A Whirlwind Week (& Windows)

 I dropped off the face of the internet this week as it all unfolded into a vortex of activity: Monday, a window installation and friend visiting; Tuesday, a trip to UNC with my husband for his oncology appointment; Wednesday, another window installation, another friend visiting, and (my favorite) teatime with my friend Kate!; Thursday, all-day-back-to-back at the dentist, piano lesson, and ballet studio; and Friday, an unexpected day trip to a small town south of here, where my sister was having an urgent diagnostic test. 

Whew. Deep breath!

But it has all been good. The windows are in and I'm so pleased with them both.  Mr. Polly's visit went great, and for the first time in nearly 4 years, he gets moved to every six months for appointments (instead of every 2, then 3, then 4).  And I cannot even begin to describe the exhalation of learning that my sister's issue is not cancer, but a perfectly benign situation.  I spent an hour at the hospital doing some anxiety knitting, asking God to please, please allow her to be ok. Such a relief to get the results *that day!* 

Our bathroom renovation is coming right along!  The room is small and felt very dark (especially with the sage green walls of yesteryear): 

The window is lovely!  It is adding so much brightness to this little space. And you can't tell it here, but the view is of the backside of the farm, up a long green hill of several pastures, to the ridge with the trees on top.  In other words: beautiful. 

I'll show Finn's bedroom window swap later. I think that's an even bigger change!

I am working on a hat for my dad. It's the exact same yarn and pattern I used for Mr. Polly's hat, which he took to Finland and then accidentally left in a "taksi." Oh well! 

This was the first time I knitted something with ribbing (note I'm wearing a ribbed sweater, too--so cozy), and I have to say that I LOVE it.  It provides an interesting pattern and texture, but it's easy to stay on track because mistakes show up immediately.  So you can be a distracted person who enjoys a bit of mindless knitting, but still create something that looks more unique than, say, stockinette stitch. 

As a result of all this activity, I realized today that I was tired.  Really, really tired!  I took Annie and Finn to their all-day rehearsals, stopped by the thrift store for a couple of new sweaters (one is Boden!), and came home to lunch and a pleasant, rainy-day nap.  Now I'm feeling so much better....

Ready for a new week and the whirlwinds it brings. :) 

An Afternoon of Flora

 Last week in Charleston we had a beautiful afternoon full of flora: just the way I like my spring afternoons!  Dad suggested we drive to Mount Pleasant to go to Boone Hall Plantation.  I realized it may be the only plantation house in the entire Lowcountry that I've never visited.  

It was fun!  The property boasts a live oak that is allegedly 600 years old.  Imagine that!  The house is quite new, by our standards--built in the 1930s, it isn't even a centarian.  We all enjoyed the tractor tour of the farmland! But my favorite part was, unsurprisingly, the formal gardens. 

Serpentine walls inspired by Thomas Jefferson's design work in Virginia. 

Textures (may I please just take a nap in that fennel?).  

Massive, gorgeous kale!

Perfect mounds of lobularia. 

Roses, my newest minor obsession.  I wasn't able to get any ordered this year (something to do with running back and forth to Charleston all the time).  Maybe next year. 

This rose had a gorgeous spicy-sweet scent.  She's a lovely climber.  I need trellises!

My Dad walked like a trouper all over the house, gardens, and part of the grounds, but eventually settled down onto a bench to rest, and I decided to call it Time To Go. The chemo has made him a little more tired than usual, although he never complains about it.  Did I mention that my previous post about the PET scan was wrong?  The one where I said his liver tumors are behaving themselves? WRONG.  

Actually, there's no cancer in his liver at all right now.  

The original tumor in his lung, which was 4cm in January, has shrunk to about 1/4 of that size.  

Spring is so very beautiful this year. 

The Last of the Charleston Fabric and Patterns

 I went through what appears to be the very last of the fabric and patterns that were my grandmother's. I've got over 100 of her vintage patterns at my house, and have given away even more.  Carried everything down from the steaming hot attic on Wednesday afternoon, and went through it all on the living room floor with Annie while Finn did his final Spanish 2 class by Facetime in the front bedroom.

