Saturday, November 28, 2009

More So~

Saturday found Crafty Momma busy again!
Tis the big week-end for finishing up homemade gifts...
Ok-some of them.
While tiny Dancer and One Crafty Momma were busy
making things in one room
I was busy in another...
cleaning and setting up a few Christmas things.
Most of the stuff I put out is always homemade.
For instance...
the "Candy Hause" my Momma made for me.
sitting on one of the Christmas doily's I made
from Wanda's pattern that I love...
(please don't mind all the candy sitting pell-mell around it)
and the Santa...
My Momma made for me.
The Nativity I embroidered
and framed
for myself...
The 'JOY'
crafty Momma made for me last year
with the help of my Honey-
he was in charge of the cutting out of the wood.
It is out all year long because I likes it so much...
The long-leggedy Santa I made for Christmas gifts for me and
my two 'Sugar Lane' neighbors-
And some family member got one of these guys too...
Most of my Christmas decorations came from those years on
'Sugar Lane'...
I started making my gifts to give this year
in June...
and I am just purt-near finished with them to the point I am happy with...
I am taking a tiny break right now to crochet myself a pair of house slippers
Then it will be back to 'Yo-yo ville' for me...

Smile and Remember;
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Friday, November 27, 2009

So~


The thing about thanksgiving cooking is this:
It always tastes better if you share the cooking!
When I was a kid...
I know-I know- I say that a lot...
But we would go out to my oldest sister's house for dinner,
Mom always made her Parker house rolls and cranberry sauce...
This year we went to Auntie Nana sister's house.
The young Domestic Diva that I raised helped make...
~a mess~
Lest you think it's all her mess
rest assured that it was an equally shared kitchen.
With her...

Makein a "Really Guuuud" pear tart/pie
Did I mention that it was really good?
Yes.
Its fun to try new things that become old favorites...
Did I mention that I love this zannie caricature?
Why
yes.
Yes I do.
P.S. The Domestic Princess she is raising showed up at her side
very shortly after the camera was put away...
Then the fun really started!!
Momma Diva tried very hard to convince Tiny Dancer that
the flour was not really "ssssssno!"
And she was having none of that nonsence
~it was white and fun to play in~
Must be "ssssno"
Smile and Remember;
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Good Ol Days

When I was three~
I know, because I got it for my Birthday..
I was given a book~
I loved that book~
I learned to read it that very day!
Mom was really surprised!
I also learned to write my name that day.
Granted the S's were backwards~
I thought that book was Great!
I have looked for that book on
ebay
rare children's book sites
amazon.com
You name it~and I've looked there.
The book was one of these:
But not this one.
Nope.
Mine was
"Patrick and The Fuzzy Duckling"
I read it so many times that I can still see the cover of the book~
the pictures,
the feel of the duck...
I would really like to get one of them
*sigh*
Another book I loved as a child
was given to me by
Gramma Fronk.
this is one of the pictures that was in that book~
I thought it was amazing they could find cats that dressed up!
(mine didn't particularly care for it)

I also had a "Raggedy Ann"
I think we had an "Andy" too
but I'm not sure.
Her hair was just on the top and sides of her head
button eyes
and a heart.
she also had something on her bottom!
right side~
but I don't remember what it was...
ummm...
was that where the heart and her name were?
*shrug*
can't remember.
Andy way...
I never even knew there was a camel with wrinkled knees!
I found this on ebay...
It wasn't 35 cents there.
I remember when most of the kids were little...
before my girl was born yet...
We sisters found a pattern similar to this one;
they didn't make the little one.
They didn't even make the middle size one.
No!
They made the big ones!
They were as tall as the kids!
I was talking to one of my sisters about them not to long ago,
and she laughed and said she thinks she still has the doll~
She didn't sew hers and thinks its still just in the cut out fabric stage.
She mentioned something about not even wanting to finish it...
I bought a pattern this past Summer,
thinking I'd make an "Ann & Andy" for my house...
with the two sides like the old ones.
Speaking of "old Ones"
Wanna see what my mother-in-law gave me this year too?!
That's Honey's first and second grade class picture~
Its the first AND the second grade
together
in this picture.
Can you guess who my little dessert rat is?
He told me about all the doors being a different color-
First and second was orange.
Third and fourth was a color,
Fifth and sixth...
I remember he said one of the doors was blue...
He grew up going to work with his Dad a lot...
On the tractor and stompin' cotton...
Yep
When we were little~
things were a lot different than they are now.

