The new year crept in softly at the stroke of midnight last night, like a promise. No huge crowds gathered at Time Square as the ball dropped. For the most part, families celebrated in their homes if they were even awake as the clock struck twelve. If 2021 could have a personality, I would say this one had better be a bit like Rosie the Riveter. Taking over where the need is great. Encouraging us and reminding us that we can do this.
We’ve learned a great deal about ourselves this past year. We have learned that family is our most precious gift. It has been so sad going months without seeing loved ones. We have learned we really don’t need as much as we thought we did. We have learned how to do without. Some, a great deal more than others. I pray for restoration and healing for our country. I pray that this new year finds us building up rather than tearing down.
I have always loved new beginnings. A time to start afresh. To show myself some grace and bestow another chance for whatever it is I failed to do last year. In the year of the coronavirus, that was a lot. So, I will try again. During this past year, I made several lap quilts for grandchildren but it is time to get back to the sewing machine and quilt more!
I have a blanket I need to knit before Winter is over. The yarn and needles have been sitting patiently in a basket waiting for me. There are so many other things I want to actually accomplish this year but I’m afraid to say them aloud.
I hope this new year brings love and peace and health and a measure of prosperity for each of us. May the Lord bless and keep you!
This time last year, we went shopping for a 2020 planner. All fresh and brand new with empty pages. We began to fill the blocks on the pages of the calendar with events we had already planned. There was a trip to Disneyworld with my youngest and his family in March and a cruise to the New England states during the Fall. Just in time to see the leaves change. There were other things of course, like my ear surgery on January 23 to remove a benign tumor, Doug’s cataract surgeries and his heart ablation procedure. We had also scheduled a week in Puerto Vallarta early Winter. We were going to be busy and we were looking forward to the trips.
Word of the Corona-19 virus spread quickly. As we learned more about this deadly virus and the deaths worldwide, our attention was quickly focused. We cancelled everything. Apparently, we were in the high risk group based on our age and health issues. So we stayed home. Before my daughter and her family sold the farm and moved out of state, she brought us delicious, home cooked meals and insisted we not get out to grocery shop. We didn’t. Later, we would order and pick up our groceries through the rest of the year. When we did have to venture out for doctor’s appointments or to pick up groceries or prescriptions, we wore masks.
We read a lot of books. We watched movies. I made several lap size quilts. We took drives in the country. We stayed busy, and the weeks and months passed. We even had a presidential election during 2020 and mailed our votes in. We got most of the basement organized and cleaned. Time passed.
As the months passed, the numbers of deaths from the novel coronavirus grew. My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones this year. As this deadly virus left gaping holes and deep wounds in families, each member of those families struggled to move on. I pray for each of these families and individuals who have lost dear ones.
I haven’t purchased a 2021 planner. I’m not sure I will. We haven’t made any plans yet. There are no reservations for 2021. I’m hopeful. I really am. Doug loves to travel and I’m hopeful that in the future we can visit those countries we have yet to see. I should say I have yet to see. Doug has been to every continent except for Africa. I’m thankful there are now approved vaccines. We haven’t received ours yet but hopefully soon.
This year, one like no other, will be over in just a few hours. So, 2021 – pardon us if we tread lightly for a bit.
Have you ever considered what your life would have been like to have been born in a different time? I’ve seen enough westerns to know I would not have particularly enjoyed crossing the plains and mountains in a covered wagon. More than likely, neither did the pioneers. Theirs dreams were set on a better life waiting for them. My ancestors traveled by wagons from the mountains of North Carolina into the hills of Tennessee and on to Mississippi…after they had traveled by ship from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. I’ve traveled to North Carolina and been to the mountain log cabin that my immigrant ancestor built. (He sold the homestead to the first physician in the state of North Carolina and the state has rebuilt it – since it was originally built in the mid 1700’s!) Once my ancestors finally arrived in the piney woods of Mississippi, they built dog-trot style farm houses and grew their farms and their families. Those were hard times, especially before and after The Civil War for our ancestors in the South.
I think what has prompted all this reflection is a British series that I’ve been watching these past few weeks: Lark Rise to Candleford. A gift from my daughter. As stated on the BBC website, the series is an “adaptation of Flora Thompson’s memoir of her Oxfordshire childhood, set in the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighboring market town, Candleford, at the end of the 19th Century”. The contrasts in the way of life between the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the neighboring town Candleford were evident. If you haven’t seen this series, it is wonderful and I highly recommend it. You can google it to see ways that you could watch. You could purchase the set or watch it on BritBox. I loved the costume fashions in the series. Not sure that would have been the time period for me either. Regardless of the weather, the women were dressed in layers that included bloomers, petticoats, a corset, their top layers and sometimes a jacket!
I’m especially fascinated by the time period before and after World War II. Some of my favorite movies are set during that time period: Mrs. Miniver, Since You Went Away, The Fighting Sullivans, Casa Blanca, The White Cliffs of Dover, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Shining Through. All but Shining Through were filmed in the 1940’s. Shining Through was filmed in the 1980’s I believe. One of my favorite movies of all time is set in the Guernsey Islands (which Doug and I visited on our British Isles tour and loved). It is called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Well worth the time spent watching it.
World War II ended on September 2, 1945. I was born December 1, 1945. Not sure what it is about that time period that fascinates me so. I would have loved to be a set designer on the films set during that time period. The fashions from that time period especially appeal to me – the suits, the shoes – all of it. I remember the cottage that we lived in from the time I was two years of age until nine years of age. It was decorated much like a set from one of the movies I mentioned above. Recently, I saw a set of dishes advertised in our local Facebook Marketplace. A set of 8 plates from 1946! I purchased them. They’re from Crown Potteries, made in the USA. They remind me of an earlier time and place. Maybe the older you grow, the more nostalgic you become. As far as I know, we did not have dishes like these when I was growing up. The family members who would have remembered are all in Heaven now. I would love to have cups and saucers to go with the plates, but these dishes are long ago out of production. A simple set of dishes that could have graced any farm table back in the 40’s and 50’s.
