Tall Tales from Kansas

to understand them as a part of life that come and go

After almost an entire month of not being able to walk without discomfort (which totally took the mental health benefits out of it), I have been back at it for the past 3 days. Church of the glassy river, Baker Wetlands, pond down the street... how I missed you. 

Oh the mysterious ways of the body and the reaction of the mind. What is this? When will it go away? What should I do to make it better? Is this making it worse? You know the drill.  Can we talk about aches and pains for a minute? Not to roll around in them so everyone will feel bad for us, but rather to understand them as a part of life that come and go. Often with no rhyme or reason... not one that we can pinpoint anyway.  A cloud that has blown in that will surely blow away is a great metaphor from Tara Brach (or maybe Pema Chödrön) for the suffering in life.

This has been a great wake up call for me on the importance of STRETCHING and making time for it before and after walking. The next time I am plagued with some unpleasant sensations in the body my plan is this: acknowledge, accept, and remember it's a cloud. Then I will speed dial my massage and physical therapists, who by the way are my "team" as much as my primary care doctor and all the "specialists" out there. Fabulous women these two. 

long may you reign

Today apparently is tulip Tuesday, luckily I have lots of photos to commemorate the flower that is being celebrated.

This bunch is my bouquet of the week from the farmers market. They are a perfect compilation of colors and textures. 

I mean come on, who thought to take pinking shears to the edges of a tulip... and then figure out the whole hybridization thing? 

In other news, I just bought a pair of cantaloupe colored walking shoes. Seriously. I haven't photographed my feet in them yet, but you get the idea. I feel my fitness level getting boosted to whole new heights as I gaze upon them. 

P.S. Happy Birthday Nancy! Long may you reign.

pom-pom colors were lined up just so

Fodder for the winter inspiration board has been clipped, pinned, rolled, dug out, strung, hung, and moved around about a jillion times. That is the pure joy of an inspiration board. Re-arranging until if feels just right to YOU. And then doing it all over again. If you want to. 

Painted trees that sister and I made last year came out of storage.  

The pom-pom colors were lined up just so.

Old quotes were kept, same with images of things I am still planning to make. 

Here is what it looks like right now. 

I like seeing it before I go to bed at night and first thing in the morning when I wake up. Throughout the season items are added, if the spirit moves me.

Happy Friday all! It's supposed to get colder here this weekend. Perfect weather for knitting, reading, baking something, and maybe watching a corny Christmas movie. 

no topic is off limits

The Prairie Makers (minus 1) met today and worked on projects. Below is the quilt Ann has been diligently working on.

As you can see, she is about done! Binding was being sewn down by hand today.  

This is an amazing bit of work, and I LOVE how she quilted it.  We declared it a family heirloom.  

Pam is putting together what looks to me like a very complicated blouse even though the pattern says it's "easy". I love the combination of the structured pattern with the fun fabric. 

We discussed quilt artists, the ridiculous installation of "traffic calming devices" in old west Lawrence, fruitcake recipes, who's doing what for Thanksgiving, what it's like being retired &/or working part-time, stick-on-wallpaper, and about 9 other topics that I can't remember right now. No topic is off limits and we love sounding like a bunch of "old ladies". It was wonderful.

Thanks for another great day of creating friends.. and for letting me boss you around while photos were taken in your knitted creations.

it all started with Mafalda Maritote

Last week Marti Huff and Nancy came to Lawrence for lunch at the Ladybird Diner. We are pie lovers, the lot of us, and no one does pie in Lawrence Kansas any better than the Ladybird. Trust us.

As soon as we slowed down, after all talking at once... which is what you do when you are giddy with delight at the thought of a leisurely lunch, Marti embarked on a tale of intrigue from her days working for "The Outfit". This all began with her recalling Mafalda Maritote (such a name! who could forget it?) who was the sister of Al Capone. 

When Marti graduated from the Bryant and Stratton Business college in Chicago, they assisted her in finding gainful employment as was their practice back in the day. So, for the grand sum of $75.00 a month, Marti sat at her desk in a "chicken pen" of an office, at the Maryland Match Company, typing out letters to all the hotels in the area encouraging them to use their matches. Right next door were the offices of Abraham J. Titlebaum, which may or may not have been the front for the mob. 

Somehow, Marti's relative in Florida read about Mafalda's wedding and through the guest list traced this to the Maryland Match Company. Once the grandparents in Chicago found out about all this, they whisked her out of there lickety split and put her on a sleeper train to the east coast where she would spend the next months serving in the role of governess for a relatives children while the mother looked after her newborn. 

Thus she was saved from being drawn into the underbelly of the mafia crime world and instead became the matriarch of the Huff/Walrafen/Pfanmiller dynasty of Kansas City. And now you know ... the rest of the story (I didn't want to steal that line, but you have to admit it goes perfectly there). 

P.S. we did NOT get a psychic reading but you can't pass up a photo op like this. That does not mean we may not venture in there after our next lunch date. I mean how can I not have been there in the 36 years I have lived in Lawrence? AND... If I am diving in with anyone, it's going to be Marti Huff. 

cloud study # 62

Sky with clouds. Sunday morning between 6:33 and 7:32 am. It was glorious.

Note to self: go outside and look up more often. 

jimracks and doodads

This week, my self-prescribed, heart expanding, resilience therapy consisted of lunch with the Huff girls. There was discussion of how Nancy is faring 7 weeks into retirement (very well), whether legs really do look better tanned or not (it was a 50/50 split), the need to support small/local businesses (even if you might have to drive 30 minutes to get there), and the vital importance of taking time to just sit and be. Books, haircuts, new glasses, and the joys of aging also made it on the agenda. 

For 90 minutes we laughed, Marti taught us about "jimracks and doodads", and we sampled the iced sugar cookies, a chocolate crinkle, the snickerdoodle, and an over-the-top 7 layer bar that included chocolate, coconut, pecans, granola, ?butterschotch chips, butter, and maybe sweetened condensed milk. 

At the end of our time together, I was filled up. Somehow more open inside. Good humans, these three.