Wordless Wednesday- Animal Quilts
Author: LSieh
Just a wife trying to cook and craft her way through life's adventures.
Simple Sunday- Historical Inspiration
“The air is the only place free from prejudice.”-Bessie Coleman
“I want history to remember me… not as the first black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of the United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and who dared to be herself. I want to be remembered as a catalyst for change in America.”-Shirley Chisholm
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and it does seem to me that notwithstanding all these social agencies and activities there is not that vigilance which should be exercised in the preservation of our rights.”- Elizabeth Freeman
“…It looked very different from the Statue of Liberty, but what did that matter? What was the good of having the statue without the liberty, the freedom to go where one chose if one was held back by one’s color? No, I preferred the Eiffel Tower, which made no promises.”- Josephine Baker, once she had seen the Eiffel Tower
“The worst thing about that kind of prejudice… is that while you feel hurt and angry and all the rest of it, it feeds you self-doubt. You start thinking, perhaps I am not good enough.”-Nina Simone
Wordless Wednesday- Cooking Quilts
K2 and I went to see the Quilt Expo this year and they had some delightful cooking themed quilts. Enjoy!
This one was made from a photo! Scanned, printed, and then embellished!
Simple Sunday- Cooking
“I’m interested in food and sharing my passion with a community of like-minded people. All of the celebrity stuff that comes along with that is just an incidental byproduct of being able to do what I love for a living.”-Alex Guarnaschelli
“Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colors, there are only so many flavors – it’s how you combine them that sets you apart.”-Wolfgang Puck
“So many of the recipes that I come up with have a story. I’m a blogger. It flowed very naturally out of me, but I also knew this was a way to set my recipes apart. A, they are always using interesting ingredients but B, there is always a story behind it.”-Aarti Sequeira
“Food is a common denominator for all people.”-Guy Fieri
“Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”-Ludwig van Beethoven
“If you want to be a home cook, just have fun with it. Pick up a couple cookbooks. You’re gonna make some mistakes; just go in and try it.”-Anne Burrell
Wordless Wednesday- Bird Quilts
Simple Sunday- Mental Health
“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” — Brené Brown
“I found that with depression, one of the most important things you can realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it, you’re not gonna be the last to go through it,” — Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” — Fred Rogers
“IWe would never tell someone with a broken leg that they should stop wallowing and get it together. We don’t consider taking medication for an ear infection something to be ashamed of. We shouldn’t treat mental health conditions any differently.” – Michelle Obama
“Anyone can be affected, despite their level of success or their place on the food chain. In fact, there is a good chance you know someone who is struggling with it since nearly 20% of American adults face some form of mental illness in their lifetime. So why aren’t we talking about it?” — Kristen Bell
Wordless Wednesday- Year in Review
Here’s some collages representing all the joy that I’ve found this year!
Time spent with good friends and family fun!
Delicious food, including first taste of sushi and a personal breakfast pie!
Being creative! I have done more than embroidery, but these were the most fun things to make.
Adventures, trips, and the beauty of nature!
It’s nice to be working somewhere that I enjoy going into work and for people that respect my boundaries and recognize my outside the box thinking skills as positive. Also somewhere where my plants are happy. 🙂
And last, but not least! Piggy! We couldn’t forget our ridiculous, loving, and goofy Piggy! Even if she’s sometimes a little gremlin.
Nora Hazelhart’s Floating Bookshop
Here’s a short excerpt from my journaling experiment, the floating bookshop solo RPG! To set the scene, it is the first day of activity in the bookshop. Nora is prepping the boat to be able to travel down the river. The villagers are both nosy and excited to see the book boat getting ready again.
The way the game works is that you draw cards and roll a dice to give you the prompt for the events of the day, the weather, and the number and type of customers you rolled. This will also not be edited. I’m working on the “writing is best” theory, so aren’t really concerning myself with editing right now other than basics.
Optional Prompts to follow for the day- Cleaning and reorganizing the book shop.
