It has been quite some time since my last post! We have had some major life events over the past fifteen months and I have found it difficult to think of anything to say here, much less create anything. The results were us getting full custody of our two grandchildren ages seven and five. I can not give details, of course, but it has been very stressful and heart wrenching to say the least. We have been blessed to have had them living with us for almost all of their lives anyway. I did not think that I would get through it all, but God is so good and He has carried us the whole way. I don't know why we fret so when bad things happen. We see that quote, "Let go and let God" so often, but it really is true! I wish I could erase what happened, but not that these precious little ones have some true stability now.

What is a blessing, La La?

This is the question posed to me today by my five year old granddaughter, Robin. Of course, my first reply to her was, "Well, you are, Robin Bird."  Then I proceeded to explain that our days are filled with blessings from God. As we were talking two doves landed in the yard. I just love these days when the spontaneous happens and the time you spend with your children and now in my case, my grandchildren, are the most memorable.


She went back to playing and me back to my laundry. I was grumbling a bit in my mind but then I remembered two things.. one a Bible verse...Philippians 2:14 says: Do all things without murmurings and disputings. Also, I remembered this email I received once.. you know one of those chain things. Well, this one I read. It talked about being thankful that the laundry was there because you had enough clothes, or washing dishes because you had food to dirty them up. WOW! Talk about stopping in my tracks. So, I am thankful for all that I can do because so many aren't even physically able! 
I will look at the sunrise and sunset more often and thank God it is there. I will thank Him for the sun and the rain because we need both. Praise God from whom ALL blessings come!

There IS Love.....

Can you believe it is February already? I think that God sometimes speeds things up just to be funny!

Today is my son's 19th birthday. I'm very proud of the man he is becoming. He works a stressful job. He is a volunteer fireman and is taking courses in fire science. He knows who he is and won't back down from his beliefs! He's honest and I can see him maturing day to day into someone special. It's good to be a mother! Here is a video I made for him when he turned eighteen.

I have been busy finishing Miss Truly whom you see to the left. She is my very first round head doll and to be brutally honest, her head sat around on my desk for months. I thought that off round ball might be a pincushion or perhaps be un-stuffed and thrown away. I am SO glad that I didn't do that. I picked the weird pumpkin looking thing up and started talking to it a few days ago. "What do you want to be?" "Are you a Leprechaun?" I made a nose, then a mouth. After much trouble, she started to come together. Truly turned out to be my absolute favorite doll that I have made. I almost kept her, but she has been adopted by a friend of mine and I know she has a good home!


How am I doing with the things I decided to work on for the New Year? Welllllll......... I'm doing pretty good! I have been eating better and have lost a few pounds. I have begun to take some time for me and my husband. I'm talking to God more and have stopped putting so much pressure on myself. If that basket of laundry doesn't get folded and put up, it will be there the next day! I'm not going to stress over it anymore. I can only do so much, right?  Okay, how are you all doing with your "resolutions?"


I am hoping to blog more often. I have a lot to say, but I just can't get it out for some reason. Some other bloggers make it look so easy! I'll see ya next time!

Out with the Old!!

New Year’s Reality Check Another year, another chance
To start our lives anew;
This time we’ll leap old barriers
To have a real breakthrough.We’ll take one little step
And then we’ll take one more,
Our unlimited potential
We’ll totally explore.We’ll show off all our talents
Everyone will be inspired!(Whew! While I’m writing this,
I’m getting very tired.)We’ll give up all bad habits;
We’ll read and learn a lot,
All our goals will be accomplished,
Sigh...or maybe not.Oh well, Happy New Year anyway!
Thinking about a new year and a new start, as most of us do, I realized that this past year I have reflected on my life more than any other. My husband said he'd done the same thing and we thought maybe that was what the "Mid-life Crisis" must be about. It's easy to become depressed and desensitized with all the stress that we have to deal with on a day to day basis. I have come to realize that some people deal with stress a lot better than I do! With this new found knowledge after forty-four years of life, I'm going to make the next years of my life better! I'm not making it a resolution, but better yet, a promise to myself. Here are  things I promised myself to work on. These are not necessarily in order!

