Sunday, August 30, 2009

Quilting Bee #21


Good morning all!! I am going to start out with an apology...I posted the beautiful crazy quilt above with out listing the wonderful artist that created it (Quilting Bee#16). I try hard to give credit where it is due..the artist. So when I received a gentle email letting me know I had not given her credit for her beautiful quilt..I felt horrid. Somehow I had missed it! I did though appreciate the opportunity to do so today. So the delightful quilt above was created by Sharon B. . If you click here it will take you to her website where you can view several of her beautiful pieces of work and wonderful instructions!!! Thank you hon for letting me know!!!

So I am thinking it is cooling off a bit and we will again be inside quilting and chatting today..so how about something hearty!! I have a wonderful chef here today and she will be cooking up some wonderful breakfast skillets for you today. Hash browns stacked with veggies, eggs, meat, cheese what ever your heart desires..you just order it up!! There are biscuits and gravy and omelets if you would prefer. Some of that delicious Kona coffee and hot or iced tea for today. There is a lovely seasonal selection of fruit. The grapefruit looks amazing!!! I have racked a wonderful quilt today full of surprises and delights. Thank you so for joining me today! Please pull up a chair!!

We took the car on it's first official outing this weekend. She did beautifully!! It was Jim's birthday and getting out of town seemed like a wonderful treat. We have not had a car of our own since Nonni was born. So going off tootling about is not something she has experienced much. Most times we have had a car it was rented for a purpose and driving for the joy of it just didn't happen. As we were driving along today a car was pulling a large boat in front of us. You couldn't see the car and Nonni piped up and said,

"Look Mama, it's a boat that drives itself!!"

This seemed very normal to her - thank you Sponge Bob. We giggled and I explained. But there was a part of me that suddenly realized..what an innocent thing she said. Not because it was cute or funny..but from lack of experience. It stopped me for a moment and paid closer attention to what she and Fox were discussing in the back seat. There was a part of me that felt really sad that these joys had been denied my children because of the lack of car.

As we headed up into the woods, the air cleared and all you could smell was that heavenly smell of pine warmed in the sun. They smelled it right away. I took a long deep breathe myself and sighed. OMG it was heavenly that smell of the woods, the pines reaching to the sky.. that deep blue sky. Oh how I missed it..how I had lost that feeling over the last six long car less years. I love the woods. Everything there calls my soul, touches my heart, fills my senses with joy.

How could I have lost this? But lost it I had. I had lost touch with my Earthy soul. I had packed it away in a town bound box and put it away. Over the last couple of years I had even forgotten to take it out and look at it, the smell of pine straw warmed by the sun, calling birds and flowing streams. That sweet smell of the woods. That delicious scent that ignites my creativity and makes my heart sing. I had lost it. But...today as I watched my children find the joys of clean pine scented mountain air, hiking dusty trails and looking down a mountain side from 1000 feet up, I found that joy I had misplaced. I won't loose it again.



So...Quilting Bees, what item have you shelved? What sits waiting to stir your soul and ignite your passions? What box is waiting for you to reopen it today? Please share with us if you would like...what is in your box?

I think I will have some Kona coffee and a very small breakfast skillet with potatoes, eggs and some veggies..oh and cheese. Yummmmmy! What can I order up for you?? Thank you for joining me again today, you honor me!!I hope you all have a wonderful week!! Namaste, Sarah

19 comments:

magikalseasons said...

You know somtimes when you lose something like freedom, your voice, yourself. When you regain that ability your soul is transformed and renewed. I'm so happy for you! Enjoy that walk in the woods and that sweet smell of the pines. Not just a beautiful post and picture but a very Magical one! Thanks for sharing and today I'll have some of that yummy breakfast. Have a Magical week too! :) Becca

Anonymous said...

I haven't written poetry in awhile. I haven't lost my must, but I have stifled her. That makes me sad, but I can fix it right? Right!

I'll have some hash browns with veggies please! :)

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

What a delightful post. So full of generosity of spirit. And what great questions posed for us to think about as we go about our day. What have I packed away, that I need to pull out and rediscover? Hmmmmm.

Oh, that coffee sounds great - and could you tell me more about the walk on pine mountain?

clairedulalune said...

Hi Sarah! Oh no I got eggs all down my top! I sorry, I was too busy eating! I love your quilting bees, you ask the questions that I never ask myself! So....to be honest, there is a lot of things in my box!But one passion I have had and shelved is opening my own shop! I found one a few years back in Belfast, actually in my childhood neighbourhood and was full of oak counters and shelves to be filled with sweets trinkets, all lovely things, and a window just dying to be dressed! Prior to this I had been looking to go to university and with all the rejection letters and what have you, i jumped straight into getting my shop! I set up business plans, put in an offer on the shop, the works. Then I got a letter offering a place in Liverpool uni. Across the ocean! (20 minute flight but come on!) I was not too keen on the idea anymore, rejection had swallowed me. But after talking with family and loved ones, uni it was. Shop shelved. Five years on, (wow, so fast!) I am on a completely different path and loving the journey too. I heard soon after that some one else had bought the shop, but my rose tinted glasses were on from childhood and the nieghbourhood was not the same, as the shop was vandalised many times and forced to close. So sad, yet showed me it was not my time! I do dream someday of moving to America and starting my life over and opening a little shop! It might not work out the way i plan, (never does) but I will certainly dream! Phew! Sorry about the long comment, your questions are just so good! Hope all is well Sarah! (Happy birthday to hubby too!)

