Another UFO...

Of course, I mean an UnFinished Object. I began this one a few years ago, but it's time for me to get it done and out. This is a petit point bouquet my BFF Cyd asked me to complete when her mum passed. She found it among her mum's things. 

I asked her how she wanted it done, and she said, "Finish it any way you want." So far, I've chosen the black background, which I think will really make the petit point stand out. But I'm not sure how to complete it from there. Frame it? Make it into a cushion? I do have time between stitching out the ground and being done. Any and all ideas are welcome. 

My knee is feeling much better. It's still a little tender, but I spent most of the weekend with my leg up, icing/heating and rubbing castor oil/frankincense all over it. I even tired a little frequency healing. It's the first time I've done that, and it's interesting how my knee tingled the entire time, and all I did was put the tone generator near my knee, set to a healing frequency (174 HZ or 285 HZ). I'm sure I'll be fine to work tomorrow, but I'll rest it one more day just to be sure. 

Brynwood Needleworks - Bedroom Set For Sale/Sold...

 

 

Less than twenty four hours after listing our Paul Bunyan bedroom set for sale on Marketplace, the new owners were in our drive and ready to load up their purchase. When I saw the van and short bed truck coming down the road, I was skeptical about whether or not the set would leave in one trip.

I'm pretty proud of the fact that I have the gift of being able to puzzle pieces together so they fit. I moved out of my first apartment in a remarkably packed VW Beetle. This would be a piece of cake.

I measured the length of the truck box, height of the armoire and length of the large chest of drawers. Yes. With the possible exception of the headboard, it was all going to fit.

 

 

Happily, the side chests, bedrails and footboard fit into the van with no room to spare. The wheel well held the footboard in place, so I knew it would travel well. This load was secure and stable, so nothing would be damaged on the hour long drive home.

 

In the end, the headboard fit snuggly between the armoire and chest of drawers. Multiple cargo straps later, the sun came out and the caravan headed out of the driveway and northward home.

 

The armoire was an afterthought, so I took photos and measurements and texted the buyer to see if they wanted that piece, too. When he said yes, I told him I'd charge him half of what I actually wanted for it because it was clean and empty, but still upstairs. He still wanted it, so I held my breath as I watched them carry it down our narrow and steep farmhouse stairs and straight out of the front door.

Like a good blogger, I took photographs. Like a good grandma, I directed this young man to text me once he was safely home. He was so cute. He'd come with his wife, mom and two other young (strong) people. They all helped lift drawers, cannonballs, and the heavier pieces. I helped with a few of the smaller pieces. 

 

About two hours later, my phone signaled a text message. Yes. He sent a photo of the bed set up in one of their bedrooms. The room where it will end up is currently being painted, but he actually said he'd send another photo once it's in the final installation.

I was happy. They were happy, and the first month of 2023 already has a major grouping decluttered from our environs. Talk about multitasking!

 

 

My longest and dearest friend is in Wisconsin from Georgia to attend the funeral of one of her mum's oldest friends. She called me and is coming today for a whirlwind cuppa tea and visit before turning back for home.

Tonight is our planning meeting for our 50th Class Reunion. As I'm the chairman, I'll have a little prep work to do before our dinner gathering. Not much will happen in the studio today, so I'll be busy tossing things that won't be moved this weekend in our "switcheroo fest". Sewing will have to wait until Friday.

Don't fret that I'm doing too much. I spend a lot of time sitting with my feet up to compensate for these short bursts of exertion. I know I'm still healing and am taking great care not to cause any new issues. I promise not to overdo it, but I know how blessed I am that you're concerned for me. Thank you for that.

Please Help Me Decide...

Petit Point Bouquet Canvas

This will be my next project. I've been putting it aside for a while. It's a needlepoint canvas my BFF, Cyd sent to me having found it with her mother's things. As a BFF would do, she left the background color choice and finishing up to me.

Do You Like A Black Background?

