What you do while waiting, and the gift I never expected...

Delve into your box of completed stitcheries and begin making pincushions!

That's what you do.

Life is on hold at the moment as we wait for the phone call which will have us driving into town to pick up Cully May and bring her home to stay with us while Blossom heads to hospital with Ross for the birth of their second child.

It's all rather exciting for this Nana who waits patiently in her sewing room and busies herself with fabric and thread, whiling away the hours and days.

But it's all rather uncomfortable for Blossom who is measuring 41 weeks and not her documented 39 weeks...who would most probably burst should we drop a pin on her tummy...who has weathered the threat of a very prem labour ten weeks ago and carefully taken each extra week as it was given...who's feet have swollen and don't want to go walking...who's baby is now head engaged and in the posterior position which is a always a tad more painful but especially as Blossom has scoliosis.

Yes, it's all rather wearying for my girl, yet her laughter as Cully May smothers her with kisses and hugs fills the room, and her smile continues to sparkle. Between the groans.

I remember that feeling, when you're so close to the end of your pregnancy but it seems like time is standing still and an hour becomes a day becomes a week.

You know it won't be long until that precious bundle of love is placed in your arms, but still you long for the labour to begin 'now'.

This wee baby decided not to share my birthday (Wednesday) and in all probability will arrive before her paternal grandad's birthday in early March.

Seems bub would prefer a birthday all his/her own right between the two of us.

Fair enough, I say.

So while all this is going on I have prepared the spare room for Cully May, stocked up on little girl necessities - toothbrush, hair brush, natural soap, a dolly (she'll be so surprised!) and a pretty pillow.

I'll bunk in with her while she is here as Cully's never had a sleepover at Nana and Pop's house without her mummy before, and I'm sure Bob-the-dog will snuggle up on the bed too.

She's missed Bob since he's been staying with us so I'm sure having him to play with again will keep her occupied when I need to collapse in a chair and catch my breath every so often.

So, back to the pincushion...I am trying to keep the house as ordered and toddler friendly as possible right now so my sewing room has most everything in it's place and out of reach of tiny hands. But I really needed to 'make' something today and decided to go through my box of completed stitcheries for a few which could be made into pocket pincushions.

These were perfect for my plan...

Pink and green together are a marriage made in heaven, but then add the subtle pop of blue and what a pretty picture...

One pincushion made and three more to follow...

...all dependent on what happens over the weekend.

I have everything I need for the next three pincushions in one place which makes it easy to pack away should Cully May be here before they're finished. 

If you like this style of pocket pincushion I have a tutorial HERE that you can follow.

Just adjust the pocket size to suit the width of height of your stitchery, or fussy cut fabric for the pocket as I did...

For the new pincushion I added 1" of pink check fabric down both sides of the stitchery as I like a bit of contrast...and I love pink. 

I've added the set of four pink and green stitcheries to my shop in case you like them.

(They were also in the December 2016 issue of The Stitchery Club, just in case you have it)

visit the pattern shop over here

Do you like making pincushions?

What do you do when you're marking time until something wonderful happens?

I had a lovely quiet birthday, just ducked out for a late morning coffee and cake at Rosie's.

The day before I was caught in the middle of a very severe storm out on the highway and it rattled me a little, so with the forecast of more such storms throughout the rest of the week I stayed close to home. Rosie's is just up the road so it was lovely to catch up for a little bit, but as soon as the black clouds began to gather I returned home.

Mr E was taking me out for dinner but we postponed it until Thursday evening, and this works for us as in our family we celebrate a birthday for three days.

We have an un-birthday, a birthday, and another un-birthday!

On Tuesday (the first un-birthday) my beloved brought me flowers and on my birthday a pair of beautiful silver and turquoise earrings plus a very special kitchen gift. Dinner at our favourite Indian restaurant on Thursday rounded the low key celebrations off wonderfully.

I was spoiled with gifts from my husband, but also from Blossom and my dear friends Rosie, Wendy and Margaret.

Some of the blessings...

So that's my birthday over with for another year.

I was 59 and have decided these next 12 months should be lived to the full as life is a gift from God and to be honest I don't think I've treasured this most amazing gift enough. 

It was Blossom who made me appreciate this life with a new clarity the other day as we huddled together with Cully May wedged between us on the couch, watching through her window the remnant of a storm passing over.

You see, my mum died when I was three and I have just two dim memories of her from the weeks just before a car accident took her life, but Blossom being so close to giving birth has been thinking a lot about my mother as this birthday drew near and talked to me about how the excitement and love she feels is just what my own mummy would have felt as her day of giving birth approached. Blossom's eyes filled with tears of joy speaking of this and then my own tears fell...from a deep happiness I'd never considered.

Isn't that beautiful? To suddenly realise at age 59 that you were once that child in the womb, eagerly awaited, loved and cherished...that the love your mother felt for you was very, very real, and even though you barely remember her it doesn't change the depth of her love and the joy she had with you for those precious first three years.

The gifts received for my 59th birthday were so beautiful, but the gift of Blossom's insight was the icing on the cake.

You know, precious one, you also have life and that is something to treasure.

I've had some shocking things happen to me over the years, but those events have not dominated my thoughts or my heart for many a year. Jesus tells us to put our hand to the plough and not look back...and that has been the one thing which kept me moving forward these 27 years as a Christian. 

It was so very clear to me that a field ploughed when looking back will never be a good field, will never achieve it's purpose. In fact it would make no sense. If I allow the past to hold my attention I will forever be immobilised from sowing the seeds of a healthy life crop and reaping the good fruits of my labour. 

This choice, because it is a choice, was not easy at first, and sometimes I slip up and endure a short season of wallowing and self pity, but it does me no good and robs my loved ones of precious memories we could be making in the 'now'.

So I choose to look ahead, right at Jesus, and to walk each day with eyes forward, letting go of the past and reaching ahead to what comes tomorrow - and in light of Blossom's words life is even more precious than I once believed.

Love