Emmaleigh's Shoe ~ "The Rest Of The Story...."

No, I didn't overdo the pain meds, and yes, I'm sorry to have left you hanging with that strange, strange, post a few hours ago.

In my defense, however, I had originally intended to do things all in one post; but then decided it would be too lengthy....So, then, I decided I'd do two, back-to-back, posts....Well, I did one, and the 'puter went funky.  (STILL is funky and making me very, very, cranky....)

Ok...the point already....

 

The "story" of Emmaleigh's shoe is, just that....a story.

Not very cleverly crafted or artfully told, I confess, but, you see....

IT'S MISI'S FAULT!

It goes back to the Merriment Chain hostessed this past holiday season by the lovely, inimitable, Misi from 1890 Gable House Musings and the equally lovely, and ever-so-charming, Robyn from Primlish.

As if the chain weren't gift enough to those of us who participated, the fun-infested hostesses sponsored a participant "game night" afterwards to usher in the new year.

For once my computer cooperated, and I had a few surviving post-holiday brain cells left to work with, and actually won a "game" or two.....

And, despite my recent "no mail receptacle" issues, a most glorious package found its way to me a week or so ago....

Larger than it should have been (as I was told I had won gift cards), it was still unassuming in its size.

Upon opening it, however, it was a gift that filled a room - and a heart....

 

 Look at that beautiful envelope....and, inside, and even more-than-gorgeous card:

But, it was the shoe....the glorious, wonderful, SHOE that crept inside my soul and heart and stole the lot of them.  (If you know anything by now from following my blog, it ought to be that I have a serious "thing" for shoes....especially, "old" shoes, and even more especially, for "old, children's" shoes.....)

One sole (no pun intended), lone, little, shoe - tattered, and carefully, sweetly, mended....in the most gorgeous russet color...."Misi-fied" to perfection with with grass nesting and a wee little gourd egg.

Of course, then the wheels started turning in my little birdbrain....thinking about that shoe.  Where it had come from....where had its mate gone....who would keep only one....who had mended it so carefully and creatively?

When I thanked Miss Misi for my generous gift and suggested that she somehow "got" what exactly would "get" me, she wittingly (or, would that be "unwittingly?") responded that she had thought this little shoe "needed a story" and suspected that I might appreciate its past enough to give it one.

Little did she know, that it had been given several already.  Emmaleigh's was just the "latest" one that happened to spew out when I sat down this afternoon to do this post.

And I am most certain, it won't be the last.  (But, lucky for you all, I'll spare ya....)

:o)

So, thank you again, Sweet Misi.  Like I said - you so, so, "get" me....And, Robyn, thank you for your part in the gift of merriment that has kept on giving all these months.

 For those of you who were patient enough to read through my little indulgence with Emmaleigh's story (and actually leave kind comments) - wow...I owe you big, big, time!!

  

Emmaleigh's Shoe.......

 

     Emmaleigh cried for days after that Sunday….

That Sunday when Mother reached carefully under her trundle cot to pull out the wonderful little high-button shoes Poppa had purchased for her to wear with her church dress.  Even though she was too young to talk, she knew something was wretchedly wrong when Mother’s hand came back with only one shoe. Sundays became a melancholic ritual for Emmaleigh from then on.

  

                 Over the years, as Emmaleigh grew older, the painfulness of Sundays slowly, but lethargically, diminished.  Like the light at the end of the day, the hurt grew a little softer, and a little less pronounced.  Yet, every night before she drifted off to sleep, she let her hand roam quietly and carefully under the dark absyss under her cot – hoping that, just maybe, her hand would find the little shoe – somehow overlooked in the countless searches that preceded this one. 