I can't decide, so I'm asking for your input. What do you think of a simple, Victorian-style black background? That one's always a winner for needlepoint and makes the design really pop.

How About One Of These?

I have these background colors, too, that I think would be lovely in their own right. Each color appears in some fashion in the design. I numbered them clockwise sitting on the design to give you the best idea of how each color looks with it.

I'd love for you to help me choose. Oh, one more thing. She's left the finishing to me as well. Pillow? Round or square? Framed piece? Oval, round or square? These are all the reasons I haven't even begun the piece yet. I'm going to start it this weekend. I know a lot of you follow and read my blog. I hope you'll comment and let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

BFFs...

Brynwood Needleworks - Lifelong BFFs

Our weekend wouldn't be complete without a couple more photos of us together. Cyd and her husband, Bill left yesterday, and we miss them already. Alas, we have 'home things' which call to us. I get it, but a month together wouldn't have been enough. Every second we could spend together was precious, and it was nice to make new memories together.

Brynwood Needleworks - Happy Foursome

 

Handsome and Bill had a good time catching up, too, and we've made plans to stay with them in Georgia on our next Wisconsin/Florida trip. We promise. 

 

Brynwood Needleworks - Banana Nut Bread

 

Bill loves all my farmhouse goodies, so I made my Banana Nut Bread (My Recipe Here) for them to munch on while they drove, and sent them home with a box of canned jams and fillings. I miss them already.

 

 

This week, I'll be busy in the studio, making new wallets and new items for my shop. The weather was absolutely perfect over the weekend, so I'm actually hoping we get a little rain so I won't feel bad working indoors. (Actually, I just checked the forecast and it's supposed to be beautiful through Tuesday. Guess I'll just have to suck it up...or wait until Wednesday to sew!)

 

Tag will be back tomorrow. He has a new friend he's looking forward to introducing to you. She's a real sweetheart. I'll see you again Wednesday!

Sunday Scripture...

Brynwood Needleworks - Hickory Hill Farm Delphiniums and John 3:16

   In memory of the mother of my best friend, Cyd, who passed to her great reward Mother's Day weekend.
Joyce Ely Ford   Rest well, His good and faithful servant.

Until Next Time...

Donna and Cyd

 

I was up as the sun came over the hillside to the east of the farmhouse. My oldest, dear friend, Cyd was coming for a lightning short visit before driving back around the lake to the airport to pick up her son (who was flying in from Mexico City, where he currently lives). He flew in to help her drive a U-Haul back to Georgia.

She arrived by 7:30 in the morning, and the visit that was planned for a few minutes turned into an hour. We fell right into old conversations as we always do in our comfortable friendship of 58 years of shared memories and stories.

I spent Friday and Saturday helping my friend with a difficult task, and I got a chance to see her brothers and one of her two sisters (all of whom I've known since they were little kids). We worked hard, but we laughed and caught up on each others lives, too. 

I wrote about my time with her over the weekend, and mentioned that we had so much fun that we completely forgot to take a picture together, as we usually do. That wasn't going to happen yesterday. Handsome caught a few images of us together, and they've become my new favorites of the two of us.

 

Donna and Cyd

After we took pictures up near the little barn/woodshed, we walked back to the house together. We reached for each others hands, as we've done thousands of times before since we were little, and we chatted and walked down the hill. Thank you, dear husband for capturing this picture of us. I love it.

Donna and Cyd

 

He stopped us so that we could turn around and smile one more time for the camera, and then we walked to her vehicle. We hugged, kissed and said "until next time" (we don't say "goodbye"). We'll see her and her husband over the winter. It's our turn to visit them at their place called "Flat Rock Farm".

 

Until next time, dear friend. Safe Travels.

Love always,

 

My Day - Backwards...

