The trees are in full bloom; so, too, must be the blog background.  I love it.

SPRING!!!  

We've waiting long for you, and at last you have come.  Granted, you are quite cold and gloomy today.  The next few days you will remain unchanged.  But then, once again, the warm air and sunshine with drip down upon us from Heaven drawing forth the praises of thankful humans.  Thankful once again that winter is come to a close.

Yeah!!!

Final Potholders for the 2013 Potholder Swap

The are the correct size at last.  Three weeks of re-crocheting trying to get these down sized to 8 inches.  Crochet tighter, tighter, tighter.  Ug.  My hands hurt.  In the end all it took  to figure out the solution to my potholders being too large was stepping back and calling up to memory all of my crochet education  from the past 37 years --CHANGE HOOK SIZE.  Duh!!!
You know how the birthday song says, "One year older and wiser, too."  This year I might just qualify as a bit wiser due to the many weeks spent figuring out this problem.

Design #1--I like to think of it as a Cherry Tart.

Design #2--Blackberry Tart

Design #3--Lemon Tart.

The backs are plain flat circles.  It was a delightful unplanned surprise when then turned out  only 4 stitches smaller than the fronts.  That made for an easy joining together process.  I just love the picots on the outer edge.  And thanks to my little sis the hanging rings turned out smooth instead of bulky.  She is the expert when it comes to the rings on potholders.  Most of us don't hang up our potholders as they did in days of old, but somehow a fancy potholder just doesn't seem finished until the ring is added.

So much fun!!!  I am off to the post office to send these cuties on their way to Massachusetts today.  Then we wait.  The anticipation is a kin to that I felt at Christmas.  I wonder what potholders I will get.  EXCITED!!!

In honor of the holiday coming up at the end of this week and for my very special almost 11 year old son, we shall enjoy a shamrock background on the blog for March.  At this moment he is sitting next to me smiling from ear to ear.  I don't think he knows how special he is to me or his dad.  WE love him sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much.  

It's been a quiet Sabbath day.  Church done, pork loin roast in the crock pot, resting and reading ahead of us.  Oh, yes, and some time to sit and create the week ahead in my mind.  I like the idea of creating my life instead of it just happening to me.  The mental picture should help me go forth and make it a reality.  I am excited about this new way to forth in the world.  I'll let you know if it makes a difference.

Here are a few pictures of my latest joyful adventure in creating--Potholders.  These are what I loving refer to as my Sweet Tartish Potholders.  I saw this potholder someone else had made and fell in love with it at once. Unfortunately the pattern was in French and I speak only English. So, I worked on it combining the Granny Triangle Bunting pattern from lululoves.co.uk and the Flat Circle pattern from Lucy at Attic24.typepad.com. Then I connected and edged them as I went along. It was loads of fun to make. 

The Backs

The Fronts

Best wishes to you for the week ahead.  Create something you can love.

Change

Change is the most constant thing in the world.

The first time I heard that statement I had to actually stop moving, stop my mind, and think really hard.  What???  Change and constant just don't go together, right?  Oh, wait, they do.  In fact they go together remarkably well.

I've been told I don't handle change very well.  It is true.  Might I be so bold as to say I despise change as it disrupts my world.

Ahhhhhh . . . I used to despise change.  But, alas, I have turned over a new leaf; albeit this turning over of the leaf took a number of years to fully execute.  Please cut me a bit of slack--the leaf was quite large and I am of a smaller size.

Change can be such a good thing.  It often brings a breeze of freshness into one's life, similar to the affect that occurs at the changing of bed linens.  I LOVE clean sheets.  They feel good.  They smell good.  They are good.  (That reminds me, it's time to change the sheets again.  Maybe instead of clean sheet I'll get some new ones this changing.)

In celebration of my acceptance of change in life, let me offer up a few gems of wisdom I've gathered.

1.  New crayons spur the mind on to make a lovely picture, and they look sooooo pretty with all the nice, even triangular tips.

2.  Tomorrow will be a new day.  As Ms. Shirley said, "Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it."

3.  Always remember that mistakes are the best.

4.  If you get too tired out from all the change Eat, Shower, and Take a Nap.  You'll feel better later.

 Nuff said,
Stacie

P.S.  Africa is a long, long, long way off from Utah.