Storybook Crescent Moon

5:00 a.m. Monday
After battling a flu all weekend, Sam got up and went to work. Simmy looked out the window and noticed the storybook sliver of the moon shining brightly in the sky.
National Geographic, in an article written three years ago, says, "In fact, some historians think that a similar conjunction between Jupiter and Venus in 2 B.C. may be the source of the "star of Bethlehem" story related in the Bible." http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081125-venus-jupiter-conjunction.html
I cite this article for the purpose of drawing attention to the fact that some scientists are watching the sky shoulder to shoulder with historians and comparing notes so to speak.
EarthSky reports that tomorrow morning will be a lovely Saturn, Spica and crescent moon alignment forming an arc in the sky.
If this is a little exciting to me... the scientists and historians are probably all atwitter.

As part of my Christmas cleaning this week, I took all the pots off my pot rack, washed everything thoroughly, and put up a little glass galaxy of my own. For a household that tends to be a bit clumsy, I know it is risky but a fresh viewpoint helps the mind to get some new perspective and clarity...
about many things.

Housewarming Traditions

Running errands and having lunch and giving instructions on how to bake the dinner gift for the out of town folks had left Sam and Simmy a bit worn out.
They arrived at construction sons' home for the housewarming party ready to celebrate a new start to something. Snacks were just the thing to rejuvenate after a day of serving.
Lovely one, construction sons' wife, had taken the day off to throw the party and things were bedecked and in newly decorated order.

Glass droplets on the chandelier hung like crystal lollipops of welcome. All the parents showed up to celebrate the start of good beginnings... buying a home is a responsible step in the journey of adulthood. Young people arrived to congratulate this next level of responsibility but the chatter was light and unburdened. Philosophical topics of 'now you're contributing to the big picture' by paying taxes to... were not spoken on this day of good- hearted toasts.
Cards of congratulations stood like little soldiers of salute on top of the refrigerator.
So, here's a poem to the new homeowners out there...

Entertaining… is hard work

And it can get distressing

As you chop and you dice

And work on the dressing

When the doorbell rings out

Ten minutes too early

Hostess face masks

Feelings of surly

If the tie’s a bit crooked

And your buttons askew

Remember they’re mostly

There for the food

The hours pass quickly

By gosh and by golly

The time spent together

Quite charming and jolly

When the guests say adieu

With warm hugs and good wishes

The only thing left

Is a big stack of dishes?

              Cheers to the New Home owners! 

                       Light the way!

Be... a Jeweller

...jewelled.
If one is jewelled, they are treasured or esteemed. We are precious stones, gems of incalculable value.
Simmy had decided she would give a whole bunch of clear jewels to Mama Chaste so she could hand them out to her friends at the old folks home.
Hmm, maybe a note on each one that said, "You are a precious jewel, a special gem of incalculable value."
That sounded good. There weren't too many people who were spreading
   joy, joy, joy... to the old folks  

To Make a Lampshade

... can take all day, almost. If you've never made one, you will discover all the 'areas' of difficulty by the time you're all done the silly thing.
Mostly, you'll know how many times you will likely make another one, if ever.
Happy Friday!
On went the winter boots and Sam and Simmy went for a walk!

They came across the candy house and Simmy snapped a quick pic. The lights on the house zigzagged around the windows in a haphazard way and all the coloured bulbs looked like jube jubes.

It Takes All Day

... to be poor.
Simmy set her mind on making new drapery for her Christmas design scheme. It took all day (or five hours) to make these drapes.
Now, if I was making these drapes for a client instead of just myself I would be in the poor house unless I charged $75 for the time it took to make them, $170 for this particular fabric, (which I bought at a greatly reduced price), and $25 for notions. So, I would need to get $270 for these drapes in order to earn a lower- middle income.
Simmy carefully monitored her time, watching the clock to make sure that the pies that had been ordered by 'who resembles God' would be ready for 3:15 p.m. He 'who resembles God' had stopped by the bake sale on the weekend and asked if it would be possible to buy pies on Thursday...
'I get paid on Thursday, he said.'
"Of course I can make them for you on Thursday," Simmy had replied.
People all want to have the same things... the social ability to live a decently prosperous life to be able to hold their head up in the presence of their peers, without shame, even when there are obvious and visible disparities in how everyone gets to live. 
A knock at the back door showed tired eyes and a bone weary worker. Simmy opened the door and said, "I just pulled out the apple pie and I'll just quickly take out the pumpkin pie. I wanted to have them as fresh as could be for you."
"They smell so good," he said.
"Good! So, what do you do for a living?"
He 'who resembles God' said he had worked in a factory for 33 years and Simmy said that Sam had been doing the same kind of work for about that long as well.
"Does he get a half hour lunch though, because we don't," he said.
"Well no, he takes two 15 minute breaks back to back and then he gets to go home that half hour earlier."
"Well, we don't get any formal breaks. We had to sign off on that though... for the labour laws... but every worker gets to take a bathroom and smoke break every hour."
"Well, that is something at least. It keeps people from getting careless from monotonous work."
"Oh, we rotate every hour as well," he said.
"That should keep injuries down then," Simmy said.
As she placed the hot pies in his hands, he let out a little groan of appreciation and said, "Oh, I know these will be good just by how good they smell."
As he walked down the street, Simmy was happy that she had made the day of a hard worker just a little better.
The next thing she would have to pray for was a dental and health plan for these workers.
The article below is a good read and poignant in light of the rich versus poor riots currently happening in the world.
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/reports/docs/SIC_2009_report_120909.pdf

