happy tidbits

i’ve been tidying up all evening–scary stuff in my refrigerator, the clutter on my kitchen island, and downloaded photos in picasa that i meant to blog about and haven’t yet.  so here are my favorites from the past week or so.   the photo above was from my most recent epic visit to macha teahouse where, in addition to drinking lots of cozy cups of tea, i also finished my homework and got a pretty sturdy outline written for the book chapter that’s due at the end of this year.  i think i mentioned that last fall, i wrote a chapter for the 2009 summer library program manual, but did i tell you what a thrill i got earlier this month when i (and every other children’s librarian in about 47 states) received our manuals and there, on the title page, is my name.  my name!  and there, in chapter 7 are my ideas, in my words, illustrated by some professional illustrating person!  neeeeeeato.  so yes, i am now in the process of writing a chapter for the 2010 manual.

on another day, i got these beautiful quilt blocks in the mail.  i’ve gotten several packages of quilt blocks in the mail, but most of them, i’d seen online before i received them.  these were a surprise.  they were beautifully wrapped in white tissue paper and i just love the embroidery embellishements.  i mean, check this out:

i love the way she’s encouraged the two prints to come together on the neutral ground and play nicely together.  i’m so very curious to know how this quilt is going to look when it’s all done!  i mean, i have a plan, but with so many collaborators working together, there’s just no telling what the final product will actually look like.

and lastly, an apology to mr. happy stuff.  when i was posting our finished art projects the other day, i somehow missed his fused glass bowl.  here’s how it turned out in the end.  isn’t it great?

well, that’s about all of the loose ends.  ahhhhh….. feels good to tidy up the blog.