Making it Monday...

For my Sky Scarf progress this month, I thought I'd put something in the photo to give some perspective...so that's a yard stick there on the left (1 yard = 0.9144 meters).  To date the scarf measures 28 inches (71 cm).  That will put it at 7 feet at the end of the year...plenty of length to loop and wrap...because in the long cold south Texas winters we really have to bundle up don't you know.  :)

Friday's fun and fashion...

Mom and Dad got a rare night out alone on Friday and went to a concert.  The boys were away for the weekend, so the girls came to Grandma's.

We have THE best driveway for riding toys...a big, smooth concrete surface with a circle makes for a good race track.  These toys are marketed as Plasmacars, but the girls call them their airplanes. 

I love this picture of Chloe...you can tell how much she enjoys hers.  Though the feet are supposed to rest on the front of the car, with all forward motion initiated and maintained just by swiveling the handles, Chloe can never resist using her feet to get the racing edge.

Caitlyn usually enjoys the ride just as it is intended.

And the Plasmacars have a pretty high weight limit (even big kids can ride) so doubling up is okay too.

As dark came on, and we were putting the 'airplanes' back in the garage, the girls noticed a big plastic bin of dress up clothes that had recently been passed on to me but had yet to be carried into the house.  So of course nothing would do but we take them in right away and have a fashion show.

Chloe carries off hats well, I think.

Caitlyn tripped the light fantastic...thank goodness she never tripped over that hem.

And dressing up is just as fun in the morning...along with cinnamon toast and letter writing to great-grandmother.  All in all a pretty typical weekend...and thankful I am indeed.

Polly's paintings...

One of the things that made last weekend's road trip so much fun was stopping on the way home to visit one of my favorite artists, Polly Jones, and pick up two paintings that she's been working on for me.

I can't remember how I first found Polly, maybe through her Etsy shop, but from the first time I saw her amazing paintings I've become a huge fan.  I have purchased several small paintings--marbles, jars with flowers, a tea cup with a pear--and I began to wish that I could have her paint one just for me of my favorite heirloom pitcher.

So after corresponding via email, and arranging a meeting to hand off the pitcher when she was in my area, she began sketching and painting and sharing the progress on her blog.  And when she finished the large painting that we originally had planned, I asked her if she would do another smaller one too.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process, and I absolutely love the results!  The photo of us above shows us holding the two finished paintings in her studio.

I'm a lucky person indeed to enjoy her work around my home.  She's a lovely blog friend, and I am blessed to know her now in real life too.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

The Buddha in the Atttic by Julie Otsuka.

So happy that I've finally figured out how to borrow library books for my Kindle.  This one first came to my attention when I heard the author interviewed on the radio.  It's about Japanese 'picture brides' who came as a group to America to marry the men who sent for them.  It follows the difficulties of their lives in a new country, and their move to internment camps in World War II.

A change of scenery...

We just got home from a spur-of-the-minute road trip.  Eleven hundred miles in three days!  But it was FUN!

Back to work tomorrow.  :)

Sweet blessings...

We went out to celebrate our mutual April anniversaries with our favorite couple friends this evening.   We had such a good time with them, as we always do, and when we got home I found the following poem in my email inbox.  It is by the female half of the duo, who has a gift with word and song.  Thank you, V...you know I feel the same.


Tonight I Shared Supper With A Dear Friend Of Mine

Tonight,  I shared supper with a dear friend of mine.
And I thank God that this was not the first, nor, the last time.

We shared a laugh and a joke or two,

About each other and the things we have done or plan to do.
We shared food and laughter and joked about our age,
Yes we’re getting older and another year has turned a page.

A year filled with laughter and also some tears,

Our spouses  were also there, for this was a very special meal.
Each year we meet to share our anniversary dinner
and I hope we always will.

I thank God that He gave me a friend and a sister too,

Because my life has been more complete
 since the day I met you.

So my friend until we meet again,

I hope your days are filled with happiness and health.
And if it be God’s will, maybe even a little wealth.
Not only for you but for me too.
Oh, and don’t forget that I love you.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich.  I picked this one up at Costco...along with two others. 

The shelf space that was cleared when I moved my 2012 Reading Challenge choices to my bedside table has been refilled with new books...and then some.

Celebrating...

Today is our 36th wedding anniversary.  THIRTY-SIXth!  And they said it wouldn't last.  :)

We went this evening to see Bobby in his school play...such cute kids...and I don't often say that about middle schoolers.  Then we went for a late dinner and had the restaurant all to ourselves. 

And I pretty much drove Carey crazy singing the Happy Anniversary song all evening.  Don't know it?  It's easy, you just sing 'happy anniversary' over and over to the tune of The William Tell Overture.  :)  See why it drove him crazy?  At one point he asked if it didn't have a second verse...so I said sure and proceeded to sing it in a crazy accent.  Can I help it if he married a big dork?

Attention au chat...

I found this over at Elizabeth's earlier.  I have watched it at least a half dozen times, and I can't help it...I keep clicking replay.  It's best when enlarged to full screen...oh, and you have to have the volume on...the melancholy piano makes it.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

As soon as I crawl into bed tonight, I will be starting Game of Secrets by Dawn Tripp.  Secrets surrounding a fifty-year old murder come up in weekly games of Scrabble between two old friends.

