Cardboard Castles

Like most kids nowadays -- Lilly and Warren have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. I have no idea how you can avoid that accumulation of stuff. It's just the consumer-driven world we live in. They have every toy, stuffed animal, video game, riding cycle thing, I-pads, electronics -- well, you name it. Their lives are jammed TO THE BRIM with toys and games of all types.

Then this happened...

After the holidays, Lilly and Warren pretty much took over the spare bedroom upstairs. After serving as our Christmas "escape room" -- my new hope for this large sunny upstairs bedroom was that it would become Lilly's room.

With the Lego table from Uncle Ross positioned in the small main floor bedroom, I figured that would become Warren's room.

During this transitioning...of course, it was time for me to GO THROUGH everything in those rooms to make room for this next phase of my Grandma life.

I discovered a drawer full of mismatched socks Ross left behind in 2004...a closet full of coats that haven't been worn since George Bush was President (the first one).  Well -- you get the picture.

And then, we opened the closet!!  It was jam-packed with Ross and Elliott's 1980's childhood toys.  He Man and all his friends, along with a whole squad of WWF wrestling characters...an electronic football game (that was played maybe two times)...well, you get the idea.  It was quite a stroll down memory lane...

Of course, Lilly and Warren had to check out e.v.e.r.y...s.i.n.g.l.e...t.h.i.n.g...

But -- can you guess what was the ONE REALLY BIG THING??  The one toy from that 1980's treasure trove of toys??

Yep.

The cardboard castle....

Ross was six years old when he sat on our porch and painted these cardboard boxes...

There used to be four cardboard towers on top (cornmeal)...

And this made me wonder...why is it that cornmeal and oatmeal come in round cardboard containers? I think it's always been packaged that way...but it does feel kind of old-fashioned. Hummm...

Back of Chair #1

OMG -- sewing my new chairs has been SOOO MUCH FUN...I'm working on chair #3 now, and I think it's the best one yet.

This was Chair #1....remember?

I showed you THIS side of the chair back...

But I forgot to show you what was on the BACK of chair #1...(thanks for the reminder, Sharon...!)

Here's the thing. This project has gone way beyond sewing furniture. As it turns out, every piece has a philosophy...and I AM LOVING IT...

School Carnival

Last year, for the school carnival, Lilly and Warren decorated cakes for the "cake walk". This year, the carnival kind of snuck up on me...so there was no baking. But, of course, IT'S A TRDITION...so -- off we go!!

The gym has all kinds of games set up.

I like the "bounce a ball into a solo cup" game.

There were matchbox car races...

Every kid has a necklace, where the gamekeepers marked the "points" the kids earn by playing the games.

Which was a big improvement over those cumbersome "tickets" we used when I was running the PTA...

Warren's necklace may turn up in a later blog story...

There was a giant cake walk, and a hot dog lunch...but, of course, the big payoff was taking the necklace into the "prize room". They get to spend their accumulated points to buy cheapo crap made in China. (rubber dinosaurs are 20 points, little jars of slime are 40 points, etc).

Mary's Visit, Day 3

I am lucky to have ANY PICTURES AT ALL of Mary and her recent visit. The battery charger for my favorite camera is MIA...and then, I have this new laptop -- with WINDOWS 10 -- and nothing about my old (not favorite) camera (born in 1993?) wants to marry with this 2018 computer.

But -- enough whining for today. (But consider yourself warned -- I am planning to do some BIGTIME WHINING in the very near future)...

On Thursday, we were planning to visit Cedar Rapids -- where my young friend Anne would be our tour guide.

However, life got in the way of that trip...so we spent the day in nearby Clinton, Iowa instead. Anne came to join us -- and it was an action packed day...

And, of course -- THERE WAS TREASURE..

Anne found the perfect "church" plate. (it was a private Lutheran joke)

It's a discount department store straight out of the 60's.  BEFORE Walmart...

.

