A Mishmash Kind of Day

Here are a couple of things I've thrown together lately...Playing around with potholders for Forget-me-not, whose kitchen has a cherries theme:
A plain-ol' bag I made to carry needlework. I had been using a plain canvas one for a couple of years. I figured that someone who is somewhat crafty should do better than that:
THIS is my wonderful, gorgeous Tiffany-style lamp that my dear Charming bought me for our anniversary!
Blackeyed Susan was messing around. I can't do this anymore:
She is just a show-off...
But eventually, her antics did her in:
So much for what dancing can do for you. Don't you think Flexibility is overrated, though?

Other than that, we had a good schoolday, finishing science experiments with Susan, and finishing "rules for capitalization" with Alvin Fernald. He tried to stump Mom and Dad with some spelling words at the end of Spelling Power. I told him that *that* (level K) is where he should be at the end of eighth grade. I shouldn't have said anything--he had been pretty impressed with our Spelling Prowess.

Forget-me-not and Blueberry came over for coffee and Scrabble. 'Berry got his first bump-on-the-noggin over the weekend--just the beginning for almost-nine-months old, right? I played two games with Forget-me-not, and then two more with Joe Hardy. Love, love, love the Game.

Tomorrow I have to go to the license branch. I misplaced my checkbook with driver's license inside about a week ago. Time to get a replacement. Goody-goody--I *always* love getting my picture taken by that dem*n camera! Problem is, the photo on the one I lost was pretty good, considering....

I do love Ordinary Days! They used to be "ordinary," now they are "few and far between."

Sigh.

Thank you, Dr. Szegedy

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. I never knew much about it, so I looked it up.

My personal touchstone with the revolution was my first-year Chemistry teacher in high school. His name was Dr. Laszlo Szegedy. He was already in his 50's at the time. (interesting, to me at least, is the fact that at my high school, at the time I attended from 1969-1973, there were only two Ph.D.s teaching. One was a refugee from Hungary, the other a refugee from Cuba.)

I had trouble in chemistry when I got to college. There was only one Chem. class in my high school, so it wasn't an "honors" class--we had our share of goof-offs. Whenever the class-clown types didn't want to work, (or maybe they just wanted to mock the prof) one of them would raise his hand and ask Dr. Szegedy about his experience in escaping from Hungary. He would lay down his pointer, and tell us of his experiences. ( this happened often, thus my sketchy accumulation of chemistry knowledge.)I'm afraid I didn't appreciate his experience like I probably would now. I have no concept of how it was to live under Communism, and to feel that it was worth any risk for the chance at freedom. What awesome, awesome courage and faith it had to have taken.

So, maybe I didn't appreciate Dr. Szegedy (and Dr. Gladys Ruiz--Algebra I, from Cuba) enough. Or, not much at all. So I will honor him (and her) now. God's blessings to you both, if you are still alive, and to your memories, if you are not.

Look at Me Sparkle!

Your Dream Engagement Ring Has a Round Diamond!

A round diamond is classic and timeless, just like your style Your diamond will always look with the times - and goes with everything Of all diamonds, round diamonds show the most sparkle They are often chosen by sweet, dependable women who make marriage their #1 priority.

What's Your Dream Engagement Ring?

How to Pull Off a $200 Wedding

[I sure don't know what happened to yesterday! It was our 31st wedding anniversary. Charming had to work, so I did school and laundry and errands and watched Blueberry so his Mommy could take his Daddy out to dinner for his birthday. I did everything "normally," except to blog!]

How To Have A $200 Wedding

1. make a muslin wedding dress. After all, it *is* 1975 and you *are* "long-haired hippie types." Wear baby's breath in your hair.
2. make your groom a muslin shirt and a suit made of muslin-colored twill a la James Taylor on the front of hisGorilla album.
3. don't forget to stay up until 1am the night before the wedding to finish the bow tie. This will assure your falling asleep at 8:15 on your wedding night.
4. carry a single red rose. Have your groom wear a single red rosebud in his lapel.
5. make your maid of honor's gown out of flowered muslin.
6. have the best man wear the blue velvet blazer that he already owns, and the black velvet bowtie that everybody already owned.
7. repeat #4 with pink roses for the attendants.
8. have a friend take photos for free, buying the film for you for a gift.
9. have your hippie friend play guitar and sing for the wedding--barefoot.

