Where I Will Be Teaching....

NOT!

Goodness! You all are beautiful kind souls! Thank-you so much for your comments on that last post(it's comforting knowing you all can relate) and your interest in the teaching opportunity that has come my way. I will tell you this. I am excited, a bit overwhelmed and scared out of my red boots! LOL! A couple of months ago I was approached by the adult education supervisor at our Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC) here in Rice Lake. She had heard about my rug hooking through a friend of ours who works with my hubby Dave.
To make a long story short, we came up with a three session evening class that fits into their Leisure Time Activity category. My class is titled Fiber Art Creations. This is an introductory class on the basics of traditional/primitive rug hooking. The classes are two hours each and will be three evening sessions over a three week time period. The classes start the end of Feb. I want to share more of this adventure with you in upcoming posts. Here is a greeting card the college had on their website that will entertain you temporarily.(note: the classes will be held indoors in a fully heated classroom on campus and the only "hooking" will be with wool and not fishing poles!  LOL).
 

Click on the link below to be transported to an ice fishing hole somewhere near here in AnyTown Northern Wi!  

http://www.witc.edu/greetings/egreeting10.htm

Looking Forward!

Leaving a decade behind is almost too much for me to bear.  So, I am looking forward, trying in earnest not to drag the past into the present.  Today's post is foolishness to say the least.  What better way to prepare for the turning of the calendar tomorrow night than to while away a dark winters day taking odd photos of myself!

Horizontal tends to slim a person.  No?  Well, I thought I'd give it a try!

One of the things I've been noticing around here the last few days is crepe neck.  As in crepe paper! Yikes!  Well, the more I look at it, I kind of like it.  Really.  It has a kind of thin, opaque, curious sort of texture. Almost angelic. Maybe I should check for wings sprouting on the backside!

Nope. Nothing yet. 

That's a good thing. 

I am staying grounded for awhile yet.  As a matter of fact I am preparing for a class. Something new for 2011.  I am getting ready. 

And if you can believe it......this goofy, crepe neck, aging, wingless, creature isn't going to be a student.

No sir.  She's gonna be the teacher!

Sweet Blessings in 2011!

Cathy G

The Mashed Potatoes

Our Christmas Day went off without a hitch.  Not counting the mashed potatoes.  I had the brainy idea this year to have both a turkey breast and a ham for dinner.  I have one oven in the kitchen.  And I didn't want to fire-up old Betsy the wood cookstove for fear of guests leaving because the house was 85 degrees!  So I decided to run the ham down to my Moms and use her oven. 

Dave's job was to peel the potatoes for the mashed potatoes.  He did a fine job and put them on the stove in some water.  I went about preparing the green bean casserole etc.  My sister-in- law Kathy and I walked over to Mom's to retrieve the ham.  Everything was done and ready to put on the table and I lifted the lid on the potatoes expecting them to be ready to mash.  Nope, no steam except for the steam coming out of my head.  Potatoes were stone cold and would need at least another half hour to cook and get mashed before dinner would be ready.  Everyone settled back down for a little more egg nog to await the cooking and mashing of the potatoes. 

I guess I thought it was the job of the one who peeled the potatoes to make sure they got boiled as well.   What do you folks think? 

Our dinner was fabulous and the mashed potatoes seemed extra yummy this year.  Go figure.

Dave and I have become very resourceful over the years in making and coming up with gifts that cost little yet are made and given with the recipients needs in mind.  Bundles of kindling wood for the fireplace are carefully hand cut and tied with bright red cord for friends who actually use their fireplaces. Dave gets the nice dry pine from crating from a friends business that  would other wise be destined for the land fill. 

I hooked these coasters for Lisa.  The moon and star motif were simple stencils that I traced onto the background linen.  I decided to pad them with a little quilt batting and quilt the backs.  They turned out nice and have a little cushioning for hot mugs of cocoa!  

More to come......in the meantime I hope you are basking in the after Holiday glow and don't have to return too many of those gifts!

Cathy G 

Another One Bit The Dust!

Another year that is!  Yesterday was my birthday. The fifty-seventh to be exact.   I'm still kind of in the dark as to where all those years went!  But one thing I know for sure is at my age I've decided to live a little more dangerously! LOL  While shopping at the Goodwill store yesterday with a little birthday cash burning a hole in my pocket, I spotted these cute red leather boots.  I tried them on and man were they comfy!  So for 9.99 I decided they were going to be mine!  As a matter of fact they will go nicely with a red wool jacket I bought last year at Goodwill.  It made me wonder what kind of trouble I could get into wearing red leather boots!   

Well, I didn't have to wait long to find out.  After finishing a little shopping (with my Mom and Lisa) Mom needed to stop at the bank.  Upon backing out of the parking stall we heard this awful sounding crunching noise!  Oh   ##&P!  Yep, I had introduced my back side bumper to a utility pole!  Now I could come up with a few good excuses as to why I didn't see a three foot wide giant telephone pole, but nothing really sounds believable. So I'm chalking it up to wanting to live a little a more dangerously and buying a pair of red leather boots!  What else could it be? 

We haven't found out the cost for the repairs, but even though it really doesn't look all that bad I can tell you from past experience the dollar amount will put my checking account in the red!  Hey, at least it will match my boots and coat!

Are you all ready for the Christmas weekend?  I need to make one more trip to the grocery store and then I think I can stay home and clean the house.  

Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

Cathy G

The Milk Hauler

The snow storms of late here in Northern Wisconsin have stirred memories of big red trucks with steel plows and tire chains...... and little red snowsuits with fur collars and tightly knit red mittens. I've drifted back to the early 1950's when the milk hauler was probably the first vehicle many a farmer would see coming down the driveway after a blizzard had dumped five feet of snow. The cow's warm and creamy milk awaited in heavy steel cans for the milk hauler to transport it to the creamery.
The front end buckets on tractors that most farmers used to clear their long driveways would take days to clear all the snow, so milk haulers trucks were usually equipped with big steel plows for the job. Before the sun rose and  well into the dark of night the milk haulers made their rounds picking up the cans of milk. While breaking open the dirt roads and driveways some would take precious time to make a round or two in the farmer's yard between the house and barn.
I know my Dad was appreciated and loved by those farmers back then. He saved them many an hour and cleared the drifting roads besides. Around Christmas time I remember a plate of cookies and maybe  a brand new pair of leather gloves being rushed out the door down to the milk house where Dad was lifting the heavy steel cans dripping and steaming from the cement troughs. Sometimes a farmer would bring out a bottle of home made wine and beg Dad to have a sip to bring a little cheer to help him tough out his long and hard journey to the remaining farms on his route.
The work was grueling and tough but  Dad knew how much those farmers depended on him. The sight of that pretty red truck with the plow throwing snow ten feet high and roaring down the driveway meant they could get their cars and trucks to town for groceries and to the feed mill. There was always a smile and a good solid handshake for the milk hauler. And at Christmas time some candy for his five kids who  were waiting at home.