January 23, 2014 Wealth in Life

If you love life, do not squirrel it away. Leave it where everyone can enjoy it.

Quote for Today: Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it"
Confucius (551 BC - 478 BC) Chinese Philosopher

No comments today, just a few verses from my little book of inspirations. My hand was definitely guided with this one.

                                                                   Wealth

I am  wealthy beyond measure. Can you give a cup of love as payment for a service given? By what scale would you measure long steadfast friendship? What measure of length is there to gauge the depth of compassion? Where is the container by which you would measure the volume of my peace? Is there a place you can pay to keep your happiness from fading away?

How then should I tell you of wealth but to say it is the fullness of life! Wealth is not material but the flavor of sweet and sour of daily experience. Moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, life savored moment by moment. Years overflowing with pain and joy in a mixture of peace, toil and happiness with not one second passing unnoticed. Life is a measure of wealth only when you do not think it owes you but that you owe it for its generosity.

So walk in the summer sun slowly and play briskly on cold winter days. Drink in the panorama of scenery or focus on the single lily in the field. Take a deep breath of cool air or touch a friend in loving attentiveness. Close your eyes and listen to music quietly soothing tensions away. Let every sense come alive to the life that glows so brightly all about you, filling your treasuries to the fullest and making you wealthy beyond measure.

(copyrighted by me)

Hope you enjoyed that excerpt from my inspirational treasure trove. It is one that always helps when I am down or feeling poorly. It reminds me that no matter what, there is richness in everything around us.

How about a bit of fun? What you are going to see next came out of a challenge from my dear wife. One of my favorite saying is "You can do anything you set your mind to. You may not do it well but you can do it." I don't know if she took it seriously but you can decide from the results below.

The challenge was that I couldn't make a suit for our upcoming 10th wedding anniversary. Hmmm! OK. Challenge accepted. Have you ever tried to find a pattern for a man's suit let alone anything for men in the way of patterns? I found one but it was not really what I wanted so, with some guidance from my wife to get started and some help from my mother who was a seamstress, I dove in and not only made the suit but modified it to my liking. Here is the result. (Some of the pictures were lightened in photo editing software to make the details more visible.) 

The photo is a little dark but this is the front of the suit and

This is the back. The black collar is one of my changes. Oh well just let it be known there were several changes.

The pockets are typical 70's aren't they. All bonded too. The material is what both my dear wife and mother said were going to be a problem since it was the biased stretchy kind. It did give me some problems when sewing on the sewing machine. Had to be careful which way the bias ran. (Didn't think I would remember did you Jill?)

I think the sleeve buttons are a nice touch.

The black collar and belt give it a more formal look, at least for the 70's. The button holes were a regular button hole stitch. The inside of the jacket was a challenge. have a look.

Look like fun? Eh! It wasn't!

The tail.

The triple stitching,

Then there is the bonded pockets. Fun, fun, fun.

The suit isn't complete without the pants. No way I show up without them.

I guess I've bored you all again for long enough. I will stick to the art and cards for awhile. Jill wanted me to share this some time ago. She says she still can't believe I did this. Me Either. Here we are in our Sunday finest. I had one of the prettiest brides around. I, on the other hand, look sunburned and uncomfortable. 

I still LOVE THE DETAILS.