In Loving Memory...

My Wonderful Mom

Dorothea A. Mumm

February 8, 1926-April 1, 2010

I miss her so much

So sudden ... so unexpected ... my Mom's death. Now, my Dad, whose health has been fragile for so long, faces the future without her by his side. Please keep him in your prayers.

Things my Mom loved:

Heath Bars

Peanut-butter filled pretzels

Ginger ale

Pancakes and bacon

Coffee with cream

Walking

Sitting outside

Her red gloves

AquaFreshToothpaste

Dial Soap

Viva paper towels

Arpege perfume

Hot tea with milk

Butter cookies

Singing

Saying the Rosary

Going to Mass

Shopping

Giving hugs

Making everyone feel special

Your Not-So-Average, Garden-Variety Rabbits!

Introducing the Tapestry Rabbit and the Topiary Rabbit ...

Tapestry Rabbit

Topiary Rabbit

... both are knit on double-pointed needles with wool yarn, then felted in your washing machine.

The Topiary Rabbit is knit with wool held together with one strand of Little Flowers novelty yarn. This one is Dappled Forest.

The Tapestry Rabbit is embroidered with simple stitches using Knit Picks Palette yarns.

I hope you like them! The pattern will be available shortly. (As in, as soon as I have time to lay it out and put it up on The Pattern Box!)

Signs of Spring!

Finally! The first signs of Spring are popping up here and there in the most unexpected places. A return to sunshine, warm weather and all the hope that it brings with it! A new season! As I usher in Spring 2010, I am still in the midst of all the health issues with my parents ... my mother is the one now in the hospital ... my dad still trying to recover from his hip surgery, now has bronchitis. *sigh
I have; however, completed a new Spring design! As soon as I finish the embroidery, I'll post it up.
I will return! I promise!

Winter Blast!

Here's Maggie waiting to get back inside!
Here's why:



She doesn't like the ice on her feet ... but she's not crazy about her boots, either!

Happy New Year! (a little late!)

I can't believe it! Here it is: January 10, 2010! Do we say, "Twenty-10" now? Or is it "Two thousand ten?" I can't decide. It seems futuristic either way! Especially to look at it!

I haven't been posting lately ... not because of the holidays and baking and wrapping and cleaning ... nope. It's because my father has been so seriously ill. These past few months ... from October to now ... have just been a giant blur. Just when we thought my dad was turning a corner for the good, he fell the Sunday after Christmas (Dec. 27) and broke his hip. He needed an immediate partial-hip-replacement surgery ... and then he got pneumonia and they discovered he had another UTI ... this time, they phrased it as a "raging" infection. *sigh. His swallowing has always been weak, but after the surgery, he can't swallow at all. They just put in a PEG tube on Friday so he can still "eat." So, after about a week in the surgical intensive care unit, he was just transferred back to the orthopedic floor.
It's been very scary. Especially, since all my brothers and my sister live out-of-state and across the country, I've had to be the one to make a lot of decisions. I don't know why I'm always amazed at how God takes over in these situations. He's done it so many times, you'd think I'd know by now I'm going to be led in the right direction!!! I just keep praying and, somehow, just when I think I'll never know what to do, I get an answer as plain as day. Maybe it will come to me as I'm washing my hair in the shower ... or maybe it suddenly strikes me as I'm blowing a big bubble from my constant wad of bubble gum ... whenever it is, I get the answer and I can move forward for another day.
I have lots of ideas for fun, new designs, but I just don't have the time to knit them up right now. Instead, I'm learning all about PEG tubes and bolus feedings and what a PICC line is.
I'll be back, I promise! It just may take me a little while.

It's Christmas Week!

Here's Maggie, our Bearded Collie ... she just celebrated her 12th birthday on November 30! She's just been groomed and ready to have some fun!

Here's our under 6-foot-tall Christmas tree. I always buy our trees from the same family every year. I love to have a small enough tree so that I can reach the top without a ladder! Once it's done up with ornaments, lights and tinsel, it looks very much like a proper Christmas tree!

