Easter

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Easter came early this year. I feel like we just got over Christmas. But, Easter is my favorite holiday for so many reasons. The main reason is that we celebrate the risen Christ who died for every one of us on the cross. He arose the third day. Many saw Him after he arose and many saw him ascend into heaven. He is coming back one day, you know. He is coming to gather His church and set the world aright. He can come back for you, too, if you believe in Him and ask Him into your life.

Easter means Easter bunnies and eggs and baskets and candy. Easter eggs are a symbol of the new life we receive when we accept Christ into our lives. I don’t know where the Easter bunny came from. It’s a fun time for children. After church, where we had a wonderful cantata performed, we came home and had dinner with family. We had Kentucky fried chicken because I was too lazy to fry my own, scalloped potatoes, home grown corn, biscuits that I made myself, a wonderful salad my son-in-law prepared, cake and cupcakes. It was good.

The kids were so excited about the Easter egg hunt. There were 150 eggs hidden all over the yard, some with candy and some with slips of paper they could redeem for dollar bills.

David had to guard the door before the hunt. See those faces? They are already looking for the eggs.

Then they were let loose and the hunt began.

Our granddaughter looked so pretty in her floral dress.

One of my grandsons in his fedora. He’s an old spirit in a young body. And he really looks cute in hats.

This young ‘un can hunt eggs so quickly. He soon had a bag full.

Afterwards we opened eggs to see how much money everyone received. They all did pretty well.

My granddaughter with her money.

Our handsome grandson. He is growing too fast.

Our youngest grandson lost another tooth playing with his cousin.

David enjoyed sitting on the front porch visiting with everyone. Our new front porch has become a wonderful place to gather.

We even had a bunny for the day.

Uh, we had another bunny also. This boy is so much fun to be around.

Hope you had a blessed Easter. He is alive! Bye.

When You Adopt a Dog

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When you adopt a dog, you suddenly become a parent to a childlike creature who will depend on you for all its needs until the day it dies.

When you adopt a dog, you learn patience, feel stress, get aggravated and spend a lot of your time cleaning up messes.

When you adopt a dog, everything you wear will have dog paw prints on the front of it at one time or another.

When you adopt a dog, you find yourself telling people about it like it was one of your children.

When you adopt a dog you have to get someone to care for it if you ever want to go on vacation or you will need to find a good kennel.

When you adopt a dog be prepared to spend more on its food, toys and vet bills then you spend on yourself in a month.

When you adopt a dog, don’t expect any privacy any longer as they want to be where you are all the time and if they are outdoor dogs, you will have someone staring in the door at you at all times.

When you adopt a dog, be prepared to be sniffed in the most unlikely places.

When you adopt a dog, be prepared for your pantyhose bill to go up.

When you adopt a dog they will watch for you and wait for you just to get a little of your attention.

When you adopt a dog, they are always ready to play. Unless they are elderly.

When you adopt a dog and love your beautiful lawn, expect it to not be so beautiful after a few diggings.

When you adopt a dog, you will have to clean the yard of all the toys before you mow the yard.

When you adopt a dog, you will still want another one every time you see a puppy. Do not, and I repeat, do not allow yourself the luxury of looking at or, heaven forbid, smelling a puppy.

When you adopt a dog, they will get their feelings hurt when you adopt a new puppy. Then you must show the older dog more attention.

When you adopt a dog you find yourself in the dog toy department more often than the underwear department. Thus, you have holey underwear.

When you adopt a dog you look in its eyes and see nothing but love.

When you adopt a dog, you will have someone who trusts you more than anyone else on earth.

When you adopt a dog, expect your heart to be broken when it passes away. It’s a family member, after all.

When you adopt a dog, you very well might find yourself in a social environment smelling like the dog doo that is on the bottom of your shoes.

When you adopt a dog, don’t expect it to be like the last dog you adopted. Some dogs are easier than others to raise. Just like children.

When you adopt a dog, you find yourself looking at the pretty collars and leashes if it’s a girl dog.

When you adopt a dog, you find yourself looking at the pretty collars and leashes if it’s a boy dog.

When you adopt a dog, you may be like me and find a three foot hole in the side of your house.

When you adopt a dog, be prepared to fall in love.

When you adopt a dog, expect to never have clean doors ever again.

When you adopt a dog, you will find yourself worrying about them when you are on vacation.

When you adopt a dog, you will sometimes feel a nuzzle against your hand seeking some loving and you will gladly comply.

When you adopt a dog, a cold, wet nose may startle you at times.

When you adopt a dog be prepared to have a companion for all its life.

When you adopt a dog, part of your heart is taken forever.

