Year in Review, Part 1

Stimulated by a family member's comment (thanks, Anne!), I decided to post some of the things I've been doing this year.  Almost everything I do I give away and so I quickly forget the things accomplished.  However, I have learned to take pictures of most things so as I gathered the photos I realized that I'd actually accomplished quite a few things this year!

My 5 year old neighbor was asked to be flower girl in a wedding in September.  Her mom had a concept in mind for the dress she wanted.  The wedding was in southern Arizona in early September so something cool was the order of the day.  Using a couple of her existing dresses as patterns, much trial and error and a trip to the garment district we finally ended up with a little bubble dress that fit, was cool and with a little added ribbon, met the color requirements.  Hard to see in the pictures but the top is lace over a very lightweight cotton knit and the bottom is dupioni silk.  Cute shoes, too, eh?  Can't take any credit for them.

In Bethlehem, in the days before Hallmark...

Micah and I set up the nativity scene on Friday.  He disappeared into the office and came out with some little pieces of paper which he proceeded to place on the wise men because "if you bring a present, you should put a card with it."

Instructive question

Before....

During.....

After....

Sometimes you learn more from a question than an answer.

About 20 years ago I was a full-time working mom, had a husband in grad school, 3 growing children, aging and ailing parents to help, and a farmstead to manage. I must have been crazy because every spring I'd plant a huge garden. Of course I had built-in slave labor in my children for weeding and harvesting but the inevitable fruitfulness of the garden meant many nights of canning tomatoes and green beans into the wee hours of the morning. I even canned the runty little potatoes that were too small for anything but soup. At one point a friend asked me, “Why in the world did you plant potatoes?!? They are 10 lbs for 99 cents at the grocery store!”

Believe it or not, that question has haunted me for the last 20 years. I think I was so astonished by the question that I didn't even answer her. Why, indeed, plant potatoes when you can buy them for 10 cents a pound? If you count your labor for anything (most gardeners don't), buying the potatoes at the market certainly made fiscal sense.

I don't think I have a good answer to the question even now after 20 years but I still think about it. Here are a couple of thoughts I've had...

1. Gardeners plant things for the same reason the chicken crosses the road. Every 6 year old can tell you the chicken crosses the road simply to get to the other side (a perfect example of what my husband calls a 'Microsoft answer – technically correct but practically useless'). I think most gardeners plant things simply because they can. I honestly don't know why more people don't “cross the road”. There are few things that give you as high a return on the investment as sticking a few seeds in the ground and watching it grow, mature and bear fruit. There just isn't much to beat that and it's something every gardener knows.
2. Joy; most gardeners plant things simply for joy. Anyone who has carefully stepped the potato fork into the soil at summer's end and turned over a loamy pile of dirt with perfect and beautiful potatoes spilling out will know what I'm talking about. Run your fingers through the soil, breathe in and smell the thousand fragrances released. Put those potatoes into a wire egg basket. Move down the row and repeat. Backbreaking? Probably. But full of joy, discovery and delight. It's the same sensation as reaching your hand into the nesting box and pulling out warm brown eggs laid by hens that have names. Would it be cheaper to buy the eggs at the market? Definitely. But where's the joy in that?

Joy is adequate reason for many other things we do. Why spend hours bent over, cutting fabric into little pieces and then hours over the sewing machine, sewing them together again? I could go to the store and buy a blanket to warm my loved ones' beds – why go to the bother of making a quilt? It's simply a matter of joy - love and joy.

Maybe in another 20 years I'll have more insightful answers to my friend's question but for now those two answers will do just fine. And there is a single potato plant growing in my garden right now...just so I don't forget the question.

Winter pillowcases

Most of the things I sew are for other people.  However, I found these über-cute snowmen down in the garment district and decided to treat our very own bed to some new pillowcases for winter.  Cheery, especially in the morning at bed-making time.

"Sausage" pillowcases are incredibly easy to make - I've made them with children as young as 4 and they love making their own in fun fabrics.  There are several YouTube videos that describe making them and if you have a serger, they are done in no time.  Go ahead, make your bed happy.

Upholstered Headboards

So....I started taking an upholstery class last September.  I still know next to nothing about upholstering but I'm much wiser about how much I don't know.  However, I rarely let a little thing like ignorance stop me from trying.  My neighbor, Maren, had asked if we could possibly construct some upholstered headboards for her daughters.  She had seen some she loved at a price she didn't love ($399 each).  With a little help from Pete and his tools, a trip to the garment district for supplies, some paint and glue and our pneumatic staple gun, voila - two very pink headboards for about $75 each.  Can't wait to see them as part of the girls' new bedroom redo.

Addendum:  Here they are in the girls' room...

Pea picking

My grandfather had one sister.  He also had two older half sisters (same father, different mother) and three younger half brothers (same mother, different father).  In addition to losing his father, he'd also lost four siblings or half-siblings to disease and accidents.  In those days life was "nasty, brutal and short" and families were often an odd patchwork.  He and his sister were very close, which is not surprising considering what they'd been through together.

Grandpa's sister was my Great-aunt Nettie.  During my childhood she was a widow who lived in Appleton, Wisconsin and once a year she came down to the farm in Illinois to stay with my grandparents for a month or so.  She was a gentle soul and I remember her sitting in a big creaky wooden swing and shucking peas in the shade.  In addition to farming my grandfather was a carpenter and he made a big wooden support for the porch swing so you could sit outside and catch the breezes in the shade of an old tree, a welcome spot in the days when no one had air-conditioning.   Aunt Nettie let me eat some of the fresh peas raw, a delicacy not be to compared with mushy cooked peas.

Odd, the snapshots from the past that come back to you.  I was out in the garden picking peas this morning and it reminded me of those days and people long ago and far away.  Raw peas still taste best to me.