You Asked For It….Here it is.

I want you to know that I have thought long and hard about this post before posting.

You guys know what my #1 rule is about mysteries, don’t you?

NO WHINING!

I have gone out of my way to offer up a gorgeous mystery quilt FREE to you.

I have written it in TWO sizes so you can choose what you want to do.

I have given you FOUR ways to piece these Tri-Rec units –either with the rulers, or with inklingo, or with printed templates, or with foundation paper piecing.

Questions I am getting repeatedly:

HOW MANY STRIPS OF BACKGROUND DO WE NEED TO CUT?!

The answer is simple – as many as it takes to get the job done.  If you want to know how many of YOUR strips you need to cut?  Simply cut one strip – and cut the units from that strip until the strip is gone.  Count your units.  Now you know what you can get from one strip – do some simple math.  Now how may strips do you need to get the number required?  Don’t wait around for someone else to provide you the answer.  You can do it.  I have faith in you! I know you can!  You can learn something new from every quilt you make.  Figuring it out yourself means less work for someone else ---

But the biggest Boo Hoo of all is folks complaining that they don’t like templates, they don’t like rulers, they don’t like paper piecing, and they don’t want to take the time to print on fabric. Please post regular rotary cutting directions ---my inbox is full of these unhappy whinings and requests.

If you want to know WHY there are no rotary cutting instructions for the tri recs units, it’s because the cutting looks like this:

The star points can be cut from 4 1/4” X 2 1/8” rectangles.  This has been rounded up to the nearest 1/8” – I don’t know how accurate it is, but you have some major long dog ears and no way to know how to place this against your base triangle.

And the cutting of the base triangle? How many of you have a 63 degree line on your “regular” rotary cutting ruler? I know I don’t.  I have 60 degrees, but not 63 degrees.

It’s because of this that regular rotary cutting is NOT user-friendly in this instance.  But if you want to print it out, there is a pdf for it HERE.  I’ve added that for you.

What I don’t understand ---is why there is so much complaining on something I am offering up for you as a reader appreciation gift?

If it isn’t complaining about “not liking specialty rulers” or “not liking templates” or “not liking printing on fabric”  or “I really hate paper piecing” It’s complaining about how much printer paper and ink it takes to print each clue.

For a free mystery.

That is given as a gift.

We can be better than this.  We can be kinder than this.  We can be more gracious than this.

And you deserve the right tools on hand to make your quilting a better experience than this, you ARE worth it!

Much love --

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Home Again ---Bye Bye, November!

Is anyone else as freaked out as I am about today being the last day of November?

Thanksgiving seemed to come so late this year – I could swear that we’ve been short sheeted this month – how can tomorrow be December ALREADY!?!

Yesterday afternoon we went out for a long drive around Buck Mountain, showing Dad our surroundings around the cabin.

We stopped by the “fishin’ hole” and the sky was so blue ----in a pond as still as glass.  I just HAD to get out and try to capture this image in a photo ---isn’t the reflection great?

Dad enjoyed being out and about, even though his Arizona blood is a bit thin! Temps were in the mid 40s – but when the sun is shining, it’s all good!

We stopped by the waterfall – Sadie in tow, her nose to the ground, capturing the multitude of smells available to her.

Sadie, Me & Dad!

The waterfall isn’t in full view, but it was beautiful.  And COLD!

Today we drove back down the mountain ---stopping at a fave Mexican place for lunch before dropping Dad off at the airport.  So sad to see him go, but so glad to have had him here!

I did a bit of antiquing on the way home –I’m looking for end tables and a bedside table for the guest rooms ---I’ve got goodies to share in tomorrow morning’s blog post, so please come back tomorrow to see!

I do need to thank Marilyn C for the crocheted spool pin doilies and needles!

I will have the best dressed vintage machines on the Eastern Seaboard!

Thank You, Marilyn!

She had contacted me about the needles you see in the bottom right – they are round shafted, no flat spot – but the package does say 15 X 1 so they are a standard size.  The back of the package says they are size 16 ball point.

Do any of my vintage machine peeps know what kind of machine these would be for?  They remind me of the kind of package my MR 4.5 needles for my APQS Millennium come in.  Let me know if you are familiar with these!

And guess what?  Tomorrow morning I am stealing Lisa back away up to the cabin ---Yes.  I’m going BACK!  We are planning a couple days of girlfriend machine time – and NO BOYS ALLOWED!  After 5 days of being surrounded by football and menfolk ---we are taking over and sewing our brains out and planning on a marathon chick-flick-fest!  Something has to even out the testosterone overload that I have had to deal with this past week! LOL!

