Random Musings

When I was in the fourth grade my Dad tried out (what preachers call interviews) at a church in Montgomery, Alabama. The day before, the host family (who was from Hawaii, which I found quite exotic), took us to see the Alabama State Capitol. One of the things that impressed me the most was that in a semi-circle outside is the state flag from every state in the Union. I'll never forget looking up and seeing them all flap in the wind, and being able to view each one. The other cool thing was the gold star marking the spot where Jefferson Davis stood to take his oath of office. They let you stand on it. I mean, who gets to stand on a gold star? That probably won't thrill me quite as much on this visit, but I'm looking forward to showing my husband one of the first big events of my life today, as well as hearing historical tidbits from my parents and aunt as we tour Alabama's head city.

By the time you read this, I will have already finished loading the van, slept several hours, and am probably being woken up to either a) eat breakfast or b) pump gas, and we will be 1/4 of the way to our first Alabama destination. Since our "Easter Eggers" are still under a heat lamp, I can't leave them to be checked on only once a day. So thankfully a teenager in our church, who is an avid animal lover, is willing to look after them for the week we're gone. The last time she had a chick (but not ours), it wound up in a photo op playing stare down with her pet hamster. Her little hamster might not stand a chance with four chicks though. They've changed so much in the week that I've had them that it wouldn't surprise to come home and find them in their ugly stage (where the wings are grown and the head feathers are coming in while the neck fuzz is coming out). Meanwhile, our 22 teenagers continue to mature. (In case you notice fine details, yes we ...

If you've ever watched that creepy show "Criminal Minds", they're always talking about something called the "unsub" (or at least that's what it sounds like.) There's a similar word that will strike dread in the heart of any seamstress: the unsew. Yeah, it's the moment that comes after the euphoria of "YES! I'm almost finished". It's the plunging awareness that you not only sewed ONE block on upside down, but that an entire ROW of blocks was sewn entirely on the WRONG side. So you pull out the handy weapon every seamstress HATES to use but must... the seam RIPPER.  Even the name sounds deadly. I can hear Lydia cheering "Rip 'em up! Rip 'em up! Rip those threadies right up!"  And I did. I ripped them right out of there (albeit somewhat gently...didn't want to kill the fabric!).  And if I don't employ my deadly weapon to often during this next week, you might get an early snapshot of a quilt top n...

The above is one of my absolute favorite things, especially for showers or receptions. Powdered sugar over chocolate chip cookies: what more could a girl want? ;) And what makes them taste any better? When a niece sees you cleaning up and says "OH! I thought you MADE those!" It makes a tired body feel good! :)

This restaurant is closed for business. Yes, the manager attempts to maintain a healthy sanitation rating. Yes, the food is fresh. Yes, there are multiple choices. Yes, it has outdoor seating. Yes, there is a gorgeous view. But, NO, you may NOT eat here! I've now told you twice. If you come back a third time, the owner will shoot you. So take that, you dumb chicken hawk!

COMPLETED: 1) ordered the cake for Sunday's shower 2) prepped Carly's birthday present for packing: This weekend I finally found a tea set for my Mom (a birthday present for my 6 year-old-niece) at the flea market/fairgrounds. I had one more place to check if I didn't find one there, but I was very pleased with what I found! It had some chips in it, but I touched those up this morning with gold leaf. I think this will make the chip a tad less noticeable. AND STILL TO DO: 1) mints for Abigail's bridal shower on Sunday 2) Sam's Club for supplies for the fruit dip and chips 3) State taxes 4) costumes for the Easter play 5) conquer my attitude about #4 6) yardwork 7) supper

Yesterday we had the opportunity to briefly visit with some dear friends. It was my first time being inside their house, and I absolutely loved it! She had a lot of antiques, but what struck me the most was how streamlined everything was. There was so little clutter.  It made me want to go home and start purging things. And that was yesterday. Today I have a little bit of free time (the first in a while!) and my first thought was "Both Borders and Blockbuster are have their going out of business sale! I ought to swing by both those places and...." Good intentions don't last very long, do they? And in the midst of my cluttered thoughts, I decided to check blogs before I started the crazy day before me. When I was a teenager, a missionary who spoke at my church really challenged me after the service to seriously pray about becoming a missionary. Years later, while studying missions in college, his parents attended the same church I did. So while I don't have a person...

I am southern. When I went to college, I was required to take a Health & Lifetime Fitness class. Part of the class was nutrition. No problem, I thought. I'm a southern girl who helped a little in the fields growing up, we put up vegetables every summer, and I have good eating habits, other than the occasional binging on chocolate chip cookies and drinking Dr. Pepper to make me stay up late when I had a test the next day. I knew how to eat properly! Until we actually hit the chapter on breaking down our meals and keeping a food journal. Before class began on that chapter, again, I had been down that road before. Only this time I was thrown a curve ball. Here's some of my favorite southern foods, specifically including my favorite vegetables: Sweet tea- okay, I know this is a drink and not a vegetable, but this was a treat until I went to college. Sweet tea was for when I was sick, special occasions, or after we had a glass of milk and THEN a glass of water at supper and...

I'm getting old. There are certain little rituals that remind me of that. Like pulling the tithe envelope out of the box, and tossing the unused weeks of the previous month away. That screams to me how quickly time is passing. And yesterday, it was the pre-spring annual pruning of the grapevines. Didn't I just do this a few weeks ago? before     after     the vine the branches and the pruning tears But not all of spring's arrival is weepy!  Here's one of my favorite parts that arrived today: the Easter Eggers (Americana/Auracana mixed)...ALL hens! (as opposed to the "straight run" boxes I bought at the chicken auction, where at least 6 of 10 in one box turned out to be roosters!!)

