Weather and the night life

Hello friends! I have missed you these past few days. I was sick as a dog, couldn't even sit up. But I am feeling much better...the world at my finger tips! And a huge thunder storm looming, woo hoo. But look at the frizz factor! Frizz Emergency! Good thing I plan on staying in today. I do love the storms when I don't have to be out in them and I can watch the skies open up from the safety of my house or porch. When I think about people thousands of years ago, and what they must have thought about crazy weather, stars, the sun and moon. They had no scientific understanding for any of it. No wonder Gods and religious explanations were developed. Imagine if you just cheated on your wife and the next thing you know there is a huge lightening storm or tornado. That would make me think twice I tell ya! (check out this 1967 storm in Boston, amazing)
Ok, maybe thats not the best example but you get what I mean. Different points of view and the amount/or lack of knowledge of things have caused wars and misunderstandings that are hard to imagine. The only fights husband and I ever have always stem from not understanding each other. You add human emotion, values, and pride to that and it can be messy. We usually end up laughing about it though. The moral for today...empathy, knowledge and communication. The more you know about someones "story" and where they are coming from, the more you will understand their actions. It is something I have been thinking about. Memorial Day started it I think, trying to understand what those soldiers must go through. They have to deal with horrible situations, often based on misunderstandings, then come home and try to live a normal life. Man that can't be easy. I have so much respect for them. I just know that recently I have been trying to put myself in other peoples shoes, and my life has gotten much better. Ok ok, enough life lessons for today .

Though I am still behind with my Dear Jane, I am slowly plugging along. Here are my two latest. I learned a lot with both of these. I really need to get on the "slight" 1/4 seam allowance thing. I keep forgetting about it, and my blocks come out a little askew. I am happy with them though. Little by little right?

I-8 Pete's Paintbox

B-11 Melissa's Cross

Remember when I told you about my Aunt Janet's night blooming cactus. Unfortunately I missed it. There were 14 blooms just before I got there. I didn't realize that each bloom only blooms once. And only at night. Crazy eh. A lot of flowers close up at night and only open when the sun shines, but desert life is so strange. It is at night that the desert comes to life, which reminds me of myself actually, lol. Unfortunately it is dark at night, so you can see the desert exploring difficulties. But, my mom was able to get some great shots of the flowers. They are beautiful. Take a gander. Maybe next year I will have better luck and get my own photos!

It has been wonderful reading all of your comments and blogs. My bloglines since the giveaway has grown quickly. I finally was able to sneak up on the husband playing some tunes and made him pick the next winner. Isn't he adorable. Again, the shot of the little paper came out pure white (I should have used a big black marker instead of pencil obviously). The winner is Collectincat! Congrats! This is a surprise and will take a little longer, but if you email me your address I promise that sometime in June you will receive a sweet parcel in the mail! Jacquie and Lil, yours will be out this week! The 3 sick days slowed me down a bit I'm afraid. Again, thank you all so much for the comments. I will get to all of you soon. Now I am off to work on my patriotic apron for the Flirty Apron Swap. I got this fantastic fabric for it. I will post pics as soon as I can. I hope everyone has a great weekend!