Dish Towels

I have a secret fetish - Dish Towels! Just like some women just have to check out the shoes wherever they shop, I need to zip past the dish towel aisle and check out the offerings. I have dish towels from every place I've ever lived, including ones my Mom embroidered in the 40s and my grandmother trimmed with crochet. I even bought a dish towel as a souvenir on my honeymoon!

When we decided to move I vowed to toss my old, ratty friends and buy fresh new dish towels with cheerful red prints. At the last minute I thought hmmm I'll just use my old friends while we're in the rental unit.  Then I thought hmmm these old towels will come in handy while I spruce up the new house. You guessed it, I still have them all (along with an impressive assortment of brand new ones with cheerful red prints).

But today I got this email from a neighbor:
I work at the Wildwood Soup Kitchen on Thursday and we are in always in need of gently used and loved kitchen towels. If anyone has some they would like to donate, I would be glad to pick them up. You can also leave them at our door. The soup kitchen is now serving close to 300 lunches a day and the towels get a work out. Being a dish washer, I can attest to that.
Thank you so much,
Leslie

I'll be dropping off a stack as soon as I finish this post. And, as fate would have it, they were already sitting on the counter in preparation for the new faucet and hot water dispenser to be installed.

"Gently used and loved"! How did she know??

;-)

Bottle Lights

My friend June got me interested in making pretty painted bottle lights.  They really do look gorgeous and are oh so easy to do. Her friend Carol helped us make our first one and I decided to try to make a second on my own. I am far, far from the most creative person and although I have been known to sew, embroider, crochet, knit and quilt, I will never be really good at any of them.

Here's my latest project. I can't wait for the sparkly lights to arrive via eBay. They will really make my bottle pop!

:-)

Welcome Spring

Spring is finally here after what seems like an interminable Winter, at least here in Central Florida.  All my (free) magazines tout Spring Cleaning tips and use such terms as "rebirth" and "fresh start". This truly has appeal to me as I feel like I've gone through a very rough patch with hubby being so frightfully debilitated and with the challenges of moving and what seems like endless shopping excursions.  I am ready to leave the last six months behind and finally embark on my new life.

I have even planned a special event to mark the transition to normalcy - a two night adventure to St. Augustine at the aptly named (I hope) "Peace & Plenty" Bed and Breakfast, only about 100 miles away. I booked the "Nirvana Spa" suite to assure tranquility and also because it boasts a Tempurpedic bed which is advertised as "wonderful" but which I've heard mixed reviews on from real people. Also reserved is a private horse and carriage ride through that lovely and historic city.

When we return I hope it will be to a sharp curtailment of shopping and a to a less hectic routine. I have yet to try the gentle exercise classes, find a regular Mah Jong group and experience my morning coffee out on the lanai.

Welcome Spring!

;-)

The Presidents

"Grand ol' Gang" by Andy Thomas

Spending a nice evening strolling the Spanish Springs Town Center had a high point - an impromptu visit to an art gallery where I spotted these two prints by Andy Thomas, artist extraordinaire.  Of course I wanted them but I really have no place for them - the logical spots like the library are filled already.  But I satisfied my yearning by buying a set of note cards with both the Republicans and the Democrats.

"True Blues" by Andy Thomas

I quickly sent off a belated birthday card to my friend John (staunch Democrat) and said it was from "all his favorite people". What fun I will have sending these cards out to my other die-hard Democrat and Republican friends!

My note cards feature the same Presidents - but with Obama included - playing pool but I prefer these two paintings of them playing cards. Somehow I think that is much more fitting. After all, each of them was dealt a hand and each had to gamble with big stakes - the well being of every U.S. citizen and the future of the free world. They had to decide when to hold, when to fold, when to bluff and when to go all in.

Yes indeed, I do so admire Andy Thomas and each of the subjects in his paintings - whether I voted for them or not!

;-)

Happy Purim

My incredible cousin Charles (known to me as "Chuckie" but I'm sure he no longer uses the diminutive of his name) called Sunday to tell me that his son David (I can't wait for his wedding in Toronto in June) read directly from our family heirloom - a hand written Megillah on sheepskin - at their shul. I was moved to tears.

Chuck knew how thrilled I would be to see our traditions passed through the generations. And my father was right to pass the Megillah and our other family heirloom - the ram's horn Shofar - to Chuck's family who can both read the Megillah and sound the Shofar.

I believe our family heirlooms date far past my Great-Grandfather Avignor but I will credit David with reading from his Great-Great-Great-Grandfather's Megillah. His lineage is: Avignor -> Shmuel Tzvi -> Gittel (Holocaust Victim) -> Ruth (Holocaust Survivor) -> Charles -> David. I am sure the ancestors are kvelling in Heaven.

Yasher Koach David! Good Job!

