Psalm 25:1-9 (NIV) Of David: (1)To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul; (2)in You, my God, I trust. Do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. (3)Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame; but those who engage in treachery without cause will be disgraced. (4)Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. (5)Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; all day long I wait for You. (6)Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion, for they are from age to age. (7)Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my rebellious acts; remember me according to Your loving devotion, because of Your goodness, O LORD. (8)Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way. (9)He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.
Birds of Missouri
Downy Woodpecker, female
White-Throated Nuthatch
Carolina Chickadee
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Tufted Titmouse
Tea and Holiday Pies
My favorite mug for birdwatching 🫖
Blueberry Pie
Pumpkin Pie
From My Sewing Room for Christmas
I made several book holders as gifts, here are a couple I actually remembered to get a picture of.
A quick little gift card/money envelope. I found the underwear fabric at a garage sale. You can’t just give that kind of print to anyone 😂
Everyone on both sides of our family are serious dog lovers, save one nephew who has a cat. So, when I saw this fabric I immediately knew I had to get it and quilt it into makeup bags for all the ladies on our Christmas list.
I also made all the ladies on our list a nightgown from this adorable cotton jersey print of frou-frou canines.
The donkeys at my in-laws farm in Kansas came up to the fence looking for carrot treats, they were pretty adorable.
Our Cats
I LOVE the custom pillow my sweet sister-in-law gave me!
Fledgling male Downy Woodpecker – he was a marvelous creature and I love how he was showing off his wings White Breasted Nuthatch Female House FinchCarolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse The Chipping Sparrows are back! My sister asked me to make a stuffed dog for her use at work. I went through my fabric scraps and thought these would go together well. I appliqued the muzzle, nose, and eyes then used a zigzag stitch for the philtrum and mouth. Aww, he turned out so Adorable 🩷!After the puppy, I was inspired to use up some more of my mountain of cotton fabric scraps and thought I’d try my hand at book sleeves. This is one of my favorites 🤩I especially think the pocket is handy AND cute Whew, I certainly need to go through my scraps more often. I ended up making 49 book sleeves (!) and still have leftovers 🫣I also had a lot of leftover canvas fabric and wanted to make something useful with it. Fifteen years or more ago my Mom, sister, and I made key wristlets. I decided to try it again and here are the first few I did. I think I ended up with about 25 by the end. My Dad got a flat of strawberries back in May and shared some with us. My Mom always made strawberry shortcake with homemade pie crust so, of course, I do too. On Memorial Day, we made the homemade ice cream recipe my Dad always made when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s. It was just as good as I remembered and it was fun to share it with Hubby 💕Clemmy ❤️Wally ❤️Frank ❤️Cats are cats are cats and cat naps are one of my favorite cat behaviors – so cute 😻Wally keeping Clemmy close with a tail-wrap 🖤🤍🖤🤍Beep-boop
Hello, Friend! I hope you are well wherever you are when this post finds you.
I’m currently sitting on the back patio watching the birds on a gorgeous May afternoon. I can hear cardinals, house finches, titmice, and blue jays calling, singing, squeaking, and buzzing from the canopy overhead and behind us. Though it’s a warm, sunny day, there’s a lovely light breeze in the shade keeping me cool and bringing the last scent of quickly fading lilac across the yard to me. It is a springtime feast for the senses!
Yesterday and today have been absolutely joyful days as my typically excessive MS fatigue has lessened and allowed me to be up and about more than usual. So, naturally, I rode my scooter over to the lake in our neighborhood yesterday and soaked in some Vitamin D and the beauty of God’s creation around me.
American Bullfrog Baby starlings waiting for Mom to come back with a meal.This looks so peaceful, but…… this is the reality. I walked down to the water’s edge and, of course, MS gal lost her balance and stepped in the water 😜.Weeds can be beautiful too!Ladybug 🐞!
After I rode back home from the lake, I decided to sit under the birches in the backyard.
