Friday—odds and ends

It would be hard to imagine a more beautiful day. This is the view from my front porch this morning. When it finally stops raining in Oregon, it really knows how to do Spring. Gonna have to cut some of those lilacs—I love that divine smell in the house.

Things in the yard are green and lush. I love this time of year.




Old friends
I heard from an old friend this morning. From 1988 to 1993 I owned a quilt shop in Ashland, Oregon. There were a group of women who came to the shop every Tuesday morning. When they started coming in none of us knew each other, but all wanted a place to get together with other quilters and I was happy to provide it. We became very good friends—really special friends. Then I closed my shop and moved to Portland. They had a party for me and made a quilt for me and a wonderful little book of photos with their memories and comments, including little bits of some of the favorite fabrics they had purchased from me. Leslee emailed me this morning to tell me that she had recently visited Dickie, who moved to California. Dickie showed Leslee my blog and that prompted the email. It was full of news, including how two, sometimes three, of that old group are still meeting together and she said,

"So this weekly sewing and these friendships all began many years ago at The Scrap Peddler. What a great legacy—a store that begins fruitful friendships."

Well, how great is that? I miss them all over again.

I think about them all a lot. I have three little dolls that Leslee made. They sit on the Window frame on my stair landing and I pass them going up and down the stairs.

















Dickie gave me one of her wonderful Kitty dolls that sits on top of a bookcase with my mother's Buddy Lee doll, my old, well-loved raggedy doll (that you can see in this picture the Christmas morning it was brand new) and a couple of raggedys that I made.

I am so happy to have these things and to have had these wonderful friends.