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April 2006
Please send your comments to jp@neighborjanepayne.com
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Quilt Show
April 29, 2006
Last night Cali, Calvin and I drove over to Odessa to a quilt show. We stopped by Woody’s and grabbed a hamburger first. Woody’s is an old-fashioned tasty freeze with the best burgers and . . . fry sauce, the “secret’s in the sauce.”
Odessa is out in the middle of some beautiful dry land farms. The wheat is up about 8 inches and the fields were green and gorgeous last night. Calvin took the back roads which wind around and go up and down over the hills. If I used my best imagination, I could pretend we were on a boat in a green sea; until we came to the little communities. It was fun to see some of the old settlements and each time we saw an old, vacant, two-story farmhouse, Cali would say, “I’ll bet that place is haunted” and Calvin would say, “I’d love to go exploring there.”
Odessa is a very small German community, and they put on a handsome quilt show. The stories around some of the quilts were fun to read. One quilt sat unfinished for several years because of the quilter’s bout with cancer. Another quilt, a baby blanket, was begun in 1930 by a woman who then passed it on to her daughter in 1958, unsewn. The daughter finally completed it a few years ago. The design was Noah and the Ark, and the animals were made from authentic prints from 1930's fabric. Mrs. Noah’s bun looked like she’d slept on it for 76 years and the whole quilt was charming and quaint.
My favorite quilt had to be this one:
 
because of the detail. Every time I went back to look at it I found something new. The school bus has steps and a bus driver embroidered in. The hive has the cutest little bees buzzing around it. The waterfall, the sign in front of the church, the pickup and camp trailer up at the top, the flowers in the meadow behind the sheep . . . it was an “I Spy” experience.
Betty, our neighbor, was the featured quilter at the show. Her quilts are expertly done. She is a perfectionist and it shows in the exactness and perfectness of her quilts. She’s shared her quilts with me before, but it was fun to see them all hanging behind her like pictures in a gallery. You can see she has two quilts in the works.
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Get your 90th Edition Here!
April 28, 2006
Ding-dong! The clock just chimed six o’clock and I already have the 90th edition of the NJP newsletter mailed. The trash truck just hauled away the garbage and the sun is up and shining on my face. All I need to do is put on my cardigan and tennis shoes and it’ll be a “Great day in the Neighborhood”!
If you’re not a subscriber to the NJP newsletter, and would like a copy, please send me your e-mail address (jp@neighborjanepayne) and I’ll send you a free copy of this week’s edition.
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No Log Jam Today
April 27, 2006
Some days I have so many ideas to write about it is like a very bad log jam. Other days there is one lowly twig floating down the stream. Today? None. No log jam. No twig. Nothing. I think I used everything up in tomorrow’s newsletter.
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April 26, 2006
My tip today is this simple bun-cutter. It's a peanut can that I have squished on one end and left round on the other. I use this cutter to make our hamburger (round) and hotdog (oblong) buns. The buns are especially good for french dips (oblong) and b.b.q. (round) sandwiches. Use your favorite bread dough recipe* (or mine) and then instead of making loaves, roll the dough into a large rectangle about ˝ inch thick on a floured counter. Cut the buns with the cutter and place on a greased baking sheet. Let rise and then bake at 375 degrees until brown—approximately 20 minutes.
*you can also use bread machine dough
my homemade hamburger and hotdog bun cutter
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Comments:
Wow! That is a neat trick, with the can. This is my first time at your site and I'm LOVING it. Much to see and read. --Chaotic Mom www.chaotichome.blogspot.com
Great blog! GREAT idea for the bun cutter. Very ingenious. Gonna try that one out!—LammyAnn www.upsaid.com/lammyann
Love this idea. I definitely want to try it!! Michelle
That is a great idea! Thanks for visiting my blog. Your site looks great - I am just heading to have a good look around. Nice to meet you! Janice www.5minutesformom.com
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One Thing Deserves Another . . .
April 25, 2006
I’ve got an obnoxious woodpecker visiting today. First he was pecking at the screens and window in one of the back bedrooms. Next he moved to the east side of the house and finally to the south side. I wait till he’s really rat-a-tat-tatting and then go and pound on the window right beneath him. I figure one good scare deserves another as the first time he came a few years ago I was certain it was someone trying to break in (though I did wonder how much sense it made since the doors were unlocked . . . but decided one should never underestimate or overestimate a thief).
We bought a garden gizmo. We aren’t really gizmo people and I thought we should just try a homemade version of this tomato grower (i.e., a bucket with a hole in the bottom), but Calvin thought we ought to buy one and try it first. And since one good thing deserves another, he bought two. The plants grow upside down, the potting soil and plant roots are in the bag above and the tomato vine comes out the bottom. I’ll keep you posted throughout the summer as to how it works. It’s the first time we’ve ever planted tomatoes in April . . . or first in our garden for that matter.
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The Perfect Perfumery
April 24, 2006
Calvin and I went on a quick bike ride this evening after supper. I caught a whiff of the cherry and plum trees in bloom and the cottonwood trees starting to bud. I don’t think a perfumery or candle shop can possibly duplicate those heavenly smells, but sometimes I wish they could.