 

     And so it was a very curious thing that happened one night as she lay in that trundle cot as she had every night of the past 15 years of her life.  The early March wind had been particularly merciless the entire day and seemed to have renewed its frenzy with the coming darkness, bringing on its wings an ice-edged rain.  Emmaleigh tossed restlessly under the nubby, tattered, ticking of her covers, trying to stay warm and willing the wind to subside.  Then it began…an incessant, haunting, scratching at the wood door braced close against the elements for the night.  After an eternity of hesitation, Emmaleigh crept to the door and, using her slight frame as a ballast, wedged the door open against the wind gusts and peered out onto the stoop.  There balancing precariously and cocking its head ever so knowingly, stood a raven.  Even in the dark of the storm, she could see him peering directly and precociously at her, and the blue black of his wings glistened as he took flight into the night.  Puzzled, Emmaleigh pulled the door close again, but finding it would not close cleanly, bent down and picked up something wedged on the threshold…. Soaked and shivering, she hurried back inside and raised the lantern light.  She wouldn't have even needed to bother, however, with the weak and timid light of the lantern as her fingers knew, before it was even raised, what she held.  The touch of the supple leather, the ridges of the welted stitching, and the round little buttons told her it was....her shoe.

     The shoe was considerably more worn than when it had disappeared, and tattered by more than just a lifetime of Sunday wear.  It was lovingly mended with string and thread harvested from nests of prior seasons, but there was no doubt it was her shoe.

 

So, carefully, Emmaleigh wrapped the shoe in a leftover scrap of her stitching linen and tied it with a piece of silk floss.  And, with a heart full of bittersweet joy, she tucked it in the corner of the dark recesses under her trundle cot.

   

A Few More Rough Patches In Nod....

Lil' Crow + A Lil' Snow =

 (BTW, this is completely unrelated to, and "post" the mailbox incident....)

****

I know I haven't been around much for all of you, but I really need you all now.

Please say a prayer that this didn't mess up "the" knee.....

Promise (i.e., really, really, hoping) to be back with some funner stuff soon....

Little Crow and the Mailbox.....

This time of year in Nod is bleak and unforgiving.

If you let it, the endless sea of white and sameness can eat you up and swallow you whole.

It can make you crazy....convince you that things are there which are really not....

And, sometimes, make things that were there....

disappear.....

 

Or, at least, that's what I'm told.....

 

Valentine Greetings From My Heart and Hands..........

Hope your day is filled with love and chocolate....

(Design by Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm)

("Just as Happy" design by Teresa Kogut)

For me, it'll be Vicodin and Prednisone....

:o(

Hetchels, Hatchels and Hackles.....

February Greetings!!

Wow...really...February?

  

Although January, true to its ugly form, was tortuous and unrelenting, it passed blessedly quickly in some ways.  In others, it seemed like a month of Januarys.... (If you haven't figured it out, I do NOT like January....)

Anywho...I wanted to let you I'm still here....still buried...in snow and cold, teaching, my thoughts, and other assorted blarney.  My body, soul, and heart, are desperately and impatiently waiting on spring.

I still haven't managed to put all the Christmas merriment away (but the tree is down...yea!)  I put a few things away here and there on my trips to Mount Laundry and, as I put back in place the "pre-merriment" decor little by little, I pondered what photos I might share with you.  Because, after all, even a "check-in" post needs a photo or two, no?  And, surely, you are weary of the "whiteness" of Nod (even Jack Frost has worn out his welcome here).  But as I pondered, my heart smiled when I went to put these back.  I love them so.  Most think they are a strange thing to collect, but there is something about the melding of wood and metal and wear from usage that endear them to me.

Wool or flax hetchels...or hatchels...or hackles....They've been called by various and sundry names (kinda like me....)  If you are not familiar with them, they were used to prepare flax for spinning.  The flax plant's fibers (lying between the bark and core) were separated by soaking ("retting"), pounding, and scraping.  The fibers, one bunch at a time, were then drawn through the spikes of a hetchel.  Most often, many different sized hetchels were used - starting with a wider openings downs to smaller ones until the long broken fibers were spin-ready.  (This low-grade fiber was called "tow.")    

