So Much Pinning

Lots of pins.

Wednesday was designated sewing day.  The masks for the service project aren't hard.  They are just time consuming.  Though the directions are very specific (that's a good thing) my overall goal was to do my best.  I know Heavenly Father wants that.  These masks will be used by health professionals who need my best effort.  (I read the other day in an article about a woman in a far off country who was also making masks for donations, and she prayed over every single one for the benefit of the wearer.  I should be such an example.)  So I was determined to not hurry but to take my time to do my best work.  It was hard.  I only did 1/3 of the 100, was grateful for the help of a couple other ladies. By the end of the 5 1/2 hours my neck was in agony.  I spent that evening and the entire next day using my neck very carefully.

All finished.

I received an email thanking me for my sewing and encouraging me to sign up again for another 100 masks. I'm still thinking about that.  I want to always do all that I can to help.  Is my neck up to it?  That's a good question.

Yesterday was a very social day for me.  I wandered over to the neighbor's to pick up her portion of the masks (had such a cute conversation with the youngest child in the family - she's such a sweet little innocent!), chatted for a brief minute with the next door neighbor on my way back. I try really hard to be kind there.  We are so not their kind of people.  Then we had a phone chat with our travel agent regarding our 50th anniversary European river cruise.  (It's not looking great for this year but we're giving it a month before the final decision.) Then I had just enough time to run to the grocery for supplies for the dinner recipe.  But saw the other next door neighbor out on her sidewalk and had to talk to her.  (I've texted a couple times and received no reply so I wondered if I'd made her upset.)  After a small bit of reluctance to get semi-close to someone in this time of "isolation/quarantine" we had a lovely chat.  (So much so that I had to basically fly through the market.  Those supplies will be used for tonight's dinner.) By the time dinner was over I was ready to just settle in.  We're home and alone with our family so much that it's tiring to speak to others.  I know there are those who are energized by social contact of any kind.  That's not quite how I'd put my personality.  While I enjoy it, I am more energized by peace and calm.

Love the lilacs.

This morning's walk was just delightful.  The Husband came along, the temperature was 50 degrees, so just right, we took a bit of a different route and I stopped at every single lilac bush we saw.  This particular lilac bush is on the other side of a 6 ft. block wall, and hangs over just enough that I can pull the branch within smelling distance.  I so love the lilacs.   A bit further along, our trail parallels the creek and we saw a couple duck-moms with their ducklets.  One mom had 7 babes and the other only 2.  They were so, so, so cute!! Those purple flowers - I have no idea what kind they are but the bed stretches probably 25 or 30 feet along the road.  I love them!  And the iris are blooming.  We saw several varieties but the dark ones are the prettiest. 

Cute family.

And today is strange.  We had planned to be at BYU this very moment - my two daughters and me  - at the annual Women's Conference.  Instead, because of the dratted coronavirus-COVID-19, I watched the first two hours sitting in my sewing room, feeling uplifted, enriched and sad all at the same time. I will miss Sandra Rogers and her capable direction over the last 18 years.  I wonder if this is a new precedent of how Women's Conference will look in the future.  There's nothing like physically being there in the Marriott Center.  I hope this isn't the new normal.

And today I'm so grateful.  I'm grateful for spring and hope it brings even through this craziness.  I'm grateful for a walking companion.  I'm grateful for a nasal spray to help conquer the symptoms of my seasonal allergies.  I'm grateful for something to fix for dinner, good books to read and for the ability to help in a teensy, tiny way with our church's mask sewing service project.