Monday, January 16, 2012

Greetings From My Office & Another Giveaway

I’ve made enough progress to start calling it my office, versus the giant craft closet at the top of the stairs.  For just a mish-mash of cast off furnishings, it is turning out to be pretty functional. I still have much to do, but I can actually sit and work at my desk. This makes me very happy, not to mention that all of my yarn and knitting books are organized and cataloged. Sweet!

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The shipping and receiving department in the corner leaves a lot to be desired, but there is no closet in this room, and not a whole lot in the entire house for that matter, so I’m stuck with some empty boxes. At least they are broken down and not taking up the entire room. My favorite part about this space is the window that looks out onto the barnyard; I can keep an eye on everybody.

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I do still have to deal with this pile. I feel confident I’ll do it today. Everything will be listed on Etsy by the end of the day. If not, check back for another giveaway tomorrow. I’m finding the possibility of giving away everything I own highly motivating.

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Which brings me to today’s giveaway. That mohair. In all honesty, I didn’t buy it. It came with the loom that I bought in November. I figured I’d keep it and make it into something, I mean it is really good mohair. However, teal isn’t really my color and, well, the fuzziness of it really isn’t my thing either, but it is good mohair so I had to keep it. Then all the clutter in this room triggered a memory of my grandmother’s house. Anita was a crafter extraordinaire, she had boxes of stuff stacked to the ceiling with paths going through each room. This is where the Thou Shalt Not part of my title the other day came from. I refuse to become a hoarder, so somebody out there is going to get all this great mohair. Someone who will use it and not keep it in a box collecting dust.  Just tell me your Grandmother’s first name and what she was like. I’ll draw a winner this same time tomorrow.

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Yesterday’s winner of the quilting books is Benita!  Send me an email with your snail mail address to frontporchindiana at live dot com and I’ll get your books out to you right away.

I keep asking the kid to shout out a random number and he hasn’t even bothered to ask me why. Interesting.

21 comments:

rkbsnana said...

Looking good, girl. Love the "kid calling out a number" So funny to think about.

The Agrarian said...

Please enter me in the give-away!

Thanks,

Farmer

Donna said...

My grandmothers name was Lillian ....she was the mother of 11 and grandmother of 34 and I can't begin to tell you how many great-grandchildren hang from the branches of the family tree! Grammy was always in the kitchen, always wore an apron and always told us, "Eat, eat....you're too thin you!" She was French Canadian through and through! Sadly missed...but I have wonderful sensory memories of her kitchen and many of her cookbooks and recipes to keep her legacy going...

Unknown said...

I think your son knows better than to ask, why! He just plays along cause it makes you happy!

I don't know what I'd do with that mohair so don't put me in the drawing, but I'll tell you about my grandmother anyway.

Her name was Rhoda. They called her Rhodie. She was all of 4'10" and she was a spitfire! She lived in the appalachia mountains. Once when she caught some men on her land cutting down her trees, she shot over their heads and yelled, "you sons-a-bitches get off my land!" She slept on a feather mattress and her rifle hung on the wall above her head. You didn't mess with Rhodie!

Anonymous said...

My grandmother's name was Mable. She was my maternal grandmother and going to visit her was always cool because she had a box of spools and blocks in her pantry for us to play with. She lived across the street from the local park and in our eyes it was huge -- funny how small it looks now.

Love your organized area, you motivated me to do some purging this weekend too.

Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.

Jean - MN

Jenn said...

My grandmothers name is Sherry. She was a beautician most of her adult life. She owned a little shop in a small town where everybody knows your name. She raised 4 children and a husband there.

My great-grandma was Phyllis. She was a hoarder like your grandma. She was a firm believer that if one of something was good then 20 was better and you were never allowed to use anything because then you wouldn't have it. :D After she died it took me and my grandma weeks to go through and get rid of all the things she had collected. We even found spices that were unused from the 50's! She is the reason that I learned to knit and crochet. I can remember her sitting in her chair with her knitting needles clacking away at an incredible speed. Eventually arthritis put an end to her crafting. I am here to carry on the tradition.

Michelle said...

The "random number generator" comment at the bottom made me laugh out loud! ha ha!

My favorite (maternal) grandmother's name was Freda. She was born in Sweden, and fit every wonderful stereotype of the perfect grandma. She was short, round, soft and sweet, with snowy-white hair and worked magic in the kitchen. Her cinnamon rolls and cookies were FAMOUS! But most important, she loved me and told me so.

