Lukie: Grammy? Will you teach me to sew? (Speeding up) Momjustboughtmethissewingkit. Ithas24threads. 24!! That's a lot! And one is GOLD! (Slowing down) It's really gold! I want to use that one! There are three... um... things um... that are sharp...
Lukie comes up for air and I break in.
Me: Pins?
Lukie: No, they're sharp.
Me: Pins are sharp, sweetie.
Lukie: No, these, um, these go through the fabric.
Me (comprehension dawning): Oh, you mean needles.
Lukie (taking off again): Yeah! Needles! Iwanttolearntosew. Ithinkitwilltakeaweek, maybeanhouraday. CanIcomeoverandyouteachmehowtosew?
Me (a little overwhelmed): Well... sure! We can do that. Do you have a project or something you want to make in mind?
Lukie (surprising me with his insight): I think I should learn the stitches first.
Me: That sounds like a good idea. Let me talk to Dad and we will get it arranged.
Lukie: Thanks, Grammy! (muffled noise) Dad, Grammy wants to talk to you.
And thus began an unanticipated summer project, just like that!
Boy howdy, stay 'tooned on this one, folks! LOL
Don't forget the July Give Away! Comment to enter!
Monday evening we joined Curt and his family for a piano recital. Mila, Lukie, and Vanessa began lessons in January and this was their very first recital ever.
I was quite impressed with how far they had come. Mila was the second person to play and did well, but when she came back and sat down next to me, she leaned over and whispered,
"The second page of my music was upside down!"
That's not what you want happening in your first recital! But as she told me later, "I had my music memorized so it was okay."
Glad to hear it, sweetie! And no one was the wiser that that sheet of music wasn't right side up.
Lukie was so nervous, he began before his teacher was ready to play their duet! They started over and Lukie got through the piece quickly. I don't think the tempo called for Allegro, but that's what we got. Over and done in a flash with flying fingers!
When he finished, he bowed and then put his music over his head as he walked back to his seat - he felt shy.
Reminds me of the time he sang in a children's choir in church with his eyes closed the entire time.
He told me afterward that "my eyes were watering" so he had closed them. I give this brave boy full credit for getting up and participating at both events even though it was way out of his comfort zone!
Finally, it was Vanessa's turn, and she was fantastic!
She's only been playing since January? It did not sound like that; she was quite good!
"Well, I already know how to read music," she responded a little sheepishly when I complimented her afterward. That may be true, but she played well beyond a beginner, even one who is an adult.
It was fun to hear them play and I look forward to hearing them again at their next recital.
Last day for the May Give Away! Comment before 11:59 PM EDT tonight (May 22.)
"What's doin'?" I have fond memories of that phrase. It was a favorite of my dad's and always used when he'd get together with my kids. (Along with, "Good to see you! When you goin' home??" which would make them scream with laughter.)
There's a lot of what's doin' going on - both here and with my kids and their families.
First, my Prague finally arrived!
It still shows as unfulfilled in my Breyer account and I am keeping an eye on that - as many issues as CCG shipping is having, I don't want to receive a second and then go through the rigamarole of trying to return something I did not order or pay for. (The seventh blanket incident comes to mind. That blanket is still here.)
Prague is not staying with me - I'm passing him on to a friend who really wanted him and did not get him. (I was actually drawn from the waitlist - a first for me.)
Switching gears to news from Cambria and Titan, there is no word yet on when the Easter video and song they recorded with The Tabernacle Choir and The Orchestra at Temple Square will drop. Easter is late this year (April 20) so my guess is that it won't be until early to mid April. Stay 'tooned!
But, they have been in the recording studio again and Mountain Mama Jessica made a behind the scenes video that she just sent me.
Believe it or not, this was filmed in a small factory that makes carmels. The song,One Tiny Seed, will be released at a future date.
Next, Lukie! Lukie is a boy who is confident in himself and doesn't worry if something is a little outside the box.
Like wearing 18th century clothing to church. (I had to laugh - sashes are hand woven and pricey, and I thought I'd collected his and put it away after the Feast. Apparently I missed it! Hah!) He likes it, it's comfortable, so why not?
Sitting on the bench during your team's basketball game?
