Sad News

I knew that this day was coming, and yesterday morning it happened.  Clara died during the night.

Clara turned 10 last month, and from all accounts I've heard, 10 is old for a chicken.  No sign of illness or anything.  She acted perfectly normal the day before.  We buried her under the pine tree, where she always liked to lay in the summer.  Her other favorite spot was on the back step, but we really couldn't bury her under the cement.

I looked through some pictures yesterday, and thought you might enjoy a few.  Unfortunately, I didn't find the one from when she caught the mouse.

Moving into the new chicken coop, 2006.  What this picture doesn't show is that she was trying to get into the coop the entire time we were taking the old one down and moving the new one into place.  It got the Clara seal of appoval!

    Clara and Goldie (long deceased).  Clara would walk right inside the back door if it were open.  It was a running joke for a long time that Clara should have been a dog.  She was a great watch-chicken, and chased a couple of people out of the back yard once.

This was taken in 2010, after the raccoon attack.  She survived the attack but walked around for a few days afterwards almost like she was in shock.  A friend of mine said that had I not been as obnoxious as I was taking care of her, she'd have probably died from being convinced she was going to die. 

OK, so Clara isn't in this picture, but it's still a good one.  How many Rhode Island Reds fit on a garbage can?  Four! 

 

Perching on garbage cans or climbing the fence to get out (thank you, Goldie, for teaching that trick) was not Clara's thing.  She was a good chicken, preferring her back yard (in the fence) to roaming around.  She would let me know when hawks or other predators would come around, and she woke me up a few times during the night, too when oppossoms and raccoons would visit.  Yup, she will be missed, but what a grand life she had!

   

The Treadle that Shouldn't Exist

After having read today about one treadle which was deemed not to be worthy saving as such, I decided it was time to talk about the Detroit. This is what it looked like when I got it:

 

 

Pretty rough.  One of the drawers were broken, almost all the finish was gone, and there wasn't a speck of paint left on the irons under the rust.  The grandson of the owner gave it to me.  It isn't a "rare" treadle.  It's a National, and while there were many of them made, I haven't seen very many National-badged Detroit show up.  In fact, I only know of two at the moment, and mine is one of them.

 

Well, a little elbow grease, oil, maybe $20 worth of cleaners (I haven't had to go out and buy anything for so long I can't tell you how much that really costs), and some shellac, and this is what it looks like:

 

Used, but in nice shape for the age.  Based on the cabinet patent I found, it dates to ca. 1901. 

 

I'm working on a new treadle now, a Germania, which is also a badged National.  That one had all it's drawers removed, and some other stuff done to it, but the machine is lovely, so I decided it was worth a little work.

 

I think the pictures speak for themselves.  (The Germania is undergoing some veneer work, and so I'll post when I get that finished.)

Back after a long vacation

... though it wasn't much of a vacation.  Since Dec 2011, I've said goodbye to the church I was a member at for 32 years and transferred back to the church I spent my first 5 years at.  Really, it was a no-brain decision to leave, and the fact the paperwork went through and was delivered by mail in under 48 hours says so, doesn't it?  I did enjoy a bit of a laugh about the speed since NOTHING travels that quickly in the mail.  OK, so apparently something *can* travel that fast.  Who knew?

Much of last year was also spent helping take care of my grandpa, who passed away December 1st, 2012.  While I miss him greatly, I wouldn't wish him back for anything.  He is taken care of, safe from whatever the future brings. 

I managed to save some seed for this year's garden, but not enough to where I could list in the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook.  That was the biggest disappointment for the year, besides losing 95% of my Hidatsa Red beans.  God willing, this will be a better growing year.

Speaking of which, it's seed ordering time.  The 2013 SSE Yearbook came today, and it's great reading.  God willing, this year I'll have enough to offer seed for 2014.  That's one thing about a garden.  It forces one to be optimistic.  No matter how bad the previous year was, there's always next year!  Just make sure you save a few seeds, just in case......   
   

Quote of the Day

Since it is forbidden to discuss what is going on at my church, I shall merely post this:

"For this you should always bear in mind, that God’s word and grace are a passing shower that goes, never to return. And do not, my German brothers, indulge in the delusive dream that it will abide with you forever. For an ungrateful and a scornful spirit will drive it away."

--- Martin Luther,

“To the Councilmen of All Cities of the German Nation, That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools"

New Sewing Machines!

... OK, so they're new to me.

Yes, it's been a long time since I posted, but it's hard to post when there's no new machines to talk about!

A couple weeks ago, another Onion and I headed off to the wilds of northern Illinois to do a little treadle shopping. (And it was a beautiful trip, in spite of the rain.) This is what I came home with:


This is a ca 1880 New Home, made by Gold Medal (according to the patent), in a Home cabinet. It's a lovely machine and was signed on a drawer by Chesley T. Sabine of Maine in 1887.

This dates to 1883-1885 and is only the 2nd mother of pearl New Home machine I've ever seen. It was a "package deal" so I couldn't say no..... OK, so that's not totally honest. I couldn't say no because it was so lovely!!
This lovely New National by New Home sews as well as she looks! She's not as perfect as the picture makes her look, but I prefer a machine with dings and scratches because then I'm not afraid to use it.
This lovely little gal wasn't what I thought she was, but that's OK. She turns out to be an Elsa made in Germany for the English market. At first a kind Onion ID'd her as a Gladys A, but then the man I got her from looked in his notes and had her as an Elsa. They're the same machine, either way. Ca 1890. I have the base which has to be repaired, but she's still a sweet gal. One of the boys has taken a shine to her. The other boy decided he wants a black Singer 301 (thanks Michelle!)

Now this lovely New Home came from nearby a month ago. Ca 1885. Her former owner told me that it was his great-Aunt Clara's, and so she just had to come home with me. This makes 3 sewing machines I have that I know were owned by ladies named Clara. She also was tempting because of her attachments.

And that should be enough to keep me busy for a while, you'd think! But oh, no, I've got one coming from next door to live with me. I never posted about the two machines I got from the Treadle Fairy one Sunday, either, or the Davis NVF that I saved from the barn. However, the green beans are in and can't wait any longer, so I'm headed off to freeze some beans.

I'm off the Island!!!

...Triangle Island, that is.

Yup, that's right, I finally finished Triangle Island Feb 5th.

These are the two quilts I ended up with:

These were a joint effort between my ca 1915 Davis New Vertical Feed, 1893 White VS III, and 1906 Singer 15-30. Oddly enough, it was the Singer 15-30 which gave me the most problems. I don't blame the machine, it's me. For some reason, I seem to get along better with my vibrating shuttle machines. I had a much easier time doing free-motion quilting on my White than with the Singer.

They aren't professional work, but I like them, and more importantly, so do my kids. However, I don't want to see another triangle for a long time!

Down in the dumps

Well, here it is January 10th, and I'm still not finished with the Triangle Island quilt. I'm almost done with the quilting, but my brother passed away Nov 28th and I haven't had the heart to pick it back up again. Well, and then there's the church issues.

I've been trying to get myself interested in sewing again, so I spent a day last week at my aunt's "taking" a pattern from my great-grandma's 1915 confirmation dress. I was successful in making a mockup of the bodice so I could fit it to me, and now I'm working on increasing the pattern. If I wanted to, I could really get moving on it, but I'm just having a hard time getting back into anything fun. Maybe if I wasn't watching my church self-destruct I would feel more up to some fun. Anyway, the Mid-Mitten TOGA (Treadle On Gathering and Academy) is Saturday, so D.V., there's no snow and I can see some friends in Ovid. There's a bright spot in this week.