1. Becoming closer to God again. I haven't walked away from the Lord, but I don't spend as much time with Him as I should. We've been through a lot as a family and I've been preoccupied with that when I should have been on my knees more. Perhaps things wouldn't have been as bad!
2. Becoming more healthy. Okay, I do have a bunch of junk in the trunk, I'll admit. However, my goal isn't to necessarily lose all the extra weight, but to eat more healthy and to start exercising more. I have two grandbabies that need me to feel better for them.
3. Taking time for me. Something else I've realized through this reflection time is that I have abused myself over the years. I should have taken time for me to read, to shop, to take a bubble bath, to sleep, to drink a cup of hot chocolate by myself, to listen to music by myself.. to be BY MYSELF at times. If you don't do this, DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I HAVE! As a result, I am a nervous wreck at times! Part of this is making my dolls. I have to quit allowing other things to get in the way of my dolls. They are ME, so this is a priority.    Take time for you and don't feel guilty about it because you will be a better person for those that you love.
4. Learn to say NO! I heard once that southern women have issues with saying no to friends and family. It's true!  I need to not be so nice. I don't need to carry guilt for saying no either! It's a lesson a lot of us need to learn!
5. Spend more time with my wonderful husband. When my husband and I got married, we started out not alone, but with his eighteen month daughter. Now, we're mid forties and have our two grandchildren living with us. I wouldn't change much, but we have never had much time together because of it. I want to make sure this changes because he and I deserve it so much! I'm going to make sure he is a priority in the new year!  

Okay, now that I have witnesses, I must do these things, right? Hehe.. now to misquote Dr. Laura.. go seize the YEAR!
 

Thanksgiving Traditions...

Here we are upon another Thanksgiving. We will have a house full with my mother and father in law coming up from Georgia. Bless their hearts, we never make it home because of jobs or some other reason. They have driven the 450 miles to North Carolina for as long as we've been married. It is a good time and I always wear myself out cooking, of course.

I've been cleaning and preparing like a mad woman and I got to thinking about the traditions that we share every year. One of those traditions is a Thanksgiving tree. We all write down two blessings (on stained hang tags) that we are thankful for that have happened the year before. I keep them in a box separated by year. During dinner, I read last years blessings.  We've been doing this for five years now and it is a blessing in itself!  So, what are your Thanksgiving traditions?

I haven't been doing any Christmas related dolls this year. I am focusing on a craft show in the spring. It will be my very first show and I'm so nervous. I have NO clue how to do it, but we'll figure it out. I hope to do one or two more besides it in the fall. It's been real difficult not to delve into Santas and Snowmen because that is my favorite things to do, but I've been diving into Daffodils and rabbits!

I hope to post more in the new year. It's been difficult to get my words together with so much going on with moving, but we're finally settling in now and I can concentrate more on Muddy Britches again!

God bless all of you this Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

Much Love,
Dana

Work Ethic

Today, my grandson Alex who is three donned his granddaddy's hard hat and his little V-Tech computer and told me Bye bye and wanted a kiss. At first, I thought just how adorable he was but as i went on washing dishes, I realized that my husband had instilled in this little child his work ethic already! My husband has called in three times in his life from work. It about killed him earlier this year when he hurt his leg and had to have surgery to be out of work. Even the things he does around the house are not done hap hazard. My son has seen this growing up also and is the same way.

My husband is so supportive of my Primitives too. He is my biggest fan and that in itself is inspiring me to be the best that I can be! I am truly a blessed woman to have my husband. I love him so much.

Well, I'm so bad about this blog thing. I wish I could post at least once a week with all sorts of pictures of my handmades and things like others do. To be honest, I've been really busy trying to get my sewing room set up and run after the two little ones. I'm also chauffeur to my teen son and he works 20 miles away.  By the time I get to the end of the day and sit down to write something, my brain is BLANK! Then I wind up reading other blogs I follow and mine is neglected.. hehe.

