Green Thumb Gert

Here is the first watermelon we've picked from our garden.  It is huge, 20 1/2 inches long and 32 inches around the middle.  I hope it tastes as good as it looks.  We'll cut into it on Sunday when we have family over for dinner.  We have about 20 more in the garden and about 30 cantaloupes.  The high heat temperatures this year have been great for growing these sun loving fruits.  

                                                                               

I'll pick some cantaloupes this weekend and make some "Cantaloupe Ice".  Yummmmm, and very refreshing.

My Little Haven~My Little Craft Room

I now have my very own little craft room in the making. I've been slowly transforming the room. It used to be my oldest sons room who is now married and has recently had his own sweet baby. I am contemplating a name for my room...when the right name comes to me I will post it outside the door, either by a hanging sign or painted directly on the wall.

The pictures here are just of one small corner in the room.

My table top spans the length of the room which is about 9' 3". It was actually intended to be a wall panel (cherry wood) for The Conference Center years and years ago. The story that came to me was that it was a leftover and going to be thrown out. It was rescued by a man who worked there and given to a dear friend of mine who kept it housed for years. Her husband finally decided he would not budge its heftiness one more time and by a loving fluke I became the happy recipient.

I had a neighbor friend trim it down to fit the length of the room and also cut it down so it wasn't too deep. He did a beautiful job. Then I turned my attention to the problem of the recessed areas. That was easy, by just putting glass across the length of the top it became a useable surface. It makes it fun because it leaves room for little memento's underneath the glass.

Below you can see a ceramic hand print from when I was in kindergarten and a bracelet that I received as a Christmas Gift when I was 6 years old. The compartment on the bracelet holds a total of 5 dimes. Wow~did I think I was cool or what! :) The chain that you see didn't originate with it, that was long broke and gone. This one is just sitting there until I can get a better one to have attached to the charm.

There are a few more memento's sprinkled down the table top for now, but nothing is in its permanent place yet. The room is still not fully functional but its slowly moving in that direction. YEAH!!! :)

Linen Closet turned Cozy Reading Nook

This used to be my linen closet. It is now my little reading nook. It isn't quite finished yet, there is a little more to do. 

I knew just what I wanted it to look like. I have a fetish about knocking holes in the walls, you know, things tucked away in little nooks and crannies. It brings me great satisfaction. Some adjustments still need to be made, like the light, it is way too stark and we have not yet added the stained glass window in the opening that we created through the wall that opens up onto the stair rail side. I also have some paint touch ups to do and the baskets will be different.

For the blue arched area I just took paper and traced around different sized plates and cut it out and traced it on the wall and then painted it (you can't see the ceiling but it is also painted blue). For the pillow I used 3 napkins from the second hand store. The one for the front of the pillow I traced on letters and then filled them in with embroidery stitches, ( the initials stand for Mr. Humpty Dumpty--because it's his picture on the wall). Then I cut two other napkins to make an overlap on the back and I turned under the cut sides and used fabric tape that's washable to connect it all together and then I put in a pillow form. This was the first pillow I have ever made, it was fun.

The hedgehog I bought a year or so ago in a kit at a yarn shop in Seattle, I attempted to knit it but wasn't very successful. So when I went up to my sisters in Washington she told me to bring it with me and she would knit it, and she did--isn't he the cutest thing? The cushion was made by a man who lives down the street from me.

My husband wired in the light, and he also built the bench to sit on. Another neighbor built the wall insert that will hold the stain glass window. The window will actually open all the way up and lay against the stair wall when fully opened. It will have a latch on the outside of the window so it can be locked and not opened by any "little people".

All in all I love it :) I especially like to light the candles on the other wall and sit quietly while  watching the flames flicker. 

The Warming Glow of Candlelight

Sometimes after a long hectic day it is so comforting to light a candle and sit quietly watching the shadows dance upon the walls, and contemplate my blessings and the gratitude I feel in my heart for my Savior, who loves me, and died for me that I might live. I'm grateful for this Christmas Season to remember to be kinder, more compassionate more grateful....

The Best Kind of Influence-My Mother!

I was in Wal Mart the other day picking up a few items when I saw these flowers. An image immediately came to mind of my mother. She used to wear a lipstick about this same shade. It looked wonderful on her. So as I stood there in the store going down memory lane it brought a smile to my face and my heart. Impulsively I had to purchase them. That's the best kind of advertisement, a happy memory.... :)

What happy memories do you have of your mother?

Whimsical Pride and Prejudice Doll

Meet my new doll.

I've named her Annie Lou Lou, after my sister (that was my sister's nick name growing up).

I began making her at my sister's home in Washington earlier this year. I had flown up to my sister's to finish a quilt I had been working on, and when I saw this doll in a book she had, called "Sew Sunny Homestyle" I just had to make it.

