Diary of an Unconscious Mind

Purple Paisley Patch is have an International Women's Day Fat Quarter Swap. Click the link above it will take you to her blog with the rules to the swap. It will take place until February 20th. So join in and lets celebrate the wonderful women who help make our lives great.

Living near the Gulf of Mexico has always held a respect for Mother Nature. My father was fascinated by weather the unexpected way it could change on a dime. He raised me to respect it, not to fear it but understand God’s hand in this life. When I was 16 Hurricane Alicia hit Galveston it was the first true Hurricane I had every been through, my father made sure that the house was prepared we had all the provisions, we where lucky that we had a gas stove in the house. Our house in Bellaire which is a city within Houston our den was lower then the rest of the house, if it flooded our den flooded too. So all the furniture was put up on blocks I went to sleep with the storm approaching I am a heavy sleeper so I was not awaken by the winds. When the eye of the storm was passing over us my father woke me up to take me outside to see what nature did, it was the most surreal moment to hear complete silence no wind, no noise just silence, but about 1 minute later he turned to me and said it ...

Valentine’s Day was an event in my house since our last name was Valentine. My mother always said that there was a birthday every month in our family, but no one was born in February since it was our month. Every Valentine’s Day was like Christmas with all the presents, we would get socks, candy, knick knacks, etc. The house would be decorated with hearts that we made, cookies baked in the shape of hearts, my mother loved holidays. . It was the one time we all went out to a nice restaurant to enjoy a meal. I remember going to school with a box dressed up in hearts waiting for the cards to be passed out, cake, cookies and kool-aid. Then the cutest boy in class would give you a heart with words that made your heart flutter, only to find out years later that every girl got the same one. Everyone would count to see who got the most Valentine cards, which one had a special saying on the back, to this day somewhere I have a Valentine from one of those cute boys. We would sit in class ma...

I would first like to say thank you to everyone who came by and let a comment. This was a great experience for my first giveaway, but this will not be my last. I will be making the rounds to everyone's site look for inspiration which you all have in abundance. This was hard to pick a winner because I wanted to share with you all, so I let Random.org do it for me. Drum Roll Please..... It is Margy of Hmmdesigns . Please check your email. So please come back I will pour you a glass of lemonade as we sit outside and shoot the breeze. Hugs to you all Shean

I am participating in my first giveaway. Katy of i'm a ginger monkey is hosting the Great International Stash Busting Giveaway with other participating blogs. This will take place on February 4th for one day, the drawing will be on January 5th. Just leave a comment and I will put you in the drawing. This is a variety of novelty fabrics all are fat quarters and have not been pre-washed. I am not good with coordinating fabric schemes, that where my sister comes in to help. *I Will stop taking comments at Midnight Central Time. I will draw tomorrow morning and update with the winner later in the afternoon. I have a funeral to go to in the morning so please check back later in the day on the 5th. I would like to Thank Everyone for the comments this has been fun. Please visit the following blog on February 4th for their giveaway. I hope you will like it.This is so much fun. Thank you again for come by and good luck to you all.

I love books they where my escape as a child. Though I had dyslexia, it was not a form that affected my reading; it was my math skills that were impaired. My mother influenced my love for reading you never saw her without some book or word puzzle, she would sit with me on the couch reading to me her favorite poems “The Raven,” “The Owl and The Pussycat,” “If” and “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. Those are indented into my memory, on Christmas every year she would reading to me Jus’ Fore Christmas a ritual I did with my son. My mother never discouraged me from reading anything she encouraged my taste, this lead to my ability to read and comprehend on a level far above most in my class. In her cedar chest I still have the 6th grade book report I did on Amityville Horror, this story made me unable to sleep in a bed for most of my childhood and teenage years. I would read Encyclopedia Brown books then set up shop outside my house charging friends to solve mysteries for them. Judy Blume was my s...

This weekend has been a tough one with the loss of Gramps and having my hubby and my car broken into. So it was a great afternoon when the mailman arrived baring a package for me. I participated in my first fat quarter swap on I'm a Ginger Monkey's blog, my swap partner from Canada. The package arrived on a day when joy was needed. Package's do that they make you hopefully, because covered in the brown wrapping is a treasure just for you. Someone took the time to think about you. I love packages. This is the wonderful gift. I have a plan for making a purse out of it. I was surprised today with a package from Elizabeth at Creative Breathing . I had won an assortment of her handmade cards in a giveaway. Inside her package was inspiration of what I hope my crafting will become. Her stories have touched my soul making me remember long lost memories. I will place her cards on my board of dreams so that they will inspire my creative mind. She is a treasure to be sure.

On Saturday morning the Lord called home a great man. He was my brother-in-law's father and part of my life for 29 years. My niece wrote a wonderful tribute to her grandparents that sums up my feelings. So please check go to this link Pulling Teeth to see the wonderful man.

I am participating in my first giveaway. Katy of i'm a ginger monkey is hosting the Great International Stash Busting Giveaway with other participating blogs. This will take place on February 4th for one day, the drawing will be on January 5th. Just leave a comment and I will put you in the drawing. Please visit the following blog on February 4th for their giveaway.

