Beautifying a chain link fence

Years ago I found some ideas for making a chain link fence beautiful.  It was mainly photos on Pinterest.  And I was intrigued.

I looked and looked for directions and guidance on materials, etc.  Nothing.

I thought about it several times over the years. And yesterday (back on Pinterest, of course) I found some more ideas!!!

This first photo is what I was looking at originally.  But this is a much closer view and you can tell that this is not added to an ordinary chain link fence.  It was created from the chain link metal in the first place.  I have no idea what this product costs, but I am sure it's not cheap.  It's bound to be worth a lot of $$$ with all the engineering, planning, machinery to create such a thing.

Then I came across this one.  See, it's just cute little crocheted squares made to fit and then sewn on.  I have seen these in several different designs.  Like flowers or snowflakes.  Whatever you can think of, you can make it fit.

And THEN I found this!  Woo Hoo!  Take a look at this!  Cross Stitch over chainlink squares.  I love this idea.  Any needlepoint or cross stitch pattern you have can be transformed to a chain link fence. I have some thinking to do on this.  Materials, some kind of a large curved C-shaped needle, that sort of thing.  But this is do-able!!

52 Ancestor in 52 Weeks - week 3

This week's prompt is longevity.  Like the longest-lived person on your tree or how long you have been doing genealogy, that sort of thing.

The only interesting thing I could come up with for this topic is that I have one branch I have followed and fleshed-out (disclaimer here:  all my work is to be considered a work in progress) that goes back to early 1500s England.  That's Henry VIII time, people. I had to let that sink in for a while.

This makes them my 14th great grand parents. Boggles the mind it does.  And here's the thing about ancestry; as much as this excites me to find these things it is no where NEAR as interesting as those that are 4 generations back that I can find absolutely nothing on.  That kind of mystery is really something that draws me in.  When someone appears in my tree with the marriage to someone I already have and then after 2 census records drops dead with NO HINTS as to previous life and where they came from, now that is why I do this.  To find the previously un-find-able.

But the longevity thing is nothing to be sneezed at.  I had a British friend here visiting last week and she said her DNA showed she shares DNA with 40% British while mine is 68% combining England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland.  I know I have a lot of work to do to confirm everything I have on my tree.  Let's hope I live long enough to do it all!  (See what I did there?  I hope I have the longevity.)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 1

Hey there Internet!

Long time, no see.  Well, you are about to see a whole lot of me!  Yes, indeed.  I am participating in a few adventures this year and will use this here blog as my accountability place.  The place I come to see my progress.

First up is the Amy Johnson Crow "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge.  This week the prompt she gives us is Start.  Something that prods you to start your genealogy adventure, or someone.  I am choosing my 7th great grandfather Mr. Jeremiah Dial.  Born around 1730 in or around County Cork in Ireland.  He is the very first person I found on my family tree that got me to dive in and start researching.  What possessed Mr. Jeremiah Dial to pack up his family and come to the Carolinas in 1768?  It's all very fascinating to me.  And the hardest thing for me is researching Ireland.  They have for shit records.  Most things destroyed by the British, so just bare bones records in churches.  Also, I find out that when a lot of Irish immigrants boarded ships to come here the people who filled in the ship's manifests would often just put the ship's port of departure as the place all these people came from, whether or not that was true.  Not helpful.

Anyhoo, Mr. Jeremiah Dial brought his wife and 6 kids with him, most of the kids being fairly grown people.  They added to the family once they were here.  This group of Irish people were my very first to start researching and investigating.  They fought in the Revolutionary War and I have loads of documentation for the DAR.

If you have any helpful resources for finding Irish records I would love to hear about them.  My plan is to try and post something here on Sunday or Monday about this challenge.

