Our Littlest Mermaid

Only a few short weeks until our Vermonters get to escape winter for a wee bit and visit with us in the Florida sunshine. I am so looking forward to buying Little Miss Mermaid her first bathing suit. Apparently she has mad bathtub-swimming skills.

--cds

Hydrangea Blue Quilt

The quilt I made for my Mom has been completed and draped over her sofa for a couple of weeks now.

I really liked this modified Irish Chain pattern because I can make the blocks look like they are set on point, but they really are not (no messy set-in side triangles to sew - hate those). I'm back to sitting on my front porch stitching on banners - the temp has been in the 70's all week. Lovely. --cds

Out Of The Mouths Of Three-Year-Olds

On Evie's birthday last August, when we were visiting the Utah kiddos, she informed me that she needed to wear her red "happy" dress that day. "Why is this your happy dress?" I asked as I glanced through the closet stuffed with sparkley tulle princess dresses. "Because it just makes me happy," was the response. It's the little things, yes? We should all wear our happy dresses more often. --cds

It's Halloween in February

While most crafty lady-blogs are currently awash with red and pink Valentine-y visuals, as always I am a bit behind (or ahead?) of the times. I've been thinking about how much I like quilts made from a designer's complete line of fabrics, like the one I made for my Mom (oops, no picture yet). And I got thinking about how much I like the Alexander Henry novelty fabrics, so I started pulling out my own collection of these. They tend to be mostly holiday designs, like these from the line called "the ghastlies."

I love these creepy people so much.

And then I realized I love them so much because the black and white cross-hatched artwork reminds me of my favorite illustrator Edward Gorey, so I had to reread "The Gashlycrumb Tinies."

I've been an Edward Gorey fan since first watching the opening credits of Mystery! on PBS in the early 80's. I have a copy of Amphigorey, a collection of 15 of his stories - and love every single one except that I think every single one should include the by-line "This Tale Will Not End Well."

More Alexander Henry fabric:

At lastly, though this is a Robert Kaufman fabric, it's my all-time favorite:

because (of course) it reminds me of a book [why do I make these constant literature/fabric design connections in my head - either I'm reading too much or I have to stop buying fabric].

Anyway, these look like Poe's Masque of the Red Death people to me. --cds

Visitor Season

The cold weather blew away just in time for the arrival of our first visitors of the winter season. My mom's sisters, Aunti Dee and Aunti Claudia, as well as all-around handyguy Uncle John and Mikey the Wonder Dog, are staying with her.




I've been supplying some soups and breads because we have to keep up our strength for our exercise regime - we are training for the Tour-de-France:

Also we are mainlining sunshine for overall health.

Our next visitors are all booked for March - I can't wait to get my hands on this little sweetpea:

And Ruthanne's mommy and daddy, Josh and Stephanie:

Our favorite dog rescuers, Doug and Heather, are planning a visit in March as well (I can't find a picture of them just now).

Your picture could be here! Call for reservations - our rates can't be beat!

Oh, and I am also working on perfecting my homemade cinnamon buns - with or without pecans, your choice.
--cds

Best Dog Story Ever

My brothers and their kids always seem to have close and extremely funny encounters with various animals, both wild and domestic. Let's see, there was the time Jeff's bouncy Jack Russell terrier Lou chased a squirrel around the inside of the house finally cornering the very wide-eyed and traumatized creature splayed against a kitchen cabinet; there was the capture of a huge black snake that involved the nephews and hockey sticks, I believe; and (my personal favorite) the time that Doug's boys were dogsitting their mother's lapdog and it got excited and fell into the pond and floated (successfully) beneath the causeway via the sluice pipe. Well, this week my oldest nephew Doug, who commutes with his girlfriend Heather to work in Philadelphia, related to us a wild tale of loss, rescue, loss again and finally sweet reunion. Here are his own words:

Wednesday night Heather and I were coming home from work just past the art museum and we see this dog on the Vine Street Expressway, which is like 295 and that circle in Gloucester where we get lunchmeat, combined into one road... crazy busy street during rush hour.

So Heather, of course, tells me we need to save it, so I was able to block this exit ramp by stopping the car and I was about to get out and, like, greet the dog when it hopped right in the car like he was ours...

So I start driving and this random dog is now sitting in between me and Heather and we're both shocked and then Heather asks me if it is a fox... so I look at it and I'm thinking Holy Shit is it? It looked exactly like one... so I hurry up and pull over and me and Heather jump out of the car. And we're just on the side of the road looking at this stray dog in our car... decided it wasn't a fox so I went all around this nearby park asking people if anyone is missing a dog or anything, no one.

So I get back in the car and Heather and I spend the next 3 hours driving around Philly looking for an open shelter, we even went to the police station and they wouldn't take him... SOOOO we finally head back home with this dog not knowing what to do because the shelters in Gloucester County wouldn't take him either...

I showed Dad, and Heather's family, the dog; then we decided to go to the vet because one of the shelters told us some people put a computer chip in the dogs now, and the vet has a machine that scans the dog for the chip and gets the owner's info... So we went and we were all shocked when we found out this dog had this chip thing... cut to the point, the dog belonged to this sweet old woman who told Heather she has been praying to St. Anthony so much for her dog back... she couldn't believe he is ok and that we had him and was so happy.

So next morning I decide to let this dog out because he slept at our house for the night. I left the gate open, and the dog gets out... we had lost the "lost" dog, so to speak. So 6 in the morning and I'm running all around my neighborhood looking for the dog, finally found him, locked him back in the laundry room and went to work.

The old woman came and got him at the end of the day and gave us a card... when she left and we opened it she gave us $50... which was nice... but she was so happy to have the dog back. --Doug DeHart


I don't know about you, but I can't get Fox In Socks out of my head. --cds

Saturday Visit To Orlando

I don't often go to the movies because I am a baby about real-life, modern dramas -- I hate to view anything too disturbing or when children are hurt. I don't care for modern romantic comedies either - Jennifer Aniston should just go away and though I really want to like Ben Stiller, I'm sorry, I just can't. I usually force my son, Jamie, a moviegoer, to tell me every detail about a movie including the outcome, and then I decide whether or not I want to see it. I'm usually only interested in clever dialogue anyway or killer set design.

But I decided all on my own that I wanted to see The King's Speech, so I coaxed my Mom into going with me and we had to travel all the way to the multiplex at Downtown Disney to find a matinee (oh yes, we are also cheap). I was so right - I really love a historical period piece and I thought this was well done. The R rating was a mystery and must have been based solely on a cursing rant by the King wherein the F-word was used many, many times along with other colorful swear words. No big deal, I thought. I use worse when I stub my toe on the kitchen chair. --cds