I Like Thursdays # 65 Dishing it up!

Welcome to this week's list of likes

 It's officially the start of the Christmas Season, according to these salt and pepper shakers given to me by my friend Nancy at pugmom. 

Although it's been in the 70's here near Annapolis... we walked past the marina in our neighborhood Sunday and this lovely view caught my eye

There are reasons we're leaving this neighborhood, but also things we'll miss that we've come to take for granted. We can walk past one of the three rivers off the Chesapeake Bay every day, and feel the breeze in our hair...

 This row of rocking chairs facing the water was inviting but we have a lot to do. We have to let go of the Annapolis area and reach out to the Colorado West!

We've been going through our belongings especially in the basement, or as I like to call it, the
 "archeological dig" 

 another gift from Nancy who gave me a box of her collected cows for Christmas last year! She'll remind me of the ocean! 

I have found some cool stuff! My sister gave me a number of boxes from the house we grew up in, and I never really looked through them until now. I found this set of dishes from my Granny's house. 

There is an almost intact set of china made by 

Brock of California Pottery. They only made these dishes between 1947 and 1955. I love their logo! I like most things from the 40's and 50's but these whimsical western dishes are so whimsical I love them. 

 I was adopted as a baby, my granny's daughter met my birth mother at granny's boarding house. I stayed at my granny's house many times, watching her hand piece quilts in her lap on the porch, learning to handle a sewing machine as soon as my pudgy little legs could reach the treadle. I loved the smell of the machine, the power I felt using it, the fabric going together like magic. 

My granny and I knew each other as adult and child. She might have been surprised to know how much I loved these kitschy  dishes with their whimsical shapes like tiny frying pans, and cute little tea cups. I know my family gave them to me because they didn't know what else to do with them, but they are a precious connection to a grandmother who harbored a young woman during her pregnancy in the 50's.

The very idea of a mover possibly breaking these or losing them in a move is part of my panic. I am sentimental and gather things for my nest like a magpie.

I love all the things left after the great purge of 2017.
These have never been handled by a mover, they went from Granny's house, to mother's, to Patti's, to mine handed off generation to generation.

They may look old to you, and they are, but so am I and it's okay to be old.
They are more than dishes, they are a connection to the past, like Granny's mother's treadle I learned to sew on, and still have. Like the top she pieced for me and left to me.

 All being entrusted to strangers.

Among the dishes, (and some mouse poop) were some little toys I played with as a child. Little fingers moving household furniture around my doll house. They looked bigger to me back then...

These came from the archeological dig, again in boxes brought to me by my sister but not gone through at the time. Too much emotion back then, but with the tincture of time I'm able now to see them more clearly. 

To remember how I felt as a child, to know that little girl with hopes and imagination and excitement at life is me. I remember the fun of finding that doll house in our old garage, and playing with the tiny furniture for hours. It's not as much fun to move big furniture around a house now. These days I want to write and create my artwork in a nest , not to constantly redo a nest. 

The movers say we have insurance but how could I replace these things? I don't know if I can take any more loss at this point.But... 

from my curly girl calendar

 And this page from my calendar this year reminds me...

I am a nest maker, not a mover. This is so difficult. The not knowing if it will be better there. The letting go. The trust of strangers with the collections I have spent years collecting. 

We took some time yesterday to do some of the things here we've put off for years. Like changing this cool switch cover to a plain one for whoever takes over this nest.

like putting back up the blinds in our bay window so the new owners will have some privacy... we always meant to do it after we got new windows...

it's interesting to see the house returning to a neutral palette with none of the personality I've given it.

Pictures of my labradaughter Chelsea in Newport RI

personal effects boxed up in preparation for life's changes.

Milo had a lot to like this week. He's pretty much out of that hobble brace, and has taken up position on the landing. Cole used to lie there too, in order to survey his domain.

This house has seen three dogs... Chelsea was with us here for a few months, then Cole spent his 14 years here, and now our baby Milo is here. Remember when these stairs were a challenge to tiny puppy legs? He was so proud to climb them to greet me in the mornings... unable to contain his glee that we all survived the night, unable to wait for me to come down, he climbed Mt Everest each morning.

Now he's a big tall boy who feels responsible to guard the house. When he disappears, it's to his new perch.

able to nap lightly in case a leaf blows outside, requiring barking alerts.

Milo: I love this nook! What a great place! I can see into the place food comes from, I can watch the front door, and Mama can't escape upstairs or to the bathroom without me knowing!
 Finally I'm in charge!
Believe me y'all, I keep my peeps informed! 

Whew, that's exhausting... better take a little nap. Go see the other people on Mama's list! Thanks for coming!

1. craftscaviescontras

2.. https://barrels-of-monkeys.blogspot.com/
3.. http://sandysnowden.blogspot.co.uk/
4.. http://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/
5.https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/ 
6...http://homesewnbyus
7..http://littlepenguinquilts
8.http://imworkingonaproject
9..http://3poodlesandanana
10..maryinpeoriahandmade.blogspot.com
 
 

linking to some of these
Our World Tuesday
Travel_Tuesday 

http://sky watch Fridays
http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com
http://asoutherndaydreamer
Thankful Thursdays pet parade
http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com
http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/
http://shabbyartboutique.com
willy nilly Friday (random images)
habbyartboutique fridays

Hexi Stars the dark side

I don't have enough time in the studio to create, as I'm dismantling it. (sobbing!)
I have made some hexi stars for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge  this month, and thought finished or not, I'd show you what I made.

The chosen scrap color this month is darks.

I've used some pretty black scraps for the outside segments... and the











Inside stars... I just adore the black and white around the points and the way it sort of comes and goes with the white parts next to the strong black centers

Very sparkly points, and swirly starry centers.

