Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Jumping In With Both Feet

A few years ago at a quilting retreat held at our church camp,  it was a warm, beautiful day in October and the camp staff opened up the zip-line for those who were more adventurous. I do not usually see myself as an adventurous person. For one, I'm a bit of a clutz, and I also have an intense fear of heights. One of my fellow quilter friends talked me into going down the zip-line with her. I was all harnessed up, and we had to sit there on this little platform high up in the air waiting for the all-clear. It's a good thing I was sitting, because I was petrified. Were it not for bad knees that I was afraid would give out in the process of standing up, I would have backed out. At that point there was only one thing to do. Take a deep breath, say a prayer . . . and jump.

So anyway, here I am, jumping in with both feet and venturing into the unknown territory of blog land.

Hi, I'm Darlene & I am pleased to meet you.  I live in an old  house - originally a one-room school house - built in 1849, with my husband George, my youngest daughter Amber and Domino, our 12 year old cat who thinks he is a dog. We live in western New York, in Chautauqua grape country. It's also the heart of snow country.
I love cooking, baking, candles, bags, sewing, quilting, crocheting, decorating, etc. Generally keeping busy with some creative outlet or another.

My tastes are eclectic, much more country than contemporary, but varied. I love decorating my home to be warm and inviting. One of the biggest compliments you can give me is to tell me my home is welcoming and comfortable, because I believe a home should be lived in and loved in, not a museum piece (that's a story for another time).

The highlight of my summer are all the community yard sales that occur around the area. When we go visit my family in PA, we always schedule in a GW trip. If I can make it down through the week, we also include the local thrift shop where they have dollar-a-bag day to help reduce some of their inventory.  I like  love a good bargain, and if I can turn it into something else, why, that's even better.

I love the fact that my grandmother used to make quilt tops, pillows, and embroidered pieces out of old feed sacks, old coats  or whatever else she could find, because she didn't have the money to go buy fancy material. Some of those things that she made years ago are among my most cherished things.  I like to think I inherited some of my frugality from her. Yes. I can go to the store and purchase new material, but it's much more fun combing the thrift shops for fun/funky/retro things to turn into bags or wallets or whatnot.

I hope you'll share my journey into the unknown as I tackle the various projects on my to-do list, from wallets & wall hangings, to furniture & room makeovers, to whatever delectable dessert I have made lately.

3 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see what you are doing with your antique school house home and by the way, zip lines are FUN! I signed up to follow.

    Danielle

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  2. Welcome to blogland - it's lots of fun. I'm looking forward to your progress.

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  3. I just wanted to say thank you, ladies, for following my blog and for the support and encouragement. I will be posting some projects soon :) Have a very blessed day!

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