Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

 As you know, I celebrate by birthday all month long.  Why not?
  I embrace my years, thankful for all the mistakes I've made in my life and the lessons learned from them.  Thankful, indeed, and quite celebratory that I managed to survive in spite of myself.  So, it was off to do what I do in November- Have Fun.

 I started off the rather long weekend by seeing to it that I had time with Faithful Friend.  We go to Salem Indiana to share a dinner at 'our' favorite restaurant: christiesonthesquare.com  They let us stay there for hours, enjoying their atmosphere and not charging us rent for the lengthy amount of time that we park ourselves.  Their Cobb Salad was huge enough for next nights dinner, (as well as the Tiramusu dessert. Yum).  Good time. 


The photo on top shows that I include work in the mix.  My work is an amazing blessing and thrill for me so it can barely be counted as 'work'.  This past weekend, by friendship with Rabbit Rita ritabunny.com took me to Louisville, Kentucky, in the wee hours of the morning, to help RR with a private showing preview for the holidays.  Early, early up and helping set up in the darkness of Saturday morning, fuels my adrenalin, not drain it.  I borrow off her abundant energy and learn through her long years of creating and sharing with the masses.  It was a jolly good exhaustion when the Rabbitmobile dropped me off at my residence a good twelve hours later.

 Sunday morning found me packing for my next Birthday Event: visiting Sweet Sharon in Jasper Indiana.  SS used to live down the street from me and she is missed.  Her birthday is in early December so we make it a point to share some time somewhere between the two dates to celebrate the wonders of us and our own quirky sense of humor.

 This visit was particularly memorable because I got to help her nearly thirteen year old granddaughter with the wonderful joy of sewing.  Sewing Stephanie asked for a sewing machine for Christmas last year and she has been want for some direction since then.  It was a joy to witness this young lady  view the wonder of piecing two squares of material together to make something that you can declare that you made!  SS was a natural!  She took charge of her machine like a pro and the more instruction I've gave, the more she embraced it and ran with it.  I love to kindle the spark.  I believe we have not heard the last from this budding creator....

 Sweet Sharon pursued on in our quest for a swell visit....We shopped at a country fabric store in a huge pole barn yet with fabric for all types of sewing. fabrichideaway.com.  We played games (ones that SS made up and  changed rules as we went along).  We watched a movie and DVR'd shows. I knitted and quilted.  SS made wonderful meals and I slept like the dead.

A wonderful respite for this crazed woman of much busyness.  Sweet Sharon's lovely home and generous hospitality, fueled my creative juices for new work in the weeks to come.  I got the chance to slow down my movement so that I could plan and prepare in a neutral territory with no obligations, for nearly 48 hours.  Pure balm for a busy mind and body.

Sweet Sharon is one of the most humorous people I know.  She's one of those ladies that can get you in much trouble because no one expects the silliness that she exudes to come from such a lovely woman.  From me, yes, but not my most wonderful of friends.  Her proper exterior belies her crazy sense of humor.  We Get each other.  And I am ever so thankful for her friendship and laughter in my life.

Thank you dear friend.....

Please; be a respite for someone today.......

Kindred Spirit Friend

Kindred spirit - Idiom Definition - UsingEnglish.com

The first time Kindred Spirit Friend entered my home, she knew that we needed to know each other better.  Twenty two years ago, she came to help out on a homeschool cooperative effort that our group did every Friday.  We shared skills and talents with the children of our group and it was my turn to do crafts with the 9-11 year old girls.  It was also the day that I had my first appointment with a psychologist to deal with the agoraphobia/anxiety disorder that I had struggled with for nearly ten years.  KSF came willingly.  It was also my 36th birthday.  This was well noted by KSF since this was the date of her own dear mother's birthday.  Upon further discussion of this phenomenon, it was discovered the my Hubby shared the birth date of her own dear father.  See?  Kismet.


In the years to follow, we would enjoy the unfolding of many, many kismetian aspects of our parallel universe lives.

