MAGGIE'S CROCHET OBSESSION

CHRISTMAS TIME - WHERE IS THE SPIRIT AND HEART OF PEOPLE?

2010-12-16T02:56:00.000-05:00

Hello dear Readers! It has been so long since I have posted. I have been in a slump and have just started to emerge from it. I have been so busy chrocheting Christmas gifts for my family. Money is very tight this year. Or should I say lack of money is a problem this year. I have been making a lot of my gifts. Because I am a nightowl and do not go to bed until two or three a.m. I have plenty of time to crochet. Besides I cannot watch TV unless I am crocheting because I would be sound asleep in 15 minutes!! Boy, this is not an advantage of getting older. I hate to fall asleep watching TV. I am so cranky when I wake up and then I can't fall asleep for hours. Do you know what I mean? Am I the only one who has this problem? Tell me I'm not, PLEASE!!
One of the greatest inventions of the decade is the DVR. Or as known as the digital video recorder. Or some people know it as TIVO. This is such a wonderful device. Once you learn how to use it correctly. Now I can record all my wonderful TV shows, watch them without viewing the commercials and always have something good to watch. I just love, love, love it!

Now this week I have started baking my Christmas Cookies. Tonight hubby and I made cutout
butter sugar cookies in assorted holiday shapes and colored sprinkles. These are time consuming but not difficult. The secret to rolling out great cookies is to use a pastry cloth and a stocking on the rolling pin. And keep both well floured. Sugar cookies must be rolled out very very thin. When I roll out the dough, I gently pat it with my fingertips. It should barely leave an impression in the dough. Then I know it is thin enough. This year I used parchment paper on my cookie sheets. What a wonderful time-saving thing. The cookie sheets stay clean, you don't have to grease them and the cookies just slide right off the paper. My husband in charge of decorating and baking the cookies. He is in love with parchment paper. We also make Moravian ginger cookies. These must be rolled out paper thin or they will not taste right. I think these are my favorite cookies. So good with a cup of tea!!! The spicy molasses rich dough is so good. I had to stop eating the raw dough it was so good. The cookies bake up very thin and crunchy. I like them better than regular gingerbread cookies. We always make the cutout cookies first because they are so labor intensive. If we didn't make them first they would not get made. Laziness sets in - LOL. The next type we make are the thumbprint cookies with raspberry jam and pecans and the Butterballs. The thumbprints are messy to make because you have to dip them in egg whites and roll them in finely chopped nuts. But they are soooooooo good. We make about 25 different kinds of cookies and they are all doubled or tripled to make 5 - 10 dozen each. That's a whole lotta cookies! Yes indeed.
And I only use butter - real butter in my cookies. The only cookies I use shortening in is my ginger cookies because you cannot taste the butter with the molasses and spices. We give cookies as Christmas gifts to family and friends and Randy brings a giant tray to work on Christmas eve. They last about 2 hours there and then they are history. I love nuts too. And I use pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pineoli nuts by the ton. But it only happens once a year and some of the recipes are not made any other time of the year. One of these days I am going to write a cookie cookbook with all my favorites. If you would like any recipes just leave me a comment and I will get it to you.

. SHABBILY EVER AFTER .: Please help me

2010-06-16T00:15:00.001-04:00

My dear lovely readers,
While searching for beautiful blogs I came across the blog "SHABBILY EVER AFTER". This dear sweet woman has a request for her beautiful friend who is blessed with a baby growing under her heart. This lovely mom to be has had problems in the past. We have been requested to pray for this dear lady who is carrying this miracle child and surround her with our prayers and love to keep them safe until the babe is born. So beautifully written......it will tear at the ribbons of your mother hearts. So please take a minute to send love and blessings to them. After all, LOVE is all powerful and no prayer ever goes unanswered. Just think what our love sent to this mother and child will do for their lives! Please be part of this miracle. I send love to them and to all of you. Wishing you peace, love and joy.

. SHABBILY EVER AFTER .: Please help me

I JUST DISCOVERED SOMETHING NEW!!!

2010-06-15T14:09:00.001-04:00

Hello to all my dear readers!
I just love love love to read other people's crafty blogs. I literally spend hours just going from one blog to another. I always click on a blogs favorite blog and always find a wealth of new blogs to visit. But I just discovered a new resource. Now don't go saying DUH! when you hear about it.
I don't profess to being a computer expert - just moderately computer savvy. And there is always something new to learn. So when I realized this new source I was soooooo excited! (it doesn't take much). OK OK get with the program!
Well - you know the little box where the photos of followers are? And guess what? I have 10 followers now! I am honored that 10 wonderful people think I have something interesting to say and they actually want to read about it! I just so happened to see a pic of a gal that looked just like my friend. So I clicked on her photo and it took me to a box with info about her (the follower). Now it wasn't my old friend but when her pic came up there were also links to other blogs that she follows! How cool is that? Now here's where you say DUH! for all of you that already knew this. Well I had no clue. Of course my daughter tells me all the time that I have no clue but what does she know anyways.....I'm much smarter than her. After all, I am 38 years older than her and I have done and lived a lot in this ole lifetime. OK, there I go off on a tangent again.....pay attention Annette! Oh yes, now where was I? Having a menopause moment again....... ah! the new resource! Of course! (Now you can say DUH!) And its not nice to laugh at me! Focus now on what I'm saying.....So there you have it. A great new source of inspirations. I just love to see other gals take on life and crafts. So many creative minds sharing so much joy. How lucky can we get? What ever did we do without blogs? I swear, this alone will keep my brain from being old and stagnant. Anything to keep dementia away right? I think that is a really big dread for anyone who is facing the reality of getting older. Just don't want to lose all the gray matter. Now if my mother was talking she would say "They say..." and then proceed with the thing that They said. Now I ask you - Who in the Hell are "they" and what makes them the expert in this matter? All my life I have heard what they said but never have been told just who the hell they are and how did they get so smart? Now if that is not maddening then I just don't know what is! Why don't you go ask them???? So I will say.......... Scientists tell us( at least I know what and who scientists are) that our brain is like a muscle and needs constant exercise to keep it strong. So the more we stimulate our minds the better off we are. Keep those old neurons healthy guys! Sort of like push-ups for the brain. And I am all for exercising my brain. Lord knows that this is the ONLY exercise I was ever Gung-ho for!!!!! If I was interested in the physical type of exercise then I would be thin and strong and looking like Raquel Welch instead of good ole chubby me. Now I use Raquel as an example cause I am closer to her age than I am to any young beautiful movie star that I could name. And you have to admit the old girl sure is a beauty. And at her age! What exactly is here age, you ask? I did see her on Martha Stewart show promoting her new book (YES! I do watch Martha!!!!!) Well, I think its close to 70. Ohhhhhhhhhhh the big 70! I only have 9 1/2
years to go before the big 7-0! I am still trying to accept the big 6-0. Damn! I can't be 60 years old. Old people are 60 years old and I am not AN OLD PERSON!!!!!! And if you think that I am an old fart then you can just stop reading this blog and go away! No way! No sir! I am not an old person. I will never be an old lady. My mother allowed herself to become an old lady and I have not forgiven her for that but that's another post! I really am only 39. And in October I will be celebrating the 22nd anniversary of my 39th birthday! So there, you see? So much better than being an old 60. Whew! Now I feel better. OK, now what was I saying? Oh yeah................
So when I get to all these great blogs I get so energized. I want to make and do soooo many things. I print hundreds and hundreds of pages of good ideas and cool things that I want to do.
tinesy whittle nap! See you all in a few.......... and in my next post I think I will tell you all how to make really good and authentic Italian tomato sauce. Step by step and with all the little bits of knowledge about why you need to do it this way and what type of canned tomatoes to use etc. etc. etc. So you will then be an expert in the art of authentic Italian sauce and understand what makes good and bad sauce. And believe me.....there is more bad sauce than there is good sauce. So get ready! And remember - No self-respecting Italian cook ever ever adds oregano to their pasta sauce! Yuck! Oregano is for pizza! Never, never in spaghetti sauce. So If I were you - I would just toss that jar of oregano or put it under lock and key and forget about ever using it in tomato sauce.............. Wishing you all peace, love and joy!

Tilly Rose: Tilly's '100 Giveaway'

2010-05-28T09:47:00.000-04:00

Tilly Rose: Tilly's '100 Giveaway' This is the most adorable blog from the UK!

WELL I DID IT - I FINALLY DID IT!!!

2010-05-18T14:50:00.001-04:00

Well I did it! I confess! I have become a garbage monger. Last night the condo complex that I live in had a bulk pick up. I forgot about it until my husband came home from work at 9:30 p.m.Told me you wouldn't believe all the stuff at the curb across the street.........OMG! He should have never told me. Here I was in my Jammie's, watching Dancing with the Stars and I had to.......I just had to run upstairs (now if you know me - running is impossible for me to do with my arthritis) OK, I hobbled up the stairs about as fast as a turtle running a race and threw on my clothes.
Of course sans bra! Hobbled down the stairs, grabbed the emergency flashlight off the outlet and my cane and out the door I went. WOW!!! Randy was right....holy crap! Let me at it!!! I found an entire miniature Christmas village still in their boxes, bag of VHS tapes for the kids, Black and Decker scum buster scrubber still in the box, several other nice nearly new Christmas ornaments and wreaths, a Yankee candle - the big size one hardly used, wrought iron candle holder - the kind you put in your fireplace still in the box and a whole bunch of other stuff I can't seem to remember now. There were kitchen chairs, various TVs, electronics, computer components etc. etc. etc. Well you get the picture. I didn't even open any of the trash bags either. Of course the weekly trash pick up was put out too but you can tell the difference. What I just can't get over is the blatant waste of usable items that could have been freecycled or given to one of the local thrift shops. How sad that people are either too selfish or just don't think to donate. So many usable things just going to a landfill. Many people in this country are in need of these items and they just go to waste. Think about it my friends. If you have items that you no longer need no matter how old they are, if they are in good condition please think about donating or join your local freecycle group and give them away. I belong to Freecycle New Haven and have given and received many useful items. I just gave away one of our old cell phones to a lady who's phone was 8 years old. This phone was only 2 year old. We belong to a plan that gives us new phones every two years. She was sooooo happy to get it. And
I just gave a bag of clothing away to another freecycler. They were the items that just didn't fit me right but all new or gently used. You would not believe how many requests I received for these clothes! I finally just put everyones names into a hat and pulled out a name.
After I went through the items across the street from me, I decided to drive through the rest of the complex. Boy did I feel like a thief in the night!!!! But......I found a nearly new Fisher Price trike for my Chessie and an adorable child's picnic table. The table was round with four little round stools attached. Perfect condition. I had to go back home and get Randy to help get that one. I again saw so many usable things. A Hitchcock twin bed, a white metal bakers rack, TVs, etc. What a waste! My niece would like so many things for Chessie but lives on an almost nonexistent budget. So she was so thrilled about the picnic table and trike. I will divide the Christmas decor between her and Danielle. The kids will also get the VHS tapes as they still enjoy the old technology and do not care what the venue is as long as they get to enjoy the tapes.
My niece Diana and I have a laughing competition about who finds the most "great stuff" at yard sales. Here in southern New England we call them "tag" sales but also use the terms garage sales and yard sales. I honestly believe that I am the queen of the tag sale's! I cannot even begin to list what I have gotten at tag sales. I think that half of my house has been furnished from them. And I think my home is very classy and elegant. People never believe me when I tell them that. They think that I had a decorator help in designing my rooms. Nope! Just me and the Randy. But I admit I do not buy junk. It has to be nice or pretty or I need to have a use for it. Some of the items that I got this month are:
A Kitchenaid Juicer in the original box for 5.00. Sold for over 100.00!
Yards and yards of new fabric for sewing and craft projects. At least 200.00 worth of fabric for 20.00 at our local thrift store.
A set of Syracuse bone china - service for 12 - very beautiful - Governor Clinton pattern which included 8 Lenox cups and saucers and 4 dinner plates in the Eternal pattern, all for 30.00!
My china set is Lenox which was discontinues but the eternal pattern is the same dishes color and shape - just minus the flowers on it so I can use it with my wedding china to fill in what I don't have. Each cup and saucer is more than 30.00 each!
DVDs for 1.00 each.
Various crafting supplies for just pennies.
Yarn for my crochet projects for just a few dollars for a trash bag full!
The list goes on and on. People give me lists of items that they need so I can find them at tag sales. I am always happy to shop for them.

