2012 - Week One - Let's Do This2012 - Week One - Let's Do This I'm starting off 2012 with a positive surge of energy and eagerness because I know this is going to be a great year!  This year, although I don't set new year's goals or resolutions, I am looking forward...

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Week Fifty - GiftsWeek Fifty - Gifts This week's post is all about gifts.  First I'll start with the gift of an amazing husband who cares for me way more than I could ever deserve.  This past week, my laptop that I use for doing my job...

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Week Fourty Nine - Lessons LearnedWeek Fourty Nine - Lessons Learned One of the things I have learned about blogging over the past years, is that the very thing that you most want to write about generally keeps you from writing. That thing is called life. When I get busy,...

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Week Thirty - Rabbits Reborn and Sharing the Game of SoccerWeek Thirty - Rabbits Reborn and Sharing the Game of... This week has been a long one.  Scott has been in Africa all week and does not get back until Wednesday.  Although I have missed him greatly, I have been able to accomplish much with the quiet house...

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Week Twenty Nine - Missions and MittensWeek Twenty Nine - Missions and Mittens Scott left for Uganda yesterday on his first mission trip, ever.  He will be gone for 10 days and is part of an all male (testosterone rich) group of coaches and active guys.  He was excited, nervous,...

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2012 – Week One – Let’s Do This

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I’m starting off 2012 with a positive surge of energy and eagerness because I know this is going to be a great year!  This year, although I don’t set new year’s goals or resolutions, I am looking forward to staying out of the hospital for the entire year, seeing my Etsy shop, Arwen’s Child, take off, and finally, voting in a new president!  Don’t know what your political affiliations are, but I am leaning heavily toward Ron Paul at this time.

All the gifts I made throughout the year and stored for Christmas seemed to be appreciated and loved by all recipients.  We had Christmas dinner and desert with the parental units on Christmas Eve and I made these.

Christmas Day we shared with the kids in Colorado via FaceTime.

We were able to open presents with them and visit for a while, which was really nice.  It was still not anything like having them here, where I could hug them and enjoy their extended company, but it will have to do for now.  I started thinking about it and realized that I saw Luke the day he was born, and I won’t see (touch) him again until he is walking.  Life…

As far as I can tell, EVERYONE liked what I made for them for Christmas.  Everything fit every recipient, which was a plus!  I think I am going to continue to make or (in rare cases) purchase Christmas gifts throughout the year.  It really saved a lot of stress and $$ at the end of the year.  So, if you are (or want to be, I’m happy to make gifts for those who will cherish them) on my list, please make sure I have your sizes and pertinent information so that I can make you something that fits.

Christmas for me was pretty cool this year, in terms of gifts, also.  I pooled my saving stash with my Christmas gift money (and Scott’s) and picked out this baby.

She is a Janome 9500 and is totally awesome!  I haven’t done any embroidery on her yet, but I will very soon.  Over the Christmas holidays I was able to finish up one of the two wine colored dresses that had been commissioned last year before I went into the hospital.  Unfortunately, I had to refund the deposit to the customer because of the hospital and recovery issue, but I still want to finish the two dresses for Arwen’s Child.  Here is the first one of the pair.  This dress is called Hope and is available.  The dress is size 6 and would make a wonderful special occasion dress for a lovely little girl.  If you visit my shop, please make it one of your favorites.  I would appreciate it!

The second gift I received was an Amazon gift card.  Yep, it is spent!  Those things don’t survive long in my hands.  Here is what I procured with it.

Finally, I did finish one other project over the holiday.  In 1995, I stitched “Blueberry Homecoming” and now I have, framed, it’s twin piece “Raspberry Homecoming.”  Sixteen years between the two but I can cross them off the bucket list.

Here’s hoping everyone who reads this has a super 2012.

DKF

Week Fifty – Gifts

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This week’s post is all about gifts.  First I’ll start with the gift of an amazing husband who cares for me way more than I could ever deserve.  This past week, my laptop that I use for doing my job died.  My job is done completely online and there are several programs that I use that have to be configured just so in order for me to do my job properly.  Thanks to my husband, and some awesome tech support from Liberty University (my employer), we were able to get my iMac configured for my work tasks within a few hours of the crash.  The most amazing thing, though, is that my super hero of a husband had my laptop back up and running by the next day, complete with new hard drive and ALL my data files recovered.  He is so amazing!!

Second on the list is a gift I made for a friend who is having a baby shower this week.  Since I saw how much my kids keep my grandson in his sleep sack that I made for him, I decided to make one for my friend.  She is a Bama fan, so, the addition of a patch to the front of the sack was a special added touch.  I hope she likes it.

The third gift I would like to mention is the gift of doctors, friends, and pastors who care about me and were there for me this last time I was hospitalized.  During my absence from blog posting, I was hospitalized again for sepsis and it was anything but fun.  This time was not as life threatening as the last, because we caught it sooner, but going to the hospital once a year is not something I am interested in doing.  The sepsis is an issue that, if caught quickly enough, can be treated at home with the appropriate antibiotics.  I just have to make sure and watch closely for the signs.  This is a learning process.  This time, like last time, I really thought I had the flu or something viral.  A few days into it, when we figured out that it was not viral and it was similar to last year, it was too late to treat at home and off to the hospital I went.  Ugh!  I am feeling much better now and back to sewing up a storm!