• Our children are nearly the same age.  I had an extra one just for interest.  My youngest was only a year old when we met so she has known KSF all her life.
• We homeschooled our children.  We both have been involved in the pro life movement in a proactive way.  Our husbands worked at the same government installation.
• We are voracious readers; hers more non fiction, helpful knowledge kind of books; me, more entertaining fictional bent.  Independent movies are quoted frequently at our gatherings.
• Our Third Children are crazy funny people.  Nothing was more entertaining than eating lunch while her Third Child read to us from an antiquated sex manual, in a proper British accent.  Much choking from laughter ensued.
• We talk with our hands.  Kinda dangerous if you're nearby.
• When I moved away from her, I received lengthy hand written letters in artfully designed envelopes, some with silly messages on the outside so as to entertain my mailman.  Or maybe scare him off.  Postcards were her speciality.  The more absurd, the better.
• We both think that the other one is the most extraordinary person alive.
• We both had rocky, interesting childhoods and now see the humor/wisdom in them.
• We can call each other with grim news, sobbing and uncontrolled and we know what to say to each other to calm each other down.
• I called KSF first when my mother died.
• She called me when her father had a stroke and I got to the hospital first for her.  We both cared for our invalid fathers at home for a lengthy period of time.
• KSF and her wonderful husband, Boseph, took my mother to a theatre an hour away, in their pick up truck to see 'Much Ado About Nothing', when our local theatres did not carry it.  My mother was not an easy person to take to the movies due to her loud commentary.  But they took on the task and made it memorable.
• KSF, when asking what she could do for me on the occasion of my mother's death, and I responded that she could do the eulogy, and she did so with great love and compassion.
• The first Thanksgiving in our new town, my sons opted to travel to her house to celebrate rather than be reminded that they were the new kids in town on a holiday.  That, and the fact that one of our most fabulous Thanksgivings were held at her house.
• She has designed a stained glass window in my home.  KSF and her Hubby came to my home the first weekend we arrived, to pull up carpeting, fill in paneling, hang anaglypta, paint and now provide poetry written for me in my Renee Busha` Not Yet Memorial Library.  After this past weekend's visit, it appears she still has a vested interest in the RBNYML since she informed me that she has the companion piece fabric to my new living room curtains and has plenty to cover the cushions on my wicker and Busha' Bed (a couch her husband made from the head and foot boards of an old bed of their daughters)  in the library for it's makeover in the fall.  See?  In all the land of fabric, we managed to pick out the same designer.
• She is the artist I wish I was.  I live artistically, vicariously through her.
• We stay on the same side of the fence politically but our religious preference are delightfully different.   We learn from each other through our discussions in our faith beliefs.  I am decidedly Calvinist, while she embraces Arminianism. ( Of or relating to the theology of Jacobus Arminius and his followers, who rejected the Calvinist doctrines of predestination and election and who believed that human free will is compatible with God's sovereignty.)   We have both been involved in Inner City ministry and have learned a great deal in the doing of it.
• We have camped together at a music festival for thousands. 
• We have tended a garden together.
• We love to write; she studied English/Writing in college in her grown up years; I just pretend I did.
• I barely graduated from high school; she dropped out.  We both think that we are pretty much the  smartest people we know.

As our visit this past weekend came to a close, I kept having to ask myself if this could have been real, it was so perfect.  We chatted and sat on the porch and farmer's marketed and lunched at the co operative, we watched the movie Temple Gradin http://www.hbo.com/movies/temple-grandin/index.html from the comfort of my bed.

Since KSF knew me when the agoraphobic disorder that plagued me for years was at it's zenith, we never have traveled together.  Yet.  This weekend, it was decided that if we aren't buying the house together that we looked at Saturday, we really should go on a trip, celebrating her 35th anniversary and my 40th to our teenage sweethearts.

This kind of friendship makes a girl want to be a better person if for nothing else that to make your kindred spirit smile and be proud of knowing you.  It urges you to embrace life and enjoy the sharing of it with someone that 'gets' you.

Thank you KSF for our time together and your long travel to get to me.

I am blessed by knowing you.

