Being blogged! I was blogged this week by someone who cited one of the products from my Etsy store.
The link is here, http://www.baileyandmeister.com/
It was so much fun to receive the Etsy convo (email) and see the write-up. I am so grateful.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Catching Up
It's hard to believe that I have let two weeks go by without a word on this blog. I am still here. The first week was simply spent enjoying Christmas. With all the decorations out, light shone forth from all the sparkling things and I took time to delight in all of it. Friends stopped by and the visits were so wonderful. One morning, I met the next generation of a family who have been like extended family to me for over thirty-five years. The children are beautiful.
Each year the holidays seem to have a rhythm of their own. There are the traditions, the things that are always the same and then the things that are slightly different. This year it seemed that the concentration of gifts was on food--a giant See's toffee bar, lovely tea, enough cookies to give a party and a wonderful care basket of a complete meal of ham and other goodies that brought my friend's party to me. I too baked, filling the house with warm, comforting, good smells.
I remarked about this to one friend and posited that it seemed to be everyone's reaction to the recession. Making and sharing food brings comfort and connects us to our roots, those food memories of childhood that in turn, for most of us, signify security.
I am grateful for the lovely holiday just past and grateful too that the earthquake did not occur close to me. (Our two little bumpers on the Calaveras this week were enough of a reminder to me that this is earthquake country.) The earthquake was also a motivator to me to take down the Christmas decorations and put them away. As much as I love them, they are safer put away. That is a curious psychology and one that I may, or may not need to explore further!
It is easier to get on with the work of the New Year with Christmas decorations put away.
May 2010 be one of health, prosperity and grace for all of us.
Each year the holidays seem to have a rhythm of their own. There are the traditions, the things that are always the same and then the things that are slightly different. This year it seemed that the concentration of gifts was on food--a giant See's toffee bar, lovely tea, enough cookies to give a party and a wonderful care basket of a complete meal of ham and other goodies that brought my friend's party to me. I too baked, filling the house with warm, comforting, good smells.
I remarked about this to one friend and posited that it seemed to be everyone's reaction to the recession. Making and sharing food brings comfort and connects us to our roots, those food memories of childhood that in turn, for most of us, signify security.
I am grateful for the lovely holiday just past and grateful too that the earthquake did not occur close to me. (Our two little bumpers on the Calaveras this week were enough of a reminder to me that this is earthquake country.) The earthquake was also a motivator to me to take down the Christmas decorations and put them away. As much as I love them, they are safer put away. That is a curious psychology and one that I may, or may not need to explore further!
It is easier to get on with the work of the New Year with Christmas decorations put away.
May 2010 be one of health, prosperity and grace for all of us.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Last of the Christmas Trees
This post is especially for my grand-nephew, who at age two has discovered the magic of Christmas trees. I want to share mine with him and love the idea of being able to do so through the inventions of digital photography and the Internet. This is such wonderful fun!
This is the last of the little trees, sometimes known in the past as "little, little tree", but the one in the sewing room may actually be smaller. Called last because it was the last to be decorated, and the only one not actually ready by Christmas Day.
A new picture of the crane tree after a friend found one crane that sat perfectly on the top. In Japan, I believe that the cranes symbolize peace, while in the United States, I have heard that Japanese-Americans see them as symbolizing courage and patience.
Finally, a picture of the tree in my office. The ornaments are ones that I made by hand about twenty years ago, which makes them vintage ornaments now. The angel on the top was a a package topper that may very well be forty to fifty years old.
Come to think of it, the tree itself is about twenty years old now, so that makes it vintage.
I love each and every tree for their special symbolism; for the history that each one has and for the way that they have brought Christmas to me this year, even though I can not go out to find Christmas at church. I am grateful for the way that my Mama loved Christmas, for the many ornaments and decorations that were hers and for the friends who have made Christmas decorating a community effort at my house. For the friends who have brought me food and flowers, too, I am grateful. Finally, for that little boy in Arizona who is learning the customs and wonder of Christmas, I am most especially grateful.
Blessings and a joyous and prosperous New Year to you all--through every day of it until we come full circle and are celebrating our Christmas again.
This is the last of the little trees, sometimes known in the past as "little, little tree", but the one in the sewing room may actually be smaller. Called last because it was the last to be decorated, and the only one not actually ready by Christmas Day.
A new picture of the crane tree after a friend found one crane that sat perfectly on the top. In Japan, I believe that the cranes symbolize peace, while in the United States, I have heard that Japanese-Americans see them as symbolizing courage and patience.
Finally, a picture of the tree in my office. The ornaments are ones that I made by hand about twenty years ago, which makes them vintage ornaments now. The angel on the top was a a package topper that may very well be forty to fifty years old.
Come to think of it, the tree itself is about twenty years old now, so that makes it vintage.
