All posts by ruthsoaper

Holiday Cactus

Reflections

Last year around the holidays my husband bought me a Christmas cactus. I was thrilled because, even though I had not mentioned it to him, I had been wanting one. It blossomed beautifully for many weeks.

My sister told me if you want it to blossom for Christmas don’t water it during the month of September. I didn’t. Several weeks ago I noticed buds beginning to form it. It was blossoming by Thanksgiving.

I learned something new when my aunt was over for Thanksgiving dinner. She mentioned that her Thanksgiving cactus was blossoming. I was surprised at hearing she had a Thanksgiving cactus because I had never heard of such a thing. She explained that the difference between a Christmas and Thanksgiving cactus was in the leaves. After reading this article I determined that my plant is, in fact, a Thanksgiving cactus. It has spikey leaves, and the anthers of the flower are yellow which, according to the article define it as a Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata). I do hope it continues to blossom through the holidays.

Have you ever heard of a Thanksgiving cactus?

I’d Rather Be Barefoot

homemade, Reflections, Sewing

One of my favorite things about summer is being able to go sans footwear. When the weather is warm enough, I don’t even bother putting on socks until I’m getting ready to go out. When I do go out if I’m in an area where there is soft grass or sand (the beach) to walk on I’ll likely kick off my shoes and do some grounding or earthing.

It was a blessing this year that our warm weather lingered well into fall, but now that it has turned more toward winter going barefoot is no longer an option. When my feet are cold, my whole body is cold.

A couple weeks ago I took my crocheted slippers, that I’ve been wearing for the past two years, out of the closet and began wearing them. The holes that had begun forming in the bottom of each were growing a bit bigger every day and I knew it was time for some new slippers.

Last week I came across this free pattern for slipper socks and went to my sewing room in search of fabric. I found about a yard of a plush fleece, that was left over from the sweater dress I made last year, that was enough to make both the lining and the outside of the slippers.

It took but a few hours to make these slippers socks. (Below are the results.) I am thankful to have them to keep my feet toasty warm until the warm weather returns.

I think I will go through some more of my fabric stash, as I’m certain I have enough pieces to make another pair or two.

Do you like to go barefoot?

Preserving Family Heirlooms

Crafts, Family, Reflections

Last year my sister, Kathy, shared these pictures of some wall hangings she created using doilies our mom had made for her.

I thought they looked very cool and what a great way to display and preserve mom’s work. Way better than keeping them tucked away in a closet or box somewhere.

My daughter Kara liked them too. After about the third time she told me how much she liked them I told her, “You can have my doilies when I die. For now, I use them to protect my wood furniture.”

Kathy’s creations and Kara’s love for them inspired my own creation.

I had tucked away in a closet some hats that my Grandma and Mom had crocheted. Lovely as they are they are just not a style that is worn nowadays so I couldn’t imagine anyone putting them to use. I did, however, think that their beautiful work should be appreciated, so I, too, designed a wall hanging.

When my other sister, Jamie, learned what I was doing she offered a pair of gloves that belonged to our Great Aunt Louise to add to the collection.

To assemble my project (pictured above) I bought a shadow box frame. The backing it came with was a piece of thin foam covered with a white, canvas-type, fabric. I bought the rose pattern fabric, cut it to size and used a double-sided fabric tape to bond it to the backing of the frame. I sprayed each of the hats and gloves with starch to help them keep their (flat) shape. Once they were dry, I placed each on the backing and put several stitches in it to attach it to the backing. Once all of the items were secured I put the backing into the frame. I am quite happy with the results.

I attached an envelope to the backside with a note enclosed giving a best guess history of each item (since my Grandma, Mom, and Great Aunt have all passed away my sisters, my aunt and I used our best guesses). The hat on top was made by my grandmother probably sometime between the 1960’s and 1980’s, the gloves belonged to my great aunt Louise and she likely wore them as a young lady, the hat on the bottom was made by my mom probably in the 1990’s.

A few weeks ago I presented this to my daughter Kara as a birthday/housewarming gift. She and Sheldon (her significant other) agreed that it would go nicely in their dining room which they have decorated with other family heirlooms and antiques.

Thanks for visiting.

Do you have any family heirlooms? Do you display them or have them tucked away for safe keeping?

Precious Moments

Reflections

Tuesday was granddaughter Addies 5th birthday. Since we’ve been having surprisingly warm fall weather, we decided to have a small birthday celebration for her at the farm last Saturday.

Tina and Ken arrived with Jackson and Addie just as I arrived with the pizza. We started our picnic outdoors with pizza before a few sprinkles of rain moved us into the barn.

It was actually good timing since it would have been difficult to light the candles on the birthday doughnuts outside in the wind.

The doughnuts were a huge hit as Addie proclaimed, “this is the best birthday ever!”

This picture leaves no doubt about how much they loved the doughnuts.

Presents were next. We got Jackson and Addie each a coloring book and a book of nursery rhymes. A bit later they each spent some time reading and coloring.

Addie modeled, as she put it, “my beautiful new dress” and matching hair scrunchie that I made for her. She also showed me how she could make the skirt twirl by “spinning around on one foot.”

The rain had stopped, so grandpa and dad got out Jackson and Addie’s EV (electric vehicle) that we keep at the farm. Dad put the battery in it and Jackson and Addie took turns driving it around.

At one point, when Jackson was driving, he stopped near where his mom was standing. He asked her for a coke and when she replied that we didn’t have any coke he told her “No, just pretend.” It was then that she realized that she was (pretend) working at a fast-food drive-through and she dutifully filled his (pretend) order. After placing his order in the back, he drove on to the (pretend) grocery store. 🙂

Addy was thrilled when she and I found an egg in the chicken coop. “I can use that to make my egg salad,” she told me. (Egg salad sandwiches are her favorite lunch.) Of course, I gave it to her to take home. Other activities including playing ball with Ruby, giving lovin’ to Ranger and Peanut and feeding carrots to Colby Jack and Bernard (the neighbors horses).

What blessed day it was!

I don’t know who enjoyed the day more – Jackson and Addie or Grandma and Grandpa, but as they were leaving, and Addie asserted “I want to come back,” she was assured by everyone that we would do this again.