I’ll be home Tuesday afternoon – and it will be time to get packed up for Germany on Monday!

So –since we haven’t done Quilt-Cam in a while – how about Wednesday evening at 9pm Eastern?  Let’s do it!  Mark your calendars – and I”ll send reminders.

Have a great evening everyone!

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On the Eve of Celtic Solstice ---

It’s the 12 hour countdown until our first clue goes live!

This photo is of a lovely flowering Hawthorne tree, also known as a May tree for the month in which it blooms in Ireland, usually May through June.  The blooming of this tree was leading up to the Summer Solstice, and here we are working our way toward its opposite, ,the winter one coming up.

I  have had excited emails and messages  about our first Celtic Solstice clue going live tomorrow---

And I love the suggestions of things that people are doing to get ready:

These are in no particular order –but folks are thinking this through!

• Clean and oil machine, and put in a new needle
• wind several bobbins
• clean off cutting table or work area
• place a new blade in your rotary cutter
• locate favorite scissors, thread snips and seam ripper and place them by machine
• empty trash cans
• clean sewing area
• plan for favorite music to sew by or movies to watch ---choose something you know well so you don’t have to stop to actually WATCH!
• plan easy meals – left overs and crock pot are great friends
• light a nice smelling candle for room aroma therapy
• prepare a binder with page protectors for each step, and put pages where they belong when printed so none are lost
• Label zip-lock baggies with part #’s so that you remember which parts are which clue when it comes time to assemble blocks
• GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP!

I know lots of folks that plan to sew with friends through this process and that is helpful!  Conversation and laughter with others keeps our minds occupied through the hours of repetitive sewing with each step.

And no matter how much you want to push yourself to get as much done as you can – please take breaks!  Get out and take a 15 minute walk if you can…or stretch…or even take a nap.  Listen to your body and don’t push it all the way to hurt.  Pace yourself.

Did I miss anything? If you can think of anything that helps your mystery quilt season work better for you, please share it in the comments section below!

Have fun!

Oh, and as a sneak preview…look how much is left to finish on this binding!  It will be done in the next hour – my goal is to have this quilt completely finished before bed tonight.  I think I’m going to make it!

Maybe  18” or so to go!!

It’s almost CELTIC SOLSTICE TIME!!

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Happy Thanksgiving, 2013!

Happy Thanksgiving to those in the USA, and those who may be expats abroad! May your homes be filled with yummy smells, your tummies be filled with tasty goodies, and your hearts and homes be filled with family, friends, and love!

This was our view of the sunset from the west end of the deck last evening…it doesn't look like it but that wind was howling fiercely all day and into the night!

It wasn't until I was up here last Saturday getting everything ready that I even noticed I could SEE the mountains to the west, now that the trees have all lost their leaves for the winter.  Before – it was just a mass of green with nothing to see ---and no matter how much I have dreaded winter, and the loss of the beautiful green for a season, If it weren't for the winter, I would never have been able to see the mountains surrounding me on the west as well.

There is a life lesson in that somewhere, but my tummy is still too full from yesterday to consider what it might be!  Okay, maybe something like “Sometimes you have to remove the objects obscuring your view – in order to see what is REALLY there?”  I’m sure that applies somewhere somehow to most of us with something going on in our lives.

Thanksgiving is a time of year where things start “wrapping up” for me, and that carries on right on through Christmas.  And I like to put things into perspective. And get things back in order in my life.  New Years starts the next year off fresh and ready to embrace, to make the most of it that we can, to reach for goals not yet met ---

While I was in the kitchen cooking ---I could hear the sounds of the men in my family coming up from downstairs where they were making their own memories and enjoying each other and having a good time.  I love the sound of their laughter, their teasing and joking and heated conversations, the way they interact with each other.

The Hubster and Jason playing darts!

And yes, that IS a sock monkey hat on Jason’s Head. LOL!

Family photo tradition in front of the fireplace:

Jason, myself, my dad, and Jeff

Brothers being brothers!

My family

This morning I awoke to a clear blue sky--the sun shining its face on the mountain tops in the distance.

The boys have both gone home – they have jobs and things to attend to.  Just us 3 “grown ups” are left to spend the day how we want it. 

There are tons of left overs, and I've got the turkey carcass in the crock pot for soup for tomorrow.  There is talk of going out to Boone to the movies, and for a drive on the blue ridge parkway to show dad the vistas.

