Tag Archives: Comfort

Daisy update

Daisy is fully clothed. It was quite an adventure for both of us. She did not come with patterns, only a wish list!  I could read the manufacturers label on her back, but research did not lead me to a doll that looked like her in face or size. My sister collected inspiration photos and books and I found some patterns torn from a magazine that I had sent to her many years ago.  Loose theads

Not one of them would fit Daisy. So began my intensive in pattern drafting and fitting. Neither was a skill I owned or desired. Underwear, socks, dress – and then – cobbler skills were needed to craft her leather shoes.

I had a goal to finish her wardrobe and return her to my brother-in-law last October, and I did.

I like to think that both my Mom and my sister would be pleased with her.

It’s taken me a long time to write and post. I have found that grief can take a while to process, perhaps you have too. Having something to do with my hands is soothing to my soul.

Loose theads

Hello! I’ve been missing this space. It seems that my technology skill are quite rusty. or perhaps just strange things can happen in the World of Web.  At least for Elaine. But here I am again.

I’ve needed some slow time. It seems that summer was full of heat and rain and branch cleanup and shrubbery growing out of control. Sometimes in the overwhelm, this girl just has to sit with a good book* or needle and thread. For therapy, I replaced all the ugly buttons on this robe with some vintage mother-of-pearl.  Simple and refreshing and only about 4 years waiting. sigh

May is always delightful. The fresh greens and small flowers are such a gift for the heart.

Then June. the Calla Lily experiment continued and there were half a dozen blooms this year. I was late getting the corms into the ground. I will be more selective next year and pick only the largest. I hoped for lots of swing time this summer. I didn’t get much of a vegetable garden planted and with the weather, that was just as well.  Over the summer months, our gauge registered about 20″. Historic downpours. Not much swing time.

The day lilies of our garden did not fail us – except for one variety which has disappeared.  Which brings up the fact that we are dealing with moles and voles and it seems a rather futile battle. Moles tunnel and voles eat roots.  If you have a solution, PLEASE, let me know!

These have been here before in various stages, but most are now finished and two pieces are waiting the final stitches. There are always bits of fabric to create with and a few projects to come. They are all taking a back seat just now as I work on  the hard thing …

Mom’s doll needs clothes. I have no idea if she had a name, but for now, I will call her Daisy. Daisy is 21 inches tall, is made of wood and has spring joints and a label on her back which says Schoenhut. I don’t remember her original  hair-do.  This one was chosen by my sister Margie, her second mom. Margie collected dolls and had plans to make clothes for this one. I have no idea of the original garments. I never asked, never really saw Daisy who lived in the depths of Mom’s cedar chest. She did not interest me.  And I forgot about her.

Until last year. Margie had dealt with many eye issues stemming from an infection quite a few years ago. The doll clothes remained a dream  as she learned to live with low vision. And then there were five years of cancer treatments.   The summer of 2017, she made the brave decision to start hospice care at home. In September the lingering effects of shingles and another infection made her so uncomfortable and debilitated and she knew she needed more expert care.  My last visit with her in her home, she asked me to do three sewing projects – whether for me or for her, I can’t know. Margie spent her final weeks in the loveliest hospice facility near her home with the kindest care.

Two of the projects are long done. Daisy’s clothes are another matter. I’ve searched through storage boxes for patterns but they are all too modern for this old girl or they won’t fit or are beyond my skill level.  I’ve spent hours on-line looking for ideas. Tomorrow I will decide.  And somehow, I will make garments for Daisy. And they will be tear stained.

*I’ve been reading Louise Penny’s series with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache

Winter Quiet

  shelf

January is a quiet month around here. Days of bitter cold and wind mark the days with slicks of snow now and then. Packing away the Christmas trimmings for another year always brings a bit of nostalgia and perhaps more so this year. My sister and I rarely visited each other over the holiday in recent years but so many memories attach to ornaments, especially the ones she had made or specially chose for us.  My sweet niece frequently has spent part of Christmas Day with us and this year she decided to take over our kitchen and make dinner for us and for her parents who were visiting. I know she meant it to be a blessing, and it was… and it wasn’t… I didn’t really know what to do with myself. Dinner was delicious and in a turn about, she left us with all the leftovers instead of taking them home. Changes can be hard.

