To Mull

Mull: verb. Mull over, ponder, pore over, consider, reflect on, deliberate, think about for a while, give thought to, study, meditate, weigh, ruminate.

Here are my Monday Mullings for July 20, 2009.

***

I do love when the post arrives. On Friday, I made a trip to the post office to pick up a package from my friend, Kim. Inside was my Pay It Forward prize and I had such fun opening everything. I saw the collage first on Kim’s blog. I loved it there and I love it even more in person. The birds and the bees in a garden with a kitty. Couldn’t be more perfect. (Kim said she couldn’t get the thought of Musashi’s Garden out of her mind).



The meditation string of beads is in my pocket. She based them on the 17 bead bookmark she saw at the Daily Om. Every time I touch the beads (each one different), I smile and spread a little joy out into the universe.



Thank you so very much, Kim. Everything is perfect and sooooooo me! You aren’t late. Everything in its own time and I get to celebrate a little more, my good fortune in knowing you.

***

Do you remember where you were when Apollo 11 landed on the moon? I was at university. I do remember watching and crying and being amazed that we were on the moon. Amazed that we got the men there and we got them back home -- all in one piece. The whole world seemed to hold it’s breath and watched as one, the trip to the moon.

I watch each and every shuttle launch and watch the NASA channel to see what the latest news is or to watch a space walk. We seem to take so much for granted now. Everything is old hat. Where’s the joy, the imagination, the knowledge, the excitement, the fascination that life seemed to have *way back then*?! Was going to the moon the last frontier and now there is no interest in science or space? Ruminate on that!

There was a lot going on in 1969. The Jets won the Superbowl and the Mets won the World Series. Nixon was sworn in as president. The Beatles’ had their last public concert. Golda Meir became Prime Minister of Israel. The premiere of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In was in 1969. That’s just a few of the happenings in 1969.

***

It is still hot. The weathermen promised us rain. Actually, I believe they said 60 percent chance for two days and then chances would lessen. Well, we got one day of a 20 minute gully washer. In other words, didn’t do much good. We need a day long, soaking rain. I’m afraid I may have to resort to a rain dance. Not pretty.

***

You might have noticed on other Mondays, I have said prayers for Ann Marie and Cydney Marie. I am happy to report that after 14+ weeks in the hospital Ann Marie, by C-Section, gave birth to Cydney Marie on July 17 (also Ann Marie’s birthday). The story of Cydney Marie and her big brother, Coy is an amazing one and I invite you to visit their blog to read more.

***

The piglets are finished. Mrs. Piggy and the little ones will be traveling to California this week for a birthday celebration at the end of the month.

***

I haven’t decided what to read next. I finished The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz and really enjoyed reading this novel. Here’s info from the back cover: “In 1959, a young woman, Haruko, marries the Crown Prince of Japan. She is the first non-aristocratic woman to enter the mysterious, hermetic monarchy. Met with cruelty and suspicion by the Empress, Haruko is controlled at every turn, suffering a nervous breakdown after finally giving birth to a son. Thirty years later, now Empress herself, she plays a crucial role in persuading another young woman to accept the marriage proposal of her son, with tragic consequences.”

***

On the calendar I have a dermatology appointment and we have an Astros baseball game. Still trying to stay cool!

***

I’ll leave you with this picture thought:

From The Stitchery

I am thankful for another day on beautiful Mother Earth.

Have a beautiful week.

Joy to You!

A Simple Woman's Daybook

Simple Woman’s Daybook

For Today...July 13, 2009

Outside my window... the sun is shining brightly. Not a cloud in the sky.

I am thinking...that I’d better get a move on. Off to the gym.

I am thankful for...another day on Mother Earth.

From the kitchen...bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. Still using home grown tomatoes. It has amazed both of us how long our tomatoes have lasted on our balcony in all this heat. They came to an end today when I picked the last one.

I am wearing...my standard gym clothes - red shorts, gray Planet Hollywood T-shirt, tennis shoes

I am reading... Miss Julia Takes Over by Ann B. Ross. This is the second book in the Miss Julia series. It is a southern cozy with just a little bit of mystery. Quoting from Publishers Weekly “Imagine Aunt Bee from the Andy Griffith Show with a lot more backbone and confidence and drop her smack in the middle of a humorous, rollicking plot akin to that of the movie Smokey and the Bandit and you have the tone and pace of Ross’s entertaining second novel.” What’s funny -- Ross’s characters remind of people I know (or have heard about)! Great summer reading and I have 8 more in the series before I’m caught up.

I am hoping...for a break in the heat! We did have some rain last week -- one day when it rained in the morning, stayed cloudy, and broke the heat advisory (feels like temperatures are between 105-110 degrees F. or more). Wish the high pressure would move on down the road!

