Saving Thanksgiving

Saving Thanksgiving

I'm grateful to be guest blogger this Monday over at Stash Manicure hosted by Madame Samm. 

 

SEW many creative and talented gals who will treat you every morning with a fresh perspective, new tip, great tutorial, or new inspiration for your Quilting habit or perhaps all things crafty!

I've taken a break from Thanksgiving Countdown 2010 

to 

BREATH JANE... BREATH JANE...JUST BREATH...

in order 

to Ponder just a moment of WHY I'm THANKFUL this Thanksgiving Season

 

 I've also made a CONSCIOUS decision FOR 2010 to not allow Christmas to SUPER-CEDE my THANKSGIVING!  I've not put up the first Christmas Decoration or even the first stocking on the Mantle.

Everything is 100% Thanksgiving inspired.

WHY??

NOT UNTIL the last of my family has driven out of the driveway, the TWO turkeys eaten or made into turkey salad, 

the laughter faded,

the last piece of pie eaten, 

the last sip of coffee taken, 

 the last football game watched 

or 

the last prank pulled by the 5 little Pranksters Extraordinaire, 

 and

  the Trash taken out

will the Autumn decorations come down and the Christmas Wreath Hung!

NOPE...NOT THIS YEAR!!!

THANKSGIVING WILL NOT BE STOLEN FOR 2010!

This very American Holiday has always been one of my favorite times of the year and it's celebration only heightened the sense of excitement for the UPCOMING Christmas Season!!  There is NO such "thang" as "THANKMAS" !!

I have way to many Blessings to allow MY THANKSGIVING to be taken away from me in 2010!

Sew there you have it!! 

Family begins arriving on Wednesday afternoon and the baking begins in earnest!  

New art supplies have been purchased to help entertain the Grandpeeps.

 After all, how will we save Thanksgiving if we don't keep it for our Children and Grandchildren??!!

How can we begin to TEACH GRATITUDE if we SKIP over THANKSGIVING and go straight to Christmas with it's growing commercialization???

I'm so Thankful for my new friends in Blog Land.  This adventure in Blogging has brought me great JOY and a way to preserve the many precious memories created by with my family.

For those of you in America, Many Blessings to you on this Thanksgiving Season.  Our country is a Great Nation, one in which I am very PROUD to be a citizen.

 Let The THANKSGIVING COUNTDOWN RESUME 

BLESSINGS

I couldn't help myself...I just HAD to add a little Maxine Humor into the MIX

 GMAMA JANE

Thanksgiving Countdown Cont'd

 Thanksgiving Countdown ...Day 2

Thanksgiving Cleaning

You may not have to do this but I HAVE/NEED to PURGE my Refrigerator of all foreign objects 

and/or 

past due items from 2009...yep...

there was a bottle of salad dressing

with expiration date 

of 2009!  

This drives my chef son-in-law CRAZY! 

I blame my mother for this bad housekeeping habit of squirreling away leftovers knowing full well they won't be used.  It seems so wasteful to throw out perfectly good food 

but ALAS...

it inevitably makes its way to the world of Medicine...

Medicine, you say???..

you know...

Mold grown for Penicillin!!??  

THAT KIND OF MEDICINE.  

Just doing my part for Science!

NOW...I can fill it back up from my 

THREE TRIPS

to KROGER/PUBLIX/GRINERS!

 

 Baking begins in earnest the Monday before Thanksgiving.  I order 3 Coconut Creme Pies from Gibsons BBQ (sinfully good) and a smoked turkey from New Market BBQ (yum) 

I will bake another turkey (plain) plus a spiral sliced ham.  

Some items will be for snacking and eating on for the 4 days my family is here such a dips, chips, etc..