I love each and every tree for their special symbolism; for the history that each one has and for the way that they have brought Christmas to me this year, even though I can not go out to find Christmas at church. I am grateful for the way that my Mama loved Christmas, for the many ornaments and decorations that were hers and for the friends who have made Christmas decorating a community effort at my house. For the friends who have brought me food and flowers, too, I am grateful. Finally, for that little boy in Arizona who is learning the customs and wonder of Christmas, I am most especially grateful.
Blessings and a joyous and prosperous New Year to you all--through every day of it until we come full circle and are celebrating our Christmas again.
More Christmas Around My House
Here is the Christmas cactus on Christmas Day. I was so happy to see that more than a month after it began blooming, and even with frost advisories, it was looking happy and pretty Christmas afternoon.
These roses were blooming on Christmas Day.
The last of the big red roses, which I brought in on Christmas Day.
On Christmas Eve Day a dear friend stopped by with these beautiful flowers.
The flowers added to the colors of Christmas and also reminded me of the legend that says that at the moment of Christ's birth all the flowers bloomed. That same legend says that the animals spoke and the birds sang. I love these legends.
A blessed third day of Christmas. I am so grateful for this beautiful and peaceful time of year and for the memories I have of my family and Christmases past.
These roses were blooming on Christmas Day.
The last of the big red roses, which I brought in on Christmas Day.
On Christmas Eve Day a dear friend stopped by with these beautiful flowers.
The flowers added to the colors of Christmas and also reminded me of the legend that says that at the moment of Christ's birth all the flowers bloomed. That same legend says that the animals spoke and the birds sang. I love these legends.
A blessed third day of Christmas. I am so grateful for this beautiful and peaceful time of year and for the memories I have of my family and Christmases past.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas All Over My House
It was a quiet Christmas at my house this year, with the sound of music for the season coming from my favorite classical radio station. Now I will have to find some tapes and cd's to continue the festal sounds through the season. Too many goodies were made or received as gifts and consumed. (Yes, I do have a freezer and sometimes, it seems, I forget to use it!)
All over the house decorations have come out. First and foremost are the tree and creche in the living room.
The next picture is of the large creche in the living room.
Next is the angel tree in my room.
The small creche, which is over sixty years old now, sits next to the angel tree.
Mr Papa Bear looks on from his usual vantage point with frizzly bear in his lap.
Next is a small tree on Mama's dresser in the room that is still evolving into a sewing space. Amidst the clutter, Christmas has come to this room. Last year this little tree held no decorations. Here it is with its own array.
In addition, hidden away in a bureau drawer in a box that had once held canning jars, I found a collection of vintage (maybe actually antique) candles and ceramic figurines that had been Mama's. What fun to unwrap them after decades of being stored away and arrange them now!
And here along the top of the high bureau are more candles.
The crane tree, a custom I began last year, is set up in the dining room, with a small nativity, a gift from a dear friend several years ago.
There is one more little tree, here in my office, but the sun was shining brilliantly behind it and the picture did not turn out. More to come.
All over the house decorations have come out. First and foremost are the tree and creche in the living room.
The next picture is of the large creche in the living room.
Next is the angel tree in my room.
The small creche, which is over sixty years old now, sits next to the angel tree.
Mr Papa Bear looks on from his usual vantage point with frizzly bear in his lap.
Next is a small tree on Mama's dresser in the room that is still evolving into a sewing space. Amidst the clutter, Christmas has come to this room. Last year this little tree held no decorations. Here it is with its own array.
In addition, hidden away in a bureau drawer in a box that had once held canning jars, I found a collection of vintage (maybe actually antique) candles and ceramic figurines that had been Mama's. What fun to unwrap them after decades of being stored away and arrange them now!
And here along the top of the high bureau are more candles.
The crane tree, a custom I began last year, is set up in the dining room, with a small nativity, a gift from a dear friend several years ago.
There is one more little tree, here in my office, but the sun was shining brilliantly behind it and the picture did not turn out. More to come.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Rejoice Sunday
I started this post on Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent, time for the rose vestments and the rose candle. (This color is not pink but is more of a rose mauve. I have actually found what looks like the perfect shade on line in a ribbon that I may buy next year.)
Anyway here are my thoughts as of Sunday--it's been a crazy week and I am only four days behind, after all.
Some years Christmas sneaks up on me and seems like it almost takes forever to arrive. Other years, it seems as though Fall has barely started and wham, bam it is Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming so fast that it takes my breath away.
This year has been one of the latter years, perhaps because I have begun to reactivate a business that I loved twenty years ago, but that without the Internet was doomed before it was even begun. So with all the business activities, the Christmas preparations have been swept to the background. A few weeks ago
I thought I might even forgo decorating this year.
