The Shed Notebook: Strength and Resolution

A quote today from A Daily Peace:

"Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, 

but manifestations of strength and resolution."    

Kahlil Gibran

The Shed Notebook: Mom's Memory Garden

I knew last summer I would acquire plants and garden decor from Mom's garden next door after her death. My brother and his wife weren't clear how they wanted to approach the backyard, so they generously gave my sister and me permission to dig up what we wanted. I also inherited some garden signs and decor favorites Mom had collected. 

As we sat in our own backyard last fall, JEJ came up with an idea of building one more raised bed in the narrow space on the side of the house so I could create Mom's Memory Garden. He got the bed built last fall. We are going to add a gate and fence to keep our canine "kids" out. I am now getting excited about planning and planting it.

I know a rose given in honor of Mom from the Pearson/Brown family will be front and center. I will include plants from Mom's garden, then fill it up with her favorite flowers. My friend Chris gifted Mom with a beautiful  yellow metal flower that will be placed in the garden, along with a perfect statue I found today with angel wings and a nice saying. It is also a vase and will hold flowers!

 I will be excited to post pictures when it is completed. 

The Shed Notebook: Glimmers of Spring

In north Idaho spring is a funny season. There are days you can enjoy an hour of glorious sunshine, but then have to run back in the house and turn up the heat. There are days you think it will work to begin garden work . Guess what? It snows . Today the sun shone, it rained, it hailed, the wind blew, and then the day ended with blue sky. See what I mean?

It is a good thing I can enjoy this fickle season inside The Shed. Today was a good day to spring it up and , even if the heater was blasting inside, I felt glimmers of spring. At least if it snows tomorrow, it will cover up the piles of debris I couldn't clean up today.

Another sure thing about spring in north Idaho. The debris, dead leaves, doggie doo, weeds, and spent flowers from last summer don't go anywhere. The wind doesn't even carry them away.

Darn.

The Shed Notebook: Beautiful People Do Not Just Happen

After Mom died my lifelong friend Kenna sent me a perfect gift. It is a book titled Daily Peace, 365 Days of Renewal, Photos and Wisdom to Nourish Your Spirit.

For each day there is a quote and a photo to match it. Every so often I am going to open a page and share the quote and pick a photo of mine that matches it post it at the top.

Today I picked the quote for March 19th. It is a powerful one.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

I have lots of those beautiful people in my life. I am blessed.
photo taken November 2017, Reeder Creek, Elkins Resort, Priest Lake, Idaho

The Shed Notebook: Bathroom Decor Overload

The bathroom remodel will start in about four weeks, which means Shawn wants to begin ordering materials soon . EEEKKK! Now I have pinned pictures on Pineterest, made an idea book on Houzz, and bookmarked items on Lowes, Home Depot, Amazon, and Better Homes and Gardens web sites. That doesn't mean I am ready. I continue to change my mind about certain things like colors, tiles, faucets, and shelving. Soon I am just going to have to make some important decisions.Houzz alone has 1,366,386 photos of bathrooms. That is way too many to process.
JEJ just keeps saying, "whatever makes you happy makes me happy." So much for a second opinion. Considering this is the smallest room in the house, I don't know what I am fussing so much. I know why. I sit in there many times a day! Okay, back to the ideas. I need to narrow things way down today.
I have to wonder if I had the walls painted in yellow and orange stripes if JEJ would be happy. We will never know.

The Shed Notebook: Daily Peace

After Mom died my lifelong friend Kenna sent me a perfect gift. It is a book titled Daily Peace, 365 Days of Renewal, Photos and Wisdom to Nourish Your Spirit.

For each day there is a quote and a photo to match it. Every so often I am going to open a page and share the quote and pick a photo of mine that matches it post it at the top.

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You want and watch and work; you don't give up."

Sibling Assignment #188: The Birth of MTV

I gave the third sibling assignment for February:

"Building playlists have become a part of our lives now because of the new ways we listen to music. If you could build a perfect playlist of ten songs, what would be the theme and what would on that list?  Explain the theme and why you chose those songs, or some of the songs. Sister Carol's is here and brother Bill's is here.

The summer of 1981 MTV was launched. I don't have a vivid memory of watching it right then. Maybe our cable company didn't get it in West Richland, Washington. I do remember when we moved to Kennewick in 1982 I began watching it. Twenty-four hours a day the station played music vidoes. The VJs were such a big part of MTV, especially Mark Goodman, Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, and Alan Hunter. Also, in 1984 MTV started Top 20 Video Countdown that was shown on week-ends. I loved finding time on Saturday to watch it..

The playlist I created is memorable songs that were launched on MTV during the eighties. The videos themselves really sold each song. I remember buying the cassettes often after I viewed the video. Of course, my list could be twice as long. If you want to reminisce and watch any of these videos, search them on MTV. You can also find the first Top Twenty Video Countdown here.

