Here Fishy Fishy

                 This is Heather Mulder Peterson's new line and I fell for it hook, line and sinker. :)

I've been eagerly awaiting the release of this fabric, and now that it has arrived, I have gone fishin' .

The Horseshoe Furniture

I've been getting a lot of inquiries about the rusty horseshoes peeking out from under my water glass and quilts

and projects

so I figured it deserved a post all unto itself. :)

 It doesn't look very spectacular just sitting there,  but it truly has been a much loved gathering place through the years:

We've had this set for 23 years and if you ever have to move it, you will KNOW that we love it because it HEAVY. I get to move it every time I mow.

And the older I get, the heavier it gets. :)

You wouldn't think so, but it is unbelievably comfortable. Yes, you can easily add cushions, but honestly, we never have. If you want a cushion, grab a pillow. As for me...cushion is included... and if you don't happen to have one, just come hang out around here. We'll work you hard and feed you good and before long, you too can have your very own cushion.

My parents were in real estate and they sold acreage. Everyone built on their acreage and one of the guys living out there built this. My Mom kept trying to convince him to build an actual business. He could have been so successful, but he had no interest in that. He just liked to make these and piddle when he felt like it. Thankfully, we became the proud owners of a really nice set. All of the shoes are used and recycled. With all of the interest y'all have been showing, maybe I ought to brush up on my welding skills. :)

Winter of Beauty

DH brought in the mail this afternoon. This was in it:

I'm so excited for my friend Amy. We met at the Western Heritage Classic in Abilene, Tx in  1998. She had written an article called, The Busy Day, that was published in Western Horseman. I connected to her words immediately and often sent copies of that article to friends. DH heard me praise it often and as we browsed through the trade show, I had stopped to speak to a gal who was juggling a toddler on her hip and addressing a small boy who was standing at her side. I smiled and made a comment that I have since forgotten, but would most certainly had something to do with how fast children grow, and moved on. I reached DH just a few booths down and he said, "That's the lady who wrote that article."

2 seconds later I approached her and a friendship was born. We both thought that letter writing was becoming a lost art and instantly, we became pen pals...the old fashioned kind although we did type our letters using Word on our very first home computers. Neither one of us had access to the Internet back them. She lived in the Panhandle of Texas and I was in the mountains of west Texas. We were both ranch wives and eagerly looked forward to fat envelopes that quickly began to ferry their way from the end of one dirt road to another.  As soon as one letter was mailed, another was begun. A 15 page letter was not uncommon, and there were often letters twice as long. After that, we saw each other once a year in Abilene and we would sit out in the truck until the wee hours of the morning visiting. Once DH even knocked on the window of the truck at 3 am and asked if we were ok. :)

We were both avid readers and eagerly shared titles and sent books back and forth. I once sent her "The Poinsonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. She read it and returned it with a sticky note that read, "Nick says you can't send me books like this anymore because he didn't see me for 2 days". :)

We exchanged recipes and I can't make Angel Biscuits or Rancher's Potatoes without thinking of her.

Along with those letters, Amy sent  me articles she had written. The girl has such talent. I was moved by her words and that's exactly what talented writers do. They take you on a journey and make you feel. They make you laugh and cry and get mad. They make you ask questions. And search for answers. They draw you in, and when you have read the last sentence and close the back cover, you feel as if you have taken a trip. Amy does that. It's a rare quality that has the ability to take your breath away.

I haven't read one word of her first novel, but I know that I am about to take a journey. I will not devour this book. I will savour each and every word.

Baby Gypsy Quilt Finished

Chances are, should you wander down my dirt road lately, and find me at the house in the evening, you'll find me in my binding chair:

The quilts to be bound are piling up and I love it. I finished the Oink-a-Doodle-Moo Baby quilt while I was at my Mom's, but I also took along another one that I had started to bind a few weeks ago:

I seem to make lots of extra blocks when I make some quilts, and the down side to that is that I just start sewing and don't take the time to count. The upside? I get a bonus quilt!

Another shot from my cruise through Fredricksburg:

DD chose this pattern for a bed quilt when she moved to her new apartment last year and the extra blocks just languished in a project box hoping to one day be rediscovered. They made it to the UFO list last year and now I can cross off another one:

Here's the post abut the original quilt. This ended up being 68 x 80. I used a blue sketch on the back and made a scrappy binding. Jackie used my favorite pattern on this quilt. The dragonflies:

She quilted another quilt for me with this pattern and I just now realized I hadn't shared it yet. Stay tuned. As for this one...I called DD's quilt the Dirt Road Gypsy Quilt and this is the Baby Gypsy Quilt, and I'm keeping it. :)