Penny Sanford Porcelains

Holding Hands at the Movies!

Somewhere on the Internet, I read recently a woman's complaint about going out for dinner and a movie, AGAIN, with her significant other.  She longed for something more interesting to fill their evenings!!

GEE WHIZ!!!!

Gordon and I have been married almost four years, and we had not seen a movie in a movie theater in the entire time!

This abstinence from movies has not been our plan. To the contrary, we have planned countless times on doing the Dinner-and-Movie Thing, or even just the Movie Thing, but some complication has always popped up, usually at the last minute.

Well, last week, after a meeting in the Jackson area, we zipped by the fancy, new-ish theater in Madison, and we were thrilled to learn we were just in time for one of the afternoon showings!  We were as excited as a couple of pre-teens on their first date!

Yes, it is silly, but we even captured our date with the above phone photo of us holding hands.  That plane on the screen is part of one of the previews. 

I was so intent on capturing the momentous occasion on the PDA phone/camera that I totally blotted out all the previews...plus, I was a bit nervous about being caught taking a picture of the big screen!  Do you think I have a future as a fearless, hardened criminal?  *cheeky grin*

So, what did we see?  American Gangster with Russell Crowe and... some other folks!  *wink*  Denzel Washington gave a superb performance, as usual.

Oh, the joy of losing all track of time in front of the big screen!  I can fully understand why Hollywood enjoyed a boon during the Great Depression!

Gordon and I had the best time discussing our different impressions of the film on our drive home! 

It was a total escape, for three to four hours at least, from deadlines, responsibilities and other stresses!

How could one EVER become blase about that?!?

When was the last time you and your hubby did dinner and a movie, or just went to the big screen to see a flick?

Fall Ritual of Introspection

It happens every Fall. 

I don't know why or when I started running a deep introspective "diagnostic program" each Fall. (Gordon has infected me with all of his Geeky words and phrases.  LOL)

It is not a sad thing.  It is a "Where am I in life and where do I want to be" thing that lasts for days and weeks.

Since Gordon and I married Dec. 31, 2003, my Fall Introspective has become a "Where are we and where do we/I want us to be."

Last week, I took Mama to the funeral of a family friend, in his 90's.  He was born the same year as my father, 1914; thus, thoughts of how life has changed and how I have changed since Daddy's death in 1991.

The man and his wife had married later in life, and they did not have any children.  They had lived a full life, giving of themselves and their resources to many, many people.

They were understated, reserved, private, genuine.  They represent the best parts of native Mississippians. 

They lived a life of good choices, and I hope Gordon and I will make similar good choices in our life.

It has been such a full year... a year filled with many problems struggles challenges opportunities for personal growth.

I've examined the projects on which we have invested many, many hours, only to have one person derail that project for whatever reason.  How can we read the situation/ people and avoid a similar scenario in the future.

I've examined the ideas and projects that have been pushed aside for more pressing deadlines.

What can we trim from our life in order to focus on bringing some of these projects to fruition? 

How can Gordon and I carve out more time for each other?  Where is that healthy balance between giving of oneself to others and saving energy and time to spend together and keep our marriage strong?

We've survived the scorching Mississippi summer and a scorching year of deadlines.

When the leaves begin to change color and the temperatures cool in Mississippi, I have a sense of being able to take a full, deep breath of air again.

Colors register in my brain as being more intense... as if relief from the blinding summer sun has again allowed me to see. I can step back and look at the year and its events as a whole.

We've finished canning or freezing the results of the hard work in the summer garden.  The cotton has now been harvested on the farm.

Maybe this season of introspection is like preserving the fruits of the lessons I have learned this year?

When I lived away from the farm, I lost the four seasons of the year.  By that, I mean that life ran at such a break-neck pace that the seasons blended together in an exhausting parade of sameness.

Now, living on the farm has restored the rhythm of the seasons.  Planting new ideas, tending our projects, harvesting from all the hard work, evaluating and setting aside time to rest and restore and plan for the next season of new beginnings.

I love the colors of this time of year.  Sumac (photo 3) is such a modest little plant with such a brilliant red finish!

Goldenrod (photo 1 and 6) is a favorite wildflower with more of my favorite sunny, happy yellow!

Thanks to friend Mary Lynn in Baton Rouge, these little late yellow wildflowers in photo #2 are called Helianthos.  Thanks Mary Lynn!

