Pour in the chicken broth....and cook for 6 hours on high...
 Here is how it looks after 6-7 hours...


Soften the cream cheese....
 Now you need to put the crock pot contents through the blender along with the cream cheese.  I add some of the cream cheese to each batch that goes through the blender.  It takes about 6-7 batches to get all of the soup blended and put back in the crock pot.

This is the consistency of the potatoes after blending them.  I like to keep a bit of texture with the potatoes instead of completely making it smooth.  That is all preference though.



 The soup is back in the crock and just needs at least a half hour to warm through-the longer it simmers, the more the flavors blend.  Once you are ready to eat, these are fabulous garnishes!  Cheese, chives, and bacon.

And the finished product...Yum....

This recipes serves eight of us and there is plenty for lunch the next day as well-that makes a happy mama!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Garden Goodness...


Oh yummy fresh goodness...

This is one of my favorite times of the year because of the harvest.

A garden is a reminder of many things...
when that harvest starts coming in, it makes all of the work become worth it...
reminding me how important the work the Lord has given me is...
whether it be as a wife, a mother, a friend, a women of God...
so often, just like a garden, the work does not come with immediate results...
the work can be tedious, toilsome, and dirty...
we can even wonder if anything will come of it..
but just like in a garden...
we get glimpses along the way, of what is to come...
glimpses that urge us on in our work...
and just like in a garden...
we learn from our mistakes and from our victories...
helping us to do our best...
and the results that takes so much time...
in our marriages, our children, our friendships, and our work for the Lord...
becomes beautiful, amazing, what we need and...
well worth the work.

You know what...
I really like how God reminds us with His creation.