Some sad news to pass along to all of you.............

Because Ms. April just used this blog to showcase her lovely story of The Patchwork Doll for Hues of Oz, and because you left such wonderful comments on her creations and talent, I thought you might want to join me in wishing Ms. April our condolences on the loss of her soul mate furbaby Henry Rott.

Henry became ill and Ms. April and her husband Jim did everything humanly possible to give Henry a chance at survival. But alas it just wasn't meant to be. Henry passed away in their home last night. April will be away from her facebook pages, The Angry Gnome and Henry Rott, understandably for a while but I would be glad to pass along your comments here to her.

She was fighting the good fight with and for Henry while the rest of us were enjoying our time preparing for and being in Celebrate Oz. April said that the Celebration helped her keep her thoughts positive and I was so in awe of her strength.

Thanks lovelies, we all know what it's like to lose a furbaby and a piece of our hearts. Rest well Henry Rott and I hope you have met my Willow, Odin, Cybella and Sunny and that April and I will be able to frolic with all of you again someday over the rainbow bridge.

Our baby, Our Henry, died at 10:49 Tuesday evening. Jim and I will dig a grave for him tomorrow in the backyard and bury him with his favorite tennis ball. The Angry Gnome will be quiet for a bit. Please do not worry...we just need you to be happy and safe so we have something to come back to. In the meantime, So Much Love to you ALL! This is my hand in Henry's tonight...before he died...

The Patchwork girl finds a home...................

Norma is all set with a Big beautiful Bowl of Courageous (Crazy!) Oz Partiers who hope to offer The Patchwork Girl of Oz a home. Norma is ready to pick a Winner.

 

And the WINNER IS: “ ZPBLLZZZZ RKKKLLLLL!”

 

No, wait a second.....The WINNER IS: “DIMDOLLLLLQWE  ZWIGGETTT”!!!!! 

 

“Oh For Goodness Sake, Norma..you have forgotten your glasses!  Here, just SHOW THEM THE WINNER!!!”

 

“LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!AND THE WINNER IS.......................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  

BEANSIE-LEIGH

 

YAYYAYAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!  

Please send your address to my E-Mail (jross07@prodigy.net) April and we will try to convince “Scraps” to lie still and quiet in a box and be Mailed off to you! Congratulations!!!!!!!

A Patchwork Girl is created and joins Hues of Oz by April Ross

The Angry Gnome visits the Witch Sisters to request a “Servant” for his Wife, Roberta.

“Yeh...my Roberta does so much woike...I tink she needs a Helper. You Gals able ta fix me up wit dat?”

Esme and Grimalkin assure  The Angry Gnome they most definitely will create the best Helper for their dear friend, Roberta. 

  

The Witch Sisters get to work immediately. Grimalkin is the finest Seamstress and she is making a colorful Patchwork Girl, out of an old quilt, in the form of a well-shaped girl.

Esmeralda is the Potions Mistress and is getting the bottles ready to hold the “Brain Furniture”..which will mean adding the qualities of “Obedience, Cleverness, Judgment, Courage, Ingenuity, Amiability, Learning, Truth, Posey, and Self-Reliance” to the brain of the Servant.

After working almost all day and getting close to finishing up a very tall and very unusual Patchwork helper, Esme suggests, “Grimmy, let’s go make a quick visit to The Angry Gnome and ask him if any other qualities are needed for Roberta’s helper.” 

So the Witch Sisters walk next door to visit The Angry Gnome...

In the meantime, their cousin, Norma (Who is a bit of a....well, a....... “KOOK”!) comes walking down the stairway from her Toadstool Home on her way towards the Witch Sister’s dwelling. A small part of Norma’s problem is that she is terribly Cross-Eyed. She means well, she is just not always the most insightful Witch.

“I wonder if my cousins have created that helper for Roberta yet. I still do NOT understand why they wouldn’t let me be a part of things...probably just didn’t want to take up my time...” 

“OOOOUUUHHHH!!!” squeals Norma, “The Patchwork Servant has turned out so Colorful, So Lovely!!!  And I see Esme  has added qualities to her brain...let’s see what this “Scraps” girl has inside her noggin......hmmmmmmmmmm. I think I will just add a dash more Cleverness!

OOPS.....I hope I didn’t add too much!” giggles Norma.  “And I may as well add ‘The Powder of Life’ and surprise my dear Cousins!! I LOVE Surprises!!!”

On their way home come Esme and Grimalkin...

“Look, GIRLS!!!!  YOUR PATCHWORK GIRL IS ALIVE!!! ISN’T SHE MARVELOUS!!!!!” Shouts Norma! 

OH DEAR!!!  I am afraid that Scraps proves to be way too ZANY to be any sort of reliable helper.  The Patchwork Girl, although very Colorful, is much too Wild and Cheeky to stay put! With a Shout of: “I HATE DIGNITY!!!!” SCRAPS Jumps and Dances off down the road...on her way to Gnoma Linda and THE HUES OZ OZ!!!!!  

Well, perhaps we DO have a brave soul out there who might be able to use such a Clever and Crazy sort of Character???? If it might be YOU, please leave a Comment, and The Witch ladies will add your name to their Cauldron for the Drawing of Scraps, The Patchwork Girl of Oz. She will come to you perched on her OZ letters- full of Fun and Wild Enthusiasm!! 

Norma will draw the Winning Name on Wednesday, March 26th. GOOD LUCK!!! 

