As you have discovered, the door to the conference room was locked when you arrived. I wanted to keep everyone out in the hall so that I could give each and everyone one of you a hug as you entered the meeting.
My sincere thanks to everyone for your kind comments, e-mails and other good thoughts in my behalf. I am continuing to "de-stress" my life as much as I can.
I've been sewing madly. So madly in fact that my newer electronic sewing machine self-destructed. I am done, done, done with these modern machines. Unless you spend lots of $$$$$ they are a just a disaster waiting to happen. Meanwhile, the lovely heavyweight Beverly keeps on sewing. You gotta love a loyal friend who is 45 lbs. of cast iron.
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It's been a while since I posted and I thought it would be nice to serve something special this morning.
How about two year old pound cake?
+I dug through the archives to serve up this sand castle cake. Through the magic of the internet it tastes just as fresh as the day it came out of the oven. Help yourself. There's also a large bowl of fresh strawberries.
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What are you reading lately? I just finished a book written by a woman who rode her Honda motorcycle from the east coast to Alaska and back. It rekindled the desire to hit the open road although at my age it certainly wouldn't be on a motorcycle. I can barely imagine doing such a trip in the relative comfort of a car, much less on a bike.
I do miss those days when I did ride. There's a great feeling of freedom on a motorcycle. My friend and neighbor Chuck promised me a ride on his beautiful, large Harley. Unfortunately he passed away before we could go for that ride. I guess the message is to grab the moment and don't put anything off.
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One of my little wallets has gone on a little adventure. A customer placed the order and I sent it out the same day. During the Christmas season I mailed out one of my aprons without Delivery Confirmation, the first and only time I've sent a package without it. Of course, that is the one and only package that every got lost!
Anyway, the wallet was mailed and a day or two later I checked it's progress to Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania......
Nope. The wallet was in Coppel, Texas! I'm pretty sure that's in the opposite direction. I hopped over the to post office and asked them to investigate. The wallet had moved on to Dallas. What the heck?
What we figured out is that when it was initially checked into the system, someone read the zip code as 75370 (Dallas) instead of 15370 (Pennsylvania).
Anyone who has ever received a piece of mail from me will be able to confirm that my handwriting is extremely legible.....calligraphy legible.
The clerk assured me that they would soon realize the mistake and send it on to it's proper destination. I certainly hope so. In the meantime I've sent a message to the customer that her wallet was on a mini-adventure and would be arriving soon.
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I have a confession to make.
I love to iron.
To me it's relaxing. Perhaps because I love to sew, which requires you to press as you go along. I'm sure that if I was faced with the tons of non-permanent press laundry that my mom faced I'd feel much differently.
Imagine my surprise when I found out about the "sport" of Extreme Ironing.
Have you heard of this? The website states that it combines "the thrill of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt."
Hmmm, I wouldn't know, since I've never participated in an extreme outdoor activity. They dreamed this up in England and I sense a bit of Monty Python in it all.
Here's the official website, whose sponsor is none other than Rowenta.
EXTREME IRONING
Where's the most extreme place you've ever ironed? I can't say I've ironed any place more exciting than my laundry room.
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Again, i want to thank you for your continued support and friendship during this time. I will remain the prodigal Farmer's Wife until which time I feel fully recharged and able to put forth the effort that this endeavor deserves.
What I'm going to do is attempt to at least hold a staff meeting on Monday. Next week I'll have a big surprise for you. Here's a clue - it's pink! ......oh, and one in lavender ....... and a miniature version in jet black.
Any guesses?
I now turn the meeting over to you. Let's talk!!!!
34 comments:
Welcome Back!
Yeah! What a sweet treat to hear from you again! I'm reading "The Girls from Ames" - non-fiction story about women's friendships. I'll look forward to Mondays again now that you're planning to hold staff meetings! I'm glad things are falling into place for you.
OH...I was so happy to see your blog in my feed reader this morning.
Thanks for the hug, please note that I squeezed you extra long because I missed you so much.
You love to iron? I didn't inherit that gene, although I do love to press while I sew.
Pink? You have a pink surprise? Waaaaaaaaahooooooooo!
