Time is Flying By!

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

  1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 NIV

I cannot believe that it has been an entire week since I've posted. I think that has only happened twice in the last several years so my apologies to my regular readers.

The weather has turned cloudy this week and today the rain accompanied the dark sky.  The rain is expected to last a few days.  It came down rather heavily today but I was fine with my jacket and rain hat as I braved the weather to go to the fabric shop. I was looking for fabrics so I could finalize plans for two quilts.

Imagine my surprise when I got to the shop and found a very long line up.  There were also many people hanging around the front entryway, mostly young men.  I quickly realized that the majority of young shoppers were there looking for ready to wear Hallowe'en costumes or fabric to make costumes. 

The popularity of Hallowe'en grows every year and people spend lots of time and money getting creative with their costumes.  I don't celebrate Hallowe'en or get dressed up in any costumes.  That stopped when I was 13 years old.  I don't even give out candy to children because there are really so few children who go house to house.  These days mainly it is a time for adults to get dressed up and have a license to party.  I'm beginning to sound like the Hallowe'en Grinch, lol. It isn't that, but I do not celebrate most holidays except Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

After winding my way through the crowded store, I managed to find most of what I needed.  Afterward, I met a friend for dinner.  Then we went for coffee and she shared some sweets though I didn't want too much of it today. I walked her to the Bingo where she said she would play a round before making her way home.  I walked home the several blocks rather than catching the bus.  There I sat, unpacking my "goodies" and trying to figure out how to work my various fabrics into the two quilts I have in mind.

One find that I did not have on my list when I went to the fabric store today was fabric for a quilt for my niece.  I've decided to make a very simple quilt for her using a quilt panel with images from Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. My niece LOVES Dorothy and the different characters like the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion and so I thought it would be a nice Christmas present just in case I don't see her for Christmas and have to mail the present, I need something that will ship easily.

This is part of the panel I will sew to some quilt batting and backing.

This week I also made this crocheted scarf.  It has metallic thread in it which gives it a glittery look.  Some of you might remember the one I made last week in shades of rust and brown.

In trying to wrap up my reading goals for the year and make progress on a late addition goal (reading the Bible from cover to cover), I managed to finish reading "Letters from Africa, 1914-1931", Isak Dineson (Author), Frans Lasson (Editor), Anne Born (Translator).

I recently read Isak Dineson's (Karen Blixen's pen name), "Out of Africa" which leaves out many details because it is not written chronologically.  This book of letters helps to fill in some of the gaps.  What I enjoyed most in the letters was reading about the many people Karen Blixen met in Kenya, her day to day activities on the farm, her interactions with the tribal people, her love of nature, which included many hunting trips, and just the way life was in Kenya during it's early foreign settlement.  Karen Blixen also writes extensively about feminism, marriage and sexuality.  But I felt that her writings on these latter subjects did not convey her thoughts quite as clearly as on the former subjects.  The fact that she did express views on these subjects at all however, make this book an interesting "must-read".

At the moment, I am reading the classic, "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck.  This will be my last book in my annual reading  goal before I carry on with my goal of reading through the Bible.  I thought I had reached it already with the completion of "Letters", but I was mistaken.  When I was a university student, I read "East of Eden" and remember enjoying it a lot. Recently I found an old copy of the book in the thrift store and decided to re-read it.  I am not enjoying it as much as I did the first time.

I think it's because I no longer have the tolerance for racism against Native Indians (through use of derogatory terms like "squaw"), or misogynistic views of women which is conveyed in different ways throughout the book.  The story is about the two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and it is set in Salinas, California during the era when California was first being settled.  Racism and misogyny were likely very much in existence in those days, just as they are now so in that sense they make perfect sense in the book.

John Steinbeck is one of the foremost American writers of recent times and it is important to be familiar with at least some of his writings. Many of you have probably read  his novel, "The Grapes of Wrath" or at least seen the film by the same name and I would recommend "East of Eden".

Soon, I must get started on my other quilt projects and make some crochet or knit hats.  I have so many projects to undertake that it is often difficult to know where to begin so I usually just work on whatever I feel inspired to work on at any given time.  


I  wish you all a wonderful week ahead!