Your Peaceful Retreat

Thanks to Rivka, blogger of Coffee and Chemo, for this thought:

A few nights ago, my eldest and I spent some great time together.  Somehow, we got to talking about our "Happy Places." I was pleased to discover that she has such a place.

Everyone has their own "Happy Place," where they can escape within their own mind. Not everyone knows how to find it.

My Happy Place is sitting on a small hill, under a willow tree, overlooking a lake, with a small forest off to the left. (Read more here)

Rivka asks for daven (the uttering of Jewish prayers, loosely translated) after every post.  And when I read her blog, I definitely send prayers for her and her journey.  You might be interested in her story and life; she is a thoughtful writer.

It is important that we each have a Happy Place.  It could even be a short moment to stop and embrace the moment of thankfulness.  The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is a favorite book that, if its principles are learned and applied, helps one "move rapidly into a significantly higher altitude where we breathe a lighter air."

Here are some places where I stop to breathe a lighter air:

Where is your peaceful retreat?

Begonias in Brussels

Brussels in Bloom (older pictures, but absolutely gorgeous in case you have not viewed these before)! This is the original website to see all the pictures, courtesy of The First Post.

Close to a million begonias were used in laying these flowers down based on a medieval design.

Bathroom Redecoration in Bordello Red

A few weeks ago I decided that our powder room needed a facelift (the PR, referred to with those inititals hereafter, is available to anyone, but actually used a LOT by those people who do not sleep in our bedrooms).

Back to the facelift of the PR, here is the only video I could come up with regarding bathroom redecoration:

That video was relatively useless regarding redecoration.  Our PR does not have an olympic sized tub, nor is it 100 square feet in size. And it does not look out to an ocean view.  In fact, it is a wee room...no pun intended.

So I decided to make a real statement and paint the entire PR red.  Yes, RED.  In other words, I made it my "bordello bathroom".

Here are a few photographs of the PR in all its red glory, along with lots of yellow and red accent accessories, and a few paintings that mirror the colors:

If you look carefully, you can see a knitted toilet topper beneath the flower arrangement.  It is from my Ravelry collection and knitted from an orange and red wool (two strands held together).  The pattern is actually a face cloth recipe, but I modified it to make it smaller and knit it up in wool.

Now who says using a PR can't knock your socks off?

Sisterhood - Rush to be in the Group!

Want to be part of the Blogger Sisterhood?  Some Days are Diamonds, a blog authored by Karen, is having a virtual party.  That means that Karen is inviting everyone to a Blogger Sorority Rush Party.

Here are the rules:

Take this picture:

Some Days says:

take the picture and create something with it. A banner, a hanging, an ATC,a piece of jewelry, a tag, a card . . . anything! Print the picture and place it in a frame - it doesn't have to be fancy! Just use your imagination. The possibilities are endless.You have inspiration all around you. After all . . . that's what our blogs do - they inspire us. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. Then take a picture of your creation.

There are no rules.

Well - except one. You must be in the picture too. You can always take a self-portrait in a mirror.Because we all want to see who our "Sisters" are!  Then post your picture the day of our Sorority party on Friday - June 25, 2010

Sounds like fun, eh?

Here is my contribution, shown before the deadline!

Acrylic Yarn vs. Silk and Mohair Yarn for Ishbel Shawl

The Ishbel Shawl by designer Ysolda Teague is finished.  This piece was a fairly quick knit.  The fiber was inexpensive since its composition was 92% acrylic and 8% metallic.  The fiber was fairly difficult to work with because the knitting needles had a tendency to split the metallic fibers.  But, overall, I liked the effect of the subtle shine in the fiber.

This is the finished shawl, dimensions of 42" x 15":

Now I want to knit up another Ishbel because it was a fun pattern.

This is information about another yarn order for the Ishbel which should be in the mail (maybe today!) for two skeins of Silk Mohair Glitter Yarn in lace weight.  It will be much softer because of the kid mohair and silk fiber composition of the yarn.  In contrast to the ropey feel of the acrylic and metal of the above shawl, this yarn definitely looks softer and more cushy.  And it should have a very comfortable hand.

Artyyarns Silk Mohair Glitters specs:

Webs Yarn is the supplier of the Artyyarns Silk Mohair Glitter.

The pink color was chosen because the DH likes to see me in pink.  Awww....

Tip of the Day

If you can't be a good example,  you'll have to be a horrible warning - Catherine Aird

Jewelry Made from Silver Plated Flatware

In his retirement years, my dad made hundreds of jewelry items from plated flatware.  Not only jewelry, but also napkin rings, key chains and belts were some accessories he fashioned from old spoons and fork handles.  He sold these pieces at craft shows, always regaling the customers with stories of how the flatware came into being. 

In 1993, a Dallas newspaper wrote a story about dad's silver pieces and his crafting business.

Dad wrote several volumes of his memories, and one of my favorite stories was about Orange Blossom flatware and how it came to be collected. The gist of the story was that oranges in California were prolific, and these "delicacies" over a hundred years ago made their way from the west coast to the east coast by way of railroad.

Wm. Rogers Company cashed in on the deal of the popular oranges being shipped all over the country, and began plating flatware with orange blossoms on the handles of tableware.  In 1910, Orange Blossom was one of its most popular flatware patterns.

