A quiet morning. Dennis went off to McDonald’s for coffee with fellows that he has known most of his life. It could well be dubbed “The Over 80 Club.” Dennis says the coffee is awful. I am sure their “go to” items do not include coffee.
A great breeze took me to sit on the west patio with coffee and junk mail that I have been collecting from the last week. What caught my eye was the flyer from JoAnn’s. Patterns for sewing were on sale. I used to do that. I sewed clothing for Orlin, Carrie, Kevin and myself. Leisure jackets that matched the three of them, robes, PJs, a three pieced suit for Kevin and lots of clothing for Carrie through her high-school years. I did not pay the price per pattern that was listed on the flyer from JoAnn’s. Simplicity, McCall’s and Vogue were listed from $22.95 to $35.00 each. Oh my gosh. In the hay day of my sewing in the 50s and 60s McCall’s and Simplicity could be bought for $1.25 or $1.50. Vogue always was a bit higher but still reasonable. Even with today’s 30% off, it would not be economical to sew garments in relationship to what can be bought ready made. One would really want to have that “I made that” stigma. Not me. Not anymore. The world of knits and even cotton with a bit of a stretch can be found always on a sale rack somewhere. Yup, I am a sale rack shopper.
With the junk mail having hit the recycling container, Snuggles found a spot on my lap for a nap. Being lazy and reminiscing, looking out to the east, I couldn’t believe that about 30 years ago, I couldn’t have had the view I have today. The evergreens that bounded the east line of the property swept the ground with their boughs. It was total greenery.
Dad and Mom came for a visit. Mom needed a home perm. Dad and Mom pulled up with their tandem truck. Dad had an agenda. While I twisted Mom’s hair onto the rollers for the Lilt home perm, Dad had the chainsaw going trimming the evergreen boughs up the tree trunk. His reasoning was for winds to take the snow through and not cause huge snow drifts. Dad went from the backyard to the front yard trimming, trimming. With the hair task finished, Mom and I put on gloves and helped Dad load up the truck box. It was filled to the brim. Even with the end-gate off the box, it was quite the heft to get the job done. Of course there had been coffee breaks and a noon lunch that had been worked into the day.
Here I sit today enjoying the view. No longer doing pattern sewing, no longer whacking and stacking clearing the yard, well I did clear out the square garden just several weeks ago. No longer giving Lilt perms. My life has changed. My life is sweet. My memories are sweeter.