Keeping a tradition alive. Dad makes Evelyn a Hope chest of her own!

This is the front of the hope chest. Each panel is separate and on little rubber spacers so that it can expand and contract each season when the weather changes.

The dark line around the top is all inlaid.

Evelyn has always loved dolphins. Dad carved these and put them into the top.

A full picture of the front. I love it!!

These balloons are from Dad's party on October 4th!! They are still flying high at our house:)

THE STORY BEHIND THE HOPE CHEST

When my dad's 70th birthday was approaching, he was in the middle of making my daughter a hope chest. Remember how so many of us looked forward to having our own homes and families when we were young? A hope chest was a treasure that most of us wanted so that we could start collecting the things that would make our homes special. I don't think young women today have the same longings that we did back then, and they sure don't pine away for a hope chest! They have never even heard of them.

Well, dad made one for Evelyn and they made the decision to come here to deliver it in person. Of course, it was a surprise, so I could not tell her about it. For a few weeks I wanted to sort of mention hope chests and how we all wished for them when we were girls, but decided that would be too obvious.

She was so surprised and excited when she came home from work and saw her special gift. But, she had no inkling of its meaning or why she was getting one. (My dad made it clear she was not being coerced into marriage, but explained the tradition to her.) Evelyn was so touched by the gift and the letter my dad wrote to her about her and how special she is, that she told all of her friends about her hope chest and how grandpa made her one of her own. Now, they all want one too! Mom got her some new towels to put in there, so she is on her way to filling it with lovely things for her future home. It is sad when we forget the good traditions and just let them go. I loved (and still use) my own hope chest. Now Evelyn has her own family heirloom!

Now, that's a striped bass!! Pictures for my dad!

We all grew up on this Island, so it's natural for everyone in the family to have done some fishing in their time. My husband used to surf cast, but does not have memories of catching fish. He decided to go with Rob to the ocean tonight to see if Rob would bring him any luck!!

Well, this is Kenny's happy face! Seven fish in one night!! The two of them had a ball!!

They are cleaning the rods and laughing like men who made a killing on the sea! Rob was the happiest ever....because...

He caught THIS!!! His biggest striped bass ever!! Notice the bumper sticker on his rear window..."Gut Fish?"

It was 39 1/2 inches long!! Boy, are the men around here happy. They said that they each brought luck to the other tonight! I had a quilting class in town that did not end until 8:30 p.m., and I totally expected to see them home and in the house long before I got back. But, no, they were just getting home when I did. I knew it had to be good when I heard their voices and saw their faces! Right now, Rob is cutting the fish up into several future dinners. They will sleep well tonight.

Halloween is coming!!

Kenny made me these wooden Halloween decorations a few years back. I had seen them in Martha Stewart Living and just had to have them. We shine a big light on the front of the witch, cats, bats and crows. This is what they look like from the front.
The coolest part though, is that the shadow of the witch and one of the big cats shines right onto the top of our house! It is huge that it covers the house.

Yes, I do have one of those ghetto blow-up decorations! I just love them! We have at least one for each season. No one else is using them around here anymore, but until they die out, I will keep putting them up.
This is the cat that shows up on the house next to the witch. It is black, of course, but the flash made it look light.

About four years ago, I made this little wall quilt for Halloween. It hangs above the television so we can look at it all night while we watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer (we have all the seasons!!) or something else spooky. My mom tried to sneak this one out of the house before they left to go back to Florida, but I would fight over this one. I offered her my witch wallhanging, but no, this was the one she wanted!! :)

When my parents made the journey to Long Island earlier this month, my dad had a special surprise present for Evelyn!! I will devote the next blog entry to that one. You will love it!!

Mariners Compass quilt for dad's 70th!!

My dad turned 70 this week and my parents came back to New York so we could all celebrate together. About a year ago, I started thinking about making him a Mariners Compass since he is an avid fisherman. I found this Quiltsmart pattern and started making it. This is the first section.

Two sections put together.

Half of the medallion together. My husband LOVED the colors in this quilt.

Here is the center medallion done. It is enormous!! For sure, it will take up the entire center of the bed. I have never done a quilt with just one center image, so it was cool to try it.

I put the center on this light blue (it's just placed on it here, not sewn on yet) and then put darker blue borders around it. The center is appliqued on and then it is ready for quilting. Since there would be so much blank space, I had the quilt quilted by a professional. She did the most amazing work on it. The blank space is a work of art by itself. Once the quilt is home at my parent's house, mom will take pictures of it and do a close-up of the quilting. I was stunned by that alone. Due to the weight of the quilt, the quilter said she would never do another one, so I guess I got lucky!!