Now to the reception:
1. use a banquet room donated by a family friend who manages a hotel.
2. let the groom's mother buy the cake.
3. let the bride's mother get the napkins and nuts and mints and punch.
4. be sure to use your mother's silver candlesticks she received as a gift for her 25th wedding anniversary. Save them to use at your daughter's wedding.
5. cover the pool table in the banquet room with a paper tablecloth, and use it for the gift table.
6. get the bluegrass band the groom plays with to play at the reception. Be sure to trip over your dress and fall down during the "first dance." It makes a real impression on the guests.

Taking these steps will assure comments about "the most unusual wedding we've ever been to!" by your aunts and great-aunts. Tho' I'm still not sure if they meant that they liked it...

**************************************
Now, I'm not implying that you could pull off a $200 wedding in this day and age. When our daughter got married two years ago, she had a "princess" theme. And the cost was way, way closer to $10,000. But at least I didn't have to buy silver candlesticks!

Happy Birthday, Rocky Balboa!

Actually, tomorrow (the 18th) is Rocky's birthday, but it is also our wedding anniversary. I didn't know if I would get a proper tribute made to my dear son-in-love, so I am doing it today.

Rocky is a wonderful man, husband, and father. It has been so fun to see him grow into fatherhood with Blueberry. He works hard so that Forget-me-not can stay home. He plays drums, guitar, and bass, one or the other every week at the Young Adult ministry at our church.
He is a licensed pastor, though at the moment he is working in the lay world at a wireless telephone company. He gets me the very best deals on my cellphone!!

If I had to choose one word to describe Rocky, it would be Passionate. (even tho' I think that word is over-used in Christian circles) He loves the Lord with all his heart, desiring to serve Him...passionately. He loves his wife and son...passionately. He has...passionate...opinions. You always know where you stand with him, which, as Martha says, is a "good thing." Most of all, Rocky desires to cut out the things in his life that are displeasing to the Father, and grow in the things that please Him. We love Rocky as one of our own.

Even though his mommy-in-love has never seen ANY of the Rocky movies, which, though he is too polite to say so, our Rocky thinks is disgraceful. Good thing he loves me!

Happy Birthday, MacGuyver!

Tomorrow is my son MacGuyver's 23rd birthday. I am supposed to be going out of town to a wedding, so I will post today.

MacGuyver moved away to New York City this summer. Here is Alvin Fernald, trying not-too-successfully to convince Mac that he should stay here:
Here is MacGuyver with his brothers, the night before he moved away:
(from left: Don Quixote, MacGuyver, Johnny Tremain, Joe Hardy, with Alvin in front)

I blogged about MacGuyver's home birth on my other blog this morning. It was a beautiful and God-filled experience.

MacGuyver was my baby for about ten years, until Blackeyed Susan came into our lives. There were the usual complaints about Mac getting extra privileges and such. I deny that, of course. But there is "something" about your "baby..."

Happy, happy birthday, my dear. You are loved very much.

Snow-time like the present

Yesterday, as in other parts of the country, we had a five-minute snowfall:
This is quite early for us--November 1st is a closer estimate for when our snow-time begins. There was just enough (if you scraped the snow off the cars) for Joe Hardy, Blackeyed Susan, and Alvin Fernald to have a snowball fight:
Note the golf-ball sized snowballs.

What you don't see is the shivering. It was 36 degrees outside at this point. The children made me make them hot chocolate afterwards. After all, it *is* a tradition after a snowball fight!