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I hope you have experienced the love of a good dog.

Here’s to the dogs in our lives and the love they give to us. Bye.

Textiles and Me Part2

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Yes, I love textiles. There is something about walking aisles of fabric stores looking at all the beautiful fabrics, feeling their softness and silkiness. There are fabrics for every taste, every color in the rainbow. I feel the same way about yarns although I don’t use yarns very often.

Since Spring is coming(I hope) and I don’t plan on spending time in my shop sewing when the weather is warm, I have been sewing up a storm the last few weeks. I found fabrics I had forgotten I had and brought out some of the fabrics I purchased recently and began sewing.

This is a skirt I just finished. I paired it up with a little bolero jacket I made a couple of years ago.

I used a handkerchief for its pockets.

I made this skirt and paired it with a top I bought last year and a shrug I bought several years ago. I love going through my closet and finding things I haven’t worn for a long time and find they go with something else. I like wearing shrugs or bolero jackets because I am five foot one and long jackets just don’t look good on me. I can’t believe I am five foot one. I feel about six inches taller. Really. But my doctor says that’s how tall I am so I can’t argue with him.

This is the dress I wrote about a while back. The one that I am not sure I like how it fits. It may be because I am not used to wearing fitted dresses or fitted anything for that matter. I will buy clothes one and two sizes too big because I can’t stand anything close to my body. This little bolero jacket is kind of a different shape also. We shall see how much I wear this. I love the fabric though.

I just fell in love with this fabric. Kind of wish I had made another skirt from it. Maybe I will do some changing to the dress later.

I put the quilt I hand quilted on our bed this week for warm weather. Then it got cold again.

I made these pillow cases from feed sack material. I told David these are just for show as I don’t think these would hold up to washing after washing. I do love how they go with the quilt.

This is what I am wearing Easter Sunday. I am also wearing a hat. I want to start a hat revolution. Too many women tell me they don’t think they look good in hats. I think it’s just because when they wear a hat, they are usually the only one wearing one and feel like everyone is looking at them. If more would wear hats, then no one would think anything about it. As it is now, if I wear a hat, someone always says something about it because it is a rarity. I love hats and want to see them come back. My mother had so many hats. One day I will show you some of them which I have, of course. I also have a little hat I wore when I was a little girl.

I’m loving my purse. This pattern is so easy.

Now I will talk about Miss Molly Marshmallow. Look at what she is doing to poor Bonnie. Sitting on her head. I know it’s a sign of dominance, but I wish Bonnie would bite her on the behind just once. This is how she sits. Like a queen on her throne. David and I have been seriously talking about changing her name to Termite because this dog eats wood. She brings up whole logs from the wood pile and gnaws through them. She pulls branches off trees and chews them. And I told you about the big hole she chewed into our house almost clear through to the inside. David was not a happy camper about that and words like, “That dog is gong to find itself in a new home,” to ” Something has to be done about that dog,” were being said. I was close to tears. But, David repaired the hole and so far, Molly has not chewed the house anymore. I think she may have heard what David was saying. She is getting spayed in a week and I am hoping that will settle her down a bit. Poor baby.

Here are two eggs David gathered today. See the little one? See the jelly bean? What in the world happened with that chicken??? Smallest egg we have gotten since the hens all started laying. Must have been a bad day.

Here’s to fabric, dog sitting dogs and tiny eggs. Life is always interesting. Bye.

Textiles and Me

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For as long as I can remember, I have loved textiles and sewing. My mother gave me an old sock when I was very little and I laboriously hand sewed a little doll from it. I still have that doll and if I can find it, I will show it to you one day. I played with that doll, drew a face on it and enjoyed it for a long time. It wasn’t like I didn’t have other dolls. I got a doll every Christmas and had a whole family of them, but because I had made this doll, it was special to me. I have been sewing with needles since I could hold one in my hand and know what to do with it.

I remember Mother getting a new Singer sewing machine one year. She was so proud of that machine and it is on that machine I learned to sew. Plus having six years of Home Economics where I learned to sew clothes and drapes. I remember Mother sewing clothes for me. It was so fun for me to go to JC Penney’s with her and pick out the fabric and coming home and helping to cut out an outfit and Mother sewing it. I remember a plaid dress, a red and white dotted swiss dress with a big velvet sash(that I wore to the Ruth Lyons television show in Cincinnati) and several other outfits. I always had to have new clothes for the beginning of school, for Easter, for Christmas and other times. Mother made most of them. I also got hand me downs from my cousins in Detroit who had very expensive clothes. To tell you the truth, I didn’t like wearing hand me downs except for my brothers’ pajamas. Yes, I wore my brothers’ hand me down pajamas and was proud of it.

