New blog look

Well, that's what I want anyway, though I can't find anything that really appeals to me.

I've loved this template, but can't seem to make it do what I want it to lately... and the right column is 'jumping' on both my computers so I'm guessing it is on everyone else's too - REALLY annoying.

Obviously want something to do with irises - wasted most of this afternoon looking around online.

So, it's frustrating.... but then I get frustrated easily these days it seems.

Another "Lazy Girl"

I love my first "Lazy Girl - Margo purse" so much, I've made another one (and plan for more). Perhaps one for each season :)

I found this Michael Miller fabric online at fabric.com and fell in love with it. Of course, I love most anything 'iris' (imagine that). Anyway, decided it would make a great Spring/Summer purse.

So, I made the Margo, and of course, needed a coordinating wallet. I love the Lazy Girl Wonder Wallet. Can't imagine why I ever carried a large wallet, this one holds everything I need.


THEN, decided I'd like a smaller purse for shopping. Now, I don't go shopping very often, but when I do, my regular purse is heavy - you know, all that 'stuff' in it that I can't live without. Found the Runaround Bag and decided that was the one. Soooo, I made a matching smaller bag with long handle. Can be worn criss crossed across the body and doesn't hold much, so doesn't weigh much. That brought the idea of a Maggie. Just a little 'pouch' that I can switch between purses.


SO, the Runaround will go in my car and if I'm shopping, I'll simply transfer the Wonder Wallet and the Maggie from the Margo into the Runaround and I'm all set for shoulder saving shopping. I'm loving them!

I've always loved purses, but never really found one I liked that was the right size, had organization and was lightweight. I've decided I love the Margo so much, I'm going to have one for every season. Since they'll all be alike, I won't be confused about where anything is when I switch purses.

Can you tell that I REALLY like these purses?!!!!

Wow, it's been a long time...

...since I've posted anything here.  Life has just gotten in the way (imagine that).

Been doing a lot of work in my house.  And thanks to my son and grandsons, I have new laminate flooring in my bedroom and office, the two rooms I spend the most time in.  So, of course, that "required" a total re-do of both rooms :-)  I know, a picture is worth a thousand words, so while I don't have my new headboard made yet, here's the bedroom.

First picture is after floor, but before any other re-do.  This is my massive, king size bed.

Took up LOTS of space and made the large room look small

New low, full size platform bed - I LOVE IT!

The iris pictures over the bed are high, in anticipation of the headboard I'm going to make.

Looking from the corner where the secretary is

The floors were sort of a necessity.  Very old carpet with lots of pet dander and dust imbedded in it.  I had bronchitis all winter long and just never seemed to totally shake it.  In March the doctor decided I had developed chronic bronchitis and asthma and said I needed to rip up all my carpet.  Well, that's bit easier than said, but I did have some hefty workers and they did a great job.  Of course, my house was a total wreck for awhile.  They did my bedroom while I was in Texas in June at another grandson's graduation, and the office just in the last few weeks. 

So, really I didn't change any furniture except the bed- which I'd been considering doing for quite awhile, and painting a few things white and moving them around a bit - and of course, draperies, curtains, & pillow covers.  Yeah I know, according to HGTV, I'm way too cluttered - but it looks so much less so with the new floor and bed.  And, "I" like it, and that's what matters.

Boy am I behind

.... and really trying to get caught up.

First, I had family visit earlier in August - that put me behind.

Then I had to work for 10 days straight (well almost, I was off on Sunday/Monday). I'm way too old for this full time working. I normally work 2 days a week in my local cross stitch shop (and love it). There's just the owner and me - and would you believe she had the nerve to go on vacation to Ireland.

And, there were doctor and dentist visits - which usually take up waaay too much time. I'm trying to adjust to a new partial and having to go back frequently for adjustments. This is not fun.

Sitting in the living room one night recently, too tired to do anything and looked across at this:
Does she look like she thinks she owns the place??

Trying to get back into cyber world...

... after having family visiting, working more than usual, and not feeling well.

