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!

October Porch

October. What can anyone say about this month except...FUN! I think of Halloween, Pumpkins, Gourd gathering & unfortunately...the worst thing ever...cleaning my front porch! Sweeping off all the summer dust & dried grass that "magically" appears with every mowing of our lawn. (Turn the mower the OTHER WAY fellas!)
I love slapping on fresh paint onto my outside furniture which resides on my porch. I think instead of a traditional white for that andironack chair this year, I'm going...BITTERSWEET! A slightly brown orangy color that sings to me during the fall time. My dear son Tyler has unloaded a heavy bale of fresh straw on my small porch for me. Perfect for placing bittersweet springs, gourds & of course the wonderful pumpkins!
My wonderful daughter in law has even gotten caught up in my annual porch frenzy! She went out & got 3 bales of straw! Along with pumpkins of all colors...even the little white ones & gourds. She arranged it all carefully & it looks wonderful. My sister in law informed me that I was contagious. (I'm hoping that's a good thing.)
Tomorrow, if I can talk my dear hubby into abandoning his recliner in front of whatever game I'm sure will be on...) I'd like to string some orange lights around the front door. Nothing is as inviting to the local halloweeners as a brightly lit & welcoming porch.
I don't like the icky halloween...you know, Jason & other knife yielding fiends! I'm still in love with the vintage halloween of my youth. Bright orange & black garlands, tons of fall colored lights & child friendly front porches!
Show up at Halloween at my place this year...you'll see what I mean! Happy Fall Everyone!

Antiques Picking Memories.

Like clockwork, every September & October...you can find my dear Charlie & I on the winding back roads & pathways of Missouri, Arkansas & other states. Our annual "picking" & auction junkets are as natural to our way of living as anyone else going to work.
Because regardless of how many folks out there tell us on a daily basis..."Oh! I'd love to have your job!" Give em a chance to come with me for a day & most would be high-tailing it out of a spooky, dark barn full of black snakes & almost always a bat or two! Picking is not for the faint hearted or those who wish to stay clean.
My "work" uniform consists of overalls, turtleneck sweaters with the elbows blown out, worn out pairs of leather gloves & scarves for head cover from the rat & bat droppings.
I've met personally & up close...very close...several black snakes. One whose name happened to be Harold, or so the 80 something gent told me while thoughtfully chewing on a piece of straw. (I STILL think he could have at least told me beforehand that HAROLD was living upstairs in the barn loft.
There has been close encounters with mice, rats, a possum, a racoon & on one memorable occasion, a slightly mad pig. Dogs will nose you from behind as you crawl around the stuffed barns...making for quite a catchy song & dance routine for many a totally delighted property owner! I try not to visibly shudder whenever we show up at an old farmstead with owner in tow & realize that in the darkened hollow down below their newly built house... is the old house in which we are expected to search.
Flashlights are always a Godsend until they fail, & they do...often. No matter how many spare batteries that I carry...they seem to work for less than an hour. I just love being upstairs in an old house during an dark, gloomy storm only to have my flashlight go out. I've edged my way downstairs many a time using lightening from a storm that filters in from the windows or wide chinks in the walls as a guide to watch my step. Because we were silly enough to remove the stair railings BEFORE scouting upstairs, I have to trust the shaky wall behind my back as I creep down the stairs. I keep reminding myself that I love the hunt...I love the thrill of the hunt...OMG! Was THAT THE BIGGEST SPIDER YOU'VE EVER SEEN IN YOUR LIFE!