Contrary Wife in A Quilter's Reader

A Contrary Wife Block



This post is almost a month overdue. Where has time gone? I really should be posting my May block for the book club's selection of Alice's Tulips, but alas, I'm not there yet.

The April book club selection was The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiverini. What a delightful book!

One of the characters, Sarah McClure, the young wife in the story, was moved to an area where she had no job, no job prospects, no friends(other than her husband), and no family. In the midst of it all she meets Mrs. Sylvia Compson, another "contrary" wife/widow with no children of her own and a lifetime of sorrow and sadness that kept her heart in its own prison of solitary confinement.
Both women were lonesome for a myriad of reasons with a dose of regret thrown in for good measure. Out of these circumstances the beginnings of a beautiful transgenerational friendship emerges. Through the medium of quilting, Sylvia, the teacher and Sarah the student, both begin a journey of healing.

The magnificent pink crabapple tree in full bloom down the street just last week.

On another note, it appears that somewhere in the great beyond, the switch for Summer has been hit. We went from cold damp days into hot and humid in an instant. Just a few days ago we had the furnace running to get the chill out of the air. Last night we had to fire up the air conditioner. Currently, close to eleven o'clock at night, we still have a temperature of 84F. Not good!

Needless to say, the Spring flowering bulbs and flowering trees are finished! The green has flushed totally out on the trees.

Respectfully submitted,
the Baroness of Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly

A Simple Woman's Daybook for May

The Baroness's Daybook (as adapted from ....The Simple Woman's Daybook blog)
http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com

For Today..... "Fuer Heute Genug"

Outside My Window....the grass is green, trim, lush and freshly washed by a day of persistant Spring rain. The trees are coming into full flush. The Spring flowers have given their last gasp before beginning the retreat into the ground in preparation for next season. The flowering trees are in splendid glory.

I am thinking...I should get going and cleaning...my bachelor B-I-L is coming for a visit and by his phone call is about an hour(or less) out.

I am thankful.......that I get to celebrate Mother's Day tomorrow with my daughter (and her two little girls), who faced down death in March and won.

In the kitchen....is Dr. Viking, cleaning out the coffee pot from this morning's brew. Sirloin steaks will be marinating shortly, for this evening's fare.

I am wearing.....comfy jeans and sweatshirt....and fuzzy pink slippers.

I am creating....my niece/goddaughter's T-shirt quilt of most of her college T-shirts. All I have to do is border it, make the back and send it to the long armer for quilting. She graduated from college last May, but life and technical challenges (I'd never made a T-shirt quilt ever) came in to play and caused the delay.

I am going....nowhere today, except maybe grocery shopping to fill the larder here @ Thomas Haus in preparation for the company today and tomorrow.

I am wondering....how the Summer will play out this year. We have vacation plans, plans for gatherings here, days at the beach, good books to read....hmmmm and perhaps I'll pick up the golf clubs....I have some fabulous looking equipment, shoes, it'd be a shame if I didn't.

I am reading....Sandra Dallas, "Alice's Tulips" as part of my Starwood Quilter reading group. We read and discuss the selection for each month and then make a quilt block (or two) to depict that book, by theme, location characters, ...or whatever inspires us from the book.
I am annoyed every time I pick the book up and begin reading. The main character is so annoying, immature and self centered I could spit. Perhaps the tide will turn as I get further into the book.

I am hoping....for grace and peace in the remainder of this season, continued blessing of good friendships and memorable gatherings.

I am looking forward....to the Grande Buffet, Mother's Day brunch @ CiC tomorrow. Two of the three children will be there, as well as my beautiful, beloved, treasured granddaughters.

I am learning....how to do improvisational piecing with the above mentioned T-shirt quilt. It turned out rather spectacular.  Picture to be posted soon.When it's finished it will no doubt be a treasure of memories of her college years for my neice.

Around the house...the graden beds have been freshly mulched. The big, red, outdoor pots are planted with deep red geraniums and white allysum and a green spike in the middle. When they are filled out and in full flush this summer they should be a treat for the eye.

I am pondering....no pondering this morning.

A favorite quotes of the day....
"Not us...not this day...we are going home to our families!"
"A day may come when the courage of men fails....but it is not this day!"
"Courage is Faith in the face of fear!"

One of my favorite things....Red Geraniums!!! Nothing like them in full flush in the Summer. Perhaps it's genetic, a throwback to my German heritage.

A few plans for the rest of the week....quilt group Monday, rug hookers introductory class, Tuesday, working Thursday, friends for cookout of burgers, brats and beer (I'll have wine...hate beer) Saturday ...much more, but that's a start.

A peek into my day...picture to come soon.  :)

Joyfully submitted this day,
by the Baroness of Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly

"May the fourth be with you!"

Today, May 4th, was a day of great celebration. It brought forth a tremendous amount of raw emotion. We began our day in Cleveland, celebrating our youngest granddaughter's First Holy Communion. She was a beautiful little angel in white. May Jesus remain with her from this day forward and throughout her life.

