Memorial Day - Logan Cemetary

Happy Memorial Day - no time to write - lots of thoughts about this special day later!

cache valley sunset by scott

{ juSt wRiTe }

Something about the beginning of a new season always makes me want to write. And wanting to write leads me down a distracted path of trying to find the perfect NEW book to write in.

The best online place to shop for BEAUTIFUL journals is Anthropologie. As usual, they have a great variety of blank books. Just looking at the cover of this springlike pink journal makes me want to take it on a long walk.

Even better than a long walk would be a long trip (which I'm actually going to be taking in a week). This journal looks perfect for recording end-of-day remembrances - much more appealing than typing those memories on a computer.

If I were planning a trip to Paris, I'd have to get this one.
Now I'm going to go off topic. Notice the butterflies on the book cover. I really like them; they're pretty and appealing. It's very funny to me that I like them, because there was a time - about 20 years of my life starting when I was a teenager until my kids were teenagers - when I absolutely HATED images of butterflies. I can't even describe how much I hated them. I wouldn't buy anything with a butterfly on it. I still remember the year I took on a huge volunteer position - the secretary of the state Medical Wives Auxiliary. This was a big deal to be a state officer. When I went to my first meeting, the president presented her theme for the year, and it was all about butterflies and taking flight - with all kinds of butterflies decorating her materials. I almost resigned on the spot. Now that I look back, I really don't remember when or why I changed my attitude. But now I like butterflies.

This recipe journal is tempting since I like to write lots of notes and memoirs about the recipes I use. Sometime I'll share the insides of some of my cookbooks. To me, cooking and food memories are worth writing down and are really good reminders of times and places.

Just simply cute.

This one (which I love because of the wonderful blue-gray color) is called the Cloudy Memory Journal. Yeah, we all need this one. The writing on the cover of this book really doesn't make sense which makes it appealing in a weird way. On the top line it says "ANOTHER DAY CLOUDY MEMORY." The next line says, "at this moment am i drawing to remember or to erase." Then under the line are the numbers 000365.

I love a journal with a flap. This one is pretty darn cute too. Pink and green are a favorite combination of mine. Lately I've been loving all the chrysanthemums (took me three tries to spell that without a red line underneath) that I'm seeing in graphic design. The flowers on this book remind me of the mum look. Notice the red and aqua flower. I would never have put that color combination with pink and green - but it really looks good.

The insides sound interesting, but I'm not to attracted to the cover. Here's the scoop on this one, straight from the Anthropology website: "Little Otsu presents a cheeky little journal with pre-printed prompts that help you to keep track of your research, lists, journal entries, secrets, ideas, venting, things to remember, things to forget...

That's my review. I'm probably going to have to buy the first journal. But I think I'll wander over to Chronicle Books and see what kind of blank books they have. That should keep me from having to write for another hour or two. Oh yeah, here's the Cath Kidston Strawberries Notebook.........

my grandsons are the best

I spent some quality time with my two little grandsons this weekend - yesterday with Carter and today with Emmett.
I know your grandsons are darling and sweet and hug worthy, but I have to say that mine are the best. I mean the best in the whole wide world. I could just squish their little cheeks and squeeze their little bellies - but they won't let me - they wriggle and squirm 'til I let them go.

We had Carter for a night and a day, and that kid did not cry once. Not a sniff. This is significant because Carter is a two year old. Because of that, he has license to cry and be difficult. But he wasn't. He was sweet and cooperative; it seemed to me that he was trying to be good for his grammy and grampa. To reward him, I let him climb up on the kitchen stool and do a whole sinkful of dishes. He was in heaven. There was water everywhere, but none of us cared. He deserved to play in the water all day if he wanted. He discovered how to turn on the spray on the faucet and he got quite a kick out of that. I love how he relishes simple pleasures and reminds us to do the same. He likes cars and balls and the little workbench toy with pegs that he hammers then turns over and hammers then turns over and hammers..... He did that for a very long time.

