Hhhappy Halloween

While driving through Camden, Rita and I spied this pumpkin head.66 years old and I've never seen that before.

I picked up two quilts I'd had long armed and this nifty ladder to display them on.

This is Bethany Reynolds, a famous quilter who devised the "stack and whack" system. She showed some beautiful quilts. Unfortunately, my picture doesn't do her or the quilt justice. :(

I'm going on my big"date" tonight. What are you doing for Halloween?

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Memories

Guess what? I had an email from my high school boyfriend, Mark MacDonald. He lives in Vermont (we reconnected last year through Classmates.com). He is now a State Senator....a big surprise. He was an underachiever when we dated. He is coming to the Pee Dee this week. We have a "date" to meet for dinner in Florence. Don't worry, Curtis is so coming :)

As I explained to Curtis, it is not a romantic thing. I only get to see two of my high school friends; and I haven't seen them in quite a while. He sees his peeps once a month for lunch and once a year for a get together. (He also gets to see one ex girlfriend when my Coker classmates get together.)

So I am excited and I will have Curtis take pictures for a before and after effect. (Here's hoping I don't look like I was rode hard and put up wet.)

Here's a brief history of our relationship. We met in Senior English class. He invited me to go see A Midsummer Night's Dream at the National Theater. We started dating. We went to several dances together (see pictures above) and the Senior Prom.

He went to Syracuse. I went to Coker. I did get to go up to Syracuse for one big weekend. (Thanks, Mom and Dad for flying me up there!) He never came to Coker.

His Dad was in the Diplomatic Corp and his family moved to Pakistan so he moved to NYC to live with his Grandparents.

The last time I saw him was summer of 1963 when Leslie and I took a trip to Hyannisport, Mass and ran out of money so we drove into NYC and got some money from Mark. At that time he was working as a baggage handler for the airlines after flunking out of Syracuse. He did eventually go back and finish college, but I forget what he did/does for a living. He is married and has kids.

Is there any old "boyfriend" you would like to see and catch up with?





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The Inner Accountant

This is my beautiful new Janome 6600 Sewing Machine. For those who don't know how sewing machines have improved, let me just say it is the bomb. It cuts your thread whenever you tell it too for one thing! The beautiful quilt beside it is my Christmas quilt I started at Fall Retreat. I am ready to put the back on it and quilt it with my new machine.

I've just finished South of Broad. I so love Pat Conroy's writing. This book hasn't gotten the best of reviews but no one else can write like he does in my opinion. If you love Charleston, you will love his descriptions in this book. He even talks about Big Johns a place I visited while in college.

I also just read Sue Monk Kidd's latest; that she wrote with her daughter . It is mostly about how and why a black Madonna came to be her writing muse and their trip to Europe to visit ancient Mary Shrines. I started reading Ms. Kidd back in the 80's when she wrote for Guideposts. I've read everything she has written as she has progressed from a "normal Christian" to a weirdo. If you read the book, let me know what you think.

Now for the Inner Critic/Accountant. In Mary B's blog where they tried to write a book in a week the moderators advised writers to silence their inner critic and just write. It made me think about my "inner accountant". I don't know where I got her. Probably during the many droughts we went through on the farm. I learned that famine wasn't fun and I'd rather avoid it even if the checkbook says its okay to feast.

Buying the new Janome has caused IA (Inner Accountant) to rise up and shake her finger at me a lot. "No, you do not need black shoes to wear with black pants....wear brown....it is not important in the world scheme of things for your shoes to match." "and you oh so don't need new sheets for the boy's bedroom.....just because they are the ones your mother used at her beach house sixty some years ago does not mean they should be replaced". And on and on she whispers. It is a good thing my husband can out vote her our there would be no new nothin' around here!

Do any of you have an inner accountant?

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Hot Dog.....We're Home!

On our way North to Meadows of Dan, Virginia, Curtis and I stopped in at the Ebenezer Grill in Rock Hill, SC to lunch with our daughter, Gabby.

Since we try hard never to miss an opportunity to embarrass the heck out of her....we tried on the Hot Dog Hat! My husband should wear it 24-7 since he eats AT LEAST one hot dog a day and usually two. I think that makes him the Hot Dog King and by default I guess I am the Queen of Hot Dogs.