Two weeks ago my dear friend, who is also my housekeeper, took the big tree out of the box from the front hall closet where it lives most of the year. Last Monday another dear friend brought out the boxes with all the decorations and the bags with the little trees. On Wednesday another friend "fluffed" the branches on the big tree and put on the garlands. She (the tree, that is) is beginning to look like she is getting dressed for the party.
Another tree sits in my office, waiting. This year there may be ornaments. There were none last year for this little tree. Still another tree, with a plastic bag of paper cranes, sits in the dining room waiting for me to make a space and then begin the meticulous task of placing the little paper birds with their beautiful symbolism of peace. (I am tempted to glue them in place for next year. Would that be cheating?)
The tree that goes in my bedroom never did get put away last year. This season, when Christmas is over, it will be put away. There is nothing quite so forlorn as a barren Christmas tree lying on its side during summer heat waves.)
Two more little trees will find their places, one in the master bedroom sewing room. (AKA, "the big room"). The dolls and bears who occupy that space need their holiday too. The other still has to have a spot designated for it, but I will find one.
The house is also beginning to smell like Christmas. Chocolate and spice fill the kitchen air and I am having fun baking, albeit it is a smaller and simplified menu of choices from what I used to do.
Gingersnaps, cappuccino flats, sweet curry and cardamon icebox cookies and some scrumptious cheese slices that would have been even better with dry sherry (Amontillado, or Harvey's Bristol Cream, come to mind here.)
The only smell missing is that of fresh pine. One or two of my patchouli sachets with their rosemary and cloves can make it smell woodsy too.
Christmas is coming and it will be lovely. I am grateful for the traditions, for the artificial trees, which I would once have scorned and for the goodies. Most of all I am so grateful for all the friends, their patience and kindness in sharing with me and making Christmas possible.
While all of this preparation overshadows Advent, the truth is that I couldn't do it anyway, since I need the help of friends to make it happen. Preparing for Christmas is truly a work in progress all through Advent. The goal is to have everything in place by Christmas Eve and then relax and enjoy it for two weeks before beginning to dismantle it so that it is all put away by Candlemas. (Even that tree that didn't get put away last year.)
Pictures need to be taken too and an inventory of where everything is put away. It will be a busy time!
Anyway here are my thoughts as of Sunday--it's been a crazy week and I am only four days behind, after all.
Some years Christmas sneaks up on me and seems like it almost takes forever to arrive. Other years, it seems as though Fall has barely started and wham, bam it is Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming so fast that it takes my breath away.
This year has been one of the latter years, perhaps because I have begun to reactivate a business that I loved twenty years ago, but that without the Internet was doomed before it was even begun. So with all the business activities, the Christmas preparations have been swept to the background. A few weeks ago
I thought I might even forgo decorating this year.
Two weeks ago my dear friend, who is also my housekeeper, took the big tree out of the box from the front hall closet where it lives most of the year. Last Monday another dear friend brought out the boxes with all the decorations and the bags with the little trees. On Wednesday another friend "fluffed" the branches on the big tree and put on the garlands. She (the tree, that is) is beginning to look like she is getting dressed for the party.
Another tree sits in my office, waiting. This year there may be ornaments. There were none last year for this little tree. Still another tree, with a plastic bag of paper cranes, sits in the dining room waiting for me to make a space and then begin the meticulous task of placing the little paper birds with their beautiful symbolism of peace. (I am tempted to glue them in place for next year. Would that be cheating?)
The tree that goes in my bedroom never did get put away last year. This season, when Christmas is over, it will be put away. There is nothing quite so forlorn as a barren Christmas tree lying on its side during summer heat waves.)
Two more little trees will find their places, one in the master bedroom sewing room. (AKA, "the big room"). The dolls and bears who occupy that space need their holiday too. The other still has to have a spot designated for it, but I will find one.
The house is also beginning to smell like Christmas. Chocolate and spice fill the kitchen air and I am having fun baking, albeit it is a smaller and simplified menu of choices from what I used to do.
Gingersnaps, cappuccino flats, sweet curry and cardamon icebox cookies and some scrumptious cheese slices that would have been even better with dry sherry (Amontillado, or Harvey's Bristol Cream, come to mind here.)
The only smell missing is that of fresh pine. One or two of my patchouli sachets with their rosemary and cloves can make it smell woodsy too.
Christmas is coming and it will be lovely. I am grateful for the traditions, for the artificial trees, which I would once have scorned and for the goodies. Most of all I am so grateful for all the friends, their patience and kindness in sharing with me and making Christmas possible.
While all of this preparation overshadows Advent, the truth is that I couldn't do it anyway, since I need the help of friends to make it happen. Preparing for Christmas is truly a work in progress all through Advent. The goal is to have everything in place by Christmas Eve and then relax and enjoy it for two weeks before beginning to dismantle it so that it is all put away by Candlemas. (Even that tree that didn't get put away last year.)