Many fabrics were sent away, because I knew I'd never use them.  Annie kept a bunch for making doll dresses.  And I kept some--most of it newer fabrics that my stepmom had actually purchased a dozen years ago, but not used.  

Interestingly, I had been pondering whether to go to a fabric store or thrift store down here for some white cotton fabric to use for lining dresses and making pinafores for Annie.  Ask and you shall receive!  I have now come into many yards of exactly what I need, thanks to the attic! This is great because I am continuing my commitment to sewing through the stash and carefully managing money.

And even better, I'd looked online last week for a princess-seamed dress (they tend to look better on me, with my scoliosis: horizontal lines are not my friends).  But I found one in the attic! The top pattern is the one I will use; the bottom one is too small for me, but I kept it to use for Annie one day, if she wants it.  Most of the patterns were sent away--a huge box!--but we did keep about a dozen or so for ourselves. And lots of zippers!

And little bits of memory lane: two fabrics I recognized immediately.  They both made me laugh with the memories of them.

My grandmother made a blouse and skirt in this fabric for my mom, in the late 80s! The top was white with grey dots and the skirt was grey with white dots.  

And, also in the late 80s, she made a jumper/romper for me with poufy pants and black buttons up the front, out of this corduroy fabric.  Can't you picture it?  I was awkward, wore a back brace, and had crooked teeth.  

Thank you, Grandma Polly!

Easter Hydrangeas

 My stepmom returned from the store this morning with two pink hydrangeas, which she plopped into the ancient lichen-and-moss-encrusted concrete urns outside, in order to give the entrance a more gracious and welcoming feel.  They're so cheerful! 

We had such a nice Easter Eve: a short walk with my husband this morning, some casual and unhurried food prep for tomorrow, a gentle rain that lulled my jet-lagged husband to sleep this afternoon, and a quiet, late-night talk with Finn about matters of faith. 

The clothes are ironed, the Easter baskets are assembled, and the pie is done.  Now it's time for my favorite holiday!

Scenes from the Sky

 Don't you love those little pictures that you can take out of airplane windows? Just a snippet or a sliver of the real world below. 

On leaving Amsterdam.  I did this 16 years ago, and I remember so many windmills and canals, and then, off the coast, enormous ships. But my husband only captured the windmills and some water.....

Here is sunrise over the Netherlands. 

On arriving in Helsinki: snow and conifers. 

Flying into Amsterdam in the mid-afternoon. So much water! I love how the water is like a road, and runs parallel....

And best of all, on this very good Good Friday, my husband is coming home!  From snowy northern Europe to the warm and beautiful southern United States: I pick him up at the airport in North Charleston today!

A Life to Live

 Yesterday my Dad pulled out one of his (several) guitars, the most special and interesting one of all--the one he made himself!

We stood admiring it for a few minutes.  I love the black and white with the gold "trim."  

We learned on Tuesday that the maker of this guitar had a great report from his brain MRI and PET scans last week.  He's yet to meet with his oncologist directly, but in short: there are no metastases to the brain (hallelujah! the chemo doesn't pass the blood-brain barrier, and this type of cancer loves to invade the brain), and his PET scan shows no spread to bones, soft tissue, other organs. The original tumor has shrunk somewhat and the liver tumors are behaving themselves.  After four cycles of chemo (they originally tentatively planned six), he's responded beautifully.  He'll pause chemo for now, and stay on immunotherapy, and then get checked regularly.  If and when chemo needs to re-start, it will. 

He's so glad, because he's ready to travel.  The man has things to do, plans to make, people to see! He's got guitars to repair, yardwork to accomplish, church services to attend!  He's got a life to live. 

Thank you, Lord, for the lives we have to live. 

Easter Skirts

 I've had this pale blue linen for years (I mean, years). My original plan was probably a wrap dress for summer.  But that plan never was executed, and I'm glad, because this year I decided to make it into Easter skirts for Annie and me. 