While visiting with Sallie and Andy, Sallie and I went to two huge fabric/quilt stores. This one at fancy gap had upgraded quite a bit. I bought fabric to do my next quilt here.

The next day, Sallie and Lynn, her neighbor and a fellow quilter, and I went to Wytheville to the SEW WHAT FABRICS store. OMGoodness! I should have taken the pic inside. Three levels of fabulous fabrics. And a good portion on sale. This store advertises in national quilt magazines; it was great to see it in person. I bought more fabric and thread for the new quilt.

When lunch time rolled around we went next door to the Log Cabin Restaurant established in 1776. It is truly an old log cabin with so much ambiance......if you are ever on the way anywhere and see the sign for Wytheville....stop and ask for The Log Cabin Restaurant. (Or Goggle it.)

This is Sallie's quilt that set me off on making a quilt with a border print. I made a few of the nine patches while I was there and as soon as I finish my Christmas Quilt I will be working on this one.

Well must go sew on my NEW JANOME 6600P Sewing Machine. Will tell more about that in another post.

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A Quilt Retreat

I've been at the South Carolina Quilting Association's Fall Retreat at Whiteoak in Winnsboro, SC. So much fun!

Last year our ladies created Artful Bras in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness. They were so creative and popular they have been touring exhibits all over the United States ever since. And published in this wonderful book which shows each bra, the maker, and tells about her inspiration.

WhiteOak Conference Center has undergone a huge renovation. For example here is Rita enjoying one of the classy, swinging chairs in the lobby.

Rita took the doll making class I took last year. She wanted to make a Chinese Doll to go with the Chinese costume I bought her when we were in Texas.

Here are a few of our ladies from our Quilt Guild. Lily, on the back row, is 83 years young and I do mean young. She is always trying new things and is a "hoot" to be with.

If you are not a quilter, you don't know what you are missing. ( A ton of fun!)

Are you in a group you enjoy a lot, if so, tell us about it!

A Bridge TOO Far?

My neighbor asked me to play bridge with her Bridge Club, "I said, "I will if you can't find anyone else." She said, "I don't want anyone else!" So I had to agree to play.

Now I was the youngster in the group. Everyone else was 80 or over. Most are much better bridge players than I. I only play when Mrs. Tillie makes me.

But one lady was so confused. She tried to deal with her own hand (after she had just dealt the cards).

It was fun to hear these older ladies talk about things like "sex" and menstruation. They each said they didn't know one thing about sex when they married. Their mothers just didn't share the love. One said she began screaming for her mother when she saw blood in her underpants. Her mother took one look and sent her sister in to talk to her.

The only gossip if you can call it that was about a lady in the community who died. She was fondly remembered for always wearing a black bow in her hair up until she died. Oh, and lots of red lipstick.

Some talked about their cholesterol numbers; others their blood pressure. One shared coupons for a vitamin a lot of the women take.

So, if you've never been to a Bridge Club, now you know what goes on.

Ohhhh they do have good refreshments (angel food cake with vanilla and orange flavored ice cream between the layers....the orange was for Halloween, don't you know.)

Have you ever been to a Bridge Club? What was it like?

PaPa's Got a Brand New Bag

My title comes from a James Brown song of the 1960's. Now that I think about it instead of just singing the lyrics mindlessly, I wonder.......a new bag.....like a purse?......or bag of weed?

Well, my "Papa" has a new (rented) cherry picker!
He, as you might have surmised, was sanding and is now painting the columns. (Make a mental note....do not buy or build a house with columns. They are quite the pain!)

If you could see Hubs from the rear, you would see his hiney is clamped so tight you couldn't get a credit card in his crack. He believes he is holding the cherry picker in the air with his tightly clamped cheeks. Who am I do say he is wrong?

As of ten seconds ago, he has finished painting said columns but has other tasks for tomorrow. Replacing rotten boards and starting on the back of the house.

Once again I am oh so glad I am not a man! Or rather I am glad I have a man! My book is about a young wife and her mother-in-law who are trying to survive the Civil War and keep the farm going without any men. They even manage to harvest the wheat using some kind of harvester. I guess hunger and desperation can make you do things you would avoid if at all possible.

