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Ana, I’m pretty rusty now but I used to be a sewing whiz. I started very young with doll clothes and kept at it for years. Formal wear was my favorite, evening gowns, fancy cocktail dresses, sequins and bugle beads and seed pearls, Oh My! Probably making up for the fact that I wasn’t born a princess. Always Halloween costumes, of course….such fun!

Golden, I went through the trapunto stage too but never to the point of doing a whole quilt! That is extremely impressive, especially on satin, which slides all over itself.
I think I’ve tried every needle technique known to man over the years. I would get to the point where I could produce something either useful or beautiful, then give it as a gift and move on to something else. Dress making and tailoring lasted the longest out of necessity until it got more expensive to make clothes than buy them.
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Peasuep, yeah I remember the candles on the mantel for sure. Actually I still use the silver tinsels. It just isn't Christmas without it.

Golden I love crafts, just not as very great at it. So too years ago I taught myself how to knit, or tried to, through YouTube Got good at the main stich , made two scarfs , so yesterday I pulled them out, put the tassel on them. When it got to the other stitches, knit one purel 2 stuff I got tired, but I think I'll practice some more now. There is so much to learn, reading patterns and the terms, like gauge and all that.
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Bringing back some great memories here, I sewed and knitted and crocheted and embroidered,,,Mother and her grandmother before her were great seamstresses, as is my dd, She once free hand embroidered a mountain range on the back of a jean jacket - could have sold it for $100s.

In Scotland you could buy kits of wonderful woolen fabric for a skirt and matching yarn to knit a sweater. In the Montreal years when I was young and free I made my wardrobe. It was a very fashionable city but I couldn't afford to buy so I sewed. Later, I made a few outfits for myself and my dd but life got too busy,

I remember making a quilt for my first grandchild. I had always been fascinated by trapunto embroidery, so I designed and made a pale blue satin quilt with trapunto embroidery.

Of course, there were lots of afghans crocheted over the years, sweaters for my boys...laterly baby outfits that I gave away to the thrift shop. Knitting and crocheting are very peaceful activities. You only have to think of the next stitch.

And Halloween outfits. I was so glad when dd took over that job,

Christmas decorations and the tinsel that the cat ate - always. Dd had one cat that ate Christmas tree light bulbs - didn't swallow them, just crunched them.
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Wow Peasuep, you must have tremendous sewing skills! I only sew very simple things. Lots of Hallowe’en costumes over the years. (3 kids) Lots of mending.
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My car took me to HomeGoods yesterday .
Yes , I’m blaming it on the car .

I don’t go often because I like it too much .
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Nacy, OF COURSE Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a silly candle! You’re younger than I am but do you remember the little choir girl and boy candles you would line upon the mantle? (Nobody burned them, otherwise they would be headless.)
How about that icky fiberglass Angel Hair snow stuff that would cut you if you handled it wrong? Or the white sheet batting with multicolored glitter that you would wrap around the tree stand to hide it. Or that metallic plastic tinsel that the cat would pull off the tree and eat like spaghetti?
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Ana, I used to sew all my own and my girl’s dresses….all the way up to their wedding dresses. Then I stopped cold. It got too expensive and now JoAnn’s is 3/4 fleece! Now if I wanted to make a dress I’d have to shop on line and I hate that. If I can’t feel the material and see the drape and flow how can I know if it will work? I do like JoAnn’s for craft materials and notions and seasonal decorations.
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I should be banned from fabric stores until all the material I couldn’t resist buying is finally sewn. I am often seduced by garden centres, craft, and hardware stores as well. How likely will I finish my Christmas gift sewing project? Or will my daughter receive it for her birthday next autumn? I suspect we all know. 🤦🏼‍♀️
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Eva, Michaels, was right next to moms eye glass place, and was calling to us. 😂 Ive got like 5 projects home that is for someday? So I'm really trying to advoid that stuff. I did get some Christmas decorations, that I certainly didn't need either, things I just couldn't refuse. Everyone needs candles shaped like a Christmas tree , with gum drops all over it. 😆. Now we gotta go back to pick her new glasses up, in a couple weeks.