Kilroy Was Here

Last week, I shared this picture with you of Alvin Fernald, painting hills in his room. He is working with a WWII theme. These hills are possibly in France, England, or one of the Japanese-held islands in the South Pacific. The time is 1943 or 1944:
Here they are, green and lush. There is no need to worry for Alvin's safety, because wherever the enemy is,
Kilroy has been there first!
If you are old enough, you learned about Kilroy in school:
If not, I'll be glad to share with you. Grab your "cuppa," and get comfy. Here is your History lesson for today:
Find the full story here.
This excerpt is from that website:
"The Legends of "Kilroy Was Here"

There was one person who led or participated in every combat, training or occupation operation during WWII and the Korean War. This person could always be depended on. GI's began to consider him the "super GI." He was one who always got there first or who was always there when they left. I am, of course, referring to Kilroy Was Here. Somehow, this simple graffiti captured the imagination of GI's everywhere they went. The scribbled cartoon face and words showed up everywhere - worldwide. Stories (some even true) abound.

Legend #1: This Legend of how "Kilroy was here" starts is with James J. Kilroy, a shipyard inspector during WWII. He chalked the words on bulkheads to show that he had been there and inspected the riveting in the newly constructed ship. To the troops in those ships, however, it was a complete mystery — all they knew for sure was that he had "been there first." As a joke, they began placing the graffiti wherever they (the US forces) landed or went, claiming it was already there when they arrived.

Kilroy became the US super-GI who always got there first — wherever GI's went. It became a challenge to place the logo in the most unlikely places. It was said to be atop Mt. Everest, the Statue of Liberty, the underside of the Arch de Triumphe, and scrawled in the dust on the moon. An outhouse was built for the exclusive use of Truman, Stalin, and Churchill who were there for the Potsdam conference. The first person to use it was Stalin. He emerged and asked his aide (in Russian), "Who is Kilroy?" "

Here is another website that adds this detail:

"Near the end of WWII, Adolf Hitler was paranoid as sin about one particular insurgent that seemed to get into everything secure in Nazi germany, he had his best men actively searching for this spy, and had ordered all his troops to shoot the menace. The "spy" Hitler was looking for was none other than kilroy. GI's in occupied territory and spies in the german army were vandalizing nazi bases and equipment with the little kilroy drawing, along with the words, "Killroy was here..." It wasn't meant as anything more than a prank, but by the last year of hitler's command, there was so much graffitti that he thought kilroy was able to get into any secure area, and feared for his life, thinking, "Kilroy is going to get me!" It's nice to think that a little bit of vandalism helped end World War II."

Our enemies have always complained about "Yankee ingenuity." My personal belief is that what we call "Yankee ingenuity" is a byproduct of freedom, the freedom given to us by God. Creativity thrives in freedom. Who had the idea to use Navajos as code-talkers to confuse the Nazis? So many, many examples could be given. The G.I.'s were heroes all over the world.

Alvin's grandfather (my Daddy) is a WWII vet. We will be putting his pilot picture on the wall, as well as a photo of my great-uncle in his WWI uniform, standing near some kind of torpedo-shaped weapon (sorry, my WWI knowledge is a tad thin). It will be fun to see Alvin add his own soldiers. He likes to put his full-sized G.I. Joes on the tops of the window woodwork. He also has about forty-eleven thousand of the little soldiers. Don't know what he will do with them....

This story is not over. A new generation of "Yankee ingenuity" has yet to "show their stuff."

God bless America!

Bits and Pieces

I finished the quilt tops for Laura Carrot and Sweet Pea last night:
(I only show one because, well, they are the same. I'm calling them "The Princess and the (Sweet) Pea."

One more: I know I brag on my grandbabies a lot, and you see more of Blueberry, because I see him almost every day. Here he is, discovering grass. Not too appalled, as some of mine were:

He actually enjoyed it, I think. In the background is the first quilt I ever "quilted," my Civil War four-patch.

