There's Mail From Mom!

Wouldn't it be nice to have a letter from mom in the mailbox each time you checked it? Here's a place to check your mailbox for a heart-to-heart talk with mom...















Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Spring...

  I love the springtime.  I love the budding trees, the new color showing up everywhere, the way the Lord combines those colors and that everything is coming alive.  I have always loved spring in Tennessee because of the warmth in the air and the sweet smell of the honeysuckle during late April and May. 
  I also love spring because my mind begins running with ideas.  I order seed catalogs (which I usually can't afford to order from) and I pull out my patterns and begin to design clothing for the children on paper and in my head.  I dream of what project I might want to take on to make the house look more cheerful.  I sat the other night and clipped magazines with beautiful spring bouqets and birds on the nest and beautiful downy little chicks.
  This year I am hoping for a clothesline so I can hang my sheets out to dry like I did when we lived at Swan Pond.  Hanging things on a clothesline is some kind of therapy for me.  I love the smell of the sheets after they've been out in the warm sun and summer wind.
  In the spring I begin pulling out my favorite recipes for desserts with strawberries and lemon and other fruit flavors.  I go through my cookbooks looking for lighter fare for our meals and I make a "wish list" of meals to try on my family for spring and summer.  Cierra is now old enough that she and I enjoy sitting together and going through cookbooks and planning what we think would be fun to try.
   As part of my "therapy" for my last real battle physically my husband wanted me to do a sewing project that wasn't because it had to be done but just for fun.  My favorite sewing is for children so I took a 1953 pattern that had never been cut out and made it up.  Because I couldn't physically get out of the house Esther chose the fabric for me by sending photos back and forth via the computer and then buying the one I liked the best.  (Thank you, dear Esther!)
   I'm all done except the buttons.  It truly was good for me to have to plan, design, cut and sew as it kept my mind busy.  Here's the pattern (and the link to where you can buy it on E-bay).
http://cgi.ebay.com/Simplicity-4407-Childs-Jumper-Blouse-Sz-2-UNcut-Patt-/390282736051
   And although I'm not finished with putting the button's on (since I have yet to get back to town!) I'm going to include a picture of how it looks so far.  It has a tied bow in the back that is darling too. 
  Didn't that turn out so precious?  This would have been the type of dress my mother would have made me when I was little.  I have a passion for sewing vintage patterns for children but not much time to indulge in it so this was fun!
   I have a spring sewing list (longer than I can possibly get done.) but just going through my patterns with the little short sleeves or little matching linen coats over the dresses, the little boys rompers, all the beautiful new tote and purse patterns I'm seeing, the twirly skirts for the little girls and the list could go on and on.
  I have to remind myself that they will not all get done and that I need to decide which of my many ideas really matter to me, which are beyond my reach, which would take so much time I would end up neglecting my family, etc. but yet it is still so much fun sitting with pen and paper and planning it all--even if I have to put little astericks beside some of them showing that they are very likely not going to happen and are on the bottom of the list!  That doesn't change the fact that I pray about them and ask the Lord to supply all that I need for that project if it is His will!  (including strength right now!)
  Isn't it wonderful the way the Lord made us to love the changes of the seasons?  When I feel the changes coming for the new season I am so ready for that season.  I pray that you are enjoying that new warmth in the air, the rainy days, the little buds coming out and the tulips pushing their way through the garden soil. 
  I trust that you too have a case of "spring fever" and are enjoying it! 

Love,
Mom