The evening brought a celebration of life and survival. My daughter, a police officer and her partner, on a traffic stop, for running a stop sign, encountered a man with an AK 47. He leaped from the vehicle shooting. Both officers were injured, my daughter has months of healing and more surgeries as a result, but she is alive and kicking. She can't wait until she can get back to work again. Her collegue returned to work less than two weeks later.

Tonight the local Police Patrolman's Association had a fund raiser for my daughter, her partner and the their police department. It was a celebration of life, love and gratitude. Looking around the room, I was humbled by the massive outpouring of fraternal affection that enveloped them both. It is difficult to capture all the emotions encompassed in this day. For today, the good guys won, a bad guy was taken out and is no longer capable to carry out the dastardly plans he may have been construing.

Two of my three children are police officers. May God keep His protective Hand upon them always. May St. Michael be with them every step of the way while on duty. This is a dangerous world and the devil is alive and well.

Gratefully and humbly submitted,
The Baroness of Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly

All Wonderous Things on the 1st of May

So 1st of May, someone hit a switch here in Northern Ohio and we hit Summer. The temperatures were in the mid 80's and the sun shone brightly all day. My Spring flowers are in full tilt. The tulips are hitting their stride. If these temps continue, they'll be gone by week's end. Enjoy the daffodil and the hyacinths pictures.

This is a momentous day, not just for the spectacular weather we had today, (considering ol' man Winter just kept hanging around), but because today my parents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Theirs is a love story that spans 2 continents and a myriad of countries. It would make a fabulous movie. We made a wedding flower arch and installed it in front of their front porch steps. In Germany, where they are from, the neighbors in your town would decorate a wedding flower arch in honor of your special anniversary. Instead, my husband and I did it for them. They were tickled pink.

 

 

 

Thanks Mutti and Vati for a wonderful journey and witness of faithful love. We know it wasn't always easy. We are so very blessed to be able to celebrate this monumental milestone with you. We're looking forward to celebrating with you at Mass this Sunday. Blessings to you both.

Respectfully submitted,
The Baroness von Thomashaus, Queen Yours Truly

My First Completed Quilt

It began with the purchase of a tumbler template from Missouri Star Quilt Company made specifically for charm squares. Curious, I found two charm square packs of "Good Morning" from Me & My Sister designs for Moda. It's a bright, cheery, happy fabric line.

Without really having a plan, I took one charm pack and cut it into tumblers...easy enough. The tumblers were then sewn into strips...a couple of them, hmmm, not enough for a quilt. I found some white-on-white fabric...cut it into tumblers and sewed it into strips. ok, now what?

The next charm pack was cut into coins and sewn into strips, 2 for starters, the same length as the tumbler strips. All the strips were sewn together and bordered with more white-on-white. There now, the top was pieced. I had a few extra fabric coins cut, turned them into short strips and pieced them into a creative back. The quilting was done with my walking foot doing some stitch in the ditch and just straight line stitching.

Enjoy the pictures.

 Here is the quilt pin basted on my piecing table.

 

 

 

Front of the quilt with a teaser view of the back.

 

another view of the front of the quilt

 

close up of the "coin" strip, border and binding

 

quilt draped over a black leather chair

 

 

a view of the pieced back, note the label in the second white strip down

 

 

close up of the label

 

 

It is the middle of April and it's still cold here. This little quilt has already been pressed into service and performed admirably.

 

Respectfully submitted,

the Baroness of Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly

 

 

 

 

 

St. Michael and A Quilter's Reader for March

This past week has been one of the most emotional and challenging of my life. Well, it is one of the top two, most challenging weeks of my life. If at all possible I hope I don't ever have to revisit something like that ever again. However, with two out of the three kids in police work, the likelihood for scary scenarios is always lurking somewhere on the horizon. However, both offspring have been firmly placed in the protective hands of St. Michael the Archangel, Patron Saint of police officers. Last Sunday was proof of his intervention. We are so grateful and most blessed.

That being said, on to more fun stuff, like what I was tinkering with this afternoon.

In our Quilter's Reader book club, we are reading, "A Single Thread", by Marie Bostwick for the month of March. I read the book about three years ago, and just loved it. This is my second time through and it's as if I am revisiting old friends all over again, Evelyn, Charlie, Abigail, Liza, Franklin, Margot, etc. Since this story is the introduction to the Cobbled Court Quilts series, I wanted to make a quilt block that reflected Evelyn's discovery of the cobbled courtyard and the dilapidated, abandoned drug store on her walk through the little town of New Bern, Connecticut in the Fall.

So here it is....ta da!!! My block, The Courtyard Quilt Block.

I had a bit of searching to do to find the block, then I had to reconfigure it to finish out as a 12 1/2" block.

