Nine Grandma's Stars

Sarah Nicole Miller and Megan Emily Scott created Backwards Day in 1961. The idea is a simple one: on the last day of January, do something backwards. You might leave for work through your back door instead of the front, or put on your shirt backwards. You could add fries to your catsup or pancakes to your syrup. You could try writing something backwards, word by word or letter by letter. You could get a few friends together and play a game backwards. (Some backwards games, like Monopoly and baseball, are absolutely hilarious.) You could play a record or a movie backwards. You could read a book beginning with the last page. Walking backwards isn’t all that complicated, but backwards running is much harder. And have you ever considered how you might ride a bicycle backwards? What would happen if, just for today, you answered phone calls by saying, “goodbye?”

Another Chain and Bar

Thursday afternoons I play piano for singalongs at a local assisted living/memory care unit. We do songs the residents know well: mostly jazz standards and show tunes from the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Friday mornings I volunteer on a lovely grand piano in the front lobby of a big hospital. I use many of the same songs at both venues. I don’t sing as I play at the hospital, but in my head I hear the voices of Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day and Dean Martin. There are a few songs, though, I’m thinking of cutting from the repertoire: “Standing on the Corner” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside” by Frank Loesser, and “Wives and Lovers” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. I’m sure no one would have batted an eye at these lyrics when they were new, by they seem so misogynistic now. I guess times really have changed. Thank goodness.

Four Coffin Stars

I have been in many places, but I’ve never been in Cahoots. You can’t go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I’ve never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. There’s no airport; you have to be driven there. I’ve made several trips.

I’d like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I’m not big on physical activity.

I’ve also been in Doubt. It’s a sad place. I try not to visit too often.

Sometimes I’m in Capable. I go there more often as I’m getting older.

Once I thought I was in Vincible but it turns out I wasn’t.

People keep telling me I’m in Denial but I’m positive I’ve never been there before!

I’m hoping to avoid Continence.

I think of the Hereafter often - several times a day, in fact. I enter a room and think “What am I here after?”

 - Source Obscure

Sunbeam Block

Shawn Seipler used to travel a lot. In an average year, he’d stay in as many as 150 hotel rooms. One day, a thought occurred to him. What happens to all the half-used soaps he leaves behind? He called the front desk to ask, and they told him used soap is simply tossed. In 2009, Shawn started the Clean the World Foundation out of a one-car garage in Florida. With a few friends, some potato peelers, meat grinders and cookers, Shawn developed a way to recycle used bars of soap into sterile new ones. New soap is then given to homeless shelters and to families around the world who don’t have easy access to soap. The donated soap helps to protect people from deadly diseases like pneumonia and diarrhea. Clean the World has distributed more than 50 million bars of soap to people in 127 countries. It works with 8,000 hotel and resort partners, including Hilton, Marriott and Walt Disney World.

Four Grandma's Stars

“When Jesus asks you and me to repent, He is inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit, even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our wives, teach our children, and even care for our bodies. Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Whether you are diligently moving along the covenant path, have slipped or stepped from the covenant path, or can’t even see the path from where you are now, I plead with you to repent. Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance – of doing and being a little better each day.” – Russell M. Nelson

Four Patience Blocks

Jack and Harriet Morrison went on their first date – a simple meal together in a small diner – on October 31, 1955. Six months later they were married. Together they ran a charter bus company and raised a daughter and two sons. They found time to be actively involved in local charity causes and to travel. About a year ago, Harriet was walking the dog and fell, breaking her hip. The break and dementia necessitated a move to a nearby nursing home/rehab center. Jack soon found it difficult to live at home alone. In September, he also suffered a bad fall and was moved into a room four doors down from Harriet’s. They would nap together, one in a wheelchair, the other in bed – with their hands intertwined. “Some days she knew him; other days she didn’t,” said their daughter. Eventually the staff pushed their beds together. Jack passed away two weeks ago today. Harriet joined him just a few hours later.

Coffin Star

Unless you live under a rock (that’s not such a bad idea) you’ve probably heard of the ten-year challenge. Essentially, you post a decade-old photo of yourself alongside a current picture. It’s a way to brag about how amazing you look now compared to then, or vice versa. I’m sure there are some who look fantastic in both shots, but I probably don’t know them. Or want to. Following the challenge has got me thinking about how I’ve spent the past decade. A lot of it was mundane: a few dozen dentist visits, an awful lot of dishes washed, beds made and laundry done. Some of it was awful. I wrecked a perfectly good car and broke several bones. Some was wonderful. There were four terrific cruises and five delightful grandchildren. I’ve seen nearly 400 movies on the big screen. I’ve made several dozen large quilts and many, many more tiny ones. And I’ve entered 2,661 posts in this blog. Amazing!