Possibilities

Every now and then, an opportunity presents itself to open your heart and your life.
Often, there is great risk in that and in my years, sometimes it can end disastrously.  But I am usually never disappointed in the process.  It is a learning curve, a self revelation and when it goes well, an opportunity to expand your borders.

Such is the joy of finding a New Daughter.
Pretend Daughter Kris and Her Hubby and the Two Pretend Grandboys came to visit this past weekend. PDK is a friend of Eldest/Admin via a Bradley Class almost two years ago.  E/A was new in town and opened herself to the new opportunities of friendship to this quiet, funny, wise, mama-to-be. Their personalities were completely complementary yet what started conversation, were the bags that E/A was carrying.  Bags that I made for E/A and bags that PDK would know, that if her mama was still on this earth, she would be receiving from her.  The more they chatted, they could see that their lives ran a bit parallel and their interests perpendicular.  The more E/A talked about her mama and PDK hers, it seemed perhaps slightly, wildly impossible that they were twins, separated at birth.  Tiny little details were eerily similar and we knew that we had to meet.

It's been close to a  year since we met and our relationship has taken on a life of it's own.  E/A smiles knowingly, that it would happen.  She knew that we would 'get' each other, and in her daughterly graciousness, has 'permitted' to share her mama with PDK.

This past weekend, PDK and most of her little family came to visit.  Without E/A.  Just two new friends, separated by a generation and joined by interests and fate.  Two people geographically separated by miles but connected closely by God's Sovereign Hand.  When I am with her, I feel closely related to her mom and feel privileged to bring her love, by God's grace, into her present.

Our relationship is special, warm and connected and there is no reason that we should even know each other except for the love that God has for us.

This weekend was golden.  We enjoyed getting to know each other better.  We loved enjoying our similarities and our wonky sense of humor.  And sharing our families with each other.

It is a rare, crazy kind of thing, but it works.
Expanding your borders.....Give it a try...

Vacation Views

This sign pretty much describes our vacation.  Call it the 'Whatever/whenever/Or So Vacation'.  Four Older Folks with no agenda, no plans, no tickets, no appointments, just lots of free time and a beautiful backdrop.  Hubby so needed a Nothing Vacation and thanks to the benevolence of Crazy Dee and Crazier Don, they made it happen.  If you remember from last March, http://sonowiknow.blogspot.com/2010/03/prayerful-productivity.html, the wonder of still having CD around is more than a miracle.  All I could think of on this vacation with her, was how crazy different it could have been.  How lost I would be without her and how very thankful I am for a reprieve.  This vacation, we laughed and carried on like we  had no tomorrow and last March, her tomorrows were very much in jeopardy.  This Lazy Vacation had some lovely relaxing moments interspersed with some serious shopping and bargain bagging and just to make sure I stayed grounded, My Close Friend, Sewing Machine, came with.  After all, I have a Baby Quilt to make.  And what would relaxing be without sewing?  I finished another crocheted market bag for Eldest/Admin en route and tinkered with quite a bit of embroidery in the car while I tried to ignore Crazier Don's wild driving.  I kept my eyes to the mountains or my hand work and tried to ignore the highway.  Or racetrack that I think CD thought we were on.  Whew.So on this More Than Pleasant Sunday, take some time to take in my views for the week:The brook that ran right outside our window, the swing that helped me organize my home life, the balcony where I spent some quality quiet time, the handmade ice cream place that made me forget my frozen yogurt regimen back home, the lazy mill near a pretty amazing sewing shop, the mountain cabin that was built in the 1800's on the side of the Smokie Mountains, and of course, the Skyline Tram up the mountain.  Do not be deceived.  I was NOT on this.  I took the photo of CD and Hubby on their climb upward.  I wasn't THAT relaxed.Refreshment.  Perspective. Peace. Quiet.  Rest= Vacation for Us.  Thank you Lord.

Old Friends

" Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold"

(Old Brownie Scout song)

This weekend was an extravaganza of emotions.

I traveled to Baby Girl's home with Pretend Daughter Emily and shared a gamut of emotions with her.

I arrived at the most lovely Baby Shower for my BG, given by and attended by the most wonderful of friends.

