Creative Hands Gathering

 I had the fun opportunity to once again attend the annual Creative Hands Gathering in Hagerstown, MD last weekend. I traveled with my partners in creative escapades, Kay and Pat. The Gathering is a two and a half day event fueled by one hundred attendees and wonderful vendors. It is enough to sit and stitch (or hook, or quilt) with all the other crafters and glean from their creative energy. We dine out together and talk and talk and talk. The vendors included, Primitive Homespuns and Needleworks, Teresa's Prim Treasures, The Bee and the Bear, Susan Gonzales Designs, Dianne Pierce Basketmaker, Lori Brechelin, and more. I learned from past attendance that it is too crowded to take my rug hooking. So I usually kit up some applique or stitchery to work on while I am there. This year I made a yardstick holder with wool from my stash and an appliqued mat from a kit I bought from Teresa's Prim Treasures, who was on site.

I wish I took photos of some of the  items being created while we were there. Two women were hand stitching amazing quilt squares. There were a few rugs being hooked and many beautiful embroidered pieces being stitched as well. It was a fun getaway, especially since Steve was away for work and I had been home alone anyway. Now I have a few days to catch up on house and yard in preparation for the annual workshop for my rug hooking guild. One of our excellent hooking members will be our instructor and she is staying at my house during the three day workshop. Our focus will be on creating landscapes. More on that next week!

Primitive Homespuns

 

The Bee and the Bear

My little mat from a kit at Teresa's Prim Treasures

The Bee and the Bear

Dianne Pierce Baskets. I have two of Diane's sturdy baskets for carrying supplies.

Catching Up on This and That

 I see that it is two weeks since I last wrote! Good gracious where has the time gone?! 

Tess and Blake flew to New York City and we kept their little Bok Choy here while they were away. She is so sweet and followed Steve and I wherever we went. She seems to look forward to bedtime and she watched me like a hawk each evening, waiting for me to make a move to the bedroom. Each time I made the slightest move in the my chair, she popped her head up to see if it was time for bed. She slept on the bed with me and I must say, I enjoyed her warm company.

 Aside fro the flight home, Tess and Blake had a good time in NYC. Tess is an amazing knitter and she sent this photo of her standing at the artwork that inspired the sweater she knitted. She has knit and crocheted a few things for me and I treasure them all.

 Holy week was beautiful in every way. Thursday was the Lord's Supper, Friday we attended the solemnity of Jesus's Passion, and Sunday burst forth with joy at the celebration of our risen Lord. I do love Easter!

Tess and Blake came over for brunch after church. I mostly cooked the day before. It was a frustrating day of cooking because everything I attempted to make went wrong. My sweet bread wouldn't rise, the chocolate cake spilled over the pans, and the hard boiled eggs would not peel. I made the bread over, made the cake over, and did what I could with the eggs. The one thing that turned out great was the broccoli quiche. It looked so pretty in the pottery dish. (found in a thrift store!) The crust was perfect and the cheesy filling was not overpowered with broccoli flavor. I must use this pie dish again!

Steve was away and I got a lot done around the house. I caught up on some good cleaning, mowed the lawn, weeded the asparagus bed and bought some garden plants. I worked on sewing projects and I am feeling pretty well caught up.

Pick Up Sticks and Sorting the Past

I decided to give the lawn its first cutting today. It was a chilly but otherwise beautiful day to be outside. I usually end the mowing at the top of the hill, under the swing. There were so many fallen sticks and branches up there that I had to stop mowing and pick it all up before I could continue. I took a few minutes to study the colors in the valley. I needed to consider what season to hook in my next hooked rug project. It is set to be a workshop on landscapes. After seeing all the lime greens and pinks today, I think I will choose spring. It will be fun to blend those greens and create some flowering trees. That decided, I went back to work.

