Safety Bubble

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Daily Prompt:  Bubble

Have you ever known someone who keeps a buffer around themselves? They are friendly, but keep a safe distance from others. I am not talking about personal space. But emotionally distant. I often wonder what has happened to them in their development that makes them act in this way.

Our personalities are formed early in our development when we are small children. Our environment plays a big part in that development. Where we live, how we live, how our parents react to us and our interactions with outsiders to our families.

Without realizing what is happening, we store our experiences in our minds and hearts in the form of feelings. Some of us keep those feelings in a bubble of protection around us and often are not able to cross that barrier. Sometimes that is a good thing, sometimes not so much.

Our psyche is so fascinating to me. The ability of our minds to protect us is almost unbelievable and is one of the things that make us human. We were created to interact, support, help, and love each other whether or not we utilize a “safety bubble”.

Wanda

 

Weekend Coffee Share

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coffeeshare

Welcome!  Come on in and have a cup of coffee with me.  How was your week?  I was busy this week.  I had two doctor appointments on Monday.  Actually, I had three, but one had to be postponed until Thursday.  I have no idea why I allowed that to happen.

Last Sunday we had my grandson’s birthday celebration here.  My daughter made the cake on Saturday, removed one of the shelves in my refrigerator and put the cake in.  I have been looking for that shelf all week.  I finally called my daughter to find out what she had done with it.  I can’t believe she had it in the guest room behind my quilt rack.

One of my friends has gone up north to help her daughter who was injured when she fell off of her horse.  She needs surgery and Janet is going to stay with her and help with the horses.  So, I am plant sitting.  She had just gotten a beautiful hibiscus and didn’t want it to die when she was gone.  So, I get to enjoy this plant for most of the summer.

I haven’t done any sewing, crocheting, or much reading this week.  But I did do a little photography.  I have been keeping my camera with me for those unexpected opportunities.

So, a busy week for me, did a lot of housework this week too.  YUK!!! At one time I loved to clean.  I sure wish it was still like that for me.  Now I can talk myself into putting it off.

I was taking part of the Blogging From A to Z Challenge this year.  I really messed it up.  First of all, I didn’t link most of my posts.  I had never done this challenge before and I didn’t realize what I was supposed to do.  Then, the last two letters Y and Z never posted.  So, as far as the challenge goes, I failed.  But there is next year.  Right?

I had a little excitement when I hit a curb avoiding something in the road.  My tire went flat.  So, had to drive on it for a couple of miles to get home.  I had the spare put on it and took it to get a new tire.  I like to shop, but shopping for tires was daunting.

I hope ya’ll have a good week and I hope we can get together for coffee next weekend.  If you would like to join us for the weekend coffee share you can find out about it here.  It’s a great way to meet new bloggers and make friends.

Wanda

Be A Mentor

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Daily Prompt:  Mentor

Image from Inspirational Quotes

 

To be a good mentor you must encourage, support, and develop a relationship which enables purposeful conversation with your mentoree.  Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to have had wonderful mentors who made a lasting impression on my life.

Mentoring’s purpose is to develop particular skills in the mentored person and to facilitate problem-solving, and goal achievement.   When you are a mentor you will also learn from this relationship.  As this relationship grows, trust develops and the process becomes successful.

There are several ways to mentor.  Informal mentoring happens spontaneously.  Most people become mentors this way even in the workplace.  However, there are many formal mentoring programs for working with kids, co-workers, church members, and just about any situation that we find ourselves in.

When I joined my quilt guild, I had never made a quilt before.  I joined because I had always wanted to learn how to quilt.  I walked into the meeting and was met by Donna and she had me sit with Anne.  We spent that meeting doing charity work for our community.  I learned how to tie a quilt.  I was ecstatic!  🙂

Donna took me under her wing and became my mentor.  I learned so much from her, and because of her mentoring, I became confident in my quilting.  Now, I find myself helping newer quilters in the same way.  Our guild has a Buddy Program for new members who are matched up with someone who has been a member.  It’s our own type of mentoring program.  It is a shame that the program is not utilized more often.

I would suggest becoming a mentor.  You will receive so much from the experience.

Wanda

 

 

 

 

 

What’s In A Name?

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socs-badge-2017-18-e1503097084778

This week’s prompt:  letter.

What’s in a name?  Good question. Related image Take for example “letter”. What does that mean?  It’s the name of a written communication you receive from someone.  What makes it different from a note?  Is it the length of the communication, or simply less formal in presentation?