I got to spend playground time with The Most Cherished Vivien.  I got to feel the wrap of her little arms around my neck as she greeted Her Mimi.

I got to stay in BG's new Married Housing apartment on Purdue's campus.

I got to surprise Old Friend at her 50th Birthday celebration.

I got to spend wonderful time with Old Friend and Her Precious Hubby, Kindred Spirits Friend and Her Extraordinary Hubby and most of their Amazing Children, all grown up and fabulous in all their varied ways.

I spent 12 hours in a car with Hubby and most of that time with BG and HH and had more fun than most should have in a car ride.

I experienced the joys and sadness of visiting our long ago home.

I had the heartache of saying good bye to all of them, knowing that our visits are few and far between.

I let my mind go to the past 27 years of our friendships and all that transpired in that time.  The baby nurturing, the toddler hood dilemmas, the teen age tragedies and the marital ups and downs. 

Sharing ones life with trustworthy people who love you more than their luggage is an amazing thing.

I feel honored to be a part of friendships like these.

I am humbled that they love me, let alone like the likes of me.

I am honored to be a part of their and their children's incredible lives.

I am in awe of how life works and how joys and heartaches keep us buoyed in God's grace.

I am thankful today.....

My Wish for You this Year.....

'Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pour them all out just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping and then, with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.'

Dinah Mulock Craik

Friendship Painting

I painted Crazy Dee's living room today. Well, first coat. Daylight will have to be in place before the second coat goes on. We are redecorating 'on a dime' by painting, making a window larger by putting up a bigger rod, applying a chair rail, doing some stenciling...etc etc....Fun stuff....

I love my friend so painting for 6 hours was nothing.

CD celebrates my birthday for the whole month.
She has a red and yellow sign for my front yard, reminding passers by that they should greet me all month in celebration of my special day (month).
It is a month long hoot.
Last year, I had a gift every other day of my birthday month.
It was amazing.
We can be totally honest and lovingly joking with each other. We pray for each other and enjoy our bible study together.

I will sew to my fingers bleed for her.
And sometimes they do.

She is a rare and precious friend....
Off to clean my brushes.....

So Much; So Good....

The Weekend started here..
Rain, rain, rain.
But a warm car, grand company and Sugar and Cream yarn to work with.
And a car, that Hubby wisely picked out based on if the dashboard would accomodate my legs on a long trip. He even told the car salesperson that he needed to make sure that his wife would be comfortable in the co pilot seat by putting her feet on the dash. The salesperson, unwisely said, 'you let her do that?' To wit, Hubby said, she can do whatever she wants, bucko, this is my car.....Good Hubby.....

This was the weekend that we were to meet up with Most Interesting Loving Friends. We decided to meet half way from their location, our past home. We have shared nearly 25 years and needed time together to catch up and enjoy each other's affable company. What a good time. What pleasant entertainment we are!
It always helps to stay at a Bed and Breakfast out in the country and with plenty of stories to go with as well!
The house photo is the grand old lady with quite a story.
The Pumpkin Patch story, with a Martha Stewart commendation, is a blog unto it's own. Pretty amazing. Wait till you see.


After leaving Most Interesting and Loving Friends, we headed northerly to visit Baby Girl and her Hubby in Lafayette.
Another amazing visit with a blog unto it's own.
Suffice to say that Baby Girl's Hubby prepared us the most wonderful breakfast one half hour before lunch time!
Ah! Rest and relaxation on a long weekend!

And no visit to Lafayette would be complete without a visit to First Class Clutter, BG's fave store.
I took in the three bags I had promised her and she promptly placed them in the window pictured here. Can you see them amongst the most pleasing clutter??
Picking up a hefty supply of vintage buttons rounded out the visit there.
On to an Aveda Spa visit then lunch/supper at an Irish pub..
Off to make a short check in visit with Eldest Son and Lovely Wife...
Wow.
A blessed weekend from start to finish.
Can't wait to share it with all of you....

