I simply cannot recommend the movie,

. . . especially to someone 13 years or younger. Or a parent thinking it was okay to take their child to see that kind of violence.

I've not read the book yet, so I cannot compare the two. However, there were several things in the movie that did not ring true.

One is you cannot eat squirrel or rabbit in warm weather. I'm not sure about birds. Which begs the question as to why Katniss was always hunting, but not fishing? American Indians developed a dam funnel technique in which fish followed an increasingly narrow waterway to make catching them easier.

Another key factor is if the districts had been segregated for 75 years, problems would develop within the gene pool. Case in point, a past history within the Amish communities of a higher percentage of birth defects.

Applachian people have a long history of living off the land. If game were not available, wild plants for food and medicine would be to some degree. Holistic medicine passed down from the Cherokee people is still in practice in this area of the country.

Gardening, seed saving, canning and pickling are also very much in evidence, especially in a suppressed economy.

I could go on and on, but the one major flaw in the movie was how the camera kept swinging around from one spot to the next, making me rather dizzy.

The popcorn was good though.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Here comes Peter Cottontail,

Hoppin' down the bunny trail.

Sorry couldn't resist. But Easter is just around the corner.

And I've decided that Dolly needs a buddy . . . a bunny buddy.

So if you happen to know of anyone selling Flemish rabbits in North Georgia, Eastern Tennessee, or Western North Carolina, would you let me know.

I'm looking for 2 fawn and 1 gray.

Thanks sew much, San n' Dolly

There's nothing like a little tornado to stir things up.

Dolly and I are fine though, as it mainly hit the business section of town. A couple of the grocery stores were damaged, a lot of trees came down, especially on the mountainside.

This is alongside the main road into town.

The high school and middle school sustained some damage, but volunteers were out right away on Saturday helping to clean up.

An old feed store was badly damaged along with a storage building. You can see debris scattered in the background. Some homes were damaged outside of town. Thankfully, there were no injuries or loss of life even though it came through when folks were having dinner at a popular restaurant and were shopping at Wal-Mart.

I spoke with a Wal-Mart employee on Sunday who had been in the store when it came through. She said it sounded like a freight train and of course she was scared as all power was out. They locked the doors and moved everyone to the back of the building.

As I drove around town on Sunday looking at the various used car lots, gas stations, stacks of firewood for sale, I thought how much worse it could have been with all kinds of debris flying through the air not to mention the fact that houses are much closer together in town.

So all in all we were quite lucky. I live several miles outside of town and never lost power.

Very lucky indeed.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Lots of quiet time,

going on here lately . . .

Mom has a bad case of bronchitis and will return soon.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Ol' Man Winter

Came knockin' on our door this morning. We woke up to a balmy 21 degrees, the first dusting of snow, with the low going down to 16 tonight.

If you're experiencing similar temps, please be sure to bring your pets inside and provide plenty of fresh water to prevent hypothermia.

You may want to pour 1 or 2 tablespoons of margerine or oil on your pet's food. Wood stove or electric heat can have a drying effect on their coat and the oil helps counteract that. Folks who live in states such as Colorado know this, as the air is always so dry there, but those of us on the east coast sometimes need a reminder.

I'm working on the 4th QOV quilt top tonight. As soon as they have borders, I'll take a group shot and share.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Happy, happy, HAPPY dance

Did I mention happy?

Some things are better than chocolate. A new 8 foot x 9 foot design wall is one of them.

Along with a felt-covered, core board backsplash above the pressing station.

And a wonderful puppy who got a tire rubber/rope toy from Santa. (Tractor Supply has the best toys for big dogs that actually last.)

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year. Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Waiting for Santa

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas from Dolly and I.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

The elves have been busy!

This may not look like much, but it means a LOT to me. It's the 2 x 4 support board upon which my design wall will hang. It's been waiting since July to go up.

Somebody likes to be in the middle of everything including chaos. Currently I'm re-painting the opposite wall where the spray starch dissolved the paint. I'll put up some core-board insulation to protect that area. I'm hoping by January the room will be ready so I can sew again.

