Guestbook

We started the guestbook nearly exactly 10 years ago

to remember the visitors in the French farmhouse

I made the cover as a copy of a small part of the fence in front 

of the barn. Stitched by hand and machine.

The first entry was made by family members - brother and 

sister in law. 

Then daughter, son in law, grand-children Leon and Mila.

We owned the house for 5 years when we thought that the 

distance from of our German home was too far -  we could

sell it to a married  couple from the village.

Nice memories - nice souvenir.

Tales from October

Yes, we met again. I mean my patchwork friends meet very often but I am frequently

in our vacation house - in France - so it is a special event when I can

be with them chatting, sewing, showing and telling, getting inspiration - 

and last but not least eating and laughing

I like to bake with yeast - I love to eat it - it can be dry like wood I still like it

here it didn’t get dry because I gave half of it to grandson L who is studying in 

our town Karlsruhe



Some time to stitch - and if just for half an hour - 




And now this is the end of our French farmhouse in Haute-Saône we are going

to sell it - very soon - next week the final signature will be rendered. We called

it Schato with a broad smile in the face - derived from the French word château - 

because of its long rusty iron fence alongside the street.

The far away house is not ours but it can be seen now

 

the future owners were allowed to  make order in our rather wild garden

I mean they cut every bush around on three sides of the garden

The neighbor lady will be happy - she was not very amused by our gardening.

We however loved the green surrounding

Selling the house means also moving things 

How often we made the travel of three and a half hours from France to Germany

I didn‘t count  - I estimate some 6 times - we didn‘t move the furniture

just the household equipment and the atelier of DH, the atelier and again the atelier

The trailor crammed full and the car, too

I have more time now and started to knit for Christmas

Rather big slippers but after felting in the washing machine they will have the

right size.

But then....

I remembered that in autumn I usually embroider dry leaves

These are old leaves and...

...waiting till the new autumn leaves will be dry between newspaper pages and 

under a heavy book - again stitching on this piece - no concept just going on -

patch on patch and stitches.

In January and February

It is sold  - our farmhouse. We had it nearly 23 years and have 

now many lovely memories

While waiting at the notary‘s office - swinging with 

our feet

This is hanging above our heads

At home we are in a funny mood (some days later)

It is carnaval at our gymnastics.We did our exercises -

but afterwards - sparkling wine and not little

But what I like most is to enjoy myself in my

studio - this is a cosmetic bag - not my idea

If you are interested here is the link:

https://www.pattydoo.de/blog/2013/09/kosmetiktasche-dawanda/

With the pattern to download

It is made in a few hours - but oh my dear - it

is a lot of fiddling nevertheless

I might still doing some handstitching on it to flatten

the seams.

But then in the weeks before - I knitted socks .... enough....

for grandsons LL and YL

Below are YL‘s feet - they, the socks, fit well

The second pair i for LL who is coming sometimes on 

Sundays - for lunch with us - and to play football - he grew

up in the United States and is studying now in our town

Karlsruhe

The end!

Good-bye farmhouse

Shutters closed, things packed during many days and transported

with the trailor to another house where they will wait till we 

get a new place nearer to our home in Germany.We drove

twelve times - (just for me to remember)

This is the farewell - last bundles of waste, my two bags. Below: A look into

the inside - the grange - with a quilt of nine hens

The rocking horse - DH-made

The hens - (ok, no good photo)

The view from one of the windows downhill

at times with neighbour‘s  pasturing cows

Treasure box of our barefoot-guys - when they -

the  grandchildren were a few years younger

containing two beautiful stones and a bottle with some cash and other

thingies

They dug it into the earth - but the following year they undug it again

to see if it was still there....

success!

This is the family from whose descendants we bought the farmhouse 22 years ago.

We made the acquaintance of the two youngest ones. They visited us

and wrote their names into our guestbook.

The tree house constructed by DH of course, with the help of grandsons 

The farmhouse situated in the hills

With good eyes one could even make it out on the photo below - in 800 m altitude

We had a lovely time up there mostly with the family - very often

also with friends - in summer and in winter - and it was comfortable

due to the renovation skills of DH

We are happy that a very nice family will now be living in the house

named GHUERRAFOLLET on an old map in the books of the townhall. 

My pocket

A pocket which I started when Karens Ruane's class "swathed in stitch"

was still running - and then a long interval of no sewing.

But I finished it at last.

The piece of white machine-made lace

- broderie anglaise - was part of the christening robe

of our daughter - when she was a three months old sweet baby.

It was hanging long from the arm of her goduncle who carried her to

the altar in church nearly exactly 49 years ago.

I stitched yellow and green embellishments on it. There is a strip of

yellowish-greenish fabric fixed with French knots and buttonhole stitches.

Fly stitches into the holes.

I made bumps which I learned from Karen. And points of

fine handkerchiefs, cutting them apart mercilessly.

 

It is hanging at the shutter of our farmhouse.

We are awaiting new neighbours for coffee and cake

 

 

They came and we had a lovely talk.

Then we made a walk - oh my, how lovely this tree is with its moss.

We are looking on a neighbour's farm - about 900 m high.

 

Farmers can't have more than 25 cows - there is not enough

pastureland. They sell the milk and are producing cheese -

Münsterkäse. They are very much supported by the state

as no family can live of only 25 cows, not in France and nowhere else

in Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friendship bracelets

I had to try this technique of knotting friendship bracelets.

When it was modern I missed it, I did not know about it.

Probably I was preoccupied with household, children, job,

sports and social life.

It is a bit like weaving - certainly much slower.

Now - I did not make these - except the fourth from the left.

You can recognize it at the bottom of this photo.

I laid my bracelet on top of the title of a book from which I

took the instructions.

We are in the Vosges, a mountain range in the east of France,

800 m high. Weather is fine and summery.

This is an entry to our property.

 

Picture taken against the sun. A serious cut will be

needed. But DH had an accident with his thumb which

will keep him from such work for a while.

 

 

We still can enter, though.

A corner of the farmhouse

I can't show you any creative work - I am sure you don't want to see

heaps of pulled-out weeds, spider webs in my broom, mousetraps without

mice but eaten bacon -

It is my life inside and outside the farmhouse. I enjoy it!