On this date one year ago we had a very unusual thing happen in our family. Our oldest son, Paul, received a cornea transplant. I guess this is a strange anniversary to celebrate but we do want to celebrate because the transplant was successful and with each passing day his vision gets better and his eye is healing. Even after a year he still has stitches in his eye, but the doctors are happy with his progress and give him a good prognosis. We are so thankful for that and the fact that he can still see. Without that cornea transplant he would have gone blind so we owe a debt of gratitude to someone for sharing that cornea with Paul. We love you Paul.

Hard to believe fall is just around the corner and time to start planning some fall projects. My next batch of classes starts in September through October and are all fall/Halloween projects. I'm posting a few pictures to give you an idea of the projects and the actual models are at The Rusty Bucket if you want to see them in person.

Hope you see something fun you want to create. I'd love to hear from you!

HAPPY 2ND ANNIVERSARY ERIC AND KRISTIN.

It's hard to believe two years have already passed since Eric and Kristin got married on a balmy August evening. What a beautiful couple they make and we wish them all the best for many more happy, special years together. We love you both very much.

No more holes in the walls or ceiling. I got back from Portland, Oregon very late Tuesday night and started working on painting the walls Wednesday afternoon. Once that was done, I delved into putting things back together which required a thorough dusting and cleaning of everything. I finished up late this afternoon and am so happy to have things back to normal. At least downstairs!! I still have the bathrooms to do some touch-up painting in but that won't take long. Took some pictures of my living room once I finished getting everything back in place. It was nice to see it "normal" again. I moved some things around to different spots just for kicks and can't wait to sit down there and relax this evening.

How fast this week is going by. I arrived in Portland, Oregon late Tuesday evening and already it's Saturday. My friend Debbie and I have had a very busy time together and so much fun. It rained all night the first night I was here and we slept with the windows open. It was glorious sleeping with the rain falling all night. The temperatures have been in the 60's for the most part which is also very wonderful. We have been antique shopping, quilt shop hopping, sewing together, creating together and just having a great time. Look at the beautiful view from the back of Debbie's house. It is breathtaking. That's Washington State through the trees.

Miss everyone and will see you soon. Off to do some stitching.

This one's for you E!! My youngest son Eric keeps asking why I haven't put him on the blog. I told him I had a special date which I planned to post something about him. But he's never been the type of child to be patient and wait, so I decided before I left to put up a couple pictures of Eric from last year's football draft. Eric and his brother Paul, and their Dad and a few others are part of a fantasy football league. Each September they meet at some special undisclosed super secret location to choose their teams for the year. Last year they took a trip to Virginia for the draft party and are supposed to return back to that same secret location this year. They have a great time, lots of fun, lots of poking fun, and just a guy's all around good get together. All the guys show up with sheets and sheets of information and draft picks they've worked on for countless hours, magazines touting who the best players are (which I've never been able to figure out how they know this before the guy has even started playing) and lots of top secret information that they have to keep hidden from their opponents. And of course, there's always lots of good food to eat. Eric was the big champ last year and has the trophy to display during the year. He's hoping to keep that trophy again this year. Good luck guys! I have to be careful to try and remain impartial since I'm married to one of the participants who thinks I give secret information to the other two fellas I gave birth to. A girl can't win in this situation. Love you Eric!

I walked into the living room this morning and just had to take a couple of pictures. There are no more holes!!!! YAY!!! Mike worked all day yesterday and got all the holes fixed except for the kitchen ceiling, which he is busy working on now. I am so excited that the work is almost done. As I stood in the living room this morning I couldn't resist taking a picture of my flag wall. It made me think that through all this toil and trouble, the flag was still there. They are hanging in all their glory, as chaos goes on around them. Hmmmmmmmm............remind you of a famous song? All the repair work is being completed just in time for me to leave for my trip to Oregon. I'm leaving this afternoon to visit my friend Debbie in Portland, Oregon. I'll be there a whole week! Debbie and I have been counting down the months, then the weeks, then the days until I got to come out. Now it's hard to believe the time is here and I'm leaving behind such a mess. But I suppose I shouldn't fret about that, it'll be waiting for me when I get home. I know my husband will do what he can to clean it up and maybe even paint, but I have to PUT IT BACK TOGETHER myself. Funny that way! And of course, everything is so dusty from all the drywall sawing and cutting and sanding. So a very good cleaning will have to be done. Can't wait to see Debbie and her beautiful part of the country. And I saw on the computer that her weather is in the 70's for the next few days so I am very excited and happy about that. I think I should live where she does because the temperatures are normally cooler and it rains much more than here and I love the rain. If I could just get all my family and friends to move there it would be great!!


