While I'm waiting for C. to finish breakfast I'll try to catch up a bit.
She flinched when I took this shot yesterday. We are trying to keep focused. Her attention span depends on the project right now. The short ones were a good thing to start with.. She can be done with her work, feel accomplished, and have something to show Mom and Dad. Even though we zoomed through Projects 1, 2, 3, and 4 yesterday, we left some of the duplicate work for later...for her to do on her own. A bit of Gladys Smith, eh? I'll have Sue copy a few of the stitching sheets for her to practice on , too. We need work on straight line, corners, and curves. I think going back to those will be good as she'll have the concept down and it will be just reinforcement.

The Petunias are all in full bloom! Deb is a quiet observer. She's completed all of the yarn/sewing cards twice now. She sits opposite the sewing machine and watches everything.

The greeting cards went over big! She plans to send them to Gramma R. We did two apples and the grommet one. Her hand work is excellent. She conquered the blanket stitch immediately. You'll see it this afternoon.


This is an East Coast phenomenon that I know Grampa Rube will not find as interesting as I did. Apparently he fights this tree pest often. It's called a Tent Caterpillar and the trees are full of them. At first I couldn't figure out what they were, I'd never seen them before.

I asked #3 Son Aaron what they were. He knew all about them and was bewildered by my curiosity.
They find a juction and weave their cocoon, gobbling up the foliage while they mature into a moth.




They're quite a pest, can even destroy entire forests. So much for my fascination. The locals either smoke them to death with smoky rags on long poles or chop the entire branch off and burn them up in bonfires. I found this Federal Website: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/ftc/tentcat.htm

I hear a rambunctious "PIT" game upstairs. Martha Roberts is here overnight with her two youngest. She is on her way to Hamer Bay to see her folks.