Just in case

you don't receive the newsletter from the Essamplaire, the current issue offers links to some interesting sites showing beautiful antique pieces and files to open.  One link in particular could keep me busy for hours.

 

http://nscda.org/historical-activities/samplers/

 

The files to browse are 100 year old pictures used for the 1921 American Samplers.  Another link on the page opens 473 pages of samplers, not very good photos, but you can click on any to enlarge for more information.  Just an interesting site with lots to view.

The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America's home page is http://nscda.org/. 

Very interesting reading about textile preservation here Museum Textile Services.

 

A major error (I left out the 9) in a completed row has brought me to a screeching halt.  Whether I continue or choose something small and easy will be determined this evening.

 

Look at the bellies on these three.  Fawns soon!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

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A little mousy

Before hopping (dragging) into the shower, I checked a few blogs.  Vera (The Threaded Lane) had a mouse encounter and it reminded me of an incident 50 years ago.

 

Do you remember the net hair covers we wore to mass?  Back then, you dressed nicely for church and never would be without a head cover of some sort.  Mantillas, doilies, whimsies.  Mom was dressed and ready first, opened the front door and bent over to pick up the Sunday paper.  Hanging on to the brick directly above the door was a mouse, which happened to lose its grip when the door brushed him.  He landed in the netting of mom's whimsie.  Her extremely thick hair cushioned his impact and she felt nothing.  She sat down across from dad at the table, drank her coffee, and dad just assumed that little furry thing was part of the feather adornment.  It wasn't until she leaned over to buckle her shoe that the little guy fell off.  Not realizing what it was, they just looked at him until he ran under the fridge.   I left the room because I couldn't handle what may have followed.

 

One summer, I hit the button to light our gas grill and something fell out, blackened, and smoking.  It staggered away and I wanted Mark to find it and make sure it wasn't suffering.  He never saw it.  I lifted the lid and saw that she had built a nest in the briquettes.  We checked, no babies, and removed the nest.  Next day there she was, a little sooty but a busy builder.  I couldn't displace her again and two days later, babies.  Over the next weeks, I opened the lid daily and as they grew, they came up to the grates to say hello.  When they were big enough, we put gloves on and moved them to bales of straw in the back.  Two days later when I opened the lid to remove the contents, they were back!  This happened several times and finally, I gave up.  We just moved the grill to the wood line.  We mouse proof our grills ever since, and leave a cloth bag with moth balls under the hood of the lawn tractor, another favorite spot of theirs.  I leave the hood up to remind us to remove the bag before mowing, and no mice since.  I don't want them in my house, but I don't want any critter to suffer either.  Sometimes a quick end is necessary but only if it's quick and painless.  I guess I'm weird.

 

I saw Nina, who tattooed my eyebrows and liner, her hair is fabulous.  It is spiky on the ends and her bangs, yet soft to the touch.  I was impressed and she thought the product would help with my fuzzhead.  The product?  BedHead Manipulator.  So I ordered it.  The wrong one.  I got the yellow jar (a wax) instead of the blue jar (a paste).  It's a texturizer that separates your hair to give it that edgy look.  Well, the wax is ....... beeswax.  So now I can just pull my floss through my hair to wax it.  I ordered the blue jar and it will be here in a few days.

 

Well this was kind of long and boring wasn't it?  Still hopped up on Advil and hungry as hell.  Sorry.

 

Dear Brigitte, "crabass" is a person that is part jackass, part crab (a person that is in a bad mood).   They don't keep their crabbiness to themselves, they let everyone around them feel it too.  Therefore, a crabby jackass = crabass. 

I left a comment for Niky a while back that said "be still my heart" and she replied asking me what that meant.  No I don't want to die!  It just means that my heart is racing with excitement and pleasure, and I ask for it to slow down. 

Bitch-slap is a term that has variations, none good.  Some definitions are to actually slap someone unworthy of a full punch.  I never did and never will understand that.  Others use it as a phrase, not intending a physical action, to indicate their displeasure toward a nasty person deserving a slap. 

 

Someone likes to watch it rain.



 

That's all folks.  Into the shower I go.  I wonder if hot steam will melt the beeswax.
 

Have a great weekend.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Slow progress

on all fronts.  But even slight progress is always good.

This reproduction is very basic.  The same alphabet we have stitched over and over until we no longer need to check the chart.  The bottom section's letters are slightly different.  Still haven't decided if the dividing bands will be light thread, red thread, or no thread.  I just hope I can finish it because the mojo is almost completely gone.  Strange how we turn away from things we have loved for so long.  Sometimes a break is beneficial, sometimes it's a death knell.  My longest was after the shops closed, my stitching friends passed, and there was no online shopping or browsing back then.  All sources and inspiration were gone.  Years later, I started seeing sampler photos on photo sites, and SamplerFarm's page of Carol's work pulled me back in.  Online sources were not as plentiful as today, but eventually I learned how to locate charts and supplies. Several years passed before I started blogging in February 2011 hoping it would be the final push I needed.

