I received word Friday that my dad had died.  He was only 59, and it was unexpected.  Yet in a way it was expected–he was never quite the same since his heart attack 9 years ago.  I think he waited until he knew the 4 of us would be ok, and to learn who his grandchildren were going to be, then decided to let go.  It didn’t happen the way he’d always said he wanted it to–going off into his beloved mountain woods and disappearing, but he went with a book on his chest, and that’s the next best thing.

I’m in a creative discernment process with a group of friends, and one of my early goals was to start calling him more often.  I spoke to him about a week before he died, and hit on several topics, as is normal for our conversations.  I had called to ask if he’d do a genealogy test for the research Rach and I are doing.  He said he didn’t need to–he already knew he’s an alien.  Such was our conversations!  (I had fun afterwards telling my coworkers stories of my crazy dad!)  It turns out that we’d all talked to him in the last week and had GOOD, positive conversations, which wasn’t always the case with him.  The only one who didn’t talk to him was my brother David, who’s currently in Afghanistan.  His wife was a proxy and she talked to him, but I’m sure when David gets here later in the week that’ll be an emotional problem for him, although he’ll try to be the “man of the family” as he always did when Dad was away, and hide it.

Today I get to go to the house for the first time.  I’m dreading it–as the oldest, I feel I need to be the one to call any old family friends that my stepmother didn’t know.  In the next few weeks I’ll be seeing and talking to family members and family friends I haven’t had contact with since 1985 or earlier.  I find that I’m also looking forward to it–the chance to reconnect and share memories of this difficult, stubborn, irritating, intelligent, wonderful loving man that my father is.

Quickly, going from left to right across the rows:

Chicken Little               Willa Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Mary Poppins               The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe                                               Alice in Wonderland            The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Charlotte’s Web               Around the World in 80 Days                                                  Island of the Blue Dolphin             Hardy Boys      Nancy Drew

Peter Pan                    Wizard of Oz               Trumpet of the Swan

Paddington Bear          Heidi                    Peter Cottontail

Winnie the Pooh

I think that’s all of them.  If you don’t catch the reference (most people didn’t get the thimble for Peter Pan) or have never heard of them (Mouse and the Motorcycle and Trumpet of the Swan seem to be the most common) then here’s a good chance to go read them!!  I only put in books I love, and hopefully some of your favorites are here too!

Once I finish cleaning the mess–yes, I’m still working on it–I plan to start my next adventure.   Before I start sewing, I have to do some reading though.  I know what I want to do, but I have to be sure I capture the mood.

Our trees have been a recent discussion on the Rogue facebook page.   I was going to upload copies of my original notes, but have to acknowledge that even as a college freshman, I had doctor handwriting!  Instead, I typed them up into flow charts.

At least since I pledged in 1991, they have been identified by numbers for ease.  In ’93 the trees were truncated slightly because they were becoming so cumbersome.  They were referred to as:

Tree 1               Karen Shult Green    (my tree!!)                                                 Tree 2              Debbie Jones Holt                                                                       Tree 3           Cindy Hartman                                                                                    Tree 4             Trudy Fisher                                                                             Tree 5            Janet Fail-Holmes

At one point we had documents that connected some of these trees, but over the years things have been lost or stolen.  I’d love to learn where they reconnect, just because I’m geeky like that!

Please email or message me with corrections and especially additions.  The numbers after names are pledge class years, so if you know those, please let me know!!

Click here to view Rogue trees in PDF format

I’m finally getting around to posting the pics –late is better than never, right?

The Coffee County Alliance for the Arts fundraiser was held at the end of September.  We had a great time.  Of course, I didn’t finish my quilt til the night before at midnight, but at least I finished!  It came out to about 45 inches square.  I think at final count it includes 16 children’s books/stories.  It’s only about the third piece of CQ I’ve completely finished.  (My UFO stack is HUGE!!)  I learned several things.

1.  Whole cloth quilts look cool, but they’re a b**** to do!

2.  I suck at finishing.  Please don’t look too closely at the borders.

3.  If I think something’s going to go quickly, it’s guaranteed something is going to go wrong and take about 5 more hours to finish!

4.  The girls like it when I make a mess in my sewing room.  They had a field day with the fabric nests I made just for them!

5.  I’m a messy worker.  I thought about taking photos of the mess (what’s left after several cleaning events), but I’m too embarrassed!

You can click on the images for a larger view.  I’d love to hear comments, suggestions for next time, etc.

And I’d love to know if anyone can name everything included!

Well, my office is finally open.  We started yesterday and saw 8 kids.  Not bad for a first day with just 1 ad in the paper so far.  I haven’t made any progress on my stitching, but my sewing room is a lot closer to being organized.  I sorted my fabric Sunday.  Of course, Weeble thought I was just creating a nest for her and she promptly curled up and went so sleep in the space between the various files. 

I’ve gotten on swap-bot.  I’m trying to keep it light because my resources are little limited. We have to drive further here for things and the WalMart doesn’t have much of a selection.  Plus I have a lot of UFO’s to finish.  I’ve sent one swap package and made some postcards that all went out yesterday.  The postcards were for an altered swap. The idea was to take a postcard and make a new front for the description on the back.  It was already a bit of a challenge because I’m not as comfortable with paper as with fabric and fiber.  The big problem was, I couldn’t find any postcards here except at the post office, so here’s what I did:

I found a quote on the National geographic site about tigers and put that on the back, as if the front were about tigers:

Tigers use their distinctive coats as camouflage (no two have exactly the same stripes). They lie in wait and creep close enough to attack their victims with a quick spring and a fatal pounce.

Then I photoshopped some images of the girls.  It was my first photoshop game and I had fun.  I wanted an old, newspaper-ish look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made up a pseudoarticle.  Each one had a different one of the edited images inserted.  (There were a total of three cards.)   Then each had 3 pictures overlaid–2 of the photoshop and one of the original color. 

The article:

Scientists Spot New Ferocious Beasts

Douglas, Georgia—Researchers have found a new dangerous species of feline in a

small town in south Georgia.  The newly named Felis sleepus seems to be unique to

this small community.  Found in striped and spotted varieties, these beasts post a

unique threat.

 

“They appear to be sleeping to lure in their prey,” explains one scientist.  “Then,

once they realize the prey is within reach, they begin purring.  This incites the prey to begin oo’ing and ah’ing and before you know it, you’re hooked.  The prey takes the creature into its home and soon is subject to its every whim.”

 

Others feel this creature is not a danger.  “It’s easy to resist,” reports Dr. Hatimus Cattus.  “They’re messy and noisy.  They want you to provide their every whim, but

 yet expect to be allowed to live their own lives without interference from their prey. 

Just stay away from them!”

 

These creatures appear be benign, but are not without their defenses.  They are extremely territorial and protective of those that belong in their territory.  When threatened they exhibit a remarkable ability to increase to two to three times their

size.  They have a distinctive growl, interspersed with hissing.  Their claws can inflict

 serious damage. 

 

 

Scientists believe that they may prove to be excellent companions to those within their

 territories, but more research is needed.

 

Hopefully the recipients like them, or at the very least get a bit of a

smile from the girls!

 

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