Let's take a walk down memory lane

The other day my daughter the fabulous Rachel Pie was here and as she is studying Chinese medicine and acupuncture she was working on me.  The next day we were heading out and about and I pulled out a winter pair of shoes that are kind of a stone colored suede Earth shoes to wear. That evening I noticed that my arthritis in my knee was much better and whether to attribute that to my acupuncture treatment or to the wearing of the Earth shoes I did not know.  Maybe both?

That got me to thinking maybe I need more Earth shoes in my closet, not just the suede winter ones.  I used to have a fabulous pair of red Earth shoes that I wore constantly but one of my asshole dogs chewed on one and ruined them and out they went.  So I looked online to see if Earth shoes has something nice, cute, and available.  Which led me down some rabbit holes of 1970s footwear. Which I am about to share with you!

And now, let's take that walk down memory lane and see if you remember these beauties:

First up, the ever popular desert boot or Chuka boot as we called them.  They STILL make these things!!

Then the tennis shoes that were also jogging shoes, basketball shoes, track shoes, pretty much anything athletic you did you did in these.  Whether they were Converse or PF Flyers this was the shoe.  I had red ones that I put purple laces in and I wore them to marching band practice for YEARS.  I kept those shoes until just a few years ago.  Loved those shoes.

And then came Candie's.  Iconic shoe right there.

Jellies!!!  I loved my jellies!  Mine were root beer colored, not regular clear.  Lord, I loved those shoes.

Now, I would have never been caught dead in this shoe.  But my mother wore the hell out of these in many different colors.  Grasshoppers.

And who remembers shopping at Thom McCann?  Might have been one of the first mall stores I shopped at, along with Casual Corner and the 5 7 9 shop.

Check out these wooden platforms!  You know you had a pair.

When I was in high school some of my best friends worked at Kinney Shoes together and we went in there all the time.  Kinney Shoes.  I wonder when that quit being a thing?

Yoyos!!!!  Do you remember Yoyo shoes?  I swear I had these shoes right there.

And here they are, the original Earth shoe.  Most people considered these ugly.  I looked at these and thought "OMG, there is a shoe shaped like my foot!  It might feel good!  It might not even pinch or hurt or be uncomfortable."  I have been in love with the Earth shoes ever since.

Famolares!!!!  Such a ridiculous concept that we all bought in to.  Wavy shoe bottoms, what the hell were they thinking!

Here's a nice platform shoe.  If you are a 1970s pimp, maybe.

And even more decorative platforms.

It was an interesting time in footwear, wasn't it?  Makes me wonder which of today's choices will be laughed at in 20 or 30 years time.

Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane!

Random thoughts

I have had so many different things swirling in my head that I thought I would get some of them down in black and white.  Here goes!

1. My son has a lovely girlfriend who has 2 little boys, so they are like my almost-grandchildren. I went and picked up the 5 year old and spent the weekend with him. He had finished kindergarten on Friday and had his very first graduation.  We played Legos, colored, drew pictures, read books, swam, counted fireflies, and made homemade ice cream. 

It was a pretty perfect weekend, actually.

2. This whole debate in social media about the child who climbed into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and the gorilla was shot and killed is horrific.  Everyone is vilifying the mother of the child.  From the accounts I have read BOTH parents were there, why are we blaming just one?  I don't like the blaming and judging that goes on from women on other women and their parenting.  We are all guilty of it.  My first thought was  "why did the mom allow her child out of her sight?"  I took a step back and can see all sorts of judgment and blaming in my own mind.  It's a fucking tragedy with enough responsibility to be spread around.  Let's hope all the parents who know of this will now educate their children on how to act appropriately in a zoo setting, and that the zoo officials will find more ways to keep the animals safe from this happening again.