 

I am glad that I chose a small piece as this instead of the Ann Spence or another big girl.  That would have been it!  When the back is much better and I am in a comfortable stitching position, I'm hoping the needle bug will return.

 

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Could not resist

I've been doing fairly well on the WW plan. Today I made this fruit salad (one of my favorites) and fell off the wagon.  Not too badly though.  Mark put it in the basement fridge but that never stopped me before. This is a simple dessert, made with light products, and no sugar added fruit.  You can of course use the original products, not the light.

1 can of fruit cocktail (15 oz. or close)
2 (15 oz.) cans mandarin oranges (no sugar added or not)
1 can crushed or tidbit pineapple  (15 oz. or close)

(I also add 1/2 jar of Maraschino cherries cut in half and set on paper towel to drain)
Drain all very well in colander.

Beat an 8 oz. brick of 1/3 less fat cream cheese
2 TBSP light mayo or Miracle Whip (the Miracle gives it more zip)
Then lightly beat in one 8 oz. container Lite or regular Cool Whip (NOT fat free)

Throw in fruit and gently blend.
This dish is a size down from 9x13
Refrigerate.
That's it.

You can throw a few cherries on top for color.

 

So refreshing and creamy and just damn good.  No added sugar, not very sweet.

 

Love.

 

 

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Wheeling in PA

Hello folks.  Feeling a slight better today, thank you very much!  I hope all of you are doing well and feeling the warmer Spring breeze.

 

After a week of being restricted I decided to check out the sewing room mess.  You never know what you may find there.  I wasn't thinking and sat on the wheeled office chair at the sewing machine.  No arms, no cane for support, Mark is golfing, no way to get up.  But baby I got wheels.  That was fun except for the speed bump where carpet meets hardwood. 

 

I've been going through the old tablecloths as I had previously mentioned, checking to see what I could salvage and what was hopeless.  Many beautiful linen prints, very few cotton.  Some had areas that were just not acceptable, such a burn marks.  A beautiful pale yellow with gray and white roses was large enough for a shower curtain in Carole's bath and a little valance for the tiny window.  So I started wondering what I could use these vintage cloths for instead of discarding.  Curtains, valances, sachet bags, hearts, drawstring pouch for the bath or peg board, clothespin bag, lots of things.  A shame to trash a large old piece because of one area that can be cut away.  So that was my plan.  I have three cotton that will hopefully go to a new home, and eight linen prints for the vintage shop.  The rest are piled in my sewing room.   Since I couldn't get out of the chair, I just wheeled to the pile, then to the scissor drawer, then to the sewing machine, and back and forth to the ironing board.  Came up with these from Mom's red cloth with dogwoods that my Uncle Tony's cigarette burned decades ago.

I can see a bowl full of tucks and hearts and berries from various bright prints in a vintage kitchen.  I would like to continue this next week and should have plenty, maybe see if the vintage shop would be interested in them.  Aging was considered, but the bright colors and crisp white backgrounds shouldn't be messed with.

 

I needed to take more Advil, and was really hurting from sitting too long, so one set was all I did. The chair was already in the highest position so I hit the lever to lower it and (with my weight on it) came crashing down quickly!  I slowly slid off to my hands and knees and was able to once again become upright with the help of a doorknob.  Why that was possible on my knees but not while sitting is a mystery to me.  It's a common move when I forget that if I crouch down, I can't get back up.  Flopping on to my side in the store and then hands/knees works.  I also learned you NEVER try to hoist yourself up using the store's shelves as a aide. 

 

"CLEAN UP IN AISLE 9!"

 

Have a wonderful weekend and a beautiful Easter everyone.

 

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Thank you

for all your kind words, offered prayers, and best wishes.  Chiropractor three mornings in a row, still miserable and will be for weeks.  I told him no more until next week because in and out of the car is excruciating. Orthopedic appointments are available (weeks from now) and no PT until a doctor orders.  I can sit, no more than 10 minutes at a time, the pain and strain from trying to rise takes an hour to ease.  So.  Mark is out getting things for Easter brunch (cold smoked kielbasa, ham, fresh oatmeal bread, Hawaiian rolls, cwikla, eggs, swiss cheese and our pepper butter.  Everything can be sliced and ready to put out, no dinner to prepare.  Carole is making one for her grandkids and we are invited afterward to give the crew their new shoes.   Maybe, maybe not.

 

The SANQ downloads offered a while back contained this little primitive red sampler, Flora Dellow.  With all the back aids and pillows around me (that mesh lumbar support is from heaven) trying to stitch several colors would be frustrating. Flora offers another simple monochromatic design, good for a crabbeast.  The dividing bands are ecru, not sure what I will do with them.

Wishing everyone a joyous Easter.

 

 

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