The white center is for the brightly lit courtyard that Evelyn encountered walking through the dark alley (the black blocks). The red at the corners of the courtyard symbolizes the red sign over the shop door, as well as the bright red geraniums she envisioned would bloom in pots around the courtyard. The yellow leaves symbolize the falling leaves of Autumn when she first discovered the little run down shop.

 

The Courtyard Quilt Block

Once again, respectfully submitted by,

Baroness von Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly   :)

 



 



A Quilter's Reader

February ~ "The Persian Pickle Club", by Sandra Dallas

In traipsing through the Kingdom of Blogdom, I came upon a lovely little blog from the Starwood Quilter. The predominant theme is very much a quilt block theme woven through the life and times of the Starwood Quilter. She is in the process of making a quilt with blocks that reflect themes from her locale, life, and times.

As part of her blog, she began a book club. The point and purpose of a book club is to read a particular book, for that month, chosen by the Starwood Quilter. She posts discussion questions and periodically, quilt blocks that reflect the different themes, locations, and characters in the book. I plan on making a quilt with blocks that reflect each book we read. Depending on how the story effects me, I'll make a block that reflects a character, the surroundings, the plot, the locale or whatever theme pops out at me.

Our first book, entitled, "The Persian Pickle Club", by Sandra Dallas, was the designated read for February. The story revolves around the time of the Great Depression in the 30's, in the town of Harveyville, Kansas, and the Persian Pickle Club(a quilt guild) and it's members. It was written through the eyes of the principle character, a young married woman, Queenie Bean. She is the inspiration for my block called "Prairie Queen".

 

In the middle is the material containing the "Persian Pickles" or fancy paisley. It is surrounded in a pink fabric with multicolored circles that reflect the beautiful friendships within the club, despite the quirky times, differing personalities and the trials they faced. On the outside of the pink is a black background in which a variety of prairie daisies bloom. I love it!!!

A Simple Woman's Daybook

 

One of my oriental lilies from Timothy Lane.

______________________________
FOR TODAY   20 February, 2013

Outside my window...It is dark and cold, temp. 25F, but we have a steady wind coming off of Lake Erie making it feel like it is much colder. The freezing rain/snow mix doesn't help.

I am thinking...how wonderful it is to see the various moods of the lake in winter and that we actually live here to see it every day.

I am thankful...for a warm house and electricity.

In the kitchen...tonight's meatloaf is cooling, so I can slice it later and package it up for the freezer.

I am wearing...my purple Pasmina shawl...takes the chill off my shoulders and is very cozy.

I am creating...this Simple Woman's Daybook. I noticed it in a blog I discovered today through Starwood Quilter.

I am going...tomorrow evening, Opa(German for Grandpa and my DH) and I are attending the Taste of the Northcoast @ Kalahari resort with new friends that live behind us across the golf course. The event will be featuring local restaurants and their wares. We figured it would be another venue to get to know our new locale better.

I am wondering...if we'll get any more real snow this winter...not just the scattered snow squalls that don't amount to anything.

I am reading...The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas, as part of a quilters' book club through Starwood Quilter blog

I am hoping...all goes well for my daughter and grandaughters tomorrow...long story.

I am looking forward to...Spring and seeing how many of my newly planted Spring bulbs will come up. My crocuses have been up since the beginning of January, not bloomed, just out of the ground. VERY unusual for us.

I am learning...to quilt. It began about two years ago when a high school classmate passed away, leaving her twin sister grieving. They were/are both quilters. It has been such a joy to be creative again. Thank you Sharon and Susan.

Around the house...Opa is building a bar in the upper loft area. It gets pretty noisey around here when he's hard at it. It will have a white beadboard front and a mahogany top. It will be a magnificent "man corner".

I am pondering...

A favorite quote for today..."Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but rather learning how to dance in the rain"...ok that might not be it exactly, but you get the sentiment.

One of my favorite things...beautiful oriental lilies. There is a sprig in my current flower arrangement for Valentine's Day from my sons. The home we sold last year had magnificent clusters of them growing in the front gardens. The new owners dug them all out.  :(

A few plans for the rest of the week: ....contemplating setting up quilt blocks for the new quilty book club I'm in. Checking in on my mom and dad.

A peek into my day...cleaning, cooking and laundry are just so everyday.

 

Joyfully submitted,

The Baroness of Thomas Haus, HRH Queen Yours Truly

as adapted from:   http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

Sew Fun

February 8, 2013  ~
When we made plans to downsize to a condo, a sewing/craft room was proposed by my dearly beloved. He truly knows my heart.
Why furnish another room with bedroom furniture that we simply dust, hoping for the kids to come and visit and stay overnight. That's what hotels are for...right?
Since moving in, Rick has made a white, sewing machine table with a gorgeous maple top for me, as well as a cutting, piecing table that has an extended leaf on it. It is moveable on casters, so if I need to access all around the table I can move it where I need it. Plus, he helped me hang my design wall. All of these have been put to good use over the last month.
I've enrolled in three block of the month clubs (Craftsy 2013 BOM, Sugar Block Club with Amy Gibson and Lucky Stars, from Don't Call Me Betsy blog) and I'm in a Newbie Quilters Bee Hive through the Threadbias website. I am having such fun! Add to that that I am now a card carrying member of the Ohio Star Quilt Guild ( guild #131 in NQA).