I start this week with a warped mindset. I think of Japan, and its disaster, hear from missionaries who impacted my life so many years ago, see the devastation, and yet my life is still in its orderly orbit. I enjoyed a weekend full of sweet fellowship with many people, and yet am ready for the semi-quiet of today. I struggle with how to instruct a young sis in some things, knowing that sometimes lessons are best learned from the Holy Spirit and the Word, and not the admonitions of sinning saints. And I want a Dr. Pepper. I have a whole container in my refrigerator, bought before my husband dared me to take the Lent challenge and give them up the 40 days before Easter. Day 6 and still Pepper free, but I know they are there. And my taste buds would really enjoy one.  And it hasn't helped my acne any. Does God really care whether or not I drink my favorite soft drink? Or is it more the matter of discipline and sacrifice, of trying to strengthen my quickly dilapidating earthly...

I really enjoy music. All kinds. But here is one of my new favorites, by Francesca Battistelli.

While in college, between long hours standing and working on concrete floors and sitting with my legs tucked under me, my ankles began looking old.  In other words, I have very nice varicose veins. I started trying to break my habit of tucking a leg under me while I sat, and ended up with crossing my ankles tucked behind me at a chair or desk.  That's not the best posture, either. In the last five years, between extreme computer usage, stretching, and old age, I've managed to develop a neck/shoulder muscle that has become quite temperamental. Stretch the wrong way in the morning? It might ball up in a fury, making it impossible to turn my head. Bend over and pick up a skillet to cook breakfast after a few long days? Stand up and almost be unable to move. Stretch while at the computer and keep typing for an hour?  I can move this time, but ibuprofen gel caps have become my second best friend. So in the midst of all this, I've had a lot to do. Things that require feelin...

I guess I'm just a square kind of girl.  You can have a square with slightly rounded edges, but if you round off too much then you're no longer a square. And a circle can be smushed or stretched into an oval, but it can never become a square no matter how much you dismember it because it has no edges. That's just the way it is. So imagine my shock and consternation to read an article in last week's paper about the "vegetarian" dilemma.  Evidently there are many people who prefer to eat a vegetarian diet, but will occasionally eat meat (whether because they just want to, they can't afford to eat meat all the time, etc).  And you know, what? That's fine with me. But evidently it's created quite a problem in the vegetarian camp. Eat meat? Don't use the vegetarian label.  But the "I eat veggies 98% of the time" proclaim "Not so fast." They've named themselves flexitarians. My first thought on reading this article was ...

 The entire quilt.  With an exception of the printed square fabric in the middle, everything else is made up of small squares.  The blue fabric in a typical design you find in Chinese buildings. And the quilted scallop pattern...reminds me of old Chinese tiled roofs.  What is really cool to me is that most of these are not in the "Asian fabrics" collections.  You have about three Asian patterns in the squares, and the rest are simply complementary colors and prints.  Very resourceful and economical, yet doesn't detract from the overall Asian pattern in the least. And the center piece - the Chinese dragon. I was always amazed at how they resembled serpents to me. They would laugh whenever foreigners seemed surprised and would remark, "Dragons are not the mystical beasts you Westerners make them out to be."  Reminds me of the passages in Psalm that talk about sea serpents and leviathans and creatures of the deep. This was one of my many favorite quil...

 Okay, I recognize this is not a quilt. I was so surprised to find a doll exhibit! There were also clothes on display, which I didn't stop to look at. But the dolls...they were interesting!  I've always wondered why anyone would buy a Christmas quilt to only use for one month.  But this is a Christmas quilt that you could leave out for many months and people might not think anything about it because it has so much pink in it.  I don't think I've ever seen that before.  And this is a "Block of the Month" quilt (where you agree to have your credit card charged every month and they send you all the stuff needed for one block every month until you've finished the quilt). This was one wasn't part of the exhibits but was actually on the back of a vendor's display (hoping you'd sign up!).  This probably should have gone under geometric designs or landscape/portrait designs. I like both the piecing and the quilting in this.  Just shapes, really. AND....

One of the things I don't care for in some artwork is politics. I know that "good" artwork is supposed to make you think and feel things, but quite honestly, if I see an offensive or repulsive piece, I simply bypass it. Several quilts exhibitions at the show were based on the themes of racism and homelessness. I only took a picture of one of the "nicer" ones I found offensive, and many of the racism-themed ones I simply didn't look at. On the return trip home I heard that there was one that offended so many people it actually made the Hampton news. A Latino quilter had printed symbols and words she has been called that she found offensive, and many people found the quilt offensive, thinking it was belittling Latinos. I don't remember seeing that one. Some of the others on racism aren't really offensive, just not my thing. And the quilt of a naked woman that had three snakes coming out of her breast, I didn't even read the card to see what that on...

 While the total look of this quilt might not be traditional, the piecing and applique is. The checkered blocks, the flying geese (the triangles), and layered applique to create a flower, plus the simple line quilting stitches would qualify this quilt as traditional (in my humble, but often wrong opinion).  To me, this is gorgeous. While it's machine quilted, it's traditional in the sense that it's a plain color fabric and the design is all in the stitching. Even the green leaf is created by stitches with a green thread. I think this type of quilting is beautiful because it shows off the quilter's handiwork and not their math or patience skills. The above quilt (this is the lower 1/4) mixes two traditional quilt styles.  The wholecloth quilt (like the first rose you saw) is where you take one fabric and use the one color of thread and the entire quilt is simply stitching...no piecing or applique. The little bit of color you see to the left (which intersected the quilt...