" Plato said all science begins with astonishment."The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly 2009
The Big Spool Photo Shoot
Back in February I told you about the 100 Possibilities photography project I am participating in.
I've been going kinda slow with the project so I took the spool on our trip last week.
Having the spool already IN the camera bag was very handy.
Thanks to both of my sisters for their photo styling help.I think I'll keep the spool in the camera bag for a while. Look here to see the entire collection of photographs.
College Tours
Since M will be a senior in High School this year we have been doing a little college campus touring. We visited Rose Hulman, Illinois University, and Purdue last week.
Rose Hulman was very small but had a lot of sculptures around the campus.
I really like college campuses. All of the touring kind of makes me wish I could go to college again.
I guess I'll have to stick to things like quilting and knitting retreats and experience college vicariously through my children.
Thoughtful Sunday - Tickled Pink
"Thetable was decorated with pink tulips, a pink tablecloth, pink candles,pink napkins, and pink nut dishes. The main course was a maraschinocherry, walnut, marshmallow, pineapple, strawberry, cream cheese andcabbage molded salad, accompanied by pink biscuits. There were alsopink mints and pink gumdrops. And luckiest of all, Mrs Harroway justhappened to be dressed entirely in pink with even pink gloves and pinkroses in her hat."Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm, Betty MacDonald, 1954.
Thoughtful Sunday
"We often speak of a family circle, but there are none too many of them. Parallel lines never meeting, squares, triangles... these and other geometrical figures abound, but circles are comparatively few."Mother Carey's Chickens, Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1911.
Thoughtful Sunday
"And when I put on longer skirts I shall feel that I have to live up to them and be very dignified. It won't even do to believe in fairies then, I'm afraid; so I'm going to believe in them with all my whole heart this summer."Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery, 1908.
On Aging
Why do people fight the aging process when it can be very beautiful? We try to hide the effects of the passage of time with make up (first to look older and then later to look younger), dye their hair, and have cosmetic surgery. 
We try to hide wrinkles and keep everything looking the same.
Why don't we embrace the aging process? It is inevitable. I have noticedthat things usually develop a beautiful patina when allowed to agenaturally.
With aging, light is allowed to shine in and light up parts not exposed in youth.
Aging adds interest, depth, and character.
The bumps, bruises, and scars life left on my grandparents made themvery interesting people. I hope I can age as gracefully and naturallyas them.On a related note, we recently watched the documentary. "Young @ Heart You're Never too Old to Rock". I highly recommend it.
Thoughtful Sunday
"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the moreunsustained I am, the more I will respect myself."Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, 1847.
A Couple of Raisins in a Cup
I really enjoy spending time with P. I love hearing her observations of the world around her.
After our recent rain the weather has been cooler and crispier. The mosquitoes have even been taking the days off.Yesterday, P and I enjoyed a lovely afternoon outside. We took the picnic blanket, a stack of books, the baby doll, some knitting, the camera, cups of water - you know, the essentials- out in the yard.
There we were, lying under the edge of the plum tree looking up into fluffy white clouds on a sea of deep blue. It was beautiful.P said, "We are like a couple of raisins on the bottom of a cup."What?She went on to explain that the air was the cocoa and the clouds were the whipped cream on top.Yeah, it was just like that, a beautiful relaxing afternoon outside.
We stayed out until the mosquitoes started to find us.While scratching the latest bites she said, "Putting bug stick (liquid antihistamine) on bites is a good thing to do... unless they are bites from a crocodile or something like that."Yes, she is a very wise child.Do you have any good childhood wisdom to share?In the mean time, I hope you feel like a happy raisin in the bottom of a cup.
Thoughtful Sunday
"The Princess looked at her more closely.'Tell me," she resumed, 'are you of royal blood?''Better than that, ma'am,' said Dorothy. 'I cam from Kansas.'"Ozma of Oz, Frank Baum, 1907.
Thoughtful Sunday
"A seed is wonderful. It grows. Something comes out of the ground. A green stem comes out. Little leaves get bigger."Seeds and More Seeds, Millicent E. Selsam, 1959.
