Happy Valentines Day my friends! Mr. Peck is out of town today which is fine by me because, truth be told, every day is Valentines Day around here. Aren't we the lucky ones?
So too was I amazingly blessed to see the full moon rising on Saturday night! Did you see it? Absolutely stunning, although this picture does not do it one bit of justice.
That is the actual color dear ones; looks more like the sun, doesn't it? I would have most certainly missed it had it not been for a little volunteer project we did with Bill and Roxanne, along with other members of his Kiwanis club, at the Ronald McDonald house adjacent to Arnold Palmer Hospital. Service clubs, as well as other charitable groups, prepare the evening meal for the residents that stay there while their children are in the hospital. Roxanne struck up a conversation with a young woman seated at the table behind ours, and the sad/happy story she heard is one of probably many in that room. She delivered twins at 26 weeks, a boy and a girl, and, sadly the boy died after five days. Yikes! On the positive side the little girl now weighs 5 pounds at 37 weeks old. She lives near Daytona Beach and spends every night at the house while her husband makes the trip over on his days off from work as a firefighter. Catherine, Bill and Roxanne's daughter, is one of those angels who is a nurse in the NeoNatal Intensive Care unit at the hospital. The stories she must have to tell. :(
The inside looks like a small hotel except it has a large kitchen where meals are prepared.
Bar-b-que chicken, baked beans, coleslaw and potato salad await those who did not make it when we were there.
Sunday could not have been one minute more perfect, beginning with a genuine MINI sighting just off Park Avenue!!
I begged Bruce to pull over so I could get both a better look, and a photograph of the tiny car, which he did, hoping we would not be late for church because of my annoying habit of asking him to pull over! I did get a closer look, but really, this one shows just how tiny a real MINI is! Darling, is what I have to say about it.
Adding to the great start to our day, we sang one of my most favorite hymns in church...
Be Thou My Vision Lord. I absolutely love that hymn--children take note--have it played at my funeral!
After lunch at Earls, I worked on my hand quilting while watching Jordan Spieth win at Pebble Beach, both a prestigious tournament, and a
gorgeous golf course on Monterey Peninsula. We were there once, long, long ago. Bruce's Mom and Dad moved to California more than 40 years ago (how can that be?), and paid for us, as well as Judy and Cris, to come out for a visit. We drove the Pacific Coast Highway from Southern California to Big Sur. Although it was crazy beautiful, little Missy here was newly pregnant with Matthew. Previously I had not had morning sickness , however, those crazy winding roads were quite the challenge for me! Then, by golly, Adele won all sorts of awards at the Grammys! See what I mean? Perfect!
I've yet to start on a new quilting project, however that does not mean I'm not thinking about quilts all of the time. The Sew Day I attended last week was held at the Maitland Public Library where they have the cutest little used book store where I picked up this beauty for $2.00.
Filled with extraordinary quilts, I am reading every word! Speaking of reading, I finished my Christmas books and both were excellent. I mean seriously good. If you are a fan of Ann Patchett be sure and
read Commonwealth. The link I've included is not one I've seen yet--now I'm anxious to read it myself.
Are you ready for some birds? Please don't be sick of bird photos, okay?
I pulled my bike over to once again photograph the neighbor's Peach tree in bloom. I know you've seen it before, but it is a rite of spring my friends. Just as I did, a Mockingbird flew into the tree!
Nice, huh?
It has been a while since I rode down Lake Margaret to Bumby, and now I am glad that I did so yesterday. The retention pond behind our old church had some nice action.
The heron took off and then these guys did as well, stopping to have a little hullabaloo before landing.
What about that tile Gail? Did you forget? Why, no, I did not. Pam came over yesterday afternoon and I was telling her how the dress I was making was beating my butt. Nearly everything had to be done more than once because, a. I did not read the instructions, or b. I'm just not the seamstress I once was. While chatting, I realized that I have been sewing for 50 years now, a good many of those years included daily sewing. Learning at Howard Junior High school, my teacher claimed I would never learn to sew, but I proved her wrong, didn't I? As they say, necessity is the mother of invention; if we wanted clothes the cheapest, most expedient method was making them, and so I did. Of course, these days, why would you when you can buy a lovely dress like this one for very little money?
Stubborn, I guess.
The collar gave me fits, the little cap sleeves look a bit like epaulets, but what did go very right was the invisible zipper application using my new presser foot Bruce gave me for Christmas. That was so helpful! Here it is...
I started to type, at least it fits, but that too was a problem. It fits now, after I inserted the band around the waist to lengthen the bodice! At any rate, practice is good, and so I continue...
The dress above is a new pattern made to look retro. Here is a pattern I bought at an estate sale that actually is retro, as in the year I learned to sew!
I was all set to go for it when I discovered not only were the instructions missing, so was the side bodice piece. The instructions weren't the problem, the missing piece sure was though. Hmmmm.....should I jettison the idea, or find a solution? The latter was my go-to. Finding a pattern with a very similar piece I did some minor adjusting and we are get to go. One thing I did want to show you is the old pattern pieces that were made so well. I suspect none of the patterns made today will ever last fifty years. But then again, perhaps no one will be sewing then?
Of course, you don't know what modern patterns look like, so probably of no interest to you anyway!
Because Bruce left for the airport super early, I got up early enough to go out on a bird safari this morning...stay tuned!
yours truly,
Gail
p.s. The moon shot was yet another example of--PULL OVER PLEASE!
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