Baby It's Cold Outside and Musings About This Time of Year

Well, Thanksgiving is Over and the turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and everything else is put away. I made myself a sandwich today as I went over the second edit for the new book that Mel MacFarland and I wrote-"Out of the Box Easy Blocks-Free and easy blocks the FUN way." I can't remember the exact title but it is something like this and hey it is the most fun and easy blocks you will ever make and they all make something wonderful. Just wait until you see the cute Baby quilts, the party quilts and the kids quilts. Not to mention a great idea for quilts for your Bee friends for their birthdays etc. I think this is going to be a super seller book. More important it will be a book that you will make a quilt from and it will be a quilt that will be kept and remembered because it is fun and something people who see them will love. I am hooked on these!
As you can see it is very cold here in my city and there are many homeless here. It is common for people here to give money to the woman's shelter and also the shelter for little kids. I think that is wonderful. My big charity here for me is to buy pajamas for the men who are homeless and have no where to hang their heads. I heard a minister friend of my daughter's talk about a week he spent here in the shelter with his old garden jeans and no money in his pockets to experience what it is like. The one story he told that I really listened to was his pajama story. He said that at night all of the men who sleep at the local mission must take a shower and put their clothing into a locker. They are provided with pajamas. He is a tall young man and they only had pajamas that were too small. He put pajamas on that were animal print with tools on them. The pants came to his knees. He said it was pretty humbling to have the homeless point and laugh hard at you! Then he went on to tell about the nice men who had fallen on hard times and the breakup of the family and how it impacts young men to make bad decisions. At night when the men go to sleep, women come in and wash and repair their clothing or give them new clothing if theirs is really bad. It is a lovely thing and many people across the US come to Spokane because they have a reputation of turning lives around at the Mission.
I started buying pajamas once a year. I sell those scissor necklaces when I travel and teach and my share of the money goes to this charity. My friend named it "Jammie for Jimmy's." So it is that time for the sales on pajamas and I will be going down to buy them and drop them off. It is lovely because no one knows who does this and they have warm flannel pajamas to put in in this - degree weather. It is so cold here!
Today was a nice day to stay in. My Granddaughter spent the night and we watched cartoons and drew fairies and colored and also turkeys. It was fun as she is a good little artist. My Grandson is coming at 8:30 tomorrow morning and he will have all kinds of things he will want to do. He is an artist too and loves to build things with junk he finds just like his Dad. It keeps you young to be with young people who love art invention. If you are at a standstill creatively, invite a young person over to make holiday things. If you don't have young family, invited a neighbor child and their Mother over. You will be surprised what ideas kids have that you had forgotten. They think so wonderfully.
I am going to write me next newsletter on Sunday. My Grandma made the best pie crust in the world and my Aunt made the best fudge "Don't give this recipe to anyone fudge." It is awesome. I am posting those and some of my favorite links for you to visit.
I hope you are having a nice week this week and that you are warm with a place to lay your head,something good to eat if you want it, something to make you laugh or smile, and someone to love you (including your pet). This is what makes life rich and not all of that junk they show on tv. There are alot of people out there that have every "thing" anyone would want and they are sad and lonely. If you have love and an appreciation of Dod's blessings to you, you have it all.