Simpler,
slower,
freer~
and it was good.

Smile and Remember;
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Gramma's Quilts...

Are far and away the very best to sleep under!
Its true~
You do sleep better under a quilt made with love.
I don't like the quilts that are quilted by machine so much that they are stiff...
I treasure the ones that are hand quilted.
Imperfect,
and chuck full of love!
This past Summer I was given such a quilt.
One that my Honey's,Great-Gramma Darley,
pieced and hand quilted for her daughter,
Honey's Gramma Pehrson.
His mom remembers it being on her mom's bed, when she was a little girl.
As she lovingly runs her hand over the stitching...

It is still in excellent condition,
And since Honey and I are getting to be old duffers now...
I though it safe to put on our bed
for the winter.
I LoVe the weight and feel of old quilts!
When I was a kid,
the time of year would come to pull out what we called the
"Camp Quilts",
That was a fun day to be sure-
They weighed a ton a piece!
My Gramma Johnson had made and re-made them...
From wool.
With one on the bed you could still move-
but with two?!
You couldn't even turn over for the weight!
And they felt neat too.
All the ridges and rows of hand quilted stitching...
We slept in one of the two upstairs bed room's,
with no heater or insulation in the roof,
so it got pretty darn cold in the winters.
We would sleep under the ten-ton quilts and pull our clothes in with us to get them warm before we would put them on in the mornings...
You might be able to see your breath...
but under those quilts...
it was toasty warm!

The fabrics used were left over scraps from other projects...
People didn't often go out and buy fabric for a quilt so it would match...they just used up what they had...
no matter how small the piece it was saved for a quilt top latter on.
from kids fabric...

bright fabrics...

Weird kinds...

Old clothes or bedding was often used too.
This is the only worn spot on the quilt and I will be fixing that a.s.a.p.
How you ask?
I will take a piece of paper and make a copy of the block that needs replacing.
Then I will go through my stash of vintage fabrics for something that matches the other fabrics on the quilt and cutting out one of fabric and one of wool batting.
Then I will carefully hand stitch them into place over the original piece.
(trimming off the little bit of ick there).
And then I will head back to the stash bag for something to repair and replace the binding on that edge...again staying as close to the original as possible.

And I will run my hand over the quilt,
feeling the texture of the stitches and wondering...


Do you think...
when Gramma Darley...
made this quilt for her daughter...
she thought that her Great-Great-Great-Grand daughter~
would be occasionally snuggling up under its warmth for naps?
There is indeed a lot of love that is put into
and found under
a handmade Quilt!!!
Smile and Remember;
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Button Tin

I guess I was a pretty simple child.
Because one of my favorite things to play with when I was little was...
Mommas button tin.
Even the out side of it entertained me.
I would trace the shapes and feel the "bumpy parts" for a while before I ever opened the tin.

Once opened-
There was a treasure trove of different colors, shapes, sizes and memories involved.
For instance~the button with the "Egyptian guy" on it...
One of my all time favorites.
I don't remember what they were used for, but I remember searching them out every time I opened the tin...
I would also hunt down two little red star buttons-
they were used on a skirt and blouse Mom made for me.
It was my favorite ever!
They were white with red fancy stitching around them
and the blouse had red star buttons down the front.
I have a picture of me in it-
I'll try to remember to show you sometime.
Those buttons now live on Christmas tree ornaments.

Mom gave me her tin when my kids were little with instructions
to add buttons from discarded shirts, dresses and if I had Left over buttons
-even one-
to add them to the tin.
I did and still do.

I changed button tins when my kids were little,
using Mom's for thread now.
I brought it out the other day to search for the perfect one's for yo-yo center's and didn't put it away after I was done.
I set it in a chair...
When Tiny Dancer woke up from a cat nap she saw it and when she picked it up-
it rattled!!
She shook it and it rattled more!!!
She turned it over and over-more rattling!!!
So we opened it up to see what was making this wonderful sound,
she was awe struck.

