My Only Trick Or Treater

came to me on his mother's blog this morning. Max unfortunately decided he didn't want to go outside so there is a limited showing of his fantastic costume, which his mother made. Max is my sister's grandbaby; he lives in Minneapolis with mom, Minna, and dad, Michael.

We've never had trick or treaters at this house; we are too far off the road and the houses are too far apart. Kids go into town so they can get a lot of stuff in a short distance.

But every year we are prepared. The first few years we had a bag of bubble gum. That finally got so hard that no one's teeth could have survived biting into them. So Tuesday Kerry bought a new bag of bubble gum. After my expensive tootsie pop you can bet I'm not going near bubble gum.

My brother reported an interesting thing at Don's funeral on Tuesday. In Kentucky, where it took place, you can still smoke anywhere you want. The funeral home had ashtrays with their name and logo on them. And the ashtrays were being used. All sorts of ways to drum up business.

Well, that's all folks. The weather is warm and sunny here. My iris is even further along in the blooming process. I'll post a picture when it's open.

Another Quilting Project

This time I'm entering a contest; it's called a "challenge quilt." My quilt guild has one of these challenges each year at its February quilt show. You pay $10 and for that you receive a half yard of two different fabrics that you have to use in the quilt. This year's theme is Mardi Gras on the farm. One of the fabrics has the wild looking roosters; the other was the smaller colored blocks. I added the more normal type farm buildings and animals. The block is a variation on the Tic-Tac-Toe block. I got purple for the sashing and have ordered some fabric for a border from a company in New Jersey. The fabric has more of a human Mardi Gras theme. I'm also going to add some feathers here and there. We have to turn them into the guild by February 1. The members vote on them at the meeting that month. All the "challenge quilts" are displayed at the big quilt show the end of February with the first, second and third place winners in a special area.

I figured this was a way for a newbie quilter like me to get something in the show. Right now it measures 32 inches by 21 inches. It will get a bit bigger with the border and binding.

It's another beautiful day here so I'm going to fertilize my bulbs. I have an iris that is starting to bloom. It's one I transplanted; I guess it likes the new location.

A Death In The Family

These wonderful people became part of our family on July 4, 2004 when Charlotte, on the left, married my baby brother Richard. Her mother Nan is on the right and her baby brother Don is in the middle. Don died last night in a group home at the age of 48. His mother loved him dearly despite the problems he had dealing with life.

I never met him; he almost came to Richard and Charlotte's wedding but then decided it would be too much for him. I like this picture because of the look on Don's face. He's got his arm around his mom and that's all he needs to be happy. I'm not sure how he got to a group home, but that was where he spent the majority of his life.

My brother, who is the wordsmith in the family, wrote a wonderful eulogy for Don on his blog. Visit http://openwindowyoga.blogspot.com I stole the picture from there. Richard and Charlotte are in the air as I write on there way to Cincinnati to prepare for Don's funeral. In the end cigarettes did him in.

This is someone who never really had a chance; he had a family who loved him dearly but despite that there was something that kept him divided from the rest of society. He lived in his own cloistered and troubled world.

He will be laid to rest in the family cemetery in London, Kentucky. He went there a few months ago with his mom and picked out the place he wanted to be buried; right next to his dad. The family knew he was dying; his lungs were simply giving out. It happened on a Friday night about 10 p.m. The staff checked on him and he was fine, 15 minutes later they came back and he was dead. It was a quiet death; his roommate was not awakened by it. He deserved so much more in life, but at least he had a peaceful death. I hope all of you will say a prayer for Don and his family. Nan shouldn't have to see one of her children die. Children are supposed to outlive their parents.

A Very Expensive Tootsie Pop

I just got back from the dentist, and I'm still alive. Bless his heart he had nitrous oxide. Once we established my total fear of his drill he trotted it out and I slipped into a blissful state of relaxation. He's also really good with the Novocaine needle. I didn't feel a thing. He drilled the old tooth down to a nub, put on a temporary crown and charged me $945. I get the real thing on Nov. 19th. He did one thing I've never seen before; he gave me sunglasses to wear so the glare of the light wouldn't hurt my eyes. Turns out they are also safety glasses. What a nice idea. So I'm heading out to my knitting group tonight for good conversation, an occasional bit of knitting, good food and some wine.

I'll Never Eat A Tootsie Pop Again

Here's the completed quilt hanging on the wall between our bedroom on the right and our sitting room on the left. I bound it with the red fabric that is in the quilt; Kerry got a piece of bamboo from our bamboo grove and we hung it on the wall. I sewed a sleeve to the back of the quilt through which the bamboo pole passes. I know you have seen it many times in many different stages, but now it's finally done. That's Nora in the lower right hand corner.

Now for the Tootsie Pop. We ate at Lucille's last night. It's a rib place that offers you Tootsie Pops as you go out the door. I took one, ripped off the wrapper and proceeded to suck on it. It was grape. I thought to myself just suck slowly, no need to break a tooth. Well, I did anyway. My upper right hand side molar is half gone. This is not the first time for me. I see my dentist on Thursday at 2 p.m. I am a big wimp when I go to the dentist. This is my new dentist, which means I've been there twice a year for the past four years but all I've needed is a cleaning.

My old dentist in Lafayette who took care of my teeth for 31 years always gave me nitrous oxide when I had crowns done. If this guy doesn't use it I will be tempted to drive for two hours to my old dentist.

In the meantime, I am wearing my retainer which encloses all my upper teeth. That way my tongue doesn't keep running into the ragged edge of the tooth remains and I can eat and drink without pain.

My Latest Quilt...Sorta

The quilt guild that I now belong to is having a quilt show at the end of February. They need lots of signs that tell people not to touch the quilts on display. I took home the white sign in the middle and created the rest around it. I think I'm going to get another one. I've never started from scratch, especially with something in the middle whose size I couldn't control. I need the practice.