That brings me to the fourth gift.  I have been teaching a friend to sew for the past few weeks and this week she made an absolutely adorable sleeper for a gift for a friend.  The sleeper was made of fleece and went together so quickly that I decided my grandsons really needed to have one, too.  So, I located some fleece on sale and a couple of patterns and have been whipping these things out like mad.  I think they may be finished in time to get to them as additional Christmas gifts.  Whoot!!

There is much more to post about, but it will have to wait till the next installment.  For now I leave you with this quote:

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” ~ Douglas Adams

Week Fourty Nine – Lessons Learned

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One of the things I have learned about blogging over the past years, is that the very thing that you most want to write about generally keeps you from writing. That thing is called life. When I get busy, I stop posting. This is a very common phenomenon and is not unique to me. Between getting busy with Christmas knitting and some less than kind comments left on some of my last blog posts, I basically just stopped talking about what I was up to. This really makes me sad. I have an empty space on my blog/journal/memory book of 18 weeks and that is just not acceptable to me. So, without further delay, here is what I have been doing for the past 18 weeks.

Let’s start with the most important news first.

We had another grand-baby in September. The trip out to Colorado was quick, but full of wonderful memories. Baby Luke Alan Fillmer was born on September 17, 2011, at 10:07 am, in Longmont, Colorado. His hats and socks fit him reasonably well, but his momma and daddy really like the sleep sack that I made for him. He is in it constantly and it keeps him so warm. Important thing to have in Colorado in the Fall.  Here are the four Fillmer Boys (3 generations) within an hour or so of the birth.

Last time I posted, Scott was in Uganda on his first mission trip.  He has since gone back there again and the two trips could not have been more different.  Our church does mission work in such a unique way.  The focus is a personal connection with individuals, not church planting.  Therefore, the last trip Scott went on was an all male, soccer oriented trip.  The guys connected with individuals and, more importantly, the community, by going over and “hanging out” or spending time with those who shared the same interests.  Through this connection, the guys were able to share the love of Christ with many from the community who might not have been touched otherwise.

This second trip had nine members (4 guys and 5 gals) and was all about clean water and the kids.  The story of the trip can be found here: http://www.scottfillmer.com and the photos, as always, are astonishing!  Here are a couple of my favorites.

There are so many awesome photos from this trip that it is worth a jump over to Scott’s blog just to look at the photos.

Ok, SERIOUSLY?  I have to take a minor break here….my computer just bit the dust and the hard drive is DEAD, so this post will be continued when I am back up and running…stay tuned…

Week Thirty – Rabbits Reborn and Sharing the Game of Soccer

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This week has been a long one.  Scott has been in Africa all week and does not get back until Wednesday.  Although I have missed him greatly, I have been able to accomplish much with the quiet house all to myself.  First, I finished the quilt label for the back of William’s first quilt.  Here is the final result.

In addition to casting on a couple more Christmas gifts, the big accomplishment for the week was completing the new rabbit outfits for Mom’s four rabbits.  I think they turned out so awesome!  Unfortunately, I cannot show you the surprise that is on two of them since they are gifts (it’s covered up in the photo, no peeking).  But, I think the recipients will really like having a part of mom’s past in their home.  When I was redressing the two smaller, older rabbits, I found my signature on the backside and the date “1990.”  That means that the two oldest rabbits are 21 years old.  Gracious!

So, all in all, it was a very productive week here at the house and a truly amazing week over in Buloba, Uganda.  Scott was able to post a few times to his blog and the photos are amazing.  Please wander over there and have a look.  It is truly amazing what a common interest can do to bring people together.  People who don’t speak the same language or that live on the opposite side of the world from each other can come together and fellowship around a shared interest in a game.  I am so in awe of what the team accomplished over there on this trip and am really ready for him to be back home.

Quote of the week: “The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn’t move, kick it until it does.” ~ Phil Woosman

Week Twenty Nine – Missions and Mittens

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Scott left for Uganda yesterday on his first mission trip, ever.  He will be gone for 10 days and is part of an all male (testosterone rich) group of coaches and active guys.  He was excited, nervous, and really just ready to get going by the time we got to the church yesterday morning.  So far, he has made it to Amsterdam and should be in Uganda very soon (after a brief stop in Rwanda for refueling).  Here is the photo of the rowdy group:

The soccer ball is more than just for effect.  They are going over to Buloba on this trip primarily to conduct a soccer camp with the kids.  They will also be helping with installing rain catches on houses and various other tasks that they are led to do while there.  One never really knows what our mission teams will actually get themselves into until they are there and see the need.  If you would like to read more about their trip as they progress through the week, or would like to see Scott’s awesome photos, please visit his site here.  He is also still accepting donations to pay for his part of the trip, as everyone has to raise their own money in order to go.  If interested, you can make a donation right on his site as well.  Every amount helps!

Back at home, I actually finished a Christmas present this past week!

These gloves are “Strata” from the book “Knitting New Mittens & Gloves.”  They are actually two pair of gloves, one fingered, and one fingerless.  They can be worn together or separately.  The person they are for lives where it snows, so hopefully they will be well loved.  The brown yarn is Knitpicks Gloss Fingering and the pink is Knitpicks Stroll.

These were a quick knit (about three weeks) and it was a very basic pattern.  The book has a few more patterns that I would like to try.  I would recommend the book if you don’t already have it.  I have several more projects nearing completion and with Scott gone all week, I should have a few of them to post about for this upcoming week.  Stay tuned.

Quote of the week: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~ Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

 

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