Robin&Larry

The Seven Yard Dress

- robin

Meditation Experience~Day Five. Gratitude awakens the true self. Each of us have many layers. I tend to hide my true {very sensitive} self to make others happy. Then when alone, I am hurt and angry that others have been disrespectful to me…but how would they know that they hurt me? I do not say anything. I just go away. My meditation is going well. Each day, my focus strengthens and my day is a wee bit better. I have sixteen days remaining.

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The Seven Yard Dress

Photo: Hawaiian Dress Pattern:

Last summer while at the beach, I found the nicest fabric shop in Kappa, I had passed the shop for years but her window attracted me that one beautiful morning. On that day, I bought fabric for Larry’s quilt and this pattern. The pattern has ALL sizes in it and it is a traditional Mu-mu but I would rather call it a Hawaiian dress. Mu-Mu has such a hard sound to it.

Yesterday I bought two different fabrics to make two Hawaiian dresses. Each dress calls for seven yards of fabric….I love to sew, design and make garments, I will make the first one in the above fabric in the traditional Hawaiian way and after that, I shall put my own spin on the design. Oh! Just think what I can do!

Now for a serious subject. Debbie next door, let me know, that last month we had a death on our street. The teenage boy caddy-corner to us passed. I noticed lots of cars, and deliveries…but it did not occur me that something tragic happened. Other than that, I had no idea. I am ashamed of myself for not reaching out BEFORE something happened.

I wonder how many of us do not know our neighbors? I have lived here a long time and when someone moves, in I should welcome them…..I have to sort this out in my head. Not sure what I will do.

Happy Friday. Enjoy the weekend, smile often. Maybe reach out to a neighbor you have not met? That is what I will be doing.

Love you.

Me

The New Puppy?

- robin

Meditation Experience-Day Four. To receive grace, you must be grateful and humble. Today I was asked what I could do to be more grateful. What could I do to be thankful. This is hard for me. I feel overwhelming thankfulness each day and it never seems enough. What am I doing wrong? Life keeps coming at me faster than my aging body can filter it and to be honest. I am a little tired.

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Photo: The new puppy

Last week, I wrote about it being time to give Libby’s pug bed away. So many of you commented, sent texts and mails sharing your thoughts. I loved each and every one of you for taking a moment to tell me what you were thinking.

Yesterday Lauren, my daughter had a hair appointment at a salon near The Cottage. She stopped by on the way to her appointment. The big orange Jeep arrived and she came in the front door holding a pug statue, sleeping in a bed. She handed it to me and said: now you can give Libby’s bed away.

I don’t know if this settles it, but how sweet was that? Besides….I LOVE the face of the sleeping pug.

I am eternally thankful for so many things in my life. Of course for the huge things, but also for the tiny, fleeting, seconds of joy that seem to hit us so fast that we almost do not notice them. Like when I am finished writing today’s post and I hit the “publish” button up in the corner…. ahhhh. I love that moment of completion.

So, as I prepare to hit the publish button, I sigh. Have a wonderful day.

Love you.

Me

Meditations and Wishes

- robin
Photo: by Robin

Meditation Experience-Day Three. I am gladdening my heart. Today I was asked what was one of the most wonderful, grateful times that I had with a loved one…..here goes. …….Going into surgery for breast cancer. Larry asked, Rob, where do you see yourself in 5 years? I replied, having tea at Kensington Palace, celebrating being cancer free. Five years later almost to the day, he took me to London where we celebrated my life with tea at Kensington Palace….I am beyond thankful for my health and for the amazing man in my life.

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Yesterday was almost vanilla. I nursed a sore knee, worked on projects, had my car washed, walked 2 miles, made ravioli for dinner and watched the Netflix show, Someone Feed Phil and then a new series on Amazon. 800 Words.

I wish I had walked 4 miles, read for an hour, start a new painting, had something extraordinary for dinner and I wish that I had organized my painting area so I could be more productive.

One of my daughters went through a phase when she was a teen, saying almost daily: You can wish in one hand and crap in the other. See what hand fills faster. I refuse to tell which daughter.

