June 7 Block

Eileen, our younger daughter, is up swimming at the condo pool with a friend of hers, a wise move on this 95 degree day.  About a month ago she started a new job as an apprentice funeral director.  From what little she has told me, I know it is a job I could not do in a million years.  Yet she comes home at the end of every day, even 14 hour days, saying how much she loves her job.  A good four words:  I Love My Job.... Mary

June 6 Block

Rick was talking with his terminally ill mother, and she said, "Each day rolls into the next, and each is more wonderful than the last."  Four-word self-help:  Each is More Wonderful....  Mary

June 5 Block

Encourage our friendly pollinators.... Mary

June 4 Block

Just finished reading Patti Digh's book, "Four-Word Self-Help: Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives".  It's a fun, quick read, and afterwards I found myself thinking in four-word thoughts: Be in the Studio.  My friend JK came up with What's Necessary Gets Done.  And this time of year: Always Water the Flowers.... Mary

June 3 Block

My youngest brother has a new job teaching at St. Johns University Law School in Queens, NY.  My mother, who is visually challenged due to macular degeneration and cataracts, is having a very hard time figuring out just where Queens is in relation to New York (by which she means Manhattan, I'm guessing). 

We found a fold out map of the five boroughs on Amazon and had it sent here.  I spent a couple of hours with a magnifying glass and brightly colored, numbered stickers marking Jeff's apartment, the University, the airports, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, etc.  Basically, anything she might have heard of ever to give her some perspective on where Jeff and Kathy will be living and working.  Apparently the boundary between Queens and Brooklyn is not a clear cut line.  There was much discussion and nothing particularly definitive on the Internet.  From what I read, even the Post Office is a little fuzzy on this one.  I'll mail off the map to my mom in the morning.

So after lots of teeny, tiny little street lines, this seemed an appropriate quilt square.... Mary

June 2 Block

Love circles and dots.  Have I mentioned that before?  Mary

June 1 Block

While waiting to cross the street this morning to my building at the University, there were dump trucks from the road construction, multiple buses, commuting cars, and the annoying seasonal scooter.   But at the front corner of my building is a rose bush in full bloom.  I could even smell it over the exhaust.  To top it off, it is a perfect spring day, 76/53, blue skies, low humidity.  It's for days like this that we live in Wisconsin.... Mary