We did catch the mailman today to send out several cards with letters inside to those who most likely don’t receive much mail in their health care facilities. My biggest disappointment is getting a Christmas card in the mail from farther away friends and family and lo and behold there is just the signature of the sender.
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Noreen
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Noreen
Here Comes the Mailman!
This time of the year, I do get excited about the mail delivery. Not every day, but several times a week, there comes the annual news of distant family members.
Aunt Dorothy in Gaylord is 93 and still in her own home. Of her eight children, seven are thriving and keeping close tabs on her. Her eighth child, Dewight, died at a very young age when he was gored by a bull. It was the first funeral I attended of a young person. Dorothy was married to my Dad’s brother, Leonard. Leonard worked as a medic in World War II. What was his medical skill? He had none, but he could speak fluid German and help those that did have medical expertise to exchange dialog for medical attention to be given.
Aunt Janet lives in Brownton and is 83, living in her own home. Janet is my Dad’s youngest sibling. Her husband had a small grocery store in New Auburn with an egg pickup service to farmers. Marvin was a severe diabetic and has been gone for 35 years. Not having had any children of her own, she does numerous things to help her nephew who has never married, whose father was Janet’s twin.
Aunt Lorraine at the age of 83 lives in Arizona with her youngest child. Lorraine was married to my Dad’s brother, Maynard, who has been gone for nine years. Lorraine is a kindred sole, as she enjoys fabrics and quilts as much as I do.
My grandparents and their nine children. Those yearly Christmas parties meant many items to be thought of for the gift exchange. Oh, for the simplistic fun with a house overflowing with humanity, aka: family
I do enjoy these gals and spend more time visiting with them now that I am retired and can give freely of my time to listen to them share their lives and their memories. What they all love to recount is when the entire family would get together for a Christmas gathering. The gatherings would take turns each year as to who’s farmhouse would host it. It was a potluck evening lunch after everyone had their dairy herds milked and bedded down. The men would sit and visit and the rest of us would shake dice. The gifts of those who were fortunate to shake a winner may very will have been a package of Jello or tuna. Even the kids were thrilled to have won a grocery item Every family member had a drawn name of another for a gift exchange. Men and women alike participated. Many handmade items were exchanged with little or no investment of money. There were links of homemade sausages as well as jars of jam. Very little financial investment, but an entire night of family fun. Lunch would be the last item of the night and everyone headed for their homes. Ironically, the distance from one family to another was not that great.
I do have to add that when my Mom was in a health care facility, my sister and I hosted Mom’s family, and for entertainment, we decided to shake dice. Elvera and I had hit sales for some time prior to, to find gifts for the lucky dice winners. Let me tell you that many young people were highly disappointed in what their winnings were. I think we should have stuck with Jello and tuna and let the sad faces really pucker up.
As you all know, with me . . . it’s all about the memories.
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Noreen
It Is The Season to Remember
The Santa Prayer
Lord, you know You’re the reason for this season.
I take pleasure in this season,
But I don’t want to take Your place,
But just reflect Your wondrous grace.
And when they begin to open gifts for
Which they have been hoping,
May they give You all the glory for
You’re the One True Christmas Story.
author unknown
A message too often forgotten amidst the commotion.
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Noreen
A Satisfied Customer
Dennis’ great grandson enjoying his quilt with all his familiar clothing patches.
The day we delivered Oliver’ quilt, he was very busy pointing out his favorite images. At 19 months, Oliver is one busy boy.
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Noreen
53 degrees right up 6:00 p.m. this evening. A quiet Sunday for the pair here on Stauffer Avenue.
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Noreen
Today the sun came out for a short time and it was heavenly. We had a quiet day on Stauffer Avenue, and sometimes that is just what is needed. The sewing room is shut down for a bit of cleaning after Oliver’s quilt was finished. This evening Dennis and I were each on our own for supper. I can tell you, the herring I had was very tasty. Dennis enjoyed butter and jelly on some very fresh pull apart buns. Everybody on Stauffer Avenue is happy.
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Noreen
Chatting Over the Miles
My sister, Elvera, came from Stewart for a visit today. From
St. James, we ventured to the Old Alley Quilt Shop in Sherburn. Lots of southern hospitality was enjoyed as we touched and felt as much fabric as we could for the time we were there. Priceless! -
Noreen
Today, after a good stint of stretching and twisting at the Super 8 pool, I came home and felt like I could have turned the world upside down. I spent a bit of time in the kitchen as well as baking out some of the remaining acorn squash. It was not a good growing season of weather combined with temperatures for the squash and watermelon. The squash were very small and that is showing in the time that they will keep in to the early winter. It made for a good addition to the cod that we had for supper. A little bit of left over squash will fill another supper menu a few days up the road.
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Noreen
Hubby Dennis, knowing the day was a bit rough, brought home Pizza Hut Pizza. What a treat. Half taco and half all meat. What brought about the rough day? Could have been the really cloudy damp weather to make the arthritis buck or the fact, that on the last process of Oliver’s quilt, which was hemming the remaining half, I ran out of thread and have no more of that color. More of the actual spool than the yardage of thread that used to be on a spool. I am going to have to council with my partner Dennis, as to how we punt through this. No way will this call for a trip out of town for stitching 140 inches of hem.
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Noreen
Very Satisfying
So close to the end, I can’t help but smile,
even with a few bags under the eyes.When a huge challenge is close to the end game, it is very satisfying and also a bit hard on the back and hands. Oliver’s quilt is taking on the look of possible completion. Yesterday and today was spent tying many knots with embroidery floss. Thanks to some very kind elves, I have floss to tie knots with and to do counted cross stitch with until my end game.
My sister, Elvera, and I were invited many times to help my Mom finish quilts. The quilts were either hand sewn or tied with wool yarn. After these last several days I wish I knew the size of the needle that was used to push through a cotton quilt top, the batting, and the cotton backing, all the while using wool
yarn. I had all I could do, using a slender needle with an eye just large enough for the embroidery floss to fit through, and that was accomplished by using a needle nose pliers to pull the needle through. The beauty of wool yarn is that over time the wool would ware and the individual fibers took on the look of each yarn knot to resemble a flower bud, something acrylic yarn can’t achieve.I am very pleased that the majority of the materials used for this project did come from my stashes. Without the stashes, Amy’s wish for a “large blanket” could have become quite spendy. I filled my stashes from the close out sale of Grandma’s Quilt Emporium at a $1.00 a yard sometime in the late 1990s. It would really smart to purchase that same quality of yard goods for the going price of $8.99 and $9.99 a yard. The stipulation is, when I am asked to do a project, and the yard goods are not offered up by the person making the request, it is my choice of what I will use. Dennis takes down various totes for me to shop from as I make my choices. By the way, the quilt will be 60″ x 82″. Not quite the size of a twin sized bed, but I am sure this size will suffice for cuddling as well as fort building as Oliver gets a bit older.
Tomorrow we will be rattling the totes to find just the right fabric for the binding. I know I will have to find a piece that is ¾ of a yard, or several to put together to make 294 inches of binding.
