What we've been up to...

I know that I have talked about our church before. It is a small, and, as The Shepherd puts it. blue collar, Unitarian-Universalist church in Blaine, WA - - Established by Icelandic fishermen in the late 1920's - in fact for many years, the service was even given in Icelandic!

Well this spring, our minister (Rev. Nan) , who has been there for 20 years (!) announced her retirement. Although only paid half time, her ministry has been much more -

Here she is with The Shepherd, who is also known as "The Minister of Music" -


They have worked very closely over the years.

For several months he has been planning a service to celebrate her ministry with our church. A couple of weeks ago, he decided to make a small "garden" on the table that holds our chalice.

Isn't it pretty? (If you click on the pictures, they will biggify - and you can see the details - so cute)






He put plants that he will re-purpose into Nan's garden at home and interspersed them with some button mums and freesia for color spots.











He used moss and little pieces (maybe 2 x 3 inch) of slate for a little path.

It made a lovely centerpiece for the front of the church.









He spoke and did some readings - we had several church members volunteer to write about how her ministry had affected them.













Nan's daughter came up from Seattle. She spoke about how her mom had influenced her life and she sang two songs, one "Wild Mountain Thyme" needed my guitar accompaniment













And our choir sang several songs










And it was not all serious business though - Remember I spoke of the church's Icelandic roots? - one member proclaimed Nan and her husband Queen & King of the Vikings - including the fancy "hats" -








One of the gifts we gave Nan was a lap quilt (that I made) - (don't ask - it was the first of quilts, it was the last of quilts)

I can really see, though, how quilters are seduced into the craft - it was kind of fun (except for the midnight work by flashlight) , and the materials - oh my, it just made me drool to walk through the aisles of fabric in that quilt store -





I used four panels of photos printed on material - just used my old ink jet printer - worked like a charm and they were very good reproductions. I was impressed.

As people came in the door of the church, we had them sign the back of the quilt as the "Guest Book" so she could see the names of everyone who was there







Here is our Board President Vikki presenting Rev. Nan with a picture of another gift - a wonderful slate garden bench - (to be delivered at a later date to her home)








Some of you also know that I also do the newsletter for our little church - Here were my thoughts from my last column as our church looks for a new minister -

"Holy cow! Loosing Rev. Nan AND Oprah at the same time? What ever will we do?

Over the past 20-25 years, both of these fine ladies have nurtured and taught us new ways to deal with the events and issues in our lives.

It will be a brave new world out there for millions worldwide (on a grand scale) and oh, 40 or 50 of us here in Whatcom County (on a much smaller scale) - but soon, it will be summer and we will be distracted by (hopefully) warm sunny days - until reality hits - the re-runs are over - wait a minute - what do you mean, there are no new episodes?

Both Nan and Oprah have encouraged us to be the best that we can be. They have encouraged us to take responsibility for our own actions and to share, lovingly, and sometimes outrageously, with others who are not as blessed as we might be."

So, we'll use those lessons to do our best - we'll be OK - and sooner or later, they'll be back.

Tree peony Tuesday

The Shepherd is slowly building a collection of tree peonies -

They are pricy little suckers - $25 - 40 minimum - but well worth it - they have been fairly hardy and are putting on more "shrubbery" every year.














I particularly like this variegated one - some of the blossoms came out all red this year - I hope that isn't a sign of things to come.

I like the flash of color that they add to the garden.









And here is another of our pretty Japanese Maples for Michelle - this one in miniature!

We are enjoying the few days of sunshine that we have been given - It had been almost 9 months since we had 70 degree days!

I need to get out and take some pictures of the lambs - or the little sausages as The Shepherd calls them - they are so rolly- polly, and growing like weeds!

Busy hands are --- well, busy hands...

