Icy Pink

Good Morning all! Hope this Pink Saturday finds you in the pink of health! I woke up this morning expecting to see lots of snow on the ground and instead no snow, but icky ice. Yuck. I am not a fan of ice! My sister called and told me they have not had electricity at their house since 4 this morning( it is 9:30 now). Luckly I still have mine. Thanks for coming by for a visit. Below are a few pics. First I have Mr. Toby Handsome. I think his little pink nose is awfully cute. He turned 16 last January.

Next is a lovely Hydranga pic a friend sent me a while back. I adore Hydrangas and one of these days hope to get some planted to my yard.

This charming puppy is Sophie- she belongs to my boss's family. She is one of the sweetest beagles I have ever met. She was taking a nap on top of the pillows on the couch, snuggled into the afagan. There is just the tinest bit of pink on her nose too.

This is Gracie kitty. I may have shared this one before but since I was doing so many animals, I thought she should be included this time. I just took that pink blanket out of the dryer and before I could get it folded, she snuggled down into it. Heaven for Kitties!

I hope you enjoyed them. Don't forget to go see Beverly today and as many of the participants as you can. Sweetpea Sue

Pink March

Sorry I got my post done so late! I was having trouble with my computer this morning.
Earlier this week I took my two neices to the Kansas City Zoo - it was Spring Break here in Lawrence they weren't in school . I took a day off from work just so I could connect with them.
We had a lot of fun, did a ton of walking, and laughed more than I have in the past month. Below are some of the things we saw. A pair of camels(they look like they are whispering to each other).

A beautiful black swan with a hot pink beak!
Some Quince-it was blooming in March! My grandmother Marie always had this in her yard and I have always thought of her when I see it.

A very friendly bird-I think it was some kind of buzzard. It came right up to us and demanded that we admire it . My neice said it was really working it for the camera.

A few pink flamingos were out when we passed by on the tram-unfortunetly by the time we walked by they were not there. I was hoping to get a much better picture than this.

I plan on posting more pics tomorrow from the zoo. It only lets me post so many per post. Hope you have a wonderful pink Saturday-Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to visit all the other particpants. Sue

Happy Pink Saturday to you all! I'm glad you could stop by for a visit. I finally dug out my most precious pink treasures. They belonged to my grandmother Marie when I was a little girl and to her mother before her. When I was little they were displayed in her middle room on her huge old roll top secretary the was even older than these treasures. I always thought they were the pretties things I had ever seen. My grandmother told me that they were cranberry glass.

She also told me that when she was a little girl they adorned the top of her mother's pump organ in their parlor and that when ever they played the organ, the vases would sway back and forth on top and almost fall off, but no one ever considered moving them from there.

This is my grandma as I remember her. I think this is right after she and my grandfather Cleve bought their first house right across from the church she attended. They had worked hard all their lives and had never owned a home yet. My grandma told me that she had been friends with the woman who had owned it before her, and elderly woman who was no longer able to live alone. Her friend had insisted that she only wanted them to have it and that she wouldn't sell it to any one but them. Arrangements were made(what exactly I don't know) and they bought the house. It was always my safe place. Now an old and dear friend lives there so it feels like it is still in the family.

This is my grandmother with her parents in Parsons Kansas. I belive this is before she had any children and thought she couldn't. Her mother was Nancy Kizah Noakes Workman and her father was Frank Workman.

Well thanks again for stopping by and don't forget to go check out all the other participants at Beverly's place. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com .

Happy Pink Saturday!
Sorry I am running so far behind today. My day started out a little differently than I had anticipated yesterday. After taking my car to have the oil changed and about to leave to have breakfast with my sister, I got a desperate call from my Dad saying Freda(my step-mom) needed some assistance getting up. She has been in the hospital for two weeks this month fighting pneumonia and going through an operation. They finally let her come home last Monday.
Her energy reserves are running low right now and she is a bit weak. She is a wonderful woman and we feel very blessed to have her in our family. My sister and I ran over there and stayed for a couple hours so I have been running behind today( although in truth I often run behind even when nothing unexpected happens!). On to the Pink Saturday stuff!

I don't know if many of you are familiar with Karla Nathan but I urge you to check out her blog. She is a wonderful artist and very nice all around person. She is doing a Puppy Love Tag Book swap right now that I am participating in-just click on the puppy love icon on the right side of my blog and it will take you right there.

Below are some of my tags I am working on-some are closer to completion than others but it is a process. I need to finish them up soon and get them in the mail to Karla as the deadline is almost here. Hope you have a great weekend!
Love Sweetpea Sue

Don't forget to check out all the other ladies particpating in Pink Saturday! Just visit Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Best Wishes for Your New Year!

I hope all is well for you as you find yourself at the start of a new year. I don't generally make resolutions, but I find myself thinking about what was good about 2008 and what I want to change in my life this year. One of the things I enjoyed tremendously was blogging, So many nice people to meet, and so many creative inspirations. I felt like I stumbled onto something I have been looking for for years. I really enjoyed visiting other blogs, reading heartfelt stories shared by some wonderful people, being challanged to get art, beauty and creativity into my regular life, and even learning a little to let other people see more of who I am.