There is one more side of Celtic Solstice to bind!

Oh, which reminds me.  I had a whoops.  I thought I was clicking “test page” while writing the steps for tomorrow, and it actually posted – for like 5 seconds!  I quickly reverted it to draft because I was not done writing it yet.  I’m still not done writing it yet!  So if you saw a notice for part one in your reader ---it’s just a whoops and was not meant to be a tease!

All will be posted by 7am Eastern tomorrow morning.  So be ready!  I know I am!

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Good Things come in ORANGE!

Our view was VERY WINDY and cold this morning – and there were swirling snow flakes that blew side-ways though it was a bit too warm for them to stick anywhere.

I’ve been in the kitchen since breakfast –I knew I would be, and I’m enjoying it!

The turkey just went into the oven, but before “Henrietta” could cook ((A nick name my grannie ALWAYS gave the holiday bird, no matter whether it be a he-bird or a she-bird)) but before she could start her roasting, I had to use the oven space for a new-to-me recipe that is already destined to be a holiday must have…roasted root veggies!

My dad requested rutabagas as part of our Thanksgiving fare, a tradition that has come down through his side of the family from as far back as anyone remembers.

We are already doing mashed potatoes and gravy –and sweet potatoes…did I really want ANOTHER mashed vegetable? How about something with a bit more texture and loads of flavor?

I started chopping this morning – they took about 1.5 hours to roast, but oh my goodness, the house smells wonderful and the bites I have stolen have been sumptuous!

Roasted Root Veggies!

Recipe:

• 1 large sweet potato (I used two medium)
• 3 medium carrots (I used peeled baby carrots)
• 1 medium white onion
• 1 large rutabaga
• 1 turnip
• 1 parsnip
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Seasoning:

• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4  tsp celery seed
• 1 tsp crushed dried basil
• 1/2 tsp crushed dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 tsp dill weed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash, peel and dice all the roots into small cubes and place in deep bowl.

Mix oil and spices in measuring cup. Stir oil mixture into veggies until all are well coated.  Spread veggies into a large baking sheet pan.  Roast for an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes,  stirring every 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let stand a few minutes before serving.  Will store in fridge containers for the rest of the week!  MAKES LOTS!

Another new recipe this  year for us:

Crock Pot Candied sweet potatoes NOT FROM A CAN!

Currently cooking in my crock pot!

• 4 to 5 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1-inch cubes, about 8 to 10 cups
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• Juice and finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 1/4 cup honey
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Dash nutmeg

 Preparation:
Lightly grease the crockery; arrange sweet potato cubes in the pot. Combine the remaining ingredients and heat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a saucepan. Stir to blend and pour mixture over the sweet potato cubes. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours, until potatoes are tender.

Before serving I’ll top them with some mini marshmallows and let them melt – my family loves sweet potatoes.  I’ve always made them from a can, but this year they will be the REAL THING!
 
And the other good orange thing:
 

 

Sadie the Sweet Potato!

 

Looks like the guys took pity on her and bought her a coat while they were down to town buying weather stripping for the front door – there was a definite breeze blowing through the cracks and we needed to stop that up!

 

Time for me to start on the pearl onions, and the mashed potatoes – my kitchen duty isn’t done yet and won’t be for a while!

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Turkey Day Show & Share!

We are enjoying our time up at the cabin, including a late sleep-in this morning followed by a leisurely breakfast!

The Turkey is soon to go into the oven, all while the wind howls and the snow flitters outside --- there are a few flakes here and there, but I don’t think it is cold enough to stick.

The conversations range from discussion on sports, Jason’s job, plans for more schooling, discussions about life up here in the Blue Ridge, and everything else under the sun.  I’m a happy mom when there is laughter and busy chatter around my kitchen!

I thought today would be a good time to share some photos and chatter by other quilters while I plan to spend the day pampering my family.

Debbie sent in a photo of a very special quilt!

She writes:

Hi Bonnie,
I got married 2 months ago and my new husband is a HUGE Wolverines fan. I wanted to make him a quilt and he liked your Smokey Mountain Stars pattern and thought it would look great in blue and maize. Here is the finished product.
Thanks for all of your great patterns!
Debbie Ramsey
Niles, MI

CUTE!!

Smokey Mountain stars is a great beginner quilt and is found under the free patterns tab at the top of the blog, and is made from 4-1/2” squares and 2-1/2” squares.

