Sundays with Morrie

     For those of you who were forced to have the book, "Tuesdays with Morrie"  for required reading in college...this isn't the blog for you. This little story isn't even close! It's about one of my passions...classic British cars!
     Morrie is my latest classic vehicle that I've bought. He's a 1961 Morris Minor 1000 and  for a 50 year old car, he can sure motor along the pavement at the tremendous hair-raising speed of 45 to 50 mph!!!  Hair-Raising that is, because all the windows are open due to Morrie not having AC.
     Come on....He's 50 years old this year and has a 4 stroke engine...what did you expect from a British transplant who's trunk is called the boot, while the hood is known to anyone from England, as the bonnet! I don't have to make this stuff up folks...GOOGLE IT!   I love his simple interior turn signal that when I'm driving at night or dusk, the end of which, blinks a soft intermitting green alien glow.  Just another cool english quirky touch to a wonderful car! 
     A few weeks back,  I had just parked Morrie at a friend's antique mall just off  I-44  here in Missouri  and hadn't even made it to the front door when my hubby nudged me and whispered..."Morrie's made another conquest."  I turned to see a young woman in her 30's out of her car and hunched over, peering into Morrie's interior...openly lusting after my little car!  A smile crept over my face as I opened the door to the shop to my friends' comments from behind the counter..."Is that Morrie?  Is that your new car that we've seen pictured on your FB page Dix?"  Well now, that put me in a rather good mood for the rest of that day!
     In total orginial condition...white leather seats and baby blue exterior paint job...he's quite the looker while tooling around town. Yesterday, I had just left our small town on our newly finished 4 lane highway, when I noticed a red car that had pulled out to pass...wasn't doing so. Instead, it was staying even with Morrie. Gulp! I finally got up enough nerve to sneak a peek at my speeding shadow...only to see every single one of other car's windows filled with the smiling faces of young teens who had their phones out and were photographing and video-taping Morrie and me as we scurried down the highway...(Darn it! I knew I should have done something with my hair that day!)
     I smiled with relief and gave them the peace sign which they smiling returned, as they gleefully passed me while still taping Morrie from the back seat window...slowly putting distance between us in their younger car...
     It's moments like that, that I LOVE my classic cars! To see the appreciative smiles of a younger generation who have never had to use a hand-crank to start their car, push in a choke, polish points, shift with an antiquated gear linkage system that's prone to grinding metal and have never had to learn to park it on a slight hill (just in cause) you might have to roll start your cantankerous car....is fulfilling to me. Because they're drawn to the beautifully contoured lines of a car that had...and still has...STYLE!  It might not start on demand....but by Gosh, it has style!!

     I've been approached at gas stations by strangers who normally wouldn't make the effort to know me...all because of Morrie. They think at first he's a vintage VW Bug...but then I explain that he's a Morris. The little car that was the first effort of the designer who went on to design the Mini Cooper. Men who normally wouldn't care for a baby blue car are drawn to Morrie like a helpless bug to a little shining light! I've let young children sit behind the wheel and show them the rather complicated way of starting Morrie...most giggle...but I do believe that at least one of these youngesters will one day...try to hunt down a Morris Minor...all because of the eccentric old lady who let them sit behind her pride and joy!

Quilting Room Clean Out...

Well, I have been watching several friends on facebook lately as they all proudly show off pictures of their recently cleaned work or sewing rooms...So now...I feel shamed into cleaning my own quilting room.

I've not used it as a "quilting rm" for over a year now...packed to the far corners with all sort of junk that I wanted out of the other rooms. Halloween lights, Christmas decorations, Fabric I've bought for quilts that haven't been made...yet... So much in fact that when you opened the door...you were terrified for your life. No telling what could come tumbling down on top of your hapless head...WHEN DID I EVER OWN PINK BARBELLS??
I cleared out a pathway and began to haul things out to my dining room. Goodie!!  NOW TWO rooms were a mess! Great! Terrific! When junk gets THIS backed up...where DO YOU PUT IT?? Unfortunately, into other rooms that once were clean and dust-free...NOT anymore however...

I have really bad asthma and can't be around dust. So here I am...without a dustmask...doing kneebends while gathering PILES of fabric...very dusty fabric and stumbling over the now junk filled dining room on my way to the laundry room...which is a mess now, because you can't put every load into the washing machine now...can you? Nope, you have to toss them onto the ground in front of the washing machine and climb Mt. Dirty Material in order to access the machine. I'm only 5 ft tall and I'm beginning to imagine what it feels like to be entombed...argk!! Surrounded by dust bunnies floating about me as I struggle with the sorting...I now officially dislike bunnies as a whole...