Soooo expensive! I love old things. China and glassware with flowers, old linens that are hand made, etc. My husband and I love to browse antique shops to see how much things are prices and then we laugh cause we bought the same item at a yard sale! But we paid only fifty cents or a dollar for them. My daughter went to her first yard sale when she was 4 weeks old. I would put her in her infant carrier and park her under a shady spot and browse the wares. There was nothing she wanted for when she was little. She had the best clothes, the best toys, the most books of any child in her school. The only difference was that her Mom got them for next to nothing and their Moms had to pay full price. No one ever knew. They just thought we were rich! They will never know how rich we really are! One of my best buys was a real genuine Louis Vouton purse. It had a broken zipper so I took it to the shoe repair shop and it cost me 5.00 for a new zipper. He was impressed with my purse. Said it was really nice. I paid one dollar for it. It originally cost about 1400.00 new. 18 years later I still have it and use it. My daughter went nuts when I told her I had it. It was put away in my closet and I even forgot it was there. You would have thought that I just produced the Holy Grail!! She was that excited and or course used it for 3 months before returning it to me. Gotta love it! Its in my blood.
I will always salivate at the sight of a tag sale sign.
Hope you enjoyed this posting. Don't forget you can drop me a line at Jiggsiemamma@sbcglobal.net anytime. Peace, Joy and Love.

Never say Never - You will always end up eating crow!!

2010-04-26T12:16:00.000-04:00

If there is anything that I have learned in my 60 years it is never to say never about anything.
One of my earliest lessons was when I was visiting with my sister-in-law Kathy. She had two little boys just 11 months apart. I was pregnant with my daughter. We were chatting about babies and baby food and I remember telling her that my kid was never going to eat babyfood from a jar! I was going to make all her food fresh from what we were eating for dinner. I had already bought a little babyfood processor and was ready to go. Yep, I was going to be Little Mommy Perfect! Never buy any babyfood in jars. Give my child only the freshest and best!. Yea - right!!
Then came the birth of my daughter. No babyfood worries for the first few months. I went back to work at 7 weeks. Worked full time and came home with baby. Exhausted! Frazzled! Disoriented!
Didn't know my butt from my elbow! Reality Mommy 101. Anything that is easy, causes less work and gives you more time to do important things. Like cook supper, wash clothes, wash dishes, etc. etc. etc. You get the picture right? All you moms out there - laughing your asses off at my foolishness! Babyfood in jars was the newest marvel of the 21st century. A mothers
dream come true. The greatest time saver ever. And as I think back on it (hindsight is 20/20)
I don't think my kid ever ate homemade babyfood. Ever! Boy did that crow stick in my throat.
These sentences also go along with the babyfood line.............My kid will never do that........
I will not ever do that to my kid............Any mother that does that to their kid should be...........
OK OK OK. You get the picture right?? All you guilty mothers out there - wipe that grin off you face! Stop calling me those names. After all, I am admitting to my transgressions! One example was picking up a thrown or dropped object off the floor and washing it before returning it to the little darling! How could any self respecting mother pick something up off a filthy floor and give it back to their child without washing it first? This lasted for several months. Until the day I was grocery shopping with my little darling. My child would never ever take a pacifier. If the nipple did not have liquid coming out of it she was not having any part of it. I remember it was a particular tiring day at work and I had to go shopping on the way home. My daughter had a bottle with her in the carriage. She was content to just drink her bottle while I shopped. Heavenly!!!! Until she dropped it. On the floor. In the grocery store..
Where there were billions and billions of deadly bacteria all over the floor. I bent down and picked it up. Put it in my purse. Then the screams started. Louder and louder they became.
Mommy explained to baby that the bottle was now dirty! She could not have it until it was cleaned. Screams louder and louder. Ugly looks from other shoppers. Thought I was killing my kid. (I wanted to smack her but that would just make her scream louder) You know how it is. You have been there and done that. Right? Well I then did the right thing.......I picked up the bottle.......stuck the nipple in MY mouth to wash it..........and handed it back to the kid who promptly stopped screaming bloody murder and contentedly drank her bottle like nothing had ever happened. When my daughter wanted to eat nothing or no one was going to get in her way of satisfaction or all hell would break loose. Boy that crow got harder and harder to swallow. And till this very day she will pitch a hissy fit if she dosen't get something to eat when she is hungry........no patience at all. Wants demand feeding or else. Now I can just call her a crabby bitch and thats that! Ahhhhhhhh.......soome lessions are easy to learn!

CROCHET NEWS

My latest crochet frenzie is making little blankets to go with my cabbage patch babies. I have decided that each doll needs their own layette to go with them. I belong to a monthly dishcloth exchange and need to make new dishcloths for my partner every month. I belong to many different crochet groups. They all have exchanges but some want a JIC (just in case) puffy sent to the group leader so if you become an exchange deadbeat they will send the JIC to your intended partner. The only problem is that some groups expect the JIC to be this monumentally large package with about 50.00 worth of stuff in it. I am exagerating just a tad bit but I still think that this is too much to ask for a JIC. I think that a monetary amount that would equal the project cost of yarn would be better. Or how about just going on faith that you will come through if you sign up? If you join a shawl exchange why do you have to send another shawl as a JIC?? I think that is a bit too much. I have never not sent my exchange allbeit I have been late due to keeping track of time. But I have always fullfilled my obligation.
So much for this gripe. Any comments?? Would love to hear from you. So far, I have not had any comments from anyone on any subject. I guess people are just nervous about writing.
Come on guys!! I need feedback!! I want to know what you think of my writing? Do I stink?
Do you like me? Should I hang it up? I love to hear from you all good or bad.
I wish you peace, joy and love always. Like the TV show V on abc.....we come in peace always!
God, I love that show. So scary that it could really happen.
Hugs to you all.
Annette

MY CABBAGE PATCH BABIES!!

2010-02-28T22:53:00.000-05:00

I must appologize to my dear readers! It has been a while since I last posted. I have been occupied with family medical issues. My daughter Danielle had surgery on Feburary 19 for removal of her gallbladder.
She has been having severe pain for several months and it got stronger and stronger. She had an ultrasound of her abdomen but it did not reveal anything wrong. She then had to have a nuclear scan of her gallbladder and it revealed a severely diseased organ. She had laparascopic surgery to remove it at one day surgery clinic at Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven. The surgeon was Dr. McLoughlin who removed my gallbladder in June of 2009. She came through the surgery with flying colors but she had severe pain in her chest and shoulders from the CO2 gas they use during the surgery. It can migrate to areas of the body and cause terrible pain. This I did not expect! It was awful to see my baby in such pain and I was helpless to do anything about it. We had wonderful nurses in the recovery room that did everything they could for her.
I had lap surgery twice and never developed pain from the CO2. I guess I was just lucky. She is continuing to do well and went back to school on thursday. She had enough of her mother hovering over her and waiting on her every little whim.

The good part of this month is that I have dressed 5 cabbage patch dolls for my charity project.! I have finally photographed them and I must say that they are adorable. I cannot wait until they are given to a sweet little child! I hope that they bring comfort and joy to the reciever! There are full sized CP dolls, premies and a super small premis in the light pink outfit. There is also a very small CP in the yellow and white dress with brown silky hair. The green and white outfit with the bonnet is the one I finished today.
I am working on a green and white varegated yarn dress with a very rufflie skirt. The skirt is so ruffled that it is taking forever to finish and there are more than 300 stitches in the skirt. I am going to put this dress on a full size CPK with bright orange yarn hair. She will look just darling in the green. The other CPK's are dressed in original CPK clothing. They all have diapers and undershirts and socks on! Just like a real baby. The newborn size diapers fit them just right. I have made a crochet sleeper for one doll and all it needs is to have the zipper sewn into it. I bought all the crochet patterns for CPK I could find on ebay. Crochetville had a whole bunch of patterns by "Darskie" I believe her name is Darleen Carlson who is a very talented designer. She also has a lot of designs for Dora dolls and the American Girl dolls. You just know that I printed every one of them. The Dora outfits only fit the dress me Dora doll - the one with the pink underwear painted on her. Evidently there are several different Dora dolls and the clothing does not fit the other sized dolls. Our Chessie loves the Dora DVD's and I am looking for the Dora doll to get for her. I plan on making all the outfits for her and giving them to her for Christmas. She will be five years old and I think she will enjoy them. As it is now, she likes her babies naked. The same way that she likes to be!
I remember so well when Danielle was three and four. After her bath she would jump up on my bed and dance naked in front of the mirror. She thought it was hilarious and loved to watch herself!! Her father and I would cringe every time she did this and would joke that our kid was going to be a stripper when she grew up. THANK GOD! she is not!!!! She cannot even believe that she did this. Of course it is one of those stories that parents can use to blackmail their kid with - LOL!

