April Fool?

No! It's February the 29th and the weather has been beautiful, but things change quickly this time of the year. Although the flowers are all beginning to bloom and the weather has been really nice,at times,the conditions for those horrific tornadoes is ever so present.We are seeing the evidence of that today, as severe weather passes through Kentucky, leaving damage all across our state. It's a bit early to hear much news, but tonight the news channels will be filled with destruction left by the raging wind and weather that has kept many folks in or near their storm shelters, this morning.

Another little rug completed

I was just finishing up one of my latest little rugs, when the waitress at the restaurant where Pop hangs out and socializes quite often,said she would love to have one of my crocheted rugs.She collects lots of old furnishings for her home and I suppose she thought this type of rug would fit right in.I am not into the Primitive decorating per se,as I have said before, but I think my little rugs would definitely fit in that decor. Probably more so, if I had used drab colors, which I did not. I had lots of cranberry fabric, and since it is one of my favorites, that's what I was using.Nevertheless, I finished the rug, and procceeded to make a little tag to attach to the rug. I love making the tags as much as the rugs.When my sister Vicki was here for a few days, we dabbled with a few ideas on Primitive crafts. I used one of her ideas on my tag. I was so pleased with it, I will most likely use it many more times. It was simple and it uses up tiny bits and pieces of fabric.That helps me to move out some of the clutter in my craft room.. I do enjoy making the tags.

Donna was so pleased with her little rug. She says she will cherish it forever. I know I do mine.I have 3 that I have made and kept for myself and I adore them.

Bulldozer Arrives-It's Play Time

Buddy and  one of  his toys

Pop by the low boy

The ink has hardly had time to dry on the new deed, and our neighbor, friend, and bulldozer operator, is ready to play. He is as tickled with us buying the woods, as we are.I guess work is slow for him about now, although I'm just guessing, so he wants to begin tinkering with our new woods. We plan to clear a bit of the new 17 acres, but I'm afraid with turning him loose in there,we may end up with more woods cleared, than what we had planned. Buddy is a good fellow, but he likes to do things his way.That could cause problems some places, but Pop won't say much to him. He just lets him be boss,for the most part.Pop says there are a few good trees in the woods. Some are good for lumber, some for posts, and some for firewood, but Buddy is not a timber man like Pop. All he sees is woods that he thinks needs clearing.

I love to smell the fresh turned dirt. It brings back memories of my Dad. That was his lifelong profession,too. He was a bulldozer owner and operator. He was well known in his day around the surrounding counties for his bulldozing work. It makes me proud when I hear folks say what a good operator he was. It has been many years since Dad worked as a bulldozer operator, but there are still several folks living who remember him.Dad has been gone since 2001, and he moved away from this area in 1972, because of his health. The dust from the many long hot days of bulldozing, had damaged his lungs, and he was forced to retire early.He left the state, and settled on an island in south Georgia,but retiring was plum out of the question for him. During the last few months of his life, when the cancer was killing him, I asked him to relax and not to work so hard.He was 83 at the time and still chipping away at some type of work every day.There on the last he was repairing lawn mowers for all of the locals. He even built up a good name doing that, for the short time he lived in this area,after moving back to our home state.I remember telling him"Dad, you need to slow down." and his reply was,"Sue, what am I suppose to do?Sit down with my hands folded in my lap, and wait to die."  I guess he was right. When you are doing something you enjoy, any pain you might have is lessened.At least, I find that to be true when it comes to my pain.

My Daddy on one of his bulldozers.

It's a Tedious Job

tags from recycled materials

My manual dexterity is not what it once was, but I still get great pleasure from working with these small pieces.It's really strange how one day you can change the needle in your sewing machine with no problem, and suddenly, one day, you try it once more,only to find you cannot.My fingers simply do not work like they once did. Especially when it comes to working in close places with tiny elements.Thank goodness, my new machine,no matter how upset I get with it, on occasion, it threads it's own needle.That is, if the spool of thread is loaded properly.

I scanned eBay for labels and tags to see what others were charging for theirs.I found many large,but simple,colored tags,cut from a tag punch, selling in lots of 10, for $3.plus shipping costs. Most were made from colored paper or stock, and you know the cost of buying their supplies was unreal.My tags are all made from recycled materials.There are so many things one can use to cutsey up the little tags, at no cost,at all.The brown paper which is in great demand nowadays,comes from the inner lining of my sugar bag,and sometimes from packages that have been shipped. Many folks pack with the brown paper, and then wrap the package with it, also.I simply spray the wrinkled paper with a water mister and iron it flat.How much more primitive can you get.

folded dish cloths

I still have not come to a concrete solution as to what I will do with my dish cloths. I am not a salesman. I can't bring myself to set a price on anything. Not one in which I could make any money,anyway.Most usually, I end up giving my crafts away. That is satisfying in itself, so I really need not spend so much time,stressing myself over what to do with them.I may set them aside and have them ready for another Christmas season or any other occasion that might arise, requiring a gift.Now, that sounds like a great plan to me.

