…and all through the garden

Posted on December 25, 2009 by Trish

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the garden

Not a pea was stirring, Oh, I do beg your pardon.

The tools were all hung in the barn with care,

In hopes that a new harvest soon would be there.

Our little peas were napping all snug in their beds

while visions of tomatoes, beets and pumpkins danced in their heads.

And Mama in her apron and I in my straw hat,

had just settled down with an iced tea and sat,

When out in the garden there arose such a thud,

We both sprang to our feet and ran through the mud.

Away to the barn I flew like a flash,

Tore open the doors and made a mad dash.

The sun danced upon the glistening leaves,

we looked at each other and rolled up our sleeves.

When what to our wondering eyes should appear,

But a buck and doe and two twin deer.

With a hush and wink, we stopped in our tracks,

knelt down low and and admired the bucks rack.

They were quiet and sweet

and walked softly on their feet.

They munched on some apples from the tree up above,

then the Mama gave each twin a nudge with such love.

We watched them disappear back to the forest,

and listened as the peepers sing a lovely chorus.

Our harvest has been grand, your friendship so bright,

We’ve been blessed beyond measure and give thanks this Christmas night.

For each of you, our dear friends far and near,

You’ve made 2009 such a wonderful year.

We wish you health

happiness

and much love

in the New Year!

From your friends at Two Peas in a Pod Homegrown Designs!

The Gardener and Trish and all the little peas!

It’s not about the stuff…

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Trish

Sarah writes on her fiancee Gregs facebook Wall:

Thank you for the best 2 years of my life. I have so many wonderful memories that i am thankful for. You were everything to me, I am lost, shattered without you to make my life complete. To say you were the love of my life doesnt even scratch the surface as you were my dream come true, my fairy tale in real life and i… loved telling you and everyone else that. I am so lucky to be loved by you. Thank you, my incredible, wonderful, gorgeous Greg, thank you. I love you and always will. Sarah

The next day, she writes on her own wall:

thank you to Greg for a wonderful nights sleep wrapped in his clothes. I wake up in the morning and before I open my eyes I just hope that when I do, he will be right next to me but it’s just his clothes.

One of the wonderful Moms in my twins club sent that to me…and the story behind it that she shared with us follows below. It moved me so and I asked her if I could share it with all of you. At this moment, as a woman of faith, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, it means so much to me to be reminded what the coming of Christ is all about. This holiday isn’t about the perfect gift, just the right meal, the perfect decorations – it’s about something so much greater that I have a hard time wrapping my head around it sometimes. The gift we have been given in Christ Jesus amazes me – and this story from my friend, reminds me that our lives are about our relationships, our relationships with God and with each other, a reminder that those minutes turn into memories – and that this holiday is just not about “stuff”. May you make wonderful memories this Christmas and may you be blessed beyond measure.

Here’s the original email I received from Julia, my wonderful twins mom friend…

Tony worked late tonight. One of the twins was in bed at 7:20, before he’d even gotten home. I watched a little Charlie Brown Christmas with my other twin daughter, put her in bed by 8:15.

As Tony was eating his dinner, I was dozing off (I’ve started to catch the girl’s colds)…I still had paperwork to do before hitting the hay. So, I had to snap out of my snooze. I went into the kitchen to pack 3 lunches for tomorrow. One cell phone rang, I sent it to voicemail. My Blackberry rang, ignored it (just too tired to talk). Then the home phone rang. All 3 times, it was Gwen…my quasi sister, next door neighbor from where I grew up. I answered. Within minutes we were crying.

Her 29 year old daughter, Sarah, has been engaged for nearly a year and to be married Febuary 6, 2010. Sarah’s 28 yr old fiancee, Greg, collapsed at work last Friday. Coroner’s report stated he died of natural causes, felt no pain, and was gone before he hit the floor.

Granted – none of this information means a hill of beans to any of you.

Except when a healthy 28 year old man, part-time farmer, volunteer fire fighter, full-time employee of a farming plant collapses suddenly with no previous health conditions; he is well known in his community for his never ending, giving efforts and is head over heels in love and will be married in less than 2 months….suddenly he is gone. There are many grieving hearts here on earth, Heaven has another Angel.

This gives me another reminder to express my love and gratitude for my family and my friends (many of which, who are my family in my heart). Thank you, I love you and wish you all a blessed Christmas. Thankfully, I will see and/or talk to most of you over Christmas and/or new Year’s. If I don’t get to talk to you…know you have a special place in my heart.