Patience

Google “silly boat names,” and before you know it, you’ll find an entire afternoon has drifted away. There’s a fellow in St. Louis who christened his boat “Zombies Can’t Swim.” There’s another in Port Douglas whose boat is named “In a Meeting.” One angler calls his fishing boat “The Codfather.” Another had “Error 404 Fish Not Found” painted on the back of his. I’ve seen a speedboat named “Unsinkable II,” and I’m dying to hear the story behind it. “Seas the Day,” “Kids’ Inheritance” and “She Got the House” all had me giggling. But the award for silliest boat name so far goes to the Natural Environment Research Council. The NERC decided to let school students, teachers and parents all over the UK vote on a name for their new polar research vessel. Several very respectable names were offered for consideration, including “Shackleton,” Endeavor,” “Falcon” and “Attenborough.” But the winner by a boatload was the “RSS Boaty McBoatface.”

Grandma's Star

Brad Ryan had been feeling low in 2015 when he went to visit his 85-year-old Grandma Joy. He’d hoped a little quality time would lift his spirits. But when his grandmother admitted she’d never seen a mountain or the ocean, Brad was heartbroken. Joy grew up in Duncan Falls, a two-traffic light town in Ohio. She’d worked a minimum wage job into her 80's, and driven to Central Florida every year with her husband, but they never went near the coast. Joy regretted not seeing more of the country. When Brad invited her to hike through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, she jumped at the chance. Since then, they’ve made it their goal to visit all 61 national parks. “Seeing it through my grandmother’s eyes, who every morning wakes up and is thankful to be alive, has taught me how to live,” Ryan says. “I want people to know: you aren’t too cool to hang out with your grandparents.”

Bunny Hop

The average lifespan of a domestic rabbit is between eight and twelve years. (Mine never made it half that far, but he wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box. He loved chewing electrical cords.) Last year the record for oldest living rabbit went to Mick, an agouti who resides in Berwyn, Illinois. Mick’s owner, Liz Rench, met Mick and his mate Bianca while she was volunteering at an animal shelter in 2004. Not wanting to split them up, Liz’s friend Bill adopted both bunnies. Five years later, Bianca had passed away and Bill was relocating, so Mick moved in with Liz. According to Liz, Mick has a gentle, sweet and mellow nature. Last February 9, Mick celebrated his sixteenth birthday. As he was a shelter pet, I’m not sure how they know when he was born. But if their guess was good enough for Guiness World Records, I suppose it should be good enough for me.

Four Bonnie Scotsmen

“The vision of the tree of life shows us how the effects of casualness can lead us away from the covenant path. Consider that the rod of iron and the straight and narrow path, or the covenant path, led directly to the tree of life, where all the blessings provided by our Savior and His Atonement are available to the faithful. The world is laden with distractions that can deceive even the elect, causing them to be casual in living their covenants—thus leading them near the tree, but not to it. If we’re not careful in living our covenants with exactness, our casual efforts may eventually lead us into forbidden paths. If not careful, we may even drown in the depths of a filthy river. There is a careful way and a casual way to do everything, including living the gospel. As we consider our commitment to the Savior, are we careful or casual?” – Becky Craven

Four Braces

When Disneyland opened in 1954, Frito-Lay sponsored an outdoor Mexican restaurant in Frontierland called Casa de Fritos. If you weren’t hungry enough for a full meal, you could drop a nickel (!) into a vending machine and walk off with a bag of Fritos corn chips. (The restaurant is still right there. For a while it was Casa Mexicana, hosted by Lowry Foods. Today it’s a Tex-Mex barbecue called Rancho Zocalo.) A local company named Alex’s Foods provided Casa de Fritos with fresh tortillas. Their salesman noticed Casa de Fritos was tossing out tortillas when they got stale, and he suggested they slice them into wedges, season them and fry them into chips. The crunchy triangles quickly became one of the most popular menu items. A Frito-Lay marketing executive fell in love with them and contracted with Alex’s Food to make more. In 1966 they were rolled out nationally as a Frito-Lay product under the name of Doritos.

Spider Block

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opened to the public today in Disneyland. It’s been called one of the most ambitious, advanced and immersive experiences ever undertaken by Disney Imagineering. It was actually running a week ago, when we were in the park. Sadly, it was only open to cast members and their guests. We did get to experience the other ride in Galaxy’s Edge, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. We walked through the market district of Black Spire Outpost, and we sampled lots of “alien” food. We liked the ronto breakfast wrap, smoked kaadu ribs, yobshrimp noodle salad, and moof juice. We all tried the blue and green milks. According to the general consensus, the blue had the best flavor, and the green tasted, well, a little green. I don’t know how Disney makes blue milk, but I intend to experiment with pineapple, lime, watermelon and passionfruit syrups, coconut milk, blue food coloring and crushed ice.

