A Rare Bird ...

Someone who can remain your friend for fifty years, come hell or high water, is a rare bird. We met up in the Poconos, stayed up waaaaaay too late trying to catch up after not having seen each other for ten years, and said goodbye. Till next time. Hopefully, it won’t be a long time before we meet again.
(Love ya, Gerry!)

Look at this one – Autumn Oaks all-over pattern (can you see it here on the back?).

Here’s the front. This one belongs to Valentina B.

A Family Affair ...

Pat C and her parents, Bill and JoAnn A came Thursday. Actually, Pat only came after work to see what her parents were up to – she’s been here before, and wanted to see how her Dad was making out quilting. Apparently, she had every confidence that her Mom would make out just fine. They did a very large, and very pretty quilt in jig time:


















(double-click on photo to enlarge)

Another quilt was begun, but we all ran out of time and energy before it got finished, so Pat came back this morning to wrap it up. My camera was back home, so we may get a photo from JoAnn to post later. The quilt was hand-stitched by an auntie – a whole lot of 8-point stars with sashing and borders. Pat practiced the spiral design her Mom had begun, and was out of here – quilt in hand – in a few hours. We both thought it came out pretty nicely.

Since she left, I’ve come home to begin cleaning up the sty in preparation for Thanksgiving Holiday company. So far, all I’ve got done is the refrigerator. I like to start there because it’s so encouraging to see the shine that results with minimal effort on my part. It motivates me to press onward.

Okay … breaktime is over. Back to work for me!

Not!

My next project:

http://www.knitpicks.com/kpimages/thumbnails/10625220.jpg

Mercy ... Will it never end?!?

Time Out for Friends ...

Today was a sort of Combo Day here -- combining work with time spent with friends. Penny and Betsy came, each with a quilt under her arm. We visited, we quilted. We ate, we quilted some more. Both went home with their projects done and ready for binding. Penny and I hadn't gotten together in probably just about a year -- with Betsy, it has been so long we couldn't figure out when the last time was. At least two years. How does that happen? We're all just busy women, I guess. We three have a lot in common, so there's never an end of things to talk about. It was a nice day, made nicer by having friends around. Such a sunny day, the photos are full of shadows.

Here's Betsy's quilt (always cheerful colors):

Camera-shy Betsy is peeping out from behind, in the shadow of the tree.

... and Penny's (we had to fold it in quarters to make it small enough for her to hold up off the ground; it's really a very large quilt) -- she leans toward the pink/green/white combination. Hmmmm ... seems like there's someone else who goes in that direction more often than not with her color schemes ...

... and who's that -- Peter Pan's Shadow down in the corner? Sorry for the lack of quality in the photos -- I think I need a different camera. As if that would make up for lack of photographic skill -- hah!

Padiddle ...

I had meetings to attend, so was out driving after dark on two nights in a row. Now, where I live, it would not be unusual to travel twenty miles without seeing another moving vehicle on the road. So tell me this: how is it that in two nights I've seen six different cars with only one headlight?!? I saw four last night, and two tonight. How crazy is that?!?

And in case you don't remember, or are to young to know -- "padiddle" is called by the first one to spot the car with only one headlight, and that entitles the "caller" to a kiss from whomever else is in the car -- usually a date, if I remember correctly -- so a one-eyed car sighting was a good thing.

Now-a-days the kids play a game in which the players strive to be first to spot a VW Bug, and yell something like, "Green Punch-Buggie ... no paybacks" (or is it punchbacks? I never can remember ... and even more seldom am the first to spot the Bug which entitles the caller to whack someone else in the car without fear of reprisal). I am most often the recipient of the punch, being the slowest to catch on to the game.

Like Indian scouts ...

We traipse stealthily through the woods to spy down from the ridge on the newcomers below. (Isn't that just like the Indians watching the settlers moving into their territory? Okay ... so I have a wild imagination. Sue me.) It makes for an interesting walk, providing plenty of exercise -- if nothing else.

These are photos of the latest goings-on at the well site on the farm next door:

There's an eerie glow in the night sky, with all the lights reflecting off the low-hanging cloud cover lately. It sort of "throbs," making it appear like some alien Thing is hovering overhead, deciding who or what will be its next prey. (There goes that crazy imagination again. It's outta control!)

In this one, if you look closely at the far right of the photo, you'll see Snoop The Scoop checking it all out from high above Cooleyville (his name for all the trailers and other paraphernalia brought in at the well site).



