Fanciful Quilts

This is Tuesday's rose - the 27th of January. I admit it. I'm spoiled. A rose every Tuesday and with it brings a ray of sunshine even during the most frigid of days. Double digit temperatures - 6 inches of snow - and another inch or so of ice beneath the snow. It's been a lovely couple of days here in Dayton Ohio. I must remember these days come summer when I complain that it's so terribly hot. Here's a shot from our 6th floor apartment window.....Frigid? You bet. We don't often get days like these - but when we do, it's a beauty. Now imagine, going out to brush off the car - and finding underneath the snow about an inch of ice. Now imagine looking in the rental car (another story for another time) and finding no.scraper.anywhere. One hour later, 2 Blockbuster cards, one tiny whisk broom, one plastic dustpan and 1/8th of a tank of gas (had to get that defroster working), we were able to get into the car. Now THAT is determination. But there's beauty eve...

Time has a way of passing so very quickly without one realizing it. The rose continues to be delivered without fail every Tuesday and I'm reminded how very much I am loved. It occurred to me the other evening that life is a series of short stops. Sometimes we stay for awhile and we think - ahhhhhh - this is it. This is nice and life becomes comfortable. Comfortable turns into a yearning for something different and once again, we continue on the journey. And then there are those who no longer travel and life just is. It's nothing more, nothing less. We've all been there. We take each other for granted....we forget why God created us .... we forget to share our thoughts....we no longer dream out loud. This has nothing to do with how young or how old one is. Without dreams, life is empty and desolate. God has given each of us a very special gift - a talent if you will. Sometimes we discover it early. Sometimes we don't recognize it at all but others do. Sometimes we jus...

This one has to be my all-time favorites....of all the roses Riley has had delivered weekly, this is THE one. Perhaps it is the fact that we're getting closer and closer to our magic date of 23 Feb 09 when we will meet in the Atlanta airport and then fly out to Cancun. Perhaps it's just the sheer beauty of this flower. The deep red is in the inside of the petal - and the creamy barely pink color is on the outside of the petal. The rose itself didn't last more than a couple of days, but the beauty of it will be forever in my heart. A mazingly enough, when the rose unfolded - it was truly beautiful. For two days it showed its glory without a wilt in sight. I dreamt of this rose several nights ago....as if there was a significant meaning to this particular rose. When I woke up, Robert Burns poem came to mind. Mind you, I'm not one to read poetry until the wee hours of the morning...or even while having a cup of coffee midday. I do confess to having written many poems in m...

Ah but first - the rose. I have been remiss in not posting.... Many things to do, many things still not done, many things I probably will miss. Life goes on. Back to the rose. I do not how this happens, but each week the rose that is delivered is more beautiful than the week before. There's an analogy waiting to happen here, I can feel it. Yes - like being in love with the same wonderful man for 37 years. Each week it's better than the week before. It could be a word - or seeing his face on Skype - or getting an email from him that makes me laugh. And now the power of the vacation. My beloved is taking three weeks vacation from his job in Iraq. Three weeks! We shall meet in the Atlanta Airport. Shades of 'An Affair to Remember' (see it - you'll love it). From there, we will fly to Cancun, Mexico where we will be staying in a wonderful hotel for ten wonderful days. Having not been to this hotel before, I am building it up in my mind as a wonderful hotel. How could it...

First and always, the rose. This marks 7 Tuesdays - give or take a Tuesday or two - before my beloved & I are reunited. It's been awhile since I last wrote. Why, I don't know. There were periods of intense longing for my beloved....there were periods of feeling so very much alone....and there were periods when I just wasn't feeling well. I remember the self-advice of counting one's blessings. I find it amusing how we can offer such sage advice to others, but neglect to take one's own advice. My blessings which I have neglected to remember..... * A husband who God gave me to be my soul mate, my friend, my lover, my husband.... * A mother-in-law who is more than a mom-in-law. Though she lost her husband just mere months ago, she has shown great fortitude, strength and love. * Two visits from ladies whom I knew only through emails. Email is a wonderous invention. * The gift of sewing - and seeing quilts emerge from pieces of fabric *The ability to cry over...

