One of the things for which Mother was famous were her crocheted laceless. She did two for me that are currently hanging in the house. One has her very fancy edging and the other has a plain edging. I think that she did the plain edging around my name because it is so very long.

Littlejohn Lacelet

Welcome Lacelet

Another crocheted piece that is hanging in the foyer with the lacelets is a pineapple doile.  I think that Mr. Hasty framed it.  He really does beautiful work with custom frames.!

Framed Pineapple Doile

Mother also had an old barn board frame made to surround a long quilted piece.  I just love the look of barn board and it also fits in the foyer.  It is not on the same wall as the crocheted pieces, but compliments the wall and foyer appropriately  or it suits me!

Quilt Blocks Framed in Old Barn Boards

Seeing these pieces on a daily basis keeps Mother alive in my memories.  Recalling times when I had my mother to share my joys and sorrows are all bundles up in my style of country living.

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The last book which I gave to Mother is one of the Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross.  Mother got me hooked on them and I have read

The last book I gave to Mother.

and re-read them.  I got this most recent publication in the series just prior to the dreaded hip replacement.  I thought she would take it when she went to rehab, but she decided to leave it until she returned to the Windy Knoll.  As you faithful readers know, she never came home, and hence never read the book.  I am reading it now when I am here.

As I close the book on this reading time, I look around the room where I am.  It is full of Mother and the things she created with those marvelous hands.  She was so very talented.

Hummingbird wallhanging

One of my all-time favorites is of this hummingbird wall hanging.  For many years it hung over their fire place, but now is a window covering.  I cherish the needlework, some quilting and some other fancy work.  Rousing? There are little puckers that make up the flower where the hummer is resting.  I have found peace and serenity in watching the hummingbirds drink their “juice” at the feeder outside the backdoor and have “hummingbird wars” of territory.

Another of the pieces of needlework that is in this room represents the one she loved best and the one I want to protect.  Riding a John Deer tractor, working with his hands to better the homeplace – all things Daddy loved to do and still does as he can.  He talks about keeping her flowers weeded because she would have wanted it this way.

Counted cross-stitch that Mother did prior to moving back to the Windy Knoll.

As I am typing this the tears are rolling down my cheeks.  I hope that my spelling will pass muster; I most certainly can’t see what is going on the page.

Grieving is not a pleasant part, but one we cannot get through life without.  A sadness to this day of country living.

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I know, it is only mid-May, but for those of us who like to create gifts, timing is just perfect!

Several years ago Donna presented me with a homemade Christmas present. I could not

Tree Skirt Panels

use it immediately, but I have used it every Christmas since! She gave me an machine appliqued tree skirt. The skirt has 24 panels. Every other one is a Christmas print and the others are the nutcrackers.

When I asked how she did it she said she had a fabulous machine that she could program to do this work.  She had to cut every little, tiny piece, place it, then program the machine to do each one.  Talk about labor intensive!

Nutcrackers are a weakness of mine and she gave me a perfect gift.  I had made, or better stated, I bought the fabric and helped Mother make a tree skirt many years ago.  It was simple, but apparently, cutting the panels is tedious.  Thanks Mother for finishing that one for me.  I still have it and treasure it.

Tree Skirt Nutcracker

I only have step-children so I worry about to whom to leave all my beautiful needlework.  But, I digress.

Enjoy the pictures and plan a big project for Christmas.  You or your recipient will use and love the rewards of your hard work for many years to come.

Planning ahead….a part of country living.

Tree Skirt Nutcracker

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About the gardening — we have the tackiest tomato plants you’ve ever seen — they have not had enough sunshine and they are spindly.  I’m not sure the Better Boys are going to make it.  They need repotting, but we don’t have enough pots that size to do the job.  Maybe we can keep them alive ’til Good Friday.  Yesterday John sat them outside on the south side of the pump house and that all day sun will help.  The wind here is so cold the baby plants could not survive without protection.

I’ve been invited to a bridal shower and I plan to prepare a country basket as my gift.  The picture shows one dishcloth I’ve knitted and if you look closely there is another started on the knitting needle.  Those go in the basket and I plan to make a pin cushion and a couple of potholders.  That along with some measuring cups, measuring spoons, a cookbook and whatever other little thing I can think of will complete the basket.  The little dishcloths are easy to make — this pattern is one given to me years ago and there’s no telling how many I’ve made.  Cast on three stitches — row 2 knit two, yo and knit across.  Do this ’til there are 44 stiches on the needle.  Then start to decrease by knitting one, knit two together, yo, knit two together and knit on across.  Repeat this ’til there are three stitches left on the needle then cast off.

Another thing,  we eat now and then at Western Sizzlin’ in Fort Payne — John loves their chicken livers.  I really like their fruit salad and have to tried to make it.  Mine lacks something and I’m not sure what it is — we ate every morsel anyway.  I used two cans of fruit cocktail, 2 cups of baby marshmallows and some sour cream.  It’s right funny — I’m always lecturing John about reading labels.  Well, instead of me buying regular fruit cocktail I bought sugar free.  LOL  In the salad I added a little sugar.  My neighbor tells me the Western Sizzlin’ salad has coconut, but I don’t think so.  Oh well!!