I've got three dolls almost finished, but my hubby decided he was going to move a bunch of furniture around and they are buried alive. Then he decided my fabric would be better off on shelves inside a closet, so everything is a mess. It's funny how you have to be in a new house a little while before things start falling into place.

See? I told you so! It is a mess, isn't it?! This is only one corner of the room.  Back to work for me!

Back to Work.....

My first witch. Her name is Ursula and I made her for a special person. She's a big girl at 40" tall and has little wired fingers. Those were challenging for sure!

I'm already working on another witchy doll and I'll post some pictures as soon as she's finished.

The heat is still on here in North Carolina. We had Earl brush our coast last night. We're about 75 miles from the coast (as the crow flies) but didn't even get a drop of rain. The breeze has been heavenly though even with the temps being in the high 90's. The Tobacco is gone now and it is so dry the dust is kicking up.

Our daughter is moving out this weekend. When we moved, she was out of work and near homeless, so she moved in to get on her feet. She found her a full time job, saved and bought her a car and found a place to live in three months. Good job! Robin and A.J. will stay with us except on some weekends.  I'm going to move my sewing room into the spare room and I'm excited to get everything into one spot so that I can quit running around trying to figure out where something is!  My husband will probably wind up setting him up a spot in my room too because he has separation anxiety where I'm concerned.. hehe. I love him to pieces and enjoy being with him too except when he's snoring!

I hope everyone has a good Labor Day Weekend. We'll be helping Jerri move and we have plans to try out a church on Sunday. We'll probably take another trip to Little Washington on the Pamlico River on Monday. My husband has a job there and we like to go and relax a little and the children love to go play and fish!

In-between, I'm going to be working on some more dolls and trying to get this house clean!  Until next time...... Primitive Hugs!

A.J. playing on the Pamlico

Waiting for the frost on the pumpkins......

 

After an entire summer filled with 99+ degree days, I'm waiting for a nip in the air! We've had a cool day tease us here and there, but it will be 99° again today. Someone send the cool air down south, please! We're burnin' up down here!

I know that the air will be becoming more pleasant soon because the farmers are so busy in the fields. I have thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by farmland once again. We're enjoying the layout of our new house and I'm trying to get over the old and icky places.

Autumn is my favorite time of year and I'm excited that we'll be able to take an October trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains here in North Carolina. We used to go every year, but like so many, had to cut our vacations out to make ends meet. We have not been in three years! 

This is Catawba Falls. It is located in Old Fort, NC and is in the headwaters of the beautiful Catawba River. We camp just down the road and a nice quiet campground along the river.

This is the Linn Cove Viaduct. It is part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and hugs Grandfather Mountain. It was built this way to protect the mountain from the damage that would have been caused by traditional methods. We love to walk the trails beneath the bridge and the view from this area is phenomenal! Read About the Viaduct

Have a blessed day everyone!

A New View!

On May 20, 2010 we moved into our new home. Well, a new old home built in 1955. Although the house needs a bit of work, it has a lot of character and is a perfect fit for our family. The kitchen has "issues" which we will address later and I'll post before and after pics when we get to it.

Fremont is a little town and the most obvious feature is a tall yellow and green water tower which is fully in our view... hehe.  My first thought was why in the world would they paint this water tower THAT yellow and THAT green. Well, Fremont was named "The Daffodil Town" many years ago and they have a Daffodil Festival every spring. Thus, the yellow and green.

We live amongst farmland and right next to a tobacco field. I have enjoyed watching the tobacco grow and being taken care of. They've topped them out and the leaves are beginning to turn yellow. It won't be long before they'll be pulling those golden leaves off!

It's beautiful here. I've always loved this part of North Carolina.

The move was fairly smooth despite being so hot. We were excited that we had a huge storage room in the garage but we found it to be FULL of Black Widow spiders when we opened the doors. They've sprayed, but I am a chicken when it comes to things like that! NOTHING and I repeat NOTHING that I will be touching will go in there! My chickeness (is that a word?) really messes up my workroom / playroom plans so... time for plan B!