Pictures need to be taken too and an inventory of where everything is put away. It will be a busy time!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
December and it is Cold
Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, one of the most beautiful Marian feasts of the year. Lovely chant, lovely music and so appropriate to Advent, which I think of as Mary's time.
We are having unusually cold weather here in California, the kind of weather that reminds us that our houses are shells--granted, shells with furnaces. This makes them difficult and expensive to heat. Still the photos on the various newscasts of snow in various parts of the Bay Area are beautiful.
I will be glad to see it warm a bit and to get ready for Christmas. Some more cooking and baking are scheduled. Some wrapping of presents, if I can remember where they are, and some general tidying of the house. I have a calendar full of visits planned with friends, so I am looking forward to the next few weeks.
The goodies which I posted Saturday were as good as they looked. I am so grateful to everyone who came to my Open House days over the weekend. It is good to see people and to have a positive cash flow!
I am grateful for the good furnace, for the good space heaters and for all the good knitted goodies that I wrap myself up in to keep warm. Will be even more grateful when the low is a little higher and the rain comes. Apparently, we are doing well for the snow pack in the mountains, forty-two inches already at one of the ski resorts. Hurray! With sufficient snow and rain, we will have a summer garden in due season.
We are having unusually cold weather here in California, the kind of weather that reminds us that our houses are shells--granted, shells with furnaces. This makes them difficult and expensive to heat. Still the photos on the various newscasts of snow in various parts of the Bay Area are beautiful.
I will be glad to see it warm a bit and to get ready for Christmas. Some more cooking and baking are scheduled. Some wrapping of presents, if I can remember where they are, and some general tidying of the house. I have a calendar full of visits planned with friends, so I am looking forward to the next few weeks.
The goodies which I posted Saturday were as good as they looked. I am so grateful to everyone who came to my Open House days over the weekend. It is good to see people and to have a positive cash flow!
I am grateful for the good furnace, for the good space heaters and for all the good knitted goodies that I wrap myself up in to keep warm. Will be even more grateful when the low is a little higher and the rain comes. Apparently, we are doing well for the snow pack in the mountains, forty-two inches already at one of the ski resorts. Hurray! With sufficient snow and rain, we will have a summer garden in due season.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Goodies for the Feast of St Nicholas
Chocolate Stout Cake made up as mini-cupcakes. I finally made the recipe that I found on the King Arthur Flour website last spring. The Guiness stands out in the raw batter. (I always have to taste the dough or batter--before the eggs are added.) After baking the stout disappears and simply acts as a subtle underscore or amplifier for the chocolate. A very moist cupcake. Yummy. three dozen minis and nine full sized cupcakes. I will definitely make this again. This recipe and the beer batter bread make it more than worthwhile to give Guiness "housespace" as my great-grandmother used to say. (Drinking it is good too, but I can't really do that because of the neurological problems that I already have.)
Above, a Christmas tray full of cappachino flats awaits visitors for St. Nicholas Day. This is a fairly standard recipe for these delicious cookies, but I have ramped up the chocolate by adding about 1 T of dark Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder. Very, very good and they don't need the extra dipping in chocolate, although that would make them look prettier.
It was a lot of work, but I had fun. I hope that it will entice folks to come to my little Open House--something that the big box stores definitely won't be offering. But then I can't compete with them in so many, many other ways.
We are having some very cold weather, unseasonably so for so early in the year and I am worrying about how the plants will fair and my heating bill. The gas and electric are the one thing that we don't know the cost of until after we have used them and I have wondered for years what it would take to change this system.
I am grateful tonight that I have a warm house and a warm electric blanket. Grateful for the goodies, which I have enjoyed making and will enjoy sharing.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The Garden for Advent
On this Wednesday of the first week in Advent I still have the perfume of roses in my house. This is so amazing to me. I don't think that it has ever happened before, although at least two friends have told me at different times in years past that they have had roses blooming at Christmas.
First is the Christmas cactus continuing its joyous bloom.
Next are the roses
A friend brought these flowers from her garden (also in my neighborhood) last week
I found the combination of orange and lavender in this arrangement absolutely stunning. Not colors that I would have combined if I had been consciously thinking of a palette to play or design with, but they work amazingly well.
Much to be grateful for on this wintry day. The light at this time of year has a wanness and poignancy as the year wanes. Soon though, the days will lengthen, the light will return and the flowers of Spring will come back. All part of the waiting and expectation of Advent. Christ, Our Lord, will come into our weary hearts to remind us of His eternal light and joy. The light of day will come, too, following the celebration of His coming. Much, indeed, to be grateful for. I just have to remember it!
First is the Christmas cactus continuing its joyous bloom.
