Friends connecting!

Woohoo!!  I just figured out how to add the Google Friends Connect widget to my website! Oh, I have missed it since I moved from Blogger. Yay! Will you be my friend? :) Please?  it is such a great way to keep in touch! It is located just below the sponsors. Yay! It was the one thing I really would have loved to move over from the Old Moth blog, but just couldn't figure out how do it. This isn't that one (it had 1900+ friends) sooooo... we'll have to start over, at friend one, so to speak. But that is okee dokee!

Ya know, it's the little things..

xoxo~

Abbie

Thank you..

Bev, Lisa and Anke passed along this very lovely Marie Antoinette award to me and I thank them dearly!

Instead of passing the award along, I am going to highlight some of most favorite friends, artists, photographers that I have had the honor to get to know through blogging. Please visit them, you won't be disappointed!

1. The Collage Diva herself, Kathryn, her art is full of color, form and passion. Someday soon I hope for her and I to meet, chat and share.

2. Randel Plowman if you haven't had the chance stop by to see his work, please do, it is nothing but collage and FABULOUS!

3. Amanda Churchill -a magnificent pro photographer and momma all bundled into one gorgeous package! I have watched her develope and grow her dreams! She is an inspiration for any woman wondering if they can do it all.

4. Anke Martin - another woman who does it all! Pregnant with her third child, she just opened her art studio for instruction. A marvelous photographer and mixed media artist from across the ocean. Hugs Anke!

5. RhondaMum - Honest, true and lovely, I have watched Rhonda start her blog, open her shop and blossom as an artist!

and a few giants in the land of blog that are so huge most have found them but if you have not, their blogs are worth the visual journey...

Sandra Everston, Vanessa Valencia, and Amanda Soule.

The list goes on and if I highlighted everyone I'd be here for days! :) Every blog on my sidebar is worth visiting. The blogs I follow in my profile... there are so many! and so many more that I just can't add to the list, it's not that they aren't fantastic, I just get dizzy thinking about it! If I had hours and hours to spend just browsing my time could be swept into Bloglandia forever.. as it is, I spend too much time here.

Thank you for the award Ladies!

xoxo~

Abbie

Althea - digital collage

A new digital collage I created. If you would like to play with the elements I used, click the 'clipart' link below and follow your nose. The bloom print I snagged from Dawn at The Feathered Nest.

Don't Count Your Eggs..

Well, we made it. The children were amazing in the car, but my little one wouldn't let me put her down the entire time we were gone. So, needless to say, it was not a 'vacation' by the essence of the word, but it was a good time and the kids enjoyed seeing their grandpa.

Before I left with the kids, as a family we walked our field and cleaned out the bird boxes. So many treasures and also pain. We found a wasps nest, an unhatched sparrows egg. A dead sparrow. New, probably arrived alittle too early this spring and froze. In the blue bird's box we found two tiny pale blue eggs, one intact unhatched, and the other broken, but not a successful fertilization. Now I know where the phrase 'Don't count your chickens before they hatch.' comes from.

Yesterday morning, before the house was up, I received a phone call that one of my classmates from high school had passed away suddenly. The phone rang for quite awhile and there was a lot of hashing through old memories and many ghosts came flying from the closets. My mother came over and I went to a funeral for a 33 year old woman. Probably the saddest funeral I have been too, as it didn't make much sense and there was no relief in sight for the family. I left quickly, not wanted to go back to that place of adolescence. It was not an overly happy time in my life and I'm trying very hard to make the shift of mind to the 'now' and to the 'tomorrow'.

I have lost some very good friends and have found others. I have also lost some not so good friends and found people to replace those as well. When I left the funeral, it was OK. It is hard to explain, but I was OK. I am happy with my life and where it is at. I am at peace with my family, those close to me and there are no regrets. I saw a lot of regrets yesterday. That was probably the hardest part for most, they weren't as sad about the passing of a friend, but were angry at themselves for all the 'should have's' and 'if only's'. To this point in my life, I can honestly say that the decisions I have made have been the right ones and I am at peace. Do you have any regrets? Any unspoken words of love, pain or angst? Any unreturned phone calls? Speak them now, for you never know which eggs aren't going to hatch in the morning..

So, this post isn't about my vacation, although my few days away helped my hubby and I see each other through new eyes. It was about death and a rebirth. The rebirth of my confidence. My understanding and comprehension that, in the words of Martha, my life is a 'good thing'.

Growth and RAK gifts..

Our seeds are sprouting! In front you can see the start of mammoth sunflowers and behind, the red wispy sprouts are radishes.. We also planted pilgrim tomatoes and pumpkins. None of those seeds have germinated, perhaps they are too old. Isn't the red of the radish stems fantastic? Speaking of fantastic, I received the most fabulous gift in the mail on Tuesday!!

The above creamer was a gift from Mary at the Little Red House. You have no idea how excited I was.. I was tearing at the tape that held the box closed in the van.. my son kept asking questions (One, because mom was VERY excited about something and, two, he was very curious about this 'stranger' who sending gifts) It made my day, week, month!! I finally go the box open (note to self.. keep scissors in the glove box) to discover that the package was wrapped with more tape and bubble wrap! Aaahh! The anticipation nearly killed me! I wanted to take some pics, honest. To show you the process one takes when opening gifts from internet friends. Nope, couldn't do it! I ripped into that sucker like I was child in a candy store! It is lovely! A beautiful pitcher with.. cherries!! Just perfect for my kitchen! Thank you, Mary! It was a thoughtful and wonderful surprise that just took my breathe away..