The CPK doll in the above photo in the blue and white dress does not have anything wrong with her left eye. Its just the flash reflecting in her eye. So what do you think? Do you like them? Please leave me a comment. I would love to her what you think about my babies! When I showed them to Danielle, she said she thought I should keep them all. She said she would start to play with dolls again if I did! What a nut!
I am 60 years young and I want to play with them. Hugs to you all!

2010-01-27T22:16:00.000-05:00

I NEVER STOPPED PLAYING WITH DOLLS AND OTHER STUFF!

2010-01-26T19:14:00.000-05:00

Hello Dear Readers! I hope that you are well and having a great week. I wish you joy and peace of mind and no stress....I wish you all to have all of your needs met and enough money to pay your bills and feed your families. I wish you happiness and laughter and sunshine in your life. I hope you remember to count your blessings every day for I know they are many. Don't forget to give thanks to the Universe and God for them all. The world loves a grateful heart.
Practice random acts of kindness. They will bring you joy! I have been in the drive thru line for many fast food restaurants. The best times are when I get to the window to pay for my order. I ask the person if the car in back of me has placed their order. If they have, I will pay for it. I tell the cashier to tell them it was from a friend. And then I drive off. I feel so wonderful all day long. Just thinking about their surprise and I hope delight when they find out that their order has been paid for makes me smile for a week! What a wonderful gift I have given myself!
I go through my day with a smile on my face. It makes people crazy when they ask what I am smiling at and I say "Oh Nothing!" hehehehehe! You should try it. I love to do it at Dunkin Donuts! It does not cost much for coffee and a donut and it brings such joy to the giver and the receiver. I don't do it all the time. I could not afford to. We all know how tight money is right now. But the rewards are great. I also like to pay it forward. If someone does something selfless and nice to me I will pay it forward by doing something nice to someone else. Imagine how happy and delighted you would be if you were in the car behind me and you found out that your order was payed for by a stranger?? It would not only make my day but make my week, month and year as well. I don't think I would ever forget it. Give it a try - you won't be sorry.

Now I have always had this giant attraction to Cabbage Patch Kids. I just love their little round, chubby, happy faces. When Danielle was little, she would go to yard sales with me every week. I would buy all the CPK dolls I found. The only ones I stayed away from were the ones that had ink on their faces. That almost never comes out. I didn't care if they were soiled or needed a stitch or two. I would throw them in the washer with a load of towels and bleach. Then I would air dry them. They came out like new. I have kept all Dani's dolls and she must have at least 12 CPK dolls. Lots of clothing and shoes. We also have a highchair, crib, carrier, diaper bag, and a few other items. Now that we have Francesca, I have another adorable little munchkin to buy dolls for! I have already gotten her 4 of them. Last week I went to our local Goodwill outlet store. I found 4 CPK there. They were each a different size from the largest to the small beanbag doll. Again I washed them in the washer and air dryed them. I got to thinking about how I could bring more dolls into my house without my husband going crazy. So........ I came up with this idea. I would collect the dolls all year long and crochet the clothes for them. Then next Christmas I would donate the dolls to the toy closet at Yale New Haven Hospital's Childrens Hospital. I would get to buy all the dolls I wanted, crochet their clothes and then make other little girls happy by giving them away! Chessie has been in Yale Childrens Hospital more times than any child should. I have been with them when they were being discharged and got to go to the toy closet. They always need more items for the kids and for all ages. I am thrilled with my decision! In the past two days I have already dressed one little girl doll and am working on a little boy premie beanbag doll (with a pacifier in his mouth)! The girl doll came out absolutely beautiful and the boy is adorable! My husband went crazy over them! He is actually excited about my project! Hooray!!!!! I am even going to make a pacifier holder for his outfit so it does not get lost! If any of you dear readers have any CPK dolls that you don't want let me know. I would be happy to pay you for them and for the shipping. There is a website that I found that has all info about CPK restoration. They even have instructions on how to restring their yarn hair. I can't remember which website it was but I did print out all the info so I would have it. If I can find where it is I will be happy to share the link with you.

Well dear readers, thats all I have to talk about today. I will photo the dolls and post the photos so you can admire my babies! I hope you might even like the idea and want to do a project of your own for the childrens hospital in your area! And don't forget those random acts of kindness!
Hugs to you all!

RAMBLINGS OF A CRAZY WOMAN!

2010-01-24T11:28:00.000-05:00

Hello dear readers! Its been a while since my last post. Hope you are all well and enjoying the new year. It seems that this winter will be a record breaker for cold and snow. Living in New England is a challenge with weather. One minute its freezing cold. the next its in the 40's. We get a foot of snow and in a week it's gone. Its enough to make a crazy person sane!
I have been in a kind of a slump lately. Not sure why but I seem to be having trouble finding a crochet project that I want to make and a subject I want to write about. What I have been doing is reading the Twilight sagas. There are four books and I had heard so much about them that I asked for them for Christmas. My dear daughter bought me all four books and the first dvd called Twilight. For those of you who do not know what the series is about I will briefly fill you in. It is about a high school girl named Bella who moves in with her father in a small town in Washington state. She meets a boy named Edward who she falls hard for. She is to find out that he is an immortal - a vampire. Except these vampires do not hunt humans, they hunt animals instead for their blood. Now I don't usually like books of this nature but this book is not a horror story with blood and gore and scaring the dickens out of you! It is a romance and a very exciting one at that. Oh and I forgot - there are also shape-shifting werewolves (not the type that are venemous and kill humans). They are from an indian tribe that can change into giant wolves to protect their people and who also hate vampires. To complicate the plot, one of Bella's best friends is a family friend named Jacob who becomes a werewolf. I never read scary books or watch horror movies because I am too much of a whimp. Do not enjoy them. But I had heard so much about this book that I wanted to see what they were about. I figured that if I didn't like it then I could just stop reading it and return the others that had not been read.
Well - OMG!!! I was hooked! Totally in love with them. They are fabulous and I was not able to put them down. I read one after the other and each one was wonderful. You get so caught up in their story that its almost like you were part of them. And the first DVD Twilight was awesome. Very true to the book. I always like to read the book first and then see the movie.
This did not disapoint me! I actually read all four novels within four weeks and they are books with many pages. At least 400 pages each. The only problem now is that I am finished with them and have no more of the story to read. What a bummer. I just hope and pray that there will be another book. Just like the Harry Potter series - which were my all time faves - there is so much excitement within the books that you never want them to end. My daughter never likes this type of book and refused to read the Harry Potter books. But she heard me rant so much about the Twilight book that she wanted to give it a try. She was hooked. She is currently on book two and is taking the other two books and the DVD back to school with her.

Speaking of my daughter - today she is moving back to school! Yea! Hooray! What? You are happy to see her go??? You bet I am! Thrilled as a matter of fact. She has been home since before Christmas when her semester was over. I loved having her home. Such a delight!
Right? Well some of the times. But, dear readers, she is, at best, a princess Bitch! I forgot about the PMS mood swings. A regular Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. One minute she is a sweet girls and the next she is the shrew! The shrew who could not be tamed! One habit of hers that drives me crazy is when she is hungry. She does this to me at home and in restaurants. Will not decide what to eat on her own. She will ask me what is there to eat......then I have to give her all the options she can choose from.....then she will tell me that she does not want any of them and what else can she eat? So I get pissy and tell her that if she wants anything else she can just go make it herself. Then SHE gets pissy and storms off to her room cursing under her breath along the way. If I do come up with a suggestion when she is in her room she then yells that she is not hungry! UGGGGGHHHHHHHH! I could just scream!! Now I know she has limited choices due to her gluten allergy. BUT....... And when we go to a restaurant it is the same thing. Can't make up her mind what to order so here we go again. God give me strength!!! Get the picture?? Have you ever???? I try very hard not to end up screaming at her but alas! I am only human. Sometimes the screams just come out no matter how hard I try to contain them. Not good when in a restaurant! At home nobody hears but us. But in public who's the bitch now?? You guessed it......ME. Then she gets this stony face and tells me she is embarrassed and to stop it. And I appologize. I hang my head and look remorseful. And so it goes. Now when she is at school, I don't have to hear it. She does call me every day and sometimes multiple times. Or texts me. I have to be ready to do her bidding. Drop everything and run to her. She only lives 10 miles away. Just MY luck!!! So I drop everything and run to her right? WRONG!! Only if I am not busy and was going out anyways. And I do cook things she can eat and will deliver food to her. For which she is very grateful. She has these other quirks too. She will see nothing wrong with spending $100.00 on a purse but she hates - absolutely resents - having to spend money on groceries, or shampoo, or deodorant. She expects me to provide these things for her. She has serious messed up priorities. But I must confess that although she has these quirks that are so annoying - she is a really good kid.
Very responsible. Works full time since highschool and pays her own way. Bought her car and makes her payments, has her own cell phone bill, her own insurance for the car and never asks for a penny for any oth them. She also pays for her own schooling and we help her whenever we can. It is hard for us with me not working due to my arthritis and now her Dad is losing his job. The electronics and appliance company he has worked for for 25 years has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be closing all 15 of their stores by the end of February.
He is depressed to say the least. We are hopeful that he will be hired quickly. He is an excellant manager and is well liked by all. Several other companies are interested in him and he has 3 interviews tomorrow. We are holding our breaths over this. We are in the same boat as so many of Americans. We are praying that we will not lose our home. I would appreciate all your prayers too. Prayers work miracles. But regardless of the outcome - it is in God's hands. We are still so very blessed. I am grateful for all my blessings large and small.
And we have faith. God will provide. So dear readers, that is all for today. May you all be richly blessed with peace, joy, good health and happiness. Y'all come back now, hear??

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEW YEAR!!