What are the late yellow wildflowers (photo 2) called?  They are not Black-Eyed Susans, nor are they Maximilian Sunflowers.  They are not Coreopsis either.  If you know, please email me!

This year, I discovered that Poison Ivy (photo 4) turns some beautiful colors this time of year!  That little discovery has me thinking about the poisonous people who are in our lives. 

I should look harder to find the beauty in these poisonous people... beauty that I can honestly admire and praise.

Likewise, I had not noticed before this year that Saw vine (photo 5) displays a wealth of gold in the Fall. 

Those people who rip us apart and choke the life out of the best intentions have a golden side for which I need to search.

Enough introspection for tonight.  We have a busy, busy week ahead. 

It has been a marvelous Monday, and Gordon is looking forward to Monday Night Football that is about to start. Three of the Westies are already asleep on the bed.  Life is good.  Very good.

Feeling Sassy!

Here's a peek at my sassy new hairdo!  I love it!

We still have hot steamy days here in Mississippi, but the mornings and evenings are cooler.

Fall is coming!  A little burst of air will create a shower of leaves across the yard.

Likewise, my stylist created a shower of hair falling on her studio floor!  Yet one more attempt to grow my hair longer has been sacrificed to my impatience, the Mississippi hot weather and my intolerance of hair that requires much fuss to "do"!

If one can donate hair for Locks of Love , then our scientists should get to work to figure out how to let us donate Pounds for People Who Can't Gain Weight!  *gleeful laugh* 

I'd be delighted to donate some pounds grown on farm fresh vegetables and pesticide-free farm fruit, and other excellent Southern cuisine!

Ahhh, back to work with a fresh pear to crunch on, picked this morning.  Delicious!  Wish I could share with you!

How Sewing is like Life

Here is another drive-by photograph...for which hubby would not stop and let me walk closer for a better shot.  C'est la vie.

This photo moves me.  It was snapped in Waveland, Mississippi, a few weeks back.  The emotions it evokes in me are not sad, though.

The debris of the house has been cleared away.  The foundation remains.  This sewing machine remains.  The green grass and leaves have begun to weave a visual covering for the scars of the monumental hurricane.

I can't quite put my feelings into words yet, but there is something about starting again...sewing (symbolizing life) and the love thereof being a journey of new starts...fresh starts...remaking from old fabric, adding new fabric.

That is what life seems to be all about for Gordon and me in this season of our life together.

We have an ever-growing list of rips and torn fragments from all areas of our lives waiting to be repaired, patched, remade and even turned into something more beautiful (like a quilt). 

Sometimes life hands us some pristine new fabric, giving us an opportunity to learn new techniques to make garments (relationships) stronger ...or to make the same mistakes in construction that cause the garment (relationship) to fray and come apart far before its time.

Penny Prattles

Why are there never enough hours in the day?  I'm taking a break from that ever-growing TO DO list and will blog for a minute...Really just share some photos from the Mississippi DAR District Meetings the last two weekends of July.

I loved this crochet belt worn by Mary Francis Flood from Stoneville.  She had bought it at a boutique.  It looks like the "Rose of Sharon" crochet pattern that is such a classic, dontcha think?

For this crochet belt to look so stunning, it helps to be tall and willowy like Mary Francis (and yes, I am spelling her name correctly. She was named after a famous family friend.)

This next lovely lady (sorry, I do not remember her name) from around Aberdeen, was wearinng this double plisse shell and jacket set.  The only other time I have ever seen double plisse (double permanent pleats criss-crossed) was on a Hermes scarf. 

This was a drop-dead-gorgeous set.  There was no way to capture the beauty of  the diamond-pattern of the double plisse with a mere photograph. 

The lovely lady said, "Oh, it is some kind of polyester, I think."  Hmmnn, I wonder. 

Anyone know about textile manufacture and this kind of permanent pleating?  I think it is a rather expensive process, so I wonder if this is, in fact a silk.

To my peering eyes, it looked like the fabric was the same weight as an expensive designer scarf, and the lady looked like one of those "graciously understated" types. 

I did not know this elegant lady, so I did not feel comfortable asking if I could feel the fabric of her jacket!  LOL  I think she thought I was weird enough just asking to take a photo of the beautiful set!  *grin*

Then, ever-elegant Weda Hudson of Waynesboro, MS, shed her beautiful shoes to allow these stylish shoes to model the new Mississippi DAR Shoe Bags. 