Here are a few of my projects.

 

This is the quilt top from my 2012 Craftsy Block of the Month club. Despite unloading our house of 23 years, having an Estate Sale, moving three times, my dad having health issues, in and out of the hospital, and a few other challenges, I slowly worked through each set of blocks through 2012. I named the quilt "Metamorphysis", for the butterflies on the white on white background fabric as well as all the changes we encountered in 2012. It still needs to be quilted and a binding put on it.

This is our Thomas Haus 2012 Christmas ornament that I made. Now that the kids are grown and all have their Christmas ornaments with them, we need to get more of our own to decorate our tree.

My Lucky Stars blocks ... Intro block above and January's block below.

My January block from the Sugar Block Club with Amy Gibson

The February block for "Queen Bee" Cathie in California in the Threadbias Newbie Quilters Hive #3 quilting bee.

A fun lap quilt that is pin basted and ready for quilting.

Nine crazy 12 1/2" square scrap blocks I made one afternoon from the overflowing scrap basket.

 

So...can you tell I'm having fun. I simply don't understand people who are bored.

Until next time. I remain the Baroness of Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly!

 

 

Christmas Eve on the Island 2012

May the blessings of Grace of our Dearest Lord Jesus, on this His birthday, be upon you and yours today and throughout the coming year.

Well, it's our first Christmas here on the island. The Christmas gifts as such, are wrapped for the most part and under the artificial Christmas tree. We have always had a live tree for Christmas, but the logistics of keeping it fresh in a condo may be a bit daunting. It is certainly less messy, but the scent of a live tree cannot be duplicated in plastic. Oh well.

The golf club has strategically placed Christmas tree silhouette groups, in lights at various spots on the course. Lighted decorations, trees, snowmen, candy canes, wrapped presents, etc. are everywhere. It is so very beautiful. They did all the work and we simply enjoy it. We haven't had any snow to speak of, so everything is still rather barren and stark. It began snow/sleeting a few hours ago, but it remains to be seen if any of it sticks. Wednesday, December 26, they're calling for a big storm to hit us. Go figure, the day the kids are to travel in from Cleveland(Erin,Madison, Aubrey, Frank and Trevor) and Columbus (Ian). Erin assures me that Trevor's 4 wheel drive Jeep can tackle anything the weather can throw at us. I pray their Guardian Angels will escort them safely here and then back again.

From the 20-23 of December, my brother Mark, my niece Sarah and my nephew Andrew were here for a visit from Charlotte, NC. It was so good to be in their company. Distance makes it so difficult to be a part of their lives. None-the-less, we made a few good memories. On Friday, we had a chili fest here, both the Manly Meat Lovers Chili as well as the White Chicken Chili with homemade cornbread and butter. Tasty! Saturday we had an early dinner at Ingrid and Bart's....yet another food fest, medallions of bacon wrapped beef and chicken from the grill, holiday kielbasa from Kilgus Meat market, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, cranberry mold, Betty's pasta salad, rolls. Oh my, then there were still desserts. My parents came to enjoy the festivities. We are blessed to still have them with us @ ages 87 and 88. A few photos documented the memory. My youngest brother Bryan, his wife Dawn and their nine girls also shared the day with us.

Rick and I will be attending midnight Mass here @ St. Joseph's, Marblehead in a few hours. It won't be anything like our beloved St. Joseph's in downtown Toledo, with the Latin Mass, and beautiful Latin hymns and traditional Christmas hymns, but it is still the Mass.

Merry Christmas!!

Respectfully Submitted,

Die Baroness von Thomas Haus, Queen, Yours Truly

12-12-12....A day that just needed a post!

12-12-12     The Feastday of Our Lady of Guadalupe; Empress of the Americas!