Halloween is a great time to be searching for scary fabric. I'm going to put a very somber gray binding around the whole thing.

My quilting buddy, Linda, and I took another class at Cabin Fever Quilt Shoppe last week. This one was about binding, which is the last step in making a quilt. I learned a great technique that really gives the quilt a nice look. I've now completed four quilts and done the correct binding on two of them. Like I've said before, it's a learning process.

Linda and I signed up for an applique class on Nov. 8. Right now she's running the flu clinic for the local Kaiser facility so she's sort of tired at the end of the day. The Nov. 8th class means she has to leave work early. I convinced her, rather easily, that it was the right thing to do. Then I don't take anything until Jan. 28 when I take hand quilting. Not sure Linda will join me.

Quilting seems to be consuming my life these days. I also got some bulb fertilizer and tulip bulbs. I have three good-sized pots that I'm going to put the bulbs in. The weather is beautiful right now; it's supposed to hit 82 on Wednesday.

I guess the quilting, I've been consumed by the "sturm und drang" of Creamy Silver's house purchase. I think her realtor should be horse whipped. That's all for now. Another wonderful week awaits me.

My Sewing Machine Is Home Again

And it works fabulously. The technician said it just needed some TLC which translates to cleaning and oiling, something we all need from time to time. I finished what I have to do for class tomorrow.

Today I actually didn't feel well for a while. First I was cold and then hot and then my stomach hurt. As soon as I found out my machine was ready, I was cured.

Kerry went with me because he is curious about sewing machines and where they fix them. I actually think that he could be a fabric artist. So no more prayers are needed, just kidding. The house is once again whole: a man, a woman, two cats and my sewing machine.

Class tomorrow is on quilt binding. We are making potholders as a way to learn. I can hardly wait. I pick up Linda at 5:30 p.m.

My Sewing Machine Is In The Hospital

Yes, it has to stay overnight. Here's what it looked like as I was preparing to put the case on so I could carry it to my car. The young man who looked it over said it could be fixed and I could pick it up Wednesday right before closing (7 p.m.). That means I still have another 24 hours until we will be reunited. Hopefully my manual will come by then so I can better understand the machine.

To compensate for my loss, I went to Joanns Fabrics, walked around and felt fabric. I did get the Insul-Bright for my binding class on Thursday. It's a type of batting that you use in pot holders, which is what we are making on Thursday evening when we perfect, or in my case learn, binding techniques. I got home and looked at the empty space on my sewing table and didn't quite know what to do. This should tell you just how hooked I am on this. It's not that I wanted to quilt this afternoon; with the machine gone I didn't have a choice, I couldn't.

So I took a short nap, wandered into my sewing room, discovered it had not magically re-appeared and then went back to bed to read a fiction book on quilting; the Elm Creek Quilt Camp series.

My quilting buddy Linda hasn't had much time for quilting because she's running the flu clinic at Kaiser in Lincoln. She's a retired R.N. and does this each year. The first day they had 500 but the second day they were swamped with 1,000.

I did buy a book of iron-on quilt labels so I think I'll spend tomorrow making some labels and coloring them so I'm ready to quilt again and finish a couple of quilts.

Wedding Vows And A Calliope

My good friend Susan's daughter, Jennifer, was married last Saturday at the Amador Harvest Inn which is deep in the heart of the Amador County/Gold Country wine growing region. Jennifer, as you can tell, was a lovely bride. She married a young man named Paul who has a son, Jacob, by his first marriage. You could just tell that this couple plus Jacob are marked for success. When the couple exchanged rings they also had one for Jacob. He was so pumped up to have his own ring (he's in second grade).

The sun was out, the weather was warm, not too much of a breeze and lots of happy people. The rose petals you see behind the groom, well, there is a story behind them. Susan was appalled by how expensive rose petals were. All the rest of the flowers were silk, but because of the wildlife in the area anything you had on the ground had to be biodegradable. Susan bought $30 worth of rose petals and then set out to find the rest on her own. Any rose bush that looked like the petals were about to drop became fair game for Susan. I told her I would have joined her; we could have hit all the cemeteries in the area. She looked at me, smiled and said, "You were always so resourceful."

The family who owns the inn also owns Deaver Winery, which is right next door, so we had great wine with dinner.

Before I get to the calliope, one very important serendipitous thing happened. Kerry and I noticed a bunch of older Porsches in the parking lot of the winery. Kerry went to talk with the Porsche owners and discovered that they are a car;the owners have the kind of old Porsche that he has. Great discussion ensued; we are going to their monthly breakfast at Marie Callender just before we leave for Palm Desert next month for a week. These guys assured him they would come to the house, help him get it started and basically get us on the road so we can ride around in a very hot red convertible. I can hardly wait. He could get rid of the rest of his vehicles and just keep this one and I would be very happy. A Prius and a bright red (and newly painted) 1962 Porsche 356 convertible.

Now for the calliope; we stayed in nearby Sutter Creek for the wedding afterparty (pizza). Sunday morning we went in search of breakfast. The Days Inn had no trace of protein in its free breakfast so that wasn't good for diabetic Kerry. As we were coming out of the breakfast place in Sutter Creek we heard the sounds of a merry-go-round. There was a glorious calliope (sans merry-go-round) across the street that was thumping out some great polka music. There were two calliopes and three organ grinders in the downtown area. As with everything, there is a club for calliope owners. The one pictured was built in 1895 in Germany and then came to the U.S. at the turn of the century. It was part of a merry-go-round for many years until this couple bought it.

We got home Sunday afternoon and headed out for game night at 6 p.m. Being popular can be exhausting.

