The Other Blog

For those of you who are visiting this blog from FUMC Hot Springs.....this is my "every day" blog. The mission trips are here: www.aservantsjourney.blogspot.com. I hope you enjoy them!

Letters From The Past - Number 3

Dear Family and Friends,
Well it’s been a while since I wrote to you and I know you’ve wondered what in the world I was doing. I’ve been busy here in Arkansas, making some quilt tops, going to physical therapy (arthritis you know), going to church, just regular stuff I guess. But it sure seems like there’s been more regular stuff lately!

I have to tell you about the most wonderful thing. Back in 1971 my Grandma and Grandpa A. (my daddy’s parents) were interviewed by someone from the University of Texas about the depression and how they lived during that awful time. Grandpa was 78 and Grandma was 71 when they were interviewed. I think the interviewers (there were 2) were maybe working on a doctoral dissertation or doing some research about the great cattle kill during that time but whatever it was they never published it. However, that interview was tape recorded on one of those little cassette tape recorders everyone used in those days and it still exists! One of my cousins discovered that information and the fact that the UofT Library would make a CD of the interview for $25. So of course my sister sent the money and we got that CD back pretty quick.

It’s so good to hear their voices! The main interviewer is talking to Grandpa but in the background you can hear Grandma answering the questions and elaborating on the answers to the other person there. She did that all the time – answered for Grandpa – and told lots of details about anything she was telling you. I remember that when I was growing up if you asked her a question you got a really long answer…and you didn’t even have to ask because she just loved to talk! My sister says that she is just like Grandma – she said that, I didn’t!

They got married when Grandma was 16 and Grandpa was 23. Her daddy didn’t want her to have anything to do with Grandpa so they ran away in the night (she climbed out the bedroom window and got in his wagon and off they went!) They lived with Grandpa’s Granny for a while. He was raised by his grandparents because his parents separated before he was born. When they got married they didn’t have even one thing to set up housekeeping so Granny helped Grandma make a mattress. They went out to the barn and got some tow sacks. Those are burlap sacks that cattle feed came in. They took those rough old burlap sacks apart and sewed several together. Then they went out into a field and pulled up sweet grass and filled up that mattress. And that was what they slept on. When the corn crop came in they took the grass out of the mattress and filled it up with corn shucks. I think the corn shucks made it thicker and they lasted longer than the grass. Tow sacks looked kind of like the ones in this picture that I found on Flickr.

They only had a little bit of money and they ran out of soap but didn’t want to spend their little bit of money on that! So Granny said she could make soap. Grandma wasn’t sure about that because they didn’t have anything to make soap with (you need lard). But Granny went out into the far pasture and gathered up old bleached out bones from cows that had died or been slaughtered years before. She put those bones and some lye and water into a wash pot and boiled them. It turned into a jelly like soap that Grandma said was the best soap they ever had. It cleaned up those clothes pretty and white! Here's a recipe I found on Flickr for lye soap.

During the depression the government was trying to drive up the price of cattle on the market, I guess to “stimulate the economy” or something, so they offered to buy cows for $25 a head. You put them in a truck and drove them to the designated place and the government man paid you $25 for any cow that was standing. If it couldn’t stand up he wouldn’t pay for it. Good cows, bad cows, sick cows, didn’t matter because the price was the same for all of them. Once they were counted you had to take them off the truck and shoot them. That’s right, shoot them. At first they would let you skin them and keep the hide which you could sell for $1. But later they wouldn’t even let you do that. And no one could have them to eat. They just rotted in the fields. I keep thinking of all the soup kitchens and the hungry people and they made them leave that good meat laying there to rot. I bet there were lots of bones in that field that Granny could have used to make her soap!

Well I’ve rattled on and on today and now it’s time to go. I’ve got some sewing to do today and bread to make and I need to clean out the refrigerator. A woman’s work is never done! Till next time…

Peace and Blessings,

Marlene

Spring is Officially Here

It's just barely above freezing today. It's raining. The wind is blowing. And my husband is packing up to go fishing for the weekend. That means that despite the temperature, the whistling wind, the pounding rain, it is officially spring. Because he only fishes in the spring. He's going fishing; therefore, it is spring. Just ask him.

Photo by Flickr

What Happened to Spring...and Some Other Stuff

Spring came to Arkansas some weeks ago. First I saw hints of pink on the Redbud trees. Then the forsythia and the japonica bloomed. Along came the Tulip trees and, of course, the daffodils were everywhere. Now my Carolina Jasmine is blooming, and the hyacinths. That was yesterday. Today it's just barely above freezing and it's been raining for two days with two more days of rain to come. I had started getting out my summer clothes. After all it was 80°! Now my closet is crammed full, half with winter, half with summer. Sweaters are hanging out with capri pants. Boots linger beside sandals. My closet is not large. Woe is me.


Hello. My name is Marlene and I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. OCD for you fellow sufferers. I spent most of my day yesterday finishing the organization of my fabric closet. I had just had my fill of not being able to find a fabric to go with what I was making only to find the perfect one in my closet after I'd gone out and bought another. So with the blessing and urging and enabling of my two neighbors, Connie and Cissy, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 20 x 30 foam core, cut them in fourths, and this is what the result is. Of course that was several trips to Hobby Lobby over the course of a couple of months and only when the foam core was on for half off. I wish I could tell you that this is all of my fabric. But it isn't. I have several (many) pieces pulled out and in tubbies as part of a project or ten that I'm working on. However, now that I can see what I have I no longer have an excuse for not using it. Right? Unless someone out there can think of a good excuse for me to buy more and I'm all ears....

