What's for Supper? Crow!!

I debated about whether to post this. I would not offend our friends for the world. This is such a funny story, that I just had to share it. I don't think our friends even have internet access at their house, or know I have a blog.

It had already been a weird day. I had only been home from the boys' violin lessons a short time. Our whole day was already "off". Several of the ten of us did not eat "lunch" until 4:30 or 5:00 PM. We usually have supper (the evening meal) around 6 or so.

My Susanna wanted to cut and start piecing a table runner to sell to earn a few extra dollars. She only wanted to work on it with me present. You know how little I've sewn in the past few months. We were down in the basement sewing room together. I had just sent a messenger around to tell the children we'd be having must-go for supper. You know, you look in the frig and say "this must-go" and "that must-go". Then I had a little messenger of my own and realized what I'd be having--CROW!One of my sons yelled down the steps, "The _____s are here! They just pulled in the driveway!" In the next fraction of a second, I vaguely recall my WH telling me this past Sunday that this couple was coming over for supper...TONIGHT! Very vaguely. Like I could fit it into my memory, but barely remember the actual occurrence. My next concrete thought was "What will I serve them for supper?" My third was "Where can I hide for the next several hours?" Milliseconds later, Mr. ______ walks into my sewing room, eliciting an "Oh, hi!" from me.

While the little ones ran interference by visiting with the company in the living room, Emily and I quickly whipped up what I thought was a decent meal--Chicken Tetrazzini (we had planned to let everyone heat up individual servings as must-go, but instead heated up the whole thing and transferred it to a clean serving dish), green beans, freshly made whole wheat bread that Emily happened to make late this afternoon (we grind the flour ourselves), tossed salad with cucumbers and broccoli, and th-th-th-that's all, folks! As we are sitting down, Mr. ______ says, "We'll just have water. I forgot to tell my wife we were coming, and we ate before we came!" I didn't want to add to his embarrassment, so we all just sat down as if we hadn't eaten half an hour before. We were all smiling very large smiles. I think they thought we were just really cheerful (and not very hungry, as we all took miniscule portions).

A funny but true story!

~Joan

Flags Aflutter, Again

Above is one of my Flags Aflutter little quilt tops. This would be darling on a wall or table. The pattern was intended for place mats. I have two up for auction on eBay separately right now. I actually sewed them myself yesterday. I had already affixed the Battenburg doilies to the red triangle units. Sewing didn't take long, and that is a good thing as I had very little. On the pattern, they used white buttons to make a star shape in the blue Union area of the flag.

This past weekend we hosted a family of 11 for a few days. Let that sink in for a moment. We have TEN in our family at home. We do not live in a mansion. I only met the family once 13 months ago for about 10 minutes in person. I never had personal contact with them before that.

The only time we talked on the phone (the mother and I) was when they were on their way here from Wisconsin (as in, too late to change my mind!). We live in North Carolina. By now some, if not most, of you are wondering "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?? We knew they were a family of very similar values and practices. We share the same faith and ideas. That much we knew.

We hated to see them go when they left Sunday afternoon.

We were kindred spirits with them at once. My WH (he's one step up from a DH) and the father have been emailing occasionally during the past year (only a handful of times) about church-related matters. The mom and I were instant Anne-and-Dianna-type (from Anne of Green Gables) kindred spirits. The fellowship our families would share was evident from the second they pulled into the driveway. All of their children (age 20 down to 5) were so well behaved and HELPFUL. It was not a hardship at all to have them here. The good news is that they are moving to our area (happy dance!).

There were numerous times when I would make a comment and one of their children would say, "My mother says the EXACT same thing!" Even they were shocked at how much alike we are.

The older children brought their instruments. One evening we played our little 2-family orchestra of 3 trumpets, 2 violins, 1 viola, 2 flutes, 1 recorder, 1 cello, 1 lap harp and piano. We enjoyed singing to the Lord and reading His Word together in the evenings.

Meals were so enjoyable. I had planned the menu out ahead of time naturally. All the older children (teens and up) helped clear the table, wipe it, sweep the floor, load the dishwasher, wash the too-large pans by hand, etc. after each meal. It was a breeze.

Their older sons and mine fixed a few items that have been on the to-do list for far too long. That in itself was an incredible blessing.

We also had several volleyball games involving young and old (that would be me), short and tall, and those of all skill levels.

I am looking forward to a long and deep friendship with these folks, face-to-face!! I have a picture of our 17 children together. I was going to post it, but I want to preserve the anonymity of the other family. Let me just say that the picture is a wonder to behold!

~Joan