Kitchen Scents

This morning, my kitchen smells like basil from last nights dinner and ripening peaches. Lovely! My peaches from the farmers market were finally ready to be
blanched, peeled, sliced and frozen.


I love how these girls just slip out of their skins after having taken a hot bath!
Now they slices of gold, tucked away and ready to eat all winter long.

Abundance.

The Quilt Retreat Post...Finally!

So, sometime ago, V mentioned that she was planning a retreat in Minnesota with a group of other blogging quilters. My little ears perked up. Oh, that sounded like an awful lot of fun. Holy Toledo! I had now idea just how much fun.

What a group of gals! Talk about talented and prolific! I mean, there is V herself, who whips up unique quilts at an alarming rate. There's Shelly, who posts stash reports on the hundreds (I am not kidding, hundreds) of yards of fabric she goes through in a year. (Stay posted on her site for the patriotic quilt she was madly sewing while we were there!) And Amanda, well everyone knows how much that girl sews! That's just on the prolific end! How this slow poke got invited to the big dance is still a mystery, but what a ball it was! We sewed and sewed and laughed and laughed, saw the quilt show, and then sewed some more. And the best part? It was the same weekend as my birthday! I haven't had a birthday this fun in YEARS!!!

Now, let's talk about birthday generosity. These gals gave me the loveliest quilty things, even a few from ladies I was meeting for the very first time. What sweetness!

This is the little quilt from V that looks awesome in my living room.

(Don't you love the quilting stitches?)

Here's a bit of Amy Butler fabric from Rene' (one of the nicest gals ever), shot cotton solids from Toni and Doris (a joy to watch as a powerful creative team and as truly supportive friends) and the Hmong applique blocks I treated myself to for my birthday. Can't wait to play with all this fun fabric!

Then, the quilting genius Shelly (yep, we had two Shelly's there) let me decimate raid her batik stash looking for a few extra blues and purples for my borders. I may have gotten more than a little carried away and she was nice enough to just say "Happy Birthday!", not "Get out of there crazy lady!"

Add to the mix Terry (who found the most fabulous Halloween fabric ever and I hope to see in NYC one of these days), Mary (who had the loveliest old Featherweight, calm presence and beautiful spiderweb quilt -- you can check it out on her banner) and Heather (who couldn't stay, but left the biggest box of fabric to share), and you have a quilting fiesta extraordinare.

Birthday + new friends + quilting? Man, I'd do it all again next year, without a doubt! (Yes, Miss Amanda, I'd even go running...or at least jogging...for short spurts...if there are no low hanging signs.)

p.s. Don't you love how Amanda's completed the red theme of her quilt?

Generosity: Soap and a New Friend

Ever since my trip to Minnesota this June, generosity's been on my mind. Throughout the trip, generosity kept peeking out, the first time with a new friendship and a bar of soap.

When I discovered Megan's blog some time ago (through Carol of Giraffe Dreams), I knew I'd found a kindred spirit. She posts about the things she is grateful for, her travels and favorite recipes (which look sublime by the way), but every now and then she posts some thoughtful reflection on a topic like, oh, Mercy with a capital M, and wham, I just want to walk right over to her house with a plate of cookies and have a real conversation. As I started reading, I hoped this girl would become a friend.

When I emailed her about visiting while I was in MN, I didn't know what her response would be. Talk about generous! My invite to meet for lunch was reciprocated with an offer of a ride from the airport, an invitation to stay with her and her hubby and another offer to drive me up to the retreat. At the rate she was going, I wouldn't have been surprised if she offered me her sweet puppy for company the entire time I was in the state! Was I ever glad to take her up on some of her offers! It was so fun to chat in real time, to eat her yummy food (and the excellent arugula/goat cheese pizza at Punch) and to see lovely MN.

Then, like good friends do, she taught me a lesson. Shopping in the cutest little shop, she came across something that smelled delicious and asked me if I liked almond. (Why yes, I do.) She started to tell me about a soap she bought that was almond scented and I immediately interrupted to say, "And you really don't like it?" (You know that something you bought that you just didn't love in the end, but you don't want it to go to waste and you know someone will love it? Mmm hmmm, I jumped right to that conclusion.) No, she LOVES it. She buys extra to give to others all the time, sharing her abundance. Made me wonder...why was my first assumption that she was offering to pass something along because she ended up not liking it? Yikes! Do I share only that which I don't like or don't need? Showed me again how joyful it can be to share the best. I can do more of that! Thanks Megan for the good example.

What have you been taught by a friend's good example?

Generosity

These are the little bits of generosity I saw sprinkled through my day....

- A crook-neck squash, two tomatoes and a green pepper delivered by the gentleman across the street straight from his garden to my grandmother's doorstep, a cane in one hand and bag of fresh-picked produce in the other. What a generous friend!

- A walking path paved on private pasture land for the neighbors to have a nice place to exercise. An extra treat for me as I don't get to walk past lounging cows very often. What a generous neighbor!

- My aunt's open home and a spread of hamburgers, salads, rootbeer floats, homemade cookies and all the fixing compiled by family who gathered for a short-notice barbeque to enjoy one another's company, visit with us out-of-towners and just catch up. What a generous family!

- A little blue bird hanging in my grandmother's window which was custom-made by my cousin's lovely and creative wife. (If you want one too, look here. Aren't they fun?) What a generous gal!

- A stack of blocks-in-progress sewn by Grandma while I cut fabric for my next quilting project. What a generous grandma!

It has been the loveliest of days. What generosity did you see?

Quilting again...

Things are looking up, indeed.

Where I Lived and What I Lived For....

Contrary to the Thoreauvian writing that should follow such a title, this post will not recount adventures in building a house in the woods or growing beans or visiting friends in the village. In fact, if I were to recount where I lived for much of the past few months, I could only give a detailed description of the inside of a Manhattan office or the case files that spontaneously grew there or urgent visits to late night copy shops. As for what I lived for, well, it alternated between hanging on for weekend respites and anticipating good Asian delivery.

All said, however, this time reaffirmed my need to live deliberately and seek the essential elements of my life, which is Thoreauvian indeed. So, I am grateful to return here. Grateful that this space is a place where I can accept the mean and embrace the sublime.

And boy do I have a sublime quilting retreat to tell you about! Stay tuned...

Home and Family First

Today, attending to our home and family meant cooking (an easy) dinner* this morning as we were both coming home late and now, corresponding with an artist about a work I'm interested in buying for our home.

Yesterday, it meant having a family home evening with the hubster and then staying up (too) late to help him with a job cover letter.

Sunday, it meant staying home to write and reflect on what's being neglected.

These are some of the little things that said "family first" to me this week. What little things say it to you?

*I can't not share the easy dinner idea, right?

Mom's Taco Soup

In blender, liquify:
1 Qt stewed tomatoes (I used a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes)
1 Qt water
3 Tbs bouillon (or 3 cubes...or use part/all chicken broth in place of water)
1 tsp chili powder
Other spices to taste (cumin, paprika, garlic, cayenne pepper)

Heat soup until hot. (You want it hot enough to melt the cheese you'll add to your bowl...yum!)

Serve with:
Chopped tomato
Chopped green onion
Cubed cheddar cheese
Chopped avocado
Crushed tortilla chips

Enjoy! 'Night my lovely friends!