...the accent is in the napkins....

I explore the nooks and crannies of our H.E.B. Central Market and could not believe the beautiful napkins available. I know many use these for cocktail parties, birthday parties, anniversary parties, bridal parties, baby showers, no reason parties....but why not make a non special occasion special without a reason. We rush so much to prepare things just right that sometimes I find the specialness is just the two of us.
This was a flower and butterfly dinner napkin size and the dragonfly was a cocktail size. It made the Snickerdoodle cookies so special. I only baked 13 cookies while the rest sleep in the refrigerator, but this was a special batch. I tried more cardamon instead of the usual cinnamon and they turned out to be such a treat. So special that the crispy snap of the cookies were displayed upon flowers, butterflies and dragonflies...enjoy spring, enjoy life, enjoy togetherness, just the two of you....and cookies.

...cheaper than WalMart or Target...

 So, I had taken some cuttings from the plant lady at work several months ago. They were sitting in water, a jar, for the roots to develop. I waited patiently and beautiful roots began to show on the cuttings. Changing the water weekly, the roots began to grow longer and longer. The cuttings showed signs of new growth, new leaves started to appear. During this time I had four pots of basil that never took to the shock of being transfered from water to soil. So...yesterday I potted my cuttings.
Taking a cottage cheese container of plastic, poked the bottom with a knife, twisting the tip so small holes broke the bottom up in about 12 places. Filling the cottage cheese container up half way I gently placed all the cuttings, roots spread evenly on this level. Next I placed the rest of the soil into the cottage cheese container till it was full to the top. I placed this in the sink and slowly dripped water in, the soil was very dry, so I let the water soak in completely till it would drip out the bottom. Then I left it in the sink to drain by itself after filling it up again full with water.
Next, I took a Blue Bell Ice Cream Container http://www.bluebell.com from our recycle stock (yes, we save lots of containers to be reused) and measured and cut the center out of the ice cream container lid. I then set the plant container inside the ice cream container with the lid. Water won't spill out everywhere and makes an interesting conversation piece.

...linen, I am making something old, now new...

When linen becomes aged, used, loved...it is in it's prime.
Linen goes back thousands of years, in ancient Egypt it was sometimes used as currency. It was a symbol of light and purity, displayed as wealth and mummies were wrapped in linen. Woven from hand spun yarns, the older linens were coarse in comparison to the modern linen of today. As a vegetable fiber, it is strong, smooth, lint free and gets softer the more it is washed. It wears out in areas where it is constantly creased in the same place and it is these sharp folds that breaking linen threads occurs. It is resistant to moths and beetles, dirt and stains,no lint or pilling, dry cleaned, machine washed or steamed and moderate shrinkage. But, it should not be tumbled dry too much as it is easier to iron when damp.
The wrinkles in linen is the character and charm that I love about this fabric, I don't iron it, just smooth it out as it dries on the line. The small slubs, or random small knots may lessen it's quality, but I consider it a natural tendency with the flax quality that I cherish it all the more.
This piece, Australian Cockatoos, was given to me as a gift from Billy's family. I have several of these linen tea towels, each with beautiful images from Australia on them. Bags are the one item I love to make for myself. A strap of cotton I crochet with natural, red and green and hand stitched the sides for a unusual fun bag. I tend to wear solid colors, so I use a bag, bandanna head cloth or jewelry to play up my wardrobe with, and I felt like sewing on this restful Sunday.

...you matter to me....

Owen woke me this Sunday...needs his walkie....NOW please! Gentle breath upon my arm, I roll out and leash and doggie bag head out the apartment door. I'm glad I have a light sweater on, the sky is darkening and it's a warm 69 degrees. I decide to take the long walk again this morning, just as we did yesterday morning. Nobody up yet, not even the other dogs in the complex. Determined, nose to the ground, favorite trees sniffed and squirrels and jay birds scatter. Doves and pigeons wake and take flight as they hear us on the oak and acorn littered grass way as we exit the complex. The road is empty, a light breeze reminds me of the rain, a faint hint of rust lingers from perhaps hours ago when a gentle mist had fallen just enough to make grass dew drops roll. Quick steps take us about one mile, west from the apartment, north out the gate and along north east road, back in the complex entrance, east along the other buildings, south along the green belt back to our apartment. Time to make some coffee and feed Owen.
You have a choice...a small cup of coffee or a mug. I will have the mug, an ordinary shop tin of already ground coffee labeled as French Roast. Brewed myself this morning, water from our faucet, 10 measured scoops of ground coffee in a paper filtered drip $9.99 coffee machine. A little organic cane sugar, a splash of lactaid milk. I'm hungry, a ceramic bowl made by humble large hands, a familiar artist friend with a outdoor massive walk through kiln, are my loving dishes. I crumble one large shredded wheat biscuit, toss some frozen organic Canadian blue berries and lactaid milk. Sit at my oak table, 30 years plus, found in a warehouse of tables in Long Beach, all replicated from kitchen tables of past family heirlooms. Sitting in a blue chair, once owned by a doctor, his waiting room chair. I start to eat, berries pop and the milk turns from a cold milky white to blue tinted swirls and then with my spoon stirring, purple.
Milk, the recent news from the internet splashed milk contamination...radiation. Friends ask, fear is driving them, concern, protection...they want to protect themselves, family. I am drawn into searching what I can and I, by my self feel fear too now, hope is venturing to less hope...radiation can be anywhere. Items I research are but band aids to the issue. Self preservation is what people are looking for, they don't trust what the media is saying in Japan, they don't trust what the new media is saying to the world and they don't trust what may become of them...what choices do they have...and it matters to me, they matter to me and I don't know how to comfort them, comfort myself, my own fears. We have more than hope can be measured, but we need to measure things in order to balance our hope from our fears, to out weigh and drive the balance towards a resolve towards the goodness that is hope, it enables us to out weigh fear.
We have our own history, my family has been prisoners of war, fighters of wars, overcome situations of despair, grief, stricken from country to country and driven to where we are today and we have not done this alone. You matter to me, my friends matter to me, my family matters to me and we will overcome, again a situation of fear that binds us but cannot hold us apart.