Ocean for Mountains and Hand Crank Singer

~ Surfside Beach, SC sand dunes ~

~ Beach at Surfside Beach, SC ~

~ Condo away from home, lower right ~

We've been missing from the farm for a few days; we're in Surfside Beach, SC and having a lovely time. It's been splendid to sleep past the sun's awakening, to wander at will, find shells on the beach, eat delicious seafood, find bargains, and, best of all, visit with friend Sandra. Mom always told me if a person died with a handful of True Friends, they would die the most fortunate of folks. I've got just a bit fewer than a handful and all distant but these women make up for any loss I might think I have. Sandra is one of those friends and sometime later this week I'll blog about her amazing life and artwork.

When Dave and I travel, we usually find accommodations via VRBO or Holiday Lettings. We've found some incredible places to stay and have never, Thank God, been ripped off. We stayed at a 14th century apartment in Tarifa, Spain and never met nor spoke with the owner; every bit of our business was accomplished via i-net and Paypal. Our keys were left under the mat although we did have a "go to gal" in Tarifa should any problems arise. This time, we did speak with the owner as she lives in Ohio but we've never met her. We retrieved our keys from a rental agency so it's been just as pleasant but different. A good thing as the a.c. broke the second day and we had to have an emergency fix.


Sandra and I have a number of interests in common and one of the most exciting is frequenting thrift, consignment and antique stores. We both value old things and love to drag home our latest finds to, lovingly, restore to use and loveliness. Thus far this trip my Find has been this old Singer sewing machine. The box has some sadness but is still in, relatively, good shape considering it was made in either the late 1800's or early 1900's. I'm still not sure because I've done only preliminary research but did find a similar machine, circa early 1900's with rather dear price of $1200. OUCH!

~ Hand crank Singer Sewing Machine ~

~ Side view, showing hand crank and original attachment box ~


~ Original box of attachments including extra bobbins ~

~ Oil can held in slot in box top ~

~ Back view ~

This sewing machine is in excellent condition; the box has a bit of damage, probably due to heat as the wood is veneer and has popped loose a bit. Nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of glue. The gold detailing isn't worn at all and the silver plate on the back is practically pristine. I'm over the moon with my Find especially as it cost $30! The gent at the consignment shop was grateful to be rid of it, tried to sell me a few others as well, including a wonderful little Featherweight and metal table but, for me, this hand crank Singer was the one that needed to go home with me. Thank You, God!

Until next time,

Blessings ~ friends ~ sewing machines ~ vacations ~ ocean ~ sea shells ~ slow living ~ seafood ~

A Stack of Quilts and Books

~ A Stack of Quilts, Fleece Throw and Scarves ~

It's been mentioned before I've begun an exercise program. Some friends asked, "don't you get enough exercise on the farm?" and the answer to that is, "yeah, but...it's not aerobic exercise, it's not continuous exercise and it's too varied to do much strength building on a continuous basis. So, for the past two months I've been doing aerobics, some swimming and yoga and it's killing me. I figure I'll be as good looking a corpse as the next older woman standing beside me -smile-. Twice a week I do two hours, one after the other, of Zumba aerobics, then yoga. Once a week I do purely weights for strength building and then yoga to end the week. Why am I telling you this? I'm not really sure except that, right now, I'm sucking air like a guppy because I've just finished both classes. I didn't grow up with exercise, I grew up with work and even though exercise is good for me, I rather bemoan the time taken away from doing "something productive". To close out this thought...please, give me your thoughts? Encouragement? Support? Words of advice?

Something productive, for the past while has meant quilting. When the computer had to go to the computer doc, I went on a quilting and reading binge. I read a few really interesting books and then some "cozy mysteries" for the shear enjoyment. One non-fiction book was "In the Footsteps of Marco Polo", the adventure of the two young men who, in the 1990's, "retraced the same two year Silk Road journey traveled by Marco Polo seven hundred years ago". I'm envious, of their journey that is, not the young men. Frankly, there were a few times, when reading their book, I was embarrassed by the fact these two men were representing "me" in the form of an American traveler.