It didn't take long before she was running her fingers through the buttons
like her mommy and I have done with many of those same buttons.



We lay on our tummy's on the floor together and started matching buttons...
I of course searched out my favorite ones first...
There are three of these.

Tiny Dancer spotted a horse button pretty fast,
so we ran our fingers slowly through until she spotted another...

She found the pink heart buttons her mommy used to like best too.
There are six of them
and she fit them all into one little hand!
Then she found what I think was her favorite for the day...
two buttons tied together with a string.
She played with these for a long time.

My Mom had one rule about playing with the buttons.
"You can play with them as long as the don't get all over the floor".
They started to spill out after about 45 minutes
That's when Tiny Dancer first heard the Button tin rule.
As I was picking them up
she was grabbing them and running into the other room with them...
laughin all the way.
She was not laughing when I rounded them all up and put them all back in the tin and put the tin away...
I know I'm getting soft in my old age.
I gave in and got them out again.
This time we chose to play with them up on the bed in the sun shine to see the colors best.
I sat and watched her playing with the button tin most of the afternoon that day,
Sitting on 5th Great-Gramma-Augusta's old bed frame,
covered with 2nd Great-Gramma-Alvina's wedding quilt.
I wondered if they too, found as much pleasure playing in button tins as we do...

Smile and Remember;
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Dish Water Reflections

Some days we tend to be more reflective than others...
Wax nostalgic~as it were..
Cloudy days when I'm tired often do that for me.
Today being such a day.
*Sigh*
So, while Tiny Dancer and I were swimming in dish water this morning,
looking out the window watching for the predicted snow storms arrival
with the anticipation of a 50 and two year old.
We talked about things like;
what it was like washing dishes with my Mom and Sisters,
her Mommy, Uncles and Gramp.
How my Dad would save the silverware for last~
And how it really is best not to get your hair in the dirty water.
As we saw leaves blowing across lawns, and down curbs I got to thinking about a couple of pictures I took this last Fall.
I happened upon them last night when I was working on some pictures for my daughter's family...
This first one reminds me of my childhood days playing on the park across the street from the home I grew up in~
I was blessed with a wonderful childhood.
It also reminds me of how life is like the changing of the seasons.
(I think I'm basking in the early day of an"Indian Summer" of my life).




I hate to admit that I had forgotten about this next picture.
To tell the truth,
when I saw it last night I was a little surprised and impressed that I had done it.
This one reminds me of the women in my life.
They are many,
of all ages.
They are both living and not.
Women are a lot like this picture...
And on cloudy, nostalgic day's we need to remember
that we too, have a special beauty...
if, we look past the battered edges.

Smile and Remember;
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

This Guy I Know...

is a 'jack-of-all-trades'
he is the hardest working man I know.
He can build a house, Fix a car,
he cook's better than most anyone I know of,
is a country boy at heart, who will help anyone any time,
he likes being out side...
He loves his family fiercely!!
is still a little afraid to hold tiny new baby's...
But will sit with them in a chair for very long period's of time.


Has been known to be a little silly now and again...
Can swim like a fish.


Is known for his Sunday morning omelets...
here he is with a hash brown helper...

Can whip up a pretty good bucket of homemade root beer...

Comes home from a long day of work and plays bridge for 30 minutes or more
...
even when he has a headache!

shares most of his cold Rocky Road ice cream...
"BurrRrr"



Is often a reluctant dance partner...

A player of silly games...

A reader of many stories,
who also gets excited at the right spots in the 'Wish Book's '...
He is the singer of silly songs like,
"I Wish I Were A Little Bar Of Soap"
"I Wish I Was A Fishy In The Sea"
and
"A Little 7-Up..Up...Up"
His favorite songs are,
"The Master's Call"
by Marty Robbins
and
anything "Dr. Hook"
*****
Did I mention that this guy is my heart beat?
He is that and so very much more!
Love Ya Tons!
Smile and Remember;
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.