So, I was RAK attacked.. (hit with a random act of kindness). I think it is time to pass along the love!

hhmm.. yet again..

I have no idea where this post is going, I just know I need to blog. does anyone feel that way? I really dislike the idea of people stopping by to check out the newest post, only to find the same old one they have seen for days on end. some posts on my favorite blogs I read over and over, just to spend time there. To me blog posts are like chapters in a book, you keep wanting to turn the page to find out what happens next. It brings a huge smile to my face every time I visit a blog and there is a new post waiting, just for me!

First, I must put out a shout to my dear friend Mary at Little Red House, because I was flipping through the pages of the new Romantic Homes mag and I stumbled across her couch!! I knew I recognized it! I felt like I knew a celebrity! I wanted to call her up and say "Mary! I just saw your couch in Romantic Homes!! How exciting!! It looks so fabulous!" But, alas as she is a blogger friend, I do not know her number.. but Mary, last night laying in bed with my hubby, watching Desperate House Wives over the pages of a romantic magazine, I was thinking of you, my friend, with the famous lovely couch! :)

Lastly, the fern images are for you from my image file! Take them and make the world a 'greener' place!

Ah... I also just joined a swap that looks like so much fun!! Go check out Rhonda's Les Emotions de la France Book Swap!!

A tremendous thank you!!

I would like to thank everyone who commented and emailed me in regards to my 'seeking balance post.' It made me feel so much better. Truly, every single one of you helped me. These are a few that stuck out to me and I have been rereading all of them over and over..

"I am wife, mother, artist, intellectual, friend... Even if they are not all apparent, they are all still within us. We just need to find the time and space to let them step forward..." -Mary

"You will find that only pleasing others will get old eventually and you will lose yourself doing so." -Caron

"Cabin fever sets in as I spin my wheels waiting for Spring to burst upon the scene, and soul-searching takes over.." -Paula

"Don't look back, what's done is behind you and can't be changed. Don't look ahead too far and linger in the "waiting" thoughts." -Dena

"Have you ever heard an older woman look back and lament over all the time spent with her children? I know I haven't....but I have heard many wishing they had spent more time with their families and are now filled with regret and wistfulness at the years and time lost." -Paula

The wonderful words and thoughts go on and on! Please read the comments, they are appropriate for anyone and carry much love and wisdom. Thank you for bringing me back to center.

My blogger friends rock! ;)

The above image of chickadees is a 1895 Denton print for you to use as you desire! Just click and save it!

I picked a WINNER!!

I finally had a moment today to pick my Spring Giveaway Winner!!

(Actually my two year old picked the winner from the bunny!)

#55!

Angie(quillysilly) said...
I found my way here via Esprit`D*Art and must say
that you have a lovely blog! I'd love to enter your very generous giveaway
and congrat's on making it to 300! WOW~! Angie

I just want to thank everyone who entered! It was an overwhelming response and very exciting! I am hoping to have a monthly giveaway starting in April. On the last day of each month, I'll pick a random winner from everyone who has left comment on any post from the entire month. I have just been so blessed with the friendships and goodness of everyone, I would love to give something back. Just as with this giveaway, they will be custom gifts, specially put together for that person!

Happy Spring! Pass along the Love!

Hand Felting, Knitting.. Oh the TALENT!

I received a package the other day from my dear friend Amber. For my birthday she made me some of the most gorgeous hand knit and felted bowls I have ever seen!! I didn't know people could do this! (At least not anyone I knew..) she is such a talented knitter! She has made some lovely treasures for the whole family, but these are by far my favorite! ♥ Thank you Am!

I have been trying to convince Am to post some of her lovely creations for sale on Etsy but so far she hasn't bitten.. If you would like to acquire some similar items then check out Papaver Vert's Etsy shop.. they also have some lovely hand felted bowls.. I didn't snag one of their pics as I didn't have time to ask for permission. But trust me, it's worth a peek!!

Also, from my dear friend Anke (it was her birthday the other day!.. Happy Birthday!) a wonderful box stuffed full of Kinder Eggs, chocolates, tea and art papers!! Wooohhooo!! As some of you know, I grew up in Germany and miss it dearly.. one thing I missed most were Kinder Eggs! Milk chocolate outside, white chocolate inside, and in the middle.. a toy!! How cool is that? It's like Cracker Jacks for chocolate lovers! As you can see from the pic above.. someone else loved the chocolate as much as I did! I couldn't keep T's hand out of the chocolate long enough to get a picture without her in it.. Like momma like daughter!

Thank you for the fabulous response to the Spring Giveaway! I am starting to really like this "custom gift' idea a lot and think I will do it every month on my blog. But instead of having to leave a comment on a specific post, you can leave a comment on any post during the month to be entered.. what do you think??

Apologies...

I'm sorry for not visiting you as often as I should. Time is so tight right now and although I visit and read so many blogs, I have little time to comment. Baby A is pluggin' through the Flu like a trooper! As of yet, no one else has gotten it. Lysol, you are my hero! Here are some pretty pics to brighten your day and mine. The flowers were a gift to my MIL from her daughter and the other is a package of goodies that is almost on it's way to my dear friend, Anke.