Throwback Thursday.

The first watercolor I ever sold. Still wet.

Silly me. I miss it.

Perhaps I'll paint another soon.

Throwback Thursday.

This photo is from five years ago.

It's hard to believe this little guy with the radar ears grew so big.

He's still a very loving dog.

My pal, Bandit.

Thankful Thursday on a Friday.

To Grandma's House

*sigh* Yesterday felt like a Friday to me for some reason. Not that that's a bad thing. After all, the day is what we make of it.

Had I known it was only Thursday...

We have snow on the ground again. A bit heavier than a dusting, just enough to cover the icy patches above the potholed roads. Temps here have been Spring-like. Dropping from the 50s and 60s down to a high daytime temperature of 25 is quite shocking to the system. Tonight's projected low is a whopping 14 degrees.

Sheesh!

Here we sit bundled up in long johns and layered up simply to keep warm.

Tonight I'm thankful for:

Warm blankets
A roof over my head
Food in my belly
Sweet, loving daughters
Aunties
Friends that call or text
Public libraries
Free Community Resources (that we all use and take for granted)
Knit Knuts
Remote controls
Control of the remote (lol)

Sweet dreams, friends. Until we meet again.

Throwback Thursday. My Sewing Box.

Last Thursday I showed y'all my Great-Grandmother’s sewing box and talked a bit about it's contents. Today, I want to show you one of my most prized possessions: a wooden sewing box painted and customized for me by my loving daughter. She gave it to me in April of 2011 as a going away present when I moved back to Pennsylvania.

It doesn't have as many things inside as Great-Grandmother's, but it does have the basics. It has needles, pins, buttons, both metal and leather thimbles, a working needle holder (the little dollie) and a threaded needle holder.

Usually there are scissors and more spools of thread there as well, but they're are currently being used for a different project. (surprise, surprise).

Great-Grandmother's Sewing Basket.

I was getting ready to sew one of the cosmetic bags in the "almost finished" pile of crafts and needed navy or black thread, so I pulled out Great-Grandmother's sewing basket. Upon opening it, I realized that it told a story of sorts and decided to share.

Now, Great-Grandmother, better known to the family as "Bummie", was born in 1894. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, she had two small children - my Grandmother, Evelyn, (who raised me) and Great Uncle Bill.

To keep her small family fed and clothed, she watched what she spent and wasted nothing. She saved thing like string and rubber bands and aluminium foil. In fact, if you look up "recycle" in the dictionary, you'll see her picture (just kidding). Her sewing kit reflects the values she learned during those times.

Shall we take a look inside?

Of course, there is the traditional tomato pincushion with the little strawberry attached. As children we were taught that the strawberry contained sand, but it's actually emery powder (think emery board for filing fingernails). Sometimes when needles are well-used they pick up fibers and what-not from the fabric they're drawn through and start to drag during use. Poking the needle several times into the powder removes most of the residue and the needle is usable again.

Here's a closer look at some of her stash.

Scissors. Check. If you look closely, you'll see the country of origin is Germany.

Tape measure. Check.

Seam ripper. Check... Look at the size of that seam ripper. It's HUGE compared to the ones I use. And dull to boot!

Thimbles. Check.

Take a close look at the thimble on the left. It's been so well-used it has conformed to the oval shape of a fingertip.

They are both stamped with "II" - I'm guessing that's how they're sized.

These are too big for my fingers, but I'll hold onto them because they were hers.

There's more in there too!

What sewing box would be complete without thread? Here shown are Coats, Clark, and Coats & Clark thread. All on wooden spools. The prices are shown on some of the label. Can you imagine paying $0.15 for a spool of thread?!! Talk about inflation. By the way, that's not thread wrapped around the cardboard tube - it's elastic! What do you suppose you'd use it for?

Buttons anyone? Some of these are so tiny! They must have been for or from baby clothes. Or perhaps from doll clothes. 

Some of these will probably make it into my button box. The big white one looks vaguely familiar. Perhaps from a childhood sweater.

Another item that's a little unusual is the inclusion of a steel crochet hook. They're great for fixing runs in sweaters or other knit/crochet items.

Those little pompoms look about the same size as the pompoms that used to be on the heels of tennis socks.

Ace bandage closures... For emergencies?

Here's something funny peculiar. She used old bra closures as needle holders. With the number of hook and eyes in there, I'm thinking that bras have always had "issues". 

Throwback Thursday

Hard to believe this was taken a year ago today.

His favorite place for a soak on a hot summer day and mine for a leisurely stroll.