Presenting: HandmadeBySandi

In honor of Memorial Day, I decided to choose these two patriotic items from our Etsy Blogger of the Month: HandmadeBySandi. She has quite an interesting variety of items in her shop at http://HandmadeBySandi.etsy.com Her items range from jewelry to adorable baby washcloths to many delightful crocheted items which, as a fellow crocheter, I can tell you are artfully done. Congratulations, Sandi, for being the Etsy blogger of the month, and for having a birthday this month as well! I have only one important question for her: Is that candy included with the bowl????

New Perennial Garden

My wonderful daughters provided the first perennials for our new backyard garden as a gift for Mother's Day: seven gorgeous columbines, three of which you see here. The garden idea was the result of our adding an addition to the house last winter. Our contractor backfilled around the addition and built us a small raised area shown below.
Today we selected and purchased the rest of the plants and tomorrow is planting day. Because it is a sunny area, we tried to choose flowers with color who love the sun, including black eyed susans, shasta daisies, salvia, blanket flower, and pinks. Check back tomorrow and throughout our summer growing season for for the completed project!

M.........other's Day Camping

For quite a while now, Mother's Day Weekend has always meant camping with my older daughter and son-in-law. Their tent camper is roomy and comfortable. This year will be extra special because my younger daughter and sil will be visiting from Boston, and will join us. It should be extra interesting with our latest weather forecast. I took this picture of the camper last weekend which was gorgeous and warm. This weekend we're slated for rain and cold with possible snow! Good thing it has a heater. Can you say "games" instead of "hiking" and "chili" instead of "hamburgers?" No matter what, we'll have a glorious time!!!

T.........he Gift

On Saturday morning a slim volume arrived in the mail, a gift from a former student. I had known that something was in the works, but the result was one of the most precious gifts I have ever received. It is a copy of the doctoral thesis in philosophy written by a very fine young man that I had the privilege to teach more than 15 years ago. As you can see, the dedication claims that it is partly my fault! However, I'm accepting none of the praise or blame because even the title is daunting: Spacetime Gaps and the Persistence of Objects Through Time. It will take much thought and study on my part to even begin to understand it! He was even so gracious as to mention me in his thank you section. I've always felt that teachers want their students to surpass them and he has truly proved this theory. Thank you, Tom.

You may also be interested in checking out the charitable organization that he helped found and for whom he works: www.gamersforhumanity.org a most useful and valuable group that fills a unique niche in the world of charity.

P.........resenting MagdaleneJewel and Knits!

This month's Etsy Blogger has inspired me more than she knows. Her delicate work is not only evident in her jewelry such as the gorgeous necklace that features a polymer clay flower and crystals shown below, but in her knitting. As a fellow knitter, I can tell that her workmanship is excellent. The baby mocs shown to the right are just one of the sweet items in her new shop http://www.magdaleneknits.etsy.com . And that's where she has been an extra inspiration to me. In a couple of weeks, I'll be opening a new shop as well to separate my baby items from the other crafts. Stay tuned for the update! Meanwhile, please check out her shops, both knit and jewelry. The second is at http://www.magdalenejewels.etsy.com . You'll be glad you did!

H..........appy birthday to all of us!

In response to an Etsy Bloggers Carnival, I began to think in depth about birthdays. Even though I've had 67 of them, I've never really found them to be memorable; not because others haven't made it a joyful event for me, but because they've all been a joy. I guess I am one of the lucky ones who can appreciate every day and every birthday. Besides, I'm happy to have made it this far!

And as all mothers, the birthdays of my two fabulous daughters were much more memorable. But perhaps the most notable birthday of all was my husband's first birthday after we were married. I really wanted to make it special: I had made him a beautiful sweater, I had purchased a new book he had wanted, I had made a special card, and had even baked his favorite carrot cake. If you ask him now, however, he will remember none of these things. What he will remember is that I passed out and he had to call 911! Even though after a quick trip to the hospital proved it was due only to dehydration and a bad sinus infection, that's how he now remembers his birthday!

The photos represent our zodiac signs, Gemini and Aquarius, as well as our love of cats (this drawing looks remarkably like our two), and a gorgeous ring, appropriate for an Aquarius. The are both available at Etsy!

R.........odent Control

The friend who first introduced me to computers was incredibly patient, but she still got a good laugh over my dealing with the mouse. She just claimed that I had trouble with "rodent control".

Until today, more than 14 years later, I had made great strides with the little critter. Then we purchased a new laptop computer and with its pad, EEK!, it's back to square one! I really want to master this one, so even though I know we can connect our traditional "rodent", we're not going to fall into that "trap".

Guess I'll send her this blog post so she can start laughing again.

The darling plush mouse that you see here is from http://buttercupbloom.etsy.com/ He is eco-friendly and "upcycled"!