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Friday, December 31, 2010

New Year's Eve 2010

Well, the Christmas decorations are all down and put away.   Tom is starting a new 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and I have been reading all the emails on my needlework daily digests.   So many wonderful pictures to look at and blogs to click on --  I can lose myself and hours seem to get by me! 

I am finally getting more use of my arm.  I have been stitching some on my beaded blocks for the wall hanging and soon will be able to hold the camera and take some pictures and get them here on the blog.  1/2 pound is my limit right now and the camera weighs more than that!  I don't have one of those itsy bitsy ones. 

We have enjoyed the holidays.  Escaped the snow storms, however we need the moisture so bad, that it would be worth it to have some.   Hopefully moisture will return to our area soon.  All the family is well and happy and we are THANKFUL for all.   We are continuing to sell out our eBay inventory and seem to find things to list each week too.   But we are cleaning out our rooms and that is good.  We have some interest from folks about purchasing our business and the Carol's Miracle Doll Cleaner recipe and name, so we are looking forward to finalizing that.   Too, we are planning to make a move to a smaller place, probably an apartment on one floor.  We are neither in good health anymore and we must downsize and try to take good care of each other.   I hope to enjoy more stitching time also.   We look forward to waking up someday and wonder what to do that day??? 

Bless all of you friends and family.  We are blessed abundantly! 

Carol

Saturday, December 25, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010 FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS !!

WE HAVE JUST RETURNED HOME FROM OUR DAUGHTER'S WITH LOTS OF LEFTOVERS FOR OUR REFRIGERATOR AND FULLY STUFFED TUMMYS!   NOW IT SEEMS A SHORT NAP IS IN ORDER.  MY HUSBAND HAS ALREADY STARTED AHEAD OF ME!  HA. 

HERE IS OUR CHRISTMAS CARD TO ALL OF YOU!   WE LIVE IN A BLESSED LAND WITH LOTS OF FRIENDS TO BE THANKFUL FOR.   I HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED THIS WONDERFUL HOLIDAY AS MUCH AS WE HAVE.  

CAROL AND TOM 

Monday, December 6, 2010

18 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF YOU!    I hope to have some pictures to post in the next few days.   Tom put up our Christmas tree this week and it is beautiful!   Janet, my daughter helped decorate our home.  She is such a good decorator and has good ideas.   Also we 3 really sorted out a  lot of decorations to give away.   We have collected so many over the years and never use all of them.   Someone else may enjoy them!  

I AM STITCHING SOME!!  Now that is an answer to prayer and an early Christmas present to me from the Lord!   I still cannot sew on the sewing machine as that would be reaching forward and can't do that yet, but I can hold the work and use the needle and thread with my right hand and then pull out the project with my left hand after each stitch.   Slow, but at least I do enjoy passing the time with it.   I will also take some pictures of my work so far.   I have even worked on some UFO's !!   Had to order some nimo bead thread before I can continue on one of them.  But have it now.   Ordered from Fusion Beads on the internet!.  No minimum order and free shipping in the USA.  Wonderful people to deal with!   Just found them by searching for Nimo Thread.  

Hope you all are enjoying the preparations for the holidays.   We only buy for the little great grandchildren now and the rest of us just enjoy spending our time together, eating, playing games, etc.  A wonderful family happy time.    Enjoy YOUR'S!!!!  

My gift to you - here is a lucious cake for your holidays.
A REALLY, REALLY GOOD DUMP CAKE!!

Spray your 9" x 13" cake pan.  
Drain about 1/2 of the juice off of a can of chunk pineapple!  Cut into smaller pieces and put in pan with the remaining juice!  
Spread a large can of Apple Pie Filling out all over the pineapple.   Sprinkle with cinnamon and about 2 Tablespoons of Splenda (or sugar).
Spread a can of  Cherry Pie filling out all over the apple pie filling. 
Sprinkle a yellow cake mix all over the cherry pie filling.  Be careful to not have any lumps, as you want it to bake evenly. 
Cover the top with 1 1/2 cubes of butter or oleo cut into 1/4" slices. 
Bake 375 degrees for 50 minutes to one hour!   Cake should be browned some on the top and a toothpick come out clean when you test it.  
Let it set for 15-20 minutes.   Serve warm with ice cream or cool whip!    Ummmmmm Good!

Carol

Saturday, November 27, 2010

THIS DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING!

This has been a blessed time of being with family yesterday and of course having Turkey and all the trimmings and many leftovers for today also.   Some of our family were missing as they were with other parts of the family in other cities, but we so enjoyed our day here at our daughter's home. 

