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Special Deliveries from Romany Quilting

Its been a busy old day today with deliveries. First was some more “happy mail”, all the way from Germany. Postmarked 8th December, it's now early March so it was a long time coming. Christmas wishes from Judy, and she had enclosed a cute little Christmas Stocking, with the hope that we will find a place in the caravan to hang it over Christmas. I’ll sure we will, thanks so much Judy.

Merry Christmas wishes from Germany

Our other delivery was a new fridge. While we were away on our three week trip, our fridge died and we ...

added by Jenny 4 years, 4 months ago. under home , mail , pen friends

Happy Mail from Romany Quilting

The postman delivered me some happy mail today, so much nicer than advertising brochures and bills. Mary from Mariposa, California, had contacted me recently (through the blog) with a request. No problem, I was happy that I could help. A “thank you” note from Mary arrived today, and enclosed were two small hand made gifts – a bookmark and a small scissor pouch.

Book mark and scissor pouch

And here they are in use, thanks so much, Mary

added by Jenny 4 years, 4 months ago. under gifts , mail

Superstitions and Other Stuff from Bayou Quilts

Making the Halloween postcards was fun, and seventeen Halloween postcards went out from Carondelet Court, along with a couple of Halloween envelopes. November ushered in a pause in postcards and a need to write more actual letters.

Sitting down to write a letter creates a different atmosphere from a phone call, text, or email. Often, I'm writing letters in my head about what is going in the world and in the home, what I'm thinking about and what I'm reading. Then, when sitting down to actually write a letter those mental conversations evaporate--suddenly my mind is a ...

added by jenclair 4 years, 8 months ago. under books , mail , reading

Mid-October from Bayou Quilts

Mid-October. I've been playing with this embroidery for about a week as I watched some shows like New Tricks. The basic shape is outlined in red, so there is quite a bit of time left on completing this slow stitch project I want to use on a large barrett.

The cosmos and lantana keep me in cheerful colors,

and the coleus and purple sweet potato vines root in another jar,

then get planted in pots that I hope will last a little longer as it gets cooler.

Incoming Mail

from Cate

From Teresa

I love the effect of the ...

added by jenclair 4 years, 9 months ago. under embroidery , mail

Last Days of September from Bayou Quilts

Postcards: I've been making Halloween postcards on Oct. 1 for World Postcard Day. My desk is in chaos, but it is messy fun. Today, I'm going to straighten up my work area because the chaos has encroached so far that I have no place to actually work.

Garden

How I love the spider lilies!

I also love the little herb bottles for flowers

Mail

to Zoe

Family: Erin, Mila, and Max are now in Colorado! She's liking her new job in family law, and they are all adjusting to their new surroundings.

Of course, there's a ...

added by jenclair 4 years, 9 months ago. under garden , mail

Compliments and Kid's Photoshopped Drawings from Bayou Quilts

Do you compliment strangers? I do. Not often enough, but sometimes I'll blurt out a compliment to a complete stranger and the effect on them has an effect on me. Back in the days before the pandemic, a young woman was leading us to our table at a restaurant, and I said, "You have the most beautiful smile!" She glowed. I glowed. I complimented a young bagger at a grocery store on his braids. Same thing. His response and my response to his response was a pleasure.

A great smile and interesting hair often elicit a comment, but I ...

added by jenclair 4 years, 11 months ago. under mail , positive things

» Bayou Quilts

Things that have made me happy lately:

MousesHouses Be Safe and...

A Common Sense Camp --"The camp has eight themed weeks that include kitchen confidence, anti-racism, DIY, laundry and cleaning, safety and emergency preparedness, personal finance, city savvy, and social skills." Now is a good time to teach kids about common place things they need to know. :)

Mary's Sewing Camp--teach a kid to sew and you may end up with quilts.

