August 15, 2011

I rarely forget any of my family's birthdays. For example, today is my grandfather's birthday. Truett Bryan Akin, Sr. was born in 1907, and died in 1980, at age 72. He was a hard-working man who, when he wasn't working, enjoyed being with his family, playing dominos and fishing. He was up at 5 a.m. every morning and in bed at 10:30 p.m. My grandparent's were at Calvary Baptist Church on Sunday mornings, as well as Sunday and Wednesday nights. I admired my grandfather very much because he lived a simple, disciplined life and because he was kind to everyone.

Every morning, except Sunday, he spent a couple of hours tending his vegetable garden before having breakfast. After breakfast he read aloud from the Bible. I don't know how many years of school he had growing up on a farm. He didn't read well, yet he must have read the Bible cover-to-cover many times during his life. In fact, sometimes I wonder if he learned to read by reading the Bible.

Monday through Saturday he was in downtown Bryan, TX by 8:00 a.m. at the men's clothing store he owned with his older brother. At 1 p.m. he was home for lunch (my grandparent's ate their big meal at lunch). He would lay down for a 15-20 minute nap after lunch, then fill his pipe, put on his hat, and head back to the store. Every once in awhile I'll smell his pipe tobacco (Prince Albert). The smell makes me smile because it reminds me of him. I like to think it's him puffing on his pipe somewhere near as he watches over me.

Prototype of new purse I made yesterday.

Today I'm creating more purses. Pictured today is a prototype I made yesterday. Cute Santa Fe fabric and colors! If you look back a few days on my blog you'll see a photo of a new shade I made for the backdoor in the casita. I had some fabric leftover so I used it for the experimental purse. Today I'm going to make more of this style.