Sweet Heart Songs

The other night I was browsing at the kind-of-scary Goodwill Store, where you sort through the jumble on the tables (lots of people wear gloves), and you pay by the pound, when I came across this old songbook.

Here is the front cover. Here is the back cover.
And in between are age-stained pages of old love songs, such as "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes", "Silver Threads Among The Gold", and "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen".
Every once in awhile there are ads for

Sweet Heart Toilet Soap.
There is no copyright date and it's not in the greatest shape, but I'm so glad someone saved it all these years, just for me to find.
Love it!

The Shoebox

THE TIME

There is a time for some things,

and a time for all things;

A time for great things

And a time for small things.

Cervantes

I have been picking Avery up from Kindergarten a couple of times a week since her Mom got a new job.

Today I brought a shoebox full of old pictures - pictures of her daddy and her uncle as little boys, pictures of her brothers as babies, a few of her own baby pictures.










The pictures were thoroughly examined and many questions were asked.

I snapped these photos and she didn't even notice. These pictures will make a nice memory some day, too.

What's In My Journal?

WHAT'S IN MY JOURNAL

Odd things, like a button drawer. Mean

Things, fishhooks, barbs in your hand.

But marbles,too. A genius for being agreeable.

Junkyard crucifixes, voluptuous

Discards. Space for knicknacks, and for

Alaska. Evidence to hang me, or to beatify.

Clues that lead nowhere, that never connected

Anyway. Deliberate obfuscation, the kind

That takes genius. Chasms in character.

Loud omissions. Mornings that yawn above

A new grave. Pages you know exist

But you can't find them. Somebody's terribly

Inevitable life story, maybe mine.

William Stafford, from "Crossing Unmarked Snow".

Super Bowl 2012!

I do not like sports. I do not follow football, basketball, baseball or soccer. But this year my hometown hosted the Super Bowl, and I have to admit it was quite exciting.

Here is a picture of Lucas Oil Stadium taken on Sunday night just as the game was starting. A shot of Indianapolis' skyline at sunset the same evening.
Super Bowl Village in downtown Indianapolis began 10 days before the Super Bowl. There was so much hoopla about it, I couldn't wait to see what was going on, so one day I took the bus downtown, which was an adventure in itself!

On Monument Circle, giant letters XLVI were erected. Here I am in front of them.

One of the highlights of Super Bowl Village was the zipline. It was something to see! It only cost $10, but there was at least a three-hour wait each day. It only lasted 30 seconds, but it was thrilling just watching.

Here I am with one of my favorite firefighters.

Here is a picture I copied from Facebook of the crowd one night.

On Saturday I volunteered at the Bart Star Breakfast of Champions. My cousin went with me. I was hoping to see celebrities, and was excited when Colts' Jeff Saturday walked through the area we were working.

Look at me!

And last but not least, Jimmy Fallon was in town and taped his show from the Circle Theater. I am a big fan of Jimmy Fallon!

The Girl Scouts

I dug out my old scrapbook and found a picture of me as a Girl Scout. It says I was the President of our Troop, but I sure don't remember that.

All of the talk on Facebook about Girl Scout cookies for sale made me think about my days as a Girl Scout. Cookies cost 50 cents a box, and I went door-to-door after school to sell them. I remember walking through the snow (and cold and ice) and going across Washington Street to neighboring streets where we really weren't supposed to go.

Did anyone else want to look like the perfect Girl Scouts on the box of cookies?These are pictures of my Girl Scout sash and badges. I was so proud of my badges.

And I loved being in the Girl Scouts.

I was in Troop 291 and my leader was Mrs. Tilford. Her daughter, Mary Ann Tilford, was in my class and was also a Girl Scout. Mrs. Tilford had been in the WACs, and sometimes on Saturdays I would go to their house and she taught us to shoot bows and arrows in the backyard, and to march together up and down the street. And Mr. Tilford would be in the kitchen in a white apron, baking bread. I didn't know any other man who baked bread, or any other mother who shot bows and arrows and marched in the street.

At our meetings, I remember taking turns reading Hiawatha, and we made Indian wigs out of black fabric.

And we would sing. Mrs. Tilford played the piano and we sang and sang. I still know all the words to "Make New Friends", and "Our Chalet Song".

High, high up on the moun-tain

We founded our Chalet ....

How much do Girl Scout cookies cost now, anyway? Those mint ones have always been my favorites.

What Do The Simple Folk Do?

January blues. What Do The Simple Folk Do?

GUENEVERE
What do the simple folk do
To help them escape when they're blue?
The shepherd who is ailing, the milkmaid who is glum
The cobbler who is wailing from nailing his thumb
When they're beset and besieged
The folk not noblessly obliged
However do they manage to shed their weary lot?
Oh, what do simple folk do we do not?

ARTHUR
I have been informed by those who know them well
They find relief in quite a clever way
When they're sorely pressed, they whistle for a spell
And whistling seems to brighten up their day
And that's what simple folk do
So they say

GUENEVERE
They whistle?

ARTHUR
So they say.

For me, pretty flowers help.

And old farts in overalls.
And summer memories of folk festivals.

And pillowslip dresses.

A backyard tableau.

Dulcimer music and my favorite dulcimer guy.

My Tennessee girlfriends.

The Red Stick Ramblers - always.

Log cabins.

Babies having a tea party.

Being silly.

And sunflowers - always!

Cooper's Hawk!!

It was a weekday morning in January like any other. I got out of bed and made my way to the kitchen to make coffee. As always, I glanced out the back door at the birdfeeders, expecting to see a squirrel somehow stealing sunflower seeds from the squirrel-proof birdfeeder. Instead, perched on my trellis was a very large Cooper's Hawk! We stared at each other for a few minutes before I thought to grab my camera and attempt to photograph this unusual visitor. Pretty soon he flapped his wings and swooped away, circling over the yard, and landing on the fence. He sat on the fence for a long time. Oddly enough, there was no sign of the squirrels that are usually scrambling up and down the tree and robbing my birdfeeder. This hawk was definitely on the hunt.

Pretty darn exciting!

Christmas Dress 2011

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is to make my granddaughter a Christmas dress.

This year's (or last year's) creation was made of Blizzard fleece, a simple jumper that she wore with a white turtleneck and white leggings and a big white bow in her hair. Here it is. The pockets were so cute.

I made this holly pin from fabric and added a vintage button.

She looked very cute!

It's the Thought That Counts

This year I made almost all my Christmas gifts. It's a funny thing while making gifts for people. You think about them while you are working, and wonder if they'll like it, and where they'll put it, if it's the right color, stuff like that.

This is a box I made for grandson E. He is 10 years old and loves to keep his stuff in boxes. I found this box at a thrift store. It was handmade by someone and very nicely done. I painted it, then decoupaged it with pictures of E. and sayings I thought he might like.

I lined the inside of the box with an old map. I wonder what he will keep in it.
This is a pillow I made for brother J. He lives in Washington, D.C., and his favorite holiday is the 4th of July. I made this pillow from a sweater.

This pillow was made from a t-shirt for my sister B. She is a chocolate lover, like me.

And I've been knitting!

I knitted bracelets for everyone - all the girls, that is. I used different types of yarn and dug through my button collection to find cool vintage buttons.

And when it's all over, I am always reminded of the saying that the joy is in the giving, not in the receiving. It is so true!