Snail mail

Dear Jenny,

 

It’s a cold winter day here, brrrr! Two of the girls are coming home (giggle, giggle) from their sports school and I’m just sitting down to write to you. I think I started a letter to you in my head a thousand times this last year. Shame on me, it’s November, almost a year has passed. I do hope you forgive me my great neglect.

 

Last week I did buy some maps to bring some order into piles of papers. There’s a special map called Jenny now, grins. I printed out the last mails and wow! that felt good. When I have the time I can ‘read back’ and catch up. I just ordered a new birthday calendar (the girls were so bored with the old one and put it away in the cupboard, oops!) and I was thinking that you must have had your birthday without a message from me. I am truly sorry. You have written about the date and I shall find it back!

 

I do hope you are all doing fine. Are you having a more quiet time now and are both your parents doing okay? Did Scott and Andrew start their new job on those lovely wooden Christmas statues? (I spotted the box you sent us in the attic last week and it will come out soon, hurray!) And are Scott, Andrew, Emily and you in good health and happy? I sincerely hope so. From time to time I see a new picture of Emily on her Facebook page, she’s a beautiful young lady, that’s for sure.

I hope there’s time for you to relax and maybe make some stitches. I didn’t have much chance to stitch the last year but ‘ordered’ myself to do so now. It’s saving me from getting insane from time to time ... Joking, but it’s true in a way.

 

We do live in a very nice but old house. We have been working hard to get the main things done. There still is a lot to do. Finish the kitchen, ‘attack’ the master bedroom, the halls and the staircase, a shed for the bikes, to name only the big projects. We’re very lazy at the moment, we’re both too busy on the working front etc. and you can’t go on forever. And that’s why I ordered myself tomake some stitches. And that's so good! I bet you do recognize this.

 

I made the baby quilt, which was fun. Yesterday my colleague came to the crematorium to show her lovely baby daughter Valentine. I went to visit her (between the ceremonies) and even could hold Valentine in my arms for awhile. Joehoe!!! And guess what was lying as a cover in the pram? Yes, my pinwheel quilt. Daniëlle told me she loved the quilt. She did buy a big quilt for herself some time ago, during the sales. We had a chat about quilts and I was so glad to see that she REALLY loved it.

Apart from that I started on another Amish crossstitch pattern: the Blueberry Homecoming. It's the twin of the one Sofia made for me (the Raspberry Homecoming) and we decided it's time to hang this one near Sofia's one soon, grins ... Must make a new picture of it, the one I made is another one who only can be shown upside-down, it's a mystery (yes, have a laugh ;)

Your bell pull is also waiting. Plus the thimble quilt for Sofia.

But to be honest ... there's so little time and time flies! It's busy - as usual - at the crematorium and we had quite some changes there. In April our boss informed us that he had sold the crematorium and the cemeteries to the DELA (a big, big company in Holland) ... and he had done that on January 1st, 2013! The way everything (or better said nothing) was communicated didn't impress us. I bet everyone had some sleepless nights: what will happen now? I mean, in my case we just bought our house and I'm in the whole thing concerning the finances, mortgage etc... It was a 'restless' time from that day on.

We do have confidence now that things are turning out okay for us (everybody is keeping their job) and the first impressions are good (I'm so thankful for that!) Many things will change though (catering, interior, some of our tasks). Let's say we stay awake like this ;) It was a strange time, though ... Imagine: I'm wearing a kind of walkie talkie-thing now, headphone etc. Training for the FBI, don't tell anyone ... LOL

 

Well, I'm just marching on. It was an intense, tiring time (still having that tennis arm, ggrrr) but as we know: a cat always falls on her feet in the end.

I'm off to make some dinner now (tagliatelle). I'm sorry to jump from things to other things, I hope you can follow me in my silly ways. And forgive me my long intervals in writing to you.

 

 

 

Last thing: must tell you that your scarf is so lovely. Seen the weather I'm wearing it daily, thank you!!! The winter can come ...

Many Dutch hugs and waves from across the ocean for all of you, dear friend.

 

Love, Carolien