2009-12-27T13:51:00.000-05:00

GOOD MORNING DEAR READERS!I hope your Christmas holiday was wonderful. I hope Santa brought you lots of nice presents. I hope you had peace and joy and love during your holiday. And now I hope you are on the road to recovery from the stress of your holiday. I know I am. We had a wonderful day with my family. Just the six of us. My husband Randy, daughter Danielle, niece Diana, nephew Brandon and niece Francesca. And of course the 5 little furry children. Who, by the way, became totally stoned on their Christmas present of catnip. They were so funny! Francesca aka Chessie was so enthralled with presents! She is an absolute angel. For those of you who do not know, Chessie was born with Trisomy 21 aka Down's syndrome. She is an adorable child and so bright and smart. But the trisomy has its physical problems which keep these kids a bit behind "normal" kids. They have physical developmental delays. She is a tiny child, about the size of a two year old. She was 4 on December 15. She weighs 30 pounds and is 36 inches tall. She does have issues with eating and drinking which can be a challenge to her Mom. She will not drink fluids from a glass and will only drink water in sips or her prescription formula from a bottle. She is still our baby! She is also not potty trained in spite of numerous attempts to do so. Chessie is very strong willed and will only do what she wants to do. And that does not include going potty on the big girl potty! Her speech is delayed and she tends to use only the first syllable of words. So it is pretty much her own language but we do understand her and she has no problems with understanding what we say to her. And she has a terrific memory. She just loves opening presents. She would sit in her little Elmo armchair and say "More!" When the presents were all opened she proceeded to help open any other persons presentsand would oooh and aaahhhh over each gift. She was just too precious. She loves to be at our home because she pretty much can do anything she wants to do without restrictions. Of course she is spoiled. Spoiled with love!!! She is our gift from heaven above. God blessed all our lives with wonder when he sent us this child. No other child could be more loved. She just loves when I crochet things for her. And she will get up into my chair and take a crochet hook and yarn and try to crochet. She is still too young to learn yet but I have tried and will keep on trying to teach her until I succeed. It is such a joy to teach her. She is very bright and catches on quickly.Brandon Michael, her big brother is also mentally challenged. He has moderate mental impairment, Autism, Tourette's syndrome, multiple food allergies and ADHD.He can have behavioral issues at times. Medications do not work for him. We are able to diffuse a difficult behavior situation when it begins. He is a very very loving sweet boy. He will be 24 on January 26 but his mental age is about 6. He adores his sister and is very gentle with her. He lives at a group home during the week and has a job (with one on one supervision only) and comes home on Friday afternoon and returns on Monday morning. We call it school. He loves all things that are boy like monster trucks, guns (Nerf), tools etc. He is also very attached to any type of keyring, old keys, flashlights, and walkie-talkies. Or anything small and electronic whether or not he can work it. He also loves Cd's and dvd's.He carries around a stack of dvds everywhere he goes sort of like a security blanket for him. He loves to listen to his music on a portable cd player. He likes just about any kind of music and can tell you the name of the song and the artist at any time. If any of you dear readers have any old keys or keyrings and would like to give them to him I will be happy to pay for postage so email me if you do.I always look for these items at yard sales and thrift shops. He is very attached to me and I am his Godmother. He calls me "Auntie". He has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh. We have a great time together. I have a special ability to "defuse" him when he gets upset. I think one of the best presents I gave him was a keyring that burps. It burps in 2 or 3 modes and burps the alphabet! He just loves it. He is such a goof!! He does not have contact with his bio-dad. He calls my Husband "Daddy" because he is like a father to him. He does understand that Randy is really his uncle but likes to call him Dad. Also, the baby calls him Daddy. She has never known the bio-dad because he wanted nothing to do with the child since she was born. So Randy is the only daddy she has known and does he adore her! He loves her as much as he loves our daughter. He is truly a wonderful man, kind and loving. I am a blessed woman! Well, dear readers, you have now learned a lot more about my family. I would love to learn about you and your family so if you have a blog please send me a line or just send me an email about yourself. There are no such things as strangers, just friends you have not met yet.God bless and have a wonderful day!Hugs,Annette

COUNTING DOWN THE HOURS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

2009-12-24T12:53:00.000-05:00

HELLO TO ALL MY DEAR READERS! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!Now that said, just give me a bed and let me die in peace! I am exhausted! I get this way every year. Why? you ask? Because I am a nut case! I HAVE to do this and I HAVE to do that. It must be done today or it cannot wait until tomorrow. I HAVE to find that last little gift. I CAN'T SAY NO! I have nophobia. I am unable to say no to anything when it comes to my family. I can do it. It won't take long. Are these words familiar to you? Do you suffer from the same disease? Are you overcome with feelings of guilt if you don't do it? Will the world come to a flaming end if it doesn't get done? Will hell freeze over. Does a chicken have lips? Was the pope polish? Does a bear poop in the woods? The answer is YES YES YES YES YES AND YES!!!!I can't stop. I must do it. It has to get done! I am crazy, just all out blooming crazy! You think I would learn my lesson. But NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not me. Every year it is the same thing. Total exhaustion and it's my own fault!Now take today for example. My daughter wants a leopard or zebra snuggie. You know those things they advertise on tv - the blanket with arms. Cute little idea.Last week I saw a bajillion of them in every store I went to. Did I buy it???Nooooooooooo, of course not! Oh, they will have them everywhere. Well guess what?Those stupid little blanket things that are destined to make their creator a bloodymillionaire are completely sold out! Just like the Cabbage Patch dolls of the 70's and 80's. My husband and I went to 8 different stores today. Yep, that's right.This idiot went to 8 different stores in search of the elusive snuggie. One store had 5 kids sizes and one had 3 dog snuggies (how the hell do you put a snuggie on a dog?). But not one stinking snuggie for adults. Not a one. Everywhere you go the damn things are sold out. There is going to be a whole bunch of people with snuggies whether or not they wanted one. They are definitely going to be gifted with a snuggie. But guess what? MY DAUGHTER IS NOT GOING TO BE ONE OF THEM CAUSE I CAN'T FIND A SNUGGIE ANYWHERE!!! Am I having a nervous breakdown over it??? You betcha I am. In the words of Fred Sanford - "get ready Elizabeth - I'm coming - this is the big one). Will she get over this? Of course not. She wanted a snuggie for Christmas and the princess of more than enough will not be getting a snuggie this year! Will she pout for the rest of the day? You betcha she will!And I guarantee you that she will never let me forget it either! Here comes another 3 years of therapy for me! I can hear it now. We will be gathered together in the future with my 6 grand-kids (that's how many she says she wants)and she will be telling her kids - "Did I ever tell you of the Christmas that I wanted a snuggie and never got one???"...........Now I also had to go to the grocery store to pick up the seafood for tonight's dinner. We are having the usual fish dinner for Christmas eve. Baked stuffed shrimp with seafood stuffing, Scrod, Scallops wrapped in bacon and spaghetti with clam sauce. Oh and fresh green beans and tossed salad and shrimp cocktail. Then for dessert there is pumpkin pie, pecan pie and 32 different varieties of Christmas cookies all hand made by me. Thats right! You did not read it wrong. I made 32 different cookies for Christmas. 28 regular varieties and 4 gluten free kinds for my daughter and nephew. Oh and 2 pies are regular and 2 are gluten- fee. Do you know how many different cookies there are in 32 varieties???? Too damn many. We give cookies to everyone! No one is spared! People line up at my door with their hands out begging for a cookie, just one little cookie. I am famous. So why aren't I rich????? My daughter says the gluten free ones I made are so delicious that I should set up a web site and start selling them. The cost of gluten free baked good are astronomical! Just the mixes alone are 5 to 8 dollars a box. I have come up with my own personal gluten free baking mix and it works well. She thinks that I will be the next Martha Stewart??? Oh and did I mention that I only use 100%pure butter in all my baking? Anything less than real butter should be outlawed when it comes to cookie baking. There are just no substitutes for real butter!Ok dairy men - where is my kickback for that?? And did I mention the nuts? Pecans, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts! They cost more than 14K gold! And I use tons of them.Pounds and pounds and pounds. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of nuts then I use 2 cups. I like to taste the nuts in my cookies. Yesterday my husband and I were shopping for gifts in our local Kohls. We were in the housewares dept. and there was this cute young man shopping for his wife. He seemed to be in a quandry so I asked him if he needed help. He showed me a list as long as his arm and said "she wants cookie sheets" Sooooooo........I proceeded to educate him on the virtues of cookie sheets and showed him examples of good ones and bad ones and that price was an important factor in choosing a good cookie sheet and that double walled ones will never burn her cookies but if he bought the thin ones then I guaranteed him that his cookies would be black and he would be buying new cookie sheets next year. He responded with tears in his eyes - yea, our sheets are kind of lumpy and twisted. I proudly proclaimed that I was the QUEEN of cookie baking and just last week I made 32 different kinds for Christmas. Then he really started to cry and grabbed my arm begging me to adopt him. I hate to see a grown man cry. But I reassured him that if he bought his wife the right cookie sheets then she too could become a cookie queen or at least a cookie princess and that he would have many years of wedded bliss and eat glorious cookies to boot. He was profusely thanking me and kissing my hand as my husband was dragging me by the arm to the cash registers. He can be soooo touchy at times.And did I tell you that on Monday evening my daughter volunteered to have their work Christmas party at our house? Yes, 25 lovely women to feed and entertain.She told them to BYOB but failed to tell them to bring food! Oh no, not necessary - my Mom is a great cook and will make stuff! And of course, Supermomdid just that! There was enough food for 50 lovely ladies to eat and plenty of leftovers. I have to admit, the compliments were wonderful. Nothing like being told that your food is great! Makes it all worth while. I felt that I owed it to my daughter to have a great party. After all, she has not been able to entertain for the last 3 1/2 years while my niece was living in my living room with her two kids.Last year we did'nt even have a tree cause the only place for one was to hang it from the ceiling. So this year we have 6 Christmas trees. One big one and 5 small ones of various sizes and decor. You might say that we are making up for lost time.And I guess we are.I even managed to get in a little crocheting during all this work. I finished a dishcloth for my January partner in a dishcloth exchange and finished a scarf for my niece Francesca. Never did finish the afghan for Danielle. She might think it was a substitute for that damn snuggie!!! Oh well, Valentine's Day is coming.And I heard her exclaim as she drove out of sight, Merry Christmas to all anddoes anyone want a cookie??? Please???Peace and Joy to you all.Hugs,Annette

POEMS THAT I HAVE WRITTEN

2009-12-17T11:11:00.000-05:00

Good morning! I would like to share some of the poems that I have written with all of you dear readers. I hope that you enjoy them. I would love any feedback you may have about them.

My wish for you by Annette McKitrick

How bright the sun up in the sky

The wispy clouds that drift on by
How sweet the song birds fill the air
How gentle the breeze that lifts your hair
How warm the sunshine on your skin
How joyfull your heart beats deep within

I wish beauty and peace to fill your days
Joy and love to send your way
Your desires and dreams may soon be fulfilled
And love keep your heart quiet and still

May your troubles be tiny, may sorrows be few
May you always have springtime inside of you
To know only kindness and love so true
These are the things I wish for you

Christmas Wishes for Our Armed Forces
by Annette McKitrick

You won't be home for Christmas
on this very special day
My heart is sad this Christmas
while you are far away

Duty to our country
took you across the seas
But in my heart this Christmas
you will be close to me

The call to protect our freedom
is your gift to the USA
So Christmas here without you
will be a lonely day

Without you here our family
is lost and incomplete
You fight to protect our country
with victory over defeat

You won't be home this Christmas
But that's OK with me
My angels are there with you
And will return you safe to me.