Today I couldn't get my sewing machine to work so early tomorrow we are heading for the doctor. I did manage to find a manual for my machine on line. It was listed under sewing machine relics (sigh). Hopefully the doctor can fix it up tomorrow because I have a class on Thursday evening with my quilting buddy Linda. I'll keep you posted on the health of the machine.

The Mighty Acorn, Al Gore and The Flattened World

Our remaining oak is a blue oak and this is an acorn from that tree. They don't put out acorns every year but this year they are putting out a bumper crop. Sometimes it sounds like popcorn popping in the microwave. I've been hit on the head a few times and they definitely hurt. If everyone of them became an oak tree we would have thousands of trees. They are very slow growing because they are drought resistant.

Now we come to Al Gore and the flattened world; if you voted for Bush in 2004 and consider him a good president, you might want to stop reading right now. But come back another time. I rarely get political.

Al Gore's new book "The Assault on Reason" is a real page turner or in our case a CD inserter. We listened to it on our trip to Washington.

New York Times book reviewer Michiko Kakutani wrote in her review, "In 'The Assault on Reason' Al Gore excoriates George W. Bush, asserting that the president is 'out of touch with reality,' that his administration is so incompetent that it 'can't imagine its own way out of a horse show,' that it ignored 'clear warnings' about the terrorist threat before 9/11 and that it has made Americans less safe by 'stirring up a hornets' nest in Iraq, 'while using the language and politics of fear' to try to 'drive the public agenda without regard to the evidence, the facts or the public interest.'"

It is a truly scary book. Our constitution is being eroded on a daily basis by the Bush administration. Mr. Gore's central argument, according to the reviewer (I agree with her), is that "'reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the way American now makes important decisions' and that the country's public discourse has become 'less focused and clear, less reasoned.'" This is the assault on reason.

Now for the next book, Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat, A Brief History of the 21st Century." He's a columnist for the New York Times. The reviewer in the New York Times for this book was Fareed Azkaria."The metaphor of a flat world, used by Friedman to describe the next phase of globalization, is ingenious. It came to him after hearing an Indian software executive explain how the world's economic playing field was being leveled. For a variety of reasons, what economists call 'barriers to entry' are being destroyed; today an individual or company anywhere can collaborate or compete globally." The first barrier was the fall of the Berlin wall. The book is a hard read so I highly recommend listening to it in small doses. One of the Friedman theories that I like best is that countries with McDonald's don't get involved in wars. It's shorthand for saying that countries who have a stake in the world economy don't want to mess it up by doing something stupid like going to war. Countries without McDonald's include Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Just so you know that I'm now becoming some intellectually elite snob, my next book is a murder mystery by Elizabeth George and then a book by Jennifer Chiaverini, "The Christmas Quilt." See I'm not a snob afterall.

I Won Something; I Never Win Anything

Went to my first quilt guild meeting tonight and walked away with a Rowenta travel iron valued at $55. I bought $5 worth of raffle tickets and won. I almost left because my asthmas decided to rear its ugly head. I went over the the raffle table and asked the woman what would happen if I won but wasn't there. She asked why I had to leave. I told her I was having an asthma attack and didn't have my inhaler. "You use albuterol?" she asked. "Yup," I replied. "This is your lucky day, use mine," she said as she handed me her inhaler. That enabled me to stay until I'd won the iron. Now you have to love an organization where people will lend you their inhalers. I immediately went to the membership table and paid my $25 to join. I figured with the $5 plus the $25 I was already ahead plus I now know who else has an inhaler with them if I forget mine again.

There were 125 people at the meeting (two men, not to mention Hector who is a great quilter but is somewhat of a recluse so doesn't come to meetings). I got there 45 minutes early and was amazed to see a full parking lot at the church where they meet. Quilting is almost like a religion so why not meet at a church.

They have a section on the agenda called "show and tell." I was in awe of the quilts that people showed us. The speaker for the meeting was a woman known for her scrap quilts. That's code for someone who can't throw any scrap of fabric away and needs to do something with what she saves. The quilts she showed us were beautiful. She confessed that she never saves anything smaller than two square inches; but then her caveat was "unless it's a really interesting fabric."

I agreed to all kinds of things while I was there; people were so nice you just couldn't say no. I entered a contest with the theme of Mardi Gras on the farm. I got two fat quarters (that's another bit of quilting jargon; sort of reminds me of the French Quarter in New Orleans) and am supposed to make something out of them for display at the quilt show in February in Auburn. I have no idea what I will do. I also signed up to make a "Do Not Touch" mini quilt for the same quilt show. Everyone wants to touch the quilts so they hang these quilts between each quilt to discourage the fingering of fabric.

Also, as a member I have to make a name tag for myself by my third meeting or I have to pay 25 cents each meeting that I don't have one. I wish I'd had my camera so I could've taken pictures of all the name tags I saw tonight. I'm feeling creatively challenged and happy; very happy.

How many people in blog land think that I am hooked? Raise your hands, shout out "quilt block and walking foot" and than say amen. That's all from Lincoln, CA tonight.

This is a walking foot; a strange name for a sewing machine foot that allows you to stitch in the ditch. This is what happens with any new craft; you have to learn the lingo.

The walking foot moves the fabric forward in sync with the feed dogs (sigh); those are the teeth in the plate under the needle. You probably aren't interested in the translation anyway. You just want to know why I'm showing you this foot. Well, I've gotten to the quilting part of my quilt. Until you put the quilt top (the pretty part), the batting and the backing (any old cotton) together and start to sew on them you don't have a quilt. To me this is the challenging part. Some folks just turn their quilt top, batting and backing over to professional quilters, but I didn't want to do that without trying it first.

I did the easy part, stitch in the ditch. Basically you just follow along as close to the seam as you can get. You start from the middle and work out. And you use safety pins rather than straight pins to hold the whole thing together.

