Second Hand Help for Sandy

Last  week, all attention was on the weather.  Hurricanes always capture the attention of the media.  This storm was a serious one and had everyone on edge.

I happened to have the mis fortune of moving my office on Monday morning as the weather changed almost moment by moment.  It was pretty brutal.  There were leaves from one end of my office to another.  And my hair got messy.   That night we snuggled safe in out beds and drifted off to the sounds of winds whipping through the trees.  The next morning, we surveyed the damage and found a few downed twigs and my barbecue had been moved around the deck.  That's it.

Fast forward to Friday night.  We watched the news and the recovery in the United States.  Mid way through the news I got a call from a friend looking for some help for a friend of a friend.  It turns out that a mom and her two kids came to Toronto to stay with some friends to ride out the storm. This family was in need of some clothes for their five year old daughter.  I happen to have a five year old daughter.  (Until last Thursday, when she celebrated her sixth)  We happily agreed to go through Bronwyn's clothes.  We found a bunch of extra pants, tops and a decent winter coat to last for a few weeks.

Bronwyn found a school bag that she had only used for the first week of school.  She suggested that this little girl would need a school bag and a barbie.  But not one of her barbies.  And for a brief second, I was disappointed in my daughter.  She wouldn't share a barbie.  The kid has about a million.  No, Bronwyn said this little girl needed her own brand new barbie.  We headed out to Walmart to get this little girl a few presents to put in her school bag. 

Saturday morning, Ian will deliver a box of Bronwyn's clothes for a little girl who needs a few things and will surprise her with a school bag complete with a new barbie, some barbie clothes, and some colouring books.

We will not meet this family, but it was nice to take an hour of our night to put together a small care package and hopefully make this family's next few weeks a little brighter.

Here is a little Jason Mraz to send out some support to those in need.  Here is You are Loved.

Live high,

Heather

Masterpiece

I am not nearly old enough to have a niece that is old enough to start her own family.  You know it is getting bad when you expect your family to lie about their ages when you are lying about yours...

In the spring, Rose called us to share her good news.  While I was thrilled for her, I promptly went out and purchased more hair dye.  I am so not old enough to be a great aunt!

Readers of this blog will know that I enjoy a few hobbies and one of them is crochet.  When I found out about Rose, I knew a hand made crochet blanket would be just the thing for her.  What better thing that to cozy up with your little bundle of joy and read a good book and a nice blanket.  A few of my favourite books from when my kids where little ones would be just the thing.  Crochet has a tendency to kill my shoulders, completing this blanket came down to the wire.  Her shower was held recently and now that she is the owner of the blanket, I can share it with you.


I did not know it at the time but the colours just happen to be the colours of the baby's room

I made a classic ripple blanket, lap size, with a band of colours on the top and bottom.  If you want to copy the pattern, I suggest you seek it out on Ravelry.  When you visit, you will find lots of projects to inspire you.

I decided to age a bit of wood to make a sign for the room,  Here it is all painted and sanded

I ordered a sticker from Etsy to burnish onto the wood

Because as the great Doctor said, "A person is a person no matter how small." 

Here is my little person showing off the completed sign

I bought some Dr. Seuss books to complete the gift.

Here is Rose opening her gift - bad lighting and a camera phone!

Blessings to you Rose and your little family.

I am linking here and here and here, at Primp.

Live High,

Heather

Glass Pumpkin

Soon, it will look like Halloween has barfed throughout my house.  I am so not kidding. Everyone has a favourite holiday.  It seems like most people define themselves by being Christmas people or Halloween people. 

In my house, Ian is a halloween person.  I am a Christmas person.  To keep things sane, we have agreed to allow one month each to our respective holidays.  Come October first, things get pretty crazy.

One Saturday, I was grabbing some items from the local bulk barn.  I stopped in my tracks when I spotted this awesome clear glass pumpkin.  I guess the bulk barn expects that you will fill it with halloween candy.  Right, that would last about ten seconds in my house. 

It is so pretty right?

Honestly, I did not expect that this glass pumpkin would be affordable.  I gently turned it over to see the price.  GASP.  Six bucks.  Seriously.  No Joke.  It was mine.  I almost bought ten.  A steal I tell you.

Here it sits, quietly for at least a week when it will be surrounded by the rest of the Halloween items from the crawl space.

It has been filled with rockets, a personal fav, they will not last long..

Live High,

Heather