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December 11, 2017

“Therefore we sing to greet our King; forever let our praises ring.”*

by chuckofish

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After my busy weekend I feel like the wee laddie in the photo above. Pooped. He had conked out after sitting on my lap through his mother’s graduation ceremony on Saturday morning. The wee lassie had just woken up in this picture and was a tad grumpy. If they had had a clue what was going on, they would have been very proud of their hard-working mama. Yes, daughter #3, having started an EdD degree as a part-time “night” student several years ago, persevered through her husband having cancer, the birth of premature twins and daily trips to the NICU for 100+ days, while holding down a full-time job, to finish. It can be done and she’s proof. Huzzah.

I will add that when daughter #3 went up on stage to be hooded, Lottie, who was standing on her other grandmother’s lap, said in a loud voice, “DA-DA!”

After the ceremony, the OM and I went home and I rolled up my sleeves while the OM got comfortable in his recliner. In fact, I was a whirling dervish of activity, wrapping presents to mail out of town, wrapping more presents, cleaning up, decorating the small tree,

Not the best little tree we’ve ever had, but pretty nevertheless!

setting the table (minus one leaf which went down to the basement), addressing Christmas cards…I got a lot done. We even went out to dinner with dear friends. But I was pretty tired by Sunday evening, when I had to get dressed up again and trudge over to church for Lessons and Carols.

I read the first lesson, the one about Adam and Eve in the garden when they sew fig leaves together and make loincloths for themselves. I enjoyed reading it. “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Screen Shot 2017-12-10 at 3.51.05 PM.png We sang five good Advent hymns, including my favorite, #265, by Sabine Baring-Gould. It is in a key I can never get my voice around, though, and I always feel like I must sound like Cyril Richard as Captain Hook in Peter Pan.

Well, it was quelle busy weekend as expected, but a good one. Here’s one of our favorite scenes from A Christmas Story (1983) –It makes me glad that I don’t have to go out and do more shopping! Well…not much more shopping…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS9L8wjXBEk

Don’t bother me…I’m thinking!

*Hymn #61, Carl P. Daw, Jr.

7 Comments

August 29, 2017

Revolving art galleries

by chuckofish

Recently I bought a used copy of Novel Interiors by the blogger Lisa Borgnes Giramonti.

It is subtitled “Living in Enchanted Rooms Inspired by Literature,” so you can see that it is right up my alley. (My DP recommended it when it was published back in 2014!)

Anyway, one thing she wrote that caught my fancy right away was: “A kitchen windowsill is a revolving art gallery for favorite treasures.”

Amen to that. I mean, who doesn’t collect interesting things on the windowsill over the kitchen sink? Of course, not everyone has a window over the kitchen sink–the house I grew up in did not–but everyone has a windowsill/catch-all somewhere…

The welsh dresser in my Florida room also serves as a catch-all for favorite things.

Everything can’t be a perfectly curated tableau, right?

5 Comments

July 14, 2017

“And life barrels on like a runaway train:*

by chuckofish

I was chagrined to realize that yesterday’s post included a poem and a painting that I have previously included on the blog. Oy. I really am getting old. But then again, my taste in stuff does not change, so bear with me. And, yes, I know I’ve used the quote in the today’s title before…but it’s a good one, right?

This week went super fast because it was very busy at work. Occasionally I would pause and think, gee, last week I was doing such and such with my DP or my daughter, who were actually here in town with me!

I didn’t have time to be really sad about this, because another thing that happened in this week of weeks is that daughter #1 got a new job which will bring her back to our great flyover state of Missouri. We are all so pleased and thrilled! Of course, this requires ~~numerous~~ myriad, a multitude, yea, an array of tasks to do on both ends. After 10 years in the Big City, she will have to learn how to drive a car again! Zut alors!

And now the weekend is upon us. I am looking forward to watching this movie tonight, MV5BNDlkZjJjYTktZDI4OS00MWFkLTg1MzMtNTY3MmI2OTBkMTU1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUzOTY1NTc@._V1_UY1200_CR78,0,630,1200_AL_

which I saw for the first time when it was released the year I was a freshman in college.

Also, the wee babes will be coming over to celebrate their Pappy’s birthday.

They sure are enjoying their strained bananas and oatmeal!

Have a good weekend!

*Ben Folds, Fred Jones, Pt. 2. The embroidery is by yumiko higuchi.

2 Comments

April 11, 2017

Stuff

by chuckofish

Design Sponge had a story recently on 10 Family Heirlooms That Tell Stories. This got me thinking, because, of course, we have often written on the subject of liking our “old stuff,” our “heirlooms,” and the importance of telling our children stories about their families and bringing them up to appreciate their histories and, well, “old stuff.”

Clearly not everyone feels this way. But I even like other people’s old stuff and that is why I go to estate sales and like to think of myself rescuing old needlepoint pillows and even old plants. (Leave it to me to ascribe heroic intent to this activity.)

But I love my old stuff and I think my children appreciate it.