"Antiques"

Yum, yum. Look at these pans of Cherry Crisp. Today is Women's Fellowship at my church and I will be co-hosting. Our dessert is this yummy looking Cherry Crisp with ice cream. And these beautiful flowers will be decorating the tables. They were featured at the local grocery store and I took advantage of the sale.

The theme of the program today is "Antiques Roadshow". We are doing a different twist on it, bringing some of our treasures and the stories behind them. My brother-in-law will be there as the "expert" (he has been collecting antiques since he was a child), but the focus of the program is on the stories.

Most of my treasures came from family. My mom and dad had collections of Wallace Nutting pictures and red souvenir glass. The little white pitcher is from the set of Haviland china I inherited from my mother's side of the family - an original set created for my great-grandmother's wedding present. The little pitcher hiding behind the red glass was received from my brother-in-law's mother's estate, the tiny pitcher in front was a souvenir that my dad brought back from England during WWII. Finally, the little child-reading figurine in front is a piece I picked up in a boutique shop. It probably is not old, but it spoke to me and now lives on my book shelf.

I'm looking forward to an enjoyable afternoon.

Knitting 101

Since I was able to finish all the projects in my home (haha), I decided to start knitting a sweater. Oh how I love retirement. Even though I have a Quilt Studio full of unfinished quilts and a massive inventory of fabric, even though I have hundreds of counted cross-stitch projects waiting to be done, even though I have a whole card-making station virtually unused most of the time, still, in my guilt-free zone of retirement, I have no qualms about starting to knit a sweater! After attending an 80th birthday party for a friend, I walked across the street from the restaurant to check out a little knit shop. Before I knew it I had purchased good wool yarn, a pattern and some Addi Turbo needles. This little shop is service oriented and had me sit down at the center table and knit my gauge swatch. From that swatch they determined which part of the instructions I should follow. I went home well prepared and ready to get going. The shop is also close enough that I can run over there if I run into problems figuring out the sleeve opening or collar. The pattern gives you a choice of mock turtle, full turtle, crew, or V neck. I think I will do the mock turtle.



My family may be taking bets on whether I will finish this project or not. I know I won't get it done in time to wear this winter, but I'm hoping to have it done by next Fall. I'm motivated right now. Will I stay motivated?

Writing prompt.......

There is a writing prompt given in the journal software that I sometimes use. I have been on a journaling/writing kick lately doing Julia Cameron's Morning Pages each day, keeping a food journal per Julia Cameron's new book, The Writing Diet, doing a daily Lenten Meditation journal, and yesterday I started a knitting journal to keep track of a sweater I am making. Today I thought I would write a short piece based on the writing prompt and post it on my blog. Here it is.......

"Tracing the outline of her face from a photograph..."

Tracing the outline of her face from a photograph I realized how sharp her nose appeared. Funny that I had never noticed that before. I thought I knew her face so well. But did I ever really look at her face before? Did I memorize her features? Her eyes always captured my attention, as they were so blue - a light blue, an almost transparent blue. I envied those eyes. Those eyes always seemed to command attention and long looks. No one ever turned away from Carolyn Ann because they were bored. She captured your attention with her eyes and then held it with her ability to listen. She seemed to listen with her whole body - first the eyes, then the tilted head, then the body leaning forward. People poured out their stories at the easy prompts from Carolyn Ann's mouth.
I started to cry again, salty tears running down my face. Carolyn Ann was dead. Her death was a shock, a senseless accident, a slippery road and a careless teenage driver. He was dead too. So senseless and horrible and sad. Two good lives suddenly gone from this earth, leaving grieving families and friends.
The picture of Carolyn Ann was in my photo album. It was a picture taken while we were sitting around a table at Linda's wedding reception just a year ago. Carolyn Ann was dressed in her new blue silk dress with the belted waist. How I envied her that day. She looked so beautiful and so self-assured. She was comfortable in her own skin. Perhaps that is why she was so good at focusing on other people. Aha, there is a lesson in that thought. But then, that was Carolyn Ann, her very life was a lesson to be learned and it came through even in a picture.
Thank you Carolyn Ann - for your brief life and for your example. I will miss you.

Writing can be fun when I am in the mood..............

Snow

The month of January has been filled with computer problems and devasting viruses, but at last I have my computer back and am able to post to my blogs.
Last Wednesday we had a big snow storm - around 10-12 inches of snow. The big malls around here (Randhurst and Woodfield) closed, the libraries closed, and our church cancelled it's Ash Wednesday Worship Service.

My front porch bench didn't look so welcoming covered in snow, but if you look carefully below, some critter paid a visit.

It is bitter cold now. We are definitely having an old fashioned winter, the kind that makes us heartier. I love the look of snow covering the world and I really don't mind the cold as long as I am properly dressed. I even enjoy shoveling the driveway, but my doctor would not approve so I welcome the folks who clear snow for a reasonable fee. When the weather is wintry I make soup. Hmmmm - that sounds good. I think I will go make some now.

Computer

My computer is at the repair shop getting a nasty virus removed. Fortunately the library has free computer service and I can post this message.

Being without a computer is like being without electricty, without a car, and without water. I have no contact with the world! Poor me.

Still a mess

This is a terrible, fuzzy picture - but, you can see that my office has become even messier than my last post. I continue to have computer problems, but at this moment (and I'm holding my breath) I am able to get on the Internet and post to my blogs.

Even Hal, the metal flamingo, has fallen over in shock at my cluttered office. Company is coming Monday night so I have two days to get this place ship shape. Wish me luck.

Electronic Mess

Believe it or not, I am an organized person who keeps a neat, clean home. This is a picture of the state of my office for the last few days. I'm old enough to remember when I had a little manual typewriter in a cute little black case that I proudly took to college. Now I have a desktop computer and a new laptop computer, two printers, a router, a label maker, a camera docking station, a Palm Pilot docking station, a USB hub, not to mention mouse, keyboard and monitor, all of which need to be plugged in. Oops, mustn't forget the lamps and shredder that also need to be plugged in - plus the cable modem, the TV and the telephone.

And since I am switching to using the laptop as my main computer, I need to eventually remove the desktop but keep the keyboard and monitor because they will be plugged into the Notebook QuickDock.

I love using the Internet and E-mail, but there are times when I get nostalgic for the little manual typewriter - and having only one thing plugged into each outlet in my home.