Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's day to each and every mother out there, and to all those who nurture anyone (or anything)...you are mothering too! I was so fortunate to have the best mother in the world. She was an exceedingly strong woman, both physically and mentally. She could go out and toss haybales with the strongest of the men, even though she was not very big. But she could dress up and look like a million bucks too. She was a fiercely proud mother of her children, and would defend us to the end. She passed away when I was 12 years old, and all these years later, the loss is still fresh and in my mind. I am so glad she is in heaven, with no pain and no problems at all! She taught me how to quilt, and she was absolutely a wonder at putting scraps together to make a beautiful whole. She could make something lovely out of absolutely nothing!

Other news: I am now a mother-in-law! Our DS got married one week ago in a grand ceremony, and he is off on his dream honeymoon to the Caribbean. Fun! Hope they are having the time of their lives! Pictures to come...above is a picture of his groomsmen at the wedding rehearsal dinner.

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So....now I will hopefully have time to get back into some quilting fun. I have missed seeing your projects and lives, and can't wait to dive back in!! As soon as the real wedding pictures come in, I will post some.

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Gratitudes:

A wonderful church service, then special lunch out with dear husband.

New shoes!

A nap...mmmmm.....

Riding bikes: 10 miles today!

A day with nothing urgent to be done.

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Hugs from Julie

Blogging and pressure

I just wanted to say...I have been nutty busy lately! So please forgive me for not commenting, or getting around and seeing all your wonderful work this past few weeks. I have been trying to get all the overtime I can, in addition to getting ready for the wedding of the century! (it seems like that when you are preparing, anyway! :)

Life will get back to normal soon, I hope!! So I can again share all your work and joys.

Julie

Wedding bells! and a little buddy...

This little guy was in our front yard, and seemed so friendly! Here he is, saying, "Hey, what's for lunch? Anything for little 'ol me?"

DH happily obliged and went and got walnuts from the freezer. Our little friend gladly came right up and took the walnut from dear husband's hand...

and proceeded to munch it down! After a few minutes, he would stay right there by us, and not run away at all.

Ahem, this would be me...see how close our new friend is? I just tossed down my things and knelt down by him. We had a thunderstorm last night and I have not swept the walk of all the debri yet.

How 'bout that? Funny little feller!!! My dear husband took such great pictures, I think.

Our DS is getting married on Saturday! A grand celebration is coming, with much excitement!!!

Gratitude's:

A yummy sandwich for lunch with DH, at our favorite lunch place.

God's creatures allowing us close contact and understanding we mean no harm.

Precious son's wedding, and gaining a daughter! Yahoo!!

JulieK

And the Oscar goes to....

Good evening all!



Since this is my diary of sorts, I must include this. I really want to remember this, not for bragging rights or bravado, but just for me to savor this moment. I try to remember good things, not bad, and this is a once in a lifetime moment!



Above is a beautiful red rose. I was given this rose at a ceremony, the "Great One Hundred Nurse's" ceremony. I was honored and humbled to be chosen one of a hundred nurses, out of 19,000 eligible nurses, for exemplifyng the art and science of nursing! You could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out I had won, as I had no idea I had even been nominated. This is like a lifetime achievement award for nurses...an "Oscar" if you will. It is every bit as big a deal for a nurse as an Oscar is for an actor. I will remember this night forever, at the Meyerson Symphony center in Dallas, being presented on a stage, in front of my peers and family. The whole thing made me so proud to be a nurse and more dedicated than ever to the love and healing of my patients. I feel that so many of the nurses I work with are unsung heroes, loving their patients and steadfastly working to better their health and outcomes. It is truly a calling for many, many of us, not just a job. Thank you for allowing me to share the highest point of my nursing career with you.

Congratulations to...

I have not been able to sew much lately...but now have 6 bear paw blocks done. Can we all say WOO HOO!!! Half done...

And did this little stitchery pattern...love it so much! This was a design by Jenny at www.elefantz.blogspot.com. Thank you so much, Jenny!

Above are my signature blocks for DS's wedding, coming up very soon. Do they look OK on the pretty dish? I have another identical dish for completed, signed squares.

Forgive me, all...work has been a bugger bear lately. The drawing for the above honey-bun was right on time, but this posting is a few days late! Oh, well, life will go on I bet, if the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise! (Have you ever heard that old saying?) The drawing was done by printing out all the comments, cutting each one out, and then blindly drawing the winner. Please congratulate Terry of Terry's Treasures! You will find her at http://www.terrytreasures.blogspot.com/. Please send me your snail mail, Terry, and I will send this right out to you. I so hope you enjoy it. And for those who commented, I really treasure your kind comments and input, and have enjoyed visiting your blogs in return. I regret that some people did not leave any e-mail address to contact them with, and were a no comment blogger. I will be doing more giveaways in the near future, so please remember to leave an e-mail address.

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Hope you had a most excellent day! Hurrah for the weekend, and I am off. Woo hoo again!

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Gratitudes:

Rains, greening everything up

Hamburgers for lunch! (I was good, only ate half of mine)

A sweet old dog, faithful and true

A huge wedding celebration coming up very soon!

Wonderful blog friends.

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Julie

Giveaway results...and another giveaway!

FIRST OF ALL: Happy Easter! I will be hard at work at the hospital that day, so this is my chance to wish a happy holiday for everyone.


Drum roll please! The random book drawing has been done...and congratulations to Anne Heidi at http://www.lappemor.blogspot.com. This was so much fun...thank you so much to everyone who commented! It is so much fun to connect with bloggers who may not have time to comment each time. I loved it! In fact...this post is my 150th post. So...I am having another giveaway! Below is that pretty honeybun I showed last time, a pre-cut yummy roll of strips from Moda. I hope you like it enough to comment, or be a follower, or connect somehow. Drawing for the honeybun is on April 15th.

Pretty, huh??

See that empty spool of Guterman quilting thread by the rabbit? It represents a lot, lot of work. Below is the "Kitchen sink quilt" inspired by Bonnie Hunter's quilt. The entire spool of thread is hand-quilted into this quilt.

I washed it, and it is shrunk and warm and cuddly. I am so glad to have it done!

Have a wonderful day!

JulieK

Something for you

Hi Everyone! Hope you are having a wonderful Friday. I have gotten quite a bit done at my house, with so much left yet undone...but making progress! Above is a wonderful book. It is all about quilting time periods, and has patterns from 1830 through the present. I love this book! I like this book so much, that I purchased it twice! Silly girl...Half-price books is on the way home from work, and I bought it again by mistake recently. So in the spirit of Frugal Friday and sharing what you have and clearing clutter...please comment and I will have a drawing for it on April 10Th.
I found a very pretty "Honey Bun", a roll of 1 and 1/2 inch strips from Moda...yum!
My iris are going to town, with some blooms so heavy they are bending over to the ground.
A close up...pretty don't you think??

Gratitude's:

Family, always.

Pretty flowers in the springtime.

Warm weather.

Lunch out with DH.



Have a great weekend!

Julie