This little piggie....

Hey everybody! Did you ever play that little game with your babies' toes?
This little piggie went to market. This little piggie stayed home. This little piggie had roast beef. This little piggie had none. And this little piggie cried wee wee wee all the way home.

stitched on 32ct Oyster Linen one over one

Oh d-d-d-dear-dear! Ha! Which little "Piglet" says that? Yes, our eldest son's favorite when he was a preschooler. Piglet from Winnie the Pooh! Anyways, this little guy should also be finished off as a magnet already, probably today. Things have been hectic with Mabel and the boys finishing this school year. This little pig used 7 different shades of peach. :) He is kinda cute, even though I don't like pigs. Ever visit a real pig farm? I took the children way out in the country when they were very little. They and I still remember the stink! Yucko!  Well, anyways if you like pigs, this little guy was a freebie found here.

We took Mabel to the vet last night because she began shaking and grunting in pain. I called about an hour and a half before they closed and was told we would not be able to see Dr. Fellenz, he is already double booked. The other two vets, new to us, were booked, so we would have to see one of them as a double book. I asked what this meant. It means an emergency appointment of $70. Well, we did it. We amazingly were put in a room for a 5:30 appt with Dr. Fellenz himself. He reviewed everything done by Dr. Morrison this last week and a half. He examined her and told us the news. The reason she is not  a good candidate for the spinal surgery is that she has two herniated discs in a row, in the center of her back. This is quite a weak spot for her then. If money were no object, and of course it is, he would say to do the surgery right away. It costs almost $4,000 with the required MRI. She could recover from the surgery and do well. She could herniate new discs in the future. She could become paralyzed after the surgery anyways. How is that for odds!

He recommends we continue her on her steroids and pain pills. He has added in a muscle relaxant now also for additional relief. He has seen very few dogs that have recovered very slowly. As in weeks. We will just hope and pray this is the way it is to be for Mabel.

She could still become paralyzed. She could not fully recover and always need to be lifted on and  off furniture, and always be carried up and down steps. She should never jump off furniture again regardless he tells us.

So things are still not certain, but we feel better at this time. I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued prayers and wonderful support of Mabel and us. This is a challenging time to be sure!

I am reminded of this: "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”Matthew 21:22 NKJV 

 And of this:  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24 NKJV

Aren't these fox gloves beautiful? I sprinkled seed last fall and here they are! Brian's chair is on the left. He asked me, "How exactly am I supposed to sit?" The seed obviously blew over a bit. :) I did not plant them there. Do you see the one growing through the table? There were two that were going to grow through his chair. tee hee! I removed those at least!

Have a fabulous day friends.

Finishing and praying,
Vickie

Two books and a pig

Hey everybody!
How are you today? I hope it is a great day for you. :)

Mabel in summer of 2011

I spoke with the veterinarian again yesterday. She is concerned that Mabel is "recovering" so slowly. On Monday Mabel began walking with a bit of a stumble. That is definitely not good. However yesterday she improved from that and "just" walked like an old dog, very slowly and carefully. She does seem happier, at least she does not lay around every hour forlornly. I asked the veterinarian to speak very frankly with me, we want to know. We should continue her on her pain pills and steroid pills. She said if she continues to progress, but so slowly, maybe we can extend her steroid prescription. She could go the other way, and get worse. It can happen very suddenly and usually does she said. Paralysis. So, I asked about the dreaded surgery on her slipped discs. Their clinic does not perform this surgery. There are two clinics that do, one in our county and one in Ozaukee County. The cost would be almost $4,000 dollars with the MRI that is required and there is no guarantee. She may still be paralyzed. She may slip another disc. It doesn't matter, we do not have that money. VERY DEPRESSING STUFF. Sorry. Just wanted to update you, as I have received so many, many wonderful, thoughtful comments and emails. Thank you friends. Thank you. I truly believe the prayers said for Mabel have carried her thus far. If I may impose on you once more, would you please pray for our Mabel? We love her very much and do not want to euthanize her at 3 years old. :(