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Yard Sale
Saturday, April 22, 2006
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Two girls helping with a yard sale to earn money for an exchange trip to Korea.
Today was my first day yard saling of the season. I went with a good buddy, Brenda. She’s the perfect yard sale partner:
· We both like bargains, but she likes glassware and I like baskets. Only one time have we ever wanted the same thing . . . and she graciously let me have it.
· We seldom plan ahead. She usually calls early Saturday am and says, “I haven’t even brushed my teeth . . . yawannago?”
· She never tries to talk me into buying something and she loves me in spite of my quirk to think every purchase through—little calico-stitched cats should not require three minutes of decision time, especially when they’re only 50 cents for the passel, but she patiently visits with someone until I decide. (I left them.).
I picked up a party book—looks like it was published in the early 70’s. It has hundreds of simple ideas. Here’s one:
Telephone Come as You Are Party
Time and Place: 7:30 pm at _________
Invitations: Guests were invited by phone—at all hours of the day or night—and instructed to come as they were when they received the call.
Girls arrived in sheets, pajamas, street clothes, and nurses’ uniforms, some with their hair half rolled. As they arrived we met them with a frozen drink and nuts and bolts snacks. We played a card game which encourages mixing and switching tables. Prizes were given to the table as a whole.
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Comments:
Neighbor Jane,
Reading about your yard sales and "great finds" made me excited to go too. How fun to find an "antiquated" party book. Those "great finds" that give you a peek into the past are the best. Thanks for sparking the excitement.
Cali
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Ally?
Friday, April 21, 2006
I read in the online edition of my hometown newspaper that Allyson Swan was the Idaho contestant for the Miss USA contest tonight. Whoa. Amazing what can happen in 8 years when you lose contact with someone.
Ally and her family lived on a ranch 40-50 miles from ours. When our kids were little, we got together with George and Becky (Ally’s folks) often. Becky and I made turtles, almond joys, peanut butter cups and caramels at Christmas while the kids played. (I’ve got a darling picture of the girls covered in flour…but Ally’s too busy today to ask for permission to post it.J) Cali and Ally clogged together. The kids spent the nights together (our son, Trent, was sorely distressed by a leech stuck to his leg after swimming in their creek) and we’d have family home evening or dinner at one house or the other from time to time. Then, when George and Becky’s kids got a little older, the Swans moved to town during the week. The one-room school near their ranch only went to the eighth grade. Once they moved to town, our kids’ activities kept both families busy and we didn’t get together as often.
We moved to Washington, George was elected to the Idaho State Legislature and life went on. And then it didn’t. George passed away from cancer a few years ago. Becky remarried and we lost touch, other than an occasional Christmas card. And Ally? I had NO IDEA she competed in pageants and contests until I read the newspaper. Whoa.
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The Tortoise and the Hare
Thursday, April 20, 2006
I did it! I finished raking the leaves. We have over 4 acres of lawn and on a good day it takes 4 hours to mow it with a riding lawn mower. We also have 200+ trees and 100 yards of lilac bushes. That makes for a lot of leaves and blown branches to rake each spring.
This is the first year I haven’t had the kids to help with the lawn. In the past we’ve hit the lawn hard and fast to keep the misery short. However, this year I decided I’d replace my daily walk with a daily rake—just an hour a day. Slow and steady would do it, I’d take the tortoise approach. The only deadline I gave myself was the leaves had to be raked before the lilacs bloomed. I missed raking some days to rain, cold and apathy, but it is finally done. And I’m thinking slow-and-steady-wins-the-race is a mantra I’ll adopt more often. I noticed things I might not have…like where last year’s, 25 cent, plastic Easter grass went. The robins obviously think it’s a bargain, too.
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Comments:
I'm glad someone is validating the tortoise! I sooooo want to be the hare when I do things, but the unfortunate truth is that I'm easily distracted, and seldom can maintain a hare's pace. I have several friends who are hares; I really want to be a hare, but I'm not a hare. I'm a tortoise. I'm glad someone else is a tortoise too.--Susan
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Wednesday, April19, 2006
Shannon, at "Rocks in My Dryer" (http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/), keeps a great blog rolling and I read her most every day. She started a column called "Works-for-me-Wednesday." Each Wednesday she and many of her blogging friends (http://juliegumm.blogspot.com/) post a tip that makes their lives easier.
I love her column idea, and since I send a newsletter out each Friday with just this sort of thing and you subscribe, you must too! I'm linking to Shannon so you can find more tips . . . plus Shannon has a great writing style and stories that I think you'll enjoy.
Here's my "Works-for-me-Wednesday" tip:
With college kids and nephews/nieces coming to visit, we make durable and inexpensive "Welcome Home" signs by writing the messages in sidewalk chalk on the front of the garage door. It saves a lot of money that would have been spent on banner paper, newsprint, and markers. The sidewalk chalk easily cleans off the garage door with a soft brush and soapy water. ___________________________________________________________________________
Comments:
This would be a cool idea of birthdays, anniversaries, congratulations and more!! I think I'll try it sometime : ) Good tip!! --Stacey
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