hope you didn't forget me by now.
Yeah, I do that, I disappear from my blog, or from myself for that matter. But - I do come back, so that should count for something? :)
So, what better occasion to come back to oneself than - a birthday? Hence the "over the hill" in the title - yes, I will be 51 tomorrow.
Don't know about you, but I never had any, really ANY issue with my age. At ANY age, I just don't. It is what it is, all I feel is thankful for all I have.
This is one of my favorite recent pictures. It was taken on my (so-called) BIG birthday, (50th) last year and this is what makes me so thankful, every day of my life - oldest son, Stefan, his beautiful wife and my new daughter, Lauren, my daughter Jelena, love of my life for 30 years now, my husband, and the youngest son, Vuk (from left to right). See now? Who could EVER ask for anything else, or more, or complain about ANYTHING. Really.
So I don't!
I am so thankful and so proud of my family that I could talk to you about them for hours or days...poor you! No worries, I will not do that, unless you ask a question, he, he :)
Of course four-legged family members are here too, although we had our share of sadness lately loosing Marko the Cat, Romulus our darling young grand-puppy and beautiful soul, Rocky...I think of them and miss them every day. So for now, here is a spoiled prince, Marley who just got a new bed:
Yeah, he wasn't impressed but tried it anyway to make me happy, ha ha. He makes me get up and walk every early morning and that brings so much joy. Did I mention I feel thankful? :)
As long as I am counting blessings, this year was THE year for our roses in the garden! Probably yours too? I saw them everywhere in our neighborhood just going crazy. I just LOVE this photo I took about a month ago:
The shower of roses:
And not just the garden, step out in the nature and see wild daisies kissed by morning dew
wild roses
Beautiful Yellow Flags
So much inspiration...just about everywhere you look!
So did any of it transfer to my sewing room? Yeah! Not maybe as much as I would like (cue in home improvement, various deadlines, "life happens" type events and yes, my own laziness and dis-organization) - but some did!
I was playing with these lovelies (new Carnaby St. collection from Art Gallery Fabric)
but can't show you the result just yet...will soon!
I had fun with some very young future talent:
Emily made cuddle-pals for her and her younger sister - she is 5 and already both, machine and hand stitching like a pro!
Made a baby quilt or two... Here is a quick one with Forest Friends panel and some quick nine-patches around:
And my interpretation of Hungry Hungry Caterpillar:
Can you see the Caterpillar in that border? This is before quilting, still need to take photos of after. I really had fun with this one and maybe I can do a pattern of it? What do you think?
So, all in all - YES I am celebrating and have so much to be thankful for. The best part - there is still so much to be striving for, dreaming about, improving, reaching for...
Among many, I want to CREATE MORE.
There is so many ideas and creations in my mind, sometime I think it will explode. Why am I NOT doing it, you may ask? HA! That is a million dollar question! Yes, life is busy - work, family, house...but EVERYONE has all of those, right? What I want is to find a way to make every moment count, to NOT waste time, to have more discipline in making time for what counts...
Maybe not a small order, but something to strive for as I begin the fifty second year of my life - so let's do it! :)
Tell me what is your secret, what is your way of making time count and doing what you like?
