The Newest Landowner in Rutersville....Well, Soon...

Life does go on, and as the saying goes, "to everything there is a season." This isn't exactly how I envisioned my future, but it's what I have to work with so I might as well make the best of it. I had hoped to be the newest landowner in Rutersville this week, but no such luck. The title company is going to have to do whatever it is that title companies are supposed to do, which means that by the middle of January I hope they will have done what's necessary for me to be able to close on my property so I can get started on the next phase--building a home on it.

Certainly there's lots of work to be done. A septic system is going to have to be put in to replace the cesspool. I'm leery of a water well not 100 feet away from the cesspool, so probably better to just dig a new one and use the current one for the yard. The house isn't really habitable, but it'll do as a shed to store materials while a new one is being built--and then it can come down. True, it's going to take some creative landscaping to utilize the concrete slabs, but it can be done. And it's certainly cheaper than having them removed. I know THAT from experience! So no, they'll stay.

Alot of the materials can be used for other things. The pieces of tin look relatively new and certainly will make a great roof on a dog pen. The railing on the chain link fence is pretty beat up, but the fencing itself is in good shape. Certainly there's plenty for a first-class dog pen and still have enough for a back yard area for the dogs to run around in.

And then there's the view. Ah yes...the view. The property is 1.596 acres. Not huge, but certainly all I need! Roughly that's about equal to 1.5 football fields. Plenty of room to spread out and wander around the yard in my nightgown without anyone caring.
So here are the photos of my soon-to-be-all-mine piece of rural Fayette County, Texas.

September 27, 2010

The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison

284 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510-4304

202-224-0776 (FAX)

Dear Senator Hutchison:

I am contacting you as my senator to ask for your assistance in requesting that Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, both from the State of Washington please intervene on behalf of my daughter, Kendra Maston, with Child Protective Services in Spokane, Washington. The future of my only grandchildren is at stake and I am feeling totally helpless as I watch my daughter being victimized by an agency that over the last year and a half is using their power and authority to do the wrong thing, and my grandchildren are paying the price.

The entire episode is a very lengthy one, but I will try to hit the high points. I want to also make it clear that I understand my daughter has made some mistakes and she is not totally without blame. BUT, I also want it noted that during this year and a half she has consistently done more than what was required of her, but to no avail. The criteria for reunification consistently changes.

My daughter has two children, Danica and Tristan. About a year and a half ago, the little boy, Tristan, sustained a broken leg. He was just beginning to learn to stand up by himself. Kendra was out of the room at the time so didn't know what had really happened. But after a few hours of being unable to console him she decided it was time for a trip to the emergency room, where they sat for a few more hours. The x-rays showed a spiral fracture. Spiral fractures CAN be--but aren't always--an indicator of abuse.

Police were called, parents interviewed, kids removed pending an investigation. The investigation relied solely on a doctor's statement that he believed it to be abuse. Kids put into foster care and the official finding was medical neglect because of the 4 hours Kendra waited to take the baby to the emergency room.

This in itself has totally devastated my daughter because at no time did she consider herself to be doing anything except being prudent and careful. As an aside, it took Kendra's attorney over a year to gain access to Tristan's medical file and the photos. After 7 hours waiting for treatment there was still no bruising. Abuse would have clearly left bruises on his leg--there were none. But this information wasn't available until recently and the finding of neglect still stands. Kendra took a comprehensive first aid class from the Red Cross, and I provided her with a top-of-the-line first aid kit--all because she truly wanted to know what she could have done differently.

Kendra has been undergoing weekly urinalysis for over a year and a half and they have all been clean, although admittedly some were diluted--which counts as "dirty"--because it was summer and she was drinking large quantities of water since she has to rely on public transportation. That is considered to not be an excuse so she has tried not to drink very much water on the days she goes in for testing. Kendra does suffer from bi-poloar disorder, but is on medication to treat it and has been for years. I wish she didn't have it, but it's not illegal.

During this time Kendra has taken all her required parenting classes. She has glowing reports from the service providers. When her caseworker thinks something else would be of benefit, she has taken the class even though it means she's taken some of them 2 or 3 times with the only difference being in where the class was held. Kendra attends group counseling several days a week as required, has done everything CPS has wanted her to do. Despite all of her cooperation and the glowing reports from her service provider, her caseworker claims she doesn't participate adequately and that he doesn't believe she will ever regain custody of her children.

