Challenge – 8

This challenge comes from a small writing group.  We have a large series of random questions that we answer and share.  The goal is to answer at least one per week.

Question:

Write 10 thoughts that could be stuffed inside Fortune Cookies for perfect strangers to read.

Fortune Cookie Thoughts

1. This is a special month for you.
2. A song in your heart will keep you awake all night.
3. You will meet an exceptional person today.
4. A spoiled child will always stay at home.
5. The path you are traveling will change dramatically.
6. Always bring your own rainbow and snacks.
7. Your home is a place of serenity.
8. You must find a balance between work and play.
9. Any pet will bring joy into your life.
10. Don’t forget to eat dessert first/
11. Be very careful of your secret wishes.
12. Your ancestors approve of your current situation.
13. Someone from your distant past will come back into your life.
14. The next book you read will follow your life exactly.
15. Make sure you get your exercise in tomorrow

 

Now for a little fun.  In case you didn’t know, Fortune Cookies, like Chop Suey are American inventions.  If there is no fortune in your cookie something good will happen to you soon. (Like the Fortune Cookie Fairy owes you one????)

Don’t forget to add the words “in bed” at the end of reading your fortune cookie aloud to those you are dining with.  As you take your cookie make sure you don’t touch the others.  That would cause them to have bad luck.

It is possible to order special fortunes to be placed inside cookies if you are celebrating a special event or having a party. There is also fortune cookie jewelry and fortune cookie fabric to create your own items. Finally a video on You Tube on how to make your own cookie out of felt or videos on how to make your own actual cookie.  OK, OK this is way more information than anyone ever needed about these fun little cookies.  I will stop now.

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Garfield Park Conservatory

 

Chicago area has the luxury of many  places to visit with amazing flower displays and exotic as well as native plants. I recently spent a blissful day wandering in and out this conservatory and just wanted to share another great thing about this area. Another bonus, the entrance fee is a suggested donation and I would urge you to be as generous as you can.

 

This took a few years to build and opened in 1908, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is truly a gem in the city. There are 10 acres of outdoor space and 2 acres under glass and this is open all year.  Most of the area is wheelchair accessible and very interactive with lots of special displays all year long. The website is very easy to navigate and full of information about events and special displays.

 

This summer an agave plant grew so tall they removed a section of glass from the roof to allow it the opportunity to achieve its full height. The day I visited it was well over 35 feet tall already and still growing.  The hope was that it would bloom and they would be able to harvest seeds.

 

Part of the outdoor area had a field planted with a large variety of cabbage, on harvest day these were going to be given to all who came to the conservatory that day.  There was a large raised bed garden with tomato and pepper plants.  A lunch area and a gift shop are all in the greenhouse with a nice outdoor cafe area for the nice summer days. Certainly a destination year round, accessible by public transportation as well as a parking lot for your vehicle.

 

Counting My Scars

A couple of young family members were having discussions about scars they have that are longer than one inch long, it got me to thinking about mine.  Four of mine are a result of surgeries, two were accidents and I have one of unknown origin.  Who cares???

This got me to thinking about our hidden scars, those that have changed us forever, like losing someone special, and no one see those scars.  Would I want everyone to see my hidden scars, I think yes.  This might give me an opportunity to talk about how I got that scar and how it’s healing with time or not so much  yet.

Some of my real scars don’t get seen, the one on the bottom of my foot that is so old I forget which foot and who even wants to see it.  I only look for it occasionally.  It was summertime and I was outside playing in the spray from the fire hydrant on the corner and stepped on a broken bottle.  My childhood friend who lived across the street spent much of that summer coloring in books together because I could not get around.  It brings back more good memories of time spent with Carol than anything else.

One surgical scar, from my lumpectomy, reminds me of a very difficult time in my life and how fragile life is.  This scar got bigger than it should have been because a few of the stitches pulled out before they should have come out and in my mind this scar became huge.  My universe at that time was in a total state of chaos and sadness that may never heal.  I still cry about some of those events almost 20 years later.

One of my hidden scars occurred a little before this and I thought my profound loss would never go away. I am often surprised that time has certainly healed that wound and today I know I can survive almost anything.

My moral to this story is just be as kind as you possibly can to everyone out there.  We never know if there is something they are fighting or grieving or missing and kindness is so much easier to deal with.