When I got old enough to be in 4-H I learned to embroider and to do Huck weaving. I sewed a pillow cover and a dresser scarf(do people use dresser scarves any longer?) and made dish towels with Huck weaving on them. I still have those towels. Yes, I don’t get rid of anything.

The love of textiles grew as I grew. In seventh grade I had a Home Economics teacher, Miss Glunt. She wore dresses to her ankles and those old lady black shoes you see in old movies. Her hair was always in a neat bun. She was a stickler for doing things right. You had to rip out anything she didn’t think was done properly. I sewed a Kelly green straight skirt with a matching jacket and a green and white printed blouse in her class. We had a style show and I was so proud to model that outfit. In later years I sewed several outfits in Home Ec. One year my very best friend and I went shopping and bought the exact same material, a floral pique and bought the same pattern and we made matching dresses and we got to model them together in the style show that year. Now that’s friendship when you are willing to wear the same outfit together!

One year I modeled an empire waist dress. I remember feeling so beautiful in that dress. Kind of like Cinderella. I was not a bit afraid of walking out on stage and modeling that dress, I loved it so much. I guess you could say I am a model. Ha!

When we had children, I sewed for them. One year I made myself and one of my sons outfits and we modeled together in a city style show. It was a contest and I was hoping to win a prize. I think I got second or third place.

This is just to say, I love textiles. I love the feel of fabric and yarns. I can look for hours online at all the beautiful fabrics that are offered on so many sites. How my mother would have loved it. She never lived to see computers so widely used. I am trying so hard not to buy any new fabric because I really need to use up what I have which can never be done if I sewed continuously for the next twenty years. I can’t believe the choices there are and that new ideas just keep coming. I have favorite fabric designers, but that can change at any time as new ones are always producing new fabrics.

I sewed my own clothes for many years until I got into quilting and sewing clothes went by the wayside. I sew skirts for myself and recently I sewed a dress, but I don’t like how it fits so not sure how much I will wear it. I have a couple of favorite blouse patterns that I use occasionally, but that’s the extent of my clothes sewing.

This is a skirt I am working on. I have hundreds of old hankies, another textile I love, and I used one in the pockets on the skirt. I can make a skirt in an afternoon. It’s relaxing to sew and I get lost in the making of something that can be of use.

This is a purse I made for Easter. It cost me next to nothing as I used odds and ends of felt and fabric I had around my shop.

I have a whole lot more to say about textiles, but I will save it for my next post. Hope you have some textiles you love in your life. A favorite blouse, skirt, pillowcase. Surround yourself with textiles you love. Bye.

What’s new?

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We are in between the glorious springing of Spring and the last gasping breath of cold, dark Winter. Old Man Winter just does not want to leave yet. We had a beautiful day of temperatures in the seventies, then today it is cold and windy. Ugh. Don’t toy with me Mother Nature. The flowers raise their little heads timidly from the cold soil looking for a spot of sunshine. Buds on the trees are holding themselves all ready for the first sign that Spring is actually here. Don’t come out too soon, buds, or you will get burned.

Despite the gloomy weather, things brightened up the other day when the phone rang. I answered it and the voice on the other end said that I had won a prize from the shop hop we took part in a few weeks ago. Wait, no, the voice was saying DAVID had won a prize. A gift certificate worth fifty dollars and a bag of goodies. After all, he had purchased a ticket for the shop hop also. I just never expected him to be the one to win. I ran to the back door and yelled at the top of my voice, “David, you won a prize from the shop hop!”

So, a couple of day later we took a drive up to Greenwood to the Back Door to get the prize. And here is what was in the bag….

A layer cake of bright fabrics. Enough to make a quilt.

A stack of fat quarters. More bright, colorful fabrics.

This bag held everything. So cute.

It already looks embroidered, but also in the bag was….

A kit of embroidery floss should I wish to embroider the bag.

Such luscious colors.

The kit even included the needles needed.

There was also a pattern included. With the fifty dollar certificate it all added up to about one hundred dollars worth of prizes. Since David has no use for any of these things, he gifted them to me. Or I just took them. Ha. I cannot say I have never won anything. I have been pretty lucky about winning things. I have won hamburgers from a hamburger stand, a bicycle, a contest our newspaper held one year where they asked the contestants to write about their valentine. I, of course, wrote about David and he got all kinds of prizes to include a massage(which he never used) a jacket and several other things. I won another shop hop contest a year or so ago. No, I am one who can never say I have never won anything. But this prize was really nice even though I wasn’t the one who won.

