Recently I posted a picture of my grandmother on social media because she is one of my biggest inspirations in regard to crafting (and living a long full life!). She certainly is deserving of her own post here.  So without further delay, please let me introduce you to Norma Durkee. Mother of 7, grandmother of 8, adopted mother of several, admired and loved by many beyond blood lines. She’s lived through so much history and still loves her sweets!  She is pictured here enjoying a bite of a cookie and a scoop of ice cream from Cherry Republic, a local treasure in Glen Arbor, Michigan.  She has crafting in her blood and I’m so glad I’ve been able to tap into that heritage within myself. She sews so many neat things (even to this day at 92 years of age) and she has knitting projects near every recliner at her house and the family cottage.  It’s no wonder I never leave home without knitting–it is truly in my DNA!

I have several memories of crafting with her while I was young.  She helped me learn some knitting basics (in combination with a VHS tape and book my mom had around the house).  We recently made a new memory by spending a night together at our family cottage during a strong thunderstorm. She kept knitting calmly in her chair while I worked on a prototype seat cover she commissioned me to make for our dining chairs at the cottage. It was a peaceful night of crafting and communing with mother nature.  At 37 years old, I am so incredibly grateful to have both of my grandmothers alive and doing relatively well and even more blessed to enjoy evenings like this with Grandma Durkee.  I hope to make even more crafty memories with her!