NanasQuiltsandMore

Wednesday bits and pieces

2012-02-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

Here are the promised redwork patterns. Aren't they great? They are designed by Robin Kingsley, with Bird Brain Designs.

Most unlikey they will get done for Valentine's Day, but one of these days. I really like them.

Still working on my TiddlyWinks. I am happy with the red and white color scheme,

I believe I counted 45 completed blocks. Just 35 to go. Most of these fabrics are from Westfallenstoffe (a German company that I visited a couple of years ago)

Sweet friend Willemijn sent me this fascinating magazine from the United Kingdom. It is full of fresh and new ideas for collecting, making, creating. (filled with Amy Butler type of fabrics) Great gift, thanks Willemijn. Aren't I lucky!

Trying to change my heading

2012-01-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

but not successful. Alas. I don't understand how to make it work. So moving on. . . . . .

An old folk song:

"But I can give you morning, on a thousand hills, and kiss you and give you, seven daffoldils"

These poor, confused flowers - I love them, but it's only January.

Had a couple of nice days,

Those seem few and far between, so we must appreciate them when they stop by. Maybe mid-week the weather man tells us?

I'm working on my recovery. Today it was two 15 minute walks, plus spending some time in the sewing room. Hurrah! This is a pattern called Tiddly Winks by Roxanne Carter - an active member of my quilt guild. I love it. So here are a few of my starting blocks,

As you might notice, they are all red and white.

Today also included a shopping trip to Target. My wonderful Rowenta Travel Iron has died. RIP. So today it was off to find something else that will work. This one is larger, but after 1 day, it seems to work adequately. So we shall see. [and for $6.99 how wrong can I go?]

Today some redwork patterns arrived. I'll show you tomorrow.

A little bit confused

2012-01-24T14:36:00.000-08:00

Look at my poor narcissis - I think he is confused - it's only January (but he is kinda cute, too)

And then, Taa Daa (sorry Caro)
I wandered my way to the sewing room. I have been practicing going up and down the stairs, so today it was with real purpose. I did find that my brain was a bit addled trying to make sense of the pattern here. But isn't this a great border? I just loved it. From Janet Kime's book,

Lots of bias edges, so hopefully I have been careful enough.

My fabulous caregiver

2012-01-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

Today a parcel arrived by way of HEMA in the Netherlands specifically for my caregiver - a real badge of courage:

Quilters are the most fabulous friends

2012-01-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

My quilty friends have been taking such goodo care of me. Thank you so much! Even from her own sick bed, Caro sent this sweet wrist pin cushion,

And yesterday, Ronda came over with goodies galore. My Christmas gift,

new quilty socks. She also brought the next block-a-buck block to work on. I sure hope to spend some time in my sewing room this next week,

and she cleaned out her collection of quilting magazines.

It's fun and actually informative to go through even older issues to see how things have changed over time and to reassess my own preferences. Which patterns appeal to me today? I'm thinking that my tastes are changing - and that's not all bad.

Yesterday there was a brief interlude when we could go outside for a short walk. Yeah! Fresh air! Thursday is my first check back appointment with the heart surgeon, so that's a good one to check off.

Thursday's report

2012-01-19T21:39:00.000-08:00

Albeit slowly, I'm still here. (glad you can't see my 'nursing home hair') I did get one thing completed (well, the top that is) before my hospital time. It just makes me happy,

Isn't that a fun little wall piece?

I am NOT wandering far from home, because

I think the current total for here is about 8+ inches. They said rain today, but not yet. Good thing that I don't have anywhere I have to go. Maybe tomorrow I can have some time in my favorite room????? I will let you know.

Very quick

2012-01-18T14:23:00.000-08:00

Released from the hospital on Sunday - in the beginnings of a snowstorm. But bless good, good friends they did extra duty and brought me home. Now we are working on getting the regimine of medicines aligned, doing deep breathing and walking around the house (at 4 or 5 minutes at a time.) Do take care of your health - coming back is so challenging.

Mon-day - is that the day of the moon?

2012-01-09T09:37:00.000-08:00

Heavens I used to know all this useless trivia but seem to have my little brain filled with other "important" details. So it goes.

My friend Caroline has complained (ever so slightly) that she wants to see what I have been working on, thus photos of what is happening in the craft department at Casa Nana.

A lovely design from BirdBrain Designs. This is one of the designs that you can buy pre-printed on fabri-solvy and then simply stick it onto the background fabric you want to use. This one hasn't been sticking quite as well as I would have liked but having enough stitching in there, it holds it all in place. Then when it is done, you simply soak the solvi off and have the design on fabric. Just because a wild hair took me, I did this one in brown perle cotton. This was my project du jour yesterday as the second series of Downton Abbey started on PBS. Oh delightful. I don't watch a lot of TV so this is marvelous to have back.

You may recall that I made, just before Christmas, 3 different baskets using this technique. Wrap strips of fabric around cotton clothesline and then using a very wide zig-zag stitch put it together. The shape of the pot is determined by the angle used as it is stitched. [there are several very descriptive U-tube films, if you are interested] My sweet friend Patty bought this for me at a recent trip to Martingale Books. Wasn't that so nice!

Then, I have been working on one more project down in the sewing cave,

I believe the pattern is called China Dishes. I thought it was all done - i.e. all four borders, until I realized that the top and bottom borders were not long enough. So am working on those,. then can attach them. I should manage to complete those today and then this one can go into the 'top complete' pile.

Our Stashbuster UFO (Unfinished Objects, for those who don't know) project began January with Project #2. I actually had two of each month's project. So I have finished my first #2 project,

and I am working on a hand quilted piece for the second. I will take that one to the hospital with me - hand work should be do-able. Then come the first of February and I will draw the next number. [as an aside - the other night I was working on that and managed to drop the needle. Those blessed things are so tiny, I feared we would never find it. I had out a magnet and was feeling all over the chair and the rug and my clothes. I finally found a flashlight and shown it sideways on the rug and located it. phew. I had visions of never having bare feet again, if it didn't show up. Word to the wise!]

Good wishes to you all. I should be back at it in a week or so. Keep stitchin'.

The days go marching on

2012-01-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

Wow - such a long time since I last wrote. And an interesting collection of happenings. We had a really lovely Christmas holiday with DS and wife and Baby "B" and DD and her 3 sweet ones.

There were lots of homemade gifts - which is always so special,

New napkins for the motorhome.

Tasty meals together. It was terrific.

Meanwhile the doctors discovered that I was having some health problems. So surgery is scheduled for next week. All that means is that my little missives may be a bit more sporadic. But I am getting myself organized with some hand-work projects to bring along with me.

New Year's week-end was a stay in the one of the former officers' homes at Fort Warden in Port Townsend. What a terrific time we all had.

One quick trip to Goodwill and I found this batik-style fabric. Perfect for a back.

And a little center for a baby quilt with Peter Rabbit panels.

We'll chat again soon.

Turning a Corner

2011-12-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

I realize it is now officially winter, but it also means that the days will start to get longer. Hurrah for that. Actually we have had a most unusual December in the great Pacific Northwest, we are more than 3 inches behind in rain - we have had quite a bit of blue sky, and although cold, it has been really lovely. I' watching the squirrels running around the back garden planting things in the grass - of course they can never find them later, but as long as they leave the bulbs alone, I don't care. Lots of birds, as well.

[sorry this isn't exactly great photography, but I grabbed it out the dining room window. We have just loads of these little birds, a) we feed them and b) keep the ice out of the bird bath. I think they appreciate it.]

Finished up one little thing this morning early,

A hand quilting practice project, but I finally got the binding on it. Mostly I like to learn new things, so I am bad about completing the main part of the project and then not actually finishing it. So my newly turned "leaf" (before New Year's yet) is to finish up some of this stuff I have sitting in two big wicker baskets. I'll show ya.

Today in the mail my sign up for the Sewing and Stitchery Expo arrived.

This is a great event if you haven't visited it. If you wanna come to town, let me know. So that will begin my month of March. Then this afternoon I learned that my sweet friend, Caroline, from the Netherlands will be paying us another visit, starting March 9. Woo Hoo! Isn't that great fun - well it is for me. We had talked about her coming but we didn't think it would work out. But thanks to her great husband, they have managed to get all the dog sitting duties sorted out and she can come. So that will be marvelous. And while she is here we will get to again enjoy the Quilter's Anonymous (huge) Quilt Show, which is held at the Monroe Fairgrounds - this year in a new building. That is March 15-18. So it's looking like March will be busy time at Casa Nana.

Meanwhile, I spent just a little while this afternoon making the world's easiest lemon pie - absolutely one of my favorites. Start with 3-4 lemons and grate some peel,

then juice the lemons and add that to 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk. (some folks get that confused with regular condensed milk)

[you may recall we even found this in the Netherlands, so we could make it over there]. It takes a minute to incorporate the lemon juice but then suddenly it is all there and starting to 'set'. Just pour it into a graham cracker crust (store bought or homemade)

Truly, that is all that there is to it. I will just top this with some CoolWhip and we are ready for a tasty treat tomorrow when we celebrate Christmas with my DD and DS.

My last little tidbit for today, we got and opened an early Christmas gift. And I LOVE IT! Elaine's brother and SIL sent this metal sculpture to us. It means, essentially, bon appetit, enjoy your meal, etc.

It is Dutch, on our little Dutch wall. Isn't that too cute? (Dutch wall except for the Utah calendar - oh well).

If you are celebrating Christmas, then the very warmest wishes for a marvelous time of joy with your loved one. And for the other celebrants, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, I hope that you find warmth and happiness sharing with the special ones in your life. We'll be chatting again soon.

Wednesday activities

2011-12-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

Been up to a couple of things, so to bring you up to date,

I really like this Kathy Schmitz design. Now just to find some bulk lavender so I can make a sachet (for the underwear drawer).

Finished the larger Cornelia. This is for one of our ministers, Catherine, who is also a shepherd - to both 4 legged and 2 legged flocks.

Been working on making some drink coasters - I need 48.

I put a back on this little piece of stitchery made by my sweet GD. She's 11. Originally it was designed as a pincushion, but she decided that she wants to fill it with rice to make a hand-warmer. Nice! And I helped with wrapping these 3 little burp cloths made by my (almost) 9yo GS, for my son, DIL and new baby,

Christmas gifts made with our own hands. How precious.

Look Out Christmas - here we come

2011-12-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

Today was the annual Christmas ornament exchange with our Pine Needle camping buddies. It really is so nice, to gather, have a great meal and share our individual highlights of the past year. I had forgotten how nice that was (and way before New Year's eve).

Little artificial tree - I had wanted to get a real one, but sort of ran out of time and they were SO expensive. I could love this little one.

Diane made delicious individual pecan pies.

Every one takes a number and in that order, they choose a package. Up to 2 more times it can be "stolen". That's how I got my ornament (and as I was the second it couldn't be stolen from me. Hurrah!)

Glass. Isn't that cute? A very fun tradition.