 I gathered two cart-fulls of sticks and branches and unloaded them on the burn pile. Down at the burn pile, I noticed how unkempt the woodshed was so I stacked the wood that had tumbled all over the place and tidied up a bit. I went inside around 4:00 to shower and start some dinner. I noticed how stiff my legs felt stiff and was surprised that so little time outside could make me feel so ancient. Then I remembered the hike to Carvin's Cove yesterday. It was an easy hike, more of a walk in the woods really. But, we did cover four miles. I figured the muscle soreness was a fair trade for all the fresh air and work done today. I do not take this good health for granted.

I spent the rest of the evening gong through old home movies to send to Legacy Box. They had a special sale last week so I decided to finally organize and preserve all of our old VHS tapes. It took me hours to go through several not-clearly-marked tapes. I shed some tears and had some laughs at our girls antics. When they got hold of the camera, there was no telling what silliness would turn up. I sped through twenty-five years of memories. I watched Steve and I go from young and slim with no gray hair to where we are today. It was emotionally challenging. Around 11:00pm I went to bed and dreamed of old friends whose faces I saw in the videos. 

Rain is forecast for the next two days. I am in the mood for it and it will be good.

Date Night, Buchanan, VA

 

 

Almost every Friday night we go out for dinner with friends. It is rarely anything fancy. We like burgers, wings, or pizza. Last week Steve suggested we check out a little place in Buchanan called "Mrs. B.'s Restaurant and Bar" for dinner. The building has changed hands so many times over the years that we have lost track of when it was open and when it was closed. But, we like to support local businesses when we can, so off we went. We ordered our usual burgers, tater tots, quesadillas, etc. I thought my sliders and tots were very good. It was a lovely evening so we walked up to the corner and across the swinging bridge. Steve and I had never walked on it in all the years we lived here! It was pretty wiggly and a little disconcerting to try and keep my balance. After our walk we crossed Main Street and spotted a little place that sold Homestead Creamery ice cream. It is called, "James River Drip and it looked like they served easy meals too. We got cones and sat on the cement steps of a closed storefront. We wanted to linger and enjoy the mild evening while we ate our ice cream. A church friend walked by with his granddaughter and her friend on their way to the Buchanan movie theater. We all chatted and kidded around for a few minutes and then went on our way. 

It felt real pleasant to be on a small- town- America Main Street just strolling and hanging out like this. I wish Buchanan were thriving but it doesn't appear to be so. There are too many empty storefronts sprinkled among the open businesses. A new brewery recently opened on the southern end of Main Street and perhaps that will bring in some new businesses. The town sits directly on the James River. Every summer there is an old time carnival and Fourth-of-July fireworks. There is an active library and an antique shop and a few years ago they brought back the agricultural fair. There is also "Twin River Outfitters" where one can rent kayaks and enjoy the river. I think this coming weekend I will suggest the brewery for our evening out. We should keep supporting these places as long as we can.

We drove the back roads home. I especially enjoy the Blue Ridge Turnpike which is a little back road that connects Route 11 to the town of Fincastle. There are some beautiful farms along the way including this tree that I always admire. Tonight we stopped so I could take a photo. It is a magnificent tree.

 

The Next Shiny, Bright, New Thing

 

I took some time to examine why, in this beautiful season of rebirth, life continues to feel overtaxed and complicated. The answer was not difficult for me to see. I barely complete one task and I am already looking ahead to the next. Sometimes I do not even finished with task number one when I begin number two and three and four. I am juggling too many balls. I get it all done, but the joy of the moment is lost in the hustle. Like many of my creative friends, I am distracted by the next, shiny, new thing. The result is a backlog of projects that are forever lined up waiting their turn but never get done because another new project bumps into first place ahead of them. 

No more!

It is time to slow down and smell the beautiful flowers in the yard. It is time to sit with a magazine and slowly contemplate every page. It is time to take all day to bake some bread and then sit on the porch while it rises. It is absolutely time to stop scrolling on my phone, but rather sit and think about things or do a bit of hand sewing while I wait for dinner to bake. It is time to have long conversations with people instead of quick, abbreviated text messages. It is time to paint life with forethought, one careful stroke at a time. No wonder it feels like the days are passing in a blur. I am too busy to notice them!