Why Did It Have to Snow Today?

January 12, 2012
I stumbled across this unfinished post this morning in a draft form, so I have posted it now, just to have an entry describing Vicki's trip to Kentucky,to spend time with Mom,for a couple of months. Vicki will be taking some time off from her job to recuperate  from back surgery,so this was a good time for her to visit with Mom.
February 25, 2012
Of all days, the day that my sister,Vicki, was scheduled to fly from Raleigh to Louisville,winter had to unleash its wrath,today The airlines changed her flight once, since Chicago is having such bad weather. Then she was scheduled to fly out of Raleigh to Baltimore then on to Louisville. Vicki is just come through back surgery and had to wait until her six week check up rolled around to see whether she was going to be able to come at all.Her check up was on the 29th of December.She planned to spend some of her recuperating time at Mom's. That would be wonderful for both. Mom would have someone there with her, through some of the coldest days of winter. It would be nice for them to spend time together and help each other a bit.It has been awhile since Vicki has been able to come and spend any length of time with Mom and the rest of the family here in Kentucky. She lived her until 1972, but ever since then, she has lived on St. Simon's  Island,Georgia,in West Virginia, Maryland,and North Carolina.Many of the siblings have since returned to our home state.At this time,Vicki and Jerry are the only two, still residing out of the state.

After the flight changes, and the delays from the weather, Vicki arrived at Louisville airport at 10:35pm on Thursday.She was worn tetotally out after spending the day, from 10 am to 10:35 pm, in the process of getting to Kentucky. Then the long drive home .We were all beat, but with her recent back surgery,I'm sure it was no picnic, for her especially.

To make bad matters worse, her luggage did not get on the same flight as she did. She was not initially due to change planes, at Baltimore, but with the bad weather everywhere, things happen, and she did need to take another plane at the last minute. Naturally, there was no time for them to retrieve her luggage from the previous plane. We waited around another half hopur or so, trying to find out when, what, where, and how to get her luggage, only to find it would be delivered to Mom's home in Clarkson in a day or two. Not the greatest outcome, but, what was a fellow to do. Vicki and the other girls in the family are pretty near the same size, so finding enough clothing to get through for a couple of days, would be no problem.

The snow had held off,for the most part, for us to get back to Mom's house that night. We did take time to stop at White Castle,a burger house on the way home. There is no way we could pass a White Castle and not stop. We get to stop there so little and we all love those little onion covered burgers.Tired as we all were, we enjoyed our stop and got to unwind a bit from the hectic day.

Vicki stayed the night with us, and proceeded on to Mom's the following day.Her luggage showed up at Mom's on Saturday, which was sooner than we had expected, so the dreadful episode of Vicki's delivery from North Carolina to Kentucky, on the day of the worst weather we have had all winter, had ended.

My Primitive Endeavors

my primitive grapes 

and a few more of my primitive attempts

I'm not really into Primitive per se, but I do enjoy trying my hand at making a few of the items others are using to decorate. Many of the primitive collectibles are definitely not my taste, but there are a few that I find quite appealing.My decor has no particular label.I simply collect things that I like, regardless of their style.Styles and fads and phases come and go. I'll try a few new things on occasion, but ,most usually, I will go back to my own way of decorating,in the end.Most decorating requires lots of money spent changing from my usual  collection,so I think that's a big part of the reason why I don't get into it.The many fads and phases folks go through cause many to spend money they could better use to survive.Especially with the high cost of necessities today.The security of knowing I can afford to pay the electric bill and put food in our stomachs, is more important.A new decor,pales next to those things.

Gingerbread Boys

While working with my crafts of late, I stumbled across a pattern for a Gingerbread Boy that I adore.He is a such a darling little fellow. So much so, that I have wracked my brain trying to think of something to do with him. I found a single remnant of fabric that suits me tremendously for his body. I'm not real sure what the fabric is, but it has a brushed velvety type of finish, and it's pretty close to the color of a fresh baked gingerbread man.There are so many ideas running through my head as to what to do with him. I can only hope that I can come up with at least one good finished product of some sort,so I will be inspired to make lots more. I don't even mind if I have to end up purchasing more similar fabric.As you know, that goes against the grain with me, but I do love this particular pattern so much, I wouldn't mind doing so, just this once.This may turn out to be just another project that gets put in a shoe box and stacked upon a shelf in my craft room,for pulling out at a later date, but hopefully I will finish at least one to show. I have such high hopes anyway.Wish me luck!

