for the tears...

i hoped

and prayed

progress...

.

had been made

we have worked so hard

never giving up

offering support

and time

money even

yet we are

right back where we started

its heart breaking

i'm torn in pieces

i want it to be different

i need understanding

i want peace

why is that so hard

new rubber...

his question

caught me

off guard

.

hello

this is jason

hi jason

your car's ready

oh great i'll be there soon

are you excited

excited about what

your new tires

oh...do women get excited about new tires

sure they do

a few hours later after driving...

hi honey i made it to the wedding

the new tires are like butter

very smooth

hmm...

i guess i just admitted

i'm excited about new rubber

who knew

awesome...yes...

there's nothing like

a quiet

friday night

.

in the studio

with the form behind me

i was able to play

with awesome

and yes indeed

it is awesome

i decided to outline the leaves

and the stem

with a blanket stitch

by hand

had not done that in a while

it felt good

and i love the look

it gave to my leaf

awesome...not...

my favorite

time of year

is just around...

.

...the corner

and i have just the thing

to prepare

a charm pack of awesome

and acorn alley

the pattern

i even found a great

leaf template

to use for quilting

but not so fast

instead

i have the dreaded

pile of paperwork

to complete for my

daughter's school program

awesome will have to wait

until tomorrow

admitting addiction

i am an addict

i know this

have for years

.

i cannot live

without a camera

my last one was dropped

so many times

the last fall

did it in

so off i went

to find a new love

i look and look and look

then always go back

to a canon powershot

whichever model

takes

double aa batteries

because i can

buy them anywhere

i learned that the hard way

several years back

on a canoe trip in

the middle of nowhere

campground and general stores

do not stock camera batteries

so sx120 is

it will be

wrapped so prettily in a

purple box

driving miss daisy...

this is a first

john in the front seat

me in the back seat...

.

and TJ

our oldest son

driving

we joked about

driving miss daisy

yet i took the opportunity

to discuss the very

difficult role

that adult children

sometimes have to make

taking the keys from their

aging parents

we have had a rash

of serious accidents

in northeast ohio this summer

involving fatalities

caused by aging folks

who became

confused and disoriented

the latest taking the lives of

a grandfather

and his two grandchildren

aged five and seven

in most cases a

son or daughter was interviewed

and the response was the same

i knew he/she was having...

but i didn't think

it would affect their driving

take a minute to think

about your own parents

as difficult as it is

as inconvenient as it might be

should they still be driving

vickie in violet

i first noticed

her necklace

when she walked...

.

into the store

it was a beautiful shade of

purple

my favorite you know

she introduced herself as vickie

and then went walking about

a short while later

she happened to mention

she was waiting for kate

and then a little flicker

that she was about

to be a cover girl

on quilts and more no less

holy cow

i thought to myself

i have such talent in the room

i was instantly star struck

giddy like a little girl

then i read her blog post

i'm so thankful for the review

and then kate too

wrote very kind words

i'm grateful

so, so grateful to you two

cottonpickers purple...

early this morning

i received a phone call

from a fellow...

.

quilt shop owner

wow

did i just say

fellow quilt shop owner

i'm still getting used to that

she called to wish me good luck

a special group

these quilt shop gals

i'm proud

and excited to be among them

the funny thing is

i was planning to

visit her shop this afternoon

after dropping sarah off

at a music camp close by

i didn't tell her though

i just walked in

to surprise her

cottonpicker's

located in historic madison, ohio

charming and endearing

friendly beyond measure

and look what i found

purple

lots and lots of purple

sorry this is fuzzy

i had my son's camera

and have yet to figure out

how to operate it

yet i did not want to miss

posting this

for memory sake

meeting beth is like seeing
a long lost friend

you'll feel like

you've known her for years

be sure to stop in

if you're out her way

looking into the future...

today was simply

incredible

in so many ways

.

the grand opening of our store

this week

exceeded our expectations

in every way

i have hundreds

of photos i could share

yet it is this

one

you see above

that captures my soul

embraces my goal

of sharing

my love of fabric

and stitching

with the next generation

i first met mackenzie a few weeks ago

when her father brought her along

while he finished installing

our cabinetry

she was curious about our vision

i showed her some fabric

gave her a charm pack from

12 days of christmas

and a bag from moda

along with the newest catalog of fabric

her excitment melted my heart

she returned today

with her moda bag under her arm

the corners of the catalog

now appearing well worn

she recited the names of the new collections

and recognized happy in a frame

she could not wait to meet a designer

her enthusiasm barely contained

her smile glowed from ear to ear as

kate spain wrote her name

two dozen...

years as mr. & mrs.

.

nineteen eighty six to twenty ten

seems like just yesterday

we said i do

and now

here we are

invited to witness

the love of our

friend's children

.

honey...

thank you

for the magic

for dancing when given a chance

for your unconditional love

your unwavering support

for just being you
happy 24th anniversary

i love you more today

than i ever thought

possible