Then there is the other thing.   Is it just a symbol which expresses the written word?  The contents of our alphabet a through z when put together create words.  Then words are written in letters and sent on their way.

Sounds like I am talking in circles.  But that’s how our language is.  We have many words that have more than one meaning.  Don’t you wonder who sat around and decided what we would call things and why they used some of the same words for different things?

I think I will end it here.  Enough letters to expound on the “letter” prompt for this Saturday.

Have a good weekend!

Wanda

 

Tides

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Daily Prompt:  Observe

Daily Prompt:  Tide

I have always been fascinated with the tides of the ocean.  I could sit on the beach or on a pier and watch the ocean for hours.  There is nothing more relaxing to me.  Depending on which beach I am on, the tides appear different.  Sometimes I have to move my chair back several times as the tide comes in, or down closer to the water as the tide goes out.

Years ago, I visited Hawaii and noticed a difference between the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans as the tides changed.  And when I was in the Caribbean I noticed the difference between the Atlantic and Caribbean where they meet.  The changes in the color, clarity, and temperature of the water during the same time of year are amazing to me.

The tides of our oceans are attributed to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon which cause the water level to rise and fall but vary depending on where the moon and sun are in relation to the ocean as the earth rotates on its axis.  This pull causes two bulges in the ocean on opposite sides of the earth.  Since the moon is much closer, it has more power to pull the tides than the sun and it is the primary source creating tides.

This is a wonderful No matter how many times I observe these changes, I am still amazed at the creation of our planet, and feel very blessed to be able to enjoy the oceans changing tides.

Wanda

 

Birthday Celebrations

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Daily Prompt:  Abrupt

This past Sunday we celebrated my grandson Aidan’s twelfth birthday.   My daughter, his mother spent most of Saturday here making a cake for him.  It was a pirate ship coming onto the shore.   I find this so amazing because she is the kid that never wanted to cook.  She would run screaming from the kitchen if I even hinted that I wanted to teach her how.

Aidancake

Of course, we all know that things change after you become a parent.  And poor Kelly was blessed with three kids that had numerous food allergies so she made everything from scratch.  Thankfully a lot of that has straightened out for the kids, but she still deals with a bit of it.

Kelly has come into her own as a cook.  Of all my kids, she’s the one who I held the least hope for.  She’s creative, talented, and really seems to enjoy it.  Color me Surprised!

This is Aidan’s cake.  The bottom layer is half chocolate and half white.  The ship is made out of Rice Krispies treats covered in fondant.  The Kraken is made from chocolate.  The water is blue food coloring mixed with white icing.  The sand is crushed vanilla wafers.  The pirate’s chest is made from kit kats and metallic colored candy.  The railing on the ship is made from tootsie rolls.  The fish are Sweedish fish.  And there are root beer barrels on the deck.  I would not have known how to even start!

Kelly and the kids stayed the night and the men arrived on Sunday.  We had a great time, watched the race and had cake.

It is always a whirlwind when they are here.  It sounds like there are fifty kids in the house.  🙂  Then it’s time to leave…and abruptly, without notice, the kids are in the car waiting for mom and dad to gather up all of their things and take them home.

I kid you not when they are gone my house sounds so very quiet.  It’s almost spooky.  I do love having them here.  They are full of energy and they wear me out some days, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It is true, grandchildren are your reward for not killing your kids!

Wanda

 

 

 

X is for X Marks the Spot

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X

 

The reason I named this post what I did is that no matter how much I looked and researched I could not find a word that referred to sewing.  But then I was thinking that this phrase X marks the spot is really appropriate to the sewing and quilting world.

When snaps, buttons, etc.  are added to clothing the fabric is marked for placement.  When cutting out patterns a notch is placed in the fabric to mark the place where the pieces are joined.

When altering clothing, markings are placed where to let the garment in or out.

Hems are marked for length.

I know that the markings are not X’s, but they are marking on the garments map.  That’s where the phrase came from.  From Pirate’s maps.

In the world of quilting, X’s are used in patterns.  Some X’s are appliquêd to a background fabric.  Some quilt tops are arranged in the pattern of an X.  It is actually an old pattern that quilters have used for years even if they aren’t called X’s.

Here are a couple of examples.

xandoquilt

xquilt

 

xs

Wanda