My Texas son and his family were here for a long weekend, along with my daughter and her son. And of course, the son and his family who are living with me temporarily - boy, did we have a houseful. Three of my four kids and their families and all but one of my grandkids. Not sure if I'll ever have them all together at one time again - it's so difficult with jobs and kids activities. St. Louis son (the one who wasn't here) is planning on bringing his family around New Years, so I'm looking forward to that visit.

Here's a pic of all the ones who were here this time - the old lady in the midst is me. Otherwise though, they're a great looking bunch!!!

You know, on the rare occasion that I have a photo made of myself, I look at it and wonder "who is that". I don't feel old inside - well, I do this week - but not always. I must say though, living with teenagers again - in this day and age, REALLY does show me that I'm from a totally different generation.

Dentist this morning....

.... and Oncologist yesterday. And, I visited both alone! That's a major accomplishment for me.

The dentist was pretty easy. It was only for a fitting for my new partial, so they didn't really poke around or anything. Still stressful for me, but I survived and they were proud of me for coming alone.

Oncologist yesterday was okay too. Routine visit - and I've graduated to 6 months. YEA!!! Big, major goal reached.

Did a bit of shopping after each one and arrived home totally worn out. I just can't walk and shop anymore and what I need at WalMart is always on opposite ends of the store. I failed to check my list well enough and wound up not having one item, but not enough energy to walk the length of the store again.

My energy level is pretty low these days, so balance of today will be resting :)

Red Carpet Dress for Barbie

...well, it's amazing. Guess they print those directions to machinery for a reason. (Did I mention, I hate reading directions.) But, I very patiently did - well, as patiently as I do anything. Took all the thread off my serger and starated from scratch. Followed each little step in the manual, checked all the settings and WALA - it's working again. I'm still not in love with it - though I love the way it finishes. They designed the darn thing for a Rocket Scientist to rethread and adjust, plus aside from the fact that the directions are written in four different languages, I'm convinced English was NOT the first language of the folks writing the manual.

Anyway, it's up and running again and I'm a much happier camper.

So, here's Barbie's new 'red carpet' dress. It fits "My Scene" and "Fashion Fever" Barbies. Took the photos in a hurry, so most didn't turn out well. Must take better photos before I list it in the shop, but I needed a break from the tedious job of working on the serger :)


I love this fabric - it's nice and sparkly ("I was going to take over the world, but I got distracted by something sparkly" - a favorite quote of mine stolen from my friend Jacki). The photos never do the really great fabric justice.

I HATE my serger

Spent a good part of yesterday cutting out and sewing Barbie dresses. I do love making fancy Barbie outfits.

HOWEVER, my serger gave me a fit. I had to change the thread - hate doing that - and in the process, one thread broke which messed up the entire thing. I messed with that darned thing for over an hour and never did get it to doing what it's supposed to do. Finally left it and went with Plan B on the dress I was working on.

Thought maybe if I left it for a couple of days and then went back and started fresh re-threading and adjusting it would work. Maybe I was making a mistake and kept doing the same thing over and over. Anyway, I'm REALLY frustrated with it.

That dress turned out quite different than what I'd first envisioned though. You know, if you goof on one it's not normally a throw away, you just figure out another plan. This one wound up being a two pieced elegant gown. Not your typical elegant Barbie gown, but seeing some of the Hollywood stars and what they wear on the red carpets these days, it's right in style. I'll get a pic of it soon, too tired last night when I finished it.

New website

Well, I got a bug in my bonnet for a new website - really needed an 'umbrella' site as my list is growing steadly. Someone asks me for my website and I can't very well spout off half dozen names. SO... Iris Originals is here and live - or will be when GoDaddy figures out I'm not forwarding the name to my Etsy shop anymore. Oh, I still have the Etsy shop, it's one the links on the new site.

Actually, I got started thinking about this because my grandson asked me to advertise in their football program - and again, I didn't want to list 6 or 7 websites. Of course, once I got the idea in my head, I couldn't just wait till I actually had the time to work on it (of course, it might never have gotten done if I'd done that).

Actually, I'm still tweaking, but "I" really like the look. Check it out and let me know what you think.

It's Monday

.... and I had a lovely Independance Day Holiday weekend.

