Rachel Khoo

Hello,
Just back from a wonderful trip with my husband!  Warm sand, big waves, great company.  We stayed
at a Waldorf Astoria property and it was wonderful.

Back to reality, the temps this week are in the LOW 60's with evenings being 40's.  The crisp fall air,
the darker blue sky and the leaves gently falling.  All of this signals it is time for a trip to an apple orchard.
Perfect que for this sweet petit video with Rachel Khoo, a perfect little  fall picnic.

Let me know if you try Rachel's recipe!

Hello SUMMER!
Are you taking the time to enjoy the hot sand at the beach?
Or the coolness of a forest?

Taking time we are finding is very important as we watch friends and family head out for a a wonderful break together, returning
with smiling faces.  We are frazzled with work and decisions that we were not contemplating to be done at the same time.
How is that for a "frazzled" sentence!

Growing up I had a few swims with cousins in cooling Michigan lakes.  We would all help roll, yes roll, the ginormous inner tube
down the lane to the lake.  Once there, we set it to sail as we tried over and over to climb atop it! The small city slicker (me) is last
to arrive to that party.  Then we three slowly stand up together on top of the inner tube.  At first we end up "in the drink" ~ over board :).
However it does not take us long to be happily standing and bouncing atop the inner tube.  Carefully at first, then recklessly so that
we can fall again into the cooling lake and start all over again.  What FUN!

I was blessed with a wonderful Mom & Dad.  They new what sacrificial love was.  They had 6 wonderful *(i guess i will include myself) kids.
In the heat of the summer days my Dad would call my mom up as he was leaving work.  His request was to have the kids ready to jump
in the car and head out to one of the lakes near our home.  My Dad would also have us all jump into the station wagon and drive out of the sub
with all of us asking, "Where are we going?  Where are we going?"  After a few miles he would pull slowly into the Dairy Queen with all of us
jumping for joy.  See, treats were just that, a sometimes event.  Not seldom, but not often either.  We appreciated these wonderful times very much.

Other times we would go for a Sunday drive, usually in the Fall or Spring, when the sun broke out from grey clouds.  Rolling hills, farms,
cows, horses, white clouds on crisp blue skies, sll was ours to enjoy.  Then at the end of the drive as civilization was all-around us,
my Dad would pull into an A&W Drive Inn and we all would get a Frosty Root Beer drink!

You may notice that my Dad is getting all of the credit.  I think that that is how wonderful my Mom and Dad worked together.  How wonderfully
they loved each other.  Sacrificial Love.  I have no idea which one of them had the idea, it did not matter to them.  But we knew that my Dad
was the head of our home and our Mom backed him up.  It seemed to me that everyday my Dad came home from work and made a bee line
for my Mom, a kiss & a hug.  Loving words. We KNEW how much they loved one another.

Back to Summertime ~
Are you collecting beach stones?  Here is wonderful idea for displaying the collectiion!

Blogging at least once a week is my new goal.  Not sure if it will be a certain day.  Getting on Instagram is another goal.

Enjoy your loved ones.

With Kindness,
Mary
*photos culled from Pinterest

Saint Valentines Day

Saint Valentines Day is a Day of Love to be sure.  However it is not just for sweethearts.  After all LOVE is the key to our world.  

We need it in every aspect of our day and in it's many forms.  

We can show our affection in so many ways. Surprise Cookies!    This is a quick recipe especially when you use a mix and then
adorn them at the proper moment!

Or perhaps you prefer a decadent treat! Then Bountiful Brownies are for YOU!
Just click on the recipe names and you will get to the recipes.
ENJOY!

Happy Valentines Day!

Mr. Cat

When I was inelementary school one of my best friends had a big siamese cat... "Mr" and then later "Mr II".

I am not sure how Mr died but ....
This...

is  almost what we did to "Mr".
We would have a sleep over at my friends home.  When it was time for bed,
we would pull the sheets up to our chins and call to "Mr"... to come and jump up on the bed... and THEN!
Holding the covers tight, we quickly rasied them up causing "Mr" to sail up into the air and sometimes ~
off the bed.  He came back for more fun! "The cat came back.."  :) heheehe.

see you soon!
p.s.
he died years later
xo,
Mary

Happy New Year!