Parade Protocol

First of all, you should probably get a bit of a nap in after lunch and before the parade at 2:00pm. If you can get one on the porch swing with Mr. Pat, then you're golden.
Make sure you find a grand spot for you, mama, Gracie and Nana. Make it under a tree for shade and by the curb so you don't miss the horses.
Keep your eyes peeled for characters; you just might see the one that you are dressing up like for Halloween this year!!
Some of your friends will be in the parade as well, so look sharp and wave vigorously.
Make sure you pace yourself. That nap can only be good for so much waving and giggling. Have a seat on the blankie that your own daddy had when he was a little boy. Sit facing the street so you don't miss the marching bands. If you sit with folded hands, people are really impressed.
Make sure you ask mama and nana later how those great big men get into those teeny, teeny tiny cars. Wish that you had one like it but settle for your two seater stroller for your trip back to Nana's.
Festival over for another year!

Miserable.

Rainy all day.
Not Festival Weather.
Poor little ol kiddos.
No rides for the third night of their three night ride bracelets. Perhaps tomorrow night, when the weather is cloudless, (she says with cheerful optimism) they will be able to use their now useless bracelets.
I made one attempt to go to the Commercial Tent this evening seeing that I won a drawing! I believe I should be the owner of stainless steel scrubbies from Stanley Products. That is, if the Stanley Lady would have been at her booth tonight. I trudged down, in the rain, pants rolled up against the deep, deep puddles and fought my sturdy royal blue hooky umbrella against the winds, only to find the dear lady had closed up shop and stayed in her comfy dry home. All the other vendors were there. The only dark spot was the Stanley Home Products booth. Will I now have to actually purchase the Wonder Scrubbers, that have over 50 yes 50 uses?......I'll let you know... Second Son accompanied me to The Methodist for a hearty lunch of pork tenderloin (sorry Baby Girl), dressing, gravy, cole slaw, dinner roll, green beans and the most sinful Chocolate Fudge Walnut Cake. I should have taken a photo. Way beautiful and scrumptious. However, Second Son and I made fast work of it even after the bounty we had just consumed. And we do have to mention, seeing most of Mitchell there. Lots of good company....Writer Friend Joyce, Neighbor Michele and Her Friend Jean and their delightful children. Poet Georgia was there as well. She will be 90 in November. A sharper more humorous woman would be hard to find. And on and on the names go....A perfect Methodist Lunch with Second Son and company.
We took the time to look at all their crafts for sale. After all, where were we going in the downpour? To buy Barbie cupcakes for Second Son's birthday friend, but that's beside the point.
See the bread pictured above? Just a sampling of their lovely baked goods.....

And quilters and seamstresses as well....I could tell their stock was a bit diminished from Tuesday when I visited with Crazy Dee Friend

And here is the Special photographed for those that cannot read..Sorry for the blurriness; I had just consumed my weight in Chocolate Walnut Fudge Cake.....Makes one fuzzy....

So I came home and attacked this Rainy Day with a useful vengeance. I finished Faithful Friend's new bag! She received a Birdie Sling last month but found a need to own another Mama's Collection Bag...What a good friend! I'd make her one every week if she wanted me to; she's just that good of a friend.....

The fabric was yummy, the lining silky, the handle comfy and the embellishment, strong.....Good, good purse....

Enjoy Faithful Friend!!

Queen Contest Night...

....and I didn't go.

Did go to lunch at The Baptist with Lovely Wife's Mama...We particularly like to go to The Baptists for their Turkey luncheon with the Cranberry Jello. LWM LOVES cranberries and made a pitiful attempt to hi jack mine; you must get up pretty early to snatch food away from this ol' lady......Seen it all... Also at The Baptists is the Craft Show, showcasing all the entries to the famed Persimmon Festival Craft Contest. The winner for us this year was a skein of yarn made of cat fur. Who knew? With one long haired cat and another one dying, I could have made a killing in cat yarn. Bald cats, but a new market......I did graciously offer to make a cat scarf for Sweet Sharon, a dear friend who happens to have a rather strong 'dislike' of the feline varieties...She did not find that humorous.....LWM and I enjoyed the turkey AND the cat fur this year.....
Pictured above is a secret. Faithful Friend has ordered a new bag. She gave me ideas and requirements but left the rest to me.....This fabric, from Danville Indiana, is SOOOOO soft and luxurious....Amazing upholstery fabric....If I had a sofa made of this I would become an avowed Couch Potato....It is such a joy to sew for friends; you just want it to be the best so it stretches creativity and skill....Spent a joyful afternoon playing with the design and 'reading' Alan Alda's book, 'Never Stuff Your Dog'.......A surprise visit from the 2G's and their Mama and my afternoon was made, even if My Dear Grant had to find out that Nana has a Time Out Chair and a timer....Ah, reality.....

