FLOWERY GIFTS

                                       I RECEIVED THESE LOVELY GIFTS FROM
                                                       Barb  (click to see her latest post )
                                           Thank you so much, Barb--
                                                       and the burning question is
                                                                      will I be able to WAIT???

                                                AND.........they are squishy, too...;--*}}}

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My cactus is just about ready to burst into bloom....hopefully....

Last year it got to this point and the buds all dropped off...maybe I over-watered? I am
being stingy with the watering this year.....

AND a new Amaryllis has been added to the "Surprise Amaryllis" here:

  This is really a good North light window to bring them into budding...
                                         The red potted one is the new white....

                    I cut branches from our trees and stake them with fabric selvages....
                                  as they get pretty tall and floppy when in bloom....
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My new little fairy lights along my bare (I want to make a mantel cloth this year) mantel..

The photos are of my son and daughter and their children...along with a couple cards...

As you can tell, I am not really decorating much this year....just a few little things to
brighten up these gray afternoons...
we often sit here to have a late afternoon glass of wine....
and as it is just off the kitchen, I can keep a watchful eye on what's cooking...;)))

The picture above was a wedding gift for my MIL long ago; and it is from France...
we had it re-framed and we just love it...
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I did another bit of sewing on Butterfly this morning while the plumber
is replacing our shower faucet--(drip drip drip all night!!)

AND.................of course (!) he found no separate valve for shut off........
so,
 we are without water during his work on this..
and..................
He has to cut a piece of our wall out to reach the pipes....(oh noooo)

Isn't it always something??? 
I will be hanging some quilt over the new entry
door to the pipes, i guess...
perhaps my Butterfly will land there to keep
Georgie Porgie company--remember him?

He hangs in State over our toilette.....(I wasn't happy about the crooked blocks --but then
maybe they are pretty apt as a lot of politicians are...well, maybe a bit bent??) ;0000
The Sweetie Man loves it and insists on leaving him there...????

And so, my pretties, I leave you with wishes for a good sewing day....
hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse (1.5" block sewing-euse)

O! What a Tangled (Green) Web We Weave

My tabletop of green scraps awaits a spark--an idea--what to make next???

Let's try some of these...green reminds me of my Christmas Cactus (which, by the way, badly needs re-potting)...maybe some paper pieced strips is a start....

Oh--how wonderful--an actual cactus print!  Hah! (Grinning away while I sew...) 

EUREAKA!  a little germ of an idea is forming :

I really like these--what if?  What if I cut them in half?  They could be the fronds of cacti...hmmmm













And so it goes...looking, choosing, waking up @ 3 am to go and look again in the moonlight filtering in on the wall....in the quiet of night.....

I am very glad that the RSC13 for April is GREEN!! 
Happy Spring...Julierose, La Blageuse 

"MARY MANDALA" for MOM's CHRISTMAS

Here's the start of my Christmas present for Mom.  It is my FIRST (! don't look too closely LOL!) attempt at beading --and I am loving it!!

I got this idea from my latest book purchase: "Beading For the Soul" by Deborah Cannarella.  The triangle's points are images that are meaningful to the person. The apex is a Holy Card  (laminated) from a close friend's death, the lower right are hands that symbolize all that both of us do with them (music, golf, housewifery things, soothing children etc.), and the lower left is an old button from my mother's mother's (my Grand'mere's) dress....I thought that would be a nice touch.

She resting on a modern mugrug I made with my "almost-blooming: Christmas Cactus-- with my little angel watching over her.  A very sentimental present, I know.

That is how I am feeling after my last visit in the wake of "Sandy"--we talked over old times together and cried a little at how fast time flies by us--without our even realizing it.  At 93, I don't know how many Holiday Seasons I will have with her...but this helps me to remember the "good times".  As ever, Julierose, La Blageuse