Hickory Hill Farmhouse Hickory Syrup

Yesterday was a busy day. Bottles of fresh hickory syrup is how it ended, actually. Right before bed, I took the newly-processed bottles out of the canner and set them out to cool. I'm taking them to my oldest (longest) best friend, Cyd today.

She's here from Georgia to help move her mom out of her apartment. Mom's moving in with her and her husband in Georgia. I'll be spending the next two days with her to help her with the hard stuff...emptying and purging her mother's possessions.

Cyd makes a granola recipe that she and her two sisters developed. (I've known them since they were little, too.) They call it "Three Sisters Granola". Last time Cyd was here, I gave her a bottle of my hickory syrup, which she used in her recipe. She said it's better than the maple syrup she's used in the past, and they may need to change the recipe to "Four Sisters Granola"! hee hee Anyway, she needs more syrup, so I'm happy to oblige.

Moving Into The Studio

 

Handsome had to travel about an hour away to pick up some electronics he had out for repair, so I rode with him. When he was finished, we drove sixty miles south of there to Nancy's Notions in Beaver Dam to pick up this...

 

I have a new "baby"lock moving into the studio. This is the Ovation serger. Babylock discontinued this model, but the replacement is just like it, except that the new one has an auto needle threader and name. Otherwise, they're pretty much the same, and Nancy's was having a fabulous sale on this one!

 

Score one for me! I traded in my little Imagine Wave serger (also Babylock) which brought the price down even more. When all was said and done, it cost me less than I paid for the Evolution (Evvie) that I sold a couple of years ago (and regretted ever since). Now I have a larger, newer, better model than she was (sorry, Evvie), and I can't wait to play with her.

 

Playtime will have to wait until I get back from Cyd's mom's, so I likely won't open the box until late Saturday, or Sunday. Once I get her set up, I'll share photos, but in the meantime...What shall I name her? Ideas?

The Joys Of A Lifelong Friendship...

"Senior Selfie". The Quartermans and the Liljegrens. Happy.

 I'm calling this our "senior selfie".

My oldest friend, Cyd and her husband, Bill decided at the last minute to make a long weekend trip to Florida. They started with friends north of us in Pinellas County and got to our home on Saturday. They stayed with us overnight before moving to their next destination.

Quartermans and Liljegrens

It was a short visit, but we made the most of it. We shared a meal; stayed up late; caught up on each others' lives and remembered treasured, shared memories. Best of all, we promised to do it again very, very soon.

Donna Liljegren and Cyd Quarterman

This is what a fifty four year old friendship looks like.  

When we're together, it always feels like home. Cyd is one of the few people in this entire world who makes me feel this way. We've shared our lives since we were six years old. We can be apart for ages, but when we come together, it's as though only minutes have passed and we slip back into our comfortable roles as the best of friends.

Equally joyful is that our husbands enjoy spending time together, so we can chat as a group or have separate conversations with ease. We've promised to get together between here and Georgia more often. Next time, we'll likely go to their home. Until then, we have these newest memories to remind us of how blessed we are to have each other.

Oh, What A Night...

 ...and what a great day, too! 

My class reunion day began with Cyd. We ate lunch at a favorite restaurant

in my home town. Afterward, she and I hopped in the car and went to my

Aunty Margaret and Uncle Dick's home near the lake. Because of our long

shared history, she loves my aunt and uncle as much as I do, so we stopped

by for a few cups of English tea, biscuits and conversation. We also got to
tour their beautiful floral gardens while we were there. Both of them enjoy
gardening. (I love to "look".) It was a truly lovely afternoon spent with them.

Yesterday was Aunty's Birthday and our visit was only part of her gift.

We're not finished surprising her, either.

Happy Birthday, Aunty Margaret!

 After we finished our tea and thanked them both for their hospitality,

we drove back into town to our old neighborhood where Cyd had

reserved accommodations at a Bed & Breakfast in a carriage house.

It was behind a home we passed every day as kids. It was perfect!

