Here's to New Beginnings

I know some of you have been waiting with much anticipation, to find out what my big surprise is, promised in my last post. So without further ado, here it comes.....

I have found my father. He had been missing to me for approximately 45-50 years. My parents had a difficult marriage and an even harder divorce when I was but 6 years old. I always adored my father, as many little girls do. And when I was told I had to live with my mother when I would have much rather lived with my father it tore me apart. Then when my mother further unraveled after the divorce, becoming an even more unstable person I longed for my father even more. At first, after the divorce, he was still a part of our lives. But my mother could never keep her rent paid and we constantly would be moved from town to town in the middle of the night which made us a bit hard to keep up with. Visits became fewer and further apart. We did go to live with him, his new wife and 5 kids for a time but eventually, for reasons I did not understand, we eventually went back to my mom and to a life that just kept getting worse and worse. The final time I saw my father, we were back living in Ohio and he came into town for a day and took us to lunch. I sat thru the meal thinking if I could just be perfect and make my brother and sister also be, then he would want us and take us back with him to where ever he was living at the time. Of course, that did not happen. Then again, my mother moved us and would not let him know where we were. My dad said he called my grandmother for information but she refused to give it to him. So that ended our relationship at that time. Until just a few short weeks ago.

Now all those years did not pass without me wondering where he was or what he was doing. But before the electronic age, I would have had to hire a private investigator to have a prayer of finding him. I wasn't always in the position to afford that, nor was my mental state all that healthy to be able to risk rejection. So I just kept it at curiosity.

But once Google came along, I occasionally would put his name into the search engine. I ran across small items like his Ohio State wrestling record. But nothing really very helpful. I was starting to get a little older, wiser and happier with myself but still not enough to spend a whole lot of money to find him and still risk rejection. Or even finding out that he had already passed.

But about 6 weeks ago I was messing around with Facebook and put his name in just to see what would come up. Lots of people with his name but none with anything that made me sure it was him. So I pulled up Google and gave it one more college try. The 3rd listing in was a document and my computer warned me against opening it, not sure it was not virus free. Never being one to pay attention to threats, I opened it and there before my eyes was his resume'. I searched thru it trying to see if there was any concrete proof that it was my father. The birthday was close but not exactly what I remembered. His degrees were a tad bit different also. But there was way too much for it to not be him. And it included an email address!! So immediately, before I could lose my confidence, I sent him an email. It was a couple of days before I heard back but he was completely glad I had found him. And he said he had been looking for me for many years also. But with all those moves, me going to a married name, me not being exciting enough to make onto Google, I was impossible to find.

In his email he asked a ton of questions about my life up until that point. So I answered as well as I could, glossing over alot of the bad stuff that had happened in my life. I also told him all about my wonderful, gorgeous, talented kids and grandkids. But then I did not hear back from him for over 2 weeks. That broke my heart. I kept thinking something I said upset him and made him not want to reconnect after all. Or that he had gotten suddenly ill and passed before we could get any further. So close and yet so far.

But in the back of my mind, I kept thinking not to give up. Until after my birthday. He had asked to be reminded exactly when my birthday was and I had. So if he had not answered by my birthday I figured it was all over and done. And I was right. First thing in my in box on my birthday was another email. He had been out of town and then had come home with a bad cold that had him taking to his bed for a few more days. He did still want to have me in his life after all.

We emailed back and forth a couple of times over the next week or so. And then I suggested that we meet up for a meal while I was in the Atlanta area the end of April. A friend and I were already going to be there to attend a fiber festival so why pass up the opportunity. We all agreed and set the date.

Now, the fiber festival was great. Lots of great yarn to feel, covet and even buy. Needles, patterns, notions, ect by the score. Classes by big name teachers that I would have loved to have taken. But somehow the highlight of this weekend just didn't end up being yarn related!!

We rendezvoused at a restaurant in Symrna, Georgia called Curry, Curry cause he remembered that I said I loved Indian food. But I can't honestly say I hardly even remember the meal. No, correct that. The spicy chicken coconut soup was to die for. But I walked in and had no trouble at all telling who he was. But I did also have to meet my half sister I did not know I had at all and my Dad's wife Claire, whom he has been married to the last 15 years. They both turned out to be very dear people that I will be proud and honored to have in my life now. We probably spent almost 2 hours there talking and catching up the best we could. He told me many things that I did not know or only partially remembered. I told him things that also validated many of his suspicions about my mother's mental state of mind for all those years.