Sunken Hearth

In December 1964, Walt Disney and Ray Bradbury bumped into each other while Christmas shopping. Bradbury offered to take Walt to lunch “someday.” Walt proposed lunch in his own office the following afternoon. Over soup and sandwiches on an old card table, the two futurists talked about how much they admired each other’s work. Walt showed Ray plans for Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion, and they went for a ride on a PeopleMover prototype. They became friends only two years before Walt’s death, but Bradbury’s ideas became a part of Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris. In 1985, after a visit to Paris, Bradbury realized Walt had incorporated a Viollet-le-Duc spire (the central spire that collapsed during the 2019 Notre-Dame Cathedral fire) into the Sleeping Beauty Castle. “$100,000 to build a spire he didn’t need,” Ray said. “That was Walt’s secret: do things you don’t need, and do them well. Then you realize you needed them all along.”

Bonnie Scotsman

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart, to bear all cheerfully, to all bravely await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.”

“Faith is the deep want of the soul. We have faculties for the spiritual, as truly as for the outward world. God, the foundation of all existence, may become to the mind the most real of all beings. The believer feels himself resting on an everlasting foundation.”

“Nothing can supply the place of books. They are cheering or soothing companions in solitude, illness, affliction. The wealth of both continents would not compensate for the good they impart.” - William Henry Channing

Scales

Lionfish originate from the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Sometime in the 1980’s, someone – possibly tropical fish hobbyists in Florida – released these beautiful fish into the western Atlantic. They found no natural predators, but they did find plenty to eat. Lionfish can swallow another fish up to half its own size. A single lionfish can eat dozens of other fish every day. A female lionfish lays up to 2 million eggs a year. Lionfish are a tasty dish for humans, but they live too deep for net fishing. It didn’t take long for this invasive species to start taking over. Enter Collin Angle. In addition to being a passionate diver, Collin is co-founder of the iRobot company, creators of the Roomba automated vacuum. Collin has a non-profit company called Robots for Environmental Services. RSE has produced Guardian: a 20-pound submersible robot that stuns and scoops up lionfish. I’m told you can become part of the solution in the seafood section at Whole Foods.

Red and Blue Bar

“Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year! My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives. When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, ‘Joy to the world, the Lord is come.’ And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!” – President Russell M. Nelson

Five Squares

I’ve been a blood/platelet donor for many years. I’ve never been paid for my contributions, unless you count juice boxes and Fig Newtons. (Once my donation earned me a gift certificate for an ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins. That was awesome.) I’m a donor because it costs me nothing (aside from a little time), and because I like feeling that I’ve made a difference to someone – a cancer patient, a premature infant, a burn victim, or maybe someone having surgery. But I know there’s always a chance my donation won’t be used at all. Whole blood can only be refrigerated for up to 42 days, and platelets must be used within five. So, I want to applaud Sweden for thinking outside the box: if you donate blood in, say, Stockholm, you’ll get a text message to let you know your donation has been used to help someone in need.

Chain and Bar

I don’t often work with flannel; I dislike the way it clogs my sewing machine. But I do like wearing flannel pajamas when it’s cold outside, and I’m thinking about making plaid flannel hand warmers. If you don’t have flannel scraps in your stash, you should be able to find a few old cotton flannel shirts at any thrift shop. Be sure they’re 100% cotton. Slice off any seams, buttons and pockets, and cut up the remaining flannel into 4.5” squares. Pin pairs of squares together and sew along three of the four sides. Snip off corners and turn right side out. Fill each warmer with uncooked rice about 2/3 full. Add a drop or two of essential oil (I like lavender). Tuck in the raw edges and sew each packet shut. The next time you head out into the cold, microwave a pair of hand warmers 25 to 30 seconds, then stuff one in each coat pocket.

The Potting Shed

One Reddit user puts his four-year-old daughter to bed not with songs or bedtime stories, but with fascinating facts. He recently went online to request more, and readers happily obliged. Here’s a small sample:

When dogs or wolves in movies must look mean, their tails are added later with CGI. Canine actors are so happy to be doing a good job, they can’t stop their tails wagging.

In Switzerland, it’s illegal to own just one guinea pig. You must have at least two, because they get lonely.

Oxford University in England (which was established in 1096) is much older than the Aztec empire (1438 to 1533).

Marsupials and egg-laying mammals don’t have belly buttons.

Humans are bioluminescent. We glow in the dark. But the light we emit is 1,000 times too dim for our own eyes to see.

Most elephants weigh less than a blue whale’s tongue does.