So after my full day, I transmogrified Mondays tacos into Wednesday's chili. A quick supper for hubby and I before we head north to Wednesday night church. We are on Part Two of a twelve part series, so the Queen of the Persimmon Festival had to be crowned without us.....

When I got home, I took Dixie on a walk and saw a forlorn miss walking the muddy streets of Mitchell, trying desperately not to get her fancy frock wet and trying to cope without a crown on her head.....I really wanted a photo but just could not do it to the poor girl....

Ah, reality.....

Spoofin' or Ways to Make a Doctor Appointment Fun

Okay. So you have to go to a doctor appointment to meet a new doctor that you'll be going to in Indy....
All is not lost!
When you live in a small town, you make the most of every Big City opportunity...
Here are a few things Hubby and I did after my early, early appointment.....


Fabric Shopping!! Found a wonderful fabric/upholstery shop in Danville Indiana called Rader's Fabrics....TONS of fabrics and a grand end of bolt bin....Many yards of purse-bound fabrics

All that fabric shopping and doctor visiting can wear a person out! You need sustenance, by golly! Why not go to the Mayberry Cafe where there is everything Sheriff Andy Taylor and his buds? Why, you can even buy Mayberry0poly and watch non stop Mayberry episodes! Too funny! We indulged in the Aunt Bee Meatloaf special and who could pass up the hot blackberry cobbler with real ice cream (NOT frozen yogurt!) Diet another day!

Did we not laugh like crazy when we saw Mayberry's finest parked along side the cafe??

On we went to other more mundane destinations only to finish up a day of spoofin to the 2G's and their parental units to a lovely supper of Shrimp Caribbean with a side corn salad that was pretty amazing....We were fed very well, thank you, from Aunt Bea to our favorite little family.....

Spoofin Days.....

off to market

I have two little friends that I call the 2G's; Grant and Gracie. They are 2 years and 7 months. Their mama is a special friend to me and together, we enjoy sharing our faith walk, our sewing adventures and now, during the summer, we have been attending our local Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. The 2G's mama refers to it as 'doing the FM in the AM'! And I love it.

The children seem to love the bustle, the music, the aroma of fresh produce and plants and of course, the lovely baked goods. Grant, particularly literate, enjoys the 'Buck a Book/Book a Book' wagon, which generously gives each child attending, a book of their own for free. Each week, he approaches the cart like a miser with gold. He usually knows immediately which story book will go home with him and he is usually busy enough with his new book, to let Mama and I pick out one for Gracie. Her literate tastes is currently dealing with literal tasting at her stage, but we make sure to get good book to add to her collection when she is as interested in reading as Brother Grant. We continue on to see what local artists and gardens have produced during the week. We stop many times to answer questions about the darlingness of the 2G's and their two seater stroller, packed high with goodies from the market. Grant knows that we look at everything before we join the Amish children at the playground. He is that good that he patiently waits without complaint because he knows that his mama will be good on her word and take him to play on the playground equipment while his Nana Deb stays with Gracie Beth.

I love watching Mama and son play on the swings and merry go round together. I love watching Grant interact with all the children and I love it when he waves at me sitting there with Gracie and yells a friendly, 'Hi Nana!'.

Today, we purchased blackberries, tomatoes,corn on the cob, baby eggplants, a pie and a loaf of Amish made bread. We both look forward to sharing these fresh items with our families. But both of us know that the sharing of the time and the experiences on these warm summer Saturdays, will stay with us for many summers to come...