Old Wind Mill

The earth doesn’t take exactly 365 days to complete its orbit around the sun. It takes 365 days and about six hours. This is why, for most years divisible by four, there’s an extra day tacked on to the end of February. I say “most years,” because centurial years only get a leap day if they’re divisible by 400. So, 1600 and 2000 had leap days, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 did not. The year 2100 won’t have a leap day, either. But I don’t suppose many of us will be around long enough to worry about it. If today is your birthday, you’re what is called a “leapling.” Leaplings in England, Wales and Hong Kong can (for legal purposes) use February 28 as a birthdate. All the rest must wait until March 1. Famous leaplings include Pope Paul III, Emmeline Wells, Jimmy Dorsey, Joss Ackland, and Dinah Shore. If there were no leap days, today would be July 9, 2025.

Flag House

My grandpa used to say it’s better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and let the truth be known. I wish I had a dollar for every time I opened my mouth when I should have kept it shut. At a quilt guild board meeting earlier this month we were discussing projects for our May retreat. It was suggested we could print project photos to show members at the April meeting. I interrupted and said more of them would be interested if they could see – and touch – the finished project. I’ll stand by that. Quilters like to hold fabric when they’re considering whether to use it. It’s a lot harder to fall in love with a picture. Before I knew it, I’d volunteered to make a sample quilt in time for the April meeting. I don’t regret it, really. The prints and the pattern are fun. And the fabric FEELS so nice.

Crown and Star

I was shopping with my mother some weeks ago when she mentioned that she needed to replace her wool dryer balls. I didn’t say so at the time, but it struck me as rather odd. How does one simply lose four dryer balls? It didn’t take me very long to find out. A week or two later, one of my own dryer balls simply went missing. I’d folded and put away all the laundry, so I knew it wasn’t hiding inside a sleeve or a pant leg. About a week after that, it turned up without an explanation. My robot vacuum was working under the sofa and pushed it into the open. I had no idea how it got there until last week, when I heard an odd noise coming from the laundry room. I investigated and found my Scottie dog INSIDE THE DRYER, with a dryer ball in her mouth and a guilty expression on her face. Mystery solved.

Four Butterflies

If you’d like to attract more butterflies to your garden (and consequently, help these lovely creatures avoid extinction) there are several easy things you can try. First, ditch the pesticides, especially butterfly killers like malathion, Sevin, and diazinon. Find out what flowers are native to your area and incorporate them into your yard. Butterflies really only feed in full sun; keep this in mind as you design your garden. Butterflies love red, yellow, orange, pink and purple. They also prefer flat-topped blooms over long, narrow ones. If you leave some nice, flat rocks or even lawn furniture in a sunny spot, it will give them a pleasant place to rest. Butterflies love puddling (that’s basically chilling in damp sand or mud), so put out a few shallow dishes filled with sand and water. Some of their favorite flowers are phlox, coneflower, black-eyed Susan, liatris, heliotrope, lavender, butterfly weed, butterfly bush, cosmos, aster, allium, hollyhocks, sunflowers, sedum and goldenrod.

Crystal Star

In December, Utah Highway Patrol trooper Jesse Williams was on his way home at the end of a shift when he decided to take one last call. That’s how he met Leslie Martinez and her sister. The two elderly women had hit a deer on a lonely road in Iron County. They were unhurt, but the car was totaled. Jesse drove the sisters to their home and arranged for a tow truck. But he wanted to do so much more. He talked to his wife and children, and the whole family agreed to put the money they’d saved for Christmas toward helping the sisters. Jesse found a used car they could afford, so the sisters will still be able to go for groceries and keep doctors’ appointments. “We’re so thankful for the ability to help somebody else,” Jesse said. “Every day brings the chance to make a difference for somebody. Why wouldn’t I do that when I have the chance?”

Green Butterfly

“Mighty prayers do reach the heavens. In the book of Psalms, King David says, ‘Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.’ One of the meanings of the word pray in Hebrew is ‘to speak.’ That is what we do when we pray to our Heavenly Father: we speak to Him. When we offer a mighty prayer, we have the attention of the most powerful, merciful, loving being in the universe. We spend a moment in the heavens. We all need a moment in the heavens, especially when we are going through difficult times. I know beyond any doubt that there is a God in heaven. He is your Father and my Father. He lives. His name is Love. His name is Mercy. I can kneel down before my Maker, and I can speak to Him. And He, in His infinite mercy, answers back, again and again.” – Elder Juan A. Uceda

Star Chain

When I was a young mother, my own mother gave me two books: “A Family Raised on Rainbows” and “A Family Raised on Sunshine,” both by Beverly K. Nye. These books were treasure troves filled with shopping tips, homemaking ideas, money-saving hints and recipes. So many of the things I do every day I learned from those two books. For the most part, I buy fruits and vegetables when they’re in season. They’re fresher and cost less that way. I make a daily list of things that should be done, and I arrange them in order of importance. Even the recipe for homemade play dough that entertained my kids for years came from those two books. I had home economics teachers in middle school and high school, but I can’t remember a single thing they taught me. The books went out of print years ago and my own copies have fallen apart. But I wish I could pass them along today.

