Birthday

I don't feel 45. I feel 24. I always seem to feel 24. Must think back on that time and ask why that was such a good age.

33 was hard for some reason, but hubby and great friends from Alabama surprised me with a party. I was really mean to Terry for not being around for my day when he was actually getting ready for my surprise.
I hate surprise parties. Thank goodness my daughters know this. They cannot keep secrets either!

I've only had 3 surprise parties in my life and I knew about two of them.
Faking surprise is horrible!
Last year the girls did surprise me with a wonderful gift/day tho. They faked breakfast at South Bend Chocolate and then sent me on my way to a day at the spa. First time ever being so pampered. It was wonderful! Lonely, but so nice!

I have always hated being alone. When I was in high school in psych class, we were challenged to do something that is hard for us.
I spent the day alone. I went downtown Pittsburgh and had lunch alone, saw a movie alone and then had dinner in a restaurant alone. Most uncomfortable day of my life, but learned I could do it!
Now I love my time. Good thing as kids moved out and hubby is a trucker. I have learned many things to occupy myself over the years and am thankful to my mom for the love of fibery things. And the puppies keep me company!

Over all, I am expecting today to be a good day. Breakfast at my folks, hair appointment with Hil and who knows what they have planned for later. Dinner at Japanese steak house tomorrow night with all my loved ones.
And in between, I'll fold my laundry!

GOLD!

Sitting here at the computer, it is hard to settle down and come up with constructive, interesting thoughts. I am so distracted by all the gold leaves outside. Gold, and copper and muted greens and yellows.

God really outdid himself on Fall leaves. It is my favorite time of year! I enjoy the chill in the air and the early evenings, candles and fireplaces.
My garden has died down but this year I am not going to pull up all the left over branches and stems. I want to see what the snow covering will turn them into.

The coziness of these nights will help me to spin and knit up all the gifts I have for Christmas ideas. Namely socks this year as I have found a new passion. So quick and so little yarn needed! Terry's socks are don and am working on a lace pattern for Veronica.

Need to spin the grape juice dyed wool, and I have a sneaky suspicion that I am getting a new maidenboard and large flywheel for my spinning wheel so I can spin extra bulky!

Better stock up on fiber for the colder than normal winter we are supposed to have.
I really want to try both art yarn and very smooth yarns as well as finger weight.
The vet has Icelandic sheep and will sell me both fleece and roving. As soon as I pay them off for Maggie's surgery, I will have to check it out!

I have tons of dye that I want to experiment with from my cyberfriend Dori Ann. Just need to get enough fiber built up that I can play.

Off to late church today as the Pet Refuge Halloween party was too much fun. I love
the girly girls! And I so love dressing in costume! It really is the only time you can go completely insane and everyone looks at you and you truly don't mind!
Maybe that's why God gave me a birthday the day before Halloween!
I am also so thankful that my girls have such a love of costumes as well!
Hilary is so creative and crazy! Veronica has always wanted to be the princess!
One year I made a very elaborate costume for her fantasy and she came down with strep throat. Poor baby wore her costume while handing out candy!
Fall.....great memories and great times ahead!
I am so blessed!~

the deer.

I homeschooled Veronica and Hilary for about 10 years.
Veronica started in 2nd grade and Hilary in Kindergarten.
Public schools in Reform Alabama, in the early 90's left something to be desired.
I had a wonderful support group of 5 families.
We all started out using the KONOS curriculum, which is a unit study program, that is biblical based. We used Saxson Math.

One of the first units we studied, was Indians. We visited the Moundville Indians and learned so much about them. The girls researched an Indian tribe and did a report on them, complete with costume and props...I even stayed up late on night and made moccasins out of deer hide my uncle sent from Nevada!
We had a traditional Indian feast and made a totem pole with brown grocery bags...what fun.

One evening, a woman from our church knocked on our door and told us that she had just hit a deer in the road. After making sure she was OK, and getting her on the road again, Terry dragged the deer into the yard. Being a very hands on teacher, I asked if he could skin it. What a man!
I kept the girls inside for the most part, but they wanted to watch some. After midnight, I had a few steaks, eyeballs in a glass in the refrigerator, as we had a sight lesson coming up... I saved the brains in Tupperware, because that is how the Indians tanned the hide, and Terry very skillfully saved the hide in mostly one large piece. This was put into a large bucket with water and ashes from the fire ring. Again, this is how the Indians got all the fur off of the hide.

Well, the next morning we left for Gatlinburg Tennessee for a long weekend vacation...that is another story in itself!

When we returned home, we checked on the hide, and sure enough, all the hair was off....ugh. Flies and smell had taken the hairs' place...I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed.

That week I gathered the girls to tan the hide with me. Using the brains, they rubbed it all over the hide. Veronica was grossed out and used plastic bags on her hands. Secretly, I think Hilary was enjoying it, but she eventually put baggies on her hands as well.

I made a tripod frame to go over the fire pit. I, somehow, tied the hide onto the frame and put it over a smoking fire....smoking tans the hide. Hours went by with careful watching. I went down the hill to check the mail and as I was on my way back I saw flames...yes, the hide had caught fire.
I saved what I could. The girls stretched what was left, over both sides of large coffee cans and sewed them onto it. After a week, they each had a drum, that we shared with the group. Yes, they did have a funky smell.

We did examine the eyeballs but after grossing out everyone who wanted some sweet tea from the fridge, we moved that lesson up before it was actually time to study it.

