I don’t know what I did today but the day is about gone and I feel like I have accomplished nothing! I did laundry and worked a little on the applique flowers. I am a quarter finished with the applique on the baby quilt so I know I have done a little work these past couple days. I bet a lot of you have the same feeling of having done nothing some days.
It was pretty outside and I wandered around the yard pulling a weed here and there. I did discover that I have 5 tulips buds!! The winter was cold enough after all to have something come from it. I have flowers and plants coming up all over the place. The peonies which were not above the ground just two days ago when I looked are now about 3 inches high. The garden is growing and I have lettuce, beets, and radishes above the ground.
I have not touched the Christmas quilt in days once again and have not touched “Insanity Revisited” (second DJ) in weeks. I am going through a slump! LOL I have been working on a list for the Quilt Show in Paducah next month — what to look for at the vendors 
my little list has been growing as I have been thinking of this and that and know I will save on shipping and handling if I can find it at the vendors instead.
I had some funny e -mails to me about the large family I came from! I know a lot of you are not from huge families and to me it seems so normal having lived it. Someone wanted to know how many years apart between the youngest and the oldest – 17 years – 1 set of twins – I was the 3rd oldest – I was learning how to diaper when I was about 8 and that was with cloth diapers and pins! Laundry day was every day and one washing machine and no dryer – a clothesline was available in the warm months and clothes drying racks in the kitchen and bathroom the rest of the time. Someone wanted to know how many bedrooms and bathrooms – 5 bedrooms 1 bathroom, we lived in an old farmhouse in Wisconsin next to Lake Michigan. My mother didn’t get a clothes dryer until the family moved to Arkansas in 1971 and that is because it rained a lot and with the humidity it is hard to dry clothes outside here a lot of the time.
Of course because of the age difference some of us were out of the house shortly after the youngest ones were born. When I got married at 19 my little sister (the baby) was 6. My oldest sister has a son who is 2 1/2 years younger then that little sister. Our generations very much over lap – my little sister’s youngest child a girl is the same age as my granddaughter (7) they are two weeks apart in age.
So I think that answers most of the question – no I don’t recommend having that many children and none of us came close to replicating it – but my parents were Roman Catholic so maybe that answers the last question – no we were not Mormon – we were Catholic
Now I guess there is still some time this evening to get some sewing out and do something.
{ 11 comments }
I’m from relatively small families. Mama had 3 siblings. Daddy had 2 full siblings and 3 half siblings. Of my 4 grandparents, the families still were that large. A great grandmother however was the oldest of 13…all live births…all lived to be adults although one died of a head injury in his early 20s.
My camelia…in addition to the cold, Sam mentioned the amount of rain we’ve gotten could be a contributing factor. One year during our 7-or so years drought, even with a couple of deep waterings a year, the bush had only 2 or 3 blooms. And it looked sick too. I was afraid I was going to lose it. But look at it now!
I have had days like yours where at night and I’m typing into my journal I can’t think of anything I did all day. I guess those are the “refresh and renew” days.
I can’t imagine having a family that big. My 2 brothers and I were born in 3 years and 8 months (we’re 22 mo. apart) so we all grew up at the same time.
.-= Wanda´s last blog ..More little bits =-.
I am the youngest of three-all 15 months apart. My poor mother! Bless her heart.
The weather today was nice enough for me to work outside for a few hours after getting home from work. I love this time of year. I don’t want to come inside hardly at all.
Your work is beautiful. I love your applique and quilting. I have not done much applique, and so it is not something I do easily, although the most recent work I have accomplished I have enjoyed. Thank you for your inspiration.
~~Lori
.-= Lori´s last blog ..A Little Of This, A Little Of That =-.
It sounds like you weren’t totally idle. It must be because spring is in the air, I did’t get much sewing done the last two days either :0)
Crispy
Karen, we had 9 children in our family and never thought anything about it. Most of the other families in Subiaco, Ar had many children also. It is a Roman Catholic Community. I can remember the old wringer washers and drying clothes on the line many days, even after we had a dryer. There’s nothing like the smell of sheets dried on the clothes line. What great memories. It’s really sad that now if couples decide to have more than 3 or 4 children they are often ridiculed.
There are 12 or 13 years between the youngest and the oldest. Weren’t our mothers tough? Great memories for more, probably for you too.
.-= Vivian´s last blog ..What have I accomplished today? =-.
What amazes me more is the WOMEN who had these large families. I think of how much a couple kids wore me out, and those early years when there were night feedings, and diapers, and gosh imagine that going on for 10 or more years! How did they do it? Where did they get their stamina? How did they keep their sanity and find any personal time?
I know I’m not the woman they were… not even close.
.-= CJ´s last blog ..What’s wrong with this picture? =-.
Ladies I so totally agree with all of you. I don’t know if women were stronger back then or if it was just because life was different then. Country women for sure had such different kinds of lives than city gals. I know some people still have large families although you don’t hear about it so much – I think a lot of that has to do with how much everything cost and with more women working (child care for 2 is more than most can handle).
Karen, I came from a family of 3 but I was a tag-a-long in that I am 14 yrs. younger than my sister and was 18 yrs. younger than my brother! I remember the Catholics in our community having large families-one had 17 children in a very small home. The kids slept upstairs on mattresses on the floor. I think back then you just did what was expected of you-a large family. Now people are busy and don’t want to “make do” like they did back then so they have smaller families that they feel they can “afford”. Also I think that for awhile there was pressure to have smaller families due to the population explosion….
With all the sewing you do, it’s good to take a break to keep it fresh.
.-= Karen´s last blog ..What Are You Reading? =-.
thanks for sharing about your family. i am one of 4 kids but we were all very close together.
Little bits of progress here and there and all of a sudden you’ll have one of those project just about done.
.-= Heather´s last blog ..My Life and other lies: Tales from the writer’s list by Steve Pitt =-.
Such big families amazes me, because I am from a very, very small family. I am only child, and both my parents were only child. That means I don’t have cousins, uncles and aunts. I believe nowadays women want to work outside home, they don’t want to have many children and work at home anymore as women did som years ago.
.-= Astrid´s last blog ..Easter Bag =-.
Oh Karen, I can identify with you as I am the oldest grandchild of my maternal grandmother who had 13 children. I have an uncle who is two years younger than me, and an aunt the is 2 years older. My aunt looks at family photos and remarks that there is the “older” children and then there is another group of the “younger” generation of the same family. I think that there was two deaths in between the “generations” women sure had to be of strong fiber to survive then.
.-= nanci´s last blog ..MY FIRST QUILT SHOW! =-.
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