Isn’t this a delicious view through the treetops?One of my favorite corners of the garden.My Mother-in-law came for a visit last weekend and was watching the birds at the feeders when she suddenly exclaimed, “Turkey!”. My Hubby caught this pic with his phone before it flew away. I’ve seen several turkeys in the woods around our neighborhood, but this is the first one who’s ever flown over the fence for a visit. It was quite exciting 🦃!Blue JayMy tripod broke last week and as I was waiting for the new one to be delivered, some of my favorite springtime visitors dropped by for a snack. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks only stay in the Ozarks for a small window of time as they migrate north each year. If I would have had a tripod the picture would have been sharper. There’s always next year.Cute, but greedy varmint.Laudy’s turn to help me with my Bible study 😻I think I had three PDF patterns that needed to be put together. It took several days last week to get the job done, but Pip and I persevered. My sister asked me to make a dress for her from a pattern company I had never used before. Experience has taught me to try out a pattern before using precious fabric. I traced off my size onto butcher paper and am in the middle of making the dress for myself from fabric in my stash to check the fit. So far so good. I used some of my energy yesterday to clean the kitchen sink with Soft Scrub. Aren’t the patterns pretty?My Mom gave me this Chicago Metallic meatloaf pan several years ago. The raised insert allows the fat to drip through the holes, keeping the meat from getting soggy.Hubby loves ketchup drizzled over meatloaf before it’s baked. Dinner is served! Meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, salad, and homemade Rice Krispie Treat. Laudy says, “That’s all, folks.”So does Pip.
Thanks for stopping by. May God be with you! ❤️, Amy
Hello! I bet you didn’t expect to hear from me again so soon, did you? It’s been a while since I did a “week in my life” sort of blog, so…I did. Let’s see, when I last wrote I believe I told you I had finally tested negative for Covid 🎉. I was still sick, though. I started some antibiotics for a bacterial sinus infection 5 days ago and am happy to report that I am doing much better. I still have a cough, but I’m hoping it will continue to dissipate with time (and another 5 days of antibiotics 😉).
Surprisingly, my MS hasn’t been too bad this week and I was able to putter around the house with reasonable rest breaks between activities. This has been a HUGE blessing to me ☺️!
Anywho, I’ve been sewing up a storm and enjoying myself thoroughly this week! As a matter of fact, in the pictures you’re about to see I think I’m wearing four different things I either finished up or made this week. (There’s more sewing stuff a bit further down too 🙂.)
Covid wore me out and I hadn’t cooked for over two weeks, we survived on freezer meals I had squirrelled away. I finally found the energy to get in the kitchen again on Tuesday. I made a huge pot of beef barley soup, enough to last us several days. I also decided to get out my Mom’s high school Home Ec. cookbook and made a couple loaves of our favorite bread. Mom’s book has seen better days, but it is very special to me and has some great recipes.
Oh, and I made some chocolate chip bars on Thursday from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Cookbook. 😋. I love lots of chocolate chips but Hubby only wants a few, and the itty-bitty ones. So, I compromised and put half the normal amount of my chips and some of his tiny chips into the batter and they actually managed to please both of us.
I hadn’t cleaned my sewing room for several weeks, it was really bad. I cleared the decks on Monday and gave it a good going over. I don’t know how I didn’t end up at urgent care with 23 pins stuck in my feet! YIKES 😬! I also gave both my sewing machine and my serger a good service and cleaning.
I spent a couple hours cutting patterns out last Saturday, here are a couple.Today (Friday), I cut out the Moire Blouse by Wardrobe by Me from this lovely double gauze from Beyond the Pink Door. I’ve had this in my stash for a while trying to decide what to do with it. I ❤️ double gauze, it’s so comfy.I wear special gloves when I use my rotary cutter so I don’t cut myself. Rotary cutters and MS don’t jive, precautions must be taken.Every Sunday afternoon at 1:00 I always try to catch the Live Sewing Chat with Andrea at Beyond the Pink Door. She has some of the best fabrics I’ve ever sewn and, despite having to ship it from Ireland, it’s quite reasonably priced. And I really like Andrea ❤️I’ve started keeping a bullet journal, mostly for sewing projects. I was having a hard time keeping straight what patterns I had made and the alterations, if any, for each. Oh, and I kinda like stickers. Yes, I’m seven years old.
The next few photos are random.
Every morning I enjoy solving a couple of cryptograms while having breakfast.Laudy is my constant shadow. She sat on my shoulder Wednesday as I ate lunch. This has been pretty typical of the last few weeks – a cup of hot tea, cough drops, Vaseline lip balm, and iced tea close at hand. I’ll save you the visual of snotty hankies.I really enjoy watching Horse Plus Humane Society YouTube videos. They rescue horses from the slaughter pipeline as well as any and all animals surrendered to them as the Humane Society in Tennessee. I’ve learned a lot about horsemanship and horse care.
