Sunday, December 23, 2012

Christmas blessings ...

Our little family had the annual get-together at son Jeff's apartment and it was a great day.  Six adults and one special grandchild were there.  Everyone arrived safely, a wonderful lunch was served and savored, presents were distributed and opened with all of the appropriate oh's and ah's, and family news was exchanged.  Veronica was the center of our world; children are what Christmas is all about, don't you think?  It was the most fun watching her open her presents and line them all up; she is a great little organizer.  I enjoyed checking out what she got myself.  With so many things to choose from when purchasing for a child, it is easy to please them, I think.  She is counting the days until Christmas and told us all just how many "to go".  I passed along several of my hooked rugs to my family.  Ah, that felt good!

My life has not been going as smoothly as I would like recently (health problems) but I am counting my blessings that even so I am who I am, where I am, and what I am.  For instance, even though Wendell and I were not feeling well this a.m. and worried that we might give our colds away at church, we went anyway and did our part.  We tried not to shake too many hands, hug too many special people, or talk right into any one's face!  LOL!  It was our honor to light the fourth candle on the Advent wreath, the first time since we started going to Freedom Church that we have been asked to do so.  I think we would have had to be VERY ill to miss that!  What a privilege to tell the story of Mary and her special day.  Then we had a lessons-and-carols sort of Christmas program and I read scripture for that, also.  The best part each year is the children's bell choir; they love to play the bells and it is really just a lot of disjointed ringing from some of the youngest ones but watching the looks on their faces is pure entertainment.  We topped off the morning by distributing the 2013 Church Directory which I created on my trusty little computer.

This afternoon we're just doing a lot of nothing.  It will be a busy week.  For you too, right?  My wish for you is the best possible Christmas this year.  Keep positive and continue to do good works.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

The price of homemade noodles?






Well, here's how I get myself in trouble ... yesterday I made a cake for Wendell to take to lodge that night.  Since it was a white cake, I had three egg yolks left over.  Wouldn't you agree that an egg yolk is a terrible thing to waste?  I think so!  So I got this crazy idea that I could try to make noodles with those yolks (pictured above drying on my washer/dryer). Yes; I did that.  Did you know that you have to knead the noodle dough for 10 MINUTES?  Yikes!  I should have stopped right then, when I read those directions.  And add to that the rolling out of the four equal balls of dough when you got to the actual noodle-making process!  And did you know that noodle dough is actually not made with flour and eggs like you think but with ELASTIC?!  It stretches right back, over and over and over, rolling and rolling and ....  Well, you get the idea.  ANYWAY, I came away from that experience with an extremely sore shoulder.  And it was already sore to begin with.  (Rita -- my NP -- would kill me.)  So I had to just show off those noodles since they have cost me so dearly.  No, I don't know how they taste; they're in the frig in a bag (and a pitifully small bag it is, I might add).  So, as to the title of this essay: the price of homemade noodles is a sore shoulder for this aging cook.  Never again; never never never!  Noodles are so cheap at the Freedom Country Store ...

Tuesday night was hooking at the Worthington Library.  There was one newbie.  Here is what some of the others brought for show and tell, or was working on:

Becky's brought this little cat mat, which she recently completed.
Becky must have been working on finishing UFO's before Christmas; here is another cat in a Margo White designed rug  she just completed.  I love the flowers in the border.  Great job, Becky!
Marilyn was working on this penny rug.  It's a Christmas gift.  (Wish I were on her list.)
Teresa was hooking on this large floral rug.  Everyone loved the colors she's selected; Teresa says she wants to use up some of her stash for this rug.
Teresa also brought some of these lovely fingerless mitten/head band sets.  She is selling the sets for $39 and taking custom orders.  Or she'll sell individually.  I have a pair of the mittens and I LOVE them!  These would make wonderful Christmas gifts.  Teresa always does a good job, whatever art/craft medium she is working in.  And as you can see, she is an excellent knitter.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

My life lately ...

I have received my first Christmas cards!  Yikes!  Something else to think about.  I admire these people who get those special greetings out early.  I love receiving them; sometimes it is the only correspondence I have with a friend or family member all year.  I'll bet it's the same at your house ...