When I sold a bunch of our old DVDs on amazon.com, I found that computer-printed labels with barcodes got to their destination faster--and correctly. I use stamps.com (and a scale) and bypass the PO completely. As for reading, I recently read "The Time Travler's Wife." Like most people's lives, the book was an interesting journey with a sad ending.
Extreme Ironing for me is grabbing a clean towel out of the laundry basket and spreading it on my kitchen counter for a "quickie" instead of getting the ironing board out. I highly doubt if you get a nicely pressed shirt in any of those extreme locations -- not one I would wear any way! I don't mind ironing either, as long as my feet aren't killing me.
Reading "Thread of Grace" a WWII/ Holocaust story from the Italian perspective.
so happy to see you back!!!!! I have been checking in every few days to see if you were back. I have been praying for you too.
Take your time getting back in to things.
Pam
Glad you are back! I was going to email you today if there was no meeting. I have missed you!
I am reading The Shack. I am normally a fast reader. This book requires contemplation and a slow pace. I keep plugging along and learning a lot along the way.
I am thinking that your surprise is sewing machines.
whoops forgot to answer what I was reading: Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth and Fat Chance by Julie Hadden. can you figure out I am dieting??
Pam
Welcome back! It's great to see a post from you!
I'm a big fan of ironing. I iron all of my husband's shirts and all of mine, including T-shirts. Ironing is instant gratification. :) It's lovely to take a wrinkled shirt and see it turn into a smooth, crisp garment right before my very eyes.
I take my iron with me whenever I travel. I have ironed in hotel rooms, motel rooms, beach houses and mountain cabins. I've ironed on beds, tables, and weird ironing boards with legs that sink like a drunken sailor.
As for reading, lately I've been reading a charming old book by Gladys Taber called Harvest of Yesterdays.
Take care, Suzanne! It's great to hear what you've been up to!
Glad your back....I just got back from the east coast. And I loved the traveling in a truck. I sure miss that a lot. I hate being in one place all the time......Am reading the Bloody River. About settleing of America and the Indians and all. Really good. But am a history nut.....Take care. I guess the weirdest place I've ironed is on the kitchen table because I didn't have an ironing board.
Hi Suzanne, it was nice to see your post this morning though I confess I'm not blogging as much either. I'd love to say I'm simplifying but honestly I'm just trying to keep up right now! Seems life got faster and I got slower. I love ironing too - but I'm definitely not an extreme ironer. I'm more of a so-so ironer. :) blessings, marlene
Forgot to tell ya....I picked up a Rowenta at the Salvation Army in Alexandra, VA. Get this for $6.95. I Picked it up and it had a AS IS sticker on it. I thought this can't be right, something is wrong with it. There wasn't a scratch and it looked brand new. Even the underplate didn't have any scratches. An $80 iron and I got it for $6.95. I love the Salvation Army.....Can't find the good stuff here in the midwest, like out there. They had the greatest store. So that was the other iron story I had......
How lovely to find your update this morning. Yea, a good Monday morning! Sorry to hear about the bad sewing machine. I agree that the old standbys are hard to beat. My machine is over 30 years old and no way am I parting with it.
I haven't read anything but magazine for awhile because when I have a book in hand...I cannot put it down. I have lots to do right now to prepare my house for the invasion of small grandchildren! Boy am I going to be tired when they have to go home. But I'll have a big smile.
Looking forward to next Monday!
i must be honest, the cake is a bit dry. but i don't care! so happy just to be here. i am reading my 'to do list' as we have a BIG party this weekend. wish you could come. i think the surprise is 3 new dogs! what? well I have a pug granddog that often has pink hair. it really isn't that uncommon.
bv
xo
So glad to see you back! So glad to be finished serving a rather lengthy sentence on that hook. (I even blogged about it proving yet again that anything is blog worthy.)
What's going on in my world? So much that I wouldn't know where to begin and, as far as I can tell, none of it good.
Dang new machine of yours. If I tell John, it'll send him on a rant on your behalf. He's highly suspicious of anything after 1954.
Next week? Aprons?
And, yes, I can attest to the fact that one would have to be an idiot to misunderstand your beautiful penmanship. It's excellent!