At our first thrift store, Anne found this red wool circle wrap...THAT'S CASHMERE, PEOPLE...

A few years back, Mary and I did a Ya Ya show that was all about WRAPS -- and the wrap we featured in that pattern came from a circle wrap I purchased in NEW YORK CITY.  So, of course, we called it the "New York City Circle Wrap"...

This wrap still had the tags on it...and the price???  $8....

We had to go to Bargain Bonanza, a wonderful GIANT thrift store in North Clinton

Then -- on to a NEW PLACE.  I can't believe I never thought about taking Mary to Paul's.  OMG...

Paul's has a little bit of everything...hunting gear, kids clothes, garden items, chicken feed, cast iron cookware...

…..candy cigarettes...!!

Anne was raised in Clinton County -- so she is well familiar with the area.  AND PAUL'S IS A HOOT...!!

Chair #2...

Honestly -- I do not know what people do if they do NOT SEW. There has been quite a bit of turmoil in my life lately -- and SEWING MY NEW CHAIRS has brought me great joy.

this sequins t-shirt has been living in my t-shirt mountain for years...

Of course, they NYC scene is the BACK of the chair!!

Hell, just picking out the t-shirts is a fabulous trip down memory lane for me...

To review -- this is what the chairs looked like BEFORE they got Frankensewed...

Seriously. HOW MUCH FUN IS THIS???!!

2018-2019 WINTER

Hey -- this really has been a WINTER.

If you live in the Midwest, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. We had our first snow in November...then there were ice storms...and unbelievable frigid cold temperatures....more snow...and it j.u.s.t...k.e.p.t...c.o.m.i.n.g….

Last Wednesday, we had another "ALL DAY SNOW EVENT". It's March...and there's a good chance this will be the last "snow event" of the winter.  I sat in my living room, working on Winter Puzzle #135 (just guessing) -- looking out the picture window.  I knew I wouldn't be able to leave my house on Thursday...so I just kept working on my puzzle, watching the snow...and before I knew it, it was 4:00 AM. 

It occurred to me that I actually love winter. 

You just FEEL GOOD that you've survived it, y'know?  Because of WINTER -- you have to make the most of the good days...and you look forward to being able to get out...and you plan your escape. But, then, you have no choice but to hunker down on the bad days. 

And those bad days have made me grateful for so many simple things. Heat. Television. Sewing projects. Books. Coffeemakers. Puzzles....

Indoor plumbing.....  

The thing is -- there is a certain satisfaction in actually DOING things like shoveling the sidewalk. And because you absolutely CANNOT get out of your house on many days -- you SUPER ENJOY the days when you CAN get out of the house. 

And -- if you do all that -- if you survive the winter...it is exhilarating.  YOU ARE TRIUMPHANT...truly...

Blanket Handles

So, okay -- you know all about my sheet-sharing-service. I take fresh line-dried sheets into Val's house every-other-Sunday. It's a fun thing for me to share some of my superfluous bed linen knowledge with my friend.

Because of her debilitating arthritis, the act of pulling wet sheets out of her washing machine is a very big, painful job.

I especially love changing Val's bed with the seasons...and as the weather got colder, of course, I added some blankets.

But I didn't realize how hard it is for Val to pull winter blankets up from the bottom of the bed.

Well, DUH, Rita!! Of course that's difficult for her. I think Val's had 19 surgeries, two knee replacements, a hip replacement, an elbow fusion, four different hand surgeries...and her hands are basically worthless. If you paid her a million dollars, she could not make a fist.

So -- of course -- I decided to make a blanket handle. !!

As it happens, I had a t-shirt that was the PERFECT matching color.

I cut 3" strips out of the t-shirt, and sewed it down every 6" or so...

My logic was Val can hook her hand under the t-shirt strip, and pull the blanket up...

I sewed the "handle" all across the top of the blanket...

Oh, yeah, this was a very good idea...