Stitching Away

I must write more here. I definitely miss the routine of sharing little parts of my life here.

With every stitch on this Alphabet Sampler, I think of my great grandmother, Ghee. She was always stitching something. I've talked about her often in this blog. She was so talented and resourceful. My Mom tells me stories of Ghee tearing old wool coats in strips to make her hooked rugs.

I guess you could say she was recycling before it was cool.

A special Happy Birthday to my Mom today. I love you!

Pickle Love

There is something about these pickles.

Maybe it's the dill.

Or the thick slices.

Or the onions.

They are delicious. They remind me of when I was younger and living at home. My mom had this awesome pickle keeper from Tupperware that you pull up on the handle and the liquid drains to the bottom for liquid free pickle eating. (I can't believe they still sell them...my b-day is coming up!)

They also remind me of when I was living in Chicago and my mom brought me a jar. It was like gold. I rationed my pickles and even though I shared them with coworkers, I watched every pickle slice go into their mouths, knowing that they will be gone soon.

There is something about these pickles.

My mom, my cousin, her kids and I gathered at my house to make pickles. We planned on making three batches, but I think ended up with 8 batches. We looked at old pictures, talked about the last time we had these pickles, talked about our kids, and how important a good knife is. We chopped and sliced and measured and poured.

There is something about these pickles.

The recipe? The origin is unknown, but we are going to call them 'Claire's Icebox Pickles'.

12 pickle sized cucumbers
2 onions
3 1/2 cups sugar (I think 3 cups would be fine, we had lots of sugar at the end of the bowl)
3 cups white vinegar
1/3 cup pickling or canning salt
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. alum
Fresh dill

Chop cucumbers and onions and portion into 3 quart sized canning jars.
Mix the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl with spout and portion into the 3 jars. Add a couple sprigs of dill to each jar and seal the lid.

That's it...well almost. Put them in the fridge for 4-6 days (I dare you to not sneak a pickle by day 2). Each day, shake the jar and turn upside down.

You know what it is about these pickles?

They make memories.

And they are amazeballs!

Momma Bag

Six days.

Six days late.

A new record for me. I am consistently late on completing gifts. I am trying, but still more often late than not. AND I must add, I didn't even start it until after her birthday.

I wanted to make my mom a big bag that she could use on her travels to work to hold her lunch, magazines, etc. I also really wanted to try an Amy Butler bag pattern so picked up the Nappy Bag pattern and edited a bit with shorter pockets on the one inside panel and omitted the bottle pockets (obviously). Which, if any of you have made this pattern, are in a really odd place that almost eliminates the end pockets. Let me know if we measured these totally wrong.

The assembly was fairly quick relative to the time it took to pick out the fabric. After I finally chose the fabric and got to the cutting table, I found this fabric above and totally changed my choices. I'm glad I did.

I love the freshness of the fabric and the weight and feel of the bag.

There are definitely more of these to be made.

Happy Birthday, Twins

This is one of my favorite photographs. I love how my mom and aunt are sitting with their twin dolls and what I believe is a baby carriage behind my aunt. I love my mom's little crossed feet and their sweet dresses.

But one of my favorite things about this photo is on the back in my grandmother's handwriting, depicting 'Kay - Left, Claire - Right'

I can always tell you apart, Happy Birthday Mom and Aunt Kay.

I Always Dreamed

...that I would be a school teacher (or a hair stylist, until my mom described how I would have to wash my clients' hair, that dirty, greasy, dandruffed hair).

I remember in middle school practicing my Mrs. _______ name. Perfecting the fancy swirl and dips of the lovely simple name (I'm still messing up my Mrs. name 9 yrs later, two Z's are tough).

After I married Mr. Blank, we were going to have two children. A boy named Jack and then a beautiful little girl named _____. Never really had a name for the girl but she was beautiful from the very seconds of her life. This is unlike me. I wasn't the most attractive baby. My grandmother used to call me Rosebud, but I think that may have been more about the inside of a tightly scrunched and squished, slightly dying rose, instead of the beautiful blossom it is in full bloom.

I have jokingly said that if there was a pill to guarantee a girl, I'd try for a third. I wanted the daughter to make dresses and bonnets for. The girl to weave braids in her long hair. The girl to go shopping with and talk about boys to. The girl to teach to sew and weave. And the girl to help plan her wedding. And to see my daughter with child. Please note that I would not miss the drama, the hoochy Halloween costumes, or the female pre-teen angst.

But that was then.

Those are things that a mother can do with a son. And I am learning, that the emotions are just as strong, if not more. The togetherness and the friendship is there. We have trust and love and creativity. We have helpfulness and encouragement.

Sam has been working very hard in school and at home to control 'things' (we don't need to get into that here...I'm having a moment). For months, when I needed to go to Joann's, he was always with me. Loving yarn and fabric and craft supplies and even zippers. He always asked to buy the round knitting looms. I always pushed them off because I felt he just wanted them because they were colorful, round, and had pegs.

On Friday, I needed an orange zipper for that purse in the last post. We had praised O for using the toilet the night before and I thought Sam needed some encouragement. I bought him a knitting loom.

He really is enjoying it. On Friday night, while Tom took O to bed, Sam sat next to me. He with his loom, I with my hook.

"It's nice to have knitting time with you, Mom. We are best friends."

I may have bought him the loom, but he gave me my dreams.

Cock A Doodle Do

I grew up with a mom that was all about the "country" style of decorating and had enough of geese and roosters and stone crocks and quilts by the age of 10.

Yet, here I am today, with sons that love geese, rooster fabric, a desire for a cool stone crock and a love and admiration for quilts.

Thanks, Mom.

Softball Joe

There are a couple things that make working at my "real job" difficult - yarn and an unfinished project (UFO's to some). I can think of nothing better than a cup o' Joe with double cream and a couple cones of the most chocolatey softball cotton yarn, well maybe toss in a gluten-free almond scone from Whole Foods. I am finishing up the last few wash towels for the show on Saturday with my best mom. After Saturday, I am officially concentrating on Christmas and making my home a warm and welcoming haven from the cold, blustery weather that is sure to come.