Card prompts- Thunderstorms in morning, then clear and breezy. Dice prompt- Nora meets a fisher folx. (Not written here)
Nora’s letter to her friend:
“Mayor Banks and I made our way to the bank of the river where the bookshop rested in its slip. I had the first glimmers of doubt upon seeing it as a somewhat impulsive purchase I made. It didn’t help that it was currently thundering loudly with crackles of lightning brightening the river around us. Not exactly the auspicious day I was looking for to start a new venture. I was tired of aimlessly wandering through and it seemed like this might be the perfect chance to wander with purpose, meeting new people and experiencing new places.
The roof was a splintery, faded mess of patchy paint and dry wood. The sides of the boat looked intact, but definitely needed a new paint job and perhaps a deeper inspection by a carpenter or boat maker, just to make sure of its river worthiness. The window facing the dock was patched with what looked like oil cloth on the outside. Even the sign looked poorly kept. I could tell it was charmingly carved, but some of the letters and the sign itself had succumbed to the weather so now it hung at a lazy angle and stated “ook op” in faded wood letters. The whole boat looked a little hodgepodge and while I didn’t normally mind that look, it was a bit more daunting up close.“
A description of the inside of the book shop (unnamed at this point in my story, but don’t worry, I have a lovely name planned.)
Struggling with the cabin door, which seemed to be swollen shut against the humidity along the river, I didn’t answer directly, just gave a vague nod in her direction. Then straining, I pulled at the door and much to my surprise, it finally gave way, almost knocking me back into the mayor. A pouf of dust came out, making me cough and I cautiously peeked my head in for the first look at my new home.
The first thing I saw in the dim inside was books. Directly across from the door, I could see the edges of a bookshelf. A long curved desk sat to my left by the entrance with what appeared to be a half open door behind it.
Stepping inside, I coughed a little from the dust we’d kicked up and stumbled over to what looked like a window to open it. Mayor Banks did the same to a window on the other side. Looking up, I could see that the roof had a skylight in it, but it looked to be in bad repair. I would have to get at that from the outside. At least with the windows open, there was some additional light and it would hopefully clear the musty air.
Mayor Banks was looking around at the walls and pointed out a few lanterns. “They’re probably mage lights as you wouldn’t want open flame amongst the books on a windy day!” she said, “I can have Master Rose from the Monastery to come refresh them if needed, but let’s just check them for now.” As she turned the switch a weak light came out and she moved around the boat looking for more as I did the same. Soon, there was enough light between the windows and the mage lanterns to see to not run into things.
Mayor Banks leaves shortly after this- she’s late to her own council meeting! Nora continues to explore the book shop and living quarters on the boat.
Standing in the center of the shop, I looked around more closely to get my bearings. It was slightly strange feeling the rocking of the boat, but not unpleasant. I anticipated it would be lovely to be rocked to sleep this way.
I had decided to leave the bookshop how it had been set up for now, mainly because I knew I would need additional hands to move everything. For now, there was a small kit area next to the checkout desk with two smaller bookshelves beside it. A work table graced the back corner across from it. The three main bookshelves were lined up parallel to each other and the check out desk with the fifth bookshelf flat against the wall in the opposite corner. A cozy reading nook with two couches, a lovely square rug, and a fake plant were in the corner right next to the door. Overall, it was a layout that invited others to browse and maybe read a little. -End of Day-
I’ll fill in some more detail later, but it’s quite a charming place! I hope you’ve enjoyed your little glimpse into Nora’s life.
Simple Sunday- Recognize
“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”-Margaret Mead
“I tend to think you’re fearless when you recognize why you should be scared of things, but do them anyway.”-Christian Bale
“It is always sad to write about prejudice, but sometimes when we see it being played out in the lives of fictional characters, we can recognize it in our own lives.”-Katherine Paterson
“It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.”-Lucille Ball
“In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction.”-Audre Lorde
Simple Sunday- Time
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
“I’d like to grow very old as slowly as possible.”-Charles Lamb
“The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order the continuous thread of revelation.”-Eudora Welty
“Time was something that largely happened to other people; he viewed it in the same way that people on the shore viewed the sea. It was big and it was out there, and sometimes it was an invigorating thing to dip a toe into, but you couldn’t live in it all the time. Besides, it always made his skin wrinkle.”
― Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time
“One doesn’t recognize the really important moments in one’s life until it’s too late.”-Agatha Christie