SO, I read this book called Eat To Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Then I read another book by him called Super Immunity. The first one was recommended to me by my gynecologist. I have gone to my doctor for 18 years now, she is great and we always chat a bit with each visit. She is overweight and has been this whole time. She also has bad psoriasis. I commented about her weight loss. She got very excited about the book. She told me she lost the weight (not all of it, just a lot) and psoriasis because of it. I had told her I was bothered that I am always getting a pimple or two. I never had much of an acne issue as a teenager, why now? She really said she thought this way of eating would help clear my skin, it did hers.

Dr. Fuhrman's dietary approach is basically:
1. No refined or processed foods
2. No animal foods
3. No vegetable oils
4. Exercise
5. Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds.

Well! He states it is okay to have a little meat and eggs and a tiny amount of sweets. Aim for 90% vegetables and fruits, 10% of the other stuff. Yeah, that's the problem for me. I will say, I went with it, not 100% like he says to in the book. "Don't try it, do it." Yeah. Well. The first 4 days I lost one pound a day. Then the fifth day. We had chicken and pasta for dinner and I baked brownies. oops! OVERNIGHT all four pounds came back on. And no, I didn't gorge myself. I had made rice krispie treats the day before, and well a chocolate cake yesterday. Hey! We have three hungry teens in this house. And Mama don't bake without having some herself!

Realistically, I am not going to live on 90% vegetables and fruits. Well, unless the other 10% is sweets which kinda wrecks it I guess, huh?! Did I lose weight? Yes. Did my skin clear up? It did for 2 days, then, well, it's the sweets thing again. At least I do know that the chocolate really does seem to cause my pimples. I did learn excellent eating knowledge from this book. I am convinced if you have great willpower you definitely will lose weight. Many, many people did and do. It really is very basic. Just eat well.

What about the pig? Yes I am stitching a little pig, to be finished into a magnet. I don't like pigs. Miss P. does. She is a great teacher that has taught all three of my kids. She has been with St. Paul's Lutheran School for 14 years and now will leave us for another school in another state. I would have finished the stitching yesterday and had a picture for you. However, yesterday while I pulled dandelions in the backyard, Mabel laid down in the small shady garden and began to bark at the pink sedum groundcover there. I came over to investigate, thinking she found a toad. Well, she found a bunny nest. So of course Maggie ran over to investigate. Well, I grabbed her up. No way. No no. Maggie is truly a ratter at heart. Bichons were breed for that originally in France. Well later, I put the girls out, both on their leashes that are staked in the ground. I looked out the window less than 2 minutes later and Maggie was not there! I ran to the door, ran out into the yard and yelled Maggie NOOOOOOO!! Because I already knew where she was. She must have yanked so hard the latch somehow let loose. She was taking her last chew and then she swallowed and then licked her lips!!! Oh. My. Gosh!!!! I took her in the house. We were all so horrified by her actions, she laid down under the piano sullenly. She felt bad about our reprimands, not eating the baby bunny. I still feel sick over it. All I can do is not let it happen again. There is one more bunny, maybe two. We took a peek but will not uncover or poke around. Mama bunny came last night. We watched through the bedroom window.

Maggie in a more innocent moment

I plan to finish stitching the pig today. Busy day today. Picture soon.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

The color of peony bush number 5 is.....

Hey everybody!
You guessed it! PINK!

I am waiting for number 6 to open also. I do believe it will turn out pink too. :)

Mabel is making little progress. :(  She is still taking her steroid and pain pills daily. We continue to pray. I will be calling the vet after the long weekend for a progress report. We will see what she has to tell us about all of this mess. :(

I am stitching. It is a small project in which I completed the second piece yesterday afternoon. It is a gift, that is why I have been rather silent on the stitching front. No pictures for now.