   20180116_101902      Christmas Cactus     Christmas Cactus

The window garden has been slow this year. While I’ve been anxious to see color and enjoy the blooms, they seem part of the quietness, calling me to quiet myself.

African Violet     African Violet

Amaryllis            Amaryllis

I’ve considered that I left the Amaryllis bulbs outside too long last fall and they decided to prolong their beauty sleep. Finally, they are awake although we may not have bloom until Easter this year!

20171231_091300      20180121_152030      quilt

Do you make resolutions for the New Year? I don’t. But I think clearing clutter, downsizing, and reorganizing run like an undercurrent of my life these days. I’ve done some major work in the area of fabric and thread in the past, but still there is “the suitcase”. It hides our of sight in the back of a coat closet, blocking the way to the Christmas storage. Therefore, at least twice a year, it rolls out and I look through.  Finally, I decided to take out the remains of a duvet cover I made more than 25 years ago.

It was filthy and damaged in our house fire, but I loved it, so I salvaged what I could and washed it many times to remove the dirt and stench of smoke, fading and softening it in the process. A trip to the quilt shop before Christmas and I had the makings of a twin size quilt. This was a satisfying January project. I still have a few blocks and I’m considering them. They will not go back in the suitcase.

                      20180131_124849      recipe project

Another quiet winter project in the making – sorting out the recipes I only used at holiday time and giving them their own binder. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this before. It will certainly declutter my every day files. And if I am honest in the process, I will discard many unnecessary ideas into the recycling box. This is a hard process, although one I have worked on from time to time. I started collecting cookbooks “with a story” before I was married. I lost quite a few with the fire but — there seem to be quite a few on the shelves; many, lovely gifts.

moon

Blue moon, red moon, eclipse

Holly

And the month ends with Holly Berry Day for the Robins! The trees were alive with a flock.

Whispers of Rest

Book club again for February.

I’m grateful for so many things; especially for you who take the time to visit here with me.

Come again, friend.

Healing things

I find it is the small things, the often overlooked or sometimes neglected things that can bring calm and restoration to my life. During these past months, I’ve had to force myself to find the things that comfort my soul. I’m sharing them to remind myself of the Whispers of Rest that God provides, if I will only notice. Perhaps they might be a reminder for you as we move closer to the winter holiday season and beyond into what we have as the long, cold of winter.

Notice. Make something with your hands. Enjoy the space that surrounds you – and all those you are blessed to have in it. The seasons change always brings some new beauty to bless us.

2017-11-23    2017-10-11

2017-08-30     Collages6

20170928_123459    20171118_153926    20171118_145254

ferns    calla bulbs and amaryllis bulbs    Sadie cat

still life  Advent begins. A quiet soul time. The link is a story with some resource links from the past. An online friend, Diana Trautwein, is starting her Advent Journey: Reflections for Weary Travelers and Bonnie Gray is Celebrating Advent, listening for God’s Whispers of Christmas.  Maybe you need a bit of rest yourself?

sunset

  • Double click on any photo to see the enlargement.

 

Living in sacred moments

What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events which alter and illuminate our times… and you were there.     from You Are There – hosted by Walter Cronkite.

dish of shells

Behind the silence here, the drama of a life ending has been unfolding. A drama I would never choose to be a part of and yet, I was, I had to be. In the days since the final goodbye, I began to look for words. Words to record the pains, the sorrows, the griefs, and also the laughter,the  love, the sacred… oh, the sacred moments… of watching a mama sing her last Happy Birthday to a son – fully grown, but always her baby.

butterfly lamp

Marguerite. It means daisy or pearl or child of light.

Marguerite – daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother

Daisy – butterfly attractor, organic gardener, flower lover

Pearl – baker, crocheter, embroiderer, doll collector

Child of light – a woman of faith who showed up, and quietly, faithfully lived her life and served everyone in it

When she moved from home hospice to a facility, we were given a booklet. One that tells the truth about the stages of dying in a very compassionate way. But, there is really no knowing when the last day, the last moments will come.

