A Covid-19 Christmas

All month, we had no lasting snow, just lots of green grass...

...but then it did snow for Christmas!

This week, we delivered packages to our son and his girlfriend, meeting in their back yard, masked. Sunny and Ellie are always thrilled to see us. My brother stopped by and delivered presents. We visited, masked. He has social distanced, and his workplace monitors the 180 employees not working remotely, requiring masks and social distancing.

It's just me and my husband for Christmas Day.

My husband gifted me A Promised Land by Barack Obama and Jon Meacham's Thomas Jefferson.

I surprised my husband with a tea set purchased from a Twitter friend who is an author and a potter. 

My brother's gifts included a What Would RBG Do? mug.

For our last book club of the year we read The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. Next month we read The Wicked Sister by Michigan author Karen Dionne and she will Zoom with us!

Book mail included We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels, a Michigan author. I read the galley before it came out. I was glad to win a finished copy form A Novel Bee Facebook group. I just read the galley for Bartel's new book coming out next month, All That We Carried, plus I had ordered the finished copy with a signed bookplate and it came in.

Other book mail included Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson, a LibraryThing win. My review is coming next month, too.

I requested two Amazon Vine books to review. A young reader book on disabled role models, I Am Not A Label,

And Machine Embroidered Art.

My son and his girlfriend sent us lovely cookies a few weeks ago, and more this week. They are too pretty to eat! (But we did, with Simpson & Vail tea that they sent us!) We will finish the cookies off today, and use the tea set for the tea.

My husband's brother and his wife sent us lovely Michigan cherry edibles.

Two new NetGalley titles are on my shelf:

• Eleanor in the Village:  Eleanor Roosevelt's Search for Freedom and Identity in New York's Greenwich Village by Jan Jarboe Russell 
• Poems to Night by Rainier Maria Rilke, the first translation and publication of a group of poems presented to Rilke's friend Rudolph Kassner

Here is my obligatory grand-pup pics. Sunny snuggled down, one of my quilts in the background.

And, Sunny sharing her dinner with Gus (who does not share with Sunny!) Ellie eats on the other side of the fence so Sunny doesn't steal her food, too! We don't know how Sunny stays so skinny!

With vaccines being distributed to our essential workers, perhaps this pandemic will begin to be contained. And perhaps this summer will find 'life as normal' again. 

Or at least, some semblance of normal. I have the luxury of staying in and staying safe. I have my books and my quilting. Our son and his girlfriend work safely from home. 

But for hundreds of thousands, 'normal' will never come again. Loss of loved ones, loss of income, economic hardships--some things will not go away. We donated hundreds to food banks in the last month. But it doesn't feel like doing enough.

Stay safe out there. Have a safe holiday season, however you celebrate it. 

Covid-19 Life: Quilts, Books, FurGrankids, and Christmas

With Covid-19 cases at record highs, we remain in social isolation. We miss seeing our family, but we keep busy. As Jane Austen stated in Emma, "Ah! There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."

Jane Austen Witty & Wise coloring book from Dover Press

I discovered that DMC has free patterns on its website! I found these mushroom embroidery patterns that I knew would go great with the 1970's vintage fabric I had in my stash that has mushrooms on it. Another quilt top for the pile to be quilted.

I started this Row by Row quilt in 2014 but when it came to machine quilting it on my previous sewing machine, I was not pleased. I  finally finished it with my new Bernina 540 QE .

The blocks are from Michigan quilt shops near Houghton Lake and West Branch.

I am finally hand quilting the Hospital Sketches quilt from the Barbara Brackman quilt-along.

And I am machine quilting the Gingiber Thicket animals quilt.

From BookishFirst, Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen arrived yesterday and I have already read three of the stories. The writing is wonderful and the stories so revealing about daily life in China.

To come is Better Luck Next Time by Julia Clairborn Johnson, a LibraryThing Early Readers giveaway. I won The Education of Delhomme: Chopin, Sand, & La France from Words & Peace blog. 

We miss Ellie, Sunny, and Gus but the kids keep us posted on Facebook. Kitten Gus, all of 7 pounds now, loves Sunny and sleeps in her crate. Ellie got jealous and tried to take over Sunny's bed but was not amused when Sunny tried to fit in with her!

Ellie returned to her own crate, Gus joined Sunny, and all was well in the house.

The kids sent us an early Christmas present--a huge selection of Simpson & Vail teas, orange marmalade, and tea cookies! We were nearly out, so this was a real hit. Most of our favorites are included, including Literary Teas Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, and Beatrix Potter. Also, the new National Park teas.

I brewed a cup of the Shenandoah National Park tea and had drunk half of it before I noticed it was a bright blueberry color! It has blue pea flowers (and lemon and ginger) which I learned is an ancient tea with many health benefits.

We have our tree up and some Christmas quilts on the wall. 

Our ornaments have stories, hand crafted by family members, or ourselves, and gifts from parishioners or coworkers over the years, or representing our interests. 

Even Sunny is getting into the spirit, sporting a velvet and fur and bell trimmed collar! I hope you are able to get into the holiday spirit. 

Celebrate Yuletide with Embroidery from Kathy Schmitz

Last fall I fell in love with Kathy Schmitz's Stitches from the Harvest. Now it is time to start your projects for Christmas! And Kathy has come up with adorable embroidery patterns to celebrate the Yuletide.

