Mixing Up Our Lives with Books.

A good quote to live by ... and reading them is fun too!

On Monday I asked Dad to cut some Masonite to back these two pictures.

But he did me one better and used my favorite old beadboard (from the Texas flea I like) to make frames for them. 

Here they are in the grouping I got them for in my bedroom. 

He also found this picture of a kitchen online that he knew I would love, maybe he's thinking of surprising me with it too. I could go for that.

Well, this is what happens in my real kitchen.  I found this over colored rocking horse at the Grove last weekend, when I ran in to get my paycheck.  It was half off, and I paid only $100, I've been look for one I liked and could afford, for at least 10 years, if not more.  Yeah!

and while Dad was surprising me by framing my prints, I was busy stripping my horse, and here is his newfound home. 

On Tuesday I did some junking, and in the midst of it got a call from Dad saying he'd locked himself out of the car in Provo. He'd gone to the bank that the chorus is using to find out who the signers were on the account and had left his keys on the seat.  I ran to the rescue, and he rewarded me with lunch before I headed back north to pick up some teapots, I had purchased on Facebook Marketplace.

That evening we went in and visited with the Stake President, President Zepeda and were released from our Pioneer Trek Service mission.  It's hard to believe it's been 2 years. 

On Wednesday I headed off to work.  Here are some books I put into my book booth there. Dad stayed home and worked on taxes.

On Thursday Dad went to the temple, while I was at work, then attended Payson's community meeting on changes they are making to Payson Main Street. He said it doesn't look like there will be any changes for our property. 

On Friday I went north, first to DI and then to work at the Grove. At DI this man, who was volunteering offered to carry out my rug to save me time.  He was super nice and we had a great conversation. 

Dad, meanwhile, was working on Ashley's basement bathroom patching the sheetrock. 

Then he picked me up and we headed to Heuers to meet up with Moes too and have dinner. Then we watched a couple of the Halmark Jane Austen adaptations that they have been touting this month for Loveuary.  This one was called 'Paging Mr. Darcy', about how an English Professor who specializes in Jane Austen finds true love. 

The other one was called An American in Austen, which had a lot in common with the Movie, Lost in Austen.  Everyone preferred this one. I like them both. 

Here's our hostess and host. 

Barb and Randy and my eye. 

On Saturday Dad went off early, then I did some leisurely tidying up and house cleaning. I created this vignette, but not sure I love it. 

I was headed to the mall to fill in a hole where a tall dresser had sold on Friday. I had planned to put the tea cart, you see here, in the place of the dresser space which was to the left of it's current position.  But stopping at DI I found this adorable old bookcase which I knew would be perfect for the spot.  So, I hauled an antique white trunk out to the yard to make the new place for the tea cart.  The tea cart had been in my book booth, but because I'd found one of those revolving table bookcases, that would allow for a lot more books, I needed a new home for the tea cart.  The 'Accoutrements for Tea' booth just seemed like the right place. Now all is well at the mall, and I got to play musical furniture pieces with four pieces.  I am very happy with how it all turned out. 

I also saw this embroidered Pride and Prejudice book.  The gal had to drill tiny holes for all the stitches.  It's pretty but seems like a lot of work.

And while I was tidying up, shopping, and working on displays at the antique mall, Dad was at a school in SLC where the chorus was putting on a work shop for high school kids.  Here they all are in the cafeteria having lunch.

It took 38 pizzas to fill up the 204 kids and 30 members of the chorus. 

Shoot the Moon performs for the kids. 

Here are the kids at work ...

And at the end of the day, they put on a performance.

Today Dad and I went to another ward for a home coming, and met this man, Thadius Moore, and talked him into a picture with Dad.  I love Kilts. 

Dad found a picture of his family online, and I remember meeting them at the Scottish festival last year. 

Trudy and Gorden Peck are the returned missionaries we went to hear.  The sister in the middle is a common friend, Nicole Eddie (Whom Brittney visit taught when they lived in our basement). The Pecks are the ones that did the sheet rock for our attic bedroom.  They served 2 years in Sierra Leone.  They were MLS missionaries and were over 8 branches and said one would have kept them busy.  I read a book about a young African chief's daughter who was 'given' to Queen Victoria by the chief who had killed her family, on a slaving raid.  At the time England had abolished slavery, but the US and some European countries were still buying slaves.  Anyway, the point is that the school the girl attended was in Sierra Leone, and it said that England had set up the country in Africa to house former English slaves.  I thought that was interesting, because Liberia, later, was established for the same reason by Americans after the civil war.  The Pecks said that Seirra Leone had the worst medical care of the country which are tracked, like 138.  

Well, that was our week. Dad finished up listening to James Michener's, Hawaii, he also finished up a romance novel, and The Death of a Traveling Man, about a Scottish copper name Hamish Mc Beth fairly recently.  In addition to reading At Her Magesty's Request that I mentioned earlier, I also listened to 3/4 of a book called The Wrong Mr. Darcy.  It was a Pride and Prejudice knock off with all modern black characters ... I so wanted to love it.  The Elizabeth Bennet character was a sports writer. Darcy and Charles were College Basket ball players.  The story was raunchy and the plot (of course) was predictable.  After turning down the volume repeatedly during sex scenes, and knowing where it was going to end anyway, I gave up... 

But of course, the book that most effects our lives, and the one that we try to read in daily, is the Book of Mormon.  Dad listens to it and reads along in Finnish.  I have the journaling edition, and try to make notes of my questions and thoughts.  Then we listen to Follow Him and make further notes in our books.

 

'Scott'ish Plaids and Infinite Curry

Monday, Monday, seems so very long ago, but that's just because Thursday was a weeklong, but that's another story.  Dad and I worked on the Carriage house in preparation for a party on Saturday.  He moved the air conditioner that was in it, putting it next to the main floor AC, just outside the west doors.