These hard-working shoe bags are a fund-raising project for our new State Regent Polly Grimes to use for her State Regent's Project.  (They say MSSDAR on them, so only Mississippi DAR members would be interested in them.)

In Mississippi, the State Regent's Project always has something to do with Rosalie Mansion in Natchez.  The Mississippi DAR bought Rosalie Mansion back in 1938, and we have been raising money for her upkeep ever since. 

The next three years, one of the goals is to achieve climate control and specialized archival storage in the basement. There is already a big digitization effort underway for all of the Rosalie Mansion collections.

Dear, generous Gordon has been volunteered to help with this project.  We call fellas like him "HODAR's" which stands for "Husband of a DAR". 

HODAR's have to be tireless volunteers, very patient and comfortable around large groups of women, and very practiced in the magical phrases that include, "Yes, Ma'am" and "Yes, Dear".

In the next three years, while I wear the volunteer hat of State Curator for the Mississippi DAR, it will be fun to share pretty pictures with you from time to time.   

The bottom photo shows the new Janet Sims Memorial Rose Garden installed earlier this year.  I'm not sure Rosalie's gardens have ever been lovelier!

That was a refreshing break...now back to work.

Hubby is SO in the Doghouse!

Hubby Gordon is SO in the Doghouse!

No, make that, he is in the Basement of the Doghouse!

Nah, I'm putting him in the DUNGEON of the Doghouse!

He packed the camera for me to take today to the Block of the Month Quilt meeting at the Golden Triangle Fabric Center in Starkville, Mississippi. 

I specifically asked if the battery was charged and if it had a camera card. (We have two batteries and six camera cards to take with the camera.)

He assured me it was ready to shoot.

So, for the first time in seven months, my schedule has allowed me to go to the BOM meeting, and Mama was with me. 

The room had beautiful quilts draped around or hanging on the wall.  There were familiar friendly faces, and my mother was all smiles, so I needed to record the day with photos of my almost-85 year old mother.

I settled Mama and took out the camera to take oodles of pretty picture to share with you...

...and there was no camera card in the camera or in the camera bag.

To make matters worse, this was a day Mama and I saw scads of great photos just begging to be taken as I drove her around Mississippi State University and Starkville.

My mom taught at MSU for 18 years, retiring in 1984.  She was quite excited to see all the changes.

So, my dear, sweet, thoughtful, loving husband is in the Doghouse!  He is going to have to do some serious petting and pampering and spoiling to get out of THIS pickle!  *grin*

He has already been working hard this afternoon, "hugging and chalking".  LOL

We did have a fun morning at the class, playing with all the beautiful fabric in the shop, and driving around MSU and Starkville!

Soon, I will be able to show you what those wonderful quilting ladies taught me!

Photos: This is the haunting ruins of one of the three remaining sharecropper houses on the farm, empty for many decades, decaying and fading away.

Since I don't have any new photos to share with you from today's adventures, these will have to do.  *wink*

Friendship Sewing (like Friendship Gardening)

Goodness gracious!  For a couple of days, I have worked on my post to continue the interesting "goodies" I have learned from Marilyn Rose (Journal Quilts)...and now I can't find that incomplete post!

Kinda hit a writer's block there for a few days, struggling to express what I was trying to convey...a bit of my philosophical side...something that has been tugging on my heart strings that I want to say to a growing list of women in my acquaintance.

In the past year, since that Mary Sorensen Needle Turn Applique class I took from the Mississippi Quilt Association, I have been reveling in the relaxed, encouraging company of The Women Who Sew and Quilt.

I don't have to tell you about the real world ...uber-competitive, people stepping on people to get ahead, maneuvering and mis-information to further personal agendas, more-more-more, me-me-me. 

At this point in my life (and personal growth), I CHOOSE to limit, where possible, my exposure to that type of person who is driven by emotional black holes. 

Personal peace, contentment and day-to-day happiness is more important to me than money or position or what others think of me.  Life, in general, is full of far too many challenges to willingly invest my time and energy in any people or group that is driven by the aforementioned cancers of the real world. 

(Looks down and sees the soap box that has sneaked, unintentionally, into this post....and pushes it back under the table.)

What quilting and sewing have brought back into my life is the generous sharing of techniques, passing on the art of sewing to a new army of enthusiastic recruits (the growing Craft Revolution). 

I call it Friendship Sewing ...a fraternal twin to the concept of Friendship Gardening that was so deeply instilled in me as a child ...sharing cuttings, plants, flowers and vegetables with one's neighbors or friends.

