favorite things

MY FAVORITE THINGS–BIRTHDAYS!

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Now, I know y’all must think I’m crazy, but I have to admit that I just LOVE birthdays, and they do count among my favorite things! Yes, even though I just had one on the 28th of July and I’m now sixty-seven years old, that’s not a bad thing!

I always think about those wonderful birthday parties I had growing up—my mom made the most fabulous chocolate cakes and icing, all from scratch, and of course there was ice cream and punch. We decorated with balloons and streamers, and put on our very best dresses and little anklets and Mary Janes to party in. I’m second from the left, and this was my 8th birthday.

We played Pin the Tail on the Donkey and dropped clothespins in a bottle while standing on a little stool to see how many each one of us could get in the bottle. Winner got a prize! Now, prizes didn’t have to be something fantastic. Back then, everyone was happy with getting a Little Golden Book, or a color book and small box of crayons, or something simple like that.

 

The party usually lasted from 2-5. Sometimes 2-4 if our parents weren’t feeling particularly stoic that year. But we filled those hours with a LOT of fun and wonderful things to eat. Lots of laughter and good times and great memories.

Of course, as I got older, the parties got more involved. One year I had a costume party—that’s me in the hula skirt.

 

We started having slumber parties (the bane of a parents’ existence!) and usually managed to stay awake most of the night. I’m sure our parents did, too.

This is my 12th birthday. I was surrounded by friends as we celebrated, ate, and just had a wonderful time.

You know, I remember my mom making her special chocolate cake in the jelly-roll pan and the fabulous icing that went on it and rolled up in the center, and seemed like it was an inch deep on the outside. She made the three of us girls, my sisters and me, a good birthday cake on into adulthood when our birthdays rolled around for as long as she was able. That was one of the best gifts of all.

My older sister, Karen, always sends me something on my birthday, as I do for her birthday in February. There’s just something special about remembering the day the people who mean so much to us came into the world.

This year, I got together with my kids and husband and we had dinner at a nice restaurant together. Such a great gift of time together, and of course, no having to cook and clean it up!

I know a lot of people don’t want to think about their birthdays, or admit their age, or realize that they are getting older. But I’ve always been proud to be whatever age I was, because I’d “made it” that far. As a kid, I wanted to be older all the time. Now, I think sometimes it would be nice to be younger, but then I come to my senses. I would not want to travel that road again–there are new things to look forward to and celebrate with every year of birthdays!

Did you have a favorite birthday? What were some of the things you did to celebrate?

My Favorite Things and a Give Away ~ Jeannie Watt

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This may sound odd, but one of my favorite things is appreciating the place where I live. It’s a rare day when I don’t see something I want to photograph because the colors and light are so wonderful here in southwest Montana.

I think I can find a pot of gold at my neighbor’s house.

Summer has super green greens, and because my favorite color is John Deere green, I’m very appreciative.

Sometimes  I have to wait for the pivot (irrigation system) to move off the electric fence before I can move the cows, so I sit my behind down in the grass and admire the view.

Walking from my house to my mom’s (about a 100 yards) I get to look at this.

And this.

Come autumn, the Sand Hill Cranes start gathering, getting ready to fly south. They are often joined by geese and ducks. The noise is amazing; a real cacophony of squawks and honks. We’ve had close to a thousand birds of various kinds gather in the fields before flying away.

And then when the birds leave, the elk show up, as do the antelope and deer, chowing down on the hay fields during the cold months.

We get some decent snow some years.

And it can get pretty cold.

It was 34 below o when this picture was taken a few weeks ago.

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my world. To qualify for the $10 Amazon gift card, tell me your favorite thing about where you live.

All my best,

Jeannie

 

My Favorite Things

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I love making costumes. Sometimes I use commercial sewing patterns and sometimes I make my own.

My deep dive into Victorian costuming started after I read Gone with the Wind at the age of fifteen. I decided then that I needed a corset in the worst way, so I checked some books out of the library, studied them, and made a corset out of upholstery material and baling wire. It wasn’t bad for the mid-1970s and the resources available, to be quite honest.

Then, many years later, a friend who enjoys participating in theatre productions suggested that my husband and I might get a kick out going to the Great Dickens Fair in the Bay Area. You don’t need to have a costume to attend, but I’m a costume gal, so we had costumes–all of us. My husband, my daughter, my son, his girlfriend (now wife) and myself of course. I would come home from school and spend the evening sewing costumes–three Victorian dresses, two tailored coats, two dress shirts, two pairs of slacks, two brocade vests in a matter of two months.

I truly enjoy tailoring men’s wear so the Victorian jackets are the real deal–horsehair canvas, pad stitching on the lapels, inner pockets to hide anachronistic cell phones–as are the trousers and vests. The dresses are also fairly accurate.

In addition to Victorian costuming, I also make family Halloween costumes. It started when my daughter-in-law, needed a costume to fit a Disney princess theme at her work. She became Merida from Brave. The next year my son asked if I could make him Pennywise from the movie It. I did, making the costume from bits and pieces of other patterns. I even made the shoes using cheap running shoes as a base.

 

The next year he asked if I could make Captain Hook. Could I make Captain Hook? You bet. It’s actually one of my favorite makes, and it, too, is the real deal with all the tailoring details and an inner pocket for a cell phone.

I haven’t had much call to costume over the past couple of years, but now that I have grandkids, I can see a whole new era about to begin. My sewing machine and I are very excited!