Sunday, June 16, 2013

Celebrating Fathers

Today is Father's Day here in the USA.  Some people scoff at special days for celebrating things like Mothers and Fathers and Valentines, etc. - saying those days were created by greeting card companies.  But I disagree - I think it's wonderful to have a day in the year to concentrate on those people who give you life, raise you and help you become the person you are.  My Dad was sweet to us and a gentle soul.  He was born on a farm in Oklahoma and was raised milking cows and taking care of farm animals and riding horses.  He fell for my mom when they were young, and when she went to California to visit her sister, he and a buddy decided to pool their money for gas and drove his Model A Ford to see her, when he did, he proposed and the eloped to Reno and got married.  They moved into a tiny shack on his parent's farm and had a set of twins, Robert and Roberta.  Then he got drafted and ended up in the Marines and on Iwo Jima.  I arrived not long after he came home from WWII - well, about 9 months later. :-)  He always came through for me and I will be forever grateful.  
I volunteered at the falls on Thursday with my friend Shirley and finished up the 2 legs for Hayden's Teddy Bear.  My 5th bear.  One more to go and I'll have crocheted a Teddy Bear for all 6 of my grandkids.  I learned a lesson, always get 2 skeins of yarn.  I ran out of the moss green and searched many stores and could not find more.  SO, I had to get creative and I got some denim blue yarn and decided to make overalls for him.   
See the thimble on his lap?  WELL... story time.  My blog friend Lucy from In The Sky blog recently told a story about how she'd misplaced her grandmother's sterling silver thimble.  She did find it and showed it to us and I fell in love with it.  I went to Etsy.com and found this one and now I have a lovely vintage thimble in my sewing kit.  I have wanted one for years and never found one I liked.  This one has a little sailboat on it, an arched bridge on the left that looks like our historic highway arches here and a lighthouse on the right!
Do you have a thimble that you love?   
I have been wanting a nice wagon for the boys to play with and we just got this one and the boys are having fun with it.   
Grandpa and his youngest grandkid - Caleb the Curly One.   
Grandpa letting the 4 and 5 year old boys crack eggs for scrambled eggs and cheese. 
The beginnings of a chef. 
On Friday the big boys were here too.  I got Dayle a pellet BBQ for Father's Day and this meal was his "maiden voyage" using it.  He also made us green salad, macaroni and cheese and BBQ'd chicken and steak.  Oh my, we're converts!  The pellet BBQ smokes and cooks the meat with NO flame-ups!  The meat tasted outstanding!
Yesterday we spent the afternoon on the deck and so I began creating the overalls for the bear.. this was an interesting project, making it up as I went along. 
Overalls completed!  Now today I intend to embroider some eyes, nose and mouth.  I also want to find some brass buttons for his overalls.  Hayden seems to be happy with it! 
Kristi and the boys spent the night here in their VW bus, a 1978.  Travis works nights but came here at 5 am and slept in the upstairs bedroom.  This is grandpa holding both boys while they watched Tree Fu Tom on the Sprout network.   
What do you think of the overalls I concocted? 
We are preparing for a Father's Day BBQ now - Shawn, his wife and 2 boys arrive at 3 pm. We're BBQing "Pepper Steaks" and bacon wrapped sirloins and making macaroni salad and baked beans.  I hope you have a great day - if you're lucky enough to have your father still with you.. treasure him.  Happy Father's Day to all Dads out there!!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

19 comments:

  1. You know I completely agree with you celebrating Fathers Day (and Mothers day!) I kinda feel like if I didn't get my Dad anything it woul be really mean :) Valentines Day however... Well I expect J to be random & spontanious all year round as I am :D

    I love the story about your parents getting together. Sounds a bit like my Gran & Granddad. They were both born in Ireland &my Granny had decided to come to England to study nursing. When she got to the Station my Granddad shows up & announced he was going with her!

    Her response was "you are NOT!" haha, because she thought people would think they were either eloping or he'd gotten her pregnant :D

    Anyway, they obiously tied the knot because here I am ;-) It's nice to hear how you were a post war baby, no doubt you were part of a big baby boom!

    Haydens bear is looking fab, I saw the picture before reading that you'd run out of yarn, it looks completely on purpose to me, good thinking!

    I'm very slowly knitting a bear for my friend who's about 20 weeks pregnant now :)

    Alas, I have exactly zero thimbles but probably several thousand pin holes in my hands!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just texted my son and son-in-law to wish them a Happy Father's Day, and thank them for being good dads. Like you, I think it is important to set aside a special time to express gratitude for those who nurtured or still nurture life, Teresa.
    Hayden's bear is so cute in his overalls...I am thinking all bears should have a pair...you may have started a trend!!!

    Your new pellet grill sounds great. I am not familiar with that kind. Hope you and yours have a good day together!

