Mantra

Drama swirls. 

Remembering this ... again.

Trying to infuse it into my bones this morning.

I so miss posting here on my blog. I simply don't have the extra energy. Surgerys (minor). Chemo. Doctor visits and visits and visits. Packing. Bankers, lawyers, CPAs, real estate agents, mortgage lenders, endless emails. 

So much got squeezed out of our charmed life ... to build the next chapter, the next season, the next adventure.

Thus, the mantra:

Life is good. 

Life is good.

Life is good.

Saturday Scenes: Shotgun Creek

Guest blogger Jodie here!

Some days are harder than others. Unfortunately, I've been having a string of harder days. Last week I had a morning that was tough enough that I got stuck. Mom and Dad asked what they could do to help, and all I could think was, "I just want to go for a long drive."

They said, "We can make that happen!"

The three of us drove north of Springfield on one of my favorite country drives. Something you should know about me: I'm a sucker for brown road signs. Those are the ones that point you to recreation areas and scenic views. I remembered that one of my favorite brown signs on this road points to Shotgun Creek Recreation Site.

This area is mostly designed for people to have thrill rides on their ATVs. But our adventure was up, up, up into the mountains to Cascade View.

For a slow five miles we drove through forest in all its states: lush with ferns, burnt from wildfire, logged, and regrowing. As we climbed, we even passed through a dense cloud. Finally, we made it up as high as we could go, and our reward was an incredible view point.

We marveled at how far we could see - at least eight ridges deep. I joked that even Bob Ross wouldn't dare to paint a mountain scene with that many ridges. I've been there before, but I never get tired of it. And the journey was all the more special because I got to share it with my parents.

Some days are harder than others... but this long drive and distance vision gave me the perspective I needed to press on.

* Note from Margaret:

            It helped Dale and me, too! Time with Jodie is time well spent. 

            Jodie plus wilderness? Bonus points!

Buddy, I HOPE so!

 

Micro Organizing

One of my favorite ways to spend time when life's been unsteady is to over-organize my belongings. This Threads and Bobbins Project has been on my radar for years. 

I've got around 50 spools of thread, each with their matching bobbin. My previous organizing system involved spool toppers that held the bobbin to the top of its matching spool of thread. The problem with the system is that because the spools are not of even height, the lids to my thread boxes wouldn't close. The stack was quite tipsy.

So I got myself some bobbin cases to hold the threads and bobbins separately. But how to match each thread to its corresponding bobbin? I decided to number them. My first attempt, using paper reinforcers, nearly worked. But not quite. 

So today I used a black ultra-fine tip Sharpie to mark the front and back of each bobbin, and the top of each thread.

Voila!

Completing this organizational task makes my heart go pitter-patter. 

When there's chaos in our world, in our household, and in my brain, having a small corner of order and calm delights me.

Life Update

It has been a month!

Dale and I had a number of events shake our life and rattle our hearts recently.

1. Our eldest is in the midst of a major life transition. Their health is in flux as well as a change in job status. As parents, Kit's struggles are hard to watch. But as a capable adult, the cascade of changes are being managed. Our job now is to give Kit space, support the progress, and keep from offering unwanted advice.
   
   
   
2. The entrance into the world of our first grandson was heightened by some challenges in utero. Born full term but two weeks before expected, Gabriel is tiny and beautiful and thriving now. Our daughter Jodie is recovering well from the surgery of helping her baby out the "sun roof."
   
   Unfortunately, the baby shower I was hoping to host was cancelled.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Dale felt unwell for a couple weeks, then became a resident of the North Springfield Resort and Spa (aka our local hospital) for 8 days. Throughout his stay, he charmed every member of the staff with his sincere kindness, cooperation, and patience.
   
   He came home two days ago with a drain in his side and a likely life-changing challenge. We hope to get a firm diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment plan next week. His tenderheartedness and gentle humor never flag. Though he is the patient, he remains my rock and steadying force on this path.
   
   
   
4. With a change in our Medicare plan in January, I'm having difficulty procuring one of my prescriptions which helps me manage my mental health condition. That condition is currently under stress (understatement). Dale's forbearance, persistence and diplomacy with our providers is helping to solve that problem. It's a waiting game.
   
