Going Shaker

Slow Love (Dominique Browning) has a four part series on her recent visit to Hancock Village.  Which reminded me of the lovely book my husband bought me many years ago, The Shaker Garden.   I had wanted it most of all for the pattern to make seed packets from brown paper.   So simple.  So wonderful.  I packaged seeds and even thread and buttons in the packets I made from the pattern.  It was a lovely addition to my Christmas gifts that year.

I don't think I was much of a gardener at the time I received the book.  Looking through the pages quickly, I see many, many lovely gardening ideas.  The Shaker principals seem oddly familiar.   My dad kept his workshop very tidy.  Each tool had a place.  The broom and dustpan hung from the same hook.  A lovely hand broom was used to sweep sawdust off the table of the saw or lathe.  In our hurry to get on the road, going home, I forgot the hand broom.  I had wanted to keep that.  To remember.

I am not feeling well today.  What began as a runny nose, I thought from allergies, has now become a burning sensation in my nasal passages, not unlike battery acid, and a post nasal drip into the back of my throat.  I have just had an Airbourne tablet dissolved in water.  A dose of vitamin C which usually stops the post nasal drip.

This morning does have it's humorous side.  I have "gained" 5 pounds according to the scale and the waistband of my pants is riding on my hipbones.  Yesterday, I could not find an outfit to wear to dinner that didn't make me look like a person wearing a large sack.  All my shirts are too voluminous.  On days like this, I wish I knew a bit about dressmaking.  So I could take seams in a bit and make decorative tucks. Even the picture of me on Deborah's blog.  That blouse is too big.

Yesterday's dinner with my daughter and her man went very well, I think.  I don't think the restaurant met my husband's standards.  I had some difficulty with the food but managed to give most of it away to the other three people at the table (rice, soup and chicken in a very bready coating).  I had Cashew Chicken.  Lots of vegetables and plain unbreaded chicken.  I tried to shake off most of the brown sauce.  G shared his chicken wings with me and I gave him my Spring Roll.  I did eat ONE Crab Rangoon with that sweet red dipping sauce.  My small sin which is why I "gained" 5 pounds over night.  LOL.

This morning I had a MIM with blueberries.  It seems to take care of elimination problems.  Now, I think I will brew myself a hot cup of tea to sooth my throat.  I have six perennials to get settled into the flower bed near the deck.  Seven?  Riley is outside rolling in the grass.  He has found either a snake or a worm.  But he seems to have eaten his dinner during the night and eaten breakfast with G this morning.  He refused to eat for me yesterday, finally eating his breakfast and lunch at 5 pm.