That evening he had an online board meeting with his Barbershop Chorus. 

Here's his view.  He is the treasurer. 

More work in the Carriage house Tuesday before and after Caren Kirk's funeral.  Here are some pics of her as a kid.  What a cutie. 

Here with her husband while they were dating. 

This gentleman played a couple of guitar pieces.  I also wanted to capture all the color of her casket bouquet.  I thought it was just stunning. 

That night Dad headed to Saratoga Springs to put together bouquets to go with the Barbershop quartet singing Valentines they would do the next day. 

On Wednesday he brought me lunch for Valentines, so sweet.  While there he ran into Trisha Wright, who he worked with at Associated Foods.

He even managed to get to sing with the quartet that went to see Ben's friend Aaron Nelson and did a singing Valentine for his wife and cute daughters. 

This is Brittany ... she loves hot yoga ... she made me go once, it was a misery for me, and was possibly the longest half hour of my life.  On the other hand, being sick on Thursday was the longest day of my life.  I was so sick I couldn't eat at all, nor drink much.  I slept all day and all night, both before and after but woke up about once an hour, thinking I'd slept for 8 hours ... sooooo wierd and miserable. 

Fortunately, all that sleep allowed my body to fight off the bad bugs, and I felt like myself on Friday morning and was able to go to work.  Yay ....

After work I framed some pictures, tidied the house, while Dad vacuumed. I cleaned bathrooms, and rearranged art with Dad's help, as you see in these pictures. 

Then on Saturday morning, we finished up in the carriage house, in prep for the India Dinner that night.   I'd brought home this large basket from the shop to cover the part of the window well that was still visible. 

We washed the seat covers and moved the plaid green chairs to each side of the fireplace.

I added the antlers to the top of the serving alcove. 

I'd found them at the Grove, they are resin. 

Dad had affixed the three deer hooks on the right side of the shelf after working hard to put up the shelf and braces on Friday while I was at work.  I brought home the green plaid blanket from the antique mall to hang between the two red ones from the hooks.

On the other side of the serving alcove, Dad hung a single deer head hook to hang yet another plaid blanket.

This is how it all goes together. I'm debating painting the shelf, topper and brackets in the green of the bench (Also the green of the doors).  What do you think?

I also brought out this large landscape with a shepherd and sheep that I thought could look Scottish. It pretty big, and I am looking for a big frame for it. 

Here's a detail. 

We took off in time to meet up in Pleasant Grove, or was it Sherwood Forest, with these folks for Penny's play.

Cutest little merry man I ever met. 

Here she is with other Merry Men.

Here's the whole crew.  It was a 'just add children play'.  A production of the Missoula Children's Theater method.  You should google it.  So fun! And yes, it was Robin Hood. 

Back at the house in time to finish up a few more things before our guests, and our Indian caterer, Nixon John arrived. 

 There were 17 of us in all.  People I have been gathering for 2 months.  On the left side is me, then Michelle Rickard and her husband,Joe, we met them at the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Program, and found that she had worked for a month each year for 6 years in India.  She is now serving a mission at Church Headquarters.  Nest to her are the Newmans.  Sister Newman's sister is a great lover of and traveler in India but was unable to come.  Next is the Elsbys who served a senior mission in Northern India. On the right side are Tambria and Nixon John, who have been feeding us wonderful Indian food for more than a year and a half, every week.  He's from Delhi, and they are also Davin's next-door neighbor.  Next to them is Raj, an Indian member of the church from southern India, actually in the area where Nixon served his LDS mission, so they had a lot to talk about.  Next to him is the Taylors, who are serving with the Rickards at the church office building, where Raj also works.  They invited him along, as they also have traveled in and love India, and made friends with him when they arrived in Salt Lake.  Of course, our final guests are an adorable family of Perkinses, who will soon be living in India.  Luckily, we talked Nixon into catering the whole shebang, which made it much easier for us. 

Here are Raj and Nixon, they are about 30 and 50 respectively, both grew up in member families from young childhood in India, both served mission there. 

Some Perkins and Taylors.

Here I am with the Elsbys as they are leaving.  It turns out that they know our friends the Coltrins who lived in Lehi.  Wendy is an antique friend who moved to Arizona last year. 

The kids were just great, playing with the Duplo while the adults visited endlessly. 

Egad more plaid.

The Johns cleaned up and left, while we gave a tour of the house to the rest of the group. 

It really was so lovely to celebrate this amazing country, across the world, and to learn of the work of Christ's church there.  It looks like a mission there is unlikely for us.  The Taylors actually chose all three options on their mission application to go there, but in the end were sent to SLC.  They believe it was because of travel restrictions into India by the Indian government.  Dad also learned that when he contacted the Mission President in New Delhi, last month.  

I saw these beautiful twins at church today in the same pram, and it reminded me of this Bessie Pease Gutman painting of twins, also a favorite wish of mine. 

Did I mention that Nixon made enough curry for an army?  Well, we took some to two different neighbors last night, then put out an emergency invite to come eat chicken curry on our family messenger chat.  We managed to get two of our girls and some cute kids and a cute husband too. 

along with Abish. At the end of dinner we filled 5 quart jars with chicken curry sauce to be distributed to yet more people, and a 2 cup container for my friend Aubrey, who is my curry groupie.  

It was like the food expanded, and of course we don't eat chicken.  The best part is that there are also 12 containers of cauliflower curry (each will feed Dad and me one meal each) in the freezer ... I know, curry for days, and such yummy, yummy curry. 

We had a great chat after, and some traditional child torture by Aunt Darby. She later repented and served her fellow man by taking Davin and Bri their rightful share of the curry abundance.