Our daughter and her fiance were having troubles, so since they helped us move, we invited them to stay with us until they could get on their feet. They have found pretty good jobs here and will be getting a car soon. They'll find their own place to live after that. It has not been easy for any of us, but we're making the best of it. It has been good that the children have gotten to know their mother better and hopefully she'll be able to keep them on the weekends to give my husband and I some much needed alone time.

I'm still working on getting settled. The heat has been horrible with weeks of 100 degree days. I hope to have my studio finished soon and back to my primitives. It has been too long!

Until next time.........

All Roads Lead Home...

Well, after desiring to move for many years, it looks like we'll be doing so in May. It almost does not seem real. My husband began working for a company in Goldsboro, NC several years ago, so it is time to get closer. It has been time, but we've had many obstacles keeping us from it.

We have spent a good amount of time in the eastern part North Carolina now and have a good idea of where we want to go. There is a house that we're eyeing. It isn't perfect, but it large enough and the floor plan fits our lifestyle very well. We have an option to purchase it, but we think we may rent for a while just to make sure we're where we want to be before we put down roots. I'm nervous but excited!

I have been packing for three years now, but it is time to get serious! I won't be posting much for a while. I don't know how long, but I will see you then! Your prayers for a safe/smooth move would be so nice. Thank you!

Too Busy for Me.. Just Venting!

Frustration leads the day today. I was supposed to open my Etsy.com shop yesterday, but alas, my items to list are not quite finished. I am so busy cooking, cleaning, laundry, feeding five people and two dogs, laundry and did I mention LAUNDRY, that I NEVER have time to sit down and sew. I'm not complaining, I just wish I could figure out how to fit everything in. Anyone else have this problem? I see other Primitive business owners just producing their product like crazy and very creatively, I might add. If I ever do get a moment, I'm so physically tired or brain dead from all of the noise that I can't think!

You ask how am I finding time now? Well, the dryer is going, the kids are eating lunch and I'm on hold with an important phone call, so thought I'd drop a line or two on my blog while I wait.

Here's the deal for those of you who do not know. I just turned forty-four a couple of days ago. I have two grown children, a daughter 25 and a son 18 (picture to the right.) My daughter has two children ages 3 and 4 1/2. She went into the Air Force at eighteen, got married, he turned out to be a bum. The Grandchildren have been with us all but about 3 months of the oldest and all of the youngest life. I was there for my grandson's birth and was the first to hold him. That was special. My son was a C-Section and I didn't even get to hold him for hours.

Alex age 2

You know, in  1996, I began praying for the Lord to allow me to have more babies. My doctors gave me a 3% chance of ever having more children... my son is truly a miracle.  God doesn't always answer our prayers the way that we think He will, so I can't argue that these two precious babies are looking to me for their care right now.  However, I'm getting a little old for the energy they have, Soooo.... sometimes I get fussy and I wonder how in the world I'm going to keep up. I was supposed to be doing this.. and doing that.. blah blah.. then they smile and hold their little arms up to me... then it's all heaven on earth again.

Robin, age 4

I don't know why things happen the way they do. We just have to hang on and trust that there is a higher Power in charge. Of course, I'm a Christian, so I believe Jesus/God is that one and only higher Power.  He knows how much I can handle and I can just call on Him when I think I can't do it anymore. The trick is finding joy in it all and not getting upset when things aren't quite going the way I think they should.

In closing, I'm going to try harder to find joy in all things. I enjoy making my primitives, so I will keep striving to do so. Lord, help me to keep my attitude straight, my eyes on You first and the children in my life happy and safe... including my "grown-up" ones.
By the way... I'm still on hold!

Some of My Dolls

I know.. I know.. I haven't posted anything in a while. This blogging thing is hard to get used to. We've been real busy too, which makes it more difficult to remember to update things!

I've been busy working on my new website that will open in March. I've also been busy working on some items for my Etsy.com shop that will also open in March! Spring is coming and those primitive bunnies are soon to emerge!

