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I am high on life thanks to the many children who touch me in my life and maybe where I am in my moment right now. As Wain, the best third-grade teacher and former Chester resident said, "I think Chester is in a renaissance." So am I. It is like 1974 again when we moved to Chester, VT from Westfield, NJ with two little ones. A third was born a year to the day later - August 29, 1975. If you don't think my children are inspiration, you would be way out there. Where am I?

Lew and I did many productive things earlier this month when it was raining in
Chester, VT.  We prepared our porch, now rescreened and ready for solar, thanks to our son-in-law Andy's fine carpentry work. Silvio was thrilled to see the "Eddie wicker furniture" that he remembered so well. He has several favored stations to manage comings and goings.

But more important that day, we put into practice what we learned from our friend Cindy who urged us to read "Clutter Busting," a book which reinforces the notation that if your creative space is "a mess," your creativity is at a standstill.  I was in that place. So I listened. And I acted.

And the result was phenomenal. Doing what I had to do worked.

The first dolls I made were from patterns and sewing books. I was not confident enough to design. There was Samantha, an old fashioned quilted doll, calico animals in frames, stuffed animals, Christmas tree ornaments and the standard, Raggedy Ann and Andy. I made one for each of my three daughters. William, our oldest grandson celebrating ten today still treasures his Andy. His boy has been washed and dried several times and still loves William back. Here we are at the first outdoor fair. My father is in the photo, proudly watching his first granddaughter, Kate, pick and choose her favorite mommy product. Very discriminating, she chose dolls! That bench still displays our girls and goes to fairs.

Heavens, when I was a kid I loved them even if I had to clean my toy box and play with my little brother, John. As a adult, I loved the cancellation of school to spend quality time with my three daughters who all benefited from my individual bonus attention to their creative paths. When they said to me, "I'm bored." I replied, "No, think, are you boring? Make something." God bless them. They did. So what did Lew and I do on our first snow day?
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What a week! Grandson Isaac celebrated his first birthday with lots of help from siblings opening packages and blowing a candle! We spent the night but left before being awakened by the children to attend a workshop through the Small Business Administration lead by Jane Applegate.  Driving there Lew and I sipped daughter Kara's great coffee and talked candidly about business.  How do people get lost from Main Street? Should we say we're in Chester Depot, not Chester? Do we need a state directional sign? Should we offer a rainy day special next year? Do we have too many dolls offered on the web?  The answers?