Thankfully November

I love November.  I love it so much I was born in November.  Good planning on my part, eh?  Then my first niece was due on my birthday, but decided to have her own, so her big day is 10 days after mine.

Sally Seam Rip-her with her Pi clock.  Yep, a math geek. And she looks more like me than her Mom, my Sister.

 Then I fell in love with a guy whose birthday is in November.

DH with our grand-nephew who isn't crying.  DH usually puts most babies into screaming fits. This was a first.

 One of my grand nieces, Miss D, was born on my birthday.  Took her a while to grasp the part about we "share" a birthday.

Miss D is pretty much camera shy.  This is one of the few pics I have of her.  She's in the red, on the receiving end of a hug.

Yep, I love November.

Not November, but Oct. 31, 2011.  The only Trick-or-treaters we've ever had.  Sally and her sister Shay, with their kids.  Sally is holding Shay's older son, Lil'Ripper is in the middle, and Shay has her younger giraffe, er son.

If you're one of my fb peeps, you know that every day in November, I (along with lots of other folks) post at least one thing a day for which we are thankful.  Despite all the pains in the buns that come from having kids with special needs, we still have much to be thankful for.  And I count you among them. 

In other news, DD's class was here yesterday and had a nice time.  His trains were a big hit, as usual.  And our Girl's night was loverly, too.  I wish I had a Friday night that we could get together, but that won't happen for a while, because it's time for. . . .

Swanton Area Railroad and Model Club, six track O gauge layout.

Toledo Zoo~~Natural History Museum, turned train station.

DD 3 or 4 years ago.  My little guy.

. . . trains.  Lots and lots of model trains.  This group has been one of DD's fav's and I'd go almost so far as to say, a savior for him.  They accept him as their own.  We all need a group like that.

Anywho, this year the Club will be doing multiple layouts again.  We'll do O-gauge at the Zoo, beginning next Sunday when we haul the modules in, then spend the next 4 days putting up the houses and stuff, and the annual painting of the fence. This display stays up for 8 weeks, and we run trains every night from 4 to 9 or 4 to 10.  Our family covers Tuesdays.

While this is going on, we set up the the Homesprung Holidays at Wildwood Preserve.  That runs for 10 days, from 10 until 8 or 9.

But wait!  There's more!  The HO division (smaller trains = Half O gauge, get it, HO) will set up their stuff for two separate one-day shows in Swanton, and then at the Children's Wonderland in Sylvania, Ohio.  This is the first time to run there.  It's open from around 11 to 8 or something and runs for a couple of weeks, so DD and I will take 2 afternoon shifts.  I already let this teacher know that he'll be 'working' for at least 4 days in the next two months.  One of the other club members will sign his work-study papers, so he won't be counted as absent, we hope.  (It's not like we care about that, though.)

I've been going thru my toys to see what I'll use for my modules this year.  Probably pretty much the same as the past two years, I think.  We'll see.

So to make a short story long, November is a fun month for us.  Yep, the weather usually sucks, like today when it's cold, nasty, and dreary and the days are the shortest, but for us, it's our uber-busy, holiday month.  In December we sit back and enjoy the views, old movies, and family and friends. And resting is what January is for.   Oh.  And of course starting two new quilting block-of-the-month clubs! 

Kind Hearted Lady Lives Here

I love folklore and train folklore is right up there for me. My Grandfather, whom I don't really remember, worked for the B&O in the Toledo yards. (Toledo currently has the 5th largest train yard in the country, down from the third largest in pre-interstate days. Just thought you'd want to know.) And oddly, the annual hobo convention is still held in Britt, Iowa~~and Britt is my maiden name. (Do-dee-do-do, do-de-do-do~~that's me singing the Twilight Zone theme music.)

Anywho, my Dad had HO model trains, and now our son DD has O scale trains. We thought FTD would be the train guy, but it turns out to be DD. I'm making him a quilt based on hobo signs that were left as messages in the jungles all across the country. I found a book in the Greybull, Wyoming Big Horn Quilt Shop by Debra G. Henninger for inspiration. On a quilt shop hop last fall, I found fabric that reminds me of old man shirts, so I bought several fat quarters, raided my stash, and viola, quilt makins'. (By the by, to use this book, you need a pretty good knowledge of quilty stuff. I changed several blocks, so as to not have to make itty, bitty triangles, or to make some of the blocks more closely resemble the actual signs. A couple of the blocks are repeated, which makes me think the editorial staff nodded off at some point. Must not hae been quilters.)

Nearly everyone's favorite sign is a kitty cat. If this was scrawled near your house it meant, "Kind hearted lady lives here." That Kind Lady would be likely to give you a sandwich and water or milk, maybe an old, worn out shirt, and always a kind word. Did those Kind Ladies have sons and brothers who were riding the rails? Boyfriends looking for a new life and job? Classmates searching for adventure? Goofballs just hangin' with their peeps? Who knows.

But I do know lots of Kind Hearted Ladies. Those of you who live nearby, turn your computer off now. I don't want you to peek at your valentine gift from me.



















The rest of you, send me your favorite colors and your address...... or your Kind Hearted Lady's favorite colors. . . .