If at first you don’t succeed

Try ... and try ... and retry again.

Ellis comes to our house once a week after school to play games, create art, and eat dinner (always followed by  a scoop of ice cream). Her favorite thing recently is to go through my very limited jewelry box to try things on …

Not that there’s a lot to try on, since most of what I had has already been given to our daughters. I did keep this ring, though …

Now let’s see if my workaround with photos sticks 🤞 ... Dang it … obviously not

Okay, maybe the third time's the charm. Yep ... that did it ... for now.

Christmas 2025

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then our Christmas held a dictionary’s worth of joy-fullness.

There was art and BBQ, bowling and cookie dough, lights at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Dave’s Hot Chicken and Top Golf …

But wait, there’s more … pizza and card games, more art and much silliness, along with candlelight and carols …

All of it fleeting, as these two pictures from 2022 and 2025 show …

We are so very rich in love and happiness.

It’s been a month

I’ve been stitching a fair linen on deadline, hoping to get it done in time to put on the altar at St Liz for Easter …

The cloth is 100” x 26” and is being hemstitched at 20 stitches per inch. I’m loving every minute … but it’s taking a fair bit of time!

Don and I have also been volunteering at the Wildflower Center 2-3 days a week. On an off day, we took our grandkids with us and Parker took a (rare for me) great picture …

Thanks P!

Happy Birthdays

Happy 21st Birthday Logan! 

But how is this even possible?

And there is more happiness to report … at the Wildflower Center …

and in St Louis …

Spring is sprung for sure … but where the heck did the time go? 😉

Addendum (thanks to social media) 

A better use of my time

Don is being a responsible citizen and watching the president speak. I, on the other hand, have my hearing aids turned off and am looking at some of the pictures I took at the Wildflower Center today …

along with these pictures of the library that Parker and Ellis created in their bedroom by overturning a chair to house a checkout station and return bin … 

I even got my own library card, complete with QR code …

These are the things that give me joy. 

I’ve lost count …

Making and giving peace pins has become so routine that I often forget to take pictures or note who they are went to. Then again, sometimes I do remember …

and I’m really liking the new pin backs …

If you’re new here, to learn more about the peace pin project and request your own (free) peace pin, click on this link.

Meanwhile, our grandkids are doing their own creative things, which we love …

And I was ever so grateful to receive this stitched missive from Fiona Dempster …

Resist we will, starting tomorrow by not buying anything … and continuing with rolling economic “blackouts” that are planned in the coming weeks. After all, the Montgomery bus boycott lasted more than a year and was ultimately successful. We can do this!

Tiny pieces of everything

 I can’t help but think of James Taylor’s Yellow and Rose as I stitch these tiny 3/4" pieces of peace …

And fear not, I’m continuing to stitch regular-size peace pins as well … this one for a sewist at St Liz …

In the midst of chaos, I find joy in little things, like my new lunar thread nest and positive bits of "wisdom" on Instagram …

And always, all-ways, these guys make my days brighter (I did a double-take the first time I saw the second picture) …

As usual, to learn more about the peace pin project and request your own (free) peace pin, click on this link. And to learn how to make one of your own peace pins, click here.

Annnd I’m back

I took a break from stitching because of a sore thumb (if you know, you know). But I did get a chance to make a little handout to go with the peace pins, seen here front and back …

Happily, I started stitching again today … a tiny 3/4" piece of peace (palanca, for those of you who are familiar with Cursillo) …

Then there’s this bit of silliness for you to enjoy: the Buda, Texas answer to Ground Hog Day (because dachshunds are the unofficial town mascots) …

 

The good news is Nacho saw his shadow and then picked the snowman toy, supposedly predicting 6 more weeks of winter. The not-so-good news is that central Texas "winter weather" includes week-long stretches of 80+ degree temperatures, so our AC actually kicked in yesterday. (I know, I know … cry me a river).

And yes, you remember rightly, this was our weather two weeks ago …

 

Gotta love Texas?

Blue Monday and a snow day in Texas

Yesterday was depressing, even as much as I tried to avoid the inauguration coverage. Then I read Karen’s post about Blue Monday and found myself smiling as I latched on to the notion … recalling that the blue field in the American flag stands for valor, which m-w.com defines as “strength of mind or spirit that enables a person to encounter danger with firmness" ...

 

And on a positive process note, I’ve gotten some new pin backs as the safety pins I was using were/are a bit fiddly …

Thankfully, we all survived the day and woke this morning to the rare (for central Texas) appearance of snow, which our grandkids are very much enjoying …

To a learn more about the peace pin project and request your own (free) peace pin, click on this link.

The calm before the storm?

 It’s been a quiet week …

and so far I’m very much liking my new stitching box …

We were happy to learn that Jace and Jackson made the best of the twelve inches of snow that fell in St Louis (that’s sweetened condensed milk and snow) …

while we’ve been enjoying much milder temperatures here in central Texas …

Lastly, for those who follow Jude Hill and read about her nine-patch math vis-a-vis 2025, here’s another way of looking at it …

Okay, so just a few more days until Inauguration Day. I’m still debating whether or not to join the Women’s March given my wonky knees. We’ll see.

Note: To a learn more about the peace pin project and request your own (free) peace pin, click on this link.

Batting .500

First and foremost, sending metta to those in the west coast facing the wildfires and to those in the midwest and east coast shoveling snow. This is one of those times when I’m especially grateful that we live in Texas.

I’m pleased to say that my New Year’s resolution to stitch one peace pin a day has held up so far …

However, I’ve been less successful at my other resolution to walk every day. Hence, the second one of the following screen shots seems particularly appropriate …

Last, but not least, we had a great day with Griffin recently, notable especially for making my favorite shortbread and a great new hot cocoa recipe from Sugar Spun Run …

And I almost forgot to show you a couple of the Christmas presents that have taken up residence by my stitching chair …

Such fun!!

To a learn more about the peace pin project and request your own (free) peace pin, click on this link.

Happy New Year!

I’m determined to be positive in 2025, so this piece from Lisa Congdon seemed like a good way to start …

I confess that one of my favorite features in Wordpress was the photo gallery. Not to be denied, I’m going to try creating galleries in Wordpress and then move screenshots of the galleries into Blogger …

Yep, I think it’s got potential, although the sizing might need a tweak.

So Happy New Year everyone. May hope and peace be with you and yours.

And now that our grandkiddos have all headed home, I’m going to try to keep my resolution to make one peace pin a day …

So far, so good 😉

To a learn more about the peace pin project and request your own (free) peace pin, click on this link.