Friday's Lunch

My son and I were enjoying our lunch at Matt's Place in downtown Dobson, when what to our wondering eyes should appear....Santa! He came in, accompanied by his wife, greeted all the diners and then left again. Wow! What a surprise! Guess he had already had lunch...he missed out on a pretty good hot dog though. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!  God Bless!

A new way to get around

A few changes have been made around here. It seems now that my problems are due to bursitis of the hip. Thank God it isn't broken, even though it feels like it! I have been having to get around in a new roller walker. My Dad called his a "chariot" (he had MS), so I am too. It's shiny PURPLE!  Oh, and I also tried a cortisone shot (didn't help much). But I am working on Prayer Shawls and a Vintage Afghan (patterns from Internet), but no quilts. I still  have hopes that I can beat this. Praise God...I am trying! Have a blessed weekend. (Oh, photo from Internet, too.)

PS You should see me "speeding" around walmart in one of their motorized carts! What fun!!

Home Improvements

The siding on our mobile home was rotten and crumbling. My son and our next door neighbor have been replacing it with tin this month. It sure looks a lot better now, and will keep out the cold wind this winter. I have been wanting to move into an elderly apartment in town for awhile now, but my son is determined to stay here.

For about three weeks now I have been in a lot of pain with my hip. I went and had it X-rayed this past Thursday and it showed advanced arthritis. Walking is difficult. The options they gave me are not workable for me, and I am praying and hoping for a solution.  A lot of doors are now "slammed shut", but at least my hands still work, and I can work on my Prayer Shawls for the hospital. My kitties have been most helpful during this time, as is my son. He made a delicious Breakfast Casserole this morning, and has taken on more household chores than usual. I would appreciate your prayers, so that I may continue to do God's Will.

Hope you have a most blessed Sunday.

Kitty Quilt

I have been asked to post a photo of my "Look at all the kitties in Grandmother's Flower Garden" quilt. I am a terrible photographer, but I think if you click on the photo, it will enlarge it. The second photo is one of the blocks using Kitty Cucumber fabric that was sent to me by my friend Marianne in Idaho. I collect Kitty Cucumber figurines!! The machine quilting design is called "dogwood" and is by Gammill. The quilt is hand pieced, and machine quilted!

My daughter has returned safely from England. She arrived at  her home yesterday evening and I got to talk to her this afternoon. She had a wonderful trip, but seems glad to be home and a bit jet-lagged. Her dog is very glad to see her too, and so are her two cats!!    Have a Blessed Sunday~

New header

I love the photo above. I found in on the internet, on Weather Underground. I have no way to contact the photographer, but the name listed is ichbenhier.  The photo reminds me of home. Across the river is Sarnia, Canada. When the steel mill was operating, there was always a dark "cloud" over Sarnia. The ship is a thousand footer, carrying freight. I used to feel very comforted in the night when I was a child and it was foggy and a ship would say "Beeeee" and there would be an answering "Beee-Ohhhh". We lived about four miles from the Blue Water Bridge. My Dad was a Customs Inspector on the Bridge.  Good memories. Living in NC, I don't get to visit Michigan anymore. Uncle George used to say "You gotta be tough to live in Michigan". But it will always be home to me.

T G & Y

Does anyone remember the old T G & Y stores? I sure do, and I am reminded of how much I do miss our old TG&Y store every time I go to Elkin! My first experience with a T G &Y was in Kissimmee, Florida in 1971. Believe it or not, I had no fabric stash in those days...my daughter was just a baby, and we lived on a very low budget. T G & Y met our needs perfectly. (NO walmarts in those days). When we moved to this area in l981, there was a store here, and we loved going there!! When I shop at the Goodwill store, sometimes I still find yarn from T G & Y in a big bag of yarn I love to purchase. These days, most of my dollars for household items and a lot of canned goods goes to Dollar General. Even though they carry a lot of products made in China, and you have to be very careful (enough said).      Thank God it is Friday...God Bless your weekend!

Photo from internet!

Another photo from England

Every few days my son and I get some more photos from England. I think my daughter is having a very interesting trip! In addition to her studies, she and the group she is studying with are sight-seeing. The above photo appears to be a "selfie" in the Salisbury Cathedral. She even sent a photo of Stonehenge. (No need to post that here....everyone has seen a photo to Stonehenge, eh?)  She will be there for a few more weeks yet. My goodness, it seems that the summer is half over, been noticing the Back-to-School sales starting.  Enjoy your day...God Bless!

England

My daughter is in Oxford, England!! She is there for her studies for the next five weeks, and my son and I received a couple of pictures this morning. (The other photo is of food!) She says that this is the Pub that some of the well known writers of yesteryear used to visit. I've asked her to go by the grocers and bring me back a can of haggis. I know....I could order some of Amazon.com, but it just wouldn't be the same, eh.   Enjoy your Sunday.  God Bless.

Project Linus day

Yesterday, my daughter, son and I went up on the mountain to Galax, VA to the July Project Linus meeting. The meetings are the first Saturday of every month at the Galax Library. We usually eat at the Peking Palace Chinese restaurant and then deliver our afghans and small quilts that Kathleen and I have made. It is a fun trip. Yesterday we stopped at the new Goodwill Store in Galax also, and I found this quilt top. It was pieced from 1970's and 80's fabrics, many of which I had and used when I first started quilting in earnest in the 80's. It is hand pieced and the maker of the quilt top even left her "calling card" on the top. It is sewed on by machine, the rest of it is all hand pieced. I think that is weird, but I will leave it on when I machine quilt it. Anyway, I love this quilt top and fully intend to quilt it when the weather gets cooler. It is hard to quilt in summer when it is 90+ degrees, even with the longarm. (It is old and overheats if I'm not careful!) I am trying to decide whether to use muslin for the backing or some burgundy cotton I found in my stash. Either one would look nice, I think!