In the spirit of living up to my desire to slow down, I went into my pile of unfinished projects and began carefully finishing each one. I finally attached the binding to the Christmas tree skirt I pieced back in February. I finished sewing an apron that I started two years ago. (!) And now I am hand quilting a little doll quilt that I pieced a few years back. I am still working on the little quilt and it is giving me great pleasure. I took it out to the porch and sat there to stitch. I enjoyed making the little stitches around each little bit of colorful fabric. I listened to the birds sing and let my mind wander from thought to thought. I stopped to fix lunch for Steve and our son-in-law Daniel, who was here for the weekend. It was a lovely pace for the day.

There is no profound revelation here, just the acknowledgement that I was getting off track and not living each day with the purpose and intent that gave me joy. I am glad I took the time to assess what was making me feel over anxious and irritated. It was just me, getting a little bit lost. I think I have found my right path again. No surprise that it is not in the next shiny, bright, new thing.

Finis!

 

 

Spring is Here Big Time!

 We had a busy but wonderful weekend. Friends came for dinner on Saturday and I made a delicious meal of Carnitas, guacamole, pico de gallo, etc. We had apple pie and ice cream for dessert. The kids planned to come for lunch on Sunday so food prep continued all weekend. I made a new-to-me recipe of Neiman Marcus Chicken Casserole for Sunday's lunch. It was excellent and everyone declared it a keeper. Because we have so many pecans on hand, I made a pecan pie for dessert that day. I was happy to have everyone here, sharing a meal, and sitting around with coffee and pie afterward.

The weather was sunny and mild but very breezy. We walked around the yard, pulled some weeds with my weed puller birthday gift, and played softball with Violet. I took the photo above in the side yard. I call it our trifecta: Butterfly Magnolia, Ornamental Plum, and Forsythia. The ornamental plum was all abuzz with bees. We could hear the hum of their buzz across the yard. We all stood under the tree feeling the hum and exclaiming how wonderful it was to see honeybees! We watched closely as they maneuvered over the blooms and laughed when they went fanny up inside a flower.

The Friday prior to the weekend, I drove a friend and myself to the Bedford Library where a rug hooking group meets each month. The Bedford Library is a very nice library and I always enjoy going there. They have a beautiful garden on the grounds. The pansies greeted us as we walked along the path to the entrance. Spring is greeting us everywhere we go. The white pear trees scatter the landscape along the highways and the Redbud is soon to follow. 

The ornamental plum from the upstairs bedroom window

Too Much Going On Including Pecans and Wallpaper

 

Ahh. I am taking a moment from all the chores that swirl in my brain to smell the daffodils. Tess brought them to me last night. She and her husband are enjoying their first home, which is a sweet little vintage bungalow in town. Whatever flowers had been planted there before them are now popping up. What a delight to find flower surprises in the yard!

We had our favorite corned beef and cabbage dinner last night. Meals that we only prepare once a year taste extra delicious. Of course we threw two pepperoni sticks to into the boil. They are my favorite! 

While dinner cooked, I carried up spring decor from the basement and tidied up around the house a little. As I made my way from room to room, I saw another chore at every turn. Windows need washing, screens need to go up, doors need painting, the lawn needs attention, old plants need to be pulled out of the garden beds, etc., etc. It was all I could do to not let the corned beef boil away unattended.

 

There is always such a list to do in the spring. It is of my own doing so I can't complain too much.  Steve did get cracking on the pile of pecans last night. His engineering brain is drawn to gadgety tools. He found not one, but two nutcrackers in an antique shop last fall for five dollars each. He bought both and he finally got to use them on the load of pecans from our friends Sara and Walt. Walt's parent's property in North Carolina has pecan trees growing on it and there was a bumper crop this year. We are very thankful to be given a bag!

In the long list of chores and projects is the current upstairs bathroom remodel. Steve is the handyman carrying out the work aspect of it. I hand him the materials. I forgot to take a "before" photo so I will wait and post more about it when it is finished in a couple of weeks. It involves a fun, whimsical, bird wallpaper. I hope it turns out the way I imagine it in my head.