Christmas decorating, roses and a cookie recipe too

Decorating


I work in retail and am responsible for the Christmas tree decorating in the store. It's a huge undertaking. This year there are more than 30 themed trees. I touch every single ornament many times over from mid-September when I start sorting them, until I go to the gift market in Atlanta in January at which time, those that are left, are 75% off and I'm pretty sick of them.

Many comment that I won't want to decorate my own home.  It's very different.

I tell them that my tree is simple, doesn't have a theme and is a hodge podge of memories.  Many memories.  Some years it's really hard to get through decorating my tree without a few tears a good old cry.  I cherish the many memories. Like my sister who loved to give ornaments;  my parents, my dad also deceased and my mom so far away and old now. Ornaments from travels in the US and abroad abound. More memories of happy times. There are White House ones with lovely presidential stories given by our late neighbors each year.  There are many bisque angels from my ex-husband and I still put them on the tree because I still love them. Oy, and all those memories.

But the ornaments that separate my tree from the trees at work are the ones my children made and the ones with their little faces on them.  I can't pay money for anything as dear to my heart.

This year, I'll be in Portland for Christmas with Matt, my son, so I don't even need a tree but it's a tradition, something I do every year.  A comfort.  I actually didn't cry this year.  Don't know why.  I have a good reason with my house on the market now and this likely my last December here.  Perhaps I'm reconciled and ready for a simpler Christmas away.

Roses

In all other years, by this time I've pruned back my roses and taken out the thorny branches with the leaves.  This year they are tall and lanky, but for two weeks in a row, I've cut lovely bunches to bring into the house. I may not have said how much I love fresh flowers in the house.  {I adore them.}  I've been given roses in December before, but not these quaint old fashioned ones from the garden.

Today I did some more holiday baking for colleagues, friends and neighbors.  A few weeks ago I tasted some ginger snaps at a neighbor's house. She commented that they were made from a mix.  I was amazed, so I looked for a recipe online.  I've tried three recipes and have found a good one this time.  I also quite adore the Martha Stewart bags with a little snowflake box/base.

Easy Ginger Snap Cookies

18 1/4 oz spice cake mix

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground ginger {I used more}

1/4 cup water

1/3 cup molasses

2 tbsps vanilla extract

	Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheet.
	In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, baking soda and ginger. Make a well in the center and pour in the water, molasses and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly blended. Roll into balls  Flatten slightly. Dip one side in sugar and place them 3 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheet. {I used silver and gold sugar for holiday sparkle.}
	Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops are cracked and cookies are firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Here is an example of a tree I decorated at work: the Santa tree. I had the idea to make the boots into a tree topper.  I stuffed a Santa hat into each boot to give it a furry cuff.  Then I stuffed red fabric into the middle of the tree, supposedly for the body {but all the ornaments pretty much hide that now.}  Then a day later I spied the Santa head, and put it upside down.  It's been a humourous tree for many, and bit troublesome for a few children who asked some cute questions.  It's my favourite tree {at work} this year!

Limoncello Cake : Yum!

I needed a break after all the work to get my house ready for the market.  A former neighbor, who lives on the coast, invited me to spend the weekend.  We had a blast. It was such a wonderful diversion from my life of late. We slept in both days, ate plenty of {fresh} seafood . . . . mmmm, had pedicures {I chose the reddest nail polish I've ever had!}, walked on the beach, visited South Port, a quaint seaside community complete with many antique stores, talked way into the nights and also did some smocking on a christening gown she's making. It was all so good.

My friend is an expert at making limoncello, the Italian lemon liqueur.  OMG!  It's like liquid gold!  Served icy cold, you've never tasted anything so smooth, and one feels it warming your throat as it trickles down.  We not only imbibed some one night {2 glasses each, but teeny glasses}, but she GAVE me a bottle to bring home.

As an aside, my first introduction to limoncello was a restaurant so named, in my home town of Cape Town - it stands out with its bright yellow exterior. Shannon lived up the hill from there for a while, and we had a memorable dinner there one night, but we drank cinzano and vermouth instead!

Needing to make a work colleague a birthday cake when I got in last night, I got this bee in my bonnet wondering what a limoncello cake would taste like.  So I added limoncello instead of vanilla, and lemon rind and lemon juice too.  Confession here: I used a bought cake mix and doctored it up.  Then I made a buttercream frosting with butter, flavored with, yes, limoncello, and swirled it onto the layers...Mwah!  It was good, and a hit at work today too!