Earth School

The Power of Play by Steve Curry
When we play, we affirm our values and connect with others. When we are absorbed in play, we ...

added by jenclair 5 years ago. under books , mail , reading , things that make me happy

#mailedit from Bayou Quilts

Outgoing

postcard to young Zoe

Pandemically Speaking. Unfortunately, reopening has not gone as smoothly as many hoped. At any rate, cases have drastically increased in the South and West have clouded our future. Again.

I worry about how schools will respond, how businesses will survive, how farmers will fare...and all of the endless chain of human activity. I'm OK. I'm retired and have books and crafts and letters and the garden and the internet. Not everyone has those advantages.

Truthfully, even in Phase 2 of the reopening, I have never come out of isolation mode with the ...

added by jenclair 5 years ago. under mail

Lazy from Bayou Quilts

I have a lot of catching up to do. It is hot and humid, and I often choose to ignore garden chores. My housekeeping has deteriorated. The poetry embroidery piece gets attention only once in a while. It's time to re-schedule dentist and doctor checkups that were postponed in April and May, but I keep putting them off. Since I have been reading (a lot), catching up on book reviews for my book blog is another item on the list. June has been a little lazy so far.

Books

A Garden Carried in the Pocket -- so many reviews to ...

added by jenclair 5 years ago. under books , embroidery , garden , june 2020 , mail , reading

May Is Flying By from Bayou Quilts

Sunday morning, a nice spring rain, not too hard.

Books/Reading. Finished the latest Michael Robotham book last night, and I like his new protagonist, forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven. When I realized it was the second book in the series, I ordered the first book. (I'd rather read books in order--but it doesn't always work that way.)

Still reading Sanjay Gupta's Stay Sharp. I only read it in small increments, giving it time and attention. An excellent book for my brain book collection--informative, readable and positive.

Birds. Flocks of doves have been chasing away the smaller birds ...

added by jenclair 5 years, 1 month ago. under books , garden , mail , reading

Happy Mother’s Day from Romany Quilting

Happy Mother’s Day, (I know I’m a day late) to all the Mum’s out there – hope you all had a great Sunday. Ours was a very quiet, stay at home kind of day. But I did have the excitement of opening a parcel, couriered down from my daughter Nicky. Wonder what’s inside?

For Mother’s Day

Inside was a little hand woven basket, or kete, made from flax. Wonder how she managed to do that, it looks a bit tricky to me. And a little cellophane bag of no, not potpourri as I first thought, but ...

added by Jenny 5 years, 2 months ago. under cooking , family , gifts , mail , quilts , ufo's

How Long Has It been? Quarantine Day?? from Bayou Quilts

I'm back to writing letters, after about a month of missing the process. Part of the reason is that the USPS needs us to buy stamps and to send letters and postcards, but there is also the fact that I've missed writing letters and decorating envelopes. I have some unanswered letters from before the lockdown, but I've received several more in the last week. Leaving the letters in isolation for three days or so only heightens my anticipation to open and read them.

Postcards to the grands went out today, and maybe tomorrow I will have something ...

added by jenclair 5 years, 2 months ago. under books , embroidery , mail , reading

Worth it’s Weight in Gold from Romany Quilting

What a surprise to get an unexpected parcel delivered by the courier. He quite correctly placed the parcel by the door after ringing the bell, then stood back a safe distance to while confirming he was at the correct address.

The mystery parcel

This rather heavy parcel was from my daughter Nicky. Was it an early delivery for Mother’s Day next month, I wondered? Should I save it, or open in now, I enquired. Open it, was the firm response, so I did. And what's this I found inside? A bag of flour, about 3kg or so, I ...

added by Jenny 5 years, 3 months ago. under family , home , mail

As We All Adjust to the New Normal from Bayou Quilts

Positive Notes:

Incoming Mail

Amelia had a postcard made from B.E.'s latest art work. :)

Made me and my mailbox very happy.

Outgoing

I've made several collage postcards lately

and three went out today.

to Mila

to Max

to B.E.

