Morning Glory Studio

perfect ingredients for a blustery november sunday...

 

 

Crick and Watson, flaked out feet away from

 

      a roaring fire

 

stitching with friends after a delicious brunch

 

continuing the  birthday celebration*

 

I have known my friends easily for twenty years and for the past three or four, we have gathered monthly for brunch, to stitch, solve the world's problems and celebrate one another and our friendship.  Each gathering is special in its own unique way. I am grateful that I have this time with them and for our friendship.

Cheers~

 

* two handmade scarves: one is hand dyed silk and the other, hand knitted;

saturday afternoon: sounds of quiet...

 (stitching top border on Flower Garden quilt)

• 3 clocks- all in the same room - ticking,...each has a distinctive tick-tock...
• crinkle of paper as I pick it up...
• pencil as I write these words on this paper...
• light classical music, playing softly...
• mail dropped through mail slot...
• scissors snipping thread, trimming fabric...
• rustle of fabric and threaded needle as I make stitches...
• OUCH! I cry as I stick my finger with a pin!

for want of a ...

 

 

Wednesday 16 November   circa 4:15 pm

I say good bye to Norman and go to the garage to jump in the car to go pick up my friend Margaret. We're going to a 6:30 pm lecture at the Phillips Collection featuring the artist, Whitfield Lovell - whose works are currently on exhibit; I shared a bit about the exhibit  here.

Insert key and not nary a sound of an engine cranking on ...nothing... da nada...zilch. Totally unusual! So, I turn the key again and still nothing! What?! I turn on the headlamps - check! Press the horn  - check. Look at the interior roof light - check. All working tho' they seem to be a little dim. Hmmm; time's awastin so I go back inside to the house to get the key to the Benz...and to let Norman know what has happened. Of course, he has to investigate...same results.

I get in the Benz and he reminds me that the odometer and the speedometer (plus a few other important gauges on the dashboard) aren't working. The car, an 85 with only 59K miles,  had been in for a new transmission plus a few other things for a very.long.time. We think that a fuse or something blew and hadn't been replaced...I  promise not to speed and wave him goodbye. 

Despite the irritating start, Margaret and I arrived at The Phillips with time to spare. We thoroughly enjoyed Whitfield Lovell's lecture. And I was so thankful that car episode didn't ruin the evening...just provided a little "tension." 

 

Thursday 17 November   circa 11 am

Our auto insurance company's roadside assistance arrives and jumpstarts my car! In less than 30 seconds, the engine's running and the driver tells me to let the car run for 45 minutes... We decide to go buy a new battery instead and by noon, the battery's installed! Wahoo! The old battery was indeed old - six years in fact. I had no idea! I'd entertained the idea of just buying a new car - well, not really. We go home and decide to take the Benz to Norman's mechanic. He looks under the hood, goes inside and returns with a fuse; plops it in and voila, the speedometer, gas gauge etc are working.

We were quite delighted with how these minor irritations tuned out... It always amazes me how fast a non-functioning auty-mo-bile  (as my mother referred to them) can gum up the works.  We are grateful that our cars' problems were fixed quickly and easily. 

Peace in the kingdom after all.

Cheers~

think write thursday | fave Thanksgiving dishes...

   

        This week's Think Write Thursday prompt invites us to share  a favorite recipe and if we can, to tie into Thanksgiving since it is so close. So, with those prompts... following are my favorite Thanksgiving dishes:

• Cranberries  (whole ) cooked the day of...this was my childhood task, one I started when I was about seven and loved - still do; I so enjoy watching the berries come to boil and listening to them pop-pop-pop...
• Mac and cheese: my mother made from scratch, using egg and milk to bind the ingredients and adding huge, yuge, chunks of sharp cheddar cheese, baked at 325 degrees,  30-40 minutes. No flour in this dish. yum, yum. Here's a recipe ...
• Sour cream jello: despite that it is the property of gelatin to gel, mine never does/did until, in the late '60s, a neighbor taught me a trick: I replace the cup of cold water with a cup of sour cream - I use fat free -  and mix the ingredients with a fork and pour into a mold. Perfect gelatin every time and it is so good, either as a dish served with the meal or as dessert...
• Corn pudding: This is a very easy and tasty dish that has been a Thanksgiving/Christmas staple for at least 25 years; I first encountered in the early '80s, from a friend's mother. To this day, judging on the variations from a quick google search, this gift is quite popular, still.   Here's my version: 

                                1- 12 oz. can creamed-style corn

                                1-12 oz.can whole kernel corn, drained

                                1- box Jiffy corn muffin mix

                                1 - stick margarine

                                1- 8 oz  cup fat free sour cream

                                2-eggs

 Melt the margarine in a 2 Qt bowl (casserole dish for baking; I just mix everything right in it) and then dump in all the other ingredients. Mix well and bake, 350 degrees, 40-50 minutes or until done when toothpick is inserted in center. Let cool a bit, and serve. This tastes even better the day/s after. Enjoy!  Some recipes even call for adding oysters...I don't as not all people like ...

