Encouragement can come from the strangest places ...

I'm at work right now; I'm on a short break.  I just came across this on a stamp:

"Always

know in

your heart

that you

are far

bigger than

anything

that can

happen to

you."

I'm a pretty strong, independent type of individual.  Most times, after the initial shock of whatever it is, I am able to roll up my sleeves, dig in my heels and attack whatever is attacking me.  It's just sometimes ... the adrenalin takes longer to kick in or evaporates more quickly than other times.  It's those times that I feel overwhelmed and unable.

I'm really glad I took a break when I did which enabled me to find these words.  I really needed them ... to see it in print, so my mind's eye could take them in, to recall when I begin to feel drained.  So at those times I'd be able to regroup and feel strengthened within and do what I know I must do.

This, too, was put in my path - for a reason - and I thank HIM for putting it there.

Have a Great and Blessed Day! (I'm going to) and thanks for stopping by ...

demarys

Life Happens ...

What is it they say??? ...Life happens. Well it just did in ... In my basement. I woke up to a flooded basement. It had been raining here heavily - daily - for the past few days. No way did I anticipate that it would affect me. I mean, I just bought this house about a year ago. And ... was advised that there was a new sump pump put in place. And ... guaranteed - well that's not exactly the word I want to use, but can't think of the other right now - that water drainage would be no problem.

Ok, wait, I'm digressing, let me go back a day to yesterday, Friday, August 13, 2010.

It's been extremely hot and humid over the past few weeks. So, one day, when I went into the basement, I noticed that the basement "felt" kind of damp-like. So, I decided I had better get a dehumidifier to try and draw the moisture out of the basement.

I woke up to a flooded basement. It had been raining here heavily - daily - for the past few days - but no way did I anticipate that the heavy rains would affect me. I mean, I just bought this house a little over a year ago. And, was advised by the seller that there was a new sump pump put in place. And guaranteed - well that's not exactly the word I want to use, but can't think of the one I want just now.

Ok,wait. Let me go back a day to Friday.

Well, yesterday morning, as I was leaving for work, my daughter-in-law tells me that when she went into the basement and she stepped onto the carpet, the floor "felt" wet. I thought "Great! What timing.", especially since I was going to be looking at dehumidifiers that evening or the next day. You see, it has been extremely hot and humid over the past few weeks. So one day, when I had gone into the basement, I noticed that the basement "felt" kind of damp-like. I decided I had better get a dehumidifier to try and draw the moisture out of the basement.

Well, back to yesterday. I didn't get home until late from work and I was dead tired so I decided to wait until the morning (Saturday) to go to the store. But before I set out to buy a dehumidifier, I figured let me go into the basement and see for myself. You're probably thinking/wondering ... well, I am really not a basement or attic type person. I find those areas of a house to be creepy. And although my basement is partially finished, I still frequent it a little as possible/necessary.

Anyway, I head down the stairs and already I can see footprints in the carpet from where my daughter-in-law must have stepped prior. My heart was already beginning to sink and as I reached the bottom step and put my foot onto the carpet, water rose over my foot and dispair took over. I couldn't think. I felt dumbfounded. I just stood there, feet covered by that water ... in shock.

Mind you, I am new to home ownership. All my life, I've lived in dwellings where there was a landlord or management company; i.e., something went wrong, you gave the landlord or management co. a call and they saw to it that the problem was fixed. So, without a landlord or management company to call, my first thought was not to call my insurance company but rather "What in the heck am I supposed to do to fix this?"

Once brain function restore, I went on line to find someone who could help me with this problem. Still not thinking, mind you to call my insurance company; still thinking this was something I alone had to handle. I've now made a few calls to a couple of service providers and made some appointments.

TO BE CONTINUED

Have a Great Day! and thanks for stopping by ...

demarys

Memories ... They can really take you back ...

Well y'all know how I've become this paper addict. Seems like papercrafting has taken over my life. It's like I'd rather be creating with paper rather than most other things.

Well, I've joined a few papercrafting groups/clubs/swaps and as a part of what you do (in case you don't already know) is post a "profile." Usually a part of your profile can/does include any website, blogspot, etc. Well, same as my "about me" on here, I mention that although I am a current paperholic, my first love is fabric and that I am a dollmaker.

Well ... I'm saying that a lot, aren't I ... oh well, anyway ... I've gotten several requests to see my dolls (which are on another blogspot), so I'm going to figure how to dupe that info onto here, so that those who care to see can.

My most recent request though it what really put the "fire under my butt" (hope that wasn't vulgar) was someone who mentioned making fabric bunnies back in the day. Well, oh my goodness, do I remember the bunnies. I was already a sewer - I made clothing and sewed things for the home, but boy did I go crazy buying fabric and Simplicity, McCalls, Butterick and even Vogue patterns to make those cute little things. I even bought the separate patterns for their clothing. And it wasn't just the bunnies that I thought were cute, I especially liked the elephants and the piggys. I bought patterns and fabric. I even took a part-time job at a local fabric chain (not Joann's - that came later when I moved to Maryland) and I think that's how my "fabri-holism" all started.

In my town in Westchester, New York, before I opened my own store, there was a little "ma & pop" fabric store where I purchased my fabrics after the local chain closed. I bought so much material I inevitably struck-up a relationship with the owner. Many weekend-days, rather than staying home and creating, I would go to that little shop and she and I would sit in the back and make "dolls" (mainly the bunnies, bears, elephants, kittys, monkeys and piggys) with complete outfits. And then the owner switched to making quilts. And so did I. By then I had emassed tons and tons of fabric, so much so that when she closed her shop, I opened my own - supposedly geared to quilting. (....) Why the dots? Well, because they represent another story in itself to be told at another time. Let's just say that circumstances quickly redirected the "theme" of my store from quilt shop to gift shop. Not a bad redirection in the long haul, just an unexpected twist of things.

Anyway. Over time, the more I learned about quilting, the more I learned and wanted to learn about dollmaking. It was an area of fabric crafting that I readily took to and I grew in my abilities to a level I believe (and I've been told) good enough that I could adopt the title "dollmaker." I made dolls regularly - most times having more than one in the works at any given time. But thinking back to the "bunnies," I realize that I haven't made a doll in the manner dollmaking was first introduced to me in years. My current dollmaking is more along the lines of "art doll" making, although since being bitten by the paperbug (almost 2 years now), I've only created two as a gift for a co-worker to give to her two granddaughters as an Easter present.

Lately though, there has been much cause for talk about my dolls, and I've begun to feel the pangs of missing creating in that areana.

I am actively in the process of trying to make my craftroom, which has totally been taken over by paper, more user friendly - paperwise that is ... but I don't know ... I may just have to designate a small area for my fabric again. Maybe it's time I made another doll. LOL

Wow! I hadn't thought about the bunnies for some time. That was back in the early 1990s. Wow!

Thanks Elsa for memories and encouraging my trip back down memory lane.

Wow!

Demarys

Have a Great Day! and thanks for stopping by ...demarys