Of course I watched the birds this week!
Carolina Chickadees and a female House Finch House Finches Male House Finch Male Downy Woodpecker Dark-eyed Junco Female Northern Cardinal
Lastly, I’ll share some of my favorite moments of the week with Pip and Laudy, my constant companions.
Pip joined us for dinner on Thursday.Laudy helped me solve a cryptogram on Wednesday…… but gave up quickly.Pip and I watched the birds on Thursday.Monday night snuggles with Pip while watching TV.Laudy helped me during my Bible study Monday morning.Thursday morning parrot imitation practice.Laudy snuggled with Hubby Tuesday evening.Thursday night snuggles. Are you seeing a pattern yet?😉I was trapped under cats after lunch today, it took 2 hours to get free. 😻😻Sun-bathing on her birthday 🎂!
Thanks for joining me this week. May God be with you. ❤️, Amy
It probably came home with Hubby from work. It was friendly and visited me while in the vicinity. The first five days were a nasty business for both of us. Hubby is better, though he still has a bit of a cough and tires easily. I took Paxlovid, got better, then got Rebound Covid. I am definitely feeling better, though I can’t get rid of the cough. I’ve nearly polished off my third bottle of Robitussin in two weeks. I must not be the only one out there on the ‘Tussin ’cause Hubby is beating the streets after work tonight to try and score me a fourth bottle.
Laudy and Pip didn’t miss a beat while Hubby and I had Covid. As you can see, they snuggled in and laid low right along with us.
Though my body had just started making B-cells again and I only had a few (see my last post), I was able to fight the dreaded virus and live to tell the tale. I praise God for His timing and the fact He made our bodies to be such hardy machines. This experience has proven it’s safe for me to venture back out into the world again 🎉🥳.
Mourning Dove Eastern Bluebird Coming in for a landing – Carolina Chickadee Hopping off – House Finch Northern Cardinal Making some room in his crop – Blue JayGrabbing up a peanut – Titmouse Not a flattering picture of me, but my parrot, Laudy, is adorable with her tail wrapped and tucked.March’s Universal Yums arrived featuring treats from… BRAZIL!I’ve been sewing during my convalescence. I made this flannel shirt using the Aria pattern by Love Notions (my favorite independent pattern company). I just need to get the buttonholes made and the buttons sewn on and it will be done just in time for St Patrick’s Day 💚!
I hope you have had a good start to March. May God be with you! ❤️, Amy
Sunday was a beautiful day in the Ozarks so Hubby took me for a drive after church.First thing Monday morning one of our cats puked her breakfast all over the blanket on our bed. So, laundry.I listened to some classic rock while sewing up a tote bag on Monday.One of Hubby’s work friends has been sharing with us some of the surplus eggs her hens have been laying. She loves the St. Louis Blues, so I found some themed fabric and made this up for her.I don’t care about hockey, but I love the yellow and blue together.Tuesday afternoon I rode my scooter to the little lake in our neighborhood and took a few photos.Wednesday was a rest day. Pip and I watched the birds together 🥰.After work on Thursday, Hubby and I went to my Dad’s for dinner. Hubby then helped Dad clean out the gutters and……weed eat.Dad worked hard too.I sewed up a couple more totes on Friday. I think I’ve now made 13 bags from this pattern over the last year.The cupcakes look yummy 😋!I love the pockets, they make the bag very versatile.Friday was a tough MS day with very limited energy. I was pretty proud that I was able to get the kitchen cleaned.Today, Saturday, has been another MS dominant day. I sat on the patio this afternoon and enjoyed watching the birds and this little fella.I think squirrels are funny and cute, though I know they can be pests.
I hope you are doing well. God be with you! ❤️, Amy
Hello again, Friend. Below you will find some random pictures of things I’ve been doing to fill my winter days.
I really enjoy following several YouTube vloggers in the sewing world and wondered how hard it would be to take pictures of each step of garment construction like they do. I gave it a go and learned they have a lot more patience than me! Most of the pictures I took are in my camera’s trash and there they will stay. I’m sharing a few just to make myself feel like I didn’t waste all the effort it took to complete the experiment.
