Late in the day yesterday, the boxes we sent from Florida arrived via UPS. It was dark out (so early these days!) and we opened the kitchen door (which has no protective overhang) to see three boxes, stacked one on top of each other, sitting on the door sill. It was raining, so why they weren’t put on the porch, I don’t know. That happened once before. I fired off an email to UPS because the boxes were already a bit wet and would have become wetter very quickly. To my surprise, they got back to me right away with an apology.
Now that I think about it today, perhaps the driver wanted to leave them up off the ground and the porch floor was already pretty wet. Maybe he thought we’d see them there more quickly than we’d see them on the porch. But I will make sure the drivers know to put the packages on the porch.
Thankfully, Don opened the door to let Scout out and there they were.
An oil painting by my great-aunt Ruth, my maternal grandmother’s sister. Ruth also painted the small oil of the family farm in Orillia, Ontario that hangs by the front door. This painting hung in my grandmother’s living room. When she passed away, Mom hung it in her home. And now I have it. I’ve always loved the colors in this painting and I loved my Aunt Ruth.
We have limited wall space in this cottage. Or, we thought we had limited wall space until we had a little epiphany last night. Since we love collecting art and graphics, we are going to make this large stairway wall a big old gallery wall. We have paintings and prints stored under the beds and in the shed. And we always see things when we’re out antiquing that we want to buy but we stop ourselves thinking that we have nowhere to hang them.
Duh. We do.
This will be fun.
This is a quilt I made for my mom. It’s a wall hanging. I made it many years ago using the maple leaf pattern in honor of her Canadian roots. It was hanging on the wall in the condo.
As was this:
It’s a needlepoint stitch sampler that I made for my mom. I was heavily into needlepoint when I was in my twenties. All the nieces and nephews received a needlepoint Christmas stocking from their Aunt Claudia. This piece was special and I had it matted and framed for mom. Can you tell she liked earth tones? I didn’t necessarily do it on purpose, but the same colors are in the quilt as well.
This will be a part of our gallery wall.
Meredith also needlepointed a beautiful landscape for mom, which was also framed, and she took that home with her.
The truth is, both Mom and Dad had already given us the precious things they wanted us to have. Mom started doing that many years ago. Dad did the same. So the things I packed up in Florida are mostly little memories of them – some of Dad’s tools, wind chimes that hung on their lanai, a cross or two from my mom’s collection – things like that. And lots of photos. Lots.
The two scarves that I’ve listed on Etsy sold right away, which is lovely and gratifying. But, as I sat here yesterday afternoon with no yarn on hand and the new skeins of yarn I ordered still in transit, I became a bit panicked. Crocheting has become a sort of lifeline for me and I absolutely had to be making another scarf. That minute. So I grabbed the keys to my car and drove up the road a mile or so to our local yarn shop. It’s a lovely little shop located in a renovated barn. Most of the yarn is too expensive for me, but I had to have something. I ended up choosing Cascade 220 Superwash in lovely shade of blue.
Ah, that’s better.
At some point, this will be in the Etsy Shop.
Trying to hang in there.
Happy Friday.
The quilt and needlepoint are both beautiful creations and I’m sure were treasured by your Mom and Dad. Now those same treasures are filling your home with memories, color and love.
Wishing you a day of peace and comfort (and the gentle process of crocheting – love that color by the way).
Thank you – I really like that color, too. I’m going to do some crocheting after I’m finished replying to comments.
My brown paper package came today and thank you! It will be treasured. We have a friend that hangs pictures from floor to ceiling – not just eye level- and it looks great. I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. Scott’s daughter is getting married tomorrow so we’re off down state. Will call or write next week. xxoo
Eileen
Best wishes to Scott’s daughter, Eileen. Did you get two packages? You should have.
We’ll definitely be hanging them from floor to ceiling on the staircase wall. It should be a powerful statement!
xo
Such beautiful treasures. They are even more special for the stories that go with them. Happy crocheting, it’s good to have a comfort activity.
Janet
It is, indeed. Thank you, Janet.
