Throw Back Thursday (The Martha years?)

Bear with me~ I have a little story that goes along with these pictures... ☺

How many of you have read the Little House on the Prairie series of books? They are among my very favorites. My mother gave me a boxed set when I was little, and I *know* I read through the complete set at least 8 or 9 times. I loved those stories! My set of books was passed down to nieces, for their reading pleasure, and I lost touch with them Little House, although I still carried fond memories in my heart. 

Fast forward to the early 1990's as a newly-wed. We were living with the family I nannied for, and had a small "open air" apartment, with a tiny kitchen that was furnished with basic pots and pans. As I learned to cook and experiment more, I thought I really would like a new set of pots and pans (Calphalon non-stick was "the thing" at the time...). 

Christmas rolled around, and there was a large, heavy box under the tree with my name on it. I was just positive that my sweetie had gotten me that set of pots and pans that I wanted. Boy was I surprised when I opened the box and discovered a hardcover set of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series! (awwww... how lovely! and sweet! and romantic!) ❤☺❤

Suffice it to say that I passed on my appreciation for the Little House books to my daughter, and my youngest son (middlest~ is less of a reader, shall we say, unless it has to do with fishing... ☺ )

So, many years after my introduction to Laura's life, we discovered that there were "prequel" sets of books that follow Laura's mother (The Caroline Years), grandmother (The Charlotte Years), and great-grandmother (The Martha Years).

Last night, as my youngest was observing my struggles with the wool roving (it kept breaking before I could get it spun into a strong thread/yearn that would hold, or was going from thin thread to thick slubs with very little consistency), he commented to me "You know, Mom, Martha used her drop spindle to make yarn while she was walking..." ☺.......rolling......☺ (or should that be spinning?)

So, no, I'm not very competent with this old-fashioned skill, and as I told him, I'm working on it... but hopefully my imperfect product will become a picture-perfect backdrop for someone else's artistic endeavors.

Further back story ~ I was already starting another snowflake "backdrop" piece, but was lamenting the absence of a cranberry colored yarn... and then I remembered! I had wool roving up in the attic that might fit the bill perfectly~ that just meant I'd have to locate my drop spindle and remember how to use it! And THEN I saw all the other pretty roving I had, and well... the rest is very recent history. ☺

I love my kids! ❤

Blessings~