Quote for the Week

Memory's truth is to scientific, objective truth is as a pearl is to a grain of sand.
   From Hold Still by Sally Mann

Books of February

There There.  The book was named one of the best of the year so I wanted to read it though the title confused me.  I learned that the setting is Oakland, about which Oakland native Gertrude Stein once remarked, "There's no there there."  The many characters are urban Native Americans who are all planning to go to a big pow wow in Oakland.  They all have their reasons.  The last part of the book takes place at the pow wow and we learn whether each achieved their goals.

Dying Well.  Mortality has always interested me and in this book Dr. Byock gives heartfelt advice on how to interact with dying patients and how loved ones or the patient him/herself can make dying a growth experience.  A good book to keep in mind when you need it.

The 71/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.  Billed as "Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day," it lives up to the name, but don't bother with it.  By chapter 2, I was totally confused.

The Rustic Brush

Every February my financial advisor at Houston Asset Management has a luncheon for his clients who are widows.  At several of these I've passed out my "Eleven Commandments for Widows."

This year, instead of a luncheon, we were invited to a craft event at The Rustic Brush, a place where you can decorate items like trays, lazy Susans, door hangers, signs, even doormats.  I was a little nervous.  I am not a crafty person.  The only thing I do well with my hands is type.  But why not join the fun?  I chose an easy item to make--a tray with the words "Enjoy the little things" 

When we arrived, we found our chosen items laid out on tables.  We donned aprons and selected the color stain we wanted for our wooden trays.  I picked dark walnut. We sanded the trays and brushed on the color.  That was easy.  

After the stain dried, we selected colors for our decorations.  I picked a bright aqua I thought would contrast nicely with the stain.  Some people used several colors, but that was too fancy for me to even consider. We were given stencils--thank goodness we didn't have to draw the patterns ourselves.  We pressed the stencils on the wood, and painted them with our chosen colors.  We then removed the stencils and, voila, there was the pattern on the tray.  

Handles were attached to the trays, we had a light lunch and then we were ready to take our creations home.  One problem--the tray is too large to fit in any of my cabinets so it is currently residing in my newly emptied speech therapy closet.  I plan to use it the next time I host a Mah Jongg afternoon.

I'm pretty pleased with myself.  This was my first successful craft.
Good thing because, at my age, I may not have many chances left.