My computer has spring fever. Or something equally yucky. It gets slower and slower every day. Sort of like me. Do you think it needs castor oil? I've cleaned everything I can think of to clean and still it slows down. I might have cleaned out something I wasn't supposed to - I've been known to do that in my house so it stands to reason I could have done it here. I suppose I'll take it to the doctor but what shall I do while it's gone? I'll be lost. I'm sure I'll wilt or wither or something really bad. Oh, I know. I'll take it tomorrow when my husband has gone fishing for a couple of days and I'll use his! All is well.

A Little More Show And Tell

In my last post I showed some pictures of my living room but I forgot to show the most important place in there! This is my "nest" where I sit and do my hand stitching. The wallhanging was made for me by a blogging friend. I love it here because my chair is comfortable - and big enough for a small child to cuddle up next to me - I have light on both sides and even an extra one that I can bring up beside me if I need it. I have several projects ready to be worked on including my latest redwork, a wool piece that's just pinned together and several applique quilt blocks. I keep all my embroidery thread in the red toile box and the patterns I'm using in the basket. And all my tools (needles, scissors, etc.) on the table beside me. That's a small trash holder on the left arm of the chair - a craft project many of you have probably made.

When I talked about my February goals I mentioned this sampler I had finished. I used a khaki colored Kona cotton fabric and black thread. Now I have to decide what to do with it. :) I've about run out of wall space but I do think it would be pretty framed or made into a wallhanging. I could make a pillow but it's kind of big for that - it's laying on an ottoman if that gives you an idea of the size. Any suggestions?

I've shown this before but I love it so you get to see it again. :) This redwork piece "The Quilter's Stash" hangs on the wall going into my bedroom.

This area is what I call my prayer chair. This is where I sit to do my Bible study. The prayer shawl hanging on the chair was knitted for me by a friend in my church. The small pillow on the chair, if you can see it, I gave to my Mother years ago. It says "Thank you Mother for teaching me to sew." After she died I brought it home with me. It's so peaceful in this spot - I can see the lake and the birds often hop up onto the windowsill and look in at me.

This is where I blog. It's mostly a mess but it works for me. I made the redwork wallhanging a couple of years ago from an Alex Anderson pattern. The lamp has eyelash fringe on it that I just glued on. The clock was my mothers and the ribbon hanging on it was one she won for a quilt. The tassel was mine when I graduated from high school in 1964! That's my mom and dad in the picture beside the lamp.

Don't you just love the yellow and red together? I do! I made the quilt last year at our guild quilt retreat. The redwork pillows are not new, except for the Girl With Watering Can - I finished the redwork several months ago but just finished the pillow recently. I might have already shown it but not when it was with the rest of the "ensemble." I think my next project in this room will be to make a fabric cover for the lamp shades.

That's my show and tell for today. Anybody else doing a show and tell?

Displaying Stitcheries

Last week someone mentioned displaying quilts and asked how others did that. I'm going to show some pictures of some of my "stitcheries" and how I have them in my home. I do a lot of quilting but over the years I've done some other things like counted cross stitch and crochet. When you enter my Living/Dining Room the brown Snail's Trail quilt is hanging on the wall. That's sort of a hallway though it doesn't look like it here. I made that one from a kit I bought in Las Vegas many, many years ago. The Dresden Plate quilt that hangs in the dining area was pieced by my grandmother. My mother added a little embroidery and I hand quilted it. I just noticed that I don't have a centerpiece on the table. Wonder where I put it? :) No telling!

This is the other side of the dining area where there are shelves dividing the dining area from the sunroom. On the hutch you can just barely see that I hung a cross stitch verse. I put a push pin in the back of the shelf and hung it on that. It makes a tiny hole that I don't mind having there. I have navy placemats out right now - I made those so long ago I can't remember when!

The napkins laying on the hutch are stenciled, but not by me. That's something I've wanted to try but haven't done yet.

In this picture you'll see several things. On the left is the sort-of-hallway I mentioned above and the wall you see is part of my kitchen. There's a quilted wallhanging "Basket of Apples" there (I'll try to show that again in a day or two a little closer). On the wall above the desk are two counted cross stitch pictures and in the right corner I have a quilt on a quilt rack. I've since moved that to the center hallway. And on the treadle sewing machine I have a quilted table runner.

There's a quilt on the back of the couch - goodness I could have straightened the cushions before I took this! And on the wicker chest is a candle mat that I embroidered.

I keep my quilt frame out of the way in the center hall but you can see it from the living room so I guess it's on display too!

Over the mantle is another quilted wallhanging with a counted cross stitch picture as it's center. On the cabinet on the left is a small Basket table runner and on the shelves on the right are a couple of antique quilts.

My favorite thing I guess is this antique china cabinet where I keep quilts. I rotate them though there are several that I never take out - ones that my grandmothers made and a couple of the older ones my mother made as well as a couple of baby quilts that belonged to my children. There's also a table runner on the table beside the rocker and a crocheted afghan on the chair. I don't think that's an afghan I made though....I alternate it with one in the camper and they are very similar so I'm not sure.

Isn't it funny - these pictures were made just a couple of weeks ago and already I've moved the furniture! Now I'll have to make more pictures to show you. Later I'll show you another room or two if anyone's interested.