F*R*O*G*, part II

Still working on frogs. I've made 3 cell phone holders, which are OK, I think.

The large frog purse however, still needs work. I have a finished green frog that is probably a step in the right direction. (You be the judge.)

. . . and a snaky, mutant type croc-frog.

Maybe I should just make a baby crocodile???

On the green frog, I'm going to give the head more definition and make the legs a little finer, and the front feet smaller and more defined. I was trying to avoid stuffing it, as I don't know how it would stay in place without stitches on the outside. It does have a purse shaped lining. Stay tuned . . .

F*R*O*G* Fully Rely On God

I'm making frogs. Little frogs, big frogs, frog purses and frog cell phone holders. I've been having fun working on them. Designing is my favrite thing. I don't like making the same thing over and over. This is my prototype for the purse. It's about 1/3 size.

The cell phone holders are one dimensional. I'm trying to avoid the appearance of  'road kill'. I don't know if 'flat frog' is desireable - we'll see.

February follies

I always enjoy February because Valentine's Day is in February!! I wasn't disappointed - Bob gave me a beautiful orchid plant and an even more beautiful, and meaningful card. He's a keeper. I made a Valentine Card for him and baked a pumpkin pie - he loves pumpkin pie, but can't eat most of them because they are made with dairy. I can make them without dairy!!

Joey came up with another clever gift for Chelli, along with a concert and dinner date. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

In case you can't see them, there are little pictures of Joey, each with a different hat on, in the center of each daisy!

One of those things you couldn't make up

Bob and I went to a funeral today for a dear friend who we will miss very much. There was a lovely luncheon following the service at Angelo's, one of our favorite restaraunts. At the luncheon as Pastor Rick was saying Grace, an elderly man said loudly

'Boy, am I in the wrong place!'

(I guess I was thinking that he wasn't a Christian, or didn't believe in prayer, or something.) After the 'amen' the man spoke out again.

'No, really, I'm in the wrong place - I don't know an Emilie.'

He put down his napkin and left. It was pretty funny. Emilie would have loved it...

SNOW - 2-1 2011 and 2-2-2011 Elmhurst, IL

Tuesday night. Car parked near bushes in upper center portion of picture.

Wednesday morning. Car is burried in snow.
Thursday morning 2-3-2011

The snow was piled in the center of York Road, like the Great Wall of China. No openings for side streets, so - no turns ... made if difficult to get where you were going (or to get back LOL)

This time 'they' were right! They saw it coming, they told us, and they were exactly right, even to the time it would hit. 3: p.m. was the targeted time - so I left work at 2. The wind was blowing so hard I had to struggle to get to my car. Sleet hurt, hitting my face. So glad I had half a tank of gas and a short commute (5 min. in normal conditions.) I beat the rush, and got home without incident. I was really glad to be warm and inside - my studio had no heat Tues and Wed, or little heat, at 55*. The snow came right on schedule, with gale force winds blowing to the West. It was amazing to see the huge trees in our yard blowing sideways. I decided to try to take some pictures out our front door every hour, to watch the snow 'grow'. Our neighbor parks his 2nd car on the curb near the road so you can see it disappear into the snow. It looks like the moon is in every picture, but that is actually a light on the highway North of us. It snowed almost all day Wed. and I was happy to stay put. The plow didn't show up until 9: at night. By that time our neighbor to the West was completely snowed in. He's in a little alcove and the wind blew the snow in and filled it to the window sills, and straight across, covering his front and garage doors. Our house is higher so that wasn't a problem for us. I ventured out on Thursday. Streets were plowed for one way traffic. Unfortunately, I have to go South, and the traffic was going North. I did find my way to work, but the temp was still 55*, so my stay was short. Today, things are sort of back to normal. Store are open again, but parking lot is still full of snow. All in all, this snow was huge, but we had enough warning to stay out of it, so it wasn't too bad. Something to talk about - that's all.

The Big Snow of 2011

My building is on the right at the far end of street. You can't really see it in this picture. Beth said nothing was open - not even Starbucks.

I'm still snowed in, but a brave friend who lives near by took a walk into town and posted these pictures which I 'borrowed'. She , Beth, was on vacation with my dear DIL Kim but came home early. Kim and the other girls had to stay longer because they were snowed out. let's here a collective awww. (all together now - awwwwww). Just kidding. I know Kim is anxious to get home to play in the snow.