Next are the roses
A friend brought these flowers from her garden (also in my neighborhood) last week
I found the combination of orange and lavender in this arrangement absolutely stunning. Not colors that I would have combined if I had been consciously thinking of a palette to play or design with, but they work amazingly well.
Much to be grateful for on this wintry day. The light at this time of year has a wanness and poignancy as the year wanes. Soon though, the days will lengthen, the light will return and the flowers of Spring will come back. All part of the waiting and expectation of Advent. Christ, Our Lord, will come into our weary hearts to remind us of His eternal light and joy. The light of day will come, too, following the celebration of His coming. Much, indeed, to be grateful for. I just have to remember it!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Beginnings, Advent 2009
Yesterday was the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of one of my most favorite liturgical seasons. I love the music for the season, the sense of growing expectation as Christmas nears and the sign of waiting. I also believe this is one of the few places in the Church's year when she recognizes the contribution of the feminine. Mary's yes, as much as her virginity and her motherhood are so vital Christian life.
Sometimes we say a wild, passionate yes to what we believe that God calls us to do when we are young and have no idea where that will take us. The road less traveled by sometimes, the hidden way some others. (St Therese of Lisieux did not not live long enough to see where her yes to the hidden way--her phrase--of the cloister would take her. She would be astonished, I think, to know how she is revered and I wonder if any of her writings contain any meditations on Mary.)
Sometimes that yes takes us into marriage that endures and is celebrated for decades.through all the trials of family life. Many of us have just given thanks for Thanksgiving and along with the turkey and leftovers have looked around at our families and given thanks for them. Expectation has been in the air on Thanksgiving too.
Yesterday was Stir-up Sunday. Time to get out the big yellow bowl and stir up the pudding or the fruitcake. This year, I will do that in memory only. Time to reminisce about the Christmas baking of yore. (One year I baked eighteen kinds of Christmas cookies, including two kinds of miniature fruitcakes. They were all delicious and I think I am still carrying some of them around on a body that is weary of carrying that weight.) There will be some goodies, but not nearly so many.
Time to get out the Advent wreath and the blue volume of the Liturgy of the Hours and to see what treasures it holds. Time to update my Advent lens on Squidoo and my Keep Advent group on Facebook.
I heard recently of an idea that I really like for an outdoor Advent wreath. Three purple balls and one rose one are hung in sequence on an evergreen wreath on the door. Next year, perhaps, I will do that or else make poufy ribbon bows for I have the wreath stored away in the garage.
I wish you a happy, holy Advent, time of expectation. May joy be at the end for all of us when we come to Christmas Eve.
I am grateful tonight for manifold blessings and for this season of waiting.
Sometimes we say a wild, passionate yes to what we believe that God calls us to do when we are young and have no idea where that will take us. The road less traveled by sometimes, the hidden way some others. (St Therese of Lisieux did not not live long enough to see where her yes to the hidden way--her phrase--of the cloister would take her. She would be astonished, I think, to know how she is revered and I wonder if any of her writings contain any meditations on Mary.)
Sometimes that yes takes us into marriage that endures and is celebrated for decades.through all the trials of family life. Many of us have just given thanks for Thanksgiving and along with the turkey and leftovers have looked around at our families and given thanks for them. Expectation has been in the air on Thanksgiving too.
Yesterday was Stir-up Sunday. Time to get out the big yellow bowl and stir up the pudding or the fruitcake. This year, I will do that in memory only. Time to reminisce about the Christmas baking of yore. (One year I baked eighteen kinds of Christmas cookies, including two kinds of miniature fruitcakes. They were all delicious and I think I am still carrying some of them around on a body that is weary of carrying that weight.) There will be some goodies, but not nearly so many.
Time to get out the Advent wreath and the blue volume of the Liturgy of the Hours and to see what treasures it holds. Time to update my Advent lens on Squidoo and my Keep Advent group on Facebook.
I heard recently of an idea that I really like for an outdoor Advent wreath. Three purple balls and one rose one are hung in sequence on an evergreen wreath on the door. Next year, perhaps, I will do that or else make poufy ribbon bows for I have the wreath stored away in the garage.
I wish you a happy, holy Advent, time of expectation. May joy be at the end for all of us when we come to Christmas Eve.
I am grateful tonight for manifold blessings and for this season of waiting.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Fall Activities
Today was crisp and clear after a day of rain yesterday. The sky was blue as blue and the leaves, sparser on the trees now after the storm, ran the gamut of yellows, oranges, and reds that make Fall such an outstanding season of light and color.
It is cold enough to think of a cozy fire, of baking and cooking slow steaming things like pot roasts and soups. My activities were more prosaic, setting up shop for my small business. Here are pictures.
The picture above shows my I Keep Advent banner. (Other banner designs are on the rack behind it.) My cards, the peace design that I have written about, designs for Christmas, and all occasion blank notes with many, many flower images comprise the offerings here along with a basket of lovely cards from my friend and colleague, Fe Langdon.