The weather was threatening to be a big problem for our drive back to Tennessee, but we did still go on over to his and Claire's house to take one final look at the weather channel before heading out. He lives in a amazingly nice retirement village where they have their own house, larger than mine, but they do all the maintenance work for them along with providing a dining hall and other amenities. They can move to different quarters as health demands for as long as they shall live. It seems so perfect for them. I got to see his huge, and I do mean huge, collection of books. His lower level honestly looks just like a public library. Although many of the book titles would bore the average person!! But we really had to get on the road to avoid the severe weather that was brewing all over the tri-state area.

So now we can move this relationship along to another level. Hopefully Ken and I can go down there soon and then hopefully both kids can make it out to also meet their grandfather. I know he is already proud of them just from what I have told him. And he is so very much like Daniel that I know they will click like 2 peas in a pod.

But for now, here is a picture of him, Claire and I on their back deck. I think I look old!! I think he looks to young to be my dad!!

All This Potential...

Spring has sprung. It went from being a cold, wet, horrible, long winter straight into early summer here in Tennessee. We have been so hard at it, working out in the yard digging, planting, weeding, pruning, mowing and such. But in one of my pensive moments I stopped and looked all around me to see all the potential waiting to be realized later in the summer. So here is a photo tour of that moment, enjoy!!

future dandelion wine

a native grape hyacinth that will be the seed of many more to come fill in the area

ditto on the wild violets

these will someday be apples!!

and these, peaches

strawberries-yum!

and if we can keep the bunnies out of the garden these will be our sweet english peas

bell and hot peppers

tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes. Like about 15 varieties!!

Last but not least. The long awaited quilt. It is more done than it looks in this pic. 4 rows out of 11 put together. All the blocks done. So now the challenge is to make myself stay inside just enough to get at least a row put on a week. But I would love to make that 2 rows a week so I have a prayer of getting it totally finished before the end of the summer. Sorry the lighting isn't any better but I promise it is a beautiful quilt.

There is also 1 more thing that has a lot of potential to bring joy into my life. But I need to wait a bit longer to talk about it in it's full glory. And in a post of it's own. Cause it will deserve it. And I promise it will be worth waiting for. It has been for me. See ya next time

I'm Back!

My long radio silence just has to end. We have had a couple of months now of internet restriction and I for one, am flat out tired of it. I love living out here in the country but only having mobile broadband is not much fun at all. It works like a dream but it's slim data transmission limits just suck. We have stopped viewing any utube videos, downloading any music from iTunes and worst of all, no Facebook games!! But I will give all the rest of that up but not the blogging. Better on a random, sporadic basis than not at all.

Not much exciting has happened since I posted last. I think I may have finished 3 sweaters, several hats and am well into another sweater as we speak. But darned if I have a picture of a single one of them. So instead I am going to give you a photo tour of my pretty much completed sewing room. It has been a long time coming and will be where I will spend many happy years to come.

This is the first thing you see as you come in the room. My sewing machine of course and the new quilt hanger I had custom stained to match all the other wood in the room. On the shelf are lots of little things that are dear to my heart, many of them gifts from friends I miss in Oklahoma. The quilt is a true antique I purchased, not one I made. Eventually it will be replaced with the quilt my sewing buddies made me when I left Lawton. But it has to get quilted first. So don't hold your breath waiting on that one.



Then above that table is my bulletin board which right now is pretty empty. The 5 ribbons were all won with quilts I made in the past. Sure has been a long time since I earned one of those!!

Now here is the cutting table/station. I bought all 3 tables in the room and stained them to match the wall unit you will see eventually. After getting everything set up I felt I was losing valuable storage space under the cutting table. So I found these closet maid organizers, put them together and almost filled up the entire underneath area. They almost look like they are built in, but not quite. I am amazed at how much I am able to store there, everything from rulers, templates, sewing supplies, hand weights, light bulbs, precut fabric squares, scrapbook tools, ect. I still need some more baskets to fill up the cubbies and shelves but that will happen over the next few weeks. The quilt is one I made Ken years ago for his office but he didn't want to have it in his office here. So I get to display it instead.



This pic shows the shoe unit which has lots of little cubbies to fill up.