I made our annual spritz cookies with the cookie press over the weekend. They are almost gone now! It's so much fun to have everybody home for a little while. We broke out the Super Mario Bros. game before Christmas so that we'd actually have time to play! (I am, by the way, absolutely terrible at it!) I'd still love to make the cut-out cookie angels and santas, snowflakes and penguins, but I'm not sure I'll have time. I can't believe Christmas is Friday! If I don't get to write anything before then, I wish you all the merriest of Christmases!

Make Your Own Christmas Crackers!

In the midst of all the turmoil, I still have to focus on finishing this major Christmas project. I thought I'd share it with you while there's still plenty of time for you to try it, if you'd like, for this Christmas.

My parents moved into an assisted-living residence Sept. of 2008. There are so many caregivers there and people who try to help out that I really wanted to give them some small token to say, "thank you." They are not allowed to accept "real" gifts, so the next best thing is something like a party favor. A couple of years ago, while looking for something special to give some old friends, I stumbled upon the "survival kit" sayings. There are so many! And you can make up your own quite easily to suit any occasion. For each little saying there is a corresponding trinket. For instance: A soldier to help you fight your battles (and there's a little plastic army man included) ... you know, that sort of thing.

Well, this year, I decided on the little sayings and trinkets I wanted to include, but I wanted something better than cellophane bags to give out. So, I found the Olde English Crackers website. Not only do they sell everything you might need to make and fill a fabulous cracker (including the all-important cracker snaps!), but they also give you step-by-step instructions! I printed mine out and keep it on the dining room table as I'm assembling. Once you do a couple, though, you don't need the directions anymore.
If you want to make your own, here is how I am doing mine.
First: I decided a long time ago what little sayings and things I wanted to collect.

2009 Survival Kit
A whistle: So you can whistle while you work.
(I found some really cool vintage whistles on eBay that came from old store stock!)
A Happy Face: To remind you to keep smiling.
(Another eBay find ... some tiny, colorful, happy-face beads.)
A Comb: To help straighten out life's little tangles
(Remember when I was collecting vintage gumball-machine prizes? Well, these were in there! Perfect now!)
A Starburst candy: To give you a burst of energy when you need it most.
A Surprise: Because life should be full of good ones.
(Yep! Another eBay find! Unopened Cracker Jack prizes!)
and last, but not least
Glitter: To make life sparkle!

I came up with a few of these, but found the others at this great website: Make Your Own Creative Survival Kit
There are other websites with sayings and ideas, too. While there are a lot of repeats, there are always a couple of new ones you might have overlooked. Just do a google search for Survival Kits and you'll find quite a few!

A traditional English Cracker also includes a paper hat, a joke or riddle ... and a little toy. I also like to include a couple of individually wrapped cookies. Biscoff cookies are ideal.
Once I had all my fillings ready, I put the tiny pieces in a small re-sealable bag. Then the fun begins!
First, start by cutting out wrapping paper as directed by the Olde English Cracker people:

7.5 x 12 inches

I suggest cutting all the pieces you need and have them in a pile before you begin assembling everything. It makes it a lot easier, especially if you have 100 to do like I have!
Next, cut out the end stiffener pieces from card stock. Make them 2.25 x 7 inches.
After this, you're ready to go! Center your cracker tube in the middle of the paper. Put the cracker tube roller ends on.


After you put a dab of glue on the front middle of the paper, roll onto the tube. Then, place the cracker snap behind the rollers.
See that cracker snap? Move it a little closer to the roll, then roll up the paper on the tube, gluing across to secure. The snap is NOT glued! It is just resting in there.
Remove the roller ends. Now, you're ready to put your end stiffener pieces inside. Do one end at a time, rolling the stiffener into a bit of tube, itself, then inserting into each end. Glue in place, being sure to leave that cracker snap free to move about, now inside the stiffener end, not behind it.

Working on one end at a time, crimp the end together with your fingers as there will be a space of wrapping paper between the stiffener end and the tube. You can easily crimp this with your finger and thumb. Tie a length of curling ribbon on securely, drawing it closed as you do so.
Now, before you do the other side, you put all your filling in there!

Here's the filling in a bag:

Here's the open end of the cracker, ready for the filling:

Crimp and tie the other end securely to finish:

And here they are!