My Music

I guess you have figured out that I also like music. I majored in Music in college and have been involved in it all of my life as either a singer, a teacher or a choir director. I was in a southern gospel quartet and we recorded a CD a year ago. I put some of the songs on Myspace and if you want to listen to them, you can go to www.myspace.com/thecollierquartetmusic. If anyone can help me put one of the songs on my Blog, I would really appreciate it. Do any of you know how to do this? Let me list this address again separately, so it is clearer.

http://www.myspace.com/thecollierquartetmusic

For those of you who like folk music, I am also in another group called Skygarden. Their address is:

http://www.myspace.com/skygardenband

I have loved being in these groups and am now in another group called The Choo Choo Chicks. We will be putting some of our music on YouTube soon. This is a trio and we do the old songs like "Mr. Sandman", "Sincerely", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", and "Boogy Woogy Bugle Boy."

I have been busy!

I am tatting every moment I get these days. But my time has been limited lately. My husband is really sick now. All his life he has never been sick--until now. He has always done a physically demanding job--a produce manager for a major grocery chain. He has not worked for 4 months so far. And the doctors don't know what is causing his sickness. Anyway, I'm trying to "hold down the fort", so to speak. So, if you could say a prayer (or many prayers) for us, I would love it. I read on AOL today that any kind of repetitive task like knitting (or tatting, in my case) can be a stress reliever, and I believe it. I tend to go to my tatting when I am going through something stressful. I'm also trying to build up my stock of tatting for my ornaments and, hopefully, when the holidays come again, I will sell many of them. I really am selling them all year round and have sold several so far. I write little Scripture promises on the back of them. I guess you would say they are my obsession right now. Well, I really must go now--my tatting is calling me. . . .

Today's Thoughts

I recently had a birthday and it was a milestone. Why? Because, this year I get to collect Social Security!! Yes, I will still continue to work my part-time job and teach voice and piano, and now I will get an additional little income each month. That is a really good feeling, looking at today's economy. You know, we put in all these years of working for others and it does eventually pay off. It seems that at this time of my life, I can pick and choose more freely what I enjoy doing. I have a wonderful grandson that I love to be with and I have my arts and crafts that I love doing. What could be more perfect? Are any of you at this point in your lives? Are you enjoying it more? It's fun to share our feelings at different stages of our lives. I know, I have all the aches and pains of getting older. In fact, my husband is really sick right now and he's never been sick in all our 40 years of marriage. We are praying that the doctors will figure out what is wrong and that God will heal him. So, life has it's good and bad. But we'll get through this. I think our attitudes have a lot to do with how we cope with what goes on in our lives. I just wanted to share some of my feelings with you today and feel free to share your's with me. Have a great day!

Tatted Flowers

It's a beautiful day here in Tennessee today! In the '70's. I'm so glad that the warm weather is right around the corner. And with the time changing this weekend, we will have more daylight in the evening. I really don't like coming home after teaching my piano and voice lessons and driving in the dark. And I want to start walking more and losing weight. But in the meantime, I'm still tatting away. Now, I'm into making flowers. I want to come up with more flower patterns. This is one I came up with after I experimented for awhile. They are simple but I like the different colors. I just need to come up with something to attach them to. Does anyone have any ideas? I would love to see some other flower designs from my tatting friends. Let me know if you have any.

Antique Heart

I found this antique heart at a local antique mall this week. I decided to add my tatting to it and then also add some pink silk ribbon and a pearl.

Tatted Ornaments

I have been having fun creating these little 3" ornaments. First, I make a round paper clay ornament, let it dry, then add my tatting to the ornament. I write on the back "From my hand to your's"--I got that out of a magazine and really loved the little quote.

Closeup of My Tatted Lace Heart

Here is a closeup of the tatting on my lace heart. I love all these pastel colors combined with the tatting. I was fortunate to find some beautiful pastel tatting thread at a local knitting store. It is owned by a man who loves to knit and he teaches everyone to knit when they buy his yarn. At no charge! Anyway, he had two big boxes of this thread, so I have a great source now.