My bags are packed, I'm ready to go....................another song!
I'm sure I'll be posting from Debbie's house. She has lots of activities planned for us plus we plan to spend lots of time creating and designing and being crafty. Can't wait! See you tonight Debbie.

It sure was "frosty" at my house Saturday morning. Three delightful ladies came to make-up a snowman pillow class from the previous weekend and boy did we have fun creating snowmen pillows. Wool applique was new to each of them and I enjoyed watching them as they learned a new craft and stitches. And they kept me in stitches. What fun and entertaining gals they were. I believe sometimes the classes are more fun for me just meeting new people and learning about their lives or their backgrounds. Each is a unique and interesting story. While the ladies were stitching their pillows they inquired about my next Santa class. I told them the only one I had left to teach was that afternoon. It took them about three seconds to decide they wanted to stay and do that class too. They were such a hoot. So while they were finishing their pillows, the next group arrived to make Santas. Again, a wonderful group of ladies. I am so blessed to have met and taught so many talented, sweet, eager to learn students. The classes are so much fun and in the end everyone takes home a project that their hands have created. Thanks for a fun time gals!! And Beverly, I checked and my quilt is still hanging!!

Wow, what a busy, busy week I've had. I've taught many classes, forgot to take the camera to most of them, sorry ladies. This week has been a mixture of sewing and recipe card classes, so from paper to fabric, it's been a great time. Many beautiful things were created by many talented hands this week. I've also been working on the new Fall projects for upcoming classes and getting caught up on some class preparation. It all takes so much time and I feel sometimes that I need two of me to get it all done. But somehow, amazingly, it all gets done. The plumber is under the house as I write this trying to finish up with the pipes. He had a death in his girlfriend's family to deal with this week so that put him behind schedule. But I told him not to worry, those pipes weren't going anyplace and would still be here waiting on him. No "pipe fairies" around here!! The drywall guy will be here Monday and Tuesday and I fly out for Portland, Oregon for a week on Tuesday. So things will come to a standstill while I'm gone but, as with the pipes, my mess will still be here to greet me. I know my sweet husband will try and do what he can, but I want to do the painting myself because there's a lot of touching up I wanted to do as I painted the repaired walls. He'll just have to live with disaster for one more week! I have the privilege of picking up my granddaughter from school this afternoon, so I'm sure that will be an adventure. She was so excited I was coming to get her. I love their young enthusiasm. I have more classes here tomorrow, snowman pillow and Santas and then a recipe card class on Sunday. So another packed weekend of classes. I'll be ready for my trip to Portland and taking a breather. But I'm not sure Debbie is going to let me rest. I think she has bunches of plans and I'm looking forward to it. Have a great weekend everyone.

Another busy weekend for me teaching classes. On Saturday the ladies made snowmen pillows and on Sunday a different group started a snowman wool mat. I forgot to take pictures of the ladies working on the mats I guess because I knew they wouldn't finish them in class. Sorry gals. That little snowman pillow has been quite a popular class and is adorable when completed. I think he would be sweet on a table runner also. In between classes I worked on completing the new Fall class projects. I have a penny runner mat that I'm working on now and then all the projects will be complete. I'm trying to get them done before my upcoming trip to Portland, Oregon to visit my friend Debbie Busby of Wooden Spool Designs fame. I am looking so forward to the trip and the rest and relaxation and fun times with Debbie. She always makes me laugh and I make her laugh, so there's a lot of laughing and picture taking and just plain fun whenever we are together, which is usually once a year. So we have to cram alot of fun into a short amount of time so it will last us a whole year!! We also plan to do a little brainstorming on new pattern ideas. Sometimes our two heads together can get pretty creative. The plumber is coming back today to finish up the job. The drywall man came over the weekend and gave us an estimate and approximate start time. So things are moving along with the disaster area. The biggest news of the day is our little five year old granddaughter Reagan starts kindergarten today. She is so excited and can't wait to start school. I remember when our boys started school and what a teary day it was for me. So I know her Mom and Dad, who are both taking her to school, will probably be emotional wrecks this morning. I have little sister Raleigh here with me this morning (still snoozing) so that Mom and Dad could enjoy the first day without any interruptions from little sister. Raleigh spent the night last night for the first time alone without big sister. She felt quite special when she got to play on the computer without big sister looking over her shoulder and telling her time was almost up. She did great right until bedtime when she got weepy and said she wanted to go home. Oh boy, now what do we do. I told her everyone was in bed at her house and we couldn't go there. I just rocked and cuddled her and and she kept saying in her tiny little voice "I want to go home" and I just rocked and rocked and finally she said "I don't want to go home" and then we were ok. Whew, being a Mina isn't always easy!!