The fancy part is called "free motion quilting." And I'm terribly intimated by it. It's the art in arts and craft. My Thursday class taught this technique; I've been practicing, but I'm certainly not ready to a do this to my quilt top. I'm going to work through this but it's going to take a lot of practice on muslin (it's hard for me to not write "Muslim"). At the fabric store I asked for a yard of Muslim. I'm sure I wasn't the first to do that.

Despite the age of my sewing machine (born 1976) I have been able to find all the attachments I need to quilt. For a nanosecond on Thursday I thought I might have to buy a new machine; then I found the quilting/darning foot. Does anyone remember darning socks. I do. I wonder what happened to my mother's egg.

I finally feel like we are back to our usual life; I got on the treadmill today after a 12 day absence. That's when I knew things were back to normal. Plus we are having leftovers tonight: meatloaf and potato salad that was leftover from the Red Hat Ladies barbecue.

The only thing that is not normal is Kerry's health. He had a blood test prior to our trip, but we didn't get the results until mid-trip. His platelet count is 24,000; at 20,000 doctors worry about bleeding out. You are supposed to have upwards of 250,000 platelets. This is the lowest his count has ever been. He's now having his blood tested every four weeks. Scares me to death. Also, his glucose level was over the top so now he's taking insulin pills. I'm much more worried than he is; that's my job in this relationship. He may have to go through another chemotherapy treatment for the platelet disorder (ITP). Until we figure that out we are not venturing very far from home.

I'm going to my first quilt guild meeting tomorrow night. My quilting buddy, Linda, is out of town so I'm going alone to scout it out.

We Are Back

Before we went to Kerry's family in Burlington, WA, we stopped at Crater Lake in southern Oregon for a night. The lake was formed when a volcano imploded and collapsed into a huge crater that is 1,900 feet at its deepest point. Over time (like 7,000 years) it filled with rainwater and snow. Not outlets or inlets so the water is very pure. The average snowfall at the lake is 533 inches per year. It holds 5 trillion gallons of water. The color is amazing.

The second picture is the deck outside the Crater Lake Lodge. It overlooks the lake. On the far right in the background you can see Ranger Dave giving a history lesson on the lake. We couldn't get into the lodge but did get to have dinner there on the deck just as the full moon was rising between two crags. A bit chilly out there for dinner but definitely worth the cold to see the beauty of the place. You just had to eat your soup relatively fast. In the morning it was 34 degrees F.

On our way to Burlington, we met our friends Steve and Janet in Roseburg, Oregon for lunch at Applebees. They were coming down Interstate 5 after a couple of months in Alaska. Thanks to cell phones, we talked and found a place to meet. We hadn't seen them since early July when they left for Alaska.

Then we headed for Burlington where we had a great visit; Susan turned 60 as planned and it rained every day.

We headed south to Portland where we stopped at a quilt shop in Wilsonville, The Speckled Hen (http://www.speckledhen.com). It is in the list of Top Ten Quilt Shops put out by Better Homes and Gardens recently. Great place. I got a calendar that has a different quilt block pattern, including directions, for each day of the year. The calendar only has the date so you can use it year after year. I think 366 quilt block patterns will keep me busy for a while.

After Wilsonville, we headed for the Oregon coast to visit our friend and wonderful artist, Charlotte. She is having some health problems so continued down the coast to Bandon, rather than stay with her. In Bandon the weather finally cleared so we could see the beautiful southern Oregon scenery. We arrived home late Wednesday night after a marathon 11 hours of driving.

The cats were very glad to see us. I woke up Thursday morning to discover that the two of them were wedged in behind my knees. I moved a bit and they moved right along with me.

My quilting buddy, Linda, and I had another quilting class yesterday. This one was about free motion quilting, which allows you to use a regular sewing machine (with a special quilting foot) to quilt the quilt top. I'm going to spend this afternoon practicing on some muslin.

It is wonderful to be home. Tomorrow my Red Hat Ladies bring their spouses to our house for our annual fall barbecue. Hopefully it will be cool enough for a few rounds of croquet.

Tree Execution Day

This beautiful Blue Oak in the center of the photo is diseased and so must come down before it falls down. The arborist says it's at least 100 years old. It has a bacterial canker, which has invaded nearly all of the trunk. I hate to see trees cut down; I know this one has to come down but I'm still very sad. It's done a great job of shading people, producing acorns from which little oaks have grown, shedding leaves each fall which provide fertilizer for the earth and providing homes for birds, but now it's time is up. There is a big green bucket truck in our driveway. It's pulling a mulcher. Weapons of mass destruction. Kerry has found someone who will mill most of the wood so we can make something from it. Not sure how much wood we will get so what that something will be is undecided yet.

We still have one blue oak; it sits right in front of the house and is about 100 years old as well. The arborist thinks it's healthy but will be out next week to climb it and check out a few spots that worry him. This tree shades the entire front of the house.

Catching Up

It's been one of those weeks that has just had too much going on. This is the first day since Sunday that I didn't have to get up and go somewhere. I really like to get up early, but I don't like to go out before noon. I had physical therapy (shoulder is healing nicely), had my final quilt class with Sheila, went to Girls Nite Out at a local wine bar, actually facilitated a meeting for a client (only one more to go and then I'm done), got my hair cut and colored, had lunch with my good friend Jan (going through a divorce and starting her own business; I can relate to that), divided and replanted my bearded iris so they will bloom better, and tonight we are going wine tasting at our favorite Lincoln produce store (we are tasting zinfandels tonight; some call it the state grape).

Best of all this week, it rained. We got .75 inches on Wednesday night which is a great way to start our rainy season. It has not rained here since May 3rd. Blue skies and bright sun get old after a while.

My friend Jan that I mentioned above is someone who is very organized; she has worked for Apple and Palm, been a wedding planner and worked for a wedding magazine selling ads. She's decided to put that good experience to use with an on-line business that helps those planning special events like weddings, anniversaries and anything else. Check out her web site: http://www.allaboutoccasions.weddingstar.com/ She takes credit cards and PayPal. Who knows maybe you might need something she has.