A little update on Mother: She is settled in the nursing/rehab unit at River Terrace where she lives.  They expect her to be there for about two months before she gets back to her apartment.  She's regaining strength from her hip replacement surgery followed by that unexpected (to us) heart attack.  What a close one!  But she is strong.  I know her goal now is to get back to her apartment a.s.a.p.  Thank you everyone for your visits, calls, cards, prayers, and positive thoughts sent her way.  She appreciates it.  And so do we (her family).

Thanksgiving was wonderful!  What weather!  Never thought I'd be saying that we spent most of our time outside or on the porch!  Way too many exclamation points, I know.  
First thing we did the evening the "kids" arrived was go for a walk and we took this trail.  Wendell cut this sign for me and I painted it.  (I'm always looking for the easiest way, you know ...)  There were a lot of sticks to be thrown off the path, and coupled with the walk, we worked up an appetite for a light dinner.  Followed by an endless game of Uno.


Perfect ending to a great day.  

Thanksgiving day was also wonderful weather; we ate turkey and all the usual side dishes.  Flew kites and played a game in the p.m. with a little TV football thrown in.  Just your typical Thanksgiving day.  Sigh ...  Life is good.


Yeah!  I finally got a new sofa!  Wanted to share this picture with you.  The entire family got to try it out last week.  Not the one I dreamed of buying, but this one is still okay by me.  I like it fine (can you tell I'm still talking myself into it?).  Our old one was 12 years old and looking it.  This is that microfiber suede cloth.  It's a neutral color so it should go well with some new chairs I HOPE to get (maybe next spring?).  We'll see.  Ray and Gloria brought our old chair and ottoman back over from the garage!  (The GUYS were supposed to do that Gloria!)  So the living room looks better now, I think.  I have always loved that old chair; it is so comfortable.  I'm glad to have to back over here.


On Saturday we went on a little excursion.  First stop was Denise Green's antique shop in Worthington (pictured above).  It is fantastically decorated for Christmas!  She has a talent for putting just the right things together and also has some unique items for sale.  If you're a rug hooker, she has everything you need right down to the binding tape.  If you're in or through Worthington, please stop in and check it out.  We both loved the Santa who is leaning by the door, waiting to greet you with a HOHOHO!  

After we left there we stopped at a couple other shops in Bloomfield (not worth the time) and then went down and got on I-69 at the Crane interchange.  Took it all the way to the end of the new section (Indiana 68) where we got off and went to Warrenton to the Log Inn for some chicken.  I always get chicken livers with white gravy.  YUM!  Way too much but that means lots of left-overs to take home for the next day or two.   The new interstate is really great, if you can call an interstate highway "great".  It is well designed and still scenic.  Since it hasn't been developed there are very few billboards.  Lots of open (and very dark at night) sections, especially near Petersburg.  No gas stations, fast food places or motels yet, so it looks like road you would see out west where civilization is thin.  We left the Log Inn at 6:30 and were home a little after 7:30.  Not bad.  Check it out ...

We have had flock after flock of sandhill cranes over the past few days.  One evening, just after dark, they flew over the house so low that you could hear them talking to each other loudly.  Wonderful.  God is good.

Tomorrow I bake 7 dozen cookies for a retirement party ... sigh.  Why why why do I say I'll do these things?

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Oh, Fudge ...

Up and at 'em this a.m.  Took 12 bags of fudge to the bank in Spencer for an Owen County Extension Homemakers bake sale.  It's to fund the scholarship we give annually to a senior at Owen Valley H.S.  They do better there with individual bags of goodies versus whole pies and cakes, they say.  So I made some of my niece Lisa's candy bar fudge.  It is an excellent recipe and easy to make, but not cheap. When I got done mixing and cutting and bagging and labeling, I sat down and figured it out ... I got out my cash register tape and for the 5 items that make up the entire recipe I spent $11.66 at Walmart.  We were to price the fudge at $1.00 per bag for 4 pieces.  You do the math ... I made the OCEH $12.  I would have preferred writing a check for $12.00!  But if I were to dare to suggest such a thing I'd be drummed out of "homemakers".  SIGH!!!  (And that doesn't even count the trips to the grocery and then to Spencer to deliver the goods ...)

Do I sound crabby?  I'm sorry.  And I must say I tasted the fudge and it was good...  So there are dividends.  But here's my thinking ... if every homemaker that participated wrote a check for $12 our treasury would be $852 richer.  It will be interesting to see how much we make ........

