Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Oh the weather outside is frightful... but the "wood stove" is so delightful!

I'm so thankful for a warm home to live in. Charles and I are having coffee together and it's snowing so hard right now we cannot see the mountains out the back of our house. The flakes are huge! And heavy and wet too. The power keeps going off and coming back on a pretty regular basis.

Charles has offered to help me out in the shop today. Yahoo! I'm thankful for the help. I'll take a few pictures while I'm out there, and I can do the "before" and some "after" once I get things rearranged. Plus I'm taking all my consignment down and packing it up in boxes. Then I'll see where to go from there. I am keeping a few pieces of the furniture out there for myself. I want to bring the huge step-back cupboard into my kitchen. I need to put my "check out" station by the door. The basic first part of the shop is shaped like an L. And very seldom do people go into this smaller section. My register, computer printer, phone, credit card machine and all of that were there. Charles suggested that it might be people don't feel comfortable going into that smaller section because of my work station being in there too. My work station is going to be cut in half as well. The second section of my shop will be my working studio. I will work on projects while I'm out there, and people can come in and see what I do. I don't know why, but people seem to love that sort of thing. The third section of my shop is going to be my future commercial kitchen. I think I mentioned my hopes for that. I just need some motivation. And I need to feel worthy of becoming a success and to have faith in myself and my God-given abilities and capabilities. It's just that since I started this business in 2003, I have faced so many obstacles. Not just little ones, but major, life threatening, business destroying obstacles. I told my husband after the flood that I didn't know if I had it in me to start over again. Anyhow... progress shall be made today.

Maybe I'll get a chance to post a couple of pictures tonight.

See ya,
Penny Sue

I'm back... and a huge change of plans. About 5 minutes after I posted today we lost power. The power had been going off and on a majority of the morning. However, after 3 quick ons and offs... it went completely off. It's now 10:10 PM, and we haven't had any power back. Thankfully we still have heat. My husband used to be a plumbing and heating self-employed tradesman. He set up our wood boiler so that even if we don't have power, we still have heat. A few nobs here and a couple of valves there, and presto- we have heat. However, most of our town does not have ANY power. We waited until dark before he went out and started up our generator. At that point we needed some power to turn on a light or two, and we have two refrigerators, one upstairs and one in the basement, and a stand alone upright freezer. We figured it had gone on long enough without being kept "cold". The generator would allow us to run most anything we wanted to for whole house power needs... but because we don't want to burn too much fuel in the generator, we're limiting what we turn on for power for overnight.

So.. there are no pictures as we didn't go out to the shop. The electric heaters weren't working, and we just decided to have a quiet day. Maybe next weekend.

Gotta be at work tomorrow at 8:00 am. I'm not sure what to expect if we don't have power back. The register won't work, the only light in the building comes from the door up front. I guess I'll show up and wait and see.

Hugs,
Penny Sue

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down...

Today has been a restful day. But it's been dark, gray, windy and cold outside. I feel gloomy and blue today. I am fast approaching November 1st, which will mark the 10 year anniversary of my mom passing away. In some ways it feels like just a short time ago... but in other ways it seems like an eternity. I think the one thing I miss the most about her is the sound of her voice. I can't just pick up the phone and have a silly ol' conversation with her, or a heart to heart, which is what she was really good at. But, the Lord allows her to walk through my dreams... and she speaks... and I hear her voice... and it sounds like Mom. What a gift. I don't dream of her often, but when I do... it is distinctly her. I don't mean physically.... that would be weird. But... somehow spiritually... or something along those lines. I thank the Lord for dreams... and memories... and the ways in which He does amazing things in our lives.

So, they are predicting rain and snow tonight and tomorrow. Perfect. The hubs is home. He got home last night just before 7 pm. He will be leaving Wednesday morning. My work schedule got changed for two days this week. I will end up with 31 hours instead of 25 hours. The extra money will certainly be helpful.

