Joy and Accomplishment

The Big Moment!

 The Proud Parents!

Noble graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Friday, 5 May 2023, after seven straight years of school. Whew! She did it!! And not only did she do it, she did it debt free!!! We are immensely proud of her.

What's Happening Now

Well, Dandylion, our youngest graduated from high school in May, turned 18 in June and left for college in August. He's in a pre-nursing program as well as the Marching Band. So far he is enjoying himself. But he'd better get a job quick, and apply for some more scholarships or he'll be able to enjoy only one semester of this adventure.

I recently had a delicious vegetarian meal: fresh beets and beet greens, brown rice and Ratatouille, or as we called it Eggplant Stew. We never knew we were eating a French dish, but come to find out that's (about) what it is. I don't use any zucchini in it because I don't like the bitter taste of zucchini. This batch has eggplant (or aubergine), fresh and canned tomatoes, celery, onion, and bell peppers, I think I used red, orange and yellow. It tasted so, so good to me.

Next up for redecorating is the bedroom that Dandylion vacated.

View from hallway door into the room

Windows to the southeast

Double closets (notice the not matching doorknobs)

Inside wall - with leftover desk, the one I got at Salvation Army for $1.95

Detail of old, ugly heater vent cover and dirt, also the weird electrical outlet with (missing) night light

Gorgeous hardwood floors

And the only plain wall in the room.

The color, a pale robin's egg blue, isn't bad, just faded and very dirty. I've chosen a lovely warm tan for the wall as a neutral so I can put up all of TopDad's plaques and artwork from his time in the Marines. So this is my next big project, beginning in September.

An Eclectic Life - Does that make me a Renaissance Woman?

In 1985, while working as a bookkeeper for a small manufacturing firm, my employer offered to pay my way through school if I'd major in Accounting and then stay on as their Accountant.  I accepted the offer and began.  I lasted about 9 months (at one of those universities for working adults where you take one class a month) before deciding that accounting had no scope for creativity (this was pre-Enron) and I was bored and feeling stifled.  So I changed jobs, colleges and apartments.  It was the beginning of a new life.  


I declared a major in Art History, which had been my favorite course at the previous school and began taking general education classes.  Working full-time it took me four years to complete about two years worth of work.  I changed my major a couple of times and then just left it thinking that as I got closer to graduation I could decide.  The problem I encountered was that I LIKED EVERYTHING!  Art History, English, Logic, History, both world and US, Cultural Anthropology, Geography, Spanish, just everything.  I would take a class, enjoy it and think "I'd like to explore this some more."  (Which is one of the purposes of general ed classes.)


The same holds true today.  I love so many things it is difficult to narrow it down and concentrate on just one (or two).  Should I be a writer? I have two incomplete novels. Should I design clothes and sew? How about travel?  My list of places to visit gets longer all the time.  Should I pursue a business?  I have several ideas.  Should I concentrate on my goal of making a wardrobe of historic clothing representing the decades since the pilgrims landed at Plymouth?  How about taking my cooking skills to the next level?  And designing and building furniture?  (I never can find just exactly what I want, and my husband is, after all, a shop teacher with all the tools I could need.)  


Here's another tidbit.  Back in the "starving student" days at BYU, we took in an exchange student from Korea.  He was a fairly nice young man, except he lied about his smoking habits and was less than cooperative in certain things.  Consequently I didn't like Korea or Koreans.  Fast forward eight years (it seems longer ago) and Noble begins an obsession for anything Korean.  At first I was skeptical and didn't want to see or hear anything.  But she persisted and her enthusiasm was contagious.  First it was Korean food, then K-Pop music videos, then Korean Dramas on Hulu, then teaching me words and phrases.  (Of course in retrospect we can see that the Lord was preparing her for her assignment in the Air Force as a linguist.)  Guess where I want to go?  I just finished a Korean historical drama about a couple of their most famous painters. Fascinating!! I now have a better understanding or their art and culture.  And the women's clothing is so beautiful I now want to make a hanbok.


This is the story of my adult life.  I'm interested in everything.  Once I dated a man of Armenian descent and took time to learn about their history, even finding a book of poetry I enjoyed so much that I copied my favorites into a journal (had to return the book to the library).


Whenever I hear someone say "bored, boring" etc. I wonder what is wrong with them. I don't have enough time to explore and experience and create all that I'm interested in. (It makes me long for servants to take care of all the mundane tasks so I can indulge in all my interests.  Fat chance. *sigh*)


May you have time and energy to pursue your passions and explore this wonderful world God created for us.

Easter Dress for Noble

Inspiration

When I asked Noble what kind of dress she wanted for Easter she couldn't tell me so I asked her to look for something she liked. She found the dress to the right and said she really liked this one; I looked through my patterns to find a starting point, because I can't draft patterns yet. 

I found this blouse pattern - Simplicity 5099

     And a circle skirt pattern - McCalls M4875;

     however when I was cutting out the bodice

     I realized that the fabric, a gorgeous yellow

     cotton pique, was only 36" wide which

     wouldn't accommodate this pattern. 

Back in the pattern box I found this lovely pattern and was able to use the bottom for the skirt.  I drafted a waist band for connecting the bodice and skirt; and cut out a tie from the blue linen.

And here's the dress!  Noble is a modest, virtuous young woman.  Isn't she beautiful!

 

This project really got my creative juices flowing, and even though I have no sewing room to work in, at present, I really enjoyed the challenge of creating this dress.  When I told my Mom that I was planning to go back to college and get a degree in Fashion Design, which includes pattern making, she reminded me that I had always wanted to do that as a teen.  Somewhere along the way I got distracted by other interesting things and didn't pursue my goal.  Well, now I am.  I really feel a calling to do this as there is a need for clothing that is elegant, beautiful, classy, AND modest. 

The other kind of clothing I've long been interested in is historic clothing.  While we were living in Virginia I was able to attend two symposia about historic clothing.  Wow, were they fun; one was held in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.  I got to meet and listen to several leaders in the field of museum curating.  My dream was to create for myself a closetful of clothing representing every era from the 1620 landing of the Mayflower to the New Look of the 1950's.  I think motherhood and Halloween costumes got in the way this time.  But as the good book says "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1)  I'm really hoping that now is my season to pursue my dreams.