To Ellen from Another Ellen!

I received a lovely collection of cards in the mail yesterday from Ellen.
Thank you so much. I will enjoy using these!

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S Is For Siblings

Here we are, the three of us...years and years ago.

My sister: who can still play almost any musical instrument she comes across...
who spent hours with me when I played with my doll house..
who held my hand when we walked to the movies.

My brother: who is one of the funniest, quickest people I know...
who called me PeeWee to annoy me...(he still does)
who used to tell me, "Heads I win, tails you lose."*

The two of them convinced me that there was a ghost in our attic. I knew with certainty that I was that ghost's main target. I still remember my dreams about him. One in particular that even then had a theme...a name. It was The Red Shoes nightmare. The ghost came and got me out of bed. He threw me over his shoulder and carried me up to the attic where my entire kindergarten class was assembled. We were all commanded to dance, to dance until we fell senseless and exhausted to the floor. I don't remember how long it took me to truly understand that there really was no ghost. He was certainly fodder for some bizarre dreams!

I still have that chair that I was sitting on for our picture. It was my grandmother's and the fabric covering the seat is worn, torn and faded. I just can't bring myself to recover it!

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*It took me years to figure that one out. Not too swift here!

Fall At Chez Kelley

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Runaway Crochet/Knitted Veggies

Here's the picture that disappeared on my give away post. If this one vaporizes, you'll hear me scream.

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Double Yuk

These disgusting things are driving me NUTS. We have had a warming spell and "Voila!" let's all pop out, get our e tickets, grab our vacation gear and move in with Ellen. They have also brought along their smaller, but just as annoying cousins, the fruit flies. I certainly don't recall putting up a sign of invitation and good will.
This too shall pass. I hope they freeze their butts off this winter.

Totally unrelated to this post...but now I notice that the picture of the crocheted and knitted vegets on the last post has totally vaporized. What on earth is going on. I'll try to get it back on.

Vegetables For Health and Beauty

Aren't these fantastic? (click on for larger view) I've had the patterns for these for about 30 years. They are in one of those fantastic magazines I posted about a while ago. If there are any of you out there who crochet and knit, I would love to share the pattern with you. Please leave a comment, or better yet, email me, and the first four people to do so, will receive instructions. I'll keep this open until Oct. 29th. You can't see all of the vegetables in this scan, but there are directions for radishes, tomatoes, turnips, carrots, artichokes, leeks, cauliflowers, and cabbages. What a soup! The yarns specified in the pattern may not be available now, and the directions state that these are not for the inexperienced. I don't crochet that well, so I have not attempted to make them, but I think they are fantastic and should be fun to make!

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p.s. and if you make them, you have to promise to post about them so I can enjoy them!
(I just noticed that the picture is now not showing up. I don't know why, but if you click under the title, the enlarged view will show. This is weird!)

Not Quite Ready For Project Runway

...but she does have her Rules and Philosophy for The Enlightened Three Year Old.

When reminded to chew with her mouth closed, she now will reply that she can't hear you when she has food in her mouth.

On Sunday, while jumping up and down, the declaration was: "I must be so happy!" When I inquired why, she replied, "Because my mouth is open!"

Why didn't I know that rule?


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R is for....

Robins, one of my favorite birds. I love the return of these birds in the Spring. I love waking in the early morning hours to hear their song, and I love watching them as they hunt for worms in the newly turned garden.
Until recently, I didn't realize that when summer waned and they had left, that they actually come back for a brief time to enjoy some of Fall's bounty. I never noticed, because when I was still working, it would be dark when I got home, dark when I left for work, and I was really missing out on some fun "birdy" stuff around here.
You see, they come back for a final fling, party and whing-ding in my grape arbor. We have some wine grapes out back and they are taking their Pinot Noir with reckless abandon! They are swooping down out of the fir trees, balancing on the vines, and eating as many of those grapes as they can. I'm a little worried that I should be carding them, taking away their keys and policing the whole affair, but they seem to be handling it, albeit a bit raucously and unsteadily. Here's to the Rockin' Robins and their Roaring parties. I've got to run now. They've requested some crisp crackers, aged Gouda and some goat cheese to go with all of that viney goodness. I hear them singing, "In vino veritas!"

Q is for Quercus

Quercus, commonly know as Oak, is my favorite tree. I love that something so large and majestic and lasting, can grow from such small beginnings. Poets and sages are better suited to singing praises to the mighty oak than I.

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." Emerson

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P is for..

...a little person's passion.
I was stumped for a personal "P", so I am borrowing from my three year old grand daughter and her Passion for cooking. I've blogged about that before, so I won't repeat myself here. I made this little apron for her last week and sent it home with her Dad on Sunday. I hear she likes it and is planning to wear it to church! I hope she is planning to wear something underneath it!

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