Tuesday, July 31, 2012

MY GRANDKIDS ARE COMING,

My kids are all coming this weekend,
so I whipped up this little goody for them. Last year I made them a Halloween table runner, so this matches it perfectly.  Now, what for next year????

So, for a month I've had this crud that everyone down here gets. Prednisone, celestone.....nothing worked. Now I have a great bacterial bronchial infection. Since I don't always do very well with antibiotics, I'm on Amoxicillin.  And of course, Acidophilus to prevent that other thing that comes along with it. I don't feel really bad: just tired.

I will enjoy the weekend, though, because all the family will be here. Plus I get to cook!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

COMING ALONG NICELY!

I'm thoroughly enjoying Anniversaries of the Heart. It's just moving right on along. I've finished a couple of months, so here are some pictures. Since I've taken them, I've finished another month and started October-my month.

 This is May, which is Michael's birth month. Also my mother (yes, I share her name). And my great grandfather. I added some marine thingys for Michael and the year he graduated from Alabama. May's flower and birthstone are there, too, just a little more difficult to see. Michael's cat, Tommy, has made an appearance.

January is my Dad's and his twin brother Merrill's birth month. David's Grandmother Harden was also born in January. Epiphany is also in January, which marks the day King Cake appears here in Louisiana! I have finished February, which you can see a portion of next to January. The little initials and dates I put there the days those ladies left us.

I have discovered-after removing a lot of stitches to make room- that I should put the main dates in as I work on a  month. There's still a little room in January, so I can add something else if I think of it.

I've found a piece of my family tartan, so I'm planning on using  it somewhere. And some lace and pearls from my wedding gown. There are lots of scraps of memories around here that may find their way on to my  work.

Yep. This one is worth the time and money.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

MYSTERY SOLVED---SORT OF!

Not five minutes after my post followed through on Facebook, my phone rang. It was my dear cousin, Joanne Romanek. This voice says "I can tell you about the scarf".

Whoa-----this dear person just buried her beloved Joe yesterday morning and now she's taking the time to call and tell me about this little scrap of wool.

The conversation lasted maybe 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I can't remember the story verbatim, but it seems Mrs. George Wilson isn't my grandmother Etta. She was Judy Wilson and was related to Joanne on her mother's side of the family (my mother and Joanne's father were siblings). It seems that Judy was the second wife of somebody along the way.

During WWII, I believe the story went, my mother and this Mrs. Judy stitched together at Northington Campus in Tuscaloosa. Mother knitted and Judy crocheted. They sold these things and the money was used to support the War. Joanne didn't know whether Mother bought the scarf or Judy made it a gift.

We had a laugh about the tag, because that's how Joanne knew who it was.It wasn't my grandmother's style.  This lady apparently sewed her tags into everything. Regardless, I'm grateful for this beautiful work of art-I offered to send it to Joanne- and now I know something about its history.

And a big thanks to someone who took time out on such a terrible day to share the story with me.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

A FAMILY MYSTERY........

This week I was in a rare clean-out-the-drawers mood. I pulled out the drawer with some of my older scarves and here was this treasure.

Apparently it was in my mother's stuff and when I packed all it  away to move to Baton Rouge.  I really didn't play close attention. That was probably sometime in 1996-97. Since then I have a greater appreciation of old, hand made things, so when I saw it, it really got my attention.

This, I think, belonged to my grandmother. It is hand crocheted (?), I believe, with wool thread. Then it was apparently washed -deliberately or not- in hot water and, voila, a felted scarf. In the second photo, you can see some blue threads. Those must be courtesy of my camera because they aren't really in the scarf. Click on the photos to see how pretty it really is.

It's not very large. Just almost a shoulder cover. I can't wait until winter to wear it. I have a very old pin and earrings set that belong to my great aunt that will set it off well.

