The Night Before Thanksgiving, and All Is ......

Peaceful!!!  I am not running around like a crazy person trying to get all the last minute cleaning and cooking done!!  I am not rushing out to the grocery store for last minute items!!  I am not picking up the turkey at the turkey farm!!  I am not worrying over how to set a beautiful table for tomorrow!!

You may ask, what am I doing?  I am relaxing, playing on the computer, and enjoying a beautiful, rare, late November day in Ohio!  That is because for the first time in 55 years, I am going to somebody else's home for Thanksgiving dinner!   Yippeee!!!!!   I have been invited to my son's girlfriend's house.  He is now 21 and they have been together since they were 16.  All I have to do is make a dessert for tomorrow.  

So... since I'm sitting here at leisure, I thought I'd share a few photos.    From the back of the house looking at what was the original milk house with root cellar below.

The horses enjoying the day .. they were clean and pretty yesterday, but not today.

Here are a few of my samplers going up the staircase, along with a Civil War flag that we found in the attic.  It was in bad shape but I had it framed to try and preserve it.  It has 34 stars, which means it is from between Kansas statehood in 1861 and West Virginia in 1863.  I had read that people did not display flags back then like we do now, that only military and ships had flags.  So that makes me think that whoever lived here during the Civil War must have served and brought the flag back with them.  I have researched the Quaker family who built the home in 1805, but they had all moved away within 20 years and I have never gotten around to researching the later owners.  

Here are some more samplers at the top of the stairs.

And more ... hope this is not too boring.  This is Dutch Beauty.  There was a yahoo group formed years ago for people stitching this sampler.  It took me four years on and off to complete it.

Just 2 more ...  Sarah Willson, which is probably my all time favorite.  I first saw the actual antique sampler on Scarlet Letter's site, and just had to stitch it, so I got all my stitching friends to write to her so that she would chart it.  Sorry for the flash..

And lastly, Jane Atkinson  .  Hope you all have a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving.  

Hugs,

Melinda

My New Pasture Ornament!!!

Hello, all,
I am enjoying what is surely one of the last beautiful weekends here in Ohio.  I want to show you my new ornament!!  Pasture ornament, that is hehehe!!  Now that I no longer ride,  due to dr.'s advice after a hip replacement, I adopt horses that no one wants from a wonderful organization here in Ohio called New Vocations.  I have adored horses ever since I am can remembe, in fact my parents bought this farm 35 years ago so that we didn't have to board our horses.  Boarding facilities never took good enough care to suit us.  I got my first horse when I was 16, as a bribe from my mother to put off getting my driver's license.  Unlike most teenagers, I was tickled to death to have a horse instead of a car!!


My new horse is named Tanzanite, she is a registered off the track Standardbred, as are the other two.  She is 14, and after racing served an Amish family in Indiana for several years, who called her Blossom.  She has some arthritis in her front leg, as a result of over 10,000 miles in harness, and deserves a nice retirement.  Here she is peaking out trying to get up the nerve to join the others.

Ok, here I am, aren't I pretty???

Here is Anna, she is quite a big girl at age 20, and she thinks she is quite special as she was Ohio filly of the year 17 years ago.  She isn't as old as you think, as I had a previous horse live to be 45!  Anna is quite busy asserting herself as head mare today.

Here are all three together.  The third horse is a gelding named Pip's Affair "Pipsy".    No one wanted him as he was raced so much that he had a suspensory injury, which is basically the ligament between the ankle and foot.  He is now completed rehabbed and enjoying the  good life.

 That's all for now, time to get back down to the barn and feed supper.
Hugs,
Melinda

Shopping Karma Was With Me This Weekend!

What a fun weekend I have had!  My best friend was down from Akron visiting, and we just  shopped and talked 'til we dropped!!!

First of all, there was a Hospice Shop sale... they were selling stuff that was donated from a neat local shop, with primitives among other things.  Came home with a Christmas tree for $10!  Now I have to return the one I ordered for $125.  It doesn't look like much now, but it will!!  It even came with lights.

Lots of other neat stuff ............ all at great prices and for a wonderful organization!  I don't know what I would have done without Hospice when my father and husband died.

Then, it was time to shop for quilting and stitching projects!  We have decided to start a Civil War  sampler quilt, which mean shopping for some new fabrics and pulling more out of the "stash". This is what I came up with... turkey reds, browns, mustard for the backgrounds, blues and greens.

We also chose our next sampler to stitch together.  I love her verse.  We picked something small for now, and after the holidays will get into something larger.

 

Speaking of Civil War, I am also working on putting these antique pinwheel blocks that I have, which are from the 1800's, together with these hourglass blocks to make a small quilt.  I just love how she pieced together bits of fabric to come up with a piece large enough for the pattern...so different from how we just go to the quilt shop today and buy what we need!

As you can see, a good time was had by all!

Enjoy the rest of your week...

Hugs,

Melinda