Thirty-Five Years

 

Yesterday I celebrated 35 years of working for the same company. On each five year anniversary we get a catalog and get to choose a gift. I did not need a watch, a giant wall clock, binoculars, a necklace or camping gear. That pretty much left this 7 piece Cuisinart set of stainless steel pots and pans.

I did not need it, but I figured it would be handy to have.

On impulse, I took a picture and sent it to my son and DIL. "Do you need pots and pans," I texted? "I got this set for free and I really don't need it."

My son's one word reply:

"Desperately."

WELL THAT SETTLES THAT! The kids will check them out when they are here next week (SQUEE!) and then I will ship them to the city of Angels as a Christmas present.

I love it when magic happens.

A Perfect Day

Bye bye New England, and Atlantic Ocean! I always get a seat near the window so I can look outside. This was taken right after takeoff from Logan International Airport in Boston.

I am always amazed how densely packed the LA area is. That's downtown LA in the distance.

It's easy to say I went to California to see my granddaughter, but of course I was eager to see my son.  I arrived in sunny (dry and not too hot) California at lunchtime, so we went out to have some lunch together.

This was the view from my seat. Can you see the Pacific Ocean? Yeah, how tough is that?

OF COURSE we had to get ice cream! I had Strawberry with Balsamic Vinegar and Black Pepper! It was so good. And YES, I bought a new pair of glasses frames. More on those later. This was in Manhattan Beach. After our ice cream we walked down to the pier.

I have long learned to believe that everything I have ever heard about California is true. After all, where else would you see a guy lounging in an inflatable pool AT THE BEACH? No, we don't know how the portable pool got filled with water.

My son kept getting compliments on his shirt (he got it at Old Navy).

There is a small aquarium in the Manhattan Beach pier. My DGD and I got to touch live starfish and sea anemones.

Later I started reading Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to my DGD. (Yes, it is by THAT Ian Fleming, and it is wonderful. NOTHING like the stupid movie of the same name. This is an excerpt from the Vogue book review at the time: "The car is divine. So is the book.") I am happy to say she got more excited the more I read and we were able to finish the book before I left.

(That is my Digital Pinwheels quilt on the couch behind us.

Later, my DGD and I donned aprons and we made lemon curd. I was showing her how to separate the eggs in the photo above. After we put the eggs in the pan, I had her measure the sugar and add that to the pan too.

"SUGAR? Memere," she asked curiously. "SUGAR? In Eggs??" She wrinkled her nose. "Are you sure?"

I smiled, "Yes honey, you'll see."

Next we grated the rind of a few lemons (DGD and I both LOVE lemon!), added lemon juice, butter a bit of salt, and then started cooking it on the stove. DGD was bored by then, until I put a spoon in the custard and offered her a taste. Her whole face lit up! "THIS IS GOOD!"

I laughed.

I got to sleep in DGD's. bed when I was there. Can you see the dinosaur quilt I made for her? The the pink quilt in the foreground is one of mine too. My son's house has what I call the greatest concentration of Lynne Tyler quilts anywhere in the world aside from my house. It's fun to get to know my own quilts after some time apart.

We had dinner, and then went to bed. I slept like a rock.

It's taken me a week to recover. OH! I had the best time.  

More later.

Happy Anniversary, Kids!

 

My son and DIL celebrate their wedding anniversary today. The photographer asked them for a pose "with attitude" and they did! This is the photo I have on display on my refrigerator, so I can see it and smile every day.

I read once that if you have a collection you should display them together, so here are my favorite

family photos, framed, on display in my living room.

By sheerest coincidence, today is ALSO the anniversary of my friends Julie & Larry Sefton!

The House is Clean

I cleaned the house today.

And I mean CLEANED. I picked up and got rid of the clutter. I dusted. I cleaned all surfaces. I washed the kitty quilts that protect the furniture from Millie's fur (you can see one on the red chair above.) I cleared off all counters and have a big stack of paperwork to shred. I even cleaned out the refrigerator. The remote vacuum cleaners have been put through their paces. The laundry has been done and is now folded and put away. The sheets have been changed. The dishes are done. The litter box is clean. The groceries have been done. The car has been gassed up. The kitchen floor has been washed. I even replaced the shower curtain liner. (Yes, the bathrooms are sparkling also.) I cleaned all the mirrors. Oh yes, the bills are paid.

And why?

I am on vacation, and shall be enjoying myself.

with these guys.

So that means I won't be doing much sewing over the next few days, but I WILL be delivering this quilt..

Maybe I'll get some California beauty shots.

I shall also be taking inspiration photographs to interpret into birds. (If you want to make your own birds, you can get my tutorial here.)

I'm teaching a letters class at Quilted Threads at the end of September. (My liberated letters tutorial is available here.)

See you on the flip side!

Tuscany

Last week my son, DIL and granddaughter flew to Italy for the wedding of one of my son's oldest friends. They stayed in a BnB in a working winery in Tuscany. The pictures they sent back were so charming I just had to share them.

.

The owner put together his daughter's old crib just for my granddaughter.

.

.

Check out the glass my GD is drinking from!!

I love this dress my GD wore for the wedding.

Parade of Zebras, Quilted

It's always fun to pick up a bunch of quilts from the longarm quilter.

I love the way Janet-Lee quilted it.

It's so cool.

I have chosen the fabric on the right as the binding for this quilt. I think it's going to look great. 

I'm pretty sure I know where this is going to live when it's done. Actually that isn't true. What I REALLY mean is that my DIL loves this quilt and when it's finished it will be flying across the country to live in the City of Angels to live with my DS, DIL and granddaughter.

Storm Chasing

.

