Mary Ruth Tooley, rest in peace

Shortly after I arrived at work yesterday, we were informed that a co-worker had passed away the night before. It was unexpected and so very sad. Mary Ruth had worked for our library system for over thirty years, and before that, she had been a nun. She had a wonderful sense of humor and everyone loved her. Mary Ruth was a faithful reader of my blog...she was the first person I actually knew who came up to me at work to tell me she had found her way to PlumWater Cottage, quite by accident. We will miss her.

Updated to add: Visitation will be at Ziemer's East in Evansville Friday 7/25/08 from 3-8; a funeral service will be held on Saturday at 10AM, also at Ziemer's East.

Wednesday at work

Here's where I'll be at 10:30 and 3:30...the Cafe Garden at the library. The humidity is dropping as the day goes on, and it's just beautiful out this morning. After a week of scorching temperatures and high humidity, today is going to be very pleasant. It's so nice to be able to take breaks outside...to get "out" for fifteen minutes and enjoy the outdoors. The cafe is supposed to reopen next month...we've had three different vendors there, and other than the first group when we initially opened the new building, they've all left lots to be desired. I'm ever hopeful that this next vendor will be great; he had a free-standing restaurant on the Main Street walkway, and while we were in the old library facility some of us would walk over there for lunch. Named the Alley Savant, for its location in one of Evansville's many alleyways, it was a hidden treasure.

Uh Oh!

I would guess by now, anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis, or anyone who knows me, KNOWS I have a passive/aggressive relationship with books. Even in the past week, I've made several stacks of books to "do away with" in one way or another. While perusing Amazon this morning, I came across this book...Bethany Lowe's Folk Art Halloween. How could I resist? I have several pieces by her (and her minions overseas), and I absolutely love Halloween decor. This book has 30 projects...I can't wait to receive this! On the hottest day of the year--so far--I'm thinking orange & black.

This one's for you, Vee ;-)

This is what's behind the curtain...not the Wizard, just ordinary crafty items and a huge assortment of books. I need to do a purge of some of the craft books---there are things I'll never do.

Creative concealment project complete!

My little drapery concealment turned out to be a bit more complicated than it needed to be. I temporarily misplaced a little wooden thread holder that holds my big spool of thread on the Featherweight. Not good...it took a little while to find, and then with the pinning of the pleats...well--I wanted to do a 'mistreatment' ala The Nester, but instead ended up pleating, sewing, and hemming my project. So tempting to get out the glue gun, but I would have probably burned myself with it. I still need to load the bookcase, but it really doesn't look too bad...I love the fabric, the price was right, and I finished it in under 24 hours of starting it--pretty impressive for me. All in all, I only spent about 45 minutes actually working on it. The rest was hunting & gathering.

Pink Saturday

Thanks again to Beverly for hosting another Pink Saturday!
I was going to go a whole different way with Pink Saturday this week, but last night when I was cleaning out the bookcase in the diningroom--in preparation for the new cover-up for it--I came across this incense holder. I bought it primarily for the look of it--it looks heavy and old. I'm not a fan of burning incense, but will put an unburned stick in a floral arrangement purely for the scent of it. My fave--green tea.
The second picture is more what I wanted to express for Pink Saturday. Pink is more than a color...it's an attitude. The author who most expresses this for me is Alexandra Stoddard. I've been collecting her books for ages...I remember getting one out of the library years and years ago...Style for Living...I read and 'studied' that book...and wanted to live that kind of life. I went through a few periods of that, but mostly I fall back into a relaxed living style. I met Alexandra years ago (I think my daughter was in second grade), when she visited our area to do a Town Hall Lecture. Her husband was in attendance, and they were such a 'cute' couple. I took along a few books for an autograph, and she was so gracious to everyone in line...stopping to chat, to sign, and to insert a beautiful grosgrain ribbon into all of the autographed books. Whenever I think of pink, Alexandra Stoddard comes to mind.

