Friday night grateful moment

o much sunshine today helped this list practically write itself. As I think I said umpteen times today, sunshine makes EVERYTHING better, doesn't it? (75 degrees doesn't hurt either!)

But in particular, sunshine has made THESE things better:

Seth is home for spring break, and I'm grateful for that. Give a little, get a little, they say, and I'm glad to be in the "get a little" portion of our time with him.

The fields and surrounding areas are getting green, and beautiful. I'm grateful to live in such a beautiful valley.

I got a surprise package in the mail today, from my friend Janet over at Fond of Snape. What a dear. It was a piece by Rachel Olsen Awes, and the one I would have picked had I won Rachel's giveaway. Just a lovely thought, and I'm grateful to them both--Rachel for her gift of art and words, and Janet for her thoughtfulness.

This poem found its way into my email inbox today, and it spoke to me (and the rest of the eager-for-summer people I know, I'm sure). I'm grateful for writers and their words.

Long Winter
So much I've forgotten
the grass

the birds
the close insects

the shoot—the drip—
the spray of the sprinkler

freckles—strawberries—
the heat of the Sun

the impossible
humidity

the flush of your face
so much

the high noon
the high grass

the patio ice cubes
the barbeque

the buzz of them—
the insects

the weeds—the dear
weeds—that grow

like alien life forms—
all Dr. Suessy and odd—

here we go again—
we are turning around

again—this will all
happen over again—

and again—it will—
-Tim Nolan

I'm grateful for colorful ideas and inspiration, like this amazing applique project at dutch comfort.

What the final quilt will look like. Wow.

And these plates I found at Target from one of my favorite illustrators at The Wheatfield, Katie Daisy. Love her stuff!

I am grateful for seasonal marshmallows. I know, how strange of me. But, it's true. I saw a giant bag of giant bunny marshmallows today and HAD to get them; I say "for the boys," but really... I am very into these bunnies. They are scrumptious.

Had lunch out with husband today at Panda Express. I've never been there before, not anywhere. It has been generally considered a good thing that we now have one in our little burg... sure, I guess. It was fine. OK. Nothing special. But my fortune? Read below. I'll take a helping of that, thank you very much. I'm grateful for little serendipitous moments.

I'm grateful for time together with my little family. Can you tell I'm thrilled that it's spring break? Have I mentioned it yet? Do I seem a bit excited? Ha.

And grateful for my husband and our solo time too. Our evening chats while I'm stitching away, our morning chats as he heads out the door... we're good chatters, for sure!

And so grateful for my friends--a day trip to TriCities with some fabulous finds along the way, a lovely lunch with another dear friend, and all the happy texts and chats that make my weeks hum along. (Insert humming noises here.)

Not sure what I'm grateful for here, but I have to mention that I'm thrilled that Richard Blaise won Top Chef All Stars. He was my No. 1 pick from the get-go, and while I got pretty Antonia-cheering there toward the end, I must say that I was tickled pink to hear his name called (even though I was watching a day later and already knew he'd won). His nervous energy and self-doubt--while I am dearly glad I don't have to live with it--gives him a distinct edge, I believe, and I just think he's top-notch. Luckily, so did the judges. There you go: I'm grateful the judges agreed with me (they rarely do!).

I'm grateful for the chirping birds, the longer twilight, the peace and quiet of our abode... and the weekend. Blessings to you as you embark on your own weekend adventure, whatever it brings your way.

Wordless Wednesday

Ten Word Tuesday

Needle and fabric in hand, streaming Netflix. Who me, nap?

Friday night grateful moment

h, so sweet to have arrived at the weekend. For some reason, I'm particularly tired tonight... I'm going to blame the weather? It's been typically springy (ie, completely changeable at the drop of a hat) around here, but mostly nice with a mix of rain and wind... Or maybe I should blame the sketchy sleep? That's probably more accurate... Could be the carby lunch? I was at an all-day meeting today and the energy in the room took a nose dive after lunch. I saw some eyes go droopy droopy... through my own heavy lids!

But in my tired state, I can hopefully still articulate some thankfulness...

For my family. My men, right here with me, and family nearby, across the fields. And for family far away, too. So so blessed with much wonderful family.

For my health. I am glad to have gotten over the cold crud so quickly. Hopefully it won't come back!

For friends, dear friends. I'm a lucky girl, for sure.

For spring. In spite of my longstanding love of snow (I heard of a couple of people traveling over snowy passes today and thought, oh, I wish *we* had snow!), since that ship appears to have sailed, I have now flipped over to be happily on board with the green shoots and rain and longer days and sunshine (even it it's not consistent, I'll take it)! Just this afternoon I saw the most amazing skies across the valley--dark and foreboding on one side, bright sunshine on the other; a half-hour later it was completely flipped with the dark on the other side of the valley, sunshine on the opposite. Just beautiful.