It's been two grueling days of back-breaking work...and finally!!! Guess what!?  I'm STILL NOT DONE!!!
(To be continued...once I look in the yellow pages for "Housekeeper")

Babies Everywhere!! It must be Spring!

I have been informed by two of my nephews that they and their significant others are now expecting...
A set of twin girls and another little girl are about to make their appearance this year around July. But I made a big mistake...I told them that I would piece together girlie quilts for all three of these bundles. My second mistake? I haven't even started...
Oh well, I'll plead old age! Since they've known me all of their lives, my nephews won't give it a second thought!
I've decided on pinks and browns for the color scheme of all three. But what pattern? Hummm, I could easily do 6" x 6" squares and sew them together, clip the edges all around and make a "shabby chic" raggedy quilt for the newbies to nestle under...Soft flannel quilts...I love the sound of that. Babies are not know to fall asleep easily under tweed. So!... Soft, washable flannel fabrics in pinks and browns it shall be!
As I write this, sipping my chocolate milk, trying to get sleepy enough to go to bed...I ponder the wonder of little ones just entering our world and shake my head in amazement that these nephews should actually be THAT old enough to create my newest grand-nieces...
I have three of the most darling grandsons that I absolutely adore and each has old gamma wrapped around each of their little fingers. I made them each pillowcases this past Christmas and now I'm thinking...well, gosh! If I'm going to sew quilts for nieces that I've yet to see...I should at least sew quilts for each of my grandsons...
Sooooo, my third mistake...I promised to make yet three more quilts on top of the three I'm going to get started on....eventually.
Heck! I haven't even finished the darn "possum head" for the standing mannequin that I got awhile back for display in my shop Possum Creek...and now, here I am...promising SIX quilts?
I'm not going to ask you to vote on how dumb I am...I already know. Well... my chocolate milk is finished...my mind is full of quilt patterns suitable for infant girls and toddler boys...I might be dumb...but I'm still happy!!! Wish me luck!

Possum on the Brain...

I have been searching for possums on the internet forever...still trying to find one that will show it's profile just right...so I can TRY to copy it's facial features onto my 5 Ft. Possum that I'm working on for the shop.

I have come to this conclusion...Not all Possums are alike...

*sigh*

So, I continue to scour the internet and magazines that might hold that right facial expression that only I know I want on MY possum! If I have to see it in my shop on a day to day basis...it might as well be what I want...LOL!

The Last FIVE FOOT POSSUM Standing!

While on Facebook one day, I decided to post an unusual request from my FB crafting friends...would anyone be up to the challenge of making me a five foot possum for my shop.?  An innocent enough request...I thought...
The result:  Two of my newer friends, Brenda and Sacha...immediately jumped on my post with a vigor that kinda took me off guard. Sacha, who lives in France, hadn't really heard about a "possum" until she began learning  from other FBer's...full length descriptions of the possum...or Opossum for those of you who want to pronounce it correctly.

Brenda, quite playfully...stated that we should post a possum blog to entice any deranged doll designers out there to help me out with my problem and also to let the world know of the beauty that is....THE POSSUM...
They both also started discussing how we would dress the possum for each season. Now, I happen to be five foot tall...so with my typical tightfisted approach towards money...I thought the possum could wear my cast off overalls or dresses...along with pink bunny ears for spring...courtesy of my sister in law's old Halloween costume...
They both also got a kick out of the fact that I live just off Possum Creek and that happens to be the name of my small country shop and tea room...But the best part was the fact that some idiot on FB actually WANTED A FIVE FOOT POSSUM!
Oh...the joys of riding a dead...*Ahem* ...possum...
So, in a nutshell...Brenda suggested a possum blog...I dared her...we now have one. You can visit...at your own mental risk, our blog at:  http://opossumboudoir.blogspot.com/ 

But! There has been a switcheroo...with a helpful tip from Vergie Lightfoot, a Wonderful Artist who's work has been bought by Jay Leno and others...I managed to score off  Ebay, a soft, poseable nearly five foot maniquin to use for the standing possum...
I'M GOING TO MAKE THE POSSUM!!  
Have I ever made a possum...NOPE...have I any sewing or crafting ability that would qualify me as talented enough to even attempt this rather large project?....NOPE!  But undaunted, I shall go forth to sew a possum that other possums would love to hang around with.
I have to admit though, some of the most wonderful crafters on FB  (I couldn't even begin to name them all)
have been helping me out with either words of encouragement or words of wisdom. So, we'll see how it goes. I'm notoriously slow with sewing, but in the end...when my AWESOME POSSUM is standing on the first landing of my shop's staircase for all to see...I know it will all be worth it!  Possum photos to come!