Always first up - the 16th of December rose. This one fairly shouted Merry Christmas with springs of Christmas sprigs. Oh yes.... And my beloved - thank you. Today was a fairly nice day - even if it did start off a little rocky. Fell asleep around 10:30pm & woke up promptly at 1:30am. No problem. I can handle those wake up calls with the best of them....unless I.cannot.get.back.to.sleep. Yes, indeed. I couldn't get back to sleep. After 30 minutes of tossing & turning (much to the delight of kitty cat Faith who thought it was a marvelous game of find-the-feet-and-attack), I gave up and actually did some sewing for 3 hours. By 5am, I was wonderfully tired. I slept until 8:30am. Alas, my body wasn't too cooperative at this interrupted sleep business and a headache attached itself until well after 10am. I had pizza with our son at lunch. That's always nice even if he DID have 3 days of pizza prior to mom's invite. Now - that's the epitome of politeness. Dewey...

...before reflecting, I've been remiss in not posting for awhile. Life's ups and downs perhaps....and there was the momentary oh-my-gosh-another-weekend-tournament-I-have-to-deal-with panic. The bright spot in my life is the weekly rose from Riley...and his wonderful messages that accompany the rose. This is the 9 December rose...and each message is a warm hug. Riley - how you manage to be so romantic thousands of miles away in Iraq is ...well, words cannot describe - other than, I love you. Now - on to the reflections of a weekend chess tournament. It was a small tournament - 14 in all. God provided an even number of players in the 2 small sections. At 10:15am, I was starting to have these doubts (sorry, God - but it's the truth) about the uneven number of players in the top rated section. And in walks a young man whose rating is quite high. What a gift! I still have these doubts about running a chess tournament. I don't read the chess rule book like I should (I think ...

First things first....2 December 2008 rose from DH. 11 Tuesdays to go before we are together again. Oh yes! Now - the story of the hand therapy. Let me tell you one thing to always keep in mind: Doctors do not have a clue as to what is done in their therapy clinic. In the event you have not kept up to date on my extremely fascinating life, I learned my sore arm was due to a case of tendonitis. I refused a cortisone shot in his office....something about extreme pain for all of ten seconds (make that agonizing pain) for relief of maybe a week or so just doesn't make sense to me. So he offers something called "sonic therapy" and to go across the hall and make an appointment to come back for treatment. I make the appointment for the following Monday. I showed up at the clinic 5 minutes ahead of schedule...finally was ushered into the sacred hall of pain about 45 minutes later. Ironically, there's a sign next to the 'greeting window' that reads "If you arrive ...

This is the story of what customer service SHOULD be about.... Our chess club is a couple doors down from Spaghetti Warehouse - located at 36 W. 5th Street, Dayton OH. My sister helps me out frequently during the club's open hours (not to mention all the cleaning she does during the club's closed times) .... and of course, we tend to get hungry at odd moments (every 37 seconds in my estimation). This evening sis walked down to the restaurant - and got her usual soup-and-salad. Now mind you - this is the same thing she always orders - carryout or dining in. Soup and salad has always been accompanied with a loaf of their wonderful sourdough bread. When she got the order, she looked inside the bag and commented "I'm sorry - but the bread wasn't included". Conversation went somewhat like this: "It doesn't come with the bread". "But I've always ordered soup and salad and there's always bread with it" "You must have been mistaken...

Having suffered through the past couple of days with a miserable head cold - you know that awful stuffy, I-am-so-miserable-I-could-just-sleep-forever-but-can't head colds.... No? Trust me - it's an ailment you can go through your whole life without experiencing. Where was I.... Oh yes - now that I'm at the tail end of this miserable head cold - or body cold is more like it - I decided to catch up on my blog readings. I have been reacquainted with a few more blogs I'd like to share: http://www.lifeasachristianwoman.com/ I've only read a few of Ms Williams' posts...but I've not read a blog of her that didn't hit home. Her latest one was right on target....we cannot change reality. As my dear husband Riley loves to say "it is what it is". How true. How true. http://blissfullydomestic.com/ Okay, so it's a little busy site. But gotta love how organized this writer is...or maybe writers are? Lots and lots of great ideas here.....but beware - y...