Spending the day doing some pre-Thanksgiving cooking.  I have a pumpkin cheesecake in the oven as I type and when it comes out I'm putting in the bird.  I have a different plan for this year.  Gotta think of something to do to cut down on some of the stress/work so I can enjoy the day, too.  Maybe next year we'll all go out for Chinese!  LOL!  (Think "The Christmas Story".)

Have a great holiday with your family!

Monday, November 5, 2012

An update on Mother ...

What a week for Mom!  Last Monday she went to the dr. and they decided she would have hip replacement surgery since she had some hardware floating around the area from a past surgery.  The next day she had the surgery at Lutheran Ortho Hospital in Ft. Wayne.  It seemed to go well.  But two days later she had a heart attack.  She was transferred to the heart failure unit at Lutheran and that's where I've spent a lot of my time lately.  For a while there on Friday and Saturday we thought we were going to loose her.  Then on Sunday she started to turn the corner!  Now she is doing somewhat better and there is even talk about her being dismissed to go back to RT Healthcare Unit in Bluffton eventually  So the power of prayer is real.  For a 94 year old she is doing about as well as can be expected.  (So much can happen in one short week, can't it?)

I got home late Saturday and have been resting up and catching up.  On Sunday afternoon I sat down and finished the last few inches of binding on this quilt.  It looks better spread out and I'll try to do that soon and take a pix.





Also, I thought you might want to see what that runner rug looks like actually on the floor, in use!  I am so thankful, glad, proud, relieved, elated, happy, pleased, joyful, delighted ..... that it's done!  LOL!!!  So here it is, coming and going:




 Thank you all for your positive thoughts, powerful prayers and kind words.  Judy.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Home from the sunny south ...

What a week!  Wendell and I left for FL on the 16th and had a good trip down with beautiful fall foliage to see in KY and TN.  But, next time we fly and rent a car there ...  One low spot; we HAPPENED to be going through Gainesville and drove right through the campus just in time for students streaming to an FSU home game.  ARGH!  And guess who was driving!?  You gotta laugh ...Weather was beautiful all the time we were gone until the last afternoon as we approached home.  (Omen?)

This was my favorite part of the trip: We spent Sunday with my cousin Jane.  We agreed that we probably hadn't seen each other in at least 30 years.  So much catching up to do!!!!  Not enough time!  Wendell took countless pictures and none of them turned out good of me ... I take a terrible picture!  But here's my favorite of Jane and I ...

Jane has such a lovely home!  And it is made more special with all of her NASCAR memorabilia.  Just situated in a wonderful setting and so comfortable.  She has made a real HOME there.  Port Orange seems like a great place to live.  We had a delicious lunch out with Jane and Cregg.  (Their story is so romantic!  High school sweethearts recently reunited after too many years apart.  I am so happy for Jane; she deserves many years of happiness!)   The day was not long enough.

We went on to Orlando and stayed in a condo for 4 days.  It was so beautiful.  I never want to cook or clean again.  LOL!  Here's a view from our building overlooking the lagoon.  Everything was so perfect.  I don't know why, but it is so green it looks artificial.  They had a little open-air pub at the end of this lagoon (stage left) and we spent some time there ...

And here's a picture taken from the fishing dock.  I don't know why but Wendell never went fishing here!?  He had his gear with him, too.  The day I took this picture we watched a man from WI catch an alligator gar!  Awesome mouth on that dude!  About 2' long I'd say. 

One day we drove out to the coast and drove around the Cape Canaveral area, where we lived when we were stationed at Patrick A.F.B.   Our old apartment was still there at 212 E. Buchanan and other than a fresh coat of paint, nothing looked too different.  Here's Wendell on the beach, just at the end of our old street.  Actually, I never thought I would ever get back there.  Lots of changes in the area ...


Only downer was that while we were gone Mother had to be admitted to the hospital.  I was on pins and needles all the time after Don called (we were on our way back from the beach), waiting to hear about how she was doing.  We came home a little more quickly than we had planned.  But that is okay.  God took care of us as we traveled speedily back to Indiana Thursday afternoon and Friday.  And it was good to sleep in my own bed again.  

Now that we're here it's back to reality.  I'm off to see mother a.s.a.p. ...

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A tea party ...

