Dance like nobody's watching~

When you are 3 years old, everything is magical. Like Christmas trees, and lights, and ornaments, and mirrors.  We took our little granddaughter to Anthropologie to see the Christmas decorations there and this is what happened~

~in her own little world

she thought no one was watching~

(if you are reading this from an Apple mobile device,

the video won't load- that's just crazy!)

and then she found the Christmas tree~

Did I tell you that she is a Princess?

Oh yes, and--- a Diva.

Her Mommy made her little rag tag tutu,

which she insisted on wearing when we left the house-

along with her new cowboy boots.  

Oh, and she wanted to wear her tiera too --

but somehow we managed to get out of the house

without it!

~there's something so very special

about watching a child discover all that is

 Christmas

it's nice to have your Papaw

help you reach the really tall ones~

xoxo

Proof that she really IS a princess.

(Keri Beth and her baby sister Kadence.)

~

ALL of our babes

are growing and changing SO fast.

This past year has been a blur for me

and I've been remiss on my

"grandma" picture postings.

So just wait!

(lots more to come!)

~

My holiday wish for you all~

As this magical new holiday season begins,

I hope that you can all enjoy these special times

through the eyes of those you love,

 and appreciate the truest beauty

of the season. 

Love,

Vicki

ps~

To all of you who so kindly emailed me to say thanks for the photographs of your pink scarves, I think I have finally answered all of your beautiful emails.  Your words and thoughtfulness have meant so very much to me.  You know, I could start to get gushy here~~

A favor for a friend~

My friend Karen whose blog is Todolwen, has asked me to share some updates for her~~ while attempting to change the URL of her blog, she accidentally deleted it!  If you were a follower of Karen's blog and have noticed that she is gone -- you can now find her here at her new blog location!

AND finally~~

if you still have Christmas shopping to do~

(or maybe something special for Yourself!)

~

My latest design in something warm and snuggly.

(I've been knitting all summer long!)

~

coming up in my next post~

xoxo

The Pink Scarf Project - (Covered Bridge Edition) -- FINALE

Day 3 and our final day of travels across the state in search of covered bridges.  Your pink scarves are with me once again and my traveling buddy extraordinaire is my friend Deb.  In the early part of the century, Kentucky was home to over 400 covered bridges. Today, only 13 remain. We are headed to the western part of the state to locate the remaining bridges and take the final photos for this incredible Pink Scarf Project~

The Ringo Mills covered bridge is located in Fleming County, Ky and spans the Fox Creek.  The bridge takes it's name from a grist mill that operated on the creek in the 1880's. The surrounding community developed as a result of the grist mill and the access that this historic bridge once provided. The 81 foot bridge with double post and brace design was first built in 1790 and then rebuilt in 1867. The most recent restoration of the bridge was in 1984 after which the bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

donated by Lesley Waggoner

Plum Hollow

donated by Karen Bailey

Todolwen

(Karen's blog is temporarily on vacation-

but she will be back soon)

donated by Aleli Evangelista

donated by Carol Davis

donated by Emma Hewett

My Creative Corner

donated by Alison Wale

View from the Teapot

Alison's dedication~

"in memory of a friend Chris, who died,

and in thanks for two others, Maureen and Ursula,

both of whom survived breast cancer." 

donated by Nancy Collins

The Grange City Covered Bridge is set amid farmland about 4 miles south of Hillsboro, Ky.  The 86 ft. span bridge was built in the late 1860's and features a "multiple kingpost truss", a design in which the bridge is braced with a series of upright timbers all inclined toward the center post. Damaged on four occasions by floods, the bridge was replaced in 1969.  Although the bridge is no longer open to traffic, it stands majestically amid the surrounding rolling hills and countryside. 

donated by Tracy Hedden

donated by Connie Lindstrand

(Connie is an 11 year breast cancer survivor)

donated by Darlene Lehman

donated by Teresa Swanson

A Magical Whimsey

The Goddard White Bridge, off KY 32, about nine miles southeast of Flemingsburg, is a favorite with photographers because when viewed from the east side, it perfectly frames tiny Goddard United Methodist Church. The bridge is still open to traffic. Although the date of original construction has been lost, this 60-foot bridge spanning Sand Lick Creek was built using an 1820 patent design and is the only “town lattice truss” type bridge remaining in Kentucky. The phrase reflects the criss-crossing lattice of timbers you can see inside the bridge. 

Goddard United Methodist Church

donated by Susan McConnell

donated by Ann Deakers

donated by Jocelyn Pleus

Happy Cottage Quilter

Jocelyn's dedication~

"This scarf is made in memory of my best friend Diana.

She has been gone for 9 years 

but the fragrance 

of her sweet friendship lingers." 

donated by Jo

Jo's dedication~

"In memory of Auntie Liz. 