Another project got in the way...

While out and about on my errands this afternoon, I spotted this fabric at JoAnn. It was on the clearance rack...home dec fabric on sale at $9.00/yd. and further discounted by 50%. I love the muted neutral colors in the design, and purchased 2 tiebacks to match the ones in my livingroom holding back the painter's dropcloth draperies I made last winter. I'm going to use this fabric to make a drapery for a bookcase; I won't be assembling the Martha Stewart-style craft cases anytime soon, so this will have to do. Since I've moved craft 'heaven' from the guest room, I have a need to do a 'creative concealment' ala Melissa at The Inspired Room.


I'll post a picture (maybe later this evening--or early tomorrow morning) to show you the results.

Farewell, Paris

The beginning of a three day weekend...what I thought was going to be an exercise in moving a few kitchen items out of an alcove and turning it into a cheery breakfast nook, has turned into a different furniture/stuff moving adventure. All thoughts of moving into a smaller space have flown out of the window. I'm still determined to rid myself of excess 'stuff' --probably to only accumulate new and different 'stuff'--but I've redirected my efforts last evening and this afternoon to relinquishing my guest room/craft room to my daughter. It was her space originally and she's moved back home. She's a busy girl, so I still won't see that much of her, but it's good to have her back in the nest, for however long she stays. She has just one year of college remaining, and she has her 'plan' together for grad school (along with two jobs she absolutely loves), so I'll just enjoy it while it lasts.

Last night I moved most remnants of my crafty things from the room..."PARIS" vacates this afternoon. I want her to be able to decorate the room the way she wants to...and she's brought lots of things back with her.

After a quick trip out for groceries (must replenish the pantry---other than milk, I haven't really grocery-shopped since just before Memorial Day), and a hopefully quick stop at the fabric shop for my sachet fabric, I'll be in for the weekend. It's going to be super-hot & humid, with an ozone alert in effect, so I'll be languishing in the airconditioning, sewing, and re-doing. I hope to get some books for sale listed at PlumWater Cottage Mercantile ;-) and some lavender chamomile sachets listed on Etsy.

A Thursday quickie...

Right here, right now, everything in my herb & tomato patch looks so good. Another day of sunshine, and I should be picking quite a few tomatoes. Can't wait!

Not your typical morning at work...

Sharp-shooters positioned on rooftops is not your typical morning in Evansville. Across the way from the library is The Centre where this morning our governor was participating in a 'symbolic' groundbreaking for I-69. Symbolic, because they couldn't hold it where the highway will be built--not enough security to hold back protesters.
For the past two days, they've been setting up barricades all around The Centre; including on the street right outside of our library.
Increased security was in place---it looked like every policeman south of Indianapolis was here to 'serve and protect.' Two sharpshooters were positioned on our rooftop, and two more on The Centre's. By the way...not too many protesters stopped by.

6 Unimportant Things about moi...

I was tagged by my friend Michelle, a/k/a MadRedHare. These are the 'rules':

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.

2. Post these rules to your Blog.

3. Share 6 unimportant things about yourself.

4. Tag people at the end of your entry.

This presents a bit of a problem and a lot of thought. There's definitely more unimportant things than important things about me...I can't think of anything important. If the assignment was to list six annoying things about me, well...that would be a real treat and a much easier task.

1. I get up early every morning, whether it's a work day or not.

2. At any given time, I have at least four or five books started.

3. Pajama bottoms and a tee shirt are my favorite 'at home' wear.

4. I don't/won't/will never scrapbook, but I have tons of scrapbooking materials that I use for other projects.

5. I can (and do) easily entertain myself at home, with varied projects, TV, music, and books. I keep a well-stocked pantry, so that once I'm home, there's no need to go out.

6. I watch Y&R faithfully, either online or on SoapNet.

Am I boring, or what?

I would love to tag other bloggers, so if you haven't participated in this particular one, consider yourself tagged.