Flowers, Fabric, and Floors
I would love to spend some time outside, maybe sitting by the garden reading a book while sipping something cool.
I would even enjoy getting caught up on weeding in the gardens. But, sadly my time outside the past few weeks is spent in the following way. I look out the window and think, oh, the flowers look so pretty, I'll go take some pictures. I grab my camera and head outside.
I take a few good shots and then the mosquitoes find me. I hurry to make the complete route around the house but I can't hold the camera still to take the pictures.
I end up with some hastily taken out of focus pictures and run screaming into the house while swatting the biting bugs. Next time I'll have to start going around the house the OTHER direction. I didn't get any pictures of the flowers blooming on the south side of the house. I keep encouraging the chickens to eat the mosquitoes but I think they are eating their eggs instead.
My solution to the bug problem today will be to sit at my new sewing machine and do some quilting while watching the wood part of the wall in my sewing room come down. 
The wood will be used for flooring upstairs. Twenty years ago we took up flooring in what will be the new bathroom. We used those floor boards to patch and repair the floor in the rest of the house. We also purchased maple flooring for the bathroom. Since then, we have changed our plan and the bathroom upstairs will not be as big and some of that space will go back to what is now P's room. In working on the new plan we have found that flooring made from yellow pine today is very different from what was made 100 years ago. Today it is all flat sawn. Most of the flooring in our house is quarter sawn. B went to the lumber yard and could not find a single floor boar that was vertical grain.
Here you can see a section of our old flooring. Most of the boards are vertical grain with straight parallel grain lines. There is one board here that is flat sawn and shows the face grain as curvy ribbons of color. This is what ALL of the new floor boards look like. A whole floor like this would look like a zebra! So, we are using the old wall boards for a more uniform look to finish P's room. We can use new flooring on walls in the bathroom that will be painted.
(My sewing room used to be two rooms with the wood area being the back of a build in storage unit. This was changed before we moved in. I do wish the changes had not been made before we bought the house. We have found many interesting things as we have done our own remodeling.)Also, please note that my desk is actually CLEAN.
Easing into Summer
We've been keeping busy this week with some very important activities. We have baked and decorated a birthday cake,
Flown a kite,
Enjoyed the flower gardens (I love these salmony pink poppies),
And even worked in some sewing time. I had this top pieced, pressed, and folded just in time to take to my quilt club last night.
We are all looking forward to the end of school on Friday! I know M will be glad to be out of school like his siblings. I hope it will be warm and sunny for our annual Last Day of School Visit to the Ice Cream Shop.
Thoughtful Sunday
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien, 1937.
End of May Color
We are enjoying some splashes of late May color in the yard. P loves that she can see these pink peonies from the window in her room.
I love these Siberian Iris that were divided from some that belonged to my mother.
I don't remember what these flowers are but the bees really like them.
We also have a variety of other iris blooming now. My neighbor gave me a garbage bag of pretty rusty brown iris last year. We planted them all along the front of the yard by the road. A few are blooming this year but next year should be spectacular.I am still learning about my new sewing machine. I have a quilt top pinned and ready to go when I feel confident enough with my skills on the new "sewing computer".I think I'll go ahead with the "random" look for the Spring Butterflies quilt. I will need to lay that out again and then sew it together.I should have some fun sewing progress to share soon. I don't think you would be very interested in the mending of blue jeans that I did yesterday.
Thoughtful Sunday
"Nothing is always."The Girl Who Loved the Wind, Jane Yolen, 1972.
Thoughtful Sunday
"That morning I walked to school looking down at all the different colored pieces of cloth in my coat. All the stories the Quilting Mothers had told me about the rags and who they belonged to, I knew by heart. I had ended up choosing the most worn pieces for my coat because the best stories went with them."The Rag Coat, Lauren Mills, 1991.(This is an excellent book. I have read this book aloud many times at home and at the elementary school and still can not read it aloud without crying.)
In Bloom in the White Garden
Color in the Yard Today
Today
Thoughtful Sunday
"He could tell by the way the animals walked that they were keeping time to some kind of music. Maybe it was the song in their own hearts that they walked to."Waterless Mountain, Laura Adams Armer, 1931.