And I would like to give a huge HUG to Gnoma Linda!! I KNOW we all look forward to this Oz Celebration every year. THIS year it has been especially Important and NECESSARY for me!!  I LOVE YOU, GNOMA and THANKS!!!!!!

I would also love to tell you that the three wonderful Witch dolls were made by Margaret Tees, a terrific Artist who lives in Scotland. You will find her Etsy Shop here...

https://www.etsy.com/shop/mariaskid?ref=l2-shopheader-name  

Oma Linda here. I have to tell all of you readers, were it not for my wonderful and talented friend April, I don't know if I would love Celebrate Oz quite as much as I do.

We found we had a commonality in our feelings about the L. Frank Baum stories and what they meant to us as children. A world where children and their opinion counted. 

While The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland is what most folks think about when they hear the word Oz, we think of the hours of childhood spent reading the stories of "an anything can be" world that is Oz. Where chickens can save the day by overhearing Nome Kings and Dorothy can rejoin her uncle in his trip to Australia because she believes in the power of Oz. 

I have just recently gone back and read some of these stories again and if you never have or if you haven't in a long time, I urge you to refresh you inner child at the font of OZ. This little Patchwork Girl would be a character in Oz of the books. She is exactly what the whimsy of Oz is. 

Thank you April for making me a kid again at the very mention of the word OZ. 

Something borrowed for the First Day of Spring..............

I was reading my bloggy favorites today and came across something that appealed to me. I usually see things like this and say, "that looks like fun" and then forget about doing it. So instead of my usual behavior and because I am already so ready for tomorrow and Hues of Oz, I decided to stop and do this right now. Reading back over my answers, I sure am in a reflective mood.

I borrowed the idea for my post today from Magaly Guerrero who borrowed it from Ms Misantropia, who borrowed it from a blogger friend over at Gypsy Spirit Rising. It’s a list of some of the things I want to do in April and hope that many will become part of my routine.

Changing – the way I treat myself

Cooking – more fresh vegetables and fish

Drinking - more water

Enjoying – everyday and finding the pearl of joy

Feeling  - worthy and able

Following – my instincts

Hoping – I can find my groove again

Knowing – that I need friends and family close

Liking – who I am

Looking – forwards not backwards

Loving – whatever it is I am doing at the moment fully

Making – mermaids, fairy houses, Halloween villages, anything red and white polka dotted

Marveling – in my grands and their talents and abilities

Needing – my Sweet Man always

Playing – new music, old favorites, piano concertos and dancing

Reading – anything that tickles my fancy, everything Ms. Magaly writes and finish the Oz books

Seeing – the smiling faces of the people I love

Sewing – lots of new fiber art projects, slimming down my hoarding stash

Thinking – about how blessed I am

Waiting – for the vegetables from our own straw bale garden

Wanting – to be physically stronger and actually doing the work to get there

Wasting – no more time wondering why and dealing with the now

Watching – less TV and more of what is happening around me (in the moment)

Wearing – my favorite jeans and hippy t shirt

Wishing – I could wave my wand and correct the societal ills I agonize about

Wondering – how fabulous Hues of Oz is going to be

Writing – some more of my childhood fun stories, more about the gypsy Cybella

If you'd care to join in, please do so but let me know because I always love to get insight into others too.

Happy first day of Spring.

And then she got mad..............

Good Day lovelies:

Thought I would write my blog here today and let you know that a friend of mine, Ms. April from The Angry Gnome will be using this blog for her entry in Celebrate Oz - Hues of Oz on the 21st. Hope you will come by and see the fun that Ms. April has created for this fun event. Also I have another talented friend, Kim Cowley who has made the most delicious felted wool pieces for Hues of Oz and will be using my Practically Magical blog site for her entry for Hues Of Oz. This will all be on March 21st.

And now onto the telling of this tale of heartbreak.

As you know I have an absolutely adorable, talented, very 13 year old granddaughter who is so special to me. And I have shared some "growing pains" of hers in the past year. She has officially made the transition into teenage heartbreak. Yep. The Emo critter she was smitten with has turned his back on her and she was, as expected, heartbroken.

This is all perfectly normal, natural and something I wish I didn't have to revisit but it is what it is. If I could have waved my wand and taken it away, well I would have............and yet, maybe not. Because I have seen why I as her Oma admire her so.

In the midst of all the hissy fit and crying and self indulgent ranting, there emerged an angry, determined and confident young woman. This only took from Friday late afternoon until noon on Sunday. In the land of teenage angst, only a moment.

She plopped her lovely self down on the love seat next to me and declared that she was better, that the anger was a sign that she was moving on with her life and would be fine very soon. Then explained how she had taken time to cry, be hurt, be sad, ponder the whole mess all while she had her fairy stone (fluorite) in the pocket of her jeans. She said that she felt safe, and in control and now could see that she had been taken in by her own fantasy of what he was in her mind, not what he really was.

I couldn't be more proud of GK for knowing that what she needed and made good use of her knowledge of crystals to help herself out. I also could not be more proud of Shelley, my daughter, for giving her daughter the space and time to work it out, all while providing her with her love and support and holding her.

Sometimes we forget why we do, what we do, until there is absolute positive proof of love and magic lifting us out of a situation. And here I thought GK had stopped listening to her 13th year teachings. I should have trusted  more deeply. Thanks Universe for giving me yet another reason to be happy that I am who I am. I am truly blessed.....and so are my girls.