Necessary Chocolate

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

Spring sprang very early for upstate New York this year - day after day of gorgeous weather when I just had to be outside and read my outside books. I finished Trollope's "He Knew He Was Right," and moved on to the new Penderwicks book.

And now I'm done. Sigh.

It's much better than the first book - just as old-fashioned and atmospheric, but with better characters and believable adults. The father is particularly likeable this go-round. His desperate attempt to avoid dating is hilarious - although I find it hard to believe that no one in that family has discovered a certain author yet.

One of the girls, Jane, writes a school play that is all too similar to the kind of thing I was doing at that age. In fifth or sixth grade I wrote a play about the Greek Gods, and made my poor classmates perform. I was Apollo, I think, mostly because I had a gold nightgown that was just right for Apollo. Or so I thought.

And then one of the girls dresses as a Greek goddess for Halloween. During that same period of my Greek mythology obsession (no Romans for me, thank you - I was a total snob about only using the Greek names of the gods), I dressed up as Artemis for Halloween. We lived in NY at the time, and my mother made me wear a coat. The year was 1971, and I was a transplanted Californian, so my coat was orange and pink paisley, with white furry trim on the hood and collar. Not, I tried to convince my mother, a coat that Artemis, virgin goddess of the hunt, would wear. It was bad enough that I had to wear a turtleneck underneath the tunic. But since it snowed that night, I had to wear the coat, too.

Oh well. I'm not sure that the blue horn-rimmed glasses added to the costume, either.

Finally - the spring sewing (or, it's decision time again)

I'm sewing again. Time to get those Easter outfits done. First up is an Ottobre skirt for Allison - four layers of skirt, no less:

The pink fabric came from Germany, part of a group buy awhile back and it's the same fabric used in Ottobre. It's lightweight, but with a bit of sturdiness, sort of like a lightweight seersucker. Really perfect for this pattern.

Next I'll add the underskirt and its ruffles. I'm using a simple cotton-poly batiste; the pink fabric doesn't seem to wrinkle much, so why not make at least one easy-care outfit? Or, I could use this pink smocking stripe (also cotton-poly) for the upper ruffle:

Or, I could just use the pink stripe as a trim on the ruffle - maybe my favorite version?:

Or, I could pick up the blues instead with some microcheck gingham:

So which would you choose?

Speaking of gifts

My cousin Marianne, who is smarter than I am, sent me this quote in response to my earlier thoughts on gifts:

"Embedded in the context of exchange, objects become containers for the being of the donor, who freely gives up part of him or herself to another. If the gift is reciprocated, a definite tie is established between partners in the exchange.  Again, this is not a metaphorical tie, for what has been exchanged is real energy:  A small part of my being has been given to another for a small part of his or hers."

(Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly and Eugene Rochberg-Halton.  The Meaning of Things:  Domestic Symbols and the Self.  Cambridge University Press, 1981,  p. 37.)

It's a lovely thought - but maybe a wee bit too much pressure? No wonder I'm searching for perfect gifts - they have to contain a part of my being, after all.

The last of the shower gifts

After my post about giving gifts, maybe I should dissect my thought process when making a gift. It might amuse you.

While some of you know that I was part of a long-distance baby shower, some of you don't. Now, I can finally confess and say that I was supposed to have sent off a baby gift in NOVEMBER. Yes, November. Of 2007. I guess that's better than if it were due in 2006, but still.

It all started with the pink jumper and the matching onesie. It took forever to settle on that fabric. I just couldn't decide which to use. Turns out, I hadn't bought enough of any of the other fabrics. So there was that decision made. Somewhere between the jumper and the house onesie, I embroidered the Baltimore Oriole, for the little Maryland baby.

Then I was at Purl Soho, where I found some orange Liberty lawn. I knew it would work with brown linen from yet another old pair of pants. And then I found the sweater.

Later, I thought that the carrots, another pattern from The A-Z of Bullions, would be cute.