When her caseworker said Kendra needed to give up her apartment because it was more than she could afford and because it would enable her to qualify for subsidized housing I thought it was insane. She insisted that if going homeless was required, then she'd do it. I paid to put her stuff in storage. Being homeless and living in a shelter wasn't all that condusive to making her appointments on time, so she was consistently dinged on that by CPS.

In the meantime, the Salvation Army that was going to provide the housing voucher required CPS to sign that the children would be returning home within 2 weeks. Her caseworker who urged her to go homeless in the first place refused to sign it. So without kids she didn't qualify for housing, and without housing she didn't qualify to get the kids back. So back to the streets, and to the shelter when she could. How does this help my daughter to be a better parent? How does this help reunite families?

People at her church said she could rent a room from them while she looked for suitable housing, so she did. That worked for a few weeks until one of their friends got drunk, came into her bedroom while she was sleeping and raped her. A police report was filed, trip to the hospital for the rape kit, etc. The response from CPS? "If you can't keep yourself safe, how can keep your children safe?" Such a response is an outrage and should be illegal. And again, how does this help my daughter become a better parent? How does this help reunite families?

That's when I stepped in and contacted CPS to get temporary guardianship of them. CPS refused because I was out of state and the kids needed to be available for Kendra's parenting classes. Her caseworker stated that the only thing between Kendra getting her kids back was her inability to find suitable housing. Believe me, I made certain that was truly the case. "You mean, as soon as Kendra finds somewhere to live the kids will be returned?" Yes, was the response. So I co-signed a lease, sent a copy of it to the caseworker and asked when reunification would occur. Suddenly it wasn't "quite that simple."

In the meantime, what I didn't not want to happen has. The children have been moved from foster home to foster home. To make matters worse, the children aren't even in the SAME foster home! When does CPS start to work FOR families instead of against them? How is that in the best interest of the children? Who can give me a valid answer to that? At the moment no one can.

October 11, 2010 Child Protective Services will be going to court to terminate my daughter's parental rights. The plan is to allow the foster family to adopt the little boy, Tristan, and put the little girl, Danica up for adoption separately. This is insane. If this is allowed to happen, not only will I never get to see my grandchildren again and my daughter will never get to see her children again, but the children won't get to see each other again. Something must be done to stop this insanity.

And I guess that's what my real beef has been: everyone seems to be making it up as they go along. There is no plan, no set goals or objectives. No measureable criteria of what constitutes meeting the goals. Absolutely no standards whatsoever. Everytime Kendra meets criteria, the criteria changes. I have spoken to her caseworker and asked specifically about the reunification plan and what the criteria they are requiring and honestly I was appalled. As a former teacher I could NEVER have gotten away with that kind of thing. You don't get to change your mind about what you want after specifying the things that must be done and at what level of competency they're to be performed at.

I have asked how being in two different foster homes is in the best interests of the children and gotten no answer. I get bunny-trailed, and when I restate the question, no one can ever answer it. Without subpoenas all the state resource people who have worked with Kendra and are highly complimentary of her progress can't testify on her behalf. They will next month, but up to now it's been Kendra's word against her CPS caseworker. And guess who wins.

I have spoken to Kendra's attorney who assures me that she has no doubts about Kendra's parenting abilities, and stated that Kendra has done far more than any other client she's represented and she believes Kendra is being jerked around and should have had her kids back months ago.

During this entire time the caseworker has made it clear that he sees no way Kendra will regain custody of her children. It is my opinion that at this point in time, the mistakes and errors made by CPS are so grievous and blatant that they believe the best way out that covers up their mistakes is to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy--just terminate parental rights, put the kids up for adoption separately and close the case. It's convenient, it's easy, and who going to care?

Having no money it's unlikely Kendra will be able to sue them. Afterall, she's just a "welfare mother" so what's the big deal? Same goes for me, her mother--having no money I won't be able to afford to do so either. I know from experience that if you can't budget at least $50,000 you can just forget it. You truly do get all the justice you can buy. And if you can't--well then, you don't get it.

Please, Senator Hutchison, don't allow this to happen to my grandbabies. Please, please request on my behalf that Senators Cantwell and Murray intervene on behalf of my daughter Kendra Maston and her children Danica and Tristan Jackson. Please ask them to send my grandbabies home to their mother--immediately and together.