What is a task your husband or hired person does that you are oh so glad you don't have to do?





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Rain, Rain and Triumphant Rain

And if ever there was an invincible and convincing sign of God's love and mercy

It was the Rain, the rain, the Triumphant Rain!

C and I can't remember the last time we had a rainy day in Hartsvegas. It has been so very dry for so very long. It has been sad to see our forty year old azaleas dying and their leaves hanging so helplessly.

But this morning we awoke to that precious sound. And we thanked God for the Rain.

At other times and other places we would NOT have rejoiced over such a simple thing. But have you noticed how scarcity promotes thankfulness.

I have been reading a lot of books that take place in the 1800's. Boy, do they remind me, women did not always have washers, refrigerators, floors that were not dirt, windows, pants, and birth control.

But today I will rejoice that I do have those things and more; so much more. Today I had the leisure to play. With my fabrics, and with my sewing machine.


Oh, and those ladies of yore.....waited months and months for a letter to be answered.

What 2009 convenience are you most thankful for???

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Yard Work is HARD Word

Yesterday I worked in our yard; and no all this garbage wasn't in the yard but in the ditch in front of our house. It makes me furious that people LITTER. And 90% of the litter is beer cans.

Over the 40 something years in this house I have so wanted to put a sign up or show the trash like I did in this picture and say something like "Have you no manners?" "Didn't someone tell you NOT to litter!" "Be ashamed, be very ashamed!" I would do it....and I still might....but I think the rednecks who litter would then show me how well they can litter and dump piles of garbage in front of our house!

Maybe, if I took a kinder tack.....like..... WE know YOU are not the kind of person who litters so kindly refrain from accidentally dropping anything out of your vehicles' windows.

Whatdaya think?

Hubs has decided the front columns need painting, ya think? No seriously this is after he has sanded them for hours and hours. I kinda like the antebellum look; looks like Soitille Hall at the College of Charleston (I you close both eyes and imagine pink and red brick). It works for them.

What do you think? Could it work for The Donnadale Plantation and Old Folks Home?

About the yard work.......I did cut back all the zinnias and cleome, prune the roses, haul off limbs and debri, rake pine straw, spread pine straw, repot a plant, skatte pine straw to cover the paint chips hubs sanded onto the straw, and fill the bird feeders.

Hubs is vacuuming up the ninety-nine million tons of pine straw off the lawn that has accumulated in the week since he last did it.:(

Yep folks, if you don't want to get up pine straw; don't plant pine trees or have a forest for a lawn. Don't forget you heard it here at the Donnamo!

Guilded Lillies (Get it?)

Yesterday was Quilt Guild, and the "Guilded Lillies" had quite a few show and tells in addition to our Make It, Bake It, Grow it Silent and Loud Auctions. Marlene made this lovely doggie quilt she named "Must Love Dogs" for her grand daughter!

Not only that, she made a mini-quilt for the GD's American Girl Doll....called Must love Puppies!

I tried to get Marlene to adopt me as a grand daughter but she was not interested :(

Judy name this quilt for the Make A Wish Foundation to sell. I think you all know Make A Wish benefits terminally ill children.

My blurry photo does not do Lillie's Heart Quilt justice. Several of our ladies made quilts for The Heart Association Fundraiser. This photo....if it were good....shows where her husband's heart was damaged when he had a heart attach a few years back.

Carolyn never ceases to amaze me with her interpretations. Many fabrics were fused together and little mirrors attached in those gold hearts for her "Look Into Your Heart" entry.

Frances came up with "Heartsville" a wall hanging named for our town. She appliqued each little window on there And put little heart charms on each house.

Frances, our President and Over Achiever Extraordinaire did a second one and I forgot the title. But those are silver faces, hands and feet sewn on it.

It was a wonderful meeting and the pictures above show that as quilters we are an involved bunch of ladies using our skills to better the world around us :)

Do you have any skills you can use to better the world around you?

If you answered "No".....I beg to differ.....YOU CAN PRAY! Right now a 2 year old little girl named Belle has been diagnosed with brain and spinal cancer. PLEASE pray for Belle; and for her doctors who don't know quite how to treat her.....GOD KNOWS.....Let's ask HIM to help.

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A little doggie humor.....

This all for now.......LOL

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