This will be the last one today

2011-12-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

Aren't I just a gabby Gertie today - just several things to share with you. I borrowed my daughter's marvelous mixer - oh my goodness, I think it could mix cement. (although it would make a real mess with the beater). Ahar, ahar, ahar.

So start with the machine,

Not sure it is obvious, but this is enough dough for 3 loaves of Buttermilk Bread, a la "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day"

The dough will spend the night in the refrigerator and then tomorrow I can make the first loaf. YUM.

While this was sitting in its pot and raising, I worked on a couple of little projects,

Crazy Christmas - it really looks rather awful here, but it is kind of cute, in person. Just a bit crazy. And then I finished the center of the quilt for my daughter to give as a (belated) wedding gift.

As these folks are hikers and campers I'm thinking something tree/mountain/outdoorsy for a border. I like it.

More Christmas Ships photos

2011-12-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

Elaine did a very nice job of picture taking (really much better than me) during the Christmas adventure last night. So here are a few more views

I heard a very fun (child appropriate) riddle today on the radio
What does Santa do with 3 gardens?
Hoe Hoe Hoe

"Interesting" Times

2011-12-14T09:29:00.000-08:00

I seem to recall a Chinese proverb about things being "interesting", when what you really mean is something less attractive. Hmmmm. I think these are "interesting" times around Casa Nana. I have been in for some medical tests and that is quite BLEECH! But more is still to come, so we shall see what transpires. I really don't want to focus on that.

I have been busily working to finish up more little Christmas projects. I guess it is true that you can NEVER start too early. I thought I was waaaaay ahead of the curve, but still working about as quickly as I can. CTA had a meeting and Christmas party on Monday. My little Cornelia (sheep) ornament was done and wrapped for the ornament exchange. I produced 7 dozen cookies

for the cookie exchange. The organizer had a really fun game: there were 6 things people wore/had on their person and the idea was that you must mingle with everyone and find the things listed:
* a piece of wrapping paper
* a piece of a Christmas tree
* a piece of Santa's beard
* a Christmas hanger
* a piece of tinsel
* a Christmas ornament

I was the wrapping paper, so I took a button form normally used to make a covered button and instead inserted wrapping paper. My practice one was a blue snowflake and it turned out quite well. (I can't find it now for a good picture, sorry) However, I planned to wear something green so I wanted a button that would blend in better with my clothes,

In every subsequent effort the paper tore. GRRRRRR. So I gave up and wore the blue one, with a silk scarf and an amazing number of folks couldn't find it! It's a fun game, should you ever have to come up with one.

Last evening was the trip with the grands on the Christmas Ship. For the past 62 years a local company has put on boat trips, at night, at Christmas, along the shoreline of Lake Washington and Puget Sound. The boat is all decorated and illuminated and a number of other decorated boats follow along. On our boat there was a choir with great loud speakers, so that as we moved along, the choir was broadcast to the shore. Folks were lined up watching and listening. One park even had a huge bonfire with folks gathered around to await the arrival of the Christmas ship and hear the singing. They had little games for the children and goodie bags, trivia games for the adults, as well as waving to the shoreline. It was quite cold but it was DRY. Hallelujah. So we had a very fun 2 hour jaunt along Puget Sound. I think the kids really enjoyed it. They also liked the hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles (of course!)

Nana had had a request for more pillowcases, so those will get wrapped for under the tree,

Hopefully those will be fun: grown-up sunshines for the oldest, soccer balls for the middle and dollies for the youngest. This morning I finished the piecing of the 9 rows for the quilt that will be a wedding gift from my daughter to her very dear friend - now just to put them together and find a border. Photos to follow.

Hope you are having fun with all this preparation stuff.

Survived Wednesday

2011-12-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

Last night was our (adopted church family) wrapping party. We have been doing this for some years now (you may have just read about it here, if you have been with me for a while). 8 of us adopt a family - this year it was mom, dad and 4 children. We buy gifts for each of them, as well as for the household. We provide dinner to our little team, then it's time to clear the decks and get to our wrapping. We always do a little Show and Tell with each other before we get everything wrapped up. Sunday morning it is all collected in the Fellowship Hall at church and then later delivered to the agency/church for which it is intended. I think last year the church as a whole adopted about 85 families. It is a nice tradition.

Everyone helped get the house returned to some normalcy. So today I got to find some time in the sewing room - HURRAH! As you may have figured out about me, I love to learn new techniques. So here is the latest. {Sharon in Stashbusters loaned me the template to play with.}

Apparently there is also a larger tool to use with 10" squares. Hmmmm. I sure love this.

Yesterday the postman brought my latest parcel from Minewood Quilting. I have been buying quarterly fat quarter packets from Agnes for years. These are all from the Stof fabric line, from Denmark. It is called "Basics".

All things being what they are, I have finally had to cancel this. I love it, but it just is so terribly expensive to buy their fabrics, plus shipping. Gracious. It will be great fun to decide how to use them.

And then because I woke up early and had the time, I made a few more of these,

I swear those holiday fabrics are breeding in their little bin, from month to month. The number of strips seems to increase from one opening to the next. :-)

It's beginning to look a lot like. . . . . .

2011-12-05T21:50:00.000-08:00

messy house.

However, it is fun after dark,

Weather is cold and clear. I like it!

Saturday we got the cover on the RV. While that was going on, Nana had to amuse her newest Grand,
Miss B

Oh we sang songs and told stories and just had a grand time, keeping ourselves warm. 4+ months now. She won't really remember this Christmas, but it's fun anyway.

Grey Saturday Morning

2011-12-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

No - it isn't raining. I guess I should be grateful for that, but it is quite dreary outside. The big project for today is to meet my son at the RV storage lot and get the winter cover on the RV. Required? No, but it does help to keep it clean and with whatever there is in the air and acid rain and all that nasty stuff out there.

Meanwhile, while I was out at a class yesterday, a parcel arrived from Bird Brain Designs. Oh excitement. I guess yesterday was a "learning" day. First off, we learned how to make clothesline fabric bowls. Oh I love it!

This is made from a rather unattractive black (with some red) Christmas fabric, but it works just fine for this. I have cut more strips of a tan fabric and will try my hand at an oval bowl next. This is easy and great fun.

And then my ordered goodies - they are mainly in an effort to learn how to do felted wool applique. It has always looks very do-able but have never had all the necessary supplies. So now I have them.

Little plastic bubbles in which to keep Perle cotton [instead of my usual chasing them through the sewing basket]. And you can read the color number through the top. These are in order to make

It was cute and didn't look so difficult for a first project. [and in case you are intimidated, Robin is very responsive on their website/blog, with questions.]

Some of us, apparently, are a bit to slow to know about all the latest. However, you can now buy freezer paper in sheets to feed through the printer. Who knew? (not me!)

And lastly, I bought 3 designs preprinted on the Fabri-solvy. [I have some 8.1/2 x 11 sheets that also feed through the printer, but this is longer and it's easier than having to make two copies and tape them together] If you recall, you peel off the backing and simply stick this onto whatever will be the background for your stitchery. When you are all finished sewing through the paper then you simply soak it off. Way cool.

D.D. had a wedding to attend last evening, so Nana was the designated babysitter for the two youngest. The oldest one was singing with the school choir at a neighborhood tree lighting and didn't get home until later. So Nana managed to get the binding finished,

[In case you didn't know, as I didn't - wool batting is quite fluffy. It's very nice, but puffs up quite a bit. I was using batting scraps and didn't realize what I had grabbed, at first] Happy Week-end.

Wednesday this and that

2011-11-30T16:23:00.000-08:00

I am doing some catching up - just you wait and see. This morning started off sunny and it was quite a hoot to watch the Blue Jay's trying to get the birdseed in the feeder. It is made for much smaller birds and so the jays flap madly to try to get their big bodies on the little tiny perches. Funny. And mostly they manage to send the feeder rocking and spray birdseed all over the ground - then the little birds come along and pick it up off the ground. Entertaining.

And because I was in the mood and had the fixings, we had Drie in de Pan for breakfast. I can highly recommend it. [I've talked about this Dutch recipe before. It is basic pancake mix to which you add grated apple and raisins. The translation of the name is 3 in the pan, but I usually put more than 3 in my big skillet. They still taste great.]

As promised, here are the Buck-a-block blocks that I finished making yesterday. A new one is due to be available tomorrow.

This color scheme is called Pomegranate. And then I have these for sashing and for borders,

Pretty fun, huh?

Do you remember this?

Top is all done and today I managed to cobble together a back (from 3 of these fabrics) and have done some quilting on the top. Then I've only to find a binding and it's all set for the holidays. Ho Ho Ho.

And just a bit of hand work,

And there you have it. The stacks are diminishing - ba boom ba bing!

Fridays and Mondays, oh my

2011-11-29T22:33:00.000-08:00

Weeeeeel - we did go out and do a bit of shopping on Friday. I know, I know - there is much to be said about avoiding consumerism and especially on the day after Thanksgiving. But if I shopped for a good cause, does that get me off the hook a bit? If you have hung out with me here for more than a year, then you know that we are part of a group who always adopt a family at Christmas time. This year it's a family of mom, dad and 4 kids. We have the 16 year old son (oldest kid). Among the things listed on their wish list was a warm jacket. So we decided after scanning the ads to look for a jacket. We headed out to a stand-alone store (not in the mall). Well, I have to say that it wasn't too bad. Yes, it was a bit crowded but not impossible to get around and find things. So we found him 3 things on his list: a warm jacket, a sweater and a long sleeved T-shirt. And all at greatly reduced prices! We even managed to get into the check out line at exactly the right time, as the line got really long behind us, by the time we left. A quick jaunt to Costco, for some items for the family (Laundry Soap, Paper Towels, Dish Towels). We did do a bit of defensive cart steering, avoiding the lookers and managed to get in and out in pretty short order. Woo Hoo. I got home with some time left over for some stitching.

Sunday was a bit of cyber "Monday" shopping and I did buy some fabric. [Like so many of the stores, their Monday sale began a day early.] I did buy a couple of half yards, but mostly it was charm squares and a jelly roll and 2 fat quarter packs. I have been working really hard at using the stash but some of these prices were beyond ridiculous and I couldn't resist. I also bought some wool to try my hand at wool applique. I'll show you when it arrives.

I'm feeling really good about being able to get a bit ahead of the curve and make progress on a number of Christmas projects that have been hanging around - awaiting my attention. First on the table,


Another Cornelia - she doesn't have her eyes yet

This is a Kathy Schmitz design, to be finished as a lavender sachet (as soon as I get the Lavender).

This table runner is, in fact, finished, at long last - not all that hard - just get around to it.

(sorry for the funny angle) The setting triangles are actually a warm beige with a gold sparkle in it.

I've mentioned the Buck a Block effort by Quilter's Attic and I got my 4 months' worth made. 8 blocks. (photos tomorrow in daylight)

The other thing going on around here last week-end was a Saturday brunch with the kids and grands. So here are a few photos from that,

The 4 Grands.