My quilting buddy Linda and I are already signed up for two more quilting classes: free motion quilting and binding. I've also been doing a bit of hand quilting on the two quilts I have finished. I'm not going to quilt the one I finished in class until I take the quilting and binding classes.

So now you know where I've been. Next Wednesday we go to Kerry's family for a visit. His baby sister is turning 60. They live just south of Bellingham, WA. We are going to spend one night at Crater Lake on our way up; we will come down the Oregon coast to visit our friend Charlotte on the way back.

Nothing planned for this weekend...aah bliss.

Final Quilt Photo

I wasn't going to do it but decided that I just had to add the border because I wanted to see what it would look like. So here it is.

Next steps are to add the batting and backing, which won't show, quilt it or have someone do that for me who has a long-arm quilting machine and then bind the edges. Once it's done I'm going to hang it in my office. I really, really like quilting.

My Home Ec teacher, if she's still alive, would be dumbstruck. I was her worst sewing student, and I started a fire in our cooking class. I guess the past is not always a predictor of the future. Thank goodness.

Quilt Update

I finished all the rows and sewed on the sashing between each row and around the quilt. Starting from the top: friendship star, log cabin (the red square in the middle is supposed to represent the hearth), flying geese, nine patch, rail fence, and nine patch variation.

Next I have to add the border. That's what I've been doing today.

Google Cookbook

Did you know that you can type into Google three ingredients you have in your kitchen, and it will give you recipes you can make with those ingredients. Of all the high tech stuff around I think this is the best. I'm reading Thomas Friedman's book, "The World Is Flat." He mentioned this so this morning I gave it a try. I typed in venison (yes I have some but we didn't kill it), mushroom soup and carrots. I got back a whole bunch of recipes. I think I'm going to fix the slow cooked venison stew. So check out your kitchen, type in those three ingredients and hit enter. Who knows what you will discover.

Cats And Quilts

Top photo is Georgio playing with his favorite toy. The white ball cannot come out of the track so he spends a lot of time moving it around and then chasing after it. Pretty funny to watch. Nora likes to attack him while he's doing it. Sometimes he sits in the middle on the cardboard and bats the ball. When it hits him in the butt he jumps just like he was surprised something hit him.

The second photo is the quilt I'm working on for my new class. We are learning to make some of the basic quilt patterns. Top row is nine patch; next is rail fence; third is another nine patch; fourth is nine patch variation; and the last is friendship star. I need to make one more friendship star to complete the row.

Next Wednesday we will learn log cabin and flying geese. In the last class we will put it all together with sashing between each row and a border around it all. The strips are on a piece of flannel I bought. For some reason the fabric sticks to the flannel without benefit of tape or tacks. I learned this in the classroom at Cabin Fever Quilt Shoppe where all the walls are flannel. I've already signed up for two one-day classes that meet in October: quilting and quilt binding.

Another Shoe From Albuquerque

Since I retired, my shoe collection has gotten quite a bit less mainstream. Before I was always trying to camouflage my size 9EEs, but now I've decided what the heck I'm going to wear what I want. If anyone points to my feet it will be because they are jealous of my shoes. I got these Kitsons for far less than they want on the Kitson web site. I have not worn them yet because I'm still wearing sandals (the temperature is still hovering right about 100). My friend Beverly in Albuquerque also introduced me to mismatched socks. You buy three socks that are all different in design but the same in color hue. I thought about it and decided I can do that without buying the special socks. Now I have a chance to wear one flamingo sock with one turtle sock. So that's my story for today. Here's the web site for the socks: http://www.littlemissmatched.com
Have a great labor day.

Wine Tasting In Nevada County

Six of us adventurous souls set out to wine tasting yesterday in near 100-degree heat. Luckily all the wine production areas at the wineries need to be kept cold so it wasn't too bad. They were very different types of wineries. All represented vintners who want to produce Italian-type wines. They get their grape stock from UC Davis. Imported grape plants have to go through a ten-year process before they are sold. The U.S. doesn't want to import anyone elses diseases or bugs.

All of the wineries were only in their second year of production. It takes five years for a plant to produce harvestable wine grapes. The first years they just cut off the grapes as soon as they start to form. This allows the plant to put energy into growing it's root and stem systems. We liked the first one the best, Montoliva. We bought a sampler case and then two extra bottles of Pinot Grigio (a wonderful wine for hot summer days when served really cold). The wine making area is in the basement of his house in his family room. The rest of the wineries were in just about equally small areas. Some of them make so few cases each year that they were out of many of their wines. Most will be harvesting in the next week or so. The vineyard at the left is at Avantgardia. You are looking at the one-acre of grape production they have. We really didn't like the wines but the people were very nice. The husband and wife team do the picking, crushing and all the other parts of getting the wine into the bottle. Wine making at this level is for those who want to work hard.

Then we headed for Tal and Alicia's house to rest a bit before we headed out on their pontoon boat on Lake of the Pines for a dinner of wonderful pork ribs, salad and a dessert called treacle. Kerry really got into the gliding over the water at a nice slow speed that produced enough of a breeze to cool us off so we could drink more wine. The two ladies are Margo on the left and Alicia on the right. Margo was our realtor when we bought our house. She and husband Rick have been our friends ever since. She organizes our tours, Alicia fixed the wonderful dinner and architect Tal skippered the boat. Rick, former Coast Guard, handled the anchor and lines. You ask, what did you and Kerry do? Be very appreciative of everything. Kerry finished off my plate of ribs and salad. I didn't let him near my treacle.

Alicia makes her treacle with lemon curd (yummy), baked yellow cake that has been crumbled and bits of fresh fruit like strawberries and peaches. You stir all of that together and then put whipped cream on top. Delicious!!

