Crafting 3

I intended to post yesterday, but we had a little storm out of the south and it covered our dish which we can not access right now so my internet was down for a while. On the chandelier, you can see where we removed some of the existing pieces (which we will not be using), and the wiring exposed after we removed the old sockets. Last evening, we purchased new chandelier sockets and bulbs. The hole in the plates and cups, which were drilled with the bit were not large enough to accommodate the threaded rods, so we took them to my glass grinder and were they were very easy to grind large enough. Being anxious to see what they would look like, we sat them on the arms of the chandelier and voila!! You can see the effect we are going for. More post after tonight's session.

Crafting again

As promised, more pictures of the teacup chandelier process. The chandelier is shown with some of the china pieces, along with some other clutter we didn't remove...not professionals--us, but we were pleased in spite of the two small unexpected problems. The one chocolate pot developed a crack and half of the bottom fell out and the one teacup "popped" a larger hole than the others. Never one to admit failure, I hit the bottom of the larger piece with a brass end of a glass cutter and the remaining bottom fell out clean as a whistle. The cup will be fitted with a washer and will be just fine. Next post will follow with more complete pictures to give a better idea of the finished chandelier. Speaking of china and porcelains, the Mr. asked me if I would like to go have some fun. We have been married more than 45 years and his idea of fun is much different than mine, but I said yes and off we went, with the skinny bitch border collie mix in tow. He told me we would be spending some money, which means "shopping" to me. I now have a new piece of "china" and it is sitting in the middle of the basement in the form of a porcelain convenience. Along with that is a shower stall which graces the garage at the time, but the toilet is installed minus the water hook-up which will involve extensive plumbing of course. We always "plunge" forward with these types of projects because of the previous experience under our belts, and NEVER read instructions! That's our code of home renovation. Sooo....in spite of our rush to put it in without following directions....it works!!! Of course, you have to have a bucket of water in order to flush, and there are no walls, but we needed to see how much space it takes up in order to determine what sink fixtures to purchase and where the walls need to be. We also did not know if the existing plumbing below the floor needed to be altered and really didn't know if the existing drain worked. Eureka!!! All is well and we will have a really nice bathroom when it is finished.

Crafting

My friend Sal and I have begun the "teacup chandelier"! With the help of the Mr. and his drill press, and some past experience we had trying to drill into china, our Saturday endeavors were a huge success. The bit was a carbide spade bit which was dull to begin with and proved to work much better after a sharpening. Because so much heat is generated with the slow careful pressure, it is necessary to keep the china cool. Thus the sponge and water, making for a messy process. Each time the bit broke through the china, the popping sound nearly gave us all heart attacks. With only 5 cups and saucers, there were no extras in the event of a disaster. The pictures here show a saucer and a "chocolate pot". The pot will go in the center to cover the wiring and stabilizing used for the pot. My intention is to post the remainder of the pictures this week.
Saturday was a particularly perfect day to accomplish this step of this process as we were under the worst blizzard conditions of the year. Twelve inches of the white fluffy with blizzard force winds completely socked this city in isolation. Travelers could go no direction and drifts caused many locals to become stuck.

Today, however was a different story! My good friend, Pat, had her birthday today and I met her in Greeley and we had a wonderful day. We had coffee, did a little shopping, had lunch, did a little shopping and in general had a great gab session! The weather was beautiful and I am home now awaiting another smaller storm due in tomorrow.

Watch for more posts of the chandelier progress and Happy Birthday my friend!

~"A friend is a person with whom I may be SINCERE. Before him (her) I may think aloud."...
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have no photo to post today. This March has been very wintery and we have more or less just been huddled in where it is warm and toasty. Not much happening even. You know it is one of those cozy relaxing weeks. I am posting so you all know I am still kickin'. My sewing machines have, however gotten a little workout as I have been back to sewing some garments. I got caught up on my quilt squares for my Thimbleberries quilt club, and constructed two blouses, or tops, whatever they are officially called now. Now I am working on some pants. I cannot tell you how long it has been since I actually made something for myself and with the changes in the pattern sizing that took place in my absence from the sweat shop, along with the additional poundage added to my aging frame--it has been a challenge. Yesterday I watched a quilting program on PBS, on which a young fabric designer was featured. I was so fascinated with her approach and her knowledge of quilting at such a young age. I wish I had paid more attention as I don't know who she was. Her fabric designs all featured the same vivid colors, but the actual designs were small geometrics to very large florals. Not at all what one would expect in typical quilt construction as I know it and not what I might choose. What kept my interest was her flexibility and her enthusiasm and her ability to understand the traditional quilter. It made me realize that I have always been attracted to textiles and fibres. Perhaps that is why my daughter also has that attraction....it is in our blood. My first recollection of fibre is when my paternal grandmother taught me to crochet, even before I went to school. At first it was just a simple chain stitch, but before long I was making "granny squares". I learned to knit in the sixth grade at school when our teacher used indoor recess time (in the bitter cold days) to keep us all busy. I begged my mother to teach me to sew and when "Barbie" came out in 1958, I scrounged every scrap of fabric I could find to make her wardrobe. I continued to sew and crochet, and I learned to "tat". I took a tailoring class, at the urging of my good friend Barb. I am fascinated with ribbon embroidery and I embellish way too many things with ribbon art. I learned to do needle felting and have a stash of wool sitting someplace. Many, projects finished and unfinished were produced after I discovered cross stitch and my kitchen drawers are filled with embroidered tea towels and embroidery covers my pillowcases. When macrame was popular in the 70's I learned all of the knots and completed multiple wall hangings out of jute and twines and beads. Remember hooked rugs? Yep, I made a few of those too. I have made chenille and probably have forgotten some of the other fibers I worked with. I do love fabric and my stash is always changing. I collect some old quilt pieces as I can find them and am always finding a new way to use the old worn pieces.