Today I tended baby Emmett at his house. These cute cousins will be good friends someday because of their closeness in age. Emmett was a little angel. He didn't make a peep the whole day. When I walked in this morning, he gave me the biggest grin, and I knew we'd have a good time together. We watched a little TV and then had some gourmet sweet potatoes and peaches for breakfast. Then I put Emmett in his crib and he snuggled into his little blankie and gave me a grateful smile. He was happy to have his nap. I tiptoed out of the room and stood there waiting - you know how you hold your breath for a few minutes waiting for the wail. But he slept for two solid hours while I deleted emails from my overpopulated inbox. Later Emmett and I went to the mall and spent the whole afternoon. He just sat in his stroller, looked around with more interest than you'd ever think a seven month old could have, and enjoyed every minute. That's my boy...a mall tolerator just like his grandpa lol. He endured dressing rooms, restrooms, the food court and three shoe departments. When I finally put him in his car seat, he conked out.

posted (by me) on the Adornit blog - yesterday

fabric JOY!

We are excited!! We are thrilled!! We are dancing in the streets! (Not really.) We want everyone to know our good news, so we've hijacked Georgana's blog to spread the word. Yes, Carolee, Georgana, Alison, and Jackie have flown off to the International Quilt Market, and the rest of us are at the Adornit office working hard - and grinning.

Misty in marketing is checking emails and passing on the good news. All day long, Misty is tickled pink and smiles as she says. "I just got another email - a quilt shop in California loves the new line and wants a catalog."

Graphic designer Tammy can hardly contain herself. She's the designer of the "Life's A Hoot" fabric collection, so she has an extra amount of love invested in this project. "What?" she says, "Another store wants to set up a wholesale account? Wow!"

What's our good news? Well... it's the POSITIVE RESPONSE we've already received to our fabric! We're getting phone calls and emails left and right! Molly and Janet (mom and daughter working on the retail side of the business) are in party mode here - with our adorable owl fabric draped over their knees. Janet has already stitched up a cute little receiving blanket...the first-ever Adornit receiving blanket, we might add!

Yes, in case you haven't heard, Adornit is in the fabric business! We have designed and manufactured a line of ADORABLE fabrics AND patterns AND accessories. We've published our first fabric catalog. Like everyone else, editor Debbie is feeling the fabric joy. After a lifetime of loving patterns, collecting patterns, and using patterns to sew quilts and other things, she is now writing patterns! "How can I be so lucky?"

You can tell that Lisa is excited too! She gets to be in charge of adding bolts and bolts of fabric to the warehouse and shipping department, so she can't wait for the day the fabric arrives...lol. Actually, Lisa is a stitcher and quilter too - of course, she's as excited as the rest of us. Wow!

meeting Suzy Tornoto

I met the artist who made these notecards. She is Suzy Toronto, an author and painter who has a line of whimsical, uplifting gift products.

I walked into a little gift shop recently and realized that a "book signing" was going on. The author and artist was Suzy Toronto - she has a line of books, notepads, magnets, posters etc. etc. all about Wonderful Wacky Women, I joined right in and got a lei to wear, some refreshments to eat, and a book to have signed. Suzy was a very friendly lady with quite a line of gift products. She said that she grew up in Hawaii - thus the leis and the big-hair girls on her art. She's an artist first and also a writer. She has two books, "The Sacred Sisterhood of Wonderful Wacky Women" vol. 1 & 2.

{a book by favorite Sue Spargo }

I love the look and style of Sue Spargo's quilting and sewing projects. Maybe they remind me of the two years that we lived in Germany or maybe it's the greenish-yellow color that she uses a lot in her quilts and is my favorite. I was excited to get an email that she has a new book - called 'Contemporary Folk.' It's published by Quiltmania magazine - a European quilt mag - a good one. I'm not suprised they hooked up with Sue Spargo.

It will be available on her website www.suespargo.com June 1. Here are a few pictures from inside the book.

In the 208 pages, it features 18 projects including 3 large wall quilts, pillows, purses, table runners, needle cases, pincushions and funky little birds.

