This is the wonderful strawberry cake my friend, Barbara, made for my birthday celebration with my Alvin writing group. Believe me, it tasted as good as it looks. Barbara is the queen of cakes and loves to bake. She is also a gifted writer and wrote an amazing poem about me which she framed and gave me as a birthday present. What a treasured friend she is and we have known each other since 1965 I think. She's also a former police officer and has some pretty hilarious tales to tell about her experiences. I look forward to many more years of keeping each other laughing and crying together. Here, have a piece of cake.

Here is another one. I have put pockets on the back so that a note can be inserted. Crazy fun!

Sewing fun

I've been having a good time making these funky animal dolls. Lots of fun with color and scraps of fabric. I decided I should be doing somthing with all this stuff that has been collected over the years. I think I should give this one a name but it will probably be a gift to someone and they can name it.

Being lazy

I have been totally out of the loop and nowhere for a week it seems.  It started with allergies, progressed to big time sinus and according to the doc yesterday was a virus on top of it all.  I've felt so bummed...didn't want to do anything but cough, sneeze, wheeze and drink liquids.  Spent a week it seems in front of the TV with a book and some soup and no ambition to do anything else and still don't have much.  Missed poetry events, class, everything this week...feels like a time warp.
Finally feel some better.  No sleep as the doc put me on a steroid yesterday that kept me awake until 4 am but hopefully today will be better and my nose is only dripping a little bit. 
My energy is slowly returning, thank good ness, as it is spring.  My azaleas are blooming and my daffodils and I should be charging forth getting lots of stuff in order.
In the meantime between books and TV I'm watching the cats watching the squirrels...better than most TV shows.

More spring

I love this slow, drippy rain and the fact that it sorta lays down the tree pollen for a while.  Maybe my nose will quit running.  I can feel the earth going slurp, slurp as this gentle wet settles in.  I do feel for my friends in the northern USA who are fighting major floods as all the snow begins to melt.
It is cool today with the rain which calls for soup...specifically chicken corn chowder and hot corn bread.  And it was sooooo good.  Enough left for the cold days coming this weekend.
I'm back sewing again and making funky little stuffed things...fun and an opportunity to use up scrap fabric.  And I brought out a canvas and played with a drawing on it...a sure sign that my Aries nature is coming soon.

Spring has come to Seabrook at last. Every year I look forward to this tulip tree or pink magnolia as some call it bursting forth with it's incredible blooms. And bless her heart even after some really cold temps this year, she is coming forth with her best garment yet. Gotta love this gal!

For all my writing friends

Esoterica: One of my all-time favorite lists is Hungarian/Canadian/British author Stephen Vizinczey's "The Writer's Ten Commandments." He's given permission to change the word "write" to "paint,"--or to other words for that matter.




1. Thou shalt not drink, smoke or take drugs.



2. Thou shalt not have expensive habits.



3. Thou shalt dream and write and dream and rewrite.



4. Thou shalt not be vain.



5. Thou shalt not be modest.



6. Thou shalt think continually of those who are truly great.



7. Thou shalt not let a day pass without reading something great.



8. Thou shalt not worship London/New York/Paris.



9. Thou shalt write to please thyself.



10. Thou shalt be hard to please.

Whew!

What a relief!  Hubby has come to his senses and is declining the invite to China.  It is a good thing.  We have lots of reasons not to trust the guy who issued the invite and when he said he wasn't going to be able to accompany hubby all the way, it became a no go.  Thank God I didn't have to say "ARe you out of your mind?  You can't even get through airport security by yourself."  He is in the early stages of Alzheimer's and though he can talk your arm off intelligently about the space program, he get easily confused in crowded situations.  I was so concerned but didn't want to rain on his parade.   He will help the inviter to write the paper, etc., just not go and he seems very okay with his decision.  Whew!  Life does present its challenges but they seem to come harder and faster as I get older.

New projects

The sewing machine is smiling at me saying "Come here, honey,  Let's get started on a new quilt."  And the stack of old blue jeans that I have dismantled lay near by ready to be torn into strips.  My idea is to make a quilt of old blue jeans for my grandson.  I think I will have to get someone else to quilt it...it is just too hard on my back and my small machine.  The other calling project is to start slapping some paint around on canvas.  I've done a little collaging this week but so little real art in way too long.  It is time...I'm going to have to cut down on my social life and meetings that I attend to plunge head long into all this and still get meals on the table and laundry done.  As I get older, everything seems to take longer than it used to or maybe I'm just taking more time to smell the roses along the way.  But before I get started on any of this, I have to get our taxes done...oh, lovely, right? 
      Spring is around the corner.  The pink magnolia in the front yard has swollen buds that are on the verge of popping open with its gorgeous pink blossoms.  The azaleas are lagging behind due to our cold winter.  I will ply them with some food now that we are past frost in hopes that they will burst with their usual fuschia display.  The tropical plants all took a beating but dear Victor has come and cleaned all the dead stuff away and hopefully there is enough green left that we will enjoy some recovery.

What? You are going to China?

Well, this should be interesting...my husband who seems to have Alzheimer's in regard to anything that isn't related to adventures in space.  A true space cadet, he has been invited to give a paper somewhere in China.  He claims a Chinese friend is going with him and I certainly hope so as he can't even get through security at the airport by himself.  His way is paid for by I know not whom and he is so excited.  I think it is great that he have this one last adventure.  He will be 79 next month so I think this is a great birthday trip.  And I emphasize, this should be interesting.  He has lost his cell phone twice in the last few months only to find them both after he had purchased new ones.  Anyone need a phone?  He has been officially diagnosed with Alz and is on Aricept which seems to be helping.  I just hope this guy knows to keep tabs on him 24/7.  When talking about the space program, what should and shouldn't be done with it and the future in space, he can be right on but that is about his limit....sweet, nice, brilliant man who can't remember shit and is hard of hearing.  I told him to tell his friend that if anything happened to him, to cremate him there and just send the ashes over...is that awful of me...probably.  I just hope he can get it together to go by the first week in April.
They will spend two days touring after the conference and his friend will take him shopping but for what?  Seems like everything made in China that I might want is at Walmart.  I am through collecting junk to sit around the house...I want to get rid of what I have now, not add more.  Ahhh...maybe jade earrings?