    Thimbles are a challenge for me. I have not figured out how to efficiently use one yet and do not have one that is just the right fit. The one you found is beautiful as well as practical, and I can imagine you enjoying it :-)

    xx,
    Gracie

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the overalls on the bear. Nice way to fix a yarn shortage. I have never heard of the pellet bbq. I will have to look it up. Also, my mother-in-law passed away a few years ago and left me her collection of thimbles. I treasure all of them. I am the only crafty woman in the family now and I feel honored to have them. I will have to show them on my blog. Hope your Sunday was lovely. XOXO.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Teresa sounds like Father's Day is going well! Sadly my dad died 7years ago on 4th June. I remember all the cars & gift ideas in the stores at the time. Very sad. However we celebrated today. Youngest son came along with Sarah ( his wife) & Ella & Phoebe. Sarah went off to visit her dad who is in hospital.
    We will see eldest son & family nxt week.
    I have my grandma's thimble! Love & hugs Anne x

    ReplyDelete
  5. It sounds like you had a wonderful father and a great husband, who is also a great father. Lucky you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The teddy is looking good. I think what you did to compensate for running out of your color worked well. My children have 2 wooden wagons like that. We bought one and then my one brother came toting one as well, not realizing we had bought one already. So, each girl had her own wagon. One remained in the house and was used to haul the toys around, the other went outside to haul the kids and for them to play with. About 3 years ago my hubby refinished the outside wagon and we gave it to our oldest for her son. I need to post a pic of his handiwork). It is in his bedroom holding all his stuff toys. Our youngest has her wagon and it is in one of her spare bedrooms. Love that the sides can be removed too, giving it a different look. Radio Flyers are the best. I see you are breaking in your new outside deck area. That is wonderful to be able to spend Father's Day weekend enjoying family. I miss my guy, my step-father passed almost 2 years ago so this weekend was not a very good one in that respect, but I spent time with my youngest daughter and my mom so that was a good thing. Have a good week.
    Susanne ♥

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Teresa.
    Your overalls on Haydens bear turned out great. The look on his face says he loves it already.
    Fathers day is tough for both Dennis and me. Our dad's are both gone and none of our kids live nearby to visit. Phone calls and facetime are a poor substitute.:-(
    I'm glad you and Dayle had a great day though and the pellet grill sounds like it was well received.
    Blessings my friend,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love what you did with the bear. I think the overhauls make it really cute! Looks like the pergola is being put to good use! :-) I will have to look into a pellet grill. We usually cook over an open fire because we don't like using charcoal grills. To much after taste. I think we might like a pellet grill though. Love the thimble!! I have several but none that are vintage. It seems like everything was made so much better back then, doesn't it?!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi my dear Teresa, how nice that you and Dayle had a great Father's Day. Tell him happy day to him" I miss my dad terrirbly. We have a pellet grill ( the traeger) and my husband lobes it n so do I ....
    Hope you have a wonderful wee...miss you my dear friend :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. Our fathers day is not till sept here and I also think it is wonderful and remember all the lovely things my dad did with me, now gone but forever remembered. I see your grandsons faces in the pic of you and your dad,lovely.
    I have a beautiful silver thimble which belonged to my nana who died when I was
    12 and I am now 56 so a real sentimental thing to me Teresa. Your bear with overalls is fantastic!! Clever lady.
    wendy in oz still away with our van

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Teresa,Family time!!!It's the best!!!!I also think it's wonderful to have these special little celebration days for Daddies and Mommies!!!Why not!!!Overalls!!!My,you are so clever!!!Great save!!!Hope you have a happy week!!!
    Love
    AMarie

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Teresa, sounds like your dad was a wonderful man and now I can see where Caleb gets all his curls from, he looks just like you when you were little. I just knew it wouldn't be long before we saw pictures of the family eating around the table under that gorgeous gazebo....It fits just perfect! Teddy bear look really smashing with his new blue overalls, it's a winner I think!
    Hugs, Shari!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Teresa! Lovely memories of how you came to be! Romance was alive and well! I'm loving the overall creation! What a sweet bear! And Mister Curly! Well, I always get such a kick out of those beautiful curls! Grandpa is so sweet with those boys...their memories will be RICH throughout their lives! My favorite part of this pst is the pic of the new wagon and your farm! Look at the vivid colors and all that moss on the roofs! So pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Teddy looks pretty darn cute in his overalls - well done !! Lovely photo of your Dad and you (I'm assuming this is you) .. I miss my Dad so much - he's now been gone for 18 years. xox

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lovely post today Teresa, Love the story about how your Dad went to your Mom. Love the pictures of your darling grandsons. Happy Father's Day to Dayle. Oops and love the bear in the overalls.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  16. aaah! gorgeous teddy....clever you!
    love the curls and the sailboat thimble is just so cute.
    GORGEOUS FAMILY so jealous.
    Never heard of a pelet grill? But is sounds interesting.
    Hugs x

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hello Teresa, Your teddy is very creative and fantastic. Love it. Your Sailboat thimble is very unique and beautiful.. Your grandsons are sweeties. How old is the grandson holding the teddy??? Your father's day BBQ looked wonderful. Have a lovely week. Hugs Judy

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love the Teddy with the overalls...so sweet! And the story of your parents is so lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  19. You have such a lovely family Teresa.

    ReplyDelete

I absolutely love comments and thank you so much for taking time to leave me a note. :-)