Patsy Terrell

Lived fully, laughed loudly, gave generously

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A Meaningful Gift

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This was handmade in 1949 by Bessie Myrtle Sitts Bryant. Her granddaughter, Judy Beal, gave it to me.

She tells me that for most of her life, she had a single mother, and her mother and grandmother were great role models. She says even after 25 and 50 years she still thinks about both of them some time every day.

20130617 051Judy says others in the family have pieces of her grandmother’s embroidery and she can always identify the work. Her grandmother taught her embroidery and said the back of the piece should be almost as neat as the front of the piece. She says her house is filled with beautiful things from her grandmother.

I have to say, the back of this piece is exceptionally neat!

I am so touched by this gift. It’s really special when people share something so meaningful. I am humbled by her generosity. She had asked me a few days ago about creating a scavenger hunt list for her family, which was fun to do. She gave me this as a thank you. The list pales in comparison to the beauty of this piece. I am honored.

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Old Friends, New Friends, Christmas Cactus and Tracing Paper

Tonight my friend, Kristine, took me to El Dorado Lake to meet her friend, Vicki, who has a fabulous house with amazing vistas. This Christmas cactus was blooming and I couldn’t resist a photo as dusk fell and the brilliant blue out the window was framing the red blooms. Of course, a couple of kitty cats asleep in a window seat only adds to almost any scene.

Vicki took us on a tour of her home, including her creative space where she sews and works on other projects.

These neatly organized buttons and notions caught my eye.

Vicki and Kristine have birthdays that are close to each other on the calendar, and this was their birthday gathering. It was so nice of them to include me. Vicki had gotten Kristine’s favorite – angel food cake and strawberries. It was delicious.

It was a nice end to a full Saturday that started at the Farmer’s Market.

Today was the opening day and it was hopping. I didn’t go until after 11 and it was still busy. It occurred to me it might be a good place to set up an art booth on occasion. Don’t know that I’ll ever do it or if it even fits their criteria, but it could be cool.

After the Farmer’s Market I met Greg at Roy’s. I can’t go as often these days now that I work in an office with other folks who might not always enjoy the smell of barbecue all afternoon. So, it was good to correct my Roy’s deficiency today.

After Roy’s I made a stop at the Et Cetera shop where I got some treasures. I was more than a little excited to find the tracing paper on the right here. It has been used, so has little indentations from the tracing wheel on it. I know it will be a great addition to an art project. A little paint on it to accentuate the indentations will do wonders.

While I was still excited about that find, I noticed another package, which is an even older one. Grand total for both purchases was 30 cents. That wasn’t all I bought there today, of course.

It has been a very nice Saturday. Nothing on my “have to do” list got done, but I had a great time..

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A Day Full of Fun and Friends – and BEADS!

Diana and I had planned a trip to McPherson today. One of the bead stores is going out of business and things were 80-90% off. I got some wonderful Swarovski beads – they were expensive to begin with, and not cheap even at 80% off. They came in packages with quite a few in each and I don’t want nearly all of them. So, after I make the things I want to do I may pop the rest of them up on ebay or my webpage. It would take me many years to use them all at the rate I make stuff.

Greg was planning to go up there too to shop for his girlfriend, Mia, who makes wonderful things. She is a SERIOUS bead person. Anyway, we were leaving at about the same time so just all went together. I had offered to get things for Mia, but then I couldn’t even figure out what I wanted – much less someone else – so it’s a good thing Greg went. We were all concerned about the cost of our baubles, even at 80-90% off, by the time we got to the check out stand.

Hopefully yet this week, Jocelyn, Diana and I will have a jewelry making night together. We’ll see if that works out. I’ve got a family reunion this weekend to prepare for so I’m not sure if we can figure out a time to do it all.

When we got back to Hutch, I couldn’t resist stopping by Dillons on the way home and getting yet more plants. I’m not sure why I can’t stop myself. I need to try harder. I’m about to run out of room. I need to rearrange the rocks and see what room I have. I’m trying to balance the colors. I’m beginning to discover this is not natural for me to do with plants. Hopefully I’ll learn.

Tonight was our Red Hat group. Frankly, I think we should forget the red hats and just go to dinner. None of us seem to care about the hat thing. I’ve never been a good conformist, what can I say? It was a nice group tonight – Susan K, Debbie, Teresa, Diana, Jocelyn, Susan N and me. We had a good time together.

I think I’ll douse myself with deet and put a few more plants in the ground, instead of doing it at 4 a.m., which is what I was doing last night. I was up until 5 and got up at 8, so I should try to get to bed a little earlier tomorrow. Besides, I have a board meeting tomorrow.

I need to finish some house things and I’d feel better. I need to get my handyman over here to do some tasks, the electrician is coming on Wednesday, the roofer is supposed to call tomorrow. I have been putting off a ton of things and it is really time to get them taken care of.

Well… I’m off to get spray myself head to toe with mosquito repellant, although at this point I’m not sure there’s any reason – I’m one big mosquito bite already.