It's a crisp, sunny winter day here on Catawba. No snow yet. It's been too warm for snow....temps in the upper 30's and 40's mostly. Perhaps we'll have a green Christmas again this year. Meteorologists have reported large solar storms spitting plasma at the earth as the culprit for us, yet my aunt in Germany has seen more snow in the last few years than she ever has. Oh well, that's all above my pay grade.  :)
It's taken a while...ok, a long while, but I finally feel like I am home. For so long I felt lost and disconnected here. Timothy Lane was a fading memory, and this place just hadn't felt truly like home. How blessed we are to live in such a beautiful place. The lake with all its moods is just down the street and a wonder to behold. Bald eagles periodically soar overhead. Seagull calls fill the air. Deer have wandered past our window, a big buck on one occasion. Despite the bare trees and lack of flora, the starkness is still beautiful on a sunny day.
About two months ago I joined the local library's Monday morning quilters/crafters gathering. From there I joined the Ohio Star Quilt Guild. What a wonderful world of women I have discovered. (perhaps that is why I now feel a connection, I don't think I could ever be a good hermit). Through a quilt block challenge, I have perfected the technique of making the Ohio Star block. I submitted 9 blocks for the challenge. Overall 68 Ohio Star blocks were submitted by the group. Each block submitted earned you one chance in the drawing to get all the blocks. Since I never win anything ever, I just enjoyed the exercise. Well....@ the November Guild meeting, my name was drawn! Pretty overwhelming for a "baby quilter"! Sixty-eight Ohio Star blocks on cream backgrounds are mine. With the help of the Monday morning ladies, all of the blocks are staged and layed out and ready to be finished into a King sized quilt top. It won't be started until after January 1st, so stay tuned. Right now I need to finish sewing my Mrs. Claus outfit for Saturday's Christmas party for the children of the local Air National Guard base. So adieu for now.
respectfully submitted, Baroness von Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly!

A Stitch in Time

As a little girl...maybe age 11, my mom sent me to the Singer store in Miracle Mile Shopping Plaza in Toledo to take a sewing class. That would begin my love for all things fabric. I made a simple bathing suit cover up out of terry cloth with a matching beach towel.

Fast forward a few years, high school to be exact, Junior year @ Notre Dame Academy. It was the annual Christmas formal. I had a gorgeous, full length black velvet skirt that I wore with a white blouse. Something seemed to be missing with the ensemble, so I designed a black velvet bolero with elaborate frog closures. It was stunning! That began my trip into sewing all my prom dresses.

Moving on from the 70's to the 80's. Now married life to Richard, the love of my life, and new little bundle named Erin Maria. Rick was in dental school and we had no money to speak of. My sewing machine was once more whirring. The little flannel baby clothes morphed into gorgeous little overalls, embelished with my needlework and eyelet lace and frills. I wish I had them now.

I stopped sewing clothes when Ian arrived.  His little brother, Trevor, came along a few years later. Oh I would repair the worn out knees on their pants and rips and tears and such. Ok so I DID sew their Halloween costumes, but nothing more elaborate than that.

When the kids were little we had a neighbor that lived across the street briefly. She was an avid quilter. She could throw together a lap quilt top in an afternoon and have it finished within a few days. She taught me the art of hand quilting and took me on a field trip to the Sauder Village annual quilt show in May one year. Ohhh, ahhh!! When she moved I tried to connect with a quilt shop on Sylvania Ave., but the ladies there were most intimidating. The quilt/fabric bug would go dormant until now.

The Catawba Expedition: Phase III, Push To the Finish

1 May 2012 - 3 July 2012

On May 1st the campground @ Tall Timbers opened. So we went from the moldy, musty, "Fish Camp" into the familiar surrounds of our beloved 30' camper, 1996 Layton Skyline. Familiarity, memories of giggling children, shadows of the previous "Hounds of Thomas Haus" permeated every square inch.The bed, kitchen, couch, dinette were all our own. In a way, it was returning home, making the transition less heart wrenching for me. Change is always a challenge, whether we seek it, or it seeks us. I prefer the former. :)
The weather was slowly warming, leaves were returning to the trees. This May I would not be planting flowers for the first time in over 28 years. Rick is happy....he doesn't have to cut grass or tend to the yard.
Spring rapidly turned to Summer and it was June. The days became longer and the air warmer. Thank goodness for the functioning air conditioner on the camper!!
Because of construction and the logistics of the move, we canceled our plans for our two weeks in Hatteras on the North Carolina Outer Banks. We opted to enjoy moving to our local vacation spot instead.
July 1st a nasty storm hit us. That afternoon we were basking in glorious sunshine, poolside @ the Catawba Island Club. An ominous blackness was silently building on the north and western horizons. Erroneously we thought it would pass us to the north. The staff @ CiC closed the pool early, sighting the impending storm. Reluctantly we packed up and headed back to the camper. Well, it was 5ish and suppertime anyway. As we sat down to supper, I saw a very strange cloud formation and ran out into the field next to our camper to get photos. The air was still and warm, not particularly troubling. Our neighbor came out yelling that we are under a tornado warning and get to shelter quickly. The stillness was a disconnect to Carrie's hysteria. Rick then came out and said his cell phone beeped an alert for a tornado warning. By the time I got to the camper everything was swirling and blowing hard. We ran to the cinder block shelter of the bath house. Looking to the south, I saw a column of black-grey clouds just over the tree tops, swirling furiously...a tornado. GADS!!!
Once the wind died down, we returned to the camper to find a 6-8" branch from the maple tree on our campsite, lying twisted and broken exactly between the truck and my car, missing both by mere inches. Catawba Island didn't fair as well. Huge trees were uprooted, some were through roofs and garages. Tree limbs and debris were everywhere. The condo was fine. The aluminum fascia on the north side was peppered a bit from the hail that came with the storm.
Two days later, on July 3rd, the furniture from Basista in Cleveland and Homestead in Mt. Hope, Ohio were delivered. We were once again home! ....it would take a while to acclimate, it was like living in a furniture store, nothing familiar to imprint on.
Submitted by, The Baroness of Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly

The Catawba Expedition: Phase II; "Fish Camp"

5 March 2012 - 1 May 2012   The Adventures @ "Fish Camp"
"Fish Camp", definition: that little musty, cottage on the banks some body of water, where a gathering of menfolk go for a specified length of time, usually a long weekend or a designated week, to cavort with fishing gear, boats, and a myriad of beverages. Bathing and personal hygiene are usually optional during these sojourns.

