Black Cows

It's been hot and sticky here in Greenport the last week or so, and I have been dreaming of Black Cows. When we were little, my six siblings and I loved this sweet treat our father made for us on sultry summer nights. They're called root beer floats in other parts of the country, but in Connecticut in the 1960s, we called them Black Cows. I haven't had one in years, so today I gave in to my craving. I got out one of my favorite Block Optic Depression glass tumblers and filled it with vanilla ice cream and root beer. I added a straw and a beautiful silver spoon then sat on my porch swing to enjoy it.

It was every bit as delicious as I remembered . . . . . . .

Let me introduce you to.................

Mr. Whipstitch, my personnal assistant. He is also Mayor of the Thimblefolk...................I made him for the opening page of my website which has yet to happen. Sarah and I have our own business names and mine is Thimblefolk. I had originally sketched him several years ago as sort of an elf but as I started working on him he took his own personality and presented himself as a distinquished gentlemen from the 1800's.

I found his thimble hat after many months of searching, it is actually a pewter shot glass that is about 2 inches long. I decided in keeping with my love of wool to needlefelt his head and his clothes (except his linen shirt and silk cravat) and the pincushion are all made from wool. He measures about 12 inches tall. He sits on my table in front of a giant pair of scissors and smiles at me all day long....................although he may just stick me with that needle if I don't get busy and start sewing again.

Have a happy day, Barb

Here's where I create...........

...............I used to eat my meals at this table, now I am lucky if I can find it under the piles of fabric, patterns and tools. My quilts, hooked rugs and most of my vintage sewing collectibles are in this room so I am always surrounded by my favorite things.

I live in a tiny 3 room cottage just a short stroll from Long Island Sound so there's a limit to what I can do. This is the only clothes closet in the house and it was turned into a sewing room (that was until the wool took over).

That's Clo Pin (her real name, she's a vintage piece and her arms and legs are clothespins) sitting on the pile of wool.............she's saying "if she puts one more piece of wool in this closet.........

Enough for today.........I need to make a mess again. Barb

Angels for Brianna Ends Tomorrow!!!

Get your bids in!

http://angelsforbrianna.blogspot.com/

Here are the stats we just received:

Check this out....

$13,560.97

We had 661 visits yesterday, 10291 hits altogether, and 4599 unique visitors.

News from the Auction

We just received some statistics about the auction. It's really exciting to see how much has been raised and who is visiting the site.

Visitors from Iceland, Germany, Sweden, UK, Australia, Norway, Canada, US.

We are getting a ton of referrals from artists blogs - hope they update them with our fixed status and Money raised.....

Stats were way down on Tuesday. I am hoping that the artists will email their mailing lists/groups and let people know the site is up and perfectly operational.

Funds raised total: $ 11,164.00

including donations of $2,670

Stats are:

3334 unique visitors

7800 hits from all over the world.

Angels for Brianna Auction -- Wow!

The auction for the angels is in full swing now! It is great to see all the interest and all the money being made in Brianna's memory. If you haven't bid yet, get busy!

Angels for Brianna Auction

Well, here is a sneak peak of my "angel"................I can't wait until tomorrow to see the rest.

Barb

Angels for Brianna Auction

Sarah and I have been busy making our angels for the auction. It will start Sunday, July 8th @ 10 a.m. PST and end Saturday, July 14th @ 6:30 p.m. PST. This is where to go to view and participate..............angelsforbrianna.blogspot.com.........there are over 50 artists participating, all of whom have created an angel in Brianna's memory. If you wish to know more about Brianna, visit iva-and-family.blogspot.com.

Happy 4th of July!

It's only July 1, but the fireworks have already started! We have beautiful weather here in the Northeast. I'm hoping it will last through the holiday.

It's been a week since the Quiet Corner Rug Show -- a long time without a post, but I was hoping Barb would take up the slack this week. No such luck! She'll do anything to avoid writing.

We did okay at the show. We enjoyed the day, which started really early (we got up around 5:30 and left at 6:15). We were greeted by a whole passel of men who carried everything for us! Thank Bob, and Son-of-Bob (whose name is actually Kevin). We talked to several friends -- Barbara of Basket Garden Farm and Judy of 3 Bags Full had a booth -- and made some new friends, too. We had several repeat customers who remembered us from the Fairfield Grace show in April and the Newtown show in October. Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm stopped by with her daughter and her sister. (Lori had a hooking group that Barb was a member.) And Barb's current rug group -- Kathy, Carol, Judy, Mary and Colleen came and bought, too!

Here's a shot of our booth:


And a shot of Barbara and Judy's both:


All in all, it was a lovely day. We'll be vendors next time, too. This will be a biennial show, to give members time to hook more rugs.