We got home by 9:30; I was in bed sound asleep by ten and didn't get up until 9 this morning.

It's another hot day here so we are heading for the movies this afternoon. I think we will veg tomorrow.

The Long Hot Days Of Summer's End

This is the fourth consecutive day of 100+ degrees. And we are not done yet. We have two more over 100 and then a few 99 degree days. The house was at 80 when I got up this morning. The air conditioning runs constantly. I'm thankful we have it but I still don't like being cooped up in the house. I don't handle heat very well. I have fans pointed directly at me during the night and wherever I am in the house. Kerry isn't affected the same way I am.

Had my quilt class on Wednesday. What a difference between the class at Joann's and this one. First the class is during the day so I'm definitely more wide awake. Second the classroom is very large with room for everyone and all the stuff you need when you quilt. And third, the teacher takes her time with everyone to make sure you get it. She's been teaching quilting full time for 12 years.

For some reason, in all this heat, I decided to make Moussaka for Wednesday night dinner. It involved three burners on the stove and the oven. I won't make this dish again until December. It was yummy, but by the time I was done I was so worn out from the heat of cooking that I barely ate any. At least we have lots of leftovers. I find that Kerry can eat the same thing two nights in a row but after that he wants a change. I'm like "blogauthor," I can eat the same thing day after day. So I will be the one to finish the Moussaka.

This weekend we are going wine tasting on Saturday and to see the movie "Becoming Jane" on Sunday. The wine tasting is at a little higher elevation which will cut the temperature by about 10 degrees. We go wine tasting with these folks about twice a year. It's always great fun, and we stock up for the next few months. Rick and Margo always bring a great picnic lunch. At supper time we are going out on Tal and Alicia's pontoon boat where we will have dinner.

Has anyone out there seen "Being Jane?" It sounds sort of like a chic flick but the menfolk have agreed to see it.

Today is my sister-in-laws birthday. Happy Birthday Charlotte.

Well, I'm off to have a pedicure and then run a bunch of errands. Gotta have cute toes for wine tasting.

Hope everyone has a great long weekend.

Accessorized Crocs

A trip to Albuquerque always includes a shopping spree at Shoes on a Shoestring. It's possibly the largest shoe store I've ever been to. Beverly and I always spend a couple of hours there while Kerry and her husband, George, do something else. They do have a waiting room for husbands/significant others, but it doesn't have a TV or beer so isn't well attended.

This year Mark's girlfriend Robin joined us for her first time. We had so much fun; giggles abounded. Lots of help from Sales Clerk Lorraine who sort of adopted us soon after we arrived. Beverly is losing her eyesight. She uses a can and my elbow when we shop so there is always lots of help. At one point we were all going to buy the same shoe. Luckily for the universe and the men in our lives, Lorraine could not find the shoe in our sizes. Beverly chose not to get anything and Robin and I got different Privos. Robin left first because she had some film editing to do for her business. When I got to the check out counter Lorraine informed me that Robin had bought me these wonderful little add-ons for Crocs (sunflowers and daisies). The photo shows them on the side of my Crocs, which I bought in Costa Rica for a fraction of the cost. The store even have Crocs with heels and Croc bedroom slippers.

Our trip to Albuquerque was wonderful even though it started on a rather dour note when Kerry and I had a disagreement (that's putting it mildly) about our GPS. I had carefully programmed it to get us from the airport to Beverly and George's house near the UNM campus. I was driving and Kerry was in charge of the GPS. Something happened and all of a sudden we were way far away from where we wanted to be. Finally we switched; he drove and I navigated. That little thing is a miracle worker. We got stuck in traffic on the way back to the airport so rather than wait I pushed a couple of buttons and had a non-freeway route to the airport.

The night of the opera we had dinner at Gabriel's a little north of the opera exit. They come to your table and make you guacamole. It is scrumptious. We only stayed at the opera until half time because it was so warm in the area where we were standing. I didn't mind leaving early because we had paid just $10 each to stand. We got to see Mark perform and that was the whole reason to be there. Mark stayed late for a party because it was the end of the Santa Fe Opera season.

We went home and got some sleep to get ready for all the meals and conversations the next day. Albuquerque trips always seems to be about having great discussions with Mark, his friends and girlfriend, and Beverly and George...and eating. I had a great egg salad sandwich at the Flying Star. I managed to live a pretty vegetarian lifestyle; I don't want to eat cornfed beef or unhappy chickens (raised in tight little cages) so I just stuck to vegetarian. It's easy to do in a college town.

So we are back. Turtle Doug has been here and gone; Kate is with us until after Burning Man. The cats are not too sure about Kate and vice versa. Tomorrow I have the first of four quilting clases. I am so excited.

A Weekend Of Travel

Tomorrow we fly to Albuquerque for a four-day visit with my son Mark. The photo is the Santa Fe Opera House where we will be on Saturday night for "La Boheme." Mark is playing in the on-stage orchestra. It's an incredible setting in the high desert outside Santa Fe. Due to the outdoor setting they start rather late in the early summer (9 p.m.) but by this time of year they start at 8 p.m. Much better for folks like me who don't seem to be able to stay up as late as I once did.

We are also going to see our friends Beverly and George who live in Albuquerque. We are staying at Mark's house, which is so much nicer than staying at a hotel.

Friday night we are dining at Bucca de Beppo, a great family Italian restaurant where the portions are so large you just have to share.

We will probably spend some time riding around in Mark's new car. He bought a 2001 Nissan Maxima yesterday. At the ripe old age of 32, it was the first car he's purchased. First he drove our 1976 Volvo and then our 1993 Ford Explorer. The Explorer is having transmission problems so he decided it was time to get something newer. He bought a house before he bought a car. Usually doesn't happen that way.