We had an extra blessing to rejoice and be thankful for also.  My husband had not been feeling well at all in the last 2 weeks and ended up having a heart catherization on Tuesday.   Praise the Lord his heart is doing o.k.  No problems with the old bypasses and stents, so now he is to have MRI on his neck soon to see if a pinched nerve is causing his pain and his arms to go numb.  Scary!   He has lower back problems anyway, so this adds up for him.   We hope the future holds better things and pain free for him.

I am still at the physical therapist's office 2 times a week and still have my arm in a sling.  Can't move it forward like to reach!  I am doing well on range of motion upward they say.   The repair is such that the reaching forward thing may be a problem........  I just hope I can use it well in time with no pain.  Right now, that isn't the case.   But I am blessed with help from my family for the things I can't do.   Getting old though.
I want to stitch!  T.V. and jigsaw puzzles and some one handed cooking is my ritual.   

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday as we did.
Carol

Monday, November 8, 2010

NOVEMBER 8 2010 ALL DAY!!!!!

Won't you all be glad when my arm heals and I can STITCH again ???   I am so ready!   I have spent days with this laptop on my lap and have worked my blog over several times.   Still waiting for one source to let me in to see what backgrounds they have!   Ha.  

Well, my jigsaw puzzle is waiting.   There are just so many things you can do with one hand.  Tom is even tired of what I can cook with one hand.  Ha.    I go to therapy again tomorrow and then to the Dr. on Wednesday - so hope he will think I have succeeded in enough therapy to let me do a little more with my arm.   I have weeks of therapy ahead of me, I know that.   But a little more diversion will help each day!  

Thanks for listening or reading my blog!

Carol

SOME OF YOU MIGHT ENJOY THIS. I DID!!

THOUGHT YOU MIGHT ENJOY THIS:
'Someone asked the other day, 'What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?
'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,' I informed him.
'All the food was slow.' 'C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?'
'It was a place called 'at home,'' I explained. !
'Mom cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.'

By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table.But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I figured his system could have handled it :

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, never wore Levis, never set foot on a golf course, never traveled out of the country or had a credit card.   In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card The card was good only at Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears & Roebuck. Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died.

My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was mostly because we never had heard of soccer. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow)

We didn't have a television in our house until I was 19. It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at midnight, after playing the national anthem and a poem about God; it came back on the air at about 6 a..m. And there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people.
I was 21 before I tasted my first pizza, it was called 'pizza pie.' When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had..  Pizzas were not delivered to our home But milk was

I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

.All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers --my brother delivered a newspaper, six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which he got to keep 2 cents. He had to get up at 6AM every morning. On Saturday, he had to collect the 42 cents from his customers. His favorite customers were the ones who gave him 50 cents and told him to keep the change. His least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.

Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or most anything offensive.

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If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing. Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

MEMORIES from a friend :
My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it.. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea.. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.
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How many do you remember?
Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
Real ice boxes.
Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.

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Now rate yourself  -----------------
Older Than Dirt Quiz :
Count all the ones that you remember not the ones you were told about.
Ratings at the bottom.
1.. Blackjack chewing gum
2.Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
5. Coffee shops or diners with table side juke boxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines on the telephone
8 Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11.. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3 channels [if you were fortunate])
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S& H green stamps
16. Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with lever
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulb
20. Packards
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers


If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You' re older than dirt!

I might be older than dirt but those memories are some of the best parts of my life.

PRINT THIS OFF AND SHARE IT WITH YOUR CHILDREN!  AFTER ALL THEY NEED TO KNOW ALL ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD!  
Don't forget to pass this along!!
Especially to all your really OLD friends....

I hope you enjoy this.

Carol

Saturday, November 6, 2010

My "LADY" wall hanging.


This is a wall hanging about 28" square that I made some time ago.  It is entirely Silk Ribbon Embroidery.  The ribbon ruffles on her hat, bodice and skirt are silk ribbon.   Her bodice and skirt are made of silk fabric appliquéd on by hand.   I have been looking for an antique curved glass frame to frame her in.  Someday.....
I enjoyed making this wall hanging completely of silk ribbon embroidery.  The basis was an old transfer pattern from England that has been around the world, as I shared it with many to copy off.  It would be fun to know if there are others finished???   

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

SHOULDER SURGERY 10/07/10

I AM PROGRESSING - BUT SLOW!  T.V. & ONE FINGER TYPING IS IT!   MORE SURGERY THAN THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AND OF COURSE NOW MORE TO HEAL.   GREAT GMA'S ARE SLOWER ANYWAY!   I'M LOOKING FORWAED TO STITCHING SOMEDAY????

CAROL

Sunday, October 31, 2010

WELL, TIME HAS HEALED SOME

I am gaining each day -  I can now type but am not to reach my whole arm forward!  Now, try laying your wrist on your computer and not moving your arm when you are reaching for the keys.   It took a little determination, but I am tired of those caps all the time! 