I found a website this year called flickr.com and what a fun place that is! My sister had given me a camera a while back and it opened up a whole new world for me. One of the groups I belong to on Flickr is Shades of Inspiriation-it gives you a different color or color combo to take pics of each week and share with the group. It helps you to see things in a new way. No longer is anything ordinary-you don't just pass the world by anymore. It forces you to be on the lookout, be more aware of your surroundings.

Some mornings I get up early by myself and go out and take pics of the sunrise, or the foggy river, or whatever grabs me that day. A few times I have been able to gather my neices to go with me and we pick a theme, like water, and look for things to shoot. It is so fun to be able to share something with them, something creative that bridges the difference in our years.

I guess one of my resolutions is to continue to work to get creativity into my weekly life. That can be a bit of a challange sometimes. Some days I just find myself wrung out. Still, something to work on. One of my other resolutions is to work towards making healthier choices for myself. I am talking about healthier all around- including diet, exercise, how I spend my time, finances, etc.

One thing I have learned as I have gotten older is to count my victories throughout the day instead of my failings. It definitly helps me stay more postive and helps me to keep going. Another thing is to have people in your life who build you up as a general rule instead of tear you down. I find that as a single woman with no children it is very essential to have friends you touch base with through out the week. It isn't easy. People tend to be so busy with their own lives and you with yours that it can be very hard to connect. When I was younger I took this way too personally, for the most part I don't now.

I must admit for me having animals to come home to is essesntial as well. I never feel alone with them here. It isn't the same as living with people of course but they are good company if a bit messy at times and they are often good for a laugh.

Well, I think I better go now. I've got some pies in the oven I have to go check on. More cooking and baking this year. Another resolution. Basically do more of what I enjoy and not let daily life run me into the ground so easily. Now that might be a hard one to keep. Thanks for coming by and all the best to you throughout this new year.

Sue

Happy New Year and a Wonderful Pink Saturday to you!
Hope this new year is filled with promise and delights for you all. Just trying to get back into the swing of things again. Got a bit off track for awhile there. First picture I'm going to share today is of my new eyeglasses chain I made. I find I need reading glasses these days so I like to have them handy and nearby. I had seen some very nice ones at stores but didn't want to spend 15.00 or more to get one, so I decided to make one. This is my pink one( I've made others for my different scrub tops I have to wear at work). I'm very happy with the way they turned out and I no longer put my glasses on top of my head where it would often get caught in my hair.



This picture is of a little christmas angel I hang over my sink in my kitchen.

During this holiday season, I got to spend some down time with my two neices in town and I took them out early one morning to shoot photos in the country-here is one with some pink to it.

This is my two neices getting a picture of the sunset- I don't show their faces as their mothers would prefer they don't show up on the web.

Don't forget to go check out the other ladies participating today in pink Saturday( Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ ). Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks to all of you who left such kind and understanding comments after my last post. It meant a lot to me. To those of you who are going through grieving as well- my heart and my prayers are with you. Sue

An Anniversery, an Apology and Pink Saturday

My brother Greg, my biggest sister Nancy in the foreground, myself and my older sister Janet in the background at my Grandmother's house around 1966-1967

Thanks for stopping by today. I have not posted much over the past 2 months. This time of year is usually difficult for me anymore. I debated sharing this with anyone but decided to go ahead and do it. Two years ago on the Saturday after Thanksgiving my older brother died. It was quite unexpected. He was only 48 years old. Now when fall hits I tend to fall apart. Some days it is all I can do to go to work in a kind of stupor.

It has been very hard this year for me. I am still trying to allow myself to grieve. I go to a group therapy thing on Thursday nights to help with that. There are some very kind men in that group that have become kind of surrogate brothers to me. I am grateful for their friendship and kindness. I would appreciate your prayers with this.

A while back I did a giveaway. At least it was intended as a giveaway but I still haven't sent out the prize I am ashamed to say. The winner can expect some extra stuff as a kind of penance for not sending it months ago. I got sick and then fell apart emotionally. I apologise.

Pink Saturday is one of my favorite things and I am trying to get back in to the swing of things and do what I love. So hopefully I am back and won't disappear again. Below is some of my favorite material. I found it at a rummage house years ago and have used it in various ways since then. I am getting ready to turn it into curtains for the living room to go with my new blinds.

My new blinds below- I found them at Antique's Plus here in Lawrence just north of the bridge.

Below is a comforter i crocheted ages ago and i use in my living room in the winter. Resting on top of it is a little bag of christmas ornaments I made along with some gift tags I made. They were all part of a giveaway a co-worker did at her second job. She teaches Jazzercise on the side and she was the one teaching on Thanksgiving morning. She told me she had decided to do a giveaway and I offered her some of my goodies to put in it. The funny thing is a friend of mine how happens to be my boss's wife won it! I have been working on packaging up some of my christmas goodies to sell at Antique's plus and if I ever get my act together in my new etsy shop. Keep your fingers crossed as I need all the help I can get. Hope your Pink Saturday is a delightful one. Don't forget to go visit Beverly and all the other ladies participating today! Click here to visit them- http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com .