Our New Addition



This is just a segment of the woods bordering our original property.

No. We're past the age for having babies, and no, we're not adopting,nor or we getting a new pet.The new addition I speak of is in the form of land.
After today, we no longer need to cut our firewood on other folk's property. We will have our own woods to pick from. The property directly behind us has been in a local family's name for years, but now the heirs are finally letting it go.The heirs that have owned the piece directly behind and adjoining us, have always allowed us to come and go, on the property,but of course, that is to a point. Now the ground is ours and we can legally make paths to play and clear a bit of the undergrowth directly against our original property line.It will help the appearance of our present lot, to clean up the new ground,a bit.Plus, we will have all the firewood we need,not to mention the woods dirt that I love so well for my flowers and gardens.Then again, there are so many perks in having your own woods. I can gather all sorts of interesting pieces for my crafting projects.I can go for long walks, as soon as the bulldozer comes in and clears a few paths.The grandchildren will have a neat place to play and ride the 4-wheelers away from the road.Pop can work with his deer stand now. He has had it for several years,on this piece of property, but never had the freedom to work with it like it needed.Now it is on OUR property.He can cutsey it up to his heart's content.There are so many neat things we can find to do, now that the woods belong to us.

Wood...A Precious Commodity

Wood is indeed,A Precious Commodity,around my house. It's funny how different folks view certain items differently. We burn wood for our primary heat source to keep the electric bill down. We only use our electric furnace when the need arises.Like in the middle of a really cold night ,when the fire has burned completely out,before we awaken to rekindle it. When the wind is blowing hard outside,like it did last night and this morning, sometimes it causes the house to loose it's warmth.You'd think, with the good insulation we have in this house, that would not happen, but it does.

Nevertheless, Pop sees the wood scraps pictured above, as kindling.These pieces,pictured above, are the remains of the Crow project I was working on here lately for my sister,Vicki.I told Pop just this morning, not to use my scraps of wood, since they are lightweight wood, and cut so easily on my scroll saw,only to learn, that he had already snitched and burned some of them. Drat!

 I had just recently found this cute little set of watermelon cut outs that I'd planned to use the scraps for.This set had been cut from really thin lightweight wood. Just the perfect project for my scraps of wood.They're cute.They're small.They're colorful.A perfect lazy day job,just sitting quietly,painting the little pieces.One of my favorite projects is painting, although I never get around to it.It is such a slow paced project, my nerves have to be really calm to get into it.Most days, I need a task that keeps me moving,moving,moving.Strange,I know, but I know my body and that's the way it works.I have crocheted most of the winter, so I am ready to jump off on something different. This might be a good day to try my hand with the watermelons.We'll see how it goes.

Altered Plans

The grandchildren were out of school today. President's Day! and I had a plan to help them to make pencil holders from recycled cans and pretty fabric. I had a piece of leopard colored fabric which I knew would catch Leah's eye, and some camouflage fabric for John.I thought it was a really good plan, but they had other ideas. I ended up making ONE can,myself. That was all I could squeeze into THEIR plan.They wanted to play Country Store.

my can

Both kids scavenged through my craft/supply room and found lots of things to use in their store,as did I.

Leah's store

My Store

Leah's beauty shop

I played store with them until I exhausted. Finally, Leah said she was setting up a beauty shop in her shop, and ask me to come by and let her do my hair.I know how relaxing that has always been to me, so I agreed.No matter what she did to my hair, I'd get to relax,if only for a few minutes.It was glorious.The break, anyway.And the hair do was not all that bad either.Sorry! No pictures of the do.

We took a break from our store keeping to help Pop cut and drag out a couple of downed logs from our newly purchased woods.It was turning out to be such a nice day outdoors.We drug two logs up to the yard to be cut up later, then decided to do a good deed and cut a load of firewood for a neighbor who is struggling with cancer, while he was taking one of his chemo treatments in town. All in all, what started out as a really cold day at 28 degrees,turned out to be a really pretty and productive day in the 50's.Not so bad for a mid-February day.