I think a gallery wall up the stairs is brilliant! I love to see things like that and one’s that are meaningful. I’ve made a few things for my parents (mostly cross stitch when I had good eyesight) and some are with me and some with my daughter now that Mom has downsized. I am glad you are crocheting it seems to be very calming for you. I will be wearing my scarf I bought from you as soon as it cools down here. Scout is teething and not feeling good today so Sara is home with her and I will take her lunch and visit a little later today.
hugs,
Linda
It is a large expanse of wall – in fact the only wall that isn’t half covered with furniture.
Hope little Scout feels better soon!
That needlepoint and quilt are lovely! All three of those items would make great anchors for your stairway gallery! Brilliant idea! Enjoy your day! ;)
You too, Donnamae!
Lovely pieces! I love the maple leaf quilt – I made my Gran in England a similar quilt many years ago. Now it graces the bed in our guest room. I love the ‘gallery’ idea for those special pieces. My foyer used to act as my unofficial gallery with my framed watercolours for sale from ceiling to floor. I was lucky to have been taken on by a proper gallery as it started to seem sort of conceited to have my stuff hitting visitors in the eye as they walked in. Now my foyer is home to the antique maps my dad used to collect.
Love, love the scarves! What about an elegant Christmas red?
I’d love to see some photos of your watercolors, Barbara! And also, of course, of your dollhouse!
I’d have to find the right red. I’ll start looking.
The needlepoint is very lovely. I never took to needlepoint, so I admire people who get the hang of it. I can do counted cross stitch and when I was younger did embroidery and crewel. I could not do anything stamped, I am guessing because I find it have to follow the rules…counted cross stitch you can color outside of the lines. Just leave a not on the door where UPS usually delivers and say you would prefer the porch. Here UPS and Fed Ex leave by side door with the overhang so it does not get wet. Fed ex puts in a plastic bag, UPS never does. Except in the summer when UPS just opens the screen door and puts inside back hall. Keep your fingers busy.
Our usual UPS guy comes to the porch. This only happens when some other driver makes the delivery. We can’t put a note on the door because we don’t have a screen door and it will get wet!
Hello, Claudia. Condolences on the loss of your Dad.
My Mom sold the family cottage this year, so we have had a taste of what your and your sister have been doing in Florida and trying to merge meaningful pieces into our homes.
Just wanted to let you know that The Poisoners Handbook became available here on Canadian Netflix, and we were delighted to be able to watch Don!
Hugs, Barb
So glad you got to watch it, Barb! I should post that information for my other Canadian readers. Thank you!
How do you find your Etsy shop?
There’s nothing in it at the moment, until I finish another scarf, but if you go to the sidebar you should see the words Etsy shop and you can click on the link there.
Love the oil painting and the other beautiful, treasured items. Great idea about doing a gallery wall.
It seems the best use of that space. I had planned on hanging a quilt there that is far from being finished, so why not hang art instead?
The things you sent home to yourself are wonderful. Great colors. Wow, I didn’t know that besides sewing and crocheting that you also did/do needlepoint. Lovely stuff.
Because I don’t have great shopping anywhere near me unless I want to drive 30-40 minutes somewhere, I do too much mail order/online shopping but, you know, I try to wait for shipping ‘deals’ and the like. I’m amazed/stymied by how things are left on my porch, in full view of the street. FedX is the worst; they leave my parcels right at my door to where if I’m inside, I can’t open my door because the boxes block the door. The USPS will leave things under the mail box. UPS is the most conscientious and will set parcels as far out of sight from prying eyes as possible; plus, they have more than once left a parcel which they’ve wrapped in plastic for me (my last house had no overhang, no porch). What I’ve noticed with the FedX drivers and the USPS letter carriers is that they are ‘talking’ which means they must have phone capability with those ear plugs/buds/blue tooth or whatever it’s called; and I’ve recently read reports about multi-tasking, indicating that not everybody does it well, so I think the phone ‘talking’ might distract a driver/deliverer from the task at hand…because, to me, common sense dictates that if you could deliver a package and put it out of view, for protection, or under cover, it would be the better customer service. I had the greatest letter carrier at my other house. When I’d receive packages thru USPS, he’d put my parcels behind a bush in the front yard that couldn’t be visible from the street yet were visible to me once I opened up my front door. He was so thoughtful and organized.
