Friday, July 27, 2007

Life & Details, and a Master Quilter




We are delighting in Maria's growth. She says so many things, sharing her thoughts and views. She draws. She paints. She carries books and a flashlight and persuades people to read to her. She pages through magazines, intent and absorbed. She packs her bags with a strange assortment of housewares and odds and ends, then carries her belongings like an embarking explorer. She carries her baby on her shoulders, just the way she likes to ride, and she sighs and says, "Whew, heavy baby."



Anne thought she was too busy to play, and yet look who found time to make a doll quilt! This was a quicker project than her first quilt, and for a much different purpose. It is a Cat Doll Quilt and made with love for her Patrick kitty. I got to see it up close when she hosted Mom's Night Out. It's a comfy, cozy, charming cat quilt. Come on Anne, you know you want to make one for Toby...

She asked me to bring the amazing creations sent to me by Kim, of "Calamity Kim's Craft Cottage" and I was happy to oblige. It's fun showing people all the great details of Kim's work... they were impressed!

And you can almost see just a peek of Anne's beautiful backyard, oh, and she's wearing her hostess apron, because we kept her busy cooking and serving her delicious Finger Foods of the World! I love it when other people cook and invite me to eat. Seriously, isn't it wonderful?


Since I have come to terms with the fact that housecleaning is a pointless endeavor, that I am no good at in the first place, I have freed up time for other pointless pursuits that actually amuse me and make me happy, like sewing. tee hee. So, I have been doing a little applique-quilting-cross-stitched quilt. What is it called when you add batting beneath and stitch around it to give it a 3-D effect? No, not obsessive.


It looks cute. Maria said so and I believe her.


One more work in progress... a special gift for some dear friends. Shh! It's a secret.

Now that I have shown the silly things I do when the children are looking for dinner and there are no clean socks... I would like to share a new masterpiece from Grandma Nancy, Geoff's grandmother in Wisconsin:


This is a quilt. (I apologize for the poor image quality. It's a photo of a photo)
She uses her fabric to depict a painting of an artist at work on a painting. Please follow this link to see the Dega she quilted; it's amazing.

We have, at long last, booked a flight to Wisconsin, so that next month we can see Grandma Nancy and her beautiful quilts. We haven't been there in a long time, so there will be lots to catch up on and to introduce Maria to, like Aunt Carol and cousin Sophie and Jordan and Griffin, and the Creek, the bakery, the lake, farms and barns, pasty, and maybe we'll go to the zoo, State Street, Ella's Deli...

We are going to have so much fun!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Birthday Aloha


Aloha and Happy Birthday Ruth. We hope your birthday package arrived safely and on time. And we especially hope that today has been beautiful and easy, a happy day. Gee, we really wish we could be there celebrating with you. I was a little bit stunned to see how much the children have grown since our last visit, so we are certainly overdue for some Island time,


so, we can get warm aloha hugs and embraces...


and so we can return to the fun spots we love,


and visit the turtles.


We need some time in the surf.


And we need time to talk story,


and look for rainbows.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Little Kitty


:: We call her Figaro ::
This little kitty has been coming to our door since we moved in last October. I thought she was a kitten, but she may be just a little kitty. She's no bigger today than she was the first day she sang for her supper. She looks healthy. Her fur is silky, her eyes are clear.

We are allowed "One" cat. Ahem. So we cannot keep her. No. Out of our hands. Well, once, when her crying was so pitiful it tore at my heart, I held the door open for a really long time and looked the other way. (The landlord can't hold us responsible for a cat that visits, right?) She didn't come in. Not even for a visit. But she keeps coming back to our front door, and she sings and sings.



No matter how many times I feed her,
she keeps coming back.
Silly little kitty.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Reality vs. Fantasy


Who guessed wine?
Somebody drank all the wine without us.
It was french wine.
They probably enjoyed it very much.
Sigh.
They left us half of an empty barrel, which leads us to my dream coming true...



My very own Barrel Farm.
Marigolds, green beans and a tomato.
Ahh. It's a start.


But,
and I do emphasize the but,
is it so wrong to dream bigger?

Monday, July 23, 2007

Post-Calamity Recovery
Calamity Kim sure can leave you awe-struck and speechless. Maria and I were wearing our aprons all weekend. She wore her tulle headband to the park and grocery shopping. Our pennant made our time in the backyard seem festive and grand, though we were only kicking a ball around. Every day, all day I was reminded of Kim's amazing package and I am still trying to wrap my mind around the kindness and generosity of it all. (Tee-hee... Look! It's my first time in Florida! LOL!)


Oh, and by the way Kim, your beautiful aprons and goodies received an invitation to a dinner party at my friend Anne's house. I'm invited too. I may borrow Maria's tulle...


We were at the park with Geoff. We played H-O-R-S-E. I L-O-S-T, but I played with style and pride.


William had his first official 2 hours behind the wheel lesson. Geoff and I were forced to wait at home and let the trained, experienced, emotionally detached, heavily accented stranger take him away in his specially equipped Sentra. It was nerve wracking (wrecking?) We were fine. Our boy did fine.


With nearly 22,000 photographs in our iMac, we are looking at getting an Apple Pro, or is it a Mac-Pro... something Pro, because I can't even download new photos without pleading and begging, hot-wiring, and bribing our machine. It's just too overwhelmed with my shutter bug habit. It crashes, it churns, it shudders, moans, smokes and sparks... actually, I shudder, moan, spark and fume. It's embarrassing how thoroughly addicted I am to my computer. During my last I hate iPhoto temper tantrum, William, calm and cool, asks, "What if you had no iPhoto? Would you feel better with all your digital files just sitting on your desk?" NO! I love my iPhoto! ((Hugs)) Thank you William, for keeping it real.


Alex and Max have a week of digital photography camp, and I expect them to come home and teach me valuable information. They'll get to use Photoshop. Sigh. You know, I think I could list about twenty big ticket items that I would love to possess + endless hours of guilt-free time to enjoy them. A house, Photoshop, a garden, chickens, a sewing room, a printer and scanner... I like to think I have simple tastes and unselfish desires, but sometimes it's amusing to fantasize.


What is this? Just a little fantasy of mine... a dream coming true. More later. Life is cutting in to my free time!