Month: April 2023

I am a reader. Have been since I was six. Sometimes I read for pleasure. Sometimes I read to procrastinate. Sometimes I read to avoid the mundane. Sometimes I read to escape the ugly. Recently I’ve been doing perhaps a little too much reading. I walk into a book and I don’t want to walk out until the story is done. That means that a whole lot of other things are left undone. In an attempt to get myself back on track I decided to revisit a couple books from the past. Surely in a second reading I wouldn’t get quite so engrossed.

Wrong. Just finished John Steinbeck’s East of Eden and just like the first time, couldn’t put it down. Years ago when I read, I would write in my reading journal words and phrases that spoke to me on another level. My eyes are not as good as they used to be so I download my books and enlarge the print. Instead of writing, I now highlight and as I did, I remembered. Curious, I dug out my old journals.

Old habits …

East of Eden

Twice loved!

Many moons ago – many many moons – I came across an old jar in my mom’s attic filled with sea glass. I brought it down, cleaned it up, filled it with jujubes and put it on my kitchen counter. It followed me around for years and always sat on the kitchen counter in whatever place I happened to live at the time. It was the first stop for #1 Son and his friends whenever they came into the house. That and the fridge for a glass of koolaid. When I moved in with my mom, she took over the jujube jar and was positively religious about keeping that jar well stocked. The jujube jar became hers and EVERYONE stopped at the jujube jar. That was a lot of ‘everyone’ because she had a whole lot more visitors than I ever did. She even knew which colour they all liked. When the great-grand children came along, one lone jujube was cut into tiny pieces so the boys could safely swallow. Too cute. Needless to say, they quickly outgrew the need to have their jujubes sliced into a dozen little nibbles! That jujube jar could tell a couple hundred stories for sure, sitting there on the kitchen counter in the midst of all the action! Mom’s company rarely made it to the living room. All the shenanigans took place at the kitchen table. Much like #1Son’s house. So today I cleaned up the jar, filled it, and I’m bringing it ‘home’. I’m wondering if the boys will recognize it. Matching jammies do not make a family, but a jar of mismatched jujubes? Twice loved!

Too often we ignore the perfect ones. The days when nothing extraordinary happens but everything rolls out as it should. That was today. Today was #1 son’s birthday – happy Mother’s Day to me – and we were invited for supper. Something I always enjoy for two solid reasons: One: I don’t have to cook and Two: I treasure suppers at the kitchen table with my son and his family. Always a hoot and this one was no different. Laughing, goofing around, arguing – it’s all done at the kitchen table. No-one is in a rush to leave; everyone lingers long after the meal is done. Family. I am so grateful for mine and so proud of my boys. At the risk of sounding incredibly goofy, my heart aches sometimes I love them all so much.

Spent the morning soaping. I have something like 600 bars to stir up in the next couple weeks and most all are NOT simple straight forward pours. I really enjoy making soap but sometimes wish I had kept to the simpler bars. A lot easier to whip up for sure.

Big event today! I bought a mop! Decided it was time I got up off my knees and treated these old bones to a little break. And how friggin’ easy is it to clean floors with a mop versus a scrub brush! I shall never be without a mop again!

Curled up with a book tonight. Quiet. Peaceful. Feeling blessed. Twice loved.

It’s been a while and I hardly know where to begin or what to write. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I remembered my password or how to find my way into the program, but here I am. So I’ll be brief as I cripple my way back into this blogging world.

I chose Easter Blessings as a title for this re-entry simply because it’s Easter and I’ve been surrounded by friends, family and well wishers this past week. It’s been nice. Better than nice. It’s been special. And a quick visit with my three favourite boys tonight made the week extra special. Not to brag but here I go: I have the most loving grandchildren ever. Kind, funny, smart. They’re such good boys.

My Easter pic … again just fooling around here to get familiar again with the most basic tools … is a clutter of diy projects. The old ‘desk’ is most definitely a ‘twice-loved’. #1 son dragged it home from a tear-down and I scrubbed it down with TSP and a wire brush. I rubbed the ivy transfer on the front and you know what? It works. My sister had gifted me with a few large wooden tags. Painted one grey and used a rub-on bunny transfer with a little macrame cord to finish it off. The basket and little round box I painted and again found rub-ons that seemed to fit. Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Hedgehog are projects I felted a while back. The art card was a gift from Erin and was painted by her aunt.