Thanksgiving invites us to stop and give thanks, gratitude for the blessings in our lives plus to share them with family, friends and especially strangers. We value these memories and are grateful for them. Though our plans for the day include Thanksgiving potluck at a friend's, we have made a donation  to a local food pantry that feeds the less fortunate. I am thankful that I can share.

I am going to fix a small turkey and the above items...cause nothing tastes better than Thanksgiving dishes the day after! What's on your Thanksgiving and gratitude menus?

Have a great and tasty Thanksgiving Day!

Cheers~

 

watercolor wednesday | trio...

 

        As my friends traveled from Standing Rock yesterday, they sent several photos of the vista; this was taken in Bozeman, Montana...

 

On Monday, after my visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, I stopped at the S.Dillon Ripley Center on the Smithsonian Mall to inquire about a decades old Smithsonian Residents' Associates event - no answer yet to my query but I shall keep researching/trying. This floral arrangement was one of several found in this building -  which is basically below ground...

 

And this is a painting of me at approximately 6:20 am yesterday morning... 

 

Doncha just love the looks of the Waterlogue app*...always a surprise!

 

Cheers~

* I read that the app is now available for Windows 10 users!

simply a moment | november 15 2016 surprises ...

 

( Livingston, Montana)

6:19  am. Into my craft room,  check my iPhone: there, a big birthday greeting from my Oregon friends Linda and Joe. They've spent the past five days at Standing Rock, joining the Native Americans and others in protest against the Dakota Access pipeline ...they are planning to leave for home this very morning,  hopefully to get ahead of a potential blizzard. I am delighted to hear from them and answer the text with a photo of me sporting the biggest grin ever!

6:29 am. I go downstairs. Sitting on the counter, a bottle of champagne and candy from Norman.

6:59 am - I settle at the table, flip on my iPad and am greeted by this google graphic. I click on it and it brings up all sorts of links to November 15. Curious I think, certainly not a coincidence...and begin MSQT : Morning Solitude and Quiet Time - reading, journaling, responding to text messages and phone calls from family and friends, wishing me a happy birthday.

10:00 am - or thereabouts - like clockwork, Norman joins me,  singing "Happy Birthday" and starts to fix breakfast. We eat. We talk. We lament the morning news. He turns on CNBC and I resume my reading, journaling and texting...

11:15 am - I log onto my email and am again surprised by google : a new look for email - more colorful with  avatars and other graphics...I log into this month's Story Spark; the theme is surprise! Well, so far, this morning has been full of that! My sister calls and we chat a bit and then, sign off. 

12 Noon: I finish this month's Story Spark presentation. I abandon an earlier thought of going to my favorite Barnes & Noble in Annapolis and decide to wash a few loads of laundry, stitch some more on the Flower Garden and maybe, just maybe, assemble my new desk ...

Pleasant moments all day. Celebrating with family and friends at the start of another year of my life... for which I am eternally grateful.

Cheers~

 

 

 

 

hello monday | adventure...

         This morning, awake and up even earlier than usual in order see the Super moon...and super it was...nearly big enough that one could clearly - well not quite - see all the craters...sadly my little iPhone camera wasn't strong enough to capture that aspect but my eyes and memories worked just fine. Over the course of an hour, every 15 minutes or so, I stepped out on the deck and watched as the earth turned and the moon sank and then disappeared ...amazing.

Today my sister, niece Christian and I had tickets for the National Museum of African American History & Culture. Incredible!

(Walking on the National Mall to the museum, I was delighted to see the rainbow created by the sprinkler)

 

(The statues represent various African-American fighters for liberty during the founding of the country )

Quoting a souvenir book published by the Museum : Accumulated [in the museum]are objects [that] illustrate  the rich complexity of the African American experience - from the 15th Century to present day.

(Harriet Tubman's silk lace shawl, sent to her by Britain's Queen Victoria)

Our tour began on the lower level, designed to represent the slave ships and ended on the top level, present day. There is so much to see, remember and learn.

This first visit, as my sister and I discussed over a delicious lunch of southern style grits and shrimp - yummm- was more of a sampling. One has to spend several days on each level - I believe there are 6 - looking at the exhibit in depth. Just too much to take in during the course of one day. We are lucky that we live here and presumably sometime in 2017,  timed passes (currently none available through March 2017)  will no longer be required; we both agreed that we'd return several times over to spend in-depth time with the various exhibits. If you are coming to  Washington, DC, definitely put this museum on your "must see" list and plan at least two days. 

And if you do come, let me know. I'd love to join you on another visit.

Cheers~ 

today's random thoughts...

 

Sunday morning quiet; frost on the ground...

the world turns,  the sun shines,  the earth quakes in New Zealand, 7.4 on the Richter scale...