For the flavors that come with spring and summer. I made pizza this week and chopped up fresh basil to go on my slices. Now that you can get basil any old month of the year it hardly seems like a "summery" ingredient, but to me the scent of basil is pure summer. Can't wait to be plucking leaves off my own plants! And asparagus... just bought a bunch of close-to-local  (closer than Chile, anyway) asparagus and can't wait to enjoy the bounty in the next couple of months. And then the fresh produce avalanche will arrive. Happy day.

For my Beth Moore study on the the fruit of the spirit. Each week it feels like she's talking straight at me. It's eerie... and incredibly inspiring for the week that follows. 

For bursts of color in my gray-black-brown wardrobe. I'm just sick and tired of the monochromatic winter color scheme I've been rocking for months. Ready to bust it up and look a bit more... well, colorful.

For the anticipation of spring break... it's coming! Not too far away, just one more week. I am so looking forward to our family time together, road tripping and hanging out.

For self-talk that's able to get me moving, without beating myself up (too badly). It works, I tell you. Pretty potently. Now to keep the movement going, so that I don't have to give the pep talk again very soon...

For fun handmade projects and making progress. Between my applique and crochet, I'm full up with crafts I enjoy and having a good time with them both; love seeing it all come together.

For after-school time with Seth. It is a gift, even as it's currently cut short by tennis as his spring after-school sport. I am still grateful for it, every day.

For speaking my mind without getting mad. It's so much better to not stuff things down, truly. If you're ever on the fence, don't stuff. Get it out, that's my advice. Not with anger, just be straight. If you're emailing, you might pause for a minute--my rule is to write it, then sit for a few hours (or overnight if you can). Then maybe edit (depending on  your tone), and hit send. Do it.

For sleep. Can't wait! (Don't call early tomorrow, if you were thinking about it. Just sayin'.)

For Friday nights together, for the best grilled cheese in a long time--the secret is in the pepperjack! and the baguette!--and tomato soup, and candles and conversation. Bliss.

I hope your weekend is filled with all the things you want and need to get charged up for the coming week! Blessings to you and yours.

Thursday 13: Daybook musings...

For today...

Outside my window... we've had almost nightly visits from a big barn owl, lately... we named him Owen. I love his hoots so much, I hope he sticks around for a long time. I like owl hoots so much more than dogs barking...

I am thinking... that there are a lot of people in pain, and then I also think that a lot of people (myself included) don't always make the wisest choices. And the correlation between the two? Sadly quite strong.

I am thankful for... the fact that my cold cleared up so quickly. I keep hearing stories about people who are still fighting coughs and colds two and three weeks later.

From the kitchen... pizza plans tonight... and I'm going to make extra dough to make Seth a few calzones for his school lunches.

I am wearing... yoga pants and t-shirt... thinking about doing some yard-ish stuff this morning, so I will need to add a layer or two to stay warm out there...

I am creating... a hand-turned applique project for a class I'm taking. And also still continuing with the granny square crochet project, where I discovered that about half the squares I did with a 4.0 needle, and half with a 4.5 needle. So, now there will be TWO granny square projects. Sigh.

I am going... to take a good girlfriend over to TriCities for her birthday next week. Well, her birthday is the following week, but we'll do the celebrating early, as we're both headed out of town that following week--spring break!

I am reading... Blue Like Jazz with Seth. I'm enjoying it, quite a bit. Donald Miller's got a circuitous way of getting to the God stuff, but that's kind of his point, I guess. God is in the little stuff, and in everything.

On my mind... are all things related to spring. And, all the things I need to do to get ready for planting. It seems that every day I have time to be outside for a goodly chunk of time, it's raining. And on the days I'm full up with "stuff," it's sunny. Go figure. (Knock on wood, I'll get a little bit done today.)

Around the house... things are good. Back to normal (at least, as normal as we get...). Peaceful. Quiet. Ah.

One of my favorite things... is peace and quiet.

A few plans for the rest of the week... cleaning, cooking, maybe even mowing the lawn for the first time, getting ready for my sister-in-law's birthday, a bit more office-type work, and maybe, just maybe, a little attack on some of the longer-term projects. What, only two days left this week? Nuts.

And a window into my life...

This is a little piece of the applique project...

Hope your Thursday is marvelous. For other Thursday 13 participants, go here.

To connect with the daybook concept, go here.

Artist I adore: Rachel Awes

hen did I first discover Rachel Awes? It feels like I've known about her particular wisdom of colorful art and spot-on words for a long time. Whenever it was, her work made an immediate impression, and I bought a piece for my mom, and one for me. (Oh wait, the joys of accidental discoveries on my own blog: I found when I first discovered Rachel, and it was about one year ago, exactly.)

This sits right above my desk and reminds me what's possible. (Yes, I *do* make rainbows when I leap. Didn't you know that?)

Rachel is doing a giveaway on her blog, and so I couldn't help but get in on the action. I went over to her etsy shop and picked out my favorites, and am having a hard time narrowing it down to just one. But I'm confident that if I am the one chosen (chosen one?) by the random generator (or, her kids picking my name out of a hat), I will indeed be able to narrow it down to a favorite.

I encourage you to head over to Rachel's blog, and her etsy shop too, and enter her giveaway for yourself. And you can "like" her on Facebook too. And follow her on Twitter. She's around...

