The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

 Mar 22nd- A few of my favorite things...

~The possibilities in a jar of toothpicks

~The creativity needed to making a part your model should have to hold the sail rigging

~A ship almost ready for the last of the rigging to go on

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

 Feb 14th- A few of my favorite things...

~Painting the anchors and the bowsprit

~A new set of tweezers to help a young shipwright with her craft

~Discovering a handy pair to hold a piece while its being worked on

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

May 3rd- A few of my favorite things...

~A trip down the trail in Savannah, NY of what was once West Shore Railroad...and still seeing its ties to the land

~Watching the greening of the under-canopy as Spring continues to stake its hold

~Watching how land has reclaimed its territory thanks to the being protected for future generations

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Apr 12th- A few of my favorite things...
~Continuing our walk down an old rail trail, watching the land reclaim the old buildings and lines
~Finding bits of history you can hold in your hands
~A land where even the trees begin to eat the signs, helping return the land to what it once was

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Jan 13th- A few of my favorite things...

~A small handful of beads and some embroidery floss
~Crocheted and strung to make...
~Bookmarks that really hold their place... with a touch beauty...Anne would approve <3

The Habit of Remembering: Christmases Long, Long Ago: Part 1

You don't always need the Ghost of Christmas Past 

to remind you of the good that has been in your life...

 Sometimes all you need is reminders that you can hold in your hand

Christmas Memories in Syracuse: Part 1

Once upon a Christmastime in Syracuse, 35 Christmases ago, there was a Little Girl who sat thinking about getting presents for her family for Christmas. The year before at Bellevue Elementary, she had bought a couple of trinkets at the "Santa's Workshop" that she gave to the family. But this year she wanted to do something different. She knew she didn't have much money, but she wanted to give her Grandma and her Aunt something special, something that would last a bit longer than candy. She pondered this for a while while looking at her tree.

The ornaments were hung about the colorful lights twinkling on the tree. She noticed that some of the hooks were longer than others. As she looked at the tree, she knew what she could do. A lady from her church had given her and her sister a box that to the untrained-eye looked like a box of junk, but to us it was a small trove of craft supplies. In it were necklaces that had broken. She started to go through the box and find every bead that she could and put them in a pile. Then she got some of the extra long hooks that her mother didn't want and set to work to make mini icicles. Patiently she strung them and the carefully divide them into two boxes, wrapped them, and excitedly waited until Christmas Day when she would see her Grandma and Aunt and give them their gifts.

On Christmas Day, she went to her grandparents' house and proudly handed one box to her Grandma and one to her Aunt. They both loved them. While the eventual fate of the ones she gave to her Grandma is unclear, her Aunt carefully preserved and hung hers handmade icicles each year. Then one year, her Aunt surprised the Little Girl, now grown and with her own family, with half of her share of that precious handmade gift. Now hanging on the now grown Little Girl's tree, they are a reminder of some many people from Christmas past: the lady from her church with a generous heart, her Grandma, and her Aunt. And now, she doesn't need the Ghost of Christmas past to remind her of love at Christmas, she has these.

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Apr 22nd- A few of my favorite things...
~Signs of spring you can hold in your hand
~Signs of spring you that leave a scent in the air
~Signs of spring crafted by little hands....welcoming spring fairies to a place to rest after their day's work