Back to Crafting Challenge

I entered a challenge for the first time in a long time. Offered by Donna Little who has drop dead gorgeous lace for such wonderful prices.. Pray for sis, she recently lost her dad. We were asked to use either lace or doillies, or pearls or sequins. It has to be something new. Here's a link to Donna's youtube https://youtu.be/7zRM1pKjEig

The Handicapped Crafter? I Think Not~!~

In 2010 I was about to fry chicken but got distractd and forgot there was a pot heating up.  By the time I remembered, I was upstairs and heard a noise in the kitchen...When I got to the kitchen the pot was in flames...I forgot everything I learned about fires and totally paniced.  The fire extinguisher was in arms distance,  the lid to the pot was in plan sight.  There was baking soda  up top on a shelf. In spite of all that help, I grabbed the handle and was headed to the sink...the handle was hot..I tried to keep the pot from falling and all of the contents spilled out onto my dominant hand....I ran to the porch and stood there. A neighbor observed me and finally came over, accessed the situation, and realized I was in shock. He yelled for his wife, and he secured my house, made sure the fire was out, called the fireman to come and make sure. Meanwhile, his wife drove me to the Hospital.  Eureka's hospital could only give me serious "YAY" drugs and send me to Wichita to the burn center.  All I could think is, I did not have insurance and would be right back home.  I did not know about St Jude and all of the wonderful shriners and such (do now and love them dearly) Burns are devestating and everybody is treated.  
Those 8 days in the burn unit was painful yet hilarious. So much so, as I lay there conteplating my future, I started writing skits for standup because I honestly did not think I would ever use my hand again.

thankfully the underside was not touched by the fire.  That's the most important part.

Not very long ago..they would have chopped it off.

Before long I was back home and immediately recorded the skits while they were fresh in my mind.  I did Willie Nelson, The Burn Unit, and introduced my audience to "Aunt Mary" a charater I created based on many Krazzy ladies in the Lower Nine.  I produced CDs and Eureka bought them.  They were accustommed to my entrepreneural spirit. From the day I moved here, I felt I'd died and gone to entrepreneur's heaven  I offered every service I knew.  10 years ago for 10 bucks..I would get their grandma off of that VHS tape and tho she was long gone, they were able to show their kids what she looked like when she laughed.  I did the same for cassettes, even making specialty playlists for them.  I would record their elderly, especially war veterans. Wonderful stories.  I may upload some of them to Youtube.  My pal Ron Ebberts is already there ( a local Mark Twain..he died 2 years ago but lives on Ron on Youtube

Of course Eureka rallied around me and sponsored many events on my behalf.

My best bud Rebecca Schmidt was at my beck and call, taking me to occupational therapy twice a week.  I was surprised to learn that most people deny occupational therapy. Pity.  Every little bit helps.  I had many welfare services available but denied them...The doctor was not hopeful about how much use I would gain.  I could not hold a glass.  I told that man he must be out of his mind because I am left-handed and I was going to use this hand come hell or high water.  I could not comb my hair or hardly any personal stuff.  I was to proud to have people do these things for me. Therapy was painful but I refused ot give up.

I am proud to say that by September (the fire was in July) I was partially back in the saddle again.

I usualy sold my  wares at the Eureka Farmer's Market and felt ready for my first outing.

 Eureka used to  have a HedgeBall Tossing contest.  I miss Mardi Gras so would  always dress up in something silly  I could not miss that year. I wore a catabult on my head..lol

I went thru a mild depression.  Every woman  wants to look attractive and for the first time in my life, I felt ugly.  I decided I could not stay there..so I grieved and moved on..After Katrina, my brother drew this picture he dreamed.  My elderly parents and one brother were trapped By some miracle (dad was a bedridden well fed by mama, stroke victim) my brother got them to the roof so helicopters could see them..the picture depicts Angels protecting them...I feel Angels protected me as well...

Today I use this hand like I always did...It hurts when its cold and must not get dry.  I thank my therapist for suggesting I learn to tool leather.  It works every bone in my hand. I knew traditional tooling would bore me to tears, so I tool weird stuff, like the weirdo I am...lol

thanks for dropping by

cjEureka

Grasping the concept of Covenant

If I fully understood covenant relationships early on, I would

 not have struggled so long  with resting in Jesus.

If our child continued to throw something on the floor, says 

"Jefferson Bethke",  we would

 never explode and scream: "forget it~!~I am out of here.

 we understand we are in covenant

 relationship with that child and would never, for whatever 

reason, ever consider leaving them.

That is how God feels about me.  He realizes that he is in 

covenant 

relationship with me...and there is

 nothing I can do to cause him to leave me.

The prodigal son had a covenant relaionship with his father,

 but

 like me, he doubted his father's

 love. Yet when he arose and returned to his father, he came

 straight from the pigs and smelled like

 pigs.  That filth did not stop the Father from embracing

 him...getting some of that filth on the 

Father.