This time of year the soil gets pretty muddy when it warms up and since I wear Crocs around the yard all the time, I find they are not the best to keep my feet clean and dry so I looked for some new boots. I haven’t bought outside boots for years. I always had boots when I was a little girl. I love wearing boots even though my feet cry, “Uncle!” sometimes when I wear them. I found a pair of boots I thought I would like. They needed to be easy to get on.

These are Bogs. They are ankle length and have tabs to use to pull them on. I put them on and they were so comfortable and warm also. After a while they started to feel hot so I tried to pull them off and I couldn’t. I had to wait all day until David came home to pull them off me. Our contractor had been here in the afternoon measuring for new windows and I thought about asking him to pull them off of me, but I thought he’d think I was a little weird so I didn’t. Now I will have to practice putting them on and off so that I can do it myself. Anyway, these boots should keep my feet dry and comfortable when I walk out in the mud.

I planted some flowers in a couple of hanging baskets the other day. I am so looking forward to growing things again and being outdoors most of the day. I am hoping to take up walking again as I have really let that slide this winter and my legs tell me that every time I do walk. They ache like crazy. I plan to walk an MS walk in May, so I have got to get cracking.

Hope you are seeing some Spring in your neck of the woods. Bye.

Almost Spring

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David and I made a trip to Petco and Rural King today. I must say that Rural King is one of my very favorite stores, especially this time of year. They are putting out all their garden decors, lawn fertilizers, compost, seeds, and other paraphernalia that a gardener needs. I was in seventh heaven. I found some seeds that looked interesting, we bought bedding for the chooks and the dogs and we found some compost manure for the rhubarb. Rhubarb is a heavy feeder and needs to be fertilized heavily to produce good plants. I am looking forward to some fresh rhubarb pie unlike the rhubarb pie I baked the other day from frozen rhubarb we bought at Appleworks.

It was a good, flaky crusted pie, but the rhubarb was cut into bigger pieces and didn’t smoosh down like my rhubarb does. David liked it, though, and has eaten the whole pie himself, plus the little cinnamon rolls I made from the dough.

David does have a sweet tooth(that is if they were his real teeth!)

But back to Rural King. We went to get the chicken coop bedding and they had the bedding stacked so high we couldn’t reach the top. David said we could play Jenga and hope the rest of the bags don’t come tumbling down on our heads. We found a clerk who climbed up and got two bags for us. Why do they do that?

Here are the seeds I found.

Nasturtiums or as I like to call them Nasty Turtians. Nasturtiums are edible although I have never eaten any.

Cucumbers are a must. David loves fresh from the garden cucumbers. I could take them or leave them, but I like to make him happy.

Pumpkins. Last year we grew giant pumpkins, enough to give all the grandchildren one and have a few ourselves. I’m hoping we will have good ones again this year. The chickens have been fertilizing the garden all winter.

We use to call this Indian corn, but the PC police don’t want us to use that any more so it’s called ornamental corn. If I were an Indian, I would be proud to have it called Indian corn because it is so unique and pretty, but that’s just me.

When I saw that I could grow pumpkins on a stick, well, I just had to have these seeds. I am looking forward to seeing how these turn out.

Another thing I love about Spring coming is all the seed catalogs and Spring magazines that arrive in the mail.

One of my favorite magazines. We actually took a trip and stayed at a bed and breakfast that was featured in this magazine. It was a really nice bed and breakfast, but David and I decided it wasn’t for us as the owners kept visiting with us and asking us to eat at tables with strangers who we had nothing in common with and besides we wanted to have some time to ourselves and the worst part is we were told what time to eat breakfast. We don’t like to arrange our time around someone else’s schedule when we are on vacation. Sometimes we don’t feel like eating at 8:45 or whenever we were told to eat. We did love the geese that came to the pond right outside our bedroom window and the paths through meadows we walked while we were there. I would recommend it to those who love bed and breakfasts. We are not a schedule following couple while on vacation.

One of my favorite catalogs. We have purchased several things from this company to include wind spinners. They have really nice wind spinners made of heavy duty metal. I bought a clunker of a wind spinner from Rural King last year. It doesn’t spin very well unless you have hurricane force winds.

I have my eye on these curtains for the dining room. We are replacing more windows this year in the dining room. After we get them in, I plan to repaint the room, put up new curtains as we have had the same curtains in there for over twenty years and I have my eye on this rug.

We shall see how it all comes together or if it will. Plans are made to be broken or life gets in the way. I love making plans though.

