Terrific Day....

Today, I hit the floor running. But first ~ Gratitudes:

I'm grateful for the Saturday morning Farmer's Market......it is a sensory delight and you can't help but feel that you are doing your body a favor just by buying there. Also, they make great coffee...yum.
I'm grateful for my friend Clyde, who calls from time to time just to remind me that he's paying attention......gotta love that!
I'm grateful that I finally gave up on trying to be in synch with a gas-powered lawn mower which I never could get started....I surrendered....and got an electric one.
I'm grateful for the smell of freshly cut grass..........it's delightful.
I'm grateful that on cool days mowing doesn't seem like such a chore.

As you can see, I was at the Farmer's Market today. My haul:
Lovely fresh cut flowers for the kitchen table.
A small handmade zippered bag to carry in my purse.
Coffee...............yum.

On to a 12 step meeting after and then home to mow the lawn.




The drawing is a copy of a painting, "Sunset Over Vallarta", by Ada Colorida. Since I wrote recently about my time in Mexico, I and how it affected my color sensibilities, I thought I'd give you an example. Strong color is evident in everday life there. I think the first time I was aware that I had developed "cojones" about color was when I repainted my house there....






Gold, Rosy Pink, Green, and Purple.
My neighbors who were not native Mexican were aghast....they wanted me to pick one color and stick to it. I loved my colors.

I lived downstairs and rented the upstairs to surfers (see the surfboard cover hanging off the upper wall?) and other adventure travelers.

Now, it's time for a shower. I have a new chandelier in my bathroom with crystals hanging from it and little teeny champaign colored silk shades over each bulb that have crystals hanging from them too..........altogether decadent and I know I'll feel princess-like when I'm showering. It's going to be cool enough for flannel jammies tonight. Lovely.

You know what I really love about the "Hidden Wells" quilt technique? When you are sewing those strips together you have an idea about how those blocks are going to
turn out, but once you whack em apart and rearrange them they look different. But still, being smart as you think you are, you imagine what the finished quilt top will look like. It is not until you arrange those blocks, sew them together, sew the rows together and stand back that you really see it.........and what is so terrific, is that it looks nothing like what you thought it was gonna look like.

Life is kinda like that too. Which brings me to my next point. I love quilting because there are so many comparisons you can make between quilting and life. I think that other than what I learn about life from those 12 step meetings, I learn the rest in my sewing room! Quilting is meditative in some ways and for the most part a quiet endeavor (except when those blocks don't exactly all measure the same and bad words happen, but, I digress....).

Which brings me to my gratitude list; today I'm feeling grateful about ~
* learning from the ordinary, instead of always learning from the extra-ordinary....cuts down on drama
* my grandma Grace who was the first quilter I encountered in my family, and my sister Jill, whose example still inspires me
* my godmother Freda who first taught me to sew on her machine and my mom Ginny who encouraged me to learn to sew in the first place

Today, it is cool and crisp and driving through Boone, I was aware of the scent of burning leaves which brought so many memories back. I love the fall. Tomorrow is a big game for ASU, and the town is full of alumni and visitors gearing up......traffic is interesting.....LOL. Glad to be living in the country with mah dawg.

I have been thinking about the little village in Mexico where I've lived for the 6.5 years before moving here to Boone. It is just about the end of the rainy/hurricane season there where it is so hot and humid and wet that generally only the locals stick around and nearly everyone else that can, leaves. I don't miss that, but I do miss some of my friends there and a lot of the people that lived there part time and in the US the rest of the time. I hope I can make a quick trip down there this coming year. Casa Contenta was the name of my casita...see it there on the map?

Living there also changed my quilting. I learned a lot about color from being there, and learned not to fear being bold with color.....you can see it in my Hidden Wells Quilt up there.

Hope your day is shaping up and good memories are visiting you too!