Happy Thanksgiving!

     Yesterday we went with my cousin, Ed, his cousin, Carolyn, and her sister-in-law, Delores, to the H.C. Smith Benefit Club, in St. Johnsville, NY for their annual Thanksgiving dinner.

Besides the fact I didn't have to clean house or cook a big meal, that was the best turkey dinner I had in a very long time! Served buffet style, you had your choice of white or dark meat (or both), mashed potatoes, squash, green beans, stuffing (out of this world!!) , and gravy. And you could have seconds! (Yes, Jeff and Ed did!)

The dessert table was overloaded with pie! We all picked a different variety, so I can say all the pies were delicious!

Delores's grandson told us he and his father (there were others) delivered over 400 meals as far as Canajoharie! There was a steady stream of take-out dinners, too. Over 40 turkeys were cooked for this feast and I'd be surprised if there were any leftovers! (They did run out of squash but that wasn't a shame to me!)

This was a 'free will donation' meal and was better that some you could have gotten in a fancy restaurant. Bread and butter and cranberry sauce was also on each table. They served soft drinks, milk (white & chocolate), eggnog, fruit juices and punch but no coffee. On the way out, Ed said we'd have to remember this for next year! Oh, yes!!!

p.s. When we got home, I made a pot of coffee and Jeff, Ed and I drank our fill!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Isn't This How It All Started?

   I've recently gotten interested in Knit Teddy Bears and have purchased several patterns in the past few months.  Sarah Gasson's "Knit A Teddy" has really captured my interest and at the same time allowed me to make changes to her designs.  I finally have a Teddy about ready to be put in the shop (hopefully for our Open House, Nov. 24-26th) and here she is...step by step.

This was after the first day's work.  I got her stuffed and her arms and legs attached.  I am so glad I remembered how to use buttons with shanks to attach arms and legs to make the doll sit more naturally.  I had a lot of fun getting her this far...and a lot of trouble!  Stuffing was not my thing!!  When Mom and I started out in the craft business, she sewed and stuffed the bodies and I handled the hair, faces and clothes.  Mom had a real knack for stuffing animals!  I think I got the arms and legs ok but the body is a little lacking!  It had a bigger belly at one point and suddenly, when it was all sewed up and the arms and legs were attached, she lost her belly!  I missed my Mom so much that night!  I kept calling her, asking for her help stuffing the bear.  I finally decided to name the bear Josie.

   I was so confused by the time I gave up and went to bed that night I wasn't sure what I was doing.  The next day I went thru the clothing bag looking for the bear's bloomers that I thought I had finished the night before.  No, what I had finished were the boy bear's baseball pants.  I finished the bloomers in the morning, dressed the bear and took the first picture.

   Today I dressed Josie in her pink dress (it still needs some butttons on the back) and made her one sock and shoe.  Tomorrow I'll do the

other shoe and sew a black bow on each.  It was suggested I knit a strap and make the shoes into MaryJane's but I'm not sure where to put it.  (There is a pattern available with MaryJane's that I might buy to settle that.)  Tomorrow I'll sew the buttons on the back of the dress and make a headband out of white grosgrain ribbon and the knit flower that was suggested to go on the bear's dress. I even got some elastic to put under the flower to make it easier to put the headband on.

   That leaves my problem of the rolled hem.  I guess I'll just put some water in the iron and try to steam the bottom of the dress. I'll add that picture tomorrow!