Love the banging sounds of making that loom work

Back in class:  This is the project that I left on the loom at the end of last semester.  Plan to do about 20 inches of the turquoise then repeat the gold, etc for the other end.  Will be a wall hanging or runner.  It measures about 15 inches across.  I have some South West pictures on my wall in my "studio" so it will prob be hung there.  Think the next project will be learning to do a soft open weave on a scarf. 

BookSneeze review

As a member of Booksneeze.com I get a free book to read but am required to do a book review of the book before I can request another book.  Fair enough.  The book I received last is called: Alienation book 2, by Jon S. Lewis.  It is part of the C.H.A.O.S. Trilogy.  It is written with the young teen in mind, but was fun to read.  It is ffuturistic with lots of action and computer whizzes. With the alien shape shifters trying to take over the world, this young man named Colt and his buddy Oz must fight to save the world and maybe get back to normal lives. 

Won't you be my friend?

A stranger called, and before I knew it I was wrapped up in his family history and loving every minute of it.
David L. Jones is working on his second book that is part fiction and part non fiction.  Any interested soul can go on line to Amazon and look for his book,  High Grade and either download it to your electronic book or order a book.  I have the book in my store for sale and there is no shipping to pay.
I loved the book but mostly I have really enjoyed getting to know the author and know I have made a friend.  He may live in Arizona but his roots are right here in Granby and Neosho.  His cousin (once or twice removed, what ever that means) came in today and trusted me to scan and copy 20 pages of their family history and send on to him.  The last several pages were tributes to the Grandmother that they share, written by different family members over a period of years.

Something that scares me is that in future generations will anyone care about this stuff?  So many people are being cremated and remains scattered to the winds.  So no physical evidence of their existence.  Then what about all the children born in this generation that have such blended families, many who have no legal ties.  How confusing will all that be.  And will anyone really care??

So on that thought I leave you with a picture of my moon flower that is having its last hurrah for the summer and the honey bees that are making honey for the winter.

Cemetery Sloothing

Got the chance to visit a really old cemetery in this little town where I have my book store.  This one has many stones that date back to Civil War times.  These stones are what I believe to be the Great Grandparents of the author that contacted me recently, David Jones.  A relative of his came in the store yesterday and showed me a picture of the woman who is buried under that square stone.  So I took a picture of it and e-mailed it to David.  He was really surprised and happy to have it.  Now I have to go back with a brush and take the mossy stuff off it so that I can take a better picture.  It is a shame these old cemeteries are so poorly kept up.  Many of the taller stones are toppled. Many of the ones I saw were alive during the Civil War.  And in case you didn't now that was 1861 to 1865.
The guy who helps run the old Miners Museum here in town was in this week and he gave me alot of Granby history of the boom days of lead ore mining here in town.  The museum is over the Wooly Bugger Mine (really, I wouldn't make this up) The mining was going on before the war, but the Civil War lead to a big increase in mining.
Another nugget of information that I know.  Up till not very many years ago most the sewers in Granby were funneled down into old mine shafts that run all thru the town.  FACT!  They put in mandatory sewer system around 1990ish.  I always said that when it was completed the town would fall into a big pit because the mine shafts would be empty.  OK I won't go any further with that thought. 

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/faq/  I found this to be a great site to get basic facts about the Civil War.  Check it out.

Poem about Heaven

BEST POEM IN THE WORLD
I was shocked, confused, bewildered
  As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
    Nor the lights or its decor.
But it was the folks in Heaven
    Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
    The alcoholics and the trash.
There stood the kid from seventh grade
    Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
    Who never said anything nice.
Herb, who I always thought
    Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
    Looking incredibly well.
I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
    I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
    God must've made a mistake.
'And why is everyone so quiet,
    So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said, 'they're all in shock.
    No one thought they'd be seeing you..'
JUDGE NOT!!
Remember...Just going to church doesn't make you a
Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.
Every saint has a PAST...

Four Degrees of Seperation

I have written here before about the author I have been chatting with and trying to sell his book here in my store.  He called this morning and we had a good visit.  Then just an hour later I got a call from a gal that was so excited because she had seen my newspaper column about the book and author, David Jones.  She subscribes to the paper even though she lives at least 150 miles away.  She thanked me for helping her find her Cousin!  Seems David's dad and her uncle were brothers or cousins, not sure.  Anyway I gave her info to reach David,  then as we chatted I found out that her sister here in Granby is a gal that my brother dated for about a year, about 4 years ago!  Now how is that for Four Degrees of Separation???  I could have ended up actually sort of related to David! 

Recycled the recycled!

Did you know you can recycle the recycled?  Thats what I have done with a rug I am weaving.  In the past I have taken apart a favorite old rug and rewove the warp.  This rug is one I bought from my friend in Iowa many years ago and loved it to its actual death!  So I took it apart and could only salvage part of the old denim warp.  So here is the small pile I had to work with.  I am using my little table top loom and making a small runner about 14 inches wide and how ever long the warp lasts.