These two pictures were taken by Madeleine a few days ago. I think you can see our happy little girl is in pain. She isn't the same. Either are we. It can be down right depressing to watch her like this.

Praying and stitching and reading,
Vickie

Mabel update

Hey everybody!
Thank you so much for your prayers for Mabel. Please say a few more! We took her to the vet on Saturday initially and she improved a little on Sunday and Monday. That was it. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday she went right back to the beginning, miserable. I took her to the vet yesterday for another steroid shot and the vet increased and extended her medication. Last evening she really did improve. She was walking around with her tail wagging again! She is still restricted for 9 more days now. But she does seem a little more like herself. Thank you God.

Mabel at one year

Speaking of God, we attended a Memorial Day Service at our church last evening. It was wonderful and very moving. The Army Chaplain David Sorensen was our guest. I became so choked up. He had the honor of serving for one year at Dover Air Force Base. He was with every family that year that was flown in to meet their deceased soldier, coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan. He stood with many, many families on the flight line. Oh my. The Chaplain cried retelling these things.

God Bless America

God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.


On Eagle's Wings

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
Who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord, "My Refuge,
My Rock in Whom I trust."

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
And famine will bring you no fear;
Under His Wings your refuge,
His faithfulness your shield.

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
You need not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day,
Though thousands fall about you,
Near you it shall not come.

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
For to His angels He's given a command,
To guard you in all of your ways,
Upon their hands they will bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

Thank a soldier today, current or past, for serving our country and for keeping us safe. May God keep them and their  families forever in His tender loving care.

stitching and reading,
Vickie

Friends would you say a prayer for Mabel?

Hey everybody! I did not mention it before because we were busy preparing for Madeleine's Confirmation. Thursday night Mabel woke me twice whimpering. Very unusual,but I didn't understand in my grogginess. She held her head up funny on Friday. We took her to the vet on Saturday. X-rays show she has two slipped or herniated discs in her back! SHE IS 3 YEARS OLD! Our dear, sweet Mabel was given a steroid shot. She has been on oral steroids and pain pills, and will be for 10 days total. The vet says the inflammation should subside and she should return to normal activity. This problem could take years to flare up again. Or it could not resolve. She could eventually become paralyzed from this problem. Oh LORD please no!

She seems sad, but I know it is painful. She is lethargic, I know it is the pain pills making her laze about. Very unpuppylike. I think you may have noticed we love her very much!

She must not have free roam of the yard for these 10 days or jump or use steps. We are praying for her recovery. Would you also friends? We would truly appreciate it. Truly. We believe in the power of prayer so much. Yes, even for animals. Even for Mabel. God made her!

My new Bible verse at top is Madeleine's Confirmation verse. I helped her pick it out.

praying and stitching,
Vickie

Confirmation and stupid odds

Hey everybody! I hope you are all doing well, we are here. :) Madeleine was confirmed in our Lutheran faith yesterday alongside 18 of her classmates.

yes, it is true, her favorite color is also pink! :)

The weather was a sunny 97 degrees. We had a beautiful time with family.

grape scented iris

Chocolate Chess iris

And finally friends, what do you say the odds would be on me digging up the peonies that were here when we moved in, writing with sharpie marker on each one, pink or white (on the leaves). Then I went to transplant them 2 days later and all the pink and white markings were gone.  I guessed. I figured I will plant 6 and surely get pink and white. Well 4 of the 6 have started to bloom and guess what?! Yes! They are all white so far! The one I gave my MIL?? Pink of course! :(

I finished The Fiddler, it was great. Worth the read.

stitching and reading,
Vickie

Chocolately goodness

Hey everybody!  So glad you are here. :) Welcome to new followers!

I finished Maggie's bath and haircut. I should have known better than to let her wander while I was watering the garden beds. She of course ruined her whole white and fluffy look. :(  Actually a quick blow dry seems to have fixed her up. She is not a girly dog. The camera battery died before I got a good picture of her for you.  I did get this one of the latest iris to open up around here.

