Memories

I grew up on the farm in Friesland with Friesian cows and horses. That was in the days before these black horses where popular all over the world. All his farming life my dad had some Friesian horses around. Although we milked a lot of cows for those days and had an up to date milking machine, we never had a tractor till after I moved to Canada in 1970. My dad did not like anything with a motor, but could tell you the pedigrees of all the cows and horses for generations.Our horses, all registred, did the work,Besides that we drove and rode them. I can still remember when the inspector of the Association would be in the area. Dad would take one or two horses by the halter and on his bike he would go to the next town. We would follow on horse back if necessary. Right there, in the middle of town on the cobbelstones the horses would be judged. If they were good enough the branding iron would come out and the appropriate symbol would be burned in the neck. Over the last 25 years there have been Friesian horses in North America. Inspectors would come over and judge the horses here for entry in the books. My brother let me know, that this would happen near Woodstock near the end of August. So last Saturday, with the combining over and some free time I convinced Laurence to come with me to see the judging. It was just like the olden times with the black horses, shown by people dressed in white. The weather was not co-operating and at first the judging was done outside in the rain, but later it was changed to the inside arena. It was just like I was home again, except this time I was only watching. This made me wish I could still be riding, but that has not happened for a very long time. After a few hours Laurence really, really, really had his fill, so back to home it was, where I had so Skype with my brother in Friesland, who had been to a similar, but much larger show near his place. Back to quilts now. I finished the sashiko sampler and it turned out not too bad. The final size is 43 by 43 inches. Fabric used is Essex (linen/cotton mix) by Kaufman Threads used: overdyed cotton threads by Sassalyne. Appliqued circles come from a piece of silk fabric bought from John Marshall Crest designs: Japanese Design Motives 4200 Illustrations of Japanese Crests ( Dover book) Setting idea: Japanese Quilt Blocks by Susan Briscoe