Did you know that some of our earlier mysteries are still available online?  Check the bottom of the free patterns tab!

Diane writes:

Hello, Thank you for posting the Double Delight Mystery Quilt.  I just finished the body of it and have yet to put on borders but wanted to share with you.

Diane Mannion

Diane’s Double Delight ready for borders!

Close up of one corner…SO PRETTY!

Therese has been busy in her strings!

She writes:

Dear Bonnie,

I am a big fan of yours and love how generous you are with your time and knowledge.

Earlier this year I saw a blog post on a workshop where you were teaching the Spiderweb quilt. One of the students was using  bright and pretty fabrics.  It inspired me to have a play with this technique again and I was so happy with the first round of blocks that I am attaching a photo of what happened next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes it turned into a King size quilt. LOL. I just love doing needle turn applique too so it obviously needed an applique border.

I am about to send it off to be machine quilted and I am planning on entering it in Showcase next year  (Our state guild’s annual show).

Yours sincerely

Therese Hylton

 

Therese’s spider web with inset appliqued border!

 

 

Close up of applique!  BEAUTIFUL!

 

Quilt patterns are like recipes, and they can be changed and augmented to your own vision.  I love how the border breaks up the motion, but the quilt continues as it was beyond the borders.  Beautiful!

 

The pattern for string spider web is also found under the free patterns tab – give it a shot!

 

Judy has also caught the string bug with her rendition of Jamestown Landing from String Fling:

 

 

She writes:

Hi Bonnie,  I wanted to take the Jamestown Landing class you had at Hershey this summer but wasn’t able to.  So the next best thing for me to do was to use your great book directions and make it on my own.  This is my finished product.  I made it to fit the Day bed in our spare bedroom.  I love, love, love it!  Thanks for your inspiration!  I’ve also included a picture of my
Scrappy Irish Chain that I made this year.  Now you’ve given me the Hexie Bug.  I just starting to make them but they are sooooooo addictive!  “Bet you can’t just make one!”
Hugs from Chilly Pa.
Judy Lutz

Great job, Judy!

Cathy also writes in, sharing a photo of her FIRST “Bonnie” quilt!

((It still cracks me up that folks call them that! ))

This is her version of Nifty Thrifty from Scraps & Shirttails:

Love it!!

Bonnie,
I am so pleased! I love the look of my Nifty Thrifty quilt! But, I'm going to name it Superior Stones in honor of my dad (passed away 3 years ago) who loved to look for agates on Lake Superior. It was so fitting to sew this up while on vacation along the lake. The rule was only shirts that he wore, or scraps left over from shirts my mom made. The scraps were flannel that were about 50 years old, one thing I noticed they don't stretch. New flannel has give, not these!

The border and backing...found yardage of flannel at a re-sale store...which is also fitting, my dad was always looking for bargains and ways to reuse things. So it's smaller than the one in your book, but it's perfect as a throw. I was also able to practice my free motion quilting.

I love following you, my list is so long of all the "Bonnie" quilts I want to make. I'm planning on doing the mystery. I have one question...would Christmas colors work?  I would still use the blue, green, light neutrals, instead of orange use red, instead of yellow use gold. I just hope I can keep up.

I've said it before, along with many others, THANKS for all you do!!! I've learned sew much and you are sew inspiring. I hope to meet you and attend a workshop. I keep checking your calendar of one or more that will work.

Sew happy,
Cathy :-)

Yes, Cathy! Christmas colors will work for this mystery – you just need 4 distinct colors plus a background!

Is everyone getting excited? I know I am --- I have finished one side of the binding last night – three more sides to go! Wooot!

I’m off to the kitchen to start Thanksgiving dinner prep ---

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!


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Cabin, At Last!

Dad and I spent much of the morning with THIS as our view.

There is Shamu, second car in line – just waiting for her tire to be fixed.

Something happened with the “pressure sensor valve” or whatever it is – dang it EVERYTHING is computerized anymore and it isn’t as simple to just change a tire and get on with it….

Luckily Panera bread is in the same plaza, and we slogged through the freezing rain to treat ourselves to breakfast and hot  beverages to warm our chilled fingers and waited for the call to tell us that we would soon be ready to roll.

But before we could completely leave town, we had to swing by Sam’s club – because there is NOT enough time to cook a turkey today, our Thanksgiving dinner has been pushed back to tomorrow – tonight it’s pork chops on the grill, baked beans, salad and buttered snow peas. 

