The Year to Bust the Stash

 The other day I was in the sewing room and was surveying The Fabric Situation.  My fabric lives in a huge cedar chest that my grandfather-in-law built for my husband when he was a little thing.  I'm not sure how many cubic feet of stuff it holds, but it's a lot.  And the chest is packed completely full of a variety of fabrics that I've collected over the years, either through inheritance, purchase, or thrifting.  So I have made an executive decision and no one and no thing shall deter me from it: this year, I'm going to bust the stash. (Actually, at the rate I sew and the amount of fabric I own, it could be three years of stash-busting. "Yipes,"as Annie says!)

This is it!  No exceptions! Okay, one exception: the only exception I plan to allow is the exception for Annie's dresses; I do have some fabrics I plan to use for her new dresses, but I also know I'll want to get some more.  For instance, we are attending a wedding this summer and I think I'll make her dress, but not with anything we currently have.

In order to bust the stash, I hope to make things like--

*blue linen skirts for Annie and for me for Easter (I have had this beautiful blue linen for years! It's time...)

*a red velvet skirt for Christmas (for me)

*several floral dresses for Annie

*maybe one floral dress for me--maybe a wrap dress!

*as many jersey dresses as I can make with the fabrics I have on hand

*ditto with jersey scarves 

*a hanging knitting needle organizer--my friend Kate has one; I'm obsessed 

*slipcovers for *all* the dining room chairs 

*a couple of summery nightgowns for Annie

*quilts from scraps 

*pillows, perhaps?

....et cetera!

I shall report all items I make as I go.  I never did post about the cedar-and-lavender boot shapers I made last year for my tall boots.  That was a good project.  Or the vintage dresses I've made for Annie in the past couple of years; she's wearing Butterick 7333 as I type this.

I hope this will be a fruitful, if pokey, endeavor.  I'm so ready to use up what I've got!

Good (Lesser-Known) Places to Eat in Charleston

 Charleston is renowned for its restaurants, but what if you don't want to blow your paycheck on Husk?  (If you do, go for it.  It's fabulous.)

We used to love a few of the old Charleston favorites on the peninsula, but things do evolve.  82 Queen used to be fantastic; the last time we ate there, I was underwhelmed to the point of tears. Sadly I have no plans to return.  Magnolia and Poogan's Porch are old standbys, but I haven't visited them in years!  We also always liked Hominy Grill, but I think it is closed.  Alas. 

Since having children, we've branched out from the Fancier Eateries and have begun to explore some of the lesser-known gems with gentler price tags. Here are a few of our favorites:

*We always loved Dellz Uptown, on the peninsula (Rutledge Ave), but they closed two years ago!  Apparently they've opened a new place in West Ashley, but we've never been.  However, we loved their vegan cuisines, and their meals were lifesavers for us back in the days when my husband and son were avoiding dairy and/or gluten.  

*Sesame Burgers and Beer (even if you don't drink beer; we don't!).  I adore Sesame.  Best French fries ever!  Excellent and imaginative renditions on burgers, using a variety of meat and non-meat (black bean burgers, yum!) items. 

*Bessinger's BBQ out on Savannah Highway: a classic.  Mustard-based barbecue, so Lowcountry and so delicious.  But the best thing at Bessinger's is the onion ring. If you've had it, you know. So good!

*We like EVO Craft Bakery and EVO pizzeria in Park Circle.  Definitely get their croissants for breakfast or a mid-morning treat.  They're some of the better croissants I've had (the other great croissant spot is OWL Bakery in Asheville, NC). 

*Fleet Landing is on the peninsula and right on top of the Cooper River, with great views.  It's a nice stop for lunch if you're touring the market area and want seafood in a casual and scenic setting. 

*We enjoy the Park Pizza Company, also in Park Circle.  

*My father loves Charleston Crab House on Wappoo Cut (James Island).  It's not my personal favorite, but it's a solid place to get a seafood meal and--most importantly--watch the boats drift by on Wappoo Creek. The ambiance is pretty fun and we've had some nice times sitting out on the deck, watching the boats drift past. 

*Dad also enjoys Dig in the Park (also Park Circle), and I like eating outdoors there.  It's got a fun and funky vibe, very neighborhood-hangout.  We ate there after a long day at the beach last June and it was the perfect post-beach spot to relax. 

That's my short list of Most Frequented Spots that are friendly on the wallet and easy to enjoy with the entire family.  If I think of more, I'll add them later!

The Last of the Camellias

 Every time I have gone to Charleston this year, I think "these are the last of the camellias.  Sigh!" And then when we return, the camellias are still hanging on.

