Update on Me

Mid spring temperatures hovered daily in the low to mid 90s and the rain failed to quench the thirsty ground surrounding my drooping and withered plants.  I am so glad I followed the desires of my heart in planting an early garden as it appears those that planted later will do without.  The Roma II green beans have supplied our table with meal after meal of delicious beans with a few gallons for the freezer.  The zucchini has laughed at the lack of water and continues to burst forth with blooms and fruit.  It is has been a joy to share the abundance with friends and neighbors who are no longer able to garden or just don't have time. 

We have enjoyed radishes, tomatoes, bell peppers, red potatoes and okra to date and are looking forward to the late planted cantaloupe, watermelon, and cucumbers to grace our table soon.  Hubby has watered every other day for the last few weeks to keep the plants alive and this weeks rain was a blessing. 

It isn't even summer yet and the sweltering temperatures have kept me in the pool on a regular basis.  Even though I have had to fight the wasp with every trip, I have thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon cool offs.  The plants and grass don't have enough water in them to sustain the wasps and even though I really don't feel like sharing, the little devils insist on getting a drink the minute I splash the surface.  Wasp stings don't bother me so much, but the little ones are not happy about the fearsome stings.  Last week granddaughter number two told me it was time to get out of the water because I looked like a raisin.  Little does she realize that has absolutely nothing to do with the water - it has a lot to do with my age, but I wasn't telling her that!

Speaking of which - I really got a lift when the same granddaughter ask me on Thursday what I had done.  I ask what she meant and she says "Yesterday you looked old, but today you look young and beautiful!"  A perfect lift to my day!  Yes, I am perfectly aware that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but I can gloat for just a little while.

As most of you know I am a seamstress.  I have been sewing since I was eight or nine years old.  I started learning at my grandmother's knee on a quilt top and it has progressed over the years to one thing and then another.  The five years I worked "taking in sewing" has probably been the most fulfilling and joyful of my entire working life.  It is so fulfilling to take a flat piece of material and turn it into something useful and beautiful.  I have made my own clothes for many years and clothed my children until they learned about "labels" and refused to wear the garments I made for them.  This came to mind as a result of a most pleasant visit this week from a friend of 15 to 20 years.  I was showing her my sun bonnets and aprons which I have turned out in droves and she had the most puzzling look on her face.  I ask what was wrong and she admitted that she didn't know that I sewed.  Well, there you go!  I thought this friend know all about me and here I surprised her with a very important part of what makes me - me!  She told me I could make good money sewing for people.  I had to laugh as I had one dress hanging behind her that was in process for a neighbor and another two boxes of material waiting to be cut and sewed.  Yes, taking in sewing is a lucrative business and one I thoroughly enjoy.

In all honesty, sewing is so intricately a part of me that I guess I take it for granted.  I have gone years without picking up a needle and thread, then I start a project and another and another like I am possessed. 
It is the one job that I have undertaking that was a labor of love and joy. 

A piece of advice for all you mothers of daughters - teach them to sew!  If you don't know how, make sure they take a class in sewing either at school or at you local community recreation department. 

Closing for now so until until next time . . .

Happy Reading!
Belle

Early Summer

If Summer has just arrived, what would be the appropriate name for the past two weeks of 90+ temperatures and breath taking humidity with no rain?  I know most of Georgia has received some kind of rainfall, but not on my side of the mountain.  I must be in some kind of trough where the rain refuses to fall.  Neighbors on the north and neighbors on the south have gotten good soaking showers while we sit here and swelter as the garden slumps further and further to the ground.  If this is a taste of the rest of the summer, then we are in for a scorcher. 

