Something Special

I am so far behind with my reading of posts, books on my bedside stand as well as so many other things that want my attention but this grabbed it first thing this morning and I can do nothing less than share it. I  was overwhelmingly moved by the writing as well as the story.

I met Cecilia here in Portland at the Press Publish conference a couple of years ago. She is a little bit of a thing running her own farm by sheer force of will. I heard her story as she was one of the speakers and we met in the hall afterward. This tiny dynamo has a heart as big as most countries. I know her heart and hold her dear.

Painted in 1988. A first project

Each morning, even though she never reads my blog, I go see how things are at The Kitchen’s Garden. She barely has time to feed herself but she feeds everything else and my soul so I stop by every day no matter what.

Take a few moments to stop by there. It will be worth your time. Enough of my words now. Time for you to read hers.

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

Back in Business

It’s been a very long month and there has been so much going on that there has been little time to share any of it.

My sister brought the plants for me to grow. These are delicious.

Tech support  (my son) put in a new hard drive and I got my files downloaded from Crash Plan. It took  a week  of leaving the laptop on while it did the work. Now I must do the filing and cleanup to get everything back where it belongs. The most important part has been my photos. There will be a lot of housekeeping going on to get them backed up to several places. I had to reinstall programs that I used every day as well.

Bet you thought I was sitting on my hands here just enjoying my down time. Ha! I wish that could happen one day. Only one yard of rock in my sister’s truck. She drove, I did the shoveling.  She’s not allowed.

It didn’t take as long as I expected.

The angle has to be just right.

We had a short spell of decent temperatures that were combined with so much smoke in the air from forest fires. First the smoke came down from Canada and Washington then the wind shifted and we got smoke from southern Oregon. In the interim, I managed to get a little outside work done as well as some inside projects.

2 yards of mulch took awhile to move so the car could go in and out

This will be a bridging post for the next thing that’s been going on around here. Never a dull moment in Sleepy Hollow.

This fabric was a gift from my son when he went to Hawaii. Was it a whole year ago?

The back side.

My son brought this butterfly fabric for me from Hawaii. Had to make something we can enjoy daily.

I’ve been making sets of placemats to sell and give as gifts.

The fronts are made with 4 fat quarters

Don’t know if you can see the top stitching. No batting is used so glasses don’t wabble

all the backs are the same

 

With all the work I’ve done, there has been a lot I haven’t been able to get around to doing. My sewing room has been collecting dust for the last few weeks since before my company came and left. I have been looking at what is going to take priority in my life in the coming year. I love to make things for friends and family and will probably continue to do that on occasion but circumstances are changing and there is some writing that needs to be done sooner than later. Stories that need to be written for posterity while this old mind can still recall them.

Machine embroidered one for a gift and two spares for later

The first of many hand embroideries finally finished.

So, quilting is taking a back seat for the interim. It’s been a hard decision to make as I love all the members of my group. I think they understand. As soon as it cools down just a bit; we are expecting 99 degrees this week and close to that most other days for the next 15; I will finish up preparing the outside for winter and settle into my writing almost exclusively. Losing my laptop for even a short period of time pointed out how much I enjoy the process of writing. It feels good to be back in the business of telling stories.

African Violet loves the kitchen sink area

Do you suffer any angst from losing something you work with daily? How about setting priorities and focus?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

Tech Support

Where in the world would we be without good tech Support in this high tech age? My heart goes out to those who don’t have it available to them. I am blessed to have both of my children turn out a little techy. They got it from their grandma, my mother. My youngest brother was tech support for her. I don’t remember exactly when she got her first computer but I’m sure it was well before I finally got one. Mom took classes at the adult school and the senior center to stay current with technology. I have done the same to learn new programs and how to finesse them. Mom also liked to get the newest updated technology as often as possible.

 

Would you guess she was a techno geek?

Since my post a couple of weeks ago, my damaged laptop arrived at my son’s. He is working to resurrect it with a new hard drive. He sent a laptop that was in the back of a closet for me to use while I waited for the repair. It worked for slightly more than an hour before doing a tab dance without music. If I could show you the gyrations it performed all on it’s own, you would probably give it a 10. It took all I had to click the cursor quickly enough to shut it down as the cursor was having a party all it’s own. Trying to work with my tablet was not an easy task. I’ve been advised to purchase an external wireless keyboard for it and may soon. In the meantime,  Tech Support (my son) had me log on to the laptop he sent and quickly before it started dancing again, download a remote operating program. Once I had that accomplished, he quickly signed on and took control. Within minutes the laptop was working perfectly. A few adjustments later, I’m pretty much back in business.

Tech support at work. There are more computers in the office. Gracie’s waiting to play.

Why has it taken me so long to get back to you? You know the rules don’t you? Everything comes in threes! I had an old friend come to visit. It’s been a year and a half since our last visit when I went to see her and right after leaving her little dog pulled her over causing  head and body injuries that left her in rehab for several months. I made only one plan for our time together and figured we’d wing it from there.  All went well through lunch and dinner time until after we put on our cozies for bed. An infection causing extreme pain surfaced quickly and I was looking for an emergency room at 10 pm. I am again grateful for our current technology as without GPS we might still be trying to find it. I don’t drive at night due to vision limitations but somehow, we arrived safely and I guarantee I’m not sure I could find it now.

My friend finally got well enough with medication and much sleep to make it to Fabric Depot. As the quilter who got me started down this addictive path, an acre of fabric and notions is like visiting the chocolate shop. They have electric scooters for those who can’t make it on foot. I heard a lot of exclamatory comments as she motored through.

Just the beginning of the fun

The next morning there was a phone call at 6 am. Family had been trying to reach her but we have poor cell reception here. There was a family tragedy. After getting grounded enough to take care of business, she changed her flight and headed back to deal with all that is laying ahead. Every time I think my life is harder than it needs to be, I look around and someone else is having a tougher time. This was one problem Tech Support couldn’t fix but he could give me moral support as I gave some to my friend.  Life is strange and challenging.

How are you fixed for tech support?

 

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself