The NEW Porch Table (1)

Our porch is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Really. In the summer -- it is the heart of our home. John is back to feeding scores of hummingbirds, and we often eat breakfast on the porch. It's where the kids do their Grandma Camp crafting, last week we had our first pesto of the year...

Over the years, NO ROOM in this house has encountered as many changes as our porch. For one thing, the furniture out there has to endure the Iowa elements. 100 degrees in the summer...and 20 below in the winter...

Also, it's nice to have a space where I can experiment. Remember the year I painted the porch couch? If it hadn't worked out -- hey -- IT'S JUST THE PORCH..!!

When the boys were small, I had two picnic tables on the porch.  Eventually, they got all splintery and worn out.  Even new paint couldn't save them.

The next phase in the porch furniture saga was a formica kitchen table. This was a GREAT new addition, and for the next 20 years, many wonderful porch parties took place around that table.

I had six black chrome chairs that went with the table.  But they were VERY uncomfortable...

Last summer, I found these black metal chairs at an Estate sale. They were $4 each, and I was thrilled. They have a much bigger seat, and are very comfortable.

But, sadly, my wonderful formica table was showing it's age. The legs were rusty, and the formica itself was beginning to separate and bubble...

As Ritaluck would have it -- I saw this WONDERFUL dark gray formica table at the local Goodwill. It was only $8.88.  AND IT PERFECTLY MATCHES MY NEW CHAIRS..!!

Believe it or not -- the first time I saw the table, I did NOT buy it. Getting the old table off the porch seemed like a really big job, and I'd have to borrow a truck to pick up the new table and what will I do with the old one?

Ugh.

But, of course, the NEXT day, I had why-didn't-I-buy-it-remorse -- so I went BACK to the Goodwill store. On my way, I called Ross to ask him if we could switch cars for the day (he has a truck)...He could drive my car to work, and I'd use his truck to pick up the new table, and load the old one up to take to the Salvation Army.

Without hesitation, Ross said, "No, Mom. Did you forget you already have a table on the porch?"

Crap.

So, there I was, standing in the Goodwill store...thinking maybe Ross is right...this is just too much work....I'm about to walk away from the wonderful table for the SECOND time...

When the Goodwill lady made this announcement:

"We have an unadvertised special -- ALL FURNITURE IS 50% off today...cash and carry. If you buy it today, you have 2 days to pick it up."

Honestly. $4.44??

Who could pass up that deal?

Hey --  my sister Ronda has a pick-up truck!!  

Bachlorette

So -- your question is -- how could there possibly be any redeeming social content in the ridiculous "Bachelorette"??

Don't judge me, people...

If you have been living under a rock, here's the concept.  One woman meets 30 men...and each week, she gives  a "rose" to the guys who will STAY...and she sends somebody home every week.

Hannah started with 30 "bachelors"

From the first week, Luke P. has been one of her favorites. Lilly refers to him as "Mr. 40 I.Q."

Lilly is 10 years old, and she's trying to figure out a lot of things. In today's world -- dating and boy-girl relationships are complicated. And how many chances will you have to actually discuss these issues with a child?  How does that conversation even start?  This show gives us PLENTY of opportunity to talk about many situations Lilly will encounter one day.

For example, something as simple as talking to another person and getting to know them....

During one conversation between Hannah and "Mr. 40 I.Q." -- Lilly counted the number of times both of them said the word "like". OMG...it is SUCH A BAD SPEECH HABIT.  Maybe they don't even realize they're saying it -- but won't they be embarrassed when they watch this show back? Because, in the course of maybe two minutes, Hannah used the word "like" 53 times...and Luke wasn't far behind...with 41....

It was, like, so annoying!! Like, do you know what I mean?

Also, I am constantly pointing out to Lilly that Hannah only TALKS about having real conversations. She never really has one. And, when faced with an uncomfortable silence (this happens to her A LOT), her go-to move is to start french-kissing whatever bachelor she's with. Ugh.

So, in many ways, the Bachlorette has provided lessons in what NOT TO DO when you're trying to get to know somebody.

Then, too, there's this.

Every contestant, when he's on camera, has his name on the screen, and his "job" underneath. Like, Connor is an investment analyst, Peter is a pilot, yada yada...

Garrett is a "golf pro"

Three weeks ago,  Garrett comes on screen and Lilly hit the pause button...

 Lilly: What's a golf pro, Grandma? 

Me: It's a boy who likes to play golf...so he tries to get on the tour and win money, but he isn't good enough. Unfortunately, he spent too much time during college playing golf,  he can't get a real job so he sits in the clubhouse at a golf course, selling clubs and giving lessons to guys like Grandpa.

This Grandma is all about the education, people...

Later on in that episode, some guy named Grant was being sent home.  Under his name, the screen said, "unemployed"...and I started to laugh -- because who, in their right mind, would choose a guy who has NO job??

While eating her popcorn, Lilly commented, "yeah, well -- what choice did he have?  Golf Pro was already taken."

Summer Television!!

My Grandma Camp is different from YOUR Grandma Camp. And that's okay. Lilly and Warren spend the night here on Friday, and I have them all day Saturday. Sure, we do some quality stuff -- we go to the park, or visit a library, go swimming, make a craft project or attend the occasional theatrical production.

But it's a lot of time to fill, people.

