Friday, September 16, 2011

Friday night grateful moment

This week brought a significant step toward fall, and I am truly grateful for that! Cooler temps, a bit of a breeze (OK, well, wind), even a few raindrops... It felt so good to be out in the garden, hacking through the jungle for produce, and not be so very hot. Here comes my favorite season, for sure!

Had some great time with Seth this week, for which I'm always grateful. It was fun to learn more about his day-to-day at school and how high school is going... Mostly good so far, though there was the small hiccup of his girlfriend breaking up with him... or did he break it off with her? Hard to tell, for certain... but I think it's over for the foreseeable future. (I feel safe in saying that here, as I'm pretty sure my blog isn't read by the local teen crowd. Just a hunch.)

Went to the quilt festival this afternoon, and was inspired and motivated by the color, the texture, the dedication these people have to their craft. Beautiful stuff... I'm so grateful for the inspiration they provide. Take a look at some of my favorites...


These first two pieces are by the featured artist, Meg of Crabapple Hill Studios, and I met her! She's lovely and her work--there were a great deal many other pieces--were amazing. That fabulous mix of embroidery and piecework that I love so well. Check out her web site--there are all kinds of patterns and ideas there... holidays, just pretty stuff, and amazingly, she is located less than an hour from here!

This quilt was done by one of the local owners of Stash. I just adore the color and the pattern!

Crossstitch!

This one was done by another Stash owner... I might be a little biased, but these ladies do lovely work.

This piece was done by hand--the applique and the quilting. Gorgeous!

This quilt was done by the lady I took the applique class from. Isn't the rainbow aspect fabulous!

I like this one--a mix between holiday and tropical... (I see starfish...)

Minimalist and aptly named Frank Lloyd Wright!

I took a great deal many more pictures, but better not to bore you with them... it was a lovely walk through the quilts, and I'm in awe of the number of hours of work represented by the quilts on display.

In spite of the cooler temperatures, the garden just keeps on rolling out the tomatoes, squashes, corn--our best year yet!--peppers, tomatillos, pumpkins (what's with fully ripe pumpkins in September? Their internal clock is off... no jack-o-lanterns from our garden), cucumbers, potatoes... yum. I am always amazed at how long it takes to harvest the bounty, and also so grateful for fresh vegetables on our back doorstep. 

It's the weekend, and I'm grateful for the peace and quiet that will come with that... a little window before a new week begins. Some blissful quiet time and conversation with husband, some time to get organized and ready for all that will be on our collective plates next week--lots to do, and only so many hours in the day to get it done! I'm so grateful for my husband and all he does for our family. He's a blessing.

Mention the weekend, and of course we must talk sleep. I'm SO grateful for sleep... it's something I never underestimate. When it's good, it's great. When it's less than good, everything is impacted. This week has been pretty good, and the additional dark in the morning certainly contributes to that. I had to hit the alarm this morning for the first time in months! And with the good sleep has come some pretty hilarious dreams. One night I was frantically trying to make a catering deadline (dinner for 200 in two hours and the groceries haven't been bought yet? Wow. Run girl, run.). The next night I rode a trolley car in San Francisco with a girl singing alongside me. She is told by an unsmiling man (someone I recognize from Walla Walla who is generally unsmiling), "You know, life isn't a musical." Ha. I think I woke up laughing. OK, analyze away. I love my dreams!

And Pinterest continues to more than hold my interest! I'm grateful for the images that come my way, from boots to pastoral settings to fun food and completely creative ideas I've never thought of before. Crazy good, that Pinterest. Here are a few that piqued me this week:



pumpkin (now here's what I could do with my way-early-ripe pumpkins...)

leaf jars (this list is feeling pretty autumny... I'm feeling a ModgePodge Sunday afternoon...)

hushpuppies (something to do with that summer squash bounty...)




I'm grateful for friendship. This week I want to say especially that I'm grateful for people I've met through this blog, who I would never have gotten to know otherwise--you know who you are! It's a wild thing, connecting through the written word and getting to know people over time and shared interests. Not unlike pen pals of old, I suppose...

What's on your grateful list this week? I hope a few good things have come your way this week, and that even if it has been a bleak one, there's a light at the end of the tunnel... tell me what you're grateful for, please!

Peace to you and yours.

4 comments:

  1. I'm grateful for my family this week. We're all doing new things and on new schedules, but we've managed to find solace in one another.

    I'm grateful for a new direction in my life and my creativity and my thinking- the word "love" and what it means.

    I'm grateful for new tea! I finally cleaned out my stash (sad) but as a reward, I got to stock up on old favorites and try some new things, too. It's nice to open my tea drawers and not see a jumble of tea in there but *exactly* the tea I love and want to drink.

    I'm grateful that Tom and I got to sneak a movie in while Gracie was at cooking class after school ;)

    Grateful my garden is bouncing back quite a bit now that the killer heat has subsided (read, it's in the low 90's instead of the high 90's!) I just can;t wait for the first "cooler" days of fall. I'm just happy to be in the "-ber" months!

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  2. That shaded circle quilt is truly amazing! And being a Frank Lloyd Wright fan, I also enjoyed the quilt with his design. He is not a common inspiration for quilters.

    I am always grateful for your consistent faithfulness in posting your Friday night grateful list.

    Your quotes this week are priceless. I especially like the one who describes herself as "delightfully difficult... and it just might be easier on you if you agreed." Well said. I can think of times when I would like to use that one!

    What am I thankful for today?

    First I am thankful to be done with the concrete foundations, columns etc. and now into framing.

    Second, I am grateful to have found a good, strong young man to work with me on the framing stage. It was wonderful to see great progress yesterday. The main carport beams, which are 34 and 36 feet long and 16 inches high, were a little tricky to handle... they are not only heavy, but slippery. Once again the little John Deere was a huge helper.

    Third, I am grateful for the Sabbath and a day of rest. For some reason my back has been complaining that I have been expecting more from it than it is used to doing.

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  3. Love those quilts...I am just about ready to get back at it again.

    Thankful? For the boy yesterday who helped Sherwin, for sure. When I saw him struggle with the tail end of that first beam I imagined myself on that ladder and was very thankful, indeed.

    And for the sunshine after the rain. I find that sunshine does cheer me even though I know I need some rain too.

    I am thankful for epiphanies and the thrill of an accomplished epiphany.

    And I have to say I am thankful for the California poppies that have 'popped' up in unusual places this summer here in gardens...places where I did not plant them...to shed their radiance now.

    I did like all your quilts which reminds me how thankful I am for colour. That one looked almost like a complete colour wheel which is a marvellous idea.

    And I am thankful for you being thankful...:)

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  4. Forgot to tell you how much I love that 'Summer' pillow on the second photo. How great is that?!

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