Just "Be" for Christmas

I am going to keep this reminder to "Be" beside my poinsettia throughout the upcoming Advent Season. This is the month to SOAK up the moments, cherish family and friendships, and take in all the Christmas sights, sounds, and smells. I remember a lovely story about a little girl running into a beautiful flower garden and the gardener standing nearby feared she would pick the biggest one. The girl stopped right beside a rose, leaned over to stick her nose right in it, took several deep breaths, then ran off to play. Perhaps we don't need to own or consume so much...just pause, appreciate everything a bit more, and give something away.  I bet that memory will last :)

Safety Pin Turkey Skin Anyone?

My clever husband was following his brother Aaron's advice about rubbing seasoned butter UNDER the turkey skin and THIS is what I placed in the oven. He accidentally ripped the skin a bit and solved the problem.  Has anyone ever seen this before? The turkey was actually very tasty!  :)

"4-H" and Bert Forever in our Hearts

I was quite a tomboy growing up. I hear my mom had to make sure I did not wear stripes and checks together - even when I was in high school. But I got a REAL break when I met our 4-H leader, Alberta Hansen. Her daughter, Laurie, and I happened to be best friends so it was especially sweet to spend a LOT of time at their farm and in the company of this remarkable lady. She not only taught me to sew pretty well, but also refinish furniture, bake bread, make a pie crust (yuck), and best of all, show my amazing horse, Misty, at all kinds of equestrian events. In her later years, Bert lived at Spring Valley and I was able to visit her often as my folks were there too. Bert once told me a story about an optimistic lady who lost all her hair but three long strands on her head. She said, "Oh goody! Now I can easily braid them!"  When she was down to two hairs, she said, "Yay! Now I can wear pig tails!" Down to one hair, she remarked, "Ahhhh. A ponytail at last!"  And finally with no hair at all, she proclaimed, "Good! Now I don't have to mess with my hair!" This was Bert. I loved her dearly and she left this world this week. The good thing is, she left a daughter behind who is probably going to turn out exactly like her mother with an eternal hope, optimism, and strength to get her through ANYTHING. Here is Bert below with me and dear friends, Jean and Joy. We were three of her "4-H followers" right to the end.  We love you, Alberta Hansen.

Wendell's Words for Terry Read

These words of Wendell Berry have comforted me in the past and will do so again with the great loss of our very dear friend, Terry Read, pictured below with Sydney on the Washington State Ferry some years ago. It was taken during one of the many wonderful "free days" during our church reunion on Samish Island and the joy portrayed on both faces says a lot about the nature of this man. We all loved those memories and adventures on Lopez Island with the extended church family and our hearts go out to Linda and daughter Andrea, the two most cherished women in Terry's life. The words of Wendell seem so harsh at the beginning, but bring some peace at the end.

"What gets you is the knowledge, that sometimes can fall on you in a clap, that the dead are gone absolutely from this world. As has been said around here over and over again, you are not going to see them here anymore, ever. Whatever was done or said before is done or said for good. Any questions you think you ought to have asked while you had a chance are never going to be answered. The dead know, and you don't.

And yet, their absence puts them with you in a way they never were before. You even maybe know them better than you did before. They stay with you, and in a way you go with them. They don't live on in your heart, but your heart knows them. As your heart gets bigger on the inside, the world gets bigger on the outside. If the dead were alive only in this world, you would forget them, looks like, as soon as they die. But you remember them, because they always were living in the other, bigger world while they lived in this little one, and this one and the other are the same. You can't see this with your eyes looking straight ahead. It's with your side vision, so to speak, that you see it. The longer I live, and the better acquainted I am among the dead, the better I see it. I am telling what I know."
(Wendell Berry, Atlantic Monthly, 2008)

Sawing Away at Sam's Swoop!

Last night, we got an email from our Spokane Mountaineer friend, Lynn, to meet other Nordic ski buffs at 8 am today for a chainsaw trail clearing day. There are nearly 40 miles of groomed trails and unfortunately, every mile has downed trees.  It was so devastating to see the old beauties lying on their sides. After they are limbed, the bobcat will drag them away. Many hands make light work!