I hope to be back to stitching soon.  This has been a long dry spell.   Old movies on t.v. are already not so interesting as they used to be.   A jigsaw puzzle on the table is entertaining for while, but with only one hand to reach with!   Don't move that right arm!.    Physical therapy started this past week and is very limited yet.  The extensive work to anchor the rotar cuff ends to the bone with screws is very 'iffy' and must grow and adhere before I will have good use of the arm.   Dr. could not stretch the ends to meet, so this was the next best thing.   Also, of course, age comes into play in that healing game.   So I must be a good girl!  

I have enjoyed reading blogs and all the eye candy!   I have a lot of things ready to print off when I can get downstairs to my desk computer.  But this laptop has been a savior for me stranded on this first floor of our home.   Until later, and hope to be stitching,

Carol

Monday, October 4, 2010

I'll be out for awhile

I fell and tore a rotar cuff about a month ago and I will have surgery Thursday the 7th. So will be off the computer for ??? long??? I hurt so bad now, that I dread this surgery, not so much the surgery itself but the getting over it and the physical therapy to follow. Most of all to have to be out of commission for so long.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Feed Sacks, Sugar Sacks, Flour Sacks etc. of long ago.

I was preparing some sugar sacks for an auction on eBay today and in the 'box' I found this poem that I had save from some day gone by.   I thought perhaps you ladies might enjoy this, since we all like those old and nostalgic things of the past in our crazy quilt world!  Enjoy!

The Flour Sack - A Poem
When I was just a maiden fair,
Mama made our underwear;
With many kids and Dad's poor pay,
We had no fancy lingerie.
Monograms and fancy stitches
Did not adorn our Sunday britches;
Pantywaists that stood the test
Had 'Gold Medal' on my breast.
No lace or ruffles to enhance
Just 'Pride of Bloomington' on my pants.
One pair of panties beat them all,
For it had a scene I still recall-
Harvesters were gleaning wheat
Right across my little seat.
Rougher than a grizzly bear
Was my flour sack underwear.
Plain, not fancy and two feet wide
And tougher than a hippo's hide.
All through Depression each Jill and Jack
Wore the sturdy garb of sack.
Waste not, want not, we soon learned
That a penny saved is a penny earned.
There were curtains and tea towels too,
And that is just to name a few,
But the best beyond compare
Was my flour sack underwear.

~author unknown
 
I must add that I never did actually have underwear made from these, however when I was in 4H Club in my early teens, 2 feed sacks (Chicken feed came in them) was the fabric that I made my apron and tea towel out of to put in the Fair!   I received a blue ribbon on each of them too!   I was estactic! 
 
Carol

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

THINKING OF RETIRING!!

Oh, what a big subject to ponder.    Both my husband and myself are not in good health anymore and it is getting to be more and more taxing on us to keep up with our hobby/job/income of selling on eBay.  We made the decision this week to put a lot of our inventory on SALE in our eBay store.  This won't happen overnight as we have over 1,000 items for sale all the time, but it is a good start and I must say we are thrilled with the success just this few days.  

I am posting this on my blog as a lot of things are the type of things that my readers, my crazy quilt friends, and other stitchers also might be interested in.  I have many, many yards of trims, fabric, ribbon, crocheted items, hankies, linens, etc. and more will be listed as time permits.  You will find us at this link:
Our eBay store.  If you have questions, please email us here.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

NEEDLEWORK THINGS I HAVE MADE - CRAZY QUILT STYLE


TROUBLE WITH MY BLOG

Well, I was fooling around with my blog and did something that displaced the right side along my posts.  I find that it is at the bottom!   I am going to try to find help to correct this!   Sorry.  

Carol

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Busy Summer!

I can't believe our summer is over 1/2 gone.   However since we have had 109 and 108 degrees this past week and several more days in a row over 100 degrees, I can say I'm looking forward to cooler weather!

I am working on a wall hanging for my youngest great grandaughter and will have pictures of it when I finish it.  I hope that is sometime soon.  It will have about 30 pictures of her from the time she was born (actually) and up to her 1 yr. old Birthday.  I have enjoyed working on it in the crazy quilt style.  It is pieced in 9 large 14" blocks out of all pastel silky fabrics.   I have encrusted the seams and now will embellish a frame around each silk print of her when it is applied to the wall hanging.   So I have a considerable amount of work to do yet.   But what fun!   Of course then a border and binding it too.  

I have enjoyed playing an organ that I purchased at an estate sale.   I had a similar one for years and it gave up about 3 years ago.   I didn't realize how much I missed just playing it, until I began to see them for sale again.   It is an older one, and not quite as versatile as my older one, but it is still enjoyable. 