Huckleberry Fudge Tall Bearded Iris

Pretty huh? How about this one too.

Pink Mocha Begonia

You can see how dark brownish the leaves are. These small dark red flowers are called Bittersweet William, because of the chocolate type leaves. Instead of Sweet Williams, get it? :) Yes, sometimes it is a stretch to place the flowers in the chocolate category. But if I like it, it's in. My favorites always remain the chocolate scented ones. ♥

Bittersweet Williams

 I am still reading The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis. It is a good book.

reading and stitching,
Vickie

Busy and a finish

Hey everybody! How are you all doing? We have been busy getting ready for Madeleine's Confirmation. There will be 20 young people getting confirmed on Sunday in our Lutheran Church. She had her questioning last night. The pastor asked all of them 200 questions regarding the faith, and they all did very well. Confirmation occurs on Sunday at 10:30. We will have family there and over afterwards. This is where the busyness comes in. Yes, the children and I have been crawling over the lawns, front and back, pulling dandelion weeds. Brian says this is completely unnecessary. Well, I like a clean, neat appearance! I have planted some too.

I think you can tell I chose this elephant ear plant because the leaves look like big pink hearts.♥

So this is our fence along the driveway. We put up trellises every year. I planted sweet pea vines a week ago. They have popped up and started. I filled the baskets with pink and purple flowers.plants and vines.

So the two on the outsides are light pink, the one in the center has dark pink geraniums. I prefer the light pink ones, but like them all. ♥

purple columbine

And finally, I did finish up that adorable little Bent Creek bunny from Sally.

Bent Creek Little Bunny

Now I am think, think, thinking on how to finish him off. I would like to say I am on to my next stitch, I cannot. I have to give both dogs baths and haircuts. Neat appearances remember. :)

reading and cleaning up,
Vickie

Happy Mother's Day to all you stitchy mamas out there!

The smell of chocolate!

Hey everybody!

I do not know how, but I forgot to tell you that those chocolate swirl irises I showed you last time, smell of milk chocolate.  They are just wonderful as you can imagine. :)  I took another photo for you of a second one that opened up today.

Chocolate Swirl

Here is yet another of the concrete poodles I made.  Her name is Cocoa and she lives in the chocolate heart garden. :)

One last picture I took for you tonight.  This is of a pink and yellow columbine that was planted by the original owners of this house.  The wife was a lover of pink like me.  I transplanted a few of these to the small garden we created on the side of the garage.  I have planted almost all pink and purple flowers there.

I did finish reading Threadbare by Monica Ferris on Monday.  It was a good book.  It is the latest from her in her Needlecraft Mystery series.  I have read every one of them.  I may guess part of the mystery, but not all.  The main character owns a needlecraft shop and has a gift for sleuthing.  I was disappointed though.  I am ashamed to admit that I did read the whole book, even though she did add probably 8 swear words in it.  I find it sad when an author feels they need to do this.  They don't.  I do not like to read books containing foul language.  I do not use it myself and find it offensive and just plain unintelligent.

The next book I am reading is also a fairly new one from the library.  I love that place!!  It is The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis.  I already know that this will not disappoint me.  It is number one in a new series by her.  This time involving an "English" lady and an Amish man.

Stitching, reading and planting seeds,
Vickie

Flowers, some chocolate and some not :)

Hey everybody!
How are you this evening?  I am feeling fine, only because I am ON PERCOCET!!  Yes, again.  Whatever!
See this pretty yellow rose?

My husband surprised me with it this morning just because.♥  He is very good that way.  I get flowers very often actually.  Roses seem to be the favorite.  Yellow always reminds us of the first flowers he gave me.  I was sixteen, he was seventeen.  I had my tonsils taken out and he came to visit me in the hospital.  This was when you still stayed over night for this.  We were only friends at this point still. :)  Anyways he brought me a small arrangement of yellow roses.♥

Look what I found in the chocolate garden this evening.  The first iris.  This one is a standard dwarf bearded iris.  It is called Chocolate Swirl.  I love it.