8:58 am: hearing church bells peal...not a normal Sunday sound as best I can recall; perhaps during the holidays or on a special date? curious... 

disturbing news about incidents of hate around the country including from little kids...

started a(nother) new book on memoir writing : Butterfly Hours by Patty Dann. Ten short, pithy chapters, loaded with inspiration and encouragement. So much symbolism in the title...as I read, I look for the author's take on it.  gathering my  thoughts on 4 x 6 cards...

a quiet day in this house yesterday (though Norman's phone call lasted several hours); I did go for a walk -  it was bitterly cold and windy... didn't assemble the desk but did stitch more motifs on the Flower Garden...just what I needed...there is an end there!

 

tonight's the eve of the super moon but rain and clouds forecast for tomorrow.  So playing it safe, since we won't see another one this close again until 2034 - 18 years, last night I took photos  - as best I could with my iPhone and  plan to do so again tonight! I hope you get a chance to see the moon too...

looking forward to tomorrow: going to the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, 8 AM!  getting there is going to be a feat: Metro, our mass rail transportation system, is undergoing extensive track repair and naturally, the station 6 blocks from my house is closed all month...

inching on 1 pm; I have a few things to do later this afternoon, so I think I'll stitch a bit before I go. Here's to today!

 

Cheers~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

four mornings after...

saturday 12 november 2016 | 11:00 am est  |sunny 45 degrees F

Tho' I've been up for hours - since 7:30 am - I've not made much progress, if any...my journal page is pretty much blank and I've started re-reading a book long in my personal library, probably for 10 -12 years. On organizing, one of my fave subjects, especially when I feel disoriented or overwhelmed. I need to restore outer order and inner calm, to borrow a phrase from Gretchen Rubin. Major restoration project needed here...

Norman's on his phone with his nephew in Chicago who's on speaker and just said: "I wish you could hear sone of our conversations..." I smile , laugh, and think yeah, I can. Occasionally I interject a comment which Norman shares... 

Earlier, about 8:30 am, my friend Pat called; we'd not touched base since the first of the month?  She's been busy with her work. Her opening salvo: Did you think I'd moved to Canada ?  Well, no though prior to the election, we'd often uttered that thought. And so we commiserated with one another, caught up on each other's lives and commiserated.

Norman tells me that here in the District, 20 condominiums near George Washington University went on sale today - $4.5 million, each. People stood in line for 15 hours to purchase! Come the revolution!

Breakfast finished. What to do next? Stitch a bit? Clear up all the undones still on this week's list! A beautiful sunny albeit cool day - take a walk but my  "git up n go got up 'n went." I really need to shake this malaise... Thursday, I bought a new standup/sitdown desk - it sits in my craft studio; clearly something I could do today: assemble it. What a novel thought!

Doorbell rings: Someone looking for someone...wrong house. I decide to turn on music - light classical - perfect for my mood and good for my soul. A bird perches atop the holly tree - its berries getting redder every day. 

Sitting on the table a coloring book - The Coloring Studio; this, the third issue from  Somerset Studio, is different in that it contains line drawings from talented artists plus all sorts of  ideas and thoughts for projects using the colored pages in a variety of ways. I've had this issue - #3 - for awhile and see it's the autumn one...looks like the winter one will be out next month. Note to Self : Watch out for it and buy several for Christmas gifts, especially for my hairdresser who loves to color...

 11:40 am: The music is relaxing me and I can feel my energy slowly returning. Time to get a move on, as my mom was oft fond of quoting.  I hear ya Mama. And so I get up, put my morning away and make moves to get on with the day. Despite the times, I am grateful for this day. 

Cheers~

currently on 11/11...

        Lists are such easy ways to begin/write/draft a blog post. In many ways, a list acts as a jump-starter/flour sifter (flour sifter? well, that was the first image that came to my mind; what can I say?)... but just making a list isn't all there is to it. My next thought - and  I hope it's more  substantive - what's the purpose of said list?

• Documenting the day so far?
• Sharing the thoughts, feelings, observations on my mind?
• Writing a minimum 300 words for this post?
• Meeting a deadline?
• Stirring my creative juices?
• Remembering things to do...Including those not done?

and then I 

• Heard church bells pealing in the background and wondered if from the National Shrine in honor of Veteran's Day? (and to all our veterans: we are forever grateful for your service and in some cases, supreme sacrifice. Peace.)
• Took a sip of  lukewarm tea, looked at clock and noted less than an hour 'til today's 1 PM Journal Club session...

 

 

• Drummed my fingers on the desk top, waiting for more, any inspiration to strike...
• Snapped  a picture or two and made a mental note to clear up storage space on my iPhone...
• Selected and edited a couple photos to use with this post!
• Notes that I'd only typed 200 words with this post...

So, with that in mind and again, looking at the clock, noting that it is now 12:38 pm, I decided to call it good, read for editing purposes,  hit publish and get ready for Journal Club. The clock's ticking...

Are you a lister?

Cheers~