September 25. My birthday. It was a Monday and my husband and I went early to see her and to pray with her. She seemed alert and strong and prayed with a calm and certain voice. Then she thanked us for visiting and we left. After dinner, I drove back, I had promised pie for the celebration. She was sleeping while her other visitors chatted softly. Eventually everyone left but my niece and I. I had brought Erin her dinner and we went down to the kitchen for her to eat. She kindly showered me with gifts and also delivered a gift from her mom, my younger sister who could not be in town.

20170926_211111Quirky napkins!

When we went back to the room, Margie roused and we had her re-positioned. While that was happening, she told the staff that it was my birthday. It was about 9 pm and we thought we would just leave but she asked about the pumpkin pie I had promised her to celebrate my birthday. And so, we ate pumpkin pie and used our quirky party napkins and laughed and enjoyed our minutes together. There were hugs and kisses and happy smiles, as we said good night. Sacred moments.

That was the last time she chatted with us. Though we all continued to speak quietly to her our words of love, sweet memories and thanksgivings through the next days and nights. She quietly slipped away from this world the morning of October 3.

Marguerite – Margie to me, my older sister. Her presence will always be like music running in the background of my life. Music full of the steady beat of faithfulness, punctuated with trills of infectious laughter.  A sacred life.

20171007_111142

My life — forever altered and illuminated by her presence.

I’m so glad we were there those days —  together.

A new book by Bonnie Gray

Whispers of Rest

While we’ve not yet met in real life, I call Bonnie Gray – Friend. Since reading her first book, Finding Spiritual Whitespace, several years ago, I’ve been waiting. Waiting for this book that I didn’t even know she was writing! But here it is: Whispers of Rest. It is a wonderful encouragement to care for the most important part of ourselves – our souls. Taking time to learn to rest, finding peace.

In a world that churns with need and duty and is in desperate need of peace, we can learn through these “40 Days of God’s Love to Revitalize Your Soul” how to receive from God in new ways so that we can give, we can encourage, we can love – a little better – through rest and soul care.

Bonnie calls this a guidebook. In its pages, you will find:

  • Soul Care Tips & Trail Notes — Reduce stress and nurture your body and spirit.
  • Daily Beloved Challenges
  • Simple Prayer Practice

At www.whispersofrest.com, you will find information on ordering and downloading the free gifts Bonnie has prepared for us. These will include videos to share and an opportunity to join the online book club to begin on June 5, 2017. I hope you’ll check it out. Summer is a great time for refreshment of soul. I’m looking forward to it.

 

Where the Wind Blows

The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.    John 3:8 HCSB

sunrise   sunrise   sunrise   sunrise

Months of wind. Cleaning the trees, knocking things over, waking me in the dark hours of night and morning and offering me opportunities to see rare beauty. The Spirit of God is like that.

The photos above are from this morning. A few recorded beauties follow.

Amaryllis

Amaryllis

Amaryllis

These. of course, are from our anticipated visits from Amaryllis. [click on any photo to enlarge]

 One welcome visitor, one not… One must look closely where the blossom starts to see the Brown marmorated stink bug. While nowhere near as invasive a nuisance as a few years ago, some still find their way through cracks, open doors and down the chimneys to overwinter. Any warm day finds them zinging about the house looking for a landing place – or a meal. I know it was probably cozy on the blossom, but, he was removed and perished. These are an invasive, non-native bug with no known predators. They do not bite, but suck. They have been particularly destructive to fruit crops here in the Mid-Atlantic region and, according to the linked article, have continued to spread throughout the country.

That’s the way, too, of life sucking troubles: they can hide away, just waiting for the right day to get out and about reproducing their destructive kind and sucking out the joy of life. It takes vigilance to catch and dispatch them.