Pink Butterfly

We visited the Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving Point Monday, and we’re planning to go again tomorrow. I highly recommend it, even though it’s sure to be uncomfortably warm, humid and crowded. If you can’t make it, you can at least enjoy a few fun butterfly facts: Did you know butterflies are cold-blooded? They can’t regulate their body temperature and they can’t fly or eat when it’s below 55F. They’re happiest between 85 and 100 degrees. Butterfly wings are transparent. They don’t look that way because they’re covered with tiny, colorful scales. Most butterflies, once they reach their adult stage, have only a couple of weeks to live. Those that overwinter, like monarchs, can live nine months. Butterflies are nearsighted, but they can see ultraviolet markings on flowers and on each other that we can’t. Butterflies really can taste with their feet. Chemoreceptors on their feet and legs help them find food sources and spots to lay their eggs.

Blue and Red Beacon

According to legend, Washington was six when he used his new hatchet on his father’s cherry tree. When confronted with the damage, young George admitted, “I cannot tell a lie; I cut it with my hatchet.” His father embraced him, declaring integrity was worth more than a thousand trees. Ironically, this enduring story about the value of honesty was concocted by one of Washington’s first biographers, Mason Locke Weems. The father of our country had passed, and people were hungry for stories about his early life. I guess Weems found it easier to lie than do research. I’ve read cherry pie is America’s second favorite pie (behind apple) every month of the year except for February, when it comes out on top. Washington’s actual birthday is this Saturday, and it was observed along with Lincoln’s Monday. But today is Cherry Pie Day. Costco had no pies of any kind at our last visit, so I’ll be making my own.

30's School House

This year in Clothesline Club, we’re making Girl Next Door quilts. It’s a scrappy medallion pattern by Louise Papas for the Jen Kingwell Design Collective. It’s meant to have this large square schoolhouse block in the center, surrounded by picket fences, paper dolls and 28 houses. This year in my quilt guild we’re making a mystery row quilt from All People Quilt that includes ten 6” pieced houses. We’re also making a Flag Day quilt at our retreat in May with a large house done in red, white and blue 30’s prints. I’m quilting along with this year’s installment of Moda Blockheads. The most recent block in that series is an appliqued birdhouse designed by Jan Patek. It looks like 2020, for me at least, may be the year of the house. I could make it official by piecing a 10” house for the Quilt Etc. first Saturday class, or a Kentucky Home quilt for the hospital quilters.

Blue Dishes

Rubin Swift owns a deli in Cleveland, Ohio. He has three grown kids from his first marriage, and four step-children with his second wife, Tiffany. Late in 2018 he learned he had a newborn daughter in Phoenix, and that he had been awarded custody. He flew to Arizona to meet her and bring her home. But when Rubin and his daughter arrived back at the airport, they hit a snag. The baby couldn’t fly without ID, and her birth certificate would take several days. Rubin didn’t have enough money to rent a car and drive to Ohio, or to wait in a Phoenix hotel. He was afraid if he tried to sleep at the airport with a newborn, he’d be charged with neglect and the baby would be taken from him. Desperate, he called Joy Ringhofer, a volunteer he’d met at the Phoenix hospital. She brought Rubin and the baby back home to stay with her until the birth certificate showed up.

Country School House

“We have these words to tell us about the purpose of the Creation: ‘We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.’ So, the great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God’s commands in the midst of the storms of life. It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage. And the tragedy of life is to fail in that test and so fail to qualify to return in glory to our heavenly home. We are the spirit children of a Heavenly Father. He loved us and He taught us before we were born into this world. He told us that He wished to give us all that He had.” – Henry B. Eyring

Sixteen Sawtooth Stars

“You may think that you are completely insignificant in this world. But someone drinks coffee every morning from their favorite mug that you gave them. Someone heard a song on the radio that reminded them of you. Someone read the book that you recommended, and plunged headfirst into it. Someone smiled after a hard day’s work, because they remembered the joke that you told them today. Someone loves himself a little bit more because you gave him a compliment. Never think that you have no influence whatsoever. Your trace, which you leave behind even with a few good deeds, cannot be erased.”  – Christina Makeyeva