We will probably do some train watching with Mark. He loves trains; has loved them since he was three. There is a spot near Albuquerque where lots of trains go through each day. We go out there and wait for a train and then Mark takes pictures. Don't have a lot of other activities planned. We just like to hang out with Mark. Oh and Beverly and I have to go to our favorite shoe store. The sign in the window says, "If you are looking for your wife, she's probably here." It is the biggest discount shoe store I've ever seen. George and Kerry will drop us off for several hours of uninterrupted shopping. Beverly and I are very good at this. It's our little tradition.

Quilt Number 2-1/2

I say 2-1/2 because there was one between this one and my first quilt that quickly became a UFO; quilt jargon for unfinished object. I have a lot of trouble reading and understanding directions. This has been a problem for my entire life. Only after I had made mistakes on the UFO did I understand what I needed to do with the quilt. I guess I'm a "trial and error" kind of gal. So far I have six rows of eight blocks. I need ten rows. Getting everything to match up is a real challenge. One of the tools you have to buy for quilt class is a ripper, also known as a way to rip out what you did wrong. I couldn't figure out why I would need one of these, but I bought it anyway. Now I know why; next to my rotary cutter this is my favorite tool. Makes ripping much more pleasant. I still love it. I actually skipped lunch today so I could quilt. Prior to quilting, nothing has ever come between me and food. I could be on to something.

Kerry's Birthday Celebration

At 10:30 a.m. yesterday he turned 61. We went to a new restaurant in Roseville called Crush 29. Crush refers to the grape crush and 29 is the main highway that goes through the Napa Valley. The wine list was extensive but I decided to start with a pomegranate martini (left photo). It was so scrumptious that I could have downed it in one gulp. Then I reminded myself how much alcohol was in it and started to sip slowly.

Our appetizer was coconut encrusted shrimp. It was good but did not compare to the semi-sleazy restaurant we went to in Homestead, Florida where we first had this appetizer. At that restaurant they rolled the shrimp in coconut and macadamia nuts and the sauce was an orange marmalade with a bit of mustard added.

We both had large green salads; mine had caramelized walnuts and apples plus dried sour cherries. Then I had the portobello mushroom risotto and Kerry had the Bombay chicken. I won't eat meat when we are out because I don't know where it came from (grass fed vs. corn fed). Grass fed is better for the cow and me.

For dessert we shared a butterscotch creme brulee. We could barely walk by the time we left the restaurant. The place is a bit pretentious but the service was good and we will return. The wait staff could stand with a bit more training on how to talk to customers but our waiter was attentive. So in a short while I will get on the treadmill and try to sweat off a bit of what I consumed last night.

My New Purse And Wine

In China they called these "knock-offs," but in this country when they are sold at my favorite wine bar, they are "replicas." This one is a Coach replica that is reversal. The inside is the usual tan and brown with the Big C for Coach. I probably won't ever use that side but I do love this side.

Every Wednesday night Vine Connections, a local wine store/bar/eatery, has WOW, which stands for Women of Wine. Several friends and I go for an hour or two about twice a month. You get an array of free appetizers, a glass or two or wine (not free) and great company. This time the owner brought in someone who was selling replica purses. I didn't expect to buy, one but when I saw the colors I just couldn't resist. Price: $80. In China it would have been $12.

My New "Life" Cards And Food, Glorious Food

I've ordered "life" cards for myself. It's a nice card with a drawing of a large tree. Under my name it says "retired." There are still times when it's easier to hand someone your card then to write down information. The woman with whom I'm taking my next quilt class had a card like this. I had to write down my information, and that's when the light bulb went on; get cards.

We journeyed to Grass Valley last Friday to visit a food co-op called Briarpatch. They carry grass fed local beef and a lot of other people/health friendly products. It's a new store that was built entirely with previously used material; it is very energy efficient: http://www.briarpatch.coop We joined.

I also stopped by my favorite local produce store, Newcastle Produce. All the produce there is grown in Placer County; that's where we live. I bought fresh orange beets, fingerling potatoes that are pink and red inside, spinach and turnips. All of these eventually got mashed together; add salt and pepper, sweet butter and a bit of half and half. I had never had fresh beets or turnips before. My brother loves them so he's quite happy that I've finally seen the light. I also cooked a "happy" chicken in our crock pot. I stuffed it with chunks of onions and liberal doses of Herbs de Provence from our local lavender farm.

I know this way of eating isn't for everyone. It takes a lot more time to just find the products, but hey, I'm retired. I finally have all the time I want (well I'd still like a bit more). Tonight we are having chicken and vegetable melange leftovers.

Kerry seems pretty okay with this. He certainly likes what I cook; the one-hour trip to Briarpatch is a family outing. Besides you drive through some beautiful country to get there.

My book group met last night. We had read "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri. It got mixed reviews but a pretty good discussion. For our October book, Mary Kay suggested reading Thomas Friedman's book "The World is Flat" a brief history of the 21st century. It sounds pretty serious, and it's 304 pages. Has anyone out there read it and if so what did you think?

I've started working on my next quilt. So far so good; it's going to take a lot longer because it's bigger and more complicated than my first one. I've decided that I really have taken to quilting because I like to solve puzzles. With quilting you first have to try to understand directions (I'm much better when someone demonstrates something), then cut out all the fabric and then sew the pieces together. It's sort of the next type of puzzle for me; I still love jigsaw puzzles. http://wwwjigzones.com

Well, that's all for now. I'll take a picture of the fabric for my new quilt; it's very colorful.

The Crooked Belly Buddha

This is a photo from the Lincoln Arts Gallery; I'm on the board. It's amazing to me how many wonderful and inventive artists live in the area. I love the buddha. If I had $1,100 I would buy it for my brother, the family buddhist. In the background on the left you can see a gourd. This is what we bought. It's about as tall as Bird Girl. The artist has carved the image of sea turtles in the gourd. I'll try to take pictures of it in our great room. I do love the buddha.

