Cat in the Corner

Our cat lost her belled collar sometime before Christmas last year. We knew it had to be somewhere in the house, so we kept an eye out for it for weeks. We were surprised to find the collar didn’t turn up when we took down the holiday decorations. Eventually we gave up and bought her a new one. Last week I made a batch of fresh mayonnaise and put it in a Tupperware container. When I reached into the drawer for the lid, it was gone. I remembered that small lids sometimes fell behind the drawers in my kitchen cabinets, so I pulled out the bottom drawer and knelt to look for it. The lid wasn’t there, but the cat’s old collar was. How on earth did her collar get in there? I never did find that Tupperware lid. I’ve no idea where it could have gone. Maybe I should ask the cat.

Merrimack Basket

I’ve had a love affair with 19^th century British literature most of my life. I discovered Dickens first. I took delight in his inventive character names and the imaginative way he described people and things. During college I moved on to the Brontë sisters, and then to Jane Austen. What I found appealing was their ability to see their own world: the relationships between men and women, what behavior society would tolerate and what it would not. Lately I’ve been reading Elizabeth Gaskell. What I find refreshing about her view is that she sees more than just the well-heeled and well educated of Austen’s and the Brontës’ sphere, or “deserving poor” of Dickens’ experience. She understood the struggle between the haves and the have-nots. Either she was the more mature of these authors, or the reader is herself more mature. The only way to know for sure is to reread it all. I can live with that.

Auntie's Puzzle

Quilts are frequently used in movies to convey subtle messages. In Groundhog Day (1993), Bill Murray wakes up again and again under a scrappy floral quilt. When Meg Ryan’s character feels unwell in You’ve Got Mail (1998), Tom Hanks tucks her in with a pinwheel quilt. Ryan Reynolds’ bed in The Proposal (2009) boasts a striking pineapple quilt – the symbol of hospitality. The nursery in Nanny McPhee (2005) is filled with quilts in riotous colors; presumably made for the children by their departed mom. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) also has several quilts that tell of an absent mother. In How Green Was My Valley (1941) Roddy McDowall recuperates after his mother’s rescue beneath her double wedding ring. Several dresses in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) were made from antique quilts. My favorite movie quilts are in The Princess and the Frog (2009): a fancy one on Tiana’s wall, an everyday quilt on her bed.

Morning Cup

In a press conference yesterday morning, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called for legislation that protects religious freedom. The Church supports laws that will protect fair treatment regarding housing and employment, ensuring that religious freedom is not compromised. The Church is alarmed at the erosion of religious freedom. When the faithful are publicly intimidated, retaliated against, forced from employment or made to suffer personal loss because they have raised their voice in the public square, donated to a cause or participated in an election, our democracy is the loser. This appeal for a balanced approach between religious and gay rights is not a shift in doctrine for the Church. It represents a desire to bring people together, to encourage mutually respectful dialogue in what has become a highly polarized debate. We must ALL learn to live with others who do not share the same beliefs or values.

Picnic Quilt

When my daughter was in her last year of school I joined Darlene Zimmerman’s Clothesline Club with my mother. Together we made several fun projects like this one in 1930’s reproduction prints (they’re also called “feed sack” or “Aunt Gracie” prints). We swapped scraps of calico in colors like lake blue, lipstick, mango, aloe and petunia.  We shared lunch and we traded recipes. Once a month we chatted about quilts, about cooking, about antiques and about our mothers, aunts and grandmothers. I was afraid I’d have to give up the club after Heather’s graduation. She may have been too old for public school, but she wasn’t ready to stay home on her own. The club wouldn’t hear of it. I can’t say this often enough: quilters are some of the most generous, hospitable people I’ve ever met. They made room for her and went out of their way to make her feel welcome.

Blank Frame

“I testify that the work of the Prophet Joseph Smith is the Savior’s work. In the Lord’s service the path is not always easy. It often requires sacrifices, and we will likely experience adversity. But in serving Him, we discover that His hand is truly over us. So it was for Wycliffe, Tyndale, and thousands of others who prepared the way for the Restoration. So it was for the Prophet Joseph Smith and all who helped usher in the restored gospel. So it is and will be for us. The Lord expects us to be as faithful, as devoted, as courageous as those who went before us. They were called to give their lives for the gospel. We are called to live our lives for the same purpose. In these last days we have special reason to do so.” – Robert D. Hales

Tried and True

10 Reasons to Dislike Mitt Romney:

He’s too handsome; his demeanor too gracious and statesman-like.

Married to one woman, faithful to her through breast cancer and MS.

No skeletons in his closet. (How boring is that?)

Can’t speak in a fake, southern, “preacher voice” when necessary.  (Could learn a thing or two from Hillary, Al, or Barack.)

Too smart. Graduated cum laude from Harvard Law and Harvard Business Schools – and his academic records aren’t sealed.

Doesn’t smoke or drink and has never done drugs. Too square for today’s America?

Represents an America of yesterday when people worked hard, believed in God, and went to church.

None of his five sons have police records or are in drug rehab.

He’s a MORMON. We need to fear that strange religion that teaches clean-living, charity, self-reliance, and honesty.

Because of his wealth he can’t relate to ordinary Americans. He made his money himself, as opposed to marrying it or inheriting it from Dad.