The next 2 pics are from the sides. Aren't the baskets cute?





Now the serger table



And ironing board. See all those quilt squares underneath on the shelf? Those are my next quilt. Just need 11 more blocks and tons of sashing. Note to self: Straighten butterfly picture in the frame above ironing board...



This is the entertainment center that we used in the living room in our old house. It repurposed very well into a bookcase/display center. And even if you don't see them, beleive me, this thing is full of books. Lots and lots and lots of books. The quilt hanging out is the hand quilting project I am currently working on at a snail's pace. The large glass jars on top are full of all my yarn.





Well, the tour has been completed. No? What is that I hear?? 2 doggies saying I forgot the most important feature of the room.....the portable electric heater. Daisy and Holly love this heater almost as much as they love each other. I can not be in the sewing room without these 2 sprawled out warming their bellies by the fire!!







So I still can't be here alot and still be able to check my email. But I will try to be here as often as I can. We keep hoping that DSL or cable internet will be available soon. After all, most of our neighbors have 1 or the other. Or technology will change and they will let us have more bandwidth on the mobile broadband we use now. But living out here in the country has way more advantages than disadvantages. And for now, that is enough

Best Eatery in Town

Recently I made a trip to Wild Birds Unlimited. I bought a very nice quality birdfeeder for $15.00 which the little birds took too immediately. But it seems my best purchase was this seed block. It is intended to attract cardinals and nuthatches. And it has. But it has constantly been visited by so many other wonderful birds. And the nice thing is I can set it up so very close to my bedroom window. Taking pics is still not easy tho, as the light there is not the best and it is now so close the birds can see me and will take off if they see much movement. But I have enjoyed so many new birds with this seed block. The red headed woodpecker never came to the feeders before and he is a gorgeous sight. There is also a thrasher, although I do not know exactly which variety as it doesn't seem to be in my bird book. I sure need a new one of those.

Anyway, enjoy the pics. Thought they might bring some color to all of you still stuck in winter.

This pic is of new dog, Holly, the smooth fox terrier mix eating what is left of a squirrel. But in the pic it looks like a fox tail lying there so I had to take it to show her daddy who was at work at the time. Of course, I then took it away from her and she was none to happy with me for that.

On the needlework front, I am almost done with a sweater that I have been dilegently working on for about 10 days. And I have a third crazy sock done. Not much sewing tho. I finally bought the 2 tables I intend to put my machines on and right now I am having to sand and stain them in the sewing room due to all the cold weather we have been having. So working around them is impossible. I will be done with table 1 today and then table 2 by this weekend. Then I can get back to the task of my quilt and also covering a dog bed to make it attractive enough to reside in the livingroom.

Colorful Displays

Just a few shots from my bedroom window. These were taken at a high ISO and fast shutter speed so the detail is not the greatest. But to the naked eye, these beauties brighten my day. Well worth the price of the feed I put out.

Crazy Socks, Crazy Dog, Crazy Life

I just finished up a pair of socks, knit with left over yarn from other projects. I love them. Good thing too, cause I have enough left overs to knit another 8 pairs or so!! I am already well into the foot of another sock right now. Nice thing about having a drawer full of these babies, is that I can grab any two, put em on and go. No worries about matching each other or my outfit!!



And then the crazy dog. Of course, this picture doesn't give you a clue. But she is!! Right now I am forcing my kitties to come out of the bedroom and spend time in the same space as the dog. So far, so good. Holly runs every time they make a sound and that of course spooks them even more. But Holly is not jumping up to get them off the counters. And she backs away when they growl. Which is all the time!! But sooner or later they have to come to grips with each other. I vote for sooner.





As for my crazy life. It is actually not much crazy at all. DH went back to work today so I am enjoying my peace and quiet. I am trying to get a new sweater onto the needles. And later I will attempt to clean the bathroom. If I must.

And now-Our newest family member!!

Some of you already know about our newest addition, Holly. I first saw Holly a few days before Christmas. I swear I saw a car dump her off in front of the church right on the main street in the center of our tiny town. She followed me a bit and then got distracted by some other dogs and I went along home, releived to not have to deal with a new dog right before leaving for the holidays. But 6 days later, while on a walk, she showed up at our feet and went on the entire 5 mile walk with us. So I felt like she was meant to be our new dog. I still had to get Daisy's approval as head dog of the household.