"Easy Woman"  Phil Collins and Phillip Bailey
"You Can Call Me Al " Paul Simon ( assisted by Chevy Chase)
"Walk This Way " RUN D.M.C. and Aerosmith
"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" Wham
"How Will I Know" Whitney Houston
"Built This City on Rock and Roll" Starship
"Billie Jean" Michael Jackson
"Power of Love" Huey Lewis and the News
"The Way It Is" Bruce Hornsby and the Range
" We Are the World" various artists

Here is the video that launched MTV. What music videos do you remember from that time period?

Sibling Assignment #187: Sunnyside School Chili Feed

Bill also gave one of our sibling assignments for the month of February:

" Last night’s crab feed got me thinking about the different feeds held in Kellogg when we were youngsters. The first one that popped to mind was the Sunnyside Chili Feed and I’m trying to remember what kind of feed the PTA held in the downstairs lunch room at Silver King. Was it oyster soup/stew? I know we used to have an oyster soup/stew feed at the United Church. Write what you remember about any feeds or a particular feed that occurred in Kellogg."

When I began attending Sunnyside School is second grade I began hearing about The Chili Feed after Christmas vacation. I had never heard of a chili feed. ( If memory serves me right, I think Silver King School started theirs a few years later. ) The Chili Feed was a huge fundraiser  put on by the PTA. I think it was held in February because I remember after finding a parking place a block away, we had to walk through snow. When I attended my first one, these memories are clear in my mind. There was always a line that went down the hall and up the steps to the foyer by the principal's office. When you got closer to the serving line, you walked by the pie room. It was a small room close to the lunchroom  full of slices of homemade pies that all the moms donated. I can remember staring at all the different kinds of pie, wondering which kind I would choose. 

We went through the line just like during the week at hot lunch. The cooks were there serving the chili, this fresh, crisp salad, and the next part is fuzzy. I can't remember if they served cinnamon rolls like they did with chili during lunch or if it was crackers. The lunchroom was packed, families were squeezed into the tables enjoying their chili dinner. Then came the time when we got to choose our piece of pie. I always wanted cream pies then because we didn't have them at home as much. For some reason Dad didn't like going to the Chili Feed, so maybe Mom got food to go for him. 

The other best part of the Chili Feed was the poster contest held when you were a sixth grader. Each student made a poster that were hung around town to advertise the event. I planned and designed that for weeks. I really wanted to win. I made beans that were like people and filled in their bodies with coffee grounds to add more texture. Part of me thinks I may have won a prize, but I can't say for sure. All I know that between looking forward to the feed, waiting for the sixth grade year when I got to enter the poster contest. 

Every time I prepare chili and cinnamon rolls, my mind goes back to those feeds so many years ago. Great memories.

Sibling Assignment # 186 : Sunday Dinner at 516

Carol gave one of our sibling assignments for the month of February.

“Since we have started doing family dinners, has this created memories of family dinners growing up a 516 West Cameron?  Think of a particular dinner, or kinds of dinners you ate while growing up and share some memories from these family dinners.”  You can find Carol's here and Bill's here.

Mom taught school during the years of my childhood. She was still able to get dinner on the table every night. Every once in a while we got burgers from the S and R or French Dips at the Sunshine Inn.

Sunday was a different story. Most Sundays when Mom had more time, she prepared memorable Sunday dinners. I always loved the Sundays she made homemade bread and rolls. We had the rolls with dinner, the had the bread for toast and sandwiches during the week. On a special Sunday we got cinnamon rolls.  Mom told me once kneading bread on Sunday relaxed her.

The dinners I remember most are navy beans and ham, chili and cinnamon rolls, roast beef dinner with all the trimmings, homemade vegetable soup, and pork roast dinner with all the trimmings. We had traditional comfort food on those Sundays. No “weird shit” food for my dad. It wasn’t a good time for us to ask Mom if we could experiment with a new recipe (that Dad usually didn’t like).

What I remember is how Sunday was a slower pace day, a calmer day at 516. Mom had time to prepare soups and roasts and not be rushed. That was why I liked all those meals . They were filling, filled with flavor, and there always seemed to be more quantity.

I can’t really pick a favorite dish. I did learn from my Mom that cinnamon rolls go well with chili. Vegetables cooked with roast beef are the best way to eat them, especially when there is gravy for the potatoes.  Applesauce always goes with pork roast . I also loved the leftovers. I could always count on another meal made with those roasts or a heated up soup later in the week.

Along with being a calmer day, it was a day my dad was always happy. These meals just lit up his face and he often ate seconds. No peanut butter on white bread after dinner on Sundays. ( He pulled that out on weeknights when Mom made something he didn’t really like.) The picture above is before a dinner in later years, but the table is in the same place and holds the same love for family.