My friend, Trish, the city council person

Well, I just knew it was going to happen and it did! Trish won her bid for the Hutchinson City Council today.

Congratulations Trish!
I have been going around for weeks saying I was looking forward to saying, "my friend, Trish, who's on the city council."

Trish was so excited and it was great to see her that way. She was talking to her sons on the phone and I couldn't resist a photo.

She has worked really, really, really hard on this election, as has her husband, Jim (in the red sweater, below). They have had coffees to talk to people, had gatherings in people's homes, put out yard signs all over town and done door to door campaigning.

The best part of it all is that Trish will do a fabulous job. She got elected not just because she campaigned, but because she has a long history of working hard in this community, giving of her time and talent, and proving herself a great leader. I was thrilled that she also got the endorsement of the local newspaper.

She had a very worthy opponent who has also been involved in the community in a variety of ways. It was a good race, with real choices in many offices.

I was joking with Trish that she has constituents now. There were lots of people at the Anchor for the victory party.
I went down about 8:30, figuring it would be another hour or so before there were significant results and they already knew she had won. So, I missed the big announcement because I was doing laundry.

But I saw Jim as soon as I arrived and he told me the news. I couldn't wait to give Trish a big hug.



Teresa was excited for her, too.







I'm so very proud of Trish for the way she has run her campaign. Jim has been an exceptional campaign manager. And their hard work paid off tonight.

Now we get the privilege of having Trish represent all of Hutchinson on the city council.

She will do a great job, listening to everyone, and doing her best for the city. It feels good that we have someone in office who will be devoted to the good of everyone, regardless of their address, their past, or their political affiliation.

Congratulations, Trish!!!



And now I think it might be nice to be walking around saying, "My friend, Trish, the mayor..." We'll see what happens!

For the moment I want her to just relish in this and enjoy every moment of it.

Sunday was the flea market and I got a number of goodies. It was as if every dealer thought, "hmmm... what do we have that Patsy might like? Lets take that today..."

I was barely in the door when I ran across a suitcase full of vintage linens with a beautiful little sign saying, "$1 each." Well, I swear, it's like crack for me. I went through them, gathering a stack in my left hand while I continued to riffle with my right. When the dealer offered to hold them for me I clutched them protectively and shook my head. "No, thank you, I'm... uh... comparing."



There were hand crocheted doilies and embroidered table runners. There were birds and flowers and initials. And lots of hand crocheted lace. Lots of lace. Such a rush.

Then, as I turned to pay I spotted yet another suitcase full of pretties. What a treat. They even gave me a break on the price. How can you beat that?


One of my favorite pieces came from another booth, also for $1. It's a little dish towel with embroidery. That was sweet enough on its own, but when I opened it up to look at the whole design, I spotted these two little patches. I was completely and totally charmed by this.

We live in a time when dishtowels get tossed out pretty quickly, but this one was important enough to be patched and reused. Maybe it was because someone special had done the embroidery. Maybe it was because things just had to be used until they couldn't possibly be used anymore.

Young girls would often practice on something simple like this to learn mending, but if that's the case here she was a quick study. The stitches are quite tiny and perfect.

I also found four little vases - two identical ones in perfect shape, and two others very similar.

I have developed a real affection for these little treasures lately. Interestingly enough, I don't think I've yet found one that didn't have some pink on it. I love pink, but it has been out of favor for some time. I don't think I would paint my walls pink or anything, but I do like touches of it here and there.

I think I have enough of these little vases now, unless I just happen to find one that's unusual or particularly appealing to me.

As I was leaving the flea market, I picked up one last treasure.



This is only part of a quilt, but it is so soft and well-worn. I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet, but I had to bring it home.

After the flea market I did some of the modern "hunting and gathering" necessary for life - grocery shopping, gas in the car, etc. But I got home in time for Teresa to come over at 3:30. We worked on magazine collages for about three hours around the dining room table and then went to dinner.



I actually got one completed today, instead of just pulling out the photos like I usually do. And, I have a foot high stack of magazines to recycle so that's a bonus.

Jocelyn joined us for dinner. She had thought about coming over and doing collages, but decided to spend time organizing instead. It was great to see her and catch up a bit.

I wish I had one more day of weekend. I guess everyone always does.

Tea and Thrifting

Yesterday I had lunch in Wichita at Aunt Hattie's Tea Room. I had been there before and taken photos, but I'm not sure if I ever blogged it.

Unfortunately, sometimes that happens - I take photos of something that is really cool and then life moves on at a very fast clip and they never get posted. I couldn't resist taking a couple more yesterday. Maybe I'll dig out the ones from before and post them at some point. I still haven't blogged Puerto Rico from the summer of 2005, or tea at the Empress Hotel in Canada in the fall of 2006 or our visit to the dome of the Kansas State Capitol from last month, or for that matter a lecture I went to a few weeks ago or one I attended this week. I just can't seem to find time to get everything in.

Lately I've been in a much more "vintage-y, tea-y, home-y, art-y" mood, as you can tell from the blog. Pretty much the blog just reflects whatever I'm thinking about at any given moment, so it goes through phases just like I do. Some find that charming and some find it annoying.

Mark told me once that what he loved about my blog was that he never knew what he might find. He logged on once and one entry was about a tea party I'd been to, with photos of me and friends and it was all sweet. The next entry was titled, "Things that piss me off." I don't recall that, and surely he was exaggerating, but I don't think I'll google that just in case. Ignorance is bliss.

Well, back to tea at Aunt Hattie's. As any decent tea room understands, it's all about the details. They do an amazing job with decor - it's a lovely setting.

I was there a little late so there were only a few other people. I hope they do a decent enough business to stay around. I love having the option of going somewhere like this. It's hard to find a place where you can enjoy such a nice setting.

