Sweet Photos and a Cool Sewing Project

My head is finally mucus free!  That might be too much information, but I'm celebrating and just had to share.  I've been sick since Christmas, but am breathing through both nostrils again.  I'm so thankful for a working immune system.   That and Flonase.

Anyhoo...here's a sweet picture of Dad at our piano a few weeks ago. 

He doesn't like to play much any more, because the Parkinson's makes it difficult.  The fingers on his left hand dance all around and miss the right keys, but I don't care.  His right hand gets enough of it right that the tune is carried just fine.   My dad was an accomplished pianist, and losing the ability to play well has made him sad.   I remind him of violinist Itzhak Perlman's remark:  "Play with everything you have.  When you sustain a loss, play with everything you have left."

Another sweet picture taken recently...

This is our daughter and one of her Godsons.  He's a serious little fellow.  He is the son of our girl's best friend from high school.  It's been so precious to see these girls grow up, and now one is a mom.  I remember driving these girls to different events, chatter and giggles coming from the back seat.  Childhood is so short.  This little guy will be going to college before I know it.

Here's a cool YouTube video I followed this morning to make a purse organizer.
PURSE ORGANIZER

It was easy, took only an hour.  I used Christmas fabric scraps - gingerbread people and a holly print.

 

 

I tucked my wallet in the center of the organizer, but then found it works better on one side of my purse, because I'm always pulling my wallet out.  I can still easily reach everything. 

I found this video while scrolling through facebook.  I should have been writing, but you know how facebook pulls you in....you just want to see how a friend's sick aunt is doing, and pretty soon, you're watching five-year olds sing opera from a church stage.  One link leads to the next and, oh my, there just went three hours.  I'm so glad this morning, I got a purse organizer out of it.

Check out this delicious shot...

My favorite pizza.  Once my nose stopped dripping, I felt like cooking again, and this was the first thing I made.  Butternut squash on the right side, ground beef on the left for the hubs.  Recipe here, if you'd like to try it:  FAVORITE PIZZA.  You might never order Pizza Hut again.

Finally, (I'm cleaning out my camera), one of my photographs was featured in an annual magazine for Ward Realty on Topsail Island.  I spent a week there with my sister in October, and I took pictures like a crazy woman, hoping to find a gem that would make the book (they request submissions from renters.)   This is the picture I hoped would make it....

Yes, it's wacky.  My sister, a friend, and I were looking at our reflection in the water when a breeze came along and created a wave.  Our friend snapped a picture, and here we are - witchy fingers, blockhead, and turmor-arm.  A great example of the fun you can have on Topsail Island. 

Well, Ward Realty wanted something a little more conventional.  They chose this picture of mine to be in the book.  I guess they didn't want wackos renting their beautiful homes.

I even got a byline.  If my book is never snapped up by a publisher, I can still claim I've been published.  I'll take what I can get.

Another hour has passed since I sat down to write this post.  My husband will be home in two hours.  I better get up and do something constructive, like bake cookies.  

Thanks for popping in!

LIFE UNDER COVER

I wrote this post exactly a year ago.  Interesting how the weather has been similar lately.  I love how versatile t-shirts can be.  

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It's snowing up north.  

In fact, as of last night, Florida was the only state in the lower 48 that did not have snow.  That's a big white blanket.  

Heaters are cranked, cars are stuck; flights are canceled, people are stuck.  

Again.  

The cold seems relentless when you're in the middle of it.  Or buried under it.   

It's been cold here in Florida, too.  Although nothing like Massachusetts, or even, currently, Georgia.  

But the other day, I received a delicate and beautiful reminder that new life presses through the harshest of conditions. 

We had a freezing spell recently.  We turned on the heat and pulled out the jackets and scarves.  

And t-shirts....

You know it's cold in Florida when people toss clothes and bedding into the yard. 

I know Northerners are laughing because, during the winter months, THEIR yards are covered with something else....

 

Isn't this beautiful?  Looks like a post card.  My sister's home.

Winter is simply cold, wherever you are.  

And during the thermal underwear,  
fuzzy mitten, 
see-your-breath,
chamomile tea, 

bronchitis,

dry skin,

humidifier, 
windshield scraping,
slippery roads,
dead grass phase...

...it's sometimes hard to remember that spring will roll around again.

We had t-shirts on our plants for a week.  I kept a cashmere scarf around my neck in the house.  I baked a lot to keep the oven on.  I used the dryer because it was too cold to hang clothes on the line. 

Then...the temp rose to 40 degrees.  

My husband went outside to remove the t-shirts from the shrubbery.  

And came inside with this...

I actually caught my breath and went, "Awwwww..."  

It was such a sweet sight.  This baby rose with paper-thin, velvet petals.  

It had bloomed under a t-shirt (just like real babies, come to think of it.)

Despite the cold.  

Despite the frost.  

With no direct sunshine.  

Hidden from sight.  

It warmed my heart.  And I wanted to share it with everyone who is shivering today...or embedded in snow. 

It's a lovely reminder that the freezing blanket of winter is not permanent (unless you live in Alaska, then I can't help you.) 

Winter is just one season.  It will pass. 

We'll be mowing the grass and sweating before you know it. 

In the meantime, here's another reminder.... 

Stay snuggly,

Waiting for the New Year to Feel New

I'm still struggling to get back into my pre-holiday routine.  I'm still not well, but getting better.  I'm still tired, still not motivated to get back to THE BOOK.  January 2014 is going to be a wash.

I need a kick in the pants to get back into gear.  I wrote a piece today for MMW, the blog I contribute to twice a month.  I shared some discouragement, but realized, in the end, I'm doing the best I can in this crazy writing life.

You can read it here: MMW POST

I'm hoping to get back to my perky, brilliant self soon.  This sniffly, hacking, sore-joint self is wearing out its welcome.  Boo.

 

I hope your January has been virus free and that you're making headway on your 2014 resolutions!  Tell me about them, so I can live energetically through you.