Here's the deal: the tag. It says "Mrs. George Wilson".  My grandfather was George Wilburn Wilson, but everyone called him Wilburn. I even remember my grandmother calling him Wilburn. So here is this label. It doesn't look very old- I guess- and I can't believe that my sweet, poor country grandmother would have bought these labels. My only other thought is that when she went into a nursing home, an aunt or other relative had these made and stitched them into her clothes. Then again, she was a widow by then, so why not just Etta Wilson?????

Whatever the story, I was so beside myself when I found this. It's very delicate and beautiful. I just wish I had found it sooner. There are so many family occasions I would love to have worn it to. It is now a treasured gift and I hope my granddaughters will treasure it as much as I.



Friday, July 20, 2012

THINKING OF THE PEOPLE IN AURORA

It was not good waking up to the news this morning. It always comes back to "WHY?".

This is such a sick world.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

HOW ABOUT A GREAT RECIPE?

This is one I found on Pinterest and have  used several times.  It is delicious. And from now on I'm going to cook my pasta in stock, no matter what I'm cooking it for.

I don't know the author of the original recipe, but thanks a bunch, whomever you are.   Here goes:






CREAMY GARLIC PASTA

2 tsp olive oil      4 cloves garlic, minced      2Tbs butter          1/4 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
1/2 tsp pepper ( I use fresh ground)   3 C. chicken stock       1/2 lb. angel hair pasta
1 C, grated Parmesan cheese     2 Tsp. fresh chopped parsley        3/4 C. heavy cream

Bring olive oil to low heat. Add garlic and stir. Don't let it get too hot or it will jump out of the pan!! Cook a couple of minutes.

Mix in butter until melted. Add salt, pepper and chicken stock. Raise heat to high and let it come to a boil.

Add pasta and cook until al dente. Reduce heat to medium and add Parmesan. Stir until completely melted.

Turn off heat and stir in cream and parsley. Serve immediately.

This is good with a little chicken added. Shrimp, also.  And whatever is left, heats very well on low in a microwave.

It's great with a glass of Ruffino Orvieto, which is my favorite white wine.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

VERY LONG TERM PROJECT


 When "Anniversaries of the Heart" first came out, I said "No way. It will take forever". Well, after seeing it in progress several times, I decided it was worth the time and money. I've been working on it for over a year and am finally seeing progress.

Excuse the lousy photos. I took them with my iphone.

These are the first two rows. I haven't started the last. Last night I decided to stretch the piece out to see the size and such. BOY! Is it big! I tea-dyed the fabric myself, so it is a little faded looking-deliberately!

I've been heavily into research and thanks to some cousins and my brother-in-law, the genealogy work is almost finished.

Here we go:


This is what has been done on January, February, May and June. I've finished May. It's Michael's month.  I added some fishy stuff because he is a Marine Biologist. And, of course, his graduation from Alabama..January is finished but for the dates and February, too. June is still hanging around. I'm adding some historical dates, as you can see. When you look closely at February, you can see some initials and dates. I was working on it the  the day my MIL and my SIL died, so I added them to the piece.



I found a pattern for July that I liked better (by the same designer) and since it's America's birthday, I subtracted some stitches to make it fit and came up with this. It was also an active month in my family, so I'm going to add dates as I go along. I found out that with May that might be a good idea!




This is a closer look at March and April. March is Laura's month, so the fleur de lis (she is an Hebert, too) is there and LSU. I just need to find out what year she graduated..April is John's month, so his dates will go there. Also it was the month the Titanic sank, so it will be there, too. Since they live in Texas, the date of the Alamo is ready to put into place.

So.....how much longer, who knows? It's the only cross stitch piece I'm working on right now and has pretty well taken over. I'm using the overdyes called for plus some I've added.

If you look closely at February, you can tell that my MIL died a year ago today. Maybe that explains all this work. I'm more aware of family and time now, and hope in the years to come, my family will enjoy this BIG piece of my life.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

TWO DAYS IN A ROW!!!

It's going to be a great day! My copy of the JCS Halloween magazine has arrived and it is great. And....my LK Mystery Sampler Pt. 1 came, too. Now to get the fabby.