I managed to finish last week's selection on the way home from work today thanks to my Kindle's text-to-speech capability.  My opionion of it is here.

Making it Monday...

I was requested to make a masculine get-well card to take to work tomorrow for the staff to send someone who used to work in our office.  It looks a little off kilter in the photo, but I think it's because the way I had it standing it was curving a little with the weight of the washer.

The card is really simple, but has a couple of involved elements.  The background is navy cardstock that has a white core...when I put it through the Cuttlebug, it made the white show in the pattern.  I stamped the washer with metal stamps to read 'blessings' and tied it on with brown waxed cord.  (When I was stamping the washer, Carey came in to see what kind of card required hammering.  LOL)

The computer-printed inside sentiment reads,

Someone once said the greatest healing therapy is

friendship and love.

We are sending you lots of both!

It's okay, but it doesn't feel like I was in the groove, if you know what I mean.

On a really happy note, I got a text from my sister-in-law today saying that the missing post card from the project for my mother-in-law finally showed up.  Yea!

Happy Easter...

Wishing you all an Easter filled with the wonder and faith of a little child.

Seven thoughts on the 7th...

photo credit: www.jaysmith.com

We were in the car this afternoon, and the song Letter to Me by Brad Paisley came on.  I got to thinking about what I wish I could tell my seventeen-year-old self.  Here are seven of them:

1.  Ice cream is poison.

2.  Save for retirement!

3.  Get a degree.

4.  "I have to be alone very often. I'd be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That's how I refuel."  --Audrey Hepburn

...but then again...

5.  "...solitary pleasures erode your ties to the human race."  --Nuala O'Faolin, Almost There 

6.  Always seeing merit in both sides of an argument can be a real pain sometimes.

7.  Laugh.  With friends, with family, by yourself, at yourself, as often as you can, until you cry.

I'm it...

I've been tagged by Michelle at Life With Lou.  It's been a long while since I've done one of these, and the questions were quite different than what I've done before, so I thought I'd give it a go...

1.  Musical or plays?  And what are your favorites? It's been ages since I've attended either...unless you count the kids' school events.  Oh, wait...do the innumerable reenactments of Mama Mia by the crazy cat lady count?

2.  Do you have any 'hidden' talents that have not made it into your blog?  I think I've pretty much shared it all.

3.  Are you a reader?  If so, what are you reading right now?  I'm always reading something...at the moment it's The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and The One Year Bible.

4.  What is your favorite time of day?  Inspiration and/or motivation usually strikes between 6:00 to 10:00 pm which is pretty cool...except if I really get in the groove and I'm up till 2:00 am on a weeknight.

5.  Do you save the selvages from fabric?  Have you ever made anything with them?  Nope...probably one of the few things I don't save.

6.  What is your favorite quilt you've ever made?  My first...a nine patch for my daughter.

7.  What color comes up most often in your quilts? It's been so long, I'm not sure I remember!

8.  Do you play music while you sew?  What songs get you motivated?  When sewing on the machine, I usually have the TV on.  When hand quilting, I like audio books or talk radio.

9.  What's the worst injury you've ever suffered?  Multiple injuries in a car accident.

10.  Do you come from a large family or a small family?  Medium-ish?  I have 3 sisters.  But I'm the youngest, and was still pretty little when they left home, so I was kind of an only child too.

11.  Have you always lived in your current hometown?  If not, how far away do you live from the town where you were born?  I'm about two hundred miles north of the town where I was born and raised.  Of course, I could go that far again (maybe even twice that) in any direction and still not leave Texas.


Now, see?  Wasn't that fun?  I never tag anyone (all that chasing and never catching!), but if you want to play, feel free.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.  Not enjoying this one at all.  I'm 1/5 into it, and I have just completely depressed myself by going to Amazon and reading some of the 1, 2, and 3-star reviews.  Yes, I know there are hundreds and hundreds more of the higher-starred reviews, but when I'm having issues with a book, I always read the lower starred reviews to hear from like-minded readers as to whether it may be redeemable for me.  The scariest review was a 3-star, which said she loved it through the first half, and then it got really awful.  Ha!  I don't even much like the first part, will I make it through?  It's one of my challenge books, so I'm going to try to hang in there for awhile at least.  

Post card project results...

The results are in, and the post card project was a BIG success!  Yippee!!!

One post card did get lost in the mail.  I'm really sad about that, not because it made the project incomplete or anything, but because it was a nephew's who was the very first to respond to me with a nice email "It is so cool! What an awesome project," and he was the first one that mailed his off to the recipient.  I'm hoping that it will eventually work its way through the postal system and arrive at its destination.

I had a lovely phone conversation with my mother-in-law on her birthday that validated all the effort.  And then yesterday I received an email from her including words like 'thank you' and 'given me so much joy' and may or may not have even mentioned something about me being the favorite.  :)

Where did the week go...

A whole week since my last post?  Not much to write about I guess.  I didn't even attempt an April Fool's joke on anyone this year.

I have been enjoying the gorgeous Spring.  So many wildflowers!  It is a fabulous year for them with the rain we got through the winter. 

Speaking of rain, my Sky Scarf continues to grow.  March had a lot of gray days.  The red threads are just marking the end of the months, and will come out when the scarf is completed.  A quarter of the way through the scarf now, and a quarter of the way through the year!