My niece, Becky, sent us a beautiful tin of homemade Christmas candy. She takes after her mother, who is also my sister, Kathy. Both my nieces inherited a good-cook gene. I don't know if they learned from watching their mom, or if they learned on their own. Kathy excelled in her high school home economics classes. Cooking, sewing, knitting, crocheting...she could/can do it all. She was also a good teacher. She taught me a lot about sewing. I could start a project and if I needed help, I knew she was there to encourage me.

I wish I still sewed. I put the sewing machine away when the cats tried to destroy it. That was more than twenty years ago. When I rearrange my room, in 2009, I might bring the sewing machine out, again. Then, hopefully I will remember how to use it. My sister lives in Colorado, so I won't ask for her help. I'll be on my own. I imagine I will be able to find some good how to videos on You-Tube...how to sew a dart, how to make a button hole, how to put in a zipper. Just now, out of curiosity, I Googled, "put in a zipper." The first result was from eHow. It gives illustrated instructions for putting in a zipper. If that's not enough help, there are dozens of other web sites and videos to study.

Every shopping center used to have a fabric store or two. Now, fabric stores are few and far between. WalMart has fabric, but not very much. It looks like it will be the internet to the rescue, again. Just the other day, I was browsing a site with vintage fabric. I loved the choices. I'm not sure how to find that site again, but True Up is a blog with lots of links to fabric shops. It's fun to look at, even if you don't plan on sewing. The blogs About page says: "Despite it being a prevalent part of everyone’s daily lives, currently there are no blogs devoted solely to fabric. Well, OK, the fabric universe is huge. This blog focuses on fabric for crafting, quilting, apparel, and home decorating. It’s not about sewing, but about fabric for fabric’s sake. True Up is written by Kim Kight, fabric aficionado. She is an avid fabric collector with a particular interest in mid century prints."

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.

Dear Name, the Rock on which I build,
My Shield and Hiding Place,
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace!

By Thee my prayers acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.

Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
O Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

Till then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy Name
Refresh my soul in death!

I'm enjoying the chorus of crickets outside our kitchen window. They've been chirping nonstop for the last few hours. It is one of my favorite summer sounds. Not long ago, I began to think there were no more crickets in this neighborhood. I hadn't heard them in a long time and I was afraid the skunks and possums had eaten them all. This year, they are back in full force.

I'm also hearing an airplane rumbling overhead. This is also a pleasant sound to me. It's far enough away to not be distracting. When we lived in Coronado, our house was directly under the flight path of the military jets. I was afraid of airplanes, in those days. They made an enormous roar and were low to the ground. My imagination worked overtime and I felt like they were stalking me (I was just a kid.) We lived close to the beach, but I wouldn't dare go out in the water because the planes were flying overhead. I didn't get over that fear until the last year we lived in Coronado. Then I found out how much fun I could have body surfing and jumping the biggest waves. I didn't pay attention to the planes anymore.


I don't think we had many crickets in Coronado. It was when I spent the night at my Grandmother's house in South San Diego that I heard them. She lived in a less developed neighborhood and had lots of wildlife on her property. I especially liked the little frogs that made themselves at home in her yard. My brothers and I had fun catching and releasing them. Bullfrogs lived in the river valley below her house. My brothers caught them, but I didn't even want to touch them. I found enough enjoyment just listening to their hearty croaks. Thirty-plus years ago, we moved within a mile of my Grandma's. The area was more developed, by then. Where there had once been miles and miles of empty space, there was now house after house. The rattlesnakes, rabbits, and coyotes were all moving east, away from the hubbub of humanity.  After we moved here, a neighbor found a snake in his yard. It was a harmless king snake. I've never heard any reports of rattlers, except for in the hills nearby. Thankfully! Now, we enjoy an occasional opossum or skunk sighting. One night we even saw a raccoon in our yard. I wrote about this encounter here.

A couple days ago, I posted the cat story because the picture reminded me of our cats. I had just found two of the cats surrounding a poor, innocent spider struggling in my bathtub. I captured the spider and deposited him outside. Cats are always quick to see even the minutest bug. They have lots of fun with flies, spiders, gnats, bees, lizards, and other crawling or flying critters. And, they have suffered through wasp or bee stings, just like the kitten in the story.

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Southern California just experienced a significant earthquake. My Dad felt it, but I was busy playing with the cats and didn't feel it. Neither did my Mom. So far, it appears that there was no damage from the quake. I was disappointed that I didn't feel the quake.