I celebrated a birthday this last week. David bought me an ice cream cake from the Dairy Queen. I was so happy. He said, “I didn’t know if you would like it or not.” Me, not like ice cream and cake? What was he thinking? I have wanted one of these for years. I told him this is exactly what I want every year from now on. I still have a piece waiting for me in the freezer. I almost hate to eat it because I will have to wait a whole year before I get another one!

One of the catalogs I get is from Yankee Candle. It’s really like a little present in the mail because several of the candles they show are scratch and sniff. Look at this chocolate bunny candle. How cute.

Marshmallow chicks candle. It’s a scratch and sniff.

Bunny cake. I am in love.

Jelly bean candle. Okay, this one is getting ordered. It smells just like jelly beans. How do they do that? Get those scents in the candles? If you come into my house, don’t be surprised to smell jelly beans soon.

Yankee candle has so many cute things. Good thing I have will power. I don’t know where I would put anything else anyway. I am not being paid to advertise Yankee Candle, I just love the company and its products.

Wildseed Farms. A company based out of Fredericksburg, Texas. They sell seed by the pound. As you can see, I have already ordered some seed from them. Laura Bush self-seeding petunias. I am going to give them a try this Summer.

A pound of zinnia seeds. Thousands of seeds that will go all over our property. You really get your money’s worth buying seed this way. This many seeds would probably cost a hundred dollars if you bought them in little packets.

I also bought an ounce of foxglove seeds. Foxgloves are biennials so I may not see flowers this year, I don’t know. Thousands of seeds in one ounce so I should have a few flowers from it.

I planted a little mini garden in a broken coffee cup. Grass seed and little birds and a bird feeder. I am loving it as it makes me know that Spring and green growing things are coming soon. Winter never lasts forever although sometimes it seems to.

I have put out my Easter bunnies early this year so that I could enjoy them longer. Easter is early this year.

I love Easter. It means so much more than bunnies and chickens at our house. We celebrate the risen Savior, Jesus Christ on that day. He died for everyone, you know. Not just Christians.

I have been studying First and Second Thessalonians in the Bible. Paul wrote to this church about many things to include the rapture. I love these two books and how they deal with sexual purity and how important it is for everyone. After all, our bodies are our temples and if God indwells within us, we should keep our bodies pure from sexual sin. I don’t think the world looks at it the same way, but it makes sense to me. There is no mincing words about it from Paul, however. Paul, who persecuted the early Christians became a different man once confronted with Jesus Christ. From that day forward he was a follower and told many thousands about the hope that is in Jesus Christ. I believe as Paul did, that Jesus is the son of God, came to earth to preach, teach and heal, died on the cross for everyone’s sins, took them upon himself. He rose the third day. Thousands saw him and after forty days he went to heaven where he is waiting for his father’s cue to come gather His church together in the clouds where we will live eternally with Him in heaven. I truly believe this with all my heart, soul and body. It makes much more sense to me than just living a few years on this planet and dying and that’s all. Life means much more than that and we all have spirits that have to go someplace.

I didn’t mean for this to be a theology lesson. It’s just who I am and what makes me who I am.

This is the next quilt I will be hand quilting. I love the old fashioned look of it.

I hope you are anticipating Spring as much as I am. When you live in a climate that changes every season, you look forward to the warmth of Spring after a cold, snowy Winter. If you live in a constantly warm climate, how wonderful for you. You didn’t have to scrape ice off your wind shield or slip and slide on icy walkways. Here’s to warm, wonderful Spring. Bye.

Snow Day

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Remember those days when you were in school and they called off school because of the snow? One year on my birthday we had a big snow and we listened to the radio eagerly waiting to see if we would be in class that day. What joy I felt when the announcer said, “No school today.” My birthday and a whole day of freedom! How wonderful. ,

When you become an adult you don’t get many snow days. You get to work one way or the other. No snow days for you.

Today I got up, made my coffee, turned on Charles Stanley on television and looked out at the snow falling down. We had gotten several inches overnight. I had prepared the Sunday school lesson for my pre–school class and we were even going to have a little party because the lesson was about a celebration in the BIble. I had bought donuts and cheddar penquins and bought special plates and balloons. I was all set. Then I got a call from one our deacons telling us no church today. I love going to church, but I must admit I felt like a kid getting out of school for the day. David came down the stairs dressed for church and I told him “no church today.”

I never have a whole Sunday off. Never. We spend most of the morning at church, go out to eat, spend a few hours at home and then back to church that night. It seemed so strange not to be going to church, but I had plans. I was going to finish a quilt I have been working on.

I had hand quilted all the blocks.

I machine quilted the border in roses and twirls and even a few little hearts.

