If you are a female fan of the University of Tennessee

Then leave me a message here. I have leftover fabric from the apron I made for the Gardener and I will send you your very own UT hairband. This type of fabric is licensed and as such is verboten to sell, but I will enjoy sending you a hairband for free if you want. Don't post your address in the response, just make sure I know how to contact you directly via email and I'll send you your very own hairband!

Obviously, this offer is good only until I run out of fabric. If there is a run on these things, I'll take the earliest requesters.

Enjoy.

Garish, thy name is apron. ;-)

The Gardener and The Gardener's Wife have been very gracious to me. They have supplied me with a large quantity of fabric and such, that I will put to good use. I have already had fun blessing Bunny Mama's mom, Bee Haven Maven, and Smoothiejuice with some of the loot.

For example, they gave me this wad of trims and lacy stuff that will work well on my vintage type aprons I sell at market.

The Gardener's Wife gave me a length of Tennessee Vols fabric and said, "could you make an apron for The Gardener?" Being The Gardener has a shrine to the Volunteers in his basement, including a framed piece of turf from Neyland Stadium and a large framed Phil Fulmer poster, it seemed appropriate.

Did I mention I think the color orange is eeeeeeeeew?

I thought about putting it on a denim background, but I had a length of orange mini-camo. Upon sharing the situation with hubs, he gave me his advice. "Go all out; go with the orange. A true fan would rather have it go over the top."

Hokay, I did just that. See for yourself. ;-)

Of course, miss Mandy wanted to be in the craft action shot. As usual.

Hope, no longer deferred?

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish.

Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
will be as nothing at all.

For I am the LORD, your God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.

----

'You're my servant, serving on my side.
I've picked you. I haven't dropped you.'
Don't panic. I'm with you.
There's no need to fear for I'm your God.
I'll give you strength. I'll help you.
I'll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.

Count on it: Everyone who had it in for you
will end up out in the cold—
real losers.
Those who worked against you
will end up empty-handed—
nothing to show for their lives.
When you go out looking for your old adversaries
you won't find them—
Not a trace of your old enemies,
not even a memory.
That's right. Because I, your God,
have a firm grip on you and I'm not letting go.
I'm telling you, 'Don't panic.
I'm right here to help you.'


--from Isaiah 41 (NIV, and The Message)

Quote o' the day...

We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.

--Sir Winston Churchill

Grateful

1. I feel better.

2. Hubs feels better. He didn't share in my pneumonia bliss, ;-) , but enjoyed asthmatic bronchitis instead. ;-)

3. Found some new cheap recipes, and unearthed some old ones. We all need to save money, so I'll add them here posthaste.

4. Working on a strip quilt. Fortunately for everyone, this has nothing to do with one's state of undress while making it. ;-)

5. Catching up on making product for market and various accounts. So grateful for the orders right now.

6. Merging with the other church has worked out fairly well. Other than concern for losing our identity (which I will fight tooth and nail), there's only one major problem. Well, that is a major problem, but surely I can trust God to take care of things, either fixing it or fixing me. ;-)

7. At least two of our cars still work.

8. More hope for ongoing provision in the last couple of weeks. We'll see where it all lands. It's quite the roller coaster at present. With the economy the way it is, you gotta do what you gotta do.

9. Feline therapy. I am a believer in my three pet therapists. They do a great job. Who needs Diovan when you have three lap kitties?

10. It is lonely, but I have been deliberate about reaching out to friends. It's funny how few of them are church related. But the fact remains: I know I have friends now, and they know I care for them in return. Actual relationships where I am not the one doing all the giving and encouraging! That's a good change.

11. Perspective. I have some more to say about that, but not till I take the photo I want to accompany the thought.

12. Lots more, I am sure. There are really stressful and difficult times upon us. More stress than probably ever before. But I do feel loved, and cared about, and blessed nonetheless.

'Think I'm going to cough up a lung about now...

...that might not be a bad thing. I've never had pneumonia before, so I just thought it was a cold. Grateful for good drugs and a warm place to sleep. :-) I sleep a couple of hours, wake up, sleep a few more, and repeat. Apparently, according to hubs, I cough WHILE I'm asleep. Had no idea I was that talented.

Quote o' the day

Bringing the government in to run Wall Street is like saying, "Dad burned the dinner, let's get the dog to cook." --PJ O'Rourke

Easy and healthy dip

Everyone needs a dip for the Super Bowl. Go Cardinals!!!!