Respectfully,

Linda McMurry

251 N. County Line Rd.

Elgin, TX 78621

email: lmcmurry@swbell.net

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas in July!

This week I went out shopping for some copper beads, and lo and behold, what did I see? CHRISTMAS ITEMS! Seems as if Christmas in July has become much more widespread over the past few years—and that’s good! It’s good for a lot of reasons. The most obvious is that you’re FINISHED. You can then sit back and taunt everyone else who is out frantically trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on their list. I’m not one of those people. I’m not that efficient for one thing, and for another, I like to be able to give people something I’ve made myself. I admit it’s not always possible when the person is asking Santa for a metric socket set, for example, but I can usually supplement the gifts with something I’ve made especially for them. And all of this takes TIME.

Time. To me that’s the major advantage to taking advantage of the Christmas in July sales. Doing so allows you to budget your holiday shopping dollars much more efficiently and effectively. And of course it helps provide me with the much needed peer-pressure “kick in the butt” to get started on my holiday gift-making.

If you can’t make the gift yourself, the next best thing is to BUY a handmade gift! So to help inspire all you would-be holiday shoppers, I’m offering ONE PERSON per day the opportunity to grab ONE ITEM of their choice for half-price. That’s right—one person will get the item of their choice for a full 50% off.

Here’s what you do: Be the first person to use the coupon code below in either Rocky Creek Gems, or The Calico Cat. The coupon code will work ONE TIME in EACH SHOP and is good for just that one day. Good luck, and have fun!

July 14 coupon code: PEARTREE
July 15 coupon code: TURTLEDOVES
July 16 coupon code: FRENCHHENS
July 17 coupon code: CALLINGBIRDS
July 18 coupon code: GOLDENRINGS
July 19 coupon code: GEESE
July 20 coupon code: SWANS
July 21 coupon code: MILKMAIDS
July 22 coupon code: LADIES
July 23 coupon code: LORDS
July 24 coupon code: PIPERS
July 25 coupon code: DRUMMERS

Remember, the code will only work once, so be the first to use it and everyone have a very merry CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!

An Open Letter To God

Dear God,

I know I am not deserving of a special request, but I am hoping that because You know how hard I have tried these last 12 years to do what is required of me that You will have mercy and grant it to me anyway. Please God, do not take Mike away from me. Please open his eyes and his heart once again to me. You know I have asked very little of You just for myself; I have always prayed for my family and my friends. So please God, find me deserving of making this one request for myself, I beg of you.

True, I’m not often in the pews of one of Your churches, but you know my heart. You know I recognize this whole world as Your church, and that I worship you all the time. You have guided my hands when I made so much of my jewelry, whispering one more bead, you can finish the task I have set you to just like you are finishing this necklace—one bead at a time. I have talked to You while I have knitted, and You have listened. You have spoken, and I have tried hard to hear what You would tell me, I really have.

Please God, I want my husband back. I have followed the example of Ruth: I have made Mike’s people, my people; where he has gone, I have gone. I have slept where he has slept. I have honored his father and mother as my own parents. His burdens have been my burdens. I have kept all my promises. I promised You I would love Mike till death do us part, and I am keeping that promise. I promised Mike’s mother that I would always love Mike “anyway.” I am keeping that promise. I am also keeping the promise to Mike “to always be nice to each other.” I have loved completely and unconditionally. You know my heart and You see to the very depths of my soul God, so you know there is nothing I would not do for Mike.

Through all the trials and the tribulations You have placed before us I have tried to act with integrity, dignity, and honor. I have endured the trials you placed before me. When I could go no further, I kept going. When I had no more strength to carry any more, I did anyway. When no one else wanted to do what had to be done, I stepped up and did it. I took the blame, I allowed myself to be the “villain.” Yes, I made mistakes during those 10 years but I gave of myself freely and without reservation. Surely that should count for something.

I have learned humility and patience. I have learned the meaning of true forgiveness. I have turned the other cheek. I have been kind and understanding when again and again I was treated rudely; when I was embarrassed and humiliated in front of other people; when I was always left behind; when I was never considered important enough to spend time with; when everyone else was more important than me and I was repeatedly ignored; when I have been misunderstood; when I have been falsely accused; I did my best to smile and hold my head up anyway. I have done my best to act with integrity and dignity regardless of the opinions of others. When my health made doing the simplest task an act of sheer will-power, I did more than I was able to do, and then endured being insulted as lazy. You know I did, God. Yes, it hurt, and I told You how badly it hurt, but you know I bore it, and I bore it without malice. I have never held a grudge nor tried to “get even” with Mike for any slight or insult. I know I probably was not easy to live with, but You know I never stopped loving Mike, nor did I ever stop trying to do and be my best.

