Category: Sometimes Mondays

sometimes mondays | 1.13.20 …

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…  are a return to quilting

… This dynamic quilt is anther area quilt group’s 2020 Raffle Quilt, brought to our quilt meeting for display and to sell tickets: – 6 chances for $5. Yep, I bought a few chances…

… Every two years, we have our three-days’ quilt show; this is the beginning of our 2021 Raffle Quilt. We, the members, stitch the blocks and then a committee assembles all into one quilt. I have two blocks to assemble and stitch ….

… My quilt  group’s current president made this Baltimore Album Quilt for her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. The little quilted book  in the middle row, center block, includes their wedding day photo. Her parents are now deceased but she said the quilt was on their bed for years. She hand quilted the white background.

… Lunch at Nordstrom:

Today’s special: Winter Salad, a mix of organic baby greens, kale, all natural blackened chicken, roasted sweet potato, salted pecans, goat cheese and white balsamic honey plus a cup of Roma Tomato Basil soup and a Rustic cheddar chive biscuit. Yummy! The best part: doggie bag for later!

Cheers~

 

… Post Script:

Monday’s blog post: published Tuesday.  I had drafted this post during lunch and planned to publish when I got home. On my way home, I stopped at an art shop and turned on my phone (no text messages while I’m driving) to find a flurry of  35 text messages from my sister and nieces: My sister was in the hospital – flu? Turns out no – a kidney stone. Passed. Thankfully. She’s home and maybe a little worse for the wear but doing well! Whew!

sometimes mondays | 1.6.20 …

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… are bright, sunny, even tho’ a tad bit cool (temp range 37° to 47°) , and just perfect for a brisk mid-afternoon walk on my favorite route: through the neighborhood park.

During MSQT, I played a bit with watercolor pencils and made a quick drawing of the sky and a tree. I hadn’t used the Watercolor app in sometime so I thought it’d be fun to revisit. Me thinks I’ll play some more, a lots more…

Preset Style = Bold Lightness = Auto-Exposure Size = Medium Border = No Border

The dryer just shut off – a signal that laundry (an all day affair, it seems) is done…and time for dinner before I wind down for the evening. Tomorrow’s another day and there will be left-overs from today’s agenda plus new items that need my attention…

Cheers~

 

sometimes mondays | 12.16.19…

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… are cold, wet – both rain and snow; a great jammies day; and rest and relaxation -especially since I’m plumb tuckered out from yesterday’s Christmas make-n-take tree ornaments’ party with 5 kiddies, 4 boys and 1 girl, ages 7, 5, 3, 2 and 1! This is the back story:

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When Dolly was 5 – 33 years ago – I had a similar party for her and three other little girls so their mamas could do a little unencumbered holiday shopping and have a few moments of peace ;-)). My mom was alive then and the two of us had a grand time planning, preparing and playing with the little girls – who also had a grand time making the crafts and being five! One of the crafts they made was a cloth angel (in center of photo) stuffed with cotton and simply tied with package-wrap ribbon. I still have the angel…and Dolly has the memories.

Fast forward to now: Dolly wanted to have a similar party (for Chris, Elias and her very. best friend’s three kids) and asked if I would host it; of course, I said yes and yes, I’d provide the craft experience and supplies. Top of the list: cloth angels.Yesterday was the party. And to that, we (Chris – my niece – and I ) also helped (made) elf ornaments.

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The two older boys, Din (7) and Chris (5), made angels and elves with the help of their moms and me… tho’ Din spent a goodly amount of time coloring a picture he drew on newsprint with magic marker crayons. The 3 year old and Elias, 2 years, played, mais oui, and the littlest, the girl who just had her first birthday Nov 16, mostly sat on her dad’s lap. The two moms, nieces Chris and Kayla and I were run ragged by the two younger boys; that Elias is a mover and strong. Norman, my sister and the best.friend’s husband solved all the world’s problems…

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All good things come to an end as did this day. Time for the kiddies to go home for bed and the adults, to collapse. I’m sure we all will remember the day with fond memories and who knows, maybe the little girl will recreate the day when she’s all grown with children or grands, too.

… are a great day for memories.

Cheers~

sometimes mondays | 12.9.19…

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… come around sooner than expected…hmmm, let me see, last Monday, the last day I blogged, I noted the weather was cold and windy; today it is cold, windy and wet! I wondered what the week was to bring; it was busy!

  • I pulled out Christmas stuff and decorated the living room except for the tree. We need a new one… and we need to have a meeting of the minds: I want real. Need I say more?
  • Saturday’s house tour was fun. Most of the 7 houses on the list were owned by young couples, with one or two preschoolers. It’s always interesting to see current trends and how people decorate their homes. Horizontal chandeliers (with 3-5 individual lamps) and beaucoup (5-8 ) pillows on the bed seemed to be the décor of the day.
  • I only attended one concert – yesterday – Handel’s Messiah. Superb!

Today was my quilting group’s annual holiday potluck luncheon; everything was good. Entertainment consisted of our singing two songs about quilting – one sung to Let It Snow and the other, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – and solving the holiday word scramble (pictured above). Have fun!

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This photo was taken at one of the houses; of course I couldn’t resist!

 

sometimes mondays | 12.2.19 …

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… are super quiet, primarily because it’s so durn cold out. Despite a 42° F temperature, clouds, 78% humidity and winds NW 10 mph make it feel more like 36° F… I’m glad I had no reason to go out… and I didn’t, not even to my regular Monday quilting meeting.*

I have used most of this cold and quiet day purging paper: old receipts; statements; notes written on any available piece of paper (that was before I began to make a conscious effort to eliminate that bad habit ), etc. And taking time out to reflect on some of the things on this day for which I am grateful:

  • tea this morning in my Scotty dog Christmas mug  – given to me by a friend of many decades, many decades ago;
  • the scent of my morning candle;
  • the luscious color of this week’s bouquet of alstroemeria: a deep red;
  • the warmth of the hearth and the fact that I didn’t need to go out;
  • tackling the looong overdue paper purge job.