Then I realized that the new onesies went well with the pink jumper. And that the brown jumper, sophisticated as I might think it is, is made of linen that goes all shiny when you iron it. So I thought awhile. Finally, I finished the brown jumper after all, because it looks cute, even if it's a bear to iron.

Then, when looking for an image for another gift, I came across this cool website, magazineart.org, where you can look at all sorts of great covers from old magazines. And, since the mom and I are both American Girl doll fans, I had to use this image:

When I found the orange striped onesie at Gap, I knew the madness had to stop. So Mary finally has the last of her shower gifts, and I can move on to making Easter dresses. No, make that April dresses, or maybe May dresses...

Birthday treats

As promised, here are some of my birthday treats:

Beautiful salad tongs, books to read - and a coupon for Superbuzzy! I forgot to show the cocoa (Hershey's Special Dark for the World Peace Cookies - I can't get it here) and a new necklace. The books are perfect - nice, old-fashioned sort of stories for an emotional week. The new Penderwick book will be my outdoor book for the spring. Still to arrive - Lois Lowry's "The Willoughby's", which I'm very excited to read. I have such nice parents.

While it's not strictly a birthday present, this treat came yesterday, so I think that it counts:

A co-worker brought me this box from India. She's been visiting her family there, and when she couldn't find enough souvenir Taj Mahals, frantically looked for other presents for the office. It's VERY glittery, with little mirrors and a velvet lining.

And here's the part I like the most: she said that she knew that I liked to sew and make little things, and that this box was to hold some of those little items. Isn't that sweet?

Birthday cake resolutions

This is the last of the lemon cake I made for my 47th birthday on Sunday. Yesterday, someone at the office  said "I hope that you didn't have to make your own cake." Not only did I make my cake, I took it to a potluck lunch at the church, and my friends ate it without knowing it was my birthday.

Obviously, I need to change a few things in my life.

I have a wonderful network of parents, family, and friends who remember my birthday (and, hopefully, whose birthday I remember, too). My network calls me and sends gifts, cards, and e-mails. I'll share in another post the great loot that my parents sent.

But this network, every little bit of it, lives in other states. Some in other countries. All of the local birthday friends (and I mean the friends whose birthdays I remember) have moved away.

So, this next year, I will expand the network. I'm going to calendar some local birthdays. I'm going to call these women and invite them to lunch or dinner or a movie. No more going to Friday night movies with only my sneakers. It's time to be a big girl, and reach out.

And next time my bishop (the leader of my congregation) says he wants to talk to me, I'm going to tell him it's my birthday and he can wait a week before messing up my life with a new assignment.

Of course, I still want my lemon cake next year.

Digging deep to figure out gifts

I have a "Cathy" cartoon on the refrigerator. Picture Cathy Christmas Shopping with her mother. Cathy finds what just might be the perfect gift:

"Perfect! She'll get it five days after Christmas, but I finally found the PERFECT gift for Christine! ... Wait a minute, I think I got this for her last year. Did I get it for her last year, or does it just seem familiar because it's so perfect for her?? Or does it seem familiar because she gave one of these once? I can't remember. If neither one of use has ever given this to the other, it's the perfect gift... But if one of us has already given it to the other, it's the WORST POSSIBLE gift!. AAACK! What to do? What to do?"

And her mother says to the saleswoman: "For some, perfection is a goal. For us, it's a starting place."

Mom sent me that strip years ago, and I still live up to it. Daniel, one of the Arizona kids turned 14 this month, and I've been so stymied. He's satisfied with his life, and doesn't want much (or doesn't tell me if he does). He has an I-Pod already, thank you. The cows are paid for. What do you buy a child who doesn't need things to be happy? How do you say "I love you" and "I know you so well that I guessed that this is your heart's desire?" I know, I know, it's ridiculous, but that's how I approach gifts.  Heck, I pray about them. I'm nuts. And so my gifts often end up arriving three weeks late.

I settled for Netflix, baked goods, and finally, Saturday, a cozy blanket embellished with his initial:

And I do think it just might be a perfect gift for him.