Resting Time

It has been unseasonably cold here for a long stretch. We still have hummingbirds (the Anna's is a year 'round resident) and we had taken to bringing a fresh feeder of food out every morning and bringing the previous day's food in (it was a solid block of ice after being out all night). The little guys would hover and chirp in anticipation of their breakfast. Here is a picture that our friend, Dick Logan, took of a male staying warm. I took one of our little guy, but my camera is a wimp compared to Dick's! Now it is warm and raining, and the hummers are happy again.

I have been very busy with BCharmer, sewing and packaging and shipping for the holiday season. I feel so grateful for all of my wonderful customers, who have kept me busy all year. I have now closed both of my shops so that I can pay attention to my poor neglected family. I will re-open in 2010! I hope to have fresh inventory and a couple of new designs to show off. I recently purchased some new fabric from Joel Dewberry's "Deer Valley" line, and I'm smitten. Here are a couple of examples of items that I've made with it so far:

I wish you all a happy, safe, and healthy holiday. I'll see you in 2010!

Sunshine on the Frost

Dear Friends,

First of all, I want to say, "Thank-You" from the bottom to the top of my heart for your loving and supporting words when I had a hard time in my last post. Today, when I dropped Bronwyn off at school, I had an amazing surprise! The photographer had miraculously gotten a shot of Bronwyn in between her wiggles and seizures, and guess what? the picture turned out great! I honestly think it might be her best school picture yet. I feel like such a dummy now.

I have been VERY busy with holiday orders through my shop (YIPPEE!!!) but I got a nasty computer virus before the Thanksgiving Holiday, and that made it pretty tough to stay in touch as much as I like to. Now I am back online, thanks to the genius that is my husband, and am trying to get caught up. I have lots to talk about, but I will try to be organized about it and put it into several posts so that nobody gets overwhelmed! For now, I would like to celebrate Bronwyn's great school picture, and remind myself that things do work out in the end, one way or another.

Here's a sunny little wallet that I recently made. I call it "Satsuma Lace." It reminds me of an indoor tea party situated in front of a giant picture window. It is cold outside, but warm within. There are fancy sandwiches with no crusts, little satsuma oranges, delicious hot tea, and good friends. And even though our pinkies are turned up while holding our fancy tea cups, we're doing it for fun.

Outside my house it is sunny and frosty, just like my story.