Spinach/Artichoke Dip

Texas Caviar

Veggies & Ranch Dip

Deviled Eggs

Fruit Salad

Coleslaw

Macaroni Salad (my mother's unique style)

Sweet Potato Casserole

Mashed Potatoes

Squash Casserole

Broccoli Casserole

Fresh Green Beans

Cranberry Orange Relish

Cranberry Sauce plain

Turkey/Ham

Turkey gravy

Dressing (2 kinds)

Southern dressing (my MIL makes a pan for me)

WV Dressing (oyster dressing)

Sister Schubert Rolls

Sweet Tea/Coffee

Pumpkin Pie/Cool Whip

Pecan Pie

Coconut Creme Pie

Chocolate Pie

And THAT my dear friends is the Thanksgiving Menu

at the

Hillis Farm

 

After dinner, the guys watch football, I decorate my table for Christmas, and the kids play outside weather permitting or begin the Christmas crafts.  Several years ago, a quilt hanging was signed  and I make sure it is hung for everyone to see at Thanksgiving.  We've only had to blot out one name...

Hmmm??? 

You'll have to twist my arm to get me to tell THAT story!!!

On the evening of Thanksgiving we often go see 

the Christmas lights 

at the 

Botanical Garden!!  

A 1 mile drive of themed lights and my favorite...the "icicle forest" with lots of hanging white lights.  Lots of OOOOhs and Ahhhs from the kiddos as well as the adults.

Back home, it's another round of pie and coffeeand a movie for the night owls.

 The gals head for bed because

Black Friday

is 

NEXT!!

The GIRLS go for

the Annual

Christmas Photo with

Santa...a VERY large group

I might add.

More stories ahead....

Gmama

TAHNKSGIVING COUNTDOWN

THANKSGIVING COUNTDOWN

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

The Christie Family

Every year since 1988, my sister, Sarah and her family have driven from North Carolina to Alabama to have Thanksgiving with me.  My older sister, Shelby, and her family came for about 6-7 yrs and then health reasons prevented them from making the trip every year but still continued to come once in a while.  7 children under the age of 12 were camped out in sleeping bags all over the living room.  It reminded me of a children's book written by Cynthia Rylant, "When the Relatives Came".  With all that kissing and hugging, it took a whole hour to get from the front of the house to the back of the house!

 Thanksgiving soon became more like "THANKSMAS" ... a reunion of family complete with Grandmother, sisters, husbands, brothers, cousins, and any one who decided to come along for the fun.  This house was so packed with people you had to watch where you stepped for fear of crunching a finger or toe.  Oh but it was FUN!!  The cooking, the laughter, the games, football, shopping, movies, turning on the Christmas lights on Thanksgiving night, watching Christmas Vacation with everyone piled up wherever one could find a pillow or open floor space.  

Though the numbers have decreased over the ensuing years due to death, bad health, or new family traditions...one constant remains...Sarah, Dan & Ericka.  

Mother passed away in 2003 and Oh how we miss her!  Thanksgiving was more important than Christmas because she got to see all of her "girls" together once a year.  

Nephew Daniel has married and goes to his wife's home, Sister Shelby & BIL are battling life threatening health issues, cousins married, nieces & nephews have married, life marches on...but the Memories of those family Thanksgivings are forever etched into the fabric of this family.

One of my favorite and funniest memories was the Thanksgiving Prank that took on a life of its own!  Who knew A bag of clothespins could provide so much fun??!!  Each child was given a bag of clothespins.  Over the course of  4 days, the object was to pin a clothespin on the back of someone without their knowledge.    You could NOT tell anyone they were "pinned" and once you discovered a pin attached to your person, you could remove and place in YOUR bag of pins (adults always gave their pins to the nearest little prankster). 

No Big Deal you say???  How would you like to go shopping on Black Friday and when you arrive at the Mall wonder why people are staring at you???  At some point you realize you have at least ONE or MORE CLOTHESPINS Attached to your clothing!!!  You can not imagine the curious stares you get from people when they see 5-6 clothespins dangling from your backside and they don't know whether to tell you or let it go. What would YOU DO?????

Try going to a church musical production with clothespins attached to your backside!!

  

It was even greater fun to "PIN" someone in a very crowded elevator and watch them walk away... totally unaware they had a clothes pin dangling from their shirt/sweater/jacket?!!!!!LOL  LOL  

One year, my oldest sister made SURE all clothespins had been removed from her person before leaving to go home and even laughed about being "PIN FREE"   UNTIL......................their first stop on the return trip to find their MUFFLER and BACK ANTENNA had been "PINNED"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are a strange lot!  Thanksgiving morphs every year to include the newest grandchild or guest to break bread with our family. Some years are quieter than others.  All are memorable and worthy of the Hillis Holiday Hall of Fame!!!

