It is Holy Week, and for those who do not know what that is, it is the rememberance of the Passion of Christ, his final days and hours before his death. In our house (a clergy household, my hubby is an Episcopal priest) the schedule of extra services can be a bit hectic.

The first year we were married, our One Year Anniversary fell on the day after Easter. Not really so bad, except my husband, who had been serving two small churches and therefore double the number of extra services, was exhausted. (I think we counted 13 services from Sunday to Sunday and the churches were 22 miles apart). I was exhausted too, because I was expected to be present at both communities' special services. Whew! We laugh about it now that he only serves one church, but that was rough!

I sometimes say that Holy Week in a clergy household is kind of like "Hell Week" at a frat house! Oy! For that reason, I try to schedule as little as possible in my life so that I can be a pool of calm for my beloved, when he comes home from work.

This year, things are a bit different. I have an interview tomorrow (fingers crossed!!) and I have been making some jewelry. I was pleasantly surprised by the order of a Salvation Bracelet in my Etsy Shop this morning. I had to scramble a bit because I thought I had run out of the cloisonne crosses. I searched high and low, and then went looking in the local Hobby Lobby and Michael's without success (no surprise here). While I was looking for an acceptable alternative in my stash, I found two cloisonne crosses!

So, here is the finished product. It is going to be a confirmation gift for a young lady.


So, tell me, what are your plans for this weekend? Are you going to any special religious services (It's Passover too)? are you going to hit the parks and enjoy the beautiful spring weather? Are you going to spend time with family and/or friends? Inquiring (and nosy) minds want to know!

P.S. Go {HERE} to enter the Pass It On Challenge to win the Bendweed Beetle Bracelet when I publish my 100th post (this is #95)

Finding your genius

Get in touch with your Genius! Listen to Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Love, Pray" to the very end -- this is fantastic! (Thanks to Beth Hemmila at Hint for posting this video)

This is Post #94. Go {HERE} to be entered in the Pass-It-On Challenge and win the Bindweed Beetle bracelet on the day I post my 100th blog post.

Winning is FUN!

Don't you just love it?

Winning is so much fun and sometimes it is easier than falling off a log. Take this for example: Erin over at {Treasures Found} pulled my name out of a hat (the old-fashioned random kind of drawing) and all I had to do was to leave a comment. Couldn't be easier!

What did I win? Some of the same goodies Erin used to make this lovely piece called {Lily at Twilight}

Now that you know how it's done, go {HERE} and enter my Pass-It-On Challenge. The odds are really good at the moment and you could win a beautiful bracelet when I publish my 100th post (this is #93)

All Quiet Here

I have not had a lot to say lately, I am kind of in the doldrums right now. I am also having trouble refilling an important prescription and it is giving me a little electrical light show behind my eyes which is very disconcerting and distracting.

I know I am not supposed to apologize for not posting, but there you have it.

A couple of days ago ur two Miniature Schnauzers got the full spa treatment and a brand new style. They usually have long beards (which seem to collect all kinds of gunk) and with the long beards they look a bit like my husband. No, really! What do you think?

Windsor with his new Shorter cut

Lindi with her Greta Garbo look (I vant to be left alone)

Who likes to ride in the car?? (With the long beards)

Photo-op at the blessing of the animals in October

Two of my three favorite fuzzy faces

I am slowly moving towards my 100th post. This is #92. Your chances of winning the Bindweed Beetle Bracelet are pretty good at this point. So go {HERE} find out more and to enter.

Small Swap Surprise from Suzann, Ssssss!

Look what I found in my Mailbox today -- -- --
I opened it and felt like Aladdin in the Cave with all this beadie-goodness.

This is from a continuation of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Swap revealed in February. We just could not get enough of the suspense and anticipation of a swap, so we sent off boxes filled with beads to our partners (the boxes were supposed to be large matchboxes or something of similar size). Check out Suzann's blog: Beadphoria.

Anyway, look at all the lampwork glass beads and pearls, and glass. There is even a strand of tiny quartz hearts.

Look closer! Mmmm! There is a whole lot of inspiration on my plate! ;^)

Click the photo to enlarge.By the way, this is Post #91 in my Pass It On Challenge. Go {HERE} to find out more!

Thank You! 4,000

While you have been waiting for my 100th post (this is #90) for the PASS IT ON challenge, my 4,000 (four-thousandth!!!)visitor sneaked up on me! Thank you one and all.

As I write this I am awaiting a "call-back" for a possible bead-related job that has fallen out of the sky. Keep your fingers crossed!

Home again

I returned from Retreat with muscle spasms in my left shoulder and so have not spent much time at the keyboard. However, retreat was fantastic! I made two quilts -- a first for me, as I usually work on "art quilts" and not traditional pieced works. The top quilt here was started Thursday afternoon and finished Saturday evening.

The little quilt to the left started out as the koi block I made in a workshop led by June Colburn. I added the borders and made it into a Japanese-type hanging scroll. I am looking forward to quilting it with sashiko-like patterns.

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I took my jewelry case with me and sold quite a few pieces to my fellow quilters -- we all love pretty things.

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Best of all, I got to sit at a table with my very best quilting friends. Barb has known me for 13 years and we both volunteer with the local non-profit for people living with HIV/AIDS. Way back in that beginning, we started a quilting group for clients and volunteers fondly refered to as "stitch and bitch". We met once a week and worked on quilting projects and became a very close group to support the clients, but we also grew quite close to one another. Sadly most of the clients we used to sew with have passed, such is the way with that horrible disease.

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Anyway . . .

Retreat was wonderful!

Oh, check out another of my quilting friends blogs {HERE}. Tonya is incredibly talented and does miracles with thread!

As a reminder, this is post #89 (getting closer to #100) Don't forget to enter the Pass It On giveaway {HERE}