So this is what it looks like so far.  Ignore the greenish stuff, that is just filler. 
Spent most of my weekend working on recycled jean bags.  It is fun to make them and put linings in and then figure out how to decorate them.

Big news that I will add more about later,  I have signed up for 2 craft fairs this fall and also a weaving demonstration.  Woo Hoo.  I am the demonstrator in case that wasn't clear.  I have my Prairie dress and apron (and pantaloons) cut out and need to get busy on that.  Have to dress in costume for the demonstration!  Here is the pattern:

I bought new fabric for the dress, but the apron is to be out of the recycled bed dust ruffle with the beautiful crocheting on the ednge.  The pantaloons are going to be from a recycled batiste night gown that I found at a garage sale, it is so soft and even has lace at the bottom already.  (I might be talked into modeling)

My August column for Newton Co News

I had a very interesting phone call from a gentleman in Arizona this last week. His name is David Lincoln Jones and he was born in Granby but grew up in Neosho. He has written his first book and called to see if I would carry it in my book store. I enjoyed a great conversation with him and said “Yes, of course, I would be glad to do this”, especially after he told me a little about the book. It is called High Grade and since I just got a copy I haven't had a chance to read it but you can bet I will do my review next month on it. On the back cover it says “What if a soldier returned from war, but he has no memory of home?” It is about a true story of his great-great grandfather who came home from the Civil War but never actually made it home. So it is part fiction and part non fiction. I have a feeling I will love the book as it is right up my alley of historical novels that have some truth to them. This is a quote from the book:

“My Great Grandfather who moved to Granby was named Nimrod Columbus Jones. He's Matt in the book. He died in Granby in the 1920's, a few years before I was born. My Aunt, Bertha Jennings told me the story, which is in the book, of Nimrod taking the gun away from a miner who was complaining about the Hell Fire and Damnation sermons Nimrod was preaching.

Bertha was the daughter of Tip Jennings, a real live Granby character. He was still driving a matched pair of mules wherever he went in the early '40's”

I will keep a copy of the book in the store and take orders if anyone wants a copy. It can be purchased through Amazon, but you will have to pay shipping. I hope I have piqued your interest. Come by the store or call me at 472-7111 for more information.

Weaving class will resume for me Aug 22, so store hours on Wednesdays will be from noon to 4.

I did manage to read 3 books to report on this month, but may only have room for 2 in the column. The first is a fiction novel that closely parallels the Bernie Madoff case. Now I really didn't pay close attention to all the details on the Madoff family but have Googled to get more info.

Silver Girl

by Elin Hildebrand

Meredith Delinn is the main character and she has lost everything. After 30 years of marriage to a very wealthy man, Freddie Delinn her house of cards crumble down. He is convicted of cheating rich investors out of billions of dollars. But will any one believe her when she says she didn't know? She lived a lavish life, spending the money, then seeks refuge with her long time childhood friend Connie on the island of Nantucket. The story is very well done and weaves their lives growing up as friends into their lives as women 50 years old. Meridith is targeted by someone who wants revenge, plus she is racking her brains trying to give info to her lawyer to help the FBI find the billions that are hidden. I found the suspense, romance, and tie in with her family and Connie's family very well done. I thought the similarity with Madoff quite an unusual touch: they met in high school, had 2 sons, 150 years prison sentence, and spending time with a female sister/friend after losing everything and being hated by most of the world. In the book Meredith actually had no knowledge of the fraud but was guilty of not paying attention to warning signs that things weren't right. We will never know if Ruth Madoff could say the same thing, but the more I read about Ruth it seems her life is a pretty tight parallel to the Meredith in the book. What is fact and what is fiction here?

I have found I have one more book by this author and it is definitely on my read list.

Intervention

by Robin Cook

Three men, 30 years after graduating from high school find themselves tangled in a mystery. Jack is a medical examiner still recovering from the loss of his wife and 2 daughters several years ago. He is remarried and now has a son who is desperately ill with a rare cancer. Jack is exploring alternative medicine. Shawn is a renowned archaeologist and biblical scholar who gets permission to do a dig beneath Saint Peter's trying to find proof to uphold his long standing grudge against the church. James is now a Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York and he doesn't want the new findings to come to light or it will discredit the church. He turns to Jack to help talk their friend out of publishing his findings. The Intervention is the key at the end of the book, a last ditch effort to stop Shawn. I found this to be a rather good book by Robin Cook. He is known for his medical mysteries and this one had a new twist that kept me going.

Try to keep cool, keep an eye on your elderly family and friends and conserve our water. Did you know it takes about a gallon of water to run before you get hot water? I have been catching it in a little bucket and putting it on the shrubs.