Random Bits: Vol. 8

In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours. –Mark Twain

Identity Crisis
March is having an identity crisis. I wish it would mistake itself for June instead of December.

{We woke up to a good 4" of snow today, completely covering all the spring bulbs that had started blooming. It continued to snow until nearly 2:00 pm. Then the sun came out and by 4:30 pm had melted most of the snow away.}

{Sidebar: I can't take credit for that beautiful bit of prose. A friend posted that on Facebook before the snow and it was so perfect I had to use it.}

The Continuing Saga of the Tortoise and the Snail, or Friday Night Sew-In Progress Report
My goal for Friday Night Sew-In was to finish the straight-line quilting in the white zig-zags of Miss Butterfly's quilt and to wind the bobbins for the FMQ in the colored zig-zags. I had three full zig-zag rows, two half rows {at the top and bottom}, plus one line of stitching left in a row to finish. I did make progress, but I still have one complete zig-zag and a half zig-zag along the bottom of the quilt. My bobbins are all ready to go, though. Never mind that three of the four were already wound.

In the past, I've never tried to strategically place my embroidered quilt labels on the back of the quilt. I just stitched them in along the seam and called it good. With the Pinkalicious and Little Boy Blue baby quilts, the piecing and quilting offered an opportunity to place them so that they wouldn't be stitched over. It was kind of frustrating, though, because the ultra-cuddle I used on the back of the quilts was stretchy and shifted. So when I set out to position the label for this quilt so that the colored stitching wouldn't intrude too much on the white label, I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I was surprised at how well it lined up. Horizontally, it is right on. Vertically, the label should sit ¾” of an inch lower, except that when I cut the top piece of backing, I forgot to add the extra allowance and instead cut it exactly where I wanted the label to be. Measure twice, cut once never rang truer.

Favourite Things Friday: The Frontrunner {a week and a day late}
Last Friday, the Not-So-Little Bugs had the day off from school. I took the day off work and we set off on an adventure. With high spirits, ample snacks and entertainment, we set off to visit my mom and dad via Utah's light rail, the Frontrunner. We arrived at the platform early, bought our tickets and patiently waited for our train to arrive. Upon boarding, we picked seats with a table so that we could play the game Grasshopper brought.

Grasshopper refused to smile, and if we look a bit rough, well, that's because we were. Part of our adventure was to get hair cuts, all three of us {and I got a color}, from my sister. The ride took 1 hour and 57 minutes, traversing 81 miles. This is 37 minutes longer than it takes to drive, but I was all for taking the train since that meant that I didn't have to drive. Before we were barely underway, though, I got a mite queasy. The motion sickness triggered a massive migraine, which I tried my best to medicate and ignore. After our hair appointments, we had a little party at my parents' house. My dad cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and the weather was so lovely {mid-60's; see also, Identity Crisis} that we ate outside. All of my siblings and their kids were there, except for one sister and her family who live in Idaho and who did not have the day off school. It was so nice to be all together. We played games after dinner, and the Not-So-Little Bugs and I caught the last train home. It was definitely a favourite, in my book.

Favourite Things Friday: River Song

The only water in the forest is the river. –Doctor Who, season 6 episode 4, The Doctor's Wife, Neil Gaiman

I ♥ Dr. Who. I may have mentioned it once or twice. Twelve or thirteen episodes a year is, frankly, not enough. So when season seven started in September of last year, preceded by a showing of all the Doctor Who episodes from the beginning of time {or since the series' reboot in 2005, and by the way, that's funny because it is a show about time travel}, I DVRed them all and started watching again from season one. And I fell in love all over again. The Doctor is brilliant. His companions are amazing, every single one of them. But my favorite of them all is River Song.

Best. Story Arc. Ever.

River drops into The Doctor's life mid-way through season four in a two-part episode that ranks in my top five favorites. She's called him for help using psychic paper and greets him with a very familiar, "hello sweetie." She knows absolutely everything about him, only he doesn't know who she is. Not a clue. But with one whispered word he trusts her completely. And it's absolutely maddening because we may never see her again. His first meeting with her is her last encounter with him.

