Rough days, chicken houses, and quilts.

Some days are just better than others, you know?
Not that today has been "bad" -- it has just sort of been....blah.

I've let several things sort of get under my skin the past few days. Not really big things, but just an accumulation of junk that keeps dragging me down. For example, not having a job yet. That has been a "mixed blessing." I've enjoyed the break; 30 years of getting up before 5 am and being dressed, ready to go, and out the door by 7 was not a lot of fun. Add to that the pressures of the jobs that I have had, plus the pressures of being a working mom (yes I know ALL moms work!!!) -- I sometimes look back and wonder how I managed it for so long.
So it has been nice to get up whenever I wanted to, read the papers, work the crossword puzzle, then do whatever I wanted to with the rest of the time.

Yet...some days I need more of a sense of purpose.
I gazed out the kitchen window this morning, and through the woods I could see some of the buildings that make up Winnsboro Mill. Most of the older part of the mill is built of red bridk, but the particular part I was seeing had a lot of metal. I realized that I was trying to imagine them as chicken houses, to make me feel like I was "home." I've sort of laughed at myself all day about it -- I mean, who misses chicken houses?? And yet, inwardly, I know the answer is that *I* do. (Boy, won't my mom & dad crack up over THAT one!)

So I plundered for a purpose today. A couple of things I've wrestled with of late haven't worked out as I wished, so I resolved not to think about that today. I opened one of my old trunks, and rummaged through the fabric scraps until I found an old quilt top. My mom gave it to me; she'd discovered it among my grandmother's belongings. We're not sure how old it is; nor are we sure who pieced it (Belle or Great-Grandma Sally? maybe Great-Grandma Emma? Forever a mystery.) It's not an especially intricate quilt -- just strips stitched together by hand to form 20 blocks. It's very colorful, with scraps of red velvet here, green calico there, orange satin over there. I spent a while smoothing it out, then laid it on the table with some batting and fabric for a backing. Now it is pinned together, ready for me to quilt each square and finish the blanket.

A nice warm project for such a cold day, huh?
And the heart-ties help ease the little bit of homesickness I seem to be experiencing lately.
Maybe one of my purposes is to finish projects that were begun long, long ago.

OK, going to thread a needle now.
Blessings,
Anita <><


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