My skirt is an old favorite pattern with 6 gores: Simplicity 5914.  I have made this pattern so many times! But I realized I hadn't sewn anything for myself since I lost weight a few years ago. I had to figure out my new size and cut that out--a daunting prospect as I didn't want to cut something too large, nor too small...and I didn't have the time or desire to make a muslin sample of any sort. But I hit it just right!

The linen was a little on the sheer side, so I lined my skirt with the remainder of a white cotton sheet I'd gotten from somewhere and used for something. It hangs so nicely now! And is not, in any way, see-through.  (My mom used to wear slips. I don't even own a slip.  Maybe I should?)

For Annie's skirt I couldn't resist the urge to go rogue and just make up a pattern. So that's what I did. I wanted pleats, but pleats that "faced" each other in the front and back.  I was reminded that making up your own design is always more work than just using a pattern, but it turned out so cute! When I was going through my fabric stash last week I found a creamy polyester that served absolutely no purpose and that I inherited from my grandmother, and I realized that I probably had just enough to use as a lining for Annie's skirt.  So hers is fully-lined, too. 

We are going to wear our skirts with white cardigans and neutral shoes (pumps for me, sandals for her). Annie has asked if we can please wear our matching pearl headbands. I felt that was taking it too far, but she's 11 years old and longs for us to "match."  How can I refuse her?  

Finally, I packed her baptism necklace: a sweet little cross on the same chain as a heart, engraved with her initials and her baptism date.  She gets to wear it on special occasions!

I think we are ready for Easter now. 

Sparkly Hexagons

 Our kids' bathroom flooring is all in, and the grout is not quite dry. The marble is porous, so it looks darker here than it will be later; the color saturation will calm and even.

 But it's so sparkly!  And geometric!

Next up?  Wall tile!  Also the vanity will get installed and the countertop fabricator will come to measure. And at this very moment, there's a bunch of scaffolding on our patio waiting to be assembled, because it's almost time to cut a giant hole in the wall for a window! 

Ten Thousand a Year

 The children and I are fresh off of yet another viewing of Pride and Prejudice. To me, this film never gets old.  Every time I watch it--and I've watched it a lot!--I pick up new phrases, nuances, or tidbits.  And of course, it's rich for the quoting.  If someone is coming to our house unexpectedly and I'm unprepared, we may run around crying "Hill! Hill!"  My son does the best Mr. Collins impression ever.  We have parts of scenes fully memorized.  If ever a character is shady, we speculate that he may be "a very demon from hell sent to ruin us." Oh, Mrs. Bennet! she is such a character......

You get the picture.  Anyhow, as you may know, Mr. Darcy is a man of great "consequence," as Charlotte Lucas says.  We're reminded, more than once I believe, that he has ten thousand a year!

Anyhow.  I recently saw a very shocking thing. Here's the thing!

Of course I had to do the math to be sure. It IS true!  Literally $28 a day adds up to ten thousand a year.  Let that sink in.  For the children and I to eat at Chick-Fil-A (a rare treat we indulge only while traveling to South Carolina), we spend almost exactly this much money.  And how easy is it to toss an extra $30 of junk into the cart at Target? 

I am currently staring into the face of what may prove to be The Most Expensive Year Yet (except for maybe that cancer year).  

Full bathroom remodel: check. 

Lots of travel back and forth to South Carolina when gas prices are as high as I can remember: check.

Hotel stays while in South Carolina (not every time, but sometimes): check.

A child in full-on orthodontia: check.

Aging cars that need a lot of repairs and maintenance: check.

High school classes for Finn (we are outsourcing nearly everything next year): check.

Children who are growing out of all their clothes and shoes faster than I can think about purchasing new ones: check. (And I have a boy and a girl, so there are NO hand-me-downs here, except the occasional pair of winter boots.....)

Truly, it's a privilege to do and have all these things, and so I try to never complain about these expenditures!  But ouch.  

Seeing this meme gave me renewed vigor in thoughtful spending.  

What if I tried to thoughtfully avoid spending an extra $30 each day?  If I could look for ways to save that money?  How quickly it could add up!* To a Mr. Darcy-level of ten thousand a year! :) We won't talk about inflation.

