You know, of course, this means another ‘coon after our girlies . . .
Well, we were not home, but it happened again.
And a certain brave young lady, a true huntress at heart, who’d agreed to watch our house and tend our sweet, helpless, innocent chickens (see them here) in our absence, found a disturbing set of occurrences, just as I had found earlier this week.
The difference?
This gal is always packin’.
And she knows what to do.
And she took care of business, as per our instructions.
And I wish I could be like her.
And I owe her a certain favorite pie of her choosing.
And I am asking you, loyal readers, to HOUND me until I make her that pie.
This blue lace will become the gathered-up fluff ball we use for bath time scrubbers. Some people call them loufas, but that is not what they are. Loufas are tan in color, actually the inside network of a gourd. Since it looks spongy, some people call them sponges. Also incorrect. Sponges are the network of an underwater animal.
Anyway, bath scrunchies are easy to make. Simply measure out a length of tulle or lace 10″ by 60″ or so, fold in half, lengthwise, to 5″ by 60″, sew the long edges together, turn seams to the inside. Then insert a heavy string or small rope and gather it all by tying the string or rope into as small a circle as possible. This will make a very large, soft, and puffy ball of gathered fabric, gentle on wet skin.
To make it smaller and tougher, for calluses and such, gather the entire doubled length and then tie off, from the outside, like a pom-pom.
I plan to make several of the scrunchies for inclusion in the package for the customer, should she decide she needs one to complete a gift. They will not cost much, maybe only a dollar, which would be a about a 350% return on my costs, since the fabric was only a dollar per yard, and actually, is left over from a curtain project. But the customer will be pleased to receive this small thing for nearly free.
We all enjoy finding something we can feel good about purchasing, don’t we. We all should be looking around for things we can include in our daily dealings with all people. It’s the magazine issue you’ve read and passed on, the jar of jam from a huge harvest, or even the offer to babysit, that makes the day for those we meet.
When we keep an eye open for what we have that we can spare, what someone else needs that we can bear to part with, then we practice generosity. We cannot all live with the terminally ill and give them sips of water. We can, though, give in other small, self-sacrificing ways, to anyone we see.
Reach out. The whole world is waiting for a “lace scrunchie.”
How I love preparing for a big project! I think being prepared is one of my favorite pastimes. Of course, it doesn’t hurt a bit that I found most of this grand collection of fabrics for free or at most, $1 per yard at garages sales. Wow.
Not only that, but most of it was neatly folded, just as you see here, and to top that off, clean and tightly-packed in zipper-type bags, smelling of newness and all things nice. Ha! So much fun to find all this lavender-ness standing in line, jumping up and down, crying, “Pick ME! Pick ME!”
Add to that the obvious, my huge collection of actual lavender blossoms, themselves, which you may view here, and you can see I am right on ready.
I am pretty good at staying ready. I am not always so sure for what. How about you?
This time, though, I am sure. I must make as many lavender things as I can, to attempt some sales at a festival in a couple of weeks. So, you might as well ready yourself for lots of purple posts. Ha.
Probably won’t sell much, but these things always make great gifts, and for any birthday, etc., that happens along, I will be . . .
The couple that built the house we live in is no longer living, but they had amazing foresight. Everywhere we look, we can see signs of commitment to excellence.
For instance, the electrical breaker box has every switch labeled. Puzzling for months over the one switch labeled “Worm House”, we searched until we figured out the worm house was actually the chicken house/woodshed.
We knew the worm tables were down there, but we hardly guessed what they were. The industrious ones who built two houses on this property and maintained an enormous garden, were human after all. They fished. They loved having their own source for worms. Or they sold worms. What work went into their lives for a bit of pleasure or a few extra dollars!
Worm Table
The worm tables, consisting of framed, 1/2″ mesh wire, were for sifting out worms, I guess. I know the soil under these tables is uncommonly rich and free of the usual rocks from around here. It makes very good garden dirt and a great side-dressing for those plants that seem to need extra nutrition.
I can imagine a grandchild’s wonder as he watches a shovelful of soil reveal its inhabitants. I can imagine the child’s taking all this culture for granted, walking in such luxury of self-sufficiency, hardly guessing all the work others have put into this place.
A little like I tend to do, myself.
I say, “Oh, good, a chicken house,” and forget all the work in those rough-hewn boards. I stroll around a pond and never think that someone had to bulldoze it. I retrieve canned goodies from the basement without realizing all the engineering it takes to perch a house over a hole in the ground.
But I want to remember, to think, to realize. I want to be thankful for someone’s foresight, for those who went before and built for those who would come after.
I cannot believe we finally have cool weather! I cannot believe it. But I am thankful. Oh, YES!
A week ago, it was a full fifty degrees warmer, here. Now I am running an exhaust fan and drawing all this cool air into my stuffy house and listening to birds and squirrels chirping and chattering.
It is a gift.
Hugging the Sidewalk
Our ma cat appreciates it NOT. No one explained to the cats they would need their warm coats today. The pre-heated sidewalk gives relief, though, as Puddy hugs to it, waiting for the sun to rise over the treetops.
Not me! I’m dressed for 100 degrees, sitting in a 60-degree breeze, shivering and GLAD!
This cool weather did not bring rain with it, though. We are still more than 12 inches below normal for this year. Usually, we receive much rain in August, around 5 to 10 inches. I guess it all went to Mississippi and the Carolinas. Since it is the second year running that we have not received normal rainfall, trees are dropping like flies. We’ve lost about 3 per acre on our property.
One Twin Dies
Our neighbor has lost half of a gorgeous set of twin oaks in his pasture. It is sad, but we must look at what remains and be glad some trees have stronger roots and can survive. Maybe we’ll help harvest the firewood from our neighbor’s tragedy, turning it into something useful, so it is not a total loss.
Life is like that. We help each other turn our tragedies around, don’t we? We help make sure our losses are not total losses. We reach out to each other, perhaps grim-faced, but determined: We will not be completely defeated.
Home's Cool! 