Regency Dress for Clara

I am happy, happy to be sewing again! This weekend I made a spring dress for Clara from Sense and Sensibility's Regency pattern. An excellent value pattern as the sizing runs from Clara's slight measurements up to a very generous 22 or so.

She chose the short sleeves, and picked out this soft cotton-rayon blend plaid from the stash. I remembered to match my plaid lines, and to make a muslin to fit the bodice.


My work on the muslin paid off in spades: after pinching various gaping issues out, enlarging the armscye, and raising the front neckline, we had a perfect fit.

Of Course Monday is Laundry Day

We found a package of tiny clothespins at the thrift store last week.


And if that doesn't make you want to hang up your laundry, nothing will.




Underwear? Check. Straw hat? Check. Vintage hankie? Got it.




And she's teaching her bunny to iron.


What a helper!

The Funeral

Six days afterwards seems late for a funeral, but there were lots of people coming in from out of town. Last night we had a huge family gathering at our house--all the glorious food provided by our church. Lots of eating and laughing.

Nanny's funeral was this morning, at the graveside. The weather was perfect and sunny and warm (although snow is predicted in two days!). My younger brother delivered an unbelievably fabulous, inspired, hilarious account of Nanny's life. In rhyme. It totally brought down the awning, and set the tone for a very joyful service.

Clara played hymns on her cello, and my mother passed out chocolate chip cookies. Nanny's recipe, of course.

"The Kind of Peace"

"But of course, His peace doesn't mean a sit-down, folded-hands peace, or a running-away-from-trouble peace. He meant the kind of peace that comes of standing up to trouble--even taking it on the chin . . . ."

Lenora Mattingly Weber, Beany Malone

Lemon Roll

Any vintage cookbook will have a recipe for jelly roll, a dessert that sadly seems to have gone by the wayside. I don't know why, since it is quick and simple to make, is festive to prepare and serve, can easily be made dairy-free, and makes the cook seem talented.

This morning I made a lemon roll, substituting a very tart cornstarched-based lemon filling for the jelly. See how pretty it looks with powdered sugar and a poisonous daffodil!

Crocheted Couch Cushions

When Felix was a tiny baby I started crocheting a bedspread with a tiny hook and very fine thread. Fourteen years later (last week) I decided that I had truly lost interest in finishing it, and that I had just enough finished squares to cover three big squishy pillows for the couch.

I laid the crocheting over unbleached muslin and basted it together, then cut out a natural-colored linen back for each pillow. Installed a thrifted zipper (always check for functionality first!) so the whole thing can be washed.

For scale, each crocheted hexagon measures about four inches across. Oh, and I have to add that one of my Homemaker's Encyclopedia's shows a housewife drying a bedspread on the clothesline, and the spread is crocheted from this very pattern!

What Helped Me

I have been thinking today about what, besides the obvious (wonderful hospice workers, supportive family, and God's grace), helped the most through these three weeks.

• Tamiflu.
• A large bedroom, big enough for a little seating area, with an en-suite bathroom that was accessible with a walker. If I ever build a house, a room like this will be a top priority. Felix gave up his room without a fuss.
• Barb in Nebraska's comment at the very beginning that said, "You can do this, Anna." I hung on to those words.
• Learning how to use a draw sheet to turn and lift a person in bed.
• A large supply of twin-size cotton sheets, ordered providentially right before Christmas.
• A large, sturdy, lightweight tray.
• A brother and sister-in-law who were not shy about simply showing up, gently pushing us out of the sickroom, then taking over the kitchen to prepare and serve a fabulous dinner. Which they then cleaned up after.
• People who announced they were bringing over food that could sit in the fridge until needed.
• A teenager who was willing to drive to the drugstore any time.
• Elyse's words at the very beginning: that this would be a short time. I took that to mean that however long it lasted, it would be short in the grand scheme of my life. I think it also meant that it would never be long enough.

Hospice is Over

Our hospice time is over: after an extremely difficult last week, my grandmother died this afternoon.

Her room is so empty, my heart breaks.

