Rednesday Bear

Here we are back at Wednesday again.

That means it is time for REDnesday!

I know I have not posted on this blog for a couple of weeks.

I have been busy posting on my Sewing and Crafts blog.

You can visit me there and see what I have been up to

lately.

A lot!

Just click on the sewing machine on my sidebar

to the left to get there.

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My RED today is this bear.

No, I am NOT a NASCAR fan.

But my son is and Earnhardt, Jr is one of his favs.

He gave me this one year for my birthday.

The bear because I have a bear collection.

This one so that I would think of my son everytime

I look at the bear.

I think it is a cute bear!

I have it on display in my sewing room.

See is even holding a model of Dale, Jr's car.

He is even cute from the back!

And I do think of my son everytime I look at this bear.

Makes me smile too!

That is because I love my son lots!!

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Speaking of my son,

I will be taking a bloggy break.

I will be leaving soon to take a trip

to visit my kiddos.

And I will see my little granddaughter too!!

Can't wait!

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Thank you to Sue over at

It's a Very Cherry World

for hosting REDnesday for us.

You can go there if you want and

see who else is posting RED today.

Happy REDnesday everyone!

~Linnea~

Three Or More Tuesday #5

I am late posting this today. I was out of town attending a continuing ed course. But I made it home again in time to include this Three or More Tuesday post.

First I must say thank you to Tam over at The Gypsy's Corner for hosting this fun day for us every week.

Today I am sharing with you a few of my bears.

My blog name came about because of my love of teddy bears.

Most of you know me as Neabear.

In case you were wondering that is prounounced as three syllables.

The Nea is Ne-a with the "a" as a short "a" sound. The "e" is short also.

Then you add the bear part.

Anyway, I won this bear from Suzie at Suzie Button's Creations after she did that interview about me a couple of weeks ago. Actually, she decided she had to give this bear to me.

Thank you so much Suzie for this adorable bear.

What makes it special to me is that this bear has two hearing aids just like me!

I have not named this bear yet. But my hubby thinks we should call it Neabear.

Most of you have met Helmi.

She had to get on my new bear's lap.

You can kind of see a size comparision there.

Then there is this little guy that sits by the monitor and watches me type away on the computer. He reminds me when I make booboos in my typing.

He had to get in a picture with the other two.
A very nice bear portrait I must say.
Heehee.
Hey, don't forget me! I have this one by the computer also. I got him at the Teddy Bear Museum in Naples, Florida one year. I am not sure, but I think that museum is no longer there.
He spends his time guarding my dictionary and other books I have there.
That dictionary gets used a lot. I try to spell words correctly. If I am not sure of a spelling I take the time to look it up to find the correct spelling.
I know I can do the spell check. But I like looking up a word and then checking the definition to make sure I am using the word in the right context.

Also by my computer is this coffee mat with bears on it. I have several of these sitting around in places where I set my coffee cup. I have one by the sewing machine and one on the table where I sit to do my cross stitch.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

~Linnea~

Three or More Thursday #9

Here we are at Three or More Thursday again! Thank you to Tam at The Gypsy Corner for hosting this for us. Go hop over there and see who else is posting this week. Or better yet, why don't you join us.

I have ceramic type bears as part of my collections as well as the stuffed variety. Today I am going to show you three of them. All three of these were gifts to me at one time or another. All I have had for several years now.

The first one the left is a teacher bear. I think it was given to me while I was still working for the school district as an intructional aide in special education. I had done that for 12 years before switching to what I do now. The second one was from my son several years ago.

This one was given to me by a co-worker when I was working for the school district, but not the same person who gave me the first one. I have other ceramic bears also. But I will save them for other Three or More Thursdays, or Blue Monday or Pink Saturday depending on where they fit best.

Happy Three or More Thursday!!

Finally More Christmas Decorations!

I never did get around to posting the rest of the pictures I took of the decorations in my home. I don't have a lot this year. But I did do more than I did the last two years. Being involved in the Land of Blog does that to you I guess. And another thing is getting more used to having only the two of us at home for Christmas. After so many years with the kids around, it is still hard adjusting to not having the kids around for Christmas. This is the top of my pie safe which is in the family room. We bought this pie safe unfinished before we had our daughter. It has served us well over the years. Right now it holds cookbooks and boxed food items.
This is a close up at the left end of the pie safe. I am using the upside down wine glass idea again. I find that works very well when trying to add height and variation in the display. I got the little boy on a sled and the cup in 1980 the year of our son's first Christmas. The ornament on the glass says 1984, my daughter's first Christmas. And there is a little bitty Teddy Bear book. That was also a gift.
A lady at our church had these bear ornaments. She knew I collected teddy bears and so she passed them on to me. The bear on the left is a trinket box. It splits around the bears tummy into a top and a bottom of the little box. It was a gift from a previous secret pal at church. The white bears on the right was a gift also. I forget where the bear in the back came from.

