Dear Reader:

Maybe that southern statement (above) explains why only the “crazies” braved the thunderstorms, the poking umbrellas, the long lines, and thick crowds to drink some sweet tea Wednesday. So call me crazy…but we did have an awful lot of fun squeezed in between raindrops.

After getting our historic mugs (for witnessing our little town of Summerville ‘get on the map’ for the largest tea container of sweet tea in the world) Mollie and I started pushing the strollers (one for each of us) around looking for the t-shirt sales. We didn’t find it but we found a lovely vendor under a tent (which made it very popular) blocking out the rain temporarily.

We ended up each selecting one kitchen towel with the cutest southern expressions on it…like:

I am sure I heard (growing up & used it myself as a mother) at least 90% of these sayings. Tommy reminded me, after reading the blog story on the tree house the other day, that I was always screaming out the back door: “Y’all quit it and get down outta there…you’re gonna fall and break your fool neck!”  (Actually it turned out to be a broken arm … instead of Walsh’s neck!) Thank goodness…or I wouldn’t have my adorable Rutledge and Lachlan or my precious daughter-in-law Mollie…Oh, and obviously, of course,Walsh!

Speaking of Mollie…for a northern Yankee (hailing from New Hampshire) she is more southern than all the rest of us put together.  She always keeps a wonderful sense of humor about being a Yankee transplant. Case in point…this is the kitchen towel she selected:

“Mom says they act that way because they’re not southern-Bless their hearts.”♥

I told Mollie if Rutledge or Lachlan ever have a “melt-down” with me in public, like at the Piggly Wiggly, I will simply address the gathering crowd by shaking my head in “sorrow” and whispering loudly “I’m so sorry for these little ones’ behavior….but y’all  know….(whisper) they’re only half-southern.…(another whisper)…it’s my daughter-in-law’s side of the family, of course, where the “problem” (pointing north) lies!

All will be understood with a tsking sound and a sympathetic nod. I can use this to my advantage.

* And Marcia, two can play that game…Please feel free to use the same tactic for the same situation….You just whisper (loudly) to everyone that you apologize for your grandsons’ behavior but…“You all should know that they are only half-northern…the problem lies with my southern son-in-law’s side of the family, of course.” 

I feel sure you will receive the same amount of empathy. No need for us to worry about that anyway… this was just a hypothetical example…since none of our grandchildren misbehave…they are all perfect angels…that’s my story and I will always ‘stick to it.’ (They also are perfect “posers” …all smiles aimed directly at the camera!)

This last “real, true” story I actually came across was discovered on a knitting website (Knitting Sequence)… a place where a knitter could email questions concerning problems arising from different knitting projects.

I laughed so hard at one woman’s question and the subsequent response from the two website ladies who called themselves:”Ask the Problem Ladies.” 

Question: Getting the Stank Out

Dear Problem Ladies:

I have a problem. A friend just adopted a baby boy, and I knit him a blanket. I washed it with a wool soap, and I noticed that my hands smelled a bit sheepish as I was squeezing out the excess water. The blocking worked . . . but the blanket still smells like sheep.

In fact, the whole room in which the blanket is lying smells like a barn. A nice barn, but a barn. Actually, it probably smells like alpaca since that’s the fiber, but I’ve never been close enough to an actual alpaca to differentiate it from a sheep.

Anyhow. I hate to embark on the process again as I’m not fond of blocking, but I will if it will get the smell out. Plan B: Taking it to Dillard’s and spraying it with each and every free sample scent out there. What would you two do?

Sara

Response: Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne  (Excerpt)

…”It sounds like you don’t want this baby to feel like he’s living in a barn. (Though there are some super-famous stories about babies who started out in mangers, so it might not be all that bad, actually.)

We suggest trying another wash. It’ll take a while, but it’s for a baby for Pete’s sake! Get busy! With a blanket that’s headed for a baby, you need to keep things sweet and gentle.

Use Dawn dishwashing liquid—the original blue one—making sure it doesn’t contain the enzymes that tend to weaken protein fibers. Using room-temperature water, let the blanket sit a good half hour or more. Rinse it with the same temperature water, without agitation, and let it dry.

Then do a soak in a white vinegar bath—a couple of tablespoons of vinegar into a sink full of room-temperature water, followed by an agitation-free rinse. Many knitters swear by the redemptive power of a little vinegar to erase smells and to restore sheen to silk yarns.

* We will point out that if you use a flavored vinegar, you’re going to end up with a baby blanket that smells like a salad. Of course, a tarragon-scented baby blanket might be an upgrade. Hope these ideas help!

…………………….

I am undecided as to the location of the women involved in the before-mentioned story….But then after all…if it had been a southern knitting problem…”Sara” would have been named Sara Lou and she would have said “I don’t want people sniffing the baby and then asking the family “Were Y’all raised in a barn?”

So until tomorrow…laugh out loud at least three times a day and then grow silent so you can hear God laugh back!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* If today I heard “Yer face is gonna freeze like that“…I would be eternally grateful- I’d take frozen over more wrinkles!