The beauty of a show about time travel is that anything is possible. As River puts it, her timeline and The Doctor's timeline are back to front. River turns up again in season five, with her signature, "hello, sweetie," and an air of confidence that rivals The Doctor's. The more we see River, the more questions there are about her. She knows things The Doctor doesn't even know. And when she shows up with a six shooter on her hip in episode one of season six and blows the Stetson right off The Doctor's head, we know we're in for a great season. {Sidebar: how did I not know they were filming in Utah? I totally would have gone to see them!}


I searched high and low for a video that would give you the flavor of River Song without any spoilers and this is one of the rare times that the Media Pirates at YouTube have not come through with something brilliant. I wanted to show you her amazing bravado, her cool-headed brilliance, her knowing demeanor and especially the clever things she says. Most of the videos were set to music, and didn't allow much of the dialogue that makes River River. This is the closest I could come to what I wanted, which means, of course, that you'll just have to watch the series and find out for yourself. Netflix has got you covered. And may I recommend you start from season one? Even though Mr. Bug insists that each episode is entertaining on its own, there are things in there that you really can't miss {see also, The Face of Boe}.

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Echoes of Eternity {Mission Accomplished}

And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed! –Dr. Seuss

It was a little iffy there for a few minutes. That one and a quarter percent almost got me, but I finished and delivered the framed double wedding ring, which I have decided to call Echoes of Eternity, to the bride-to-be. She was feeling pretty miserable when I stopped by earlier. She has strep, a double ear infection, and her eardrum burst last night. The wedding is tomorrow, so I'm sure she could use all the prayers and good thoughts she can get.

Is it OK to say that I love how it turned out? It didn't even require an all-nighter. Almost. But not quite. I finished gluing the little crystals on at 2:00 this morning.

I wasn't sure if it was going to come together but I love how the frame turned out. I got cold feet about painting it after I brought home some white paint {read more here} , but with a little encouragement {thank you, Shay}, I decided to make another trip to the hardware store to find an eggshell white, which was how I originally pictured it in my head. Usually I shop for my crafty things alone, but Mr. Bug came with me to the hardware store the first time {who could resist, right?} and that, combined with the lack of selection in flat {versus glossy} paint threw me off my game. I'm so glad I went with my gut. The frame as I originally bought it would have overshadowed the quilt. Painting it white white would have been too much white. This eggshell white is just right, I think.

To mark my quilting design, I used blue painter's tape, the kind that isn't supposed to leave a residue. I made a paper template for the pattern in the center, cut it out, traced it onto the tape and then cut it out with an Xact-O knife. I thought of my dad a lot while I was doing that. He used to paint big diesel trucks for Volvo. If the customer wanted a special design, my dad would do it. He used tape to mask stripes and other designs {see also, 1968 VW Bug}. I also used the painter's tape and a couple of circle punches to mark the line of circles in the arcs.

This was such a fun project to do. It was fun the first time, and it was even more fun the second time. You might even say it is my favourite thing this week . Can I get a whoop, whoop? Some day {soon, I hope} I'm going to do a double wedding ring quilt for my bed. Here's one last photo, because I just can't resist showing this off a bit.

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Favourite Things Friday: Blue Skies

Blue days, all of them gone

Nothing but blue skies from now on

Blue skies smiling at me

Nothing but blue skies do I see

Never saw the sun shining so bright

Never saw things going so right

–Bing Crosby

This has been the coldest winter we've had in decades. For the past five weeks, the mercury hasn't risen above about 27˚ F and mostly we've been sitting in the low teens. Today, we hit a very lovely 30˚ F complete with sunshine and blue skies. It was a very nice day. How could it not be, with a beautiful start like this?

It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of winter, especially these bitter cold winters. I looked up record low temperatures and in the US, only one other state beat our low of -69˚ F {-56˚ C} in 1985, and that was Alaska with a mind boggling -81˚ F {-62˚ C}. We've had relatively mild winters since about 1995, but this year we've had a real cold snap. It is more like the winters I remember as a kid, where once it snowed, you didn't see the landscape again until the spring thaw.

