An unplanned, unexpected need for a hospital far from home demonstrated what wonderful blessings our country has scattered around our nation. A well-functioning medical team can bring doctors, nurses, technicians, and janitors together to reassure, to discern, to diagnose and remedy what is awry and safely send off a patient to their miles away home

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement An Amazing Climbing Tower The brightly lighted colors of the plastic “tree” beckoned children to come climb. Contrary to real trees, this tall apparatus was a safe, easy climb. The little ones scampered from one big, curved plastic leaf to the next until the next thing they knew, they

We don’t always keep our eyes on this goal of good, gracious sportsmanship, but learning to be a good sport is the most important result we need to see from any of our competitive activities. Truthfully, that’s not always foremost in our minds in a competitive situation. One does not grow into a good sport

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Bull Dog With a plop, the lively five-year-old set down the large bulldog on Grandpa’s lap, giving Grandpops the privilege of taking care of the new stuffed toy while the little owner trotted off for another attractive pursuit. Periodically, she wandered back to make sure Grandpa was paying attention

We were in for a treat—the opportunity to play miniature golf with some of our great grandchildren. Since we were several years past having a golf club putter in our hands, we were not serious competition and couldn’t possibly make anyone feel overly competitive. Between a water trap that was more fun to splash in

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Friendships and Laughter Our lunches with friends are spiced with a lot of laughter. A quip here and a joke there throws off the bite of any problem we face or even the reality of growing older. Laughter makes these times of getting together with friends stand out as

The museum’s sign labeling this unusual looking item was necessary but didn’t explain how a person managed to use this remarkable tool. It was simply four scythes, connected to one handle, making one great big instrument to cut tall grass or any field of weeds or shrubby undergrowth that needed to be removed or gathered.

     “Oh, the ingenuity of the American mind.” My Mother made that exclamation whenever she observed some remarkable way to solve a problem or a clever invention. She was always impressed and appreciated new approaches to common problems and whatever made any task easier or more efficient. Raised on a farm, she grew up witnessing

I’m not sure what drives the trend of substituting doughnuts for cake at weddings, but we’ve been to several where an abundant number and variety of doughnuts were attractively displayed for the wedding guests. A very small cake for the bride and groom to cut supplied the traditional wedding picture. Perhaps large quantities of doughnuts

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt and Encouragement Taffeta Memories and Fresh Yeast Rolls Even today, the smell of taffeta takes me back to my role as a five-year-old flower girl in my aunt’s wedding. I wore a yellow taffeta dress with ruffles to the floor. I was so distracted by the crowded church, I forgot