We got ready to go to the reunion, and we were able to walk to the venue

from the B & B. (We even used some of the shortcuts we used as kids!)

l-r: Sue, Karen, Cyd, Deb, Jean and moi!

 Old girlfriends couldn't wait to catch up...after a picture, of course!

l-r: Colleen, Patti, John, Cyd, Mrs. Eric, Erik, Jeff and me

So many friends, so little time!

From our class of nearly 700, there were about 140 people who came out

to reminisce and celebrate. I didn't want to miss saying hello to a single 

one of them. I took lots of photos to share on our class Facebook page, 

and I have many more to add to my own personal photo album at home.

I still had plenty of time to enjoy hearing about how friends are doing now. 

There are wives, husbands, children and grandchildren for some of us.

Some are retired, some enjoying interesting travels and exciting careers. All

of us are blessed with good health and we were all so happy to see each other.

l-r: Sherryl, Mutzie, Del and me

 I even spent part of the evening catching up with my step-sister, Sherryl, old

roomie, Mutz and a great friend, Del. These are friendships that have lasted

 a lifetime. We had so much fun talking about old apartments, old crushes

 (sometimes thanking God for unanswered prayers!), and all things new.

A friend asked me Saturday night what I have learned in the past forty years.

I thought about it a moment, remembering that every single classmate I saw

greeted me with a smile and a hug. (We hugged a lot last weekend!) and I

replied, "After forty years, everyone is equal...everyone is a friend."

All the silly cliques have disappeared. We were genuinely happy to see

each other. We realize now that we were all young, all struggling to find

our places in life. We were developing our personalities into the people 

we are today. We were becoming our wonderful, unique adult selves.

Now, we can value each other for our differences, as much as 

for all those qualities that make us the same. Although it seems to have

taken forever, in grand retrospect, it was actually just the blink of an eye.

We've all grown up.

Happy 40th, Class of 1973.

I'll never forget the great celebration we shared this year.

You're all truly the best of the best.

Feels Like Home...

 It was after midnight when I got home last night...too late to edit a 

pile of photographs from an evening spent with old school friends.

A small group of us gathered at a local restaurant to kick off a weekend commemorating the 40th year since we graduated from high school together. I saw many old friends and we talked about shared memories, but none like the memories I share with this one woman.

Cyd and I have been friends since we first laid eyes on each other in first grade. That was fifty two years ago. We both had long braids and when she walked into our classroom as a new student, we immediately hit it off. We became friends in that instant, and we've been fast friends ever since. 

If you're lucky enough to have one friend in your life like this, then you're lucky enough, indeed. The kind of friend who knows your own childhood as well as you do. The kind of friend who's shared the best and worst of times with you. The kind of friend who you can be away from for years, and never doubt that you're still BFFs...slipping back into conversation like a comfortable, well-loved, favorite sweater. You just know that you'll be friends until you die.

I'll be spending the day with her today, and then we're going to spend the night together at a bed & breakfast right in the middle of our old neighborhood. She lived on Olcott Street, and I on Division Street. The B & B is on the corner of Olcott and Division. We'll go to the reunion and when they kick us out, we'll sit up all night catching up on years of old stories.

I love this woman. When I'm with her, I'm a kid again. We're safe and steadfast. Being with her is easy. When I'm with her, it feels like home.

Resting In Jackson Center...

 What day is it? Oh, yeah...It's HUMP DAY! (lol)

Monday was mostly spent looking out my passenger window at the view,

and our Flying Cloud in my rear view mirror. We were stuck in traffic an

inordinate amount of time. Cincinnati to Dayton, OH was the worst, so by the

time we reached Jackson Center (the Airstream Factory) we were whipped.

 We shared travel stories with other Airstreamers today, bought a few items in

the gift shop and rested while we had a few things done to our Flying Cloud.

 We'll finish up the last of our list today, but we are enjoying our 

camping location in the TerraPort with each other, Tag and Ceri.

