Love Letters

probably the oldest surviving Valentine love letter in the English language was written by Margery Brews to her fiancé John Paston in February 1477. Describing John as her 'right well-beloved valentine', she tells him she is 'not in good health of body nor of heart, nor shall I be till I hear…….

Recently, I’ve been watching a PBS program featuring Jane Austin’s Sandition, unfinished novel begun in January, 1817, stopped in March 1817.  Now on season three, it stuck me how today’s romance has lost the touch of true “wooing!”  

Back to those days of Jane-No touching in public, modest clothing, fans fluttering around the face to flirt; and love letters written, secretly placed in hiding spots known only to two would be lovers or maybe a letter arriving discreetly in the mail to be whisked away, only to be read in privacy.  It’s all so romantic!! At least, in Jane Austin’s world—

Brings to mind, the original movie, “Shoppe Around the Corner”, starring Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart.  This movie was made in 1940. Somehow, these two became pen pals through postal service.  Their letters soon turned into love letters—-ahhh!  What a movie!  Today’s version is “ You’ve Got Mail”— the story uses internet to bring emails to life.  Is this “wooing” today?  No hand written letter to unfold, to read in secret, to read over and over again—

During my courtship with hubby (over 60 years ago), we wrote letters to each other.  I couldn’t believe what lovely words he could jot on paper!  Made my heart swoon!  How I miss those letters, which were destroyed in a house fire.  I wish our children could appreciate those words of their father—they would be astonished he had an ounce of romance in his bones!

And if you happen to see an oldie but goodie movie, you might see a stack of love letters bundled up and tied with a ribbon, which are lovingly hugged by the heroine, who unties and cries as she unfolds the paper to relive a once special romance.  

Yes, love letters today are not of Jane Austin’s world—sure would be nice if we could be like that again! 

K=Whatever!

 Key to K

This day is all about the letter K.  All I could think about K is knit, since my mind is geared to textiles.  Digging deeper into K, I found it means so much more—putting K at the end of a number means thousand, 500K—wow that simple 500 jumped with a K to 5,000! 

Then, researching the letter K further, this popped up—unbelievable!  K in your name? K in history? 

Right. Now, I’m K=less!  Meaning keyless!  To enter my home, I don’t have a physical key—just punch in some numbers to open the door.  My car doesn’t need a key either to start the motor—just push a button to be off!  Yes, there is a keyless fob in my pocket to make it work.  I don’t need a key to start my sewing machine, washing machine, dryer, oven or any other appliances.  

We are doomed to being. Key-less!!

Joyful Turns Into Disappointment

Easter Sunday was such a joyful day!  We celebrated our belief in our risen Lord that sacrificed his life for us!  The family gathered to share the day activities.  We had a small egg hunt for our great grandson—what a joyful event!  What a blessed day!

Later in the evening as I had time to reflect on the day and the meaning of our celebration, I opened FB page to Victoria Methodist Bristol knit along—there were photos of lovely completed Lenten scarves— 

Photo from Ann Jackson—such lovely work!

Jill Jackson wears hers pridefully! 

And this one!! Oh such a joy to see these and learn the story that is told in knit and purl stitches. 

But—

I’m so disappointed in myself!  I gave up!! 

I didn’t finish!  I put away the pattern and scarf—walked away—

Jesus would never walk away—HE is always there when I need him—I’m thinking that devil got into my heart and mind and said, “why do you want to finish this project?  What’s in it for you?  Just another scarf you’ll most likely won’t wear?”

My disappointment has turned into Joy!  I’m picking up where I left off on the pattern! 

And I will finish and joyfully wear my scarf!!

I Wish You a Blessed Sunday

Hats!!

Finished!  All the ends woven in--all inside the tube so you can't see where there was an additional yarns added.  This pattern is great stash buster.  This is the second one I've knit.  I keep thinking I'll add less stitches to begin as I want a tight fit.  But, so far, I've not achieved that goal--maybe, the next one will be different.

 

If you push one end inside the tube, you get this look

Push it inside the other end and you get this look.

Isn't that cool?

The designer is Ysolda and the pattern is Musselburgh.  I mentioned this pattern in previous posts--it is mindless knitting once you get the correct number of stitches on needles.

It is a great multi-gauge, double layer hat!

Quest for a Man by Laura Nelkin is on the needles now--I'm using some 'manly' yarn for this hat.

I like to knit hats, stash them and then send to charity--I missed the window to send my hats this past winter to Emily's Hats for Hope--knitting for Hope is a good thing!

Goodness Sake

 Today is our son's birthdate!  He can't be that old though!  Because I'm not that old to have a child, even though he's an adult child, that old!  My mind is stuck in the 20's--but the bod is saying 'no, no, no' when I try to fetch a dish from a shelf, hang a curtain on a windown, climb a step ladder, pull weeds from the garden, etc.   Muscle pains come the day after.  But, it's the truth--he is that old and so am I.

With age, your skin thins and becomes less elastic and more fragile, and fatty tissue just below the skin decreases. You might notice that you bruise more easily. Decreased production of natural oils might make your skin drier. Wrinkles, age spots and small growths called skin tags are more common.  

How did I get so Old so fast??  Whatever you do--don't look up the definition of Old AGE!  You will be depressed for hours, days, weeks, months, if you think you're in that 'old age' bracket.

What are the stages of old age?  Can you believe that someone has come up with a list of stages for old age?  Obviously, it’s youngster who did this study!!

1. Self-sufficiency. The first stage in the aging process is self-sufficiency. ...
2. Interdependence. Eventually, aging loved one will require some support and assistance. ...
3. Dependence. ...
4. Crisis Management. ...
5. End of Life.

This has become depressing to write--ALL I wanted to do was wish my little baby boy--

"Happy Birthday!"" 

Faster I Go, More Behind I Get

 

“The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”  ― Lewis Carroll

That's my life in a ntushell!  I'm stuck in an Alice in Wonderland world!!

It seems I go fast, but I'm just spinning my wheels in stationery place!  Yep, I'm so far behind in my projects--especially my knitting.  I wanted to have the Lenten scarf finished in order to wear to Easter services--but, I'm behind one whole week--and that's alot of stitching.  The patterns have been interesting --thrown in some stitches I've not knit before.  As I knit, I try to catch up on TV shows--there is "Outer Banks"--and I love "Candice Renoir" (all in French so you need to read subtitles) that definitely slows my knitting attention!  

There is my Musselburgh hat waiting to be finished--just a few more rows and it would be finished!

There was an inquiry from family about plans for Easter!  What?? Is it time to plan for Easter?  Holy smokes—

I just need to calm down!  Breathe deep! and recenter myself--it's okay!  everything will be okay--even if projects sit for a little while longer----other things go by the wayside-- after all, it is Easter time!  Just be happy in the space I am at the present time--yes, this is a happy place for the time being!  So what?  If I'm still behind-- in the words of Lewis Caroll  "The more passionately you pursue your dream, the more demands you'll have on your time".  Isn't that the truth??