We lived across the street from a park, so we'd cut across it on our way to and from school. It would get so cold that you could walk across the snow without your boots sinking in. I loved that. I remember one winter with so much snow that it was up to my 9-or-10-year-old chest and all the dads had to go out and shovel snow off the roofs to keep them from caving in.

Despite the cold {said with a shiver; I haven't been warm since September}, it has been fun to see all the snow art that has popped up around town. I already showed you the Igloo that I pass on the way to work every day {which is still standing, by the way}. And this Snow Titan is in our little neighborhood.

I won't even guess at his height, but I'm certain that ladders were involved in the construction of this behemoth. His hat is a broken tree branch, for snow's sake. Just to give you a little perspective, here's a wider shot. He's as tall as the roof line of the house he's guarding.

The days are getting longer and spring is around the corner. The beautiful sky and the warm sun today give hope of more to come. I'm so looking forward to seeing the grass again.

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Favourite Things Friday: Glee

My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.
–Edward Elgar

How does the old quip go? I'm glad life isn't a musical. I'd always be afraid that people were going to burst into song and I wouldn't know the words. Something like that. I love musicals and wouldn't mind being in one, even if I didn't know the words.

Recently, Mr. Bug and I were exploring our options for on-demand streaming through the fancy pants internet ready Blu-ray player we got for Christmas. For one of our tests we watched the pilot episode of Glee, and I was hooked, poor streaming quality not withstanding. I realized that I'd completely missed the boat, but the upside to that is that some extremely clever person invented Netflix and I can watch the whole series as fast as they can send the discs to me {the jury is still out on streaming so for now we'll go the old-fashioned DVD through the mail route}.

What I really love about Glee is the incredible music. No surprise there, right? Great music should, after all, be a given for a show about a glee club. But the sheer volume of production quality numbers is pretty amazing. All of the cast members have great voices, but I was completely blown away by Lea Michele. Between musical numbers, the plot is a little thin, but I love to hate Jane Lynch as the interfering cheer leading coach, bent on sabotaging the glee club to ensure she gets the full budget for her squad.

I had a hard time choosing a song to share. I've been listening to the music on Playlist and have so may favorites. I picked this one because it is was the clincher for me that Glee was going to be a favorite.

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Favourite Sew & Tell Things Friday: My Sewing Space

Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember. –Oscar Levant

My favourite thing today has been my favourite since Christmas. I've been meaning to post about it for ages. It's been a journey to get here, so get comfy and enjoy the ride. I took pictures of this favourite in February, but Shay went on holiday the week I was going to post them. A couple of weeks later, when I went to post, I couldn't find the photos. Instead of taking new photos, I spent about four hours that afternoon organizing my photos because I was sure they'd turn up any minute. Eventually, I gave up and posted something else, thinking that I'd forgotten to move them off my memory card and they'd been deleted with a folder there that I thought was empty. A few weeks later, I found the photos, hiding in plain sight, in the folder I'd left them in February. That took all the fun out of it for me and I resolutely ignored them.

In late March, AmyLouWho posted a picture of her messy sewing space and the photos of a make-over in progress. She issued a sewing space spring cleaning challenge and I decided to take the challenge. For the past 2½ years, my sewing spot has been in the living room and I've know for a while that it was time to move it out of there. It took me almost a month to work up the nerve to actually photograph my sewing table, and it's been another six weeks since I took the photos. But here they are at last. Don't judge. OK. Judge if you want to. It's pretty bad.

It's kind of like one of those pictures where you have to find the items that don't fit in, hidden somewhere in the drawing. I see car keys, two different remote controls, a stapler, a flyer for a deal on cable TV and my menu planning notepad. I wonder what other non-sewing related things are lurking in there? Then there are the projects layered on top of projects. And do you notice anything really important missing? What a mess!

