Another Day In Paradise

A beautiful day for sitting in the screen porch and stitching. When the weather is like it was today in Minnesota, it is close to paradise. Low humidity, light breeze, temperature in the 70's and the sun shining. I am so grateful for my screen porch (here in Minnesota you gotta have screen to keep out the mosquitos) it's nothing fancy, just very country and comfy. Now what could be better than that. As I look over my rock gardens, I can see that I am going to need to put down the stitching one of these days and do a little weeding. I don't like to use weed killer because we have so many birds that visit our backyard, and I don't think it is good for them. Speaking of the birds, my little wren friend was not in her house today and I am quite concerned about it.I miss her chattering and antagonizing the car. I know the cat didn't get her because the cat doesn't go outside. I don't hear any little ones either, I sure hope I didn't miss their first flight. I am stitching on another piece of what I call "Crazy Stitching." I am not a crazy quilter, as I really don't like the bright, garish look of some of it, but the stitching intrigues me. I like doing
the stitches. I also like to draw (if you haven't figured that out by now) and I like doing a drawing of some of the stitches, coloring them and then transferring them to fabric and then doing
embroidery on them. The photo that I have just posted is one of my latest pieces. I have yet to make it into the heart shaped little door knob hanger. I have the best time doing these. I will include another photo after I get a digital picture of it.When I was talking about prardise earlier, I was reminded about an e-mail I got the other day from my niece. She is a young mother and and has 3 little girls, the oldest is 3, and the other 2 are twins and are two yearsold. In her note that she wrote me, she ended it by saying, I need to go because one of the twins had written all over the other one with a magic marker, and then ended it with.... oh, just another day in paradise. It struck me funny but at the same time I found myself reliving some of those experiences of being a young mother and dealing with things like kids coloring on the walls, etc. When you reach the age of being grandparents, and how you think at that point in your life, those days were like paradise. What fun it would be to spend a few days with three active little girls like that. I love little children at that age, they are so quick to smile and they are just like little sponges as they absorb everything you say and do. The thing that I wonder about though is why, I as a mother at that age was so serious about everything. When I think about it, we did it to ourselves. I remember thinking that my house had to be perfect, the laundry always had to be done, heaven forbid if anyone came over and saw the house a mess. I remember just flying into a frenzy if I found out someone was coming and I would clean and dust and bake a cake because back in those days you always had to have something baked to go with coffee in case someone came over. I remember fretting about the garden and making sure there were absolutely no weeds present. I went to school and got both of my nursing degress after my children were born and worked out full time most of my life. I remember feeling like I was on a roller coaster some days, as I would fly from one thing to the other. Now I sit back and I think "for what." Life is what happens when you are busy making a living." And those days with your children when they are small are so precious, and it is all gone in the blink of an eye. Young mothers, take heed, slow down, spend time with your children, the days pass way too quickly. We all need to slow down and enjoy life more, because in the end, it is all about what kind of a person you are inside and not what things look like on the outside or what your home looks like, or what others think about you. Take time to stitch, and watch the birds, smell a few roses, chase a few butterflies.
Happy Stitching! Carol