I even loved how the back looked. I got it all quilted except for a couple of the blocks that I had missed, but I am going to quilt them tonight and then it will be done, finished, complete! I must say this has been one of my favorite quilts that I have made.

Tonight is the finale of Downton Abbey for the season. I love this show and am sorry it is ending for the season. We all have to wait until next January to see new episodes. Waaaa.

In homage to Downton Abbey I was going to dress like someone in the show. Well, kind of.

My Downton Abbey outfit. The skirt is made from Downton Abbey fabric sold at quilt shops.

I was even going to wear this hat. I love wearing hats although I don’t do it often. People always comment when I wear a hat. Hats should come back as a fashion statement, don’t you think? The women on Downton Abbey wear the most amazing hats. Even the downstairs ladies wear cute hats. I wonder what happens to all those hats and all the beautiful clothes after the show is done? What if they auctioned them off on Ebay?

I was going to carry my new purse that I finished recently.

This is the back of the purse.

Now I think wearing this outfit another time would just be an after thought. What do you think?

I have enjoyed watching the birds chowing down on their birdseed today. At one time there were at least twelve cardinals and a whole host of other birds, titmice, chickadees, juncos, doves, squirrels, sparrows, and nuthatches eating at the bird feeder. Okay, I know squirrels aren’t birds. Just checking to see if you were paying attention.

Each calmly waited its turn at the feeder.

I love mourning doves. When I hear them call it makes me think of my grandpa’s house where I first heard them. There is a mournful sound to their call, thus, their name.

The male cardinals usually don’t share their space well, but when you are hungry, all animosity goes away.

Yeah, we had a few birds at the feeder today. We filled it twice today. It’s so hard for the birds to find food with so much snow on the ground.

I love the view from all our windows. See that house? David and I tried to buy it years ago to put a quilt shop in, but it was a home that had been in the family for a long time and it wasn’t for sale. Now it sits empty until the courts decide what is to be done with it. So sad. I am afraid it will be torn down. It does need a lot of work.

It snowed all morning and then again this afternoon. By Wednesday we are suppose to be up in the high 40’s in temperatures so this won’t last long. Spring is just around the corner after all.

All the dog toys are hidden under the snow, but Belle and Molly Marshmallow found this old rope and played tug of war for quite a long time. Molly is getting so big and Belle can’t get the rope away from her like she use to.

Who has more fun than dogs?

My three girls.

Bonnie. She will be twelve this year. She spends most of her day laying like a queen on her comfy bed in my shop. She has arthritis and doesn’t play like she use to, but she is still a sweet companion.

Belle rules the roost. Molly does not get away with much. Sometimes she gets her down and lets her know who is boss. I wonder how long that will last?

Then there is Molly. Very much a pup still who likes to chew on everything. I try to direct all her energy in chasing a ball I shoot out of a plastic gun. She loves doing that.

As I say often, feed the birds during this weather. They will reward you by staying around and singing to you in the Spring.

Hope you are warm and safe where you are. Sit in a comfy chair, drink a cup of hot chocolate and get ready to watch the last glorious episode of Downton Abbey. Bye.

Okay, I watched Downton Abbey and I bawled at the end. It’s unbelievable we have to wait almost a year before we see what happens next. The best season yet. Next season promises a wedding, maybe two or three. Who knows?

Winter Then and Now

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I get up in the morning from my toasty warm bed, warmed by the heated mattress pad. I come down the stairs and turn up the thermostat to a warmer temperature. I then proceed to make a pot of coffee, listen to the news on television and start my day.

I think sometimes of how others long ago woke up on frosty mornings like today and how their day began. First they would struggle from under their multiple layers of covers ,if they were fortunate to have several blankets, and put their feet on icy floors. As they scrambled to put on their clothes, they looked out windows with frost upon them. Then they would have to put wood in the stove or the fireplace. Wood that they had spent time cutting and stacking the days and weeks before. The night before they had banked the fire so that it would still have embers in the morning to catch fire.

As their fire was beginning to burn, they would go outside to the shed where meat might be hanging and cut off some to fry in a pan. Then they would trudge through banks of snow to the chicken house to gather the eggs before they froze in their nests and bring them in for their breakfast and baking. They would fill a pot with water and put it on the stove or over the fireplace to heat. The milk would come later after they milked the cows.

Meanwhile, I have already drank a cup or two of coffee, put my toast in the toaster and taken jam out of the refrigerator. The house is becoming nice and warm and I can go about my day in comfort.

Our ancestors, meanwhile were still working on making the fire and adding wood to it to make it hotter. The warmest place in the house was directly in front of the fireplace or stove. I remember gathering around the stove on frigid winter mornings in our kitchen which was the warmest room in the house. I was blessed to have a father who had already gotten up early to make the fire so that the house would be warm for his family.

