A Contemplative Life

Shortly after writing the previous post , I decided not to join my daughter and her family on their holiday. It was the best choice, albeit not easy, yet I felt peaceful afterwards, and was glad to have made the decision without further stewing about it. Today I am REALLY GLAD I'm not going because my knee is VERY ACHY. A visit to the orthopedist is in the works, and I'm ready to acquiesce to whatever will fix the issue, which is probably a further tear in the meniscus. The last two days haven't been bad, but I took ibuprofen three hours ago, with no relief. Such is the way of aging, just have to accept the less stellar moments as they emerge. I snapped this a couple of days ago during a break in the rain. To my delight, the nasturtium has bloomed (pictured above), although once again it's raining, which will be the case tomorrow. Which is great for keeping me inside reading through Brave the Skies one more time, a probable release date of next Monday on my calendar. I...

Sometimes I forget key moments in my life, like the first book I wrote (and finished) after my brother Joe died, autobiographical in nature. It's tucked away in my computer under the file name enchilada , as in the Whole Enchilada, if you get my drift. I thought about it recently, not sure why other than Joe died when I was thirty-one, which isn't far from when I was twenty-nine, which indeed has been rattling around my gray matter. Maybe if I gather the guts and gumption to read that over that someday, I'll post my thoughts, but that's not what this entry is about. Today I'm rambling about lost EPP blocks, which perhaps subconsciously is connected to someone long gone. Just a sample of a project from what feels like eons ago.... These Lucy Boston blocks are super scrappy, hardly fussy-cut, and languishing at the bottom of a tote specifically for orphan English paper piecing blocks. I had spare minutes before leaving for the dentist this morning, so first I Googled ...

The smaller version of the Ice Cream Soda block; while I adore this block, an entire quilt of them isn't in the cards.  A few weeks ago I considered taking on yet another English paper pieced quilt. I bought some papers, just to make a few blocks, which I did, and while I enjoyed stitching those blocks, when adding the attaching diamonds, I realized fashioning an entire quilt in that manner wouldn't actually be something for which I'd be thrilled. I then made the same block in small shapes (see above), mostly because I already had the smallest pieces basted, inadvertently tucked away for this precise moment in time. Past Me nods, with a sly smirk attached, while Future Me shrugs, not willing to give anything away. But in my heart, I've accepted that this particular pattern, while still tugging on my soul, isn't for me. Book ideas are similar, characters and plots that call to me like sirens, aching to be realized in manuscript form, not merely languishing in my head...

It's a busy day, getting ready for guests that will enlighten our lives for the next week. However my feet are a little weary, so why not ramble here for a bit, giving those dogs a rest as well as set upon a discourse about the above title before I forget why I thought it was important (lol). I don't even know why I first pondered this, maybe an IG poster mentioned them, which made me think of my orphan EPP blocks. I don't have many machine sewn blocks without a home, but plenty of English paper pieced designs linger in a tote, patterns I liked and HAD TO MAKE. I used plenty of them on a Turning Twenty quilt, decorating some plain tone-on-tone prints and that was a great manner in which to employ less than a quarter of what remains, ahem. Oh and I used some on a t-shirt quilt that I made in conjunction with a friend, who had lived in Hawaii for a few years and wanted to put her aged shirts to quilty use. But still many remain, although I have a plan for them, hehehe. I am h...