The Owen County Extension Homemakers had a wonderful tea this a.m.!  I am sooooo glad I went!  Our new county president hosted it with lots of help along the way from some very creative women who decorated for the event.  And our speaker was just great.  Meeghan had spent two years in England with her family and told us all about what it was like living there.  She had some excellent stories.  And oh yes, tea is very important there!

I took LOTS of pix but here are a few ... I was really hung up on the table decorations as you can see, so I took pictures of every table, but I'll only bore you with a few ...

Each table had a centerpiece vignette centered on a hat.  Everyone was asked to wear "unique" hats and carry or wear gloves.

Barbara Jordan of Spencer did these centerpieces. She is a very creative woman.

Each table had six places set and two plates of tea cakes.  (Delicious!)

At each place was a little journal, cake-in-a-cup mix, M&Ms, and the program printed on a cut-out of a tea pot.

Various flavors of tea were at the table in a fabric-wrapped basket.

Barbara Tuttle's mother has a huge collection of tea cups and everyone had their own unique cup and saucer!  She also has a collection of tea pots and each table was brought a pot of boiling water for tea making.
Everyone was encouraged to wear hats and gloves.  Here I am in mine -- a hard hat with flower and work gloves with some rhinestone bling.  (With my eyes closed of course.  Usually I have my mouth open AND my eyes closed ...)

Our very worthy Prez, Barbara T., greeting people at the door.  She chose a witch's hat; pun intended Barbara?

Oh my!  It was a great day.  Now I'm home and have to get back to reality.  Sigh ...

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Finally ...

At 9:45 p.m. tonight I finally finished hooking this rug!  Phew!  Now I just need to get it bound ...


I think that's all I can say right now.  I'm sort of speechless.

Monday, September 24, 2012

BTW ...

I wanted to share these pictures taken at the last meeting of the Holy Hookers.  (BTW ... it is open to anyone ... first Tuesday of each month at the Worthington-Jefferson Public Library at 6:30 p.m. ... y'all come!)  

It was a small group, just six of us, but we had a great time.  I love to see the works in progress.  And it is always wonderful when the hookers bring in completed projects!

Here goes ...

Sue L. always brings in these wonderful folk art/primitive looking pieces!  What a wonderful rug!  Much better viewed in person than in a picture (as is usually the case ...)
Sherry B. is a real artist!  This is a view of her koi pond, right by the entry into her log home.  Her work is smooth as silk and add to that the fact that she designs her own pieces ... well, what more can I say.
Sherry also made this cat door stop.  He has a hooked face and wool body.  Way cute!  And that's her in the background.

We are already filling up that d**m calendar for this week!  I guess tomorrow I take the PT, once again, over to the auto hospital in Bloomington.  Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone by picking up my quilt from Sheila's Sew Time.  But I don't have the next one ready to take (no backing prepared).  Well, that just gives me another excuse to go to Bloomington!  Right?  Today we mow. And meetings are on the agenda, too (heavy sigh ...).

Hope you enjoy these pictures of what the Holy Hookers have been up to lately.  And BTW, have a great week at your house.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Runaway quilting ...

Just returned yesterday from a three-day quilting retreat at Mt. St. Joseph Retreat Center near Owensboro KY.  Been there several years and I have to say that this was the most productive time I have ever spent there!  I was able to concentrate yet still socialize; it must have been the company I was keeping!  I completed a quilt top that I started several years ago, took a one-day class called Log Cabin Triangles, and then got a good start on sewing and cutting for this new quilt the day following the class.  Just completing that old project was so freeing.  Hate having so many UFOs around.  And unlike some things you start and then finish years later, I actually still like the fabrics I chose.  Have one quilt over at Sheila's Sew Time being quilted, and hope that I'll have the backing prepared so I can take this quilt to be quilted when I pick up the other one.  Keeping my fingers crossed ...

Besides getting a lot done, it was great spending time with Jane and Margo.  Jane drove and we discovered that US 231 is now four lanes all the way on from I-64 south into Owensboro.  That made for a very smooth trip.  And I didn't get us lost this year!  Yeah!  The food was alright with lots of salads, which is a good thing.  One day we had some awesome chicken noodle soup for lunch.  (You know how women fuss about food.)  Jane, Margo and I had lots of time to talk as we worked in the gym, where sit n' sew was held.  They probably know lots more about me than they ever wanted to.  LOL!

