This n' that ...

Few ramblings of my life and mind ...

We lost a friend last week.  Betty Lawhead of Trimble, Illinois died at the age of 92.  Betty was a wonderful hooker, fellow charter member of the Hoosier Hills Rug Hooking Guild, and just a fun person to be around.  After reading her obit I could see that she had a wonderful, full life.  And the most interesting thing to me was that she lived in the same house all her life!  From birth to death.  Not many people can say that.  Wendell and I ran into her recently at the Wabash Coffee House in Hutsonville (IL) where she ate lunch every day!  I'm glad we got to share a few words and laughs that day!

And speaking of such things, I updated my address book this week.  I keep an old-fashioned one, like my mom used to, in pencil.  Thank goodness it's in pencil.  Unfortunately I had to erase several entries.  Our good old friend Jim Doversberger, my Aunt Rosie, and my cousin Margaret Schooley Johnson are all gone now.  And I hadn't erased Mom's entry yet; that was a hard one.  And other people have just moved out of our lives ...  Life does go forward.  But doing something like updating your address book brings the fact that you're growing older more clearly to mind.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving.  Was outside some because it was so beautiful.  Took a walk and it was great to breath deeply of the fresh air and enjoy the sunshine!  Had wanted to go out for a holiday dinner but waited too long to make reservations at any place we'd want to eat.  So we had ham, roasted butternut squash, and cranberry salad.  Pumpkin pie for dessert.  It was all good.  And spent with my favorite person.

So ... what have I been up to lately?  Here goes!

Last post I showed a view out my kitchen window with all the beautiful fall color.  Well, here's what it looks like now with the trees almost bare.  Big difference.  And we're supposed to have rain and wind tonight, so I expect even more will be gone tomorrow.

Betty McClelland gave me this piece from an old overshot weaving.  I sewed around the edges and fringed it to make a simple table runner.  I know it's not perfectly balanced, red & blue, but I like it anyway!  My thoughts are along these lines:  "who knows who made this and where it's been in its lifetime!?"  I love it.  (That bowl is made from an old lariat discovered at the farmer's market in Las Cruces last February.)

This is all the autumn decorating I did this year.  I was lazy ...  The American flag always makes things look better, plus the leaves helped me out!

This is the little mat I'm hooking right now.  It'll be a pillow top.  Now that I'm well along with it I like it better than I did when I started.  Isn't that always the way it is???

Here's the beautiful landscape by Bill Ferguson that Jane gave me.  We love it there on our living room wall!  How very generous of her to share this painting with us!  You know, Jane is just a very special person.  Some time I'll tell you some of the good things she does for the community.  Lots of things people don't even know about.  And probably way more than even I know about ...  Jane is a good person.  But anyway, thank you Jane.  We are so enjoying your gift.

Now, I'll close with this picture.  This is a VERY bad hand dealt to me in Quiddler.  We played a couple games last night.  If you were going to make some words out of this, what would you do?????  Luckily I got to draw.   Pssst ... my family doesn't know but I'm going to make them play this game at Christmas!  LOL!

Well, hope you've had a great Thanksgiving and are starting your Christmas shopping at home or at the mall.  And that you go out and do something fun this weekend, too.  We're off to the Festival of Trees at Shawnee Theater and the Owen Valley Winery for some wine to tide us over the rest of the year!  
Remember that God is good!  All the time!