Stay Tuned for more Holiday Traditions

Blessings

GMAMA JANE

Looking across the play yard out toward the back field on the FARM

Blog Hop

GETTING A JUMP ON CHRISTMAS "HOME-MADE" GIVING

I stumbled across this upcoming Blog Hop during my Blog hopping today and thought it looked SEW interesting.  Since I'm new to the Quilty world of blogging, all these Blog hops are a first for me!!  I'm so excited!  

You see, until last January I lived in the Dial-up world of Internet.  

I know, hard to believe, but I live in a rural area not serviced by cable.  

However, some of my neighbors about 1/3 of a mile could get FAST Internet, but I live on a tangent...or so they say...that is not serviced by any COMPANY.  

Trust me, I tried everyone.  

UNTIL...VERIZON MI-FI..

My sister was desperate to have Internet access when she visited me from NC...SEW..she bought a neat little TECHY gadget from Verizon called MI-FI that allowed her to gain access to the Internet without Dial -up!!  

Well.....

you can imagine what GMAMA asked Santa to bring her for Christmas...

that's right!....

a Verizon MI-FI of my very own. 

Now I don't get super fast like some of you gals but I sure as heck don't have to use Dial-Up anymore.

.I could play Farmville and have my own Blog...although, I didn't jump into the blog thing until I had overdosed on Farmville which was around June 2010.

SEW...all that said to explain why I'm such a novice to Internet blogging, blog hops, online quilt clubs, etc...  

I'm like a kid in a candy store

Here is the line-up for the Blog Hop:

Thanks to Sherri K. Falls of This & That Patterns (see below)

I am very excited to announce Mistletoe Make & Bake 2010! We have a baker's dozen of designer projects and dozens of cookies recipes for you just in time for the holidays. So get ready to hop through some wonderful blogs, collecting gift-giving projects and yummy cookie recipes perfect for your holiday cookie exchanges!

 NURSING HOME STRING QUILT MADE BY MY GRANDSON'S GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, AGE 97, WHO LIVES ALONE AND VISITS HER FRIENDS AT THE NURSING HOME FOR A QUILTING BEE!

November 15th-20th, 2010

Here is the line-up~

November 15th

Sherri K. Falls of This & That Patterns 

Monica Solorio-Snow of The Happy Zombie

November 16th

Heidi Kaisand of Chicks & Hen

Monique Dillard of Open Gate Blog

November 17th

Celine Perkins of Perkin's Dry Goods

Patrick Lose of The Latest News from Patrick Lose

Kelly Ann Richardson of Kelly Ann's Quilting

November 18th

Lissa Alexander of Moda Lissa

Julie Stewart of Quilts 4 Julie

November 19th

Roseann Kermes of Rosebud's Cottage

Brenda Riddle of Little Acorns

November 20th

Vickie Eapen of Spun Sugar Quilts

Melisa Morrison of Sweet Home Quilt Co.

November 21st

On the seventh day, we’ll rest. And eat cookies!

 So mark your calendar and get ready for a fun week filled with cookie bliss, wonderful projects and awesome prizes!!

P.S. Please help us spread the word about the hop...we want everyone to join in the fun! So please Tweet, blog or Facebook your friends so that they don't miss the hoppin Holiday fun we have in store for you!

Getting a Jump on Christmas Giving

That's my Post for today!  I will be Guest Posting on Monday, Nov. 22nd at Stash Manicure HOPEFULLY!!  Last time I had a virus and couldn't post.  Let's hope I got it fixed. 

Blessings

Gmama Jane

Close Call

In the Blink of an Eye

Ryan James

Scott Matthew

In the Blink of an eye, 

my world could have changed yesterday.  An ordinary Tuesday afternoon COULD have altered my world forever.  Yes, there were the Mid-Term elections going on and I had just returned from voting.  Even as important as the elections were and the importance of voting....none of that would have meant anything to me if not for the fact of a few inches and the presence of some concrete....an unfinished side porch extending into the driveway.