I know it isn’t Mike’s fault that he can’t put his relationship with me first. You are the one who taught us that the sins of the fathers are visited upon their children. You know his father and grandfather were not good husbands. I knew it too, when I married Mike. But I also know that you will help any of your children who will help themselves; that you gave us Free Will. You gave us the ability to change and do things differently—to become better people and to receive your Grace. Please God, Mike is a good man and I love him. We both love him. Mike doesn’t deserve to go through a 4th divorce. He does not deserve the diminished respect of his many long-married professional colleagues and friends with yet another divorce. Please don’t allow him to follow in the footsteps of his father because after all, he is Your child too. Show him that as his Father You have given him everything he wants and needs already—he just has to open his heart to it. Remind him that You are his role model. Mike works hard at everything else except his marriages. Please God, show him he needs to tend and care for his marriage in the same way as he cares for everything else and that the rewards for doing so are every bit as great.

Show Mike that this too is a part of Your process for making him a better person. It is yet one more challenge he has in front of him. Open his heart to the reality that You gave him a wife who is steadfast and devoted to him, and that with just a small amount of effort on his part the love between us will once again flourish and grow even stronger, just as You intended it to. Bring him the enlightenment that of all his challenges and trials that You have placed in front of him to make him a better person, that this one is the easiest. Please God, show him that quitting right at the finish line is not what You have planned for him. Mike is a good man with a heart full of love, and in need of love. I promised You and his mother both God, to love Mike unconditionally for as long as we both shall live. Those promises were not made lightly. Please bring him back to me so I can continue to keep those promises.

Mike and I have survived the 10 years of trial by fire you placed before us, but we have not come through unscathed. You know that. Our souls, our spirits, and our bodies are bruised and battered and we have suffered greatly but I know I am a better person because of it. Thanks to Your gifts of medicines, I am again healthy and I am continuing to try to be a better person still. When I was at the very bottom and you sent Jay to intervene and keep me from taking my life God, I don’t think that it was only to then turn around and take Mike away from me. I do not believe God, that you sent me to Mike to suffer alongside him and help him carry his burden throughout these trying times only to be discarded when those trials are over. Please God, let us keep our promises to each other and to You and grow old together.

Mike is a good, honest, and honorable man. You know his heart. Please, let him see that like mine, his body and spirit also have wounds that need tending. Reassure him that the pharmacopeias of medicines available to help his spirit mend are also yet another one of Your gifts. Let him not be too prideful to accept the help they offer. Send someone to Mike to help him find his way back to me. Remind Mike of his vows and help him keep his promise to me and to You. He is the love of my life; the reason I have endured all that I have endured. The Bible says that love is not selfish or boastful; love is patient; love is kind; love bears all; love hopes all. I know this is true because I have done my best to live these words. Please God, do not take Mike away from me now. Bring Mike back to my arms and my heart where he belongs.

In the name of Your most precious Son, Jesus Christ, I most humbly beseech You God to answer my prayer and grant this, my most heartfelt of requests. Amen.

Brochure Draft

Okay Gourdie Friends, here it is....ta da!!....the Gourdie Girls brochure, Take 1.

It is in a pdf format and is intended to be printed as a double-sided tri-fold. Please see what you think. Make any corrections, additions, deletions, etc. and let me know what they are so they can be changed.

Thanks! (and I'm sorry this took so long!)

And it would appear it's gonna take even longer....like until I can figure out how to upload a pdf. Sorry folks.

One Last Goodbye

When I was in high school (which was so long ago that this post should start out as "Once upon a time...) I remember how my grandfather, who was 96 at the time, would respond to people who would continually compliment him on how well he looked. His response was "Why thank you; that's because everyone else my age is dead." Nothing like the truth. It is such a bittersweet event when someone you love so much finally gets to leave all the pain, infirmities, and tribulations behind. You're happy for them, and sad for yourself. It is so hard to say goodbye, mostly, I think, because you know it will be the last time you ever get to do it. That's the part that hurts the most.

