I’ve posted this on facebook, but not here, I don’t think. My mother has lung cancer. She’s beat cancer twice before, both uterine and breast cancers. I like to think she can do it again, but she turned 80 in August, and that makes it harder this time.

She’s had radiation, and did well with that, but a recent bout of bronchitis had me pretty scared. An antibiotic and prednisone has her back on her feet AND behind the wheel, I’m happy to report.

There’ve been lots of other family illnesses to deal with lately, too. Needless to say, I’ve not done much crafting.

I AM trying to do special things for my mom, though. Yesterday, I took her a red velvet cake from Harris Teeter in Charlotte. When she was helping me keep PJ, my grandson, there, we scoured the city for red velvet cake and cupcakes. We decided we like the ones at the Harris Teeter the best of all! Their cream cheese frosting is not cloyingly sweet or fake tasting, and they’re topped with white chocolate curls instead of the usual red velvet crumbs.

In any event, I found these Swarovski crystal hearts at Fire Mountain Gems. They’re called “Wild Hearts,” and the color is light Siam. Other shades of pink and red were sold out, but that’s okay. I noticed not long ago that Mama doesn’t have any red earrings, and I wanted a pure red, anyway.