Unknown said...

It looks like where I live! The rolling hills. We have all kinds of trees here and it is gorgeous in the fall. I see you have more pines then we do but beautiful, I love the mountains and the woods, always have! I take walks in the woods and just listen to all the creatures, the hoot owl, the frogs. It makes feel in touch with something much bigger then me. It makes me feel love. I'm so happy for you and Jim. Tell him I said "Happy Birthday". :)
Hugs
Sherry

Unknown said...

Oh I almost forgot. Sarah you are a wonderful, wonderful mother to Nonni and Fox! Don't ever doubt it! You're the best!

Holly said...

We make the mistake of thinking that somehow we've denied others if they haven't had our experiences.

In other words, you're fretting over what the kids have missed by not having a car because you know the difference in having one and not having one. They don't. You can't miss what you've never had.

Now a new adventure emerges. Again, thanks to you and Jim. You make those things possible. Their story isn't 'less than'; it's simply different than.

I love coming here on Mondays. Well, let's be honest, any day I love it here.

What have I shelved. My professional self. Living here, it seems safer than tormenting myself over what I used to be but am not anymore.

Oh, wait, now I'm comparing my life pre and post car! I'll stop immediately. Give me some hash browns and I'll shut up.

Sheila said...

Another wonderful treat this morning - much thanks. I agree with Sherry - what a fine mother you are! One of the greatest joys of motherhood is the vision through their eyes and Nonni's was such a delight that you shared. And your photo also looks like where I live as well in the foothills of the Sierras in California. Reminds me tremendously of the landscape surrounding Bass Lake, where the John Candy movie 'The Great Outdoors' was filmed. (raises a glass of that tea and toasts your wheels that are taking your family back to nature) The boxes on my shelves are currently getting opened after having forgotten even what's in them - sorting, sifting and finding surprises all the time but also filling bags with trash.

Dede said...

You have made me realize that I truly love where I live. I can't imagine not watching the critters every morning or listening to the birds singing. No pines, no oaks..... There are days when trying to purchase something in a small town I get so frustrated. Then a round trip of a hundred miles, I am so grateful to get home. So thrilled for you and your family to have a car and able to get "out". Enjoy every minute of it!
BB
Dede

Diva Kreszl said...

What a lovely post! I too love the smell of the pines, the mountains and all that goes with it...so I try to get to our cabin in PA as often as possible. Another fragrance that stirs emotions in me is the salty air that comes in with the waves and living at the shore gives me plenty of that...sometimes it's such a part of normal around here that I forget what a gift it is!

Barbara said...

Oh, Sarah, I remember the sweet smell of the Idaho pines so well and I agree that it feeds the soul. So glad your kids are getting the chance to experience that and you, too! But don't worry that they're deprived. You've fed them in other important ways with time and love. About my box? Hmm. Fun, I think. I haven't really had a lot of fun for a while and I believe I had better find it again. Playfulness feeds the soul, too when pine trees are in short supply. Thanks for the post and happy birthday to Jim!

Snap said...

Beautiful post. I love seeing the world through the eyes of children. They see things differently. Adults become jaded and don't see the magic.Nonni saw the magic! I hope I always see the magic. (Second childhood, don't you know!) I'm going for lunch today (green chile - yeeehaww!), so I'd like a scrambled egg please and a little tea.

Joy, dear Sarah!

Joanna Jenkins said...

I'll have the same breakfast skillet as you-- only bigger :-)

Have a great week. It would be wonderful to spend time quilting again. I haven't done that in years. Enjoy.

xo

Renee said...

Sarah I have to tell you that your quilting bees are amazing.

I actually touched my heart when I read what Nonni said about the boat. That is priceless.

Love Renee xoxo

Alicia @ boylerpf said...

Oh, this one really speaks to me of late. I have been thinking so much about what I am missing...or have put away on a shelf for some time. I would have to say it is just plain getting away...something similar to what you did this weekend with your kids. I can do these things, I just choose to put them aside and do work instead when in reality, this is what would rejuvenate me and give me that jump start I so need.

Always enjoy quilting with you and so glad you all got time away in the Idaho woods..how absolutely fun!

Tammie Lee said...

hello sweet lady. it is sooooo hard for me to imagine someone, you without a car and for 6 years?! I bow to you. That actually sounds very in sync with caring for mother nature. Much less of a carbon footprint and all. what is in my box... a road trip, i know, it seems I go often, that is my business- nature photography. But I have only done one this summer. I am due for sure. There is more, working on my book, getting fire wood for winter. hum..... fun question. xo
ps congrats on the car!

Elizabeth said...

So glad you're getting to take some rides into the piney woods!

Yarrow said...

Hmm, this is a great post, even if I am a little late coming to it.

I've shelved so many aspects of myself over the years, that getting back to my basic nature is what I would like to do. And have a big skillet of everything please :)

x

Christine said...

I'm both sad and happy for you. I'm so sad for you that you have been town bound for so long. One of my favorite things to do is to go for a drive in the mountains. We, and you, have so many wonderful places to go in Idaho. It's beautiful!!!

I've been getting the urge for a drive lately too. I think on Friday I'm going to take a nice drive to McCall or Sun Valley and have lunch. I miss it as well.

Blessings,
Christine