Grandma’s Sampler
November 25, 2007 by DM
I spotted the cross stitch in the basement of an antique store. It depicted two Victorian ladies having tea, with a verse on friendship, with a price-tag of just $10.00 The frame was coming apart, but since I also frame pictures , I brought it home, intending to nurse my find back to health. Discovered that it was a picture and not an actual cross stitch, but that is a whole different story, which will have to wait until another time.
Both my wife and I love antique quilts, cross stitch samplers, old baskets, things of this nature. Looking on e-bay there are cross stitches for sale but most of them are patterns, not the finished product. I suppose I could ask someone to cross stitch something for me, but that seems so presumptuous, so two weeks ago asked Hannah if she could give me some pointers on basic cross stitching, she said “you bet” with a twinkle in her eye. I know men aren’t supposed to cross stitch, but have you ever heard of Rosie Greer? 300 pound professional football player who did needlepoint back in the 1970’s….
Friday, I got an e-mail from my aunt, she asked how her nephew was making out on his cross stitch project :-) I told her I’d finished with the alphabet, my name and date, but still wanted to do a boarder. She wrote back, asked if I’d ever seen Oma’s original sampler (Oma is German for grandma) My aunt had in her possession, my Oma’s sampler from elementary school, dated 1917.
I wrote back and said I would love to get a picture of it. Aunt wrote back and said, she would look for it, and give it to me next time she saw me. I wrote back and said we were headed her way to hit the malls and people watch- (It was Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving) She wrote back and said , stop by for a cup of coffee and I could pick up the sampler. We arrived around lunch time, so aunt fed us a German lunch, ham on rye bread, cheese, black coffee….
What’s my point? Life is too short to worry much about what other people think. Read this post from my other blog if you struggle with people pleasing.
Probably the hardest thing along these lines for me was taking a class of 8th graders rollerskating several years ago. I was in my 20’s, never been on roller skates in my life….somehow, they talked me into getting out on the floor with them….I looked like a cow trying to walk on ice…my hands kept flailing, I kept falling, and I looked like a complete idiot….and the kids loved every minute of it. It was precious.. I remember several of them trying to hang on to me to keep me from falling….so compared to that, doing cross stitch is a walk in the park.
Let me ask you…what are some things you would like to learn how to do but haven’t yet for one reason or the other?
I would like to learn to make pottery - real, useful and decorative pottery like they make at Pewabic. They offer classes, and I’ve had it on my list of things to do when I retire for ages, but I’ve never actually registered for a class.
Given my current schedule, I’m not likely to be able to fit it in any time soon, but it’s on the middle burner!!
Thanks for sharing your hobby, and the reminder that it’s worthwhile to take a timeout from scheduled activities to enjoy people.
Hi DM
I would like to fly a plane, I saw on the news last week, but the cost is a lot of money $7000 so I’m putting that on the back burner for a long time I don’t have that much money. My Second thing is adopt a child form the Ukraine, but that cost a lot of money too.
Horseback riding. I think horses are the most beautiful creatures God put on this planet. They are so majestic looking. But I’m short, they’re tall. I’m weak, they could crush me if I fall under them. I’m afraid of heights (working on that). I had an adventure this summer with my friend Laura. We went horseback riding. I was more exhilarated than I was afraid. I spent the rest of the summer searching for someone who wanted to do it on a regular basis. I think next summer, I’ll take lessons. If He put them there for me to enjoy … I don’t want Him to ask me why I only looked at them. By the way, is there anything you CAN’T do?? Sounds like your a jack of all trades. I can’t even knit, or sew.
I’m smiling….you said “Is there anything you can’t do” Yep, I can’t swim, I can’t see worth a hoot, my wife can beat me @ basketball, I can’t spell…those are just a few things right off the top of my head. Did you ever see Gulivers travels made for public television?..the version I’m thinking of had talking horses called the “Whinnen”.. if you love horses you would love this version of the story…it was several hours long …
Here’s a link to it on Amazon (a dvd) : http://www.amazon.com/Gullivers-Travels-Ted-Danson/dp/B00003ETJV
I think I’ve squashed my dreams so long they’ve died. Thanks for the reminder that I need to drag them back up. They might just be possible — and worth it.
My father always meant to go back to Panama, where he served in WWII. Because he always could go anytime, he never went. Now it’s probably too late, even though he has his passport and I’ve agreed to go with him. (He’s 95 and failing.)
Sometimes I think I’m just too tired to even want to do my dreams.
Tell Hope she’ll love riding. (The thing to fear is how much they eat if you’re paying for it.) I know many adult women who started when they were grown up, and every one is absolutely as thrilled as she would have been if she were ten years old.