Peasuep, I think golden has a wild fire story too. If my memory is right?
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Macy,
Micheals is caregiver’s heaven for crafts. I restrain myself and have not gone for over a year. Should do it and resume some hobbies.
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Thanks, Psue. Lots of challenges for sure.
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Costco is my kryptonite. I've taken to going in without the cart.
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Golden, it would be tedious to read about a life that was only good or only bad. I think your life, what little I’ve heard about it, sounds fascinating.
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As is JoAnn’s!
And Home Depot!
And any and all garden centers!
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"Michael"s" a very dangerous store, to your wallet
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Peasuep, I think the owls eat the gizzards of some animals. Hubby found a house cat of someones, at his family farm, with nothing but the insides missing, we suspected an owl
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Margaret, I live in Canada and we can purchase roo for both human and pet consumption. It is not common.

Peasuep, the proposed cull of barred owls is sad but I can appreciate the need to save spotted owls, What an awful decision to have to make.
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Had jugged hare many years ago in the UK. It was good!

Life in Northern Alberta can be interesting. Got moose blood on the ceiling once when we butchered a moose in the kitchen. I had photos of the process - no idea where they are now. Moose rib cage is huge,

Both ex and R hunted and butchered. Ex was Cree - native Canadian so we had access to caribou. I actually saw a herd on the edge of town up north once.

My life has had many phases, psue - some better than others.
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As you are interested, kangaroo is a bit of a problem here. They are protected as a native species and you need a permit to kill them. They can’t be farmed as they are shocking on fences (over, under, destroy), but they build up in fringe farming districts because of the available water troughs. We get them as roadkill or very occasionally caught up in fences. Professional shooters are licensed and regulated, and the meat is sold in many (not all) butchers shops. My daughter with MS has a diet excluding saturated fats, but can eat roo occasionally as it is very very low fat. Only not now, as she is living in Ireland and roo is just too hard to find!
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Margaret, YES, I’m interested! But NO, NO, NO, not grubs! Although I’d probably be able to get one down if roasted - I thought they were eaten alive and squirming. However if they are so hard to find I will gladly donate my portion to someone who really appreciates them.
Kangaroo, bring it on!
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I’ve eaten kangaroo several times, usually road kill from hitting our vehicle. Often tough, it depends on the age. It’s sold in butchers shops, always young and tender. Hare a couple of times. Once I hung a hare for a week or so, as advised in game cookery, and I liked it but DH didn’t. I’ve eaten witchetty grubs, which are delicious lightly toasted in the ashes of a fire, and are very hard to come by. They live in tree roots (of acacia kempiana, if you're interested), and the only ones I’ve eaten were when we met a couple of Aboriginal women way out bush, and they shared. My then partner helped with digging the roots out with a crow bar. Because DH and I slaughtered and butchered our own sheep, I’ve got used to dealing with anything edible.
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Newbie, I’ve had rabbit, but it was farm-raised for the table so there’s probably little resemblance to a wild hare. Muskrat? Never saw one, ate one, or knew anyone who did….until now! Is it similar to Pica? We had Rockchucks (Marmot) where we used to live but they, and the giant Jackrabbits, weren’t considered food by anything but the coyotes. I’ll try anything…once, except I draw the line at any sort of insect. Just -can’t.
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Ana, great facts! Thanks! I love grisly trivia!
We have predominantly Great Horned owls here so I guess it’s good I haven’t adopted a cat although I have longed for one. I don’t think DH would be able to consistently close doors behind himself or even notice if a kitty snuck out between his feet when he goes out.
We also have Barred Owls - they have the weirdest call I’ve ever heard. I actually thought a neighbor was pranking me the first time I heard one. I had to record it with my Merlin app to believe it was a bird. Unfortunately there is a plan here to kill them off but there was such a public outcry it’s been tabled for now.
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Marine, I’m constantly fighting dehydration/UTI with my DH with the added bugaboo of nighttime incontinence (meaning, we try to limit fluid intake after 4pm).