I should have entitled this post “the year of Covid 19”. What a year! I can’t believe the last time I posted in this blog (that I really do care about) was February and snow was on the ground. The days rolled into weeks and the weeks rolled into months. Now, it is my favorite season once again. We’ve been so cooped up and isolated it seems to be a way of life now. Not one any of us enjoy but, obviously, safer this way. Someday, when our descendants are looking for photographs of us in the year 2020, we will all be wearing masks! Imagine the questions about that.
The time wasn’t entirely wasted. I supported new quilt shop friends on Etsy and now have a delightful supply of quilt shop quality fabrics. My granddaughter says my sewing area looks like a fabric store! (She saw it on FaceTime.) I made a couple of large lap quilts for the youngest two granddaughters which they loved and ordered fabrics for all the others. I have a few quilts in progress. I admit I’m not as fast at everything as I once was!
I’ve also worked a good bit on family history. I love solving mysteries!
Doug and I traveled to Montana several weeks ago for a long overdue visit with my oldest and his family. It was wonderful to have time with all of them! We went to a beautiful lake in the mountains and I finally saw Big Sky! I can’t ski but it’s beautiful. My granddaughter Sarah graduated from high school in early June (although only parents could attend), but I did have fun helping to get her ready for college! We ordered things and wore our masks to do some in person shopping. Thankfully, there were very few cases of Corona virus there. I can’t believe I now have THREE granddaughters in college! Slow down, time!
Early July was rather sad since my daughter and her family moved to Kentucky. After 22 years with a company here in Des Moines, my sweet son-in-love had an offer for a new position too good to turn down, and so they sold the farm. They bought a large home on 5 acres which she is hard at work on making it look like them. She’s an artist so it will be lovely I have no doubt! Sadly though, when the leaves are off the trees, I can see their house and it makes me sad. Doug and I will probably move to Kentucky, Tennessee or Chicago one of these days…when the time is right. For now, he is enjoying our 1.25 acres and all the flowers.
I’m having a significant birthday on the first day of December. I haven’t come to terms with the fact I’m that old yet, but I’m sure I will. I’m looking forward to Heaven one of these days but hopefully not for many years to come. So, I’ll just be thankful and rejoice I’m alive! Even though I am old.
Autumn in Iowa
It’s rather late in life but I’ve discovered I really like makeup. I’m an untrained artist (my daughter has a fine arts degree), so it’s fun what you can do with a little (well, okay, a lot) of concealer, primer, base, etc.) I’m probably the oldest one they have but I have signed up to be an independent distributor with SeneGence International. I will do it the easiest way possible which means I am setting up a website with them where you can order and have it delivered to you. Things are still in the works now. Their skin care and makeup products are wonderful! I’ll be sharing more about it later but if you want to check it out my SeneGence website is: https://senesite.senegence.com/DianneAllenRieck
I hope this post finds each of you well and happy! May the Lord bless you and keep you!
We have had snow on the ground for weeks now with dreary overcast skies. Today, the outside temperature has inched its way up to 41 degrees and it feels wonderful outside! I love the sunshine and so does our cat, Tiger. He chases the patches of sunlight all through the house. I think he’s sunbathing!
Patches of sunlight actually bring back memories to me.
It’s 31 degrees outside with a drizzling cold rain. Snow showers are expected. Tiger and I are inside where the old-fashioned radiators keep everything warm. In fact, I have a window raised slightly. Tiger is asleep, curled into a ball on top of the leather sofa, one of his favorite places here in our Chicago condo.
Doug flew to Texas a few days ago to join a group of men from our church in Iowa on a mission trip. They are building a church in Mexico in the midst of an extremely poor village. A couple of the wives went along and prepared a hot dog lunch for about 150 of the villagers yesterday and gave out small gifts for the children. This is Doug’s first mission trip and, in spite of the hard work, he’s enjoying it. In the short video clips he has sent, you can hear the wind howling. They are staying in Southern Texas but cross the border into Mexico each day.
Thankfully, his flight arrives back in Chicago tomorrow night – weather permitting. I’m praying there are no obstacles to his arriving back to O’Hare safely! We are supposed to return to our Iowa home on Monday – again weather permitting! I have my pre-op physical on Wednesday for my ear surgery on the 23rd of January. I’m ready to get it over with!
I’ve loved my time with our family here these past few weeks. All of us celebrated Doug’s 73rd birthday before he left for Mexico. It was soup night. We made big pots of homemade vegetable beef soup, homemade chicken noodle soup and a bowl of fresh fruit salad. Of course, you must have hot cornbread to accompany homemade soup. I am Southern after all. My only concession to this Midwest way of life is a little bit of sugar in the cornbread. When we go home to the South, I get it my way – no sugar!
Last night I enjoyed pizza and a movie with my youngest and his family, My six and eight year old granddaughters chose the movie Abominable (about a baby Abominable snowman trying to get home to Mt. Everest and his parents!) and it’s adorable. Amazing how far animation has come!
I had plans to get so much done while Doug was gone but, to tell the truth, I’ve been a bit lazy! I’ve enjoyed reading, watching a few British mysteries and I’ve kept up with the basic necessities here. I did get to walk down to the school to get the girls a couple of days and that’s always fun. I should have also walked down to get a haircut from my favorite Chicago hairdresser yesterday! Instead, I did the unspeakable and took the scissors to my hair – never a good thing! I’ll go get it straightened out when we get back to Iowa. 😉
