The Dining Table

Since getting my David Marsh dining table this summer, it is now my favorite spot in the house.  I have now enjoyed exactly two dinner parties--one to celebrate Kate's birthday with my three drop-out friends, Charlotte and Janet and Kate; one with my Pritchett family, Bonnie, Will, Nathan, and Elena. 

Two successes in cookery for people I love has inspired me to cook more. For a long time I have considered cooking (beyond the basics for one person)  NLA.  Now I have flatware for 8, new serving dishes, and a stack of recipes for the next time--none as complicated as beef bourguignon, but all new to me.  I've cooked with wine for the first time and I've learned to wrap herbs in twine.  

So sometimes what was No Longer Applicable becomes a strong interest again.  

I used to be quite the cook when I was cooking every day for four.  Will asked me one day, "Can we ever have something just regular like we have at my friends' houses?"  I asked him what he had at friends' houses and he said, "You know, pizza and hot dogs and chicken nuggets."

In the two years of my foot odyssey, standing in the kitchen for more than an hour never happens.  So I'm choosing dishes I can cook ahead and divide the process into two or three days.  I'm learning to love making new dishes again!

Another reason my dining table is the best place in the house is that it's positioned under two windows with window sills!  For 25 years, I had non-openable windows, but this year I got new windows where the old ones were and two windows where a solid wall used to be.  My favorite thing is making books at the table and being able to enjoy the light from outside. 

Six feet of work space--I've never before had that much space to spread out my supplies.  The table is now back to its primary work space, covered with cutting mats, craft knives, stacks of paper, five different kinds of glue, brushes and pens and different colors of ink.

I've almost completed three accordion books in the middle of the night, each with a hard cover, just waiting now for button closures. 

I can't begin to tell you how much fun I'm having!  There's nothing like exploring something new that challenges my mind and math abilities.  The combination of beautiful papers is to a book maker what fabrics are to a seamstress and ingredients to a cook.  

Another accordion structure I love making is the one I made for Nathan.  I wanted to give him money for Christmas, but I wanted to present it in a unique form, so I made a red and white book with pockets to hold the cash--red and white being the colors of Texas Tech where he'll be next year.  Here it is wrapped with two red pens and a red balloon. 

Opened out, you'll see pockets on both sides,

enough to hold cash, poems, photos, quotations, etc.