Daisy was in love!! She took to Holly right away. Played her into the ground the first day out. 2nd day was a bit touchier. Daisy was tired from the previous day and wasn't sure she liked having another dog touch her bones and toys. But they seemed to establish their boundaries without too much difficulty so that by day 3 they were back to playing all the time.



Miss Holly got her name pretty quickly. My sister-in-law names all her pets flower names. Such as Magnolia, Rosebud, Camelia, ect. Ken immediately said that the new dog has to have another flower name to match Daisy. The list wasn't that long but DH decided that Holly, short for Hollyhock would suite her just fine since we found her right around Christmas. I was all for using Aster but it was obvious that I was not going to win that one.

She does seem to be pretty smart. Not as smart as Daisy. No dog is. But she is certainly above average. She has already learned to not go in our bedroom which is a kitty cat refuge until they soften up about the new invader. She knows that come time for bed that she sleeps in the garage and does so without too much difficulty. We have taught her to sit but stay is not working at all. She just wants to be with us too much. There have been just a few potty accidents, 1 of each kind, and luckily we caught her doing it and gave her holy hell. She knew she messed up and hasn't done either since.

She has this cute habit of sleeping with both of her long ears pointing straight up. With her long pointy nose(product of collie somewhere along the bloodlines?), she ends up having a rather windblown look to her when snoozing. Alot like the look of a dog sticking its head out the window of a moving car!!

The Sound of Tiny Hoofbeats

Most people this time of year are waiting for the sound of hoofbeats. On the roof. Made by reindeer.

But yesterday the dog was outside and when I went to let her in, this is what I saw. Making hoofprints all over my front yard.



They had escaped from my neighbor's pasture. And now I know, not for the first time. Recently we had several big piles of horse manure way back in our garden. Couldn't figure out why anyone would have rode their horses thru our yard like that!! Well, now we know. These beauties may have come over during the night and blessed our garden. Those piles plus what they left last time were scooped up in a bucket and thrown in the compost pile to enrich our garden next year.



But these guys spooked really easy and as soon as I headed out to get pics they started running like the wind. Thank goodness, they headed back home and hopefully right back in thru where they escaped from cause their owner was not home. Supposedly these are very valuable horses and she makes a living of them. Not sure how, cause she never comes outside and does anything with them. They never get ridden or socialized. The guy that feeds them and cleans their stalls told me this. He is the only human contact they really get. Such a shame. But I am not a horse person myself so I can not offer to go spend time with them in any helpful way. But I do admire their beauty as long as it is from a safe distance.

The Bees Knees-Literally

My husband and I are beginning level beekeepers. Many of the men in his family have been beekeepers. It has always interested my husband and recently one of his older relatives, who is not in the best health, gifted us with 3 hives.

I have pretty much left DH to do all the work with the bees. He has a calmer nature and the bees sense that and stay calm while he is messing with them. But this winter I have helped out by feeding the bees on warmer weather days, when DH just happens to be at work. It is easy to feed them. You just pour sugar water into very shallow plastic lids so they can land, eat and not drown. Usually on warmer days, I will fill their bowls continually all afternoon. After the first fill they are usually buzzing all over the place, just waiting their turn at the sweet stuff I am putting out.

So yesterday I decided to put on the close up lens and try to get some good pics. Trouble is, at my "advanced age" it is hard to keep the camera really really still in order to get real crisp shots with the close up!! But I think these are pretty cool.









I love the last one where the bee has just taken off and is in flight!! Of course, there is always the danger a yellow jacket will also come feed. They are very easy to recognize with the very distinct yellow stripes and shiny body. The bees usually tolerate them when they are really hungry and will chase them off during times when they have the extra energy to do so.



But as I was shooting pics, I realized I have come a long way since the bees came to live with us. I have never been really scared of them but when I saw them crawling on my hands while I was shooting pics, I decided I am getting pretty complacent about them altogether!!



So hopefully this spring we will harvest our first honey. Then work to increase the number of hives and bees for the future. Meanwhile I know they increased our garden productivity and will continue to do so. They are the best pollinators for many plants and I always saw them busy at work ever morning when I went out to pick.

A few more pics from my day yesterday. First some pretty leaves and tree fungi done with the close up lens. Then of our dog Daisy who decided to make her self comfortable in the chair on the porch.