I am in the process of creating my crocheted kindness!  This year, in addition to the food that my family usually donates to the Thanksgiving collection at our local Community Center, I am making crocheted pine cones to add.  I have a bunch made already and every evening I work on making more.  Here is what the pine cones look like:

I chose pine cones because they are not something that is specific to any religion and they are a symbol of love to me because of the fond childhood memories I have of collecting them and creating with them.  I’m going to add a ribbon with a little note that says, “You are cared about” to each one.  I’ll be delivering my pine cones and food to the center this Wednesday!

Also, today, my daughter and I will be shopping for the annual toy collection that takes place in our school district!  I’m thinking craft project kits will be perfect!

This post wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention that I have been on the receiving end of so much kindness in the past few months!  It has been a difficult few months and the love and support that has been given to me and my daughter has been beautiful.  Love in the form of blessing coins, and cookies and handwritten notes and blog comments and emails.  I feel the hugs!  Thank you!  Your kindness has made a huge difference!  I’ve also received so many small kindnesses during my many visits to our high school in the form of teenagers holding doors for me and letting me fit into traffic and thank you’s when I hold doors for them.  All this kindness fills me with hope!

Now, go visit Se’Lah and Anyes for links to a lot more kindness!

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Happy Birthday, Christina!!!  I am so thankful to have met you here on the internet.  Your words and images always inspire me and lift me up!  In honor of your birthday, and arranged by another sweet heart on the internet, simple things!

• catching tadpoles in our pool ruins and watching them change day by day into frogs
• listening to the cicadas
• watching the red squirrels relax and nap on the branches of our apple tree in the heat of the day
• my youngest son coming food shopping with me now that camp is over
• my daughter and youngest son’s delight that our deer brought her two spotted fawns along with her yesterday evening to eat the fallen apples
• the soft whirr of the ceiling fans
• playing Molkkey with my family every night that it’s not raining
• staying up late
• sleeping late
• salmon on the grill
• little green tomatoes that promise to be large red tomatoes in a few weeks

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Today, in celebration of the Dalai Lama’s 75th birthday, Se’Lah has something very special going on in the Necessary Room!  She is inviting anyone that would like to participate to help her to build a bridge of love by doing a random act of kindness today!  I have a couple of specific things planned today.  I’ll be donating books to our library, which I do whenever we accumulate at least a full paper bag’s worth of books, and I’ll be mailing a special something to a special someone!  Along with my planned things, I will be extra mindful to go out of my way to do the kind thing while I’m out and about.  Also, something I sometimes forget about, I’ll be extra mindful to do the kind thing while I’m home with my family!

And!  Inspired by Elizabeth at retinal perspectives, I’d also like to send a little something to one of you!  If you leave a comment on this post you are included in the drawing.  I’ll pick a name at random tomorrow morning, July 7, 2010, and pop something in the mail to you! Edited to Add:  A winner has been chosen. Elizabeth at retinal perspectives, you have won a little crocheted something!  It seems very appropriate since you are the one that inspired me to have this tiny giveaway!  I’ll contact you for your address.

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I’m currently hooked on making washcloths! (Pun intended!)  I’m not using these as washcloths.  I’m using them as a table decoration for a tiny table that I have in my kitchen.  I can change them with my color mood and place a little candle or napkin holder on them.  They really brighten up the small space!

This is the Sylvan Star Pattern from Lion Brand.  For this one, I used Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Crochet Cotton in the color American.

For the next, I used the Ocean Grove Round pattern from Lion Brand.  I used Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Crochet Cotton in the color Hot Green.  I only had partial ball of yarn when I made this one, so I made it smaller than the pattern calls for.

This next one I created myself.  It is just a simple basket weave stitch, but I really love it!  I think this one would feel really nice if it was used as a washcloth!  I used the first half of the ball of Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Crochet Cotton in Hot Green on this.

Here’s a closeup of the stitches.

And lastly, a knit washcloth!  I have done a little bit of knitting, but find crochet faster and easier.  But, I really love the look of knit, too!  So I decided to give it this pattern a try and I love it!  The pattern is Long Beach washcloth from Lion Brand.  Again, I’m using Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Crochet Cotton on this.  I’m not sure what the color is.  I don’t have the yarn band anymore.  It might be Faded Denim.

I hope you have some time this weekend to do your favorite things!

