Leaving the Old Year......

The last day of 2011 is here. Thoughts of the past year flow through my memory like a river of no return.
I am looking forward to more travel this year, more creating, and time spent with friends.

I wish you all a peaceful end of the year, and a joyful new beginning.

And so....this was Christmas 2011

It finally came....and went. All the shopping, cooking, picture taking, visiting, wrapping, decorating...is gone for another year. Now, the dismantling of the decorations, the storing of boxes, etc. I have decided this year to throw away the tissue, ribbon and paper. I usually save everything but not this year. It will be fun to looks for the new next year.

I would love to say I will be a better blogger in 2012, but who am I kidding? I will try to post more of my escapades and creations....as I sure have plenty to do. I love reading all of my favorites and plan to incorporate some of their ideas into my furniture changes and painting. I have quilts to make, and dresses to sew for that cutie 4 yo grandaughter and now a cutie Great Granddaughter.

I send you best wishes for a New Year. I pray blessings on each and everyone of you who read my blog and hope to see some of you in an art class this coming year.

I will leave you with some of my Christmas memories this year....

A Great Granddaughter for Christmas. Welcome Harper Leigh Lussier

A little Charlotte doll I made into a snow queen. Don't you just love her?

Me and my girls.

Me and my grans, minus 2. Maggie and Myranda were out of town for Christmas. I will post after Wed. when I see them for Christmas celebrations.

My guy Scott getting ready to dive into an Apple Pie that Leslee made.

This is our four generation picture. Me, Laurie, her daughter Meggan, and Meggans daughter Harper. I am blessed. I wish Dick were still with us to see his beautiful growing family.

quilts

I call this follow the leader. My youngest daughter has always had a mind of her own and seldom followed the leader. If you look closely you will see one angel flying the opposite direction! lol

A little patriotic number that I gave away as well.

I loved the fabric I picked out for the backing.

Baby quilt August 2011

I made this one for my Granddaughter for her baby girl who is due in Sept.

Meggans baby shower....

Life is ever changing and my post this week is about becoming a Great Grandmother!!
That's right my first Granddaughter is expecting in Sept...the 19th to be exact.
We are all so excited. I hosted a luncheon for Ron, the Daddy, and his family before the shower. The flew in from Idaho. Ron's grandmother lives in Salina Ks.
These are just a few of the pictures taken.



This is my granddaughter Meggan who is expecting her very first child.

Her nursery colors are Black, Green, and Cream.

This is Ron. He is the daddy:-)

This is the quilt I made for Harper. My friend Dana Covey quilted it for me in record time. Don't you just love the colors? The back is flannel, to keep Harper warm.

COZY LITTLE HOUSE: Contact Me

COZY LITTLE HOUSE: Contact Me: "brendakula@gmail.com"
Holding you in my heart with prayers and hugs.
Tulsa is closer to me since I live in Wichita,
and I have a Niece who lives in Broken Arrow.
So, at some point we will meet.
Take this change, "one bite at a time."

Remembering...

I have an old doll trunk that I have filled with books by Tasha Tudor. I loved her no nonsense about living an authentic life and enjoying all the little things that make life seem so simple.
There is a creek across from my house, and I have often wanted to go there and set a small cake, with candles, afloat on the slow moving water. I have not done that because, "What would the neighbor's think." But I think that someday I will tip toe, after way dark, with a little gran faerie, and we will slip under the bridge and set a cake to float...with candles burning brightly.

~ The Feathered Nest ~: en masse ~

~ The Feathered Nest ~: en masse ~

P.S.

The outstanding white doggie in the last pictures is my friend and partner, Charlie.
He is a mix of Maltese, and The S breed that I can't spell but rhymes with spit!!
He is a doll and with me everywhere I go.

This is for you Brenda K

A peak inside my home today. Brenda, Cozy Little House blogger, is always an inspiration with her decorating and love of "home things."
Thank you Brenda!!

And last, but not least, this is my nest, the place where I read the newest magazines, the place where I talk on the phone,
and of course I have been know to take a nap or 2 there!!
Happy Tuesday

Taking a break from family story to clean my studio...

Well it is time! I have been back from the Birdsong Retreat for weeks now and it is time to finish up, clean up, and start on my new projects. Here is a look at how things can get out of hand in the studio really quick!

I think that gives you a pretty good idea of where I need to start!!
More to come.
Greetings for Memorial Day. Blessings to your loved ones.

Birth Mother, Thelma and her husband Bill

This is a picture of Thelma and her husband Bill.
This picture was taken a few years after I met them for the first time.
Bill was always very kind and loving to me, even though I was not his
child. Thelma told him about me after he came home from the war and he
was disappointed that she gave me up for adoption.

More to come as I get photos scanned. More about my sisters, and more about
my Mother's reaction when she leaned I had contacted my biological Mother.

Memories.........

A little bit about myself today.

This is a picture of my 3 sisters...L. to R. with me being the youngest, Me, Lois, Betty, and Mary. We did not grow up together as I was put up for adoption before I was born. My biological Mother, Thelma, was married to a service man, who was serving in Germany at the time of my conception.
It was a difficult time for men and women in the 1940's, and loneliness was lurking at every turn. Maybe I am the product of lust, or just plain loneliness, but either way I know my birth Mother loved me and her decision to give me up, plagued her the rest of her life.

Thelma was an Oklahoma girl and came to Wichita in late '44 with her 3 daughters in tow, and a huge secret. Thelma stay with her sister in a small town south of Wichita.
She gave birth to me on Dec. 12th, 1944 and signed the adoptions papers on her birthday Dec. 13th.

I was adopted by Valine and Bud, who had adopted a son 3 years earlier and his name was Michael. My mother, Valine had placed an ad in the local paper, requesting to adopt a child and Thelma answered this ad.

More to come...........

thought for the day

Well this is a start for planting on my deck. Monday it was 100 degree's and today it is in the 50's...go figure. Getting ready to put tomatoes in the garden and planting Coriopoulis by the old, rickety bench in front.

Sharing a Work Day in Niki's studio

We decided to play with paper and do a decorating project on old train cases or suit cases. I decided to re-do my Grandmothers old silverware case. It was a paper covered box from the 1920's.

Well...I wasn't to please with my picture at Bird Song...so decided to show
what I think it should look like!!! hahaha Oh, the magic of Blogging. I am
still learing and have not figured out how to put pictures side by side, but at least I did stagger them. I have so many more pictures I will add tomorrow, but for now this is it!!
I am looking forward to another retreat...so let me know of any around close girls.
Love to Karla, Carol, Debbie, and Lisa...the wonderful teachers!!

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." - Henry David Thoreau

Bird Song web site.

This was the Retreat. I will try to post the address...but I am still new to this blogging thing.

Bird Song

Bird Song">

Bird Song Retreat 2011

Cami

Bird Song Studio........full of inspiration.

Quill Cottage

Quill Cottage

Cupcake Day with Joe and Claire

The fun begins..........

The best part of cupcakes!!

Musings for a cold day in Kansas 2011

This morning the temperature in the Heart of Kansas was 1 degree. The wind chill was 20-, so the only thing to do was get to the sewing machine. The snow was falling and I was really happy to finish some UFO.
Working on some fun lap quilts for the 2 little ones and as you can see I had lots of help!!NOT!! It is difficult to machine quilt when you have a cat laying on the fabric. By the way this is my cat Simon Sweetheart. Can you see why he is named so?