Gray Linen Wrap Dress

In an easier week I made another wrap dress, this one out of gray linen. I adore this color, the way it looks wonderful with pink, or red, or pale blue, or black, or chocolate brown. Or Stargazer lilies.


Or gray pearls.

Bella on a Gray Day

Clara's Weaving

Clara's weaving continues. She's working with several kinds of thread--some plain, some crinkly, and a couple of rag strips for fun.

These last days are very difficult. For Nanny, for us. Surely we are close to the end, pulling that last thread across.

A Pleasant Educational Interlude

My Big Guys (Giles and the Composer) were in Savannah, Georgia last weekend checking out the Savannah College of Art and Design as a possible next stop for Giles, who is looking for a photography school.


If his checklist consisted only of Spanish moss, frosty raspberry drinks, and seagulls, this school would be it for sure!






But you know life is more complicated than that, so SCAD takes pole position on the college list, and we'll see how things sort themselves out after another couple of trips in March.


And I'll just add this thought: that Giles is a very good boy, and I'm going to miss him when he goes!

(photos by the Composer)

Forsythia Twigs in Bloom

After an unresponsive morning, and hours of stertorous breathing, Nanny woke up at midday in pain. We gave her some morphine. Who knew it would cause drug-induced psychosis? We called the hospice nurse to come to the house.

Nanny emphatically: "I want to go to the hospital or the nursing home. I can pay, I have money."
Nurse sympathetically: "Why do you, dear?"
Nanny outraged: "Why?!?!?! Because I scrimped and saved, that's why!"

Afterwards she was embarrassed and apologetic, but I laugh every time I think of it. She had a surprisingly alert afternoon, and is back in bed, in seemingly the same condition she was in last night. Not a good condition.

She is tough. Thank you all for praying.

Nanny's House Party

It seems pretty clear that Nanny's House Party is going to end soon. After almost three weeks of three square and beautiful meals a day, hours of sitting by the fire under a special blanket won at bingo, and a tuck-in every night with a sugar-free cookie and a heated rice bag, Nanny sat with her breakfast tray this morning and tearfully realized that she could not eat.

Shortly after that--and after an excruciatingly slow but driven-by-a-will-of-iron trip to the potty, my mother and I tucked her into her bed for perhaps the last tuck. She's been there since morning, in and out of sleep, with periods of long, long apnea, times of distress, and other periods of peaceful good humor.



We know she's ready.

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Oh Dear

My two Big Guys are gone for the weekend, and I think I'm getting the flu!!!

One of Two Banana Cakes

This one had lemon-cream cheese frosting. The other had dairy-free chocolate icing. Two cakes, and roses for every lady in the house!

What Surprises Me

I am surprised by how quickly my attitude changed from wondering "How am I going to get out of the house to do everything I need to do?" to wanting to stay home. Most things can wait.

I am surprised that God can give me--me!--unlimited patience.

I am surprised at how peaceful and sweet and funny my testy grandmother has become. "I never wanted to live to be 93." "But Nanny, you have so many wonderful memories." "Yes, but none of them happened after I turned 93."

I am surprised by the truth of what everyone has said: that I'll be glad I did this. I thought they meant that later I'd be glad. I didn't know I'd be glad right now.

Bella Gives a Manicure

Detail of a Wool Skirt

A recently finished skirt in lavender wool, made from a thrifted modern pattern. Top-stitched pleats and center panels for a change from my usual plain A-line. Fabric is the best buy ever from the real-life Denver Fabrics store: pre-cut lengths of gorgeous wool in huge widths, for only $12 or so.

Respite Saturday Pleasures

My brother Matt and his wife were here all afternoon, and forced us to leave and have fun. Okay!

• A trip to the running shoe store. A running outfit for Bella, royal blue and white. We're running tomorrow--be there or be square!

• Hamburgers for lunch. Milkshakes.

• A walk past a pond full of croaking frogs.

• A glimpse of Daisy and my mother having a chocolate party on the bed. Stuffed bunnies. Teacups.

• Seeing Matt bringing in an load of logs to build a fire for Nanny.

• Finishing a skirt hem. The satisfaction of a completed project.