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Judging

I know we are not to judge a book by it's cover.
And I might add nor should we judge a book by the movie..the books are always better.

But I wonder if it is okay to judge a man by his books?
Almost every garage sales has a box of books. I stumbled on a garage sale that had boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes of books.
Old books - new books.
Many kinds of books. On inquiry, "Oh, we take care of an old man and these are from his library."
I didn't ask more.

But I did learn a lot from his boxes of books. He loved to read.  At one time he taught school as there were several teacher edition books. He loved America - many patriotic, history of America books. He didn't cook much and wasn't real concerned about organic or herbal. (Seems like most boxes of books at sales have at least a cook book, a diet book, and eating your way to good health book.)
He did have a few medical books, however, and so studied about his body. He must have been married as there was a dressmaking book, and for some reason I don't imagine he sewed.
He received books as gifts, "To Bobby - Christmas 1936" and later "To Robert 1987".
I decided I like him. I would have loved to visit.
Perhaps we did.
There were things we had in common. I also love books. I have a variety and wide range for reading pleasure. I also have boxes and boxes, although they are currently in bookcases and bookcases. I like old books - new books.

Then when I spotted this book, I knew we would have enjoyed chatting.

And it wasn't worn from sitting on a shelf, it has been thumbed through and read and read.
Did he turn to this Holy Bible in times of sorrow and despair? I have.
Did he find comfort and encouragement by reading holy words of truth and love? I have.
Did he find strength beyond his own? I have.
Did he learn about grace and faith? I have.
I hope he has a new Holy Bible, one that he can read or is read to him.
Thanks for the good visit, Robert. I like you.
I know - I really like you.
We both love Him.

Welcome new (and old) friends

If you came to visit via the Spokesman-Review.
Hi.
Welcome.

Please poke around and window peek all you'd like - so glad you came to visit.
To see flour bag creations click on the links on the right sidebar.
If you'd like to leave a comment - that would be terrific, and we can visit,  if not, lurkers are also welcome. Please come back and visit often.
Thanks for stopping by. (clicking on any picture will make it larger)

"Make new friends but keep the old.
One is silver and the other gold."

Where she tries to look professional

As the Etsy shop is filled. Oh, my.
I found I quite liked 'staging' things.

Helping everyone to look their best.

Speaking of staging..have you see this food stylists blog?
Kind of makes you want to play with your food, doesn't it?

So tomorrow my picture is in the paper. Let's make a deal, if I look okay and the magic camera really did it's trick like Bart promised, we'll talk about it. But, uuummmm...if my 15 seconds of a fame-ish type thing, doesn't look so good. Let's just not mention it again. Okay? Deal.

He returns.

That little light hummingbird wing feeling at the top of your chest - as you wait.
The irrepressible grin that comes to your face as you spot his jaunty walk
The tear that appears in the corner of your eye when you see that same grin on his face.
The comfortable hug - where everyone knows just where the arms go, my left arm around his waist his right around my shoulders
The resting of his chin on the top of your head
The gazing at one another - lots to say, but not but now, not yet, later
The walking to the car - pulling luggage, free hand fitting snuggly - just where it goes in his free hand.
Now the talking, the sharing, the chuckles, the how are the boys, did it rain, is the garden growing?
It was amazing, spectacular, the ground is still moving, the sun never set, someone I really enjoyed talking to - we share the same beliefs and value the same thing.
The picture sharing.
The unloading. the unpacking,  the shower taking the drop into  bed and collapsing...the familiar little foot rub as you drift off to sleep. (at 2:00 a.m.)

"I hear your footsteps down the hall,
You are home again and safe.
All the burdens of the day are lightened,
And all the night noises are music to my ears...."

anon

Do you see what I see?

Sometimes we find love in the most unexpected places...or from the most unlikely people and it is so delightful it takes our breath way, and if we are really really lucky, it changes our lives forever.

Smile

Isn't he nice?

He laughed out loud when I asked him if I could take a picture of the picture taker - AND...he wanted to be holding his camera.  Thanks Bart, I hope that camera really is magic like you said and will take off 30 pounds and 30 years. I'm holding ya' to that.
That cute Megan, (free lance writer from the Spokesman Review) if you are visiting from her blog - Bart, the picture taker said, Megan is the nicest girl to work with. (I just ended that sentence with a preposition, did you notice?) Thanks Megan for taking the wooden dolls and making a comfy bed for them. I do think they need little pillows.
And by the way, I think Bart and I both showed our best sides, when he left we both had big smiles.

So be watching the Spokane WA Spokesman-Reveiw on Friday June 27th for my big smile.

Trying to be pretty

Oh the flour sack sacks are a little nervous this morning, waiting for Mr Photographer to come. They wish they looked about 30 years younger and 30 pounds lighter. But then, what can we say?  I guess 'give it your best shot - girlies"  -and may your best side show.