Photo: Sweet surprise from our neighbors

Our sweet neighbors next door surprised is with a beautiful gift. It makes me smile just looking at it. There was a note with the plant….personal and kind. Some people inspire me to be better than I am. Debbie, Lew, you both are wonderful and your kindness means the world to Larry and I.

Love you.

Me

Mon Nouveau Chapeau

- robin
Photo: All good things bring gratitude

Meditation Experience~Day two. All Good Things Bring Gratitude. People and things that I am grateful for, reinforce the feelings of love and joy in my heart. It is good to focus on that and not the negative. The good outweighs the negative in our lives and why do we sometimes focus on the bad? I will focus on the good.

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I bought a hat this week. It is the best hat I have ever owned. It is pack-able, reinforced with SPF and is comfortable, I found MY perfect hat!

I have had between 4-6 surgeries on my forehead and scalp for skin cancer. I have had many hats and hated them all and then, I do not wear them. Most hats feel like bee=keepers hats to me.

Photo: This is NOT my new hat!

I wore my new hat last night to Matilda’s softball game. {her team won ten to zero} We sat on the bleachers in the sun and my head was protected. The best thing of all, I did not feel stupid wearing it!

Photo: My new hat

Please remember to wear your hats in the sun. Having scalp surgery-excuse my French- sucks.

I found some fun facts about skin!

  • The average person’s skin covers an area of 2 square meters.
  • Skin accounts for about 15% of your body weight.
  • The average adult has approximately 21 square feet of skin, which weighs 9 lbs and contains more than 11 miles of blood vessels.
  • The average person has about 300 million skin cells. A single square inch of skin has about 19 million cells and up to 300 sweat glands.
  • Your skin is its thickest on your feet (1.4mm) and thinnest on your eyelids (0.2mm).
  • The skin renews itself every 28 days.
  • Your skin constantly sheds dead cells, about 30,000 to 40,000 cells every minute! That’s nearly 9 lbs. per year!
  • Some sources estimate that more than half of the dust in your home is actually dead skin.
  • Dead skin comprises about a billion tons of dust in the earth’s atmosphere.
  • Your skin is home to more than 1,000 species of bacteria.
  • Skin that is severely damaged may try to heal itself by forming scar tissue, which is different from normal skin tissue because it lacks hair and sweat glands.
  • Skin can form additional thickness and toughness — a callus — if exposed to repeated friction or pressure.

Do you have a perfect hat? Do you wear it in the sun? Please take care of your skin…

Love you.

Me

Moments At Barns and Noble

- robin

The other day, I was coming down with the flu. I did not know it yet, but I felt crappy. Larry and I had to pick up a gift from Barnes and Noble, so we went out into the rainy day….and we went to the book store.

Larry said: I will drop you off at the door and go park.

I said: Thank you. I will be at the magazine department.

Larry said: Love you! See you in a minute.

I went inside. Feeling light headed, I went to the magazine department, looking for a particular ART magazine.

I looked around, not seeing anything that appealed….then I saw Larry outside headed for the door. As he came in, I expected him to come over to the magazine area, but no.

He headed straight for the 50%OFF NEW RELEASE books and a lady that was standing there looking at the books. Granted, he only saw her from the back. {And she was dumpy! Sorry lady but comb your hair} I watched as he went up behind her, kind of close and was talking to her.

I knew that he thought that she was me and I honestly hoped that he would not rub her back or anything like that and that she would not slap him.

After a moment, I walked closer.

I said: Hi Larry

He then realized that the other lady was not me. You should have seen his face. His red, blushing face.

{this same thing happened years ago at the library, but the lady was sitting with her back to him, he walked up and rubbed her shoulders}

Fast forward to today. I just told Larry that I was blogging about “The Other Woman.”

Larry said: I am glad that I could amuse you.

Oh don’t let him fool us, he is laughing too.

I love moments at the book store.

Love you.

