Prudence Prose

Miss Prose is the keeper of our books. The Lickety-Split Library has been her bailiwick for years.  She's quite set in her ways -- thus there is no computer usage allowed in our little corner of the literary world. 

 She does tend to collect the most obscure books one has ever seen - let alone read.  Perhaps someday when the library inventory is held, such titles as "How To Fix a Whirlagig" or "The Autobiography of Hortense Hightower" will be questioned.  Meanwhile I can safely say that the patrons of our library never get bored while browsing the stacks.

"A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life." - Henry Ward Beecher

Autumnal Equinox

The actual equinox was last Tuesday - so I'm just now catching up.  This is my very favorite time of the year.  Our leaves don't really color up until October but I know their glorious colors are coming.  I know we will have days of the clearest deep blue skies of the year.  I know that the air will be crisp.  I know that I can go back to wearing sweaters and long sleeved shirts.  I know that this is my favorite time of the year.

"Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns." - George Eliot

Arabesque Danse

If you're in Lickety-Split for very long you will probably have a chance to see our very own Arabesque Danse lead the children in a dance recital - ballet of course.  

Miss Danse's mother was quite a famous prima ballerina.  Arabesque tried very hard to follow in her mother's footsteps (quite literally) but sadly her talents lay elsewhere.  However, as most of us do, she has always held onto her dreams. 

These days, with her rheumatism acting up the way it does, her actual dancing days are pretty much over -- but her dreams continue on in the small feet of her charges at their twice a year recital.  Should you see her on the street - you would make her day if you asked for her autograph.

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body." - Martha Graham

A Core of Joy

What is this gift I've been given?  What is this thing that resides within my heart and fills me to the brim?  Its JOY and there is no other word for it.  I'm not sure where it comes from and I'm never sure where it will take me.  I'm not even sure if it will be with me tomorrow or the next day or the next day.  But while its here -- I intend to enJOY it as much as possible.  I will savor it to its fullest and to be ever so very grateful that it has chosen me in which to rest.

"The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." - Christopher McCandless

Viola Volunteria

Viola has always been one of Lickety-Split’s best volunteers.  Some might even call her ‘easy’  - she just never says no.  Recently, however ,  when she volunteered to sell the token/tickets at the local school fair she got more than she bargained for.

You see this year the board determined to put the cotton candy and kettle corn tables on either side of the main ticket table.  This meant poor Viola was hemmed in by the sugary sweet smells of the cotton candy and the greasy-sweet smells of the kettle corn.  As the day got warmer poor Theodora felt taken with a strong case of the vapors (quite literally). 

Eventually she totally succumbed and was carried off the school grounds by the volunteer rescue squad.  As they carried her out we could hear her somewhat shaken voice whispering - I QUIT!!!  I suspect she’ll be saying those two words more than once during the coming volunteer year. 

"Cause you had a bad day

You're taking it down

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don't know

You tell me don't lie

You work at a smile and you go for a ride

You had a bad day

You had a bad day"

"You had a bad day" by Daniel Powter

Today I am thinking about...

'Listening'.  This day I will spend really and truly listening.  As I walk I will listen for bird calls, leaves rustling, the sound of a small branch falling from a tree.  So many sounds that I usually walk right past.

I will  listen carefully to those who speak to me today.  Not just the lip service of hearing the 'gist' but actually weighing their words.  Not just a nod to show I understand when I haven't really listened fully.

I will truly listen to the music that fills my day. Everyday I have music in my studio -- today I will really and truly listen to it.   I'll sing along, get up and dance or at least sway to the rhythm and the sound.

Today I will be listening - truly and deeply to all the sounds around me.  I wish I could perfect the habit of doing this all the time.

"Part of doing something is listening.  We are listening.  To the sun.  To the stars.  To the wind." - Madeleine L'Engle, Swiftling Tilting Planet

Knancy Knitington

Until recently the 'queen' of knitting in Lickety-Split conducted classes in a room at the local library.  Sadly they were evicted due to their 'somewhat' loud laughter and frequent giggles which seemed to bother some of the library patrons (probably men, if you know what I mean).

 Knancy has found an empty store front and is now able to set up her very own knit shop.  She is thrilled to be able to conduct classes in her most enthusiastic manner and at last she has room to store the huge stash of yarn that she's gathered over the years.

As a side benefit poor, patient Mr. Knitington now has a place to park both the car and the lawnmower - something he's quite happy about.  We are all very envious of Knancy's new found teaching/storage space but I suspect her stash will go down considerably as we ladies browse through the shop.

"SABLE - A common knitting acronym that stands for 'Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy." - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Messy Me!

Over the past few weeks I've been bringing the Ladies of Lickety-Split alive and in the process my studio has pretty much been trashed!

Fabric stuffed willy-nilly into the wire baskets - no rhyme nor reason.  

Supplies jammed in pretty much wherever they will fit.

Paper rolled but not neatly and ending up with 'stuff' on top of it.

Who knows what lurks in this mess of paper stacked in every which way.

I promised myself that before the next "Lady" appears on the scene I would clean up, straighten up and pretty much get things in order (at least for a couple of days time - before it starts all over again).

After a fun morning of weeding through fabric, moving some into closed storage boxes and organizing by colors and patterns.  I had this.

My 'stuff' shelves became actually usable with a reordering and some things being carted off to the local thrift shop for donation.

 Now I can see what paper I have and it won't get more crinkled than it already has.

And how do you like this organization?  

I'd never take bets on how long this will last, but for now, I'll just enjoy it and enjoy the fact that now I can actually find what I know I already have.

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos." - Stephen Sondheim

And The Winners Are!

Today, on this official 5 year anniversary I happily prepare to send BJP bookmarks from 2010 to:

Debra at Moonie Bean Folkart

Debbie at Tapestry @ Sand Studio

Christi at Sweetpea Path

Chip Butter at Chip Butter White Oak

Jenclair at Bayou Quilts

[NOTE:  I'm afraid I don't have email addresses for Debbie Weaver, Chip Butter or Debra of Moonie Bean - if you will each get in touch with me and give me your mailing address I'll get these little packages out in a couple of days.]

Thanks once again and here's to five more years (at least).

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead.  Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow.  Just walk beside me and be my friend." - Albert Camus