Ringing in The New Year with GREAT JOY & Thankfulness
Our Daughter, Caitlin, received a kidney ~

from one of her best friends, Bridget!
You can read about her journey a bit here.

                                                                                                                                                           

What JOYS will 2015 hold for YOUR family and ours?  

xo,
Mary

Merry Christmas!

Happy Summer!  I am a bit late to the party but you cannot deny, summer has bloomed!  Summer brings a heavenly
Mock Orange, several Clematis, a tall Daisy, white Lilies,  a scented yellow Day Lily variety and a Sweet Pea around
our mail box with a will of it's own!

I do love cutting what I can and bringing in vases of flowers for neighbors & friends and for our own home as well.
Here we have some sweet, slightly shabby, Raspberry Sundae Peonies.

One last bouquet for the year ~

I hope these lovely flowers are a nice peace offering to you.  I have been a neglectful Blogger for some time now.
Yes, I have been taking care of family and home on a bit oaf an amped up speed.  Caitlin is doing very well now and
I do Thank God along with all of your thoughts and prayers.   Yet, it is now time to return to my friends here and look
forward to new ones...  to get back to a bit of a day.  Yet we will never be the same.  We have grown and stretched and
re-prioritized.  THAT is the clincher, some things are much more important now.  Family and home are more than ever in my heart.

Miracles DO happen, everyday. 

Happy 4th of July!

Links ~ 
             Home of the Brave ~ The Golden Sycamore

            America the Beautiful~ Original work by Meg Gleason

     
           

Caitlin & ~

Hello!  It feels like early Spring this week.   I am welcoming the slow transition into Summer.

It is much like an easy shift into life again for Caitlin also!  She is looking AMAZING!  The water weight and puffiness,
to put it lightly, is gone and in fact I now see that she was puffy in her face during dialysis. This I did not realize at the time.
The Port into her heart for dialysis came out after the transplant, just before she left the RUSH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL...
It all adds up to a MIRACLE.
She is feeling better and better each day.  Sure, she has some changes in medicine/anti-rejection meds, but is doing well!  We are
so grateful to Bridget's willingness to give such an AMAZING GIFT of a KIDNEY!  Bridget has not yet received the OK to
head on out to New Zealand, but it is anticipated shortly.  I am sure she is anxiously waiting to be re-united with Myles.

Other news ~ We have two nieces in the same family who are expecting babies this Spring.  Actually, Jessica (& Ryan) has
already delivered a handsome baby boy and her sister Lacey and husband Glen are due in early June!   Their older sister Anna
and husband Mike already started the grandchildren rolling in for their parent's with Charlotte, who is to be three this year!
Sadly they all live out of my state.  But hey!  We will be able to get out more now that Caitlin is on her way back to life!!!

Now that I am better at crocheting, I decided make up my own Modern Crochet Baby Blanket ~ as I like to call it.  It is
not the typical baby blanket, I wanted something special for them.  So I used a modern twist on a French pattern.

This was so very enjoyable to figure out a pattern for.  Once the 

half-way point was reached it was a breeze.  I used metallic gold 

for Lacey who is told she may have a girl.  The metallic yarn is 

very soft and should be nice for a baby.   I love it.

 Metalic Silver 

Some lavender sachets with petit poms & flannel receiving blankets with crochet edging.

Adorable wooden petit hangers, poms added for fun.

Special Delivery on it's way!

*My Plan is to get back into the creativity mode = start designing again!

Links
Flannel Receiving Blanket

Kidney Received!!!

JOYOUS!
Have you ever felt almost numb  unable to convey an emotion equal to the event?  That is how both my Husband and I 
both felt this past week.  You are told there will be a transplant, but you know that the rug can still be pulled out from 
under your baby, your little girl, your young adult child.  Even on the day it could still be cancelled.  The Transplant surgeons 
must like what they see once they start operating.  You know it will happen AFTER it happens.  They protect 
both recipient AND donor.  A very good thing.

