Once upon a time.......

I used to love to read fairy tales. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel. What little girl doesn't dream of "happily ever after"?

....... Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a little girl who had a dream. It was a big dream, because she did not know that dreams could come true. She lived in a big city, where lots of people lived, but felt all alone. She had a sweet mother, who worked hard and loved the little girl very much.

One day the Mother decided to move back to her home. So the little girl and her Mother moved to a place of tropical paradise. The little girl went to school and worked to help her Mother.

Then came a day when she met a handsome young Prince. At first it was a road paved with gravel and stone. There were highs and lows, up and downs.


The little girl did not have an earthly father to talk to, so she talked with her Heavenly Father. It was a troublesome time for the little girl, as she came to this crossroad. But she asked her Father to help her. She had such a peace knowing that He would direct her towards the right path.




The handsome young Prince was also at a crossroad. But in time they both came to understand the meaning of .........................











Do fairy tales come true?? I really don't know. But I do know that in the providence of a loving God, I met a special man who has been the light of my life. We've walked together through the good times and the not so good. I've learned that genuine love has no expectations from those who are loved. Love is giving, not getting.

What a weekend!

How long has it been since you went shopping with eight young people?? In the heat no less?? Saturday my daughter was going yard saleing with some of her friends. She asked me if I'd like to come along. We picked up three of her friends, and off we went. In and out of the car, in the heat, we made our way around the neighborhoods. Around noon we met up with the other girls and two other moms for lunch. What fun!

And, having a brand new IKEA store in town, it was decided that we would go check it out. I can't tell you how much fun it was to watch this group of girls move through this monster of a store.

This was a typical scene. There are seven of them here, all prodding through housewares. It was a most fun experience, laughing and excitement at every turn.

And of course there was lots of room designing going on. A few pictures were snapped to preserve a memory. I don't think we bought much merchandise, but it was a unanimous vote that everyone enjoyed the store.

Our family went on to a very special birthday party that evening.


Lots of hugs and well wishing to the man of the hour.

Accumulated ages are 357 years sitting together at the table. Brothers, sister, and wife. What incredible longevity.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes that were sent my way for my father in love. He is very deserving of each one of them.

Have a great day!

Do you know what day it is today??

Today is a special day. Here are a few reasons why.

First off, I found a neat background for my blog. I love Freebies for Crafters blog site, and yesterday they listed My Blog Makeover. I have looked at different backgrounds before, but some are too busy, or too much color, or just too much! But I liked this "Pastel Colors" background, so I thought I would give it a try. You know I can always take it off, or change it sometime. Tell me what you think? Does it look like a Happy Cottage Quilter??

Secondly, or maybe this should have been firstly, this is a very special day in history. At least in our family history. 90 years ago today a very special baby was born. He grew up to be a very kind man who turned out to my dear sweet hubby's Dad. My father in love has to be one of the nicest people that I have ever known. He has worked hard all of his life, been a loving husband and father, he has a funny sense of humor, and everyone who meets him likes him right away. He has a very tender heart, which does not make him any less manly. He fought for our country in World War II, which he never talks about. Sometimes these are painful things that are better left unshared. At 90 years old, he still bowls once a week, works in his yard, and takes care of his wife of 67 years. His faith is strong but in a quiet way. He loves his children, grandchildren, and his great grandchildren.


Don't you want to be fishing like this off of the dock when you are 90 years old??

And now.............. drum roll please.......................

Mama Hen, bring that giveaway prize over here for all to see.

And the winner is......................

True Random Number Generator

Result: 13

"Piecefulafternoon"

Congratulations JoAnn. Please email me your mailing address and I will get this little package out to you the first of the week!

Again let me say that I am so thankful to all of you who check in with me and follow my little blog. It brings a song to my heart to have a little visit with you every day.

Oh-Oh!!

These two guys have been snooping around trying to find out where the little mama hen has run off to! I knew things were a little too quiet around here............

I'm an old fashioned girl

My daughter and I love to search for vintage things. From linens to glassware, we love to find something old. The special aunt that I shared about on Teacup Tuesday taught us a lot about finding a treasure. We used to go to garage sales, thrift stores and antique malls with her through the years. She always loved pretty things, and she passed that love onto us.

One of the antique quilts that we found a few months ago.

My dd found this lovely Wedgewood teacup. She gave this special cup and saucer to a dear friend of hers whose mother had just passed away.

DD found this old Singer sewing machine when she lived in the windy city and brought it all the way back to Florida with her.

She also brought back this vintage fan :-)

And these really cool Brownie cameras.

Antique skis and old windows..........

This cream pitcher belonged to my grandmother. It has little men's faces all the way around. I never knew my grandmothers very well, because they both died when I was young. So it is really special.

And this is my very favorite. This lamp also belonged to my grandmother. One of my aunt's had it in her bedroom. One of the panes was out, and I offered to have it fixed for her. She told me that if I got the pane fixed, I could have the lamp. Was I ever thrilled!!! The pane was perfectly matched by a stained glass company locally, and this lamp sits in my living room.

Yes, I am just an old fashioned girl.

A great day for quilters

What a wonderful day to discover two most exciting and very worthwhile blogs!

The First Lady of machine quilting has just started blogging. Pop over and send quilting hugs to Diane Gaudynski. She has started a new blog and it promises to be a wonderful source for machine quilters. If you have machine quilting questions, just leave a comment and she will try to answer. What a gracious generous teacher.

AND today I found the Bag Lover's blog. All sorts of free bag patterns and tutorials! There are enough bag patterns to keep me busy for a very long time :-)

I have been so excited to see new followers sign up on my blog. I know there are lots of lurkers out there, so I am sending out an invitation to all you lurkers to sign up for my little giveaway.

Just click on the blue button at the top right of
the screen to take you where you can leave a
comment. I'd really love to hear from
yoooouuuuu...........

Isn't it a great day for quilting?

Where do you create??

Where do you do your creative work? Where do you draw your creative juices from?? Do you cut, pin and sew at the dining room table?

For years I always did the bulk of my sewing at the dining room table. It worked for me because we also have a kitchen table. Which actually came in handy if my family wanted to eat. A couple of years ago, my dear sweet husband asked me if I would like to set up my sewing area in the den? Now our little den is pretty small, and it was the hub of activity for computer use. We also have an older TV in there for videos and DVD watching. But just having a place to set up my sewing machine and "not have to take it down" every few days was such a wonderful gift to me.

A couple of months ago, my friend Micki over in Ireland did a post about her work space. So I thought I would share a little bit about where I spend my sewing/quilting time.

The majority of my sewing is done right here. I have this wonderful old wardrobe that my dear hubby refinished and painted for me. He added shelves so that I could store my stash.

Directly across from my sewing machine table is the computer where I sit and read all of your wonderful blogs every day. I have two very packed bookcases that house many of my quilting books and magazines, reading material and more fabric stash ;-)

There's also a comfy chair to sit in whenever I need to do some hand work. It is a pretty tight little area, but it works for now.

I took these pictures at night, but there are two walls of windows which gives me a wonderful amount of light.

So now I'd like to hear. Where do you create??