My notions and the PDF pattern.The tail end of cutting it out.I had enough fabric to make two tunics. I found the jersey knit on Etsy and loved the prints together.Sewing the pocket on.Finishing the hem.It was my first time sewing a cowl neck.The little pocket in the contrasting fabric turned out so cute 🥰.I’ve learned to keep a stash of bandaids by my machine 🙄. Blood, sweat, and tears 😉!
My favorite Laudy pics of the past few weeks…
We had some really beautiful warmish days since my last post so, of course, I sat out in the backyard and watched the birds.
House finch pair with a goldfinch looking on.Carolina chickadee Downy woodpecker 💛
But, my favorite winter activity? Snuggling with Hubby!
Lord willing, I’ll write again soon. God be with you! ❤️, Amy
Pip is my little sewing helper. He had been walking in, through, up, down, over, and around for quite a while before finally sitting front and center. When you need attention, you need attention 😺.So…I finally gave up, went and got a robe, and tucked him in. He settled right down, purred like a freight train, and stayed until I finished up.Laudy knows how to get her snuggle time too 😻. This was first thing in the morning one day…… and this was last Saturday. My shirt says, On Caturdays We Wear Cat Shirts.I had my Ocrevus infusion on the first of this month, which I think I mentioned in my last post. My nurse wanted a picture of Laudy climbing on him and checking him out. I barely got the picture in time and it doesn’t look like he was enjoying it, but I assure you he did. (I guess this isn’t really from this week.)This swallowtail butterfly looked a little worse for wear but seemed to be thriving on our aptly named butterfly bushes.This yellow garden spider set up shop between one of the butterfly bushes and the fence. The reinforced center zigzag is amazing!I’ve not had a lot of birds at the feeders lately and it’s been too hot to sit outside much, but I did get a snap of this friendly chipping sparrow.We had a single day break in the heat so I took advantage of it and did my Bible study on the patio.Later that same morning I rode my scooter around the lake in our neighborhood. If you squint really hard you can see the bench on the other side where I often sit to watch dragonflies buzzing around. I only took one lens with me so I wasn’t able to get a picture of a ruby throated hummingbird going from flower to flower on the bushes to the right. It was pretty cool!Hubby took me for a drive to try and get some pictures of a field of sunflowers a few towns away. The road was a little busy and I only had a few seconds to get a shot. It didn’t really work out the way I had envisioned it in my mind because I didn’t have time to get the exposure right. That, and there was also a real chance I might fall over because I had to step across a ditch along a fence row full of weeds and, of course, my balance is wonky. When I got back in the car I had burrs stuck all over my pants.
Although the pictures were an epic fail, I enjoyed riding around with my hubby that afternoon. Oh, and about an hour after we got home both of my eyelids and the bottom of my eyes turned red and swelled up to be about 1/2 an inch thick. They stayed that way for the next 24 hours! Ragweed, was that you??
Yes, I know, I lead a very exciting life 😉. I hope you have had a good week. See you next time! God be with you. ❤️, Amy
It’s been too hot around here to get out of the house much these last few weeks. However, I did ride my scooter early one morning down to the lake in our neighborhood to enjoy the dragonflies and flowers for a spell.
Crepe Myrtle ablaze in redA little skipper atop white cloverBlue dasher perfectly aligned on a blade of grassTail up!Halloween pennant – gloriously orangeAmber wing, easily my favorite dragonfly.
I braved the heat for a few minutes one day to get a pic of this lovely female cardinal hanging out in one of the birch trees behind our house.
Since I can’t get outside much I’ve been filling my time sewing. I got a new serger and have been absolutely floored by the steep learning curve. For the first couple of weeks I was convinced that not even NASA’s best could get the crazy thing to work consistently! I have read everything I could get my hands on and watched hours of YouTube vids in a determined effort to conquer and master the beast of a machine. Perseverance, about 15-20 hours of practicing on scraps, rethreading the booger, and adjusting knobs a million times AND…
I FINALLY figured out how to consistently get good seams on my serger! I made a cute nightgown that I love. I ordered this knit jersey on super clearance from Joann’s. The snails are very appropriate 😉.