Caitlin is blessed.  No doubt, a recipient of a miracle.  Caitlin received a kidney from Bridget, one of her very best friends from High School.  
They have been bests since 1993 when we moved here.  Her smile gave her away as she walked down the quiet  hospital corridor toward us 
at five~ish in the morning on Wednesday (almost 2 weeks ago now).  Her Ausie boyfriend, Myles, along side of her.   Bridget.  A wide, happy & 
wonderful smile.  Eyes twinkling.  Bridget is a most, most lovely young lady!   She has gone off to college, worked and traveled.  Now, one of 
the most important journeys of her life has been taken, the giving of her kidney, a life extending gift for our daughter, Caitlin.  In 6 weeks time, 
God Willing, Birdget will be in New Zealand soaking up the wonderful landscape, starting another chapter of her life with Myles!  


Many, many loved ones have tried  to donate, some coming very close, See Jennifer.  All willing to donate one of their own kidney's.  
All willing to sacrifice for another person!  Some related, some good friends.  Pretty cool.


*To all who donate ~ THANK YOU!
*To all who try to donate ~ THANK YOU!
*To all who support, give after transplant care for their loved ones ~ THANK YOU!

UPDATE #2

Here is THE UPDATE! (4.9.14)
 One of Caitlin's girlfriends from High School has come forward and has been testing.  ALL tests have been passed.  
There is ONE more thing before the transplant... that is the final cross match!
Please keep them in your prayers.  
Again, I Thank You from the bottom of my heart for your thoughts & prayers and for continuing to stop by... I see you in my stats :)

Update & Snow ~ And Another UPDATE!!!

Hello and Happy New Year! 
*yes it is SPRING!  I am going to start posting more ~ Thank You for your Patience.
February :
I know it has been a very long time since you have heard from me.  I had hoped to have some wonderful news to share,
a transplant for Caitlin.  It went down to the wire pretty much.  In fact it was the last appointment for our donor,
Caitlin's cousin Jenny!  A wonderful young lady!!!  She decided to donate even though she was to be married one year
from the transplant!  WOW!  Amazing gift.  She came in from Denver for her very last appointment, easy peasy,
to see which kidney to leave in her and which one to take out for Caitlin!

We all laughed when we read in the brochure that ONE in 750 people are born with one kidney.  Ha!  That turned out to be
our Jenny.  I was with her when we were told she had only one kidney.  I fought back my tears.  Would her future be
the same as Caitlin's now is?  Thankfully they told us that she is strong and healthy, gee, she was approved to donate a kidney!
That is now changed.  She continues on her healthy life and I Thank God.

We still had to tell Caitlin, who had left us earlier to get to dialysis.  Everyone at the center was so happy for her.  Now
to  have to tell her this extremely sad news.  For Jenny to realize she could not help her cousin after all.   Immense pain for us all.

So that is it.  We go on looking for a donor.  I contemplate how God must be saying,  "I got this", for we have had quit a number
of donors match and make it to near a transplant date only to be turned away after all.

I like this quote that goes something like this: PRAY, PRAY and keep rowing the boat.

NOW ~  In our neighborhood I have seen a number of snowmen but no snow forts, which are a personal favorite of mine.
We had a snow fort every year in our parents front yard.   Once we had two forts at one time.  That would have been when
my brother was involved with his friends.  We always tried to use the big chunks of snow from the snowplow coming through.
We filled up our snow saucer (remember those?) with them, some taking up the entire saucer!  We had many a good snowball fights!
No ice balls etc.  We governed ourselves in snowball fighting etiquette and no one was ever hurt.

Caitlin and her brother Doug made "snow houses" complete with snow chairs and tables and roads... ROADS courtesy of Doug!
They made the fort around our light post in the yard so they could enjoy it in the evening dusk.  They made them the only way
a snow fort can be made, entirely by themselves each year.  Great Fun and Great Memories!

What where you or your children able to make in the snow through the years?

Thank you for keeping up with me, I see you have been checking in, apologize but I had to wrap my mind around things.
I also know that we are not the only ones with challenges, so many others are in my prayers.

 *images from Pinterest

Hello!
The news today is ~ Cailtin's shop is open again!  Yes, for the first time since her not so fun 2012 Valentines Day date with
the ER and days of hand holding in ICU she is ready for a bit of fun in limited amounts.