Visitors at my bottle tree

Last week I was in the kitchen early, making a cup of {coffee} and as I was waiting for it to brew, I walked over to the bay window and absent mindedly looked out into the back yard.

I was happily surprised to see no less than THREE deer sniffing my bottle tree!!!

I watched for a couple of seconds, but just had to run for a camera.  When I got back, 2 of the deer had moved on, but I did snap these.  {Not so good, early morning light-cell phone camera combo.}

Deer are regular visitors in our yards these days.  It hasn't always been that way.  It excites the soul to see these majestic creatures roaming or leaping with their family in tow.  But, alas, when they eat our beautiful, healthy daffodils, impatiens or hosta down to the nub, they leave one a little bit a lot with mixed feelings  :(

Blessed

Shannon
2 weeks from tomorrow til I see your lovely face and drink tea in my favourite kitchen (no matter how it looks)! I foresee a madeline baking in my near future... X!


5 hours ago ·  ·  · See Friendship



This is a Facebook message from Shannon who, as you can surmise, is coming from South Africa to visit in 2 weeks.  I can hardly wait to hug her, hold her, bake madeleines and do what she pleases in the 3 days I'll have her home!

What is less endearing about this time is that, due to circumstances out of my control, I'm having to sell my house and eventually move.  It is one of those times in my life when I get out of bed in the morning and do what I have to do to get through what feels like is another crisis.

Only, I have the most stellar friends in the whole wide world helping me, again, and I don't know what I'd do without their counsel, help {physical and emotional}, support and love.  You should have seen my house bustling with my friends and Susannah pitching in this past week, and they all have such busy lives. I am humbled beyond words.  And I am so blessed.  I was describing this pure Grace to my mother who then said :: "I hope you're thanking God!"  To which my answer was :: "Oh, yes I am!"

I am on my knees.

As far as my blog and my creativity....it's slowing down out of necessity for now.  It's impossible to get creative juices going to sew, craft, cook, or whatever when you have the responsibility of a move from a home you've lived in for 29 years, raised 3 children in, truly lived very busy lives to the fullest in and have accumulated too much stuff to sort through and pack.  Period.  I hope that in a few weeks, when the dust settles, I can devote the time again.

'til then... XO

The things smoothies are made from

I typically don't indulge in smoothies.  Don't order them out.  Don't make them at home.  I can't afford the calories.

I've mentioned this little problem before, ahem  ::  the lack of sugary snacks to eat in this house!  It's intentionally rigged to not have temptations that will make me gain weight.

Tonight my sweet tooth was talking to me enticing me to look for a fix.
I looked in the pantry.  Nothing.  You ate all the Iced Zoo cookies, remember?
Nothing in the fridge OR the freezer...pretty desperate. I did, however, find a bag of frozen mixed berries.

Frozen berries in the freezer; homemade yogurt in the fridge....those are the things smoothies are made from.  I tossed half the bag of berries into the blender and a container of my homemade yogurt.  As it puréed, the yogurt became frozen from the berries and in no time the blender was labouring.  So I added milk.

What a delicious purply-raspberry colour.  A taste test revealed it was tart and not satisfying enough for a sweet tooth.  To be expected with....unsweetened berries and unsweetened yogurt. So I got out the sugar bowl and added some sugarrr!

What a treat.  Utterly d-i-v-i-n-e!  I'll have to remember this healthy way to satisfy a craving.

Well traveled

This has been an interesting week. 

It's only half over.

It feels as if I've packed a ton into it already. 

I said to someone that it feels like a rollercoaster.... it's moving that way, up and down, just like the stock market.

Today I came home to find a package literally stuffed into my mailbox.  

There was that momentary euphoria one gets when you think you're getting {a nice surprise} in the mail and in a nanosecond you wonder :: 

Who's it from?  What can it be?

I flipped it over and it took a few seconds to register.  

OH NO!! 

It can't be. 

This is the little dress I made for Rebecca 

and mailed to Australia in July...

late and no way then to make it in time for her birthday.

My niece told me a week ago that it still hadn't arrived. 

I was starting to really worry.

I've had things to Africa get lost stolen, but Australia?

I was pretty sure I had the right address.

But no, I'm one digit off the street number.

Their mailman didn't figure it out.

Oy.

I'll be making a trip to the PO tomorrow.  

I'll do it gladly because I want it to get there this time.

As disappointed as I am, what a blessing that it's still making the rounds!

I sure hope it makes it this time.

With the correct street number, of course.