And, honestly -- one of our favorite things to do on a Friday night is to simply kick back and watch our recorded television shows. We love Project Runway, American Ninja Warrier or Cake Boss...or America's Got Talent (did you see this kid??)



But, in the interest of full disclosure -- one of our CANNOT MISS programs this summer has been the 15th Season of "The Bachelorette".

Thank you, Sharon!!

Yesterday, I missed a phone call...but, as it turns out, that was a good thing. Because the caller left a message that was so kind, and so uplifting -- I listened to it three times.  And then I saved it. 

So, now I have a message on my phone that I can listen to ANY TIME I NEED A LIFT.

It was from a Sew Expo friend...

Sharon -- your message came at the EXACT right moment in my life....and I will save it FOREVER.

I wrote this post in 2013:

Here's a vintage post...about one of my favorite Sew Expo people...

******************

On the second day of Sew Expo -- Sharon Stone called to tell me she had ARRIVED. Sometime before I even left Iowa -- Sharon had emailed to let me know she would be delivering 350 pillowcases for the children of Mary Bridge. I gave her my cellphone number and said she should call me ANY TIME -- and I would help her deliver the pillowcases...

Mallory from the hospital went with me...it turns out 350 pillowcases makes for a VERY HEAVY LOAD...

Sharon is one of my special Sew Expo friends. One of those really good people...she reads my blog, sends me comments, cards, and encouragement. She loves the show -- but is always honest about when things are good or bad. AND she and her friends worked all year long to make these hundreds of pillowcases... (she always wanted to make sure SHE DIDN'T TAKE ALL THE CREDIT) --
Hey -- I miss you already, Sharon!!
The other day -- she forwarded this email -- and it is so well thought out -- I had to share...!!

Being Green...

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truly recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.

But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart-a young person.

The Tie Dye REVEAL

The thing about tie-dye is that it's a TWO DAY process.

We brought all our projects home, in individual plastic bags. Then, Lilly laid them out on the porch to sit overnight.

The following day, we took all the bands off to see what happened...

Some projects were kind of disappointing...

Some turned out spectacular.

We went BACK to the farm for our final Style Show Photos!!

I used my Featherweight to sew two t-shirts together for Maddie's t-shirt dress

Her favorite project was the white cotton sun dress (it has an interesting lace back)...now turned pink!

I decided SUE needed to be wearing some tie-dye, so I slapped this together for her...AND NOBODY WILL EVER SEE HER WEARING THIS DRESS...NOT EVER...lol...

But she wore it to be a good sport -- for our final PHOTO...(my own top actually turned out pretty good -- I'll try to take a better picture)..

Lilly did bits, too -- she cut some things up, and made a scarf out of a curtain -- and many headbands.

Oh, yeah -- our Tie Dye Day on the Farm was a rip-roaring success. With lasting souvenirs!!

Tie Dye and MORE

Besides tie-dye -- there was a lot more to this day on the farm...I can always count on my friend Sue to do things in the most gracious, elegant, OLD SCHOOL way. Sue made lunch for the kids, and Kim took them on a ride down to the farm pond on his golf cart...

It was so hot -- they kids ended up in swimsuits, playing with the garden hose...that quintessential, old fashioned Iowa summertime activity.

Late in the afternoon -- Sue made Root Beer Floats. A.K.A. -- Black Cows!! With, of course, REAL A&W Root Beer.

This might have been a first for Warren!!

But Sue's grandkids knew EXACTLY what to expect.

Just mowing this yard is a full time job!  It really is one giant park.

Warren was pretty pleased with his tree climbing abilities.

This day could NOT have been better!!

The kids had such a rip roaring good time.

Tomorrow, you'll get to see how their projects turned out!!

Grandma Camp Tie Dye On the Farm

I'm certainly not the only woman who is running a Grandma Camp this summer. And everybody does it in their own way. I have the kids one at a time during the week, and together on Saturday. My friend Sue has her grandkids come stay on the farm with her for a week at a time. Because they live in other states -- that's just the way it works.

She lives in a beautifully restored old farmhouse...which has been in her family for over 100 years.

Sue and her husband Kim have lovingly restored her childhood home...and sharing it with her grandkids is the #1 joy in her life. On this day, I brought Lilly and Warren -- for our annual TIE DYE event with Sue's North Carolina grands...

We set ourselves up under a shady tree...

Then, the kids got busy

I set up a Featherweight, just in case we needed to Frankensew some projects. (we did)

It was the PERFECT summer day

Sue was shocked that I brought a basket with over 30 items to be tie-dyed.

Hey -- I've been to this tie-dye rodeo...and if each child is just doing ONE t-shirt, it takes about 3 minutes. And ALL THAT DYE will go to waste. I'd packed up tons of thrift-store white cotton items...and picking out their projects was half the fun...

Warren really got into it.

But he got tired of doing the rubber bands -- so decided to experiment by laying a shirt flat on the ground, then spraying the dye...Hummm...that could work...

The girls started to experiment with different methods.

We had a GIANT box of 36 different colors.

They did shirts, dresses, jackets, pillowcases -- you name it!!

So -- how could this day possibly be more perfect?

Well -- it was two days before the Quad City Air Show.  Sue's farm is 3 miles from the QC Airport.  And -- guess who was practicing that day? RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS?? Over and over again...all afternoon...we were entertained by the world class

BLUE ANGELS...

Really...I'm not making this up. Our Tie Dye day on the farm REALLY HAPPENED...