Summertime

I know that I am blessed in that the school where I work has a lovely thing called "Summer Hours."  As long as we get everything done, we can work shorter hours.  It's a gift of time.

Some summers are so fractionalized by trips away, long-term house guests, and the usual summer events, that Labor Day comes and I don't feel I've had the benefit of refreshment that Summer Hours should bring.  This summer is different.  We have no long-term house guests, we have scaled back our July 4th celebration, and are taking just one six-day trip and one three-day weekend away.

I have lovely plans for my summer.  First, I've begun walking in the mornings which is abetting my weight loss efforts (now at -28.8 pounds with a goal of -30 by July 4th).  I don't hate it!  I try for three mornings each week and sometimes I awaken early on unscheduled days and walk anyway.  Last week it was three days.  It's a wonderful time of solitude, reflection, planning, and noticing.  I see other walkers with ear buds plugged in, listening to music, but I prefer to listen to the birds.  It's a good thing.

A goal for this summer is to try out some new quilting techniques.  In a moment of lunacy, I subscribed to the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle Journey #2.  When the first package came, I saw that it involved freezer paper applique, and promptly set it aside.  Now there are three little packages, perhaps four.  This week I began the project in the upper left-hand corner of the photograph, "Remember Me," the one that involves the freezer paper.  As of now, the little blocks are pieced and the freezer paper is ironed onto half of them.  I'd said I wanted to learn how to do this, so here goes.  I also want to try paper piecing, something else I've put off.  And there's the cow quilt to put together -- A spectacular Dutch cow came yesterday from Annemieke and will be featured in the next blog post (when I find where I put my camera).

And then there is Summer Reading; I've reserved a few titles at the library and picked up a couple of things at the bookstore.

Summertime.  And the livin' is easy.  Thanks be to God!