IN the Blink of an eye....

two of the people I love most in this world could have been seriously injured or worse...Died.  In fact, for a brief 30 seconds, that felt like an eternity going by in slow motion,  I thought the worst had happened.  In my heart and mind, my world had just come crashing down.

In the Blink of an eye,

I felt numb, dumb struck, and then Gracious RELIEF  ....ALL...

In the Blink of an Eye!

On November 2nd, 2010, at approx. 4:00 p.m. DIL was leaving my house after having picked up #1 Grandson, Ryan, and Scottie "What" (nickname, long story).  #1 Grandson got in the family Jeep and not knowing the difference between the reaction of a straight shift and automatic vehicle, TURNED the key in the ignition,  the Jeep lurched forward & continued moving.  My DIL stood with little Scott in her arms, screaming, not knowing what to do with Scott or how to stop the jeep.  Ryan was scared to death...the Jeep knocks PaPaw's truck forward and SOMEHOW is stopped by running into an unfinished concrete side porch.  One crashed fender, two crashed headlights, and several blood curdling screams later, all is well and no one hurt.

PaPaw & I were in the house at the time when we heard the blood curdling screams and immediately thought one of the children had been run over.  Scrambling to get out the door, PaPaw broke the coffee table.  I don't think I breathed for 5 minutes.  All I could see was DIL screaming and holding Scott.  My eyes told me Scott was hurt or perhaps worse...

In reality, no one's life was in jeopardy just a bruised ego and faint of heart mother.

In the BLINK of AN EYE...........................

Thank You Jesus for my family 

but on this day 

I am thanking you especially for:

Ryan James & Scott Matthew

Blessings

GMAMA JANE

Guest Blogger at Stash Manicure

GUEST BLOGGER TODAY AT STASH MANICURE

I'm so excited to be Madamm's guest blogger over at one of my favorite blogs....Stash Manicure.

http://stashmanicure@blogspot.com/

Please check it out!!

Welcome to any of my Quilty friends from Stash Manicure.  Look around, you'll find that I don't have many bells & whistles because I'm not as computer savvy as some of you!  

Hey, I babysit my youngest Grandson, Scott, age TWO!!  Nuff said....

 Today's Treasure!!

 I shared this over at Stash Manicure.  No it's not a Hippy Coat as my children thought when they unearthed it back in 1987!!  This is a housecoat made by my Big Grandma (Great Grandmother) around 

1956!!!

Big Grandma made EVERY child a present and she wrapped it in white tissue paper.  I always got to open her presents on Christmas Eve.  I'm ashamed to say, I didn't recognize their value until I became an adult and got interested in quilting.  I can't tell you how excited I was when my son found my little "Coat of Many Colors"... just like the Dolly Parton song.

***************************************************************************

Today I want to share a quilt I have in progress.  This quilt is a gift for my 9 yr. old Grandson, Ryan.  Ryan LOVES LOVES LOVES the outdoors, animals of all kinds especially frogs.

I like to choose a theme or Inspiration fabric when making a quilt.  If it's for a gift, I try to find fabric that reflects the personality of the recipient.  That's difficult sometimes because I may not have the same likes/dislikes and working on a quilt that doesn't suit your own personal taste can be very tedious.  I make an effort to find something I can live with as well.  I thought this fabric suited my grandson Ryan to a "T" and I loved the primary colors!  The coordinating blocks were so fun to put together.  I found a block pattern and designed my own color scheme.  I've shown a few of my creations. 

I'm not a photographer so the pictures don't do the fabric.blocks justice.  My daughter, the photographer, cringes when she looks at my blog photos.  Oh well, Mama does the best she can with what she has which could be said to be my life motto.  

I choose contentment

 Each block has a center square that was fussy cut from the theme fabric

 Here are some more examples.  Another little "trick" I like to use is to make what I call a "wonky" block.  A wonky block could be seen as a mistake but I like to think it is my ACCENT or POP factor.  A block may have ONE piece turned a different way or I may substitute another fabric selection for one of the block pieces.

Ex:  You'll notice the "RED" triangle is positioned the "wrong" way but when you see the whole quilt it is almost discernible.  I like to think it makes my quilts fun especially for children and family members who know to look for the wonky block

 Can you find the "wonky pieces"???????????

