WHERE IS YOUR OFFICE?

Where is your office? I have watched this week as all4 of us in our house have set up our own offices here and there. We are all doing work of some sort.

I have been able to set up my office on the dining room table, working on our new tags. I cut all of the shapes before I left home, so hours have already been put into this project before I started opening the office down here in Tucson, or Marana. Today I stamped many of the pre-cuts, "aged" the edges, cut the hangers and tied them into the holes which I had punched. I really liked the results of many of the new tags. Hope you do too!

Liz has her office set up at the other end of the table. She spends a lot of time emailing friends in Russia and following the websites of Russian poetry. Yesterday was her birthday, but we are celebrating tonight. She has been receiving emails from friends in Russia for 3 days now and this afternoon a note from a long lost friend from high school came through. We joke that Liz's office is outside on the lounge chair in the sun!

Here is my husband's office, at least one of them. He also has a branch office in the hot tub and at the end of the sofa on his computer where he actually does do business. He loves golf!! I'm glad that he has a favorite sport to do with the guys so I can do what I love best. Junking and creating with my hands.

This is the view from my office window. I put this bird feed tube outside yesterday late afternoon, today they are just finding it. Last year I had up to 15 birds, usually finches of every color, hanging from the tube, fighting for a good feeding spot. I love this view!

A WEEK-END IN THE SUN

My apologies to all of you not seeing any sun this week-end. Arizona is heating up! This was our big outing for the week-end. Liz and I went to this big church rummage sale while the guys were golfing. It looked really good pulling up as the parking lot was full and we were early at 9:30. Were those all quilts hanging on the railing?! Run, Liz, run!

We wandered through all of the furniture, leaving things behind that would have been fun to work with. No way to get it home at this point. We rummaged for an hour and only found a few silver pieces to take to Farm Chicks. Maybe they will go on the website. I have to start sending small boxes home to Eileen. We had a good time, no quilts, stopped at the new WalMart for groceries and headed home.

Liz had found Russian websites and Russian television that she is able to watch on her computer. She spends many hours searching the Internet for Russian poets and sending notes to friends in Russia. Her birthday is today so she is getting a ton of Birthday wishes from even high school friends in Russia. The world truly has become very small with the computer and Internet.

This is what the guys do after a hard day of golf. Usually a long soak in the hot tub and then relaxing in the sun for an hour or two really help the aging, aching muscles. My husband is addicted to crossword puzzles. He says it will keep his mind sharp. I hope so! Haven't found anything that will help me!

PS - My tag factory is inside. I just take the photos and run inside. Much safer that way!

My Russian Friend Has Arrived!

This is my sweet friend Liz. She and her husband (who will be delivering my new grandson in May) are staying with us here in Tucson for a week. The guys golf and hike and sit in the hot tub. Liz loves to sit in the sun, so I set up my sewing machine outside and work in the shade close by.


Liz says that I have the heart of a Russian so I can understand what she tells me. She is learning English, but it is a difficult project. Imagine learning a new language, new alphabet, new world while going through menopause. I have enough trouble remembering my own language!! Her son is the same age as my youngest.

We were able to go to the used book store a few miles away and found this Russian novel, written in Russian. Liz spends a lot of time on the Russian Internet, talking to people in Russia who write poetry and share their writings online. Liz is a prolific writer and shares much of what she creates. Poetry seems to be a great part of Russian life.

Liz is beautiful inside and out! I have enjoyed learning about her life growing up in Russia, and her dreams of someday coming to America. She often tells me that she has to "peench" herself to make sure that she isn't sleeping in a dream. "America is like a dream. You will never understand the freedom that you have, the things that are available to you, the opportunities that you can give your children." Her stories remind me over and over how much I take for granted, how blessed I am to be born here in America and how we all must fight to keep our freedoms. Tomorrow we will wrap in blankets and sit in the sun together, sew a bit and maybe go to a sale or 2 together. Two women from completely different cultures, speaking broken English, just having a good time together.