See how it's just a bit dark on the edges, just a bit "turned?"  They're on their way out, I just know it!  But Annie found this perfect and oh-so-tiny bloom.  My father's garden boasts a wide variety of camellias, from creamy whites to deep pinks, including some fascinating twists (ruffled-petals, double petals, double-color!).  

They're all so beautiful. 

My First Days of Spring

 I'm freshly-home from the latest week in Charleston. This time the children and I stayed in a hotel because Dad's was overbooked! My sister and my aunt were there, and it was nice to see them.

I spent a bit of time poking around in the attic, starting the cleaning-out process.  I found some treasures belonging to one of my cousins, who was serendipitously just disembarking at the port of Charleston after a cruise in the Bahamas. He came by and picked up his old yearbooks, slides, trumpets, etc. on the way home after his trip. I found more old patterns I need to examine (next time) as well as some fabric.  My aunt found her favorite baby doll from yesteryear.  I triaged some of my dad's guitar accessories and guns for him to look at later, and took a photographic inventory of all the framed paintings and prints that are up there.  It rained most of the day yesterday and it was very cozy to be up there, wearing my headlamp and listening to the rain hit the roof just above my head.  

My Dad continues to amaze us all with how well he is doing. I've never seen anyone so robust during chemo.  His hearty appetite, good cheer, and positive attitude continually inspire me! It's just such a blessing and an answer to prayer. Thank you, Lord, for these gifts.

The azaleas aren't quite all the way out yet, but things are still looking pretty in the Lowcountry. And spring is officially here! This winter was hard; January in particular was a very, very difficult month.  It was cold, it was sad, it was stressful.  Dad was in and out of the hospital three times, and I caught covid.  I comforted myself with the knowledge that the beauty and grace of spring would come again. I knew the daffodils would bloom.  The air would grow mild.  The snow and ice would melt.  People would start to heal. 

Now I'm home for another 16 or so days, and back south for Holy Week. Spring, I welcome you!

My Approach to Packing and Planning

 Now that I'm spending 1/3 of my time in Charleston, South Carolina--which is, for the record, a solid 8-hour journey from here, door to door--I decided I needed to get this packing and unpacking thing down to a perfect science.  So last week I made a 3-page document in Word, and I'm following its instructions to the letter!

First page: my own packing list, broken down into clothing, accessories, toiletries, "stuff" (phone chargers! the planner!  books!), and tools (anything I need to do odd jobs at my parents' house for the week--next week I've been promised that I will be allowed to get into the attic and start going through the 75 years of "goodies" up there!).  

Second page: two columns, one for Annie and one for Finn, with their lists. I cut it in half, hand it to them, and off they go to pack their things.  Efficient. 

Third page: the takeoff and re-entry checklists!  This is the bit of brilliance in my system.  With two days before a trip, I complete the "2 days out" list (things like catching up on all the laundry, making sure the car is cleaned out, replenishing the nonperishable food items, baking breakfast muffins, hammering out the lesson plans for the week in Charleston).  One day before--almost always a Saturday--I work through a list that includes packing everything (including the school items, in their own suitcase!), packing the car, having Finn take care of the chickens, filling the car with gas, washing Annie's ballet stuff as soon as she's home from company rehearsal (then it can air-dry nicely all week and be ready for her when we land back at home on Friday evening!), fill up the water bottles, etc.  This leaves a very brief list for the morning of a trip: pack the last-minute tidbits and GO!  The re-entry checklist is also broken down by day, with the bulk of work done the day after we arrive home (Saturday).  Everything is planned to maximize a calm and organized transition back into our normal life at home. I'm really pleased.

Another smart thing I did to create ease during this season of life?  I bought new basics for my children: undies, socks, etc.  When we get home from Charleston, I wash them and put them right back into the packing cubes.  No more scrambling to find socks or Finn's beloved white tee-shirts the night before a trip!  

So today I've been working my way down the list and it feels so good to know I'm on top of it. I took a brief break to go talk to a local attorney about some work I'm interested in pursuing from home on a super-part-time basis (and not yet!; not even going to work on qualification for it until Annie is driving, but there's some planning and thinking to be done in advance).  It was so fun to sit and talk about the law for an hour; these people speak my language.  And then it was so fun to come home, remove my Fancy Lawyer Clothes, fold some laundry, and have a cup of Yorkshire Gold and some dark chocolate. Back to packing now! 

It's nice to know that there is a lot of good I can help do in the world, and that right now, I'm doing exactly the good that I'm supposed to do: looking after my family--both my family here in the mountains and my family in Charleston. :)  The Lord's timing is always just right.  I trust it completely, with all of my heart. 

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)

May it always be so.

