Just When I Needed An Angel

April has been a month of sorrow for me. Just when I needed an angel, one showed up in the mail from my good friend and glass artist, Julia. Twice she tried to mail this to me in time for my birthday last month and twice the Post Office returned it to her. It arrived after the third try for the time it would be most appreciated.

Julia made this from glass beads, wire, and silver wing charms. I'm not sure what material the turquoise pearly skirt is (forgot to ask her). I believe she used her own glass beads for the head and body (forgot to ask her that too). Anyway, I really love it and I am touched by the fact that she made this just for me.

I haven't worked on my art very much this month. I have been busy with other things like helping hubby with our business. The rest of the month will be devoted to entertaining some of my cousins from Estonia and preparing our house for a renovation project. I have three works in progress which will hopefully be completed in the beginning of May.

I am still trying to get used to life without my little kitty. The house is so quiet and I feel a bit lonely during the day now without her. At least I can count on our very friendly neighbourhood cat, Lucy, to drop by and say hello.

Another Goodbye

My sister-in-law, E****, passed away last night after a brief illness. It was a mere two months ago that she was telling me about plans for her spring garden. It was at the time my sister passed away and never could I have imagined that shortly I would have to say goodbye to E**** as well.

Because we shared similar interests, we always had something to talk about. I often told hubby that I wished we could live next door to his brother and wife as I would have learned so much from E****. She was a talented woman. Mostly I will miss her dry humour and sharp wit. Even during her illness, her sense of humour remained intact.

I am glad that she didn't have to suffer too long but my heart is broken for her family.

R.I.P., dear E****.

Goodbye, Zoe

Today I had to say goodbye to my darling 16 year old cat, Zoe. The lump that had been steadily growing under her chin got to the point where it interfered with her ability eat and drink. So I had to let her go.

I am too sad to write any more.

Happy Easter To You

I'm a sucker for old musicals. Every year at Christmas, I make a point of watching White Christmas and Holiday Inn. And at Easter, it's "Easter Parade" with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. I've been listening to the Easter Parade soundtrack all week and have picked the song "Happy Easter" to share with you. So click on arrow to play the song. The lyrics are posted below. Sing along if you like.



[Astaire:]
Happy Easter

[Passerby:]
Happy Easter

[Astaire:]
Happy Easter

[Passerby:]
Happy Easter

[Astaire:]
Me oh my, there's a lot to buy
There is shopping I must do
Happy Easter to you

[Salesgirl:]
Here's a hat that you must take home
Happy Easter

[Astaire:]
Happy Easter

[Salesgirl:]
Here's a lid for milady's dome
Happy Easter

[Astaire:]
Happy Easter

[Salesgirl:]
This one's made for the hat parade on the well-known avenue
This one's nice and it's worth the price
Happy Easter to you

[Salesgirl:]
Here's a hat for a pretty face
Happy Easter

[Astaire:]
Happy Easter

[Salesgirl:]
Here is one that is trimmed with lace
Happy Easter

[Astaire:]
Happy Easter

[Salesgirl:]
Here's a touch of the quaint old Dutch
It's so old it's always new

[Salesgirl:]
This in white is exactly right
Happy Easter to you

[Salesgirl:]
I think that is a lovely hat
Maybe you think so too?

[Astaire:]
I do

[Salesgirl:]
Wrap it up for the chap with a very happy Easter to you

[Chorus:]
Never saw such a lovely day
Happy Easter

Everything seems to come your way
Happy Easter

My oh me, what a kick to be
On the well-known avenue

Me oh my, you're a lucky guy
Happy Easter to you
Happy Easter
Happy Easter
Happy Easter to you

Another Birthday and Spring Cleaning, etc...

March 21st and another birthday for me. I'm looking forward to an action packed day - a trip to the movie theatre to see another live HD opera broadcast from the Met and then out to dinner. Afterwards, my sister and brother-in-law are going to teach me some techie computer things that I have wanted to learn.

I will be away from blogging for a couple of weeks as I want to focus on doing a thorough spring cleaning and decluttering. I will also be de-toxing by going on a very simple diet of fruits and veggies (after my birthday dinner, that is). I need to reset my taste buds as lately they have gotten far to used to too much salt and sugar.

And now as the weather is improving and I feel like there really might be spring to look forward to, I want to get reacquainted with my fabric stash and plan a few items of clothing to sew for spring.

So I will not have time to make little Cotton Picker dolls and things and I will not be posting any new recipes on my cooking blog either. Please check back in a couple of weeks.

The little flower is from a notebook of stylized flowers that I drew a while ago.

Inspiration From A Folk Art Basket

As I was thumbing through one of my folk art books, I stopped to study an image of a woven basket. The design had a human-like figure but no face. I thought is was really sweet and naturally I had to give my version a face.

I had to have something with a little bit of green in it since today is St Paddy's day but as you can see, this is about as far away from an Irish "anything" as you can get. :)

For Karin

My travelling friend, Karin, has a birthday coming up just a few days after mine. We are both March babies born in the same year. I am five days older than Karin.

Karin and her husband Mike sold their house and many of their possessions a few years ago and took off in their RV to live the nomadic life. They have had adventures all over the United States and Canada are currently stationed in Florida until the end of this month. In fact, Mike has even written a book about their travels. Hubby and I took a vacation two years ago and met up with them in Tennessee and Kentucky. We had the most wonderful time. (Love the weather down there).

These days I only get to see her once a year when she comes back to Canada, but we are able to have very lengthy phone chats thanks to Skype.

I wanted to send Karin a little something for her birthday. It had to be little because you don't give big things to people who are living in a space challenged motor home. Actually their RV is quite big but still, you can't store junk like you can in a house.

Karin's favourite colour is yellow so I made her this ornament which will take up very little space. It has quite a lot of embroidery and texture. It's going out in the mail tomorrow so that it can get to its destination in plenty of time.