February 1

It's a brand new month. January wasn't that great, but I think January has kind of a bad reputation for being kind of a BLAH month. New month, new possibilities, and February comes with it's own color scheme:

This is what cupcakes typically look like at our house. We like our vanilla buttercream in it's natural state. I was looking closely at this thrifted luncheon cloth for the first time as I was ironing it. It is done in two different colors of red thread, and when I bought it I wondered what the story was. Lazy embroiderer? Poor planning? Poor embroiderer? The Great Depression? War-time rationing? As I was ironing I discovered this:

It's signed! It was made by "S.P." in 1943 (war-time!) And a new mystery, in the opposite corner it says AJW and son? 5 am? I wonder what it was that SP was commemorating.

And speaking of commemorating, February is also Black History Month. I happen to believe in the importance of Black History Month. When I got to college I was shocked by how much was glossed over in the history books I had in high school. And if Hispanic Americans and Native Americans and European Americans, and Asian Americans want to lobby for their own history months, that's fine with me, too. I will totally support that. But for now I'm just recommending "47" by Walter Mosely on CD for Black History Month this year. Not in print, it has to be the audio version. The late, great Ozzie Davis narrates, and one of the reviewers on Amazon calls it one of his best works. It's a great book, not a comfortable book, but a great one.

Audrey is home sick today and when she saw me getting out the "47" discs she said "OH! That's a good one! Except I don't like the part where they. . . ." It's like that.

I think it's going to be a good month. It's already showing signs of promise:

It's awfully quiet at our house. The Puppy Girls are off getting spayed. I've already heard from the vet, and they both came through the surgery just fine. They got weighed for the first time in a while and they are officially 48 (Cozy) and 52 (Callie) pounds. A HUNDRED POUNDS. That's a lot of dog!