Restless leg syndrome and "Why can't I sleep soundly?"

My husband suffered from my restless leg syndrome for a lot of years. When I get this, my legs feel like things are crawling in them and they are all jumpy. So, the poor guy feels like he is sleeping with Bruce Lee as I spin around and around in bed kicking everything in my way! A few years back I read that it comes from a lack of potassium and other nutrients. I also read that rooibis tea can help this condition, so I started using it every day. It really helped me. For the most benefit, I started drinking it as iced tea all afternoon and into the early evening. When I make it hot, I do add milk to it. Otherwise, I just brew it up in the morning and then add ice and drink it like that--no sugar at all. I started bringing it to school too, and notice that I am not all shaky legged at night. Any red tea with rooibis as the main ingredient should work. I use any kind that I find in the store, but my all time fav is Organic Asian Pear Rooibis tea made by Bigelow. Can't get it here, so have to order it online or wait until I go to Pennsylvania for some! Since I also have A LOT of trouble staying asleep during the school year, this seems to help a bit then too. If I could just find a good tea for my busy brain syndrome! :)

Kenny is a huge King Arthur fan, and loves Merlin!! We watched that series on NBC this summer (wasn't it cool?). We decided to go back upstate yesterday for the last day of the Renaissance Faire, and I took Ken's picture with his favorite King Arthur character.

I think Ken felt like a kid again going to get his picture taken with a legendary character. Don't we all need to revisit the best parts of our childhoods once in a while? Now we have it on record!!

Merlin looking over the faire from his hillside post. He gave Ken a piece of wisdom from that pouch at this side. It was such a lovely day to go upstate for the entire day. Now we really do have to wait for another year.

Renaissance Faire

The jousting match at the Faire! They have to compete in a variety of games, like catching rings on their lances.

Kenny competes in the strong man competition. He hits the bell up top every year.

Ken getting ready to throw his axes. He's ready to hit that bullseye.

His axes are all on his target! He hit more than anyone this time. Notice that my axe landed squarely in the middle of the red skull! I most definitely told my students about this on Monday (I might have exaggerated slightly about it).

I did, however, easily win the knife throwing contest! That is easy for me for some reason. Winning means I get a lovely little sticker and a skull and crossbones necklace. Yes, I wore it to school!

This is a picture of the human chess board. The queen decides where the players go and they have to fight it out.

More of the living chess game.

The maypole. Remember that when you were a kid? We don't do this in May anymore.

A dragon rising out of the lake.

A harpist. It was a lovely performance. We will not be able to attend the Faire this weekend, and since it is the last one for the year, we will have to wait until next summer to go again. It's a blast!

All good things must come to an end...to bring more good things!

Every September I lament the loss of my free time and total relaxation; the ability to drag my chores and hobbies out throughout the day and get them done whenever. Now that I am back to school, I have to make time to sew, clean and do my canning, read books and cook. In spite of the sadness at having to leave my home and especially the river, it is also a happy time of new beginnings. As a teacher, my new year is really in September!! I love the fall, the changing weather, the new books and students at school and the chance to work with young people every day. I also see my friends during the day, which is a fun part of being a teacher.

My babies are getting big! Kenny and Rob made them a really big pen to hang around in during the day.

They were all running towards a bug!! Yesterday, before Rob left for college classes, he said a hawk was really pestering the chicks and trying to get to them. He brought them back into the house while he would be gone. I guess without me and the dogs roaming around all day in the yard, the hawk is looking for a happy meal! These chicken nuggets are not for sale!

My mother-in-law wanted to see a picture of my Kitchen Aid attachment for straining fruits and veggies. This is how the seeds, skins and stems come out of the machine. I feed this to the chickens. Looks kinda like poop coming out!

I put the tomatoes in the top part and they go down into the grinder to get separated for sauce. The good sauce comes out of the white thing and into a bowl. I tried to make sauce without cooking it down the other day, but when it was done canning, the water and sauce had separated and there was only about 1/3 of a jar of actual sauce in there. It was all on the top though, so when I go to use it later, it will be easy to get out of the jar. This time, I am cooking it down again before I can it. Next week I will be canning whole and crushed tomatoes. Then it's applesauce time!! I seem to sleep better when I work like this all day, so I don't mind all the work. Even after teaching all day, it is good. Makes it seem like it is still summer!