My flight to the City of Angels was scheduled to leave Beantown at 6:00 PM.  I checked in the day before and got my boarding pass uploaded to my phone.  Then, as I always do, I checked the weather report for Boston and LA. LA had been experiencing hotter than usual weather. It looked like it would be cooler, while I was there so that was good. Then I checked The weather in Boston and I’m glad I did.

The Weather Channel forecasted a line of “severe thunderstorms expected to cause travel delays all through the I-95 corridor (from Washington DC to Portland Maine)”.  Flash flooding alerts for those areas were in place.

Well.

I checked the hour by hour forecast for Boston and found a 90% chance of those severe thunderstorms hitting Boston between 4 and 7PM, dropping to 80% at 8, but staying above 50% until midnight. Checking earlier, the chance of severe thunderstorms was at 50% from 11 AM on, increasing as the afternoon wore on.

I knew from past experience that thunderstorms bring airports to a standstill because the ground crews risk getting hit by lightning. So getting out of Boston on my scheduled flight didn’t look good.

So I called the airline and changed my flight to an earlier one that left at 9 AM. The difference meant I had to leave my house at 4:00 AM to get to the airport on time. (I don’t drive to Boston, I drive to a nearby town and take a bus. I fly out of Boston so I can fly nonstop.)

When we landed my cell phone came alive with alerts about my original flight - it had been delayed by 2-1/2 hours. As I commented about this to my seat mate the guy across the aisle - who was an employee of the airline piped up, “And that’s just the flight. There are ground delays of three hours and everything is backed up like a row of dominos up and down the East Coast.”  Wow.

I sent an email to my coworkers - who I had alerted that morning with my change of plans - and got this reply:

“You’re lucky you left when you did.  It was torrential downpours, massive thunder and lightning - starting at 11:45 - still rumbling out and raining.”

Later I found out how badly the storm hit. Streets were flooded, buildings were hit by lightning and power went out all across the area. I sure was glad to have missed all that excitement.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

So I might not be doing much blogging for a few days. I'm sure you'll understand. :-)

Jewel Box at Home

It's always great when a quilt finds its home. This quilt told me it was going to go to my DDIL's mother. My Son and DIL live next door to her parents and I stay in their extra bedroom when I visit. I had been wanting to make a quilt for my DDIL's mother, A, for a while now, but I couldn't figure out what color it should be.

 When I discovered her love of flowers, the rest was easy.

 I've been waiting on tenterhooks for the last two days while the quilt flew cross country, and for my son to help me watch her open the box. (What would we do without FaceTime?)

Even the cat loves it.

Whatzit? The Answer!

When I opened the box I found another, smaller box, nestled in a bed of styrofoam peanuts.

Inside was this decidedly underwhelming oddly shaped vase-ish thing.

"MOM!" I heard my son shout from the iPad, "Put some kitchen utensils in it..."

"Now put your iPad in that groove!"

OH!!!!! Now I get it. And while it will be great for using in the kitchen, I'll use it even more to prop up my iPad whenever I FaceTime with my son. It holds the iPad up at just the right angle!

Thanks Kids!

Color Inspiration & California So Far

As my family and I were walking along the beachfront houses I saw these fabulous flowers, and thought the colors were amazing. Who would have thought the almost black succulent would have such a brilliant yellow green flower? It's even more amazing next to the hot pink flowers and the warm blue of the house behind.

We'd seen the same plant at the Arboretum a day before, and its colors had excited me then too.

The cacti are pretty amazing. This one was easily eighteen feet tall.

It rained yesterday. Very. Big. Deal. So unlike the California of my memory, this one is green. There is green everywhere. The grass is green, the flowers are blooming and there are actually weeds growing!

I've been eating some wonderful food too. I always try to eat things I could never get at home. The Carne Asada breakfast burrito at Phanny's was a revelation,

as was the cornflake crusted French Toast and Coconut curd at Manhattan House in Manhattan Beach. When the waiter came by to ask how the food was, I told him the Chef should be kissed it was so good!

And I just loved the Tortilla Scramble at the Ocean Diner. I took a picture of the description in the menu, because even though I knew I'd never be able to duplicate it exactly, it was something I want to try when I am back home.

I met a fellow Patriots fan while we were in Long Beach the other day, and was introduced to his two Airdales, one of whom was named.... Tom Brady, so the T-shirt has been a hit.

I've also had lunch with another California friend and quilter and spent a lot of time playing with the baby.

Funniest thing so far... was talking to somebody and somehow it came out that I was not a native Californian and would be going back to chilly New Hampshire soon.  This person's reply:

"Well, why would you want to do that?"

Why indeed.

Thursday Thoughts

I'm still feeling under the weather and have been sacked out on the couch, napping.  My Mother, however, is out in California visiting my son and DIL and getting to know her great-granddaughter.

My Mom is 83. I hope I look as good at her age.

My DIL and granddaughter. Two happy smiling faces!

Apparently Little Miss has begun to notice the two cats. When one strolls by her face lights up, and if she happens to touch one, she gets all excited.


Actually, I do have some quilty news. I received a notice today that my quilt, Too Much Chicken, has been accepted into the AQS show in Lancaster PA, March 29 - April 1, 2017.

Three Quarter Trials and Tribulations

The top half of Peppermint Candy is sewn together. The third quarter is sewn together. I'll start sewing the bottom quarter together tonight and hopefully I can finish this flimsy this week. Sometimes I get into a good book and can't put it down, so I don't sew. That's what happened last week.

Then on Sunday, after I had done the usual morning stuff, and set my bread to rise, I started into the studio only to hear everything go suddenly silent and the lights all went off. My neighborhood had lost electricity! The utility company indicated it could take as much as three hours for power to be restored. Fortunately I had a good book, and the power was only out an hour. As I watched the Americans win the Ryder Cup I sewed.

Here is a photo my son sent me last night. It's my new favorite. Gee, I wonder why?