Meandering Melody

Friday, July 29, 2011

Playing

Seating all around the edge.

The toggle magically maintains tension! It doesn't slide back down until you want it to.

I love sandboxes. I remembering playing happily for hours as a child in them. This summer I spent a couple of hours happily digging my toes and hands into the sand in the fabulously designed sandbox at Camp Vienna.

Hate: finding surprises left by the cat!- so this cover keeps that from happening.

And provides shade when it is up!

Monday, July 4, 2011

A nice convenience

This spring after a lengthy wait a garage key arrived! I am so excited about this wonderful convenience. Such a small thing but it makes my life so much more easier. (we weren’t given a garage key because we aren’t allowed to park our car in it.)

When we moved into our 4th floor apartment last August we were given a key to the front gate that also opens our front door and makes the elevator go up and down.

Unfortunately we weren’t given a key to open the garage from the outside. So when I carry home groceries, suitcases, or heavy things I have to leave them sitting in the driveway (and risk theft) and go up two set of stairs, then down the basement stairs to open the garage from the inside to carry things through the garage to the elevator.

Or carry the items up the two sets of stairs to the elevator on the labeled “1st floor” (2nd floor in my mind) which then can ride me up to our apartment.

With the arrival of the garage key I can open the automatic garage door and walk right in! Ah it is so nice!

the little circles to the right of the garage door is where I put my nifty key in to open the garage.

our apartment bay windows are the top windows framed in green

top of second set of stairs leading to the elevator

our little elevator that is key operated.

Since I bring 99% of my grocery shopping products home on foot inside my black leather “shopping cart” this is a really nice wonderful happy advancement in my routine! And has resulted in my right arm, that I injured last summer, finally healing! Yippee!

We've added to our family!

Memorial Day weekend our son and his sweetheart eloped to California!
We are thrilled that our only oldest son now has a ready made family to love, nurture and care for.  And we are looking forward to getting to know her family better.   Till then we rejoice exceedingly that they are happy!


The only wedding photo we have so far!  Will post more when they arrive.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Dr. Laura's Blog

Most of you know that I am a Dr. Laura Family Member- that I listen to her podcasts and receive her links to her blog.
I read this morning her blog on friendship. And was overwhelmed with gratitude for the people who have stood by me. The friends who give me loyalty, laughter, support and the gift of understanding.
Thanks Friends. My life is only worth living because I have Friends and family members who treat me like they are my best friend.

What Makes A True Friend-Dr. Laura

5/26/2011

Friendship is very important. That's one of the reasons why emotional desolation sets in when people move a lot - they don't keep up the friendships they've had.

We need family, not therapy. We need a nice family and friends. We don't do well alone. Every time you hear about some "nut" doing something horrible to people, you always hear "he was a loner." That's a symptom and a disease rolled into one situation.

Life is not meant to be lived alone. We are very social beings and we need people to care about us, understand us, share the same mentality as us, and preferably, be reasonably close in age (but that's not always necessary). The word "friendship" is very special, and I think people throw it around to include people they know and do stuff with. A good friend, however, is someone we can rely on, someone who is faithful and who is not trying to change us, dictate to us and/or manipulate us. If you have a good friend, you know they know your warts and you know theirs, but in the greater scheme, it doesn't matter, because the essence of that person's character is beautiful and that's what really counts.

Finding someone who will watch your back and stand up for you, and who is loyal is one of the hardest things in the universe. There is no real friendship if there is no loyalty. You know you have a true friend when the "stuff" hits the fan and they are still standing by you.

Good friends are always supportive. When you're in a time of sincere and reasonable need, a friend will be there wanting to help. Friends need to be reliable and keep the things you discuss private. You know you don't have a friend if he or she has carried a tale to others of something you said or something you did. It's truly splendid if you can carry friends throughout your lifetime, because that isn't always possible.

Here are six ways to maintain a good friendship:

Work at staying connected. Call, write, and/or visit.
Root for one another, and drop the envy. Celebrate each other's successes. Friendship is not a competition, and a real friend takes pleasure in your success.
Don't gloat, and don't boast about things that make you feel superior.
Show up for "cornerstone" events. Share in them.
Be flexible and understanding.
And finally, protect confidences.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

My collection

I had a teacher in high school that greatly influenced me. She had a personal style that impressed me. Not only was she a really effective teacher, personable, engaging, & caring. She introduced me to the idea of color palettes and planning your wardrobe around your best and flattering colors. She was the sewing/ home education teacher. She wore scarves and she wore them well. Later I was trained as a color consultant, a person that learns to recognize which color palette or season matches a person’s skin tones and eyes. And I began to wear scarves cautiously.. they made me feel like I was trying to be someone I was not. The year I absolutely fell in love with wearing scarves was the year we arrived in England. We had been scrubbing out our home then traveling up to Nauvoo Illinois in dreadfully hot weather. So I arrived in the posh town of Harrogate with a suitcase full of t-shirts and wrinkled cotton trousers and long shorts. I felt like I stuck out like a very hick American. I knew our budget wouldn’t allow me to get a new wardrobe....I had nice clothes coming. And we needed to buy all 4 children school uniforms. My solution was to iron all of our tourist clothes and buy some scarves for me. With crisply ironed clothes, a stylish scarf tied cleverly, make-up and an engaging smile I explored the shops on the Harrogate high street feeling a little less obvious. I also was able to find a skirt for next to nothing in a charity shop to wear with all my t-shirts and a stylish rain coat to wear instead of my American rain poncho. We spent 2 long months living in hotels till we were able to move into a house and receive the rest of our belongings. By then I had developed confidence in wearing scarves in a myriad of ways. And I was hooked. I also found scarves were really nice to wear in drafty Victorian houses.