While the spirit of neighborliness was important on the frontier
because neighbors were so few,
it is even more important now
because our neighbors are so many.
[Lady Bird Johnson]
A year ago, one of my clients asked me to help her set up a blog. I set up two for myself—this blog and the one on blogger.com—so I could learn the basic details of blogging. Since then, I have helped a number of my clients set up blogs that were customized to their own tastes and messages. I have also received more than 20,000 visits from folks who live all over the world. This has been one of the most enriching experiences in my life. Thank you, neighbor. The peaches are ripe on my little tree, and I’d bring you a fresh peach pie if you lived close enough.
Before I moved into this house that has been my home for twenty years, someone fixed a planting bed around the front to give the facade curb appeal. On the west corner, they planted a small blue spruce. It was about 5 feet tall and very pretty. It grew. It is still very pretty but now stands considerably taller than my two-story house, fills the 15 feet between the house and the sidewalk, and hugs one corner. It is the right tree planted in the wrong place. I know that I should have a tree service come remove it, but I don’t have the heart to do that. It shelters my office from the northwest wind in the winter and is a privacy shield in front of my windows when I work at night. I’ll wait until the city or one of the utilities demand that I remove it. Meanwhile, it inspired me to include it in my knitting patterns.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling and several other long-loved books, wrote The Sojourner not long before her death in 1953. Although this book is not as well known as some of her other books, it is my favorite. I read it years ago and it struck such a cord with me that it stayed in my memory. Ever since I attended the Land Full of Stories writers’ conference presented by the 
Too bad I didn’t have a BEFORE photo to put with this. I’d found myself apologizing every time a visitor asked to use my bathroom so I’ve spent the past three weeks sprucing it up with the help of my handy lady. She did plaster repairs, painting and anything that required the use of power tools. I did the cleaning, wallpaper and trim. Since my house is 80 years old, the ceilings are high. We painted the ceiling and about 14″ down the wall navy blue. Then I hung white wallpaper that is textured like beaded board, and edged it with wood trim. One of my favorite things about the makeover is the new curved shower rod—no more sticking to the shower curtain.
I plan to celebrate our holiday by hanging wallpaper and trim in my bathroom. The ceiling and a drop down on the wall is navy blue. The wallpaper is textured like white beaded board. I’ve decided not to paint the floor red. I’ll save my pennies and replace the old lenolium someday. Okay, so this is a “love it” or “hate it” design. The blue reflects down on my silver hair and the white fixtures turning everything blue. It is a good thing I don’t wear makeup—only lipstick. The reflection isn’t conducive to doing an accurate makeup job. I decided to do this when I found myself apologizing every time someone asked to use my bathroom. It was looking pretty shoddy.
I’ve just returned from the most delightful of journeys—almost 3,000 miles through the heart of America. My primary objective was to attend the Land Full of Stories writers’ conference presented by the 
Knitting, writing and other joys 