Besides everything on top of the table, here's the mess that trailed through the living room.

After I took these photos, I started sorting. I have most of my stash in plastic storage containers, sorted out by project. I got a few more containers and sorted anything not designated to a project by color. I removed anything that didn't belong, and within a few days, I had the space all cleared out and the table put away. Wohoo! We have a living room again!

As I removed things from table, I put together my new sewing space. For Christmas, my mom got me a sewing table. She's awesome like that. I tipped her off that they would be on sale the day after Thanksgiving for half price, and if you went in before noon, you got an extra 20% off. That fit her budget exactly. I've been using the sewing table since mid-January {I know! Silly me! Why didn't I rip the box open Christmas evening?} and kind of traveled back and forth between the two tables. The clutter always stayed with the table in the living room, though.

I set up my new sewing table in the kitchen. It was kind of migrant for a while, but I think it's found its permanent spot. I set it up this way a little over a month ago when the old table went down and it has pretty much stayed this neat and tidy, because a quick clean-up between projects, with places to put everything, is lots easier than a big clean-up. It is so nice to have an organized work space!

I love these drawers. I collected them a few at a time, and had them in a different configuration, which is why there is kind of an odd-man-out there. They were too tall the other way and I like it better this height, even if one of the drawers doesn't match up evenly.

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Favourite Things Friday: Peonies

The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size. –Gertrude S. Wister

Spring flowers are my favorite. It is probably because they have the less is more thing down pat. They bloom for two weeks and then you have to wait another 50 weeks to see them again. After a long, dreary winter, those first beautiful colors of spring are miracles to me. I have a serious thing for tulips and peonies.

I have 17 peony plants, of which only three are repeats. All but four have buds on them this year {and those four are going to be relocated to see if they'll buck up and grow already} and I am so excited, because three of those 13 with buds on them are new bloomers this year. A couple of the plants in sunnier spots have started to bloom already and that's my favorite thing today.

{As a side note, my dad told me the other day that his grandma was a member of the Ogden Garden Club. Her specialty was roses and she would go out and use rolls and rolls of film taking pictures of her gardens. It must be hereditary.}

This peony is called Karl Rosenfield. I have two Karl Rosenfield plants. This one is on the south side of the house, so it is a little ahead of the other plant, which will be blooming any day now. Their color is so eye-catching.

This is Top Brass. There are six different bloom types for peonies. This one is called a double bomb and it is a good 7" across. I love the yellow in the center of this pretty white peony.

This peony was named after the man who discovered penicillin, Dr. Alexander Fleming. This is one of my oldest peonies as well as one of my favorites because of its beautiful pink color.

I'm sure you're wondering what is so interesting about this peony that hasn't even bloomed yet. I was going to wait to post about it until it did actually bloom, but I'm so excited about this bud that I'm giving you a sneak preview of something amazing to come.

This is a hybrid of a tree peony and an herbaceous peony {all of the other peonies I have are of the herbaceous variety and they are the most common}. What that means is that this looks like a regular garden variety peony, blooms like one and you take care of it the same way you would a regular peony. What it gets from the tree peony side of its family tree is stems strong enough to support the giant blooms that appear in mid-spring, which is a definitely plus for a peony. All of my other peonies have support rings around them, but they still bow over with the weight of the giant flowers they produce. Ironic, isn't it?

This hybrid is called Bartzella and its blooms are a beautiful lemon yellow. They are so beautiful that there was quite a to-do when it was first introduced 10ish years ago. Cuttings were selling for $200 a pop. I bought my start five years ago for the much more reasonable sum of $49 {plus shipping}. I've never paid that much for a plant {that wasn't a tree} and never will again because $49 {plus shipping} for a hybrid shrub it is just too sad for words. Generally speaking, if a perennial plant doesn't bloom by its third year, it probably sterile and won't bloom. You can move it and see if it likes a different spot better, but most of the time that doesn't help. I'd pretty much given up on old Bart here because he was supposed to bloom two years ago. But I suppose that good things come to those to wait. I counted nine buds on Bartzella this afternoon! I can't wait to see if the yellow bloom color lives up to all the hype.