Above one of my hand knitted shoulder shawls, that can also be worn as a head scarf is draped on a wig stand. Two more are in plastic bags next to it. The yarns are soft, hand painted natural fibers.
More banners in the photo above, this time with the peace design on top of the stack and two baskets, one holding peace buttons and gift tag sized cards, the other holding sachets sit on another small table. It is fitting to display the peace design, which I made in honor of Papa with the sachets for herbal crafts were part of the business that he helped me with when he was alive.
Next, in the photo above are a selection of the hand made boxes that I began making last summer. They are fun to make. Some are printed with the same designs that I am using on other items; some are fabric over paper. I love making them almost as much as I love to knit, although arthritis and post-polio syndrome are slowing down my hands. (Some days I feel as though I live on Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen--well and of course, chocolate.)
Finally on the kitchen counter, I have arranged a display of my Mary Kay products. I was disappointed with the picture though, because I had the brilliant idea to use my Pampered Chef cooling rack to display some of the items and it works really well.
I am grateful for how pretty my things look all nicely displayed, for the customers who do find me from time to time and for my dear friend who came and swept all the leaves away and neatened and tidied the front walk way and the patio so that all would be ready for people to come.
It is cold enough to think of a cozy fire, of baking and cooking slow steaming things like pot roasts and soups. My activities were more prosaic, setting up shop for my small business. Here are pictures.
The picture above shows my I Keep Advent banner. (Other banner designs are on the rack behind it.) My cards, the peace design that I have written about, designs for Christmas, and all occasion blank notes with many, many flower images comprise the offerings here along with a basket of lovely cards from my friend and colleague, Fe Langdon.
Above one of my hand knitted shoulder shawls, that can also be worn as a head scarf is draped on a wig stand. Two more are in plastic bags next to it. The yarns are soft, hand painted natural fibers.
More banners in the photo above, this time with the peace design on top of the stack and two baskets, one holding peace buttons and gift tag sized cards, the other holding sachets sit on another small table. It is fitting to display the peace design, which I made in honor of Papa with the sachets for herbal crafts were part of the business that he helped me with when he was alive.
Next, in the photo above are a selection of the hand made boxes that I began making last summer. They are fun to make. Some are printed with the same designs that I am using on other items; some are fabric over paper. I love making them almost as much as I love to knit, although arthritis and post-polio syndrome are slowing down my hands. (Some days I feel as though I live on Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen--well and of course, chocolate.)
Finally on the kitchen counter, I have arranged a display of my Mary Kay products. I was disappointed with the picture though, because I had the brilliant idea to use my Pampered Chef cooling rack to display some of the items and it works really well.
I am grateful for how pretty my things look all nicely displayed, for the customers who do find me from time to time and for my dear friend who came and swept all the leaves away and neatened and tidied the front walk way and the patio so that all would be ready for people to come.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Fall for Sure
It was 59 degrees inside my house when I got up this morning. The electric blanket had quit doing the job--for some reason the newer blankets take their cue from the ambient temperature of the air above them rather than from the control setting. Probably will have to break down and learn to use that other technology that I insisted to my late father that we had to have when we put in the "new" furnace--eleven years ago. That is the programmable thermostat. The one year I used it though, I hated it. It came on way too early, went off too early in the evening and I had to keep remembering to reset it anyway in between, just as I do now. Still it did keep the furnace from coming on at night and blowing 60 degree air at me.
It is time to bake bread and make soup--warm the kitchen with the cooking projects and be comforted by "hot cooked food"--an expression of Papa's that I love. I do wish that I had a winter garden and hope to have one next year.
Rain is on the horizon, but this is the fourth week in a row that we have had that forecast and we haven't had much more than enough drizzle to dampen the ground. We would give thanks for a good soaking rain or three or four.
The sun is definitely at a lower angle these days and I find myself counting the days until the winter solstice and then the light will come again. It is a good time for drawing in and being grateful for home and hearth--which I surely am.
Very hard to believe that next week is already Thanksgiving. (Sorry about the typos that I just corrected.
It is time to bake bread and make soup--warm the kitchen with the cooking projects and be comforted by "hot cooked food"--an expression of Papa's that I love. I do wish that I had a winter garden and hope to have one next year.
Rain is on the horizon, but this is the fourth week in a row that we have had that forecast and we haven't had much more than enough drizzle to dampen the ground. We would give thanks for a good soaking rain or three or four.
The sun is definitely at a lower angle these days and I find myself counting the days until the winter solstice and then the light will come again. It is a good time for drawing in and being grateful for home and hearth--which I surely am.
Very hard to believe that next week is already Thanksgiving. (Sorry about the typos that I just corrected.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Veteran's Day, 2009
Today I think of all of those who served and are serving. Family members going back to the Union Army in the Civil War, coming forward through WWI and WWII who included my Grandpa and Papa. Many friends too, have served and are still serving. Today is the day that we think of you and thank you.