My son was born 3 weeks premature weighing in at 4 pounds, 14 ½ ounces. I had just turned 23 when he came into the world, single, and scared and facing something I was not really ready for. My pregnancy was a tough one I got was put on bed rest in my 8 month, during an ultrasound they noticed he was dropping weight rapidly so C-Section it was. He came into this world on a Friday in January my best friend had gone to San Francisco for Christmas and told me not to have him until she came back I did not disappoint her. He was my saving grace, before him I was a wreak living on the edge of a cliff. My mother was wheelchair bound she no longer spoke, my dad was trying to keep it together with this little creature our whole existence change. He was a curious child who had a temper blue fits abound. He didn’t like cartoons, but loved to watch PBS when they showed how things worked. While most kids where playing with cars he was looking through a microscope. Every morning he would wa...

I joined Facebook about a year ago because of my niece, she invited so I went. I tried to look up old friends from school, but got sidetracked by life. The beginning of this week I got a message asking me to add a friend and the sky opened up with friends some I haven’t seen in close to 30 years. The picture above is my 6th grade picture it reflects one of the best times in my life. Most of the people in that picture I was in class with from Kindergarten until High School. We knew each other parents, fought over boys, who had the best hair, a gang of misfits. This was my magical time I was the nerdy frizzy hair girl with my Battlestar Galatia glasses, I am the second to the last on the second row right. That picture was a lot better than my 4th grade when my mom decided it would be great to give me a perm. I looked like a French poodle. When I entered 6th grade we started with a teacher who had been a 2nd grade teacher for over 30 years, she would begin our class with the following...

This is the finished Valentine Kitty for my brother and his partner. It was the first sock toy I have ever made and though he looks a little messy he was a learning experience. The flower on his collar was one of my mother's favorite ear rings, she always wore them with her polyester red pants and bright yellow polyester shirt. One thing I didn't inherit from her loving a bright wardrobe. In the top photo he is wearing a little note it is as follows: I am a lucky cat Handmade for you both I am stuffed with love Stitched with care And my collar is a little of mom My ring is for my bottom Because the bitch forgot my legs So Happy Valentine's Day May your luck be like love endless Happy Valentine's Day.

I have my mother’s hands; at least that is what my sister says. The short stubby fingers, square fingernails, the translucent skin, I have her hands. My mother framed pictures out of our house during my childhood, this way she could make extra money while staying home with me. I remember the room with a built up table, mat cutter, dry mount machine, and art work from different artist. I lived for the trips in the station wagon which my friends and I called the Batmobile when we went to the local wholesale frame store. I wish I could remember the name of that place I would spend hours with my mom going through the mat board, frames and art, my young mind expanding listening to the sales woman telling me about Matisse, Renoir, Van Gough, and Dali, seeing the beauty in each line drawn with passion, pain and faith shaping me. My mom created beauty in the time she spent choosing the right color mat, building the frame and cutting the glass, those same hands that touched my face to...

During Christmas I was looking for something I thought I could tackle. Being a novice to sewing I saw this tutorial at Stop Staring and Start Sewing Well it took me until last weekend to dive into the project. This is the results though it took me 41/2 hours to get to this. It was a great hands on learning process, though I now have more gray in my hair. I am thinking of framing it, but instead I will just put it in my treasure box. I find myself looking forward to the things I can make, rekindling the creative side that I long left in the dust because the world was spinning so fast. As the autumn of my life is beginning I am reaching out to the little girl who would watch her mom cooking, sewing and fill my mind with stories. It is a safe place.

So I am new to the whole sewing thing. Since I have been on anti-depressor for anxiety I found that keeping my hands busy helps calm me. So in early October I decided to start embroidery something I had not done since my summer with my aunt. It worked, so I convinced my hubby to pull out his grandmother's old Montgomery Ward sewing machine from the storage. I had never sewed on a machine before so it was a crash course in sewing, so for Christmas that man bought me a Singer Futra Ce150. The question than became where to put the thing, our middle room was called the sorting room for a reason. He is a computer geek who can't seem to get rid of any parts because some day he may need it. I understand this completely.. So the generous man he is clean out half of the room so that I could have my own space, his is the living room. So here are the pictures of the start of my space. It is a work in progress.. Side note those self used to have a ton of books but I went to Bookmooch and...

Here are some pictures of the pets we have at home. When we moved into the house 2 years ago we had a beautiful dog named Sadie she was 13 at the time and a great dog. About 5 months ago she started to have a harder time getting around and was losing weight, but she was still eating. It was during Hurricane Ike that it because apparent what had to be done. It was so hard for the hubby to put her down since this was the first dog he had owned. She is resting in the backyard near the fig tree her favorite spot. Sadie Fig Tree After living in our house for a year we became the proud home to two street cats are as we like to say the neighborhood cats. They are both outdoor cats which works out fine because both I and hubby are allergic to cat dander. During the winter they live in our garage (we leave the door open for them). They are strange cats, PK a.k.a. psycho kitty loves to get on the roof of the house so she can check out fireworks and such, while grey kitty likes to hun...