I'm in the process of planning two different parties in the next 6 months. My first venture is to try to get ex-coworkers together sometime in January or February of 2009. I'd like to call it "The blast from the past" party. I made my first attempt of trying to contact people that I already have email addresses for. I have a funny feeling this is going to take some doing. My second venture is to try to plan some sort of celebration party for my Dad. He will be turning 80 years old this coming March. I need to figure out where, when, and a theme for this party. My sister has been so busy with her life and two girls that I haven't really even had a chance to talk with her about doing this. But I will this coming week. I would like to respect who he is, but also make it something fun. He was born in 1929... maybe a "What was going on in 1929"... or a "Here's your life" (remember that show?) theme. Or a theme from Ireland/England. My father is half Irish and half English. His father was Irish and his mother was English. If I think about it more... I might come up with more creative ideas. However, I'm leaning towards the "Here's Your Life Ed". That would be so cool to go through major events of his life, highlight great things, and actually inviting people who would be behind the scenes until we did the part where you hear the person's voice and then out they come. Wouldn't that be so cool?

Well... once again I've rambled on long enough. It's not like anyone reads this stuff anyhow. But I will refer back to it when I try to come up with my plans for the party.

Lord... Thank you for relationships with people who love us unconditionally... in spite of our ugliness. They show us Your true love. The way You love each one of us.

Amen,
Your girl

No pictures today...

What a day! It started out with a very gentle rain this morning... then turned completely miserable this afternoon. It poured all afternoon. So much rain came down. I was completely amazed... and had flashbacks of the flood of 2006 in June here in Northeastern PA. What a nightmare. When it rains so hard like it did today, I tend to get kind of edgy. Thankfully, it has stopped pouring. It's just a light misty type of rain now.

I left work at 4:03 pm today, made a short errand and then came home. It had been raining so hard today that the drain grate at the edge of our property on the side of the road was so clogged with leaves, mud and small twigs that it had created this huge "pile" of water in front of my house. When I got home from my errands, I donned my barn boots and bright yellow rubber gloves and went out to try to clean out the drain grate. While I was out there getting completely soaked, one of my friends from where I work at the local market was at the "pub" across the street from my house. She came out hollering at me. I couldn't hear what she was saying, and she started to cross the street, and I told her to get back to her side of the road, that I was coming over. I crossed the road, noticing how soaked she was... and she told me she "did that already". I was stunned. She actually saw someone almost have an accident in front of my house and thought she should do something about it. In her jeans, sneakers (with a hole in them), and tee-shirt she had cleaned out the drain grate in front of my house. What a sweetheart! I gave her a huge hug and kissed her on the cheek. She was so gracious, thoughtful and selfless. I think I shall bake her something wonderful tomorrow and give her a thank you note. She's a single mom and struggling... a lot... with financial, physical, parental and emotional issues. She's such a sweet girl however, and I think there is so much more I could be to her. Her act of kindness is something I cherish. Sometimes, you just feel very alone in this world, and then someone does something like that for you. It just feels good. I wanted to offer her to come to the house and get some dry clothes or something, but she said that she and her ex-husband were leaving to go get take out for the kids. (As I said, it's a complicated story.) But, I am so thankful for her act of kindness. There are so many people against her and think bad thoughts. I feel led by the Lord to show her kindness, forgiveness, understanding where I can, and just be His light to her.

That's just a small part of my day.

My husband had a "bad" day. But that will have to wait for now.

God bless you all,
Penny Sue

Lord, Thank you for showing us Your loving kindness through other people in our lives. Totally unsuspecting, You amaze us. Help me to show Your true calling to us... Your first commandment after Your resurrection was to "Love one another". Help me be that love to others.

Amen,
Your girl

The last roses of summer...

I took this picture shortly after Cindy posted her gorgeous flowers. Everything in my gardens is done blooming, and looks a bit ratty, to be quite honest with you. But I looked out my bay window today and noticed these pretty little pink roses just hanging on for dear life. I couldn't believe my eyes. We'd already had a couple of hard frosts, and they were just as beautiful as if it were the middle of summer. And the most amazing part of it was the fact there were more buds and blossoms coming. God's creation is so magical.

This is another photo of the ring bearer pillow I did for the girl I worked with. The colors are a little off, but you get the idea. The sage green was being worn by two young girls... one being a flower girl and the other, a junior bridesmaid. The sage was a satin ribbon worn around their waists on their dresses. That was why I went with this color in the pillow material so there would be something connecting the ring bearer with the color scheme of the young ladies. The rose is white with just a hint of pink, which the bride actually used the exact same roses in her bouquet. I also used small pieces of hydrangea, the white/green ones. They set off the rose so nicely. The bride-to-be made all the bouquets; one for herself and each bridesmaid. She did a fantastic job. I was honored to be able to contribute to her wedding day in this way.