Son, wife and sweet little girl

I didn't manage to get a photo of my beautiful daughter. She's looking especially lovely after losing over 60 pounds. I'll work on that.

As you might see, I have so much to be thankful for. This week is fairly calm and then things will be 'heating' up for a couple of weeks before the holidays arrive. Keep ya posted!

Wonderful Turkey Day around here

2011-11-25T09:07:00.000-08:00

I sure hope your day was as pleasant as ours was. While is just bucketed with rain, we were warm and cozy. Our friends were staying in a very nice house on Vashon Island and we joined them for the afternoon. [Aren't we lucky to have friends who include us!] The house smelled delicious as we sipped a little wine and visited. Dinner about 4pm. All the usuals, and we brought along one of our tradition dishes, baked Hubbard squash,

to go with turkey, cornbread stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, fresh cranberry relish and multi-grain bagette. Coffee, pie and whipped cream followed at a break in the Five Crowns game (cards) - Alayne won! Happily restraint was shown and all my numbers were right on track this morning. Hurrah!

Wednesday evening I finished my small Cornelia. The stitching proved to be a bit time-consuming as the weave is 18 threads to the inch (for these old eyes) but I think she is pretty darn cute. She will be my contribution to the Christmas Ornament exchange for CTA in a couple of weeks. [Shirley if you are reading this and get my ornament, be surprised!]

CTA also has a cookie exchange, so I tried out a new recipe for Cappuccino cookies. I like them quite well, except I think I'd cut back a tiny bit on the almond flavoring. It seemed a bit overwhelming.

Today is Black Friday. I have done one online order and will likely do one more. The plan is to visit ONE store to buy some things for our adopted Christmas Family - and if that's too crazy we're headed back home. The economy does need lots of help, but I will do a small bit and that's all. Hope you are having a delightful holiday week-end.

Someone's in the Kitchen with Nana. . . .

2011-11-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

But we ain't got no banjo. Been having some fun these past few days. Yesterday morning it was low fat applesauce muffins (some for breakfast and some for the freezer),

And then today Alayne came over and we had one of our cooking together mornings. You may remember, we did this for the first time a few weeks ago. We plan a dish that we both think we will like and buy the ingredients (double or triple the original recipe) and then make it. We then divvie up the dish and put it in containers for freezing. This way we will both have something in the freezer, virtually ready for dinner. Today we made Paprika Chicken - chicken seasoned with paprika which gets a sour cream lemon sauce when served, and we made Peanut Chicken - seasoned chicken breast with Indonesian type seasonings, including peanut butter. Oh yummy and so easy.


Peanut Chicken

Paprika chicken

As we are not hosting Thanksgiving here this year, it is very easy to just do some of my own cooking and just prepare a couple of dishes to bring to the T-day feast. The troops are all coming here for Saturday brunch, though. Should be great.

Saturday's Report

2011-11-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

Oh my, things have been happening around Casa Nana. Actually it does feel very good to get things completed - many after some months. So first of all, A Holiday Romance

Aren't they just too cute?

Finished up the 8 "Memories of Holland" and have actually given away two already. The rest are intended as Christmas gifts. [now, what do you call the things that go on the table that you would put a vase on, or a candle on or a bowl of fruit? They aren't doilies. We have had several conversations around here but cannot come to a sure agreement of what they are called. I tend to call them Table Mats.]

Friday was a CTA Community Sew. Sadly I don't have photos, so you will have to simply follow my words. Our CTA group supports an Emergency Foster Children's facility and so we are making flannel pajamas. They range in size from a Size 1 to Adult XL. Friday we cut out and began sewing 30 pairs of PJ's. I thought that was pretty good in just over 3 hours. Mostly we had cutters (maybe 10-12) and a few of us were sewing and/or serging (4 of us). The goal is to have these completed for the holidays. They will be delivered, along with filled stockings. A very good projects. It was quite nice that in addition to our regular members, 3 gals from the community came to join our efforts. Perhaps they will want to join our little group.

Today (Saturday) was another sew-a-thon. This was to make aprons/cover-ups for our big church 'rummage' sale, Superfluity. And then because we are so clever, we even got into making them with fabric appropriate to the department. So the book department, had. . . . . books. The snack bar had coffee cups, the children's deparment had alphabet blocks, the sporting goods had striped canvas awning type fabric. It was great fun. And again, really quite successful with about 3 hours of work.
For this, I do have photos,

We even had some moral support, allbeit low key, from Karma,

Of course, we did have to follow up with a lunch after all our hard work!

Now blog look

2011-11-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

Tried to update the blog using one of the Blogspot templates provided. Managed to get completely lost and unable to sign in to the blog. Yikes. Guess I should leave well enough alone. So we are looking a bit more spring-ly but at least we can get there this way. Just call it looking ahead. Working on piles of Christmas projects - literally, and making some progress. photos to follow.

A Little bit more catch-up and then, moving on

2011-11-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

I don't remember how many days my granddaughter said it was until Christmas, but I know it is something like 6 weeks - but I get ahead of myself.

While in Michigan I did buy a bit of fabric. However, most of it is going away, so does that count for stash busting? Our huge church "rummage" sale, Superfluity, has decided that it would be fun for the various departments to have some sort of cover-up (aka apron). It should help the workers to keep clean and more easily identify who are the shoppers and who are the workers. So I found "book" fabric and bought some of that, and my friend Ronda found a bit of a remnant for us, as well.

Fun, huh? I also did buy two pieces of fabric. One because it was silly and I thought a couple of my quilting buddies would enjoy it,

And a batik for borders for my "buck a block" effort, in pomegranate

At 30% off I sure wished I had had more room in the suitcase. Alas!

Since arriving home, I have managed to finish up a number of projects that have been hanging around awaiting some attention. Makes you feel so good to get things completed. a)small baby quilt for church nursery (sorry, no photo), b) hats to be given to a service center for homeless, (scrap wool),

c) Christmas ornament (I have some red silk ribbon to go around the edges)

and another cross stitch - not sure how to finish it, but liked the design,

and a stitchery kit I bought in the Netherlands this summer:

It reads: "Every house where love abides and friendship is a guest is surely home, and home sweet home for there the heart can rest".

Each year CTA holds a Thanks-for-giving to honor all the hours those woman give to the community, with sewing and teaching and various volunteering jobs. This past year it amounted to more than 5000 hours. The CTA of the Year Award is given out - this year to Janet Wilkie. The previous 5 winners work on a committee to plan the event, provide the lunch and they make for all of us a small gift. So here is this year's very fun Snap Purse. Mine is silk - isn't is lovely? [They key is a piece of metal tape measure inside the top band.]

I know that mine was made by Susan. Thanks Suzy.

Today is a free day - HURRAH. So I hope to be able to say that I have completed a few more un-done projects before the day is out.

Trip to Meijer Gardens [be aware: lots of photos]

2011-11-12T13:06:00.000-08:00

The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park "is a 132 acre oasis of wetlands, woodlands, meadows and gardens designed by world-renowned landscape artists. Here you will find an internationally acclaimed permanent sculpture collection in a 35-acre sculpture park...."

The main building had just completed its chrysanthemum displays and was setting up Christmas trees representing about 30+ different countries - maybe more; I didn't count or ask. Once again we had just a stellar day for being outside. Here are photos of a number of sculptures in the park,


Mad Mama

Modeled on a DaVinci piece destroyed long ago

Check out the size!


Neuron

Espaliered Girl

It is such a fascinating, varied collection of art.

Crazy Scarecrow

Storyteller

And then, into the indoor conservatory:

While I am certainly NOT a great gardener, I can sure appreciate the work of others. If you are in the area, don't miss this one!

At last, some photos

2011-11-12T12:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry to be quite so slow. You know how it goes - you get home and then there are so many "activities of daily living" that begin to crowd in on you. Not to mention some laundry as well as general cleaning. I always admire those folks who get their house all clean and tidy (= dust free) before they go away, so they return to a perfectly tidy home. Not moi! I usually am running out the door, hoping that I have remembered to pack everything I wanted. So I am pleased to report that the whole house (not the downstairs) has been vacuumed. The Living and Dining rooms have been well dusted and the hearth washed (on hands and knees, yet). The bedrooms got to see the vacuum but dusting hasn't happened in there yet. Perhaps soon.

Yesterday, with many thanks to the Veterans both whom we know and those we don't, it was a day out of the ordinary for some. We attended the first Universitiy of Washington Women's non-conference basketball game for 2011-12. We lost! Last evening, super GS and I went to the Seattle Children's Theater presentation of Robin Hood. It was great. There were 4 actors portraying about 10-12 different parts. It was action packed and very well done. Today is the last soccer game of the season for said GS and perhaps a U of W Volleyball match. Who says they've nothing to do?

But back to our journey to the east (we call anything past Chicago 'east', although I know they don't).
Lake Michigan on one of our lovely, cold and clear days. Note the snow fences already in place.

What a terrific day.

Closer to "home" a very idyllic horse farm,

Another short jaunt to Grand Haven, also on Lake Michigan. Not quite such blue skies, but still a very nice outing,

I'll put our wander through Meijer Gardens on another post.

Flying home was as good as flying gets these days - which ain't great. Every seat filled and lots of folks traveling with small people who don't enjoy it nearly as much as one would hope - but being who they are, they let everyone know of their displeasure. Two small bags of peanuts (12 grams) and a coke product to drink. Thank goodness for a Book on Tape to pass the time. We arrived a bit ahead of schedule but got to 'enjoy' repairs to the baggage conveyor belt (45 minutes wait).


Mt. Baker in the distance

As much as I love traveling, it's probably good that I'm staying put for a while.

Michigan adventures

2011-11-05T02:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a day-long visit to Meijer Gardens. Fred and Lena Meijer purchased and developed 132 acres of land in Grand Rapids, MI. It is an enormous garden filled with sculpture. (and flowers in the flowering seasons of the year - not November) We were lucky to have simply gorgeous weather - full sunshine and blue, blue skies. Inside the main entrance building, they are beginning to set up Christmas Trees, decorated with ornaments of all sorts, representing various different countries. By my guess, there were probably 30+ trees. Ireland, Netherlands, Iceland, Greece, Vietnam were all complete and more being worked on.

Outside, the golds and reds of Michigan autumn were stunning. (of course I do have photos) We just walked and walked. Inside the conservatory were marvelous orchids and various tropical plants. There are something like 1000 volunteers at Meijer's, including "docents" who love to talk about the various plants growing indoors. Blooming cacti abounded. Such a delightful day!

Quick Update

2011-11-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry, my friends, I forgot to bring the cable/camera connection cord with me. We are visiting family in Michigan, but nothing to show you. (yet). Next week when we get home there will be photos. Today was a trip to Field's Fabrics - a marvelous store in western Michigan. AND they were having their anniversary sale. So two different prints with books on them, for the book department at the church superfluity sale. We are making aprons for the departmental workers. Yeah for books! Those were 25% off. And they had batik's for 30% off. Marvelous. So I did find one that seemed like it would make a great border for my Pomegranate buck-a-block collection. (Thangles) Then we visited Pressing Matters - a brand new quilt shop. Small, but she had some lovely things. I found two Kathy Schmitz embroidery patterns - just because. We're having fun and weather is quite presentable. Today it was over 60` by the mid afternoon. We drove out to the Lake Makatawa/Lake Michigan channel. The beach in (almost) winter. Tomorrow we'll be doing some cooking for a dinner at Karen and Mike's church.