Only a few pages into the book, they say something akin to, "...perhaps he was one of those knuckleheads who doesn't believe in global warming...". Is it me or does there seem to be a not so thin layer of sheer rudeness in that remark? It used to be gentlemen and gentlewomen could disagree without resorting to rudeness or ill mannered remarks. Not so, anymore. It used to be folks could have differing opinions and what happened was rather interesting and, perhaps, erudite conversation, not the diatribe that some attempt to pass as conversation.

A very few pages later, they announce they were "rolling around, fighting, in the lobby of a hotel because they had a disagreement". Sheesh, boys: Grow Up.

One other annoyance was toward the last third of the book. They again brag but this time on how well and how liberal the number of curse words they taught a man. Perhaps the man was Tajikistan...I can't really remember but think it was one of those "stan" countries. BTW, "stan" is generally accepted to be a Farsi , or Persian, word meaning country, nation, land, homeland or place. For example, Afghanistan would mean "homeland of Afghan people".

My point is...these men were bragging about how well they curse and how well they taught someone else to curse. They might as well have been bragging about being raised by wolves. Wait. I'd find that more interesting. I'm not taking away from their accomplishment and, as mentioned before, am envious. I'll never have that opportunity as I'm the wrong gender to be traveling in the wilder regions of Muslim countries; even in a chador I wouldn't be safe.

The PBS program, "In the Footsteps of Marco Polo" has been nominated for an Emmy and that's fabulous news for those involved. I've not seen the program but am eagerly anticipating viewing at some future time. In doing a bit of research, I find those who claim these lads did not travel in Marco Polo's footsteps and, in fact, totally missed 2,800 miles because they did missed most of Iran and Afghanistan. Harry Rutstein says O'Donnel and Belliveau, the authors, went instead to
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan where Marco Polo did not visit. Rutstein says he was the first...and apparently only person...to travel the actual route; he also founded the Marco Polo Foundation and wrote of his travels in The Marco Polo Odyssey.

Another excellent book, Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa by Mark Seal, "tells the mesmerizing story of the captivating life and shocking death of world-renowned naturalist Joan Root". If you've enjoyed the stories of Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall and even, Karen Blixen, ...aka Isak Dinesen... you'd, probably, enjoy "Wildflower".

So, here's where I talk about quilting and about time, you say! Perhaps you've seen the Deere quilt before but I've not seen the person for whom this quilt was made so the quilt is still in the studio. The quilts, fleece throw and scarves were hung on the line and took up all the clothesline, from left to right. Even I was pretty impressed -smile-. Four of the quilts were quilt panels that only needed to be hemmed but those are cute panels. Two are Thomas Train and two are the nursery rhyme, "Hey Diddle Diddle, The Cat and the Fiddle...". I've already given away the third Thomas Train quilt panel and hope the little boy liked it.

~ Quilts, throws and scarves crowded the clothesline. ~

~ A stiff wind made photographing the quilts more difficult. ~

~ Thomas Train, back ~

~ Hey Diddle, Diddle quilt panel front ~

~ Two scarves, autumnal colors, to be worn as scarves, shawls or throat coverings. ~

~ Fleece throw, print front with solid brown back ~

I'm still hand quilting some of these, have about four to finish and will then start on Christmas gifts. I've got three of the "little girl" quilts to give away and have to sit down and consider who else has been born; I tend to forget and try to keep a list in the studio. We've been having coolish weather and I've enjoyed quilting but then, do it all summer long anyway. There are about four months until Christmas and if I don't make lists, things simply don't get done. I tend to accomplish a lot more with a list than without.

Until next time,

Blessings ~ quilting ~ good books ~ good authors ~ the studio ~ sturdy shoes for aerobics ~ Silk Road, have always found it fascinating! ~

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

We have a window of opportunity for hay making; it's not supposed to rain until Friday so say your prayers and live right! Our alfalfa field is not quite ten acres but it's plenty for my eight horses and thirty-three sheep. Usually we even have enough to sell and John, our neighbor and Dr. Anne's brother, is the farmer driving the tractor and cutting our hay. He's a great young man and his wife, Ashley, works for Dr. Anne as well as tends their home and young son, John, Jr.
No matter how busy I am, there's always time to take pictures of the critters! Sam Spade, or Stubby Sam Spade as some are calling him, is the smallest and youngest...we think...dog and weighs just about ten pounds, perhaps less. He keeps up with the rest of us but gets tired rather quickly and will run to me and look up at me with those beautiful light brown eyes and say, "Please carry me!" Of course I do, how could anyone resist those soft eyes? He's a love bug and we've had a lot of people...after the fact, of course -smile-...say, "Oh, I would have given him a home." Well, too late people; Sam Spade has a home and it's in my heart; he's not going anywhere except with me and he looks plenty happy about it!