Ah yes..."Fish Camp" @ Kamp Kozy

March 5th began our official move into the temporary quarters that I "affectionately" tagged as "Fish Camp". Through the maneuverings of the campground manager, Sally, (Tall Timbers, where our camper is permanently stationed)  we rented a small two story cottage with an enclosed porch on the grounds of their other facility, Kamp Kozy, in Marblehead, Ohio. The location, directly on Sandusky Bay, with a perfect view of sunrise, was absolutely stunning.

The cottage itself was basic and clean with one bedroom downstairs and an upstairs loft furnished with 4 single beds and 1 full size bed. The giggling granddaughters would commandeer the loft as their personal oasis when they came for overnight visits. The kitchen was another story. There was a distinct odor of mold that hit you in the face every time you entered the front door into the kitchen. Only rudamentary meals were prepared and eaten there. The enclosed front porch held a large picnic table and yup....the washer and dryer! Yessiree, Mama T. did many a load of laundry on that thar front porch!

The campground of Kamp Kozy wasn't officially open during those months, so it was rather deserted. The dogs and I would begin our day early in the morning with our walk as the stunning sunrises presented themselves on the eastern horizon. At the close of the day we would do the same, often witnessing the sunsets over the marsh at the back side of the campround. Elegant Great Egrets (white cranes) as well as stately Blue Herons would regularly frequent the marsh. Over the 2 months there, we came to see a myriad of migrating waterfowl as well. God seemed to give us these little tidbits as consolations it seemed.

Spring Sunset @ "Fish Camp"

The cottage also came with a resident raccoon. A huge fellow who had been living in the attic and decided he wanted to move back in. Every evening he would try to get into the attic by peeling off the aluminum facia. The maintenance men kept setting traps to catch him only to find a mournful local feline instead. They caught a raccon on one occasion, however, I don't think it was the big boy!

The end of March we also witnessed a phenomenon called the "shad dieoff" hundreds of dead fish washed up on the shore and into the marina cove of the campground. The nauseating "perfume" of dead fish assaulted our nostrils for weeks.
1 May finally came and we moved into our beloved camper. It had been "home" on so many family trips. The familiarity was comforting and it didn't stink of fish or mold. Progress!

Submitted by; Die Baroness von Thomas Haus, Empress, Yours Truly!

The Catawba Expedition begins in earnest.

1 January 2012  -  3 April 2012
The last eight months(today being 7 September) congeal into a massive blur. Packing, sorting, saving, discarding began in earnest New Year's Day 2012. One would think that such a task would be relatively easy, albeit time consuming, but easy. That thought is wrong, so very, very wrong! Surprisingly, memories were unearthed with every cabinet, closet, drawer, nook and cranny that was excavated. So many memories of the children growing up on Timothy Lane. Each piece held a snapshot of that time. Multiple pieces formed a moving picture of sorts, much like the templates of a cartoon when placed together create a motion picture.
Some days I would make great progress, then others would be lost in tearful emotion. Visions of our many ventures in homeschooling as well as family trips and events celebrated would emerge. In hindsight, we tried to give our children the foundation of a beautiful childhood, the vision of it, carrying them through the challenges of their individual lives. Timothy Lane will be the vault of those memories forever.
We eventually filled 2 storage units @ Catawba Storage on Muggy Road, with that that we wanted to bring forward into our new life. The rest, from furniture to trinkets was sold @ an estate sale done for us by S. Sterling Estate Sales. The third week of March the sale commenced and everything was summarily dispatched within three days. The house was empty!
March 1st Rick and I began a 30 day novena to St. Joseph with the intention of a smooth transition into our new life as well as the timely sale of Timothy Lane. His image, in a little plastic statue, was buried in the garden by the front door...a Catholic tradition, placing the venture in his hands. The last week of March we enlisted the help of Vicki Sedlak, ReMax Masters Real Estate agency to help us with the sale. The for sale sign went up Holy Thursday. Her caveat was not to expect much with the Easter weekend directly before us. She assured us that the push would begin after Easter. The housing market was very slow with the poor economy, but she was confident the house would sell.
Good Friday she called informing us of a showing to a young couple on Holy Saturday. By Easter Monday we had an offer. By that same night we had a competing offer from a second couple interested in the house. The following day we accepted the first offer. So, thanks to the intervention of St. Joseph, the house sold in 5 days, a few thousand dollars from our asking price to boot. The formal closing, with papers properly signed and transferred was 25 May 2012.
....submitted, by the Baroness von Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly!

