Looking Back and Moving Forward

 Hello Everyone,

It's been weeks since I've posted, so I have a lot to get you caught up on what I've been doing.  For starters, I've been getting ready for my next Sew'n Wild Oaks retreat at the end of August.

My sister, Gail, was up for a few days and she volunteered to help in the kit-making process.  Here she is buried under a pile of project bag kits.

I had a bin of fabrics all selected and matched with a zipper.  They just needed vinyl, batting, directions and assembly.

We cut and assembled 79 kits which should be enough for the next two retreats.  I still have to make more for the final retreat in October.

The bags are easy to make and so useful for quilting supplies.  You can also fill them with smaller items that you don't want to get lost in your suitcase.  They are the perfect gift for anyone.  If you are interested in the directions for the project bag, you can download them HERE.

While we have been downsizing, we've run across unpacked boxes that belonged to my parents and Mr. Joe's parents. We ran across a section of newspaper from The Springfield Union newspaper.  Note the date.......this paper will be 86 years old tomorrow, July 26th.

We couldn't understand why this newspaper was important until we read the fine print. This is a picture of Mr. Joe's mother, Caroline Huntington taking her cow out for a leisurely stroll.  Our granddaughters wanted to re-create this image with Emily walking her steer, Rooster.  He wasn't having it!

It's hard to read the fine print, but it says the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge was nearing completion.  Little did Mr. Joe's mom imagine that her son and family would be living a short 50 miles from this bridge decades after this picture was taken.  Oh, the memories of one's life. 

As I was going through a box, I found this little treasure.  A bottle of Golli Wogg perfume in the original box from France.  

Mr. Joe's grandmother was a cosmetics buyer for Steiger's Department Store in Springfield, MA beginning in the 1930's.  This must be a piece of her past.  Pitch it or sell it?  Our grandson, Jess suggested we download the Google app to our phones.  You can take pictures of an item, and Google will scour the Internet for information.  It is pretty amazing.  This little gem has sold at auction for over $1,000!  

We've tasked our DIL to sell treasures and all proceeds will go to painting the interior of the house and the installation of new flooring.

We've been packing and marking the passage of time.  We may spend an hour on a box.....if not longer.  We are not only reliving our life, but the lives of our parents and grandparents.  It's a process, a very slow process.  This coming weekend we will be moving up some of the furniture that I just can't part with.  The cabin is so full, soon we will be hanging things from the rafters.

You have probably been hearing about the Oak Fire, the largest fire burning out of control close to the southern entrance of Yosemite.  As we were driving up to Bear Valley to attend a concert on Friday, we saw the pyro cumulus cloud generated by the fire.  It may look like a thunderhead but believe me it's not. Every morning we wake up to an orange and smoke-filled sky.  Yosemite is a 2-hour drive from the cabin.  We aren't in any danger from this fire, unless it goes absolutely ballistic.   

So that is what I've been doing over the past three weeks.  The move is winding down while my business is ramping up.  I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my sample yardage for my next block of the month.  Shipping times, and the fabric-making process have been very slow.  Patience is not one of my virtues.

Soon,

Lynn