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ALSO! My genius husband got the machine working! 100 people can come back to work now!  He probably still cannot go to Charleston, since he has to stay and babysit the machine, but we are so, so thankful that production can run and folks can get paid.  Whew. Praying it continues.

White Paint and Comfort Cooking

We are having our children's bathroom--which is also the guest bathroom--renovated right now.  A total renovation, right down to studs and insulation!  The tub has been set--a process that took *two days* and involved a lot of very loud noises, plus an access panel cut into Finn's closet wall.  Wow!  

This morning the bathroom looked like this (notice the care our contractor takes in protecting that brand-new tub: it's covered with a quilt and plywood!)

I took the children into the city for piano lessons and ballet class, along with a nice long walk with Finn on the pleasant urban trail that cuts through the city. And when I got home dinner was ready in the crockpot (Moroccan chicken and vegetables) and the bathroom was a nice, bright white. I picked "Chantilly Lace" by Benjamin Moore because it was the cleanest white I could find to coordinate with the beveled subway tile that is supposed to run halfway up the walls.

It felt good to come home to these cheery things because poor Mr. Polly is in the midst of a difficult work situation.  Please pray for him!  A Major Machine Breakdown has occurred and he's scrambling to get it completely resolved, but it's not yet.  One hundred people are not working because production isn't running.  One hundred people.  That's a lot of pressure.  He's the one they turn to fix anything and everything--just call him MacGyver.  His reputation is unparalleled! But this is an issue that involves waiting on parts to come...parts that are apparently not easily obtained at this time.  And while they wait, one hundred people cannot work.  He was supposed to go to Charleston with us on Sunday, but unless a real miracle occurs tomorrow morning (he's trying all sorts of substitute ideas), he's going to be working all weekend and through next week....until things can run again, and until those one hundred people can get paid. 

Tomorrow night I plan to provide comfort in the form of braised chicken with mushrooms, oven-baked polenta, and roasted brussels sprouts. I can't help fix the problem, but I can at least keep the senior manufacturing engineer well-fed. 

The Lost Sense of Quality

"We need all along the line to recover the lost sense of quality and a social order based on quality.  Quality is the greatest enemy of any kind of mass leveling. Socially it means the renunciation of all place-hunting, a break with the cult of the 'star', an open eye both upwards and downwards, especially in the choice of one's more intimate friends, and pleasure in private life as well as courage to enter public life. Culturally it means a return from the newspaper and the radio to the book, from feverish activity to unhurried leisure, from dispersion to concentration, from sensationalism to reflection, from virtuosity to art, from snobbery to modesty, from extravagance to moderation.  Quantities are competitive, qualities are complementary."

     -Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Letters and Papers from Prison)

On the Bright Side

Yes, we're on our fifth straight day of nausea, fevers, fatigue, and tummy troubles. Annie had it the worst; once her stomach settled, she spiked a fever of 104 that did not want to go away, and she barely ate a bite of anything for four straight days. I was awake a lot at night, dithering over her. But this morning she's only left with fatigue--so I'm hopeful that the worst is over for her. She's a tiny thing already, a whopping 66 pounds and in the 10th percentile for her age, so she doesn't have a lot of excess to spare.  I feel compelled to give her lots of avocado and peanut butter. 

Finn is still in the fever stage, although he's at a lower level than Annie, so he's been able to spend lots of time listening to Pride and Prejudice on Audible or reading his travel guide to Cartagena, Colombia.  In fact, Finn is so resilient that in between "sick to his stomach" sessions yesterday, he was engaged in energetic conversations about the member countries of NATO and the EU.  Honestly, I don't know anyone like that guy.  His brain never goes on vacation.  

I've been spared the fever and the nastiest tummy issues--my primary complaints are constant nausea and some fatigue.  But that's okay.  My husband appeared to have escaped it all, as usual, but today he has slept for three hours straight, so we may have identified the next victim.

On the bright side, though!

*I'm working my way through a long book--getting close to the finish line, so I can move on to the next long book.  Reading is my favorite thing, and I don't have an excuse to read for hours every day...unless we are sick.

*We woke to snow this morning. 

*This illness happened during our time at home, not our time in Charleston with my father. (Whew.)

*I will finish my husband's knitted hat before he goes to chillier climates across the Atlantic!

*The farm (pictured above) is cold and beautiful. Just envision it with snow and that's what we're looking at today.

*I felt well enough to get dressed today!  I told my husband that during the last four days, the highlight of my day was showering, because it was Something Different than shuffling around in stretchy clothes and feeling miserable.  Today I'm in pretty clothes.  But still shuffling.

This too shall pass.  

Down for the Day

 Annie--and that means Annie and I--woke at 2:38 this morning.  But only one of us got sick to her stomach.