My husband has been working diligently today to get heat to my shop from the house. In the past, I had a propane heater, and was closed almost all of last winter because I could not afford to pay the fuel bill. It was costing between $250-$300 almost every five to six weeks. So... we decided to try to run heat out there from the heat source in our house. Today a guy from our church family came (we hired him) to dig a 4 foot deep trench from a point in our house foundation to a particular spot at the shop so the hubby can bury heat pipe, water and electric as well. We purchased an outdoor lamp post that we've had for almost a year, waiting for this day to come so that we could also install the light. I'll be taking pictures tomorrow so that ya'll can see what I'm talking about. Maybe you'll get a glimpse of my adorable hubs. Maybe... maybe not. Depends on how bashful he might be... which, on a pretty regular basis... is NEVER! :)

I spent most of my day with my sister, Becky, and our Dad... he had his second cataract operation this morning. While at the hospital, I went and had my port-a-cath (in my chest) flushed... and while on my way to oncology, I saw this woman walking into the "lab" just inside the front entrance. I remember looking at the back side of her thinking there is only one woman that I know that is 6'4" that would actually have a reason to be here, with that hair cut, hair color and that "look". But the elderly woman in front of her, I kept trying to make into my "Auntie Evelyn" (her Mom)... and I kept thinking... there is no way that is Auntie Evelyn. So, I followed the first woman into the "lab" and made a wide swing to the side, because I wanted to be sure it was who I was thinking it was.... and guess what? It was my Dear Sweet Cousin, Margie. She is such a lovie. We chatted briefly, she was called in to get her blood work done, told me not to leave, but I told her I had to go to my appointment in oncology. I told her that Becky was in the Atrium... (the general waiting area for outpatient surgery). I told her that Dad was having cataract surgery to stop by and see Becky, and I'd be back in a few minutes.

All was well. Dad's surgery went perfectly. Becky and I were able to visit with our cousin, Margie. After the surgery we went to lunch. Things seemed to go much smoother for him the second time around.

Hey, I've rambled on long enough. Probably too long. I don't want to bore you all to distraction...

Hugs,

Penny Suzie

Happy Wednesday...

I love the fall season. It's taken me a long time to get back to this love of the season. My mom passed away 10 years ago on November 1st from pancreatic cancer. I spent the last 2 and 1/2 weeks of her life taking care of her. My husband made it possible (in our early marriage) for me to allow Mom to come home. So, for a while there, though I would love the colors of the season, it was very difficult not to associate it with my loss. Now, it's just a bittersweet time. Mom and I used to do so many things together, especially in the fall when there seemed to be so much more to do. The above photo was taken right outside my back porch door. My husband planted this tree just about 3 years ago, and it's huge. But the thing I love about it most is the gorgeous red colors it turns. I walk into my kitchen and look out the back door and it catches my breath. The leaves start out this firey red, and the longer the leaves stay on the tree they will turn to a gorgeous burgundy. It truly is amazing.

This picture (not very clear, I know) was taken of a ring bearer pillow I made for a friend from work. This is one of the things I do for my shop... custom designed ring bearer pillows. I absolutely hate the white satin ones that look like cookie cutter pillows. They have no personality. So, I read in one of the bride magazines that a custom pillow is another way to introduce your colors of the wedding. I used the same silk flowers the bride had in her bouquet, and the pillow material is this striped sage green organza and silk design. It looks more gray here than in reality. I took white organza ribbon and added it to each corner, so they hung down, and I took green and white varigated ivy and applied a couple of very small leaves to the ribbons. On the back of the pillow,I just added the same color sage green ribbon and tied it into a lovely bow that the ring bearer could just slide his little hand into it. It was so sweet. When I took it to my friend, her ring bearer said with big wide-eyed amazement, "Do I get to keep it?" How cute.

The thumbnail picture that's supposed to be of me is actually my gift shop. I know it's kind of small to see any detail... but, I'll be taking more pictures. And hopefully my photography skills will improve.

Have a lovely day,

PS