KATHY'S FANCY STITCHING NEWS



Postings and ponderings of a quilting and knitting addict!





Monday, September 10, 2012

A New Perspective

100_2879 Today gives me new hope… a hope of getting better with age.  A hope of feeling better and looking better.  A hope of strengthening my relationship with my Savior.  A hope of aging with grace, and continuing to enjoy outdoor activities for many years.  A hope of a renewed outlook on relationships with others and my life.

Today I turn 56.  A lot has changed in the last year.  I have totally rewritten my life’s plan.  Perhaps I should say I have SURRENDERED   MYYYYYY plan and given in to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  It was a long battle with my will, but I am so thankful that God does not give up on us.  He has been convicting me for the last several years about my unhealthy lifestyle, but I would not listen. He has called me closer, but I would not commit the time.

Because I finally got to the place of obedience I am now much healthier and happier than I was last year at this time.  Because I have chosen to listen rather than remain in rebellion to His will, I am now almost 40 pounds lighter, feeling better than I have in years, and walking in power rather than defeat.  THANK YOU LORD!

Because I finally surrendered the time to “visit” with Him each day, I am encouraged and filled with His power, rather than struggling to change by myself.

The journey is not done, because I still have a long way to go, but the victories I have won in the last 6 months have taught me that it IS a war that is winnable… through His power, not mine.

There are rough roads in places (recurring foot and knee issues have really thrown my exercise plan for a loop), but He leads me on.  Temptation comes, but He is faithful.

Thank You, Lord, that 56 (and beyond) looks better than the last several years have been!  “I surrender all, Lord. Be glorified… I surrender all!”  (From the Terry MacAlmon song, “I Surrender All”)

Have a blessed week!

KAT

Friday, September 7, 2012

On The Needles Today…

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I am making a little progress on the latest pair of socks.  I am working on the heel flap, and will soon do the turn.  It is going slowly because…

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I have really gotten SUCKED INTO this Reader’s Wrap.  I am loving it!  It is an easy and fun knit.  I forget how quickly large needles and large yarn add up!  The color did not come across well in the above picture.  It is called “Bronze”, is a beautiful tweed with black and tan nibs works into the yarn, and has a little more golden-brown cast to it than the picture indicates.  I have about 22” done, and try to knit at least 2-3” each day.  I need 58” before I work the ending pattern and make the pockets.

Check out what others are working on at Judy’s Patchwork Times!

Have a great weekend!  I plan on spending as much time as I can sitting in my chair knitting on the Reader’s Wrap (and nursing a very painful knee).

KAT

Saturday, September 1, 2012

In Praise of the Redneck!

Honestly, the picture below shows the opinion of most of the world about rednecks.  I realize this is just in jest, and I do consider it funny, too!  BUT, the poor redneck has been given a bad rap.  Today I will convince you of that!Redneck smoke det

Most folks think of rednecks as lazy, trashing up their yards with junker cars, beer guzzling, gun slinging, cussing fools.  Now WHERE would they get that idea?  From movies and reality shows, for sure.

My least favorite of the reality shows set in our area is the “My Big Redneck Vacation”.  I’ve only watched it a couple of times because that is about all of that foolishness I can stand.  We are portrayed as drinking around the clock, passing gas without any modesty, doing really stupid and even dangerous things, destroying property and not thinking twice about it, and having no class whatsoever.  Although I realize these are characteristics of MANY young people in MANY cultures, I assure you that this is NOT the way mature rednecks work.

Mature rednecks are creative and resourceful, because they may NOT have the expensive gadgets that others have.  It might well be the reason they don’t have the expensive toy is because they just choose not to spend their money that way… not that they are poor and can’t afford it.

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How would YOU get to muscadines that are way too high to be reached with a ladder?  DH has it all figured out!

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Take your tractor with front-end loader, securely strap this double-stacked basket apparatus (created from metal baskets purchased at the paper mill salvage yard),

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climb into the top basket, then get your wife to operate the tractor and lift you up to where the muscadines are.  Ours were growing WWAAAYYYYY up in a large pine tree.

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No problem now, because you are now located about 20 feet up in the air!

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YUM!  These muscadines are so good!

You might be wondering why the baskets have this cammo mesh on them… This also doubles as a portable deer stand.  Secure it to a nice size tree with straps, climb up the side of the metal, and you are all set to go!

SEE… I TOLD you we were resourceful  and creative.  My DH has been blessed with great “improvising” skills!  And yes we do have what others would consider “junk” (he calls it his “innovation pile”) but it is not lying around our front yard in an unkempt manner.  He has it more or less organized down by the barn where he has easy access and it is not unsightly. 

Yes, he hunts and quite often has a gun with him, but he is not blasting things just for the fun of it…  his hunting puts meat on the table. 

Now the passing gas thing…. I’m not EVEN going there!

KAT

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