Family creativity

I am only creative by committee..ie..I need to quilt with a group...My mother and sister, Trina are both very creative...My mother, Julie Swennes Butler could sew anything with perfection..note the hem on the ashes of roses wedding dress...I can only sew by committee too...She and Hazel Peter of the Placer Street Quilters fame taught me all I knew about sewing and creative handiwork...

.there is no end to Trina's creativity...a naturalist by nature..she weaves natural fibers into all her work...the watercolor is one of two..the other bought by a congressman in washington dc...She also writes poetry and journals and has done so most of her life...Trina taught me everything I know about nature and gardening....

Details of my sisters wedding dresses

Clear Tomato Soup

My grandmother used to make this recipe for Christmas dinner....used to cleanse palate between courses...But it is also good the Passover seder for those who are vegitarian and made with matzoh balls...

Clear Tomato Soup Recipe

2 lbs tomatoes, chopped

2 cups onion, chopped

2 cups carrots, chopped

2 cups celery, chopped

1 bay leaf

4 cups beef, chicken or vegetable broth

1/3 cups very dry sherry

1 dash salt and pepper

1/4 cup sugar

1 dash fennel

1 dash worchester sauce

3 cloves

Chop tomatoes and combine with vegetables and bay leaf. Add 1 cup of broth and cover and simmer gently of low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and strain through sieve lined with dampened muslin. Do not press vegetables through cloth or soup will be cloudy..Transfer clear soup to sauce pan...Add 3 remaining cups broth and bring to a boil...Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add a pinch of sugar if needed. Add dry sherry for additional flavor.

Summertime

julie swennes butler's handiwork

quilts by Julie Swennes Butler

Julie's Prayer

Lord, Thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing older, and will someday be old.

Keep me from getting talkative, and particularly from the fatal habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject, and on every occasion.

Release me from craving to straighten out everyones affairs.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details, give me wings to get to the point.

I ask for grace enough to listen to the tales of others pains. Help me endure them with patience.

But seal my lips on my own aches and pains; they are increasing and my love pof rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally it is possible that I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a saint - some of them are hard to live with -- but a sour old man/woman is one of the crowning works of the devil.

Make me thoughtful, but not moody; helpful, but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all- but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends in the end.