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Favourite Things Friday: The Piano Guys, ao Vivo

When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.
–John Ruskin

It is no secret that The Piano Guys are a perennial favourite of mine. They make regular appearances here and recently filled in on Favourite Things Friday when my favourite was cancelled due to snow. But today's post is a different kind of Piano-Guys-are-awesome post because we went to see them in concert last night and it was beyond awesome.

I'm starting with photos because I met famous people!

L to R: Mr. Bug, Grasshopper, Steven Sharp Nelson, LadyBug, Elizabeth

L to R: Jon Schmidt, Elizabeth

I bought our tickets over a month ago and counted down the days until the show. It was open seating, so a couple of weeks before the concert, I started planning my strategy for getting good seats. Sound check was at 5:00 pm. Doors open at 6:15ish. I would be there at 5:30 and if I had to wait in line outside the auditorium, I would be prepared with an embroidery project and my iPod to pass the time. I was not going to be stuck on the back row.

As is my life, I didn't actually get there until about ten-after-six, but it worked out perfectly. Sound check was still going on, and they let us in to the auditorium. My mom, dad and LadyBug came with me to get seats and we settled in on the fourth row, center. It was lucky that we got there when we did, because a few minutes after we sat down they closed the auditorium doors and stopped letting people in. We caught about the last 25 minutes of sound check. I felt so lucky that we did.

Mr. Bug had to work last night after the concert, so he and Grasshopper joined us just a few minutes before it started so that Mr. Bug could get as much sleep as possible. I think it would be an understatement to say that we all enjoyed it. I didn't shoot any video, because it is never the same as actually being there. Besides, The Piano Guys have lots of really great videos on YouTube. I will just enjoy the memory recorded in my head and you'll have to trust me when I say that if you ever have an opportunity to see The Piano Guys in concert, don't miss it!

As I watched and listened, I had to wonder if Jon Schmidt's piano teachers were constantly telling him to sit still, or if they understood that it was the music inside of him just dying to find a way out. Both Jon and Steven Sharp Nelson are incredibly talented musicians. I'm sure that they have spent hundreds of thousands of hours of practicing, because the music isn't just notes on paper produced by fingers on keys or a bow across strings. It is as if the music lives inside of them and that their instruments are extensions of them. Their music had a presence.

What impressed me most was that this was a benefit concert. Every bit of the ticket sales went towards buying therapeutic equipment for the students with special needs who attend the school where the concert was held. Jon and Steven donated their time to be there and they were happy to do so. They said more than once how much they loved to play. And how we loved to listen. I'm certain that what they took in from CD sales after the concert did not equal the personal cost in time and effort that they and their crew put into the performance. What they gave and what we received, was more that what they were compensated for. Their donation of time and talents not only helped the students with special needs, but I believe everyone who attended received something special in some way or another.

For me, personally, it brought joy to my soul.


Available from The Piano Guys and on iTunes.

From The Piano Guys:

After our Taylor Swift Coldplay mash-up, lots of people wanted more song combos. This led us to the creation of a cool hip hop/classical mash-up, but again we could not get permission. Instead of scrapping the great ideas, we used them to create an original tune. You will hear influences and inspiration from other artists. Try and guess them.

On the recording, Steven Sharp Nelson laid down over 100 tracks including cello textures never known possible. Every single sound on the video was made using only the instruments shown: piano, cello, mouth percussion and kick drum. We utilized some cool effects on lots of stuff...for example the U2-style delay on Steve's pizzicato at the beginning.

The extra string on the electric cellos (the black cello has an extra high string and the white cello has an extra low string) allowed us to cover the full range of the orchestra. The deep bass drum sound is a bump on the body of the cello with a little help from some effects. The shaker sound was created by Steve rubbing rosin on his bow. The record scratch is Steve scratching a quarter on the strings...you get the idea.