So imagine my appreciation when, last summer, I arrived at the Mary Sorensen class with all my supplies ...but I had never even used a rotary cutter.  Gloria Reeves took me under her arm (not literally ...she is cute and petite, and I am decidedly NOT ...think  "ample fluffiness" ...LOL). 

Gloria did not just cut my background fabric to size, she gave me a quick rotary cutter lesson. Trust me, I was the ONLY woman in that class who had never had a rotary cutter in her hand! LOL

We all laughed and sewed and shared for two blissful days last summer. It was better than a vacation!  (No mad rush to pack, picking up someone else's travel cold, the fatigue and relief to return home.)

Pamela McRae, my table-mate during the class, has generously shared sources of patterns, advice, and the benefit of her years of quilting knowledge and experience.   

The June Gathering of the Mississippi Quilt Association was a double latte version of the Mary Sorensen class.  I've been mentioning in my blog posts just some of the women who been showing me Friendship Sewing.

Another example is Paula J. of Hattiesburg, who brought her quilting hoop for me to borrow for the Hand Quilting class in June.  Paula said I should try several types of hoops before spending significant money on a fancy floor hoop! 

Martha Skelton, Rhonda Blasingame, Marilyn Rose, and Judy Spiers may be some of the headliners in our state quilting organization, but their practice of Friendship Sewing is as personal as sharing with a family member or one's next door neighbor. 

At the same time, because of the Internet, total strangers across the world have become part of my personal life-quilt in this area of blogging and Friendship Sewing.

I wish I could convey how little I previously knew about this world of quilting and applique before last summer, and how much these ladies (and many more I have not singled out by name) have fed my enthusiasm and hunger to learn.

I wish I could adequately share how renewing and regenerating it is to share about piecing and applique and other forms of sewing with all of these new acquaintances without the cautions required in the real world.

Do you think men find the same escape among their fellow sports enthusiasts? 

Some of my warmest and most nourishing experiences in the past six-plus months of blogging have come from the delight of those who have enjoyed using my free patterns or from those who have shared their love of Westies or their interest in pet Rescue work. 

Seeing others discover the talent of our Mississippi quilt artists or seeing photos of a quilt someone has started because I blogged where I found a pattern that Pam had used in her beautiful quilt ...feeds a vital part of my emotional health.

The Internet Community calls it "Social Networking".  That is a cold, sterile term for the warm human connections that I have experienced through Friendship Sewing and through this blog (as well as through genealogy, historic preservation and DAR connections).

Maybe all of these musings ...this weeding out what is not uplifting and nurturing in life...choosing to focus on what brings contentment and happiness ...this deeper appreciation of the aspects in life that one values ...maybe this is a natural process for a woman maturing through her Forties?

I wish I could upload some of this contentment and happiness and peace so that you could download it when you need a dose.  If this could be bottled, one would make a fortune.  Isn't it ironic that what we all seek is free 24/7 ...just a prayer away.  Maybe my journey of almost 45 years has been learning to accept and value something that is completely free ...my salvation and faith.

To all of you who are part of this vibrant journey, I thank you for the symbolic stitches or fabric you add to the quilt that is my life.

Photos:
The First Two:  A volunteer gladiola.  It must have been a tiny bulb caught up in a wheel barrel of garden "trash".  We spread garden cuttings on soil that needs enriching.  This yellow beauty came up and bloomed so beautifully in some terribly poor sandy soil!  "Bloom where you are planted" comes to mind.

The Next Three:  Clean sheets, clean fluffy Annie who was reacting to her mommy coming home.  I adore this time of day when Gordon, Annie, Mackie, Daisy and I are all finally together in our quarters, and we can relax for the rest of the evening.

Photo #6: English Dogwood a.k.a. Sweet Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius)

Photo #7: Kerria.  It starts blooming before the Lady Banks Rose, and it is still blooming, months later.  I love this modest happy yellow flower! (Kerria japonica)

Photo #8 & #9: Swamp Rose.  This modest antique rose has been documented as early as 1824.  It has no thorns, does not get black spot, and the deer do not nibble on it!  My nickname for this beautiful antique rose is "Fan Dancer" because of the long sweeping fronds heavy with blooms that sway and swish in the spring wind. (R. palustris scandens)

Photo #10: A country road in Montgomery County, Mississippi.  Stafford Wells Loop

Photo # 11:  A day's cutting of gladiola blooms from the garden.  This was shot with a 35mm camera a few years back.