Welcome back. So glad to see your post today. I'm reading Canyon of Dreams, The Magic and Music of Laurel Canyon by Harvey Kubernik. Everyone from the Beatles, Doors, CSN and the Monkees make an appearance in this book. My ironing secret is the Quilters Quilt and Press II by June Tailor. One side for ironing the other self healing mat for cutting. So handy. I peeked in your etsy shop and WOW. Beautiful work. Love, Penny
Welcome back! So nice to hear from you again! Has it really been 2 years since you first made that cake?
I know what you mean about the quality of modern machines. Plain and basic is always best it seems - the more it can do, and electronic this and that, the more likely it is to breakdown and be too difficult/expensive to repair.
I am reading "Say You're One Of Them" by Uwem Akpan right now. And crochet magazines - you've inspired me to start participating in some of the craft shows and farmer's markets around. I think I will build up some stock and go to the Christmas craft show in November here in town.
I don't know how your writing was misread - it is so beautiful. When I was a kid, we had a small country store. We used to tease my dad about letters, bill payments, etc. that he would send out. We didn't know how they could possibly get to the right place!
As for ironing, yuck! I avoid ironing. A couple years ago, we went to a cousin's wedding and my two eldest children were ring bearer and flowergirl. I had to iron something in the hotel room and my 4 1/2 year old daughter had no idea what the iron was, and was sure we didn't have one at home. She'd never seen me use one before.
What a refreshing treat to read your post on a Monday!!
Oh my goodness, you have been truly missed! The blogworld just isn't the same without you, you are the Fairy Blogmother.
Reading?... Writing Home, good book but I keep putting it down:(
The wedding, is the wedding still on?
word veri-nutrap...hmmm.
So glad to see your post today!!! My mom had a Singer sewing maching she received new around 1955. It's a featherweight (I think that's what they call them.) She sewed on it until 2008 when she passed away. I watched her sew clothes for me and the rest of our family on it. And, it's still as good as new. I won't part with it because it just won't die.
So happy to see you back, Suzanne. You were missed. Right now, I'm reading "The Beach House" and I just finished "Sweetgrass" - can you tell that I love those southern low country novels? Anyhoo, welcome back!
So glad to see you back!! I confess that I do not like to iron and avoid it at all costs. I am currently reading, Delta Wedding, by Eudora Welty.
I'm happy you are back and having staff meetings once again with us!
Glad you posted! Sometimes I feel the need to pull away and hide for awhile! I also love to iron--It's downright peaceful! I love the repetitive motion, the fresh, steamy cotton/linen smell, seeing the finished item hanging so nicely on the hanger! Right now, I'm not so much wanting to pull away from blogging, but from the day job that drains my creative energies! I wanna retire!
It is so good to hear from you. I have really missed you. My week is just not the same without Monday Morning Staff Meeting.
I am reading about how to design a lighting plan, how to choose flooring, and how to grow Hellebores from seed - all on line -in between puttering in the yard and cleaning out 40 years worth of clutter in the basement so we can start remodeling! So glad you are back. Take care ;)!
I'm just glad you posted something! You have no idea how happy I was to see you in my reader :)
(((hugs)))
rue
Welcome back!
Lovely to see you back ! Eveyone missed you !!
Welcome back. It sounds like you have been ultra busy, hope things are easing up a bit now. I don't mind ironing and here with no drier I iron most things to get them truely dry. Also the feel of crisply ironed sheets is so nice and yet my husband can't feel the difference!
Hey there! It was great meeting you today! Come see my blog anytime! I'm also at www.missaphotography.blogspot.com
~Miss A
Suzanne, we enjoyed having breakfast with you this morning. I visited your photography blog and I think your pictures are marvelous. What and eye, and what good subjects you choose!
Please visit me when you can and let's keep in touch.
Debbie
P.S. Thanks for the handmade gift that you gave me; I will keep it, use it and remember its giver. AND, please correct my typo in my previous message:)
Debbie
good morning, suzanne,
what a great staff meeting! such eclectic
and interesting information.
i'm not sure i can work here, however,
because i do NOT like to iron.
i do like to read your blog, though!
I really enjoyed meeting you this weekend~thanks so much for the gift~so cute, and yes, it went straight into my purse too!
I'm really interested in that book you mentioned about the man who paddled the rivers....my father in law would love it! Lately I've been reading hugely fun books..yeah, right...I'm on a Michael Pollan kick and loving Michael Perry's accounts of farm/small town life in WI.
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