My husband and I live on a farm surrounded by wonderful neighbors who raise all kinds of animals. Each Spring, outside our kitchen window we watch the horses give birth to brand new babies and watch their wobbly baby legs learn to be here on Earth. I feel a bit like a wobbly legged baby horse myself right now as I am learning a new hobby… a blog! At my age of nearly 66 years old, I am not techy like my kids and grandkids so I hope you’ll bear with me as I learn all these new buttons.

I promise to not take up too much of your time on my very first post so let me share just a short introduction. I am a mom who raised 6 kids and now a grandma to 3 grandkids. My husband and I raised our kids in a small Christmas themed town tucked in the mountains of Washington state, called Leavenworth, Washington. I worked at the local quilt shop in town for most of the time we raised our kids. In 2019, as we ushered our youngest kids through their final college years, we purchased a log cabin out in some farmland that has a small river running next to it. While we still work full time, we spend our evenings and weekends fixing up the cabin, developing the land to grow foods and flowers and of course all my indoor hobbies.

At the persistence of my husband and daughter – who are much braver than me – I started sharing “how to” videos on hobbies I love the most on a small social media channel my daughter made me (@homemadecyndy). In my first few videos, I have shown how to can strawberry jam, how to make a festive Christmas potholder and how to make 5-minute crockpot tacos. In the comments of those videos, I noticed some of you needed a place to see the full recipe or pattern, or just a place to see how it’s done a little slower. This blog can be that place for us to connect at a little slower pace.

Now for the fun part: hobbies! Since I was a little girl and my grandma Clara taught me all of these things, I have fallen in love with just about everything that you could ever make with your hands. I love quilting and embroidery the most, but I also love gardening, preserving (canning), cross stitch, doll clothes making, baking and cooking, needlepoint, reading and so much more. If you have ever been interested in those things, please join me in lighting up our lives with creativity and fun!

I truly believe that the world is a better, happier place when people have creative hobbies. I have lived through many ups and downs in my lifetime and I always find that when I lay my head on my pillow at night, I would rather be thinking of which colors of thread to use on my next embroidery pattern or which flowers I want to grow next year. If you find yourself curious about doing something creative, I would feel honored to have you as a part of my life as we share our hobbies with one another.

If you have anything specific you would like for me to share, or any comments or questions, please feel free to email me or comment here. I would love to get to know you.

Love, Mama