This week is shaping up to be quite busy: two concerts, a house tour plus the added activity of preparing for Christmas…and, other than the Scotty dog mug, not a single bit of Christmas has been pulled out of storage.  So, to my list above, I add a big

  • gratitude to Mother Nature. Today’s weather gave me the space to take a deep breath and tackle a project that’s been on the agenda for way too long. I am energized.

Cheers~

 

* I fell asleep last night watching Hallmark Christmas movies and awoke about 1:20 am – then went to bed!

 

 

 

 

ode to my mug …

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~11 may  2014~

All good things come to an end and this morning, my beloved ceramic tea mug*  bit the dust. I’d washed the cup in the dishwasher and emptying said, picked up the mug, out of the top rack, by its silicone sleeve whereby the mug slid out, landing on the granite counter – of course! Result: the rim of the cup chipped on two sides – opposite, mais oui! – thereby rendering the cup useless.

A quick web search this morning yielded many replacements but none quite measure up. A while back, I bought a similar mug from IKEA and it seems to come closest to the real thing! With Christmas coming – just 30 days away – I will soon be using my fave Scotty Dog mug – best for hot tea and hot chocolate – until I find a suitable replacement or Santa brings a new mug.

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In every cloud, there is indeed a silver lining; a post for today plus a zillion – I exaggerate a wee bit – mug shots (pun intended) above, taken over the years, through all seasons, morning, noon, and night. Seldom has my mug been beyond arm’s reach. I suspect the mug is still serviceable as a pen/pencil holder. I’ll consider.

Cheers~

 

*gifted to me by my dear friend Linda in Oregon, May 2014.

sometimes mondays | 10.28.19 …

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This photo, tho’ actually taken, Friday 25 October@ sunrise: 7:19 a.m. EST, was almost replicated this day, Monday 28 October, @ sunrise: 7:30 a.m. EST. This morning I did not take a sunrise photo because:

  • a) I knew I already had the above in my photos collection … or
  • b) I was too preoccupied with setting up for an 8:30 am online weekly planning session … or
  • c) ’cause just minutes before today’s sunrise I’d read these words in Ryan Holiday’s new book: Stillness is the Key , p 26:

“Even during a quiet evening at home, all we’re thinking about is the list of improvements that need to be made. There may be a beautiful sunset* but instead of taking it in, we’re taking a picture of it.” 

That passage stopped me, caused me to think: Can one take too many sunrise/sunset pictures? Am I indeed guilty?

And yes, I am! Why? Because

  • it’s not only what you do – take a picture in this always have a camera phone age but also…
  • perhaps it might be my last, ever…
  • because it is so glorious, so wondrous!

So, I concluded,  I would continue to take sunrise/sunset photos for as long as I can  because its a way of tangibly experiencing, appreciating and sharing the awe, promise of a new day, of giving gratitude …

Cheers~

*or sunrise

sometimes monday| 10.14.19 …

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October’s full Hunter Moon at 7:20 am today

…comes on the heels of a busy, busy weekend that began Thursday:

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…Hostess Hilary of my Thursday Stitching group served us “high tea,” inspired by our afternoon the  previous Thursday at the movie, Downton Abbey…

… an unplanned trip Friday to the Honda dealer to have my car’s lane signaler checked – it wasn’t working…fortunately, all things checked out A-OK. The dealership provides a courtesy shuttle within a 5 mile radius so I went to IKEA and had breakfast while I waited…

… Saturday, Cissy  (my niece/namesake) and I went to the opening of the Met Live in HD 2019-2010 season, Puccini’s Turandot; c’est magnifique …

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… Sunday, Friendstitchin’ day, a tad early this month. We celebrated Margaret’s birthday with a delicious brunch: shrimp + crab salad; a huge assortment of cookies, made by our resident cookie baker, Michelle. And oh yes, champagne for the occasion. Despite all the good food, each of us was also productive…

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… slowly, the leaves on the maple trees are changing colors. I think it’s really Fall, yall …

Cheers~

sometimes mondays | 10.7.19 …

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this is week # 41 of 2019…and if you are like me, you are wondering where did the time go? During this year, for ten weeks of each season, I’ve begun and ended the work week, Mon -Fri, with two online journaling practice activities: Mindful Monday and Journal Club. Created and facilitated by Jamie Ridler  (more here), I find both to be great grounding activities as well as being fun and insightful. This morning I couldn’t find my earbuds (stuck in my shirt pocket from yesterday’s walk, natch), so I was a tad discombobulated … but my frazzled nerves were calmed by our opening  meditation session.

after Mindful Monday, I drove to my weekly quilting group meeting. on the way, I stopped at Starbucks for a cuppa decaf with pumpkin spice… they had no decaf coffee and it was going to take at least 5 min to brew. I think I was a tad chagrinned… after the meeting, I decided to treat myself to lunch at Nordstrom since I’d not been all summer. My meal: shrimp arugula salad and tomato bisque soup was delish and filling… in fact, half  of the salad came home with me. by the end of the meal, my nerves were no longer frazzled so I decided to walk around a bit – as I was also looking for a birthday present. I didn’t find a present but I did discover a new store, pictured above! quite dramatic.

and that’s the way it was this monday. oh, and by the way, I did finally have a decaf coffee with pumpkin spice at Nordstrom; coffee was brewed…

cheers~