On a different note...we had to replace our 20 year old refrigerator this week. We got it from Lowes of Mt.Airy, and the sorry delivery men just left it in the middle of the kitchen floor, asked me to sign their paper, and LEFT! I wanted to cry, but my son and I managed to get it into place. Actually, to give credit where credit is due, Donald did 99.99% of the work!

 Have a blessed Sunday!

All Good Intentions

I had intended to make a quilted picture from the flour sack. Life just gets in the way. I'll get it done eventually. I always do, but it is a miserable time of year for a person with allergies. My son and I are in competition to see who can sneeze the most! I got a gentle reminder this morning that my project is due tomorrow. No way is that possible. I never used to be a procrastinator, but as I get older, I sure am now. So sorry to Emily. I love the flour sack & think it'll be a great picture.

A new book

Yesterday I received a new book that I had ordered from Amazon.com (the above picture is from them, too). A Birthday present to myself.  I also have the first of Carol Hopkins' books, Civil War Legacies I, which I enjoyed very much. This one looks wonderful, and I am hoping to make at least a couple of small quilts from it!

Tomorrow is my 65th Birthday. Just another day I suppose, but it seems special to me. Sixty-five years is a milestone. After my husband died, right after my 50th Birthday, I didn't figure I'd have that many more Birthdays, but here I am.  Shizuku-chan (our cat), and I celebrate our Birthdays on the same day. She will be 16 tomorrow, and  was born in Ei-cho, Japan, when my daughter was living there and teaching English in the local elementary schools.  Sixteen is old for a cat, but she gets around pretty good, and her eyes are clear and bright. She and I are just "two old girls". I hope that she and I have a few more years to make a difference. Hope Spring has arrived where you are. It is looking "hopeful" here!

God Bless!!

Mr. Moose



My son and I usually stop by the Elkin Goodwill Store on Saturdays. Today he found this plush, stuffed  moose head. It seemed to be attracting a lot of attention, and Donald said that he had to keep two old ladies from grabbing it away from him. Just plain strange. Actually, I kind of like the moose and named him "Mr. Moose" after the moose on Captain Kangaroo, the kid's show on tv in the 1950's (remember that?). I didn't do so well, and only found a "Peter Rabbit" (Beatrix Potter) vase and a snack dish that was made in Korea. Both are rather ordinary and not really worth photographing. Well, Spring Break ends tomorrow and both my grown children go back to their jobs at the college on Monday.....unless the bad weather comes in that they are predicting.  It has been a very unusual winter. It was 70 degrees today, and ice storm predicted tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday. Spring will come eventually....at least I hope so. 

God Bless!



Green Sweater

Yesterday I finished my first World Vision, Knit for Kids sweater. It is supposed to be a size 8, but I think it turned out a bit larger. They say that no matter the size, it will fit someone!!  I love this pattern, and the sizes range from a 2 to a 10. Bev's Country Cottage has done some fine-tuning with it and has lowered it to a size 6 months. I adapted it for my Build-a-Bear sweater last year. I have made and given away several of those!! After five years or so of making Prayer Shawls, I thought it was time to move on to something else. The patterns for these sweaters can be found on the internet for free. The yarn I used is Red Heart "Glowworm", and I used size 7 needles.  Have a blessed day!

Snow!!

This is the first really big snow storm since the year 2000 (that was in February, also). So far we have had ten inches!! It is snowing again, and we may get an inch or more before it is all done!  Growing up in Michigan, I am very familiar with all aspects of snow.  Lovely to look at, but don't drive in it if you don't have to!  Luckily, both my children work at the Community College, and it is closed in bad weather. I have been remembering the snows from my childhood all morning. I'm glad I live in NC where we don't have to live through this very often!!  I am working on a "World Vision"  (kids) sweater. Photo when I am finished.   The above photo taken by my son...note that you cannot even see the road!

A Crocheted Sweater

This is a photo of a sweater my daughter just completed. It is the first one she has ever made, and it
 is crocheted. She used  bulky yarn, and a size L hook, and this sweater  will go to a charity she supports.  Since before the Holidays she has been making loomed and crocheted  items, such as hats, scarves and afghan squares, etc. I have given her a few things to send, also. These items go to Africa to a group called "Knit-a-Square", an online group that makes clothing items and blankets for AIDS victim's  children and orphans.

  We had snow on Tuesday, it amounted to about two inches. I love to see the snow, but hate the temps in the teens!!  I think everyone I know is hoping for an early Spring this year! God Bless!!

I really hate winter!

It has been very cold, even colder than most Januarys, and we have had more precipitation than most winters also. I am staying inside as much as I can, but still have to drive my son back and forth to work everyday. Have not sewn much, have not knitted much, but have managed to make a few crocheted  Prayer Shawls for the hospital. No Prayers and Squares meeting since December 2nd. I feel like I am in hibernation. Awful winters make us appreciate Spring more, don't you think?  Thank God for hot tea!!  God Bless.....