I want to thank you for following Country Living.  I’m calling you my country cousins and together we’ll enjoy country living.

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I got really involved and even studied to be an NQA judge.  That was not for me — I wanted to be the little old lady sitting at home making quilt after quilt.  I did teach quilting and thoroughly enjoyed that and I sold some quilts.  One time I had a Little Dutch Girl Quilt that I had shown over and over and had it priced at $100.  Donna suggested that people didn’t want to buy old cheap quilts, so we priced the Dutch Girl at $150.  The first person who saw it bought it!  Duh!

Of course, we lived in Georgia and I had a good friend who had grown up in Mississippi.  She told me about a pattern her sister had gotten from a Memphis, Tennessee paper in the 1940’s and, needless to say, I wanted it.  The pattern was The Three Little Pigs.  The big bad wolf is in the center and the small blocks around the edge tell the story.  The blocks are appliqued and embroidered.  I put a blue and white checked border around the edge and quilted it.  It’s a sweet little quilt and everybody needs a quilt.

Quilt making, as I’ve told you before, has to be some of the best of country living.

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Now the red picture has a story!  First off, Beth saw this in an exclusive knit shop in Madison, Georgia and bought the yarn to make it — red and off white. The yarn has some wool in it – hands tell that as you work with it — and it’s like a tiny rope.  Easy to work with.  She failed to measure the size of the cowl and left the material here with some (guess work) instructions.  I knitted it with the two colors and mailed it to her — you guessed it — it was too long.  When she came she brought the thing and told me the (another guess work)size to try again.  I raveled all that out and started over.  I knitted it with circular needles (size 13) and had made several rounds when I discovered I was using a stockinet stitch and was supposed to be using garter stitch. Again I raveled.  So I finished the cowl (I thought) and it fit my head.  I raveled again and next time I added ten stitches which I thought would be enough.  Wrong — this time it fit like a turtle neck.  I raveled again, knitted it longer and mailed it to her saying if it wasn’t right I didn’t want to know about it.  Whew!  It’s okay, I’m told.

Remember when I talked to you last about needlework I was knitting a tabard with some yarn I bought in England?  I completed it and for some reason it stretched from right to left and was a mile too big.  Talk about problems — I’ve had them.  Now that’s raveled out and in balls.  I really do want to make something from it — but what?

Beth brought two sweaters I made when she was larger and I’m trying to ravel them; however, the yarn is fuzzy and that is giving me a fit.  I may just chuck it, but she said, “But that’s the yarn I bought when so and so.”  She is the baby, you know.  This, too, is country living.

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Crazy Quilt Corner

Crazy Quilt Painted Fruit

Ribbon Embroidery

When needlework is in the blood there is no cure — one just has to deal with it.  I came from a long line of women who did needlework of various kinds and I’ve indulged since I was nine years old when I embroidered my very first pillow top.

I’ve made two crazy quilts — one for each daughter —  and later I made a table runner and a pillow.  The one pillow on the sofa has looked  lonesome and I’ve been meaning to make it a mate — but just never got around to it.

Let me go back a year — I did a quilt program for the Guntersville, Alabama Quilt Guild on making crazy quilts.  Later they sent me a bag of fancy scraps, for making more crazies, by our contact person who lives here on the mountain.  To make a long story short I never got them until yesterday when John and I drove over the 10 or so miles to get them.  The lady said she had hauled them around in her car for some time, but never got over in my direction.  It’s strange what small things thrill a person — but I’m as excited with this shopping bag of scraps as a child would be with a new toy.

Another pillow is planned and I yearn to do ribbon embroidery, all the fancy stitches and embellishments it takes.  As I’ve told you before, I’m now knitting a tabard  (I’ll show it to you soon), but it’s almost finished and I can’t do without something to do with a needle.  I yearn to quilt at the frame again; however, a bum shoulder probably would not allow that. I threaten to get a machine quilter to baste one together for me and I’ll see if I can quilt it from my easy chair. I need another quilt like I need another hole in my head.  Need has nothing to do with it!

It’s the way an elderly lady enjoys her style of country living.

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Filet Crochet

What a beautiful day and what a change from what we’ve been having.  John and I survived the cold, snowy weather, but it wasn’t easy.  As I’ve told you before, our house is like trying to heat a barn.  We’re warmer in bed than anywhere.

Today we enjoyed our homemade vegetable soup and cornbread on the sun porch — eating in the sunshine.  As I write this, it’s late afternoon on Friday and we still have ample snow on the north side of the house.  I’ve always heard that if the snow stays on the ground three days, we’ll have more snow on top of it.  Oh me!

John stays busy keeping up with the cats — Jerry and Spud.  He can’t remember if both cats are outside or inside.  One big job we’ve done today is change the sheets on our bed.  There is no heat in the bedroom and this matter of changing sheets is a major job for two old folks and we’re always glad to have it done one more time.