It may have been 20 years since you left us,

but your memory is forever in our hearts."

donated by Chris Koller

donated by Nina Rubich

(on the very day that I finished the last of the photos --

Nina's box of beautiful scarves was waiting for me

when I arrived home.

The Gardener and I made a special trip to the Oldtown covered bridge, 

close to our hometown, so that I could take photos of

these lovely donations. 

If you are interested in taking your own tour

of Kentucky's Covered Bridges~

you can find a suggested 2 day tour 

itinerary here that includes

directions and estimated times for travel.

~~

A note~~

while the directions were helpful -- 

my suggestion would be to locate each covered bridge using Google maps,

 and then mapping out the directions from that information.

~

A huge THANK YOU to my Gardener

for helping to map these directions 

out for me -- 

(the wife who has NO sense of direction.)

We hardly made any wrong turns!!

Just Keepin' it real~

sweet Deb -- she's in charge of barbed wire and photo props!

sometimes she "lays down on the job" too!

packin' up and movin' on to the next bridge!

(a special thanks to Deb's husband Wade 

for allowing us to use that awesome little wooden bench

 that he built!)

did you know?  

you get a better picture if you hold your leg just right!

with all seriousness~

there is NO way that I could have tackled this

photography project without the help

of my friends Maria and Deb.

A million thanks to you both.

xoxo

~making sure that your scarves

are perfect for the photos

I just want to tell you something here~

that grass was WET!!

(the real photo should have been of my backside when I got up!)

I just got so excited while taking these photos -

it gave me the greatest pleasure

to showcase your beautiful scarves in all

these amazing settings!

Got Prizes? well, YES we do!~~~

Without any further ado-- the list of winners for the prizes as drawn by Maddy girl~

These two lovely paintings were donated by

 my friend Kerrie Sanderson.

 You can find Kerrie at her beautiful blog

Sea Cottage.

the winner of the beautiful "HOPE" 

painting is

Freda Butler

~

the winner of the "Roses" 

painting is

Diane Meredith

 this mini-inspirational album

was created by my friend

Sue Kosec

(kosec@sbcglobal.net)

~

the winner of the album is

Carol Penoyer

and the winner of my knitted

 and beaded wrap is

Tanya Greb

The last photo~

This is the last photo that was taken for the Pink Scarf Project. Deb took it after I had just finished the last of the scarf photos. Honestly, just realizing that it was done, finished, a year's worth of photos completed, it sort of took me by surprise, and I had a moment of tears.  I've just wiped them away so that Deb could take this photo~

In the past year 328 people have contributed a total of 427 scarves. These beautiful "gifts of heart and hand" have drawn us all together in the spirit of compassion - making this great big world a whole LOT smaller. 

I've said this before - this was never really my project. From the beginning your prayerful and compassionate hearts took control of this project turning it into one of the most incredible charitable events ever hosted on a blog. 

The scarves have already begun to make their way to new homes. Recently the Gardener and I drove to North Carolina to deliver the first portion of scarves to be donated to my friend LeAnn.   

A recent breast cancer survivor, LeAnn will be sharing the scarves with the cancer center where she received her own treatments.

Soon, I'll be delivering more of the scarves to Donna, another recent breast cancer survivor.  She will also donate the scarves at the cancer center that provided her treatments. I'll share photos of me and Donna after I make the delivery! Donna's best friend Kay also participated in the project on their local level.  Kay collected scarves from her friends and blog readers and contributed them to the cancer center as well. 

Recently, I received this precious email from a lady who was the recipient of one of the scarves from this project.  Her words sum up the very essence of what this project has been all about~

 "My name is Paige and I was diagnosed with breast cancer in early September.  At the time I felt healthier and stronger than I have in years, it was unbelievable.  Since then I've been through surgery, I have chemo this week for the first time.   Now that it is November, the weather
has changed....after surgery I have realized the cold sensation more than ever.  Now, I get the idea of scarfs!!!!  I recently received a scarf from the pink scarf project.  It  feels like a hug from a community of women who want to support me through this tough journey.   I need that encouragement, knowing many have made it through and are cheering me on. 
Thank you , thank you, thank you, to all who are a part of this project."
Paige

I'd like to join Paige in thanking you all for your amazing generosity and compassion~ I am so humbled to have had the privilege to serve as host for this incredible project.  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart ~
xoxo
Vicki

Some notes~
I've created a special Pink Scarf Project page - you can find it here and on my sidebar.  (It's going to live there for a while!) You can find all the links to all of the posts there, including the Pink Scarf Project Pinterest Board. A special thank you to my friend Karen Valentine for designing the special page for me.


And~~
sign ups continue for the 2014 party-- you can find all the info on
this post~