The Hope in a Garden

Today while doing yard work, I noticed that a single rose had bloomed on one of my several neglected rose bushes. I have not fertilized, nurtured, or even watered the roses this year. They have been greatly abandoned by me. This has been a year when I wanted to give up gardening because everything I planted either died or withered away. A year of trying to make things happen, and they just didn't happen.

But today when I saw that rose, it reminded me that flowers still bloom when we least expect them. The promise inside a seed will produce a plant, a flower, a fruit sometimes--even when we least expect it. If a flower bloomed out of neglect and abandonment, how many more roses would my bush have produced if I had nurtured and given it lots of attention? I felt the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit say, "Don't give up. Continue to nurture you dreams. You never know when a beautiful rose will emerge and surprise you."

Southern Advocate

Yesterday I attended an Academic Honors Convocation at UAH in Huntsville, AL where my son Joseph received two awards--one was the Outstanding Classical Studies Award and the other was the Dr. John Rison Jones Ward in Southern History sponsored by the Huntsville Madison County Historical Society. Can you tell I'm a proud Mom? Joseph is a very gifted historian and writer, and will be giving a lecture on April 15 at the Huntsville Public Library on I.D.W. Cobb, a North Alabama Confederate soldier. You may visit his blog at Southern Advocate http://southernadvocate.blogspot.com/.

April Wedding

On Friday and Saturday, I had the privilege of helping to arrange flowers for a wedding for a girl in our church. It was held in a beautiful old historical building in our city, which is rented out for special occasions. The wedding was held on Saturday, April 4; it was held at 5:00 PM, and was a cool, lovely spring evening. Here are some pictures I took after the flowers were completed; I thought you might enjoy seeing them and thanks for stopping by.

Poodle Pink Pom Pom Paris Apartment Pincushions

Well it has been a while since my last post, but I thought you might be interested to see some of the things I've been working on. The latest pincushions were inspired by this 1950's poodle. They evolved into very girly frou-frou designs, and are accented with vintage brooches. These can be seen on the Etsy website. Did I get carried away with the pink and black fabrics? They just reminded me of the rockin 1950s! I need to stop so not to reveal anymore about eras that I remember.

The cat pincushion was for my niece's birthday, and seemed appropriate, since she is sometimes a little mischievous, but also a true girly girl!

Vintage Valentine Greetings

To wish you Happy Valentine's Day, I have posted a picture of a Vintage Valentine Doll, which I made several years ago. She is made of tea dyed cloth with a penciled face. Her dress is made of red gingham, and she wears an apron designed from a vintage valentine hankie. Her hair is lambswool, and her bonnet is made from vintage red felt. She holds a vintage valentine from the 1920's. While she is not for sale, I always welcome special doll orders. Vintage Valentine wishes you a multitude of valentine greetings and hopes you have a season filled with love and good wishes.

Winner of the Candy Cane Snowman

Today was the drawing for the winner of the Bethany Lowe Candy Cane Snowman box. I will be contacting the winner by e-mail. Thanks to everyone else who visited my website or blog and left messages. This was really fun and I hope to have another giveaway soon!

Happy Thanksgiving

Our mantle is looking very autumnal for the season.



And my turkey collection is ready for the big day! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!