One favor – don’t just mentally love. Emotionally love, physically love and verbally express daily to your God, your children, your soulmates, your closest. Personal grudges, judgements, anger are petty and toxic emotions that close the door on the light of the Spirit.

This is email is not meant to sadden, but to enlighten.

Merry Christmas and God Bless.

Much love, Julia

I loved this because every day, EVERY dang day, toxicity can creep in so easily and I love her gentle nudging to emotionally, physically and verbally express your love. That’s my wish for you – that you find the courage to do so each day.

xoxo,

Trish

Loving the Liverpool

Posted on December 16, 2009 by Trish

Double trouble!

Have I ever told you about my girls and their “twinspeak”?

Having identical twins – my first born(s) – I was clueless to language development. What should be occurring when, etc. They were communicating. I understood them. I thought all was fine.

But one day, while at a doctors appointment for me, my doc said, “Hey, you should have them evaluated. They have a speech delay.” Huh? What the heck! There’s nothing wrong with my kids. Well, come to find out, they had actually developed their own language – twins speak – it was so intense that it began to interfere with their academic development. It has hindered their ability to read and comprehend. Their articulation has been very poor. And still, in the 3rd grade, we are working so very hard, to get them where they need to be. I mean, they would turn to each other, say something we couldn’t began to understand, the other would run upstairs and bring her sister a pair of socks. What?! They look at me and go, “yeah, sissy asked me to get her socks”. Seriously, crazy. Cute at first. Now that we have baby number 3, her language development is a night and day difference. Way more advanced than the twins. Who knew? We didn’t.

We have been incredibly blessed – incredibly blessed this year, with a wonderful teacher who has made more strides with our girls than any teacher ever has. She has reached out to them and to us in a way no other teacher has. And we are so grateful for her.

Guess what? She sews.

Yep. I mean, am I little biased over my enthusiasm for her because she’s a fellow “seamstress”?

OK, maybe just a little (tee hee!). But she is the most dedicated, hands on, exciting, loving teacher my kids have ever had (and we’ve had some wonderful teachers).

She makes loads of cute things to wear to school. Recently she sewed up the Liverpool shirt which is a new pattern from Amy Butler (our “neighbor” here in the next town over). I asked if she would share her experiences with the pattern with you all and she took on the challenge. So…if you’ve thought about sewing this up – here’s her experience with it! Enjoy!

I recently sewed the Liverpool by Amy Butler, and I was asked to write a quick review on the pattern for this blog. Although I have enjoyed sewing since middle school, I still consider myself at a mid-beginner’s level and the amount of projects I have done with sleeves is very limited, so the Liverpool was a definite challenge. I tried this project because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. :>)

There are several different options to the Liverpool, and I chose to sew the tunic with ¾ length sleeves. I had a friend help me modify the pattern to ensure the proper fit, using two different sizes at different places on the tunic based on the measurements of my hips and chest.

Directions:

Most of the directions were clear, but I did have to read some of the steps through several times before I felt comfortable enough to execute that step. For example, step 7 tells you to sew the two back panels together with a French seam. It was the first time I had done a French seam and there were no pictures illustrating this step at all. However, I proceeded with this step even though I was very unsure. Despite my misgivings, I found the French seam to be quite lovely when I was finished! I will try this seam again.

Most of the difficulties that I did have would have been easier had there been a few more illustrations. The illustrations that are in the pattern are excellent – with labels indicating sides of fabric and more.

Amount of Time

This project was definitely time consuming for me, but this may not be the case for more experienced seamstresses. I spent about 4 days on it – working when I could on the weekends and in the evenings after work.

Fabric Choice

Upon completing my project, I was not happy with my choice of fabric. I had chosen a solid color of relatively cheap fabric for the simple fact that I wasn’t sure I would be able to complete the project. I did not want to spend the money on designer fabric when I wasn’t sure if it would turn out. Next time, I will chose a nicer more colorful print, which would have led a little excitement to the piece, which has simple lines and a loose fit.

Finishing Touches

Finally, I want to point out that this pattern, like other Amy Butler patterns, included some finishing touches that I have not seen in other patterns, such as the French seam mentioned earlier, and sewing the edges of the darts. I like these additions, as I feel they make the garment more stylish and more complete.

Thanks so much Mrs. R for the review! I love it!

xoxo,

Trish