I am creating...Mrs. Piggy is finished (crochet), but I have to get some more yarn to finish up the little piglets. Here’s the finished Mrs. Piggy. Piglet photos to follow when they are done.

I wanted to make sure you saw her tail. She makes me laugh out loud!

I am praying... for Anne Marie and Cydney Marie, Jean and Carol

Around the house... it’s too quiet! I wonder what the kitties are doing? Mr. Dragon has feed the birds -- I can hear them outside talking to each other (Mr. Dragon and the birds).

One of my favorite things...rain!

A few plans for the rest of the week...staying cool is big on the list. I need to get to Sam’s Club. Make a dermatology appointment. Mr. Dragon has two more color pencil workshops. I need more pink yarn to finish the piglets -- Michaels here I come. Otherwise, stay at home and stay cool.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...I’ve always had a fondness for Mary Engelbreit and this card was in my mail this week from my Saurian Sister in California.

To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman’s Daybook. While Peggy is on summer vacation, more Daybook posts can be found at Grandmother Wren’s

Potpourri

It's Friday! Hope your week was busy, educational and fun!
Here's my journal page for the day.
Ms. Purrrrfect and Friend.
The question is:
Who is Ms Purrrrfect and who is the friend?!!

I love the words: curiosity is necessary to human nature, and especially
to you...
Also the words power and secret.
Wonder what message I was sending myself?
Whatever it is, I like it!
The kitty on the page is our Teddy and the lady can be seen at the
Seattle Museum of Art.

My gifts to Maria-Therese finally made their way out of customs.
The scarf arrived and you can see how it looks on the beautiful Maria-Therese
by visiting her here. Also, you can see the surprise that I included!

While I was reading blogs yesterday, catching up on visiting my
blogging buddies, I noticed that almost all of them had gone shopping.
Well, not to be outdone, I went to Michaels and bought some
more embroidery thread. You'd think by the looks of the picture above
that I had enough thread. NOPE. I needed three different shades of purple,
brown and yellow. I thought the thread made another nice shot
of color!

For those you who enjoy decorating blogs, antiques ...
Eddie Ross is having a give-away of berry spoons.
Click here if you are interested.
I love berries and I signed up!

One more thing: I mentioned the blog camp on the Blog of the Week post.
Here's a link to a separate blog devoted to Blog Camp!

Just a note about Blogoversaries: mine is in 27 days.
My birthday is several days before the anniversary.
I thought about 10 days before *B* day, I'd announce a give-a-way.
There will be three prizes: one for the 100th post (long ago),
one for the anniversary,
and one for my birthday.
Stay tuned!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Pay It Forward

Look what arrived in the mail!

All the way from Sweden from my dear friend Maria-Thérèse!

One of the things I enjoy the most about Pay It Forward
is the nice things I can say about my friends and their blogs!
I can *show case* their work and urge YOU
to go and visit!

I posted the above on the bulletin board at work!

Just look at all the goodies that arrived!
Cards and mini journals...

Aren't they beautiful?!!!!

The rose is one of my favorite photos at Afiori.
It is already in a frame and lives in my bedroom.
(Mr. Dragon likes it, too!)

The scarf is finished.
The body is knit in a fan pattern.
The flower is crochet.

The pink and purple shawl is all finished, too.
All crochet.

I'm packaging both of these up with an extra surprise.
They'll be in the mail, with a little luck, tomorrow!

Potpourri

It's Friday so it must be Potpourri time! I'm going to start with the latest, finished, journal page I call TO DO. Everyday, I should do the following: Dance, light a candle, hum or sing a tune, have a cup of tea, listen to the birds, smell a flower and give someone a hug. Good thing Mr. Dragon likes hugs! Dancing came from a Tut note from the universe -- that I was to add *do a little dance* to my To Do list. There you go ... TO DO EVERY DAY!

Here's the TO DO page with its buddy, TAKE 5.

Pay attention. Listen. Take a few minutes for myself every day.

Things are moving at a little slower pace around here.
I finished one of my year long projects this last Thursday.
I decided it was time I sat down and started thinking about Pay It Forward.
Just what will I make for these two lovely ladies?
I asked Berry Chocolate Pie for her help.
She was more than willing!

Miss Pie and I looked in my yarn stash.
She loved this Homespun yarn by Lion Brand.
It's so cuddly and the color was certainly hers!

She helped me look through this pattern book for ideas.
We both are in a spring time mood.

Perhaps a scarf with flowers.
But which one?

This one?

Maybe this one?

Or a combination?

I ran across this pattern from Knit Picks while searching.
Three scarf patterns all knitted at once!

Oh, my. This looks like it is almost finished!

