A lesson in patience

When I tell you I've been waiting almost 15 years for a plant to bloom you will probably think I'm off my rocker! But my oncidium, for which I have faithfully cared and repotted biannually, has finally blossomed! I bought it shortly after I received my first orchid as a thank you gift from a friend. It was blooming at the store and looked so pretty that I decided I had to add it to my collection of houseplants. It continued to grace my garden window for a few more weeks and then the blossoms dried and dropped, as spent blossoms should. I watered it regularly and followed the guidelines for it's care. And I watched...and watched...and waited...and waited. FOR 15 YEARS! It grew new pseudobulbs and roots and outgrew it pot every couple of years. It had me well trained too. It got a new repotting whenever it needed. But no flowers. Until this year. I think it was well worth the wait.

My dendrobium, another slow grower, keeping company with the oncidium.

I finished some shawls this week and they are blocked. This purple multi is from my imagination, just yarnovers and K2tog wherever I felt the urge. The yarn was donated to the Chicks by my friend Elise Hiller. Thanks Elise!

When I last visited my daughter a lady stopped me and wanted my shawl I was wearing. She was a tough cookie to convince she couldn't have mine LOL! but I was able to make one just for her. I like it so much I'm not so sure I want to give it away! Well, I still have mine.

This soft baby alpaca shawl is a pretty lilac and also a pattern I just winged my way through. It's amazing what you can do with a few yarnovers and k2tog.

Kathleen finished another Leaf and Lace hat and sweater. She always has such great buttons for her sweaters too. And under the sweater is a baby blanket she made with a very soft fluffy yarn.

Elaine wanted to show us a finger puppet she made for her granddaughter and I caught her having some fun!

Sheila shows it with it's turkey feather tail. A little stuffing and some eyes and it will make a little girl laugh with delight.
Kathleen is working on another shawl for our new project. We're making shawls for mothers and clothes for babies for Esme's Comfort (http://esmescomfort.com/).
And Sheila is making progress on her Pelerine http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pelerine-so40

I was concentrating so hard on my knitting Tuesday night that it completely slipped my mind to take photos of the evening group at work. Sorry Chicks! I'll make sure I remember next time.

We are taking next Tuesday off for the holiday preparations and family visits.

My wish for all of you is that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy your turkey dinner.

The Chicks Deliver and Eliana's Memorial Gift

Yesterday, November 9, Barbara, Karin, Beth, and I made our deliveries to the Good Samaritan Health Center in Delmar, New York and Community Maternity Services in Albany, New York. We had a combined total of 54 items which you can see in last week's installment of blog entries. Our donation of Pelerine shawls were gratefully accepted with the news that they will be included in the annual Christmas basket gifts which are distributed to the residents of Good Samaritan. Since we made our deliveries in the afternoon we had only the evening session of knitting yesterday.

Here Karin has started another pair of booties and I'm working on a mitered baby sweater. These items, along with other baby clothes and prayer shawls for mothers, will be donated to Esme's Comfort (http://www.newkeymedia.com/esmes_comfort.html), a charity which was started recently to honor the memory of another little girl who was stillborn in September of this year.

Karin, Maureen, and I love working on baby clothes. There are such cute designs available and they finish up so quickly. In case you are wondering, that is the head of DH showing in the lower right hand corner of the photo. He makes sure we stick to the Chicks' Mission Statement and keep those needles clicking! LOL!

For those of you reading this for the first time, our family lost our precious Eliana Marie at birth this summer due to cord complications. My daughter, Amanda, is a member of an online chat room called the Goonies. The members are all mothers whose due dates were March 2007 when Eliana's big brother Moose was born. These wonderful friends immediately came to Amanda's, Phil's and Moose's aid when they heard the tragic news of Eliana's passing. Just one of the things they did was to commission the making of a park bench to be set in the playground of the Collins' family church so parents would have a place to rest while their children played nearby. This past Sunday Christina Novak drove up to Pennsylvania from Virginia to represent the Goonies and dedicate the beautiful bench in Eliana's memory.

left to right: Christina, Amanda, Moose, Phil, and Pastor Wylie of the Springfield Baptist Church

And here is that lovely bench. There will be a plaque installed which reads:

In Loving Memory of Eliana Marie Collins

The Collins family had to make sure it works!

Another generous gift to the family was just for Moose. He was given the gift of making his very own Build-a-Bear. By the time I remembered I had my camera I had already missed a few photo ops of Moose choosing which bear would be his and helping stuff him. But I caught up with him at the "bath and fluffing" station. He so lovingly groomed his new friend.

Then it was time to choose an outfit from among the many that were available. I don't know how Moose was able to narrow down the selections! Even I was overwhelmed!

At the dressing room, Moose carefully moved a stray so he could attend to his friend's needs.

Even Poppop got in on the fun by helping out.

Well, here's "Woody" Bear dressed in the Toy Story clothes. And what does Woody say?

"There's a snake in my boot!"
After "Woody Bear" was all dressed it was time to register him to get his birth certificate. Daddy Phil helped Moose at the computer. He was having as much fun as Moose!

Hurry! I need my Woody Bear!

Are you in there?

It was a wonderful gift to Moose from his Mommy's Goonies friends.

Thank you so much Goonies, for brightening my Moose's day.

God bless you Goonies Girls!

Wrapping up two donations

Kathleen, Elaine, Barbara, and Sheila helped attach labels all afternoon Tuesday so there wasn't much time for knitting. It turns out we made quite a few items.

Kathy, Beth, Karin, and Maureen helped me set out everything to photograph, which didn't take much time at all, so they got right back to their knitting before the evening's end.

For our nursing homebound friends we made seven Pelerine capelets from the Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern. And there at the bottom is Sheila's lovely purple scarf. There will be warm shoulders at the nursing home this winter.

Then for the Community Maternity Center in Albany we have the following items:

six baby blankets, three pullovers with matching hats, a pair of booties, two vest rib warmers, a baby surprise jacket,

eight cardigans with matching hats,

thirteen bonnets and caps, a pair of mittens,

nine cardigan sweaters, and last but not least....

one poncho.

We will be working on baby and mother items next for a charity called Esme's Comfort.

http://www.newkeymedia.com/esmes_comfort.html

Keep watching for more cute baby clothes and some pretty shawls.