The only thing thriving is the heat loving pests!  As an outdoor person, I am fighting at the bit to get back outside and piddle in my flowers, herbs, and garden.  Have you noticed that city folks have flower gardens, whereas country folks have flowers and gardens.  Country folks don't have flower gardens, they have vegetable gardens or just plain gardens.  The same applies to the yard.  City folks have a lawn and country folks have a yard.  Country folks cut the grass while city folks calls lawn maintenance to trim the lawn.  When I lived in the city, I was a thing of wonder to my neighbors.  I cut the grass, trimmed the shrubbery, planted my flowers and even put in a few tomato plants.  How was I to know that women in the city didn't do such things.  To each his own!  I do things that bring me joy and I do like to share a smile with others.

I have been on a hiatus from writing for the past few weeks.  No new ideas have poked their way into my sprightly brain until last night and then "Katie" appeared and she is trying to develop into a story line.  We'll see where she goes, but she does not seem to be in a hurry to get put on paper. 

We enjoyed a family get together this weekend with nieces from central Georgia.  As always we had a great time with all the babies and children.  We ate lots of good fish, hush puppies and cole slaw along with hand pattied hamburgers and some delicious hot spicy sausage.  My brother-in-law can find the best of the best in the food line.  His jalapeno ranch dip was just right with the fresh veggies from the garden.  We never even got to the watermelons which are still on ice and just waiting to be cut.  Some homemade ice cream would have gone well with the peach cobbler, but it wasn't really missed either as everyone was stuffed.  We had a lot of laughs as we did the "remember whens" and took home new memories to be shared at a later date.

The kids enjoyed the pool even though the sun was blistering to the adults.  I am already looking forward to Hubby's birthday in July (he'll turn 50 this year) when hopefully they will all return for more good food and fellowship.  Where in the world does the stamina go when you get older?  I can't ever remember the sun bothering me as a child, but it sure takes its toll on me now. 

I have been nostalgic this week.  I think our upcoming class reunion has sparked some memories that were lost in the everyday shuffle of life.  As a child and young adult, almost all of my social activities were centered around our Church and sometimes were extended to a few other kids in our community that attended other churches.  (Another city/country thing - City people live in a neighborhood whereas Country people live in a community.)  I found that classmates are not the only people that have disappeared from my life. Some friends that were really close and I truly loved and enjoyed being with are gone from the area and I have no idea which direction they have taken.  Some of this is my fault as I am typically a home body.  I hate funerals and as weird as it sounds, funerals are a major contact source in this day and time.  I think maybe this year I will have to attend the Reunion at our church and see just how many I can reconnect with, or at least locate, before I have to attend their funeral.

Before this gets too morbid I am signing off.  Until next time . . .
Happy Reading!
Belle

A Bird Seed Shut Me Down

Are you familiar with bird seed bags? They are the absolutely greatest thought that anyone has come up with - except for maybe electricity, cars, central heat, microwaves, cell phone - well, anyway they are great! A small piece of flannel or wool sewn into a small bag then filled with bird seed. Throw these little bags in the microwave for a minute or two and you have the best heating pad ever. No up and down hot then warm, just warm flannel to ease those aches and pains. They are flexible so they bend to your body and oh the relief they bring.

Well, I was stitching up a few bird seed bags and the needle popped into three pieces - a bird seed had wiggled its way right into my top stitching line and broke. How in the world do those little tiny birds digest something so hard? As you may have read, I have just gotten my sewing machine up and running again after a 6 year dry spell, so I had no idea if there were spare needles hiding in those cabinet drawers.

The ensuing search took me down memory lane. Black lace from my daughter's prom dress, buttons from a jacket for said daughter, snaps from sunsuits, and on and on. Memories take a long time to go through, so I probably spent an hour or so going through these memories. No, it wasn't wasted time. It brought me much joy and in the process I found one needle. Not packaged as it should have been, but stuck in a piece of paper in the bottom of the drawer.

On with my project! I was relieved and anxious to finish up my project. The first problem I noticed was the thread was bunching on the backside on my material. A bad needle - no wonder it was stuck back in the drawer! Off I went in search of sewing machine needles. You would have thought I asked for the moon. No needles within 10 miles!

Today the search is on! I will find needles if I have to go to Atlanta to get them. Does anyone sew these days?