Public Service Announcements

1. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOMMY! I'm so glad I don't have to share you with siblings anymore. You are all mine! Enjoy your day and the umbrella. :)

2.The URL for the blog has changed, so if you are viewing this post (or any posts) through a reader, please make sure to update your links.

-Mommy's Little Helper (Della)

Coral Reef Brown

This set started with a neat focal bead ( I think I begged it off my sister Susan). The brown coral is from Michael's (half price, so $2). The metal beads are copper. The other beads are dalmation jasper and some unidentified cream stones. I like the way all the subtle colors worked together, even though I wouldn't usually pair a black and white stone with browns. 

Spring is Really Here

It hit 80 yesterday. I went looking for things to make a spring bouquet with though, and there's nothing besides my daffodils, which are wilting now in the heat. So there is just going to be a small vase of daffodils on the table this weekend. Laura's are coming on Saturday, and Hannah's on Sunday (as the Mennonites used to put it).
I have made a Boston Cream Pie (first time in years) and we are going to have a cook-out tomorrow while CJ and Larry work on our inside stairs. They are rebuilding the whole stairway. We have been living with plywood stairs for quite a while, so this will be a big improvement. We also have plans to take out the carpet in the upstairs hall but that will have to wait for another day.
Oh yes, and I have chicks, another definite sign of spring. Just eight, but they are a kind I've never had before, and I enjoy trying out new types of chickens.

Notes on Roman Glass

Remember that roman glass jewelry from a couple posts back? Well, I'm going to have to restring the necklace. One bead broke just from being in my suitcase. That's when it occurred to me that these native made glass beads are not well-tempered glass (as, for instance, Czech glass usually is). They are fragile, primitively created beads. So treat yours gently!

Goodbye, Old Paint

For the last 30 years or so I've been driving big vehicles. My first family car, bought when we had 3 or 4 children, was a Suburban. No AC, no power windows...we moved on to a 15 passenger van for the years that all 7 children were at home. Then when we came back from Hawaii, I got this 4 wheel drive Suburban. This car and I survived hydroplaning off into a field of water in Morrisville. Ran over a deer a couple months ago and didn't flinch. If I had still needed the bigger vehicle I would have fixed it, but we decided to downsize. So we found a dealer who gave us $2500 in trade (quite reasonable; the other dealer had only offered $1000) and we now have a 2007 Equinox. But I felt the old Suburban deserved a goodbye!

Doughnuts on Sunday

Esther wanted to make doughnuts this weekend and so we broke out a new can of Crisco and warmed up the old frying pan.

The result-a big plate of warm doughnuts. Unfortunately, we only ate part of them. The chickens got

the rest. There just aren't enough people around here to eat up big batches!

March, Spring Winds, and Basic Black

The weather has improved tremendously, the snow piles are only small mounds here and there, and my crocuses are blooming. Even early in the morning, when I'm out fetching wood in the chill, the early birds sound different and you can tell the season has turned.
I felt like wearing brighter colors so pulled out a never-worn bright turquoise blue top. (Bought on clearance, Della). I made a necklace set from some water buffalo horn beads that I had bought online and hadn't much liked. But set with some silver spacers that Granma had given me, they turned into a nicer set than I'd imagined.
Beads $4, Spacers $0, Clasp $2. So add a little for the other supplies and the set cost about $6.25