So I am taking a fresh approach to my pocketbook. I'm going to work with an eye toward avoiding spending about $210 per week, or $30 per day.  This feels so much more manageable than saying I'll save ten thousand dollars in a year.  Perhaps I'll share some ideas in the next few weeks, or an update on how that's going.  If you have good ideas too, do share!

Off to enjoy The Prudent Homemaker's blog: one of my very favorites for her gorgeous photography, gentle spirit, and determination to live beautifully even during economic downturns.  Her garden is a dream!  I know I'll get fresh inspiration from her.....

*It's the same principle as calories.  If you want to lose a half pound a week, just avoid 250 calories each day.  That's not a lot of calories at all!  But over time, it makes a difference.....

Finn in the Spring

 Finn and I take several walks each week. I always learn so much from him!  Sometimes we talk about critical languages.  Sometimes we discuss Chinese architecture.  Sometimes it's all about geopolitical issues; at other times, we're talking about statehood.  We frequently venture into Travel Dreams. Every so often it's about Fibonacci numbers or Thai intonations.  I always tell Finn that he's the most interesting person I know. It's true!  Our walks are generally about him talking, and me listening.  

Spring is here: the yellow tulips in my flower beds are bright and lovely, my bleeding hearts are in bloom, and the crabapple is coming along.  Finn doesn't really ever use the swing anymore; for years, he would swing and swing, and forbade me to cut any branches back from the tree, because "I like to swing up into the flowers." 

It's such a gift and privilege to watch a child grow. I love our walks--I love just listening, happy to see my child so engaged in life, happy to see him in his spring.  

The world changes, but it is still beautiful. 

Organizing the Fabrics and Yarns

 Well, I did it! I took advantage of the cancelled activities brought on by a sick child, and I catalogued all my fabrics.  All of them.  Every. Single. One. (Except for the scraps, which live in a beautiful wooden cylindrical box.) 

I created folders based on fabric type: woven cotton and linen, velvet and silks, utility and upholstery, vintage linens, etc. I even have a folder for "Things to Cut Apart," like the two velvet 1940s bridesmaids dresses that are unwearable as-is, but have a lot of useful fabric that could be transformed into something else.....

Then I placed the scraps that are good sizes for quilts or other patchworky projects in gallon-sized ziploc bags according to colors: warm, cool, white. 

I even created a folder for the collars I have inherited.  Yes. I inherited collars. 

Then, because I was on total fire, I went on and catalogued all the yarns in those bins there, also by material, with notes on how many skeins and weight, etc.  

Now every fabric and yarn I own is in my phone in its proper folder, with a photo and note on the yardage.  They're all nestled back into the cedar chest in groups so that I know where the jerseys are, know where the many yards of white denim are (I use this for small slipcovering projects!), know where the velvets are.....and so on. 

This is probably the best organizational project I've done in years! I'm so satisfied with it. Now off to make Annie's Easter skirt.....

Pinks and Blues

 Annie is down with a bad head cold, I'm working on trip prep for various people to various locations, our bathroom floor just got tiled (but not grouted--yet!), spring break is next week (hallelujah; I'm losing all my steam), I just hemmed my Easter skirt, and Annie's is getting cut out today. 

This spring feels very pale-blue-and-pink to me: the skirts, the tablecloth, my beloved coffee mug (Royal Albert polka blue!), the front door.....

and the $3 clearance roses from the grocery store. 

Edited to add: if anyone would like to pray for my Dad today, feel free! He has a brain MRI and PET scan this afternoon (Friday) and we're praying that it will show that the cancer has not gone to his brain, his bones, or any other place a wily cancer likes to go.  Thank you!

  

Mornings These Days

 I have noticed that the older I get (I will be 45 this year!), the more sleep I need.  My body has gotten to the point of absolutely refusing to wake up if I've not had at least seven hours of sleep...but, really, eight or nine hours are the norm. Gone are the days of my early twenties when I would power through an entire day of law school on 5 hours of sleep. Gone are the days in my early thirties when I'd stay up until 2am to get some "alone time," and still wake with a toddler in the morning. Never. Again. I will sleep through any number of alarms if my body isn't yet rested. It's both amazing and infuriating, but I just defer to my need for sleep.  I'd rather be rested and happy and wake later than cranky and sleepy and up before dawn!