His Dr. told him at least 2 quarts of water a day so what he does is pack his quart container with ice and dribble in as much water as will fit between the cubes and drink until the liquid is gone. He does that twice and calls it following doctor’s orders!
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I lived in an Indian village in northern Canada when I was in my 20s--ate caribou (yummy), moose (good, but not as good as caribou), arctic hares (tasty), and muskrat (also tasty). I live in Maine, and back about 15 years ago I hit a moose at twilight when I was driving in the northeastern part of the state. Luckily it was a juvenile and a glancing blow; the moose survived, and my car did as well with just a broken headlight, side mirror dangling, and moose hair embedded in the rubber around my windshield. We used to let our cats outside, but they were big guys, around 13-15 lbs, so I don't think they would have been prey for an owl or hawk. I now live in a condo complex in another Maine city and we are required to have pets leashed if they are outdoors, so current kitty is indoor only. Even if he could go out, we have coyotes around, right in the city (!), so it wouldn't be safe.
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Marine - good luck with that. That was actually an attention seeking tactic by my mother - winter clothes and ‘working’ outdoors during a heat wave. Dehydration, vomiting, UTI, so she had to see a Dr and I had to care for her more. It was all so frustrating.

Peasuep - Great Horned Owls can take a grown cat. Hawks - anything under 4lb is at risk. My neighbour scooped and ran with her chihuahua once she realized a hawk was stalking it. One dull evening, as our indoor cat stood by the sliding glass door, I realized a Great Horned Owl was on the ground just outside the door, intently watching her.

Owl trivia: (stop eating) Ever seen dead rodents hung in trees? If so, you may have a Barred Owl. (or a shrike if spiked on a thorn) They save them for later.

I’m a treasure trove of grisly trivia.
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First comment...my 'whine'...I do not understand, nor am I able to get my 81-year-old mother to understand, it is not a good idea, nor should she do it...go outside to 'work' in the yard, when it is 82 degrees feel like index of 85 degrees...while she is battling UTI...caused by dehydration.... caused by working out in the heat of the day.
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Hmmm, hadn’t thought about owls - we have plenty of those, but I thought they usually went for small rodents. I’ve found a few owl ‘pellets’ in the woods and am saving them for Science day with GD during the summer. Did it with my own kids a few times; a couple pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass and you can find intact and identifiable bones, even whole skulls.

I never had carabou, Golden. Another thing to put on my list. I get the impression you’ve had a very interesting life. Have you thought of writing a book? There was a way of life that is almost lost. My mom lived it for her first 20 years and she was good about giving my sibs and me summers on the farm where she grew up. I’m sad I can’t really share much of a ‘non-tech’ life with my GD.

That makes a pretty decent whine moment for today!
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Golden, I was sheltered growing up, bugs became my best friend. 😂

I'll stick to foods meats I get out of the grocery store. 😁

Some people are very critical about letting cats outside, it's a personal decision and not against the law. I taught my cats to stay out of the road and in are yard, but if we lived at my husbands family farm, I think there biggest danger would be the eagles, and owls, and coyotes. Rumors of wolves, I've seen some suspicious pitchers on the hunters cameras, of possibly wolves and very large cat.
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Geaton - Oh my goodness. So scary!!!

psue -Moose can be great - depends. I'm not fond of venison. Haven't tried bear, but I'm not inclined to. Bison, yes. The best is caribou - never had such tender tasty meat. Elk is good too. Pronghorn - too "sagey"

I think all carnivores can be dangerous to smaller animals, and some are dangerous to us. If anything I suppose wolves are more dangerous as they are bigger. Though I don't think there are many records of attacks on humans. Now I wouldn't want to live near cougars. We lost Rocky's sister to a fox almost certainly, or a coyote. Poor Pumpkin! She was not a cautious creature.

nacy - I can do without most insects - not a fave of mine unless you are talking about beautiful butterflies, moths and dragonflies. I like ladybugs too.

I just made some ground turkey vegetable soup for supper. R wants left over turkey necks and there aren't enough for two.
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