Happily Out of Place: The Farmer and The Violin

This painting hangs in the Pattee Hotel in Perry, Iowa, where I went to high school. The rural scene painted by Gary Ernest Smith, called "Celebration of Life," shows a man standing in a freshly plowed field as he plays a violin. He looks happily out of place — like this world-class hotel in a tiny Iowa town. I took the photo of this painting a while ago but wanted to remember it today. "Happily out of place"  I like the sounds of that phrase. Taking an unusual or perhaps even unpopular stand on something - after deciding, happily, that it's the right thing to do - not necessarily what everyone else does. Perhaps we should all do that more.

Heavens torn apart for Terry with One Big Boom

Mother Nature was in a violent mood on Tuesday in Spokane, WA, with trees crashing down all over the place leaving 380,000 people without power. We lost a few big ones on our property as well. My sister in law, Jennifer, and I think it's because the heavens were torn apart when our dear, dear friend, Terry Read, was tragically killed by a car that morning in Los Angeles while walking his dog. The outpouring of love for this man is so great we think the whole world cherished him. We certain did here in Spokane. Our hearts are broken for his wife Linda and daughter, Andrea...

"Draw" Yourself Happy

For just about my entire teaching career, I used a simple sketch in my "last lecture" which showed a stick figure drawing themselves. The figure was holding a pencil in one hand and literally finishing drawing the other half of their body. I loved this analogy of choosing how you will look, act, do, and BE every single day of your life. After all YOU are holding the pencil!  Here are the coolest kitchen towels ever that I am putting into some Christmas baskets this year expressing my little philosophy :)

Judy's Amazing Life and Her Baby Bunny Blankets

My beautiful dear friend Judy McKeehan is, I think, the most talented woman I know. Her artistic talent is simply unstoppable. There are physical reasons which could have caused her to stop creating beautiful things, such as brain tumors, tremors, and hearing loss as well as many emotional reasons including untimely deaths of a grandchild, husband, father, and mother. But Judy, much like the Energizer Bunny, just continues to produce - and not just anything - we are talking quality, heirloom pieces of art. She still paints, photographs, sketches, sews, knits, designs, and crochets. After her first life altering brain surgery over a decade ago, Judy commented to me, "Well, let's see what this new Judy can do!"  I will never forget that statement and I know it inspired my mom considerably in her later years dealing with Parkinson's.  I just spent a lovely quilting retreat weekend with Judy and dear friends and she is patiently teaching me how to make her delightful crochet bunny baby blankets pictured below. THANK YOU Judy for being such a gift to your loving family, the Cheney/Spokane community, and the entire world!

Yoga Barn

Vern's "shop" is now moonlighting as a Yoga Barn for two of my dear friends who are wonderful instructors!  And all I have to do is walk out my front door twice a week to "their" studio :) I am FINALLY giving this fabulous flexible form of exercise a good try in my life and have no excuses not to declare this the Year of Yoga. It's so nice to have ALL our living spaces very well used and loved...

Zentangle Anyone?

My friend Cindy Phillips and I took a free class at the Moran Prairie Library today called Zentangle. It TRULY was an amazing experience and the time flew by faster than you can blink an eye. One definitely gets into a state of "flow" when Zentangling! It's a wonderful repetitive, creative, meditative art experience that ANYONE can do on a 4 X 4" piece of paper :)  Here is my creative (he says not) husband and our "practice" Zentangles we did tonight :)

A Little Bit of My Dad...

Adam just posted a SWELL holiday commercial today about a lonely old man and a lovely neighbor looking out for him (google "Glade facebook" to see it). Made me all misty for my dad...SOOO as I was contemplating the post for tonight, I came across this little video of he and I having our own little tractor ride just five years ago. Dad had JUST finished restoring the Super M and had restored the International 560 a few years earlier. We drove them a few miles on a cold Iowa spring day and made quite a memory. Just a couple of months later he had his stroke which took them off the farm for good. Sigh......