Daughter’s blog

Shannon has started a new blog called The Pied Kingfisher. She has lived and worked in South Africa for 3 years now, and says she has tired of her “ventures” blog. 

After being a somewhat sophisticated urban Chicago cook with fabulous grocery markets, gadgets and appliances, she now finds herself living on the corner of a Free State {province} farm, in a tiny 2 room house with minimal cooking utensils and a long drive to a decent grocery store.  She will blog about cooking with hard-to-obtain, fancy ingredients, making do with what’s available and using produce that she grows fresh in her little garden –  yet, still having a fulfilling culinary life!

She compares her situation of being an American returning to the South African fold with the pied kingfisher, a bird species that frequents the area where she lives.  Read thepiedkingfisher here.  

Some of Shannon’s work with the non-profit, Dramatic Need, along with her community organising and teaching can be viewed on her work blog here.  

Awesome shade of blue

If you’ve looked at a few postings in this blog, it’s no secret that I like love am addicted to shades of blue.  Blue just  tugs at something in my core.  Period.

When it came to painting my bathroom, I hit on an awesome shade of blue!  I keep pinching myself over the gorgeousness of it.  It’s not a big space for a master bathroom {what were we thinking when we planned and built this house?}  But today, for my limited $$, I’ve gained big bang by removing the dark navy wallpaper and painting, framing the mirror and replacing cabinet knobs, switchplates, the light fixtures and new tub fixtures.  I am over-the-moon happy with all of it.

It’s been ages since I made a shower curtain, and this one was very simple as I didn’t make tabs or a fold over ruffle, or anything like that.  Just a rectangle with a hem at both ends and 12 buttonholes evenly spaced at the top.  Let’s just say it was a cinch and didn’t take much more than an hour.

Note on the browns with the blue ::  I have taupe walls with blues in the adjacent bedroom, so I planned the reverse for the bathroom, and ahead of time bought these towels for a song at Marshall’s.   While I do still like them, if I had to do it over, I’d keep the palette to just white and blue.  I also bought the shower curtain material more than 4 years ago so I couldn’t justify going out and buying more.

The highlights in the bathroom {for me} are:

1. the wooden heart and bird cutout from Shannon, my gift she carefully hand-toted all the way from South Africa for Christmas;

2. the cubby hole where the medicine cabinet used to be – this was Susannah’s idea and backed with a mirror, it’s fun and pretty;
3. the beaded light bulb “spritzer,” for want of a better name, bought at Karoo Lamb in Nieu Bethesda, my last trip "home;"

4. blue walls!

:-D 

Iced Zoo biscuits

Does your house ever get to the point {by design} where there is nothing sweet to eat?  My house has been depleted of yummy snacks for a while now, and tonight I was scavenging for something to have with my Typhoo tea.  I had a king sized sugar craving and so, in a state of weak willed-ness,  I opened a packet of Iced Zoo biscuits which I've been eyeing on my pantry shelf for 2 months since I came back from South Africa. Come to think of it, I've done well to have waited this long, but I was thinking I'd share the packet with someone else...maybe...but now not likely.

Iced Zoo biscuits are a reminder of my childhood - a distinct sugary taste trip back to the past. For some reason, they were something my mom only bought for birthday parties, making them quite exotic, in fact.  They were iced in paler colours back then, and the detail on the zoo animals was more distinct.  I'm thinking that they were decorated by hand, whereas now they are churned out in an icing stamp machine.  The new colours are garish.  Yet, they do still taste the same....the memory of the taste takes me right back....

This is quite a fancy dress for a little farm girl :)

I was wondering if anyone had written about them, and I found this website.  There are some humourous comments.  Seems it takes other SA ex pats back to their childhood roots too.

Knitted necklace

I was working in my sewing room to clean it up.  I love spending time in there, poking around.  Okay, so I got a little distracted when I ran across 2 spools of wire I bought at Ornamentea in Raleigh in the Spring.  I have long wanted to try my hand at knitting a necklace in wire, and adding beads as I go.  It was so tempting; the knitting needles were right there too....

For this first time, I just used cheap beads as I wanted to see how it worked out, but I'm very pleased with the result and will experiment again.  I don't have a pattern - didn't look one up - not sure I can duplicate it exactly :)

Basically, I cast on and cast off, working beads that I'd threaded onto the spool first of all, into the stitches.  I added them randomly, in the center, because I wanted it to have an abstract element.  When it came to the clasp, I knitted it in, and the same with the closed jump ring.  {Luckily I had these "findings" in my stash!}

For the sheer heck of it, I tried my hand at some earrings too.  I'd never wear them both together, but I know someone who might like the earrings!