This is at the right end of the pie safe. There is another little bitty book. The block ornaments have always charmed me. I think they were gifts when I was working for the school district. The Santa once held See's Candies chocolate balls. That was also a gift. The box on the right once had a truffle in it. I loved the box so I saved it. The ornament on top was from a student when I was working in special Education. So that is pie safe. It has been a fun place to decorate and every year it is different. I seem to never do the same thing twice.

This mosaic is the top of a dresser we have in the living room. The wall hanging was hand woven on a loom by my godmother. The same loom you saw in my Crafts blog if you have followed that one. We got it the first Christmas we were married. Then the following year when I made the crocheted snowflakes while I was pregnant I added one to the top of the tree on this banner. This display is mostly swedish things. The apple tree on the left is from Sweden. My parents gave that to us one year. In front of that is the gnome we bought in Lindsborg. The same artist who did one of the nativity sets I posted earlier. Then I have the red Swedish candle holders. I also have the Swedish Angel chimes. I needed candles for that and was able to find some at our local Scandanavian shop. The little tree on the right I usually use for minature easter ornaments. This year I put the red and white swedish ornaments and the square plastic canvas ornaments my mother made one year.

The top of my linen press has a snowman theme. The taller two are coffee cans wrapped in batting. A teacher I worked with had them and decorated the classroom with them. She no longer wanted them and asked if I wanted them. Sure, I'll take them. That was in 1991. I have had them out nearly every year since then. The one in the middle I believe was a gift. The ones on the left and the right are from Hallmark. The one on the right was a gift from a secret pal a couple of years ago. I went and got the one on the left this year when I realized I needed it to balance out the display. I don't know if you can see it to well, but on the shelf are three Avon bottles I have kept since I emptied them of Sweet Honesty. And the two wooden dolls are from Finland. They used to belong to my godmother who was Finnish. The little stocking are made from felt. I bought them at a Christmas Bazaar when my kids were still in elementary school. They had candy canes in them originally. Now I like to hang them somewhere. This year on this shelf works well.

There you have it, the rest of my Christmas things for this year. Not everything is out and no big tree for my ornaments. Maybe next year. I have to work today, hopefully only 4 hours. But we have suddenly had a big jump in admissions. The hospitals are probably trying to move anybody they can before the holidays into rehab facilities, so we have been swamped all of a sudden. I am worried whether they have kept me to 4 hours today. But a couple of other therapists of volunteered to work tomorrow so I get tomorrow off. I was originally going to work 4 hours tomorrow too. A surprise gift, getting the day off. Medicare does not take a holiday, therapy goes on, especially for those who just recently got admitted. However, I will have to work an 8 hour day on Friday when I am normally a 6.5 hour per day person. Busy, busy!

Tonight we will go to Christmas Eve service at church. And then in the last few years we have been driving around to look at lights on our way home. So we will probably do that again tonight. A new tradition we have is to be on the phone with our daughter as we open each other's gifts. But hers to us have not gotten here yet. But ours to her has. Also we open our stocking gifts while we are on the phone. This year she works at the hotel tonight and then she works again tomorrow. So the hotel is providing her with a room, so she does not have to go back home and then turn around again to come back to work. The plan is for her to call and wake us up when she gets off work,( there is a 2 hour time difference). Then we will open gifts together, she will bring hers with her to work, then she will hit the sack for some sleep before going back on the job later on Christmas Day. Doing this is the closest we can do to being together without actually being together. Maybe by next year we will have a webcam and can actually see each other open gifts. Now that would be fun! Plus if our son gets one, then we can watch our granddaughter open gifts too. Wouldn't that be cool!?!

I wish all of my new and wonderful blog friends a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones. Or has merry as you can get. I know for some of our blog friends, getting through the holidays is difficult every year and especially difficult this year. My thoughts and prayers are with those having a difficult time. I pray that those friends will be comforted knowing we are thinking of them. I am especially thinking of Sweetie who recently lost her beloved Pap and also of Stacey of A Lamb in the Field who last I heard was with her mother. One more I am thinking about is Susan of Sweetpea Sue's Cottage. I hope to hear from Susan soon too.