Miss Pie and I came up with some good ideas and some surprises
for Pay It Forward. I'm going to have some fun and
I think the ladies will have some fun, too.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Do a little DANCE!

It's Done!

The lap afghan was finished just in time for a cold day at Minute Maid Park.
(In case anyone wonders, our Owls won all three baseball games last weekend.)

I plan on making several more lap afghans.
They are just handy!

I've talked about some of our *tribe* members in other posts.
Here is a frame that my favorite niece made.
Her mother (one of my best buddies and one of my chosen sisters) went to visit and
came back with the frame for me. K is a wonderful artist and unfortunately
doesn't have the time right now to spend on her art. Her husband
is a marvelous photographer. K and Z have a new home
and a baby on the way.
They have a blog OUR TIMES. Go by and say *Hello! Your Auntie sent me!*

Back to the frame! I couldn't decide what picture to put in the frame. Then I thought
that I had been hanging on to a picture of K and Z, just waiting for the perfect frame and voila. This has to be the perfect one!
Here they are -- mom and dad to be -- precious members of our tribe.

The frame wasn't the only surprise in the bag.
K made these wonderful note cards
in two different sizes.
They are mixed media with stamping and collage.

Aren't they great?!!!

I love note cards and I love that she made these for me.

Happy Tuesday everyone!
I hope the sun is shining brightly wherever you are and there is a smile on your face!

Yarn Work and Links!

I've had a cold. I could hire myself out as a fog horn when I have a cold. I feel sorry for myself, too. I'm feeling much better now and thank all of you for your good wishes for a quick recovery. I put my *down time* to good use. Got some reading done (saving the books for another post) and finished the baby afghan for my niece. I used up all the yarn I had in my *baby* stash, too. That means I get to buy more yarn! You can't have enough yarn!

The baby afghan is ready to be washed and blocked.

Then I started another crochet project. (For those who may be wondering -- the lacey stole is still in the closet!) Mr. Dragon really likes how this one is going/looking. I'm making a lap afghan. Most folks make their lap afghans for football season. I'm making ours for baseball season! College baseball starts this month. They started practice on February 1 (that's also for another post) and we were there! It will be cold for awhile at the beginning of the season and we will be happy to have a little lap comfort! I just need to crochet faster! I have changed the pattern up a little since this picture was taken. I like the puffs or bobbles, but the triangular shaped *things* made my fingers hurt -- so listening to the old arthritis, I changed the pattern a little. I like how it looks and I think you will, too. I'll share when the afghan is a little further along. Anyway, it has passed the Mr. Dragon test with a *golly, that's cool looking*.



I've been trying to keep up with the gypsy caravan at One World One Heart. Lisa now has at least (when I last checked) 880 participants! WOW! I've tried to visit all of the blogs at least once - quickly. Now I am working my way through them again and this time really trying to stop awhile, visit, and read. In the process I've added a few blogs to Link Mania and would like to give you links on this post for a few of them.

A Scrapbook of Inspiration is the first one. You must go visit Karen Harvey Cox. You'll find beautiful pictures, wonderful words, artwork to knock your socks off and soothing music. A real treat!

Next is my new friend Sarah and her family at Cottage Garden Studio. They are sweet young things! Go have a cup of tea with Sarah, read her blog, look at her pretties and say hello. You'll be glad you did.

I love monsters and Nicole at Mealy Monster Land is the place to visit. You'll smile all the way through. What talented people these doll artists are!

Lastly, you must spend some time at Shibori Girl. You'll find a little bit of everything here. Art. Food. Sunday is What's Cooking Sunday with good recipes! Enjoy!

If you visit any of my new friends, please tell them you saw them here first!

Thank you. Come again.
Have a wonderful, germ free day!
Achoo!

Creative Weekend

I had a creative weekend that I hope will continue into the week. With dark, cloudy, cold weather, it is the perfect time to stay indoors and play! I had a dream. It was about my favorite niece (the daughter of one of my best buddies). Then I got an email from her Mom telling me my dream was right on. So I hit my stash of baby yarn.

Stash of Yarn

This is what I have so far. Sort of an afghan jigsaw puzzle! Granny squares in different sizes all put together. I figured when I ran out of yarn in one color, I'd just continue on with another. What do you think? It is so soft. I'm having fun with it, but am sad that I put up the lacy stole once again!

Sunday I decided it was time to put together a journal. I have lots of composition books and thought I could recycle them into a journal. I hate to go out and buy some more paper. I love paper and between Mr. Dragon and me -- we are being overrun by art paper! I'm making a list of things to order from Dick Blick. Mr. Dragon will start another art class at the end of the month and between the two of us I'm sure we'll have a nice size order.

So I pasted pages together on Sunday. And pasted. And pasted.