Jonquils   When we first bought this property, we found a country trash pile in a back corner. We spent years hauling it away, bit by bit. It was covered in leaves and brush and every layer we removed gave opportunity for the wind and rain to remove more of the covering, revealing old metal parts of who-knows-what, foil baking pans from TV dinners and lots of glass – mostly broken. I did find two lovely pieces of blue glass, one a Noxzema jar (my Mom’s favorite) and the other, this 4 inch tall Bromo-Seltzer  bottle (always in Dad’s cupboard). The Jonquils were picked before the snow came. I love them in this blue, don’t you? These minis grow near the kitchen door where the sun warms the protected area and spring comes early.

Dawn   snow   deer   deer

The last snow of the season? Beautiful day with lots of bird visitors and and this brazen thief. Totally unimpressed with me. Her kind have totally stripped the hydrangeas of buds and the warm days that inspired growth of the daylilies provided unintended salad for them too.

What do you do on cold snowy or rainy days? I find them good soul nourishing days. Sometimes I make soups and bake bread and treats and get in a bit of stitching. craft  booksAnd, there are always stacks of reading materials at hand. The top three are in my own library, the rest borrowed from the county. Patsy Clairmont’s book of short stories – Stardust On My Pillow –  is a sweet favorite to re-read from time to time.

This time, I wanted to re-read “Chattanooga Choo Choo” Miss Pearl teaches Jamie about way-markers as she tells him to remember the signs his daddy left him when he died… “the signs your daddy left you will guide you into manhood”, for “A way-marker is like a signpost telling you which way to go.”  Way-markers. “Never let a good dead go unattended.” was one that inspired Jamie to take action. We might know it under different expressions: Saying thank you, writing a thank you note, taking a hostess gift, sending a teacher’s gift… So many things can be way-markers. Things remembered by the winds of the Spirit that remind us of the best way, not only to deal with the affairs of life, but to find the perfect way to our eternal home.

                         Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,  for in You I do trust;                                           Cause me to know the way in which I should walk. for I lift up my soul to You.

from Psalm 143

20170321_132941  This last photo was taken yesterday when the whispering breeze through the tree tops could barely be heard over the honking geese, screaming gulls , occasional car traffic. Each day is different in life. I must learn to listen.

Happy Spring!

hellebores

Out and about

Do you ever push the doctor’s advice? “Do what’s comfortable.” he said. How do you know unless you do something? So I took my healing foot and drove to the lake to see my tree friends. (After breakfast at Panera.)      Loch Raven   It was a beautiful day and I was so grateful to be able to go out on my own. Of course, when I got home, foot suggested I give it a rest! Driving a standard transmission for so long now, I don’t think about how the left foot flexes to do it’s job. I was reminded!

African violet In my indoor garden, I have a very aged African Violet which I love. Watching the buds open each day is soothing to my soul.  African Violet  I will try again to propagate a new plant. I’ve not been successful in the past.  I rooted cuttings from the aged Christmas cactus and was delighted with a first bloom.     IMG_8673

My indoor gardening efforts require patience. For the first time, I succeeded in killing the bud on an amaryllis. That made me very sad. My old bulbs seemed to want to sleep in till spring! Then all of a sudden, they grew! Amaryllis  The pot on the left is my failure to bloom. Maybe next year! Soon, I will be showing off fabulous flowers!

The winds have been fierce this winter and the lawn and field are littered with downed wood. Ignoring it all is also a lesson in patience. On the one glorious hint-of-spring day, I ventured out into the backyard for the first time since mid December — because there were snowdrops!  snowdrops And those funny little rosettes of Autumn Sedum. It was so lovely to be outside, I had to go look for Lenten Roses. 

Hellebores The reward was mine! The next day it was again windy and cold with a dusting of snow that melted as the sun rose.

20170214_120512  Someone else’s fun. On a nearby street, many trees have been cut down. This property owner re-stacked quite a few pieces of the trunk of his tree and uses it to show his address, and his creativity. Last fall, the figure of a Black Headed Vulture was perched on top. The bird celebrates all the holidays. Here we have Cupid.

mug

On a sweeter note, not only on Valentine’s Day, but everyday, my prayer for you —

May your cup be filled with JOY!