Celestial Circus

Come and check out the Celestial Circus blog and become a follower. It's an awesome site.

http://celestial-circus.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=4

Candle Doily

Here is my latest doily that I designed. You are free to use the pattern for yourself or to make gifts, or to sell those gifts but please don't try to sell the pattern. Thank you!

CANDLE DOILY

by Kim Clay

I used size 3 thread and a size 5 hook to crochet the body of the doily. I wanted to use a thicker thread with the idea of putting a candle on the doily and having the thickness of the doily protect the surface from the heat of the candle.

For the edging I used a size 20 thread for the light lacy look of it. It worked out well using 2 different size threads for a doily.

1. Ch 6, join.

2. Ch 4, dc in ring (dc, ch 1) around.

3. Sl st in ch 1 sp, (ch 5, sc in ch 1 sp) around.

4. Sl st in ch 5 lp (sc, dc, tr, dc, sc in ch 5 lp) around.

5. Sl st to top of petal, ch 10, dc in top of nxt petal (ch 7, dc in top of nxt petal) around, join in 3rd ch of beg ch 10.

6. Ch 12, dc in nxt dc, (ch 9, dc in nxt dc) around, sl st in 3rd ch of beg ch 12.

7. (ch 6, dc 2 previous rows tog, ch 6, sc in dc) around. Join with sl st in base of first ch.

8. (sc, hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc, sc) in each loop around. Join. Fasten off.

9. String 20 beads onto thread. Attach new color thread (with beads) to top of petal with a sl st (Ch 4, add bead, ch 4, sc in the top of next petal) around. Join, fasten off.

I would love to hear your comments if you make this. Let me know if you find any errors.

Also feel free to share your photos.

Life with Lord Byron ~ Part 3, Teeing Off with Byron

Teeing Off with Byron

By Peggy Nelson

Other than my new penchant for prevaricating, the breakfast was

delightful, and soon we were on our way to the first tee at NCR

Country Club, where the pro, Jeff Steinberg, was waiting for us. I

had at least had the good sense to alert him that Byron was

coming and to let him know not to noise it about, because I

certainly did not want a crowd around for my first drive in front of

Byron Nelson and possibly the entire membership, their spouses,

and a gaggle of children.

As luck (and the Lord) would have it, I hit a whopper of a drive, for me at least. It sailed

high off the elevated tee and far down the hill, tailing off just a touch to the right and a

few feet into the rough. Byron looked a little surprised, though my subsequent play lived

up to my earlier bad expectations. I remember very little of that round, other than just

enjoying being with him and wishing I could play better. But he did not seem to care

about my score at all, though he did show me a great little chipping technique I could do

with my six-iron when I was close to the green but a ways from the pin. It has come in

handy many times since.

About the rest of his stay, I donʼt recall a lot. The Bogey Busters event that year was

played at a different course, and naturally I went out to follow my hero. As it happened

Byron was paired with none other than Johnny Mathis, the singing legend and a great

part of my high school fantasy life from twenty years before. Wow! Here I was with two

celebrities, pretty tongue-tied, and just living in a state of suspended animation,

wondering to myself, Will I ever recover from this out-of-body experience?

By the time Byron flew back to Texas, we both knew we had the start of a wonderful

friendship . . . that was rapidly becoming far more serious. The phone calls and letters

came and went more often now, and soon we were talking about marriage, even though

this was just July and August, only a couple of months after we had reconnected five

years after our first meeting.

Excerpt taken with permission from Life with Lord Byron: Laughter, Romance and

Lessons Learned From Golfʼs Greatest Gentleman by Peggy Nelson (2010) available at:

www.byronnelson-golfpro.com

Now Booking Interviews and Book Reviews. Contact:

Kathy Carlton Willis Communications

956-642-6319

WillisWay@aol.com

Life with Lord Byron ~ Part 2, Mr. Romance

Mr. Romance

Life with Lord Byron ~ Part 1

How to Play Golf with Your Spouse

Sarah's Garden by Kelly Long

Sarah's Garden is a wonderful story about a young Amish lady named Sarah King. Since she was very small she has found comfort in growing things and the beauty of the earth. She spends endless hours tending her garden's until she finds one day that she is expected to take over running the family roadside stand after her elder sister has married and moved to another farm.

With much trepidation she finds herself in the farm stand wishing she could just be back in her garden. On her first day she meets her new neighbor, Grant Williams, an "englischer" and a veterinarian.

From the beginning Grant and Sarah are taken with each other. Sarah tries to control her feelings for Grant and struggles daily with her feelings for him. Since, in the Amish culture you cannot marry outside of your community or you risk being shunned, she knows that she is risking everything that is dear to her. But to turn her back on the man she loves, is almost unbearable to her.

This is the premise of this sweet story that was so enjoyable to read I could not put it down. Learning about the Amish community is wonderful especially to me since I've been to the Pennsylvania Dutch community many times.

If you've never been to an Amish community you are truly missing out on a lot. There are miles and miles of farms, shops and fun places to go. You can always find a farm that offers horse and buggy rides in one of the Amish buggy's. What fun that is!

The Amish live in a way that is kind to the earth, kind to each other, and is a life that is truly an amazing one in this world of selfishness and cruelty. And Sarah's Garden is a book that is true to the Amish style and is a beautiful love story.

If you are interested in learning more about the Amish lifestyle be sure to visit www.AmishLiving.com

My latest read

I just finished my latest book called Sarah's Garden by Kelly Long. I received the book directly from the publisher (no middle man here, ha ha). There's something to be said for this and also for being treated kindly and in a Christian way. But I'll rant about that later.

For now, I'll sit back and write my book review and will post it shortly. Just let me say that this book was sooooooooo good I finished it the second day I had it.

Now....on to write the review. Thanks for stopping by faithful reader! And a special thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishers for sending me this book. They know my weakness for Amish stories.

Kim :D