A great deal of Sam's time is spent playing with Sadiekins and I don't intervene unless I hear extreme yelps and growls. Usually, Sam Spade is the one egging Sadie on and Sam Spade is the one generally getting into trouble. Perhaps he knows he's the littlest and can get away with more. Sadie is, for the most part, gentle with him but even she has her limitations. Generally, when she's wanting a nap that's when Sam Spade says, "PLAY TIME!" Ole Sadie is patient and long suffering, for the most part.
Three of the four dogs are always with me; Gracie has old bones and she's more comfortable resting in the shade. I'll try and get a photo of her but, in the meantime, here's Abbie, close by as I'm hanging clothes on the line. Yes, as a matter of fact, I DO carry a camera in my pocket. I just never know when something will grab my atention and I'll need to record the moment.

We've been getting up around 5:00 a.m. but not heading down to the barn until around 7. When we first get up, the dogs all go outside, do their bidness and then it's breakfast for the youngins'. After breakfast, I'll either sit on the back porch and let the dogs play while I read or we'll go to the sunroom and they will play while I listen to Alexander Begg and others on the radio.

When we head to the barn, Ole Yeller and her kittens come to meet us. As you can see, no one is afraid of the dogs although I watch everyone carefully. The puppies aren't as aware of their strength and I don't want the kittens injured. Sadie and Ole Yeller say 'Good Morning' and it confuses Sadie when Ole Yeller won't run or hiss. Sadie is becoming used to the idea of a Flying Unicorn at Thistle Cove Farm so, thus far, things are working out quite well between all the animals.
Sam Spade, in classic play mode, wants the kitten to play chase. The kitten wasn't interested in chase; the kitten was interested in hugs and kisses.
Miss Fluff watches over all and is fairely disgusted with the idea of breakfast being late...again.
This is my usual view as we head to the barn...nothing but monkey butts!

Sam Spade knows a good lap when he sees it! He's tuckered out and needing some zzzzzz's so he can get into the game again.

On Monday morning there's a flea market at the livestock market and Abbie and I usually go. We'll head to Hardee's first, share a ham biscuit then head down the road to buy veggies and see what other wonders are available. Today, Dave went with us and we were able to go to Hardees, the flea market and Dr. Anne's office before heading home. I picked up some kitten de-wormer and am thinking Miss Emma will benefit, greatly, from being de-wormed. I know Sam Spade has just about tripled his weight after de-worming and all in two weeks. I also got some kitten formula and will warm that for her; she's been eating tuna in water and drinking half 'n half but the de-worming and kitten formula should work a small miracle in her life.

It's a beautiful day - bright, sunny and hot and I've washed and dried half dozen loads of laundry. There's still a load or two to be done as well as vetting on the kitten and I want to clean up my old Singer treadle sewing machine table. The sewing machine itself is being fixed by my wonderful sewing machine repair man. A friend gave me the machine and it needs some work but Mr. H. said, "Bring it to me, I can fix it." I believe he can, too, as he's fixed two others for me. I wish I were a better seamstress...and indeed, that's giving me a grand title to make you think I'm a seamstress at all!...but, even so, I enjoy sewing. I don't sew great things, I sew with great love, to paraphrase Mother Teresa. Great love and great prayers that whomever receives one of my quilts or other offerings will be blessed by God in ways they won't even realize. Isn't that the case with all of us? We're all blessed by God in ways we don't even realize but, sassy us, sometimes think because we remember to say "thanks" for a blessing or two, we've done something big. It's humbling, isn't it? How blessed we are, all of us.