I want my Mother's Pink Atlas Sewing Machine back!

I've acquired through my years...a Singer treadle, 3 Singer Featherweights, a Brother, 2 Jamones, a White and a Kenmore. All excellent sewing machines...all work. And yet....
Yesterday, while babysitting my 3 ill and very fussy grandbabies...I pulled out some photo albums to show my eldest grandson, pictures of his G-G Ma. (short for great-grandma) Johnny who is nearly 5 was 3 when she passed away, can still point her out in photos and call her G-G Ma.  He leans over each photo of her and gives her a sweet kiss. (A trait of his that my Mother adored! She loved kissing her babies and being smooched back!)  As we all snuggled together on the couch looking at the photos...I saw the two pictures that made me smile then cry at the same time...
My sweet Mum at around the time I was in high school, sitting at her sewing table sewing like mad with her pink Atlas sewing machine! The very next pic, she had turned around to face me, sticking her tongue at me...
I had forgotten these pictures taken by me so long ago that my Mum's hair was dark blond instead of shiny silver. But I had never forgotten her sense of humor! Now, I want that machine back! I want to sew at a pink machine again...stick my tongue at anyone who dares sneak up behind me and yell "Cheese!"
 My Mum had given me her pink beauty when we moved into our two story 80 year old farmhouse...and I sewed many a patch on Charlie's overalls with it. I even sewed my first nine patch quilt on it...although it wasn't the Atlas' fault that it was lop-sided and didn't quite square out...hummm. I made two years worth of Halloween costumes on that wonderful machine until the day our beautiful farmhouse burned to the ground.
Our neighbors managed to save my Grandmother's oak table by running it through a small doorway at top speed! It still has a tiny chunk out of the top to prove it was bigger than the doorway! We lost everything but that table and a lamp that I snatched on my way out of the smoky house.  I also lost my pink sewing machine...Mum's sewing machine.
So, on Ebay I have went searching for a replacement. Oh, I'll find one eventually and I know it'll just be a replacement that looks like Mum's sewing machine. But I'll soon be making new memories down the road with my grandsons and for myself.
So watch out Ebayers! I'm on a search and acquire mission...stay out of my way!

Whatever Has Happened To My HGTV???

I hate to write about a channel that I once adored and always watched on a daily basis...But I'm gonna!
HGTV once stood for Home & Gardening Television. NOT ANYMORE!! I've realized after countless repeats of the same old shows, featuring boring themes such as:
1. House Hunters
2. House Hunters International
3. Design to Sell
4. My First Sale or is it $$$$$$$ ?
AND at least 7 more shows with the same theme...sell, buy or rent part of your house out...
I've come to the realization that Realtors MUST have bought large shares of HGTV and are now filling up a pretty worthless schedule with their version of reality shows.
Where did the GARDENING part go??? IF I happen to catch an occasional garden show, it's on so early that I never get to watch it. Where's the wonderful Country Home show that used to delight me?
Where's the HOME???   I've lived in our same home (notice the use of the word home instead of house?) for over 25 years now. I want to make it a home and sometimes I need help. But unfortunately, no longer from this channel. I realize that there are folks out there, that are forced to move constantly. But you still want a safe haven to come HOME to...don't you?
Oh sure, there's Color Splash...BORING with a BIG YAWN, since he's moved to Miami and got rid of his co-workers for younger, more HIP??? tattooed people. I have nothing in common with his designs. So, I don't watch.
With all of the blogs, the new magazines springing to life and even Country Sampler...finally giving us Primitive lovers what we crave...you'd think that HGTV would figure out..."Hey! Let's do a decorating show aimed towards this huge untapped group!"  But no, they haven't considered us, the realtors hold the reins.
So, I have found myself drifting towards wonderful blogs about crafting needful things, primitive decor & other exciting blogs & magazines that whet my appetite for Primitive Decorating. Promoting a Primitive lifestyle is what I crave...so I've started with the easiest of ways...I turn off my TV.
I take long walks with my grandsons or ride my "new to me" 1952 Farmall Cub Tractor up and down the road, gleefully watching the wide grins of disbelief from neighbors and strangers in cars passing me with thumbs up high and best of all, little children coming up and asking for rides! How much more fun is that than sitting indoors watching repeats!
Email HGTV like I did and ask for a couple of shows based on Primitives and you'll probably get the same high brow attitude I got....with a little polite note attached...Thank you for your imput.
So, former favorite channel of mine...no longer...here's my imput!