In honor of Buttonwilloe, who will be making this last goodbye to her father tomorrow, May 6, I offer up this story I wrote about the final farewell to my father-in-law in 2000. It was published in the Texas Wildlife Association's magazine in 2004, and it is my hope that it will bring a smile and a measure of comfort to all of us who must make these final farewells. If you're like me and don't have the best eye-sight in the world, you may click on the pages and enlarge them for easier reading. --Linda

Immortality

If you were to have asked me what immortality was when I was a small child I would have told you that it means you never, ever die. As a teenager, the default meaning was that all the horrible things that killed people—like traffic accidents—only happened to “other people” and didn’t apply to you. Now that I’ve reached “advanced adulthood” I’ve come to believe that immortality doesn’t mean that you don’t die—everything dies sooner or later—instead it means that you live forever. And no, I don’t think that’s a contradiction.

This past Easter weekend I drove a few miles down the road from the cabin and poked around the antique show held on a semi-annual basis outside Round Top, Texas. This was the last day of the show, and the show itself would end in just a few more hours. So of course, bargains were to be had on whatever was still left.

I don’t normally go for “vintage linens” because too many times that just means “used.” But for some reason I stopped into see what all they had piled up on countless tables. As I expected, most of it was nothing special. After considerable digging I found a set of four placemats (with their manufacturer labels still intact!) that had been pieced to look like a “flying geese” quilt pattern. Regularly $0.25 each, they were now reduced to $0.10 each. What a deal for $0.40. I then found a silk stole that someone had done some beadwork on each end of it. Regularly priced at a very reasonable $10 (even though I didn’t need it) it was now down to $5.00.

The vendor, meanwhile, was pushing a “stuff the bag” sale. Anything you could stuff into a 13 gallon kitchen trash bag for $30. I politely passed on this option. I simply couldn’t imagine there to be anything I wanted that would make filling a bag for $30 any sort of a bargain.

But then I came to the table holding piles of crocheted items. Doilies and table runners were selling by the pound (generally about $1.00 each) and tablecloths were $10. As you can imagine, it was pretty well picked over and all the “good stuff” was gone. Everything left was stained, damaged, or stained and damaged. The stuff that wasn’t stained and/or damaged was machine-made, so I wasn’t interested. If you didn’t sew or crochet most of what was left amounted to nothing but a complete pile of rags. But since I do sew and crochet I started digging through the piles with an eye to what could be repaired; what stains might wash out and if not, which pieces could be dyed. Didn’t take long and I realized that I needed that bag afterall! I carefully folded and managed to get not just my four placemats and silk stole into the bag, but seven huge crocheted tablecloths. My bag was so heavy I couldn’t carry it by the handles—they tore. I had to pick it up and carry it over to the check-out. No matter, I was charged the $30 and off I went to put this exceedingly heavy and cumbersome bag into my truck.

I decided to start with the piece—I couldn’t tell if it was a tablecloth or a bedspread—that was going to be the easiest to repair. A classic ecru color, it was composed of innumerable crocheted squares individually whip-stitched together. There was only one tiny place where it needed to be re-crocheted and that was very easily done. All the rest of the work was stitching countless squares back together again in the places where all the thread over the years had just finally given out. What amazed me was the weight. This thing was heavy!

Finished, I put it into the washing machine to clean it up and hope the stains would come out. I pre-soaked it with laundry soap for 3 hours. You should have seen the water. YUK! Nasty doesn’t even begin to describe how dirty it was. So I drained it, added more detergent and decided to let it soak overnight. Next morning, incredibly the water was dirtier still. Fast forward an additional three pre-soakings and I finally had the water “clean” enough that I felt comfortable washing it. The surprise came when I put the piece into the dryer. All the stains had come out without any special treatment, and it was no longer ecru—it was white!! Who would have guessed!

It wasn’t until I started to iron and starch it that I discovered it was really a tablecloth sized for a trestle type of table, which meant it would perfectly on my dining room table. But the big surprise came when I realized why this tablecloth was so heavy. It was heavy not because of its size, but because it had been crocheted entirely out of string. Yes, string! I had assumed it was a very thick crochet thread, which was why I thought originally that it might be a bedspread. But no, it was string: plain, ordinary, white string.