Especially from this time of year until New Year’s we have a problem with theft here. It was rampant last year, where the crooks wait around, knowing when deliveries are made (the sound of the trucks become recognizable, too) and they spring into action as soon as the delivery truck leaves. We had several local newspaper articles about it. One street over from me last Christmas, a family had a Macy’s box stolen within seconds of delivery. Another thing they’re doing right now is really desperate, but we have something in California called termite tenting. Has to be done when a house is sold; should be done every ten years to protect the structure of home and/or business; big termite problem here in this part of the country, weakening the wood. When the house is tented, like a big circus tent over it, so that it can be fumigated/gassed to kill the termites, you can’t enter for a couple/more days. They take the tent off after the first day, but you’re not allowed in. Crooks take that opportunity, risking their own lives, to go inside your house and steal you blind. All the electricity is off, so it’s dark and the thieves strike mostly at night. The police try to patrol but they can’t be there every minute. My husband says when it comes time for us to do it in the next couple of years, we’re not going to a hotel; instead, we’ll rent a motor home and park it in the driveway so that we can keep an eye on our house/property. Such a shame that life gets to this point!
We’re about to blow away here in SoCal but I’m off to go out in it to do errands in the strong winds; it’s warming up, so I guess they’re the Santa Ana winds; it’s 80 degrees here as we approach 10:30am.
I’m telegraphing, heart to heart, my best wish for a peaceful weekend for you and Don.
I well remember tenting – it happened in San Diego, too. But my goodness, using that as an opportunity to rob a house! Simply terrible. Our USPS carrier is fabulous. We’re rural here and she’ll honk if she has a package (and if she thinks we’re home.) Otherwise, she’ll drive up the driveway and deposit it on the porch. Our usual UPS guy is also great and I know him. He always comes to the front door/covered porch. This same thing happened last year with a package my sister mailed to me containing three books that had belonged to my mom. By the time I saw the package it was soaked. Thank goodness, the wet hadn’t reached the books yet, but you can bet it would have ruined them had I not seen it in time.
The man who responded to my email said that UPS tries to hide the packages and I really appreciate that, but they would have been more hidden on the porch!
Oh, I do remember when you received those books that could have potentially been ruined in the wet! What a loss that would have been!
I know! Something tells me it was the same driver.
I am so pleased that your special treasures arrived safely and are now with you. A gallery wall sounds like a wonderful idea, you can display many beautiful things and treasures. I hope that you will feel a lot of love with the beautiful quilt wrapped around you. I understand the urge to crochet, it is keeping the hands busy I think isn’t it. xx
Yes, and I also think it’s the repetitive motion that is comforting.
Claudia, It seems right, that you have the things you made for your mom. I love the things you made…very pretty colors. I am sure your mom loved them. You aunt’s painting is wonderful. So glad that Don found the packages. Nice that you could get some new yarn. Sending prayers and hugs to you, xoxo,Susie
My mom would be happy to know that these handmade gifts are in my home now, Susie.
Hello Claudia, those are lovely gifts that you gave your mother and now have to remember her by. You do beautiful work with both and quilting and needlepoint. I tried to find your Etsy shop the other day. I guess I don’t know it’s name and I’m not very computer illiterate. I couldn’t find the link on your blog. Your scarves are beautiful. I have trouble with the UPS driver just dropping packages off and leaving also. They don’t even ring the doorbell. Our neighborhood has had a lot of packages stolen because of that. I’ve been told there are people who just follow the UPS trucks around and grab the packages after they leave them and that it happens all over the country. I’m glad you find crocheting a way of relaxing and find it a comforting hobby. I do too. I call it my yarn therapy. :-)
Blessings,
Betsy
The link to the Etsy shop is in my sidebar, Betsy. Or you can look for ScoutHarper, which is the name of the shop. xo
I love all the memories you brought back. They will look terrific on your new gallery wall. Great thinking.
Yarn is my go to when I need a little stress relief. Like you, I made a wild run to the store just the other day. I had to have a new skein right that moment. Hahaha. It is turning out to be a beautiful scarf.
I just listed the scarf I made with that yarn, Barbara. I’m glad I bought it – it’s really a wonderful washable wool yarn, so I’ll be using more of it in the future.
What beautiful treasures you mailed home Claudia…I can’t wait to see your gallery wall!
Once we get ahead with our ‘funds’ we’ll start on the wall and on the office space. I’m so looking forward to it.