Not that I suspect or expect anyone to be glued to "Angel45402's View of Life" (other than a curtsey to my DH), but the idea of changing templates every so often is sooo appealing. Are there rules to this blogging? I suppose only if you have followers....(big grin). I have been an ardent follower of 20-30 blogs now...and I have to say, I'm in awe of most of them. Some I read just for the sheer joy of rolling on the floor in laughter - and disbelief. Some I read and marvel over the writing...marvelous, clear & concise. Here are a few of my favorites..... http://quiltdad.blogspot.com/ I love this post...a man who write as well as he quilts .....beautifully! http://daharadreaming.com/blog/ Okay - so this one smacks of nepotism - Dahara Dreaming is my daughter - and very talented - some of the stuff she finds on other blogs are not quite my taste - but I enjoy reading her assessments..... http://knittingbunny.blogspot.com/ ... oh my this woman can KNIT http://the...

Today's picture is my Tuesday's rose from my beloved Riley. Beautiful, is it not? And today is Wednesday. The morning started out wonderfully mundane. Woke up - did 2 loads of laundry - walked for 30 minutes while the laundry spun around merrily in the dryers (ah the joy of not owning a washer and dryer...NOT) - took a shower - planned out my day of errands and then promptly felt the most horrendous stomach cramps ever. Remember the 1979 movie "Alien" and the creature that popped out of the guy's stomach....? That movie should have never ever been released...it will haunt me to the end of my days. At any rate, I think you have a very graphic photo in your head by now....and I'm glad I could share it. The rest of the day was spent in bed - errands be darned - and ate nothing but toast and drank tea. Whatever it was is almost gone - but it has drained the life out of this body and has left behind a low grade headache that would really like its body to be able to...

How many times have you received a really neat email that allows you to post your likes, your dislikes, your favorite movie of all time....??? I love these little "glimpses" of one's life. And then comes the clincher....send this on to ten of your favorite people... Ten people. My mind boggles. I don't really know ten people. I have come to the realization that I know ten people ...maybe even thirty or forty or more. But ten people I could send this nifty little email on and ask them to post their preferences..... No, I honestly cannot think of even one person to pass on this really nifty 'tell all' listing. I don't know if I should find this disturbing or reassuring. Disturbing because I don't have a list of ten people I can automatically pass on these emails to. Reassuring because I am comfortable with not knowing ten people I could pass it on to. I may be disturbed about my reassurance state. I like being alone. There. I said it. I love my husband ...

No doubt about it....cats have it made. What other animal can wake you up at 3:30am and feel absolutely no shame about it. Food bowl is filled - plenty of water - kitty litter box clean .... Nope, it's just a matter of "hey, I was lonely and I think it's time you got your rear in gear and play with me". Kitty gymnastics usually start around 3:30am - and then will escalate into gentle patting on the face with a paw or two.....and by 5:30am, there's the full scale, cat face in my face and purring as such that I swear could only come from a small lion. There is indeed nothing like waking up eyeball-to-eyeball with a cat. It'll take years off your life - trust me. But I'll take this companion over a dog anytime. She greets me affectionately even if I'm gone for five minutes to throw a garbage bag down the chute in the hallway. Within seconds of moving from one place to another, she's right behind me....and settles in until I move on to another...

Everyone has a story. Some stories will make you weep. Some stories will make you sing with joy. Some stories are better left unwritten or unspoken. This story will probably only touch the heart if you're like me - the lady who cries over the old Hallmark card commercials. This is simply....the story of the rose. On 27 July 2008, my beloved Riley & I celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary. Yes, there is indeed an account written of our 37th. On the day before he was to leave to go back to Iraq, he disappeared for several hours. No explanation before or after other than "I have something to take care of". Sometimes it is better to just leave things as they are. On the first Tuesday after his departure, there was a knock on the apartment door. I opened the door to find myself facing a middle aged gentleman who held out a single red rose in a vase and with my answer "Yes" to his question "Are you Sharon?", I found myself holding the vase - befuddled ...

