a little inspiration

          I've been working on a quilt.  With wool on the inside to keep me nice and toasty. And big summer flowers on the outside to keep me cheerful all winter long.  I got this fabric about year ago.  The wool that I used for the batting in actually a fabric someone gifted me from an old stash.  It was a huge plaid I couldn't imagine ever using but it is so warm and such a nice wool.  I knew it must have some use.  And 60" inches wide even after washing! I practiced my embroidery to keep it in place.  I finally got the chain stitch down.  I think it is funny I waited so long....  it is so easy and pretty.  (I always say this.  Why did I wait so long to try x?  It is so easy!) Desi liked the quilt from the beginning.  You can see the evidence on all the pictures....  That white hair really does stick. (ps- there are even more pictures if you click on any one of these.)

We had a great weekend in Raleigh with some of our very favorite ladies.  The Bug had a blast in the giant tub with jacuzzi jets and a "fishing" activity that kept him very, very clean.  There were about a thousand dolphin shows.  :) We were also spoiled with amazing homemade food every day.  Have you ever had fresh made english muffins?  We had them two days in a row.  The Bug now calls them "bagel muffins" and the first day home woke up crying that needed them. We also went to Monkey Joes .  Oh, my!  We all had way too much fun there.  Don't believe what they say about adults not being able to play.  We all went down the big slide several times. The next day we went to the Natural History Museum and saw dinosaurs, butterflies and many other bugs.  He cried more when we left there than the jumping place. In the mean time I am trying to get pictures off of the camera but the little converter has been broken (hmm, wonder by who...

  It is interesting to step into new chapters of life knowing you are on a particular path.  Of course, you can only see the parts of it you are planning and so you don't get to see the whole picture until afterwards.  I never think of myself as the type to plan much (but I think that may not be reality either) and so I feel especially neat and powerful when I am looking ahead with intention.  Even if all the things I see are hanging in an ever changing tapestry and what is completely true today will be completely untrue tomorrow.  It only matters that the dreaming goes on and the effort to live right now is done with intention of your path held also in your heart. In trying to quiet the many voices vying for attention I have started spending one evening a week in meditation with others (called a sangha .)  This gives me the chance to set aside the time and choose to silence the competing dreams so that I may more easily follow the path that is best fo...

I've been dying to share this Christmas gift.  I have such a hard time keeping secrets.  Our little Bug is very Papa centric.  He often tells me to go away when they are playing together and I show up.  One day when Papa was out I pulled out this big canvas and had him paint the whole thing yellow.  After waiting for it to dry I asked him what color he'd like to paint with over the yellow.  He said purple.  I mixed up some red and blue and came up with this color.  I let him paint however he wanted until the paint was gone and then directed him to other paper to get the rest of his painting desires out. I had the goal of keeping the canvas simple and not turning it a sea of mixed brown paint.  I had gone through a whole bunch of quotes looking for the best one.  When I came across these words I knew it was the right thing.  I printed it out in a font that looks like my handwriting, only neater.  I pulled a light box out and...