Needlepoint with Aunt Kay

When I was a child I spent many Saturday mornings with my great Aunt Kay. She taught me how to needlepoint, and how to make pancakes (wait for the bubbles before you turn it over). Every Christmas she made each of us a box of the best fudge I have ever had in my life. We have her candy cookbook, but I'm afraid that I'll be disappointed so I haven't tried to make it yet. She was my grandmother's oldest sister and she was a very proper and very British lady. She had a tin with a picture of Queen Elizabeth that was proudly displayed in her very tidy apartment.

Aunt Kay took a look at the little needlepoint kit I had and tsk, tsked. We then went to the needlepoint shop and got some decent yarn and I learned to needlepoint. I made a few pincushions, but I hadn't done any needlepoint in many years.

I came across a lovely needlepoint pattern that I knew my mom (VERY picky) would like, so I bought it and offered to make it for her. It looks just like her cat Albert (R.I.P.) It's been sitting around for about a year, but I have finally got it going. As I'm making it I can hear my Aunt Kay talking about how to make it so that the back looks as good as the front, and I spend a lot of time thinking about the hours I spent with her. I would like to think that she's proud of me, and that finally, the back of my needlepoint looks nearly as good as the front.

My Favorite Soap

This is my favorite soap in the world.

My first bar was sent to me by my friend TY, after a trip to Italy. I loved the soap and loved the box, too. My local smelly soap store started carrying my favorite soap, and I was thrilled! It is a bit pricey though and I cannot justify buying it for myself on a regular basis.

For the past few years I have hinted and asked, reminded, expressed disappointment, but I have never been given any of it until this Christmas. D (my husband) and C#1 and C#2 were at the above mentioned smelly soap store (which is really so much more than that, and I truly love it, but for this story that's all you need to know) doing some last minute shopping. Luckily, they ran into my best friend T (TS not TY) who promptly marched them over to the favorite soap and told them how much I loved this soap and what a fantastic gift it would make.

I got a bar for Christmas, and as soon as I needed some new soap in the shower I unwrapped my favorite soap and was so pleased to have it. Well, D & I have our own soaps in the shower, we like different fragrances and textures, so we each have our own. You know where this is headed don't you? Yes, he used about 1/2 of my beloved soap. I had been showering at the Y after swimming and hadn't showered at home to notice it's gradual demise. Why did he do it? He couldn't find any of the 100 other bars of soap in the cabinet, and it's just soap. Yes, I went ballistic.

T pitied my favorite soap situation and thoughtfully bought me a new bar (and a soap box to secretly stash it away).

Guess what I got for Mother's Day?



Let's look at those lovelies again...



P.S. It's not just me, right D?