5" Louisiana Block

I’m not a big fan of overblown holidays. Every year Halloween seems to get gorier and sleazier. Valentine’s Day is only an opportunity to turn the thumbscrews on your significant other. And Christmas is just plain exhausting; physically, emotionally and financially. Then there’s the sugar: candy corn, pastel jelly beans, Christmas cookies, and chocolate in the shape of bunnies, Santas, turkeys, pumpkins, and Valentine hearts. Does every major holiday need to come with a designated sweet?  The minor holidays, on the other hand, are a delight. On Monday my mother and I celebrated Spaghetti Day at the Spaghetti Factory in Orem. Next Monday is Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day. It’s well below freezing where I live, so the “splash your friends” part might be problematic. But I can definitely manage the rest. If I’m lucky enough to find a puddle with a thin layer of ice on top, even better.

Plain Folk

Last June a West Yorkshire couple lost their beloved boxer Dylan to a brain tumor. They paid £67,000 (almost $100,000) to have him cloned by a South Korean firm. Last week two surrogate dogs each gave birth to a puppy with markings that precisely match Dylan’s. The cloned puppies were named Chance and Shadow after characters in the Disney movie Homeward Bound. They’ll be able to go home to the UK in July, after their quarantine period has ended. I find myself wondering; if money was no object (it is, believe me) would I have chosen to reproduce any of the dogs I’ve owned? As much as I’ve cherished every one of them, I’d have to say the answer is no. Chance and Shadow might grow up to look exactly like Dylan, but they won’t BE Dylan. They’ll each have their own absolutely unique personality – the very thing you miss the most when your best friend is gone.

Tannenbaum

New Year’s Resolutions for the whole family:

1. Eat together regularly. The meal doesn’t need to be elaborate or even home-cooked.

2. Create a new tradition: birthday breakfasts in bed, an annual camping trip or a weekly movie night.

3. Select a ‘stay active’ goal: a daily dog walk, weekly Saturday hikes or a family 5K.

4. Try something new together. Take a family cooking class or select a different spot for this year’s vacation.

5. Set a savings goal. Sit everyone down, talk through the family budget and come up with a goal together.

6. Designate a device-free time. Choose a time of day when everyone can take a break from devices, like mealtimes or bedtime.

7. Improve one aspect of the family diet. Try a new vegetable, ditch the greasy takeout, or make and follow a meal plan.

8. Be better listeners. Everyone wants to be heard and understood, but loud voices can drown out others.

Jack Sprat

I’ve accepted the challenge to read twelve books in 2016:

A book published this year – Star Wars; the Force Awakens, Alan Dean Foster

A book you can finish in a day - The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A book you’ve been meaning to read - The 5th Wave, Rick Yancey

A book recommended by a librarian or bookseller – A Wish Your Heart Makes, Charles Solomon

A book you should have read in school – Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut

A book chosen by a friend or family member – The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

A book published before your birth – The Odyssey, Homer

A book that was banned at some point – Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

A book you previously abandoned – Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather

A book you own but have never read – The Talisman, Sir Walter Scott

A book that intimidates you – The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

A book you’ve read at least once – The Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling

Nine Pinwheel Cabins

“Mothers and fathers who anxiously await the arrival of a precious child sometimes learn that all is not well with this tiny infant. A missing limb, sightless eyes, a damaged brain, or the term “Down’s syndrome” greets the parents, leaving them baffled, filled with sorrow, and reaching out for hope. There follows the inevitable blaming of oneself, the condemnation of a careless action, and the perennial questions: “Why such a tragedy in our family?” “Why didn’t I keep her home?” “If only he hadn’t gone to that party.” “How did this happen?” “Where was God?” “Where was a protecting angel?” If, why, where, how—those recurring words—do not bring back the lost son, the perfect body, the plans of parents, or the dreams of youth. Self-pity, personal withdrawal, or deep despair will not bring the peace, the assurance, or help which are needed. Rather, we must go forward, look upward, move onward, and rise heavenward.” – Thomas S. Monson

Four Ripples

 Beatrix Potter was always a shrewd observer of society, but a reluctant participant. Her first passion was art, and her second was nature. She turned the third floor schoolroom in her family’s London home into a menagerie where uncaged rabbits, ducks, frogs and mice became her first models. “Why cannot one be content to look?” She mused, “I cannot rest, I must draw, however poor the result.” She was a voracious reader with a razor-sharp wit, a delightful imagination and delicious sense of humor. All these skills made her an excellent teller of stories; her talent for drawing and painting made her their perfect illustrator. When Beatrix was a child, her family summered in the Lake District. As an adult, she moved there permanently, working tirelessly to preserve the farms and the wildlife. To ensure her legacy would live on, she named the National Trust as the main beneficiary in her will.

Year's Favourite

As of today I’ve maintained this blog exactly five years. It was meant to be a twelve-month challenge, to see if I’d run out of designs or interesting things to say (to myself, at least) before the year ran out. Today’s block is number 1388. Many of the rest have become bedspreads, lap quilts, wall hangings, table toppers or hot pads for friends or family members. Several hundred were made into quilts and donated to wounded veterans, cancer victims, survivors of terrorist attacks and natural disasters, hospital workers and volunteers. Yesterday Heather and I mopped our muddy front entry, caught up with the laundry and baked cookies to bring to some friends we haven’t seen in far too long. Today we’ll clean out the fridge, take down the tree and bake a couple of pies to share with some other friends. Not a bad way to end a year; or to start a new one.