Since my last post, we've had three snow storms. One was a little one, but when snow is so rare, even a couple of inches is noteworthy!

 

Also, my husband fell three weeks ago scraping his leg. It was a very large spot on his calf. I told him to go and let a doctor look at it, because it just didn't look right. Well, he's stubborn and he said it'd be fine. It wasn't! Two weeks went by and it turned into a huge hematoma under a closed abrasion. It became swollen enough that he finally went to the emergency room. They did surgery on it and kept him for a week! He now has one of those wound VAC's. He's unable to work right now which is driving him mad! I believe it has been a blessing in disguise because his attitude has changed like night to day about his health. Thank God!

I've had a few requests to see some pictures of my dolls and I'll close today with those. I promise to post more often!

THINK SPRING!

Okay, I'm still alive! We have all been so sick that the doctor wanted to put one of us in the hospital, namely me. However, the Mother of the family can't get sick, right? So.. it took six weeks and I'm still sniffly, but I'm still kickin'.

Having a bit of my energy back, I've been busy today cleaning house really good. I'm so ready to start sewing again. If you are a fellow doll maker, you know how that fabric and sewing machine faintly call your name. About the only thing I've been able to keep up with is the kitchen and laundry. I still have to finish taking the Christmas tree down.

I am hoping to finish a Valentine doll that I've been fiddling with this week. I may just move on to Springy stuff as Valentines is just not my thing. Now, don't think that I'm unlucky in love as I have the most wonderful husband of twenty-two years, BUT I've never been the Valentiney type of gal. I'd much rather have my pick up truck and blue jeans than diamonds and frilly things. I do like to play with dolls though. It's all good, right!?

With that said, I'll post some more pictures very soon of Muddy Britches prims for 2010! If you do Facebook, you can add my page by searching for Muddy Britches Primitives. I'd love to see you there!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that your New Year is the best ever. I know I am looking forward to 2010 as 2009 was a bit rough for our family. God bless you and yours!

Merry Belated Christmas

Chaos! That's why I haven't posted in a good while. We've had a time the past few weeks fighting sickness and other junk.

I hope that everyone had a wonderfully blessed Christmas and that you got everything you expected. That doesn't necessarily mean just material things either, of course!

Our Christmas was very good except for being so sick. Russ (hubby), me and our granddaughter, Robin all had bronchitis, double ear infections, eye infections like pink eye but caused by the upper respiratory infections! I have NEVER been so sick, but we all piled into the doctor's office on Christmas Eve, got poked, prodded, stuck and left with a bag full of prescriptions. We're not well yet, but a far sight better than we were! I got to thinking about all those people in the hospitals that are that sick or sicker in hospitals that don't have much hope of feeling any better. It made me so sad thinking about that.

Christmas Eve was nice. Russ wrapped gifts and fixed supper for me while I cleaned house and finished the Christmas tree. I normally have it up right after Thanksgiving, but not this year! Our daughter came by and we all opened a gift a piece. We put the little ones to bed and all played Santa until 2 a.m.  Wheew!
Christmas morning was wonderful. Our grandson got a train that he was enamored with and our granddaughter got a big doll house that was a big hit.
My in laws came up from Georgia yesterday (Dec 26th) and we've been enjoying their company. Tonight we'll have our family Christmas meal which consists of a standing rib roast, sweet potato casserole, salad and fried green beans. It's just a tradition we've had for quite some time IF we can't afford the rib roast, we sub something else. That happens some times!

It's almost time to say goodbye to 2009. I'm hoping that Muddy Britches Primitives can rise up once again and I can get my dolls back out there. There are three shops that I've found semi locally and I hope that I can get some of my items in those this next year. Please pray that the economy gets better for all of us and that the primitive look will come down south more!

Anyway, we survived and now it's time to look forward to a new year. I'm happy about that because 2009 was a tough one!  I hope that 2010 is a productive, healthy and happy year for you and yours!

God's Blessings from Dana / Muddy Britches Primitives