Today I spent the a.m. over at the garage in my work room putting things away and laying out my new quilt pieces on the table, preparing to continue working on it here at home.  But right now I'm tired and I think I'll just read for a spell.  It's nice being home.

Just read a good quote this a.m. in my daily devotional by Sarah Ban Breathnach.  I am contemplating a major change in my life.  It was almost prophetic:  "If not now, then when?"  Indeed.

The Retreat Center courtyard with quilts hanging from the rails.

At the neighboring table Sarah was making these fabulous baskets!  I hope they do a class on this next year!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

A great weekend at the Elnora show ...

I was lucky enough to get to demonstrate rug hooking this past weekend at the Elnora Antique Steam and Tractor Show.  Sara Jolliff and Beth Cadell are now spinning and weaving in the old log cabin in the southeast corner of the steam demonstration area.  On Friday I sat out on the porch and hooked.  But they talked me into sitting with them so they could talk with me and not about me ... LOL!  We had a great time.  All of us used to be in The Big Green Building, but it is now mostly empty.

It was so busy!  Friday was the day the school children visit and they had LOTS of questions.  Saturday was the busiest I have ever seen it at the Elnora show!  The question people asked me the most was, 'how long does it take to hook one of these (rugs)?'  How do you answer that question?  Actually I had lots of great questions, lots of people closely watching me work, and some kind words about my work.  The weather that day was just perfect.  

In addition to hooking in the a.m. Saturday, I worked a 3-hour shift in one of the ticket booths.  I thought that by 2:00 when I started working it would have slowed down.  NOT!  It was just steady for me and the booth facing me with people coming to the show almost constantly from 2 till 5 p.m. when we stopped charging.  And there are three other places to enter the grounds!  Wow!  This is the second year I've worked the gates and it was much better at this location.  Lots of happy people; happy to be coming and happy as they left.  Just an all-around good experience.

Here's some pictures I took .....
 
Looking northwest from the cabin's front porch ... isn't that sky beautiful!?
Beth Caddell demonstrates weaving on this old "barn" loom.  If it looks smoky in there, sometimes it was, from the steam engines or from the cook house next door!
Sara Jolliff gives pointers to a woman who was interested in seeing if she could learn to spin.  Some of Sara's wonderful products are hanging on the walls.
Some of Beth's yummy looking roving.  Both Beth and Sara have sheep (and other animals as well!).  Doesn't this look like cotton candy?
There was chicken n' noodles for lunch Sunday!  Looks delicious!  We were able to watch the women prepare ham n' beans Friday, beef stew Saturday, and these noodles on Sunday, all over an open fire.  (Oh, to be one of those "threshers"! 

All in all, it was a good weekend.  Wendell and I were both tired and slept late Tuesday a.m.  (Wendell had to go back to Elnora Monday and help with the tear down.)  He works in the sorghum shack and they had a few problems.  But everything turned out well he said.  Tonight we had fresh bread with some of the sorghum on it.  Mmmmmmm......

My number one "job" this week is to prepare for next week's Runaway Quilters retreat.  In addition to that there is grass to mow, clothes to wash, a meeting to attend, and other "stuff".  I am so pumped after spending three days with Sara and Beth that tonight I snuck in some weaving time.  I'm starting a rug made from a white chenille bedspread.  It looks so soft and cushy!  Oh, I sold my first woven rug at the show for $50 ... yeah!  I think I'm going to like this weaving business.  Have a blessed week ...

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Good book! (And a few other happenings in my life ...)

I just finished reading the best book, "Living a Country Year" by Jerry Apps.  This is the best book I've read in a long time.  I know I keep saying that, but this one is special.  I recommend it highly.  Found it at our town library.

My brother Don and wife Nancy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Saturday.  What a great day!  It was at their church in Avon; a recommitment ceremony with a reception following.  They both looked so good!  On display were lots of family pictures by decade.  Nancy's wedding dress was on a mannequin.  We saw lots of family and some old acquaintances, too.  Just an all-around good time.

Wendell and I had gone to Portland the day before to the antique engine and tractor show there.  I have NEVER seen so many Case tractors together in one place in my life.  Wendell was in hog heaven!  LOL!  Case was the feature tractor and we took picture after picture of Old Abe's best.  It was a very hot day and I'm afraid I cause our day to be cut short by an hour or so.  I found a bench and urged him to go back and look some more but he wouldn't ...

