Needles and Pens

Despite a lot of craziness and distraction in my life right now (and thanks to a lot of pushing and encouragement from my quilting friends), I have finished another two blocks from the Seasons of the Heart Block-of-the-Month . These will make it into a quilt one day... ...the June star block, finished last night... ...and the May Grandmother's Flower Garden block, finished a couple of weeks ago... ...Slowly but surely, I'm catching up! ;o)

walking lifts the heart. walking, camera in hand, brings discovery. nature magnified, i am awed by the beauty of all Creation.

I can still remember that crisp, fall day back in 1972, when I walked into Mrs. Bell’s first grade classroom in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Mrs. Bell first uttered the words that, in time, would be all too familiar: “We have a new student joining us today.” Twenty-four heads turned as I made my way across the room and nervously took my seat. It was my first experience with changing schools. Mrs. Bell picked up where she had left off, with a math or spelling or reading exercise, but no one was paying much attention. There was a new kid in school. Who could resist watching her and wondering… where did she come from? Did she have brothers and sisters? What did she like to do? Where did she live? What was she like? Mostly, she was shy. In the first grade, though, shyness is only a temporary discomfort, relieved fairly quickly by the recess bell. Moments later, freed from the confines of the classroom, a group of chattering girls surrounded me on the playground. By the end of the day, I had l...

It's been SO long since I've posted! I've been thinking about writing an update, including all the events since my last post, but the thought was just too overwhelming. So much has happened in two short months. May flew by with birthdays, my daughter's confirmation, my brother-in-law's homecoming from Iraq, all the activities that come with the end of another school year, and the beginnings of a nagging ache in my neck and shoulder that severely limited my computer time. And then there was June, a complete blur. There were more birthdays, my son's first piano recital, a new addition to the pet menagerie (Emily has a new bunny), and babysitting my now-9-month-old grandson, when I wasn't totally incapacitated. The nagging ache developed into a badly pinched nerve in my neck, followed by doctor visits, pain meds, chiropractor adjustments, and finally ended in a four-day hospital stay with pneumonia, of all things. This was a truly scary experience which drained...