Well, we are finally finishing Blackeyed Susan's room today--off the job for several days. Tomorrow I hope to post pics of hers and Alvin's room.

Have a blessed day!

Rest in Peace, Mama Reese

This past week, one of my sons' high school friend's mother passed away. She was only 56, which is sort of alarming to me in itself. She was the birth mother to 13 children, and everybody else's "mother," too.

Her children respected her and cared for her. I knew one of her boys, Walter, and a few of her other children by reputation. My son Joe Hardy and Walter used to talk about "government cheese," those five-pound blocks of American that came in a box that was the perfect size for a Barbie bed or refrigerator. If you have ever had "government cheese," I need say no more.

Being a "black mama," (I use that term with the utmost, UTMOST respect) she had influence in a greater community than I could ever have. On Joe Hardy's MySpace, there is a tribute going around with dozens, Dozens, DOZENS of names. Thirteen children will get you a passle of high-school kids who love you.

Charming works with Mrs. Reese's cousin. I understand the church was over-filled for the funeral--main floor, balcony, basement. Only heaven will tell of the real influence of Mrs. Janet Reese.

The verse in Proverbs 31 comes to mind: "her children rise up and call her blessed."

Only there are a lot more of us than just her children making that statement today.

Our Busy Weekend

Here is Alvin Fernald, working on his new look for his room. At first, he couldn't decide between an "army" theme, and keeping the blue he had, which he loved. So he designed a compromise scenario. He is keeping the blue for "sky," (as well as the cloud-fabric curtains), and painting green hills. The time is 1943 or 1944. The question is, are these hills in England, France, or some Japanese-held island in the South Pacific?
Blackeyed Susan's room was not so complicated. Here you see yellow primer (the room formerly known as "green:" The doors are from Alvin's room and closet.
I also worked on the Princess quilts. Here are some "plain" squares:
They will alternate with hourglass squares:
I made ten yellow squares with yo-yo flowers to be scattered among the others:
And how can you have a "princess" quilt without some frogs to kiss?
I know this is sideways, but couldn't get it right-side up. While we were painting, Blueberry came over with his mom, dressed in his Notre Dame outfit, and "football" shoes. They watched the game, and cheered on our team until we got cleaned up:

It's always too bad when you can't finish a project on Saturday. (tho' we didn't begin it until the afternoon, anyway) We are trying to get back to it today (Monday). Maybe more pictures tomorrow?

Just a Quickie

We have been busy this weekend, painting Alvin Fernald and Blackeyed Susan's rooms. I'm trying to remember to get photos "in process" to show you. Hopefully, I can post them tomorrow.

I am also beginning to put together Princess Quilts for Laura Carrot and Sweet Pea. Laura has a new shirt her Daddy bought her in Chicago a couple of weeks ago at some ESPN-themed store: You Can't Spell Princess Without ESPN. Gotta love the Dad/daughter/princess/sports thing...

Notre Dame beat Purdue yesterday. Last week I was gloating to some Purdue People friends of mine, about the fourth quarter rally of my Irish. They made fun of me. Dangerous thing to do, when the initials of *their* university are P.U. Yesterday's score:

ND 35
PU 21

Wake up the echoes, cheering her name.

More than I Bargained For

Charming and I will celebrate thirty-one years of marriage next month. This means, among other things, that the words "I didn't know that about you!!" don't come out of our mouths too often anymore. I know most of the stories about his childhood, and vice versa. We met at eighteen, so it is not so far in the future that we will have known each other twice as long as we "haven't."

The picture above is a well-known painting, "Portrait of a Young Girl Reading." I had a copy in my bedroom growing up. One summer, the grocery store was giving away a "painting a week"
with a $5 order. (think "$20 order" in today's money.) My mom got lots of "still lifes" for the living room and family room--I got the Girl.

The paintings came on cardboard, but imprinted to look like canvas. I never got a frame for mine, but set it up on my bookshelf. Eventually, the corners got bent, and all, so when I moved out, I threw the painting away.