“I had always hoped that at the end of my life, I would have done enough small things that they would add up to having made a difference. And that is what most people do – not one great deed, but many small deeds over many years that in aggregate add up to a life well lived.” - Chesley Sullenberger

Love Note

I’m not big on Valentine’s Day gifts. I don’t wear jewelry (unless you count the rose gold band on my left ring finger). I’m not a fan of perfume. I do like flowers and chocolate, but I’m annoyed that they’re easily twice as expensive today as they will be tomorrow. I like the IDEA of a quiet, romantic dinner for two with candlelight, perfectly prepared steak or seafood, and someone else to do the dishes afterwards. But that’s pure fantasy. Nothing even remotely like that happens in real life. So, I usually tell John not to bother. We can always grab a box of See’s dark nuts & chews for half price on the 15th that will last me until Easter. But this year he surprised me. He came home from work Wednesday with a dozen perfect, ruby-red strawberries. He’d stopped to pick up a prescription and they were just sitting there. Maybe I like Valentine’s Day gifts after all.

Beacon Light

Franny Crosby was one of history’s most prolific hymnists. Under at least 200 different pen names, she wrote nearly 9,000 hymns and gospel songs, including “Blessed Assurance,” “Pass Me Not O Blessed Savior,” and “To God Be the Glory.” I grew up singing her “Give Said the Little Stream.” Before you imagine she got rich from royalties, I should tell you she usually received a dollar or two for each song. Much of that she donated to charity. Franny was either born blind or became blind when she was a few weeks old.  “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life,” she said, “and I thank Him for the dispensation. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I’d been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me. When I get to heaven, the first face that shall gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”

Twenty Grandma's Stars

As the saying goes, “Find a penny and pick it up, and all the day you’ll have good luck.” Until a few years ago, I would find coins of every denomination nearly every time I went for a walk: on sidewalks, along the sides of roads, in parking lots and beneath drive-through windows. These days a whole week might go by when I don’t pocket a single penny. I guess it’s because fewer people are using cash. If you pay for everything with credit or debit cards, there’s never any change left over. Today is National Lost Penny Day – probably because it’s also Lincoln’s birthday, and because pennies have borne Lincoln’s head since February 12, 1909. You could celebrate the day by searching for lost pennies. I’d suggest looking in the pockets of clothing you haven’t worn in a while, under sofa cushions and beneath the floor mats in your car. Sidewalks just aren’t as lucrative as they used to be.

Four Grandma's Dishes Blocks

I don’t often write about murderers; Heather would definitely not approve. Troy Leon Gregg and a friend were hitchhiking in Georgia in 1973. Two men picked them up, and Troy shot them both and stole their car. Troy was arrested three days later and given the death penalty. He had an appointment with the electric chair July 29, 1980. On July 28, Troy and two other inmates escaped the Georgia State Prison by sawing through the bars: the first death row breakout in Georgia history. Their departure wasn’t discovered until Troy called a newspaper with the story. Wait. It gets worse. The trio drove to a bar in North Carolina to celebrate their freedom. Troy got plastered and assaulted a waitress. A biker gang found this offensive. They beat Troy to death and dumped his body in a nearby lake – the night before his scheduled execution. Something about this tale made me laugh. Please don’t tell Heather.

Sixteen Grandma's Stars

“As taught in ‘The Family: A Proclamation to the World,’ all beings are created in God’s image. Each has a divine nature and destiny as a spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents. Knowing the divinity of Heavenly Father’s children, the adversary seeks to limit their earthly and heavenly potential. He uses tactics of deception, distraction and discouragement, also known as ‘the three Ds of the adversary.’ Satan seeks to deceive individuals by influencing them to forget who they are. He attempted to do this with Moses by calling him a “son of man” and urging Moses to worship him. However, Moses resisted and remembered he was a son of God, the only God whom he would worship. If people do not understand who they are, it is difficult to recognize who they can become.” – Elder Peter M. Johnson

Grandma's Dishes

I met a dragon face to face the year when I was ten,

I took a trip to outer space, I braved a pirate's den,

I wrestled with a wicked troll, and fought a great white shark,

I trailed a rabbit down a hole, I hunted for a snark.

I stowed aboard a submarine, I opened magic doors,

I traveled in a time machine, and searched for dinosaurs,

I climbed atop a giant's head, I found a pot of gold,

I did all this in books I read when I was ten years old. 