I love my house, I really do. AND, this new furniture arrangement will allow me to set up my quilting table in front of the pellet stove. I've not finished a quilt in over 3 years and I'm

looking forward to catching up with everyone else. I'll also be finishing tops for Quilts of Valor. Don't forget to put our soldiers' quilts on your to-do list for the New Year.

I'd like to thank all of my fellow bloggers for stopping by throughout the year. It's been great fun chatting with each and every one of you. Dolly and I would like to wish you all a very merry and blessed holiday.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Mother Nature put on a show this morning,

with a glitter of tinsel decorating the trees.

All we needed was a sleigh to enjoy this winter wonderland.

I already have "the pony." Who managed to get into mischief once again by carting off and breaking the bucket meant to hold the Christmas tree.

Bucket toss is one of her favorite games, no matter how big the bucket.

So tell me please, when does puppyhood end? I love my pup, but I'm running out of buckets!

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

That little 4-lettered word . . .

has been spotted in the forecast . . . .

Do you see it . . . . . SNOW!

Dolly is stationed at her post and on the lookout.

Either that or she smells the neighbor's steak cooking on the grill. Not sure which she finds more exciting.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Happy Thanksgiving

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

We woke up to a balmy 19 degrees this morning . . .

and although the frost was not on the pumpkin,

it did show up on the cabbage plants in garden,

and this oak seedling, a gift from the squirrels.

Luckily, in preparation, I picked up wood pellets last night.

meanwhile Dolly tried to hide her disappointment that it wasn't snow . . . .

yet!

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

And you thought you were having a bad day . . .

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Winter preparedness

If you were watching last weekend's news, you know a storm hit the northeast hard . . . rather unexpectedly I might add.


Along with winter comes the inevitable cold and flu season. Although, we'd rather ignore that fact and focus on the holidays, it does not hurt to be prepared.

This is a good time of year to go through your pantry, check your juice, gingerale, and soup inventory, then stock up during seasonal sales.

Check your medicine cabinet and dates on cough syrup, cold and fever tablets, etc.

Make a list and re-stock your supplies. Don't forget tissues.

Nobody wants to go out when the weather is icy, cold and miserable when they too are feeling icy, cold and miserable.

And just in case you're feeling blue, have a good book or 2 on hand to keep you company.

After all, it's better to stay home snuggled in a warm quilt and get well. That's the most important thing.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Out with the old . . .

Up with the new!

This is my original front porch light. As you can see it's small and shall we say worn out.

I am not an electrician, nor do I play one on TV, but some jobs I can do myself.

The first rule to remember, and trust me on this one, is turn off the main breaker in the fuse box. Always. Some folks just tape the light switch down in the off position, but why take chances.

Once upon a time, I worked for a power company and while there, typed safety manuals. These were the books they used in teaching classes. This was a BIG company. They took electricity seriously. And so do I.

After unscrewing the white wire nuts and untwisting the 3 wires (copper, white, black), I removed the horizontal bars that held the original light.

Keeping the original screws that held the back (slanted) bar, I replaced the old with the new 2 bar section. On the outermost bar is a small green screw and the letters GND (ground). The copper (ground wire) must go around this tiny screw and be firmly tightened in.

Next connect the new black to original black wire, the original white with the new white wire, and original copper to the new copper wire. Do this by twisting the bare ends of wire around the original bare ends of wire, maybe 1/2 inch of wire shows at the ends.

Firmly fasten the wire nuts at the end of the copper (ground) wires, the end of the white wires, and the end of the black wires so no bare wire shows.

Align the new light fixture with the protruding bolts and screw in.

Unfortunately, this fixture did not work well with my siding, so I had to go back to Lowe's and get a different style.

A couple things that help when working alone:

1) Wear a nail apron or an apron with pockets to hold all of the pieces that are coming off and going back up.

2) Spread an old white sheet under the bench your standing on to catch any small screws that may fall through the porch boards.

3) Carry a large heavy duty magnet to locate said screws when you forget to put a sheet down.

Later on I'll show you the new light fixture and the process it took to get it right!

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

I truly must protest!

You see . . . my lovely, small town library has cancelled the option to get audio books on-line!