So who made this tablecloth, and why did they use string and not crochet thread? String of the weight used in it is more expensive than crochet thread, so that automatically meant the tablecloth dated back to a time when the string was the cheaper choice.

A little more research that included visiting with elderly ladies of the community as well as talking to my father about it has made me come to the conclusion that I did indeed come home with a treasure. Most likely my tablecloth was made back in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. String was the only real wrapping option available, and it was cheap and plentiful. Every household saved string and reused it again and again. Crochet thread was readily available and my grandmother and great aunts used it, but plenty of women who weren’t as financially well off used string.

So who was the lady who made my tablecloth? I’m probably not ever going to know. Apparently she didn’t have the money to buy crochet thread, but she obviously had a desire for a beautiful table. I look at this tablecloth with new appreciation of this unknown artisan taking ordinary string and turning it into a masterpiece of artistry. You can’t make something like that without putting some small piece of your heart and soul into each and every square and each and every stitch.

Bodies grow old and die, but the spirit and soul do not. And that’s what immortality really is. The lady herself is probably long since dead and buried, but this tablecloth is her immortality. As long as her tablecloth survives, those pieces of her heart and soul live on. Immortality is the gift an artisan receives when their work is treasured, kept, and passed on to future generations. Their names may be lost to history, but as long as their work survives they will continue to live on. While I may never know the lady’s name, she is nonetheless, immortal.

When Life Gives You Scraps...

I have an embroidery pattern for a sampler that says "When Life Gives You Scraps, Make Quilts!" At first glance it seems to be the perfect gift for all those quilters in your life--and it is. I stitched it out, framed it, and gave it to one of my quilting co-workers for Christmas a few years back. She loved it!

Lately though, it's taken on a whole new meaning since my husband thinks he wants a divorce. From the inside looking out, it seems as if my life is in shreds. In other words, nothing but scraps remaining from what I thought was a loving marriage being stressed by far more than our fair share of challenges and tribulations. I've blogged about this things before--a lawsuit lasting more than 10 years, trustees taking advantage, unethical attorneys, and a greedy ex-wife and daughter, being aided and abetted by her unscrupulous brother-in-law attorney, a supervisor who is a bully, and so on. But throughout it all I believed we'd overcome it all and eventually things would get better. But that's not what happened. When things were finally over; when things should have finally gotten better, the bottom fell out.

So I have scraps. Lots and lots of scraps. Although all the paperwork has been filed with the court, it's not a done deal. And I'm not a quitter. I may lose, but it won't be without a fight. It'll be hard work and I know it. But anything in life that is worthwhile takes effort and work. Afterall, you can't spend more time taking care of your lawn than you do your marriage and expect it to thrive.

About two weeks ago when I was really feeling kicked in the gut I decided it was time to start acting on that little saying. It was time to start making a quilt. So that's what I've been doing whenever the still-love-of-my-life isn't home and I have time to fill without him. I've been quilting. Oh, it's not a great quilt mind you. The stitching to piece it together is perfect, it's the quilting itself that isn't too hot. It's hard to do a good job though when you're preoccupied, your mind is elsewhere, your heart is breaking, and you're constantly fighting back tears.

I machine quilted it because I needed to finish it. My soul needed to accomplish something positive. But my "stitch in the ditch" quilting didn't necessarily stay in the "ditch." I could, and I should, have taken the stitching out and redone it. I did for the really bad sections. But then I decided, no I'm not. I'm leaving it alone. This quilt is going to be a reminder of this period of time--the good and the bad; making the best of a bad situation. In other words--making a quilt out of my scraps.

It's finished, and it's beautiful, it really is. Just as long as you don't look too closely at the stitching that is quilting all these pieces together. But you know, I'm okay with that. I've taken my scraps and I'm making quilts!

Maybe I'll even embroider that sampler a again--this time for me.

And guess what? I even had enough "scraps" left to make a tote bag! Quilted, of course.

AND THE WINNER IS....

Thanks everyone for all your clever guesses as to what my Christmas decoration is. So what is it? Why, it's a Cartridge in a Bare Tree! And that makes the winner of a bracelet....DIOGENES CLUB!

Diogenes, you've got $15.00 to "spend" on any bracelet in my shop that you'd like . Just send me an email telling me which bracelet you'd like to have and it will soon be on its way to you.

The link is http://rockycreekgems.artfire.com.

Congratulations!