Katie Sees a Snake!!!!!

Picture this. There’s a big tree next to the woodpile at Connie & Larry’s campsite. Out in front of the woodpile is the burn pit. There’s a camper on either side of that. Curled up at the base of the tree is a four foot water moccasin. When the snake was sighted by Fay (Larry’s 87 year old step-mother) she ran to the camper while Connie went screaming to the picnic table where she contemplated climbing it. Patti, Fay’s daughter, was “indisposed” in the bathroom of the camper, where she began yelling “what’s happening?” The two monkeys, Katie and Dolly, started screaming, hopping up and down, and rattling the cage they were in. Larry, being the only man at the site, knew he had to be the one to kill it. He was in shorts and flip flops and had a big sledge hammer and a pair of fire tongs. I’m not sure what he was going to do with the fire tongs but he needed all weapons available. The women are yelling at Larry, the monkeys are screaming and jumping, the snake is trying to strike the nearest person (Larry) and Larry pins the snake down with the sledge hammer. Fay, remember she is 87, decides she needs to come help him since the two younger women obviously aren’t going to do it so (Mom to the rescue!) She comes out of the camper and grabs a piece of wood off the woodpile so she can beat the snake about the head. Then everyone is yelling at her to get away before she falls down and, finally, the snake is dead – Larry, not Fay, killed it. Picture the bedlam! I almost wish I'd been there. Later that evening I’m sitting in a lawn chair between the fire and woodpile when I think….ok, momma snake is dead, baby snakes are in the woodpile, daddy snake comes home to no dinner, screaming kids, absent momma, and he goes looking for her and what does he find but blood splatters on the grass and me. Time for me to go home!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary is done! I stitched yesterday until my thumb hurt and I had to take Tylenol but I finished her and she is so sweet…I can’t wait to get her put into a pillow. This morning I got out my herb blocks and the Winter Wonderland blocks and the pumpkin appliqué blocks and tried to decide which to do next. Decisions, decisions. I didn’t bring my sewing machine on this camping trip although I often bring my Featherweight. It’s the perfect size to fit into the basket I use as a coffee table and a small cutting mat/ironing surface is easy to stick in the closet. My dining table has an electrical outlet right next to it and an overhead light and windows on two sides so it’s an ideal spot to sit and sew and watch the birds and squirrels. But I remind myself I brought books to read and puzzles to put together and haven’t done much of either. The one bad thing about getting away from home like this is that you dream of all the “relaxing stuff” you want to do and you’d have to stay a month to get that relaxed!

Here’s a picture of a baby quilt I got sandwiched together before I left home this week. It’s ready to be quilted but I just can’t decide how I want to do it. Any suggestions? This quilt is going to Haley Grace, the daughter of my niece, who was born April 27th. The alphabet letters were machine embroidered and the border fabric is Clifford, The Big Red Dog. Should I just stitch in the ditch or try to outline the letters or something else that I’m not thinking of? I’m going to machine quilt it and I’m ready to start when I get home if I can just make this decision!

We’re camping this week. We came with friends that I’ve mentioned before (Connie and her husband Larry) and their monkey, Katie. We met another friend who also has a monkey - her name is Dolly. Katie and Dolly are old friends who, when they first see each other, look like two women who haven’t seen each other in years – they hug each other and pat each other on the back and laugh and talk nonstop. They also pick imaginary bugs off each other, unlike any women I know, but apparently that’s a loving gesture in monkey culture. They play like small children, tumbling around on the floor and sharing toys and food and cups, playing until they’re too tired to move. They attract a lot of attention in the campground. You must admit it isn’t every day you go for a stroll (to secretly check out everyone else’s camper) and see two monkeys playing in their owner’s lap. I have discovered camping with monkeys is a great way to meet new people cause you can bet everyone who sees them wants to stop and visit. I’m attaching a picture of the girls temporarily resting in Connie’s lap – Dolly is the larger and older of the two and Katie is still a baby sucking her thumb.

This is the view from my camper the first day we arrived. It was a beautiful sunny day, cool enough for a light jacket and perfect for sitting around a campfire that night eating s’mores. Last night it stormed big time, according to my husband. In fact, he said it stormed so bad he started to get up and put his pants on! You couldn’t prove it by me since I slept right through it. What is it about camping that makes you hungry all the time and sleep like you haven’t slept in a week? Guess I had worn myself out stitchin’ that day. I worked on my redwork “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” as someone named it on a former blog. Here are a couple of pictures of my camper’s living room where I make my quiltin’ nest while we’re out in the wilderness. You can see I brought my roses with me and they’re still beautiful – God does such good work! I’m hoping to finish Mary, Mary today and then I’ll be ready to do three small blocks of herbs (I’m a little behind on a BOM!) before I begin Winter Wonderland. The best part of camping is that you can sew all day with no guilt, no jumping up to do a load of laundry and no vacuuming.

Meet Katie!

I have a friend/neighbor/stitchin’ buddy who is dear to my heart – her name is Connie. Connie and her husband, Larry, adopted a black faced capuchin monkey a couple of years ago. Katie came to them when she was just a tiny thing and quickly became the darling of everyone who met her. Katie requires a lot of care – bottles and specially prepared food, cages and toys and swings, baby clothes modified to make room for her tail, frequent diaper changes, shots for measles and mumps and anything else human children get. But Connie is the perfect mother. She happily does all the things Mothers do; she loves her and scolds her, she feeds her and diapers her, she sacrifices her “alone time” when she’d like to be sewing to play with Katie after she gets off work, she loves on her when she’s tired and grumpy and yells at her when she’s running wild through the house. Katie is in her “terrible twos” stage of development so that means she has to be taught what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Remember those days when you had to watch them every minute? You were constantly saying, “it’s not polite to throw things at people,” “food is for eating, not for smearing on your face,” “don’t run in the house,” “we don’t put beans in our noses,” “because I said so!” Motherhood is typically a term we reserve for those with human children. This is a tribute to all who have monkeys, cats, dogs, bunnies, birds or others of God’s creatures and who love and care for them. Even the first grade teachers with tarantulas and teenage boys with snakes! And especially for Connie – Happy Mother’s Day!