Peonies & Pop

  

  I don't have much new crochet to show.  I've dabbled here and there, sewed in some ends, played around with colors and began a stool cover (which I'll show as soon as a few more rounds are complete and I buy new batteries for my camera).  Just haven't quite felt the desire. 







Dad's  alzheimer's continues to advance and I have seen marked deterioration, mentally, over the last week. Some days I can get him to respond to me, and others not so much. I find myself thinking back over the last few years. I wonder if I knew then just how precious those days were.  I wish I could get them back.  Now I take Dad for strolls, slowly walking hand in hand.  I think about all the years he held my hand as a child, guiding and leading me, keeping me safe, telling me stories and showing me the wonders of the world around me. Now I guide and protect him, talking away to him as we stroll, hoping that if he doesn't understand my words he at least feels comforted, loved and at peace.

I have been spending time in my garden.  We are getting the yard ready for my daughter's graduation party. But it also feels good, and necessary, to spend time tending things which will grow and flourish. My love of gardening and nature comes from my father.  Dad and I spent many an hour in the garden -  planting, weeding, dead heading, smelling the flowers, looking at the butterflies and talking to the squirrels.  Working in the garden will always be a way to feel close to him. 

My peonies have blossomed.  I cut a few to bring in the house.  I wish they could bloom all summer long, but, alas, I only have them to enjoy for a short time.

Cynthia

A Pieceful Time

    About  two weeks ago my 20 year old daughter, we'll call her Little Miss E,  bought a dress for a dance.  True to her nature, she bought the dress on Thursday for a dance on Friday.  No problem there except that the dress had a hole in it just above the hem. It was a short, form-fitting black dress made out of some sort of very stretchy black fabric - the kind that looks fantastic on her tall, slender figure but would make me look like a tremendously lumpy, overstuffed sack of potatoes. If, that is, I could even get it over one of my thighs.  Knowing my limited sewing abilities with this type of fabric, Little Miss E did the smart thing and called her Aunt Carol.
    Carol came over Friday afternoon equipped with her sewing machine and whatever supplies she thought may be in order.  We examined the dress ("Are you sure this isn't a shirt?" Carol asked) and decided our best bet was to cut off the bottom and re-hem.  Carol tried hemming it on the machine, but we soon decided that hand sewing was the way to go.  All in all, the dress came out pretty good.  I never got to see it on my daughter because she got ready at a friend's house. I'll have to ask her to show Carol and I a photo.

   After watching Carol on her sewing machine, I couldn't resist the urge to do a little sewing for myself.    So last week I took out some fabric and started playing around with some quilt piecing.

I made four half square triangles.  It really is astounding how many patterns you can make with something so simple.  Here are a few:

In the end I decided to make a star of sorts.  I plan to make more in different colors, but all on the same white background, and create a small quilt for the table top.  No additional progress yet.

Cynthia