"Analogous" Quilt

I recently came across this photo of an "analogous" quilt...

The term " analogous" had me turning to google - and then to some of my painting notes.

Analogous quilts have colors next to each other on the color wheel... like red,  orange and yellow; red, purple and blue...

Analogous colors apparently create a relaxing mood...

I don't fully understand the concept - but I'd like to try making an analogous quilt sometime myself.

Downtown Ottawa in the Snow

Terry and I don't go downtown very often in winter, but recently we headed down to see the skating rink on Parliament Hill...

The day was snowy...

This is the first year they've put a rink up on the Hill. 

There is an artificial rink a block or so away, at Ottawa's City Hall. 

And, of course, the canal is open for skating.

The Parliament Hill rink was filled with children - hockey teams playing games...

Not sure if it was an organized competition, or just a fun experience.

There were tourists milling around, in spite of the snow...

I paid attention to signs reminding us to watch for ice falling off overhanging roofs.

And admired the ice sculptures - like this ice tractor - we came across.

It was all very interesting... but I can't wait for spring!

Accepting Change...

One of life's hard things is knowing when to stop doing something you've done for years... Like trying to open a jar...

How hard should I try until I stop?! (The problem is: it doesn't hurt at the time. Only later...)

I probably still put too much pressure on my wrist trying to do things I shouldn't do anymore. It's hard to tell myself not to even try - to wait till Terry or one of my sons is here...  Not when I've been doing it for years... But I'm learning that it's what I have to do.

In the meantime, a friend showed me a jar opener she uses. It's intended to lift a lid up a bit - to pop the vacuum and let a little air escape.

It has two "hooks" - for different sized lids.

It dents the lid a bit, which I don't like. (And it probably would crack plastic.)

It only works on about half the jars I've tried it on.

But it's probably what I need to start using from now on.

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday..

Sorting through old photos recently - I came across this one from 2012...

The priests and congregation of Church of the Redeemer in Toronto standing outside, near the front doors of the church, burning palms from Palm Sunday, the year before, to make ashes to be used on Ash Wednesday.

I had never seen this being done before.

One Thing Leads to Another: Organizing Old Photographs

I was recently hunting for an old photograph of my father which I wanted to use to illustrate a blog post. I remember loving the photo because it pictured my dad as I remember him well - sitting reflectively in our family boat, next to our dog Moochie, who also loved being out on the water.

In the process of digging through boxes of pictures and negatives, I found some interesting old photos of friends, which I posted on Facebook...

Other old family pictures, like this old wedding photo of Terry's parents, together with both sets of grandparents, I really don't know how to share, except online.

Should I create some family photo albums?

Reflecting on this, I thought about the hundreds of pictures I have stored on my computer... I wanted to make photo books with family pictures someday... Maybe someday is now!

And so I began...

Hunting for one picture (which I haven't found yet!) has set me on a task that could occupy me for the next few weeks... maybe even months!

Mid-Winter Day Trip

Terry recently had to travel to Prescott...

I decided to go along for the ride...

While he paid a visit to the work site of a college student he is mentoring, I had a cup of coffee at a nearby McDonald's...

The day was sunny and bright...

But passing snow-covered fields en route, then sitting in the sunny restaurant window, looking at snow-covered patio furniture, I couldn't help but long for spring!

My Winter Reading

My bedside table has two piles of books.

On top of one pile is a book I often turn to when looking for something interesting - but not too compelling - to read before falling asleep...

The Shaping of a Life is the autobiography of Phyllis Tickle, a writer I became interested in when I discovered the "Divine Hours" prayer books she compiled - collections of prayers and sermons that span the history of Christianity.

I was excited when, a few years later, I had the opportunity to hear her in person at a weekend retreat at the Sisters of St. John the Divine Convent in Toronto. How had she come to write these prayer books, I wanted to know...

My enthusiasm subsided when I got there. I was shocked to find, not a quiet contemplative - but a dynamic, opinionated woman whose strange (to me) views on the history of Christianity were jarring to my own personal beliefs... (To put it mildly...!)

(I remember, after every session, rushing to my room to get away from her - and to pray for peace and an open mind!)

At the end of the weekend, this dynamic eighty-something-year-old (who looked like this - youthful and energetic in person as she does in this dust-jacket cover photo) announced that she was planning no more speaking engagements but was  heading home to write...

What came out of that writing time? I wondered a year or so later, as I googled her name. I was again shocked - this time to discover that, 11 months after I heard her speak, she had died of cancer...

Since then, I've been trying to figure her out - by piecing together stories of her life and accomplishments.

Our public library has a number of books by and about her. One that I'm currently reading was written by colleagues who knew her well - a tribute to the woman they were friends with - written when she was planning to retire at the age of 80.

I've found it more interesting than I expected...

I guess I'm still trying to understand the woman who, as an editor, had such an impact on religious publishing over the last few decades - but also, on a more personal level, compiled the Divine Hours prayer books, which are among the books dearest to me...