Jeff has to work tomorrow, so after dinner he will head back down the mountain – the rain is still coming down, but it is well above freezing at this point and he should be fine.

Cookies are in the oven so he will have a bit of yummy from mummy to take with him.

This is the view from the front porch as of a few minutes ago:

The clouds are hanging on the ground and obscuring our mountain view!

I have assured dad that there are indeed mountains out there – that we can plainly view the blue ridge parkway from our front deck vantage point –not sure if he believes me or not!

The side yard off of the deck ---

That is a wind chime you see hanging in the foreground on the left ---there isn’t any wind blowing at present.

The cabin is warm thanks to a fire in the wood stove in the downstairs family room.

The smell of pumpkin cookies is intoxicating.

We’ve played a game of Farkle, thanks to my Canadian friends in South Texas who turned me on to the game…EVERYONE loved it.  Fun times ahead!

And that’s all I have to report from the cabin right now.  It’s time to make a salad and get dinner under way.

Tonight – with movies on the TV – I will be binding our Celtic Solstice quilt, happily surrounded by family.

And I am happy.

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The Story as it Unfolds ---

I am so thankful for my friends!
 
The plan yesterday was for the guys to go up to the cabin ahead of me...to stock the wood for the wood stove by the covered back door because of the incoming weather -- to warm up the house, etc. DH and Jeff headed out about 4pm, to meet Jason who was driving up from Columbia SC.
 
I was going to pick dad up at the airport when his flight got in at 6:22.  I got to the top of the driveway and something didn't feel right.

I had a flat front drivers side tire.  Do you know how STUPID it is to try to get a spare out from UNDER the van?  
 
Thank heavens it didn't happen on the interstate.  I was safe here at home.  I called my friend Lisa -- she sent her hubby over while she went and got dad.  I sent dad a text telling him who to look for.
 
By the time it was all said and done, I had a guy from across the street, a co-worker of The Hubster's who lives not too far away, and Lisa's hubby all helping with the tire.  We had to borrow a jack because the one that came with the van wouldn't lift the van high enough to get the flat off.
 
SO --- Dad and I went to dinner at Chopstix, a local place less than 5 miles away.  (Yes, that is as close as it gets out here in the boonies!) and talked about our plans --We came home, watched some TV, he went to bed, I went to bed....and now I'm up again listening to the freezing rain outside of my windows.
 
The plan is to get the tire fixed as soon as the roads are safe ---and I can't really see what is going on until it is daylight outside ---but the weather channel says it's 32 right now with light rain/freezing rain and it isn't safe to go out driving with a donut on the van in that.
 
So I'm making the best of it ---we will get there when we get there, and it may be burgers tonight for everyone if we get there too late to start cooking a turkey today!
 
It has been nice having dad all to myself for a bit.  It's been almost 2 years since I have seen him -- far too long!
 
I'll keep you updated as the drama unfolds....it will be a Thanksgiving to remember, that's for sure!  As I type this dad is still asleep in the guestroom upstairs. 
 
It’s all good.  Not as I had planned, but all good.
 
So back to the antiquing thing in Fort Worth last Thursday!  It already feels like it was a month ago!
 

Dianne’s hubby is from Germany, and we had talked a bit about my upcoming trip to Germany ((We leave December 6th I can’t wait!)) and as we started to paw through some linens…look what we found:

 

 

An apron with a pocket for “Klammern” or Clothes pins!

 

 

A hand embroidered linen towel for covering the laundry basket.

 

 

Another one for when the wash is clean, or fresh!

 

 

And a bed pillow cover with a beautiful saying!

 

“Streut Blumen der Liebe bei Lebenszeit und bewahret einander vor Herzeleid."

It  translates somewhat literally to "Scatters flowers of love in life, and keep each other from heartache."

 

And this word I new instantly:

 

 

It’s a sewing machine cover!!

 

Dianna bought both the Streut Blumen and the Nahmaschine, but that silly girl gifted ME the nahmaschine piece later that evening in the car!

 

 

To keep the dust off!

 

 

Thank you, Dianne!

 

Things are getting lighter outside, and I can now see through the rainy dawn just what is going on out there.  I’ll keep my eye on the weather channel, and when it is safe to head out, we will make our way up to the cabin.

 

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

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iPhone-o-Gram! Deflated Tire!

Here I sit in my car at the top of my driveway with a flat driver side front tire.