Blessings ~ great hay making weather ~ sewing machines ~ fresh produce ~ wonderful repair man ~ kittens ~ puppies ~ laps ~ wonderful John ~

SEWN

Sarah Fielke, the new creative director of SEWN, is having a fabulous giveaway on her blog, The Last Piece. Sarah is, among other things, a quilter and as you may...or may not -smile-...know, I call myself a quilter in that I make bed and baby quilts. I'd love to branch off into art quilts, and will one day, but for now am struggling to keep up with the babies and people to whom I've promised a quilt.

Don't get me wrong. I am not an excellent quilter. At best, I am a good quilter but my quilts are made with a LOTTA love and prayers and I reckon that makes up for a few wonky stitches and seams. Please, tell me you agree -smile-.

In the spirit of the Grand Opening of SEWN, I am joining in with a giveaway of five fat quarters as shown above. I'm a little confused, as usual, but think all that's necessary for someone to win is to leave a comment at this entry. At least, that's my story and, for now, I'm sticking to it.

Blessings ~ blogland because SEWN is located in Australia ~ quilting ~ quilts ~ fat quarters ~ fun stuff ~

Kreative Blogger Award and freebies

Mandie, Life in the Craft Lane, has the above, free, on her site. She's a talented gal and seeing how it's April 1st, this seems to be appropriate!

One Prim Girl is having a fabulous giveaway and you've got until 15 April to enter and, hopefully, win.

You Can Make This is giving away a Janome Marie Osmond Quilter's Companion sewing machine. How cool is that?! Hope I win this one...hope you do too!

Now for blog news...

There are those who proudly proclaim their blogs are award free; God love 'em. I'm not one. I get excited over beautiful sunrises or sunsets, kisses from Dave or the animals, the sunshine streaming in through the windows on Sunday morning, a handwritten note from a friend...the list is endless.

Sara of Sweet Magnolia has given me a Kreative Blogger Award; thank you, Sara. According to the rules, I must say seven things I love and then pass along. If you're reading this, please consider yourself a Kreative Blogger. You are appreciated for the heart and artful blogs you keep, for allowing me to enter into your homes, dreams, photos, lives. Thank you so much. Please take the button, put it on your blog and then...pass it along, pay it forward, share the blessing.

Seven things I love ~

1. The Trinity and the Word but especially Salvation

2. My family - Dave, Jim and Gladys Bennett, Steven and Donette Bennett, Stephanie and Walt Townsend, Jerry Wayne Jr. and Dustin Williams,

3. Thistle Cove Farm and all the animals living here - dogs, cats, sheep, horses

4. Friends - near, far and in Blogland

5.Good health in part due to good food prepared well and nourishing to both body and eye

6. the work of hands and hearts that love God

7. Hope...I love to hope and find comfort in my belief God is in control.

Blessings ~ 1 through 7 above ~ giveaways ~ hope ~ Sara ~ good health ~

Fiber Arts Friday Carnival and Farm Life

Squeaking in under the wire but better later than never, eh?
The Fiber Arts Friday Carnival will spark my memory and allow me to update my fiber fun while keeping me on track...hopefully!

For the past while, I've been working on felting sweater and then making tea cozies, pins, wristlets, anklets and a slew of other fun things.

Some are for sale, others for gifts and I just let my imagination take me where it will. It's been fun and some, like the Mickey Mouse tea cozy, are intended for specific friends while others are intended for my OWOH winner and I'm keeping the birdie for me.

This little tea cozy is in progress; not quite sure how it will turn out but know it will be cute.

I found Fiber Arts Friday Carnival through my association with Mary Jane's Farm. If you're not familiar with Mary Jane's Farm, and if you're interested in farming, sisterhood and the like, you really should visit Mary Janes Farm. You'll be glad you did, I promise!

Mickey Mouse is for friend Mary Q. who has a serious thing for all things Disney. Some of the hearts don't suit me so they will be snipped off and other somethings put in their place. It will have to be special because Mary is special!

This tea cozy is for me not because of the bird but because it was the first one I ever made and I really like it. It's happy and makes me happy just looking at it. There's a felted dragonfly who has glitter wings, a trapunto yellow bird, buttons, mirror...and that's just on one side! There's much, much more on the other side! Oh Lordy. Here's a stack of baby quilts ready to be sewn then birthed. Some already have babies they belong to while others are waiting for their baby. I've also got three Thomas Train, something or other...can't really remember but little boys SCREAM for this one, ready to go. I don't claim to be up on all the baby stuff but, trust me, I seem to have a real talent for buying what children will love. Or, maybe because they are children, they love what I make them. Who knows? Who cares? I'm happy, they're happy...it's a match well made.