I no longer wear my patriotism on my sleeve as I did when I was a child. Although red, white and blue is still one of my favorite color combinations of all time. Still if I could, I would be flying my flag today--it is one of those things that I can't quite manage from my wheelchair.
I think of this as one of the November Feasts, feasts of remembrance that make the whole month of November special. I look forward to it every year. It precedes Advent and then Christmas. Maybe it is part of the reason that I love the Fall so much.
This Veteran's Day is tinged with special sadness, both because we are still at war, eight long years, longer than any of the others in our history and because of the events last week at Fort Hood.
At the same time there was a very special segment on the news last night about therapy dogs coming to the aid of veterans who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It was a lovely sight indeed to see the dogs with their people and hear the testimonies. This is a good use of our tax dollars indeed. Dogs have a special way of knowing when they are really needed and devotion to their people that is both comforting and healing.
I am grateful for all those who have served and are serving and say a special prayer for the safety of those still in harm's way that they may come home safely to their families and friends.
I no longer wear my patriotism on my sleeve as I did when I was a child. Although red, white and blue is still one of my favorite color combinations of all time. Still if I could, I would be flying my flag today--it is one of those things that I can't quite manage from my wheelchair.
I think of this as one of the November Feasts, feasts of remembrance that make the whole month of November special. I look forward to it every year. It precedes Advent and then Christmas. Maybe it is part of the reason that I love the Fall so much.
This Veteran's Day is tinged with special sadness, both because we are still at war, eight long years, longer than any of the others in our history and because of the events last week at Fort Hood.
At the same time there was a very special segment on the news last night about therapy dogs coming to the aid of veterans who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It was a lovely sight indeed to see the dogs with their people and hear the testimonies. This is a good use of our tax dollars indeed. Dogs have a special way of knowing when they are really needed and devotion to their people that is both comforting and healing.
I am grateful for all those who have served and are serving and say a special prayer for the safety of those still in harm's way that they may come home safely to their families and friends.
Friday, November 6, 2009
What is Blooming in Garden Now
Now is November, 2009. We have had a string of sunny days, although today is cloudy--it is supposed to drizzle. It is colder today, too, but yesterday I had the opportunity to stick my nose out and observe what is blooming.
The first and most stunning thing is the Christmas cactus--two months early! It has apparently liked its spot on the garden shelf and it has been watered, perhaps a bit too much. So here it is in all its glory
I have written about the pineapple sage--nature's hummingbird feeder--in previous posts. I can't get around to the back to photograph the huge plant, which is the mother of all the smaller ones. But here is one of the smaller ones in the front patio
Thanks to my friend, K, who has been keeping my yard in lovely order I also have a collection of oxalis plants to compliment my principle one, the shamrock from St. Patrick's day some years ago. The one that is blooming now is purple with pink flowers. I apologize for the blurriness of the photo. This comes from talking and taking pictures at the same time
Finally, there are roses blooming! I may have roses for Thanksgiving--much as I had tomatoes last year.
The roses do deserve more attention than they have received this year. Perhaps next year will be better. More rain will lead to a better garden. So I wish the drizzle would be rain.
I am grateful for these blooming plants which quietly persevere even when I give them minimal attention. Grateful too for a nice warm place on this winterish Fall day. Hard to believe that the year has gone so fast and is nearly over.
The first and most stunning thing is the Christmas cactus--two months early! It has apparently liked its spot on the garden shelf and it has been watered, perhaps a bit too much. So here it is in all its glory
I have written about the pineapple sage--nature's hummingbird feeder--in previous posts. I can't get around to the back to photograph the huge plant, which is the mother of all the smaller ones. But here is one of the smaller ones in the front patio
Thanks to my friend, K, who has been keeping my yard in lovely order I also have a collection of oxalis plants to compliment my principle one, the shamrock from St. Patrick's day some years ago. The one that is blooming now is purple with pink flowers. I apologize for the blurriness of the photo. This comes from talking and taking pictures at the same time
Finally, there are roses blooming! I may have roses for Thanksgiving--much as I had tomatoes last year.
The roses do deserve more attention than they have received this year. Perhaps next year will be better. More rain will lead to a better garden. So I wish the drizzle would be rain.
I am grateful for these blooming plants which quietly persevere even when I give them minimal attention. Grateful too for a nice warm place on this winterish Fall day. Hard to believe that the year has gone so fast and is nearly over.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
All Saints, 2009
Today is the Feast of All Saints in the Calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. Instead of commemorating them one by one, today we think of all the saints in the aggregate. Somewhere, I think in my Catholic childhood, I received the idea that this feast was also about those not in the calendar, all the household saints, our ancestors whose lives were lived privately. I remember as the Litany of the Saints was chanted adding silently, "All ye holy Grandmothers and Grandfathers, Great-Aunts and Great-Uncles and ancestors in any way." Now I think of my parents, too, for they have gone on. In fact, we have been without them for too long.