:'-)

Ah Sweet Mystery

Mom used to sing this song to me when I was a little girl

I heard on CNN today that the ill-fated Flight 370 has joined the ranks of the other Great Mysteries of the World.  That puts it in the company of the assassination of JFK, the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa and the identity of Jack The Ripper. Everyone seems super frustrated that despite the high tech capabilities of the entire planet we are unable to determine how a huge aircraft with over 200 souls on board has vanished into thin air. It's almost an expectation that we should know everything about everything, or at least be able to find out by Googling.

Truth be told, we know very little about anything of importance. Shouldn't we be able to determine the exact date of our natural death?  Our risk of cancer and other diseases?  Who, out of all the billions of people on earth, is our exact perfect soulmate? What career will best suit us? Why are we going through all this trial and error in our lives, sampling one partner or job or hometown after another?

Ah those are the sweet mysteries that are life itself.

I pray the families and friends of those aboard Flight 370 find answers soon...

One Word

Can I describe myself in one word and thereby "buld" my confidence? I think not but I will try with several one word answers.

Jewish
Retiree
Floridian
(hmm these are how I describe myself in the caption on my blog...)

Then there's:
Petite (preferable to "short")
Frugal (preferable to "cheap")
Homebody
Organized (preferable to "Type A")
Informed (but sometimes Clueless)
Energetic (usually)
Grateful (always!)

But mostly I am just plain Happy...

;-)

Stainless Steel

Have you noticed? I have not been blogging lately.  The reason is simple: I have been in a funk. What is the cause of my funk you ask? Stainless Steel.

For months hubby and I have disagreed about the merits of stainless steel kitchen appliances. In the last couple of weeks, with hubby finally recuperated almost 100%, the issue has escalated. I wanted to keep the current (old and outdated but looking like the day they were new) white appliances or at least buy new white appliances that keep the look of the Country French kitchen with brass accents that I love. Hubby feels that anything less than gleaming stainless appliances is putrid and makes appropriate gagging noises to illustrate his disgust. All friends that have offered an opinion agree with him.

One of us had to lose and it was me. After a few rough starts, a complete line of Kitchen Aid appliances will be arriving shortly. Also gone will be my shiny brass kitchen faucet ("French Gold") and cabinet knobs with brass accents, soon to be replaced by stainless and nickel substitutes. My creamy white and beige kitchen will be broken up by large swatches of steel, gray and black. I am royally bummed and praying it will not look as bad as I think it will.

The good news is that an instant hot water dispenser is included in our recent purchases. I guess I will make some tea and Carry On!

:-/

Pet Peeve

Do you have one? I surely do. It's dumb people comparing everything and everyone they don't like to Hitler and the Holocaust. Now it's Hillary Clinton comparing Putin's invasion of Crimea to Hitler. A month or so ago I responded to a Facebook post that compared followers of Obama to Hitler's followers. Can you imagine?

 

Listen up world. There has been only one Hitler and one Holocaust, Thank God. Oh there have been plenty of dictators, injustice, slaughter of innocents and more evil and pain than can be imagined. But unless your particular dictator has lined up millions of defenseless and unoffending men, women and children and systematically murdered them in ovens, tortured, starved and enslaved them, destroyed their cultural and religious artifacts and nearly succeeded in wiping them off the face of the earth in the name of ethnic cleansing or racial superiority please DO NOT compare him or her to Hitler. It mitigates the horror of the Holocaust and hurts the few remaining survivors who still bear numbers on their arms.

 

You too Hillary. I'm shocked at your ignorance.

 

:-(

The Call

Scott called yesterday to tell us about his latest performance appraisal rating at work: "Substantially exceeds expectations". A big raise and a big bonus accompanied the rating so his company definitely showed their appreciation in a large (and well deserved way). I could not possibly be prouder of Scott.

"I owe it all to the work ethic you both and Mom gave me" he said. Ah, thanks from young people - are there  any words sweeter? But I always wonder where this greatly exaggerated praise comes from every time he or Laura say it (pretty often and of course they know we love to hear it) since I am pretty sure we never actually lectured them on how to live their lives when they were kids. (Well maybe we shared a pointer or two...)

I think one thing that had a lasting influence on Scott was that he would come over to do work for us almost every weekend when he was just 13, 14, 15 - until he was old enough to get a "real" job. We paid him $5 an hour (tax free) which was a pretty good amount for a young guy at the time. If he slept over and worked Saturday and Sunday he could make $100. in a weekend, enough to buy the latest teen toy or upgrade his sneakers to the exorbitantly priced celebrity-endorsed ones. Scott learned that money came from work and it also kept him productively busy and away from any of the temptations that bedevil bored teenagers. Of course, he also learned a bunch of basic homeowner skills like carpentry, plumbing and electrical wiring which have served him well (the student has way surpassed the teacher hahaha). All I knew at the time was that things were getting done around the house and it was so much fun to have Scott around.

Thank you for the call Scott. You certainly have Substantially Exceeded Our Expectations.

And you always will.

Love you.