Chocolate Swirl

So, I have been planting a bit more, but mainly reading Threadbare.  It is a good book thus far.

Went to my mother's yesterday for our Mother's Day celebration.  She loved the heart I stitched up for her. :)

Jacob and his date had a very nice prom.  They enjoyed themselves.  He is not asking her to be his girlfriend, and he is my son who does not expand upon explanations. :)

Hello new followers.  I am glad you are here.  I am glad for all of you.  Thanks for your caring comments.♥

Planting, reading and stitching,
Vickie

Prom?!?!?!

Hey everybody!
Our oldest is going to prom tonight!!! Yikes!  Jacob is 17 1/2.  He is a junior at Pius XI High School.  The prom is to be held at Miller Park, the large, new baseball stadium in Milwaukee.  They have a large party room.  Being the parents of the boy, I have to say really doesn't include the parents much. :( 

Guess who this is????  :)

Brian and I, prom 1986

That's right!  It's Brian and I in 1986.  Yikes again!  The kids get a big laugh out of dad wearing a white tux with pink bow tie. :)  So, back then, just like now, the boy went to the girl's house, where my parents took pictures and then we were off to prom. 

Jacob has promised we will get the pictures also.  They are going as friends. Well , we will see.  She is a very pretty young lady. ;)

Here is a picture of chocolate chip ajuga, or bugleweed from the garden the other day.  This is what is slowly spreading to be my living mulch in that chocolate heart garden.

chocolate chip ajuga

This is Tiarella Mint Chocolate.  It has very pale pink flowers.  See the chocolate striped leaves?

tiarella mint chocolate

Well, mom and dad are excited/nervous about prom tonight.  Say a prayer that all goes well?  Thank you. :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

A Gift In The Mail and a Pinkeep

Hey everybody!  How are you today?  The sun is shining here.  It should be a mild, pretty day.

Giveaway gift from Sally

This arrived in the mail yesterday.  It is the sweet little bunny chart that I won from Sally. :)  Isn't he just adorable.  Every time I see him, I just think he needs a hug.♥  The card with that sweet dog on the front, almost made me cry.  If you replace all the light colored hair on that dog with the black, you would think you were looking right at our Mac.  He died extremely suddenly back in October.  He had cancer of the spleen and we never knew it. It ruptured and he was gone within a few hours, because we took him to the vet to find out what was wrong and humanely euthanized him since it was the only option.

Mac

Well, anyhow, it did make me smile too. :)  Time does heal.  We loved him dearly, and we do have Maggie and Mabel still.♥

So I pulled the few flosses I do have for the chart last night.  I need to go to JoAnn today and buy the rest.  I looked up conversion charts last night, I am going to use dmc of course. :)

Yesterday I took this...

Madeleine's vest from Christmas Around The World

and I made it into this...

Christmas Around The World Pinkeep

This vest has been sitting in her closet for over a year. I made it for Madeleine for Christmas Around The World at our church school for December of 2010.  Her grade got Poland, so she and I dressed in costume.  I had these freebie patterns I found a long time ago on a Polish blog actually. I personalized it with the owls, she loves owls.  And of course I took out the cats and put in poodles! :)

Madeleine found it this morning in her room.  I finished it after she fell asleep last night. She is very happy.

Well, I did finish the book I was reading,Quilters Academy.  I kind of forced myself to read it actually. It is a good book, it is just a book to learn proper techniques and basics.  Since I taught myself to quilt through books, I thought I should read this one also.  I did pick up a few helpful hints, so I am glad I read it.

Okay, that does it for me today. I am off to JoAnn soon and the library too.

Poodles Around The May Pole

Thank you for stopping by.  Have a great day.  I appreciate you all. :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

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