Through the years, I thought I would like to get another copy. Finally, last week, I found one (FRAMED!!) at the thrift store for $5. I thought it would look good in our bedroom, along with the copy of Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" I found last fall. Read about that here.

You could have knocked me over with a feather when Charming came home that night and saw the painting. His first words were, "Where did you find the picture of the Girl in the Yellow Dress? That was one of my favorite paintings growing up." He also said, "it was one of my first standards of feminine beauty."

Wow. To find that we both had a connection to something, but didn't share it "together." Like I said, this doesn't happen too often anymore. I've been kind of excited since then, like when we were dating, and everyday was an opportunity to find out something new.

Turning a corner...Charming worked until 1am last night. (I was in bed, of course.) When I got up about 1:30, I heard him downstairs, playing guitar and singing, worshipping the Lord.

Just another reason why I Love This Man.


Young Girl Reading courtesty of
Allposters

Thank you

Notre Dame 40
Michigan State 37

Amen.

Saturday Fun Time

Happy news--a new Walmart opened this past Wednesday, much closer to my home than the one I've had to go to all these years. I did visit WM this week, tho' it was the "old" one, because the dry cleaner (which was my Real Errand) is close by that one.

I ventured out today to get gasoline, and Here It Is, Folks:
Now, you will notice that I could get it 5 cents cheaper by using a Walmart gift card. I considered going into the store to get one, but after seeing the, like, forty thousand cars in the parking lot, decided to just pay the Big Price. ( I ended up getting 18 gallons--that meant I spent 90 cents more than by using the card. I felt it was worth Not having the hassle of going in, to pay the 90 cents.)

Last night, I finished Lily's funky bag:

Her birthday was Thursday, so it was pretty timely. Here is a photo of the pockets inside:
I need to stop working on the bags for a little while. I still need to make one for Violet, and now Blackeyed Susan wants one, too. But I am making quilts for Laura Carrot and Sweet Pea, and I need to Get A Move On, little dogie....Laura's birthday is next month.

I'll post pictures of some of those Princess squares, hopefully next time.

I'm getting ready to have Junior Asparagus and Laura Carrot for a couple of hours. Johnny Tremain played in the Alumnae soccer game at his college, against the current team. They only had ten players (instead of eleven-plus-extras), so he played all ninety minutes. His tootsies are trashed. He did get an assist, and the game ended in a tie. Not bad for old guys, and Johnny doesn't play even casually anymore.

I am also watching Blueberry tonight. He's easy--bottle at 8 and then to bed. Then I'll pull out the Princess quilts and re-assess.

Have a blessed Lord's Day!

Mis-Fortune

Okay, this is pathetic. Puh-thetic.

Two weeks ago, Charming and I dropped the children off at church and went to get something to eat, and to Be Alone. (yum) We decided to try a Chinese Buffet close to the church, which we had never visited before. The food was fine (ate too much), and then they brought us the check, avec fortune cookies.

Charming's was traditional, tho' I forget what it was. What is remember-able is the fact that my cookie was SANS fortune--none at all. That had never happened to me before. I decided that I was, indeed, UN-fortunate.

Fast forward to last evening. We decided (because we had grown kids and grands "just dropping by" till after 6:30) that we would take Blackeyed Susan and Alvin Fernald to same Chinese Buffet. We Ate Too Much, again, and then the little black tray was brought with four cookies.

I chose first, and read the fortune that I will share in a minute. Alvin's read: Your respect for others will be your ticket to success. Susan's read: A four-wheeled adventure will soon bring you happiness. Charming's: A happy and harmonious family is important to you.

Ready for mine? (drumroll, please): Work on improving your exercise routine.

Are you kidding? That is not a "fortune"!! Tho' it may be a good idea, it is not what I just filled my tummy to uncomfortable-ness for. Who told you, nebulous fortune-cookie company, that you could Stick Your Nose into my business?