We took our GPS our for a ride today. I've named her Maggie. If you are driving and feeling lonely, she can be a great companion.

The artist is Yvon Doktor from Davis, California. Google her and you will see how wonderful her work is. Dinner is ready. Wild salmon with no injectable dyes.

Quilting And Blood Tests

The quilt top is completed. Next step is to assemble the back and the batting and then sew them together. My lines are a little wavy; hopefully my next quilt will be a bit straighter. It's been really a lot of fun to do. I'll probably start another small one next week just to get the practice in before I got to my new class.

My blood tests came back normal. My cholesterol is just fine and my happy cholesterol (HDL) are really good. I eat butter, beef, ice cream and put cream in my coffee. Go figure. It's got to be genetic.

The Quilt Class From Hell

Yes, last night was not fun at all. It's not the teacher's fault; it's the way Joann's sets up the classes. I'm glad I'm switching to Cabin Fever Quilt Shoppe. You get four three-hour classes for $60, which is the same price Joann's charges for two classes of the same length. Plus they are during the day. I think I convinced another woman in my class to join me. We both live in Lincoln so we could drive together.

At the beginning of class last night we found out that we had our choice of three ways to put together our blocks to make a quilt; I chose one, which I'm still glad I did, but it required a total of 16 blocks. I had six. That meant I had to cut and stitch 10 blocks. If I had been an advanced student it would have been easy, but I'm not.

I wish she had given us our choice last week so I could have made the blocks outside of class and then learned more slowly about "sashing." I even had to wander the store with the teacher to pick out the sashing fabric and then wait in line to have it cut. There was a long line for paying so I just used the fabric and paid after class. The cashier was a little surprised to see the fabric was all cut up.

The other part I didn't like was the Wilton cake decorating class two feet from my sewing machine. I smelled vanilla the during the entire class. The quilting teacher was talking to my right ear and the cake teacher was working on my left ear. I can multi-task with the best but that was going a bit far especially when I don't know what I'm doing.

Last night was the last class for me. It's on to Cabin Fever and a better pace of learning.

Quiet Weekend Plus Clean Meat

Pretty quiet weekend around here. Friday I had lunch with my friend Jean who is also in my book group and knitting group. She wanted to knit a baby blanket; so we met for lunch and then went searching for yarn for a pattern that I loaned her. We found this great color called Bubble Gum. It's sort of a light coral color. She is going to be a very chic baby.

At lunch I explained to Jean that Kerry and I are eating in a new way. If we know the meat has been raised on grass not corn, then we eat it. Otherwise we eat non-meat items on the menu. She had a Chinese chicken salad; I had the spinach tortellini smothered in sliced zucchini and a wonderful cream sauce. I ate half and Kerry had the rest at dinner Friday night.

I spent much of Saturday working on my quilt blocks. I need to complete nine by Monday night; I have seven so far. Went to Beverly's to see if they had some quilting supplies that I couldn't find at Joann's. I finally found the book I was supposed to have for the first class and some more measuring tools. In quilting accurate measuring is a necessity. I'm not the kind of person who is good at that so this is a real learning experience for me. I find that I get a great deal of satisfaction when I sew a block and everything lines up.

Saturday night we went out for sushi; that's something we've decided is okay for our food plan.

One interesting aspect of the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" is a section on Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley http://www.polyfacefarms.com

I really like the introduction to the farm: "We are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture." They refer to themselves as the "clean meat connection."

I recently found a local store that promises to be a great place for clean meat; Greenbriar Co-op. It's in Grass Valley, which is about an hour from here. It's great fun to go to Grass Valley for dinner and shopping so from now on we will include a little food shopping as well. Plus we belong to a wine club there. Everything in the store is organic and grass fed. Heaven!

Tonight I have my last quilt class at Joann's; then on to Cabin Fever Quilt Shoppe for four lessons starting August 29. I can hardly wait. See how much fun it is to be retired.

The Bridge, Blood Pressure, Liver Function Test And Directions

Most of my immediate family lives in the Minneapolis area so I was quite concerned when the bridge went down. Luckily everyone in the family is accounted for and very grateful to fall into that category. The link below was sent to me by my brother in Evergreen, CO Pretty amazing video.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070802bridge,1,5546538.story?ctrack=2&cset=true

Now for the blood pressure part. I have spent 99% of my life with low blood pressure. Even now that I am very much overweight, my blood pressure has been just fine. I know this because twice a month I made a platelet donation which included my blood pressure. Now, for some reason it is borderline hypertensive. Now I know for many people that is a minor problem but when you've spent your whole life at the other end of the spectrum; well it's disconcerting (especially after the earlier mammogram worry). My doctor ordered a bunch of blood work which I have to fast for so will do it on Monday. I really like my doctor. He also set me up for physical therapy for my rotator cuff problem.

Liver function is next. I didn't know that one of my antidepressants, Wellbutrin, can cause liver problems. Saw my psychiatrist and she ordered the liver test. I had wine the night before so was sure I would be caught with bad function. Got the results this morning by e-mail; just fine. It was an expensive chardonnay!

The last part is the fun part. I bought a GPS that we can use in all of our cars. Actually we bought a GPS. On Wednesday I was out going to doctor appointments, getting blood drawn, etc. when I decided to stop by Fry's Electronics in Roseville to see about a GPS. I wanted to be able to talk to a person about it although I wasn't sure what I would ask him or her. I stopped by, had a good discussion with a very helpful young man and bought the Magellan 3100. I came home and discovered that Kerry had the same thought only he bought the TomTom for $50 more than I paid. His goes back.

So now you know what's happening in my neighborhood. Kerry just got home with dinner so have to go.