Quince with Beth and Leslie: March 2017

Friday, March 24, 2017

Thoughts - March 24, 2017

“Of all the things I am not very good at, living in the real world is perhaps the most outstanding.”
― Anne Tyler, "The Accidental Tourist."

Raised in a most realistic household (and the Almond kin-line are some of the most realistic folks I know), I really had to work hard to fit in. Of course we don't realize that at the time, even if we know we're different. I was a daydreamer, though I seldom got 'caught'. I could weed a row of green beans, yet be miles away/continents away/centuries away in imagination. In my careers over the years, it's not surprising that as a nurse I worked best with folks suffering from Alzheimer's or doing 'medical detective work' for insurance companies. As a bookseller, I could fill any one's arms with a pile of books, exciting them to buy the whole series ("or you'll be back tomorrow or the day after to get them!"). But...the very real world...not so much. I touch tax forms and break out in a sweat. I pull into a mechanics or make a business phone call and my stomach is in knots. I listen to "Market Place" on NPR not for the financial savvy (the good Lord knows that's where I'm totally befuddled), but for the people who call in and share their stories. Anne Tyler understands. She, too, is an Accidental Tourist. - Beth Almond Ford

Friday, March 17, 2017

Episode 32 - Perceptions of Worth

Virginia Association of Museums Conference
Chasing the Powhatan Arrow by Michael Abraham
Martinsville, Virginia

A Little Sweet...

Leslie made a baby blanket, modifying the pattern Cluster and Shell Baby Blanket by Sharon Frazier

A Little Tart...

Russia (The Old Regime) 1903 - 1919 "Personal Recollections" by Madame Olga de Smolianinoff
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, 1908 - L. C. Page & Company

Photo of Beth's mother in a very special frame

Beth's special and personal valuables

How to easily clean silver plate and sterling silver

A Little Unexpected...

Jalna series of books by Mazo de La Roche

Music Attribution

Reverie (small theme)
by _ghost
featuring Pitx

ccmixter.org/files/_ghost/25389

CC Attribution (3.0)

Don't Be Scared ft. Christine Autumn by Calling Sister Midnight (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/romancito/50155 Ft: Klaus Neumaier, Christine Autumn.

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Thoughts - March 17, 2017

“We need people in our lives with whom we can be as open as possible. To have real conversations with people may seem like such a simple, obvious suggestion, but it involves courage and risk.”
― Thomas Moore

It does, you know. Involve courage and risk. That first time we are betrayed after sharing something with childhood friends or adults we admired, sets us up for choosing our words later in life. Yet, we yearn for folks to be open with us and vice versa. How many times have we thought...."if they only really knew me?" How treasured are those friends and family who excuse the quirkiness, who get right to the heart of the matter, straight to the soul. Give and receive. Perhaps the most honest and true thing one can do in this life. Thomas Moore, thank you for your Irish wisdom on this day! - Beth Almond Ford

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Thoughts - March 15, 2017

“I always knew looking back on my tears would bring me laughter, but I never knew looking back on my laughter would make me cry.”
― Cat Stevens.

There is little doubt there are some of us who spend our lives 'looking back' - I write stories based on my memories, I help folks collect stories from their pasts, I work in a plantation home and tell the tales of long gone people. Laughter defines, laughter helps one cope, laughing moments make a day precious. My mother loved to laugh, enjoyed puns and knock-knock jokes. Our's was a house of laughing. But as I realized this was her birthday (they do creep up on us, don't they....those days that take us back...), I see her laughing and merry - and that image brings tears. - Beth Almond Ford

Friday, March 3, 2017

Episode 31 - Lending Hands and Hearts

Strange February weather
Subject is Volunteers
Great Volunteers in Meadows of Dan
Reynolds Homestead's incredible Volunteers

A Little Sweet...

Volunteer knitting and crocheting

A Little Tart...

Lots of quotes on volunteering

A Little Unexpected...

Granny D: Walking Across America in My Ninetieth Year

In Pursuit of the Common Good

The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem

Music Attribution