Of the Blues Fest and Tattooed Sister's 'debut' on the Fest scene, Sylvia would have said "that was fun!!"

Mom always told us "I'll be sitting on your shoulder."  And indeed she was - right there among the stars.   Our Sylvia's presence was felt throughout the weekend, and her approval and pleasure were evident.  

Sylvia would grow just about anything.   If she saw a broken off piece of plant while out shopping, she picked it up, put it in her purse or pocket, brought it home and stuck it in water till it got roots.  Then voila!  Another houseplant... like she needed another. If it had a seed pod, she'd pinch it off and try to grow it from seed. We always said Mom could plant a nickel and grow a money tree. Sister is still trying...no luck with the nickel but she did successfully grow a peach tree from a seed, and insists she shall eat peaches from it one day.  

Sylvia always had a suggestion for quick and easy ways to take care of all the myriad little things around the home.  "All you have to do is... " and truly, it would be a quick and easy idea - if you didn't already need more hours in the day.  "A little silver polish would clean that right up."  Generally it would be something that had fallen way to the bottom of my priority list, but should I ever have time to tackle that particular thing, it'd be the first thing I'd try. But now and then there'd be a real 'no-brainer', like using knee high stockings to catch the washer lint (cut in half that way you'd get four out of a pair) instead of spending more money on other things that do the same thing but don't last as long.   

Mom had a creative streak and could wallpaper a bathroom with contact paper in an afternoon and you'd never guess it was contact paper. She could make a Barbie raincoat out of a shower cap (it survives still) or use a pill cup and a tiny perfume bottle to make lamp for a dollhouse.  One year we gave her one for a gift, and she created a peg-and-groove hardwood floor in it with a ruler, a small nail head and hammer and a tin of shoe polish and a rag.  Someday when Sister has a shop with walls and a door that dollhouse will be on display, along with the tiny things she made to go inside it.   Of that, Sylvia would smile and say "Let's play!"