FRANCESCA

A baby girl was sent to us

One cold and wintry day

Her birth was a very difficult one

And her mother began to pray

She call upon her God above

To help her little one

And the angels came to comfort her

They filled her heart with love.

Rest easy sweet laboring mom

There is ought for you to fear

God’s angels have all gathered round

His love for you is near.

The babe was brought into this world

As the doctors did their part

Looks of sadness upon their faces

Struck terror in the mothers heart

I have bad new to tell about

This sweet little babe newborn

She is not like all other babes

Said the doctor all forlorn.

What’s wrong with her please tell me now

The mother shouted out

Your baby has Down’s syndrome

The doctor’s voice rang out.

The mother took her baby home

And she began to grow

Each day that passed was special

Her mother’s heart did know.

As pretty as a sunrise

All golden, pink and light

Her auburn curls gleamed softly

To brighten up the night.

Her skin as soft as roses

Her eyes as blue as the sky

A prettier child you’ll never see

A truth you can’t deny

Each day she fills our hearts with love

She’s as smart as smart can be

And makes us laugh at her antics

She fills our lives with glee!

And the love she gives to everyone

That meets this little one

Brightens up their faces

To shine like light from the sun

Some people say she’s handicapped

They pity her family

Not one of us who love her

Would never ever agree

She’s a beautiful gift from God above

No more blessed could we be

She fills our empty hearts with love

For all the world to see.

Eternity by Annette McKitrick

I remember when first I saw your face

It intrigued me. Your eyes full of passion and grace

Nothing remarkable – just a spark in my soul.

Wanting to know more but wondering why?.

We did not speak each others language

But the spark gave way to flames.

Talk is not important when

speaking the words of the soul

My trembling heart remembers

From many life-times past

You were my love for eternity

No world could keep us apart.

And yet these moments of passion

Were fleeting in our lifetime

We both knew that we would have to wait

Until our souls come again..

MY BELOVED by Annette McKitrick

M any times you told me you love me

Y our eyes so blue mirror the beauty of your soul

B eing with you is all I ever wanted

E cstacy is yours and mine alone

L oving you more and more each day

O nly you can play the music that I dance to

V ibrant is how I feel when I’m with you

E very day with you is a gift from God

D evoted to you I shall always be

The Journey by Annette McKitrick

I chose to go on a journey

The most important one in my life

It started out in a hospital

But was not with stress and strife

I began with much thought and soul searching

It was not so easy to do

I entered into it joyfully

With positive thoughts thru and thru.

It took me down long winding pathways

Places I’ve never been to before

But entered with great expectations

And I knew that I want to learn more.

My life had been full of trials,

Prejudices and grief

It was time to turn the tides of disapproval

And to swim towards the shores of relief.

This journey was not going to be easy,

No magic bullet that would make everything right.

It takes a great deal of planning,

Support and positive insight

Everything that I ever had lived with,

Would have to be changed overnight

The newness at times overwhelmed me

But I kept my eyes on the light

The days passed by ever slowly

And I wanted results right away

But anything worth having takes time

And Rome wasn’t built in a day.

I didn’t embark on this adventure

For anyone other than me

This trip was granted by heaven

The results are for all to see.

Some days brought joy and contentment

Some days were filled with fright

When ever I consumed the right item

It filled my soul with delight

So on and on I traveled

But no road weary person was I

I adored hearing the compliments

That lifted my soul ever high

Now whatever road my life seems to travel

Where ever I choose to be

I stand tall and slender

From this gift that was granted to me.

. .

ALONE

By Annette McKitrick

Alone, why do I feel so all alone?

An island floating in a dark stormy sea

Where is the love I once knew?

Where is the caring?

Alone, why do I feel so alone?

My heart is heavy, fearing it will never

Feel the warmth of the sun again.

The cold murky waters lap at my soul.

The Darkness oppresses me

As I feel my way around this box

That has enclosed me.

Alone, why do I feel so all alone?

I long to feel joy again, I long to have

A reason to be happy.

But how can I feel these emotions

When my life has lost its purpose.

Searching for so long to feel whole again

Knowing that you have closed your heart to me

Wanting it to open up and enfold me once more

This is the wanting in my soul.

Alone, why do I feel so all alone?

And last but not least is the first poem I wrote. I should say the first serious poem.

I wrote it 3 days after 9/11 and the pain was still a raw wound in our nations hearts.

It was published by the Branford Review, our hometown newspaper. It was given a full page spread with photos of 911 surounding the poem. I was quite honored. I know that it has been emailed half way around the world. I hope that you enjoy it.

The Day America Cried by Annette McKitrick

The sun shone brightly that morning There was not a cloud in the sky
Life went on just as always The day America cried.
We were not thinking of evil
The tragedy was not forseen
Our country changed in a heartbeat
By the sounds of thousands of screams.

Can you remember what you were doing?
The day America cried
Can you remember your shock and your sorrow?
When you learned how many had died.

Our Country so strong and so vibrant
Was quickly brought to its knees
The work of a madman's desires
Who lives far away across the seas?

An act of terror so heinous
Our minds cannot comprehend
The lives of thousands of heroes
Abruptly would come to their end.

The pain in my heart consumes me
My grief remains ever strong
I cannot forget this sorrow
It clings to me all the daylong.

Our hearts are crying for answers
We long to understand why
For families who lost loved ones
The day America cried.

Our faith and our spirits were tested
But God was guiding our land
The tide of adversity strengthens us
And together united we stand.

The many brave men and brave women
In our hearts forever will stay
By actions and deeds made immortal
Heroes were born on that day.

So what gained you out of your evil?
For you there is no place to hide
America is stronger than ever
We stand as one nation with pride

Christmas Time Lament of the Over Stressed!

2009-12-16T10:26:00.000-05:00

Hello my friends! Please forgive me but I am rapidly falling into the "Christmas Panic Mode" of life. You know that one - too much to do, too little time and no money! We are all suffering from this. I have been diligently baking a jillion christmas cookies. So far, I have made 10 different kinds. I usually make at least 20 varities but this year it will be more. My daughter has a gluten intolerance and cannot eat wheat flour. I have been adapting my recipes to be gluten free. This is a whole new chapter in baking. I have finally found a GF flour recipe that seems to work well. Also, she can have a certain amount to spelt flour.
She is not Celiac disease but we think it is a gluten allergy. We have so many allergies in our family and her cousin Brandon also has the allergy. People with celiacs disease cannot have spelt flour because it is related to wheat and has a certain amount of gluten in it.
Dani can eat the spelt bread from Trader Joe's. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I made her spelt dinner rolls with potatoes in the recipe. I just substituted the spelt for the wheat flour and made them as usual. They were absolutely delicious and she kind of went crazy with them. She probably ate 5 or 6 of them in one day and she did get sick.
She never ate that much spelt before and it did react with her. She gets terrible pains in her stomach and then vomits. Sooooo - she now knows that she cannot over do it with spelt. I find if I use half spelt and half GF flour it works well. The cakes are the best with a velvet crumb and smooth texture. They are slightly heavier than wheat flour products but most people cannot taste the difference. I have found some great recipes for cookies on the web. The cut out sugar cookies were superb. I could not tell the difference from my regular sugar cookies. The only difference is that the GF mixture could not roll out as thin but not too much difference. Still very crisp and highly enjoyable. If any of you are GF diet and would like the recipes, leave me a comment and I will post them.

My husband just adores cookies. I call him the cookie monster. Would be happy to eat them for every meal. We give a lot of cookies as gifts and he always brings a huge tray of cookies into work on Christmas Eve day. He has gotten quite good at helping me make the cookies but has so little time off. He has been working 12 to 14 hour days and will only have one day off until Christmas. Many of those hours are evening. Today he is working from 8 am to 11 pm. Well, thats the retail bussiness for you! We are just so glad that he has a job! No complaining here.

Have you gotten all your shopping done yet? I am not even close. I try to order things online but I am starting so late this year. Went to Victoria's Secret site last night to order some items from my Dani's wish list. Not one thing is available. They have items in the stores but it is so hard for me to go to the mall. They do not have power scooters to use and there is too much walking for me to do. But I am going to have to hit some of the shopping center stores for gifts. I hate to think about it.

Sunday was Francesca's 4th birthday and we had her party at our house. What a little angel she is!! Children with trisomy 21 (Down's Syndrome) are so special. They are truly angels and God's gift to us. She was so happy and excited over opening her presents.
After we had birthday cake and all the presents were opened, she came and got me out of the kitchen, pulled me by the hand, and brought me into the living room She sat down on her little Elmo chair and then looked at me and said "Auntie, more!" Bless her little heart, she wanted more birthday presents!!! And of course I wanted to buy the world and give it to her in that moment! Dani gave her her first tricycle. A Barbie one that is like a big wheels, but pink and white. She cannot quite reach the petals but was scooting all around the house. It was obviously a big hit! I just love to spoil her. I am always finding little presents for her and she gets so excited when I tell her that "auntie has a present for you". She has blessed our hearts and our lives with so much joy. We are all crazy in love with her. Her nickname is Chessie and we call her Chessie Lou Who after the little girl in the Seuss book. She is so tiny for her age. Still wears a size 2 or 3.

I have been crocheting only at night lately and not that much either. Last night I made 2 bookmarks and am working on a hat for Chessie for christmas. She loves to watch me crochet and likes when I make things for her. I had to try on a pink hat I am making for her and it was good that I did. It was too big and too long so I had to rip out a few rows and make some decreases at the rim to fit her properly. She loves the bright pink color of the yarn. Its going to have Mickey Mouse ears on it too. Very cute. I am putting ties on it so it will stay on her head for more than one minute.

Well dear readers, I hope you have enjoyed this posting. I now must go and put color in my hair. I am looking like a skunk! You know, white stripe down the middle! I am pure white in hair color and have been since I was in my forties. Runs in my Dad's family. I never remember him without grey hair. I won't let it go natural cause I will look like an old lady and I am never going to be an old lady. Never, never, never! I only feel like I am 35. Mentally that is. Physically is another story. Enjoy your week. Hugs to you all.