I have been doing a LOT of crocheting lately - this baby quilt for a friend's son and daughter-in-law who just had their first baby -

It's about 3 1/2 feet wide -










And this one for a co-worker whose wife is expecting their second child. It is about 3' x 4' - both of them are double strand baby acrylic - (I finally found a use for all that baby yarn I inexplicably bought two years ago)

I wish that the color on this one had come out better on the big picture -





but you can kind of see it here - it looks like you are looking into a swimming pool - all green and blue (my favorite colors) and sparkly white. -









I have them all wrapped in tissue and stashed in some neat cloth bags that I bought on line from Oriental Trading Co. I was looking for some project bags for some of the kidlets at church that I am teaching how to crochet - these were bright rainbow colors - about the size of a small fabric shopping bag - a dozen for about $12 - one for each kidlet and a half dozen for me for gift bags - such a deal.






After I took the afghan pictures, I puttered around on the porch taking pictures of our Japanese maples. This pictures is for Michelle because I know they are her favorites.













This made me think of all the Sci-Fi movies and TV shows that are coming out this summer - no, it's not a pod people plant, just a wisteria getting really close to blooming.

You probably won't hear from me for another week or so, as I'll be working on a project for church - a craft that is really seductive - I can see why people fall in love with it...but certain people read my blog sometimes, so... mum's the word...

Looking Back Sunday

This was taken last year at the end of April. This year, the lilacs have just started to bloom- they are almost a month late.

We still haven't hit 70 degrees yet. People in other parts of the world are having such horrible weather, I hate to complain, bur really - this is getting to be too much!

Luckily I have lots of indoor projects - I have finished two baby blankets - finally using up some acrylic baby yarn I purchased for unknown reasons at Joanne Fabrics a couple of years ago. They are really pretty - I'll take pictures of them tomorrow




Recent rain storms (although nothing like other parts of the country) have stripped our trees of blossoms -

I've also been busy spinning - we have been asked to take part in an arts & crafts fair in September - I suddenly realized that if it happened today, I'd have very little to offer - So I'm busy making yarn and will be using some of it to crochet fingerless gloves to offer at that same fair.











Mother Nature seems to have gone all "girly" this year - it seems like there is pink everywhere - especially our dogwood, which stands out in the garden like a beacon -

I have been rendered speechless again and again when looking at the pictures coming out of Joplin MO. The town is very much the same size as Bellingham - and the devastation there is unfathomable.




Looking back to May of 2006 - I was home from surgery at Seattle's Cancer Care Alliance. Our friend Diane brought me this bloom of a beautiful peony from her garden, We loved it so much, she was kind enough to give us a start from it. This year it has four stalks and lots of blossoms - again, it is also about a month late in blooming.

It's been a busy couple of weeks - church newsletter time and all - plus I'm working on a top secret project for our minister, who is retiring after serving our church for the past 20 years. You'll probably get to see a picture of it, but not until after next Sunday.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back to you before then - but if not, have a great week! Can you believe it is almost JUNE??? - the next thing we know, it will be the 4th of July!

From the Garden

Aspergrass - that's what my sister & I used to call it - my grandma had a bed of asparagus the size of- well, the size of a single bed but maybe longer -

This is asparagus from The Shepherd's garden - and yes, those are quarters -

And, yes, it is purple...







It wasn't that it had been growing for a while - one of the bigger stalks (the one at the bottom of the picture) is only a day of growing!

But it was very tender and tasty - because I was cooking it with some (much thinner) stalks that I had bought at the grocery store, I decided to split each stalk in half - the cooked up very tender - in fact much more tender than the thinner stalks from the grocery store.

The shepherd thinks there will be one more little picking of about this much - he's got more growing in the greenhouse from seed - and some he planted last year in gallon pots. I'm thinking he'll be moving it all into the garden for coming year's production! Yum.

Looking back Sunday - Happy Blogoversary to Me!

May 7, 2006 - my first blog -

May 7, 2011 - my 663rd blog -

Wow, where has the time gone??

I took this picture of this peony on 5/7/2006 - it has been so cold and rainy this year, this peony hasn't even thought about blooming yet...










Looking back, it was also the weekend of our church's plant sale. (these pictures are from that weekend - a nice sunny day)

Today was this year's plant sale - We previously had it at one of our member's home - she had a nice BIG garage for us to sit in - chilly but DRY-but, all good things must come to an end - she sold that house, so we moved our sale to our church premises in Blaine - No big garage p in fact, no outside covered area at all.

Well, this year, not so much on the sun, in fact, it was raining like a son of a gun when I got up - this morning, and all the way to Blaine, it was pouring so hard the windshield wipers were on double time.