Don't give up. I'll be back with photos, one of these days.

RVW Country Fair

2011-10-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Our RVing group had a Country Fair theme last week-end, at our last event of the year. It was great, great fun to see what people do in their "other" time when they are not out in their RV's. So here are some photos from that,

Stashbusters raffle quilt

Baseball card collection

Lego VW

Animal masks

Gourds


Carpentry and Wood Burning

What an amazingly talented bunch of women. Everyone enjoyed both the 'showing' and the looking. It was a fun time, despite the perpetual rains. Now to pack those beasts away until we head out again in March (at least that is the next organized event). Boo Hoo.

Wednesday, already

2011-10-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

This will be mostly photos. As I have been collecting things to take to our "Show and Tell" event this week-end, I did borrow back (just for the week-end) what is probably my favorite quilt. You may remember it - it was for my DD's birthday in 2010. The pattern and some of the fabrics were from Shipshewana. I just love it. In all candor, it is NOT my very best work (there are many mistakes) but I still love it. Perhaps I should make another one?????

We have been enjoying 3 days of very nice autumn weather - due to end tonight with rain for the next 4+ days. (Oh yuk) So in case I forget what it can look like,

We even got in some needed pruning yesterday, but now all the cans and bags are full. Was this the last time to mow the lawn? Oh my - not my favorite time of the year. Alas!

A little tasty treat to take this week-end: Krispie treats with candy corn. YUM!

Binding finished

2011-10-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

The orange binding is complete on the raffle quilt. It is quite large so I don't have any good photos of the whole things, but here are a few more - so you can get the general idea.


Isn't she just such a happy little chicken (even if she is pink)

This is a VERY happy quilt. Even Caro wants me to buy her some tickets - you never know who will win.

My RV group has its last function of the year next week and one of the activities is for each of us to bring along samples of what we "do". Obviously for me that means quilting and stitching. So I'm "auditioning" a number of things I have here at home, plus a couple of previous 'give aways' that I have borrowed back. I tend to give most of the things I make away, but I have a few. It will be a fun week-end and when we last did this Show and Tell event, it was a great hit.

No, I didn't fall off the turnip truck

2011-10-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

I really have been busy, so it isn't for want to something to say (do I ever have that challenge?) but just life is happening. So, most of my time has been spent working on a little Christmas stitchery. It is now ready for borders, but I cannot show you just yet as it will likely be a Christmas gift and one of my readers might just receive it. So shhhhhhh!

Stashbusters (my smaller quilting group) each year makes a quilt to be raffled. This is in lieu of paying rent for the space where we meet. If you have read this blog for more than a year, you already know this - sorry. Because we were out of the country I didn't make a block for the quilt, so am the official binder. Here are 3 photos of part of the quilt. It is all applique -but because some of us don't do much applique it is an interesting assortment of needle turn, freezer paper, turn and glue, etc. etc. as well as "steam a seam".

The original pattern called for all tans and browns and we decided something distinctly wilder would be better. The binding is bright orange. Great fun. More photos to follow.

Moving into Autumn

2011-10-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy the arrival of fall and being able to do cooking. So this week it has been,

Butternut squash and apple soup and this pear nut bread. It's fun to think about what sort of tasty tidbits we can whip up. Yum. Tomorrow my friend Alayne and I will be doing some cooking to put in the freezer. I'll keep you posted.

I have also been working on some very small quilts. One of the newest projects that my CTA group is working on are quilts for the NICU at Providence Hospital - for the baby's who are very sick and do not survive. As our coordinator said, this is very "tender" work and we do it with love and concern.

I'm putting the finishing touches on the quilt for my brother and SIL's expected granddaughter. I will show you soon.

Something to Consider

2011-10-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

If you are a blog writer, you might consider having your blog, or parts thereof, printed in a book format. As this really was our trip journal, we had the blog printed from mid May until the first of August. It is really very nice and includes all the color photos from the blog itself. Nanas Quilts and More, Adventures in the Netherlands, dedicated to Adventurers Everywhere,

Front Cover


Back cover (with you know who)

Really very nice and a wonderful momento.

What's Going on?

2011-10-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

Wowzer - it's October already. Seems that we were just planning our big jaunt to the Netherlands and now where are we? [I got the blog of our trip printed - I'll show you photos next time]

These past few days I finished up the quilt (top) for my brother's up-coming Granddaughter. I think she is due in November.

His wife assures me that her DIL is not real "girly" -so this will be girl enough for this new little one. I think it is rather sophisticated.

Autumn is here. But Elaine got a 3rd coat on the garage door and it looks really good (before the rains really came down)

Yesterday the Grands had no school, but the two girls weren't feeling well. So GS and his Nana had a day together. We had great fun and he always is on his very best behavior when he is here (as opposed to what his mother says happens at home - isn't it always that way?). We taught him to play Five Crowns - our latest new (to us) card game. He loves to play Peggle on the computer and then we did a bit of sewing. He is really quite good at using the machine and it was fun for both of us. Nana cut out the fabric and he stitched the pieces together to make burp cloths for his new cousin. And viola! Christmas gifts already to go and hand-made by him.

He is quite good at stitching straight seam lines but this is a great aid - just run your fabric along the edge and you get very straight seams.

Good, huh? I'm also working on a little quilt for the NICU at Providence Hospital - I'll show you that too.

Icicle River and the Autumn Leaf Festival

2011-09-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

The Cascade Mountains of Washington are really some of the prettiest to be seen [and I'm talking as someone who has seen a goodly number of mountain ranges, although I might be a tad biased, as well] Leavenworth is a small town on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains (highway 2) that needed to figure out a way to invigorate itself as it was not prospering and was going into decline. So apparently some of the town leaders decided to try giving the town a Bavarian theme. And lo and behold, it has become a northwest staple and there are events year-around and people travel for (many) miles for a visit. [including the Germans we heard while having lunch]

The sunshine and blue skies just added to the ambiance. Our group has stayed in this campground before but we continue to really enjoy being there. It's very well maintained and quite beautiful.

Icicle River

So you can see that we have been away from blogging land and enjoying what we can of autumn in the pacific northwest - we know it won't last, but we'll savor every last drop. And the trees haven't really changed colors yet.

This week has included, thus far, seeing the moving "The Help" - very, very good, some more curtain sewing for DS and DIL and a visit with Baby "B", and some babysitting for the other grands. Phew! Today it's take the car in for service and start to do something with the apples and pears we picked up while in eastern Washington, where they are grown. Who can't find something to do when retired? Lucky me!

Yikes - a whole week has gone by

2011-09-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not updating for a few days. Each day I think (in the morning) ah yes, I will get back here and add those photos and talk about what's going on, but. . . . . well, you may know how that goes. Last Wednesday we went to the very, very small town of Plain, WA - approximately 15 miles outside of Leavenworth (if that helps). I had won a night at Mountain Springs Lodge.

Lovely, lovely, lovely. We had one of the suites in the upstairs of this lodge.

During the summer they have an on-site dining room. As this is now "off" season, that dining room is closed but it was suggested that we could go to a nearby diner. It happens that we had heard of this diner from one of our house-exchangers this summer, as they too had visited the diner, on Highway 2. It's called the 59-er Diner. What a hoot!


Check out the pink phone on the counter

They are especially known for their REAL milkshakes, made with hard ice cream and milk and topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. [almost a whole dinner, right there].

After burgers, onion rings and a small milkshake, we waddled out the door and home to our most comfortable room. Next day it was off in the motorhome to a camping adventure with our RVing women's group.

Learning a new, old skill

2011-09-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a mother who canned anything. She did learn to use her freezer but even the microwave was a bit exotic. So I was quite excited today to attend a class taught by Kaila at church on canning. We canned peaches, pears, strawberry jam, strawberry and peach jam and picked beets. Oh it was terrific. As Kaila said, it was something like a symphony in order to have all the parts ready and in the right order.

So we began with fresh fruit and vegetables,

The glass jars were run through the dishwasher to sterilize them and were packed with the produce,

A hot syrup/or hot brine (used for pickled vegetables) was added to each jar and a sterilized lid and band was added to each jar. They were placed in a canner - [you can find these at the Goodwill or thrift store, unless you had a different mother than I did]

You need to 'process' the jar for the required amount of time - e.g. jam takes 10 minutes, beets take 30 minutes. And then viola. . . . . .

Now this may not seem so exciting to you, but I am quite jazzed to know about this. Will I go out and buy all the gear? I'm not sure, but I know that it isn't nearly as exotic or mysterious as I had thought all these years. We all got to bring home a jar of each of our efforts. Lekker. (tasty)

"What's Behind the Green Door?"

2011-09-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

Are you old enough to remember that song. I seem to recall that it was one of the songs used in Mr. and Mrs. Saltmarsh's dance class to teach us how to do the Swing. Oh but that is a digression. . . . . .

Here is our new green door,

It really is a lovely color.

Off to the Fair

2011-09-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today was our (usually) annual visit to the Western Washington State Fair. It was a big departure, weather-wise, from last week and was even drizzling this morning. But none of us melted and we had a delightful outing with 2 Grandmas and the 3 biggest Grands.

We did all the required: firetruck, petting farm, horses, goats, dogs, an Elephant "Ear" [with cinnamon and sugar]. The Puyallup pigs, born 5 days ago,

14 of those little ones

Everyone had 2 rides and then it was lunch time. Phew - sitting down felt good. On to check out the quilts (of course)

It was very interesting to notice, this year, lots of green, although there didn't seem to be any one particular style shown. I have to say, honestly, that I didn't have loads of favorites, but here are a few that I did think were very good.

We had a very fun day.

Mostly keeping out of trouble

2011-09-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

This has been a really busy week with various appointments - can you believe that from a retired girl? But I have also been keeping myself busy making lined drapes for my son and DIL's bedroom. They turned out pretty well - not perfect but they will surely do the trick.

The "front" (top layer) is a sheer tan loose weave fabric - rather like fine quality burlap. She is quite pleased so they are up and looking pretty OK. Phew! Tomorrow it's off to the Western Washington Fair with the 3 grands. That should be fun. More photos to follow.

Finishing

2011-09-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

Finishing a couple of those projects that have been hanging around (for varying lengths of time) sure does feel good. So just to encourage myself to keep at it, here are last week's finishes -

Table runner started by my friend Elaine M

Baby quilt for Nick and Wendy, expecting #1 in October (gender unknown)

And a small wrap for my little Miss "B" (Grand #4). It turns out that her mom was given a large art print which, while by a different artist, is almost identical in its theme and animals. This was made from some scraps from Becca (Stashbusters). Later I found some more of this fabric, so will make a twin size cover (later)

"B" and her Nana at the soccer game. Ain't it good?