CROCHETED CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

2009-11-28T15:02:00.000-05:00

Hello dear reader,
I have posted photos of some of the christmas tree ornaments I have made using the same pattern for all of the "bulbs". I used different yarns and threads. I used worsted weight yarn with a gold crochet thread. They came out heavier but I liked the weight and they hold up to the decorations. I also used double strand of #10 thread. These were a little smaller but still great. I found som sequins in the shape of snowflakes and the greeting "Merry Christmas" in sequin material. The others I used scrapbooking brads in different sizes, shapes and colors.
The candy cane ornaments were the ones I described in an earlier post. They are from a current magazine. They are just double crochet in a long string. I used white glue and water for stiffening and dried them on aluminum foil. I love them and they are just adorable.
I did manage to make one snowflake out of #5 thread and It came out so cute. I am not a big fan of making doilies and snowflakes, I love the look of them but I don't enjoy crocheting them as nuch as I enjoy working with yarn.

The christmas trees are finally decorated and photos made. I used garland on one but not the other. I got sick and tired of burning my fingers on the hot glue so I didn't put garland on the second one. I think that they look adorable anyways. I had the cutest little vintage wooden ornaments and also some resin ones. On one I glued some little wrapped packages onto the base of the tree. One is for me and the other is for my niece and the kids. I know that they will enjoy them. Send me photos if you make one of my trees. I would love to see what you have done.

PHOTOS OF THINGS I HAVE MADE

2009-11-28T14:46:00.000-05:00

Hello dear reader,
I have posted the photos of my butterfly pins that I crocheted. I think they came out just adorable. I love them all. Each one has its own personality and won't they look lovely on a dress or coat? The original pattern was from a blog I came across. I will try to post the link. She made them with single strand of #10 thread but I found that they were too tiny. I used double strand #10 thread and they came out just perfect.
I also improved upon the pattern by slip stitching all around the edges of the butterfly to make it a solid piece. I had trouble with the craft wire that I had on hand because one was too thick and it would not go thru the hole in my bead and the other was on the thin side and the ends didnt curl as nicely as I would have liked. When I go to the craft store again I will pick up some appropriate sized wire. I believe a 22 or 23 gauge wire is probably the best size. They are so quick and easy to make.

Holiday Games - Online community and dress up games for girls

2009-11-27T20:56:00.000-05:00

Holiday Games - Online community and dress up games for girls

CHRISTMAS IS COMING THE GOOSE IS GETTING FAT!

2009-11-27T20:08:00.000-05:00

YES Dear Reader - Christmas is coming whether or not you are ready for it. Is anyone ever really ready for Christmas??? I know that I am not. I love Christmas, the spirit of the season,
the excitement on children's faces, Santa bringing gifts, wonderful meals and desserts, the lights, the trees, the joy.....
The stress, the anxiety, the lack of time, the lack of money, how will I get it all done? Where will the money for gifts come from? How will we pay our bills, the mortgage, the rent? These are realities of the season. For many there will be leaner times this year. For those of you who are fortunate to still have their jobs, maybe it won't be too difficult. Leaner but you will still have a Christmas. For those who are jobless,
the tasks will be much harder. How can we face all our adult obligations and still keep the meaning of Christmas in our hearts and our homes. We as a society put much importance on gift giving. All you ever hear is "I want...". Maybe this year will be a good time to think of others. The families who are not so fortunate to have a big Christmas. I know that in my heart I wish I could just chuck it all away. The gift giving,
the hype, the commercialism of the holiday. The real reason for the season - peace, joy, HOPE that the world will continue because of one solitary man's birth. Love, this is the secret!
We need to show more love. To each other, to our kids, our spouses, our classmates, our workmates, our friends, our families, to strangers, to ourselves! We have the wonderful gift of free spirit. This means that we can choose how we want to live each day. I choose to live in love, not fear. Fear is the antichrist. Fear is the root of all evil. Fear will grow and grow and grow until it becomes all powerful in our lives if we let it. If we choose it. But we do not have to choose fear.
We can choose love. Love is the most powerful thing in the universe. Love is strength, power, freedom, joy, contentment, happiness. Only love has the power to cancel out fear. Only you can choose which you want to live in. Do you choose fear or do you choose love? Everyday when I open my eyes and get out of bed, I choose to live my life in Love and not fear. Sometimes I need to make a conscious effert to choose love. Sometimes I need to say it out loud. I have it printed on a piece of paper and taped to my bathroom mirror just in case I forget. And when I say those words either out loud or inside my head, I feel the power that those words contain. A power that comes deep inside your soul to make you remember. Love, all we need is love. Love is what gives me strength. Love is what gives me hope. Love is what brings me happiness. Love is what makes me want to help others. Love is what makes me want to give back or pay it forward. Love is what gives me serenity. Love is what makes the sun shine brighter. Love is what makes life worthwhile.
It matters not what your faith or beliefs are. It matters not where you live or how you worship. Love is light. Fear is darkness. Just these few simple words - I choose to live today in love, not fear! Life changing, soul changing. Let us remember that Christmas is the season for love ever lasting.
The kids will still want their presents, your spouse will still want the roast beef and christmas cookies by the dozen and you will still get frazzled. But love will make it easier, less overwhelming, strengthen you. Love will make it all right.
So tomorrow morning when you awaken, make a conscious effort to choose to live your life in love, not fear and see where it takes you. You will be amazed. You will witness miracles! And so dear reader, on this day after Thanksgiving, I wish you all love! I love you!
Peace and Joy
Your friend Annette

YARD SALE DIVA!!!

2009-11-21T11:57:00.000-05:00

Hello my dear readers!

One of my passions is to find old ugly or not so ugly things and redo or remake them into

beautiful accessories for my home. I have to admit that I am the Queen of the yard sales!

It is an excitement that cannot be duplicated. It ignites a fire in my blood. When I am driving on the weekend and I see a yard sale the adrenaline starts to pump, my hands get sweaty and my heart beats out of my chest. Reality ceases to exist for me and I turn into

Yardsale Super Diva!! I park the car and get out in a trance. My eyes immediately turn into xray vision and I scan the area with the ability of a high powered microscope! I immediately zone into the area that my radar detects. Quickly I go over to the spot and pick up my treasure! I clutch it in my hot little hands and then zone in on the next treasure. Is the price right? Do I need to haggle with the owner? Is it too heavy to lug around while I search for the next item? I locate the owner of the sale and quickly negotiate a place to lay my purchases while I shop. I keep one eye on my treasure trove of finds while searching for another bargain. If a stray shopper gets too close to my pile I shout out "Sorry - those are MINE!" and glare at her with the look of death! She quietly slinks away not wanting to get into it with a crazed woman. She knows the dangers that lurk there! Now there are times when I go to a sale and do not find one object to buy. I cannot even begin to relate to you what this does to my psyche. It is total and utter devastation! I immediately drop into the black hole of deep depression and this can only be relieved by finding a new sale. Or you drop into a sale where they really have junk - things that should be tossed into a dumpster and they have prices that are near to telephone numbers! Then the annoyance rears its ugly head and I have all I can do not to shout out obscenities. I really want to tell them "what! are you all crazy? You have prices on this totally worthless junk that would single handedly relieve the gross national debt!" "Get a life! No one is going to pay those astronomical prices for this crap!!!!"

There! That relieves my frustrations! Now in New England and especially in Connecticut, we refer to yard sales as "Tag Sales". I am going tagging! And the cycle begins anew. My daughter who is now 21 was only 2 weeks old when I took her to her first tag sale. I would lift the carrier out of the carseat and find a nice shady spot to sit her while I perused the sale. If there was not a shady spot I would put the sunshield up on the carrier and lug her around. I rarely had to buy her new clothes in stores. I found almost everything I needed and wanted at the sales. I saved thousands of dollars while she was growing up. I am very picky and only bought baby items from homes that were pristine and stylish. I loved buying toys at sales too. My daughter wanted for nothing.

I found fabulous items of great expense for pennies. She was dressed like a little princess with clothes bougtht at the most expensive baby botiques. People were envious of how she looked! Could never figure out how I did it! My little secret known to only a few elite ones. And the items I found for my home! Antiques, period furniture, waterford crystal, lenox china, sterling silver etc. etc. etc. etc. Did I ever tell you that I have a photographic memory? I only need to look at an object and I can tell you when I bought it, where I bought it and how much I paid for it. And I can remember 20 years later! My husband says that I am messed up! He can't remember what he had for breakfast. His favorite line is "how in hell can you remember that???" I just smile, shrug my shoulders and say

"I just do".

My family took to making lists of things they wanted or needed and gave them to me.

They were always amazed when I would call them and tell them to come and pick up their items. I would make lists of items for myself too. Usually I would find the objects within 2 weeks. The only time I would buy toys in the toy store was for birthdays, Christmas and special rewards. And of course for other kids. But if I found a toy that was unopened and still in excellant condition I would buy it and put it in my gift box and then I would select the appropriate gift from there. I never gave used gifts. I don't even like to regift items. I just give them away if I don't like them. But when someone give me a gift and they put time and energy into choosing it for me, I will keep it for the spirit of love with which it was gifted to me. If it was really hideous I would hide it in a closet and only take it out when the person came to visit.

Now I took great pride in keeping my daughters thing in great condition. Toys were all kept with their appropriate pieces and instructions. Clothing was free from stains and tears. If it was worn out it got tossed. And I would then have an annual yard sale to sell all her outgrown clothing and toys. People would beg me to let them come over before the sale to buy things. Mothers would stalk me in the supermarket wanting to know what I had for sale. Women would try to outbid each other at my yard sales. It was that good!!! Smart women know a bargain when they see one. And I can tell that you are ALL very smart women! And maybe a few guys. My husband Randy loved to brag to other people about the great finds that his wife bought at a yard sale. And he even enjoyed going to them with me. But if truth be known - I preferred to go without him. I can thank God that his job has him working every saturday!

And now the creme de la creme! I was fortunate enough to go to a sale at a Catholic Nuns home. Volunteers ran the sale. I purchased 3 trash bags of yarn for approximately 20.00. The was tons of yarn in thos bags. All in like new condition. But sad to say that most of the yarn was wool. Why sad do you say? Well.....I am allergic to wool and can only use synthetic or cotton fibers. But I sorted all the yarn by brand and color and bagged it up. Then I listed it all on eBay at auction. Most of the yarn was vintage. And big lots with enough to make lots of sweaters etc. All the yarn sold and it netted me over 300.00!! YaHoo! Hows that for a profit??? I never dreamed that women went crazy for vintage wool yarn. I am a crocheter and not a knitter and maybe that is the difference.

And then what do I do in the winter months when there are no yard sales? Well, I seriously thought of moving to Florida for this reason but my husband would not hear of it. So I dilegently go to thrift stores and consignment shops. Now thats another chapter...................for another post!

Peace and Joy!