 The dogs are fabulous travelers. Tag is an ol' pro, and Ceri is taking pointers from

 him. She's great at hopping into her safe spot (her kennel) in the back seat of our

truck. After she's crated, Tag jumps in next to her on his great padded bed. They

have lots of room to snooze while we drive, but they prefer nights in our camper.

(We won't mention the time Handsome took Tag outside to air him out and 

returned to find Ceri innocently standing smack in the middle of our dinette table.)

Today, we'll have just a few more things done by the Airstream techs and then

we'll motor to Champagne, IL where we'll rest for the night. By Thursday, we'll

be back in our old stomping grounds for the next couple of weeks. We can't wait!

I've been on the phone with my grade school BFF, Cyd and we're looking forward

to seeing each other for an overnight visit - and our 40th class reunion. A great 

beginning to our time in Wisconsin...with many more new memories to make.

I think I'll work on a little needlework during the day today. 

I'll show you what I accomplish tomorrow. 

Oh, and we're really loving central Ohio's weather, too. 

We couldn't have asked for anything better.

God Knows...

God always knows best what I need and when I need it...and He always takes care of me. This I know. Today was a perfect example.A package arrived in the mail, but I was in the middle of something, so although I saw it on the counter, I didn't immediately go to see what it was. When I did...I was immediately filled with excitement. You see, the package was from my oldest and dearest friend, Cyd.

I'm blessed to have a handful of women I call dear friends, with whom I've shared the majority of my life...Cyd, Laura Ann Elizabeth, Linda, Jill and Lee. Each one has been a trusted and loving friend who has known my heart and my deepest thoughts for over twenty years, but I've known Cyd the longest.

We've been friends since the first day of first grade - nearly fifty years! On that first day of school, she walked into the classroom with her strawberry blonde braids. As I gazed upon her beautiful face, she looked at me with my equally long, but dark-haired braids. In our classroom, the teacher, Mrs. Kerr, always assigned a "seasoned" student to accompany the "new kid" for the day. She said, "Donna, will you be Cindy's friend today?" and as Cindy looked at my face, I replied that I would. We became fast friends from that moment on.

We shared all our grade school years together. We walked to and from school, had sleepovers at each others houses, shared crushes on the same boys, waded through the creek at the hospital, rode our bikes home with wet hair (that turned to icicles in the winter) after hours swimming at the YMCA, laughed, cried and shared our deepest secrets. Even our parents became friends.

As we grew older, we had separate interests, but always knew our hearts were safe with - and belonged to - each other forever. We didn't need to commandeer each other's time. In fact, we've gone years without a word, just knowing that we're always there for each other. I don't ever remember a hurtful word uttered from one of us to the other. We've always been friends who respected each other too much for that. That's not to say we didn't disagree, but we always did it with consideration for each other. I can't remember when we've ever not loved each other...in spite of all the years and distance and separate families.

Today, I opened that box and was filled with emotion.
A note from my friend and gifts from her past, given to me.
A beautiful vintage valentine and wedding card...
Old laces...
crocheted doilies, coasters and dresser scarves...

precious hankies, embroideries and vintage linens...

and antique cardboard advertising fans with the sweetest images...

I was literally overcome with emotion. Emotion knowing that this incredible woman thought of me and sent this box of precious memories to me. Emotion knowing that we'll love each other as the dearest of friends until we die. Emotion knowing that God sent her to me all those years ago, and keeps her safe and in my life as we grow older. This dear, precious friend for all my life. God knew just what I needed today. Yet again, I am blessed.

The photo of me with Cyd (she'll always be "Cindy" to me, as I'll always be "Dee" to her) was taken in 1965 in my parent's living room. (I was 11 years old. Cyd slightly younger.) We had spent the day ice skating at the rink on Fourth Street in Fond du Lac (Wisconsin). We always stayed out until our feet froze, and when we got home, there was a roaring fire in the fireplace. Those were the days...