County Fair 2019

Enjoy the sights from our county fair.

Recently went to our local county fair with my granddaughter and great-granddaughter.  I am very proud of our little fair, this county is fairly rural and lots of small farms that have not been eaten by malls or highways.  We have the animals on display and tractors everywhere.  Displays of winning produce and hay along with hand made items, a demolition derby and a beauty queen.  All things that I enjoy seeing on display.

We have a chainsaw wood carving on display and all the yummy carnival food  you can handle.  I have in the past taken home a rabbit or two who became members of our family so we no longer look for the animals available to purchase.  My great-grand loved the bunny with red eyes.  Not sure if she thought it might scare her friends or what.

Part of the tractor parade that shows you how wonderful the old ones sound.

One of the 4-H exhibits and our beautiful chainsaw carving on display.

73

Here goes another awful birthday post.  Today I am 73!!!  Woohoo, never thought this would happen.  I have 2 hopefully easy goals now in my life.  First to make it to 2020 just because that’s a good number for a year.  Second to make it to 75.  While these seem like simple feats we all know things get harder by the year.

What I think 73 should look like.

So have a drink to me, even those who don’t know me.  We all know that a glass of red wine or two  is good for most people, so join me in a toast to tomorrow being a better day for us all!

Closer to reality for the next year, a bumpy road at best.

Save Water

The sign in the summer house said, “Save Water, Bathe With A Friend.”  This was some 40 years ago and I can’t imagine where my totally uncool and un-hip parents got it.  Let alone had the nerve to put it up for display on the bathroom wall. The “summer house” was a  4 bed, 1 bath old farm house in the middle of no where farm fields, about  90 miles north of nothing, Perhaps spending so much time in the middle of all that nature they developed a new set of rules for survival other than we had in the city.  I don’t recall the sharing of bath water with anyone while there, but the sign seems very relevant now in the era of conserving our resources.

On some show I recently watched, the person shared their method of conservation and it is in teaching the children what to do.  Like turning off the water while brushing your teeth.  It just seems so logical to teach them that from the time they are first learning to brush their teeth and it then becomes a lifelong good habit.

This caused me to reflect on what I could do and the answers don’t have to be dramatic, just practical. A simple one I will now do is when an ice cube falls on the floor, don’t put it in the sink to melt, put it in the dog or cat’s water dish or in a houseplant to melt. I can do this.

Cats At The Quilt Show

There may be an overload of cat ladies who quilt, or quilters who quilt for cat ladies.  I have at least 2 cat ladies in my family and I am currently working on 2 cat quilts.  These are some I found at the quilt show and they were in a variety of categories.  I like the idea of using cat fabric to create the cat pattern used in one of the quilts. Some are full sized bed quilts and some are wall hanging size, all of them are beautiful.  I hope you enjoy.

Day After Breakfast

What to do when the refrigerator is filled with hard-boiled eggs and left over ham.  Put it on a plate in an appetizing  way and add mock Hollandaise sauce.  I sliced some eggs and ham and warmed them up in the micro.  For the sauce, its one spoonful of mayonnaise and the same of sour cream and a little lemon juice, heat and spoon over food.  A small dash of paprika for color and flavor.  I left out any bread or English Muffin to keep the calories down.  Delicious and quick. The other picture is from a card I made and then used a photo app to add texture and background.

A few Easter quilts from the Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge this past March.

Drunkards Path

The drunkards path is a quilt block that has been around for a very long time. It looks a bit like a square that had a bite taken out of one corner and replaced with another color fabric. While not extremely complicated, it takes a certain skill set to make so it lays flat. This was the theme for the quilt show, to create a quilt with this block. The results are amazing.

 

This just a few of the variations, many more to follow.

Optical Illusion Quilts

This year the quilt show had so much beauty, I divided it into smaller groupings to appreciate.  These are not the groups that they have designated, but my choices.  I found it quite interesting that there were a number of optical illusion quilts.  These are not new, they have been around quite a while, not all I am sharing are really optical illusions and I did not include all from the show.  One very popular quilt showed 3 different faces depending on where you were standing.  One direction was Jackie O., then Oprah, then Mother Teresa. I am sure this quilt will be at many shows.