Journal: Fourth of July, and the Platte County Fair

Throughout this letter are pictures taken at the Platte County Fair.  This chicken won a pretty blue ribbon.  (Not that he cares.)

A quilting friend who is in her 90s is gradually losing her eyesight.  She worries that she will wind up with nothing she can do – and she has so many things she wants to get done.

It’s sad when that happens to an older person, especially if they don’t have anyone who can stay right there with them and teach them how to cope with it.  It’s a lot harder to learn how to handle blindness when one becomes blind later in life, as opposed to being born blind.  But, with a good teacher, it can be done.  The learning in itself would give one a whole lot to do – and those with the best attitudes learn the quickest.

Do you ever want to grab someone by the shirt collars and shake them ’til their teeth rattle if they ever dare to say, “I’m bored!” ?

I figure, in the unlikely event I run out of things to do, there are always people who would appreciate help of one kind or another, there are always books to read – and if I temporarily wind up somewhere without anything to sew or read or anyone to help, if my brain is still in working order, I can always use it, and draw up songs, poems, verses, books, memories, and suchlike! 

Did you know that the blind hymnwriter, Fanny Crosby, used to compose lyrics in her mind and store them in her head until someone could write the words for her as she recited them?  She often composed six or seven songs per day.  When she was eight years old, she wrote this, her first poem:

Oh, what a happy soul I am,
Although I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.

How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don’t;
To weep and sigh because I’m blind
I cannot, nor I won’t!

Her very last song, written about a week before she passed away at age 95, was Some Sweet Day, Bye and Bye.  The music was written by William H. Doane, who was particularly gifted in putting notes together to create the sweetest tunes.  This is one of my very favorite songs:

We shall reach the summer land,
Some sweet day, by and by;
We shall press the golden strand,
Some sweet day, by and by;
Oh, the loved ones watching there,
By the tree of life so fair,
Till we come their joy to share,
Some sweet day, by and by.

Refrain
By and by, Some sweet day,
We shall meet our loved ones gone,
Some sweet day, by and by.

At the crystal river’s brink,
Some sweet day, by and by;
We shall find each broken link,
Some sweet day, by and by;
Then the star that, fading here,
Left our hearts and homes so drear,
We shall see more bright and clear,
Some sweet day, by and by.

Refrain

Oh, these parting scenes will end,
Some sweet day, by and by;
We shall gather friend with friend,
Some sweet day, by and by;
There before our Father’s throne,
When the mists and clouds have flown,
We shall know as we are known,
Some sweet day, by and by.

Refrain

Here’s a recording of that song, made in 1921:  Some Sweet Day, Bye and Bye

My 90-year-old friend with the eyesight troubles has quite a sense of humor.  She wrote, “I can still see what I’m trying to do; just can’t decide what it is that I’m trying to do.”

I wrote back to her, “The plus side to not being able to see is, you would no longer have to match up your socks when you got them out of the dryer, or when you put them on.  Just pull on any ol’ socks, and be as happy as if you didn’t know better!  And not a soul could hold you responsible for the matter.”

Here is a photo of one of the fireworks we saw last Monday night at Ag Park.  More can be seen here.

Our daughter Dorcas’ birthday is on the Fourth.  One year after our church picnic, we watched the city fireworks... then wound our way through town afterwards, looking at individual fireworks here and there.

Dorcas, about five years old, sighed a tired, happy sigh, and said, “Isn’t that nice, that everybody in the whole town helps me celebrate my birthday each year.”

Dorcas was 35 years old Tuesday.

Our contribution to the church picnic was bagel dogs, pickled beets, blueberry pie, and a five-gallon Thermos of cold water.  There was a lot of food at the picnic, and it was hot enough that appetites were somewhat suppressed; so we wound up going home with more than half of what we’d taken.  That blueberry pie was a welcome treat for the next couple of days.

It got up to 87° that day, with very high humidity.  Judging solely on the basis of how damp all the playing children were, it looked like the humidity was right around 100%.  😃

Emma’s dress looked nice on her.  She and Elsie matched.

That evening, I got a phone call from a quilting friend in Malaysia.  That’s the first time I’ve ever received a phone call from Malaysia!  She’s originally from Canada, so her accent wasn’t too difficult to understand, and she seemed to understand me okay, too.