Why not teach other teammates how to do one-handed push ups? That's our Lukie!
We got together for Sunday dinner at Curt and Vanessa's home last Sunday and after we eat, we often play games together.
The family unanimously felt that this game card was missing a hobby so Vanessa added it to the game card!
Vanessa had baked a bunch of mini cakes for a luncheon this week and let the kids each have one to decorate and eat. Someone sure likes sprinkles...
Curt made his grandmother's apple crisp and the adults made short work of that.
As for what's doin' with me - lots. Post op appointment went well. I'm still healing but the pain is gone; all that's left is some discomfort and some healing incisions. Grateful to have that surgery behind me. I was dreading it which is why I put it off for several years.
Cutting out a bunch of 18th century items before I had surgery has turned out to have been a really good idea. With that post-op pain I'd had, I don't think I'd be ready yet for the bending and twisting that that entails.
But because I did cut things out ahead of time, I am getting a lot of sewing completed now despite having had surgery so recently. A finished chemise is on the sewist's mannequin, and three others in various stages of completion are on hangers.
A finished size Medium
and a completed size XL.
Nashie and Mama are coming today and since she is still too ouchy to go up and down the stairs, I plan to stay downstairs and make blackened beeswax ornaments. I was doing inventory for KZoo yesterday and was shocked to find I only had a few of them in stock and desperately needed to make more. Thank goodness I checked.
Finally, I will end with a harbinger of spring, at least, it is if you live in the Lafayette area. I am so glad to see this!
There are two locations, one here in West Lafayette and another across the river in Lafayette. Because they are a drive-in with no indoor seating, they always close at the end of October and then re-open late in February.
The food is nothing special - just hotdogs with chili and cheese of average taste. Their own brand of root beer is served in icy mugs to go with the dogs and that's good, especially on hot summer days. But despite the average food and simple menu, this place is so popular and such a beloved community fixture that police are needed to direct traffic when they re-open.
Craig has mentioned going there for dinner tonight. It's February, it's cold, and we will be sitting in our car, windows up and heater blowing, but we will be at Dog N Suds.
Craig may be out of town, but I have family locally who ensure that I am not lonely. Yesterday, Local Son Curt and Vanessa asked me if the kids could come over while they moved Vanessa's photography studio to a new location.
Teacher Daughter Lisa asked if I'd like a little help with the kid wrangling. Normally that is not a problem but with the health issues I'm in the middle of, I accepted her offer. Of course, I invited everyone to bring their dogs with them.
Mila, Tammo, Lisa, Molly, Ian, Nash, Gus and Pepper.
Tammo was ecstatic at having everyone come over. Between the kids and the dogs, he didn't know who to play with first.
The play got a little too hard at one point when Tammo and Gus careened into my Honeywell grandparents' antique table, knocking a horse to the floor. (Heart dropping for me, but no breakage, thank goodness.) My Grandpa Martin's railroad conductor's lantern sits on that table, too, but it wasn't harmed, either.
The kids often come over in the summer and I pay them to do chores for me. As part of Cowpoke Lukie's work for the day, I asked him to carry all three of my red, white, and blue horses upstairs to my office (one at a time, please!) and put them on the desk. I went over those directions twice, he repeated them back to me, and I felt confident that he understood my directions and all would be well.
(Surely you can see where this is going.)
We got a surprising amount of work done and when that was finished, we had some lunch and watched the animated version of Disney's The 101 Dalmatians."
If you have not read the book, make that one of your summer projects. You absolutely will not regret it. So much is left out of the movies and there are parts in the book that will make you laugh, and another, very poignant scene, that brings me to tears every time I read it. (Which is many.) And the 101st Dalmatian is actually a surprise and not even mentioned in any of the movies!
Poor Tammo, sad that all his friends left, waiting by the front door and hoping that they're just outside doing their business and will be coming back inside for more playtime.
After everyone left, I headed up to my office to put the models away that Lukie had carried upstairs for me. But they were not on my desk where I'd asked him to put them. My heart dropped and I looked around the room.
My heart dropped even further when I saw where they were.
They were in a safe spot on that shelf, but can you see what is behind them?
Two San Marcos era Designer's Workshop Hagen Renakers, the Head Up and Head Down Ponies!