3. While thinking about this zoo/gorilla/parenting debacle I have been going over and over in my mind how would I have acted.  What would I have done differently so that my kids would not end up in that life threatening situation?  I don't know.  I do know that I was really strict and clear about what behaviors were appropriate in public venues.  I see friends and family who parent differently than I do/did and I try not to compare.  But we all want to justify and validate our own decisions so some comparisons are going to happen.  My hard and fast rule with little ones was always if I am not touching you or holding your hand we have to be able to see each other's faces.  If you can't see my face you are too far away.  I think for me this came from living in a city on the border where we were told on the news damn near weekly about children being abducted from under your nose and taken across the border before you could blink.  So a fair amount of paranoia and fear were at play here.  I hope like hell that my kids don't feel scarred and smothered by this.  They haven't ever said so and they are both pretty great and well-adjusted adult people now.  That's the thing with parenting, you really just have to go with your gut and good intentions and hope that the love and care come through.

4. Are any of you watching Outlander on Starz?  Season 2 has been confusing me mightily so I have started reading the books.  I am now on book 2 which seems to be different than the show.  Jamie is fantastic, both in the books and the show.  Why Claire would think twice about that dry, boring Frank especially knowing his psychopath great grand relative Black Jack is beyond me.  But Claire does bug, irk and annoy me.

5. And while on the Scotland topic I am doing more and more research on Ancestry.com. And Scotland and Ireland are both difficult countries to do deep research on.  I need to get more details on names, locations and dates so that I can plan a trip to see what all I can find. I am more than a little afraid that I will get to Scotland or Ireland and never want to return. It does call to me.

6. After getting my DNA done on Ancestry I came up with a vision of a tattoo I would love to get.  I keep picturing it in my head of what the components are and how to do it.  Then I get on Pinterest and what do I find?  A whole bunch of people have come up with similar visions!  WTH???  I was so thoughtful on what I imagined as a very original idea.  Good Lord. Now I am unsure about it.  I don't want it to be what everyone else has since I may be chicken and it could very well be my one and only tattoo.

7. It's been a month since my good and dear friend Jon died.  It seems like yesterday.  The pain and grief are still so very fresh and my feelings so raw.  I need to find a positive way to honor him and deal with my sadness.  Any ideas?

That's it for now.  This is my closing thought.

Antique Chairs Revisited and Refinished and Reupholstered!!

Do you remember a few months back I took my beautiful antique chairs from my Aunt Bea down to finally be refinished and reupholstered?  If not, please go look back for the post titled "Antique Chairs" and check out the BEFORE pictures.

Then come on back here and see the after photos.  They are even prettier than I pictured they would be.

Here we go with the photos!!!

Above is chair #1.  There are 3 chairs and chair #1 is a regular standing there with it's 4 legs kind of chair.  It has the needlepoint on the front of the back with the new edging stuff that I found out is called "gimp" and then the nutmeg color velvet on the seat and the back of the back.  I am so in love with the way these turned out I can hardly stand it.

This is chair #2 which is almost identical to #1 except it sits on a base with a rocker spring and is a rocking chair.  It has the matching needlepoint to #1 as well.  Love this chair!!

This big beautiful chair is #3 and it is essentially a chair-and-a-half or a settee.  This is the first time I have seen it with the springs tied down.  They had become untied over the years and talk about bouncy!  Just sitting on it was like taking a roller coaster ride!  This settee is just spectacular now.

This little guy is the one and only foot stool that came to me with the set.  I don't know if that is the way they were sold originally or how it is the only one to survive with the chairs.  It is topped with the fourth and final needlepoint that I was given by my Nana.  It fit perfectly. And can I just say how lovely my rug looks in that photo?

Another shot of #1

And some close up views of the needlepoint and the velvet on the settee.

So, please go check out the before photos and now the afters and let me know what you think. I am beyond thrilled with them.

Now my only issue will be which of my children will get to inherit them.  Because I am not breaking up the set.  No way, no how.  They deserve to stay together.

And stay tuned for my dining chairs to be reupholstered!  The fabric is ordered and due in any time now.  I will post some before photos of them as well.  How on earth that current fabric got so stained is beyond me.

Thanks for reading!  Hope you all have a happy and restful Thanksgiving!

Reading

I just finished a fantastic book.  And since I am always on the lookout for new reading material I thought I might share with you in case you are doing the same.