Quilting in Space!

If there are already Quilt Cruises on the vast expanses of the ocean, then I want a Quilt Retreat on the International Space Station!

Why look! They are already quilting in space! One of the astronauts was caught quilting today on a stroll outside of the Space Shuttle!

So much fuss about a little four-inch hole in the Thermal Blanket! 

Why, give me a pretty scrap of thermal fabric, and I'd even appliqué something pretty on that hole for them!  Maybe that silvery fabric one uses in pot holders or on a hand-made ironing board cover would work!

This afternoon, Hubby was sure to show me the first picture because I have been teasing him mercilessly about the NASA channel being as much fun as "watching paint dry".  LOL

I can get into it when there is a launch or landing or even parts of an EVA (a walk outside of the shuttle or space station)...but much of the time with no audio and the speed of action dictated by absence of gravity, it is almost painful to watch!

Give me some music to listen to while watching paint dry in outer space!  At least I get a lot of applique done when Hubby is mesmerized by the NASA channel.

Now, this is all said "tongue-in-cheek" because Gordon and I are big proponents of scientific exploration of space, we are very worried about that four inch hole in the thermal blanket on the Shuttle.

Wow, I feel better now about my sometimes "artistically fuzzy" photographs...the astronaut photographing the current EVA has some "artistically fuzzy" shots!  Maybe "artistically fuzzy" is a new art trend!  LOL  (Friday afternoon sillies)

Curious How Typepad Handles Edits

I'm curious how Typepad and the various blog subscription services handle a correction to a post of many days past.

I've made a couple of corrections and additions to my "Alice in Quilt Wonderland in Pearl" post of June 1, 2007. 

Please let me know if you receive that post again by whatever method you receive your subscription to my blog (whether by email or Blogsites or some of the other methods).

I know you will receive this post, "Curious how Typepad Handles Edits", but did you receive a SECOND copy, an edited copy of "Alice in Quilt Wonderland in Pearl"?

In other words, I don't want to be sending out edited versions of the same post.  Definitely, I want to correct or expand on any information about which I blog, but I can figure out another way to handle delayed edits if you start receive "Alice in Quilt Wonderland in Pearl" again after this eight-day-old edit.

So, all this concern about editing and updating  blog post information was prompted by this STUNNING quilt:

"Classical Brass" was pieced by Nancy Harber of Weir, Mississippi, and machine quilted by Betty Lewis. Irene Rogers did the binding by hand.

The quilt was a design by Mark Lipinski (check out his website for some spectacular quilts). Mark is the editor of Quilter's Home Magazine. His quilts are often featured in McCall's Quilting Magazine.

Nancy found the pattern on the McCall's Quilting website.  It's the same block made in different sizes. 

Nancy wanted to be sure I gave Mark Lipinski credit for the pattern.  Nancy, you have no idea how much I value that character trait in you! Thank you for the additional information that will surely help some other quilt enthusiast find the pattern and make "Classical Jazz".  It is a beauty!

Lots more to share from that wonderful June Quilt Gathering of the Mississippi Quilt Association, held in Pearl, Mississippi, on June 1st and 2nd, 2007. Stay tuned!

Cowcumber Calcumber Conundrum

The mystery of the Calcumber is now solved!  It is spelled, Cowcumber.

It is Magnolia macrophylla .  Commonly called "Bigleaf Magnolia" and "Cowcumber Magnolia".  "Great-Leaved Magnolia", "Silver Leaf Magnolia" and "Big Bloom Magnolia".

The first and second picture were taken the day the bloom was cut in Taylorsville.

Lots of fascinating facts about the Cowcumber here.  Apparently it is slow to grow, temperamental, with frail foilage.  I may have had the spelling wrong, but it is part of the genus Magnolia.

According to Odenwald and Turner, 1996,  there are some spectacular specimens of Cowcumber Magnolia in Mississippi:

"Some magnificent sixty to seventy-five foot specimens of Magnolia macrophylla exist on bluffs along trails at Gloster Arboretum, Gloster, Mississippi."

(Odenwald, Neil and James Turner, 1996. Identification, Selection and Use of Southern Plants for Landscape Design. Claitor's Publishing, Baton Rouge, LA)

The second and third photos are from  the second day after the Cowcumber bloom was cut.

Ok, I am happy now.  Now my mission is to find a couple of trees to plant on the farm by next spring.   

Easter Egg Hunts come in all shapes and sizes!  *grin*