Thank you so much to all my followers and all the others who leave sweet comments. You all have enriched my life so much. I always wake up in the morning eager to see what every one is up to. And eager after work to check in again. You have brought tears as I cry with you and smiles as I laugh with you. Thank you again. And now I really need to go and get on with my Christmas Eve day. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Three Or More Thursdays #7

I guess when you have three or more of something it is time to call it a collection. No wonder I seem to have so many collections. Makes me think of that song......darn I can't remember the title or the words to that song. Oh well. Well, here goes, my collections for today's Three or More Thursday. Thank you to Tam at The Gypsy Corner for hosting Three or More Thursdays.

First up is my tree collection. The one in the middle is made from wood. It was a gift to me one year from a secret pal when I was working for the school district. The school I was at did a secret sister thing most years. I have always loved this tree. The little bows have come off a couple of the packages. I should probably replace them with new bows since it really isn't that hard to do. I have just been lazy or forget to think about getting some really small bows when ever I am out. The other 2 trees are from Avon. I don't remember how come I ended up with two. I think both came from my mother-in-law. She gave me one, then maybe forgetting she gave me one already she gave me another one. Actually I don't remember if that is how it happened or not. But that is okay I like having two. I never use them for their intended purpose. The little holes on them are for toothpicks with either gumdrops or little cheese squares stuck on them. And the little bear and doll hold salt and pepper if you want. But I don't use them for that. I like to just display them somewhere every year. This is my first time to actually group them together like this.
My next collection is angels. These are Christmas angels. I have other angels one of which I have shown on here before, the blue stained glass one. This one is a Wildflower Angel-Narcissus for December. This was also given to me from a secret sister for my birthday one year. Boy, I am realizing I have gotten some nice things from the various secret sisters I have had over the years. The next two are from the House of Lloyd. The one above I got because her name is Sara and my daughter's name is Sara. I think I will have to turn this one over to her eventually. I may have given to her as a gift, but it is still in my Christmas things. So my sweet daughter, when you read this, is this one of the things I have given to you and I am supposed to eventually give it back to you? Along with the white dala horse and the blue Shirley Temple pitcher. Anything else? Oh and the boxes of the Ashton Drake Doll ornaments. These two bear angels are singing their hearts out for Christmas. I just love this one since I do have a bear collection too and that was why I had to buy it. It does say on the bottom that they are part of The Bearsley Family Collection and their names are Jeremiah and Penelope and that they were from House of Lloyd. This is the only thing I have from The Bearsley Family. Now I wish I had been able to get more. After all, they are bears. Thank you for visiting me today. Happy Holidays to everyone. I can't believe Christmas is only a week away. Aack! I need to get my kids stuff mailed. Like today!!

Susie Q is 52!

Hey! That blog title rhymes. And I didn't even plan it that way. Anyway, I just joined Susie at her birthday party in NYC. It was a blast! Here is the link so you can go there too. But be warned, you might get worn out just like me. But that is alright. The party ends at a nice Bed and Breakfast where we can all crash and catch some zzz's.
Susie said there was a bear like this for each one of us from FAO. Isn't that cool! I love that since I have a collection of Teddy Bears. But for now this picture will have to do. Maybe someday I can get the actual bear. And the chocolates were to die for. Everything was such fun. So go on over to Susie Q's blog and join us all for the NYC party. Be sure to leave room for all the food we get to eat during the party. Happy Birthday to Susie Q!!!!!! Thank you Susie Q for inviting us to your party.

Pink Saturday #5

Thank you to Beverly for hosting Pink Saturday again. I find it fun to participate and it can get challenging to figure out what to do for a Pink Saturday post.

I am using my background fabric again for this post. Here you will see why I use the Neabear for my blog name. I use the last part of my first name and added bear because of my collection of teddy bears. Here are 3 of them that have some pink. The first bear has a dark pink ribbon around his neck. The next bear has pinkish wings with pink flowers in her fur and a pink nose. Then the third bear is a Cancer Bear with the pink breast cancer logo ribbon on her chest and a pink ribbon around her neck. The picture frame is from Avon, it had been my mother-in-laws. Somehow I have ended up with quite a few of her things when she was clearing out her house. There are pink flowers around the edge of the frame and the baby is my granddaughter not long after she was born sporting a pink headband. She is now 2 years old. In the foreground is a handkerchief with pinkish peach flowers and edging. I honestly don't remember where this one came from. I found it looking for my pink buttons to include in this picture. And then there are an assortment of pink buttons.
The picture above and the one below are my shades of pink impatiens that are still blooming. I have really enjoyed these flowers this year.
That is it for today's Pink Saturday post. I need to save something for future Pink Saturdays. Happy Pink Saturday to everyone. Thanks for visiting me. Now be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for more Pink Saturday posts. It is interesting to see what others come up with for Pink Saturday.