Worth Crowing About

Mom painting crows for Bev' booth

This is some of the items that Vicki and I worked on while she was visiting me for the last few days.Now she has returned to Mom's home with lots of things to keep Mom occupied,or so she thinks. You cannot have enough lined up to keep Mom busy. She whizzes through any project you give her, and is there bugging you with the fact that she needs something to do. She is bored. Mom is like a small child in that respect. I guess it is something we'll just have to deal with.Her eyesight is shot, for the most part. She has only one good eye now. Her sight in the other is completely gone,but the one remaining eye is still pretty good.She can do some things, but other things, she cannot. She has lost a lot of her memory regarding things she has done in the past and people she has known. Sometimes you can jog her memory by explaining every minor detail, but at other times, it only frustrates her, so we just drop the subject and continue on with our conversation.She does a fair job of painting, and even though the crows may need a touch up here and there, it helps keep her busy. If it's streaked, she says she likes it that way. You should see her kitchen cabinets. No, on second thought, maybe it's best you don't.Now they are really streaked,but she likes it that way,so what's a fellow to do.You can't tell your 86 year old Mom. "It looks terrible,Mom. We need to redo it."It's not worth the disruption it would make in her world. We'll let the next home owner worry with that,when Mom is up there walking those streets of gold.

Snowflakes

my most recent snowflake

The weather man is calling for snow for our area, this weekend. Possibly 2-6 inches in some areas, and he mentioned our specific area.We  have not had any real winter,to speak of so far, so we can't complain if we get a good one this time.

My sister,Vicki,of My Favorite Things,from North Carolina, has been
spending a few days with me to give herself a rest from caring for Mom.Most folks know by now, that the care giver role is a very stressful one. Mom has not had to have an around the clock caregiver, up to this point, and she most likely will continue on for a while, on her own, but Vicki had an opportunity to come and spend time in Kentucky, while recuperating from her own back surgery, so she is visiting some of the family members who are now living in Kentucky.

I have so many craft supplies accumulated,I have given her free rein in my craft room to use whatever she likes.She is in the process of helping to get her youngest daughter,Beverly's, booth up and running, so she is making a few lightweight items that can be mailed back home to her.We are having loads of fun, coming up with and creating new things for her.

Ain't Life Funny?

We drove to the local auction last night, just to have something to do, with no intention of buying anything. I was prepared. I took my crocheting along to pacify myself while Pop socialized.Little did I know at the moment, that I had left my glasses on the vanity when I was getting dressed. I struggled through.Straining my eyes to crochet,until I realized Pop was not interested in the auction like I had thought he would be.Too few things being offered that interested him. He's not into dishes and knick knacks, and that's mostly what they offer here lately. A few knives, occasionally,some tools,and last night they had coins of all kinds, but nothing seemed to interest him., so I knew we would not be there long.I used his eye glasses to continue my crocheting, since it appeared he might fall asleep, waiting for me to get my fix.Some nights when I feel I must buy something, I can buy some tiny little something and I'm done.Well,last night, I spotted a baker's rack I wanted.It was taking the auctioneer what seemed like forever to get to the rack and Pop was eager to leave.Then they held up this piece that caught my eye immediately. Not so much the window pane,as that would have captured some folks eye, but the paintings on the pane grabbed my attention. I want to learn to paint so badly. I love the pictures of the fruit.I think I would have bought them, if they had been painted on pieces of cardboard. I want to try painting them myself,soon. I know I can reproduce those pictures on other things. I can't wait to try.In the meantime, I'll use it to hang my jewelry. As for the remainder of our night at the auction,I was done. Forget the baker's rack. I'm satisfied. Let's go home.So we did.

Tag, You're It!

I went online today and bid on a tag punch, but was out bid by a few cents. If only I had sat by the computer and stuck with the bidding.No matter. I was determined to make a few tags.This tag things has gotten to be somewhat of an obsession. I do not know what it is with it. I have so much brown paper accumulated, and I hate putting on yard sales.I have nothing to sell.Any time soon,anyway.Why I am so obsessed with the desire to make tags, is beyond me.I guess it is a busy,hands-on  job, it's a small project,it's using reclaimable materials,it's cost free.All of which attracts my attention.

Then I thought, perhaps, my niece could use them in her booth.She calls her creations Primitive at Heart,so I went into Word on my computer and printed out lots of the little titles in a pretty font and printed them out since my original plan to stamp the words on the tag, did not appeal to be that much.I like the font I've chosen. And then, I thought heart. That's part of the name of her creations, so I cut out a few little hearts around the wording, and glued it to the tags. I am still experimenting with the project, and the juices get to flowing after you get into a project, so maybe there is hope for this little project yet. I will continue, until I come up with a tag that suits me better, shortly,I hope.