It was low earlier, and I had the hubby add air to all four tires to make sure things are ready to drive to the cabin tonight, and to the airport to pick up my dad.

When it came time for me to leave for the airport – the front tire was flat.

Here I sit at the top of my driveway – so grateful for friends.

Thank heavens for Lisa who is on her way to the airport to go pick up my dad and bringing him home to me.

Thank heavens for her hubby who is on his way here to see if he can change the tire on my van.

Dave is already up at the cabin with the boys – it is too far for them to turn right around and come an hour and a half back home.

We may be spending the night here at the house, getting the tire fixed tomorrow – and making our way up to Quilt Villa after that.

No matter what or where, we will be together. And this will be one Thanksgiving to remember! :-)

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More Antique Goodies!

Yesterday I shared the QUILTS from our antiquing adventures in Fort Worth and Weatherford…but there was more much more!

Of course there were machines – though not as many as we would have liked, and we didn’t see a SINGLE treadle anywhere!

There were a few electrics, such as this 1950s Free Westinghouse.

This machine runs by pulley or friction drive.  There is no belt –a small bearing runs against the hand wheel to turn it. Sometimes these bearings will get a flat spot from sitting against the balance wheel, unused....and they will then run bumpity bumpity bumpity until fixed with a new piece of rubber tubing that goes over the pully.

It appears that someone used masking tape to mark their 5/8” seam!

For anyone wanting a painted featherweight, this one is a steal!

It’s got a forest green custom paint job, and the price is $399.00!!  This machine was found here:

Miss B’s Antiques and Collectibles in Weatherford, TX!

I hope someone else adopts it, I didn’t have a way to get it home, and my featherweight fleet is large enough  

This is a very nice Singer 66 ---

There is no motor on it, that has been removed, but the black balance wheel gives us a clue of the age even without taking the serial number and looking online for the date.  During WWII chromium and nickel, usually used for the chrome parts on sewing machines, cars and other applications was used in the war effort, and machine parts were blackened. 

I didn't get a photo of the face plate, but from what I see here it appears to be blackened also.

I don’t see black balance wheels very often, but that is my guess on tbis beauty.  If anyone near Weatherford, Texas has a treadle table needing a machine, this would be a good candidate.  It takes class 66 bobbins, there is no separate bobbin case, they drop in under the slide plate.  It had a beautiful case:

I don’t remember how much they were asking but it was well under $100.

For dating your Singer machine, click the vintage machines tab at the top of the blog and scroll down to the library of links at the bottom of the page –there are all kinds of links there to help you with your vintage machines, and I keep adding more links as I find things that are helpful.

Back in Fort Worth, this lovely German made hand crank was at the Washington Street Antique Mall.

And yes!  The shuttle and bobbin are present!

The machine turned freely, although a bit sticky.  I don’t remember the price on this one, but it was way more than $100!

There were a couple of other featherweights in glass cases, moderate condition for about $350 each.

One of the FUN things to do while antiquing is to keep your eye out for the WEIRDEST item found.  I told Dianne about this and she got right on board!

As we turned the corner  down a second aisle, both of us exclaiming “NO WAY!” in unison—we agreed that this one definitely qualified for the CREEPY award:

ceramic cats with electric bulbs for eyes…

The camera didn’t catch it as well ---but those eyes glowed like alien eyes!  It was creepy!

But the real odd ball of the day was this chair:

Tribal chair!

It comes with some certificate and history that this is an ancient piece from somewhere in Africa.  It does NOT look comfy!

Definitely creepy!

We had a great time – even when you don’t buy a lot, the browsing the conversations, the memories of things our grandparents had when we visited, etc –it was a wonderful day!  And there is more, for tomorrow’s post.

I just found out that my Thanksgiving dinner, which was moved up to Wednesday to accommodate my son’s working schedules has just been bumped up to TUESDAY night if I want both boys at the dinner table at the same time.  Jeff has to work Wednesday.  So I’ll be cooking turkey TOMORROW!

Now I’m doubly glad that I went up to the cabin on Saturday to stock the fridge and get everything ready.

Dave and Jeff will meet Jason at the Cabin by 6pm.  I’ll pick my Dad up at the airport at 6pm in Greensboro, grab some dinner and have us both there by 9pm. 

And we should all be safe by the time this arrives:

We will be deep in that pink area!

Can’t wait to get that wood stove going at the cabin, to smell the turkey and other yummies cooking ---

The thought of snow for thanksgiving has me giddy!

And best of all, I'll be with FAMILY.

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