Sail Away Bathroom

     The guest bathroom has a beachfront motif and I like that a visit to the small room feels like an escape. Its simple decor and natural colors create a peaceful and relaxed mood. For many years, the toilet had a polished oak seat and  lid to match the vanity. However recently, it became obvious that the wood finish was failing and I felt that it harbored germs, even after a good cleaning. So the oak was discarded and replaced with white, easy-to-clean plastic. The smooth, gleaming surface of the lid may have been hygienic but it was certainly not attractive, so I shopped for covers and found none that appealed. Then, during an unrelated internet search, I saw this sailboat quilt square, which was easy to adapt and sew onto an equally simple-to-construct, poly/cotton cover. Quarter inch elastic edges the cover to keep it in place, and now the lid is not just utilitarian, it is a piece of decor!



The candle on the tub corner was made in North Carolina by my daughter-in-law, and also contains sand, seashells and a nautical rope tie.

Because the tub and tiles were already a sandy hue, I sewed a shower curtain of sheer and glimmery blue, to add an aquatic feel.

And finally, a wall grouping that includes a boat, a life-saving ring, and a starfish. (The walls were painted antique white and then striped with a color called "Sandpoint".)

Challenges Met

     A hedge trimmer that chewed up my fingertip and a brush with death for my elderly mother - should these have been reason enough to curtail my writing? I kept thinking not, until I saw how long it had been since I last posted. And even now it is hard to navigate the keyboard accurately - bumbling around with only nine usable fingers; however, I realize that some people manage with fewer and even no fingers, so I am thankful that my disability is temporary.

     Mom had Last Rights in the hospital at ten a.m. that fateful Saturday but at two p.m the same day was admiring a magazine cover graced with Kevin Costner's handsome smile. Three days after her miraculous recovery, she was released with the provision that she have round the clock supervision. So after living fifty-three years in the same house, she now resides in my sister's home, with an oxygen tank as her constant companion. A habitation change was difficult and somewhat depressing for her, but she had been contemplating selling the house anyway. She is easily confused and has some memory problems that may have been due to a lack of oxygen prior to the 911 call - the doctors say she may live a few weeks or a few months, an uncertainty that is disconcerting. But she is safe and in loving care, for which we are thankful.

     (And now, in readiness to sell, we begin to filter through the contents of the five-bedroom home in which my parents, grandmother, six siblings and I lived - should be inspiration for a wealth of stories!)

Fruit Pizza Cookie for Mother's Day

    Mother's Day is a simple affair in our family. Mom is a frail eighty-four with a hearing deficiency so celebrating takes the form of a rather quick visit by each of her children and perhaps some of the grand and great-grand children. Cards and gifts are presented, accompanied by happy conversation and a little sweet treat. This year, I chose to make a fruit pizza cookie. A sugar cookie crust (which could be made from bought refrigerated dough but I had time and much prefer from scratch) was prebaked the day before. A topping of cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla was spread over the crust and then garnished with an artful arrangement of strawberries, blueberries and kiwi. Almost too pretty to cut, the cookie was a cool, not-too-sweet treat on a warm day.

     Instead of store-bought novelty napkins, I printed up some paper napkin rings on the computer, which were easy to cut out and put together with a glue stick. White everyday napkins were rolled and slipped into the rings for a slightly festive look. Cookie slices were served on the napkins so plates were not even necessary

Brownie Buttons

     When Rissy calls on a Saturday asking to bake, we make a decision together whether to try something new or use a tried-and-true recipe. I had seen something similar to these cookies online and thought they were cute and simple. Instead of the pastel originals (I believe they were intended for a baby shower), we chose a brownie cookie. Rolling the dough and cutting out circles was uncomplicated, but easier still, and even fun, was creating the button 'holes'. We used a plastic straw to punch them out, and of course, the straw filled up with minuscule dots of dough which we either blew out the end (as a sort of ammunition - the dog loved it) or squeezed out for tasting. A drinking glass just a bit smaller than the cookie cutter formed a nice rim. Kitchen laughter and tasty treats equaled a delightful afternoon.

Borador and the Bunny

    The bunny was placed next to a sleeping Duncan and I hoped for a cute cuddly pose to enclose with an Easter greeting. But of course, he woke instantly and reached over to get the toy in his mouth (where everything and anything seems to end up during these baby dog days). I snapped a quick photo anyway and was surprised that the result was a rare moment  free of the usual puppy frenzy and full of beguiling innocence.

Old Family Tragedies

     In 1942, at only forty years of age, my maternal grandfather died. I wasn't born until the next decade so I  never knew much about Lawrence, except that he was a baker, that his marriage to my grandmother failed miserably and that he was an alcoholic. Even my mother, his only child, knew little about him; Lawrence was completely estranged from his family and lived in another state.

     However, genealogy research revealed a history of tragedies in Lawrence's immediate family of fivechildren. My sweet godmother was married to his youngest brother and when I inquired, she sent me a large folder of papers, documents and photographs. The newspaper clipping (c. 1927) shown here reports the death of another brother, Ted, who was five years younger than Lawrence. In the photo, Ted's stance is not just a brash young man - he appears insolent and possibly inebriated, which could explain the reason for the accident.

     Below is another article, this time recounting the death of Marie, an older sister. Apparently she was a working woman who had retired relatively young, was unmarried and lived alone. The palm trees indicate that this photograph was taken far from her native Michigan, perhaps on a vacation. Was this the happiest portrait found in her possessions?
     The untimely and adverse nature of the sibling's deaths lead one to the conclusion that the family shared some type of unfortunate or oppressive issues. Rebellion against life on the farm? First-generation Americans chagrined by immigrant parents? Or if it was a gene for weak personalities, the adage was borne out that only the strong survive...

Cute Chicks - Easter Cookies

     Using a basic sugar cookie recipe, these chicks were formed by rolling out the dough and cutting with an egg-shaped cutter. After baking, I iced them with a yellow lemon glaze and, after adding a little more confectioners sugar and red color to the remaining glaze, piped on the feet and beaks. The eyes were toothpick points of black frosting. Simple and quick little Easter surprises for neighbors, children and aunties.