It was sort of an uneven trip on the highways.  On our way into Portland, right by the Jay County High School, we witnessed an auto accident.  A woman stopped with her signals on as if to turn left into the school but instead turned right and hit a car that was passing her in a right-hand passing lane.  Scary and upsetting.  Not a serious thing but unsettling.  We stayed in Muncie overnight and then went on to the 50th celebration the next day.  On the north side of Indy on I-465 a truck ahead of us kicked up a huge hunk of semi truck tire tread and it hit my little PT right in the front right corner.  Luckily it only put a black mark on the underside of the front bumper.  We were holding our breath there for a while, waiting for something to fall off.  LOL!

Here's a quilted wall hanging I finished last week. Thought I'd share a picture of it with you.  I am still on a mission to finish as many of my UFOs as I have an interest in finishing.  Got another queen size quilt top ready to go to the quilters right now ...

This was a class project at Runaway Quilters Retreat a couple years ago.  Jane S. and I both took this class.  Runaway will be here again before we know it!
Today we went to church, then after lunch we took a little drive to the Big Peach and got probably our last peaches of the summer.  My they are good looking!  I can hardly wait to have one on my cereal in the a.m.  When we got home I went to the loom in the basement and just started weaving!  It felt good.  Hadn't really done that since Wendell moved it over here.  I had tied the warp on again and wove in the filler and header, but not the actual body of the first rug.  And it is going to look good!  I'm using a chunky yarn.  Definitely different than using cotton fabric like the first five I made!  Aunt Glenna promised me at Don's party that she has some old curtains to give me to weave with.  Yeah!

It is different here without a TV.  I have gotten lots of crocheting, cleaning, reading, Bible studying, writing, geneology, and other more important stuff done (than TV).  We got online to watch Master Chef the other night and were so annoyed at what happened that now we REALLY don't care if we ever get another TV or not.  But we probably will eventually ......

Have a blessed week y'all.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Electrifying time at the Foster homestead ...

We had a great trip to Grand Rapids to spend time with the kids and granddaughter.  Here's a pix of her with her favorite chick at Boulder Ridge Park, where we spent most of Wednesday.  At their house Veronica and I did all sorts of crafts together and Grandpa did a lot of snoozing on the couch.  It was a good time for sure.


After we arrived home Thursday evening almost immediately a storm came up.  What else is new?  It can't just rain here, it has to storm!  LOL!  We were sitting there, watching the tornado and severe storm warnings on TV, when a lightning strike hit VERY nearby and zap ... there went our TV and VCR.  Great ... just what we need.  I don't think we'll hurry to replace them.  There's nothing I've missed so far on TV anyway (but I will miss reruns of The Big Bang Theory ...).  Wendell thinks it will be fun to take them both apart, just to see what's inside.  

Friday we went to Bloomington and got my PT out of the "hospital" ... aka Town & Country Chrysler.  They put new control arms on it, fixed the AC and changed the oil.  It is like a new car!  Yeah!  We will just drive it till the wheels come off THEN get a new car.  Who wants a car payment right now, anyway?  Not me ...  plus I don't know what I'd get to replace it with ...

A new week is just over the horizon.  I think I'll probably be busy with tomatoes.  Here's a sample ...
Besides canning I've also been turning these into ...
my own fresh salsa!  Yum!

Have a wonderful week yourself!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

De-cluttering ...

This a.m. I am back on the job of de-cluttering my house.  Getting "stuff" together for the garage sale Labor Day weekend (Sat.) in Worthington.  I haven't done this since we had a driveway sale before we moved to the country.  As you can see from this picture, it's about time ...

Some of the "stuff" from below the guest bath vanity.  ARGH!  And more has been carried out to the laundry room (which needs to be de-cluttered as well).  Sigh ...  On the plus side, I am cleaning the cabinets at the same time! 

Here's a picture of an old bathroom set including wastebasket, 2-pc soap dish, tissue holder, toothbrush holder & glass.  It is so ugly it's beautiful.  Do you want it???  Let me know and I'll give it so YOU ... if not it goes in the yard sale.  But I have to be able to HAND it to you.  LOL!

This is a pretty accurate color depiction, too.  And it's in perfect condition.
Last night was hooking at the library in Worthington.  It was an excellent group; kindred spirits I think.  Margo was binding; Teresa was trying to finish her small shaded practice piece; Jane, Jan and Becky were working on their current projects; I started something new.  It was a good night.

