Friendship

About a month ago, I got the news that my cousin's wife was facing her second bout of Malignant Phyllodes breast cancer after just 18 months of getting her first diagnosis. It is a very rare type of breast cancer, and she and her family are having to travel 3 hours from their home for her appointments and treatment.  There are also several underlying medical conditions she will need treatment for, and needless to say, they are really feeling the stress with these additional expenses and the ones yet to come.  When we heard that a group of their close friends were planning a benefit for the family, I just knew that I wanted to cross stitch something to donate for the silent auction.

Since I didn't have a huge amount of time, I needed to choose a pattern that wasn't too large, and would appeal to a wide variety of people.  I went searching through my patterns, looking for something with a "friendship" theme, and decided on this chart from Heart in Hand appropriately named - Friendship the Trilogy. 

 

 I first saw this pattern stitched up, when our friend Jayne made the 4 of us each a flat-fold using this design (you can read about it here).  Following Jayne's lead, I also changed up the colours here and there since I wanted to use threads I already had on hand.  I'm so happy how it turned out, and it was an extra bonus when I realized that it fit perfectly into a pre-made 5"x7" distressed frame!

I also decided to add this ornament I finished a little while back.  I felt it needed a bit of sparkle, so I added a tiny red button from my Nana's button tin.

The benefit was held last night, and it was a huge success!!  A fun time was had by all, and the outpouring of love and support by those who attended and contributed was overwhelming.  We hope that the funds raised will help to lessen the financial burden for the family as they go through this difficult time.

Tracey

We Will Remember...

A Fine Dusting

This morning I woke up in a bit of a fog.  Or should I say in a bit of a dusting ??  I have been fighting  a sinus and chest infection all week and I looked forward to relaxing all weekend. With the time change allowing for the extra hour of sleep I can't lose right? Wrong.  Instead of waking up at 2:30 in the morning as I have all week,  I now wake up at 1:30.  This recovery is not as speedy as I thought it would be even with my antibiotic.  BUT, at least I got that extra hour to relax anyway. 

So I thought I would be smart and take my iPad to bed with me and when I wake up with a coughing fit at least I can entertain myself until I can fall back to sleep.   Pinterest and I have become good friends this week.  So much so that I have probably lost several of my other friends now from annoying them with a tsunami of emails of 'look what I just found!'.   You know... just like the 'non-computer' person who suddenly decides they should get on the information highway and invest in a computer and they forward you all the jokes they've just discovered and you've already read for the past 20 years.  Dear friends, please forgive my new-found excitement.  Yes I'm a little bored, but I really was thinking of you when I saw that idea. .. and that idea.... and oh ya... THAT idea.

Back to the dusting.  Ok, so this morning (at 2:30 am 1:30 am) I thought - Ok Bonnie, Stop looking at the remodeling, decorating and craft ideas because you aren't well enough (or rich enough) to do any of them yet - go to the Christmas cookie ideas and see what you can find for this year that will be different.  Oh my goodness, so many ideas are out there to choose from I just don't know where I want to start, but I do remember drifting back to sleep between powdered donut snowmen, and powdered snowflakes, powdered donut kabobs, powdered cupcakes.

Now, back to the beginning of the story.  This morning I woke up in a bit of a fog.  Looked out the window and thought I saw a giant Pinterest 'Pin' of powdered sugar.  We had our first dusting of snow.  It was so pretty to see all the coloured leaves peaking through the snow.  So I smiled and thought, what a pretty way to wake up first thing again this morning. I stood there admiring for a moment, then I had a cough attack, peed my pants, and was brought back to reality and I thought I would capture the moment with my camera. 

I have a perfect spot in front of the window when I sit to relax. All week I have been admiring the vibrant colour
of the roses peaking in at me.

Hydrangeas are one of my most favourite flowers.

Simple beauty.

I wish I could take this inside and keep it like this.

Oh !!  I hear geese approaching. 

Had the sun been shining, this would have been a great shot of the glistening tree.

It really does look like someone just dusted the gardens with pwdered sugar.

The Yucca looks kinda Yummy.

For the life of me I cannot even remember the name of this bush.

.... still cant.

These are the four foot tall burrs that I keep forgetting to dig up.

Even mushrooms like a bit of dusting.

OH!  Found the neighbour's ball.

A canopy of evergreen.

Oh dear, I left the kids in the garden.
They seem to be happy enough; yep, he's got her covered.
What a guy!

Sugared driftwood anyone?

Snow angel.

Pull up a seat and set a spell.

I love the random spattering of snow on the fence.

Yes... that is the pumpkin house still sitting in the urn.
The birds seem happy enough.

A few snap dragon's left.

Another one peeking out.

Last week I picked some of the snap dragons that were still making their appearance and so today I thought I would bring the mini-roses in and enjoy them for a few days.  

Time to go make a cup of tea.  Of course, 'you know who' just HAD to join in ....

 

As I write this, the dusting of snow is all melted away now.  I'm glad I grabbed my camera when I did.  I guess that extra hour today turned out to be a benefit in more ways than one. 

Off I go now... the tea is long gone, but chicken soup is calling my name.

Bonnie