Me

The Flu, Sunday Dinner & Movie and Me

- robin

It was a long weekend. I have the flu, my head was foggy and my body ached. Larry took good care of me. To be honest, I still feel really sick today.

Photo: My favorite flowers

We had Sunday dinner and movie. Larry pulled down spaghetti sauce from the freezer, bought raviolis at the market.

Photo: Larry loves Ravioli and meatballs in my homemade sauce.

I made garlic bread and salads.

Photo: Sunday Wine

Our movie was Dear Brigitte. A few weeks ago, Larry asked about this old favorite of ours. We watched it yesterday. It was awesome.

Photo: Sunday Movie

I am glad that the weekend is over but Sunday was really nice.

Have a happy, healthy day.

Love you.

Me

The Oatmeal Cookie Recipe~ Chef Valentine

- robin

Bobbie S. This recipe is for you!



*READ ENTIRE RECIPE AT LEAST THREE DAYS BEFORE BAKING

INGREDIENTS

1 cup raisins

Amaretto liqueur

1 small Ball jar

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1 stick butter, soft

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vinalla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups oats

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Three days before making cookies. Place 1 cup raisins in ball jar. Cover with Amaretto Liqueur. Place in fridge till time to bake cookies.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drain raisins. Put aside.

In large bowl, cream butter and sugars till creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla. Combine well.

In another bowl, add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix well.

Add raisins and oats. Mix well.

Using a 1 1/2″cookie scoop, drop onto cookie sheet. {un-greased}

Bake about 10 min till light golden brown.

Cool a couple of min before removing from cookie sheet.

Cool completely on wire rack.

Photo: Raisins soaking up Amaretto Liqueur

Enjoy the goodness.

A Simple Little Blog

- robin

This is a simple blog. It is my journal {I DO have a handwritten journal}, my coffee {I don’t drink coffee}, my cigarette {I don’t smoke} and my breakfast {I don’t eat breakfast}.

It must frustrate some people {huge web masters, etc} that I am happy with my simple little blog.

Yesterday in my mail, there was a note from someone promising to get thousands of hits for me, upgraded format and ads. They promised success.

I was thinking about that last night. What truly is success? How can someone who has never met me, know what success means to me?

The only thing that I would like is….more comments. I have asked before but my sweet readers are the quiet sort. It is true, I love hearing your thoughts here. In the comment section. Where we can all read the opinions as long as Blog lives. This morning, I was looking on line and look what I found.

How creepy is that? At least it confirms that others like comments too! I am not crazy!

Love you.

Me

About Tuesday

- robin

I seemed to struggle all day yesterday. I struggled making a quilt square. I struggled exercising. I struggled planning a meal and I missed Libby.

We have to have the bad days so that we can appreciate the good ones. Once I embroidered a sampler that said that, it was a prayer. For Larry. I wonder where it is?

Photo: Pug quilt square

Lauren gave me a quilt pattern for Christmas. Yesterday I started making it. I ripped out so many seams….today I will try it again. At least I got one block made.

Photo: The Pug Quilt Square

Last night before dinner, Larry and I went to the archery range. We shot for about an hour. Then we went to Snappy Salads for dinner.

Photo: The target behind Larry is an Olympic target. Oh if only it could talk.

I have much to learn about shooting, but it is an intriguing sport and I like it a lot.

I am off to make another Pug quilt square. Please have the best day you can.

Love you.

Me

Birthdays and Windy Weather

- robin

Lew lives next door. Debbie, his sweet daughter lives there too. They are the sweetest neighbors you could ever ask for. Yesterday was Lew’s Birthday. He is in his 8th decade of life. How wonderful is that?

I baked birthday treats for him. Oatmeal cookies and little candies.

Photo: Oatmeal cookies
Photo: Rolo candies

Larry and I delivered them early. We wanted to be the first ones to say, Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was a sunny, windy day in Texas. On Larry’s lunch hour, he walked laps at the lake with me. The wind resistance {45 MPH} made the walk difficult, but I needed that blast of air in my face.

Love you beyond Rolo candies {and that is saying a lot!}.

Me