   
   
5. Then on January 25th, I learned that my favorite co-worker and friend from my years working in the children's library in SoCal died last December. The news took my breath away. I grieve that loss.
   
   
   
6. Yesterday we smelled natural gas in our home's entryway. A kind, efficient, capable and professional young man from the gas company found a leak in our furnace. We'll be without that heat source until February 12th. But the gas technician got the fireplace working so we can stay warm through these frosty, foggy nights.
   
   
   

So!

It's been weeks full of challenges with more hiccups ahead of us. Our mantras?

"Follow the science"

"Look for the helpers"

"Be kind to yourself"

"Better together"

Through it all, our sympathetic, thoughtful, gracious neighbors became better friends. They each use their gifts, knowledge, talents, and compassion to help us with particular problems. We so appreciate their generosity and ongoing support. It seems we've become the neighborhood grandparents now, receiving the help of the next generations.

Any kind thoughts you can breeze our way are most appreciated. Please know that even if we don't acknowledge your messages right away, we are touched by them. It's simply ... we're a bit distracted right now.

In between doctor visits, Dale and I plan to continue sitting side-by-side with Puzzles and Podcasts, taking country rides in the convertible with the top down this Spring, short visits to parks, an easy geocache or two, and stopping to appreciate the sunsets each evening from our backyard vantage point. We still get to live some of our small dreams.

All in all, it's a good life.

~ Margaret

Friday Fieldtrip: Heceta Head Lighthouse

Up close and personal.

I climbed to the top of the hill to get this view.

Friday Fieldtrip: Oregon Coast

Right before Thanksgiving, Dale and I took a day trip to the Oregon coast. Glorious.

That's Heceta Head Lighthouse on the point.

2025 Pumpkin Wreath - Part 1

Last year I pulled out a pumpkin wreath form 

and decorated it with fall leaves, sunflowers, berries and other doodads. I was majorly unsatisfied because the color of the green leaves is off-putting. The entire wreath was fussier than I intended it to be. 

When I pulled it out of storage, I just couldn't get myself to display it again.

So I'm going to try something different.

I was inspired by these two photos I found on Pinterest. This pumpkin wreath form is wrapped in looped yarn. That's an easy and super-fast option.

This one is macrame. The simplicity and tidiness of this wreath attracts me.

So a few months ago I went looking for the loop yarn but couldn't find the quantity I needed in orange. So off to my trusty Dollar Tree I went and found these small skeins of Premier Just Chenille yarn in the color Salmon. 

I think it's orange enough for my purposes. I hope it's thick enough. I hope 5 skeins is enough.

I was considering winding the yard around each spine of the wreath form. When I talked it over with Jodie, she suggested I crochet a slip stitch around each spine. I like that idea.

Chenille yarn isn't the easiest to work with because once you get a knot in it, the knot doesn't release very easily. Yarn from the Dollar Tree isn't a very high quality, so it's likely to break fairly easily. I like the fuzzy softness of it, though.

It's all a giant experiment. If it works, it works. If it doesn't ... well ... maybe I'll have to use last year's pumpkin after all.

Love Bomb

On my walk through the neighborhood, I saw something interesting lurking in the shadows of a front porch.

My neighbors got a love bomb! Colorful hearts flung across their front door, some with personal messages.

That made my own heart swell a little.

What a simple, thoughtful expression of care. I love living here!

Good Fortune

Oh, I hope so!

My intent is in the very best of ways.

Ruff Park Magnolias - 2

 Morning meditation reminder:

Look for the Small Wonders

Amen

Update: This picture won FAN PHOTO OF THE DAY in my photography group!

Photo Walk for Kathryn

I have a friend that is enjoying some sunny early Fall weather in New Zealand. Even though it's been cloudy and rainy for weeks here, Kathryn encouraged me to get out for a walk today before the downpours started again.

She challenged me to go for a walk and send her photos of what I see along the way.

Well! Challenge accepted! These are some of the pictures I took before my camera's battery was drained. They're are only lightly edited.