Special SPECIAL thanks to Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart "The Piano Guys" who put as much of themselves into the video as we did and without whom the video would never have happened.

Produced by Jon Schmidt
Arrangement written by Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson & Al van der Beek
Co-produced by Chuck E. Meyers & Jake Bowen
Piano recorded at Big Idea Studios by Jake Bowen
Cello recorded at TPG Studios by Al van der Beek
Filmed at The Muse in Provo, Utah.

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Favourite Things Friday: Simple Gifts

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

–Confucius

My favorite thing for the past several weeks is noticing and finding joy in the simple things. Here are some of the highlights.

Trees that bloom pink.

Beautiful old houses

Spring Flowers

Music

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Favourite Things Friday: Cancelled Due to Snow

Dear beautiful Spring weather, I miss you. Was it something I said? –“Skipper” Kim Corbin

I had a great Favourite Thing planned for today. I've been working on the idea in my head all week and finally figured out how I wanted to do it yesterday. But I was in a hurry when I left for work and forgot my camera. No matter. I could still take photos today, right? Not so much. We woke up to snow. Not just that slushy wet stuff that melts as it hits the ground, but actual snow. Big, fat flakes of wet, heavy, stick-to-the-ground snow. Which makes photographing my favourite for today . . . difficult. Perhaps next week.

Rather than leave you all hanging, I arranged with The Piano Guys to fill in today. They're awesome like that. And they're always a favorite of mine. I have tickets to see them in concert soon. They're playing right here in town. I'm so excited!


Available from The Piano Guys and on iTunes.

From The Piano Guys:
Many people ask why Steve is SO HAPPY when he plays the cello. We followed him around with our cameras on his day off. We think we now understand why...

**NO INSTRUMENTS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO** — we used a "stunt" cello for these scenes just in case — and we were really careful out of respect for the instrument. After all the filming, "Jackie" (named after Jackie Chan since he does all his own stunts) only had one minor scratch inflicted by a shopping cart... (this proves the saying that statistically there are more shopping cart accidents than sky diving accidents).

Story behind the song:
This music video was one of our very first ideas as ThePianoGuys. It originated when we were filming "The Cello Song" — the first project that Steven Sharp Nelson, Al van der Beek, Tel Stewart, and Paul Anderson did together (which is also the first time they all MET!). As we were finishing the all-night film session, we starting talking about the many "uses" of the cello and before we knew it we were laughing about how funny it would be to make a movie about "cello bonding" — spending quality time with the cello. We didn't feel like we could ever get away with making this video, but we just couldn't help ourselves . For a while Al and Steve tried to write an arrangement of two Bob Marley tunes for the background of the video. It wasn't flowing, so the project was abandoned for several months. Since the making of "Cello Wars" we haven't really had the opportunity to throw "funny" at our audience. And to be honest, we've missed it. We all love to laugh — especially at ourselves. It keeps the pressure of producing videos every other week bearable...so we revisited this concept, but this time with a new tune — the Turtles "So Happy Together." It fit perfectly. We ended up with a lot more scenes than we could use—some of which we were sad we couldn't fit in. Maybe we'll make an "extended version" one day...

"This video is dedicated to all of my music teachers that taught me to have FUN with music — to let it live and breathe rather than insist it be dead and dissected. As for my other music teachers that didn't teach me to have fun...I'll try to make a video for you some other time." –Steven Sharp Nelson

Filming Locations (in order of appearance)
St. George, Utah:
-(Performance) Main Street Square
-(Dinner) 25 and Main Cafe - Awesome place to eat!
-(Golfing) Ledges Golf Course
-(Grocery Shopping) Lin's Grocery
-(Volleyball) Vernon Worthen Park, St. George
-(Basketball & Sit-ups) The Biggest Loser, Fitness Ridge
-Ocean Buffet Asian-American Cuisine & Hibachi Grill
-(Treadmill & Yoga) The Sumitt
-(Art Museum) Dixie College Delores Echols Fine Arts Building
-(Disco) Go check out this home where we filmed the Disco scene, it will blow your mind with Awesomeness!!
-(Skydive) Skydive Utah
-(Carousel) St. George Rec Center
-(Movie Theatre, Bumper Cars, Arcade) Laser Mania

