Yes I have my moments…the “drama queen” roared her ugly head this morning. You know, moments of quite despair can do that to a girl.

After my “oh woe is me” moment. I got dressed and headed to Lowes…greasy, broken part in hand. I finally found someone to ask for help and then they asked someone else for help. The poor man looked at me and said he had never seen anything like it before in his life. He couldn’t even offer me any type of alternative to fix it. All he said was go to a metal shop and have it custom made. Of course the clock is ticking in my head and the thought of all that just irritated me totally. I went and bought something I thought I could maybe rig to work right and drove home praying the whole way.

Well, I am not so rational sometimes…really, that shouldn’t surprise you! For some reason I though I only needed two holes when really, I needed three. Two screws and one bolt. There was no was I could “rig” what I bought. Thankfully, it was only a buck!

So, irritated with Lowes lack of knowledge and not wanting to drive to the other side of town to go see if Home Depot was any more educated. I went into Ace Hardware. I always love the people at Ace!

Once again greasy parts in hand, I paced up and down the isles looking for something that just may work. Right away a nice lady came up and offered to help. The two of us were on a mission. She was very helpful but she too had to ask another for help. This guy totally rocked. Let me tell you, he was so helpful! He gave me some metal fixer upper stuff and we figured out a few things to stick into it to brace it. I really love Ace Hardware. You may pay a few pennies more but sometimes the help is so worth it.

Now the part is drying and I will sand it down a bit in a few minutes. Much more prayer, but hopefully this will work!

I did call the maker of my wheel and asked if I could order the part that broke. The darling man is sending me the part for free. *crosses fingers* I hope what I have made will at least work until the new part comes in! ♥

Or the night…

Last night, I was spinning away, happily watching my TV shows…when BAM both my treadles hit the ground. I look at my wheel dumb founded. The metal piece that attaches the treadles to the wheel itself snapped in half. This is a two inch wide…semi thick piece that has two holes drilled in it and is screwed directly to the wheel itself. My spinning production has come to a screeching halt. *sob*

Hopefully, I can find the correct piece to fix it today. I will not panic and I will stay positive. I will not panic…I will NOT panic.

Spring is here and the pollen at our house is insane. This is the back porch…yes that is a footprint and paw prints in pollen! Bleh! With the pollen comes my beautiful flowers. Our dogwoods are in full bloom, I love them so very much. Brady has the tendency to pick flowers and give them to me. Very sweet, yes…but not when it’s my dogwoods. He picked one yesterday and I had to nicely explain to him to NOT pick my dogwoods.
My azaleas are also blooming. They are just beautiful. So many buds still on the plants, once they are in full bloom I will have to share a picture.
All these colors…you KNOW I am getting inspired. Our Japanese Maple is absolutely breath taking this year. So very full and rich in color. This is going to be a colorway for sure.
I’m working hard, everyday in prep for Toad Suck Daze. The stock is getting bigger and bigger everyday and I am starting to freak out just a little less as the days go by. I have truly “sprung into action”. Hope you can be inspired by the beauty around you today! ♥

Meet the new face of The Twisted Purl. My dear friend, and talented artist, Jeanetta drew him. I have had this image in my head for the last year and wanted it to be my business logo. Being a fiber artist, means not being so good with paper and pens, sometimes. Thankfully, I have been blessed with a friend who can exquisitely capture anything on paper. I am now the proud owner of a new sheep. A sheep made of yarn…JOY! Be sure to check out Jeanetta’s Etsy Shop and Flickr Account and you’ll see how talented she is! If you have something in your head, you want to see on paper, keep her in mind.

As for the rest of this week, things have been hectic. My allergies have really been on the attack…which makes it hard to get all the work I desperately need to get done. I got my commercial tent/canopy for Toad Suck Daze and my tables. I also got a rocking banner from a cool shop on Etsy. I will have to post more about that later. For now, I have to get to work. Hope you all have a great day! ♥

For close to ten years now, I have had reoccurring dreams/nightmares all about tornadoes. When my life is a bit out of control or there is something really bothering me…I have dreams about tornadoes. They chase me, rip off roofs around me, take away family members, sweep away my car…I could go on and on. It is quite strange all those years living in California, the land of no weather, and having nightmares about tornadoes.

Last night, we had some crazy weather here in Arkansas. The kids were down for bed and the hubby and I were snuggled in as well. I was watching the news and saw the reports of tornadoes in Benton. Most of my family is in Benton. I prayed A LOT for them to be kept safe. After it passed I dozed off.

A few hours later, the phone rang. My sister was calling to be sure we were up and in a safe place. The sirens were going off! I FREAKED out. Plain and simple…FREAKED OUT! Todd sat straight up and said “Are those the tornado sirens?” I shouted “YES GET THE BOYS!”

I ran across the house grabbed Brady, my youngest, and put him in the hallway. Then I got our dog and put her on her leash. I started grabbing pillows, blanket, couch cushions, more blankets. Austin and Drew came into the hall with dazed looks. Drew grabbed the pillow and a blanket and went back to sleep. YES! Back to sleep, can you believe it? Austin, just looked like he was sleeping with his eyes open.

We listened to the news and they were reporting where funnel clouds had been seen and they kept saying “If you are in Conway, be in your safe area!” I also heard the name of the elementary school that is a couple blocks from our house. Much more prayers. Then a few minutes passed, the sirens stopped. We still had a roof. No one was taken away. The cars were still in the garage and driveway. Phew!

My little California heart could hardly take last night! I was so worried about the boys and how they were going to react to the whole situation. Drew said he didn’t sleep so well, and Brady said he didn’t go back to sleep. Then my Austin, my five year old…comes into the kitchen as I am making his lunch and looks at me strange.

He says “Last night was pretty weird.” and told him yes, tornadoes can be quite scary, but as long as we are smart and try to get well protected in the hall we should stay safe. His eyes got really big and he said “THERE WAS A TORNADO?!?!?” I said “Baby, why did you think we were all in the hallway in the middle of the night?” He said “I thought it was practice!”

Gotta love that boy! Last night was like practice though. It was good to go through and not actually have the tornado pass over our house and hear it. I feel the next time it happens, my heart can take it. And maybe I won’t freak out as bad. Oh believe me…I will still freak out, but maybe I will not have to type it in all capital letters.

I hope everyone else is safe. Please keep Arkansas in your prayers…we have been hit with a lot lately, half the state is flooded and now a lot of folks have lost their homes. Thankfully my family in Benton is all safe and no one had any significant damage. ♥