I have several double sized quilts ready to go and even more ready to be cut out and pieced together. Who ever said they were bored just haven't bothered to put a few brain cells to the "problem". There aren't enough hours in the day to get done what needs to get done. Now, getting closer to spring, I'm thinking garden and talked to Daddy tonight; he's saving me some thornless blackberry vines so I can have a good start. I've got a couple of fence posts I can use, some good strong wire and, within a couple of years, those blackberry vines will give me 15 gallons of berries! Another tea cozy that needs a lot of embellishment. I pin in place, mess around with placement and embellishments before attaching everything. They are always a work in progress and more is more so I enjoy adding buttons, beads, feathers, yarn, ribbon and as much stuff as I can attach. Somehow it all seems to work and adds a bit of cheer to a breakfast table.

We woke up to a winter snowstorm that, quickly, turned into sleet, ice and rain. The poor poppy had pushed through the earth only to find it's not spring, not really, so best to hide again.

This brave little row of tulip soldiers is coming up in my bulb garden but I hope they don't bloom before the snow and ice melts. I've got photos of blooming flowers but the evening is drawing to a close. There are folks who get by on a minimum of sleep but I'm not one of them.








Yesterday and today I've spent cooking and baking. Winter time is a good time for comfort food and I've been on a blueberry kick lately. We eat baked oatmeal at least once a week around here. It's a good, simply, hearty dish that I can start before going to the barn and it's ready when I return.




















Quilting was last night, or was supposed to be last night, but was cancelled. I didn't know before hand so made a peach and blueberry cobbler to take with me. The peaches and blueberries I put up last summer so the cobbler was especially delicious. I know because I stopped at Brian and Donna's house and we all sampled it bofore I had to leave. I figured I needed to taste test it before leaving it with them as I didn't want them to get sick or anything -smile-. We all decided it was delicious and my instructions are to remember how to make this particular cobbler again.

I'm fairly well known for my pies, probably because not that many people bake pies around here. I've had young men seek me out to tell me how wonderful my pies taste...those young men sure know how to make sure there will be another pie, or three, at the next community dinner!














The above photo is of the cobbler before the topping goes on and the photo below is with the topping. I like quick, easy and delicious and pies and cobblers fit all three -smile-.


Blessings ~ cobblers ~ textile and fiber arts ~ oatmeal ~ blueberries ~ flowers that bloom on their own schedule ~

Jan 2009

Merry Christmas fleece throws - made more than a dozen of these for Christmas '08 and have given them all away. I've still one or two to make for folks but since I'm not going to see them for a few weeks, or longer, I'm not in such a rush.My computer still needs to be downloaded with various software, such as photos, documents, etc., but Dave has devised a stop gap measure. He managed to download my recent photos onto his computer, enabling me to write an entry with photos...o joy! There's been a bunch of living since his Mother passed and for two old folks who live in the country, there seems to be a lot going on. The fleece throws, above, took up a LOT of my time in the month of December, at least the first couple of weeks.

The Sunday before Christmas, this next photo, took up MOST of my time...then and since. We were in the same cold grip as the rest of the USA and that Sunday was, until then, the coldest night. Temperatures hovered at zero, or below, and the wind chill was, somewhere, around fifteen degrees below zero F. The hot water heating pipes on the second floor, north portion of the house froze solid sometime that cold, cold night but...sigh...I didn't catch the problem until Monday evening around 8:30. Usually, in the mornings, I wake up, take the dogs out for a piddle, feed the cats, make coffee, give the dogs treats, drink coffee, give the dogs treats, listen to Alexander Begg, and others, on XM Family Talk, give the dogs treats... Eventually, I go back upstairs to our bedroom, get dressed and then head to the barn to do chores. But, oh no. Not that Monday. I knew it was going to be a busy day/week, so I got dressed before leaving the bedroom and never, ever returned upstairs until that evening.