World Famous Xylophone!

What a treat to be able to go to "The Jubilee" in Spokane where many Fair Trade organizations from across the Pacific Northwest gather for two days to sell their wares. I was so intrigued with this wooden xylophone from our own Spokane store, Kizuri. It was made by Doozie, from Ghana, who also constructed the instruments used in the soundtrack for the Broadway Lion King production. The sounds from this simple instrument were aMAZing! People probably thought I was crazy but I played it quite awhile. Transported me straight to the jungle! :)

Well, HELLO Christmas Cactus!

So tonight I'm wondering, "Now WHY am I doing this?  No one reads it. Do I think I have something to say?" etc, etc. But then I remembered I promised myself to NOTICE something every day for a year!  So I start walking around the house. Lo and behold, the Christmas Cactus was blooming it's little head off behind the planter hanging down the wall by the Good Luck Chickens. I hadn't noticed it until today. Ok...I'll buck up and start opening my eyes more! :)

Tomato Cages Extraordinaire

I have spent YEARS "ruining" tomato cages when fall comes. They almost always break apart and/or get terribly bent out of shape. I will bend and pound them enough to get another season or two, but it's not fun. Last year when I really needed to replace them, during an unusual moment of clarity, I did NOT get the sale ones, but rather spent an extra few dollars on these heavier ones. Well, they are amazing and will probably last me years and years and years. Am I getting smarter in my older age? LOL!

Gallons of Sweet Cider = Friendship and Fun!

It was such a treat to be invited to join John and Sandy VanDerWalker's annual tradition of pressing apple cider this morning!  They are such a delightful couple who actively practice AND preserve all kinds of culinary and creative arts. Sandy and Vern cleaned and hauled and John and I tossed, shoved, and cranked out well over 40 gallons of cider. Of course we took many breaks to sample hot spiced cider, smoked salmon, sausage and cheese snacks, and cream cheese pumpkin rolls :)

COLOR...Blind

Many many years ago, when I was in grad school, I decided to "be blind" for a day. It was probably a foolish idea, as of course I could take off the eye patches anytime, but I stuck it out and learned a few things. I woke up with blinders on, shaved my legs, poured orange juice, made toast, rode a big city bus alone, got ripped off in a record store, ran as fast as I could around a track holding a friend's hand, jumped high on a trampoline, and got hopelessly lost finding the locker room. I remember two things:  1:  On the bus, anyone who spoke to me was simply a warm voice. I did not know or care or even think about their color, age, or appearance. 2:  When my friends gathered around me at the end of the day and I took off the patches, my first word was COLOR!!!!! 

This little surprise flower which will probably be gone after tonight's frost, made me remember that very old memory...

The Hen Who Flew...

Well, today about 10 am, the garden was eerily quiet and I suddenly wondered where all the chickens were. Several months ago, a hawk had attacked and all the hens and guineas dove for cover. The big white hen "hid" in a bush with her entire body sticking out and her head hidden (hilarious!) but fortunately everyone survived. Today felt the same way. When I finally looked in the chicken coop, they were all in there hiding...except the big white hen. I searched high and low and found a small tuft of feathers.  Sniff... :(  Thought I might be writing an obituary tonight.

About an hour later, I saw her standing at the door waiting to be let into the coop!!!!! All I can surmise is that a hawk snatched her, possibly flew a hundred feet or so, then dropped her because she was too big!  She likely hid out till the coast was clear, then limped home. ALL afternoon "the girls" seemed to be having a conference in the coop. Big White sat in the center nest and did not budge the whole day. Everyone seemed to be intently listening to her story.  Can you imagine?  LOL!

Trapped in the House...

Well, twice tonight, Vern was going to head out to the barn and stopped when he saw Momma Moose munching on the bushes near the front door.  Oooopps! So here is a shot of our living room and the french doors opening to the backyard. You cannot see the baby but she/he is lying down on the back yard not ten feet from us!  Go figure...we are trapped in the house by a moose!  :)