Grandmotherly duties

2011-09-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the first soccer game for the 8 1/2 y.o. grandson. My own son played soccer for years and years - [I have stood on my share of cold, wet fields.] But today it was close to 80` and we brought umbrellas to find a bit of shade. Such a hoot - visions of the past.


Bumble-bee formation

But the first soccer player showed up with his little pea -so cute,

And her Nana had a little "hold" as well,

Small(ish) fabric purchase

2011-09-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

As I told you, on Sunday we visited Gee Gee's Quilting in Yelm, WA. Their website says they have over 15,000 bolts. It is an amazing place and verges on overwhelming, except. . . . . . almost anything you could be looking for is likely to be there, if it is still being made. And so, first fabric for new pillowcases for the Grands (it's incredible how much they LOVE their Nana-made pillowcases)

For the oldest (now 11 1/2 going on 27, somedays)


If you cannot tell, it is green with golden suns

For the 8 1/2 y.o.

and for the little princess, 4 1/2

And then, because it was there, to make something for the RVing club

And two for me. The first is a M'Liss R. Hawley for In the Beginning (an older print), but I loved it,

And a brand new "neutral". I loved it - with just a hint of blue and green. Actually it is called "Baby Safari and those are giraffes and something else [???] but I'm convinced that it will be a marvelous blender for whenever I might need something really light,

So all together, I guess I added about 8 yards. Not so bad, I guess when you figure that 4 of the 6 came from the sale room.

Lucky me!

2011-09-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

I'm so very fortunate to be able to have the time and friends to enable another FABULOUS week-end. We enjoyed great friends, delicious food and of course, the weather cooperated mightily. The weather man predicted that our gorgeous weather would continue through the holiday week-end, and it did just that. We arrived at our friend's on Friday afternoon. Our time was filled with eating and games [Carcassone, Five Crowns and of course, Texas Hold 'Em], bike riding and even a little trip to the quilt store. So, some photos of our adventures,

The gathering of chairs on the left of the photo is around the fire circle. We had campfires each brisk morning and again after supper. The car port became the "clubhouse" where we played games and decorated RV shaped wooden cut-outs (supplied by one of the guests). [We all stayed in our RV's parked in various places around our hosts large property.] Saturday morning we went on a bicycle ride on a Rails to Trails route. (This used to be a railroad route, but the tracks have been removed and it has been paved for walking and biking. Nothing motorized is allowed.)

Sunday morning we made a jaunt to Gee Gee's Quilting,

This unassuming looking place is simply overflowing with fabric (and crafts and books and kits and thread and and and and) These photos are truly just a little 'slice' of the aisles inside.

Fabrics are beautifully organized by theme (I found soccer fabric for my grandson) or by type (30's or civil war repro's) or sort (I don't know how to label this) for example, in the picture in the middle above you can see all the 'fairy frost' type of fabrics on the right, on the left are the few solids. There are asian fabrics, florals, stripes, dots, etc, etc. It can be a bit overwhelming, but surely a "candy store" for some of us. If it isn't here, I'm not sure that it is available anywhere. Quite an outing. I made a few purchases - much of it from the sale room. [Photos in my next blog.]

That's Mt. Rainier peeking out from behind the trees.

Walking home after the BBQ supper at the neighbors. Wow!

Week-end away

2011-08-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I took the very mature, adult route to dealing with our sewer challenges and simply left town. Yeah! Our RVing group had an outing planned and we simply left here a day earlier so as to get "outta Dodge" and think of other things. And we had a marvelous time. We drove to Tokeland, WA. This little burg sits on a very large bay off of the Pacific (ocean). The sounds and smells and fabulous weather all made for a great time.

As is the norm, Friday night is a finger-food potluck. Saturday morning my friend Jill and I had a little sewing workshop for those who were interested. I think we had about 20 gals participate. They we offered kits to make a small "ditty" bag or coasters. Only one gal got far enough to try the string pieced square. But it was sure fun.

Saturday night we had a "regular" potluck supper. The park provided us with a really tasty ham. And then after dinner, there was a s'mores contest. There were lots of sugar highs that night. But it was great to enjoy the sunshine, eagles, pelicans, seagulls and a myriad of other sea birds. Having missed so many of the summer outings, it was great to play catch up with our RVing friends.

I forgot to say that on our return home today (Monday) they are close to being finished. The big holes in the front yard and sidewalk and street are filled in. We have new and functioning water and sewer lines. Now just to do some dry-walling in the basement where they ran the new shut-off value. This feels much more manageable. The next step will be to learn what our home owners insurance will (or will not) cover for all this work. Keep your fingers crossed.

Oh, I despair

2011-08-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Check out my front yard,

This is after a week. We still have water but the sewer line has been disconnected for 30+ hours. Bless the friends and neighbors who have come to our rescue.

From the Stash

2011-08-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Oh it does feel good to use up what you have. I realize that my tastes in fabric are changing but there are still some things there that I like and so two new baby quilt tops.

The fabrics for the top are from Westfallenstoffe in Germany. They are such happy fabrics. Stripes for the back. This is for a nephew and his wife, first baby due in October (gender unknown). And,

My brother and his wife are expecting a granddaughter in November. Top (same pattern) and striped back. [am I in a rut? No, I don't think so, they just seem to go well].

I like this very easy pattern - it goes together so very quickly. Makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something, even if my sewing room is STILL in full chaos. Oh, oh, one of these days.

10th Annual

2011-08-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

This year was the 10th Camping with the Grandmas Adventure for the 3 (largest) Grands. And what fun we had!!!! We chose a new campground (it seemed easier to get to AND we hoped for better weather on the east side of the mountains). Well, both were true and we will definately go back there next year.

We were at Lake Easton State Park. And while there is some road noise from I-90, it actually creates white noise and you hardly hear any of the other campers - only an occasional barking dog or the children who come riding past on their bicycles. For us, bicycles was a huge plus. The camp sites are arranged around an oval with almost no car traffic, so cycles galore.

And even though the sites were close together, again, you couldn't hear your neighbors in a bothersome way. A+.

We celebrated three birthdays and the eldest GD made (from scratch) three flavors of cupcakes for all of us (being one of the birthday folks)

My brother and his wife came along, in their camper, for the first time

There is a beach (more gravel than sand, but it works for shovels and pails)

Sewing has been happening since we got home. Details of that to follow.

Been doin' a bit

2011-08-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

So, finished the sashing on the quilt for the newest Grand,

And found a backing in the stash

And will do a red binding. Should be pretty cute, me thinks.

And then because it was fun to play (and I really haven't been sewing too much over these past weeks, so my fingers were itchy. . . .)

Not sure it's my favorite but it a fun way to use up those boxes full of bits and pieces. Will keep going for a while.

Had a really great time on Friday morning, we went to a live radio broadcast. The local NPR station was having a show with Nancy Pearl (the famous Librarian-lady). Great fun!

The Fruits of Summer

2011-08-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

Well, of course, even though we have been out of town, I have to get in a stash of summer jam - those dreary, gray winter mornings deserve it. So here was my Thursday project,

Marionberries (bosbessen) from Hunter Farms in Olympia. I made 2 batches, so that means 16 little left-over margarine tubs. Hunter Farms has a fruit stand nearby and are my favorite. We have been eating their blueberries and raspberries, but no jam from those yet. Keeps a girl busy. Did a bit of sewing last night. More photos coming.

Easing back in

2011-08-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been home now for one week (this evening). It is so strange as in many ways it feels like we have never been away. My sewing room was the place chosen to store the personal belongings we were getting out of the way. Thus it is still quite unavailable for my sewing use. I think I shall appropriate the puzzle table to work on my blocks for the new grand's quilt.

I'm quite liking this and it works well as sashing - although I'm not sure I'll use the 3 3/4" size suggested. Seems a bit much, but with red binding it will be cute.

Also have been working on the quilt I bought for friend Caro. I'm not really informed on dating quilts but I'm guessing it might be 40's or 50's? Do you have any ideas?

That center star (and all the other stars around it) are hand pieced and hand quilted. The big star has been set in by machine, but each of the diamond seams are hand pieced. Interesting. What I have been doing is removing the pink satin binding that someone (carefully) seamed twice around the edges covering up a sweet (but deteriorating) light blue binding.

All the star points around the edges had been cut off, so now they are all there. I really don't know anything about this little quilt but am getting quite attached to it. Should I keep it Caro?

Awe - gust

2011-08-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

We are having some delightful weather which makes it so pleasant to be outdoors. We have had dinner at the picnic table the last two nights. Mornings tend to be cloudy but by noon the skies have clear and it is wonderful.

We headed over to Shilshole Marina, in order to meet a boat bringing home the two oldest grands. They have been at the local Camp Fire camp. Taking a boat to and from camp has been a tradition since at least when I was about 8 or 9, and I attended every year until I was 18. My daughter and son and their best friends attended and my daughter even worked there for a few years. So now the tradition continues with the "big ones". It's a great way to begin the adventure and conclude it.

I have finally found a good sashing fabric for the stitched animal blocks. It has been washed and ironed. Photos to follow.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

2011-08-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

Weeeeelllll, we made it. There were a few hours there where my backside wasn't sure that our destination would arrive, but we left Amsterdam about on time, a little late into Reykiavik, left a little late and on to Seattle. Iceland Airlines doesn't bother to have folks load by the row they are sitting in [like most of the airlines I've ridden on] so it's rather chaotic inside trying to find your row, likely having to climb over someone (as we did on both legs of the flight) all the overhead space is used where you are sitting, etc, etc. But enough of that - we made it almost exactly on time, despite what the website said. Our friend who was our transportation believed the website - so we had to wait for a while but it was lovely to be home.

It is such a very strange conundrum to feel like we have been gone so very long (actually 10 weeks plus one day) and yet driving home it all felt so familiar and like we had never been gone. Have you ever had that sensation? We managed to stay up until about 9:30pm (local time) and then crashed. Sadly my body was still on European time and I was wide awake at 2:30am. Oh well, I see a nap (or 2) in the offing. Off to meet that new grandbaby later this afternoon. Woo Hoo.

This morning I did accomplish a couple of things. With all the handwork I had done, I had a number of things that needed to be soaked to remove the blue dye. So I did just that,

Let's hear it for sunshine on the back lawn. It may be a while before I get much further with these, but they will be all ready! Hurrah!

Sunday Bike Ride

2011-08-01T04:14:00.000-07:00

We had a couple of errands to "run" in the morning, but managed to get to Caro and Rob's by about 2pm. The four of us headed out for a bike ride to and through the Dunes just north of Scheveningen.

The first day in literally weeks when you didn't need a warm jacket to be outdoors.

Lovely countryside, some marvelous homes and views over the treetops to the sea. It's hard to ask for much more.

This amazing adventure is now coming to an end. It's Monday afternoon now, and we fly back to the US on Wednesday morning, so I'm not sure if I'll get any more blogging done before we are safe and sound at home. Thanks for being part of our travels.

