Purple Poop

The geese are eating mulberries

 and raising new babies.  

 All over our community is purple poop.  Mulberry Power.  lol

Since I had purple on my mind, I made Violet Chamomile Soap last evening.  I hope some of the purple shows up in the soap.  I usually make extra large batches.  If  I am going to make a mess, why not make a big one, right?  The soap contains dried German chamomile flowers, some grated soap from a previous batch of soap, pretty mica, and glitter.  I hope the pretty elements will show when the soap is dryer.  I cut this loaf before it was dry enough and it is not as smooth on the sides as it should be. 

Under the bush by my office is a duck nesting.  See how well she is camouflaged.

Trip Down Memory Lane

We were still at mom's yesterday.  We enjoyed our visit and we got somewhat caught up on laundry while we were there.  We took a few countryside pictures on the way home.  Most people think that Kansas is flat, but they are only half right.  The other half is not flat.  We see mostly cattle on the grassy hills.  While visiting with mom, we learned that Grandma Johnson's old house is for sale.  Grandma lived in the home most of her adult life.   We looked at the real estate pictures on line and it brought back so many memories, even though they remodeled the home.  I learned to sew, quilt, and crochet in that home.  I remember horses in the lot and a stack of hay bales.  Grandma had a tree stump she used to cut the head off of chickens with an ax to prepare the meat for us to eat.  My Great-Grandma Easterly lived there for a short time before she went to see Jesus.  There is an iris garden and iris' were grandma's favorite flower.  My sister and I have some of those iris' at our homes.   At one time a large apricot tree graced us with much fruit.  Two rows of lilacs were along the highway  however most of them have dwindled away.  Dad would shoe horses in the small garage and make shift barn.  This is were we tried to salt the tails of birds so we could catch them.  It kept us busy for some time utntil we realized that dad was teasing us.

I snook some pictures of my brother Patrick.  He is so much like my late father and dad went to see Jesus 42 years ago.  My other brother has a speech impediment due to a hearing loss he suffered as an infant.  My son says that he can not understand him and his words sound like they come out of a blender. Observations of an 18 year old boy.)

I like to read newsletters from Joyce Lucas at Make Mine Pink.  She just posted a newsletter on Creating Memories.  With her permission, I am attaching part of her newsletter.

I love to surround myself with treasures from the past. They often remind me of my favorite people and some of my favorite moments in time. I hope to pass these memories down to my own children and grandchildren one day.

Like so many others, I've kept a family album of old photographs, yellowed with age. Some of the faces I remember from long ago. There are weddings and births, laughing voices and forever romances recorded in these images. They are moments that live on because I remember.


One of my favorite things is Dad's old pocket watch. The hands of time are still moving, although a little slower than before. I remember him pulling the watch from his pocket so many times. Then there is Grandma's unfinished needlepoint. It’s wrapped in tissue and sitting at the bottom of an old wooden chest. Her fingers now lie still, but I remember the long chats we had while I watched as she stitched her beautiful designs. Having these treasures nearby makes me feel as if they are still near.


Even the heirlooms and antiques I find at the flea market have special meaning for me. The old French perfume bottles that line my bedroom shelf were perhaps a gift to an elegant lady from a doting admirer or loving husband. A collection of antique silver spoons that I use on special occasions, were perhaps a gift to a young bride. A cozy quilt stitched from well-loved clothing inspires me to imagine the garments the squares of fabric came from, and the people who once wore them.


When my daughters and children come to dinner, I set the table with my mother's favorite tablecloth and china, and always have something to tell them about my favorite childhood anecdotes and stories that were once told to me. It seems fitting to share my cherished memories while creating new ones of our own. Memories that will mingle together, both old and new, and continue to be passed down for generations to come.
Joyce Lucas, Founder


Make Mine Pink
http://www.makeminepink.com/

One Finger Wave

We took a trip to my mother's home in Osborne County.  This is where they do the one finger wave.  Now get your mind out of the gutter.  They are very friendly, but do a lazy wave by just lifting the index finger up to wave.  If they get really excited, they will lift all 4 fingers while keeping his or her palm on the steering wheel. 

We went through Sterling, Kansas on our trip.  I took a couple photos of local businesses.  I love the Victorian look.  If I were to open a business which was not just Internet, I would want an old store front like the first one shown here.  Do you remember the old stores with screen doors to allow air to circulate through them?. 

Mom's pictures

Mom's Little Garden

New Soap...........Strawberry Shortcake

I made new soap last evening.  I am calling it Strawberry

Shortcake.  The soap has to cure approximately one month to allow it to

harden and also for the PH to become low enough to be good for your skin.

Life Moments Now and Then

This is a picture of my uncle Scott Wayne Johnson.  I guess I am having one of those nostalgic days, so I thought I would share it with you.  He is in front of the lilac bushes at his home in Downs, Kansas.  I know this is a reprint and not an original, but the reprint is still an antique and the fact that there is a little wear to the picture makes it more endearing to me.  In the next few days, I will be sharing Nostalgic Parts of My Life.  

Now, on a complete different note, I like to read profiles from Plenty of Fish.  I learn about others and read many jokes.  I thought I would share the following from the website:

96% Kansans say, "holy sh*t," before crashing into a ditch.  The other 4% from Ks.say, "hold my beer and watch this shit!!!"