Stitches for the Yuletide includes fifteen projects with winter themes including snowman and deer and holly and pine bows. There are patterns for a sachet, a tea cozy, gift tags, embroidered tea towels, ornaments, wall art, hangings, a notions holder and a needle book, pillows, and table runner. 

 You can adorn your home or create gifts to give.

Kathy's sketches and watercolor paintings, photos of the projects and decor ideas adorn the pages of instructions.

My favorite is this wonderful stocking. The embroidery stitch is not hard, but the end product is spectacular.

Kathy includes stitch diagrams, instructions on cord making, and a conversion chart for the floss she used in the projects and the easily available DMC floss and sources for supplies.

She uses kitchen towels from Miller's Dry Goods in Millersburg, OH (MIllersDryGoods.com). After reading Stitches from the Harvest I placed an order and bought a pile of towels. They are just wonderful.

I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.


Stitches from the Yuletide
by Kathy Schmitz
On Sale Date: May 15, 2018
ISBN 9781604688955, 1604688955
Paperback |  80 pages
$25.99 USD, £22.99 GBP
e-book also available

December 1958 Good Housekeeping Magazine

Here is the Good Housekeeping magazine from December 1958, part of my collection of vintage magazines. 

The Year's End review article was very interesting. Movies included Tom Thumb and Amahl and the Night Visitors was showing on television. The Purple People Eater "harassed the eardrums," Volare was all over the airwaves, and Elvis Presley got married and was in the service. Sputnik II and Explorer were orbiting the Earth, Hillary and his dog team reached the South Pole while the atomic sub Nautilus cruised under the North Pole. The Bridge Over the River Kwai won six Academy Awards and Sunrise at Campobello won a drama award. Anatomy of a Murder and Peyton Place were published. The Yankees won the pennant. "Trouble bubbled in Little Rock, and a few South American neighbors threw a few rocks." "King Faisal of Iraq was murdered in a coup and the U.S. Marines landed in Lebanon." Hula hoops were the new fad and Alaska was granted statehood.

I had several Hula hoops and was quite adept. I never forgot when I visited my mom's cousins Linda and Patty and they played The Purple People Eater for me. I actually recall seeing the Bridge Over the River Kwai, although my today's standards I was too young for it. And Volare was all over the airwaves. 

I was a huge Roy Rogers and Gene Autry fan! I watched the old movies on television as did all my friends. We would argue over who got to play Gene or Roy and who was 'stuck' with Dale Evans.  Roy had the coolest horse, but Gene got to sing. So it is no wonder Roy Rogers was a celebrity spokesperson for children's toys. But an antique phone and 'Western' dinner set? 

Roy Roger- Dale Evans Western Dinner Set. 

 Joe Palooka Bop Bag had Ham Fisher artwork.

I loved the Shirley Temple Storybook television show. Mom had a Shirley Temple doll when a girl. i had the Miss Revlon.

What a lucky girl to receive a Russell Wright American Modern Tea Set for children in plastic with aluminum flatware!

Children's fashions were adorable. The child below modeled a raincoat in Arnel sharkskin that sold for $11.

 Below is a red cotton jumper with leotard tights from Kate Greenway which sold for $4.

Formal fashions were also shown in the magazine. For $9 you could buy this (see photo below)  Helen Lee of Alyssa cotton-sateen dress with organdy lining and petticoat. The child is elegantly poised and wears white gloves as well.

Below left is an embroidered cotton-sateen dress with sash from Kate Greenway, selling for $8, and a cotton-sateen dress with Empire belt and lined in Dacron mesh, $8 from Muppets.

What an adorable ad!

 When not attending a formal affair, what did these munchkins eat? Tang and bozed pizza!

Of course there were recipes throughout the magazine.

Which Mom baked in her new Caloric gas range.

For more elegant meals, Mom would have used her Pyrex casseroles.

My mom loved her Sunbeam frypan. I wish I had it now.

Mom used her hand mixer when making pancakes to cook in the frypan. (Ours was turquoise.)

We had Melmac dishes in our family. But here is Idealware refrigerator-to-tableware in Mamie pink. 

Paper plates, napkins, and cups have been around a long time!

When mom cleaned up the kitchen she tossed the laundry in her new gas dryer from Norge.

Tammis Keefe is one of my favorite Mid-century fabric designers. I have a nice collection of her handkerchiefs. She also designed towels, cocktail napkins, and more. 

 A few years ago the towel below was reproduced and I bought several panels!

 The Keefe towels were linen,, but terrycloth was also sold.

When Mom's work was done it was time to party. Skirts were full, fuller, and fullest. The skirts below were made with ten yards of tulle and decorated with velvet ribbon and other trims.

Here are the instructions for making the fabric roses.

 For the home sewer, the Simplicity dress pattern below features a 'harem skirt' in red cotton sateen.

A quick and simple party top could be made in a morning from two squares of wool and several yards of trim. 

The stole pictured below was another DIY project.

 It is hard to imagine a slipper with a heel as high as on the Daniel Green below!

Those fancy dresses required sturdy under garments like a Warner's girdle and maidenform bra.

 Checks were on trend, suitable for all ages, male and female.

I get a kick out of this Royal vacuum cleaner ad. It looks just like the one I bought in 1991 and still use.

This issue also included several short stories with marvelous art and was loaded with poetry.

This is just a glance into the 200+ page magazine! I hope you enjoyed this look back in time.