Remember: The people on our planet are not standing in a line single file. Look closely - everyone is really standing in a circle holding hands. Whatever you give to the person standing next to you, it eventually comes back to you.
That is the real "best side" you want to show, the side of kindness.
So girlies - it really is NOT all about you, be nice, help the photographer have a good experience. Give him some sunshine today. Enjoy the adventure.

A simple photo shoot

Or so we thought. Today I decided to work on filling the Etsy shop. So I gathered all my people

to help me, knowing we need a few props and friends involved. I was committed to being diligent, staying on track, saying no to any dilly dallying, focus, no day dreaming, no lolly gagging, no doodle dooing. (I will not be a dawdler, a silly heart, have you seen Uncle Buck? It is our family favorite.)
But oh, not so simple. These folks found out about a photo shoot of another variety early next week and decided they needed to be in every picture. And let me just assure  your things were pretty much down hill from there.
First, Miss Angelica decided she needed in the group - even though we had decided on 'stuffies' she insisted, and so here she is front and center - like she is a stuffie.

And the protesting and complaining and whining continued, why, even Miss Pepper thought that Mr Duck should get in on a little of the action...see him trying to hide his face and be coy.

Forget that Mr Duck, it ain't a gonna happen. I can reassure you that Mr Duck is NOT going to climb into any of these market totes and make an appearance, not even a cameo, no no no.
Once we got the kiddies all settled down, no small task, and began the photo shoot,

a friend in need called. She is expecting, which is the delicate way to say pregnant, and she is sick, sicker than a dog, even though she is expecting a little human baby. So photo shoot was interrupted for soup making and mountain of laundry minimizing. Oh, I hope she gets to feeling better.
The supporting actresses took some offense at being ignored - wouldn't even look at me.

Friends in your life are like pillars on your porch, sometimes they hold you up and sometimes YOU lean on them.

I reminded them, a friend in need is a friend indeed, serve is seldom convenient - that is why it is called service, and how important new little human babies are, even if they have a hard time getting here. They seemed somewhat consoled after that little chat. Rest assured little girls - we will pick up tomorrow where we left off today.

I think, I kind of giggled.

At the Farm Chicks show a nice free lance reporter from the Spokesman Review asked me to give her a call once the show was over. So I did. She is writing an article about flour sacks for the MAC and would like to include a bit about me and my - sacks. How nice, I thought. I explained her assignment would be to help me sound intelligent, and that might be a big task. She seemed confident and so we proceeded. We casually chatted and it was fun. I hope she can make what we talked about sound - intelligent. We were sidetracked several times talking about blogs and community and connections and such.

Remember, I am just a tiny part of a bigger article she is writing. But today when the Spokesman Review called to set up an appointment to come and do some photos, I think I giggled. Not a nice sophisticated giggle but that stupid, I feel really nervous giggle. Where is that reporter lady that is suppose to help me sound intelligent?

But maybe it will be okay because photos don't record giggles, thank goodness.

Now if there is someway I could do one of those extreme make-overs and look 25 years younger by Monday, next. The nice reporter, Megan, asked me how old I was, and I asked, "On the outside, or the inside?" I told her both.

I have a mind like a steel trap

Like this one. This big strong mighty steel will-not-let-go-no-sir-ree-bubba trap. Yes, that is exactly like my mind. Causes one to stand in amazement and wonder, doesn't it? On closer inspection, however, this trap is only great for holding on to big things, like an elephants leg or the scary 'boogler' (boo!)  that might be lurking outside in the dark of night. BUT, this trap is not so good at holding on to smaller things - like a butterfly. Why a butterfly could just slip right on through with hardly even a worry. In fact, it may go through so quick and slick that the trap won't even notice it had come to visit. Now that is the trouble with my mind being like a steel trap. It is trying to hold onto a ma-nillion little facts and tidbits of information all at once. And I can tell you that that big ole' steel trap don't do diddley for that kind of holding on.
This long convoluted introduction is an intro to our book club. We read "The Words We Live By" by Linda R Monk. (And here is a nice search-able link based on the book.) We read and read. Oh, I found it fascinating and informative, though it was also like reading a text book, it was good. I had to think. I tried to remember. Oh, I'm pretty sure I'd get a D- on a test on the constitution, my mind being like a steel trap and all. But it was so good. Good for me.

I"ll share just a couple little tidbits:

"We the people,"  at the time of the writing of the constitution meant  only - males, who owned land. Did you know that?

I relearned about the three branches of government.  More about Senators and the House of Representatives, the why and how they are composed like they are. Brilliant.

Impeachment is NOT a criminal proceeding. Did you know that?

The Chief Justice of the United States. He is not just the chief justice of the Supreme Court but of the United States, because he is head of the entire judicial branch. I don't remember learning about that? Oh, and John Marshall - The Great Chief Justice. He served for thirty-four years. The Liberty Bell cracked  while tolling his death. He was amazing.

And George Washington. And John Adams.

I guess one of the great things about being in this season of my life, everything is new again, because that steel trap has let so many little butterfly things go right on through, I have the joy of learning it all again.

Yip. Steel trap. That is what my mind is like, all-righty. A steel trap.