Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Blogging Blues

Ever get in a rut?  Well, I guess that's where I have been for the past couple of months.  My last post was on December 9, 2010, and before that it was Thanksgiving.  Hm.  What's been going on in Gena's Garden since December 9, 2010?  

Well, we managed to finish everything for the Nativity Ride with .47 seconds to spare.  Papa made fabulous functional angel wing frames. I quilted wings out of white sheets and leftover scraps of batting.  We made square necked tunics out of white sheets and I stitched gold greek-key ribbon around the neckline.  Papa made all of the armor, too.  He is amazing.





And as it ended up..... it rained for the nativity ride.  So instead of a hay ride like we had planned, we had to load everyone in the church bus.  We read scripture to the children at each scene and then we would sing Christmas songs in order to allow our angels and other characters time to make it to the next scene and set up.  Papa even got to be a wise man! :)  All was going well until there was a big bolt of lightening and I realized that my firstborn was now standing outside on an aluminum ladder strapped into a metal harness with a 10 foot wingspan wielding a huge sword hoisted high into the air like He-Man as he proclaimed "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."  



Needless to say the term "lighting rod" instantly came to mind and I was ready for the Nativity Ride to be done.  But, it all came together and was just lovely and the children enjoyed it and all the youth and other characters had a great time.  Maybe next year it will stay dry and I won't be so nervous.


Christmas was lovely.  I got to be off work Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Then I was off work for New Year's Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  We worked the rest of the week and then it snowed, which meant I got to be off on Monday again.  Rock out.  We sledded, ate chili and snow cream, and made a snowman.  I know it's little, but it was toward the end of the day and we were cold.


We actually had snow on the ground for a WEEK.  That's right, a week of snow in rural Mississippi.  Who would have thought?

Other than that, life has been pretty run-of-the-mill around our house.  

Hannah has her last basketball games this weekend, so we are fixing to go into preparation for softball mode, although I have to say she was a basketball playing FOOL at the last game.  I just can't believe how much she has improved since the beginning of the season.  I am so proud of her progress.  She even ate the gym floor twice and was playing with blood running down her knee.  Eesh.  That my GIRL!

Lately, Papa has busied himself with designing and building and welding a 2 wheel horse cart.  I don't have any pictures to post yet, but I think he is going to paint it today so it should be ready by the weekend.  His creativity matched with his ingenuity and determination never.cease.to.amaze.me.  People ask me all the time, "Is there anything you CAN'T do?"  If they only knew...... how silly my little sewing projects and cheesecakes look next to a moving, functioning vehicle crafted by hand from metal scraps. Good grief.  It reminds me of that episode of Saturday Night Live with Paul Simon where they are stranded on an island and it's Christmas.  Paul Simon's gift to Victoria Jackson was a potholder woven from palm fronds and some seashells he found on the beach. Victoria Jackson then gives him a watch and describes how she smelted the cogs for the watch out of copper she mined from the mountains and then killed a wild boar and soaked the hair in resin to make the watch hands.  Ha.  That is me and Papa.  I am basket weaving palm fronds and he is smelting a chariot. :)

As for me, I have actually finished a couple of projects.  I made a plain ole lap quilt out of some layer cake precuts.  Nothing fancy, but it is sure warm.  I also quilted a top that I pieced last year from a Moda Candy Kisses layer cake.  Again, nothing special.  Just precuts and straight line quilting.  But I have to say that it is the warmest blanket ever.  I absolutely love it and it is currently folded and hanging on the back of my rocker in the living room and I use it daily!

This morning I finally took the scissors to my Innocent Crush.  I am going to make some throw pillows for the living room before I start in on a quilt.  I can't make up my mind what kind of quilt I want to make out of all that delicious fabric, so I will start with pillows and go from there.

The strips that were leftover from where I cut my blocks are going to be a new purse, I think.

I am also working on a table for the Valentine's Banquet at our church.  The Banquet is to raise money for the kids to go to camp and my girl is finally old enough to go this year.  The table hostesses provide everything but the food.  Now, for those of you who know me, froo-froo decor is not on the list of things that I am good at, so it has really been a struggle for me to pull it all together. The other part of the banquet, however, involves me baking and preparing desserts and providing the musical entertainment.  Now THAT is right up my alley. Woot!

I will be sure to post pics and do better about keeping the blog updated. Hehe.

xoxoxo
Gena














3 comments:

  1. Those wings are amazing. You should do an all white quilt and then quilt a giant pair of wings into it...of course for Jacob when you send him off into the world to remind him he is mommy's lil angel.

    I love the lightning rod story!

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  2. Girl, we were so strapped for time trying to finish those things!! We actually had two complete angels so I did that times two. We had to be there by 4:00. Hannah was pacing saying, "Mommy it's 3:22." "Mommy it's 3:34." "Mommy is 3:47." "Mommy it's 3:58." Good thing the church is only three miles. Ha.

    I said that when I went to quilt those things I was like Mel Gibson in The Patriot..... 'Lord, please make me swift and accurate.'

    Ha.

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  3. your life travels so fast I have a hard time breathing between scenes... Totally interesting life!!! love it! I cannot wait to see the pics..
    Hey,, BTW: when is graduation?

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