Larry worked on his Dodge Ram pickup that evening.  He’d pulled the motor, and then removed the piston that has caused all the loud knocking.  The sides of it are scored; it was evidently run without oil at some point.  He ordered the parts the next day.  Hopefully, he’ll soon have this newer pickup up and running.

Feeling some concern after my research concerning rabies last week, I wrote a note to Teddy:  “I have learned that raccoons are the top rabies-carrying animal in the States.  Did you get scratched or nicked at all when you got that baby raccoon out of the eave?”

Teddy, being Teddy, promptly responded, “Yes, I wondered why I have been drooling and foaming at the mouth.”

I went through a short song and dance about what I’d learned.  No answer was forthcoming.  I think he fell asleep in the middle of my diatribe. 

Here’s Ian at the tail end of the picnic, all picnicked out.  Or, as Lydia says, “All tuckered out.”  (He is a ‘Tucker’, after all.)  Ian is 1 ½ (and there is a pillowed edge on the stroller 😉 ).

Lydia looked at him, laughed, and told me, “He looks just like Daddy!” – because Larry sometimes falls asleep on the table in pretty much the same position. 

I try to wake him:  “Why don’t you go find a more comfortable place to sleep?”

“’kay,” he mumbles without moving a muscle.

I try again.  “Hey!”

“Hmm!” he responds, immobile.

“You need to go get ready for bed!”  I try putting some urgency into my tone.

“Uh-huh!” he mutters back, trying to match my tone.  And yet he doesn’t move.

Remember Andy Griffith trying to awaken Barney Fife?  Well, I know exactly what he felt like.  (Andy, that is, not Barney.)  (Larry knows what Barney felt like.)  (Unless he’s too fast asleep to know what anybody feels like, including himself.)

Poor Larry.  He does work 65+ hours a week.

Okay, where’s a good shoe when I need one?!  There’s a big ol’ hairy spider racing around on the wall and floor right near me, and every time I leap up to smash him, he vani-------

SMUSHSHSHSHS

Ha!  Got ’im!  He went shooting out from under my chair... I grabbed the nearest thing handy, and smashed him.

Do you think anybody will care if there’s a big ol’ hairy smooshed spider on the bottom of the peanut butter jar?

Wednesday, I mentioned to one of the online quilt groups that somebuddy had eaten cereal the night before, leaving no milk for my cereal the next day.  “Therefore,” I wrote, “I shall have half of a mini loaf of 12-grain bread.  Maybe I’ll survive.”

One lady wrote back, “You ate half a loaf of bread?!  How many slices is that?!”

Eeek, noooooo, haha!  It was a mini loaf.  The piece I ate was the size of a small-to-medium dinner roll.  I wouldn’t (couldn’t!) eat half of a normal-sized loaf of bread.

I cut the mini half-loaf in half again, toasted it a bit, buttered it, put peanut butter and honey on one side, and cherry preserves on the other.  Mmmm... my favorite kind of jelly, except for the fruit jellies that have rhubarb in them.  I get lockjaw just thinking about them.

I never – well, hardly ever – have more than one smallish roll... or half a bagel... or half an English muffin... or one regular-sized slice of toast for breakfast.  I love bread products – but have to be cautious about quantity, or I gain weight.  And every extra pound makes it just a little more painful on arthritic joints, especially with all the staircases I have to navigate.  I’d rather be careful with calories than be in pain. 

Still ... mmmm, mmm... I love 12-grain bread.

I cleaned up the messy kitchen, then headed downstairs to my sewing room to embroider some tea towels.  I found three embroidery cards for my machine (Bernina Artista 180E) on eBay at a good price.  I don’t want to put too much money into this 18-year-old machine, as I’m hoping to get a newer one before too awfully long... but... the embroidery cards were not too awfully much, and I can’t get a new machine yet.  And my machine is still stitching nicely.  There are a few small quallyfobbles... but I don’t think it’s ready to croak quite yet.  I could always resell the cards, when I no longer need them; there’s still a good market for them.

The cards I got are Happy Face Dogs, For Giving Souls 2, and Susan’s Favorites.  These will work for quilt blocks, children’s clothes, bags, pillows, pillowcases...