Oh, man, I thought, I sure hope the put up a "canopy" to sit under... (I take the money)

When I got there, no canopy, but also, no rain. By the time The Shepherd got my chair out of my car, the rain had miraculously stopped - (the power of prayer??) and it did not rain the entire 4 hours of our sale - in fact, when I left the church, it was actually a little bit sunny.

We didn't do as well this year as before - we had built up a "clientele" over at Vickie's house - people who knew to look for the sale - so now we are starting over again - and, it has been so rainy and cold, I think that people just aren't thinking of gardening yet.




Oh, I suppose I shouldn't complain - my home is warm and dry - I can still (barely) afford to put gasoline in my car so I can drive the 25 miles to Blaine to get to our church, and the nearest tornado - well, we have never had a tornado in our area -

So, on this my 663rd blog, I say thank you to all my loyal readers - I know you are out there, even if you don't leave any comments. (hint, hint)

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there.

Spring Green

Larch



Coral Bark Maple






























The first Green Bean - up and at'em












Bonsai Dwarf Astilbe



Still hoping for sun.........

Wordless Wednesday

Loking Back Sunday - Happy May Day

Every year on the Sunday closest to May 1st our Sunday School teacher at church organizes a May Pole "event".

Everyone wears crowns of ivy,






There is a small park adjacent to our church where one of the members puts up our May Pole that Margot has festooned with ribbon.

Although these pictures are from 2009, today's "dance" was much like this one - the sun was out (for once) and the group was in good spirits.



Everyone is given their ribbon and assigned either to "sky" or "grass" - ie - you go over first or under first - the finished pole is colorful and festive.

One year she took all the ribbon off the pole afterward and made it into a beautiful woven wall hanging.






Not much is made of "May Day" any more - When I was a little girl my sister and I would make paper baskets and fill them with flowers from my mom and grandma's gardens - for who else? My mom and grandma -





This year everyone came back to the church to share a yummy Transylvanian lunch that our minister had made to benefit our partner church in, where else, Transylvania.

On the home front, The Shepherd is still sick with the flu - I say still - he's been sick since Friday the 22nd.

I'm more than ready for him to get well.

So, Happy SUNday (which we've had might little of here in the Pacific NW - April was the coldest and wettest in HISTORY) and Happy May Day!

Mission Complete

This was the scene at the Sunset Fibers booth at my spinner guild's March 2010 Spin-In.

Faced with so much yummy lushness, my eyes always glaze over and my hand immediately reaches for my check book.

"My Pretty - My pretty" - I sound like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings!

I decided that I absolutely needed to purchase enough wool to make sweaters for my bosses impending twins.



I chose a colorful rainbow mix for one.

It ended up that I didn't get as much as I should have (12 ounces instead of 16 that I really needed), so I blended some of the rainbow with a white Shetland wool single (and some of the lavender pastel with grey Shetland single - )







And a lavender pastel mix for the other -

Little did I know that they planned to name one of the girls "Violet"

If you have been following my blog for a while, you'll remember that I told you about my first BIG mistake HERE (ahh - the first round through - they were too small)



Could I have "revised" the sweaters so they would have fit? Maybe. But I wanted them to be better than that.

So, after all the frogging (rippit, rippit, rippit) I finally got them re-crocheted and finished - washed, blocked and buttons sewed on -









Can you see this adorable lavender rose button?
(click on the picture to biggify it)









Here is Annie's "coat of many colors" - on the "re-do" I was actually able to make the pattern of the colors from the sleeves match the pattern of the colors on the hood. I thought I was very clever for that...










And I found these sweet little heart shaped buttons for her coat.











And here are none other than the recipients themselves.

Probably the cutest babies I've ever seen.






And the sweaters fit! Their grandma Mel said that she thought they'd be able to wear them for a while.

Spring and summer in the Pacific NW is often chilly, so I'm hoping that they will get a lot of use out of them before they outgrow them. The hazards of making a sweater for a baby...




But it was a fun project and I actually enjoyed myself.

Thank you to Mommy Rachel for the lovely pictures of the girls.

The end...