Annette

2009-11-20T11:29:00.000-05:00

Hit Counter

2009-11-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

Hello to my dear readers! I have been soooooo lazy these past few days. We all need to have lazy days and just do nothing. I am trying to convert my closet from summer to winter clothes but the problem is that I don't remember where my winter clothes are. And why you ask, did I not label the bins with the winter clothes in them?? Well, I did not want to marr the outside of the bins with writing and make them look tacky ! Its tough to be getting older. They say that the mind is the first to go......its just that I can not remember which bins they are in and I only have about 50 bins in my overcrowded basement. By the way - speaking of my basement - I don't know about you all but I need to wear combat gear just to go downstairs. You take your life in your hands truly!! One time we lost my husband down there and he didn't come up for 3 days. We were going to send down the National Guard! LOL! Don't mind me - I just think I am funny but my daughter tells me that no one else thinks I am funny!

I have been making these crocheted candy canes. They are in the christmas issue of crochet magazine. They are the easiest things ever to make. Using thread you chain a length that you want, double crochet to the end and finish off. You make one white and one red or one red and one green. Then you make a solution of white glue and water, dip the strips into the mix and then twist the two together. I lay them out on a piece of aluminum foil so they won't stick. Let them dry and Voila! cute candy canes for you tree. Now why did't I think that one up?? You can crochet a jillion strips in about an hour. Imagine how many you can make in a day! Why we would just have a house filled to overflowing with candy canes!

I received a great puffy today! It came via FedEx. It was from India. There was an absolutely beautiful avocado green scarf crocheted in a fine yarn and a beautiful granny square motif. Very fancy and delicate. I just love it. Such beautiful work. There was also a lovely floral placemat and napkin in cloth, a rust color with flowers. A cute charm bracelet, jeweled pen, wooden coaster that you can use for a candle or bottle of wine,
and I love everything. The only problem is that the person sending it to me put no communication of any kind in the package. No name, no name of the exchange and not the name of the group. And I belong to about 12 different crochet groups on Yahoo. I am signed up for at least 5 groups. This might be a secret santa or christmas exchange. I am not assigned to anyone in India. Now I will have to write to all the groups I am signed up with to try to find the sender. Ladies, keep this in mind when you are sending out a puffy for a group exchange. You must at least put the name of the group inside the package and your name if it is not a secret exchange. I send out a little letter with all my personal info in it so my partner gets to know me a little. I just really love to read about my partners! Its so nice to make new friends from all over the country and the world. I always say that there are no such thing as strangers - just friends that we have not met yet. I believe this with my whole heart. We are all from the same family. We all come from the Creator (whom ever you believe this to be) and we are all connected each and every one of us. Ok, ok, you admit that there are some people that you do not ever want to be related to! But just the same, we are all one family. And as for the differences of opinion or beliefs, there are no right or wrong beliefs. We are all entitled to our individual beliefs and the next person is not wrong - their beliefs are just another belief.
No better or worse than our own belief. If we could all view the world thru this concept then there would never be any more wars. Imagine! Can you just imagine what it would be like? No, I guess you can't. In so many ways, humans are so backwards and uncivilized. Any thoughts out there about this subject? Send me an email, I just love thought provoking discussions. They make your brain come alive.

I was sent a cute email from my cousin Johnny (on my father's side). We had not seen each other since we were about 10 years old. His mom and dad got divorced and we lost touch with them. But I loved to play with him and he is just 2 years older than me.
It was soooooo special to find him again. Anyways, he keeps sending me emails of jokes or funny things and this one I will share with you. Its entitled "Things my Mother taught me" and it is adorable.

1.. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE

"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me RELIGION

"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL

"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

4. My mother taught me LOGIC

"Because I said so, that's why."

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.

"If you fall out of that swingand break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT

"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident.."

7. My mother taught me IRONY

"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS

"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISTS

"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.

"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER

"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY

"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13 My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE

"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

"Stop acting like your father!"

15.My mother taught me about ENVY

"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world

who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16.. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION

"Just wait until we get home.."

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .

"You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE

"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

19. My mother taught me ESP.

"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me HUMOR

"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me.."

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .

"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me GENETICS. "You're just like your father.."

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.

"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

24. My mother taught me WISDOM*. "When you get to be my age, you'll understand..."

And my favorite:

25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE

"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!!

Ok ladies, how many times have you said one of these things to your own kids? I can admit that I have probably said them all. After all, I am my mothers daughter. My mothers favorite saying was "My only prayer is that someday you will have a daughter and she will do to you what you do to me only worse". And although my kid was a handfull at times, I can truthfully admit that she was no wheres near as much of a brat as her mother was. Do I owe this to my excellant parenting skills or just plain luck? My bet is with the luck! I have to admit my kid is pretty special. I am truly blessed. God did good by me when he gave her to me. I had a very difficult pregnancy with many serious complications right up until she was delivered. I would pray to God that I didn't mind the bad pregnancy but the very least he could do was to make her pretty. He held up his end of the bargain! When my daughter was in 8th grade at St. Marys School in Branford CT, they were assigned an essay about what person in their lives would be nominated for sainthood. It could be anyone they wanted as long as they were special and desered it. My daughter came home with her paper that received an A+ on it. I asked her who she chose and she handed me the paper and said "You"! Well, that was a moment in my life that I will never ever forget. It was a gift of the greatest magnitude. It was the angels in heaven singing "Halleulha!" It was tears streaming down my cheeks! It was a feeling of love that I have never before known! My kid, my kid thinks I should be a saint? OMG!! This must be a dream right? I'm gonna wake up any moment now righT? Can you just imagine?? Well, I am blessed, truly blessed. I will try to dig it up and print it here for you all to read. But be warned, do not read it without a box of tissues next to you cause it is a tear jerker!

Well, dear reader, I think that I have taken enough of your precious time for today. I will say goodbye for now. Thanks for dropping by and reading my blog. You all have a blessed day now!!

Hugs,

Annette

2009-11-11T21:09:00.000-05:00

I AM SOOOOO EXCITED!!!! I have 5 (yes count em 5) lovely ladies who have comitted to follow my ramblings. I am so honored. Thank you thank you thank you lovely ladies!
I hope you enjoy my ramblings. I have posted my first two patterns but I do not have a photo of the change purse because I gave it away before I remembered to photo it.
And that, dear readers, is because I suffer from SFB Syndrome. My husband suffers from this the most. As a matter of fact, the poor man is quite afflicted with the disease. As far as I know there is no known cure for it. I only have infrequent and sporadic attacks and they only come on when I am extremely tired. He, poor man, has them 24 hours a day. And I do try to overlook the attacks and just mentally chastise him and not verbally let on that I know that they are occurring. Now that I have gotten you all worried and feeling sorry for the poor man, I guess I will have to tell you what SFB syndrome actually is. So..........here goes.......... it is S_ _ t for brains syndrome!! And to say the least he also suffers from recular octosis. This is an affliction that affects men only. He has it and my beloved Daddy also had a very bad case of it. In simple terms it means his eyes are up his ..........(you know where)!! Now my mother would diagnose this several times a day with my dad. Example: My dad would be looking for something to eat in the refrigerator. He would yell out "Bet - where is the genoa salami?" My mother would reply "Its in the fridge" and my dad would go to the fridge, open the door, peer in with his eyes closed and say "where?? I dont see it - come in here and find the damn thing for me". And my little Italian mother who is 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide would answer in a sweet shrilling voice
"If it was up your ass you would know where it was" "Open your eyes and look"!!! And my handsome Italian father who was 6 feet tall and all brawny muscle would open his eyes and look but keep his mouth shut. My mother may have been little but she was mighty and a darn good diagnostician. My husband does the exact same thing but I do not have to answer like my mother (after all, I am NOT my mother). I simply reply "well honey, if you cant find it then we must be out" trying hard to swallow my laugh! Ok well now where was I??? Oh yes, we were talking about my 5 followers. Now ladies, as you can see, I am easily distracted off the beaten path so to speak. Are you sure you still want to be my followers??? Well bless your hearts! thats all I can say. And I do not have a photo of the decorated Christmas tree because I have not yet decorated it. And How do I know that it is so cute with decorations? Well, I have one made and stored with my Christmas decorations and if you think that I am going to go and riffle thru my 59 boxes of Christmas decorations to find it and its not even thanksgiving yet well all I can say to that is guess again!! So dear readers, you will just have to wait till I get a round tuit. But I promise that the waiting will be worth it.

I am planning on telling you lots of stories from my Italian family and I hope that you will enjoy them. Boy do I have some hysterical relatives. Just their names will crack you up. On my mothers side she has 5 sisters. Each one has a special nick name. The first is Julia. She is the oldest. I think she is adopted because out of all my family SHE is the only one that has remained skinny all her life. It just can not be our genes! Impossible!
And besides we all hate her because she is skinny. But her nick name is Coogie. Where in Gods name did that name come from??? I haven't got a clue. We call her Coog or the coog for short. She is kind of kookie - has the energy of a barking chiwawa dog! Runs around in circles barking her head off. The second aunt is Edith. She was a very sweet and quiet lady. We called her Deedee. Not such a strange name. She was the first girl to cross over. My third aunt is Dora. She is the prettiest of all the girls. And the biggest pain in the butt. We call her Dodo - you know - like the dodo bird. She really lived up to her name. My fourth aunt is Rita. She is the youngest and the coolest. She is the only one to have more than 2 kids. She had four. She is the only one in the family to have a formal education. She went to college and became a teacher. Then she and her family packed up and moved to Florida. The only normal one and she up and moves to Florida. Like a rat deserting a sinking ship! And the only one that didnt marry an Italian. We call her Tootsie or Toot for short. My fifth aunt I saved for last. Her name was America pronounced am-er-i-ca! Her middle name was Gaetanina (which is Georgina). She is my very favorite. She earned a place in the family hall of fame. She would come over my house after work every week to have tea with me. And she would proceed to tell me all the family dirt. And boy, could she tell it. She left nothing to the imagination. And I never recorded it or wrote it down. Boy, all the people I could have blackmailed!! She was the queen of dishing dirt. A female Jerry Springer and funny too! I adored her and was heart broken when she crossed over from breast cancer. She made the best damned meatballs and sauce in the entire universe. And I hope my meatballs and sauce do her proud! Oh yea, we called her Popie. She got that name because one time she had a hat that looked like the Pope's hat. So someone said "hey look! she has the pope's hat on"
and they started to call her the pope. So popie just came naturally. And then there is my mother. Her real name is Elena Livia. But when she started school the teacher called her Helen. So Helen it was. BUT - my aunt tootsie would call her by some slang italian name pronounced cee-a-nail. Only God knows how it really is spelled! I don't even know what it means. So from that name it was shortened to "the nail" or just plain "nail" and thats what they call her to this day. Of course I call her ma! Well that's it dear readers. That's all I have for today. Thanks be to God. Go - the blog has ended! Until next time...Peace and Joy!