I walked through Dave's office, opened the door to the hall and was hit with STEAM...WHAT THA???!!! It took me a while to suss it all out which was the heating pipe across the hall, second floor, north front of the house had frozen, burst and thawed. The copper pipes had split in several places and water was gushing like a waterfalls, filling the upstairs bedroom with a couple of inches of hot, steamy water. My wool rugs are ruined. For those of you who know wool, it takes two things to make wool felt...hot water and agitation. The pipes provided the hot water and all of us tromping across the wool rugs provided the agitation...thus felted wool rugs. Yes, we had to tromp in order to move furniture, the plumber had to cut out and replace pipe sections...sigh...all necessary if we wanted to have heat and O MY YES we wanted to have heat. Our heat is on four quadrants and we keep all four quandrants heated all winter long.

Ahem. No, wool rugs canNOT be washed and returned to their original state. If you don't believe me, give me your best wool sweater, let me felt it and give it back to you to wear. You may choose between breathing or wearing that sweater...no middle ground.

Anyhoo...we've lost several wool rugs, furniture, a couple of ceilings, some floors, books, a knitting maching and the list goes on and on and... Thank God no loss of life, either human nor animal. Ron G., our angel disguised as a plumber, came at 10:30 Monday night and when he left at 1:30, we had heat. God bless you, Ron!

I'm only putting up one photo as it's too painful to look at them all again, unless forced to. Trust me, this is nothing compared to a lot of problems and we're still blessed well beyond our deserving but it's still a mess and will be a mess until warm weather. There's no way we're tearing walls out to the studs, exposing ourselves to, possibly, more frozen pipes, etc. This morning at 7 a.m. it was two degrees below zero F with a wind chill fifteen to twenty below last night. The ice in the horse trough, with a de-icer, was two inches thick! I'm talking seriously COLD!
Last week, our cat...Dave's cat really because even though I took care of TC, she bonded and latched onto Dave...came to the end of her days. She was a rescue from the animal shelter and, when we brought her home, twelve years ago, she was an adult. TC was an amazing cat. She loved to talk and even though she had a limited vocabulary consisting of one word, "WHAT!?", she used her one word to great advantage. In the evenings, she loved to sit with Dave and they would carry on myriad conversations. All conversations cumulated with TC asking for, or perhaps reminding Dave, she needed "just a smidgen of Half 'n' Half poured into a saucer and all's right with her world". Dave always complied and they both ended their evening on a happy note. She was buried with Rings and Zoe and, in the spring, I'll have a tree, or trees, planted atop them all. We loved you well, TC, and you knew and were secure in our love.
In the meantime, we still have cats...these two are 91, the calico so named because she was found by the side of Rt. 91, and Banjo, since renamed Bandit. Bandit took the moniker Banjo as long as possible but finally said, "Look Ma. With a mask and little mustache like this, how could you possible call me Banjo? It's simply W-R-O-N-G." He's right and my apologies, Bandit. Miss Kitty and Hattie Cat are the other two inside-outside cats and Boscoe resides on the back porch. I'm not going into the barn cats, that's another story.

Like I said, we're in the midst of a cold spell but grateful for warm clothes, hot food and drink, a house with heat and, perhaps best of all, comfy beds. If there's anything in the world better than falling asleep in a comfy, safe bed I'm not sure what it could be. People all over this frosty world fear for their lives, whether awake or asleep and every night when I fall into my cozy, comfy bed I think of Corrie ten Boom. If you don't know this "Tramp for the Lord", you're in for a treat when you make her "acquaintance". Hers is an incredible story, beginning to end, and well worth your time. Her family would hide folks from the Nazi's and, at night, when the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, would make surprise raids on their home, they would use their hands to test the warmth of the beds. If the beds were warm, the Gestapo would count heads and beds and if a difference found in the two numbers, they would surmise people were hidden elsewhere. So, every night I am grateful for my warm, comfortable bed that thousands, if not millions of military service men and women, have fought, and some died, for me to have that joy. Thank you, men and women, I am exceedingly grateful and keep you tucked in prayer. God bless you all, then, now and to come.

We never tire of the view from our back porch, winter, spring, summer and autumn, it's always beautiful.Blessings ~ comfy, cozy beds ~ warmth ~ a beautiful view ~ Saints ~ Christmas ~ cats ~ dogs ~ sheep ~ horses ~ a loving husband ~ and not in that order...