As I go through my day, I don’t worry about keeping warm as the furnace keeps pumping warm air up through the registers and my house is comfortable.

Our ancestors, however, had to bring in wood from the woodpile several times a day to keep the fire going. Part of the day was spent splitting wood and stacking it by the door. Cold foods were kept outside because there was no refrigerator. I just open a door and there is plenty of food for the day or week.

Animals had to be fed and watered as they were the family’s livelihood. Cows had to be milked, chickens fed and eggs gathered, pigs fed and bales of straw spread for beds for the animals.

I get my milk from the refrigerator and remember the times when my daddy had to go out in the cold winter mornings to milk the cows. Cows needed to be milked every day. We drank the good cow’s milk after Mother pasteurized it in the pasteurizer.

Not a day goes by in winter that I don’t think about how easy I have it compared to those who lived long before me. Roads are quickly cleared now so that people can get into their warm cars and go where they want to go. Years ago people had to harness their horses or mules and get in their wagons or sleighs to go anywhere. Roads were not cleared for them, nor did they expect them to be. We complain if the roads aren’t cleared within hours of a snow storm.

Every winter about this time, I read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book, The Long Winter. It reminds me how hard it use to be in the winter for people. Laura’s family had to heat their house with twisted straw as the long winter commenced because all the wood was gone. They had no way to get food because the train could not get through to bring supplies to their little town on the prairie. People were starving and they could not even find anything to hunt. Finally, Almanzo Wilder, Laura’s one day to be husband, and another man took out across the prairie to find a man that was rumored to have a large supply of wheat. They were to go there and bring some back for the townspeople. It was a very exciting trip they had. They made it before the next blizzard came through and saved the townspeople from starving to death.

As night draws nigh, I take a bath in a warm tub and heat my pajamas in the dryer before I put them on. Then at bed time I get back into my nicely heated bed and go to sleep.

My ancestors had to bank the fire, be sure that all the animals were in for the night. They had to haul water for their baths, heat it beforehand, and afterward they got into their icy cold beds and probably slept as soundly as I do. I am so thankful I don’t have to worry about where my heat is coming from in the morning or work so hard to get my food. I thank my ancestors for being the hardy people they were.

Think about your ancestors when you get up in these cold, winter mornings and thank God you don’t have to do all they had to do just to survive. Here’s to hardy ancestors. Bye.

Wonderful, Weathered, Wambled, Wandering,Wacky Week in Weview

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This week has been a doozy. We have been hit with snow storms and flu bugs. Blessed with grandchildren and friends. Shop hopped ”til we dropped. Suffered aches and pains. Had really weird dreams. So, let’s begin.

We started out the beginning of the last week by going on a shop hop. A shop hop is when several quilt shops get together and offer prizes and have quilt blocks you can buy at each shop to make a particular quilt that they have chosen. Two friends, David and I left on what was supposed to be a snowy day and we were not disappointed. The roads weren’t too bad until we were a few miles from home. Then we hit a very slick stretch which made me sit on the edge of the car seat until we got home.

We had fun, though, and I got a new supply of fabric I needed like a hole in my head, but, then, I do have several holes in my head, so what’s one more? Here are some of the fabrics I purchased.

I am going to make a sun dress from this. Sun? What’s sun?

Don’t know if you can see, but there are chickens on this fabric. Curtains for the chicken house maybe?

This will be the binding on a quilt I am hand quilting right now. I hope to have it completed by Summer.

A few weeks ago I bought this top for Easter and I wanted to make a skirt to go with it.

Here is the fabric I found to make the skirt. I am so happy!

The roses in the fabric match the roses on the top. A very inexpensive outfit for Easter and that makes me glad too.

I bought a few pieces of wool felt for my stash.

I found this cute pattern for a wall hanging to be made from wool and wool felt.

That little spotted hen is so adorable. Gosh, I wish I could raise baby chicks from eggs. My hens sit and sit on their eggs, but they will never hatch because there is not a rooster in sight. Do you know how warm it is under a hen? Warmer than you would think.

We love our chickens’ eggs. Had a double yolker for breakfast this morning.

We ate at a restaurant I had never eaten at before, Bagger Dave’s. They make their own sodas and everything is made fresh. I got a grilled chicken salad with mozzarella cheese and it was delicious.

We had two of our favorite people over for the night while their parents went on a much needed time out. These guys keep me on my toes. Despite the fact I have been battling a bad cold or flu bug all week, they made me forget it for a while.