More photos

2011-07-31T00:57:00.000-07:00

Should you want to see more of us, check out Caro's blog. Her photo album has lots and lots of us.

We did get to Kinderdijk

2011-07-30T23:29:00.000-07:00

So, after our musical interlude, we caught the boat to take us to Kinderdijk (about an hour away)

The Maas river is very busy and it would be fascinating to live along its banks with a great pair of binoculars - to see what's going past

The boat moves into the River Lek

This is the site of one of the Netherlands incredible examples of how to deal with too much water. And by lining the windmills up, each one in turn could lower the water level a bit more and pump that water into the river. See the website. Now that job is done by are the augers,

and behind the augers stand the mills themselves. It just makes you smile - so typische Nederlands,

You can go inside a couple of the mills, but we didn't do that (as we have done it before) - we just enjoyed the site.

We returned on the same boat,

with Caro's parents

and a couple of entertainers. We returned to the old harbor and decided to have some Mexican food. Unfortunately there weren't any places indoors, so we got to sit outside for our dinner,

Actually, blankets over your lap do help a lot. We managed just fine and had a very nice evening. And again, thanks to Elaine my skilled photographer.

An Unplanned Diversion

2011-07-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning was our trip to Kinderdink. We began with meeting Caro and Rob on the train to Rotterdam. At Rotterdam Blaak we stopped to look at the cube houses. These were designed by Piet Blom and built in 1977 with the intention of being high density housing, "living as an urban roof" creating free space underneath. 39 houses were built in Rotterdam and one has been opened as a "museum" which you can see. (see more photos on the internet). We decided that for us, this would not be considered "gezellig" (Dutch expression meaning something like cozy, homey, comfortable). Your art would have to be something that could sit on a shelf as there are virtually no walls for hanging. We came "out of the sky" to find some lunch

in a quiet pub. We wandered along the old harbor,

on our way to the dock to catch the boat for Kinderdink. [As an aside, you must remember that almost all of Rotterdam was leveled during the second world war and it is a very new and modern city]

As we walked we first heard and then saw the "Summer Carnival" parade just getting started. Oh my. The biggest speakers that I have seen (goes with the VERY loud music - the sort that beats in your chest) and colorful, incredible costumes. And so, a sampling, as we were at the staging area rather than on the parade route proper

I am told that Rotterdam has a large Dutch Carribean population and thus this event. [The grey skies did mean a lot of goosebumps.]

What's goin' on around here

2011-07-29T22:40:00.000-07:00

Of course, we did have to do a bit of baby shopping yesterday - how's this for a cute name for a baby store,

pronounced: Peek-a-Boo.

I have finished up (as far as I can get from here) a couple of little stitcheries,

[name, birthdate, etc. go in the barn]

Yesterday, when out on an errand, look at what we found - oh, I think every quilter needs one,

I asked the shopowner and it isn't patchwork - but a lovely (expensive) Italian fabric. Isn't it terrific?

Later today we are off to Kinderdijk. More to come.

Hello World

2011-07-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

I am the newest "grand" to call her Nana. I arrived last night, in Seattle, at 6 1/2 lbs, 19+ inches long. Rumor is that I'm pretty cute. Nana and Oakie will be home next week so we can visit in person.

In the 'hood

2011-07-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Lots of photos from our afternoon stroll,

Oosteindegracht

How'd ya like to live here?

We discovered, today, a hofje just around the corner. These are very small apartments, in this case only available to singles. The grounds are open to the public during limited hours, but with a sign saying that you are requested to be silent when you go inside - so as not to disturb the residents. These date from

At one time these hofjes were built exclusively for women or the poor or lay-workers of the church. They are always so special,

Little hidden children's playgrouond

Elaine managed some good shots,

Oosteindegracht with the Nieuw Kerk

Oostport

And then, simply because we have talked about it AND it manages to take quite a bit of our time, we need to commemorate our favorite drying rack,

I will never take my clothes dryer for granted!

A little of this and a little of that

2011-07-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Last evening we had a little pre-departure party. Because Dieuwke and family were leaving today on holiday, we had to gather last night. Wouldn't you know, I forgot to take pictures of dinner, itself, but we had a "real" American summer meal: cheeseburgers with all the fixins', potato salad and baked beans. [I do give myself a pat on the back for managing the last two with quite different ingredients available - but they were tasty.] We finished up with strawberry shortcake

Dieuwke, bless her heart, even brought us gifts - aren't we lucky? I got one of the Stophorst "vests" that is hand painted on black satin,

Elaine, the elephant lover, got some terrific new dish towels for our kitchen at home,

and for the both of us, to remember our holiday, a lovely picture book from the Staphorst community. These are folks who are VERY camera shy and so it's nigh onto impossible to get photos of them in their attire. A wonderful collector's item,

Today, Thursday, is market day and it was quite pleasant out. Certainly one of the big things we will miss is sitting in the square, drinking coffee and taking in all that is going on.

We had to laugh at one point, the caliope was playing, the fellow selling CD's had those blaring and the church carillon was pealing. Cacophony! We followed up our market shopping, with a trip to our ever popular,

we're there almost everyday for groceries. We will miss a.h., too. As it is nice, we did a little neighborhood walk - we often do each dry afternoon. next blog.

Army Museum

2011-07-27T00:24:00.000-07:00

We have postponed this visit as I wasn't sure that it was "my" thing - army and weapons and war. But this proved to be a very fascinating museum and worth a trip - particularly if you could plan it for a time when there weren't too many children there. Having said that, this is a fabulous place to visit with children. There is a children's assault course, interactive exhibits about tournament knights in the Dark Ages, a large display covering the Eighty Years' War period and Maurice, guns, swords, dioramas of early battles, etc. etc. etc. Everything from a sword from 500 BC

to a bronze face mask

There is one of the world's largest collections of 17th century firearms: rifles, pistols, etc.

Guns of glass (used for drinking, not shooting), guns of carved ivory,

and extraordinarily ornately decorated guns

There were multiple interactive computer stations (challenging for us as they were all in Dutch), buttons to push, switches to flip, movies to watch. There were life-sized mannequins with period clothing

1st World War Drinks Lady (beer?)

Animals,

Fascinating means of transportation

First Aid Wagon

Cook wagon with big boilers in the center

Positioning of big guns. I couldn't tell what breed of dogs these were, but something large like a bull mastiff.

The exhibition continues to the current time and even has an intereactive stations discussing the "moral dilemma's of Dutch soldiers on peace missions". We were there for 2 1/2 hours and could have even been there longer if we had understood more Dutch. A recommended site for most anyone, but especially for children and young people. It's great!

Continuing

2011-07-24T02:10:00.000-07:00

After a pleasant birthday lunch at the Groninger Museum (and coffee earlier at Douwe Egberts) we headed to the tour boat. Passing under the first bridge, we saw

and continued around the canal surrounding the city and various buildings

A former warehouse, now apartments

There are also many houseboats, but only some look well cared for

A most unusual block of apartments, designed to resemble the Arch d'Triumph (I don't spell well in English, let alone in French) - I wonder what it looks like inside. And does it sway in the wind?

Saturday, Joke's husband joined us for a car tour of the surrounding provincial countryside. They kept telling us it was "real" Dutch weather,

This is the northern-most piece of land in the country, on a dike with grazing sheep and wind turbines.

What an adventure we had. Many, many thanks and big hugs to Joke and her family for all their hospitality and generosity.

A Journey to the North

2011-07-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning we left for a trip to Groningen. [American readers look at a map]. Several years ago I joined an online exchange group called Crazy Exchange. Three years ago some of us got to meet in person. On Thursday I got to visit with Joke, again. Marvelous.

It is great to get to meet new friends on the internet and feel so connected to them right from the start. [photos from me and from Elaine] Thursday we did a little walking tour of Joke's neighborhood and some nearby sites.

This lovely gereformeered church (like most others of this denomination) are not open to the public. Too bad.

Peaceful hofjes.

Friday was a walk through the lovely, art-deco train station.

One interesting piece,

when the station was restored most of these upper bricks and fascades are paper mache. Funny, huh?

Groningen is a city especially accessible to walkers and bikers, so we enjoyed a wander around.

this lovely old building is now a grocery store.

City Hall.

Academia Building of the University of Groningen. More photos on another blog entry.

The Librije in the St. Walburga's Church

2011-07-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

This Library is a unique 16th century public library. Because of the large collection of books the church owned, it was decided to construct a library. "There is room for approximately 300 books on the reading desks. The catalogue contains about 750 titles. The core of the collection consists of acquisitions ...... in the first half of the 16th century. Another part of the collection was acquired through legacies. Particularly in the 15th and 16th century learned inhabitants of Zutphen left their books to the 'Librije'. After the Reformation books from the dissolved monasteries in and around Zutphen were added to the collection of the 'Librije'.

As you might imagine, in order to preserve these extraordinarily old books, no photos are allowed in the room. There is no artificial lighting allowed. Here is a photo of a photo,

On these reading desks are books with tooled leather covers and silver mountings. Almost impossible to grasp just how old these books are. Typically the center of the page had the text and around the text was more text which was the interpretation. These books included books on reformation theology, law, history and literature, as well as commentaries on the bible, books on the lives of the saints and legal commentaries. The collection contains 5 manuscripts and 85 books known to be printed before 1500.

But also most unusual is that all of these books are literally chained to the desks. This is one of only 3 chained libraries - one in Britain and one in Italy, and Zutphen. They were chained for a very practical reason - at the time of its opening it was open to the general public. This was extraordinarily unusual, as there were no public libraries. Anyone could get a key and sit and study the books for as long as the church was open. The books had to stay.

Needless to say, this was just such an incredible site and hard to imagine just how old these books are. You feel sure that if the books were opened, they might disintigrate, let alone be touched by human hands, but what a treasure they are.

A couple more photos of photos

Check out one more photo

More Adventures with the Dutch Girls

2011-07-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

We spent today with Dieuwke and Caroline - they both had a day off work. We drove to Zutphen. Along the way we had the required stop for coffee and a sweet treat,

The smell was devine

And then on to Zutphen, an old Hanseatic Town. The town was granted a charter in 1190. The Hanseatic League was the name of the groups that joined with other towns to improve and increase trading - the most important in the Netherlands were at or near the river Ijssel. They owed their prosperity and wealth maily to the favorable locations at or near the water. Zutphen joined in 1285. The Hanseatic Leage lasted for four hundred years. Originally, it was a walled city

Pieces of the wall remain today. There are countless reminders of just how old a city it is.

Even with some drizzle, it was so charming. We visited St. Walburga's Church. It was originally built on this site in the 11th Century. It was named for St. Walburga

She was brought to the Netherlands from Germany. [Isn't she lovely?]

Although this is a Dutch Reformed church, it very much has the look and feel of a catholic church, with little side chapels, statuary and artwork.

