Thunderstorms & Summer Rain

We've had a lovely summer with warm spells and cool spells, but not many rainy spells.  A couple of days ago we had two major storm fronts move through... one in the morning and one in the afternoon with drizzle inbetween.  I cooked during the morning storm... crockpot full of stroganoff, kettle of split pea soup and a banana cake.  But the afternoon storm rolled in with more thunder and lightning and I decided to take a blanket to my wicker chair on the open porch, snuggle in and simply enjoy it.

The weatherman later said we received nearly 4" of rain that day!  We bailed our little fishing boat, the big fishing boat and the neighbor's boat when I found it sitting on the bottom of the lake half full.

I enjoyed this quiet listening time.  It brought back memories of a summer when I was about 12 yrs. young.  A lot of that summer it rained incessantly.  We kids in the neighborhood gathered in one girlfriend's house on a regular basis.  The mom was a stay-at-home and welcomed our company, encouraged us in our games and cooking.  We played many games of canasta and "war," made the old-fashioned stirred chocolate fudge (pre-marshmellow-cream-years), popped popcorn, and most fun was playing "Murder in the Dark" which was an acted out version of the board game, Clue.   So I was glad for the rainy day to spend some time remembering. 

The Past Month of My Life

My neighbor thinks I may perish from "chenille-ufocation."  I think she may be right.

My fixation on chenille has gotten out of hand.  For most of the past month, my spare time has been spent sorting, piling, creating bundles, and letting a lot of it go.  The above photo shows what I think I want to keep for my patchwork quilts.  I have already made quite a few quilts, but I have many more ideas and gifts to give.

 This second photo is in front of my regular quilt weight stash on the left and my weaving department which contains a variety of warp materials.  I love to weave, but I cannot access my supplies. 

 And this third photo is in front of my rug loom... all warped with a special treadling design in mind and I haven't been able to get to it for three years now.  Oh, dear!

And this pile of chenille is in front of my vintage bark cloth collection.... more projects in mind.  Will I live long enough?  I had better keep at it.  In the meantime I feast my eyes on these gorgeous colors and designs from days gone by.... such inspiration.  Check out my ebay and etsy sites if you want to help me out here.