I still have a spool of the gold wire....

Cake and yogurt

No not together!  

Yesterday afternoon I made my sweet friend, who is such a blessing in my life, a birthday cake for her 70^th birthday. She has a host of visitors staying in her home, and I knew a tea time treat would be enjoyed.

Where the yogurt comes in is this :: I read on the blog, Two Red Wellies, how Emily has experimented with making yogurt in her oven and not in a yogurt maker. It was a hundred blooming degrees outside and I was regretting having a hot oven after baking the cake, when all of a sudden, I thought aha!  Make some yogurt. 

This is what I did.  I heated 4 cups of 1% milk to the boiling point in the microwave.  Then I added one of the cups of yogurt I’d made the week before as a starter.  I have a glass jar with a sealed lid {it’s blue – imagine that!} After mixing the yogurt and milk together gradually so there weren’t lumps in it, I poured it into the jar.  I wrapped the jar in 2 towels and secured them.  Then I popped the little bundle into the still warm oven and closed it.

This morning I have a full jar of 4 cups of yogurt.  Now that was easy.  So much easier than all the measuring into the cups.  However,  I do love the ease of slipping a cup of yogurt into my lunch bag {in a morning rush to get out the door} each day, so I may use the jar of yogurt and make a mega batch of yogurt cheese to use as a substitute for sour cream, ricotta, cream cheese, you name it… yum, cheap, only the price of the milk I used!

Maybe yogurt would be good on cake though?

Thanks, Emily!

Pizza on the grill

Yep, you heard right – pizza cooked outside, directly on the gas grill grids, no stone or cookie sheet.  Let me tell you, it’s fabulous, delicious and a different social thing to do with family or when you have friends over.  By some miracle, the crust doesn't stick!  Last night was the 6^th time I’ve done it; the crust was perfectly crisp and the toppings gooey and melty and flavourful and simply the yummiest!

I’ve discovered Fleishmann’s Pizza Crust Fast and Easy yeast.   I’ve been using the recipe on the pouch at the back, starting with one cup of all purpose flour, and then adding the yeast, salt, sugar, oil and warm water.  I mix it up quickly and add enough flour so that it’s not sticky.  Then I knead it for a couple of minutes.  This is where I detour from the pouch recipe {which is not necessary, but I'm having better results doing this the last 2 times.}  I divide the dough into 2 balls per recipe, and let them rise for an hour in a floured mixing bowl with plastic wrap over and a towel to keep it draft free.  Then it goes in a warm place until it’s time to have the fun.

The toppings take a while to assemble.  Decide on a base sauce – a tomato base or a pesto base…last night my friend just brushed olive oil on hers, which was simple but looked really good too. Caramelized onions are something that hands down, simply make a yummy pizza, and lots of garlic too – so I definitely have those as a topping.  Sometimes I lightly cook mushrooms, other times I have them sliced and raw.  Gosh – really it’s whatever floats your boat.  I’m not much of a meat eater, so shrimp or prosciutto or chicken - that would be up to you.  Here are some ideas:  olives, buffalo mozzarella, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, torn fresh basil leaves, shredded cheese.

When you’re almost ready to cook, it's time to take the dough and flatten it out into personal pizzas.  I get 2 out of each pouch of yeast/recipe.  They are bigger than a dinner plate, so about 12 inches I’d say.  You’ll know how big to make them as you can’t make holes in the dough by stretching it too much {or else you’ll have a difficult time – that’s why!}  Place each ‘pizza’ on a plate or cookie sheet, and brush the top with oil.  This will be the side that you put face down towards the flame on the grill.

When the grill is ready {last night it was set on low, said 500°F and was perfect}, carefully turn the blank pizzas over onto the grill.  They may lose their shape. Yep, that’s just the way it goes.  With grilled pizza, they aren’t all round, and you just gotta get over it!  Close the top of the grill but don’t go away!  Peek in after 5 mins and lift up a corner.  You definitely don’t want to char your pizza at this point.  When it’s nicely browned, use a spatula – a nice big one really does help  – transfer to a plate and you’re ready to put the toppings on.  If you’re making more than 2, go ahead and start the other pizza’s on the grill.

Sauce goes on the cooked side, then cheeses and then toppings.  When the grill is  ready for these to cook, using your spatula, transfer them, close the lid and bake for about 5 to 10 minutes.  It varies, but do watch like a hawk.  