Tomorrow, on All Souls, I will pray for their souls. I think this is called hedging my bets, something that Catholic tradition makes room for in other ways too.
Today, with the sun shining in and the bread baked, the smell of patchouli mixed with cloves and rosemary filling the air and reminding me of incense, I prefer to think of them as saints.
My parents taught me my prayers when I was so young that I don't remember a time that I did not know them. I do remember my Mama lifting me up so that I could dip my fingers in the holy water font as we entered the church to "make a visit". This also always included lighting a candle--real flames and real matches, no electric or battery operated votive lights then. The church was always dark and mysterious and had that smell of left over incense and candles burning--the potpourri I have been working with today is very evocative of that.
Most of the saints made it to heaven by simply doing that daily work of keeping themselves alive for as long as they could. Without all the medical and media rigmarole that we possess some of them had good enough genes--and luck--to make it into their 90's. Other dropped where they stood doing the housework on a Monday after attending Mass on Sunday, a massive stroke or an embolism or something else that they may not have recognized taking them instantly out of the mundane and into the sacred. (I think of heaven as the sacred and afterlife as the culmination of this one.)
The ancestors that I have traced did not, for the most part, die in hospitals, but at home. There were some exceptions. My father remembered that he was four years old when he was taken to the hospital and watched his maternal grandfather being wheeled down the hall on a gurney. He never came back. (Later, my family history research yielded up this man's death certificate and the information that he had died of stomach cancer.) His youngest daughter, my father's aunt told s the story of how her father led the family to church every Saturday afternoon for confession. They where Irish. One Saturday, instead of going to the Irish church they detoured to the German one. There they were told to go to their own church. Which they did. I am sure this same man led this same procession on Sunday to Mass.
They all "kept the Faith". Confession on Saturday, Mass on Sunday, fish on Friday. Rosaries at wake services, Gregorian Chant, the Dies Irae, and all the other lovely music of the annual cycle. And when there lives were completed they were laid to rest with the Requiem Mass.
I remember them with joy and thanksgiving, grateful for their lives on this earth and all that they passed on to me, my cultural heritage as well as my DNA. I am grateful for them, every single one and hope that they are all rejoicing in heaven. Today I rejoice in the beauty of the sunshine streaming in my window on this glorious Sunday.
Tomorrow, on All Souls, I will pray for their souls. I think this is called hedging my bets, something that Catholic tradition makes room for in other ways too.
Today, with the sun shining in and the bread baked, the smell of patchouli mixed with cloves and rosemary filling the air and reminding me of incense, I prefer to think of them as saints.
My parents taught me my prayers when I was so young that I don't remember a time that I did not know them. I do remember my Mama lifting me up so that I could dip my fingers in the holy water font as we entered the church to "make a visit". This also always included lighting a candle--real flames and real matches, no electric or battery operated votive lights then. The church was always dark and mysterious and had that smell of left over incense and candles burning--the potpourri I have been working with today is very evocative of that.
Most of the saints made it to heaven by simply doing that daily work of keeping themselves alive for as long as they could. Without all the medical and media rigmarole that we possess some of them had good enough genes--and luck--to make it into their 90's. Other dropped where they stood doing the housework on a Monday after attending Mass on Sunday, a massive stroke or an embolism or something else that they may not have recognized taking them instantly out of the mundane and into the sacred. (I think of heaven as the sacred and afterlife as the culmination of this one.)
The ancestors that I have traced did not, for the most part, die in hospitals, but at home. There were some exceptions. My father remembered that he was four years old when he was taken to the hospital and watched his maternal grandfather being wheeled down the hall on a gurney. He never came back. (Later, my family history research yielded up this man's death certificate and the information that he had died of stomach cancer.) His youngest daughter, my father's aunt told s the story of how her father led the family to church every Saturday afternoon for confession. They where Irish. One Saturday, instead of going to the Irish church they detoured to the German one. There they were told to go to their own church. Which they did. I am sure this same man led this same procession on Sunday to Mass.
They all "kept the Faith". Confession on Saturday, Mass on Sunday, fish on Friday. Rosaries at wake services, Gregorian Chant, the Dies Irae, and all the other lovely music of the annual cycle. And when there lives were completed they were laid to rest with the Requiem Mass.
I remember them with joy and thanksgiving, grateful for their lives on this earth and all that they passed on to me, my cultural heritage as well as my DNA. I am grateful for them, every single one and hope that they are all rejoicing in heaven. Today I rejoice in the beauty of the sunshine streaming in my window on this glorious Sunday.
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