Here’s the cover of my little book unless I change my mind (again).
That is all for today. Send me happy graphic design wishes. I’ve got 3 more photo family trees to design today.
We have a little cousin staying with us for a while. He is a great companion for the boys so perhaps they won’t notice that I’m a bit busy today.
Today Mark came up to me as I sat typing at one of two desks I have jammed together with three computer screens to navigate my final steps in the book I am writing and asked with a little trepidation, “What’s your NEXT big project?”
He continued, “I mean, you had your quilt, and now the book. What’s next?”
I wished that I could tell him, NO MORE PROJECTS this month, but I can’t. I just got a new calling at church and it’s going to take some time to get situated. At least I still get to work with the Young Women. But I don’t want to talk about that now.
I took the afternoon off and we all played Scrabble on my bed. This evening, we snuggled and read some more of The Hobbit. It’s taken some time to get back to the way I used to feel with the kids before I sent them to public school. We’re comfortable again, and the school stress is being held at bay by a big dose of denial clothed in the idea that summer isn’t coming to a hasty end. Daniel’s camping in the woods all week, produce from gardens keeps showing up at our house, and the kids are sleeping in.
My “book” is the memoir of my grandmother that I was trying to finish in April. It’s 100 pages and I am finally feeling happy about the writing which I have worked so hard to craft into a readable narrative instead of a choppy collection of disjointed ideas from my notes.
I wrote the introduction this weekend and I began to list all of the people who have worked on different aspects of the project, from scanning photos, collecting genealogical information, saving and writing letters, to collecting keepsakes and documents. This family has been saving memories for over 100 years and I’m attempting to bring it all together. So many hands, a good amount of disappointment, and long hours have been the price to make a tribute to my grandmother and her ancestors.
I worry that it won’t be read and cherished. Writing with my heart has made me feel vulnerable. I want it to be appreciated, but I suppose no one will love it in the same way I do. Perhaps that’s okay, though; my relationship with the story is the gift it gives back to me.
My friend spent 3 hours standing as she tended my quilt while her machine made row after row of roses across the fabric. That’s a nice person.
I realize that quilt posts are probably boring, but lately I’ve got nothing to give to this blog. Life is like that sometimes.
…Church magazines for August arrive before you even open the July magazines.
…last Monday feels like 6 months ago.
…the carpet begins to get dirty from all of the barefoot adventures in the backyard.
Happy day to you!
I have learned a lot from the ladies in my neighborhood quilting group. I have very little quilting experience and I am surrounded by women who can whip out a quilt in an afternoon. There are even some purists in the group who make their quilts entirely by hand. I slink in the door and dine on the scraps of their skill and inspiration.
I read that the “Disappearing Nine-patch” (the pattern of my quilt) is a Novice pattern, which is even easier than a Beginner pattern. With that information to quell my pride in the project, I finished sewing my quilt and I’m having it quilted on a friend’s machine on Thursday. Hooray for me!
I think the kids will remember the night we brought home our new tent trailer and let them sleep in it in the backyard. I think they might also remember that I read aloud from The Hobbit that night, and it just happened to be the chapter with Gollum and Bilbo doing riddles in the dark. I did my best to do a worthy Gollum voice. Good times.
We spent a day up in the mountains this week with some of Richard’s siblings and his dad. We sat by the creek and rode motorcycles. When we reached the meadow, I sang the entire Sound of Music song because I felt like it. We found flowers, insects, and colored glass. It rained on us and it smelled heavenly.
We have been on a small family vacation and returned last night to some sad news. Mark’s first grade teacher, Mrs Alice Crankshaw, passed away early in July.
Mark is not upset, but has wondered aloud, “Where do you think she put the present we made for her?”
I am very sad that she is gone; we had hoped that she would be Mark’s second grade teacher. I respect her so much for the way she worked to meet Mark’s needs at school. She called us four or five times throughout the year to talk to me about things she had observed about Mark. This meant a lot to me. She welcomed me to her classroom to teach art and read with her students. I observed that she loved her students; I observed that she was very dedicated and generous.
I will remember her as a blessing in our lives because she made the transition to a new state and public school much easier to bear.
We stopped by my sister Susan’s house on the way home from the big family party at Spring Lake. We didn’t get any photos of that big family party, but it was a great July 4th celebration on the mountain. Susan and Richard’s kids were doing fireworks in their front yard and they were gracious enough to let us join them.
Tank wars with Richard J. are always fun.
The cousins had fun with sparklers. They played soccer and “bird, bird, PIG!” (Duck, duck, goose, with Angry Birds labels)
When we got home around 10:00, we discovered that our neighbors REALLY like fireworks. We were entertained by aerial fireworks for a good half hour. We pulled out a blanket and sat on our front lawn to watch. Mark went inside and got into an army costume and was immersed in his play, dodging “missiles” until bedtime.
My paint project: I’m whitening up the the basement doors and trim with semi-gloss enamel paint. It’s a bigger project than I expected, but I am loving the results so far.
My quilt project: the squares are complete. I *just* need to assemble them, do a border, select a backing, sew the backing, quilt and bind it. Quilters, do you really find this enjoyable? My mom says that it helps to have a good machine, which I don’t have, and I’m not asking for one. I am not sure I want to be a seamstress. Maybe I will change my mind when I fall in love with my completed Strawberry Shortcake quilt.
Someone said that it’s a good exercise to find out the activities that you can “get lost” doing. You lose track of the time and other thoughts when you are busy doing your special thing. For me, it’s writing and reading, but I also love to develop new skills. I want to be capable and well-read. This is how I will accomplish this today: I get up from the computer, walk downstairs and keep painting. Later, when my arm is tired, I will wash up and maybe sew a row of squares. If I do these things, I will reward myself with a little theology reading. Wish me luck.