Flower Power

Simmy made her first fabric flower in greens and gave it to Youthful. It was bohemian chic with lovely burnt edges. Sorry I don't have a picture of it... I gave it away too quickly.
The second fabric flower was a velvet, crepe and organza violet ballet. It was quite easy to see why people charged so much for them. They do take a long time to make... 20- 30 minutes apiece unless you cut out multiples.
The riots all over the world have inspired me to be riotous in making beautiful things... my little protest against the too rich is to buy from my own business this year... somebody has to support me... might as well start with people who appreciate me... why, of course I appreciate myself... I do great work. 

Diamond in the Rough

 

"Guess what I saw at my favorite department store, Sam?"
Sam was just up from his nap and he was getting his coffee so he wasn't too reciprocal in his responses.
"You know that rough cut diamond tree that I made last year at the shoppe? Brian Gluckstein has got trees that look exactly like that in this years' Christmas decor. He must have had a factory make them though because his are molded without framework underneath. I had to use a frame to hot glue all my acrylic rock crystals onto. It took me seven hours to make my tree. I'm guessing his didn't take quite that long to make."
Sam chuckled good naturedly at the frustrated tone in Simmy's voice.
"I wonder if he had the idea before you had yours," Sam mused.
"I've always liked his stuff so I'll assume we had the idea at the same time," Simmy huffed.
"Oh, Sam, I forgot to tell you what happened to me... when you had your nap."
"Hmm?" Sam sounded a little less than interested but Simmy needed to tell her little story so...
"Do you know that new little paved path that we rode our bikes on last time we went out for a cycle?"
"Mmm Hmm," Sam monotoned with toothpaste in his mouth.
"Well, I decided to go roller blading seeing as the snow that fell yesterday had melted. So, I get to that new little paved path and I think to myself... what a wonderful little path to try my roller blades on. I get about halfway down the path and I noticed that the green space, right beside, has brand new sod on it. It must have been laid just hours before this because the overlapped pieces of sod weren't even cut off yet. I'm a bit distracted and suddenly I find myself slipping on greasy mud and I almost face plant before I jump onto the sod to avoid that unpleasant experience. I decide to walk on the sod to get to the paved street but after a few steps I look down and my roller blades look like Sasquatch feet there is so much grass stuck in the wheels. I stand there for a few seconds trying to decide how I'm going to get out of this predicament. I'm feeling pretty silly but desperate too. I decide to walk on the mud encrusted path to try to stomp some of the mud and grass out of my wheels."
"That must have been cute. You were probably in the mood to stomp by then anyway," Sam said with amusement.
"No kidding," Simmy agreed. "I finally get myself onto the pavement and I start roller blading really slowly because if the wheels lock my face will meet the pavement really fast. I've learned that the hard way," Simmy quipped deliberately.
"I managed to get the wheels free enough of mud to get them spinning fairly quickly and I was just glad I didn't have to walk home in my socks like that other time," Simmy shuddered.
"The workers who laid that sod probably thought some stupid kids had to go and roller blade on their work before they even had it done," Sam said.
Simmy got a wide- eyed look on her face, realizing that she hadn't even given the fresh sod one little thought she had been so concerned with getting out of this little predicament.
Guilt flashed across her face, the kind only responsible people can experience... responsible, grown- up people who have raised responsible children.
Simmy whipped her head around at the sound of a little snort and Sam was doing all he could to hold in his laughter before Simmy suddenly found the whole thing too ridiculous not to laugh at it.
"Well, at least they won't suspect me! I'm way too old to be that stupid kid!" 

 

"Think of it this way! Brian Gluckstein's blog is boring compared to yours. His stories aren't nearly as entertaining!" Sam said cajolingly.

"Thanks Sam! I don't think I'm feeling consoled. I'm just a diamond in the rough, literally and figuratively... today anyway!"