I had a nice visit with Margie this morning....did a few errands and chores...then more sun printing this afternoon. But I'm going to let the prints dry while I catch up on and celebrate some of the other things that have brought me joy. There ARE other things.
Alyson sent me this curly photo montage....and I couldn't love it more! And I am excited that it's time for black eyed Susans....you know how I love to watch them unfurl...each in their own playful way.
The nine Miller siblings and our kids used to celebrate Christmas in July as a way to gather from out scattered places once our parents were gone. We actually often had a Christmas tree....and traded white elephant gifts.We gathered in July for years and it was just what we needed at the time to stay connected. But our kids are all grown now...and individual families have started their own rituals...so the Miller Christmas in July is just a precious memory.
But I'm celebrating Christmas in July....and have set up a workshop in the guest room assembling Christmas matches for Folly 101.
I have the process down after almost 20 years of making them. Once I glue on the paper covering I place them under the cutting board. I keep pushing them up and by the time they come out the other end the glue has set and I can put them in the pile.
100 of the 300 are done...200 to go.
It's a mindfully mindless task that I do while watching Netflix...and good chance to pause.
Merry Christmas in July!
A couple weeks ago I started reworking one of my favorite puzzles....Vintage Pencils. Sometimes I put puzzles away in two chunks so when Margie does them she's not balancing so many pieces on her board at one time.
That's how I found this one....so half of this fabulous 1000 piece puzzle is done....and now I get to do the other half. Life is good when there's a colorful puzzle on my table. Which is all the time.
And late this afternoon Gretchen...a new neighbor was walking by and stopped over to chat. She's an accomplished artist...and a fellow noticer.
Gretchen noticed that the lower leaves on my "humminbird's lunch" plant were starting to turn fall colors. I'm not sure what they're thinking...it's full on summer...both hot AND humid....but I'll take it.
I sent a leaf home with Gretchen...and this one is on my window sill. I'm looking forward to talking about art and other things with Gretchen. Who knows...maybe we'll even make some art. I know I could learn a lot from her.
My daughter's wedding was a July wedding and when the photographer arrived at her home for the getting-dressed, etc., photos, Meg and I realized her bouquet had not been delivered to the house. Meg didn't miss a beat. We went out to her backyard garden and where she gathered up an informal bouquet of black-eyed Susans and posed for fabulous photos : )
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of pauses, as you did in reference to the mindfully mindless task of the creating the holiday-themed matchboxes, I trust you are taking mindfully MINDFUL pauses frequently to protect the health of your thumbs : )
You are a gal after my own heart, tending to a Christmas task of that sort WELL in advance of December.
Greetings to Gretchen!
Love your wedding day story....and I can just picture the strikingly simple black-eyed Susan's in her hands. Way to go Meg....and mom!
DeleteThanks for the reminder about my hands/thumbs. I have taken them for granted lately because I've been doing OK....but get twinges every once in a while so I need to get back to being proactive and exercise them.
I've never been this early with the matches. The store asked for at least half by August so they could start putting their hostess packs together....but I'll have them all done by then!
Love the curlie cues! Back when we did family reunions with my husband's family - when the kids were all little- I made fleece Santa scarves for the kids. I put them in a big black garbage bag (like Santa's bag) and handed them out to them saying Santa had an early drop off. Some of the kids were confused- some were in doubt- but they all enjoyed them.
ReplyDeleteMemories are a good thing.
Kathy
What a wonderful memory! Thank you so much for sharing it Kathy!
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