Thoughts for the ending and the beginning! 2011 closes and 2012 opens

As we spend our free time going through 23 years of raising a family, homeschooling and just making a life on Timothy Lane, I ponder leaving this place. Is a condominium on Catawba where we will be happy for the next 23 years? At times I have my doubts.
Once in a condo, my grandchildren won't know that I loved to garden. They won't be able to plant, water, weed, harvest, and just enjoy the rhythm of the garden with me.
They won't ever know that I prized my stunning deep red and soft cream colored peonies and relish in their intoxicating fragrance. They won't know that their grandmother stood breathless at the sight of her blue-black iris as it's petals unfolded. They won't know that the two lilacs planted on the west side of the house were my treasures. The full double, light lavender and single, dark lavender heads were picked to make fragrant bouquets on the kitchen table in the Spring.
I will miss all of it. The fresh chives for Sunday brunch scrambled eggs, accompanied by scrumptious pearls of cherry tomatoes. The fresh picked lettuce and spinach for impromptu dinner salads. I'll miss the rhubarb in the Spring, plucked to make rhubarb sauce that tastes oh so yummy over buttery pound cake made from scratch, topped with homemade whipped cream. The little patch of varigated thyme that I use to make homemade tomato soup with will remain here. The lavendar shrub won't be going either. The savory sage, will hopefully flavor the roasts and sauces of the new inhabitants of Timothy Lane.
No longer can I step into the backyard and pick my own "organic" apples and make "Apple Pie Applesauce" or the pears to make "Cinnamon Pears", the cherries to make cherry freezer jam, ... my heart grows heavy with a tinge of mourning at the loss. The paw-paw, peach and plum trees were just beginning to come into their own this summer. They'll be at full tilt in 2012 to be sure.
If I am going to move forward, I need to stop this melancholy wander down Memory Lane. We'll have to find other ways to make gardening memories for ourselves and the grandchildren.
It was a wonderful homestead to raise a family. Most certainly God has a family in mind for the next phase of Timothy Lane. May they be blessed by what we did to transform this empty patch of clay.

"In Search of the Intact Scotch Bonnet"

The Scotch Bonnet

North Carolina's State Shell

In 1965, a shell resembling a traditional Scottish woolen cap or Scotch bonnet, was named the state shell of North Carolina, in part to honor early Scottish settlers.

Scotch bonnet shells wash ashore in abundance on North Carolina's Outer Banks.

They are rare elsewhere in the state.

Where are Scotch bonnets found in North Carolina?

The Gulf Stream moves tropical waters close to the North Carolina coast.

Tropical water mollusks, like the Scotch bonnet, can survive cold winter months in the Gulf Stream.

After storms, hundreds of Scotch bonnets may be washed ashore on the Outer banks especially bewteen Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout due to the close proximity of the Gulf Stream to that section of the coast.

Life Cycle of the Scotch Bonnet

Female Scotch bonnets lay eggs in the spring.

Shell-less free-swimming larvae or veligers hatch from the eggs.

They drift with the ocean currents.

When they begin to form a shell, they settle to the bottom as crawling mollusks.

Scotch bonnets feed on sand dollars.

Scotch bonnets mature in one to six years.

The juvenile shell has a thin, delicate lip.

Mature shells have a thickened, rolled lip.

When a shell washes ashore, its color fades quickly upon exposure to the elements, especially the sun.

The shell is fragile so a complete specimen is always a prized find.

And finding a complete specimen that retains its color is a special treat, even to the seasoned collector.
* * * * *

FACT: North Carolina was the first state in the USA to name an Official State Shell. This move was initiated by The North Carolina Shell Club.

copied from the http://www.ncshellclub.com/NCStateShell.htm 

We have been coming to the Outer Banks, in particular to Hatteras Island, for ten seasons now. Our first year here, I was introduced to the Scotch Bonnet shell and was facinated by the beauty of the intact shells I found @ the gift shop. So thus began my penchant for finding an intact Scotch Bonnet on my many wanderings up and down the beach.
I'm certain there is a metaphor for life here. Someday I may even expound on it.

For now, I'll be content merely in the search. You see I've found many fragments of Scotch Bonnets, from beautiful, charcoal, grey versions to soft, translucent cream colored pieces. I'm not really certain why I am drawn to pursue, what seems to be an impossible task, but I am somehow. The waves relentlessly pounding the Hatteras beaches are probably not conducive to finding an intact shell, but with perseverence and perhaps a bit of luck, I may find one to treasure.

Front of my treasured find, a relatively intact Scotch Bonnet.

The back of it is damaged, but it affords you a view of the intricate spiral inside.