(oops, misspelled Colette)

letter to Erin

National Women's History Month

Some great links for parents girls and and for educators:
Interesting resources for Women's History Month,
WASPs of WWII,
The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park,
American Women and the Invention of Computer Programming,
Alice Ball, the young woman who revolutionized the treatment of leprosy

Italians ...

added by jenclair 5 years, 3 months ago. under mail , video , women's history month

» Bayou Quilts

Yesterday, I sat on the back porch reading and watching the birds feeding in the rain. All of a sudden there was a whoosh and mourning doves, finches, and sparrows all took off at once. I looked around to see what had startled them and saw this Cooper's (?) hawk settle on the fence.

I waited for him to fly away, but after about five minutes, I realized the rain didn't bother him and he was in no hurry to leave. I looked at the time and decided to wait and see what happened next. I kept reading and ...

added by jenclair 5 years, 4 months ago. under craft , garden , mail

Last Week in January from Bayou Quilts

Today is dreary and overcast. No rain in the forecast, but a gloomy sky. A little breezy and the chimes are sounding, leaving that long, deep resonance in the air.

Stitching. Finished the third panel for 25 Million Stitches! It will go in the mail this week, leaving me having to begin a new stitchery project to keep myself calm. :)

About 7,000 + stitches in this one. I quit counting when I got close to 7,000, but kept adding more elements. The stitches are fairly large and the pearl cotton is a craft variety, the kind that comes in ...

added by jenclair 5 years, 5 months ago. under 25 million stitches , books , hand stitching , mail , reading

Big Stitch Quilting and Mail from Romany Quilting

This is “slow stitching” alright with the emphasis on slow……… Probably because this project only gets picked up and worked on every now and again. But I’m OK with that, it will be done when it’s done. And now I’ve completed big stitch quilting block number eight (of nine), the New Zealand Clematis.

NZ Clematis block

All the lovely designs in my New Zealand Botanical blocks were designed by Jenny Hunter as applique blocks, but I traced them out to do as stitcheries. As the white flowers in this block tended to merge into my pale green ...

added by Jenny 5 years, 5 months ago. under hand quilting , mail , pen friends , ufo's

January Week Two, Done and Dusted from Bayou Quilts

Recently, I've been reciting this mantra: Time to adjust my crown and get to work. (I don't remember where I saw the original version, but I've been using it several times a day.)

This morning while I was making an organizing effort, I spotted my real crown, which sits on the head of a papier mache cat, and decided to actually wear my crown for a bit.

Outgoing Mail

Week 2 Goals: daily yoga (shortest practice 7 min.; longest 50 min.), walking (as long as I make two miles, I'm pleased), and out of the house ...

added by jenclair 5 years, 6 months ago. under 25 million stitches , books , embroidery , goals , mail , podcasts , reading , slow cloth

Endings and Beginnings from Bayou Quilts

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season and that the New Year will be full of good things!

I'm behind again with correspondence, but loved all the Christmas cards that arrived in the mailbox this year. Beautiful cards and funny cards and photo cards (it is always fun to see the yearly changes in kids!)

Outgoing Mail in late Dec. and early Jan.

some happy New Year thank you postcards

letters to grands

the back of Max's letter with his pun.

Darn, I failed to scan Bryce Eleanor's before mailing.

2020

It is easy to overwhelmed ...

added by jenclair 5 years, 6 months ago. under goals , intentions , mail , new year , resolutions

Merry Christmas! from Bayou Quilts

I'm still dividing myself between panic, distraction activities,

and actually trying to get everything done.

End of the outgoing mail last week.

to B.E.

to Mila

to Max (with pun on back, as

he always gets a pun)

Suzi

Ricky and Teresa

to Iliana

I made good use of the Christmas Seals Connie sent me!

Every Christmas season, I start crafting late and fail to finish (or even start) some items. My anxiety mounts, making things even more difficult.

Preparation. Annie at Annie's Musings had a personal challenge this past year to work on something each week ...

added by jenclair 5 years, 6 months ago. under fabric wrapped gifts , mail

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