In fact I am intrigued with the interplay of shadows on all these stars.
When I chose the pattern I didn't realize just how much it would teach me!
Here are three more neutrals in progress

 the striped one counts for a dark brown for me. I love the color shading and radiating lines. It was a skinny strip before I made a "point" of it!

 I like the little tree in center of this one. Life is in the details.
A couple more I finished

I like the mix of white and cream and beige in both blocks...







 I keep components like basted points and edges in my travel box

 Note the brown points in progress.. Love a dot!

 My little cardboard lunch box holds a lot of basting paper shapes, fabrics pre cut, needle, threader, scissors, threads, and finished components. When I lay them out to sew together I use this little cardboard insert salvaged from the recycling bag...

 and the whole thing reminds me to....

 did you see my list of likes this week??? Check here...http://lapaylor.blogspot.com/2017/11/i-like-thursday-64-thanksgiving.html

linking to parties on my links page including these:

busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com/
 Free motion by the River Tuesdays   
https://stitchallthethings.com/ to do Tuesday
design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays

I Like Thursday #64 Thanksgiving!

Welcome to this week's list of likes... Thankfulness edition (that image is from my flannel Thankful quilt made from scraps. I used a combo of 9-patches, 4 patches and solid squares all the same size, then inserted areas to applique. I believe I showed it on the blog at some point.

On to the show...

The above image is the amazing sunset sky over the Sugarloaf craft show last weekend. We have gone to these high end shows every year since we moved here, and it never gets old. Never. 400+ artists, some of whom have become friends.

I want to showcase one here  website is http://www.beezbyscranton.com/

This woman takes antique books, removes the pages, makes purses out of the covers and gives you the pages with the purchase, so you can "read your purse"

Very imaginative! An old copy of Shakespeare

Pinocchio from the thirties... and useful!

So many to choose from!

I also bought a Woodrow musical instrument one year,

It's sort of like a dulcimer and a guitar made a baby but easier to play. Well time will tell. I love it, and the sound it makes. DH found this wonderful tabletop stand for it, so it looks very adorable on the credenza.

I love to see musical instruments and long for a larger home to have a space to show our music makers. Two guitars, a woodrow, a ukelele, a Native American flute and a keyboard.

Anyway... the woodrow people were giving away songbooks with purchase now, so they gave me one! That's so nice!

 I liked the broom guy, and especially liked this image at the end of the show... "A new broom sweeps clean"
is an old American saying.

 We quilters know a useful object shows craftsmanship as well as artistry. It's a way to bring beauty into the daily world.

Milo was fairly good. He loved meeting all dogs and all children. He pranced for adults who were patient with his (still) mouthiness. I loved it when other dog people corrected him too.
It takes a village!
One woman said,"that's the prettiest poodle I've ever seen!" And her companion looked at her sharply and asked, "have you forgotten MY poodle???"
Hee hee

I liked this wall of clouds, the sky is ever changing. Ever inspirational. On the DC Beltway, this was very imposing! 

On this day of abundance and plenty, and I hope each one of you has enough to eat today, food is a good thing. On this day I will share a family recipe for my fave breakfast...

take some healthy bread, this one has air whipped in to make it less caloric, some organic peanut butter, some whole fruit cherry preserves and smear. I might be a 4 year old as I totally enjoy points when eating.

I couldn't get my mother to do it, so I do it for myself. It makes the tiny sandwich last longer, and gives me points to eat.
Speaking of points... and pies...

And while we're at it, why not have pumpkin pie from Trader Joe's for breakfast, or at least every night after dinner??

We eat fairly large slices, so I cut the pie in half. Then make two more cross cuts to make 6 pieces. One with more restraint and smaller waistline could make three more cuts for correct size servings.

Milo likes pumpkin pie. He likes absolutely anything I'm eating too. He likes eating his bed too so he's not particularly discerning. I finally threw out his bed as the fluff was everywhere. I said, there! lay on the floor then!
But as I was about to donate another comforter, he sprawled out on is so it's now his bed. Cross paws he doesn't eat this one.

I like this face soap so very much.I learned about it in a magazine, ordered it from Amazon, not knowing if it would help exfoliate gently but...

It does. It smells heavenly to me, it makes washing my face each night a joy. My skin is much softer after two weeks. Time will tell how much it helps but the scent alone (your mileage may vary) is worth it. You use very little each time as it really spreads out, and I bought the small size which I suspect will last a long time.

So much for my list this week. Hope you enjoyed them, and now please enjoy these fine folks also doing I Like posts this week. Two friends from QuiltArt online are joining us so make sure to go say hello!
Everyone is welcome here... let me know if you do a post and I'll link to you!

Love to all on this American Holiday of Thankfulness!


New links this week!! Welcome:

1.http://www.mmmquilts.com/2017/11/i-like-10.html

2.. https://barrels-of-monkeys.blogspot.com/
3.. http://sandysnowden.blogspot.co.uk/
4.. http://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/
5.https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/ 
6...http://homesewnbyus
7..http://littlepenguinquilts
8.http://imworkingonaproject
9..http://3poodlesandanana
10..maryinpeoriahandmade.blogspot.com
11. craftscaviescontras 
12 I'm putting in my friend http://pugmomquilts.blogspot.com/ just because!
  
 

linking to some of these
Our World Tuesday
Travel_Tuesday 

http://sky watch Fridays
http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com
http://asoutherndaydreamer
Thankful Thursdays pet parade
http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com
http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/
http://shabbyartboutique.com
willy nilly Friday (random images)
habbyartboutique fridays