We are still patiently waiting for a transplant ... this is a roller coaster ride we have found.

I will be back soon on another wonderful and amazing transplant of a different kind and of U.S. importance!

On to FUN CULT

With Kindness & Love,
Mary

I believe I have not even wished you all a Happy New Year~

The new year broke with lots of hope for us.  We are
still hoping & praying.  I know that God will bring
us through this stronger.
He knows how to strengthen us, even though we do
not like the process many times and it is way too long
to get to the finish line ~ His time not ours.

A belated Merry Christmas to you all.  Ours was very Merry and I hope all of yours were also.

No changes for Caitlin... hope...believe.

Today I would like to immediately direct you to a young persons blog and a post one of the 

girls did on December first, 2012.  99 Balloons 

With Great love for you all,

Caitlin, my daughter, made an Oh Merci gift guide for the Holidays!  I am still shipping U.S. orders for Christmas delivery until 

the end of Sunday December 16th.  Contact me for rush order requests. 

Earlier this summer I treated myself to a pretty summery ponytail holder From Nest Pretty Things.
The rest of my order is sent off to some special young girls.

Caitlin, my daughter, is doing well with her medical tests... getting her closer to being on the
kidney transplant lists.  She must be on the list(s) even if she is going forward with a live donor
transplant.  this covers all bases.  Right now Her father and I are perfect 6's... we match all 6 points!  

YEAH ~ and now please keep us in your prayers as further tests are done for the ability to give up a kidney.
IF all goes well... well it is so wonderful!  I will let you know when we know more facts on a transplant!

Check out Caitlin's update.

Road To Valor

As you may have noticed from an earlier post, I do enjoy bike riding.  That is as a nice casual ride.  Perhaps to the grocer,
a ride around the petit lake in our neighborhood... mostly for fun.  Although I must say that this summer has not presented
any time to do such a recreation.

Perhaps you know that the Tour de France 2012 has been running since June 30th and winding up this Sunday, July 22.
However did you ever hear of Gino Bartali?



For a wonderful end of summer read, Road To Valor, by Ali and Andres McConnon is the perfect book.
Thoroughly researched by this sister and brother writing team! A REAL LIFE story!  What a life!

Everyday is a Holiday!

Summer is upon us.  

Time for fun.

Are you ready?  I am!

Get your very own Beach Bungalow Collection  from Jenny and Aaron!

P.S. 

I will show you what I make with this beautiful pack 

at a later post.  Stay tuned, summer has just begun!

Would you like something soft and textural to walk upon, barefooted?

How about this lovely?
















I guess one could set out to make all of these sweet flowers.
OR you can hop over to Serena and Lily.

I will try to get some cuteness from my studio to show you soon.
News on Caitlin coming soon also.  Thank You for all of your well wishes.
It is another point in life that fine tunes one.

Hugs,
Mary

Happy Memorial Day

Previously, this has been a day that pre 9/11 I took for granted.  
Not anymore. I am very thankful to the brave for protecting 
our Land of Liberty and Freedom.

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. 

As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. 

~ Benjamin Franklin

Ahh ~ warm sunshine, sand, water & biking.   Just a few of my favorite things.   

The bike above is about perfect, notice the two colors.  Maybe a soft aqua shade of blue and creamy white  

I love it's low bar to hop over in getting on and off.  Being able to touch the ground while still being seated & sitting up straight is what I am after!

I also like pedal brakes... old school.  

Always something to tweak.

Wonderful white on white!  So refreshing!

 Rachel Ashwell also loves biking.  Lovely

...pedal pink...

Every bike needs a bell!

...nice...

Red bells!

I do have a soft spot for yellow.

ooo la la

I'm ready for a bike ride and a picnic!  

*note, pick up bike basket

*hope for a new bike :)

x.o.

mary

links:

Trek

Gigi 3

White Bike

Republic Bike

pedal pink

bell

"nice" blue/white

black/white  ~ green/red bikes & Red ringer 

soft yellow=Vanilla

aqua bike/black basket

the Saguaro