Poor Annie!  All night long I held her between intervals of illness. I was so glad when dawn came: I could get up and justify my coffee.  

So today was all about Annie: give her popsicles, give her Pedialyte, give her a bit of water.  Tend to her needs.  Three showers (they make her feel better).  Hug her.  Sit and knit at her side.  Annie is a very needy person when she's sick, but I can't blame her: she was throwing up several times an hour for most of the day. 

Fortunately her pace has slowed and I'm hoping that tonight we will get more than 4 hours of sleep...and that she won't get dehydrated.  Bless her.  I'm really hoping that tomorrow will involve calories for Annie.

On the bright side, our contractor was here doing framing in the bathroom, and I got several more inches knocked off the knitted hat I'm racing to finish before my husband goes to Europe next month. And Annie and I got lots of cuddles! 

Shoes from Finland

 My son's Karhu shoes (pictured here when brand new) are nearly a year old and falling apart at the seams: I'd say we got our money's worth!  So it's probably time to replace them.  

When he got them, I realized his feet were officially bigger than mine. He was 13. 

We got a real kick out of the fact that these are Finnish shoes. You see, my husband and I spent several weeks in Finland....about 40 weeks before Finn was born. You can do that math!  I loved Finland.  It's beautiful, serene, and clean. When we were there I was training for a marathon, and I did many long solo runs around several cities. I find there's no better way to fall in love with a place than to walk or run--you get such a feel for the people, the landscape, the flora! 

Off my husband goes to Finland again in one month! But this time I don't think he'll bring back another Finn. :)  Maybe he'll bring back some shoes?

Blue and Yellow on Broad Street

 Last week in Charleston, hanging from the City Hall building on Broad Street.  

At the end of Broad, the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon flew it near the U.S. flag and the South Carolina state flag. 

We continue our fervent prayers for peace, freedom, and democracy.

Two Hours to Tidy

 Today I had two hours--one before picking Annie up from ballet and one after sitting with Finn and plotting out classes for next year--to work on our garage, which had turned from Reasonably Tidy Storage Space to Complete Pit of Utter Despair. 

I didn't think I'd get it done!  But by the time I closed the garage door last evening, order was restored (okay, except for Mr. P's workbench, but we'll get to that!).  

Call me an oddity, but I find that there are few things I enjoy more than taking a mess and putting it all to rights.  I just love the entire process: arranging, tossing, organizing, purging, sweeping, tidying.  It's so satisfying!  And yesterday I had done our fridge, which sorely needed it after weeks of neglect due to my running back and forth to Charleston.  It took about two hours there, too--and then I made pumpkin muffins, banana bread, rosemary-chipotle spiced nuts, spinach squares (yummier than they sound, I promise) and almond butter brownies (ditto) from all the bits and pieces I found that needed to be used. 

In fact, I think washing all those dishes took longer than it took to clean the garage!  But it was all good work, and now once the basement is tidied up, I'll feel like I've gotten my home back into shape!

And one more thing that I've discovered: Annie keeps her room immaculately tidy if she is permitted to go into it with an audiobook and listen to stories while she works.  She can spend hours on this.  Her room has gone from total disaster (last year) to being neat as a pin (this year) and the difference is Beverly Cleary!

Finn Cooks Coq au Vin

Finn had an assignment for French class: make a French dish.  So he chose the New York Times coq au vin recipe. Which, of course, had a million steps, including lighting the dish on fire (I was not part of this escapade; if I had been, I would have moved that wooden spoon!). 

But let me tell you: it was so, so good!  I've had my share of coq au vin in restaurants, and this one rivaled the best.  The one thing that my husband and I agreed upon was the fact that the flavor wasn't quite as deep as we typically get, and I attribute that to the fact that we didn't use a robust-enough red wine. But no matter.  It was still absolutely delicious. 

Merci, Finn!

Annie's Al Fresco Spanish (+Azaleas)

 This is our week in Charleston, and I've never been more grateful for technology. Thanks to it, my children can be in Charleston and still (sort of) keep up with schooling.  

Here's Annie doing her Spanish class by Facetime, backdropped by early-blooming azaleas. It was eighty degrees today and we just couldn't resist!

We head back to the chillier mountains tomorrow because my husband has a live interview Friday afternoon from our schoolroom and I need to be there to provide both a laptop and moral support!

Tonight my Dad ate his entire plate of food.  Again. This is an answer to desperate prayers and I am thrilled to sit and watch him eat.  A CT scan today seems to indicate that the tumors are shrinking after only two rounds of chemo.  Given that fact, and the fact that his only side effects thus far are a little fatigue and some thinning hair, we're calling his cancer treatments so far a smashing success.  They buy time--that most precious commodity. 

We are thankful.