My sister graciously let me choose from her bountiful fabric bolts and stashes all kinds of prints for her wardrobe. It was fun picking out fabrics for her dresses and pajamas and swimsuit.

In fact the above picture shows her in her 1800's swimsuit. It actually isn't quite finished, the pattern shows it sewn to the doll. That wasn't going to work for me since I wanted to create a whole wardrobe for her. So I am working on making it removable and finishing up the embellishments of white trim and pearl buttons. I'm considering making her a headband for her hair also.

Resting on the couch.

Here is her first dress I made for her. I"ll be making many more, hopefully. I also began making a second doll and when she is all put together, I will call her Liddy Nore (which was part of my nick name growing up.)

By the way, have you read Pride and Prejudice? I love the book and have read it multiple times. There are alot of good lessons included throughout its pages.

Until next time....Happy crafting :)

SPRING CLEANING with the CLASSICS, Volume 1

It's the time of year when we feel a need to take a closer look at our surroundings and to beautify those surroundings by renewing-cleaning-organizing and repairing all around us in our homes and yards. Some approach this with eagerness, others with dread, and still others with--well, you can fill in the blank. But spring cleaning is really never a one time experience, it is really an ongoing day to day blessing as we take care of the simple daily tasks of life to the best of our abilities. And as we do so it brings to ourselves and others comfort and security.

Out in the world there is such a jumble of chaotic voices trying to confuse us on the topic of homekeeping and its worth. I find it fascinating that since the beginning of time it is a built-in instinct to provide shelter for ourselves. To create a home to come home to. A place of refuge, of rest, of replenishment. A place to feel loved and protected and cared for. After all, the only reason we go out into the world to work is so that we can provide for our nests.


Samuel Johnson said: "To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labour tends. . . . " (The Rambler, Nov. 10, 1750)

It is a privilege to be the Keeper of the home, to be the one to provide comfort and love for those who live there. In Ancient Roman religion and mythology there is Janus the god of beginnings and transitions, also of gates, doors and doorways, endings and time. Most often he is depicted as having two heads, facing opposite directions. Symbolically they look simultaneously into the future and the past, back at the last year and forward at the new.

We are like gatekeepers-this says much more than just guarding a doorway--it involves guarding with a steady watch care over our families comings and goings and helping them to adulthood and beyond.

When I think of Spring cleaning what comes to mind is, "The Classics." Books like; Eight Cousins, Jane Eyre, Mrs. Careys Chickens, Swiss Family Robinson, The Three Little Pigs, Little House in the Big Woods, Anne of Green Gables and many more. They are wonderful stories and wound into the fabric of their lives is their family beginnings their homekeeping and home beautifying and the every day joys and cares of building a home life. The sweeping, the dusting the polishing the washing and mending, the cooking, the sewing and other refined skills they have learned.

Once we understand its grand importance in our lives of caring for our homes and providing the best life we can in between its walls, we will be inspired to do the little dailies that maintain a happy balanced home. This is true for whatever and wherever we call home.

When I was about 11 years old I received the book Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott as a gift from a good friend of our family. She knew how much I loved to read and it was one of my first books that was just all mine. I devoured it quickly and went on to read it over 50 times in the next few years. I loved its cozy homeyness and the little lessons taught on work , health and sacrifice.

Here is one of those little lessons.

Rose is speaking to her Uncle Alec who is now her guardian since her father's passing:

"I've been trying to decide what trade I would learn, and I want you to advise me. I haven't any talent or any especial taste that I can see, and that is why I can't decide, Uncle. So I think it would be a good plan to pick up some very useful business and learn it..."

Uncle Alec replies: "Well, now, there is one very excellent, necessary, and womanly accomplishment that no girl should be without, for it is a help to rich and poor, and the comfort of families depends upon it. This fine talent is neglected nowadays and considered old-fashioned, which is a sad mistake and one that I don't mean to make in bringing up my girl. It should be a part of every girl's education,..."

"Oh, what is it? cried Rose eagerly..."

"Housekeeping!"

"Is that an accomplishment? asked Rose, while her face fell..."

"Yes, it is one of the most beautiful as well as useful of all the arts a woman can learn. ...one that makes many people happy and comfortable, and home the sweetest place in the world. ...it is a fact that I had rather see you a good housekeeper than the greatest belle in the city. It need not interfere with any talent you may possess, but it is a necessary part of your training, and I hope that you will set about it at once, now that you are well and strong."

This advice from Uncle Alec stirs something in Rose and she sets in right away to begin to learn to keep a home with Aunt Plenty as personal mentor, whom all admire. So, I think the first part of Spring cleaning or any cleaning begins with a pleasant and grateful attitude of the privilege that we have a home or apartment or hut to take care of, to put our stamp on.

From there we can use an endless array of homekeeping how-to books as references if we are not as lucky as Rose was in having an Aunt Plenty to personally mentor us in these tasks.