Those dogs would look cute on cream-colored backgrounds with some sort of chain block between them in all different colors – a scrappy quilt, of sorts.  I used to think I didn’t like scrappy quilts – but it turns out, I do like them, so long as there is a clear pattern, and lots of background (white, off-white, black, or navy).  It’s a mishmash of all scraps and no background that I dislike.  (If one of my lovely readers just made a mish-mashed scrappy quilt with no background, don’t be insulted; I’m sure yours is the exception to the ‘rule’. 😉)  One of these days, I’ll have enough scraps to actually make a scrappy quilt myself, just you wait and see!

I have a small amount of stash and scraps... well, some people might argue that ‘small’ designation, since I rarely have to buy fabric for things I make.  I haven’t made anything really large for a while, though.  The Buoyant Blossoms quilt was the largest recently – and I used only scraps from my stash for it.

I love to be saving and frugal ... and I love to buy fabric.  Quite the paradox!  The saving and frugal side generally wins, by necessity. 

Here are Kurt and Victoria at the July Fourth picnic at Pawnee Park.

Two tea towels were finished Wednesday, and Thursday I completed two more.

Amy sent pictures from the fair of the children holding baby bunnies and baby chickens (chicklets?).  Children always love the baby animals!

A little later, she sent pictures of Warren sitting in his high chair eating funnel cake.  “We had to come home and make some funnel cakes!!!” she wrote.  “I bought two at the fair last year and realized that nine people sharing them get very few bites!”

That’s why we made our own, too, when the children were little.  Funnel cakes at the fair cost anywhere from $3-$5 – but it costs less than a dollar to make one.

That night I finished the last two tea towels in the Sunflowers set.

I have six more towels to embroider, but I will wait until I get my new embroidery cards to do them.

That done, I got the Tumbling Blocks quilt Victoria started a few years ago ready to work on, and found the book in my bookcase upstairs.

However, on Friday another quilt arrived from my Washington State customer, so I loaded top and backing on the quilting frame.  Victoria came visiting that afternoon, and we discussed babies and husbands and lots of other blessings that we have.

At 7:00 p.m., I went to Hester’s house, and then we went in her bright red Hummer to the County Fair.  Larry had thought he might be able to come, but he couldn’t, because a hydraulic hose on his truck blew while he was working at a hog barn north of Schuyler.  He had a difficult time finishing the job and then getting the boom back in place and the outriggers back where they belonged. 

At the fair, I was standing in a red, white, and blue curtained ‘booth’ in front of the locked, glass-fronted case in which were all the winning Grand Champion entries, when suddenly a man pushing an umbrella stroller with a small child in it went whizzing round and round me, whilst behind me a gaggle of children giggled.

Three guesses who that was.

Yes, it was Teddy, with little Elsie in the stroller, and the other eight kiddos behind me doing the giggling.  Elsie, as usual, looked completely serious.  She’s such a funny little dear.  If you want that baby to smile at you, you have to work at it!  At least you can be assured that when you do get a big, beaming smile, it’s totally genuine and heartfelt.

Teddy stopped to talk for a few moments – and suddenly Elsie squealed a sky-high note, way off the end of any piano keyboard.  Teddy, who had tried (and failed) to make his mother jump, proceeded to jump out of his hide and hastily continue his baby’s ride, as requested.  hee hee  Teddy is the sort who never, ever wants to create a scene, and is horribly embarrassed if anything calls attention to him – including his small, adorable (and high-pitched) baby daughter.  ((snicker))  The funny part was, her face didn’t even change expression when she hit that high note.  😃  (I realize that sounds like a contradiction, that ‘not wanting undue attention’ stuff, after he did all that buzzing around me, but he did it silently, you see, and thought nobody was looking.  😉  )

Teddy’s sister Hester, of course, thought all this was hilarious.

After we’d explored the Exhibit Hall and all the barns and stalls (more photos here), we went back to Hester’s house.  She’d made supper in her crockpot that day, and she’d fixed enough food for Larry and me:  chicken breasts, carrots, and baby potatoes, with blueberry crisps for dessert.  I ate my share, and took some home for Larry.  He finally got home at about 10:30 p.m.  Long day for him.