Daffodils poppin' up all over town

Hyacinths have barely broken ground

Neighbors are starting to make their yards look spiffy

A cascade of white

Trees in full bloom

Only as big as my thumbnail

What's his story? He lives on the edge of the wetlands.

Skies to the west get rather dramatic

We live along a flight path. Love to watch the planes!

Color on color on color

Wetlands reflections

It's pretty muddy out there!

Feel Good Moment

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKAR_mUrb9k&list=WL&index=10

New Outfit

This.

I'm so incredibly depleted this week that I feel dull. Grey ... no, taupe. Trying to take it easy today.

I'm so bad at taking it easy. Trying to learn how.

A Sluggish Morning

I give myself this life advice: 

"Go slow to go fast."

There are times when if I try to get things done too quickly I metaphorically (and literally) trip over my own feet, run into walls, stumble down the stairs, make mistakes, or just have to do the thing again. 

That's what's going on today. 

It's not a big deal. If I slow down a little, I can accomplish a lot more with a whole lot less frustration.

And maybe even notice some roses to smell. 

I'm retired. I get to take my time, right?

2025 Focus

At the end of each year, I do a self-inventory where I evaluate the year I've just been through and set some hopes for the year ahead. This involves writing down my goals of the year as well as some guiding words, phrases and symbols. 

Since I tend to judge myself harshly and take on blame that I haven't earned, I hope to morph that nasty habit. My overall hope is to encourage myself to soften that assessment by focusing on giving gentle care to myself and others.

Word of the Year:
Nurture

Phrase of the Year:
I am allowed - and encouraged - to be gentle to myself

Symbol of the Year:

This symbol is from a necklace I bought 30 ago when my own three kids were little. Then, it was a symbol of Dale and me growing our little family.

Now I think of it with us as grandparents, nurturing our granddaughters in this quieter phase of our lives. 

When we nurture our grandkids, we are nurtured in return.

I appreciate how the linked arms/shoulders form a heart. 

I'm fairly certain that was by design.

My Heart Breaks

He's been my hero for a long time now. 

Your example helped me want to make a difference, too.

Edited to add my husband's thoughts:

I wasn't born yet to appreciate the greatness of Gandhi when he died. In so many ways, Carter was our generation's Gandhi: a simple man called to extraordinary leadership -- mostly by example, and as a peacemaker above all.

Dale Davaz

Heirloom Afghan

Back in the early 1980s, my mom crocheted afghans as Christmas gifts for me and my sisters. Each design was unique. This is the afghan Mom made for my sister Janet. Several years ago, Janet sent the afghan to my eldest, Jeanne.

This afghan is huge. Each square is about 12" x 12". Here's it's spread out on a king size bed.

I was visiting Jeanne a few months back when I noticed the afghan could use a little help, a little sprucing up. So I brought it to my house ... where it sat. Whoops. 

I wanted to do it justice and not make the damage worse through mishandling it. So I did some research, took a deep breath or two, and started in on the repairs.

I finally decided that I'd give myself a deadline in which to restore it. That was Jeanne's 40th birthday / Thanksgiving Day. 

I found some matching brown yarn to reinforce all the seams and corners where the squares had pulled away from each other. 

Then gave the afghan a good wash.

I took time to bury the many, many thread tails that had come loose on the back.

I bought a new fabric shaver 

and removed about a bazillion pills from both the front and back.

That's an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of paper the blob is sitting on. Lots and lots of pills. That took some time and patience.

Working on the restoration put me in an interesting headspace. I could remember watching Mom crocheting the squares using the long afghan crochet hook. I'd never seen one used before. Each square is worked in a way that produces a solid grid onto which a cross-stitch design is stitched.

She picked out various patterns to embroider onto the squares. There are two versions of each pattern in the afghan.

The color choices in the blanket are so very Mom. She liked colors that were slightly muted, rather than true bright rainbow colors. 

Taking the time to work with each square helped me feel very close to Mom. 

It helped me feel close to my sister Janet. 

It helped me feel close to Jeanne.

Repairing this afghan felt like a sacred act. My hands, my skill, became a bridge across time.

Needlework literally runs in my blood. Ancestors on both sides of my family earned a living by the work of their hands as tailors and dressmakers.

Now it's my turn to pass the skills on.