Meanwhile,I will continue to watch  for a punch on eBay. I am not into card making, but I have lots of supplies that will work for that purpose. I may give it a try.I have been watching several videos on various craft ideas, and I seem to be more and more fascinated with the card making.The supplies they advertise are so expensive, I know I can come up with a few cards,using my reclaimed supplies, that are just as pretty,and not nearly as costly.I'll put that on my long list of "Things I Want To Try".

Things we could achieve,if only......

...if only we lived closer.Yes,my sister,Vicki, of My Favorite Things, has been spending time in Kentucky this winter re-cooperating from back surgery and staying with our Mother, who is now 86 years young.We all felt it would do both of them so much good to spend this time together. Vicki has lived so far away for most of her grown up life,Mom has missed her presence so, for many years.Hopefully, they are having a good visit, and are catching up on the many lost years.

Vicki has brought lots of crafts to keep herself busy while visiting.She is a lot like myself. She gets nervous when her hands are idle.Mom now leads a very quiet life, with the loss of her eyesight in one eye, and the other one failing fast,and then her hearing is really bad.Not to mention the many other problems that come with aging.All in all,Vicki is being a great help to Mom, giving Stacey, the younger sister, a break. Stacey lives closest to Mom and tries to visit with her daily and keep her in freshly cooked,well balanced meals.Vicki is a big help in this area,too.She does a lot of cooking for the two of them. I know they are both enjoying that.Vicki,like myself, loves to cook.

While visiting with Vicki and Mom, I noticed Vicki wearing some of her hand made scarves and roses. They are so pretty, I decided to try my hand at making myself a set. I completed my set today, and could not wait to show it. The yarn I used has a sparkling silver thread interwoven through it. I was hoping it would show up more than it has, in the picture.It is a festive looking set. I only hope I get to wear it soon.

Vicki has been keeping in close touch with her daughter,Beverly, back home in North Carolina. We sisters, have gone to several little shops in our area,and Vicki has been getting all sorts of ideas for things to go in Beverly's booth. She finds things that she can make and send back home to Beverly, and Beverly has sent Vicki thread in the mail to make more roses. They seem to be a good seller in her booth.I think the matching scarf would sell good, too, whether it be alone or together.

This is a little crow Vicki liked in one of the shops. She felt it would be something she could make a few of and possibly they would sell good in the booth. I have gathered up lots of wood for her to use and the needed supplies from my craft department to get her started.I made this one for myself from my template I made for her to use. I may have to loan her my scroll saw.The wood is light weight enough. I think it would work better than Mom's old jig saw shes planning to use.I think Beverly will like the crow pattern.

We are truly enjoying Vicki's visit. I only hope her family is not missing her too badly,although I am sure they are. We do appreciate the loan of their Mother and Grandmother. I know Mom is enjoying her visit tremendously.

My 64th Birthday!

Birthdays come and go, and after you get my age, you wish they would not come so quickly.However, I did have a nice birthday,yesterday. Pop got me a beautiful and thoughtful card, as he usually does. He picks out such nice cards for every occasion.

...and we both love power tools.Not only did I get the sweet card, but he got me a beautiful clock from the Amish store that I had fallen on love with on my last visit there.

It is trimmed in a wood grain and stainless steel frame with a prism like glass in the lower half. It plays 3 types of music. Six of each type.Classical,hymns,and Christmas music. You can set it on your preference. It plays a beautiful melody at the top of each hour,which you can set for light sensitivity or constant,in which it plays every hour.When the music plays, the prism revolves and the light show begins, in time with the music.It sounds heavenly.

All in all it was a very quiet and peaceful birthday.

25 Cent Cup Rack

I found this upper portion of a cup rack,Heavens only knows, when or where.I doubt I would have given more than a quarter for it.But I felt that I could make a useful piece of it.Pop is forever having coffee drinkers in, and there are always lots of cups needed in his 'Pouting Room' where they congregate.I felt this appeared simple,yet rugged enough for that purpose.All I had to do was come up with a base. I glued two small pieces of wood together.Let them dry over night. Then I drew a template for an octagon shaped base.I trimmed the base to that shape with the chop saw. I drilled the hole for the upright portion of the rack.Let the glue set up good.Then I topped it off with a coat of my old stand by, 'Barn Red' paint.

The finished Project!

            Not too shabby for a 25 cent cup rack and the cups are handy and out of the way until needed.Now I will keep my eyes open for a cute something to place on the tip top of the rack for added appeal.