I am so happy now that I understand covenant relationship 

fully. Most of all I am overwhelmed by

 his boundless love...

STRAIGHT UP------->BIBLE

I was talking to a young women and she was going on and on wearing my ear out about her sisters. 
Their mom had just died, and she felt that she should handle mom's business because afterall...the other 3 were lacking...er....another words....I am smarter... I told her to please keep in mind the other 3 were her elders.
We find it hard to see older sibblings as elders.  they are simply our annoying big brother or sister.
God says, they are your elders.  It is easier as we grow old and gray and start actually looking like elders....lol....
If you can't respect your older sibbling....respect the office...respect the gray...even if it is dyed.
You can sat in that church house with that tude....bu take it from me...God will beat you down...He chastises his own...
That is straight up bible....

She had a Christ like spirit/Unconditional Love For The Children

Mammy, A Tribute

It has always saddened me that Mammy has such negativity attached to her. She will always be a hero to me. I think if the average person could place themselves in her shoes, they would quickly change their opinion of her.

	One of the saddest things about Mammy, is the fact that she was often separated from her own children so she could be more available to the Wife of the plantation owner and her children. Sometimes one of the requirements of being a Mammy was pregnancy, with a due date that coincided with her Mistress's. Mammy was often required to suckle the child...and if she had a particularly mean Mistress, she was expected to put the child of the mistress before her very own child. That must have been heartbreaking. Many people resent the fact that mammy was a so-called house negro, with all the frills of the big house available to her; but the sad truth was, Mammy was on call 24 hours a day. If the children of the big house was ill, Mammy was responsible for sitting up and caring for them all night....Yet breakfast still had to be cooked, clothes had to be washed, and The House still had to be ran...and this extraordinary woman had all that responsibility resting on her strong, broad shoulders. Her critics fail to realize that her strategic position in the big house...afforded her many an opportunity to minister to the needs of the so-called field negroes...especially when they had been whipped. Living in the big house gave her access to the healing oils...and indeed, she often applied the healing oils as she prayed and cried over the victim. Mammy was a wise woman who understood human nature. Her Uncle Tomming tactics..were merely that...survival techniques. It was the skillful way to act in the long run. Mammy was the backbone and life preserver of the plantation. Her compassion and loving kindness were assets appreciated by not only the field hands but indeed the Master & Mistress as well. She loved the children in her care, as though they were her very own. I'm sure many grown-ups have a story to share about the kindness of their Mammy. It is my desire to educate the masses, and see to it that Mammy finds her rightful place in our Rich heritage as Afro-Americans. She is as important to our Race as Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks. In fact whether we like it or not we all have Mammies running through our blood. If we examined the 21st century, we could consider Oprah Winfrey a type of Mammy. Some people would consider this opinion blasphemy, but in my opinion, Oprah offers the very same thing to other cultures that Mammy did.... Love, Understanding...and a big shoulder to cry on. May the spirit of Mammy live forever. cj Comments to Mammy article Hello CJ, I am Caucasian, but truly enjoyed reading the Tribute to Mammy.  I am so sorry that so many do not have the insight to what the word "Mammy" means.   I did not have a Mammy and I am from way down South.  However, we did have some Black ladies working for my mother in her business. They help take care of the children in my mother's business and help around the house.  That was my first introduction to the Afro-American race.  I have some very good feeling about one lady.  What I miss seeing is the original "true" Aunt Jamina. She symbolized to me something warm, friendly and good.  As a small child I could remember my grandmother using pancake mix from Aunt Jamina and I truly miss seeing her. It saddens me to this day when I see a modern version. It is almost like, "Let's forget the "real" Mammy." I would love to make something for a black lady in my daughter's church (she and I are lunch buddies) but I am discouraged for fear of insulting her. As many Afro-Americans do not like "Mammy".  I guess they feel the the white race should embrace Mammy for all she did for them and they resent that.  Which I can understand. Anyway, I just had to write and say what is on my mind. Thanks for "Mammy" - GabsHoney I so enjoyed reading about Mammy.  Our grandmother made my sister and I "Mammy" dolls when we were little and we loved them.  Of course, I named mine Jemima.  They were loved until they were rags. - Jacquie click here for more responses

side-tracked....but shall return

Experiencing writer's block due to sewing obligations. I hope to be back on track soon...will post when I return to daily postings... 
Thanks

Rough side of the mountain

Back in the 90ties..homeless Women were all over the place.  old and middle aged women. When you saw them...you knew, mental illness was lurking near...  I often wondered what situation in life pushed them over the edge.  They became my obsession...I sat down one day and imagined a scenario that would push me over the edge...what would cause them to expose themselves to the rapes and beatings they face daily..I wrote a one woman act....then I took it to the churches. At that time the church was pretty prosperous and had very little compassion for homeless women. I wanted to proke comapassion for them...I wanted the church to realize..."but for the grace of God..there goes I"...Have a listen.