Category: The fabric of community

Posted on

Sew Wonderful!

By Grace Maselli

 

TBT is growing in leaps and bounds. This includes sewing class at member Delphine Geraci’s Lutz home, where the creativity lives large among Delphine’s five sewing machines. But Delphine doesn’t just generously open her home to stitching and fabric-minded members and friends. (And their groovy threads, scissors, and such) piled alongside fertile imaginations. Delphine teaches too. Patiently. Abundantly. To spread good vibes applied to the centuries-old art form.

With her own deep history of stitchery, member Carol Godwin also guides learners alongside Delphine as an integral part of the sewing scene. A scene where fired-up sewers make everything from reversible handbags to elegant tunics. Where they close the seams on pants and shirts. Mending and tailoring and yucking it up with some laughs. Making it sew real.

Contact TBT Coordinator Rita at 608.335.2382 for more info. And get the skinny on a broader perspective at the National Women’s History Museum and its, “Fashioning Yourself! A Story of Home Sewing”. Join the fun and get your garments going with TBT: All are welcome! Check out the sewing machine documentary, too.

Posted on

Phew, It’s Been A While

By Grace Maselli

Related imageHowdy. Some time’s passed since this blogger shimmied on over to WordPress for a post. (Chalk it up to the day job, out-of-state travel, and kid stuff that leapfrogged to the front of the Must Do line.) Excuses aside, I’m pumped to be here and report that the Tuesday, June 18 jewelry get-together—our Third Tuesday of Every Month member-and-guest meeting and orientation—was a whole strand full of bauble-y fun!  We had our way with swapped and shared jewelry. We woman (and man-) handled it all: Chunky necklaces and delicate charms. Pipe cleaners and copper wire. We took stuff apart and rearranged it. We glue-gunned and fastened. Considered and chatted, as we noshed on food. We let our imaginations run wild.

All at Tampa’s Life Enrichment Center (LEC). Our Third Tuesdays home and part of TBT’s revitalization initiative to dispatch our efforts further into the community.

And, with tech support from member Karen Lowman, our TBT Coordinator Rita Cobbs demoed the new volunteer-created Florida-wide timebanks website. The new site is a trove of information from core values to the nitty gritty of how to sign up and get involved in timebanking. Building the new website was a labor of love with some elbow grease tossed in for good measure. The result is a timebank jewel that guides members and visitors to vital content.

Yuppers. Last month LEC was abuzz in bangles and glass beads, in trinkets and treasures, and super useful information about our growing Florida-based timebank movement.

Get ready for next month’s Third Tuesday event. Come and learn more about timebank exchanges galore. Share what you love to do while you make friends and build community.

 

Gearing Up for Third Tuesdays July Shindig, Too!

Date Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Time 6:30-8:30 PM
Address LEC: 9704 North Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33612; phone: 813.932.0241
Questions? Contact coordinator@tampabaytime.org or call 608.335.2382

 

Posted on

Across the Pond

By Grace Maselli

Cheerio. “Grab your brolly, it’s drizzling outside.” Okay, so the timebankers from England who recently visited—Annie and Jennie—didn’t actually use this phrase. But it did drizzle on the ride to the Spring Hill monthly meeting they attended this May, where the two of them chip-chipped in their fantastic British accents—their groovy, regional UK patois.

They joined TBT members at the home of Spring Hill coordinator Andy LePage’s house, where the monthly orientation meeting for new members and review of regular goings-on was held.

At the gathering (that also involved some timebank transportation “gymnastics” to get the travelers from downtown Tampa to Spring Hill), the lovely Brits talked about all the fun stuff and people they’ve met in their homespun Southern England timebank. One of their stories about a coordinated UK timebank event stood out: The gals’ participation in a collective “yarn bombing,” which this humble blogger had never hoid of before. Here’s what the dictionary has to say about yarn bombing, “The action or activity of covering objects or structures in public places with decorative knitted or crocheted material, as a form of street art.” Specifically, Annie and Jennie and their crew yarn bombed an English bus shelter, festooning it with knitted spring flowers, bubble bees, and all-around fiber energy! Totally inspired.

Zigzagging from Here to There

The pond-hopping got its get-up-and-go with 70-year-old Annie who came to Florida to swim with dolphins. Jennie, a world traveler and professional nurse when she’s not visiting places like Kuala Lumpur, joined Annie for the fun. The pair stayed overnight in Andy’s guest bedroom and the next morning, after a yummy porridge breakfast, yet another Spring Hill timebanker got his exchange motor running and drove the Brits to Orlando where they carried on in the tropical sun. Sooo, TBTers, the story line is timebanking and its ethos crosses continents and oceans, connecting the human spirit wired for contact with other caring peeps.

Posted on

Let’s Tawk “Exchange”

By Grace Maselli

The life blood of any timebank is its exchanges. What a person offers to another member.
What a person receives. An hour for an hour. When the timing and need sync. No matter if you’re pulling weeds or pulling teeth. Could be a household chore. An errand to the dry cleaners. A visit to someone in the hospital. A meal for their family.

It’s the stuff of caring. Often with meaning way beyond money; rather, it’s about the actions and deeds that thread and join the interdependent fabric of community. Youth—teens—can be involved too. According to the chores list on “VeryWellFamily,” here’s a sampling of what youth might also contribute to their local timebank exchanges:

  • Plant watering
  • Pet feeding
  • Pet walking (and litter box cleaning!)
  • A scrubba dub dub of pets, pets’ things, and cars in driveways
  • Babysitting (complete with chocolate chip cookie baking)

Orrr…

  • Lawn mowing
  • Hoisting and heaving plant cuttings into bags, then tossing bags into appropriate receptacles
  • Light housekeeping for older people
  • Reading/companionship to housebound folks

    So consider getting your teens into the swing of timebank things. Because you never know when the effort can really make a positive difference in someone else’s life. And yours.  Open our TBT timebanking flyer  for more info.