 

Lovingly submitted, von die Baroness von Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly

 

Breathing at Hatteras; 7 June 2011

It is a grueling trip...16 hours of almost constant driving, stopping briefly for fuel, a quick meal to eat on the road and bathroom breaks for ourselves and the hounds of Thomas Haus. Yet our spirits revive as our wheels touch the causeway leading to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the town of Kitty Hawk. Even the dogs, Australian Shepherds, Dash and Dara, sit up and take notice of the smells brought to their noses by the ocean breeze. This, however, is not our destination. We travel another 70 miles down North Carolina highway 12 to the fishing village of Hatteras. We rent a 4 bedroom home named "Dolphins' Reach" for two weeks in the beginning of June. It sits behind a sand dune overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. From the upper third floor deck, just off the kitchen, one can gaze at the beach and the perpetual lapping waves of the Atlantic.
We began our annual treks in 2002. It's hard to believe that we've been making this trip for 10 summers now. Although "Dolphins' Reach" is our current lodging since 2006, other homes were the predecessors...."Patch of Blue" from 2002-2003, "Stargazer" in 2004, "Lighthouse Point" in 2005 in the town of Buxton, NC.
Something transformative and rejuvenative occurs when one finds oneself here. Perhaps it is the getting away that does it. However, we've vacationed elsewhere and the same does not occur...only here in Hatteras. It's as if once again you find yourself breathing, like coming up for air after holding your breath underwater for an extended period of time. Everyone that makes the journey with us over the years has felt the same and long to return here. To date, Rick's brother began coming with us in 2004 and now comes annually, Erin(our daughter) and her two little girls, Madison and Aubrey( who by the way have been coming here as infants), both boys, Ian and Trevor, our niece, Brooke, my sister Ingrid and her husband Bart, have all found themselves under the spell of Hatteras. This year, the boys can't come because of their schedules. They wish to see more of the world and probably won't return to Hatteras until their own wanderlust has been satiated. That's alright, too.
The only requirements, mandated by the house mistress (that would be me, Her Royal Highness, Yours Truly), is that we plan nothing in particular other than meals and the time to head onto the beach. Oh don't get me wrong, we have and will continue to discover the area in and around Hatteras Island, but the main focus is our time together in this place, to revive our spirits in the gentle comfort of family. Lest you think we are always blissful in each others company, worry not, we've shared some certain drama in our time together, but those are best forgotten.
We arrived for this visit this past Sunday, 5 June 2011. I'm planning on taking the time to ponder many things and blogging about them here. May this visit, by the Grace of God, bring us ever closer to one another and leave us refreshed to return to the daily battles back home.
~respectfully submitted; Her Royal Highness, Duchess of Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly

A little of this and a little of that!

Joplin, MO was hit last week by a devastating tornado. The pictures of the destruction are equivalent to a nuclear blast. Executive director of Quilts of Compassion, Janice Grimes, has interfaced with the pastoral care department of Freeman Hospital, the only hospital left intact. We are making about 200 quilts for a team from QofC to take there to give prayer-filled comfort and encouragement to those that lost so much. I am currently finishing quilt # 4 of 5 that I have here at home. On Tuesday, I hope to get more kits to complete in time for them to take with them when they leave on Friday, 3 June. Perhaps I'm not an expert quilter, nor exacting, but it's a learned process and I'm certainly further than I was when I walked in to the QofC office equiped with a simple desire to help. I've learned to quilt. It just goes to show you, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
We spent the afternoon today, 29 May, again @ CiC, for the annual, Blessing of the Fleet and Salute to our Armed Services. Ian and his friend, 2nd Lt. Carl Cunnane (Wright-Pattersom AFB, Dayton), did a impressive, ceremonial flag folding, for the event. Service members from all the various branches were honored, both past and present. A handful were in uniform. What a contrast this day was from the Vietnam War era days, when the returning soldiers were humiliated, spit upon and cursed as they disembarked.  As a young woman, I would watch in disgust. Those television images have never left me. The media had us believing that that attitude was the majority. Oh the lies and deception then and now.


Random Thought of the Day!
Sometimes the ship of our life is drawing a nice rhythm in the waves and making good time. However, the inevitable storms of life also come. They can toss us about, throwing us completely off course. It is then that we perfect our sailing skills. For a good sailor is never born of calm waters....but in the hurricanes of our life. ~

....and so it goes!

  ....and so it begins, Mama T's blog, for what it's worth. Growing up with my extended family across the expanse of a wide ocean, I'd often wondered what my grandmothers would have been like, had I grown up knowing them. Hence the blog. Perhaps my grandchildren will never read this, perhaps they might never care. However, on a hunch that someone, somewhere may like to hear the voice of a grandmother through the mists of time, I write. It may not always be eloquent, nor always wise and profound, but I'll try. For me, I know I would cherish the glimpse of my grandmothers' thoughts and wisdoms had I had the opportunity. .....and so it goes.