If I get to bed early enough, I can still watch the sun rise. 

{April 1}

But if I don't, then I wake and make my coffee when the sun is already slanting over the valley. 

{April 6}

Both cases are beautiful.  

Watershed Pattern-Organizing

 Last week I decided to "digitize" my patterns so I can have them in my pocket when I'm out and about.  So I went through all my vintage patterns and chose the ones in Annie's current size as well as the ones in my current size (I shrank four years ago, and I'm shrinking again).  I named one folder on my iphone Notes "Girls' Patterns" and discovered, LO! BEHOLD! that I can scan in documents. What! It's so fast and easy. So I scanned in the front and backs of all her patterns, then I moved on to a new folder of "Ladies' Patterns" and did mine.  And I created an "Apron Patterns" folder, too.

I went to the fabric store on Saturday and I can't tell you how empowering it was and how organized I felt.  In fact, it was so transformative (so much better than standing in front of the bias tape and drawing a blank, or wondering exactly how much interfacing I might need for the next skirt, or wandering aimlessly through the fabrics trying to recall how many yards I need) that I have a new idea: to do the same thing with my fabrics. This will take longer than scanning in the patterns--which took almost no time at all--but how brilliant will that feel?  Take a photo of the fabric, then put a note with the yardage. Bam!  And I think I'll organize them in folders according to fabric type. I so often forget that I've got, and then get surprised when I open the chest again and dig around......

I think this will revolutionize my sewing.  

Doilies

I've probably never mentioned this before, but I have a deep and longstanding love of doilies.  In fact, a couple of years ago my uncles insisted that I inherit my grandparents' custom-made walnut china cabinet (I have a distant cousin who is a semi-famous fine furniture maker! and he made it for them to their specifications). One of the most wonderful things about this was that I finally had an entire drawer that was solely dedicated to doilies (and other sweet domestic linen items). Yes, I realize that makes me sound like I might be 97 years old, and no, I don't care!

My paternal great-grandmother was a devoted doily-maker.  When she wasn't making doilies, she was gardening, pruning azaleas in her garden in Charleston, taking long walks, playing bridge, and teaching elementary school (for something like 50 years!).  She lived to be 100; that's a lot of doilies. 

In addition to my beloved doilies, I also have a lot of embroidered linens.  I believe this was done by my maternal grandmother.  I set it out for spring; it's so sweet!

And a detail on another linen doily.  This embroidery!  I love the care that was taken years ago to decorate and elevate this simple, functional item.  Hours of work could go into something that was basically just there to protect the table.  

Last time I was in Charleston, I found even more crocheted doilies in the attic.  I didn't have time to examine them, but they'll be coming home with me next time, carefully laundered, and set in the sun to dry.  Then I'll add them to my collection!

Performance Week

Our household has weathered another Ballet Performance Week.  It's the third I've got under my belt, and I'm starting to figure it out.  Things like always have fast and easy lunch supplies on hand and do not plan anything else for performance week, EVER and no matter what Annie says, she will need a pair of #18 pink Capezio tights. 

This was a much easier week than Nutcracker week, which is epic in its intensity.  This was a relatively mild commitment.  But it was still a commitment!

 In the meantime, I finished knitting a hat and started sewing a skirt.  I'm working on a blue linen Easter skirt for me with a coordinating one for Annie; mine, which has six gores, comes first. Annie's will be a lot simpler to sew.   I've had the linen for years! I am so pleased to finally be using it. 

Yesterday I picked up two other dancers, took the girls to the performance venue, volunteered at the check-in desk, French braided a dancer's hair, watched the show with Finn, helped with check-out, took the other two dancers home, picked up takeout from a local restaurant, met my sister (and her new-ish German Shepherd!) back here at the house for lunch, hung out and played outside with the dog, said bye to my sister, baked a cake, made dinner, hosted dinner guests, and cleaned everything up. 

So today I treated myself to a long walk with Finn in the cold sunshine and an hour of knitting during rehearsals.

(For the next performance...!!)