Your family and guests will have their own ideas of how to do it, and how much they like to pile on, and this is definitely the fun for them.  I love watching them enjoy the novelty of making their dinner....and then eating the results. 

I just remembered this!
                                 - have yeast will travel!


Last year I took some pizza yeast with me to South Africa when I knew I'd be staying in a self catering B&B with Shannon, my daughter.  We were in the gorgeous Golden Gate National Park's traditional Basotho village, staying in a little mud hut, and having a blast waking up to a host of zebra grazing down below us on a verdant pasture.  One night we had delicious pizzas, cooked over the coals that Shannon artfully prepared from firewood on a very windy night.  We waited for what seemed like utter ages for the coals to "cool down", and even so, the crust got a bit charred.  {Okay, it was bloody black on the bottom waiting for the cheese to melt!}  We enjoyed them and it was memorable mother-daughter evening with a daughter who lives very far away!

Quilts and tea

Some of the most superb ladies in town have invited me to join them at their weekly quilter's meeting.  I feel both honored and humbled.

New to the States and a new bride with not much social outlet living in Miami, and completely self-taught, I made my first quilt in the seventies, entered it into a national magazine contest and won as finalist.  I have never again attempted such a large quilting undertaking, but over the years, I've dabbled in a few baby quilts, some crazy quilt vests, pieced duvet covers, and more, including a class here and there.  I would not, however, classify myself as an expert quilter by any stretch of the imagination and even calling myself a quilter is probably stretching it.  So that is part of why I feel humbled by this group.

Yet, it's their sheer generosity of time and spirit that is really moving and humbling.  They make quilts - yes, great big quilts with hours and hours of love stitched into them - for so many needy causes.  For friends who have babies and grandbabies, for friends who have trials and tribulations and for sheer acquaintances who have sickness and sadness in their lives.

The evening progresses with laughter, sharing, caring, helping each other pin and piece, "show and share", talk about fabrics, quilting techniques and art styles.  And get this...there are lashings of hot tea and warm Irish soda bread.  Yum!  It's such an honor to spend time with them.

Tina

My mom moved into the nursing home last weekend.  She has made the adjustment well and sounds so happy!  Do you know how blessed that makes a daughter 8,000 miles away feel?  

She’s had a warm welcome by the residents.  She likes her room with her new closets and curtains. She has some new "things" to excite her, like a duvet cover and fluffy sets of towels – the sorts of things that delight most women, obviously at any age :)  My sister-in-law helped her think through taking some of the old familiar things too – the important ones – for comfort and familiarity.  The nursing home is right across the street from the library with a pedestrian crossing virtually from door to door.  An avid reader, Mom has already been to the library to check out a book. Sunday, she was picked up for church and asked by the minister to stand up. I hope and pray that, here, in the very golden time of her life, she has a fair span of golden days to enjoy with good health and energy and that she has courage to make golden opportunities of everything she can.  I phone her almost every day, so I’ll keep nudging her with enthusiasm and praise.

But let me tell you about Tina! 

After my dad died 4 years ago, a sweet little fox terrier on the farm suddenly adopted my mom.  It’s just what she needed in her time of deep loneliness and grief – a furry companion to cuddle, to lie with her when she napped and to follow wherever she went like a quick spotted shadow.  In the mornings, when Tina is let out of the kitchen, the first thing she did was to dash to my mom’s cottage, push the door open and jump on her bed!  I’ve heard Mom tenderly say, “Feel her little ears – they are like velvet!” and “Doesn’t she have the sweetest face you’ve ever seen?”  This has been the most precious love relationship which I have relished seeing on my visits over there.   Needless to say, I knew that Mom would be devastated to part from her little doggie when she left last week.  The plan is that once a month she will go back to the farm for a long weekend, and she's already talking about  her first visit, just so she can see Tina family.

When I was there, I had the idea to take pics of Tina so I could frame one and send it over for the new room.  Last week when I was rootling around in my sewing room, I ran across some June Tailor Sew-In Colorfast Fabric Sheets for an inkjet printer, and so my cogs started turning and instead a pillow idea started manifesting.   {You can never have enough pillows, right?}

I made a collage, printed it in black and white first – good idea because the 8.5x11 cut off the edges so I printed the 8x10 format on the fabric, sending off a breath prayer as it went through,  and yesss! it came out looking perfect.  Just a minor wrinkle that I was able to work around.  Following the instructions, I heat set the ink, and then washed and dried the print.  I sewed a border around the collage, log cabin style, and made some piping.  I'm not crazy about how busy it looks with the quilted border beside the collage.  If I had to do it over again, I'd definitely just use one fabric and a contrasting piping. Oh well!

