Long Season?

Today's postcard - from a couple of small squares that were in my fabric box.

There were lots of Bengals fans wearing their orange and black today, but if they had high hopes they were disappointed. It could be a very long season, but it still makes for some fun Sunday afternoons.

Nora and Aaron weren't paying any attention to the score, and they were happy to be Bengals fans. Tomorrow is Aaron's birthday and his party was today - pictures to come. It was great to see all the Lockhart's.

Here's a Nora story - Steph told her that I was picking up the cake and buying the party hats. And Nora replied, "Gran B doesn't buy things. She makes quilts. That's her job."

On Saturday I was teaching a sewing workshop and took my machine. When I brought it back I decided to take it upstairs since it is no longer so hot and I'm anxious to be back in my studio. I thought that maybe in moving all my stuff back up I'd find a few things that I don't really need. Wrong. I need it all.

As my sewing things left my dining room, I uncovered various other things. To my dismay, I discovered an un-RSVP'd wedding invitation and an unanswered invitation to a class reunion. No unpaid bills, that's a plus.

When I sat down to read the Sunday newspaper, there was a space on the dining room table large enough to spread it out. Tomorrow I'm going to complete the move. I have a new candle to light, called Fresh Comfort, to set a new tone in my living space.

Gifts from Cool Women

Today's postcard. I found this tiny quilt in my fabric scraps. I did a pretty good job paper piecing, way back when, but the machine quilting was terrible and I put it aside. I cut it down a bit and hid the machine stitching with brown marker.

Today I came home to find this lovely little crazy quilt from Jane at Crazy Here and Now. Jane and I are kindred spirits in many ways, not the least of which we both made moves last year. Jane moved from the city to way, way up north in Michigan's Upper Penninsula. I made the opposite move, from small town to big city.

Note Jane's pretty stitching and the butterfly nestled among the stitches. Jane is such a thoughtful crazy quilter and her quilting is meaningful as well as beautiful. Thank you so much, Jane. I love it, and the thought behind it, too.

Yesterday I got a birthday package from my sister. Yeah, I know that my birthday is in June, but my sister's presents are notoriously late and wonderful because of it. It's so charming to be surprised at a later time, totally unexpectedly. Besides the chocolate, always nice, there is a gift card to a place I've never tried and look forward to ordering from - it will be like getting a gift all over again. And there is a cd that will help me "narrow the gap between how we want to live and how we're actually living." I love this kind of thing - can't go into a bookstore without browsing through the self-help section because I know, just know, that the answer is in one of those books, I just have to find the one.

What a blessed couple of days.

Friday Fill-In # 88

Today's postcard. I found this paper-pieced block with my scraps. I'm sure it goes back many years.

Jan says that today's Friday Fill-Ins are based on words from obscure songs. Answers are in bold.

1. If I was to walk into your life, I'd welcome you and say, hey, Jan, how do you ever come up with all those questions? Good job.

2. Catch a bright star and place it in my window as dark evenings come. I always enjoy the look of candles in the window during fall and winter.

3. And you can send me art supplies. And books. No candy, please.

4. My body is getting older, but I'm dealing with a memory that never forgets. Just kidding, but I wish.

5. I'm the innocent bystander, somehow I got stuck in a life that won't slow down. Of course, I'm big on the personal responsibility concept, so I can't call myself an innocent bystander in this one.

6. What's keeping us apart isn't selfishness, it's timing. Or, maybe # 5.

And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to shopping for Aaron's birthday, with a little something for Nora on the side, tomorrow my plans include work (ugh) and babysitting (hurrah) and Sunday I want to celebrate Aaron's birthday. I'm looking forward to seeing Janice and Don and the other relatives. Should be a great day. Nora says we have to get more party hats.

Have a good weekend, everyone. It's raining here this morning, would you believe it?

What I'll Miss About Summer

Today's postcard. Oops, first time I ever melted a hole in the stabilizer.