I had my Ocrevus infusion yesterday so I’m fuzzy-headed with a bit of a headache. Around 4:00 this morning I started flushing from the steroids they served up to go along with it. I should start feeling better by tomorrow. For the first time ever I got to have the drug infused at home – so much easier for me! My newest bestie Bill, the infusion nurse, and I spent five quality hours chatting and sharing the ways God has worked in our lives. God is so good!
The shortest day and the longest night are behind us and that is very encouraging, particularly in 2020. Although I love winter, there is joy in knowing each day will bring a bit more sunshine than the last.
I’ve been busy with this, that, and a little bit of something else these past couple of weeks. I’ll let the pictures do the talking 😉.
Sunday and Monday afternoons were full of baking. This is the aftermath of Sunday’s spree (cookie photos below). I didn’t take photos of the mess or cookies on Monday, by then I was kind of done with it.Pizzelles, chocolate and vanilla.Mandeleines, vanilla and lemon.
My stepmom who recently passed away was an avid quilter. She had nearly finished hand sewing this English Paper Piecing quilt but it still lacked it’s blue border. My stepsister asked me if I would add the border so it could be quilted. I’ve handsewn a couple of quilts in the past but nothing prepared me for the sore fingers, slow going, and incredible amount of time it has taken to sew the teeny-tiny speck of hems together that border the thick paper stuffed inside each hexagon. As you can see in the second picture, you take the paper out after a couple of rows have been sewn together, the paper is basted into each hexagon to stabilize the fabric as it’s put together. This wasn’t the first paper piecing quilt my stepmom did. For her, the harder the project the better the challenge and she had the chops for it! She must have poured hours into this project. It’s good to be contributing to something I know she would be happy to see finished.
It snowed nearly all day one day last week. Sadly, it had been so unseasonably warm the days before that hardly any of it stuck. Nevertheless, it was beautiful to see all the snowflakes falling – very festive.
We have been enjoying the gas fireplace in our new house this winter. Our cats camp out in front of it any time we have it on and melt into the cutest kitty puddles you ever did see! Last week I made them a cute cat bed to lie on instead of the cold floor. Laudanum (“Laudy”) is our 10 year old blue Cornish Rex and Pip is our 3 year old chocolate Cornish Rex.
I tried to sew a bit last week but it was not easy 😂.
We’ve had as many as 16 birds at a time at the feeders these last several weeks. These are just a few of my favorite visitors.
As I was sitting outside a week or two ago, I happened to look up and saw this plane and contrails passing. I took a picture just for fun but didn’t look at it for a few days. When I did, I could make out that it was Qantas, the Australian airline. I looked up their flight paths and saw that they only fly in and out of LAX, DFW, and JFK in the States. Therefore, I don’t think it is a common thing to see many Qantas planes flying overhead. I thought it was cool. I remember being on a flight once and the pilot coming over the intercom to announce that the airspace over Springfield, MO is one of the busiest in the States. I’ve often thought of that little tidbit of knowledge since then and believe it must be true. Nearly every time I look up there are several planes and/or contrails streaking the sky.
I think this was the day I took the picture of the plane mentioned above. It was deliciously warm and sunny so I dragged my rocking chair out into the grass to soak up the Vitamin D. My skin is so shiny because I had sprayed sunscreen on – I smelled like the beach in the middle of December!This was taken through the branches of our river birch about two o’clock in the afternoon on the 21st, the Winter Solstice.
This was also taken on the Winter Solstice. It’s the best shot I could manage of the “Christmas Star” or conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. It was pretty nifty to see since it only happens every 20ish years.
After I wrapped everyone’s gifts today I decided I would keep this, which I bought for someone else, for myself. (Don’t worry, I didn’t skimp that person, I had something else that was a suitable swap 😉.). I had one after dinner tonight and topped it with some Redi-Whip – oh my, it was yummy 😋! Which one would you choose first? Me? Well, I opted for the Gingerbread Cookie flavor. I’m excited to try another one tomorrow. Again, it’s going to be hard to pick. Decisions, decisions!
We are looking forward to a small gathering for Christmas with both sides of our family over the long holiday weekend.
I wish each one of you the very best, safest, healthiest, merriest, and love-filled Christmas blessings. God be with you. ❤️ Amy
Amy's Axons 