Weekly Word: Managing Curve Balls + Books, Stitches and Gratitude!

      

Hello there!

Thank you so much for stopping by!   I hope you all are doing well!  I missed visiting with all of you last week!  We had an unexpected and pleasant 6 days with our grandchildren - all four of them!  They range in age from 12 to 5 years old.  The way my daughter has raised them made it so much easier as each child has their own chores and "The Bigs" helped so much with "The Littles"!  

I greatly enjoyed my time with them:  conversations with the oldest two, playing with the youngest, sewing and reading Nancy Drew with my granddaughter, seeing how responsible they are and, of course, story time!  They loved listening to Sideways Stories from Wayside School, a series their mother enjoyed as a child.  

Onto this week's post filled with God's Word about processing curve balls, some sewing projects, books, gratitude for things I liked these past two weeks as well as a short paragraph on living with/post cancer!As my weekly posts are jampacked with lots of fun mini- articles, here's is an index should you have a special interest you'd like to read first!  Otherwise, settle in with your favorite beverage and snack and enjoy!  

The Weekly Word - is a short devotional that sometimes becomes a Bible Study series.  

My Reading Life - is filled with current, completed and upcoming reads as well as an occasional short review.      

Stash Report and To Do Tuesday is where I'll share share stats regarding my fiber usage and acquisitions, goals met/lack thereof and photos of my projects.   

Gratitude Journal - Sometimes I get lost in my own stinky thinking.  This digital journal reminds me to count my blessings!    

Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer - Here you will find updates on life after Triple Negative Breast Cancer.  I was diagnosed in November of 2014 and my last day of treatment was in November 2015.   

Weekly Word

Sometimes life throws us curve balls that can sometimes be painful.  

Sometimes they are physical, emotional or spiritual curve balls.

Sometimes they are a combination of two or more of the above. 

Curve balls are a given, the variable is this:  How will we react as we process our experience?  

Perhaps we feel shock, grief, sadness and even depression.  These are all feelings and let us remember:  our feelings can't hurt us.  Let us learn to feel them and name them.  

Then, let us remember our LORD and Savior.  God sits enthroned on the throne of the flood - our pain, our betrayal, our heartache.  

1But now, this is what the Lord says—

he who created you, Jacob,

he who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

2When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:1-2

The very next verse states that He will bring us strength and peace!  

Let us remember that we are His child and nothing can separate us from the love of God! 

NOTHING. 

When a curve ball comes our way, let us remember to prayerfully feel, acknowledge and process our feelings.  After all, God created them.  They are real.  

Then, let us go to our Father who sits on the throne over the flood of our lives and brings us strength and peace.  

We are His Child.  

We are His.  

We will not drown. 

Nothing will separate us from Him.

He loves us and will heal us.  

I know this for a fact.  

This is my testimony and encouragement to you, my dear reader.  

My Reading Life

Currently reading

Bake, Borrow and Steal by Ellie Alexander is the 14th book in her A Bakeshop Mystery series, but it's the first one I'm reading.  

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman is my monthly Buddy Read with a friend.

Pachinko by Lee Min-Jin was recommended to me by a friend.

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nin Sankovitch continues my journey into one of my favorite genres:  books about reading/books.  I am enjoying it very much, but it is a deep book, so I'm reading it in bits and spurts.  I wonder if you do the same with certain books?  

Finished 

             

     

★★★★The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes was our Buddy Read for June.  It was a delightful read as I followed Nine on her journey to find a home and a family's love.  I encouraged my daughter to share this book with my grandbabies.  Definitely recommend.

★★★ The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene is the 6th book in my Buddy Read with my granddaughter.  She is now on book 18!  

★★★★The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis dragged a bit for me with the lengthy descriptions of the actual battles.  But, the surprise ending warmed my heart.  I'm so glad I joined Calm Groves #Narniathon21 and read through this series!

★★★★Read and Buried by Eva Gates is the sixth book in her Lighthouse Library Mystery series and I enjoyed it just as much as the first two books.  Lucy, our protagonist, finds a coded Civil War map and a diary that leads to much excitement and mystery solving. This cozy mystery fit the bill for some light reading.   

★★★★★The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin...before you read my short review, please be aware I love reading books that highlight the strength of women during World War II. Thus my comments may not be quite objective.  gripped me from the first page until the last page. Martin highlighted the strength of the citizens of London-women, men and children- friendship and community. It also teaches us to look past the abrasiveness of some people and realize their somewhat harsh personalities just might mask deep pain and trauma. I highly recommend this book that well grip and warm your heart.

★★★★Fly Away by Kristin Hannah had mixed reviews on Goodreads, so I started it with some trepidation.  This was the perfect book for me at this time in my life.  Hannah presented the same story from each major character's point of view, a difficult task in itself.  I was reminded that we each have a back story filled with life experiences that shaped who we are.  Referring back to the Weekly Word in our post, how do we handle our life experiences can indeed shape our future and the futures of our loved ones.  

 

Stash Report

Yarny Numbers

No change in these numbers, though I almost caved into the offerings from Hobby Lobby's clearance yarn!  