Sewing for eBay selling, cooking and cleaning (once in a while, ha!) keeps my life busy.   I am on my medication for Alzheimer's and am told by my family and doctors that they can see a great change for the better since taking it from February until now.   That is comforting.   I don't feel I am lacking in any phase of my daily routines yet.   Praise the Lord!  

Until .................   the next post. 

Carol

Monday, May 31, 2010

Well, the end of this Memorial weekend......



This has been a wonderful weekend for us.  We have been right here in our comfortable home where we are so blessed.  We thank the Lord daily for our shelter, food, and air conditioning!  We can't ask for more. 

Listing some things on eBay today, made me think of things to share with all of you.  Now when I do this, I don't mean for you to buy these things.  But when they are needlework of any kind, (most obtained from Estate Sales) the thought comes to mind to share the eye candy of them.   I hope I can put the pictures UNDER this prose and not on top of it all.  We'll see.   Well, it is above here, but at least it is in the right area!   This is needlepoint!  Now I mean the whole thing!  The frame is needlepoint, and all.  Being Southwestern in theme, then the pictures in this window? frame are all of blooming cactus!   It is beautifully done and so unusual!   I hope someone with a SW theme likes it on eBay. 

We went to 3 estate sales last week all in one day.  Each one of them had many things that were handmade!  Here is another -- fabulous!  My adventure with needlepoint has been just filling in the spaces all over the background around a previously petit point design that was already there.  As you can see this is far beyond that!  Crewel?? stitches maybe also?   I don't know much about that either.  But there is a lot of detail on this one.  That moon in the back ground sure shows off the owls.   Perhaps an owl collector will find this one. 

This next one is counted cross stitch.  They are the De Graziia children - The Flower Boy and The Flower Girl  -  This is so exquisitely framed in a double frame with non glare glass.  We learned that the person had been a school teacher and had to retire early because of losing her sight.  So she spent her precious time doing all the needlework she could in the time she had left to have sight.   She is gone now, and the family held her estate sale.   Many more beautiful things there also!  

This 'Chair of Flowers' is another one that is loaded with work.  Beautiful detail as many things (flowers) are outlined and the veins in the leaves, and much more.   I looked at it a long time before deciding what all to say about it in the listing.  This took several hours and hours to make also. 

This next one has oodles of color --  hope another lover of SW decor finds this one. 


Hooray, it worked this time.  Now if I can remember what I did!   Ha. 

Just one more.   It is a lovely Winter scene.  I had it sitting up against a stool in the living room for a few days until we got everything carried downstairs to take pictures etc.   I continually noticed the colors and the depth I saw in it each time I looked at it.   This is needlepoint A+++  as far as I'm concerned. 



The other thing that was plentiful this past week was vintage hats!   So I have several listed tonight.  They seem to sell well.   I don't know if they are worn, or just collected.   But whatever, I enjoy the fact that others like what I do.    Thanks for looking.   We are listed on eBay as seller - Lindys*ltd - but remember I give you this to just enjoy what I do.  Not as a sales tool.   Thanks again,   Carol

Sunday, April 25, 2010

The first picture on the last post ......






This is a picture of vintage hat veiling. I had acquired this through the years and thought I would use it on doll hats. But I just couldn't make it look right on the NEW straw forms I have to use, so I put it on eBay. It was very well received and sold for a good amount of money! To think I had it in my drawers in my sewing room for years! Now to dig out some more gems. Ha.

The other pictures are more hats and I won't bore you with more right now. But I have fixed over 60 hats and am presently adding a few each week to eBay. This week I also have listed some vintage aprons that I found at an estate sale. I will post a few pictures of those also. They are on eBay right now.

Here are a few more items for eBay I want to show you.





A NEW LOOK FOR MY BLOG & CONTENTS






Seems I never get to any of my beloved CQ work anymore. I stay so busy getting things ready to sell on eBay. This brings to mind I have something to reveal to all of you who read my blog. Since I haven't posted often, I don't think many do.

I have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. I am in the early stages, but yes, the MRI showed the signs of why I have been pretty forgetful in the past few months. This all took place in November and December 09. In January I was put on Aricept medication. It has done a marvelous job! My husband and friends tell me that I am so much better than I was. Also, I was having lots of problems when I was on the computer (and with eBay sales that isn't good), well, now I am back on the beam at least most of the time!! I am very thankful for Aricept and my Doctors. My husband is so helpful and sweet to me. I know his encouragement is a big help also.

I am going to post a lot of pictures of things I have been making and selling on eBay. Since this diagnosis I am determined to really use up and clean out my sewing room. I want to do that before my girls have that job someday. It has paid off, as I started a shelf at a time. One shelf was all the hat forms for dolls that I had on hand. I have been decorating them and that will be what I have the most pictures of right now. I have plans for lots of the shelves -- Ha.