Things I'll miss as cold weather comes -

Fresh things. Really fresh. I don't know what this heirloom tomato is, but it's unbelievably sweet. Does anyone know what it is? You can click on the photo for a larger view.

And this one - I'll miss grabbing a little yellow tomato on my comings and goings. Once again, does anyone know what it is? The tomatoes are larger than cherry tomatoes.

The asparagus ferns on on my back porch.

Summer light.

The riverfront in the evenings. The three little lines are kayaks.

The sandal tan on my feet.

Stories of the Splash Park.

And Aaron's littleness. The little guy is growing so fast.

Happy Birthday to Mike

Today's postcard

Last week was Mike's birthday. Not saying which one, but the next one's BIG.

Nora has a generous spirit and enjoys anyone's birthday. She has December and birthday # 4 on her radar, but she is happy to share anyone's day. Hats are a requirement.

Sometimes you can get away with a real birthday surprise. Mike never guessed he was getting a Wii. (Thanks to Bridget, who faithfully scoped out the store until a Wii came in.)

Aaron's birthday is coming up next week, and we're celebrating on Sunday. He got to practice with Mike's cake and it was obvious that he won't have the same aversion to birthday cake that his sister had when she turned one. Of course, he's happy with 'most any kind of food. There are few things that he won't eat. Very different from Nora's one-year-old diet of wheat bread, swiss cheese, and bananas.

Aunt Tina came after work. Don't you love the guitar scrubs?

Now I'm Resting, Sweetly Resting

Today's postcard. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled on a great sale on Shiva paintsticks - $5 for the six-pack and $2 for the 3-pack of minis. I already had one pack, and now I have many colors. Only thing is, I don't exactly know what to do with these riches. Luckily, the book Paintsticks on Fabric was on sale, too, so I'll be trying out a few things.

This summer at church we've been reflecting on the topics of Eat Work Play Pray Rest, inspired, no doubt, by the book with similar wording in the title. The last two weeks the topic was the last one, Rest.

I grew up in the Mennonite Church, but this is the first time in many years that I've lived close to a Mennonite congregation. Some things are much the same; others, like the music, are a little different. The old hymn book is nowhere to be found, and while some of the hymns are familiar, most are not. One of the hymns on Sunday was "There Is a Place of Quiet Rest" and I recognized that one.

An unfamiliar one, although old, had the words, "Now I'm resting, sweetly resting, In the cleft once made for me." I woke up this morning with those words and tune in my head, where they resided for an hour or so. And that got me to thinking about how much I rest, or don't rest.

Not having small children, I do get uninterrupted sleep. But rest during waking hours is hard to come by. Outside of work time, there is so much I want to do, try, see, quilt. Maybe quilting time is resting time, I'm not sure.

Something to ponder - what constitutes rest? Is it simply the absence of structured work, whatever that is? I don't think so. Is it a time of being entertained by tv, a book, a baseball game? There's got to be more to it than that. It has to be more than doing what you love, because some people truly love their work.

The concept in the hymn that catches my attention is in the word "sweetly." Now I'm resting, sweetly resting. It sounds so attractive, sweetly resting does. Almost childlike. It makes me smile.

Labor Day Sunday

Today's postcard is really a potholder - 'cause I needed it for a project.

Labor Day Sunday is the big Cincinnati riverfront fireworks display. This year, I decided to watch on the big screen at Steph's house instead of going to the river.

Steph did a big Kroger run right before dinner. Aaron, always curious, was checking things out, and managed to snag a bag for himself.

Here are Nora and Aunt Tina getting ready to watch the show.

Watching on the big screen isn't quite as thrilling as actually being there, but it's a lot easier. When I was driving to Steph's, I noticed that the traffic heading downtown looked alot like a Monday morning. And when I was coming home, the outbound traffic was crazy.

Steph, Mike, Helen

Even on tv, it was a great show.