Simple Pleasure Thursdays ~~Sunflowers~~

One of life's Simple Pleasures is flowers. I love sunflowers, the official flower of the Ya Ya Sisterhood Diva Quilters....

I have made the Ya Ya's some gifts with this sweet sunflower material and my latest creation with it is this new sunflower tablerunner....aren't the colors sew pretty? This tablerunner will be for sale in the Painfull Acres Shop soon.

~~Simple Pleasures Thursday ~~ Recalling Sweet Memories

Sew and McStevie on the beach in Gloucester, MA

I was recently going through some of the pictures I have downloaded on my computer and re-living some wonderful memories. Have you ever had a day like that? What would we be without our memories of wonderful times?


I first loved the book, and then loved the movie A Perfect Storm released in 2000.

In 2003, not long after our granddaughter was born we took a family trip to Gloucester, MA, a fishing mecca of the east coast. We stayed at an adorable motel with adjoining rooms that overlooked the ocean and was a short walk to a lovely beach. We visited The Crow's Nest, the actual bar that was part of the movie. We visited the monument dedicated to the fishermen that have lost their lives at sea. We went on the Seven Seas Whale Watch which was exciting, as we left in a rain, thunder and lightning storm and got out to sea and it was fairly calm. We DID see a few whales, too, (which pleased our grandson, Tucker, who was 4 at the time)! We went to a lovely restaurant in the town and had great seafood, what else? Tessa was just a baby, it's too bad she doesn't have the memories we do, I guess we have to go back?? It was a wonderful time. I hope you enjoy some pictures and sometime get to visit this lovely spot....


Son Jeff, Tucker and McStevie having fun at the restaurant...


Grandpa gets the tickets with Tucker...

Daughter Mandy & McStevie outside the Crow's Nest...and...the monument...



List of lives lost in the storm of '91 on the Andrea Gail fishing boat...


Tessa was a good baby!


Jeff, Sheila, Tucker and Tessa at the monument...


Fun at the beach.....in this pic, grandson was naked, clever, how Jeff's hand is positioned..

Simple Pleasures Thursday ~ Reading~

My simple pleasures for today is READING.

Getting lost in a book is just sew wonderful.

My taste in books has a vast range. I loved all of Harry Potter's adventures. And yet, The Shack by William P. Young moved me to my very soul, a story of one's quest for finding God in a sea of pain.

Today I finished Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. A book I wasn't sure I could get my head around, let alone my eyes. Alright, I am rather late to jump on this literary band wagon, after sew much fuss about it. My daughter-in-law convinced me that I would enjoy it, so on my last visit to Wallymart it stared at me and drew me in. For $5.95, if I detested it, I could just give it away without remorse or thought. BUT...no...I did not detest it. In fact, I became "bitten" by this powerful love story of two teenagers that are on a quest to be together no matter what dangers they face. I cannot wait to get to the store and get New Moon, the next book in the series. Lucky for me I still have a Borders gift card from my birthday.

And, yes, me, a grandmother of two can actually relate to young love having married my high school sweetheart, McStevie. We were very much in love when he was selected for the AFS program and would spend his summer in France at the end of his junior year. I was excited that he would have adventures I couldn't imagine in my little hometown world, but crushed that we had "found each other" and now he would go off and forget about me entirely. Find some french sweetheart and forever be gone. Well, of course, all of that is history, but one doesn't forget the heartache of being apart from the one you love. Mind you, it does not compare to the vampire world (smirk, smirk, how would I know?), but I just need to illustrate while now in my 50's, I still have those young memories.

So, my point today is I am thankful to have eyesight, (allbeit aging) to enjoy curling up with a book and getting lost in the mere wonderment, the mere joy, the mere pain, or whatever the author has decided you should feel. And then again, thankful to be alive and be able to feel those emotions.

Pick up a book today and get lost. Better yet, share with me your thoughts. Which book makes you giddy.....sad....thoughtful?

Simple Pleasure ~~Thursday~~

and ah-hah moments….

As of this morning, I am going to do my best this year to blog about Simple Pleasures on Thursdays. It is important to connect with the little things, very important.

My bff Pat is here from KY for a visit and we were having a spiritual connection (don’t you love those with a good friend) and she showed me her daily devotions book, taking just “a little time” each day for herself to make her own spiritual connection. Hmm… I thought, I have a very similar book given to me by my youngest sister for Christmas (back in the nineties, geeze) that sits on the bottom shelf of my nightstand. It has been there since I used it the first year that she gave it to me. I dusted it off and opened it this morning. If interested, the name of the book is A Simple Abundance, Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Needless to say, I had forgotten how comforting this book was. I read from January 1 to today (usually a just a page a day). The message on January 7 was... How Happy Are You Right Now? Mmm…ponder that for a minute, or several. What are the little, simple pleasures, that make you content?? As I was pondering, I looked up in thought, out the window and at MY EMPTY BIRD FEEDERS! OMG, I cannot have my birds starving. AND, it is snowing….oh the shame...the guilt! And then, a mental picture of Oprah came to mind - I said ah hah! This morning, that very moment I sprang from my chair and battled the knee deep snow to make my way to my contentment.

It’s a little thing, but when the chickadees, the titmouse, the blue jays, the red breasted woodpeckers, (only to name a few) and Fred and Ethel, my cardinals come around, my heart could just melt the snow. Now, it doesn’t matter that I have to walk away from the window to get anything done for the day. I don’t really need to see them, as long as I know they are being taken care of and enjoying themselves I am content. Birds in winter….my today’s Thursday Pleasure, what’s yours?

A side note: I gotta tell ya, when you live in northern NY the winters are long. Yesterday we woke up to freezing rain, this morning it is snow. You have to have a good attitude and be easily humored to live here. Fortunately, I have both. The name sewhappy fits me.

Yummo....a full banquet.

Keeping with the theme of simple pleasures and gratitude, I would like to cheer lead for a wonderful etsy crafter ~~ maranda of Cowgirl Creations. View her shop here. She makes these fabulous gratitude/prayer boxes. Here are the four that I have purchased from her so far. The bottom two she custom designed for my grandchildren. Luv Luv!