Special Thanks:
The Dotty's for letting us use their Yellow Tandem bike.
The Neilsons for the use of their home where we filmed the Disco Scene
Will Stucki for the use of the Bass

Credits
"Happy Together" originally written by Garry Bonner & Allan Lee Gordon and performed by The Turtles
Published by EMI Glenwood Music Corp
Arrangement written and produced by Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Performed by:
Steven Sharp Nelson: cellos, percussion, vocals
Al van der Beek: vocals
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studios
Video filmed, edited, and produced by Paul Anderson & Tel Stewart
Steve's sky diving stunt man: Phil Liu
Sky diving footage shot by Jeff Agard

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Favourite Things Friday: A Do-Nothing-Day

We all need empty hours in our lives or we will have no time to create or dream. –Robert Coles

Today was a do-nothing-day. Regular days are full of making lunches and taking the Little Bugs to school, work, making dinner and helping kids with homework, dishes and laundry. If there is enough time {and energy} left, then I do some sewing. Today, there was still the making of the lunches and the taking of the Little Bugs to school. There was still making dinner. But in between those things, there was no where I had to be and nothing I had to do. After I got the kids off to school, I enjoyed the quietude while catching up on blogs and organizing my digital pictures. When Mr. Bug came home from work, we had a pleasant lunch and then he went to bed and the house was quiet again. I spent an inordinate amount of time puttering around, doing things that needed doing, and putting together a couple of packages that I've been needing to get out in the mail. It was nice not to be in a hurry for a change. After school, LadyBug was invited to play at a friend's house and I was so glad that I had no where to be and nothing to do so that I could take her and pick her up. Grasshopper wanted to invite a friend over here and as it happened, I didn't have to be anywhere so he could do that too.

Sometimes life is nice at a quieter pace. Today was one of those days.

Now, if you'll excuse me please, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my do-nothing-day with some sewing.

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Favourite Things Friday: Royal M China, circa 1959

Occasionally we all inherit, or are given, or get something or some things that are too good to use for a variety of seemingly sound but really quite silly reasons—they’re heirlooms or too rare or too expensive or too fragile or too pretty. The result is heirloom linen handed down from generation to generation that falls apart when some benighted heiress decides to air it. While I’m glad that past generations saved some things we now enjoy, we are enjoying them by using them instead of carefully storing them for our kids—in turn to store. Unused beautiful things are a waste. –Malcolm Forbes

There is an elderly lady who attends my ward {congregation} whose husband passed away several months ago. Sunday-before-last, during Relief Society {Women's Sunday School} the leader who was conducting announced that the woman was moving and had a nice set of 12 dishes she'd like to give away. I'm not sure what came over me, but I heard “12 place-settings” and I said “yes, please!” My hand went up like a shot.

And then I felt a little guilt. Not enough to not take the dishes, mind you. But I wondered if perhaps someone else who didn't have a set of china could have used these dishes? My grandpa gave me my grandma's beautiful set of Noritake Pasedena, to which I've added more pieces. I love it and use it all the time. I think I was secretly hoping that this new set of old china would match my old set of old china so I could have 20 matching place settings. But it didn't. So now I have two sets and I don't think it is superfluous at all. Well, maybe just a tiny bit. But I'm in love with those pretty blue flowers and now that I've got these dishes in my possession, I can't bear to let them go.

I don't know much about vintagey things. The mark on the bottom says Royal M by Saji and the pattern name is Liege. I googled and couldn't find much at all about the Royal M company, which is a disappointment. I do know that the woman these pretty dishes came from got them in 1959. And that's about all I know about them, except that they are beautiful and have already had a turn at Sunday dinner. We'll be switching off every Sunday and special occasions. The Little Bugs think it is awesome to eat of china on Sunday and remind me if I forget and set the table with our regular dishes.

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