Happy Independence Day

Embroidered earrings with stainless steel wires $10

Repurposed Jean jackets with patriotic embroidery $38

I will have the trailer setup in Burton park in Buhl tomorrow July 1st. It sounds like a fun day coming up! 

 

2023 Schedule

 I will have the trailer at the following events 

June 10 & 11 Bigfork Wilderness Days

June 14 Little Blessings Cook 11-5

June 17 Bear River Farm Fresh Market 9-12

June 21 Little Blessings Cook 11-5

June 28 Little Blessings Cook 11-5

July 1 Burton Park Buhl Celebration 2pm

July 3 Orr Celebration old Legion 9-3

July 22 Hoyt Lakes Arena, Hoyt Lakes Water Carnival 9am

August 5 Bear River Farm Fresh Market 9-12

August 12 & 13 Koochiching County Fair Northome

August 19 Resurrectors Reunion Big Falls

August 24-26 Bass Pro I’Falls

September 16 Bear River Farm Fresh Market 9-12

October 7 Bear River Farm Fresh Market 9-12

November 4 Iron Trail Event Center indoor 9-4

November 11 Up North Shop Cook indoor 9-3

November 17 & 18 St Mary’s Cook

November 24 & 25 Bear River Bazaar

December 2 Weihnatchfest Biwabik 

Mitten Season

 Mitten season is here! My favorite season and not so favorite season. Every year I tell myself to sew some every week, so I have an abundance

 

come fall. But there is always something else I need to do, like gardening and canning. Then mitten season hits and I’m sewing all day every day! But I enjoy making them, especially the school mittens in the school colors and all the fun fleece prints that I find. 

By the time I’m done in Dec, I will be seven Saturdays in a row at an event. I think January I will hibernate and clean the sewing room, it’s gonna need it! 

AUGUST 2022

The month of August is keeping me busy!  I will be setup next weekend at the Koochiching County Fair in Northome.August 13&14.  It’s a fun little fair. More old style, no midway and carnival booths. Just good old fashion family fun. There are food booths, vendors, games for kids, exhibits and more. 

August 18, 3-7, I will be celebrating Side Lake! Cook’s Country Connection will have a petting zoo, kids games and crafts, vendors and food trucks. Lots happening close to home. 

August 20, 11-3, will find me in Bigfalls at the Rat Rod Reunion. I love to see all the fun old cars! And of course sample the food trucks! 

August 25-27, International Falls Bass Pro tournament is always a good time! 

August 31 is the last Wednesday of August and I will be setup in Cook at Little Blessings Gift Shop. 

I get a short break, then fall shows start! I love what I do! 

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

 The first day of my Christmas in July sale was June 29. I will be at Cook Farmers Market every Saturday the month of July and Nett Lake Market July 8 and 22, and Little Blessings gift shop on the 27th.  I will be adding new ornaments every week, plus a new featured ornament. If you aren’t able to catch me on these dates, you can text, or call, or message on Facebook. I can send pictures of what ornaments are currently available. I’m also willing to meet on days I am going to town.

BIGFORK WILDERNESS DAYS

 

I finally got the front of the trailer and the shelves painted. I love it! I can’t wait until I get all the walls painted white, with the black grid wall. Hopefully that happens next week. I really don’t like to paint!!

 I’m  setup in Bigfork at my first festival of the summer. Today June 10th until 6pm. Saturday June 11, 9-6. I am setup on Main Street across from the Cenex. It feels good to be back out, I love visiting with the people who stop by trailer!  There are 29 plus vendors, most are setup today. Some will setup tonight and be open tomorrow. It’s a beautiful day for a drive, and Bigfork is a fun, friendly town! 

Fly High Mom

God promises there is an eternal place for us when it’s our time to leave this world. I held onto that HOPE as Mom lived her final days here on earth.

 Mom gained her angel wings yesterday morning around 11. She was 98 years and 58 days. She lived a very full and blessed life. I am so thankful for the time we had together, now she can be at peace and no pain or suffering.                                                     

 Mom taught me to sew before I started school, and who would have thought it would become my greatest passion. I would make potholders, then I went to pillowcases. By the time I was in junior high, I was sewing clothing. Mom was a beautiful seamstress, she sewed dresses, shirts, jackets and suits. She was very particular how the fabric should be cut and how perfect your seams should be. She taught me to blind hem by hand. When I was younger, I envied her small tight stitches. With plenty of practice, I mastered her technique, that's when I finally felt I had passed the test! Over the years I have appreciated her talent being passed to me. I can loose myself in the sewing room, I think that's where I will be the next few weeks. It is my happy place and where the stress of life stays away.   