This is the 3rd of her memoir books.  And let me just say that if I had Mary Karr's gift of stringing words one after the other and creating the most amazing mental pictures I would die happy.  So many times I read a book/article/poem/whatever and nothing, no emotional response.  But Mary Karr's work?  Well, that is something else entirely.

Here is what the cover of her first book looks like:

The one in the middle between these two chronologically is called "Cherry".  Also amazing.

There are very few writers who by their very words can reach in and touch your heart.  There are even fewer who grab your heart and twist it into pieces and rearrange it in a way you never knew was possible.  Mary Karr is one.  Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood also do this for me.

If you are not familiar with these books, take my recommendation and give Liar's Club a try and work your way through to Lit.  Then come back and thank me.  I sincerely hope you enjoy her books.

Quilts!

I saw a banner hanging across the road that was announcing the local Quilt Guild annual quilt show. And it was this weekend.  So I went!

I was so excited by the cover photo on their website showing the quilt they are raffling off.  Check this out:

Now tell me you wouldn't want to win that beauty.  Gorgeous.  So much applique and gorgeous quilting.  It was perfection.

They gave me a program with a little ballot to fill in with the number of the quilt that I think deserves to win the Best In Show prize.  And I wandered and wandered through the area with all the quilts up for the award.  My God in heaven, there must have been close to 1,000 quilts of all sizes, shapes, colors, etc.  I was about halfway through when I saw people taking pictures.  So I started taking some photos of some of these exquisite works of art.  Here you go!  Enjoy!


Look at that!  Wizard, space and extraordinary color squares!  Just gorgeous.

And would you look at this!  It looks exactly like those crocheted hot pad things I make with the metal bottle caps!

Here's a close up view of the little hexagons and the quilting.

Look at the quilted Aztec calendar!!

Good Lord, will you look at those colors!  Just spectacular.

The ABCs of winter in quilt form.  Could you just die from the sweetness?

This one is like the drawing that goes from fishes to flying ducks above.  Very clever.

Would you just look at the quilting on this beauty?

This sunflower quilt was about as big as a wall.  HUGE!  And vibrant and beautiful.

The next couple of quilts are from 1930.  Depression era creativity.

This thing was so 3D that I had to walk up to it and walk away and keep looking at it to see that the flowers were appliqued on a thin piece of netting overlayed on the quilt and it truly was 3 dimensional.  Just breath-taking.

Can you even believe the loveliness here?  I couldn't.  It was like looking at a Tiffany glass window.

This quilt was HUGE.  Just HUGE.  And those squares were about 1/2 inch square. Teensy tiny little things.  I would have gone blind just trying to cut so many different fabrics that size.  Amazing.

This is the 12 Days of Christmas.  Just beautiful.

And which one did I choose for my personal pick of the Best in Show?  This one.  Although they were all winners in my book.

This is the tag that accompanied my choice for the winner.  SIX YEARS TO COMPLETE !!!  Can you stand it?  6200 pieces of fabric all hand sewn.

Right now I am eagerly sitting by my phone waiting for them to call and say I have won the raffle quilt.  I think I might just quit holding my breath.  : )

But it was a lovely afternoon seeing all these amazing works of art.  Can you even imagine how many millions of hours of work went in to them?  I am just gobsmacked.  

I can only aspire to doing work this good.  My quilts so far are much more utilitarian looking and not so museum-quality.

How about you?  Do you love the quilts?

Oh!  And I was good.  There were strict rules about not touching any of the quilts.  And I didn't.  I was very careful to not touch even though there were a few that were begging to be caressed.  Like the one made from teeny little marquis diamond shapes cut from 100% silk ties (men's neck ties) and had a burgundy wine colored silk velvet backing.  Oh my God!!!  It was amazing.  I don't have a photo of it because I had to hurry and back away before I wrapped myself in it's luxuriousness.

An afternoon well spent, wouldn't you say?