Happy New Year!

No pictures this time around.... a good imagination will just have to do. I'm back up here in Roseville taking care of my granddaughters while my son and his wife are attending a seminar in San Diego. Since my trips up here are so rare, I soon forget the richness of the surrounding neighborhood that my son and his family live in. It's like lifting a thin veil and then stepping back into a time long forgotten. The streets are lined with trees that are now void of any foliage. The houses, some built with stone, others with brick, and many more having a combination of both wood siding with brick and/or stone, are warm and cozy looking. Most have those wonderful big, old porches with a couple of oversized chairs facing the street bidding one to stop and sit awhile. As a quilter, I can easily imagine women in years past, sitting out on those big, beautiful porches, hand quilting and chatting easily with one another about their children, their husbands' jobs, their joys, their concerns, and maybe even sharing a recipe or two.
The way I see it, we seem to have forgotten how to slow down and 'sit a spell' with the people that the Lord brings into our lives on a regular basis. I know in my last post, I reveled in the smells, colors, and sounds of christmas, but in my mind up here in Roseville, the smells, colors, and sounds that quickly overtake my mind are those of times past. Listening to my mom and aunts discussing not only different recipes, meals, and sewing, but also talking about their many plants that each had nurtured and cared for in their yards as well as in their homes. ( I will cherish those missed conversations forever.) I will also consider the screaming voices of the neighborhood children while they played and laughed with each other outside as something truly incredible.. instead of the annoyance I once thought it was.
The smell of biscuits and goulash cooking on the stove, or the aroma of cornbread and beans that my aunt used to make is also something I will never forget! Yumm! And how can one ever forget the delight in seeing pieces of leftover fabric or cut up, worn out clothing sewn into a beloved handmade quilt? I used to pour over those quilts looking for those little swatches that once were mine. Loved it... miss it.
With all of these thoughts in mind, it is my deepest wish and desire that everyone will experience, as I pray that I will too, the richness of family, the closeness of friends, and the ability and willingness to stop....... truly stop... and enjoy the many blessings that the Lord would love to bestow on each of us His children, in this bright and hopefully happy new year.

The Case of the Missing Reindeer

I'm sorry.... I couldn't resist. I mean, he was just sitting there so innocently... right next to the one antler... and well.... I just had to put it on his sweet little head and take a picture. Now mind you, I always thought that those old ladies with a plethora of pictures of their grandkids were a little over the top. In fact... it drove me crazy. It was so nauseating to see just how many pictures they actually had of each child! (Probably more than they ever had of their own children.) "I will NEVER be like those women!" I told myself that very line every time that I was confronted with yet another album. And now look at me... it's pathetic! Here I am taking pictures of my sweet grandson with one antler on his head while his parents are at Disneyland with his sister. Well you know what son? That's what you get for leaving him with me. He just kind of brings out this awful side of me. Psssst... he's pretty cute though don't you think?