birds.

two little birds...and more to come.  

I'm thinking a little flock of them should be hanging from twigs somewhere in the house.  
The pattern is here:
little birds

henri coulette.

Recipes are like poems,

they keep what kept us.

-Henri Coulette

pink stuff.

'What's this pink stuff?'

I looked up from swiping my card at the register to the teenager bagging my groceries.  He held up a bottle, 'This pink-drink stuff, what is it?'

'It's grapefruit juice.'

'Yeah, I saw that - you mean like the same as the grapefruit you eat?'  

I nodded, 'Yes. Same as the grapefruit you eat.'  

I started bagging my own groceries while he digested this. Then, 'You need help out?' 

And I started to laugh.  'I think I've got it.'

...after all, I've had my grapefruit today.

-lindasinklings

herb cohen.

You and I do not see things as they are.

We see things as we are.

- Herb Cohen

pewter and lace.

a little lace.

I started this dress last year and it was a disaster.  The pattern just wouldn't come right no matter how I counted.  I finally ripped the whole thing out and found another pattern, something sweet and simple.

But this kept nagging at me, mostly because I was mad that I had given up on it. So I started again, armed with tons of stitch markers.  

It made all the difference in the world. A stitch marker for every repeat--and I mean every single one. The rest is cake.
    
And now it's blocked and I love it.

Love it enough that I'm making another for little D. who is just the right size.  

The pattern is found on Ravelry here:
Muti dress

brocolli.

My son is grown and has a four-year old boy of his own.  This evening I got a text that read, 'So...when we were kids and threw up over eating our vegetables, did you see that as a sickness to be merciful about?  Or just disobedience?  Hypothetically speaking of course...'

I wrote back, Are you asking me as a mother or a grammy?

He replied, 'I want the historically correct version.'

Time seems to alter history. I don't remember exactly why it seemed so important for the boys to sit in their chairs and eat their brocolli. But I think it boiled down to two basics; learning to try new things, and being polite. 

Years later we were invited to dinner at the house of an Indian gentleman who worked for Bob. His wife had created a beautiful and complex meal for us.  She served it and stood in the doorway, waiting on us while we ate. Our kids didn't know what to make of this.  They didn't know what to make of all the food on the table either. Except for the rice, it was all new to them.

I watched them pick up their forks and start eating.  They ate. And ate, not realizing that cleaning your plate was the signal you were ready for more--so they had to keep eating. 

They were splendid.    

They ate the brocolli.

-lindasinklings


  

victor hugo.

The word which God has written 

on the brow of every man 

is Hope.

-Victor Hugo

sweater for A.

...and a tiny sweater to match.

after all, it's still a little chilly for short sleeves out east.

the arms will be warm though the toes are bare.
Find the pattern at Ravelry here:
Peek-a-Boo Cardigan

afternoon sun.

There were a great many thing to do today.  Important things, vital things.  
I went to the office and started them and just...couldn't.  Went home after 10 minutes and lay down with a fluffy pillow and blanket and a migraine that had won the day.

So many things to do-and they all had to wait.

Now in the quiet of late afternoon the sun is slanting through the window.  I look across the room and see a boy home from college sprawled on the sofa--sleeping.  
There's a breeze on my face on this winter-spring eve, a stolen joy that I wouldn't have but for a headache that put me to bed and left me with the energy of a snail.
And I'm thinking, is that such a bad thing after all?  To slow down enough that I sit in this patch of stained-glass sunlight and feel the breath of God brush my face.

I see the boy asleep across the room, and I'm thankful.

-lindasinklings

birthday dress for A.

a birthday dress.

the front...

  the back.               

                                                                                      

Love the back as much as the front, maybe more.
Pattern found here:
Oliver+S Family Reunion Dress

Little sweater to follow.

getting started - Family Reunion dress

So I sew.  

And this is what has taken hold of me - polka dots.  



 

















Love them.  The pattern reminds me of the childrens's books,
Fun with Dick and Jane, with their sweet simplicity.  This one will have red buttons all the way down the back.

Hopefully.

It was almost done, two buttonholes to go, when I ran out of thread.  
Ran to the store to buy more, ran home and put in the buttonholes.  
Cut the buttonholes and whiz-bang! Cut through the buttonholes.  

Not happy.

Spent the next two hours fixing them by hand.
I want it in the mail by Saturday so it will be done tonight, buttonholes,bloomers and all.

Not everything goes to plan.  



Oliver + S Family Reunion Dress

looking in.

Today I heard three versions of the same story.  They were all true-but very different.  

I've never liked Rubic's Cube.  It frustrates me. You get two or three sides matched up, turn the cube and--voila! A chaos of mixed colors.  

My blocks, like my ducks, should be in a row.

There's something to be said for the way one simple turn can change everything.  What is mass chaos one minute can be ordered nine-block-yellow the next.  Just one block needs to move.

Three versions of the same story all true.  Sometimes one turn is all that's needed.  

A step back or off to the side.  A little higher or lower and things look different.

Truth stays unaltered.  
What we do with it comes from where we stand.

-lindasinklings