My oldest son came down from St. Louis and spent 3 days with me - mostly working outside (I usually have a list for him), but visiting a bit more since he had a brother and two nephews who could help with the big outside projects.

They got a bunch of fence taken up that I wanted gone, and the gutters cleaned trash and little trees that were growing there.

Unfortunately his family didn't get to come this time - short trip and grandson was headed to scout camp on Sunday.

DIL who's living here cooked us a great Independance Day dinner (with the help of oldest grandson). Fried fish, hush puppies, french fries, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocados. I ate waay too much.

One son and granddaughter went down the mountain to see fireworks on the lake. I stayed home and visited with out of town son.

She was going to fix blackberry cobbler for dessert but we were all way too full, so she made it yesterday afternoon instead. Hot from the oven, topped with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream. It just doesn't get any better than that.

The only thing that would have made the weekend any better would have been having the balance of my family here - but I just appreciate those that were here.

Happy Birthday America

I woke up this morning thinking of all the things we have to be thankful for in America. Yeah - we moan and groan and complain - but in reality, we have it pretty good.

That said - we should never take our freedoms for granted. We've lost many of of our freedoms - and probably will lose more as our country caters to the minority instead of the majority.

Another good reminder - our great country was founded on Christian principals and our forefathers weren't ashamed to be known to be Christians. I hope I can follow their example.

Such a small world we live in

... and it shrinks every day.

I've been online friends with a sweet lady in England (Jayne)for a good number of years. She sells lovely vintage type stuff online shop. A couple of days ago she posted on her blog about selling a selection of vintage china cups & saucers to a lady in the USA as she was planning a tea party for her sweet daughter's 3rd birthday. The nice lady (Tammy) had sent Jayne some photos and given her permission to post them on her blog.

I read Jayne's blog faithfully so I saw the absolutely adorable photos of a little girl's dress up tea party, and posted a comment.

Now, this tea party reminded me of little girls of long ago - you need to go and see the photos if you haven't already - and those little girls look like they're having so much fun.

Okay, I'm finally getting to the reason for it being such a small world. I got an email from Tammy this morning (she saw my comment on Jayne's blog) and she (Tammy) only lives about 40 miles from me (here in north Alabama) and her parents (he was the butler) are only about 30 miles.

She said the girls had a great time and particularly seemed to enjoy being waited on by a grown up butler (Tammy's step-dad who also had a great time), and stayed at the tables longer than expected.

Yes, it IS a small world!!!

New Software and Dentist

No, they have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

But, once again I'm having to learn new software :-( One of my least favorite things to do. It's a free graphics program - GIMP - and I think I'm really going to like it. I actually completed a tutorial yesterday (imagine - me, reading directions and following a tutorial!). It's not nearly great, but that's how I created my new profile picture and it is really much easier than PSP7 - so there, PSP!!!

Yesterday I was "OUT" all day. It was the dreaded dentist. About my absolute least favorite thing to do - Dentist appointment was 8:30AM with 'concious sedation'. Which meant that I took Valium the night before before bed and the Halcoin as soon as I got up. Couldn't drive for 24 hours and all these meds were supposed to make me relaxed - NOT!!! I wasn't able to get to sleep till 4AM on Thursday and I was definitely not relaxed when we arrived at the dentist. They gave me another Halcoin (crushed, under my tongue) and eventually I relaxed a little.

I will say I don't remember a lot about the visit (which is really good). And the next appointment (in July) will double the meds, so hopefully will be better - especially since they'll be doing a LOT more at that trip.

It's been forever since I've been to the dentist - only go when it's absolutely necessary - but after this will "try" and maintain regular visits as I'd like to keep what teeth I have left. I will say this dentist and assistants are the best I've ever been to. April (his assistant - not sure of her title) is an absolute jewel and does her very best to make me feel comfortable.

Today is Frosty's birthday...

Doesn't seem possible. My little furbaby is 9 years old. He doesn't act 'old' - or even middle age. I've Googled dog ages and find various formulas putting him between 49 and 52 years old by human years. He's tiny (3-1/2 pounds) and I'm praying he lives MUCH, MUCH longer.