Their food is good, but a little overpriced for what you get. But, of course, you go to a place like this for the atmosphere, not just for the food.

Yesterday I ordered the chicken salad sandwich. It comes with a bit of fruit and is $9.50. Like I said - a bit overpriced - but, it's very tasty. I guess they've changed the menu a bit because this was different than what I ordered before.

There is now another tea room in Wichita, but I haven't been to it yet. Another trip for another day.

Aunt Hattie's has a terrific decor, with many rooms. I was in the garden room this time, but they are all similar and perfect for a tea room.


















I hit a number of the thrift stores yesterday and my find of the day was this little tea set. I've never seen anything quite like it and I can't wait to use it.


I have this "thing" about toast. Don't ask me why, I don't know, but I can't wait to use the little toast holder widget. Fun, fun, fun. OK, so I get tremendous joy out of really simple things. I'm a very happy person overall. The trick is you just have to look at life like the average four year old. I heartily recommend it.

I don't generally use milk in my tea, so I think I'll use the little creamer to hold some agave nectar or honey for sweetening. The little sugar bowl will be perfect for some quince jelly, which is my current favorite.

I found this at a goodwill store, not far from Aunt Hattie's tea room. And I had just finished lunch when I ran across it. It was in their "boutique" section and half price yesterday, so that was a bonus.

One of the things I've been on the hunt for lately are little vases like I have on my kitchen shelf (you can see it a few entries down). They used to be around for a quarter each, and suddenly they're hard to find. I did run across two yesterday, but neither of them are the really small ones like I was looking for. But these are sweet so I picked them up. The clear glass one I got a few days ago at the local goodwill.

The other thing I'm hunting these days is vintage cloth. I have some projects brewing in my brain that are going to require some nice, soft, well washed, well loved fabric. Yesterday I found these cool old pillowcases and one sheet. My mom had this same sheet set, but it finally disintegrated. But it was a little trip down memory lane.

I adore anything with handwork on it and couldn't believe my luck at finding this embroidered pillowcase. It is in excellent shape so I will probably use it instead of using it as supplies for other things.

All in all it was a good afternoon and evening of thrift shopping, punctuated with lunch and dinner and visiting with a friend. I took the afternoon off as a reward for myself because it had been a week of working a lot of hours.

Splurge! Magazine in Wichita

Well, today I get to feel like a celebrity. OK, no one has asked for my autograph or anything. Not yet, anyway... but it could happen... at least in my fantasy world.

I'm one of the "Splurge! Blurbs" this month in Wichita's city magazine, "Splurge!" If you click on this photo you'll get a version big enough to read, that shows the other two folks featured this month, too.

Of course, I just scanned this, so it doesn't do justice to the magazine. "Splurge!" is a really beautiful magazine - slick, full color, very upscale - fashion, restaurants, happenings, etc.

Thank you to the people involved who have made me feel all warm and fuzzy today.

The magazine can be picked up at various locations around Wichita, including one of my favorite restaurants, Yia Yia's, where I had dinner tonight.

Well, I'm going to enjoy these 15 minutes or 15 seconds or whatever it turns out to be...

________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Enjoy the rest of the blog by going to www.patsyterrell.com/blog.htm

Hiawatha Tea

I promised photos from the tea this past weekend in Hiawatha. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

They have community volunteers bring in their own place settings, table cloths, centerpieces, etc. A couple of the tables this year even brought their own chairs.

The most elaborate one was this one:





There were a lot of different designs. My favorite was this one that had cake plates set up to be a tiered centerpiece.

This was our table. It was done by the library staff. I loved the pansies.

The food was better than it was last year. They serve it on these little plastic plates so the plates don't really get very dirty, which makes it easy for them to be packed up to be taken home. Quite ingenious.



This was our little group - Teresa, Cynthia, Susan and me. Unfortunately, Kathleen wasn't feeling well and didn't get to partake.

The Hiawatha tea supports the Morrill Public Library. You know how much I love libraries so I'm thrilled to support this event and have a great time all at once. The Morrill Public Library is celebrating it's 100th anniversary.

Politics

I've had a few emails from people recently asking me why I haven't written about politics in awhile. I've had to ponder this a bit.

1. I'm weary of it all. I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that George W. Bush is in the White House and so I'm just counting the days until he's not. (663, in case you're wondering - you can find a counter at http://newprez.com/index.jsp?key=20070325PM)

2. Our government hasn't done something like let people die in the streets of New Orleans in awhile. I'm hoping we can go another 663 days without this administration being faced with something else they're incapable of handling.

3. It seems that, finally, other people have awakened from their very long slumber and gotten interested in seeing us get out of Iraq. I feel less need to be talking about it every few days because others are. Finally. It doesn't mean I feel any differently, but I've stated my views already and there are finally new voices to carry it on. In case you missed it - War is Stupid. This War is Extra Stupid. The Iraqi War has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with oil. I support the troops by wanting them home, instead of being blown up in the Iraqi desert. I want us out NOW. I don't give a flip about a plan - fly a plane over and load up our troops and bring them home. This is a civil war and it ain't none of our business. It's another Vietnam because we don't learn. OK, some of us do. But then there's bloodthirsty Bush. Nothing good is going to come of this.

4. I'm still mad as hell and it's just not good for my stomach lining or blood pressure to remind myself of it any more than necessary. Isn't it funny how you can scarcely find anyone who voted for Bush, and yet he won a majority of the votes. It's the incredible vanishing voter - particularly noticeable in this Republican stronghold. You used to see "w" stickers every few cars. I haven't seen one in months. My guess is that sales of scraping razor blades have increased with the death tolls.

OK, there's the short version. However, naturally, I reserve the right to rant at any moment.

Quote of the Day

"I'm the me I choose to be." Sidney Poitier