In 1561 the building of a "Librije" (library) was begun abutting the church. (see another blog with still more photos)

Things I like in the Netherlands

2011-07-19T05:58:00.000-07:00

Anywhere you live there are always things that make living there nice or pleasant. Here are a few things that I have found, that we really like [I already told you about the shopping carts you "rent" to do your shopping]

Bread can always be bought in 1/2 loaves. It means that for the two of us, we always have fresh bread.

Tea bags are bought in one of two sizes. Do you want a single cup (as above) or do you wish to brew a pot full.

Milk is sold in half litre cartons. Again, freshness assured, because of the small size.

Almost everything comes in a cheese and onion version - including snacking peanuts. Oh yummy.

Windowsills are always very deep. A wonderful place to put your plants or object d'art. And these tiled ones are especially fun.

Church friends Susan, Leah and Susan's mother, Doris, all came for a visit on Sunday and Monday. Despite the rain, we had a marvelous time wandering through this exceptional city. On Sunday afternoon, Caro came for a chance to learn about the antique quilt top I had brought her. It was made by Doris' mother completely out of feed sacks. See Caro 's blog. On Monday we wandered through the old and the new churches.

And while it is not certain exactly where he is buried, Johannes Vermeer is certainly a former Delft inhabitant.

Adventures tomorrow with Dieuwke and Caro - always great fun!

Oh yes, and if you are wondering, we had a resurrection of my camera but E's seems to have totally died (per the guy in the camera store). Bummer!

Ark Building has Ceased

2011-07-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

Look, look, sunshine. Hurrah. Yesterday it was not clear that the sun would ever be seen again - but despite predictions to the contrary, blue skies appeared. We managed to get all the rags and towels used yesterday washed and did some tidying up in the garden (several broken stems). After lunch, Elaine headed to the chocolaterie while I headed across town to a fabric store I hadn't know before,
't Stoffig Pakhuis. I did not find any fabric I couldn't live without, although this shop did have lots of ribbons and trims. Elaine found one chocolate bar that called her name.

Our tale of woe and reason for no photos of these places is that my camera has finally, well and truly died. RIP my Nikon. We can't quite remember but it may be as many as 9 years old. I was needing to try some new batteries, just in case, but that still didn't do it. So all photos will be with Elaine's very nice Canon. Will need to look for anew one for me, but that will wait until we get home.

Our last big adventure of today was a jaunt a few blocks away,

Do you know Pathe? It's a chain of movie theaters. And what did we see?

Sorry I cut off the Dark Lord's Head - V........... It was pretty good, not particularly more violent than any of the former movies and now it all has ended! The attention-getting part of this adventure was the cost: 2 senior tickets (it was 3D),one small popcorn and a small bottle of bubbly water cost E30. At today's exchange rate, that is $42. Goodness - not something we'd do real often. But fun!

This is the city library:

Love how they have done the windows.

Church friends from Seattle are supposed to arrive tomorrow, but no word yet. Just waiting to hear.

Soggy Thursday

2011-07-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I didn't remember to take any photos. We went on train and bus to visit our friend Willemijn. She used to live in den Haag, but now lives in Woerden. She was one of the Dutch Girls who came to visit us in 2009.

Today we tried, but it is so miserable we have ended up just staying indoors. We ventured out once this morning and about drowned. (Jeans drying in front of the radiator)

There were only about 4 or 5 stalls in the Thursday market, so just kept on going to the grocery. Everything was saturated by the time we got home again.

The grape vine which grows out through the owner's deck, upstairs, is leaking rather badly.

Really miserable. So, what do clever girls do? They begin a new jigsaw puzzle,

Birthday Tuesday

2011-07-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

Today is Elaine's birthday and she has been well remembered by several friends and family. We had a celebratory dinner last night in Enkhuizen followed by a "birthday" ice cream cone.

Today it was a requested breakfast of bacon and french toast. After breakfast the final piece went into the puzzle this morning.

We had to do a bit of laundry - it has become a birthday tradition for E when in Europe. We enjoyed lunch on a moored barge behind City Hall. We found a yummy treat to have with a cup of tea this afternoon, from the AppelFlappen store,

All in all, a pretty swell birthday.

Zuiderzeemuseum

2011-07-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

The idea for this museum dates from about 1932 when the Zuiderzee was separated from the North Sea. Because fishing had been considerably diminished, due to the water changing from salt to fresh, many felt that an entire culture had been eliminated. And thus began the idea of creating a museum preserving memorabilia donated by residents. "Give what you can do without, even if it seems worthless". The collection consists largely from the period 1850-1932. Buildings were disassembled and moved to Enkhuizen, to the museum. They were disvided into neighborhoods, based on the original village layouts. The houses are "generally furnished on the basis of interviews with the original inhabitants. The paving, fencing, facing and greenery are as similr to the historial situation as possible."

We enjoyed a very pleasant train journey to Enkhuizen. Took a small ferry (included in our entrance cost) to the museum,

We arrived at the Limekilns, and began 5 hours of wandering.

As much as is feasible, they try to make all the businesses and many of the houses occupied and working. So here is a brief taste,

Alomost every home had a sewing machine - treadle or hand-crank.

Rope making

kerosene tea kettle

with the advent of the steam engine, came a community laundry, with the machines run by a series of pullies.

Gentlemen's barber shop

More formal houses, complete with organ. There was an operating blacksmith, a cooperage, brush maker and paint shop - even a sail maker with hand-sewn sails.

The chapel was an important building. It was a place of worship but also a place where people congregated. Interestingly, the prosperous church-goers had chairs with their names on them.

The less well-off sat on benches with doors.

Benches without doors were intended for the very lowest incomes

And the poor had to make do with standing room. Hmmmm .

Sunday Dining

2011-07-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Sweet friend Dieuwke insisted on preparing us a true dining adventure - a veritable feast! She literally spent the whole day preparing. It was a lovely, warm and sunshiny day, so we got to sit in the back garden and enjoy our feast.

Our dinner included:
   Bami noodles
   Seasoned green beans
   3 kinds of kroepoek
   Chicken curry (bessengeh ijam)
   hard-boiled eggs in a hot sauce (teloor)
   Seasoned rice (with curry, mandarin oranges and almonds)
   fruit salad (mango, pineapple, apple, peeled/seeded cucumber, green onions, chili flakes)
   slow cooked beef
   chicken sate on skewers
   wine, water and white beer

For dessert we were served fresh fruit with pear and lemon sherbet. This was followed by spek koek

and jasmine tea. Needless to say, we waddled home!

Look at Caro's blog for more photos of the happy, eating bunch!

It's Tuesday, already

2011-07-12T01:34:00.000-07:00

The days are going past quickly and I keep being behind on my blogging. So, here we are with another catch-up post or two.

On Saturday morning our friend Dieuwke picked us up and took us to Tante Joke's. (her aunt Joke's) in Dalfsen. While we started with rain, it improved as we went north and east. We arrived in mid morning and had to have the requisite tea/coffee. They live in a marvelous home,

filled with quilts and antiques, porcelein and linens - just a treasure trove. Then the five of us (Dieuwke, Caro, Joke, M & E) took off for Rouveen. Rouveen is quite a conservative town, filled with gereformeered church members - many of whom still dress in the traditional costumes all the time. However there is a magnificent store, Stegeman's Textiel where we scoured the shelves and nooks and crannies. I only purchased a few souvenirs and some fabric from London,

a wonderful 'electric' blue color. Caro found some fabrics she loved from the 1950's (that's not so old in my book!) and Joke found some very nice ribbons. We then drove on to the ultra-conservative Staphorst. Staphorst is reported to be one of 3 churchvillages. Over 16,000 people live here and approximately 600 women and children still wear the traditional costumes. Only 6 men still wear the traditional outfits. The colors worn were listed as: white for deepest mourning, only on Sunday. Black is for deep mourning, blue for mourning and red means not in mourning.

Here we visited the Museumboerderij Staphorst - The Staphorst farmhouse museum. Buildings here are painted in green (the color of nature's youth), white (purity) and blue (to keep out evil - or sometimes it is said to keep out the flies when painted on window sills) The metal tree of life was an old Germanic fertility symbol, above the front door.

[no weeds are allowed to get a start in these gardens]

In the museum is an example of a living room.

One of the particularly fascinating items was the arrangement for how to "manage" toddlers just learning to walk and wander (and get into trouble). The child was placed into the wooden frame.

The frame is then connected by rope to a wheel on a track that ran across the ceiling [avoiding all troublesome items like stoves, etc.]

right next to the sausages hung to dry. Here I found a pincushion done in the traditional stipwerk method. These designs are painted using a nail dipped in the color.

Georgous, huh?

We returned to Joke and Marco's for a delicious Indonesian dinner, visiting and pleasant drive home.

Thank you Joke and Marco for all your kindness and hospitality and food (and many gifts). Thanks Dieuwke for driving. Thanks E for most of the fine photos. More to follow.

Well. . . . . . .

2011-07-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm perfectly happy with this photo and the general layout, but you can see that it's dangerous to let me make changes - it's so big! I am sorry. I will work to see if I can resolve this, but for now, enjoy the georgous hydranga.

Doing things differently

2011-07-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

Thre is a house directly across the canal (aka across the street) that is undergoing a major remodeling. As these are very old houses, remodels and upgrades are a big deal and require a huge amount of work. I first noticed this one because you can see all the way through the house and out the big hole in the back wall into the back yard. Now, in addition these are very narrow streets - i.e. cars are parked along the canal. In the space in between - no more than 10 ft - is where the cars, bikes, scooters, motorcycles and all pedestrians maneuver. So when the large truck pulled up in front of said house, the street was totally blocked off to anyone, other than bikes or on foot, to get by.

[the blue tarp is covering a dumpster in one of the parking spaces.] All of that sheet rock and green board and insulation is to go into the house. So how do you unload it and schlep it indoors? Well, you simply remove one of the upstairs windows and put it in through the window.

And just how do you do that?

Can you see the "boom box" he has slung around his neck? That's a remote control for the 'forklift' apparatus on the truck and he is moving everything in through the window.

It's all quite fascinating.

Busy Hands at Home

2011-07-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

After all our adventures last week, this one has been much quieter - thank goodness. We've had pretty nice weather and so have enjoyed being outside in our little walled garden. During some indoor time, we have done a few things. E's favorite:

Thursday is Market Day, so Caroline who had the day off work and came down to Delft for a little visit. We played with my hour-glass blocks and decided that we liked this layout,

I am quite pleased with this and will make a few more. While at the market I found a little bit of fabric that might work for a border

The red and white is very much in keeping with the "flavor" of the Spakenburg fabrics. Hmmmm.

I am pleased that I have finished the little stitchery blocks for the to-be-grandchild quilt. I haven't found the sashing fabric, but that will wait until we get home. Something very bright and colorful.

A couple more hand sewing projects are going on, but I'll show you those when I've made a bit more progress. More adventures tomorrow.

Tuesday

2011-07-06T00:19:00.000-07:00

Sewing was one of the things that happened today,

I'm guessing I have about 60 of these done, so far. Elaine is make progress on her jigsaw puzzle - need to take a picture of that.