So, now that you've had your history lesson for the day (and probably learned some new words), here is my (pathetically small) "collection" (hey, I'm going by the rule of threes, so a "collection" it is....):   

This one is my favorite....It's a bow-tie hetchel - most likely Pennsylvania Dutch (note the original painting on the corners):

 

 (Sasha would like you to also note that February is cat appreciation month....)

Here's a "catless" version:

 

I love the old worm holes in the wood....

These are variations of the hetchel and are more commonly called flax combs:

 

 This is my most recent addition:

 

(The flax comb above is a reproduction - artfully crafted by the amazing Art Haber at Old Colony Primitives.)

If I make it through February, I promise to be a better blogger in March....

I think of you all often and pop in when I can.  I may not always comment, but I have been reading when I can.  

She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.  Proverbs 31:13

It's Been A While.....

It's been a LONG while since....

well, everything.

...since I've posted, since I've visited/commented on blogs,

since I've hooked, punched, or had anything fun or good to post about.

It's been a long while since I laughed, really laughed....

....went for lunch....or went anywhere just because.

But I did yesterday....

Yesterday, I went with my hooking pal, Cathy from Red Barn Rugs, to Country Freckles and crashed their little Thursday hooking group.

Me, well, I didn't get much hooking done, but it was good to catch up on the fun stuff at the store and all of the new Red Barn Rugs' patterns.

Since it's also "been a while" since I've shared some hooky stuff with you, I decided to today....

(Unless otherwise noted, these are all Red Barn Rugs designs/patterns, and were all hooked by the proprietress thereof (i.e., the talented Cathy) herself....)

 

 

 

(Red Barn Rugs' design/pattern hooked by Mary Jo)

 (Lib Calloway design/pattern being hooked by Kris)

(Red Barn Rugs' design/pattern being hooked by Joy)

(Cathy's newest pattern and current project)

 Gee, all this hooking makes me want to play hooky.   (Get it?)  Ok....sorry.  Back to the books for this crow.

Hope all is well in your worlds...and will try to check in soon! 

Pictures On My Windowpane.....

Someone painted pictures on my windowpane last night....

Willow trees with trailing boughs and flowers, frosty white.....

It's a mystical, magical, place this land of Nod.....

 

Raggedy Blessings....

Happy, Happy, Friday!

Brrr.....Baby, it's COLD outside!!!

(Love the little red apples against the icy branches....)

It's getting on time to take down the "merriment" of the season.

I struggle with this each year. 

While most of you are anxious to take it down and start fresh, I cling to the the magic of twinkling white lights, winter greens, and the warmth of all that is Christmas.

As I ponder the task (note - I did not say "start the task"), I can't help but smile when I see the treasures that I've received from friends.  I've shared some of my Christmas gifts in recent posts, but there are a few more I wanted to share today.....from my lil' raggedy friend, Angie.

These are no means all the things she sent (she's a generous one that one), but a few that caught my fancy especially well today:

A wonderful OLD book by Martin Luther....(it's the one on the bottom)

I adore old books - especially old leather ones, old bibles, old hymnals, old photograph books......This one is from 1866 and fits right in with what I love best.....

 

If my German serves me correctly, I believe this is a book of homilies....

 

It's a little rough and raggedy around the edges, just like I like 'em.....

A wonderful salt-glaze jug:

 

 

And some of her wonderful hand-did's:

Decadent chocolate truffles:

  (Ok, ok.....these are long gone....photo was taken the day they came and were "thawing out."  Long story....)

As I said, these are just a few things she sent me. In addition to the gifts she sent me "for" me, she also was a lifeline and came up with several gifts for me to give to others on my list. Thank you Angie....for all my raggedy blessings! You're one-of-a-kind raggedy amazing!!! (Please keep Angie in your thoughts and prayers as she is facing another upcoming surgery on her back....)

******************

Happy weekend to you all!  Stay warm.

Time for this bird to hit the books.... 

:o(