Put the following in a food processor (or in a deep bowl and use a stick blender instead):

Two cans white beans. Canneilli if you're uppity, great northern if you're slumming. I don't know that it matters. Rinsing the beans and draining them in a colander will cut down on the salt content.

A couple T water if you drain the beans.

Some garlic. Cloves, powder, you decide.

Sage and rosemary.

Salt, I like sea salt myself.

A dash o' cayenne. More, and my hub won't eat it. Your mileage may vary.

Puree, while adding a thin drizzle of olive oil.

Vegan, healthy fat, protein, and something my skeptical husband enjoys as well with raw veggies, or in his case Triscuits if he's lucky. ;-)

Matt Weiner is back!

And we "Maddicts" are glad.

Okay, an explanation. Matt Weiner is the creator of "Mad Men", the oft-awarded, faboo drama on little ole AMC, of all places.

Finally, they have locked him into a contract for a couple o' years.

Now we just have to wait until April. *sigh*

How about at least a marathon of both seasons sometime soon? Before I can get the DVDs, which will have to wait till cash flow improves.

Drama, morality play, period piece, whatever you call it, nashbabe and nashdude are hooked. We admit it. Our guilty pleasure.

It's obvious, I will have to admit it (darn! I have to admit my stinky lack of faith!)

Okay, I have to admit God answered my prayer on this one. I don't wanna (sounds whiny, eh?), but yep, it did happen. As blatant as the nose on my face, it was.

About a week ago I whispered to God, "Please, pretty please, could I find some way to go to the Saint Olaf Choir concert?"

If you don't know of this ensemble, what rock do you sleep under? Seriously, in my completely non-biased Minnesota-native opinion, they are the greatest college choir in America.

And they won't be back in Nashvegas for another five years.

But I really couldn't justify it. Times are tough and cash is extremely strapped in the nashbabe/nashdude domicile.

So I just assumed like always that God would say "no". He has on a lot of other things I wanted, and even some stuff that I really thought I need (a roof! a roof! are you listening to me, Lord?--I swear, how does He put up with me?).

But I kept asking. And I'm totally stretching that passage of scripture. This isn't exactly justice against my adversary, unless you count a little peace and refreshment in the face of that dirtbag Satan's relentless poundings on our family. But humor me, will ya? (I'm even worse than that. I used to quote that passage to the sales reps who worked for me...rofl.) No vacations, no rest, no money. Worn down to my last nub.

Well, hadn't seen any action on the request either way, so I kept asking. Like a whiny child? I hope not, but it probably bordered on that.

Yesterday I went to one of my accounts to restock, and the fabulous Meg! introduced me to someone who has a shop in another part of town--one where I've really needed a good retailer to stock my stuff, and lauded how it sold for her. The fabulous Meg!'s friend said she was quite interested. Hoo rah.

So a possible new account in the dead of January? No way. No possible way. Even the fact that the fabulous Meg! needed product was a big surprise. As a chandler, I usually sell SQUAT in January. Actually, I have ALWAYS sold SQUAT.

Then when I returned home from seeing all things Meg!, there was a very sizeable order in my inbox from another of my retailers. Didn't have to buy a thing to fill it; have all the materials already.

I mean, an order I would NEVER see in Jan or Feb. EVER.

Not to mention that the retail climate is WAY below what it would usually be. So there was no chance of this happening, right? Yeah, pretty much.

So I decided that God must probably be saying, "See? ANYTHING is possible. I know you're worn out from the hell of the last couple years, but here's a little gimme for ya. Enjoy."

Thanks for letting me know you ARE listening and working out things for my good. Please don't delay on the big stuff, okay? Please? And thanks.

You know you're slumming...

...when you buy Aldi night cream with wrinkle fighting retinol and Q-10.

But then again, look at this review...

or this one...

or how about this one?

Five bucks. Yep, five bucks. I live just five minutes from an Aldi (since they're popular over here on the wrong side o' the tracks), so easy as pie to get. :-)

I'm digging this blog...

...because this is a lot about me, although I don't officially have kids.

I wanna meet this chick. Heck, she lives around these parts, shouldn't be hard.

Maybe someday. Ya never know!

Anyway, saunter over there and enjoy yourself. I demand it.