A Lil' Bit o' Catch-Up

First of all, in a phone conversation with my mom and then my sister this weekend, I came to the conclusion that I come from good stock. The kind of rugged, workhorse stock that in the days of wagon trains and homesteading would have seen me, in a given day, baking pies for the town fall social, sewing myself a dress for the annual church dance and quilt auction, crafting leather nametags for my herd of dairy cows, and refinishing the rocking chairs on the front porch in a lovely shade of shabby chic pink concocted from milk and crushed raspberries. And all this while helping the kids make nifty birthday party invitations out of old hornbooks and corn husks. I'm proud to say that I accomplish more in a day than most (not always proud to have bragging rights to that, but as long as I balance it with downtime, I'll survive and be happy). Am feeling the slow creep of a cold coming on, but channeling the pioneer woman in me, there's nothing a good old-fashioned leeching or bag of asafetida around my neck won't cure.

Took off on Friday and it felt really good to get things done around the house. Am preparing for a baby shower on the 25th and have all sorts of crafting prettiness to tend to . . . what better way to spend a day all to myself. My morning devotions were especially nice. Imagine a weekday at 10:00AM sitting at my kitchen table with a nice cup of hot coffee and a big hairy dog at my feet. Pretty sweet, I gotta admit. (What the heck is up with my iPhone images having these crazy lines in them? Time to graduate to a 4G perhaps??)

Today, the end of my perfect three-day weekend, was butt cold. After church services and before a church executive council meeting, I popped home and ate mac and cheese while on the computer. It was 10:45 in the morning. That's what cold here in Georgia does to people.

My sister flies in from Baltimore tonite for a three-day visit. I'll be picking her up from the airport. Can you say "laugh 'til you wet your pants" kind of fun?

And finally, here are some photographs of Francis Ford Coppola's newest hotel in Bernalda, Southern Italy, the Palazzo Margherita. I've not much desire to travel oversees, except to visit Greece. Now I have another very good reason to jump on a plane and cross the ocean. I read about this transformed palazzo in one of my favorite magazines WSJ.Magazine. Here's an online link. The article is as beautifully captivating as the pictures are.

[Photographs by James Merrell]