Monday, April 20, 2015

It's hard to believe that is has been six years today...

...since by dear hubby Don died.  I am not bringing this up for sympathy, but rather to announce that I am finally in a good place about it, and I think Evan is also.  We have finally arrived at the point that we can remember fondly, with laughter instead of sadness.  And rather than today being a unhappy  day, it is a day to treasure memories.

One good memory is of collecting these State quarters together.  We collected all 50 of them, with the last one being in November of 2008, right before we found out the cancer had spread everywhere.  He passed five months later.  Evan and I have started a new collection together...of the National Park Quarters.  I guess they started several years ago, but I just recently learned about them.  I consider myself blessed that I have an almost 25 year old son who wants to collect something with his mother.

   
                                                                        State quarters


                                                                    National Park Quarters

I also want to thank everyone for all their kind thoughts about Pipsy.  If I did not respond personally to you, I am very sorry, it is because a couple of days later all of my aol email, about 125 strong, simply disappeared.  Big bummer, I had a lot of saved emails, but fortunately nothing truly devastating, unless I just don't know about it yet :)  So if I didn't get back with you, this is why.  I did so appreciate all your messages.

I recently did a bit of antique-ing in town, and came home with this antique/vintage birdhouse.  I wanted to mount it to an old original cement fencepost behind the house.  I took an old coffee can, spray painted it with black rustoleum, screwed it to the bottom on the house and just slid it over the post.  Perfect fit!  Plus, I can put it away in the winter if I want to.


Here are Bella and Oliver just home from the groomer.


I have been working on my next reproduction sampler, Mary Ann Mitton.  The charting is basically completed, I do a lot of tweeking with the colors while I am stitching the model.  I have ordered the linen, and hope it arrives soon as I am anxious to start stitching!

                                                       A bit of the border.

                                                 Stitched during the reign of William IV

And don't forget about my first reproduction sampler, Elena Tratman.  Click on the button above to purchase.


I am finding it difficult to remember to post on my blog.  Life can be so busy, and Facebook becomes an easy way out.  It is blogs that I truly enjoy, they are so much more personal that just a quick one-liner.  I recently read that Marly of Samplers and Santas is going to update her blog once a week, on Sunday.  That sounds like a wonderful idea to me, and I am going to try and stick with it.  I realize that if I don't post, I will have no readers!  And I would hate to lose my readers...

Melinda
xxx

14 comments:

  1. We're not going anywhere! I love seeing your home and land and gardens and critters and samplers. I too enjoy blogs more than Facebook. All the sidebars and ads are so distracting!

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  2. My parents collected the state quarters before my dad died too. So nice that your son has found a collection to start with you. Love your samplers. Janice

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  3. The dogs look so cute!! Plus I love the bird house! I'm so happy that you have reached a point where you can remember the happy times. I think these things just take time. I lost my mom when she was fairly young. That took time for me too. At first , all I could remember was her illness. Now that is passed and I do remember all the great times with her. I only blog about once a week. I like to stitch bigger things and there just doesn't seem to be that much to blog about real often.

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  4. Hugs to you and Evan!!!
    Geez, I'll have to pay attention to quarters. I didn't know there were National Park ones. I sometimes think I live under a rock.
    I hope your linen arrives quickly.
    xoxo
    Lauren

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  5. Big hugs to you Melinda, glad you are finally in a good place now. Love your fur babies, cute picture. Nice park collection of Quaters, like that...blessings Francine.

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  6. Glad to hear you both are in a good place and can share a hobby that has a special connection. The furkins are adorble. your repro sampler is beautiful, great work. Keep on living, the readers will be here when you stop in when you can. 😀

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  7. That's so wonderful Melinda! I'm glad you can look at your memories now with laughter instead of sadness. I love your birdhouse! And how smart you are to figure out how to put it on the pole! Very clever. Your dogs are so cute. Ours was groomed yesterday too. Love the samplers! Hugs, Lori

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  8. Hugs to you and I am glad that you are in a good place. I have horses too and I was sad to learn of Pipsy. I love your new sampler teasers. I can't wait to see the entire sampler!

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  9. Hi Melinda, so nice to hear from you again. It is hard to find time, though, isn't it (and I don't have a blog - lol). I, too, prefer blogs to Facebook. Just too many one line postings on FB. Love your birdhouse and can't wait to see your newest reproduction. We collect the quarters too. Did you know there is also a series of US Territories? Gad to hear you and your son are doing better and can now focus remembering the fun times and enjoying laughs.

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  10. Melinda, it makes me happy to see you write that you are in a good place.

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  11. yes I enjoy the blog reading much more than FB, my complaint about FB is if you see something and need to look it back up - that is impossible unless you remember the person posting and can message them about said item. Anyway - I hope everyone including you whose blog I enjoy will keep them and not defect to FB. Glad to hear you are feeling better about your loss. It's such a tragic thing to overcome and some people never do recover, glad to see a post from you today. Good luck with your next repro - Mel

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  12. I love reading your blogs so please don't go away! I purchased your chart for Elena Tratman; I think she's lovely but she will have to wait her turn! Hugs on this poignant day from Sue in France x

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  13. I didn't know about the National Park quarters. I'm glad you can collect them with your son. Posting to my blog once a week works well for me -- that way I know when I'm supposed to post. lol! I can see by your teaser pic that the border of your new repro is going to be calling my name. I love unusual borders and this one looks like a beauty! I still haven't purchased your first sampler. I might have to fix that soon!

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  14. Hugs to you:) Time heals all wounds. Your stitching is lovely! I have some antique sampler patterns I do not intend on stitching if you would like them.

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