Goodbye January, Hello February!

It's 4:30 AM and I'm awake and have been for about two hours. Such is the life of an overnight cashier. In order to get a decent sleep pattern, I tend to sleep from early afternoon to mid-evening. That will be the pattern for today, as well. My body thinks right now it should be at work!

I can hear sleet hitting the side of house....it's been pretty persistent for about a half hour. It was just lightly starting when I let Cady out when I got up around 2:30. Has been more insistent the last half hour or so! Yikes! Hope that doesn't turn to ice later on! Snow, I can deal with. Ice....another story altogether! As I looked at the area map on the Weather Channel's website, yep, it's a mix! We're in the pink...and I'm not sure that's necessarily a good thing! My experiences in the South with ice storms leave me praying that there are no downed trees or wires from this. No electricity is not a good thing, for anyone, in this kind of weather!

Yesterday was a day off! I got up around 12:30 AM and did a bunch of reading and then started my household chores. Feels good when you accomplish those tasks! 3 loads of laundry, dishes washed, strip the bed, flip the mattress, and fresh bedding. Ahhhhh...gotta love fresh bedding! ☺

Took Cady for a walk down to the mailbox to mail out bills. The SUN was out yesterday!!! What a joy that was! To feel the sun and it's warmth! Still cold, but treasured, nonetheless!

When we got back, I decided to do a small project that I had an idea for. I wanted to make a table runner for my kitchen table. The idea came to me when my friend, Ida, gave me these bear curtains that match some other bear items she'd given me earlier.  (She keeps finding them - and we both are known bear collectors!)

I actually had gotten the first items of Ida's at an auction our church (Smithtown Community) held last fall to raise funds for the annual missions conference. I bid on a box and was top bidder. Little did I know there was more to the box than just the box! Anyways, I digress!

I have two sets of windows in my kitchen but only one pair of the bear curtains. So I decided to take the bottom part of the curtains and sew them together to create a table runner. Very simple project...just sew the tops together and make a seam.

This is my sewing nook. Care to guess where it's at? The sewing machine sits on the sewing machine desk inside the spare bedroom closet. I just take the chair from the table and come over and sew. It was a creative way to have the machine in the room, yet not take up valuable space out in the room. It's not a big room and I have a table and a twin size bed in there as well. The table is what I refer to as my crafting table as I have my stamping stuff nearby. There is also other craft stuff located in the closet on the opposite side. I love how I can just slide the closet door shut and it's all out of sight, but easily accessible! And I love having a specific place set aside for my crafting stuff rather than pulling it in and out of storage!

Finished product is on the table. See how it nicely matches the placemats? And curtains, colorwise? LOVE that! Those oranges and tangelos are a nice pop of color, too! Not to mention juicy and downright tasty! ☺

OK, gotta let you know that on the opposite side of the placemats are chickens. Got the placemats at the same auction. I am not a collector of chicken paraphenalia. However, the flipside matches perfectly with my curtains and the new table runner! And if I want a quirky, eclectic look, I can always flip the chickens up, just for variety! ☺

More things that grace my table from the auction. The bear napkin holder and coaster holder are from the same bear set Ida gave me. The black bear is actually a salt and pepper shaker holder. All of these items sit on a round lazy Susan. (So glad they don't call it a lazy Suzanne!)

Here's a project I am hoping to finish very soon. It's a wall hanging (or will be) done in cross stitch. I have the lower right square to finish embroidering and then I can finish it. It may end up gracing the walls in my home or I may hold on to it for a gift for someone else.  It looks great with it being all in red. I want to finish this project so I can move on to another embroidery project. I find it's best to just do one a time!

That was my day yesterday. Not much planned for today, besides waiting to hear what Phil has to say about winter and whether Beauregard Lee (Georgia's own version of Punxsutawney Phil!) agrees or not. From the sounds I still hear outside, it's still winter out there right now!

Getting ready to start a study on the book of Ruth and am hoping to glean from that. One thing right off the bat that I find interesting is the meaning of people's names. For instance, Ruth's brother-in-law, Chillion - his name meant puny or wasting. Wow, what thing to be stuck with! I'm sure that didn't inspire confidence!

I look at my own name, Suzanne Jane. I was named for two aunts, Aunt Sue and Aunt Lora Jane. However, Suzanne means "lily" and Jane means "graceful". So my name means "lily full of grace." Which...when I think about it....is also a description of Who Jesus is as well! He is the Lily of the Valley, and we know He is full of grace! What a blessing beyond measure!

Whatever our name, we should always seek to be more like Him every day. In the little things, in the big things, and always. And what a blessing to also know that He knows us by name, no matter what it is!

May your day be blessed beyond measure and full of grace!

Sue