Take Away Crochet

Vintage Silk Crochet Thread

This weekend there was an estate sale in Eagle Rock. My friend, Brit and I checked it out on Saturday afternoon. This house was chock full o' stuff! The couple that lived there bought and KEPT everything! I saw lots of throw-away items in the garage, like old Avon and Sears catalogs, sales receipts from Thrifty's, mailed flyers from local stores, mini-cookbooks, etc. The major collection in the garage was of Jim Beam character ceramic whiskey decanters...there were hundreds of them in mint condition.

It seems that the lady of the house was quite a lace crocheter. There were boxes of DMC size 8 crochet thread...cotton and silk. I picked out some with my friend Regina in mind. She makes the most amazing items with teensy crochet hooks and thread. However, I might just try this mini-crocheting myself...it may be time for a change from bulky and worsted weight yarn. I found two beautifully crocheted aprons and picked them up. They make nice gifts for my vintage-obsessed friends. There were lots of crocheted potholders and dishcloths....the kind that look like little dresses and pants...there was even an apron/dress for the dishwashing liquid!

After scouring the contents of the house, Brit introduced me to Auntie Em's on Eagle Rock Blvd. for lunch....yummy salads, sandwiches and cupcakes!

On a another note, I was saddened to hear of the death of Buck Owens at the age of 76. I'm a big fan of the Bakersfield C&W sound and Buck was the godfather of this music.
Buck Owens and his Buckaroos was a big part of my teen years. When everyone was listening to hard rock bands like Cream, Vanilla Fudge, Hendrix, etc., I was tuning in "Cal's Corral" on Channel 13 to see the 1/2 hour shows from country greats like: Buck, Ernest Tubb, Kitty Wells, Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, Bill Anderson, etc. The shows that Buck recorded BEFORE the "Hee Haw" years were musical gems. I was so glad to see tapes of the shows again when we visited the Crystal Palace last November. Yup....I'm glad that we saw Buck in his element. I had seen Buck perform at the Palomino in the late 80's when Dwight Yoakam brought him out of retirement, and he was riff-tastic!

Buck and the Buckaroos in the 1960's

The L.A. Times obit on Sunday was good and described his last night....Saturday at the Club. He had a nice chicken-fried steak (a problem, right there), and then told his band that he probably wouldn't perform that night 'cause he didn't feel too well. He was walking out to his car to drive home when some fans stopped him in the parking lot and said that they'd driven from Oregon to see him. He didn't want to disappoint the tourists, so he went back inside and performed a short set with the band. He drove home, went to bed and died. The paper said that he probably died of heart failure (chicken-fried steak) at about 4am. At least he died doing what he liked best. We'll miss you, and the town of Bakersfield will miss you, Buck.