The graphics are fabulous and they truly capture the essence of Sue's work featuring snippets from her journals and embellishing techniques.

Ohhh - I hope to spend some quality time in the sewing room this summer - starting with those adorable birds!

the biggest mess

So this nice college kid knocks at our door a few Saturdays ago, Scott answers, and next thing I know, Scott and the "insulation salesman" are up in our attic measuring it for insulation. Let me tell you, before they knock on your door: even if you feel sorry for them and even if you have some son or nephew or friend out in the world going door to door selling alarm systems or whatever and even if you like the tax credit you'll get for insulating your house and even if you are assured by them that the installers are experts...

...just say "NO." Yesterday, I really wished we had said no when I saw Scott and Mike and the other insulation installer looking into my laundry room with their mouths hanging open. Yes, the installer had slipped a bit, just stepped off the beam in the attic and gone right through the sheetrock which happened to be the laundry/sewing/scrapbooking room ceiling. Luckily he didn't fall through - he caught himself and he wasn't hurt.

The plastic bin that you see in the photos is used to protect our stereo speakers from getting dirty - you can't see it but the speaker is now on the dryer below. The swamp cooler cover is hanging down behind - and there's a crack across the ceiling to the light fixture. I couldn't believe my ears when Scott told me that he had suggested to the installer that he be very careful and that he had asked why they don't use planks to walk between the beams. The guy told him that he'd been doing this a long time "and never had any problems." Scott asked, "How long?" The kid said, "Four months."

The absolute worst part is that all the old insulation came showering down from up above. This is a cleaned-up view - there was a lot more on my floor. And a dusty dirty layer of it on every surface in the room, including the clean clothes that were hanging above the dryer. No, the worst part is the hours that Scott and I have spent cleaning up - and the time it's going to take to get it repaired and back to normal. The company has promised to pay for everything - we'll see how that turns out.

Mother's Day Surprise

I was in Las Vegas with my daughter Suzie and her hubby Winston over the weekend. I got to spend Mother's Day morning with them. Suzie gave me a darling canvas bag with owls printed on it (later I'll explain why the owls are significant) and a cookbook for my new pressure cooker and a little pad of post it notes. I felt bad having to say goodbye and wanted to pack Suzie and Winston up in my suitcase and bring them with me. Instead I hugged them goodbye and caught a plane to SLC arriving in Salt Lake at around 6:00 p.m. Meantime, sneaky Suzie called my daughter Becky and suggested that they surprise me for Mother's Day by being at the airport when I got off the plane.

And I WAS surprised. As I walked down the hallway, I saw Becky up ahead and wondered why she would be at the airport.

Then I saw her husband Pitt holding the baby, and I realized they were there to meet me! I couldn't believe it. What a treat. Oh, how happy I was to grab little Emmett and hug him.

Then, I was completely shocked to turn around and see Scott and Mike standing there with big grins on their faces.

They had joined in the surprise and had come to the airport too! (Which meant that I didn't have to drive home alone - a gift in itself.)

We all went to Becky's house and had treats - chocolate cake and lemon bars that Becky had made. Emmett was so excited he bounced and spun around in his bouncy chair.

Then, to top it off, Aaron and Aimee showed up with ice cream sundaes and more grandkids. Oh joy of joys! Aimee is the cute mom of Carter, Brookie and Bailee. She deserved a long nap for Mother's Day. I totally appreciated that they spent the evening with us instead.

Oh, and, it was Becky's first Mother's Day - she got a sweet gift from her little son Emmett and hubby Pitt...flip flops with yoga mat soles. Soft and comfy for nurse Becky.

Brookelyn looked so cute in her long dress and flower-adorned headband. She made a special card for me and then performed one of the darling dances she learned for her spring dance review. She also showed off her cartwheels - quite a feat in that dress!

Bailee gave me a beautiful picture that she had painted. I love Bailee's art AND the way she poses for photos. Being willing to pose and smile that beautiful smile for a photo-crazy grandma is truly a gift. Thanks everyone (especially Suzie) for a very happy Mother's Day that will never be forgotten!