Tuesday evening we went to den Haag (the Hague) for dinner with Caro and Rob. Elaine went on a cycling outing with Rob - 25 km. "We cycled towards Leiden, along several small canals, through the polder land, where there are still 3 windmills

which were used to pump the water out. We also visited a castle built originally in 1250. It was very fun.

It was a very pleasant ride, on flat terrain, with an electric bike. The only way to go!" [photos courtesy of Rob's i-phone]

Otherwise, we have watched a bit of the Tour de France - Go Tyler Farrar - Washington state boy. And the Women's World Cup Soccer - USA plays on Wednesday.

Dear Readers: Thank you for taking the time to leave comments. It is so nice to know that you are reading what I have rambled on about. Even if we don't know each other, it is such fun to think of all of you. So keep writing back to me, please.

Oooops - what about Sunday?

2011-07-06T00:02:00.000-07:00

We had a delightful outing on Sunday and I forgot to post about it. A wonderful combination of quilting and gardens - great fun. A few times a year Bep has an open house at her home and quilt shop on Sunday. Lucky for us, this was one (July 3). It would not be a place that you would simply come upon - it is quite 'out in the country'.

We parked in the back field and were greeted by,

And then you wander up to the house,

We were invited indoors, into a kitchen "to die for" - to pick up a cup of coffee and some cake. Such a nice Dutch tradition.

All with a huge farmhouse table down the center. Sigh! Took our coffee outdoors as it was pleasant,

This is the quilt shop - 20 steps from her back door.

Do check out 't atelier van Bep. While most of her fabrics are U.S.in origin, she has done a charming job of choosing things that work beautifully together. And, of course, lots of unusual bits and pieces and buttons and tapes.

How is this for a classroom?

What shall we sign up for?

We drove "home" after our visit to Bep's. We had a very quiet evening. Monday was some required activities (i.e. laundry). Monday night we went for a long walk in a part of the city we have not visited before. I have begun sewing hour-glass blocks made with my antique fabrics from Spakenburg. (photos to follow)

A bit more catch-up

2011-07-05T05:22:00.000-07:00

Look at Caro's blog for a description and photos of our adventures playing: klootschieten. In fact, a very fun and entertaining way to wander along, chat and play a little game. There is more finess required than just brute strength - i.e. to get the ball where you want it to go, instead of in the bushes or worse, into the water. Somewhat akin to Bocce. We may introduce this to some of our camping friends.

Saturday

2011-07-05T00:51:00.000-07:00

At last, I think I am caught up with the interesting past few days. What a whirlwind. We left Bad Bentheim and drove to the very small dorpje (village) of Epse where Caro's parents live. After a nice lunch, they drove us into Deventer. First we visited an operating windmill, which is used to cut logs. The trees were originally floated down the river and to the mill for processing. Of course, now it is something of a planned event, but there is lumber available.
It is cut into slices about 1 1/2" thick.

The tree is tied to a sled-type device and "fed" to the blades

The blades of the mill rotate, and through a series of cogs, the saw blades are driven up and down. This is not great wood, so will be used for animal pens.

On a small ferry, we crossed to the city of Deventer.

Artistic facilities are provided on the dock side,

After coffee and deventerkoek (locally, quite famous spice cake confection), we wandered along Walstraat through the Brocantie (a series of tables and stalls with everything from junk to very nice antiques. We came along to Quiltshop 100 Rozen. And very nicely, Jeltje gave me a pattern and fabric pack that they had had available during a recent quilt day - akin to our Shop Hop. Very kind.

Saturday continued

2011-07-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

We left Munster in the late afternoon and drove to Bad Bentheim, just east of the Dutch/German border.

It is a town on a hill - yes, you heard me right, a hill. And at the top of the hill is Bentheim Castle.

We spent the night in a charming pension that used to be a watermill and in the morning headed up to the Castle. Extensive renovations were completed on the castle between 1882-1914. However, it was occupied and suffered little damage during the second world war. It has been memorialized by Dutch paitner, Jacob van Ruisdeal.

The castle has walls about 3 feet thick, with a walkway around the outside

From up here you can actually look over the surroundings

There is a lovely inner courtyard

The upper floors on the left of the photo above are occupied, today, by Hereditary Prince Carl Ferdinand of Bentheim [34 years old] and his wife, Elna Margret. Part of the connection between this German castle and the Dutch royal family is because Queen Emma (1858-1934) was the sister of Princess Pauline, wife of Prince Alexis II. He oversaw the renovations mentioned above.

Really very lovely.

More adventures continue. Next blog.

Into Germany

2011-07-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning, the four of us drove to Munster, Germany. My but they drive fast. We arrived in this lovely university town shortly before noon.

We discovered this brass model of the city, as we were walking to the center. All the buildings are labeled in braille, as is the description across the front. Cool, huh? Munster is a lovely, upscale city which is quite expensive.

St. Lambert's church, in the center, is an incredible middle-age church. In the center of the tower are three cages,

It was in these that the bodies of the three leaders of the Anabaptists movement were hung up and displayed as a warning to the citizenry. But it is georgous inside,

The organ is suspended from the side walls and ceiling.

Also among the most ornate churches I've ever seen, is St. Clement's Church. It was built in 1745-53, a round building with a dome. It has been restored faithfully to the original plans made by Baroque architect Johann C. Schlaun.

Astonishing, to put it mildly.

Garderen Sand Sculptures

2011-07-03T02:25:00.000-07:00

In the dorpje of Garderen (even smaller than a dorp) is a very large gardening and home decor shop. They sponsor a sand sculpture competition. You begin inside, with an undersea theme,

And then move to the ouside exhibit

I must say that the exhibition in Federal Way, WA (summer of 2010) was competitive, but many of the sculptors were Dutch. Astonishing what you can do with sand and water.

Antique Dutch Fabrics

2011-07-03T02:13:00.000-07:00

We drove to a charming dorp (small village) called Spakenburg. In this very conservative, religious village one of the churches has made a very small (3 room) museum containing mostly clothing and some models of fishing boats.

These are examples of current day traditional fashion, which is worn even today in the village and to church.

(at the grocery store - perhaps we shouldn't have taken it, but. . . . .)

Caro and I found severeal pieces of antique costume fabrics. What shall we make? We also each found a jacket made from antique fabrics,

Palais Het Loo

2011-07-03T01:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.paleishetloo.nl/frontpage/0/1/Home.html

Palais Het Loo was originally the home of Queen Willemina. She lived there until her death in 1962. It is now a national museum and wonderful to visit.

The Royal Stables and "parking" for the carriages. A marvelous history. This was one of the most fascinating. Willemina decreed that her hearse should be in white, not black. This carriage was used
for the Prince Consort, Hendrich and for Willemina.

These were the "gas mask" baby carriages made during the Second World War for Beatrix and her sister, Margriet.

Of course, no photos allowed inside. [see the website - there is an English button] In addition there was an exhibit about the past 10 years of the Princess, Maxima, from her engagement to Prince Wilem Alexander to the birth of her three daughters. The eldest daughter, [Catherine] Amalia will become queen after her father. Always fun to see photos and videos of this very popular royal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_M%C3%A1xima_of_the_Netherlands

Wednesday to the "camping"

2011-07-03T01:27:00.000-07:00

Caro and Rob have a "mobile home" - what we would call a Park Model home in a delightful Caravan Park. The sites all have very nice and spacious gardens and lots of privacy with hedges and shrubs. These are all privately owned.

In addition to the park models, there are 50+ sites to park a travel trailer. Between every other trailer is a small building with a toilet, sink and shower. Almost all the trailers have an attached patio room. We haven't figured out how they are attached but they appear to "zip" on or some such thing, as they fit tightly to the trailer. Quite attractive and sensible if you aren't moving the trailer.

The owners rent out one room for overnight guests of the residents. Adequate and easy to use Caro and Rob's as our "home" base.

Too much "doing" and not enough "writing"

2011-07-03T01:06:00.000-07:00

Alright - we have been very busy but haven't been in connection with the computer for several days - so there will be several new posts to bring you up-to-date.

Monday and Tuesday last week were grey, cloudy and even a bit rainy at times. We had a really "big" adventure, we walked to a different grocery store - to C1000 instead of Albert Heijn. [You have to find your excitement where you can.] One thing I wanted to point out that is so incredibly sensible, if you want to get a grocery cart, you must deposit Euro .50, E1 or E2 into the key slot. This releases the cart for your use.

And then when you return the cart, you plug in the "key" from the next cart in line and get your "deposit" back. This way there are hardly any 'lost' grocery carts, you get back your money, regardless of how much you put in - it seems to work well, all the way around.

As I have been amusing myself with some sewing, Elaine found herself a couple of jigsaw puzzles in the children's toy store. Everyone is buy with little "at home" activities.

Sunday activities

2011-06-27T00:32:00.000-07:00

My blog titles are not very exciting - sorry about that. So what happened on Sunday - first of all we did laundry. Now that doesn't seem highly exciting, but without a dryer one must be very strategic to get things outdoors just as soon as it seems warm and perhaps sunny. If I lived here I would have to have a long clothesline or one of those four-sided things my mom used to use. We headed into den Haag (the Hague) and enjoyed lunch inside the Passage - one of my favorite. It feels so "refined" to sit in there and have our lunch and watch the "world" go by. I love it.

We then headed to the Museum de Gevangenpoort (the Prison Gate Museum) so that we could have the English tour. This is one of the original gates into the city of the Hague.

It is located directly across the street from the Binnenhof - the seat of government and a little lake,

It was in here that people suspected of a crime were incarcerated until proven innocent (guilt was presumed). It housed the poor, with 20-25 men per cell, without light or heat or any sort of beds. Only straw on the floor and a hole for bathroom necessities (which fed directly into the little lake mentioned above, the source of drinking water). Also held here were wealthy, important men. They would pay for their own incarceration - reputedly at today's costs, 2 weeks would cost E20,000. They, however, had a table and chair and a bed. They had a fireplace and could buy wood or coal from the jailers. Only a few women were kept at this prison. The museum doesn't really allow photos (so there are only a couple of quickly taken ones) but it was notorious for the barberous torture that was carried out here.

Immediately next door is the art collection of Willem V (Gallerij Prins Willem V) who in 1774 "brought together the most important paintings in his collection in a purpose-built gallery". Apparently it was considered the duty of the rich noblemen to make collections of things. Willem was unique in that he opened his collection for others in the community to see. Of course, no photos, but it was intersting to see about 150 paintings. I was fascinated by one in particular as I couldn't even see any brush strokes. I certainly didn't touch it, but apparently got too close to it and it set off an alarm. Oooops! A security man quickly asked me to back up.

Several of the museums we have visited have security people - more present than in the past - but we also noted that they have virtually nothing to do. It would be a mighty boring job. At one museum, Mesdag Huis, they were anxious to chat about all sorts of things - guess it breaks up the day. We are learning.

sunday morning

2011-06-26T00:59:00.000-07:00

Caro has some nice photos of our little home. Check out her blog,