Normally I don't have any Hagen Renakers sitting outside of their china cabinets let alone out on the photography shelf, but I had been taking pictures of these and not yet put them into the cabinet.
And in Lukie's defense, the shelf was open (especially compared to my desk which has several things piled on it) and so he put two of the red, white, and blue Breyers there.
But where was the third one? Patriot was missing. I turned around, scanning the shelves for him. It took a bit, but at last I spied him.
Lukie had slid him into an open space next to my conga of Lady Phases. And then I had another heart dropping moment.
With that long tail, Patriot did not fit all the way on the shelf and a foreleg was off the shelf. I quickly removed Patriot and set him in a safer spot while I caught my breath.
Always, always, always, people are far more important to me than my collection. I know that Lukie was trying to help and what he did what was logical - if Grammy's desk is messy and there is more room on the shelves, put her models there. I find no fault in his decision and I know he was doing his best to help me out.
And you know what? I may even add Lukie's name to Patriot's tag. No doubt we will be laughing together over this story in the future.
Yesterday when we arrived at Curt and Vanessa's for dinner, the kids (who had recently taken an art class at the local recreation center) wanted to show us their artwork. These kids blew me away!
Except for the two framed pictures in the center, all of these are by Mila.
My favorite? The two swans ("Look how they form a heart in the center, Grammy!") And she also informed me that she was no longer into unicorns (although she'd had one with her earlier that day at church); she was now into dragons. You can see many of those on the right.
Lukie's art wall was next. He only had three paintings on the wall - cherry blossoms and a mountain, a butterfly on a flower, and a barn "with no horses in it, Grammy."
The cherry blossoms with the mountain in the background was lovely and my favorite. He said he liked it best, too.
Ian only had one painting, a wolf. He said it had taken him a long time to do so he'd only completed the one painting. I'd say it was worth all that time!
Clearly Curt's kids have some talent. But even better, they are enjoying the process of creating and then the joy of sharing. And how interesting that you can trace the artists' loves through their work. Case in point, the shift Mila is making from unicorns to dragons in her art.
As I thought about this, I pulled up an old blog post from July, 2019 where I had traced my love of horses through my own drawing and pictures, Tracing that Horsey Love Through the Years.
Check it out - it made me smile and I think you will, too.
Happy Daylight Savings Time! I'm an early morning person, so this time change doesn't bother me too much. (The time change in the fall, though, is another story - it takes me several days to adjust.)
To start off, enjoy this little Daylight Savings Time ditty that one of my former principals sent me. (The tune is an old one but you may recognize it from Cat Steven's song, Morning has Broken.)
Dan was a high school band director before he became a principal and he is also the music director at his church. Knowing Dan, it would not surprise me if they sang this tongue-in-cheek "hymn" in his congregation today!
It's been a busy weekend. Daughter-in-love Vanessa came over and shot some photos and videos of me for a project we are working on together.
I'm getting ready to vend at a living history event in Michigan and so I spent some time with my sister Leslie pricing pottery and going over inventory.
Late Saturday morning, Cowpoke Ian (here with his Aunt Lisa) finished his basketball season with Cheetos, cookies, and a medal.
It was a taxing game for Ian - the other team was short players so Ian played all four quarters, two for his team and two for theirs.
After the game, our family went out for a late lunch.
To keep Cowpoke Lukie occupied while we waited for our food, he and I played Pac-Man using the tile pattern on one of the tables.
Lisa came over after lunch to try on a Civil War riding habit that Leslie is loaning her.
Lisa's coming to Michigan with Leslie and me and will be interpreting the 18th century one day and the 19th century the other.
I love the hat that goes with the Civil War era riding habit!
And the cut of the jacket is gorgeous. This was a very complicated and difficult habit to sew.
More basketball later in the day - Craig and I watched Purdue win over Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament. They play later today for the championship. Boiler up!
The snow has melted and the herd is fine (albeit muddy.)
Left to right: Sultanna, Abby, Dolly, and Hokey.
Needless to say, as busy as we were yesterday, I did not finish taking those photos of Cooper's issues. Today looks to be busy again with more family and church activities, but I will get them taken and a blog entry posted about them ASAP.