Wendell went to the WRVAA meeting last night (for the Elnora steam show).  He usually works in the sorghum shack but the iffy news on that front is that they don't know if they will be able to locate any cane this year for squeezing!  Yes, the crops have been just that bad.  There is a guy in Orange County that they are going to try ...  That would be sad if they can't do that demonstration.  But it might give Wendell the opportunity to actually "see" the show.  Hopefully, I'll be working the show in the weaving cabin, sitting on the porch, hooking.  Peggy, Beth and Sara work there and I offered my services last year and they seemed enthusiastic.  (The Washington rug hooking guild is no longer interested in demonstrating rug hooking anywhere, so I'm on my own.)  They spin in the cabin as well as weave.  There's a big, what I call, barn loom in the cabin.  I can weave now but I don't know about that loom.  I "think" it has thread heddles!  We'll see.  But I will be hooking somewhere at the show ...  Even if I have to sit under a tree and do it!

Today I'll try to finish cleaning that guest bathroom and maybe knock out the laundry room as well.  At least when I get to the master bath there is no "stuff" stored there.  LOL!  Have a blessed week.

Friday, August 3, 2012

End of a good week ...

Today I'll be getting ready for the Lee family reunion.  It will be great to get together with all of the cousins, aunts, uncles and extended family.  We'll also celebrate Mom's 94th birthday.  The Lee farm has been in the family for more than 100 years and it is a special place to be.  I have so many wonderful memories of staying with Grandma and Grandpa Lee there when I was a child.  I can remember just how things were then.  Of course it is different now but it is sort of like holy ground for me.  So even though I will complain about the heat and the no-see-ums, I will down deep be enjoying myself and those creature discomforts will not be as annoying as if, say, I was out working in the yard (ugh!).  

Today I helped Wendell get a new gasket on the bottom of our garage door.  It needed it.  What a job!  Of course it is never simple doing anything around here, and I ended up cleaning the inside of the garage door!  How did that happen!?!?  When I was done with that job, I just stayed down there and tied the warp on the loom for the final run of rugs with that off-white warp.  (Wendell moved my loom to the house a couple weeks ago ... YEAH!)  There is not a lot of warp left on there but I'm curious to see how this next yarn I'm going to use will look as a rug.  It is a big chunky yarn I bought, thinking I would crochet an afghan for myself but I began and could see it would be WAY too heavy.  So it will be a red, white and green rug instead.  After that I want to do another colorful rug for Errin Logsdon, who lost the first rug I gave her.  (Errin gave me the loom.)  The Logsdon home, in Freedom, was destroyed by fire last week.  They lost virtually everything.  Our home extension club has already collected recipe books for her and I donated three books to that cause, but I think another woven rug is in order, too.  Tomorrow and last week our church is collecting $$$ for the family.  That is one thing that is a "positive" about living in a small community.  The caring for each other.  The negative is everyone knows your business (or thinks they do ...).

This week we had a strong storm through come here.  Luckily Wendell and I were in Terre Haute at a Rex baseball game and missed it.  Thank God.  I would have been beside myself.  For some reason the wind scares me so.  Our neighbor, Frank Cecil, lost his carport, front porch and some of the NW corner of his little rental house down the road from us.  Debris is scattered in the fields and along the roadside for a pretty good distance east from his house.  Our neighbors, the Bewley's, lost several trees.  They just snapped off about half way.  Another neighbor, with just a garage, gazebo and bathhouse on his property, has a tree on the top of the garage.  We had a little damage in the woods, but just trees that were already weak.  We "did" have a pick-up-sticks day here on Wednesday though ...  I was way tired the next day!  And actually there is more out there to pick up, but that will have to be next week.  The leaves were just plastered to the west side of our house.  And lots of them looked like they had been shredded.  On the negative side -- it was mostly wind and no rain.  We desperately need rain, being an area of extreme drought, and it appears it just blew, hailed and rained just a little.  We pray for rain daily at our house.

Have a blessed weekend.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Up and down ...

I took several items to enter in the Owen County Open Class Fair last Saturday.  Supposed to work but county prez sent me home because I was ill.  (I must have looked awful to bring her to do that.)  Shouldn't have gone in the first place.  Actually I think I will be making up for it by working two other 4-hour shifts this week.  But I hated to let them down that day.

