Some Personal History
I've always had the urge to draw, paint, sculpt, knit, crochet, spin, write, and so on ... anything, as long as it was creative, and a good deal of the things I do have been self-taught.

I will say I didn't like school. It was so boring! I excelled in creative writing, though, and in many art classes ... commericial art, sketching, watercolor, oils, ect. While in high school I did a little commercial art for a couple of businesses in Boise, Idaho where I was born and grew up.

I married my husband, David, at the age of 20, and had our first son, Phillip, three years later. When Phillip was two the mayor of the small town where we were living, Stockton, Utah, asked me to paint a mural and help with float designs for the town's bicentennial celebration. The work was underway when my husband found employment in S. Dakota and we had to move. While living there, our second son Jacob, and daughter Sarah, were born. And also, it was then that my original crochet designs were being featured on the covers of national publications, including an annual 'Best of Crochet World'.

Before Sarah had had her first birthday we were on the move again. This time back to Idaho. My husband had changed jobs so we took up residence in Salmon. After that, we again moved ... to Alaska where I began designing, knitting, and selling sweaters and baby sets among other things. I also made many clothes for our own family, as well as quilts, and artwork for our home. David worked in remote gold camps and on off shore oil rigs as a geologist which meant he was away from home much of the time. So, along with creative persuits I gardened, baked all our bread (sourdough), sawed & split wood for winter heat, babysat, officially, and unofficially as our house was always full of young people no matter the circumstances, and our family fished ... boy! lots of that ... and I canned what we caught.

After 14 years in Alaska we moved to my husband's farm in Oregon, and this is where we plan to remain. We have cashmere goats, donkeys, dogs, cats, and laying hens. Our grown sons have married, live next to us as neighbors, and have given us seven grandchildren. Sarah moved to Missouri where she's persuing her college education, majoring in theater. And so it is, that between chores and kids' visits, this grandma runs a scroll saw, crochets, spins cashmere from our goats, knits, and sometimes paints, and does other crafts in hopes people will want to add her work to their collections.

AND Believe it or not ... King Longshanks was my grandfather!!

Thanks to my sisters, Margaret and Carolyn, and their husbands, Mark and Gary, our family now has a huge book of geneology! Years of research paid off in some interesting facts.

Though the turbulence and brutality of his history is somewhat disturbing, we now know that King Edward I Longshanks was our 24th great grandfather on our dad's side!  Considering the upheaval between the English (our grandfather's side) and the Scottish, I can't help but snicker when I think that our grandmother (Mom's side) was from Scotland. And though Dad hadn't a clue as to his lineage before he passed away, he hated bagpipes! He said they sounded like a sack full of cats! Hmmm.... Wonder if Longshanks was of the same opinion. And then I found out that some of my husband's relatives were kicked out of England for plotting to kill the king!! Though we don't know which king ... still ... LOL!! What a mixed up world!

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed your visit at the Handwork House! I am planning to add new works from time to time, so I do hope you'll drop in again. My interests are many so you'll never know what may turn up here. Thank you so much for stopping by!

If you are a do-it-yourselfer or a craft person you might like to visit 'Handwork House for Crafters'. You can order unfinished, handsawn shelf kits, miniature furniture, window/wall art, 'Dollar Doilies' and more.

goatgirly1949@yahoo.com

Handwork House for Crafters