– Jack Prelutsky

Thirteen Grandma's Stars

Researchers at the University of Freiburg—Medical Center and the Faculty of Biology at the University of Freiburg are studying the effects of fragrance on learning. They’ve conducted several experiments on students from two different sixth grade classes. All the children were taught the same English vocabulary words, and all were later given the same vocabulary tests. But some were exposed to the scent of roses as they studied, as they were tested, and even as they slept; others were not. The students who smelled roses – especially while they were sleeping – showed a marked improvement in memory. In case you needed a timely reminder, Valentine’s Day is a week from today. You have seven days to pick up a big bouquet or a single perfect bloom for the one you love. Who knows? It might make her (or him) smarter.

Five-Day Forecast

When Tinker Bell first appeared in J. M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan in 1904, she wasn’t portrayed by an actress. She was just a circle of light reflected from offstage that darted about the props and scenery. Her “voice” was the tinkling of little bells – some from a belled collar and some imported by the author from Switzerland. On stage, she’s still presented in much the same way. In 2015, as a member of the orchestra in Murray’s Peter Pan, I played her “voice” on a keyboard imitating a celesta. Tinker Bell wasn’t portrayed by an actress in Disney’s 1953 cartoon, either. But an actress DID play her in the 1924 silent film version. (If you’re interested, you can catch the whole thing on YouTube.) So, I guess the second time anyone played Tinker Bell was in 1961, when a former circus aerialist first “flew” over the Sleeping Beauty castle. Tiny Kline was 4’10” and 98 pounds. And 71 years old.

Twelve Coffin Stars

Whether they admit it or not, almost everyone has a favorite Disney character. Is yours on this list?

Pocahontas is the first (and only) Disney princess with a tattoo.

Minnie’s real name is Minerva. Mickey was almost called Mortimer, but Walt’s wife Lillian hated that name.

Elsa was originally the villain in Frozen. She was the title character in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, who abducts and enslaves children.

Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, was hired to play the voice of Snow White’s Dopey. After hearing the first few recordings, Walt cut all of Dopey’s lines.

Sully from Pixar’s Monster’s Inc., has 2,320,413 individual hairs.

Ursula went through a lot of design changes before appearing in The Little Mermaid. At first, she was meant to resemble Joan Collins with tentacles.

The demigod Maui from Moana was originally bald, like actor Dwayne Johnson. Tahitian culture consultants pointed out that he’s usually depicted with hair.

Twelve Sawtooth Stars

Crudité is a five-dollar French word that just means “raw stuff.” I’m no authority on French pronunciation, but I’ve always said it as if it were spelled, “crew-dee-TAY.” This isn’t to be confused with a charcuterie, which (as I understand it) usually involves smoked meats and cheeses. Nor is it an antipasto tray, which might include all of the above, plus olives, pickles and even anchovies. To make a crudité tray, simply cover a broad board with parchment, add two or three different dips in bowls (like one made with dill and sour cream, one with a cream cheese base, and one hummus), then pile on the veg. Use as many different colors and shapes as possible, like green beans and sweet peppers, cauliflower and grape tomatoes, radishes and endive, zucchini and jicama, scallions and mushrooms, or broccoli and purple carrots. If any veggies are left over, you can cut them into smaller bits for vegetable soup the next day.

Nine Coffin Stars

“These are difficult times. The economy is struggling. There is conflict in the world. But the Almighty is keeping His promise that He will bless those who walk in faith and righteousness before Him. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the way of peace. To the extent we follow it and incorporate it in our lives, to this extent will we be blessed and prospered. What a wonderful thing it is to be involved in this glorious work. Let us rejoice in our great opportunity. Let us serve with gladness. May heaven’s richest blessings rest upon you, my beloved associates. May faith grow in your hearts. May there be love and peace in your homes. May there be food upon your tables and clothing on your backs. May the smiles of heaven warm your hearts and bring comfort in times of trial.” – President Gordon B. Hinckley

Four Sunbeam Blocks

I think we should all play tourist now and then, right where we live. It’s easy to get wrapped up in our "quick succession of busy nothings," and become blind to the awesome and unique around us. One way to fix this is to read some books on local history, then visit the places where that history happened with new eyes. Invite an out-of-town friend to come see the sights with you. My favorite spots include Capitol Hill, Temple Square, Thanksgiving Point, Wheeler Farm, Gardner Village, and Utah’s Natural History Museum. Attend a sporting event. Here, that could be basketball at the Vivint Arena, soccer at the Rio Tinto Center, hockey at the Maverick Center, baseball at the Smiths Ballpark, or football at the Rice-Eccles or LaVell Edwards stadiums. Leave your car in the garage and use the bus, a bike or your feet. Push yourself out of your comfort zone by trying restaurants you never visited before. You won’t regret it.