The Embroideress

In a recent rummage for items to help flood victims I found more inventory of Nancy Sue Havener's designs. I put up another entire page of them. I think this is close to being a complete set of her published work but I only have 1 or 2 of each of the charts - so first come, first served.

Take a look at all of her designs at http://www.skinnersisters.com/ns/page3.html

Labels: Nancy Sue Havener, The Graceful Lily

Some of you may have heard about our recent flood here in the Nashville area. Thankfully my home was not inundated except for rain overflow into our lowest level BUT many of our essential services went wacky as their mail yards, warehouses, sorting stations etc were soon under water and are still not rebuilt and restored.

Internet service has been sporadic but seems to be stable now. Telephones ditto. I still have no reliable cable TV reception though.

My main efforts and time have been spent trying to get 55 families in a nearby neighborhood outfitted with clothing, furniture, household equipment and food. They have been relocated but had absolutely nothing after the flood. Many of their homes were simple washed downstream on the mighty Cumberland River or are filled with muck that cannot be dealt with.

S0 into the closet for the clothes that don't fit, box up the glasses we've had around since college and don't even like anymore, dozens of souvenier coffee mugs I've collected over the years - you get the picture. I've been helping sort and coordinate the contributions of the 200+ residents here. It makes sense to send sorted stuff to the school where it is being distributed rather that just to throw it all in a plastic bag for the workers there to face organizing it.

So apologies to all those who I may seem to have ignored recently. It will take years for any sort of recovery for these families but they and the hundreds of others affected will hopefully eventually build a new life.

Here in the US we celebrate Father's Day tomorrow. I've taken a little time to think about the men in my life and am rather amazed at the number of skills I learned from them. I was fortunate in growing up in a small town and spent a lot of time with a father, grandfather, step-grandfather, an uncle, and two great uncles.

I came up with a quick list of things they taught me including:

How to ride a bike, garden, practical carpentry, work crosswords, whistle, tie my shoes,
ride a horse, make ice-cream, read a racing form and handicap dog/horse race; play
croquet, roll a bedroll, sharpen a knife, make sauerkraut, umpire a baseball game and
keep score, fish, climb a tree, read a map, draw a beer from a tap and pour it from
a bottle, chalk a pool cue, replace a broken pane of glass, call a pig, mend
harness, use a clutch, scoop poop, bathe a dog, pull porcupine quills, play poker,
play checkers, obedience train a dog, and blow bubble gum bubbles.

I'm sure the list is not complete, but I'll not forget the men in my life and their contributions to my abilities and just plain fun.

Labels: Father's Day