I spent a good part of Saturday working on my customer’s quilt.  Larry had another long day, and didn’t get home until after 8:30 p.m. – and then we spent a while trying to capture a frantic little barn swallow that one of the cats had doubtless brought into the house through the pet door.  We had the front door propped wide open, but do you think that bird would go out??  Noooooo... he wanted to swoop around all over the living room, music room, and kitchen, periodically landing on the ceiling fan, the grapevine swag, the plates above the cupboards, and so forth.  There’s a reason someone coined the term ‘birdbrain’!  He finally got tired, landed, and sat still long enough that Larry was able to drape a towel over him, pick him up, carry him outside, and release him.

At the same time, there was a hornet sailing menacingly around in the house, but once the swallow went back to The Great Outdoors, the hornet disappeared.  It’ll probably alight on me just as I’m quilting a complicated and tricky section of the quilt. 

I finished the top border and called it a night.

Yesterday, a preacher friend and his wife visited our church.  It was special to have them come, as the man had had a massive heart attack some time back, and nearly died more than once.  He has recovered enough that he was able to preach for the evening service.  Bobby had the Sunday School hour in the morning; we always enjoy hearing him.

Last night after the service, we went to Loren’s house so I could help him with his computer.  When we got home, we had a late supper of Alaskan salmon, spicy seasoned brown rice, green/red peppers/onions, pickled baby beets, fresh plums and nectarines, and chocolate chip/peanut butter chip cookies.

This morning, I went to collect my things from the fair.  I got 15 blue ribbons and one red ribbon (2^nd place).  The Mosaic Sailboat quilt got a Reserve Grand Champion ribbon, and the Graceful Gardens Magnolia Branch pillow got Best in County State Fair Choice.  They awarded me a Grande Total of $29.30.  I really was quite surprised that the Mosaic Sailboat quilt placed above the Buoyant Blossoms quilt.  You never can tell what the judges might like best, I guess!

I wish our County Fair had more space to display quilts.  They have to fold the quilts, and only a small section of any quilt shows.

I learned last year that anything one wishes to enter in the State Fair, unless it’s been selected State Fair Choice at the County Fair, must have papers filled out for it ahead of time.  I hadn’t done that, so wasn’t able to enter the other things I took.  Maybe, if we hadn’t’ve arrived at the last minute, they’d’ve let me fill out the papers; who knows.  Since I’m going to Grand Island anyway, I might as well enter as many things as possible, right? 

The County Fair doesn’t dole out enough $$$ for prizes to make participation worthwhile – so it’s really just for the fun of everyone sharing their creations with others.  The State Fair is more generous.  It’s too bad the county doesn’t have more dollars at their disposal for prizes; participation keeps falling! 

Oh! – I just sold three more patterns.  I sold three yesterday, and two last week.

Those of you who quilt, have you heard that Lisa Sipes, a young quilter and quilting teacher, lost her leg and had other serious injuries in a train accident?

The Quilt Show has put an entire episode online to watch freely for a week, and it features a show they did with Lisa Sipes not long before she was injured.  It will not be until September at the earliest that she’ll be well enough to be fitted for a prosthesis. 

The last part of the show features Nola Emerie, who at the age of 52 had a debilitating stroke.  One side of her body has been paralyzed ever since.  She went from mountain climbing, running, bicycling, and snorkeling to quilting – and her quilts are amazing, despite the fact that she only uses one hand.

Here is the show:  The Quilt Show with Lisa Sipes and Nola Emerie

This afternoon I took Tabby to the vet for a checkup on his injured eye.  Happily, the treatment has saved the cornea, and the eye is looking better.  Also, the little thing has gained half a pound.  Half a pound is nothing to sneeze at, when you only tipped the scales at 5 ½ pounds!  He’s now over 6 pounds.  I knew his appetite had picked up since I started putting the antibiotic eyedrops in his eye, and I thought he felt heavier when I picked him up.  Last night when we got home, he went tearing pell-mell down the driveway, fur rippling, just like he used to do.  I hadn’t seen him run like that for weeks.

Larry is off on a long bike ride.  I will worry just a bit until I hear him come into the garage.  One of these days, I need to get him one of those devices that can alert me if he should fall, and give me his location, too.

Daffynition of the day: 

Multi-tasking:  the mission of doing numerous things at once, all of them poorly.

,,,>^..^,,,        Sarah Lynn        ,,,>^..^,,,