Donna OShaughnessy said...

Love your office craftroom. Lots of ideas I will steal!

Autumn said...

My Nana (Virginia) and my Gramma (Linda) are still around... but I'm young so they have a long while yet! ;) My Nana crochets around her big black cookstove in her childhood home, always a kind ear and a shoulder to lean on. Gramma is really awesome too- she's always traveling and sewing.

Definitely put me in for the yarn drawing! I'm a knitter too, so I always have good uses for yarn... ;)

Karen Anne said...

Not in the drawing, trying to get rid of stuff myself :-)

My maternal grandmother was Etta and she taught me to cross stitch and how to grow tomatoes and protect them from cutworms.

Nana raised four children during the (first) Depression, so she pinched pennies. She is legendary among the grandkids for making Campbell's tomato soup with water instead of milk. But at Nana's house, you ate what was put in front of you:-) even the cooked spinach.

My paternal grandmother died when I was about one year old.

Still having major envy over those top of the stair landing rooms.

Judy said...

The room is looking good. And we are so happy!
Gretchen was her name and she was such fun. She would roll hand towels into tubes and put a rubber band about 3 inches down from the top and those would be me and my sisters babies. Of course, we were very busy ladies and grandma was always there to watch our babies!

lorraine said...

my grandmothers name was helen and she is the reason why im obsessed with sewing and knitting today..she could figure out any pattern by just looking at it once..raineoc@yahoo.com

Suzan said...

Love your office!! What great space to work!
Myrtle Lind of Linton,Green Co., Indiana. Lived on the family farm out past the goose ponds! I'll never forget her wringing the chickens neck and it flapping around, getting hung up in her roses. We played all day outside. Had to use the outhouse instead of coming in. Kind, soft spoken most sincere Christian woman. Wonderful garden, taught school--- loved her dearly.
Marie Little Persons - grew up and raised in the middle of an orange grove in Lake Co., Florida. Boy could she cook fried fish and hush puppies. We called her Go-Go Grannie because she was ALWAYS going visiting family between Fla., Ga., and Tenn.

WhiteStone said...

Ah! Sarah was my grandmother's name and teal IS my color! Gramma taught me to knit and crochet. She could whip up a shawl in no time.

Sharm said...

Your office space is coming up a treat - looks very user friendly! Would love to gointo the draw for that lovely mohair.... my grandmothers name was Annie and she lived till she was 92 yrs old! She was my best friend and taught me how to crochet and do lots of other "home type things" :)

Lisa B said...

My grandmothers name was Willie Dean. She was the best cook in the world and I miss her. I dont remeber her every doing anything crafty but I do so please enter me. I love Teal!

Sweettoothe said...

My Grandmother's name was Juanita. She had eight kiddos (two sets of twins!) and 27 grand kiddos. She was a kind, smart, and feisty woman and I used to love sitting by her at church!

bells5r said...

My Grandmother was Fannie she just passed away in October she was 98 she was also a spite fire she was still using her shot gun when she was 90 to shoot at raccoon's that chased her cats She raised 8 children and had 22 grands and way to many great and great greats for me to remember, she was a awesome woman. She loved to sew and quilt and man could she cook!!!She LOVED her chickens and had a flock until she was 85.

melanie said...

Well, my grandmother IS Barbara. She is still kicking at almost 95. "Still kicking" is a good descriptor, because I frequently tell people she has the personality of sandpaper. And she will kick you.

And not a crafty bone in her body...so what I have must have come from the other side of the family!

Briarose said...

My maternal grandmothers' name was Marcella, a genteel lady who left Finland under cover of darkness with 3 small children just as the Russians' started bombing during WW II.
She wasn't used to doing things for herself, but she managed to escape and made her way to Norway, then onto Denmark, then England,to New York and finally home to Toronto, Canada. I've read the ship Captain logs and am amazed at what she managed to do all to keep her family safe. It's a shame she died before I knew about this part of her life.
If I should win, the mohair will go to my oldest daughter, named after my maternal grandmother (her great grandmother). Unlike her, though my daughter is an extraordinary knitter and seamstress.
I enjoy reading your blog every day.
Claire

Blake Mitchell said...

Hey, Christine! I think you chose the right place in your home. Hehe. Your office is simply organized but certainly functional. Hmm, as for your empty boxes, you can reuse them for compiling old documents, only if you have, though. Or you can dismantle those and keep it; who knows, you might need them in the future.