A cowboy appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. 'Have you
ever done anything of particular merit?' St. Peter asked. 'Well, I
can think of one thing,' the cowboy offered. 'On a trip to the
Black Hills out in South Dakota , I came upon a gang of bikers, who
were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone,
but they wouldn't listen. So, I approached the largest and most
tattooed biker and smacked him in the face ... Kicked his bike
over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. I
yelled, 'Now, back off or I'll kick the sh*tout of all of you!'
St. Peter was impressed, 'When did this happen?' 'Couple of minutes ago.'

Blessings!  Dawn

The Birthday Boy is 18 Today!!!!

My son is 18 today!  There were many times I didn't think that one of us would make it,  hee hee.  We were going to celebrate at midnight, but I could not wait past 11.  The cake was good, but too sweet.

I saw an interesting quote from a guy on Plenty of Fish web dating site:
"I grew up in a time when things were very different as far as dating was concerned. Now they have speed dating, whatever happened to foreplay. I guess I expected too much from online dating. It has been five years and not a single date. Or maybe I had some speed dates and they happened before I knew it."

Observation from my son:
The dog's butt muscle moves when she eats.

Storms and Aluminum Foil Hats

Again yesterday we had storms.  My son was kidding about going out to play in the rain with thunder and lightning while wearing an aluminum foil hat.   I teased him and told him to make a hat and let me see what he came up with.  It is now his summer vacation and he needs plenty to occupy his time.  Of course, he enjoyed making private body parts, a pair of thongs, (not the feet kind), a head covering and veil like a Middle Eastern woman would wear, etc.  He finally finished his design and went outside.  Two minutes later he came back in without the hat.  I asked him where his hat was.   His reply, "It blew off."  After all that work, a simple design flaw was his downfall.  FYI:  If I thought there would be danger, I would have not let him go outside, but most of the storm was over and no lighting was going on at this time. 

Half way through a good nights sleep, I was awoken by the lights flipping on and my son telling me that I had just been coughing.  He wanted to know if I was OK.  I am finishing the second set of antibiotics from a sinus infection, and my cough has lingered on, but I didn't know I coughed in my sleep.  The next thing I knew was him moving the little dog over and he was jumping into bed.  He worries about me at times and he was afraid I might cough again.

I finished spinning all of the blue jean colored kid mohair.  The last skein is drying and the twist is being set in.  More pictures of the yarn later.

Cheese Plugs

Today, a friend of mine was explaining to me and my co-worker that the restrooms are not clean at his place of employment.  He could not think of sitting on the toilet, so he said he went to the cafeteria and purchased 2 cubes of cheese to clog him up.  I haven't ever heard about using cheese plugs, but I am listening.........  About now I had to ask if he was eating the cheese or using it as a butt plug.  Of course, he was eating it, but that is not how it came out, or I mean how his words came out.  We are still laughing at this one.

Tender Mercies

Every now and then, I like to watch the DVD Tender Mercies.  This is a movie from the 80's starring Robert Duvall.  It brings back old memories of my father.  My father passed away when I was 12.  The memory is of my father singing along with the radio "On the Wings of a Dove."  Robert Duvall sang the song On the Wings of a Dove, in the movie.   I remember riding in our old pick up and traveling to the hospital to visit my mom since she just gave birth to my little brother Patrick.  He is 6 years younger than I am.  I doubt that we could have seen Patrick since back then hospital rules required you to be 12 years of age in order to visit a patient in the hospital.  I also remember my father requesting that I light a match for him so he could smoke a cigarette.  I doubt I was much help.  lol  Earlier today I visited with my mother about this memory.  She said that a family friend, Bert Bates, from Downs was also in the waiting room and she never figured out why he was there.  It was fine that he was there, but a little out if character.   She gave birth to my brother at the hospital in Marysville, so he had traveled from Downs to visit.  Bert used to buy pop and candy bars for us at the local filling station.  Back then, pop was 5 cents per bottle.  I guess this is dating me.  lol

I took pictures of the peach tree.  It is loaded with peaches.  I hope a hail storm doesn't take remove several of these peaches.

The iris blooms out front on the iris look like white ruffles on a white shirt.  I watched another old movie that showed men and women with ruffled white shirts in the 1700's.  What do this look like to you? 

I thought I would post a few pictures and brighten up the day.  These are from my mother's back yard.  I like to include yarn and fabric together in projects. 

How To Find A Man!

My son and I were driving home yesterday and he told me that I should not be on dating web sites talking with men and looking for someone to date.  I asked him where I should meet a man then.  His answer, "At bingo!"  Hhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm   I didn't think about that.

My son was so worried about me that he walked 4.5 miles to my place of employment to make sure I was OK.  I left my cell phone at home and he could not reach me on our main work line since I had it forwarded to the answering service.  If he knew the second line # he would have been able to reach me,  but he did not know it.  Instead, he walked all that way.  Needless to say, I was not there since I had already left.  When I arrived home, he was not there.  I called him from the house and he had just arrived at my place of employment, so I drove back and picked him up.  I think that shows his concern for me.  I wonder if a man could ever feel half of the concern that my son showed for me.

KAWS

At the Fiber Festival

Our Guild Table 
My tea cozy is on the right.  The theme is yarn cocktails and mine is based on a Tequilla Sunrise.