Botanically speaking, a strawberry isn’t really a berry. But a banana is.

Red and Blue Squares

I received so many wonderful gifts this Christmas, but the biggest surprise was an instant pot. It came with lots of intriguing recipes, but most of them require ingredients I don’t have on hand. I’m declaring my first experiment a success. John called it “the best breakfast ever.”

Instant Pot Eggs en Cocotte

Butter

3 large eggs

3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

3 tablespoons grated mild cheddar

3 teaspoons cream

A few strips roasted red pepper

Butter bottom and sides of three ramekins. Break an egg into each. Top each egg with bacon, cheese, pepper and cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place rack and a cup of water in instant pot. Put all three ramekins on rack. Close and seal lid; set to pressure cook on low heat two minutes. As soon as the time is up, use a wooden spoon to release steam. Open instant pot and serve eggs with hot toast.

Lickety Split

I made today’s 18x24" quilt top in a single afternoon, while John took Heather to see “Playing with Fire” at the dollar theater. The pattern is part of Kim Diehl’s “Simple Whatnots” miniature quilts, collection eight (I believe collection nine comes out some time this month). So far, I’ve made sixty (!) tiny quilt tops either from Kim Diehl’s patterns or from scraps leftover from her kits. Most of those tops have already been quilted and bound, because it’s cheap and easy to finish a quilt that less than 30” square. Several of them have been given to family and friends, because if I didn’t spend a ton of time and money on a quilt, I won’t fret that it may end up as a dog’s bed. And several more are scattered through my house as wall hangings, table toppers or doll blankets. Because I just love these adorable little quilts.

Thirteen Grandma Stars

Triangles and Squares

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a lay ministry. The sermons you hear in our chapels are delivered by people who won’t be fired if the congregation doesn’t like what they hear. I’ve attended dozens of Sunday services in other denominations, and it seems to me this one difference makes our meetings fresher, more meaningful and more eclectic. Just a few weeks ago I was surprised and delighted to hear Rumi (a 13th-century Persian poet) quoted from an LDS pulpit: “Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.”

Purple Table Runner

THINGS YOU’LL NEVER, EVER REGRET:

Praying for someone else

Putting down your phone

Listening without interrupting

Visiting your grandparents

Reading the scriptures

Being kind on social media

Investing in memories

Refusing to hear or spread gossip

Feeling and showing gratitude

Buying lemonade from a child

Taking the higher road

Catching fireflies with your kids

Forgiving others

Forgiving yourself

Doing that thing that scared you

Giving a compliment

Drinking more water

Saying “I love you”

Wind Spinner

IN MY SEWING ROOM, THOU SHALT NOT:

Ask when it will be finished

Cut anything with my fabric scissors

Request that I hem your pants

Speak to me when I have a seam ripper in hand

Tell me I have too much fabric

Push buttons on my sewing machine

Bring me your clothes to iron

Pull on any loose threads

Wonder aloud why I’m still in my pajamas

Come looking for food. This is not the kitchen!

Four Brave New Worlds

This advice used to hang on the wall at the place where we rent our daughter’s oxygen equipment. It’s not there right now, as they’re in the process of remodeling. In fact, the wall itself is completely gone. But by a happy coincidence, I took a photo so I wouldn’t have to rely on my own memory.

TIPS FOR SLEEPING WELL:

Set the tone for sleep by completing housework, bills and other activities several hours before bedtime.

Get out of bed if you don’t fall asleep within twenty minutes.

Midday naps may interfere with a good night’s sleep.

Avoid alcohol, especially before bedtime.

Keep your bedroom dark, quiet and relaxing.

Avoid caffeinated beverages, especially in the afternoon and evening.

Try to maintain the same sleep/wake schedule every day, including weekends.

Complete any exercise four or more hours before bedtime.

Have a light snack before bed, not a heavy meal.

Don’t fall asleep with the television on.

Gale Force Winds

There are only two northern white rhinos left on the planet, and they’re both females. Sudan, the last male of this subspecies died last year, leaving just his daughter and granddaughter, Najin and Fantu. Veterinarians in Kenya were able to harvest five eggs from each female. In August, Italian scientists successfully fertilized seven of them with sperm that had been collected from two males – Suni and Saút – who have since died. Northern white rhinos, also known as northern square-lipped rhinos, have hairier ears and smaller bodies than their nearest relatives. They roamed the grasslands in central and eastern Africa before poaching and loss of habitat drove them to functional extinction. Surrogate rhino moms would be required, and it’s still an enormous long shot, but there’s a chance that someday there will be a new generation of northern white rhinos on the scene. Hopefully that will happen while Najin and Fantu are still around to show them how to BE northern white rhinos.