To borrow the phrase from one of Jane Austen's most memorable characters, Lady Catherine, "I am most displeased!"

After all, what better way to share a greater variety than exists on it's shelves. Not to mention save gas, save the environment, save the earth!

Also I realize several local libraries have had their hours cut, which affects their employee's income, and this too is a sad state of affairs.

To quote John Adams, "You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket." Our second president often carried a book with him on his long journey to and from Philadelphia.

And where did I learn of this quote, well from an audio book written by David McCullough!

I tell ya, I'd consider camping out in the park tonight in support of the Wall Street protestors, but it closes at 10 and I don't have a good book to keep me company.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Today I was invited to a low country boil. . .

. . . and since I've never tasted a boiled country, low or otherwise, I really wanted to go.

Perhaps they serve it with grits (which I don't like), or gravy (which I do).

However, since I've worked 13 days in a row, with several of them lasting 12-hours,. . . I decided that window sanding and sealing were in order.

I managed to work on 6. Some got first coat, some got second. There are 15 windows in all, but the problem is, this clear coat from Sherwin-Williams takes hours and hours to dry.

So Dolly spent the day giving me her sad face, as I had promised her a walk in the park. To compensate, she got plenty of chicken pieces and liver over her chow tonight. And of course a vow that we'll hit the park first thing tomorrow. . .

. . . and I must keep this promise since I'm out of chicken liver!

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Actually no, I've not been quilting . .

While the colors of Fall are slowly encroaching along with cooler temperatures,

I've been diligently checking off the pre-winter tasks which should have been done in 2010. And once again, I'm almost out of time.

However, hope abounds! Today Mr. Fixit finally showed up to work on the faulty siding.

And Ms. Painter will be here on Friday with her crew to begin the final process of pressure washing and painting the rest of the house; alas, the part I could not reach.

After that all I'll need to do is pull all of the windows in order to sand and seal their exterior side.

As you can imagine, Ms. Dolly is taking it all in stride, catching catnaps and in between following Mr. Fixit around to inspect all work being done.

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Guess what I was doing on my weekend vacation . . .

Stewed tomatoes and tomato vegetable medley: 23 pints, 10 quarts.

Bread and butter pickles: 21 jelly jars, 5 pints, 2 quarts.

Times I washed my hands: 274

Times I washed dishes: Lost count!

The left over veggies were chopped into bits and layered with salt for chow chow. I've never made this before, but will use the same vinegar / sugar / spice combination for bread and butters.

The Ball Blue Book has a recipe entitled "garbage relish"! It includes everything left in the garden such as green tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc. You'd chop it up and make relish with it.

Maybe folks still do. But, since I don't care for relish, I'll try chow-chow. Same principle, different brine recipe. Things can get interesting in my kitchen! Wanna come for supper - LOL.

Here's Dolly wondering just when, if ever, I'm going to leave the kitchen.

Since the rain came, I did not get any more exterior painting done as planned. Nor did the pup get a bath, but there's always next weekend.

Oh wait, I've ordered 2 more boxes of tomatoes . . . ut oh.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Contrary to the east coast,

our weather was picture perfect on Saturday, so we loaded up the coolers and set off for . . .


the Mennonite Farmer's Market in Delano, Tennessee.

This is one busy market in the middle of pretty much nowhere off of a road called Needle Eye. (I know you'll love that.) The trick is to be there when they open as shelves empty fast.

The homemade bread was delicious. The plums, tomatoes, peppers, and cantelope were so fresh and crisp they sparkled.

Driving home I took pictures of the beautiful Ocoee Gorge, home to the 1996 summer Olympic competition. The river was full of rafters and boy was it a lovely day for it.

The board on top of the bus is to hold the rafts. They go and pick up the rafters at the end of their run.

By Sunday evening, I had processed 7 quarts and 15 pints of tomatoes, onions, peppers, thyme, and basil. Chopping everything by hand made for a long day, but it will be worth it when the snow flies.

Despite the busy weekend, I stayed tuned to Yahoo news and thought often of all of my east coast friends and family. Thank goodness, everyone is safe and well.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .