To Dream Perchance?

           I walk into the opthamologist's waiting room...I sign in and sit down..I am about 8min early.  The lady calls me to the desk...I am not on the list for appointments...They have no record of my ever being there or calling for an appt.   I am told they will take me but I will need to fill out a couple jillion forms...I sit back down and begin to fill out the papers. To my right is a black and white tv playing an old "I Love Lucy" show...I had forgotten how annoying her voice can be when I am slightly stressed!  Oh, and this man with a utility belt and a roll of electrical tape keeps coming in, going down the hall, coming back up the hall and leaving....several times.  I have finally filled out all the papers, have my ID cards photo'd; I ask how could this happen when I KNOW I have called and made an appt.!  The nice lady says "who knows, maybe they forgot to hit save"...I also notice everyone else in the waiting room is wearing a name tag. I am not given one.  Okay...now I know...I am having a nightmare!

        At least a half hour has passed and "I Love Lucy" is still playing!!!  I cannot decide whether to laugh hysterically or cry!  Finally, I am called back by the technician...I need to explain to her that I have not been to this office for probably 14 years...the doctor I had before has retired; they still have no records of my having ever been there....I explain that the reason I am there is because my optometrist and I have decided it is time to have my second cataract removed, but I had gone to another opthmalogist initially last spring.  I have to explain that I wanted to change Doctors because I had walked out of my third appt. this summer as I decided life was too short to spend nearly four hours waiting to be seen!! (Every time I had an appt., I had to wait for hours!!!  Not me..no more!!!)

         Now...the truth!!  Everything I wrote about above is TRUE!!  But from the time I got into the back with my tech until I left, everything went GREAT!  I am so glad I made a change....once we got my appt. settled, and all the papers filled out, I could not have been happier. It seems they had a real shut down with their computer system three-four weeks ago, after I had made my appt. and they just had to take people's word for the times when they came in...new patients that they could not get a hold of...I had extensive testing done very professionally; met my new Doctor...very impressed with her!  And now am set for the future health of my eyes!   Oh, and they didn't have my records because after so long, they put old records "in storage", whatever that means....and "I Love Lucy" was still playing in the waiting room!! I guess they didn't want to have any controversial shows on so they were running DVD's of old shows!!

I still need to get to DC for the Rally on returning to Sanity!!!!

Musings on This and That

"No individual raindrop considers itself responsible for the flood!"  Anonymous 

I like this quote...since it is anonymous...I think I will claim it!  I finished reading "South of Broad" by Pat Conroy ("Prince of Tides" author) and found it to be very good...a little of "The Big Chill" feel to it on a little different topic. 

And I am now reading "The Postmistress" by Sarah Blake.  I've not read anything by her before but will try to find more of her books....really good.  It takes place in a small seaport town off Cape Cod and Europe at the very beginning of WWII..1941 to be exact, before we entered the war officially.  I highly recommend it to all...just for the value of remembering what occurred in that time frame...the persecution of the Jews and our country's fear of anything "different" (immigrants from Germany, Japan, etc).  With the current feelings towards Muslims and illegals, we need to recall the error of our ways sixty years ago against those who were innocent of any crimes just because fear existed.  Unfortunately, it seems to me that even with all our sophisticated technology and supposed enlightened intelligence, we are still in the dark ages as to our compassion and understanding of other cultures and beliefs....a very closed minded attitude prevails, I am afraid! 

What I really want to do is to go to DC next week and participate in John Stewart's Rally for the Return of Sanity!!!!  That is certainly needed in this country!!

On a more cheerful note...had a great time playing poker last night with our buddies...I was actually ahead at one time, and almost broke even!  And...Texas Rangers are World Series bound!  TCU won their game tonight against Air Force.....and....my alma mater, Missouri, tromped on #1, Oklahoma for the first time in 12 years!

Go, Frogs!!!

Rainy day here in our part of Texas...the North Crowley band was to play at Regionals for UIL today; I haven't heard whether they got a chance to or not....will talk to the kids tomorrow.

Now Back to the Real World!

"Vitality is radiated from exceptional art and architecture!" Arthur Erickson

Just as I decide to blog for the first time in a week or so, the "moderators" have a note that the Image uploads is disabled due to maintenance.  And I love to see pics on blogs, so I may have to just do the writing now...knowing what pictures I hope to post.

I am watching the Rangers/Yankees fifth game as I write....not looking very good for the Rangers at this time, but there are still three and a half innings to go....so.."Go, Rangers!"  If they win this one, they are on their way to the World Series!  A big first for the boys!

I am having the Creative Crones..better known to the members as "studio Q" on Monday...we haven't had a full membership meeting for awhile..vacations, quilt show, etc.  getting in the way.  We are going to do a little "design" activity...several already do design their own quilts rather than do patterns, but some do not so I thought it would be a good idea to share how to go about it!  We are also going to start our next "challenge".  Each is bringing a 12" batik square for each member of the club...then we will take all 12 squares as well as our own fabric and make a quilt to enter into the next year's TVQG show....no other rules other than you have to use all the squares in some obvious way, can add one other fabric that no one else has...any size, any style, any embellishments!