Thought I'd share some pictures.... I'd lost my last poodle (a miniature) to heart disease when he was 15 and Chuck (dh) knew I'd always wanted a tiny teacup toy poodle. He wasn't totally enthusiastic because he was afraid he'd step on him or hurt him. But... he found this little sweetheart. I wasn't sure I was ready for another dog, so we just went to "look". Frosty came home in my lap and he hasn't been far from there ever since. And he still reminds me of Chuck's love :-)

These two were made on 8/25/00 - a day or two after we brought him home.



He's a big boy of one year old here.


This is his only 'professional' picture and he not only needed a haircut, but he was definitely less than pleased about not being right next to me.


Here he is running outside in 2006. He thinks he's a farm dog and loves to run in the field after Belle (Chuck's big 55 pound red setter). I have to watch him really closely when I take him out there or he'd follow her all the way to the back of the pasture.
And, Frosty's a working dog too. I work two days a week in a local cross stitch shop and Frosty goes with me. We put a sign in the window "Frosty is in". He's the official greeter and watch dog and takes his job seriously. He knows the mornings we're getting ready to go to work and is so excited.


And here's my baby today. Isn't that the sweetest face you've ever seen.


Unfortunately Frosty is also a 'handicapped' dog. His back left leg is fused at the joint. Doesn't slow him down. In retrospect, I think the breeder was more of a puppy mill and probably doing a lot of inbreeding. He's got the best personality though and is definitely my sweetheart.

When Chuck was so sick, he and Belle both stayed on the bed close to him - it's the only time Frosty has intentionally left my side for another. And, when I was going through chemo, he stuck to me like velcro. He's such a blessing in my life.

He's having difficulty with his right front leg at the moment. We went to a new groomer (BAD decision) and he's been having trouble ever since with his leg/shoulder - and he came home with fleas :-( Of course, that required a vet visit - he's on anti-inflamatories for 10 days and then back for xrays if it's not better. She said the joint was popping in and out and she thinks his shoulder was either dislocated or certainly seriously bruised. He's supposed to be confined to "no jumping or stairs"... which is really tricky with Frosty as he's a 'jumper'. I'm carrying him down the stairs outside (down is worse than up) and trying to keep him from jumping down from chairs, etc. He's such an active little fellow and definitely "my baby".

Computers.... again

Well, I've tweaked, scanned, fixed, and it seems to be running better, so I'll put off the reformat till I have a little more time (or am more in the mood). I really need to clean a bunch of stuff off here, my old hard drive is filling up. I'd love a shiny new computer, but just can't justify the cost as long as this one is plugging along.

I'm so annoyed with Paint Shop Pro though. I'm using PSP7 and have been since it first came out. Not going to buy an upgrade. It's a memory hog, but has worked pretty well till the last couple of weeks. I was editing a massive number of photos and it locked up (not unusual). But since then, every time I open it, it opens about 12 of those old photos (that I've since deleted). and I can't do anything till I get rid of them. NOW, it won't open at all. I've uninstalled and reinstalled, repaired, and all of the above again. Won't open!

I don't really need it for editing photos, I'm now using Picasa3 which I REALLY like. However, I do need something to create graphics in. SO, guess that's my next project (since I don't have anything else to do).

Aren't Computers Wonderful???

...well, sometimes anyway. Mine is not behaving well and I really don't have the time to do a reformat, but it may come to that. Probably clear out a lot of junk that I don't need - and it always gets some I forget that's not junk.

We lost power for 2 hours in the night last night and while it was having a few problems before, it has gotten worse. So, that may be my tomorrow's project :-(

My new Blog

I have some great online friends who have discussed blogging a lot lately. Well, I already had a couple of blogs - but they really started out as "speciality blogs" and I decided I wanted one where I could put all sorts of things - so here we are with "All Things Iris".

I got the idea for the links at the top from Ask the Ebay Queen, but she did hers with Wordpress and while I've done that before, I just didn't have the energy at this point... so here we are on blogspot and while all of mine look different - trust me, they're all mine.

I think some of my other friends are going to follow in her footsteps, so I'll have some links to their new blogs soon.