There’s a jigsaw puzzle on the table we can work on.  It has large pieces and the picture is a peg board in a workshop.  Tools of every description are hanging on the peg board — screwdrivers, planes, shears, saws, etc.  Often I’ll ask John what this tool is and he knows.  Even though dementia is knocking at the door, he can still identify the tools and has a passel of them himself.

I try to stay busy with needlework projects and presently I’m knitting a tabard.  You don’t know what a tabard is?  It’s something like a sweater — I’ll post an article about it in a few days.  I’m using some thread that I brought from England several years ago (hoping I have enough for the job).

I also crochet names that make nice gifts for weddings, etc. and today I got an order for a name — this name has a W in it and it will take me a while — as the W takes lots of spaces.  In my younger days I could turn the names out in no time; however, now that I’m older I’m also slower.  I can’t do anything like I used to!!  I sure can’t start crocheting this name today — my daddy was superstitious and I was taught you don’t start anything on Friday that you can’t finish that day.

Let’s enjoy these nice days — how long this weather will last is a mystery, but this is good ole country living.

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On Tuesday the snow began in the Covington, GA area around 11:00.  I must praise our superintendent, Samantha Fuhrey, for her wise planning and execution to provide safe transport for our students.  My county is on a staggered start/end time.  The parents and staff in Newton County were advised on Monday evening that school would follow the early release schedule.  Mrs. Fuhrey allowed parents to plan for their students.  The staff was advised that we would continue to work our normal schedule if the weather permitted.  I teach middle school which had a 1:15 PM dismissal.  Around 1:00 the staff was advised via email that we were also being released so that we could travel safely home.  Thank you so very much Mrs. Fuhrey for your forethought!

Boa Half Tied

So what is one to do with the afternoon at home, other than worry about other loved ones reaching home safely?  After my sister finally reached home and my spouse returned from a slippery day at the Post Office, I turned to a scarf which Mother had knitted from materials I had previously sent to her.  Her knitting task was an easy one.  My task was and still remains, to finish the unraveling and knot tying required to create the finished project.  The scarf pattern is from a quaint little shop in Madison, GA also the location I used to purchase the current materials.  the unraveling is the easy part!

Knotting the yarn can be tricky.  A video of the knot tying process can be found on YouTube.

My school system is also closed today so I suppose the responsible thing to do is get busy grading this stack of papers and to update my lesson plans for this week.  The fun can be saved.  No one will come and tie the knots – I’ll do it this evening in front of the television!  I will send Mother a picture of the finished product in a day or so.  She can update you as to the look of the new scarf.  I am so excited to have another boa.  They are elegant and striking.

As you can tell my roots are in country living.

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One day this week, it fell my lot to do two jobs that were very tedious and very tiring.  A friend wrote a note on a card with tatting attached and my immediate thought was “Oh, I can do some of these for gifts.”   Well, it was fun doing the tatting, even though tedious.  To begin with I painted (and I can’t paint) foliage stems and leaves on blank writing notes.

Notecard with tatting

Then to the matter of gluing the tiny tatted ringlets in place so that they look like blossoms – first the ringlets were dipped in Elmer’s Glue (one by one), removed with a toothpick and then placed in proper position on the notecard.  On the sample the blossoms are painted; however, I really like my tatted blooms (ah!) and have opted to leave them just as they are.

To add insult to injury, another friend sent a sample using the tatting in a little different way and I wanted to try it, too.  Am I ever gullible!  With this method, three ringlets with long threads (stems) were tied together with another piece of thread to make a bow.  Tedious!!!!  I have finished enough for two givings and I quit.

That same day I decided to complete a job started by a very crafty lady.  Mairlyn had constructed three Santas from an old quilt I had given her.  They were to be gifts given by me and I wanted to make the bags, attach them to the backs of the Santas and then stuff the bags with miniature toys – or whatever.  At least that’s what I thought I wanted to do!  Tedious is not the proper term for this task –

it would have to be something stronger.  I had never even held a hot glue gun in my hand to say nothing about using one.  With the tiny items gathered together and the gun plugged in to heat, I lined up the Santas to do what I expected to be a minor procedure – wrong!

Santa Clause

Just to find a few scraps of Christmas greenery turned out to be a major  job (any other time I would see bits of greenery as I looked for something else).  Pulling down a big box that I knew contained greenery, I discovered a batch of ornaments made several years ago which needed hangers (another job for the glue gun).

As I pushed a tiny car into a bag, two other items hopped out and went all the way to the floor.  Now I had to hold the bag, keep what was in it from falling out and retrieve the fallen items.  How did I get into this?

By the time I finished, my fingers were burned (as well as stuck together) my shoulders hurt, my neck hurt – even my elbows hurt, but I had three cute Santas, hangers applied to ornaments and a few note cards for giving.  But never again!!

Next year I hope I remember to shop at the junk store and just stay with crocheting, knitting, tatting, smocking or whatever I can do with a needle and enjoy country living.

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