Birthday Blanket

When I turned 7, my Gramma made me my very own quilt.  I still have it- it has a puppy in the very middle, with pinwheels all around it.  My son now sleeps under it.  :)

His 6th birthday is in June and I started working on his own Birthday Blanket last month.  I know it's early, but I want to make sure I get it done in time.  I'm not a quilter, but I can knit, so I am making him a patchwork knit blanket.  I'm pretty much just making rows of different colored squares in a simple garter stitch.

 I'm knitting on size 15 needles with Lion Brand Homespun yarn in any color I can find it in.  It's a very soft yarn that is (more importantly) machine washable and dryable!

The weather here has been extraordinary for January, so we were able to go for a walk on Monday down the hill to our neighbor, which is a giant cattle farm.  The owner is leasing it out to an outfit from Texas- apparently the drought has gotten bad enough that he chose to truck his hundreds of livestock to the green hills of East Tennessee.  We couldn't be happier with the change- the hired hands are nice enough to let us wander in and out of the barns and even introduced us to the orphaned calves, who ate right out of A's little hands, much to his delight. 

On the walk back home, we found two magnificent treasures:  a tiny bird's nest and a green glass Coke bottle.  The nest has been added to our collection, while the coke bottle is soaking to get the gunk out.

This Spring, I may invest in some beehives.  I've been interested in them for awhile and have made a new friend who keeps bees and is teaching a class about them this Spring, which is open to any who want to attend.  You can find out more at My Barefoot Farm.  It's towards the bottom of the blog entry, but she's going to cover all the bases of beekeeping.  I, for one, am really excited to attend!! 

We have a local beekeeping club here, called the Clinch Valley Beekeepers Association that I've seen at some of the local festivals.  They always bring some good honey and a displayable hive with them, which was a big hit with us.

That's all for now- I'll be attempting to write a little more frequently than I have been.  

Todays' quote: 

"The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in."   ~Morrie Schwartz~

Irish

It's all about the Apron

I love Aprons.  Anytime I go into a store like Williams-Sonoma, Mast General, or a local boutique, I always look at the aprons.  There are heavy duty aprons and light cotton aprons and half aprons and smock aprons and chef's aprons.  My paternal grandmother never went without one- usually one of the old fashioned ones, that had been worn so long that it was softer than duck fuzz.  My own Dad, a man's man, used to wear his big chef's apron to cook, clean and brew beer.  After he retired, he would have breakfast in the morning and supper ready when we got home.  If we said anything about his housekeeping skills, he would start flapping the apron and fuss at us about how he slaved away all day and this is all the appreciation he gets.  He was kidding of course, but it created a wonderful memory.
I have two aprons- a smock like apron that covers front and back and ties on the sides that my sister made for me and the other is my favorite.  It's a regular apron from Williams-Sonoma with sunny yellow stripes on it.  I typically tuck a corner of a floursack dishtowel in one of the pockets so that I can wipe my hands, dry a dish, clean the knife, etc, etc.  I can't cook without it.  In a pinch, I'll use my Mom's apron (made with a chicken/rooster print), but it's not the same.  In a way, it might be like a security blanket.  I did some laundry last night and when I opened the dryer, the first thing I yanked out was my apron.  When the going gets tough, make some bread or cookies or tea or maybe just give the house a good scrubbing.  Just believe in the power of the Apron.

I put my love of aprons down to my family- it seems to be in our blood.  No matter which sister I go visit, they each have at least one apron.  A lot of houses don't even have that.  I found the following writing at The Open Pantry blog.  It says a lot about aprons.  And a lot about the way I was brought up. 

Irish
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I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be along time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.