CHRISTMAS TREE WALL HANGING

2009-11-09T23:14:00.001-05:00

WALL HANGING CHRISTMAS TREE BY ANNETTE MCKITRICK 2009

PLEASE NOTE* THIS PATTERN HAS NOT BEEN TESTED

HOOK SIZE H, I, OR J DEPENDING UPON THE YARN USED.

STITCH USED THROUGHOUT IS 3 DC IN SPACE BETWEEN GROUPS TO MAKE A SHELL

THIS WORKS WELL IN #4 YARN OR BULKY YARN. I USED SPORT WEIGHT BUT USED TWO STRANDS HELD TOGETHER, WHICH WORKED OUT NICELY.
APPROXIMATELY 1-2 OUNCES OF YARN IN GREEN AND SMALL AMOUNT OF RED OR BROWN FOR BOTTOM OF TREE (STAND)

1. CHAIN 4 3 DC IN FIRST CHAIN – CH 4 TURN

2. 3 DC IN 3RD CHAIN FROM HOOK (YOU WILL BEGIN EVERY ROW WITH THIS. INCREASING ONE GROUP IN BEGINNING AND ONE ON END OF ROW) CH 1 SHELL IN TURNING CH AT END OF ROW. CH 4 TURN

3. SHELL IN 4TH CH FROM HOOK CH I, SHELL BETWEEN 2 SHELLS OF PREVIOUS ROW, SHELL IN TURNING CHAIN, CH 4 TURN

4. CONTINUE TO WORK IN PATTERN UNTIL TREE IS AS LARGE ASYOU DESIRE. DO NOT FASTEN OFF.SLIP STITCH EVENLY AROUND TREE – WHEN YOU GET TO THE FIRST SHELL CHAIN 15 (OR MORE) TO MAKE THE HANGER, CONTINUE TO SS DOWN THE NEXT SIDE. FINISH OFF GREEN YARN.

5. ATTACH RED YARN (OR COLOR OF YOUR CHOICE) TO WIDEST END OF TREE. I DID 25 ROWS OF SHELLS. I ATTACHED RED BETWEEN 10TH AND 11TH SHELL WITH A SS. CHAIN 3 DC IN THE NEXT 11 SLIP STITCHES (A WIDTH OF 5 SHELLS), CH 3 TURN.6. DC IN EACH DC ACROSS, CH 3 TURN. CONTINUE TO WORK PATTERN FOR 1 MORE ROW FOR A TOTAL OF 3 ROWS OF DC.SLIP STITCH IN EACH ST AROUND RED. FASTEN OFF. WEAVE IN ALL ENDS.

NOW HERE IS THE BEST PART – I DECORATED THE TREE WITH TINY ORNAMENTS AND GARLAND. I USED RICRAC FOR GARLAND AND TINY RESIN ORNAMENTS. USE YOUR IMAGINATION! WHENI FIRST MADE THIS TREE IN THE 1970’S, I DECORATED IT WITH TINY GLASS BALLS, WHICH I TIED ON WITH RED YARN AND A BOW MADE FROM THE RED YARN.IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR FIND A MISTAKE PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO EMAIL ME AT JIGGSIEMAMMA@SBCGLOBAL.NET. THANKS AND ENJOY

MY FIRST PATTERN!

2009-11-08T20:27:00.003-05:00

This is my very first written pattern. Please feel free to use it any way you like but do not post it or claim it as your own. Please link back to this blog. Thank you!

THIS PATTERN HAS NOT BEEN TESTED EXCEPT BY ME. PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH ANY PROBLEMS. THANK YOU

CHANGE PURSE PATTERN by Annette McKitrick

SMALL AMOUNT OF WORSTED WEIGHT YARN (I USED COTTON WW)

SIZE G CROCHET HOOK

BODY:

CHAIN 18

1. SINGLE CROCHET IN SECOND CH FROM HOOK AND IN EACH CH ACROSS.. CH 2 TURN

2. HDC IN EACH ST TO END. WORKING AROUND OTHER SIDE OF PIECE, 1 HDC IN SIDE END, HDC IN EACH ST LOOP ACROSS BOTTOM OF WORK, HDC IN SIDE END. Continue to work around - do not close off each row.

3. CONTINUE TO HDC IN EACH STITCH AROUNG UNTIL PIECE MEASURES 3.5 INCHES

4. PIECE HAS FORMED CYLINDER. TO FORM THE FLAP, ON

NEXT ROW, HDC ON ONE SIDE ONLY 17 STITCHES – CH 2 TURN

5. DEC HDC IN FIRST STITCH, HDC EACH ST TO LAST 2 HDC, DEC HDC, CH 2 TURN 15 STS

6. HDC IN EACH ST ACROSS, CH 2 TURN 15 STS

7. DEC HDC IN FIRST ST, HDC IN EACH ST ACROSS, DEC HDC IN LAST 2 ST. CH 2 TURN 13 ST

8. REPEAT ROW 7 - 11 STS

9. TO WORK BUTTON LOOP -SLIP ST IN FIRST 5 STS, CH8, SS INTO 6^TH ST, SS IN REMAINING STS - END WORK. WEAVE IN ENDS.

10. FOLD FLAP DOWN, SEW BUTTON IN APPROPRIATE SPOT

ENJOY!!

Making a Blog

2009-11-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

No one ever told me that making a blog was so much work! This is truly a learning experience. And I am not a novice at the computer. I would say that I am an intermediate at computer experience. A lot of this is just trial and error. Learning what works and what does not work. I have scanned my vintage patterns to post now I just have to find a way to get them from microsoft word doc to this blog.

I recently bought a lot of old sewing supplies on eBay. In this lot were a bunch of crochet patterns from the 1940's. They are no longer under copyright so I will post them here.
Keep looking. I will get them up yet! In the mean time, I continue my never ending search for different free patterns on the web. Just when I think I have exhausted the supply of available blogs, new ones pop up. And just when I find a new bunch of patterns to print I run out of printer ink! Isn't that always the way? I think it is Murphy's Law for computers.
Remember Murphy's Law from the 70's? They were quite funny. I remember one -
"The side to which the buttered bread falls is directly related to the cost of the carpet".
In other word if your carpet is an expensive unreplaceable antique, the buttered bread will fall face down and ruin it. If the carpet is an inexpensive washable one the buttered bread will fall face up and not harm it. Get it? I still chuckle at this. Isn't life kind of like this? Isn't it ironic!
Does anyone remember Sniglets? Thats where someone would make up a new word and definition about something common that had no word. The one I remember most is
"lactomangulation" which is what happens when the paper milk carton you are trying to open decides that it dosen't want to be opened. Then you get a knife and try to open it with that and mess it all up and end up destroying the pour spout on the carton! Now
who has not had this happen to them? Well, now you have a word to describe it. I remember having books on sniglets. I am not sure where they originated - for some reason Laugh-in comes to mind. If you know their source then drop me a line.
Don't forget to tell someone that you love them today. After all is said and done, Love is the only thing that matters.

MAGGIE'S CROCHET OBSESSION

2009-11-07T10:26:00.001-05:00

Hello! Welcome to my blog where I can talk about my passion for crochet. Sit, relax, have a cupa and lets enjoy! I am new at designing my own patterns and I would love to hear from you if you have made any of my designs!
I am obsessed about collecting patterns for crochet on the web. I have amassed over 20 binders for patterns. Each binder is a different crochet item. You can never have too many patterns or too much yarn! Now if I could only make my husband Randy understand this.......But alas, he has not got a clue. I never buy yarn when I am with him!

Now I really value honesty in any relationship but my Nonna always taught her daughters and granddaughters this golden rule - "Never tell your husband how much money you have or how much something costs. If you follow this rule you will have a very happy marriage!" And Nonna was married more than 60 years. Nonna was a very smart woman and this advise will be passed down! I always listened to my Nonna who is now very happy in Heaven. I know she would say "you go girl" in her broken english Italian accent.

One thing Nonna always said to me was "Eat, you're too thin" ( say this with the Italian accent) when I was growing up. Boy was she wrong there! Now her advise would be
"Stop eating - you're too chubby"!!!

I grew up in a large Italian family in the New Haven CT area. I think that over 50% of the families were of Italian descent. My mom was one of 10 children - 6 girls and 4 boys.
My dad was the oldest of 14 children. Nine boys and 5 girls. They both came from farm families. My Nonna is my mothers mom. I have a bagillion cousins! We always got together for big family dinners and parties. And the food! Well what can you say about the food that would even attempt to do it justice? What a love affair that was. I miss those days so much. They were so special.

I wish that there was a "way back" machine for humans to use. I would love to go back and visit specific days in my life even if it was just for a few hours. How wonderful would that be? All the loud, boisterous, energetic, argumentative and loving occasions!

Most Italians when excited, talk in a low roar. My husband and I have been married more than 22 years and he still says to me "why are you yelling?" And I keep saying - "How many times do I have to tell you - I AM NOT YELLING I AM JUST TALKING" He is Irish - never will understand an Italian - that is just a cross I must bear. But in spite of his fault he is still my Mr. Wonderful. And besides , my grandparents were hard of hearing. So in order for them to hear us we had to up our voices 40 or 50 decibles so they could hear us. Also, I am a registered nurse who has worked many years with the elderly and they had hearing problems. So you had to talk louder. And my mother is deafer than a box of rocks! You could scream and she would not hear you. So whenever I visit my mother, you have to write down all of the conversation so she can understand you. Of course she answers back with speech but you have to spend hours getting writers cramps just to ask her what she had for dinner!!!

But bless her heart - she is 95 years young. She lives in a nursing home and is the worlds best nursing home patient. She really loves it there and loves being waited on hand and foot! Every Queen Mother must have her court. LOL! And she still rules hers with an Iron hand!! Now she is the "Nonna" and someday I will inherit that title from her. My future grandkids will call me Nonna etc. etc. etc. Ah! such a legacy.

Now wait a minute you say - where is the talk about crochet? Well dear reader, it will come. And come and come and come................. I guarantee you will grow weary of hearing nothing but crochet. And if you believe that - I have some swamp land for sale in Florida!! I love to talk (who does not?) and one sentence runs into another and one thought gives birth to another and yadayadayadayada! There I go again - diarrhea of the mouth! I promise to (NOT) stay on track. I promise I will try to keep my thoughts short and too the point. But then again, I AM Italian. Who knows? I guess we shall just have to wait and see. Hugs to you all.