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• New car smell!
• It’s blue, but sometimes, in some light, it looks very slightly purple!
• I can close the rear hatch without the huge struggle that ensued every time I closed the hatch of my old car.
• There’s no dog slime in it.  Yet.
• The brakes work really well.  In my old car, you needed to push really hard on the brakes to stop.  I used to feel like Fred Flintstone when he would push his heels into the ground to stop!
• There are no strange clicking noises when my husband adjusts the steering wheel that way he likes it.  That annoyed the heck out of him in the old car.
• The brake light doesn’t come on (knock on wood!) scaring the heck out of me while I’m driving.  This happened a few times in the old car.  We brought it in for service and their computers couldn’t find a problem!

Weird Stuff:

• Sometimes you can hear the gasoline sloshing around in the tank. What the heck?
• It has 6 cylinders, but only uses the ones it needs, when it needs them.  I can feel the engine doing all that weird stuff.
• The brakes work really well.  I’m just not used to that.
• It notices when I have something light-weight placed on the front passenger seat and turns that airbag off.
• I feel like I’m hurtling through time and space at warp speed…and I’m only going 40 mph.  Yeah, the people behind me aren’t too happy about this.

I’m sure you figured it out already -  it’s a new car!  I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about the old one and all it’s problems anymore!

And because it just doesn’t feel right to have a post without a photo…can you see the reflection of our fence in the water drop?!

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Today my memories are about our pool and all of the good times we have had in it.

It was here when we moved into our house almost 15 years ago.  So many good memories include our pool.  Our three children learned to swim in it.  They have had swimming competitions in it.  My husband has pretended to be a water monster in it, producing loads of giggles and belly laughs from my children!  My daughter and I have exercised in it.  We have had parties and lots of family and friends in it.  We’ve lounged by it and jumped in when we got too hot.  We’ve gone in it on hot nights.  We’ve gone in it on cool nights, when the water was warmer than the air.  My daughter and I created our first Stan & Floss Adventure using it.

Later, when it was falling apart, we found frogs and toads and snapping turtles in it.

We’ve roasted marshmallows in it.

My husband is now in the process of demolishing our pool.  I feel sad about it.  I feel like I’ll lose the memories.  I’m sad that we won’t create new ones with the pool.  It feels like one more step away from they joys of childhood.  Sigh.

Do you have any memories to share today?  Please leave a link in the comments!

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Today I love…

• Crocus flowers
• Timmy, who snuggled up in bed with me 15 minutes before the alarm went off this morning
• a teen-aged son, who backed our car into it’s parking space for the first time yesterday afternoon and…learned to parallel park, too!
• a husband that agreed to take a day next week during our kids’ spring break for our family to go an aquarium and visit a couple of colleges
• a daughter that is all that I ever could have hoped for in a daughter, and more
• a youngest son that never fails to bring a smile to my face
• Polly, because she didn’t jump up when I approached her with the camera this time…

Happy Love Thursday!

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(My photos may not show up in a feed reader or by email subscription.  I still haven’t gotten that to work all the time. If you don’t see the photos, click through to my site. )

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my simple things…

opening a brand new book, opening an old worn book, the smell of lilacs in the spring, the feel of mud squishing through my toes, a hot shower on a cold morning, fluffy pillows and warm blankets, creating a new pattern and liking it when I’m finished, always being able to to provide my children with fresh food and clean water, avocados, walking in the woods with my family, having a good dream and remembering it when I wake up, homemade chicken noodle soup, my pup snuggling up next to me on a chilly evening.

I’m having a little giveaway here tomorrow, January 28, 2010. The hearts above are a clue! Stop by if you get a chance.

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My bread machine is getting quite the workout this week.  Last week, too!  It started last Tuesday when I made a bread machine Stollen for my husband.  I made it two days before Christmas, just in case it was horrible.  Then, I would have time to make a real Stollen with a recipe that the sweet and lovely Christina gave me!  My husband loved the bread machine Stollen, so I’ll try the real recipe when I’m feeling really confident.  I need a lot of confidence to make a bread by hand!  Next, I made pizza crust on Christmas Eve.  We had a very unconventional Christmas Eve dinner of Shrimp Cocktail and homemade pizza!  They were both really good!  Yesterday I made Adobe Bread.  Proof of our living in the computer age, my youngest son jokingly asked if it was (Adobe) Photoshop bread!  Today, Cinnamon Raisin Bread is what’s baking!

I love the smell of bread baking and even the yeasty smell when the machine is kneading the dough!  I’m enjoying my time this week with my kids being on vacation from school (although my 8th and 11th graders still have homework!)  I love baking when my kids are home because I know that one day they will smell cookies or bread baking and it will remind them a little bit of me and their childhood and love.

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