  As a kid growing up, I didn’t appreciate what my parents went through to give us a stable life and firm foundation to build on. Our life wasn’t always warm and fuzzy, some days it was downright tough! We were expected to pull our share of the weight. As kids we learned to cook, clean, plant and tend the garden, drive tractors, throw hay bales, feed the animals and everything else that went with being a farm kid! But when I look back, we had a great life! What I didn't appreciate then was what my parents gave up and did without to provide for us. Growing up during the Great Depression and WW2 taught them, that material things weren’t what was important, family is important. They instilled in us a very strong work ethic and to always be honest and trustworthy. They shared in the raising of the nine of us. Dad ran the farm, cooked, washed dishes and changed diapers when needed. Mom took care of the house, but could drive a tractor and milk cows if she was needed outside. Theirs was a true partnership! They were married 54 years when Dad passed in 2001. But Mom continued to celebrate their anniversary, May 25,1946.  Last year when it would have been their 75th, I went to visit her. She said “I had a good life with your Dad and sometimes I don’t think I told him that enough”. But I’m sure he knew. Now they are together again, which makes my heart happy!

 Be thankful and appreciate the people in your life while they are here. Tell them you love them, take the time to visit them. Life is not always easy, happy or perfect; you can cry about and be mad/sad or you can be thankful for what and who you have in your life. 

Creating Again

 I’m finally back in the sewing room daily! What a balm for my soul.

 I am thankful I had the time to be with John through surgery and six weeks of chemo and radiation treatments. Now it feels great to be working at getting our life back on track. John is tired most of the time and takes a daily nap. He has started walking on the treadmill every day, he only gets 10 minutes at 3.5, but it’s a start! It’s going to take some time to build his stamina back up. But anyone that knows him, knows he is one determined man! He will come back strong! 

Sitting in a motel for six weeks got pretty boring and some days depressing! To alleviate some of that I haunted the embroidery and sewing sites that I follow. Oh did I find some fun patterns and designs! And the best part is they are instant download, all my purchases fit in my laptop, no bags to carry😁

These little fleece hats are just some of  the designs I purchased. They are 19-20” and sell for $18 cash

I will have these at the archery meet at Mesabi East on March 12 and IRA Civic Center in Grand Rapids on April 2

. Or you can email me at ragbagoriginals@gmail.com or call text 218-290-7266

HOPE

 My word for 2022 is Hope. 

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

My word for 2021 was thankful, as the year went on, I found something every day to be thankful for, even during John’s cancer diagnosis. This year I chose hope, because God promises he has a plan for us, hope for our future. We have faith that God will see us through this cancer and we will come out the other side stronger than ever! Our hope is to stay strong and trust Him to continue to carry us. Better things are yet to come, that’s our HOPE for 2022!

SO THANKFUL

 As we are ending 2021, we have so much to be thankful for! It’s been quite a year! 

John had surgery at Mayo on December 7. They robotically removed a tumor from his throat and some from the base of his tongue. And a clump of 34 lymph nodes in his neck. Of these only one was cancerous. The surgery was 8 hours, longest 8 hours of my life! The amazing thing was, I was calm all day! Prayer has been my constant since this all started. God is good, I ask daily for him to take my worries and get me through what I am dealing with on that day. This cancer diagnosis was not something we thought we would ever have to deal with, but I am thankful for our never ending faith and the belief that God is always in control. We don’t know the reason John got, not one, but two cancers! But we do know God will get us through this! 

John was in the hospital for 3 days, with a feeding tube. The tube was removed before he left the hospital, and he was on a liquid diet, with a very sore throat and a tongue that didn’t move quite right. His diet was a lot of protein drinks, scrambled eggs, puréed fruit. He lost 20 pounds in 3 weeks. He doesn’t recommend this diet plan!! We stayed with our son and family, for 2 nights, they live an hour and half from Rochester. On Saturday we decided he was doing well enough to come home. Being in our own home was easier, and allowed me to sew while he rested. Sewing is my happy place! He had a drain tube in his neck, that was removed December 20. He was so happy to get that out! 

We went back to Mayo on December 20 for a follow up. At that visit he was told, he would get 6 weeks of daily radiation in his neck and a once a week chemo treatment for 6 weeks. We were hoping not to have to go that route. But because he has CLL, they want to aggressively treat the squamous cell, so it doesn’t come back. What do we have to be thankful for? I am thankful they got all the tumors, I am thankful for a team that specializes in treating these cancers. I am thankful for all our friends and family that continue to reach out to us and pray for us.

The last two days have been a struggle for me. John is my rock, he’s the one who goes out to work, fixes whatever needs fixing, my sounding board, my teddy bear when I need a hug or two, my everything!  Throughout all this it hit me hard how much I love this man! 

As I say goodbye to 2021 and hello to 2022, I am so thankful for the life I have and the people in it. And I look forward to many more years with John!