Here is the very first quilt block I ever made!  I had never taken a class and simply picked up some fabric and started piecing it.  I think this is a Monkey Wrench pattern and the fabric has some UGLY polyester fabric.  UGH!!!

I bought this DICK & JANE whole cloth in a Fabric shop in Franklin Tennessee called Stitchers Garden!  I promise I believe the owner has every bolt of fabric she has ever owned.  The store used to be in downtown Franklin but is now close to I-65.  Franklin is the quaintest old Tenn. town and home to Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban...Just FYI

BTW, this is my only project without a designated receiver!!  I may do a Give-Away at some point if I thought anyone would be interested.  

What do you HONESTLY think???

Growing up in the 50's, I learned to read from Dick & Jane, Puff, Sally & Spot!!!  In First Grade, I actually thought the book authors had chosen the name Jane because of ME!!!  

MY mother dressed me just like the Character Jane and made me think I was special enough to have a book character named after me.  

Hey, Mama waited 13 yrs. to have me at age 37 after Doctors told her she would never have children of her own.  

THEN, she had my sister at age 42!!  We both knew we were LOVED FIERCELY!! 

Time flies when you're having fun but it's time to begin my Monday Cleaning & Wash.  Hopefully I will have some time this afternoon to work on some quilty projects !!

Blessings

GMAMA

Jane

Halloween Hair Bows

 What do you think?  It's been a long time since I've made hair bows!  My youngest daughter is now 26 and she had a Bow for EVERY outfit!  Remember the 80's??...had to have a matching bow for every outfit and every occasion...especially Holidays!!!


These hair bows are for the Grand Princess Emma Grace.  She has her fingernails & toenails painted in orange & black to match all her Holiday finery!  The pumpkin patch field trip demands a special ensemble so I hope theses hair bows are suitable for pumpkin picking.

I have an adorable Halloween door hanging to make but alas...I'm afraid it won't be completed for Halloween 2010...maybe 2011???  I keep saying I want a Halloween quilt but never get around to making one.  Oh well...one of these days...I'll get my time management skills honed to the point where I can have a quilt for every season.

A Very dear friend who now lives in Georgia is going to be my accountability partner as we begin our weight loss journey together.  Monday, Nov. 1st, begins our journey to feeling better and hopefully having more energy.  Both of us have different reasons for wanting to have more energy.  Sharon and her Pastor husband along with their youngest son, were given a gift by their church to go visit their oldest son off the coast of Marta.  Paul is on a Mission ship doing mission work.  Getting to see their son is definitely a wish come true however, Sharon wants to be able to make the long journey and still have enough "mo jo" to enjoy her visit.

In my case, I babysit my 2 yr. old grandson every day...need I say more???  Plus, I have 4 other Grand peeps who want me to accompany them on various field trips and other adventures around town.  Add that to my daily duties of Housekeeping AND my love of Quilting....I NEED some ENERGY so I don't fall asleep at the sewing machine!!  Do you ever feel that way?  

SO................with all that in mind, I now need to choose some special fabric to go along with a special patchwork pattern in order to chronicle my weight loss journey back to Health!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I will reveal my choice on Monday when I will be GUEST BLOGGER for STASH MANICURE!!!!!!!

I am so excited...stay tuned...............

BLESSINGS

GMAMA JANE

THIS & THAT

Sugar Maple in my Backyard

 

 

 

                                                                               

Old Wagon Wheel in Tree beside Yard Swing

CHEESE ISLAND??  Why Cheese Island??  This particular spot close to the Barn is where the 2 oldest Grandsons do all their pretend play!  They named it Cheese Island (don't ask me why...have no idea) 4 yrs ago and the name stuck!  Sometimes I can be doing yard work and eavesdrop on their conversations.  Sometimes Cheese Island is a fort, castle, or bunker.  More often than not, Cheese Island is simply a Hide-Out.  If I'm missing garden tools, pots, etc..I know where to go look.  It looks rather tacky from a landscaping perspective and you can see it from my driveway but from the eye of a 10, 7, 6, 3 & 2 yr. old, Cheese Island is nothing short of Paradise!  Visitors will just have to overlook it's outer appearance and see it for the wonderful world of imagination that it is!

                                 Blessings,

                          GMAMA JANE