I may have been a pioneer woman in a past life. For some reason I never take running water for granted. Every morning when I get up and turn on the tap to wash my face, some part of me is thinking how wonderous it is to have water at your beck and call. What would you do without it? Just imagine having to go out to a lake or river every day. How many loads of laundry would you get done if the water wasn't connected to your washer? I don't know how the pioneer women got anything done when they had so many things to do just to get started.

No wonder we value their craftwork. Those signs of their existence, their creativity and their resourcefulness live on. Too bad most of those vintage and antique things are so expensive to own. Too much for me to consider buying any. So, instead, I take a page from their pioneering book and make my own.

You can find websites which give instructions or go out to the library/ bookstore and get directions on paper for all the crafts, done as the pioneers did them. Try making your own paper, your own soap, your own quilt, your own floor mats, your own candles. Be prepared for mess and less than pleasant aromas in some cases. Take precautions. Know what makes mess and what could be harmful. Investigate different methods too. Those were resourceful women and not all of their best ideas ever made it onto paper, to be published for future generations.

Have some fun, thinking of your ancestors and see what new ideas you can bring into an old craft.

Good evening, at least that's what it is right now. I'm here tonight to talk about web fever. You may wonder how that is possibly home and garden related and think 'she's really stretching it this time' or 'she's finally lost it' but no, charming reader. I'm very likely to be taking on yet another website. HerGardenWeb http://www.hergardenweb.com/ My own rambunctious, carelessly spelled version of HGTV.

What can you do with a woman who just can't stop taking on websites? I'd try to stop myself but the more I try the more I keep talking myself into doing it.

Anyway, this is your fair warning, keep your dandelions, your fabric scraps and your wood chips close on hand, you might need them. Sooner or later I'll find something for you to do with all those things.

Plus, if any of you have garden sites this would be a good time to email me about link exchanges or other great promotion ideas.

Back to your seedlings and good night,

Me and AOL (the other web monopoly).

A painter has a canvas, a writer has a page, but a crafter has all sorts of mediums to choose from. Will it be fabric, clay, wood or something completely unexpected today?

Isn't it great to make something from whatever you had around the house. Cooking is like that too. Once you get the hang of it and don't use elaborate recipes that require special trips to certain specialty grocery stores. My favourite recipes are those made with leftovers originally. Soup is a prime leftover candidate. I think every flavour of soup in existence started out as someone's leftovers.

Sewing is like that too. Take your leftover fabric and turn it into a scrap quilt. Take your leftover yarn and make a shawl, scarf or granny squares. Being able to make things by hand is the ultimate in recycling and reusing.

Of course gardening lets you reuse kitchen scraps but that's pretty much seasonal in most places. If you leave out your vegetable peels for compost now you'll risk finding skunks and raccoons lurking around the place. Trust me, you don't want to come home after dark and see a skunk's eyes reflecting back from your car headlights. For some reason skunks are not afraid of people, wonder why...?

Enough reminiscing about eau de skunk. What craftiness will you be up to over the winter? Did the winter solstice take you by surprise and you've just realized half the winter is gone? Move to Canada, we still have plenty of snow just over the horizon, plenty of time left to get crafty. I'm still in the planning stages myself.

I like sewing. Whether it's sewing on a button, mending a pair of rippy jeans or working on a completly new project like a denim backpack or holiday crafts. I really enjoy threading that first needle and pulling together fabric. Sewing is such a nice old traditional thing, practical too!

When I was a kid my Mom and I sewed together. Neither of my sisters would really learn. Now, when we are all adults they still need to get my Mom to hem pants and mend rips for them. Not me! Over Christmas I got my first sewing machine. Before now I have done everything by hand. I still haven't done much with the machine but once I'm moved and settled somewhere I am really looking forward to putting that machine into motion.

In particular, I have patterns for quilts, Raggedy Ann dolls, teddy bears and backpacks. Once I get the hang of using the machine I can get back to finding cheap sources of fabric and then start selling some of my work. There are always places to sell sewing crafts. As fewer people learn to sew those of us "in the know" can take advantage of them, in a crafty way.

I haven't sold much of my work. Once I hemmed up pants for a young guy at work and charged him by the pair. That was a nice extra bit of cash for me. I was able to do all the pants in one night, by hand back then. It only cost me my time and the thread.

What do you sew, if you sew? I really like seeing quilts in particular. This summer I will be back in Ontario and in the late summer, shortly before Labour Day you can be sure I will be down at the CNE (The Canadian National Exhibition) looking at the winning quilts.

I like sewing. Whether it's sewing on a button, mending a pair of rippy jeans or working on a completely new project like a denim backpack or holiday crafts. I really enjoy threading that first needle and pulling together fabric. Sewing is such a nice old traditional thing, practical too!

When I was a kid my Mom and I sewed together. Neither of my sisters would really learn. Now, when we are all adults they still need to get my Mom to hem pants and mend rips for them. Not me! Over Christmas I got my first sewing machine. Before now I have done everything by hand. I still haven't done much with the machine but once I'm moved and settled somewhere I am really looking forward to putting that machine into motion.

In particular, I have patterns for quilts, Raggedy Ann dolls, teddy bears and backpacks. Once I get the hang of using the machine I can get back to finding cheap sources of fabric and then start selling some of my work. There are always places to sell sewing crafts. As fewer people learn to sew those of us "in the know" can take advantage of them, in a crafty way.

I haven't sold much of my work. Once I hemmed up pants for a young guy at work and charged him by the pair. That was a nice extra bit of cash for me. I was able to do all the pants in one night, by hand back then. It only cost me my time and the thread.

What do you sew, if you sew? I really like seeing quilts in particular. This summer I will be back in Ontario and in the late summer, shortly before Labour Day you can be sure I will be down at the CNE (The Canadian National Exhibition) looking at the winning quilts.

Happy Crafting!