From Charles McCarroll's memoirs:

The railroads had refrigerator cars manufactured to carry ice in order to keep the fruit fresh. Huge ice plants were built in stations across the country. The railcars were moved slowly so that the blocks of ice could be dumped from overhead into the refrigerator cars. The citrus fruits were picked from the trees, wrapped in tissue paper and packed in layers into the special wooden boxes in order to extend the freshness of the fruit. The California citrus growers found that Wm Rogers & Sons were plating silver. They made a deal for them to plate a unique pattern of dinnerware called Orange Blossom with silver.

Our families had numerous pieces of Orange Blossom and did use them. The spoons and tines of the forks were well worn but the handles can be used for key rings

This is a photo of some of Dad's jewelry he made and sold for over twenty years.  These are just the pieces he gave me, among many others.

Traveling Woman Shawl

On several knitting podcasts and on Ravelry, the "Traveling Woman" shawl had been discussed so much that I felt like I needed to get one finished to see what the ruckus was about.

A free download of this pattern designed by Liz Abinante is available through Ravelry. Abinante says it generally finishes to the size of a 48" wingspan by 17" depth.

Here is the finished Traveling Woman in Ella Rae Lace Merino wool:

A close-up of the lace weight fiber:

After blocking, the Traveling Woman actually looks better than the picture shows.  It is lightweight and a year-round accessory.  The first blog post about this project can be accessed here.

More Magazine: "One Amazing Thing" Story Contest

For "women of style and substance", More Magazine is

the leading voice of today’s sophisticated, affluent and accomplished woman, who is enjoying the richest years of her life, sharing news and advice on beauty, fashion, health, career, travel, money and relationships from her distinct perspective.

It is a health and beauty periodical geared toward women over 40 and has been a Christmas gift for several years from my friend Kathy.  I enjoy leafing through each monthly publication as soon as it hits the mailbox.

More Magazine is having a "One Amazing Thing" story contest open to everyone with a story to tell. Here is what More Magazine says about their contest:

We all have a story.  One of my favorite stories is about the birth and subsequent decisions her father and I made about her health care in the first hours of her life.

My partial submission to the "One Amazing Thing Story Contest" (screen shot only) is this: 

 That picture on the left is of my first born (of whom I write) and me, the 20 yr. old college sophomore who was unexpectedly faced with a critical decision concerning the medical fate of this child.

This is not the entire story.  And there is yet more to write almost forty years later, but that is for another place and time.

If you would like to submit an amazing story of your own, or read and vote for others' submissions, here is the link: READ and VOTE here.

 Who knows, maybe we will get a meet-up at Barnes & Noble's  in the future.

Pentecost and Listening to Scripture in Other Languages

Today is Pentecost.

What is Pentecost? An answer from StPaulKingsville ...

Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the twelve apostles, Jesus' mother and family, and many other of His disciples gathered together in Jerusalem for the Jewish harvest festival that was celebrated on the fiftieth day of Passover. While they were indoors praying, a sound like that of a rushing wind filled the house and tongues of fire descended and rested over each of their heads. This was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on human flesh promised by God through the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29). The disciples were suddenly empowered to proclaim the gospel of the risen Christ. They went out into the streets of Jerusalem and began preaching to the crowds gathered for the festival. Not only did the disciples preach with boldness and vigor, but by a miracle of the Holy Spirit they spoke in the native languages of the people present, many who had come from all corners of the Roman Empire. This created a sensation. The apostle Peter seized the moment and addressed the crowd, preaching to them about Jesus' death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. The result was that about three thousand converts were baptized that day. (You can read the Biblical account of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-41).

SIL Jack in South Carolina is proficient in speaking Spanish.  He will be reciting the verse John 3:16 (KJV) for his congregation today at Epiphany Lutheran in Spanish:

Juan 3 (Nueva Versión Internacional)16 »Porque tanto amó Dios al mundo, que dio a su Hijo *unigénito, para que todo el que cree en él no se pierda, sino que tenga vida eterna.17 Dios no envió a su Hijo al mundo para condenar al mundo, sino para salvarlo por medio de él.

He says that other speakers will read the same scripture in languages of English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Latin, Greek and possibly Japanese. Jack say it will  "give the effect of the people hearing the Apostles each in their own language which would be unknown to those who don't speak that language".

Pictures from the Past

This week, collecting old family photos from the garage and various closets, I came up with eleven storage boxes of pictures and frames.  That is just too many if you don't have a library and/or you are not an historian.  It was time to pare down.

Beginning the process, with two sacks of miscellaneous black garbage sacks already filled with photo clutter and ready to be taken for disposal, here is the start of the editing:

Some of the photos I unearthed were sweet, evoking sentimental emotions, such as this studio shot taken in about 1935 of my mother, her mother and her sister( left to right).

The back of this photograph is in my brother's handwriting and says "Lela Hugeley Motley, married to Thomas Jefferson Motley, May 30, 1883" (my great grandmother from the paternal side of the family).  This was likely Lela's Motley's wedding portrait (born Novermber 23, 1859, Died July 22, 1921).

And, of course, there were pictures of home life and my kids at various stages of their childhood. I won't bother to show scans of some of those photos.

But I have to include this bizarre photograph of the tombstone for my great grandfather's FOOT from 100 years ago.

Now why in the world would one have a memorial to a part of one's body that was amputated?  Curious, but the proof is in the photo.  You wonder what the story was behind that foot...

The good thing is that several days later, I'm down to five boxes of pictures, and ready to further prune, scan and discard even more of these photos.  Thank g-d for digital cameras and scanners.