Besides jewelry, canning, a foliage plant and crochet, I entered that hooked mat "Prim Rose" that I posted a picture of here a few days ago.  And a woven rug that you might be interested in.  Since this was my first run of weaving I was amazed that this beginning project received a reserve champion ribbon!  This encourages me now to advance into more difficult projects and take full advantage of having a 4-harness loom.  The rug I entered is a simple over-under cotton rag rug.  Here's a picture but not a good one I'm afraid.  Looking at it here I see it is fairly straight along the sides.  My weaver friend, Paul, has given me tips on the selvage edges so I can do better on the next run.  I still have lots of this off-white cotton warped on the loom, so I will weave with that for now until I work it off.  Then when I'm done with off-white I'll change to a linen color warp I have and try something else.  I'm thinking of doing some place mats and a table runner.  Then I want to move on to various colors of warp.  But man, warp is so pricey!  This could get out of hand ! LOL !  ;-)

Sort of a blurry pix of the woven rug I entered in the fair ...
Everything else I entered in the fair got a blue or red ribbon (sigh) no grand champions this year.  But there's always NEXT year ...

Now, if I can just get back to normal, health-wise!  On the plus side, I went to the dentist for my 6-month check up yesterday and everything in my mouth is AOK.  Good.  I needed some good news yesterday from someone with initials behind his name.  While laying around the past week, feeling bum, I have finished two good books.  And done lots of crocheting.  But here's the not so good news; I cleaned the guest room last Friday and put the hooking away for a while ... Yes, I know, that was a big mistake.  When will I ever finish that runner rug, you ask, if I keep putting it "away"???  Right now it is draped over the banister in the front hallway.  That will remind me to get with it, right?

The corn is all out of the garden and we're estimating that from two 30' rows we had maybe six meals of corn on the cob and I got one (yes, 1) pint for the freezer.  Pathetic.  All that's left in the garden is peppers, tomatoes and some sick looking flowers.  Wendell is babying along the veggies with a dam around them and watering every few days.  Today we're going to Terre Haute.  It is supposed to be almost 100 degrees but it will be a fun day anyway regardless of the heat.  I need to get him away from the work of this place.

Have a blessed week and KEEP COOL!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

This n' that ...

Got another row done on that blessed runner rug ... have been feeling a little under the weather but some sulfa drugs from the dr. has made me almost back to normal.  I have pushed myself nonetheless because the county fair is next week and had some things to prep for that ...

Here's the latest progress pix ... Yeah!
Or maybe I should show it like this!  That at the bottom ... that's THE END!
I can hardly believe I am so close to the end of this rug and trust that nothing will happen to deter me from completing it this time around.  It has been years since I started it; I can't remember when exactly.  Still have to finish that other rug; the woman with the red hair.  Then I can start something FRESH!

Wendell dug the garlic yesterday and it is so pathetic.  Some plants were just nothing, others looked like one bulb.  The (very) few larger ones are about the size of a hulled walnut.  But it is drying on the front porch and I'm thankful for what we have.  He dug up what was left of the green beans; the rabbits ate them to just a leafless stalk.  Last night something charged the garden electric fence in two places, breaking it down but the corn, tomatoes and peppers are still intact.  I think some of the plant-eating animals are getting desperate now, there is so little vegetation left.  The queen Anne's lace is the only thing blooming in our prairie area.  Rugged coneflowers even failed me this year.  The black eyed Susans looked good for a while then one day I looked and they seemed to wither overnight.

Other things are drying up too ... I heard an interesting statistic on the news two days ago.  In the last reported month only 84,000 new jobs were created in the U.S.  However the same month 85,000 people went on disability.  Scary, no?

I'm reading a really good book of short stories about women.  It's called Ordinary Lives.  Since I've lived 67 years I can see something of myself in each story so far.  I feel normal.  Not the "new normal", the old kind.

PS ... I passed the PAP test, too.  I'm good to go for another year!  Of course there is always that 50 # I want to loose but ........
PPS ... I know that for some reason you can't comment here and I am sorry.  I miss your comments!  I continue to look at all of the settings but believe it has to do with my AVG virus tool bar which "they say" is active but shows as turned off.  I will continue to search for the answer ...  I love to get emails! jaf1944@gmail.com