Today at 6pm, I will be hugging my beloved once again before he flies back to Iraq. This time - it's a little harder to say 'see you soon' than it was in July when he was home. Perhaps because his dad isn't with us any longer - or perhaps because we just enjoyed being together so much. We saw a touching movie "Fireproof" yesterday. This is a movie that every married couple should see - or anyone thinking of getting married. Yes, it's a faith-based movie and it carries a beautiful message of what marriage is meant to be. This movie gave me pause to think about love. Love transcends all - and if there's always love in thought, word & deed, how could we not succeed ? No one said it would ever be easy. You'll always face someone or something that demands more love than you think you could ever give....but if it's there, deeply cemented within, the more you give - the more you'll be filled with it. I see now that my beloved husband has a lov...

On Thursday, 9 October 2008 at 6:30am, my cell phone rang. I knew in my heart this wasn't going to be an ordinary call. No "good" calls come early in the morning. Indeed, this call was not a good one. It was my mother-in-law. It's time to try to get Riley, my beloved husband, home from Iraq as soon as possible. The hospice nurse believed dad had less than 48 hours left. Red Cross was contacted by 7am - information relayed as best I knew. A call was placed to Riley's unit - Riley was contacted and the cell phone was ringing off and on for the next five hours. Riley's stateside company was called .... phones were buzzing all over the world to get Riley on a plane home. I decided I would leave early Friday morning. That plan was quickly cancelled. At 4:30pm, the call came through from one of Riley's brothers. Dad was gone. By 5pm, our son & I were on our way to Wellington, with a quick stop in a suburb of Columbus to our daughter's & ...

On the 30 th of October, my sister & I went to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. Now there's a drive for you. Yahoo directions took us through scenic Ohio, then Indiana and then Kentucky...or was it Kentucky, Indiana and back through Kentucky? It seemed like a very, very long trip - a scenic one though. It's a beautiful place - very clean, very well done. A little pricey ($23 for adults.... but children under 5 gain free access - but I imagine they have to be with their parents....!) And to the right of the building is the botanical garden. We were there for perhaps three hours or more - saw everything that was to be seen - including the bookstore and a great 22 minute film entitled "Men In White". Film presented a good case for creation vs evolution . It was shown in a reality theater. Never having the pleasure of being in a reality theater before, I was quite startled when the seats moved when thunder on the screen rolled - and when it rained on screen, we were...

Today was my first day of pottery class. Seriously one of the most hilarious days of my life. There are five of us - four females and one male - who left early to cut up trees felled by the wrath of Ike. After checking out the beautiful pottery made by other students, I was given a bag of twenty-five pounds of clay and given my first assignment. Ah this looks so easy. First piece of art - make a "pinch pot" - which is, roll the clay - stick your thumb in and gently round it out until it comes a nice little bowl. Uh huh. That certainly is easy enough. After building a pot that collapsed on itself three time & thereby smooshing it back into a ball three times, I found it takes PATIENCE to slowly round it out. Finally, I got it. I was so pleased with myself. Never mind the lady on the other side of me just finished a BUST of Frank Lloyd Wright and the lady across the room is working on a bas relief of some Greek goddesss and the other one is making a free form serving dis...

DAD'S PRAYER QUILT Yesterday I drove to Columbus, all of 85 miles away from Dayton, to pick up daughter, son-in-law and grand daughter. From there, son #2 drove us to Wellington, another 92 miles away. It is there we saw my father-in-law, daughter's grandfather, grand daughter's great grandfather. My father-in-law is simply 'dad'. I've been blessed to have three fathers - my heavenly Father, my dad and my husband's dad. And now my dad will soon be leaving us to move to a much better place. He's been in pain for awhile now as a result of a medication he's been on for years that has rendered his bones very brittle. He bent over one day and ended up with multiple fractures in his back. I didn't see this frail man lying in the hospital bed in the living room. Instead, I saw the man my husband referrred to privately as "the little stallion" - a name his dad's coworkers called him many times. This is the man who worked hard all his life i...