What a way to start off our first year of homeschooling! A lesson none of us will ever forget!

Grapes

Veronica brought me two bushels of concord grapes from a fellow waiter who's family supplies for Welches. My whole house smells of concord grapes! It is the most delicious smell ever. Not as strong as juice, but stronger than jelly!

I truly have my work cut out for me! Especially since I go to Kokomo to spin at the Fall Alpaca Festival all day Saturday! I still need to get my alpaca carded into rollogs so I can spin them. Clean and pack the spinning wheel. And I would like to vacuum so my allergies settle down a bit!

I used to make apple jelly every year. This started when we lived in New York 18 years ago. What wonderful apples!

Last year I discovered concord grapes where we have picked apples since living in Indiana, and they smelled so wonderful, I bought some to try. I sooo like making grape jelly better than apple! It seems a bit easier to get it to jell than with apples.

Oh I am sure I will make at least a batch of apple jelly, as I want to make some crock pot apple butter! The house is going to get quite a scent treat this fall, let me tell you!

OK..Off to pop skins for pies and boil down grapes for juice. Begin the process next week!

favorite grape jelly recipe:
6 pounds concord grapes...2/3 fully ripe, 1/3 firm yet ripe
3/4 c water
3 3/4 c sugar
Wash and de-stem grapes. Crush grapes in 6-8 qt kettle. Add water. Bring to boil over high heat, reduce, cover and simmer 10 minutes or until grapes are very soft.

Strain through colander lined with cheesecloth at least 4 1/2 hours. Chill juice 12-14 hours and restrain through cheesecloth.

Place juice in kettle. Add sugar, stir to dissolve. Bring to full boil, uncovered until syrup sheets off of metal spoon or reaches 200 on candy thermometer. (20 minutes)
Immediately ladle into hot jelly jars. Process for 5 minutes

Grape Pie:
4 c concord grapes
1 c sugar
1/8 t salt
2 1/2 T tapioca
1T lemon juice
1T unsalted butter

Slip skins off of grapes and reserve. Put pulp in saucepan and simmer over med low hear until soft enough to release the seeds. (8 min) Push through a wire mesh strainer to remove seeds. Combine pulp with reserved skins.
Mix sugar salt and tapioca together in a bowl. Add to grapes and add lemon juice. Pour filling into prepared unbaked crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust and leave air holes.
Bake 10 min at 450. Lower temp to 350 and bake another 25 -30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 30 minutes before serving

Hookers

I just spent the whole day in the presence of women I have know for over 15 years. They proudly call themselves, as do their husbands, hooker, dyers, strippers. The youngest woman in the group is me...45. The next youngest is my mother. She will be 70. The oldest is 102, and one died last year at 103.

I am of course referring to primitive rug hookers.
This is different from latch hooked rugs.

The base fabric is most often burlap. The wool used, and they are very particular it be as close to 100% as possible, comes mainly from Goodwill. Old skirts, men's jackets and suits are taken apart and stripped to use as the loops of the rug.
I have 8 tubs of wool in my attic that my husband refuses to move another time. I have not moved for eight years!

In colonial times, women would use old feed sacks and items of clothing that were too used to be worn to make heavy carpets for the wood floors and to add weight and warmth for winter beds. Today they are seen in magazines as table runners or floor mats.

These ladies meet the first Wednesday of every month and have met for decades before I knew them. They support each other, lift each other up, laugh alot, go to rug camps together and care for each other. I have learned so much from them! They are so kind to beginner me.

I remember the first time I joined the group. My girls were young and the ladies adored them. We met for the Christmas meeting at Mrs. Audrey Williams home. She was a school teacher in the day and Hilary took to her right away! Miss Audrey always wore purple. She even dyed her stockings purple to match everything. Her carpet was purple. She had a lovely collection of doll houses that the girls loved to play with...ever so carefully. Miss Audrey had a Christmas cactus the size and blooms I have never seen before or since.

Miss Audrey always held the December meeting. She always made concord grape pie for dessert and had hot raspberry tea to drink. The next Christmas, Hilary made Miss Audry a paper angel and she kept it when she moved to Missouri and still had it when she passed away at age 103, I'm sure. She even wrote to Hilary after she moved.

We had meetings in the Queen Ann's Inn downtown South Bend where we had tea sandwiches. We have meeting at the Center Library, and we have meetings in members' homes. Everyone brings what current projects they are hooking...some have been working on the same project for years!

The first half of every meeting I always wander around and oogle at their beautiful work. Some design their own, some buy patterns. Some of the ladies enter contests in the rug hooking magazine.

The ladies are getting older and have more than their fair share of health problems, but they show up every month eager to meet and chat and hook.

This month was my turn to host. I made orange pound cake, zucchini casserole...of course! And brought Hilary's German chocolate cake....thanks for sharing, Joe. I also supplied coffee and tea and apple cider. Everyone brings their own sandwich or other lunch item. Usually most make egg salad!

I was thinking after the meeting how sad it will be for me when the years pass. I either must find new rug hookers, or cherish this time with these wonderful ladies..because as it goes, I should outlive them all. I pray that my girls take up this craft someday. It truly is a lost art, that I am so thankful I was let into the circle of.

I enjoy rug hooking artists such as Deanne Fitzpatrick from Nova Scotia. It is my dream to go there and take some classes from her. It is also a dream to attend Cedar Hills rug camp in West Virginia with these ladies.