If this works out, I'm going to make a cover like one that was in this month's
Cloth, Paper, Scissors
from an old embroidered dish towel.
Recycle, Recycle, Recycle!

This is what I worked on this (Monday) morning. Sorry about the picture. Someday the scanner will be working! My word for the year is Listen. I need to listen FULLY. I think I'm a good listener, but sometimes I respond too quickly -- sort of miss the real point -- if you know what I mean! I also need to listen to what the universe is telling me -- or hitting me over the head. Yo! Girl! Listen up! The word for the month of January is PLAY (thanks Leah). The little birds have musical notes on their bodies. I'm happy with my first page and it was FUN!

Handmade Christmas

How about some handmade (crochet) Christmas potholders?

Christmas Tree

Stocking

Wreath

Poinsettia

I think the wreath is my favorite. They are doubled making them extra thick. I think they will look very nice on the table this Christmas. Those of you who are looking for your box from Twisty Lane, don't read this post! The patterns are available from The Crochet Village and Annies Attic.

Crochet, Mixed-Media, Free Patterns!

Let's start with the free patterns! Caron yarns is celebrating Christmas with a Twelve Days of Christmas email. Each day for twelve days they are sending out a free knit or crochet pattern. The first pattern was for a red stocking for the front door. Hurry over and sign up for the newsletter and start receiving these patterns. The Connections archives are at the bottom of the page and you can find the first of the Twelve Days of Christmas patterns there. Enjoy!




The Gwendolyn dolls are finished. I made the red/orange one first. Then the blue/purple big sister. Same pattern (Gwendolyn), but with some hook size changes. I didn't put an edging on the little sister skirt, but I did on big sister so you really see her pantaloons. Their eyes are black faceted plastic beads -- cheaper than buttons and easier to find. They were a lot of fun to make and I think my little girls in California will enjoy them.




Listen With Your Heart is finally finished. I took the background class with Paulette Insall, Hurricane Ike came ashore, then the destruction/construction/painters were busy and all the art work, art supplies, craft stuff, yarn -- was under plastic -- some still is. Our part of the painting of the walls isn't finished. Mr. Dragon had to set up a studio in the wash room on top of the washer and dryer to get his homework for his art class done.

I'm very happy with Listen With Your Heart. The background is a little busy, but that's okay. With my notes from Paulette's class and this piece, I will remember all the things I learned! I'm ready for the next project already making its way around my little gray cells, but it will have to wait. Girls Day is coming up this week. Finally! I'm getting together with my two best buddies to craft, bead, paint and shop. Yipppeeee!

TNC and AEDM

I guess your first questions are what is TNC and AEDM. TNC is The Next Chapter where the group is reading and discussing Soul Coaching by Denise Linn. AEDM is Art Every Day Month - a group the lovely Leah from Creative Every Day put together to get us motivated to be creative. I signed up for both of these groups with the best of intentions, but life (or the universe) sometimes interrupts what we think we would rather be doing. I tend to listen to the universe or I get a headache! So, when the contractor called and said they could begin repairing the damage from Hurricane Ike, we said come on.



Here's a picture of one of the walls that had the drywall and insulation removed after getting wet from Ike.


The two humans (Mr. and Mrs. Dragon) and the fur babies are the only things not covered by plastic or dry wall dust. YUCK. But, things will get back to normal (whatever that is) and we will have a new paint job in the living and dining rooms. We will take the opportunity to clear the clutter (one of those Soul Coaching suggestions) and really clean the house (more Soul Coaching). We've been spending a lot of time on our balcony listening to the birds and watching the squirrels (Soul Coaching again) while the dust and dry wall fly inside the house. Guess I've been more with the TNC group than I first thought. I'm just doing things in a slightly different order!


One of the suggestions in Soul Coaching is to set up an altar. We have two altars in the house. One large one near the front door (covered in plastic) and this small one in the bedroom. I love the St. Francis. He reminds me of nature -- animals -- birds -- that we are all in this adventure together. The candles are ritual candles -- one for health and one for my guardian angel. There is a small piece of obsidian on the table -- a gift from a dear friend of some 40 years -- to remind me of the earth and to keep this Gemini grounded. Also on the table a small tag that says Bless My Cat.


As for AEDM -- I haven't finished the collage I started in the organic background class I took with Paulette Insall. You guessed it -- all my supplies and working area are under plastic. However, I did pull the canvas out and placed on my focal points. The Buddha is a photo we took in Maui many years ago and the lotus is from clip art. They are both just sitting on the canvas as I decide if this is the final placement. I will have a few words on the canvas: Listen With Your Heart.


And I am crocheting dolls for my two little girls in California. Aren't they cute?! They were designed by the same woman who designed the Favrielle dolls. My fingers are itching.