I love these guys. I made the shirts they are wearing and I must say, they are almost too small already. We hadn’t seen them since Christmas and I believe they have grown a couple of inches in that time. I wish they would stop it.

We put together a puzzle, went out to eat, went to Rural King to see the baby chicks and ducks and to buy our pup some new chew toys. I am still our pup’s favorite chew toy. I wish she’d stop.

They helped me bake and ice cupcakes. They did most of the work. I just stood by and offered help. Never can learn too early how to feed yourself.

I learned more about Pokémon than I ever knew or wanted to know. I kept calling it Poky Man and they would say, “Grandma, it’s poky MON!” Some of these cards were accidently(?) dropped into the toilet. Bye, bye Pokémon cards. Reminded me of one time when our younger son had two friends over for an overnight and the next morning I found one of the boy’s clothes in the toilet. No one ever fessed up to how they got there. You never know with boys. I tell ya’.

We watched a really good movie on Netflix called Earth to Echo. We all got so engrossed in it that bedtime came and went. The ending was really good. I took the boys upstairs to bed and I think they were asleep before I got to my room. They slept all night without a peep. We all went to Sunday school the next morning. I help teach a pre-K class and the regular teacher is gone so I taught and I had the biggest class we have had for a while and on a morning after a big snow in our city. I was very pleased. I was also very under the weather. We ate lunch with our daughter’s family and then we went home and I went to bed where I had a dream that actually made me feel sick. I dreamed I had made five pies and I ate a piece from every one of them with a whole container of Cool Whip on top. I was actually nauseous when I woke up, but was so glad I hadn’t eaten all that. I told David it’s turned me off pie for a long time!

We have had snow and cold now for quite a while. I try to keep all the pets and the wild birds fed and watered. It’s a tough time for them, but we will get through.

Be sure to feed the birds. It’s hard for them to find food when the ground is covered. Bye.

My Valentine

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Valentine (val’an tin’) n. A sweetheart chosen or greeted on this day. David is my valentine. Has been ever since that day in my junior year of high school I saw him sitting at the Dairy Queen smoking a cigarette, sitting there in his leather jacket looking oh, so handsome. I started dating him soon after, was going steady in a week with his class ring and two years later we were engaged. A year after that, after he had done his military training, we were married. Here we are, forty-seven years later, and he still is the only one for me. On Valentine’s Day we are bombarded with advertisements of jewelry, flowers, strawberries, teddy bears and other things that husbands or boyfriends are suppose to buy for the woman in their lives to make them happy. Long ago I told David I did not want to be one of those women who get angry when their man doesn’t come through on Valentine’s Day with presents. I knew pretty soon in our relationship that I wasn’t with the most romantic guy in the world when he brought me a box of candy the day after Valentine’s Day. I thought it was so funny at the time and every year I have low expectations. That said, David has proven to me daily that he loves me. He shows me in so many ways.

I love Valentine’s Day because of its meaning and I love decorating for it. David indulges me in my love.

He went out and bought these pretty flowers for our dining room table.

I bought Valentine candy and cards that I like.

I made fabric hearts and filled them with candy. Then I started looking at all the things that are red in our house that make me happy.

The little iron I played with when I was a little girl. I could plug it into an outlet and it would get warm, not hot. I would stand alongside of my mother as she ironed and iron on my little ironing board.

Tootsie Roll pops. My favorite.

These will go on cupcakes I am going to bake this weekend.

My table set up for the Bible study group.

Yes, Valentine’s Day is a special day. When you can’t wait to see your husband walk through the door each day, it’s Valentine’s Day. When your husband or boyfriend completely surprises you with something so out of character for them, it’s Valentine’s Day. When you are sick and your husband brings you Sprite to drink and goes to get your medicine, it’s Valentine’s Day. When you just don’t feel like cooking one day and your husband says, “let’s go out to eat,” it’s Valentine’s Day. When it’s cold out and the chickens need to be checked on and your husband gets out in the cold to do it, it’s Valentine’s Day. When something breaks and your husband repairs it saving you both hundreds of dollars, it’s Valentine’s Day. When you are married to your true Valentine, every day it’s Valentine’s Day. Love you David. With all my heart. Here’s hoping you have a Valentine in your life. If not, be one to someone else. Bye.

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Snicklefritz

So glad you came. Come sit a spell and read about the tale of my life.

Easter

When You Adopt a Dog

Textiles and Me Part2

Textiles and Me

What’s new?

Almost Spring

Snow Day

Winter Then and Now

Wonderful, Weathered, Wambled, Wandering,Wacky Week in Weview

My Valentine