Do you realize, since I chose first, that I only had a 25% chance of choosing that particular fortune from the tray?

This is so depressing. I'm going to go get a giganto Mocha with double Whipped Cream from Starbucks.

Hi, Lily, Hi Lo

Today is my dear, dear daughter-in-love Lily's birthday. I was looking for a photo to stick in here, but I don't know if I have any without her hubby and three children in it. (I do tend to take scads of photos of those dear babies!--I need to take care of that little issue.)

I wrote about Lily on My Other Blog (see sidebar) today, if you want to know some of the wonderful things about Lily. I just wanted to add a couple more things here:

Lily embraced the idea of being a wife, mother, and home-maker early on. She received a little resistance to "not using your college degree (in El. Ed), /wasting your education." She realizes that an education is more than just a way to have a career in the world. Education is for the person--to make the PERSON better. Of course, an elementary ed. degree is not wasted, for a mother of children (as I also told my daughter, who has a degree in psychology....)

Lily is much more organized than her mother-in-law, but she loves me, anyway. She is a true "daughter"--doing those things my own daughters do, when it comes to family events, routine, celebratory, or "crisis-type".

Lily wants to learn to knit and to sew. She has already done a cross-stitch project, and she is a madwoman when it comes to scrapbooking. She is enlarging her cooking repertoire, and is a master "garage-sailor." She is an advocate for more natural mothering (better food, limited vaccinations, natural family planning), and she has a heart for young mothers who live away from their natural mother/grandmother/aunt support group. She often will have scads of mothers and babies in her home for fellowship.

Happy birthday, Lily--we love you. You make us better people. Thanks for desiring to be a part of our Clan.

Time For Twittering: Provisions of Grace...

This is so great! Tam has a new blog at Provisions of Grace (see my sidebar). Read about it here: Time For Twittering: Provisions of Grace...

Provisions of Grace sells new and vintage sewing items. Right now (she's just beginning) she has several vintage sewing books, and some luscious fabric. I am *so* looking forward to her adding things to her site!!

She is having a little contest to christen her new business. (read about it at the link above) You can win a $30.00 gift certificate--yum, Yum, YUM!!!

Tam and I are blog-gy friends, and sisters-under-the-skin. We love each other, because we have so much in common! I am so thrilled for her opportunity to bless her household with an income, while doing the things she loves to do! Go give her a visit today!

Bluebird Blogs

Bluebird Blogs is giving away free custom-designed blog templates to 2 lucky people!

Go and check out her wonderful work!!

Email her for a free chance, and if you post about the contest on your blog, you will get an extra 5 chances to win.

(so now I have six chances--Me, Me, Me, ME, ME, ME!!!! (was that six times??)

The Look of Autumn

I finally got my fall decorating done in my main rooms. Here is the centerpiece for the dining room table:
My china cabinet boasts a festive garland. The candlesticks keep it from falling off: Here is the front door. Note the very important pennant, without which it is not "really " autumn at our house:
I always put my autumn quilt front-and-center. I did this one completely by hand:
Okay, so now every window had to have a garland, or they looked naked:
Today, Johnny Tremain and Rocky Balboa went to a Cubs game in Chicago, so Lily and Forget-me-not came over with the children. Here are Blueberry and Sweet Pea just hangin' out:
Alvin Fernald has a class tomorrow to get certified in First Aid. It will be great for him, and he will qualify for a Royal Ranger merit as well. Lily and I are going to Jo-Ann's--they have a Saturday-only sale on flannels for $2.99--maybe I can get started on Christmas jammy-pants!

This weekend is our favorite festival of the year--the Johnny Appleseed festival. (he is buried in our town.) Yum--apple cider, apple dumplings, demos of spinning, soap-making, handmade musical instruments (and lots of music, too.) Opportunities to spend lots of cash. Fun, fun, fun!

Tonight, just Alvin and I are home. Maybe I'll cut some sewing-thing out, and maybe just begin to go through the giant stack of projects....