BEFORES AND AFTERS

I just love taking something old and giving it a new life. Just like the new patches on my old jeans (my last blog).
Ben emailed last week and said he'd like me to make him a tablecloth. My soon to be 27-year old (he's a summer solstice baby) has had a home in Gustavus, Alaska since he was 15 (a father/son cabin project) and he is slowly and surely taking more domestic interest these days. He bought a table..."mom, can you send me a tablecloth?".
So I go through my linen drawer (I almost called it my stash!) and found two old tablecloths that we used when our family lived in Fairbanks, Alaska. I think he'll remember them.

I added cerulean blue to the yellow and white check. The blue and green blend so beautifully together. To the "sherbety" one I mixed and added a green dye, as I was hoping to "brown" it up. I should have used more dye; I would have liked deeper tones. Up close it looks as though it has been through many nights of spilled wine...without washings in between.
I love looking at the before and after in photos. What a lovely difference. What do you think?
Do you see that sweet dog Spike in the corner? She now is almost 13 now and stone deaf. We think the vision is going too. Life is getting slower and more difficult for her, just like for the rest of us.
Our family is not "gifty" at all. But this year I am assembling a box to send to Ben. In it will be his 2 new tablecloths and also the only toy of his that I saved. He had a fine collection of little military "micro machines". They are in a small plastic carrying case, probably a few hundred of them, and taped inside is the inventory he so carefully calculated... Freedom Forces-57, Infantry-42, etc. etc. It was another reminder of how our young men have been brainwashed at such a young age about military might. He also had an aircraft carrier with a hinged lid (holding all the micro-machines) that his dad gave him for Christmas when he was about 5.