"Cherish forever what makes you unique, 'cuz you're really a yawn if it goes!" ` Bette Midler

Spring?

According to the calendar, spring has arrived! However, we are in winter storm pattern. While the moisture that the mountains are receiving is very much welcomed, it seems that we are only getting more wind with a few snow flakes. Again, the interstate byways have been closed periodically, stranding travelers. This past weekend, we were in Casper so that the Mr. could play in a team tournament for a state competition. Although his team didn't quite make it to finals, we were able to visit with old friends from Carbon Co. As always, we ate too much so we are again on the "computer" with our diet program and the treadmill is getting a workout this week. We will see how long this endeavor to lose weight lasts. I am working again on another quilt square for my quilt club today and finished this project for the heck of it. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I had seen this quote and I just had to do something with it. As the pictures demonstrate, I had an old drawer from a school library table which I primed with gesso, painted, added a "chocolate" colored glass border and lettered. I cut, and painted wood in a "pukey" green and glued to the edges. It was then sealed and will adorn my front porch. If you come selling anything, please bring chocolate to appease me.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Mr. isn't fond of corned beef and cabbage and so we bought chocolate mint ice cream. It's green right? Anyway, we are just about as Irish as anyone can be so Happy Pat's to all!! Spring is just around the corner! More quilt squares as I continue with this pattern. Progress to follow.

As spring quickly approaches, we are forced to leave the inside construction and move our efforts to the yard. We have a monumental task ahead of us as we have half a block of lilacs in a hedge that has never been cleaned or pruned and we have about 6 to 8 large rose bushes that we need to move. Also on the removal list are several large juniper bushes that have grown to monumental proportions and we began today by starting with the lilacs and rototilling my first flower bed out back. I discovered a soaker hose along the lilacs that has been there so long that the grass grew over it. I have found tulips trying to grow through matted grass, and tulips that are actually managing to emerge from the previously frozen earth. We do have a few trees on the property that have survived without any water and need to re-plant where many did not survive. I have started my compost pile and we need to rent a chipper as the trimmings from the lilacs are piling up. Because the previous owners were obviously not concerned with the outside at all, the birds are unaccustomed to activity. After trying to identify a noise this morning, I spotted a woodpecker atop our metal chimney cover beating the ever lovin' daylights out of it with his beak. Doves sit on the light pole and watch my activities with curiosity and the finches who have just discovered my feeder (which hung out all winter), are extremely wary of me.

My sister and I went with a couple of older cousins on a drive in the countryside near our childhood home on Sunday. So much of the water is gone, sold to cities and newer subdivisions, which in decades past, watered crops such as sugar beets, corn, beans, etc. Fewer and fewer farms are left and our drive in the rural areas proved how dry and parched the previously fertile soil is. Sad. A cherry orchard used to stand on my uncle's farm and as a child I remember our family, aunts, uncles, cousins, all gathering to pick cherries. There is not one tree there now--not even a blade of grass. Small acreages replace the farms and many of them we noticed were abandoned and in foreclosure. From my earliest memories, I remember helping my father plant our garden every year. I have soil in my blood and I am anxious to get my hands in the dirt as soon as mother nature allows.

"To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and watch their renewal of life--
this is the commonest delight of the race, the most satisfactory thing a man can do."--
--Charles Dudley Warner

Depression?

I am the daughter of a woman and a man who struggled through the "great depression" with their families. I am the granddaughter of a coal miner who left an immigrant wife with 5 children, two of whom were still in grade school, when he was murdered during the "great depression". I am the granddaughter of a pioneer woman who, at the age of 6, lost her mother and was left to cook for and care for older brothers and her father. Her 9 children were grown except for my father who was a teenager during the "great depression" and spent several months in the hospital in Denver with what was then diagnosed as a "cancer" in his leg. He lost a lot of muscle as a result of the surgery and my grandmother and grandfather traveled by horse and buggy to visit him in the hospital, a trip which took an entire day one way. He told me stories of riding the grasslands of northeastern Colorado to shoot jackrabbits for his sister's family so they would have food on the table as there was no work for any of the men. What is so great about this "great depression"? All I know is that they survived and it made them stronger and instilled in us that what we need and what we think we need are two very different things. As I reflect on my childhood, I think we pretty much continued to live as if we were living in a depression. We didn't waste anything. We did without. We wore hand-me-downs. We ate well, but we ate a lot of rabbits too! We recycled, not knowing that we were actually recycling. Mother made a lot of our clothes, and we darned socks. We learned to appreciate everything and learned to save.

I saw a bit on the telly this weekend about Clara, the grandmother in her 90's. Her grandson is filming her and she is cooking depression recipes. Check her out here. She is terrific!! Peppers and eggs, canned peas and pasta and much more. Egg drop soup? Eggs dropped in boiling water she told the reporter!

Women continued to quilt during the depression and we are still quilting today. Make do with whatever you have. Save fabrics from clothes, rather than discard. The quilters I observe are continuing to use fabrics from their existing stashes, however, there is something enticing to a quilter when brightly colored bolts of cotton line the windows and shelves of a quilt shop. Eleanor Burns has a book for quilters..Egg Money Quilts. These patterns are examples of depression quilts. Money saved from the sale of eggs so a farmer's wife could buy flour or sugar in a cotton print sack. These pics are a version of a Sun Bonnet Sue and some of the fabrics are from old dresses, and some are new. I hope to get it quilted this week.

If we are embarking on another depression, and pray that we are not, there are lots of ways to survive. Those cute little bunnies in my back yard had better beware!! I can cook rabbit several ways.