It will be far cheaper for me to just send over the cover in a padded envelope and not make it into a pillow.  It so happens that there’s a material shop on the same street as my mom’s nursing home, so she can have a little activity to go over there and ask them make an insert.  

I’d so love to be a fly on the wall when she opens her present and sees Tina on the pillow.  {I hope it’s a comfort and not sad-making.}

I loved doing the photo collage. I've been doing some thinking! Since she doesn't have many surfaces in her room and therefore didn't take many photos, I may just have to make my mom a book tote bag and include grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s photos on it…like a brag bag.  That will be for another time.  She has her 88^th birthday coming up in October, but I need to do better about mailing it in plenty of time….

More on yogurt cheese

As I wrote recently, I’m back into yogurt making and yes, more yogurt cheese making.  This time around I’m loving the results more than I ever remember.  Last weekend I needed to make an appetiser so I made a smoked salmon pâté.  I didn't have a recipe, but I remembered how we used to make smoked snoek pâté in Cape Town, and I basically did the same thing, except I used yogurt cheese in place of the creamy cottage cheese we use there. 

This is how I made the pâté :  I flaked some wonderful Norwegian smoked salmon from Costco, mixed it with wasabi, a squeeze of lemon juice and dumped in all the yogurt cheese* I had on hand.  *{made with 2 containers of yogurt}  To serve it, I formed it into a little patty, dusted it with black pepper and served it with baguette.  It was very good and so easy.  I forgot to take a photo of the finished product but the next day for lunch I made myself an open face sandwich with avocado. Yum-yum-yum!

I baked banana bread and discovered how divine it is with yogurt cheese.  Ditto on baked potatoes - it has a sour cream taste, but it's so creamy and yummy.

Almost every weekday I take fruit to work for lunch and a container of home made yogurt. I’ve been reveling in summer’s bounty – peaches, berries, and cantaloupe with yogurt is a match made in heaven.  {Just thinking out loud here, but melon, yogurt cheese and prosciutto would be extremely light and summery and....mwah!}

A touch of antiquity

Last week I had a phone call from someone I’ve known for 25 years or more. She’s a new grandmother and her first grandchild will be christened next month. The reason for her call: the family heirloom christening gown that her father-in-law, husband and two children {amongst others} have worn, was in distress.  Ha! My name came up, as it so often does, on the subject of christening gowns needing this or that.  It most likely goes back to my days of being a smocking and fine needle arts shop owner.  I have both made and repaired a fair number of gowns in my day.

Over the phone I agreed to take a look at the “tiny broken crochet” that she spoke of needing repair, pleading that I may not be able to mend it.  She brought the gown by.  One look told me that it's not crochet in need of repair but a Swiss insertion lace, called entredeau, which has disintegrated.  About 3 inches of the yoke was detached from the skirt. I told her this may be something that I could repair, but I doubted it would look anything like the original, and it would definitely be different in that area.  My friend agreed that would be just fine.  She was happy to just have the 2 parts sewn together in any form, so it will be wearable for the next generation.

I brought it home and I have pondered the 3” hole for days on end now.  I knew I would not be able to match the entredeau because, one it’s a double row, and two, it’s so tiny.  Over the course of the week, I’ve been going through my lace boxes and each time not coming up with a solution.  Today, I contemplated the entredeaux that I do have – a yard here, and two yards there, some white, some ivory – but none seemed suitable and I was wondering if I should try and {heaven forbid} make some, somehow.  All the time I was looking, I was disregarding wider laces, when all of a sudden I spied a decorative Swiss edging lace that, if cut up, might be just the ticket.  And it was!  You can see in the photo that I cut it apart, and used the center mesh part, where the “holes” are offset just like the entredeau in the gown. I did all the stitching by hand, of course, with heirloom denier thread.  However...there is a little “bulk” behind where I sewed, because I didn’t want to trim the lace down too much, lest it fray and fall apart in the course of time.  As it is now, I think it will outlast the dress.

 It is always such a treat to work on someone’s heirloom.  I love thinking about who made the gown – this one, apparently 95 plus years ago – and think back to her life and what the world was like then.  Her stitches are impeccable, every stitch done seemingly effortlessly by hand.  I wonder how many cups of tea she drank while she was stitching?  I had a couple in her memory today.