To pass the time away one day during a long car ride, the grandkids decided to imagine how they would spend the money if we ever got any from a gas well here. The granddaughter who's crazy about horses decided she'd buy two horses (one for her, one for her horse-loving friend), a trailer to drive them around in, and a black pickup truck to pull the trailer. Of course, I'd be their designated driver until they're old enough to get a driver's license. The younger of the grandsons thought an X-Box 360 would be just the ticket for his share -- guess he has no clue how much money can be had by anyone who drills for gas. The older boy couldn't think of anything he might need or want. Gotta love a kid with that kind of outlook, no? And the Little Princess was fast asleep, so didn't get to say. But no matter ... she needs only ring her imaginary bell for service, anyway. "Ding-ding." Her sibs are incredibly accommodating to her. Having been the youngest in our family, too, I'm wondering how she manages THAT trick. Didn't work for me!

Who'd-a-thunk it?

I had to go pick up grain for the animals this afternoon. As long as I was out, I was going to get a lot so I would not have to go back again any time soon. (Yes, I even hate THIS kind of shopping.) A young woman came in right after me and was only there to pick up two bags of grain for her critters. The fellows loading my truck saw how disappointed she was when she figured how long a wait she would have, so one volunteered to get her stuff by hand while the others loaded my truck with the forklift. He asked her, "What do you need?" and she answered him. He went off to fetch her Sheep & Goat Mix.

I was standing about two feet away, so couldn't help overhearing. I asked, "So ... do you have sheep or goats?"

"Goats."

"Milking goats?"

"No. Fiber goats."

"Oh, so do you spin?"

She grinned from ear to ear, and said rather sheepishly (sorry -- couldn't resist), "A little. I work full time, so I've only been able to do a little bit so far, but I'm trying to learn."

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Side Note to Dean:
Yes. I am "wordy"
everywhere I go.

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I mentioned to her that I raise sheep, tried spinning but find it annoying because little fibers always seem to be floating up by my nose, making it itchy. I backed up and leaned against the wall because I could see the guy coming out, carrying her grain on his shoulder. Just as I backed up, he plopped the heavy grain bags into the back of her vehicle. She was in the process of answering me (although HE did not know we had been chatting). She said, in a giggly little squeak of a voice, "Yeah ... little fibers are always floating up, EVERYwhere!" And she was gesturing with her hands to indicate the floating little fibers.

The guy looked at her askance, and said, "ohhhh-kaaay" and the look on his face made me snicker -- I could tell he thought she was a bit off tilt. She caught his glance and tried to explain by shreaking a single word: "Spinning!"

She left. He cocked his head in her direction and asked me, "Is she all there?" Oh ... I wish you could've seen the look on his face. Priceless!

I guess he didn't really understand what she said. He tweedled his fingers in the air, imitating her gestures, and asked, "What is she talking about ... all these pins and needles floating in the air?" I sort of wanted to just shrug my shoulders and leave it at that for my own amusement, but I explained what had transpired before he came out. It seemed like he remained confused, so I went on to say how the fibers were the sheep's wool, and spinning was the process of making yarn.

All of that led to a conversation with him about alpaca socks! Yeah, I know ... go figure! Seems he is a purveyor of alpaca socks, and a wealth of information about places to get alpaca locally. Who'd-a-thunk-it?

The fun just never ends ...

DH had a dental appointment. When he arrived, he had to cut through the break room full of people having coffee and donuts to see the dentist. Making his way through the crowd, he somehow managed to cut his finger. The dentist wanted to stitch it up for him, but they were interrupted by a call on his cell phone from someone who was inviting him to play golf with President Clinton. That's how the day was going for DH.

And then he woke up. (We were telling each other about our crazy dreams the night before, over a cup of coffee.) Isn't it funny how the most bizarre things can be linked and happen all in a few seconds in a dream?

Oh ... GOTTA make one of these for my claustrophobic ears!

I just got a call from a friend, and I'm SO excited. We've been buddies since the 5th grade ... say, about age 10. If you've not yet figured it out, THAT is a looo-oo-ong time. We rarely see each other any more. The last time was probably eight or ten years ago. We chatted a while on the phone, and decided it's high time we get together again. We have this silly thing we do: we update our high school yearbook by writing in any news we've heard about every single person in the book. It gets harder and harder, especially since I don't keep up with anybody from school except this friend any more ... but we down a few glasses of wine or beer and have a howling good time with it. We set a date for later in the month. If I start now ... and I mean RIGHT now, I can at least have the cobwebs swept out before she arrives. I'll get on it right away!

Oh .. but before I dash off to find a broom (we MUST have one someplace ... ) here's what Dave and Rose got finished while they were here yesterday:













BREAKING NEWS: That book I enjoyed so much and recommended in a recent post, The Help -- is going to be made into a movie next year. That's according to a message I just got from someone who took my advice and read the book. I will definitely have to see the flick and compare it to the original story. Lemme know if you spot it anywhere. I'll probably forget all about it by the time it's released, given my proclivity for losing track of details.