Fabric Numbers

As I mentioned in the introduction to this post, my granddaughter and I sewed a bit during her visit. We made a lovely Stow and Go Tote for her mama from a pattern I picked up at Be Sew Creative, my local quilt shop.  This photo is from the pattern as I forgot to take a picture of our finished project.  

I also stitched up 14 more hexies!  (They can be seen below.)  Thus, I remain in the black!  Yea!

I may be in the red next week as I saw that Marsha from Be Sew Creative has some lovely fall fabric...will I be able to resist and continue with my goal to sew up my stash?  😉

To Do Tuesday

Last Week's List

My first priority before the ones below is to create scrapbook pages of our trip to San Diego for my parents.  Alas, priorities changed once the grandbabies arrived.  However, this should be ready to ship out next week.  

1. Sunday Slow Stitching: Stitch up one hexie a day.    Done!   I kept up for two weeks!

I've also made some progress in joining the hexies!

Here's the last photo I showed you:

   

Wow!  I was surprised to see how much progress I've made!

2. Machine Sewing: Attach the binding to this flannel quilt that I finished some time ago.  Not done.

3. Christmas Sewing List: Continue stitching the grandchildren’s 2022 Christmas softies (July is my deadline). Hidden in my sewing room while they were here.

4.  Kit prep: I would like to prep the newly published Row 6 of Melva's Pieces of the Garden SAL.  Done and stitched up!

This Week's List

Get Mama and Daddy's photos in the mail.

1. Sunday Slow Stitching: Stitch up one hexie a day.  

2. Machine Sewing: Attach the binding to this flannel quilt that I finished some time ago.  I've attached the binding with the shirt clips I mentioned here.  It's waiting patiently on my yarn storage ladder. 

                                           

3. Christmas Sewing List: Continue stitching the grandchildren’s 2022 Christmas softies (July is my deadline). 

4.  Kit prep: Prep and stitch up the blocks for our $15 Sampler Quilt happening at Be Sew Creative.  

Do you prep kits to have in the "queue" for your next sewing project?  I try to do this on the weekends, or at least on Mondays.  

Like you saw above, I've prepped a quilt to be bound.  

Each basket contains the yarn and patterns for various projects.   

I like to prep my hexies as well as at least one extra project.  Here is some fabric I cut for this three-yard quilt called Heartland.  

                         

 These visual reminders help me to stay on task, use up my stash, keep my productivity up and keep the creative juices flowing! 😀

How do you like to keep organized and productive?  

Gratitude Journal

Till I Found You by Paul Wickham is such a testimony to God's love and stable presence in our lives.  Our world may be crashing down upon us, but He is faithful.  Here is the story behind the song.  

I'm so enjoying my bi-weekly Bible study with a few good friends. Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler has been such a blessing as we learn more about the character of God via His names.  

I'm so grateful for my sewing room.  This is where the magic happens.  Outside of the blinds is a window looking out to my prayer garden.  (This photo was taken at night, so the blinds are closed.)

While visiting my parents, their assisted living center had this type of bird feeder on their dining room window.  I imagine the residents enjoy it so much.  Can you see the bird on the feeder?

Kitty is a bit frustrated as she cannot jump to the bird feeder or else she'll land on a bush that will poke her.  

Books have been a part of my life since childhood.  My parents had both an adult and children's library.  We had a set of books from The Child's World and Child Horizons which I enjoyed reading voraciously.  One of the books, Things To Make and Do.  My youngest grandchild asked me to make him this parachute.  We used a plastic shipping bag and Grandpa was helpful in tying the strings.  

My oldest grandchildren and I enjoyed playing this Cross Logic game!  

After the grands left, it was time to wash linens.  Chico misses them terribly.  

                            

                                         

Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer

During my chemo treatments, even as they were giving me the medications, I was highly encouraged to drink as much water as I could tolerate.  During my treatments I believe I drank 1-3 bottles of water.  I was surprised how much this helped my body dispose of the chemicals coursing through.  

Strangely enough, there were times that water was disgusting to me.  Sometimes it was so disgusting, I could barely stand to take a shower!  

To combat this issue, we added products to flavor my water.  How I wish I knew about the various infusions to make water more tolerable back then!  Here are some recipes I found on Google.  

I also drank Gatorade, though I believe we diluted it with water.  Ginger ale soda was so helpful for the nausea!  

I've always enjoyed hot teas, but during this time I discovered Sweet and Spicy Original from Good Earth.  To this day I enjoy this comfort tea, though now my teas are more of the loose-leaf variety.  

If you know someone going through chemo and struggling to drink water, it is my hope that these tips will help.  

Take good care, my dears!

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You can also expect a visit from me as well!

Here are some blogs I sometimes link up to!

Sunday Salon @ Readerbuzz

Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

Sunday Post at the Caffeinated Reviewer

Sunday Stash @ Quilt, Paint, Create

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? @ Book Date

To Do Tuesday @ Texas Quilt Gal

Pictorial Tuesday @ Peabea's Photos & Scribbles

I Like @ Not Afraid of Color (Thursday)

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Friday)