And leave a comment for me--which one should I choose?

Bless you, Rachel. You make the world a better place!

Ten Word Tuesday

Thanking God for fresh starts, forgiveness, good health and sleep.

Future files: Hydrangea cakes

t must be a sign that I am ready for spring. (Not just ready, but Ready. Maybe even READY.) When I saw these cupcakes posted to Facebook by iambaker, my little ready-for-spring heart went pitter pat.

I have always been a huge hydrangea fan, and especially of the periwinkle variety that both of these bakers pulled off so wonderfully--though I do love the pink/periwinkle combo on the cake. iambaker linked over to Glorious Treats as evidence of her not having "recreated the wheel," but I am oh-so-glad she had the inspiration. (And be sure to check out iambaker's grandma's hydrangea watercolor she featured as additional inspiration. Quite lovely.)

I just need someone (anyone?) to announce a) an upcoming wedding, or b) an upcoming baby, so I may shower that individual with hydrangea cakes... so come on, people! Get with my program, would you?

I hope these dear cakes bring a little spring--dare I say summer?--to whatever little corner of the world you're in this morning. We're currently still quite chilly and overcast, so I might just sit and stare at these cakes a little longer, sipping my coffee, waiting for the phone to ring with baby/wedding news... (you know who you are).

Friday night grateful moment

any bloggers--the well-known ones--took a day off from blogging today, in a united "Silence for Japan" movement. I thought about it, I really did. But I just couldn't NOT do Friday night and gratefulness.

So here I am, grateful as always, even in this world that brings earthquakes and tsunamis to people who couldn't possibly deserve such devastation. I'm grateful that people and animals have been found alive, against all odds, and I'm also grateful that the world is so generous with their contributions toward the relief effort. If you haven't seen all the places to give online, here are a few:
Living Social + Red Cross
Samaritan's Purse
World Vision

I happened upon this TED video just today, and it seems a just-right way to kick off my grateful list, as she speaks of so many things I think and feel about the love of words. I'm not so "spoken word" with my poetry and love of poetry, but I appreciate people who see performance as a part of their art. I am grateful for her energy.



I am grateful for signs of spring all around. From green shoots and daffodils and blue skies--even skies that cloud up and dump rain--I'm glad of the turn of seasons.

I am grateful that even though I got sick this week, I didn't get THAT sick, and am already feeling on the mend. And I'm especially grateful to be headed into the weekend, so that being restful doesn't feel so lazy!

I'm grateful for all the drugs (Zicam!) and stuff that makes colds shorter (or is it all in my mind?). Either way, it's good. And those tissues with lotion in them? Lovely. My nose is grateful for them.

I'm grateful for comfort food. And I'm also grateful that we each get to define that for ourselves, in the moment... no single comfort food satisfies everyone, every time. (Just a hint, but for me in is usually going to involve cheese in some fashion. Probably melted cheese.)

You know that fabulous feeling when you close your eyes and lay your head on your pillow after a long day, and you're just bone tired? Yeah, I'm grateful for that feeling, too.

I'm grateful for longer days, and eventually, the warmth that will come with that... (until the warmer days, I'm grateful for extra blankets.)

I'm grateful for my men, for their love and devotion. For my dear family, too, near and far. And for my friends, and their laughter and love.

I'm grateful that you'll all understand that this list is awfully poor-sick-me-centric. And that next week will undoubtedly be less so (knock on wood).

I hope your weekend is peaceful. (And well.)

Thursday 13: Rainbows for St. Patrick's Day!

ot being Irish, or a beer drinker, or much into shamrocks, I still enjoy St. Patrick's Day for the plethora of green that the day brings along with it; a real sign of spring! But the typical shamrock green isn't my favorite shade of the color, and as I've mentioned before, decorating for this holiday isn't something I really take any time with... I'm more like, let's make a beeline straight for Easter!

I don't know why, but it hadn't much occurred to me in past years that rainbows is the way to go with this holiday. Doh! Rainbows, with a pot of gold at the end, of course. This year I've seen oodles of cupcakes and cookies and all kinds of sweet things with a rainbow leaning, but I'm going a different direction (could be the fact that we've been fighting head colds around here for the past week, at least, that makes me a little down on the sweet stuff right now. Just give me a cup of tea, a bowl of soup, and a box of Kleenex!)

The rainbow discovery, and my love of all things Etsy, led me to wander the web site and look for rainbow items. And there are a few items that push the boundaries of what one might consider rainbow, per se, but I hope you'll bear with me. Click on the text below each picture to go to the shop. Enjoy!

Shawl

Necklace

Wooden blocks

A rainbow of eyeshadow

Felt acorns

Yarn

Pendant

Pretty flower jewelry

Beads

Miniflowers

Embroidery

Pen in clay

Rainbow of marshmallows

And one extra, because I couldn't resist!

Baby hats

Check out this all-rainbow treasury.

And for more Thursday 13 participants or to play along, go here.

Hope you have a lovely St. Patrick's Day, whatever your plans!