Here are some recent photos:

This was an easy knit. I ordered the yarn-it's an Italian thread. Can't remember the name! I started off knitting it and then realized it would go faster to crochet it. It's worked in one long line, not in rows.


This is a "potato chip" scarf I knitted with some thread from Hobby Lobby. My favorite Alabama red, of course. I've since knitted a flower pin to keep it closed. Took a little longer to do, but was fairly easy once I got into the rhythm.

This was a fun one! Made from Red Heart ruffly yarn. It was easy to knit once I figured out how to cast on the stitches. It's very colorful. A little different than my usual reds and blues. I wear it with the blue jacket, green blouse and white pants. Pretty nice!


This is my favorite. Took a little longer to finish. I found the pattern on the Internet. The long strip was knitted first (in ribbing). The flounce was cast on an edge of the ribbing. Can't wait to wear this one! I found a couple of shawl pins at Joann's, so I will use one of them, I think, to  keep it closed. Or maybe not!


AND......last, but not least. The infamous Crimson Tide rag wreath. What can I say? It's on the back of the front door because of our humidity and mildew problems here. And I get to look at it every time I see the door!!




Well, that's about it. It's a dull day here. Probably going to rain again. Think I'll stitch a bit!

Friday, July 13, 2012

So.......

I've had a bit of a vacation, huh? Not deliberately. I just kept forgetting to post. Facebook and Pinterest have taken over!

Well, in the last few months, let's see:

1. We went home to Tuscaloosa June 1st  for David's 50th high school class reunion. It was so good to see all those people that I haven't seen in......50 years! Food was great. Conversation was fantastic. My 50th is in two years and is in the planning stages now. Both of our graduation classes were BIG!

2. A few days before we were supposed to leave, we found out that a good friend of ours--and a groomsman in our wedding--had died in Tennessee. His graveside service was to be the Saturday we were home, so of course we were there. He was buried next to his wife in this wonderful little country cemetery in Tuscaloosa County. Reminded me so much of those quiet, little cemeteries in England. He loved sunflowers, so there were sunflowers everywhere. RIP, Tom. My favorite Yankee. Next to Kate!

3. Well, if losing Tom wasn't enough, we had literally packed the car to come home when my sister-in-law, Fay, died! She had been sick for a long, long time and we knew this was coming. Just not June 4th. We stayed on an extra day. Per her request, there won't be a funeral. And it will be a year next week that my mother-in-law died. Well, we're all getting old!

4. I'm still stitching. I'm only working on one piece now, and that's "Anniversaries of the Heart" by BBD. I guess losing all these family members has spurred me on. I'm determined to finish it. I have really been locating names and dates---going back several generations. Managed to find photos of ALOT of tombstones.

5. My big thing now is knitting. I've made several of those wonderful ruffly scarves. And the knitted Barbie clothes are great fun to work up. When we were in Tuscaloosa I visited Serendipity Needleworks and bought 3 skeins of their specially dyed Crimson Pride Merino wool. I'm working on an Alabama scarf, but won't need it until the end of November.

6. Just finished my second rag wreath. Getting ready for football season, so this one is pure Alabama. I have several waiting to be done. A couple of Halloween wreaths, a fall wreath and an LSU wreath for John and his family. And.......I'm working on my second fabric basket.

7. Cooking! I'm becoming obsessed!!! I've found so many neat recipes on Pinterest, so I have to try them out. I'm thinking about doing another cookbook, so I'll have some new additions.

8. It is HOT here. Unbelievable. And we're in the middle of hurricane season and so far, so good. No relaxing until November.

9. Reading!!!! I've caught up on some great novels. Would you believe "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" was actually very good. And I completely enjoyed the movie.

Can't think of anything else going on. I'll add some photos-have to move them from one site to another.
I check blogs everyday, so I'm keeping up pretty well. I just have to get off my butt, turn off FB and Pinterest and start typing.......