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.