I did finish a tote bag for my TCU fan daughter...The Horned Frog is a fusible pattern by Susan Cranshaw... www.susancranshaw.com ... a very fun pattern to do....then I just made the tote to put the little guy on.  She also has several other patterns for her "Desert Series"....I know there is a road runner but not sure what else.

And I am continuing to work on my project from my class at Arrowmont with Martine House.  I really like all the beading and other embellishment techniques she taught us, but it is kind of tedious so I have to break it up with other things to give my neck and eyes a break!!  The class I took from Larkin Van Horn last spring has been very helpful also.

This is "capturing the wild cabachon"!  (A Larkin term for beading around a large jewel (glass or button or whatever)  The background is one of my gelatin prints from a studio Q activity a few months ago.  I have quite a bit of beading done on top I will show at another time.

Looking back at the Moderators note...I realized that they are operating on Pacific time so I had a couple of hours to get ahead of them...must be a Silicon Valley thing!!!!

Closing off with another "Go, Rangers"....at this moment it is bottom of the 6th...Rangers-2/Yankees-6....the game is not over yet!!!

One more trip blog!

   "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."  Degas

                                                       Quebec At Night

We came into Quebec late afternoon, got our hotel room, parked and took out on foot.  We were right in the heart of Old Quebec City, so we felt we really got to see everything we wanted.

The Interior of the Cathedral

This is probably the largest and fanciest church I have ever been in.  One of the sacristy lights was a gift from Louis XIV.  Very awesome...

Cannons on the Ramparts, Overlooking the St. Lawrence River

Quebec was quite a fortress in its early days...a perfect location above the river.  These cannons and many other artifacts remain to exhibit the power of the city.

Looking Down on the City from the Ramparts

And the river beyond...we also went up to the Citadel which was even higher above the city.

Quebec and the River from the Citadel

Quebec still remains quite a seaport.  All the signs everywhere are in French, although most of the wait people spoke English.  Where the striped canopy is in the center left is a pavilion area being renovated.  It was part of the walled city originally.

Toronto, Ontario

Toronto is HUGE!  It took us forever to drive through it and this was not even rush hour traffic!  It had been raining on us ever since we left Quebec but had cleared up as we got into Ontario.  Notice the weird clouds formed behind the buildings.  And this is only one little stretch of what went on and on!

It was good to get into some good ol' Iowa farmland...we had our fill of the big city life!!  Then headed on home to Texas!!!

On to Prince Edward Island

                   "The power of Imagination makes us infinite." John Muir

The Coast off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Cape Breton is the fartherest NE part of NS.  It is most rugged of the whole province and most of it is a National Park.  The coastline drive is reminiscent of Big Sur in California, but not quite as "thrilling"; the road didn't quite follow right on the edge as in CA!

A Farmhouse on the Coast on Prince Edward Island

We really like PEI...it was very green and clean and UNtouristy!  To see a farm house right on the coast like this was an interesting sight for us.  It was not uncommon to see the horses grazing in the front of the houses.  This particular shot  reminds me of an Andrew Wyeth painting!

Surfing with Kites on the north coast of PEI

There is a National Park on the Atlantic Coast, north PEI that was basically closed for the winter but we could still drive around the coastline and get out at the beaches.  In the summer, it must be a very popular place to surf and sun as there were cabanas and boardwalks, etc.  As we came around one of the large sand dunes, we saw these three people out in the water surfing!!!!  The wind and waves were really high so they must have been having quite an adventure!  We enjoyed watching them from the warmth of our car!

Flowers at the Cairn's Motel in Summerside, PEI

Flowers were just lush everywhere!!  And we met the nicest people whereever we went.  A young couple owned and ran this motel...they were born and raised there and lived in a nice home right next door to the motel.  In Canada we were able to stop at the visitors centers and they would make lodging arrangements for us once we told them what kind of rooms, etc we were looking for...we were never steered wrong! 

More of our Fab Trip East

One of the many lighthouses we saw along the coastline.

After we left Alma, on our way to the Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, we drove down a winding road to see the lighthouse.  The place was not open yet, so we parked and just got some pictures from above.

The Hopewell Rocks from Above

To get to the ocean floor you have to climb down MANY stairs...you can see people walking around down there.  When the tide is out, people are allowed to go down and wander around much of the floor.  There are some cavelike areas which are blocked off that would be dangerous to go in.  Then when the tide starts to come in, everyone has to evacuate the area.  The water will rise 20-30 feet at high tide.   We got quite a thrill out of walking on the ocean floor!!

Standing on the Ocean Floor!

At low tide, the eroded rocks are very visible...you can see algae growing on them.  At high tide, the arch behind Dick would be almost invisible.  The visitors' center has pictures of people canoeing right in the same area we are standing!

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

After visiting the Hopewell Rocks, we drove to Nova Scotia.  When stopping at the visitors' center, we expressed to the aid there that we were not interested in the typical touristy stuff so we avoided Halifax and went around further to this charming fishing town of Lunenburg.  We stopped at the town visitors' center and the lady there set us up with a lovely little B&B run by a local couple who were very friendly and interesting....all within walking distance to the village. This is a picture of the town from across the bay at sunset.

The Academy of Lunenburg

The town was first settled, in the 1600's by Swiss and German families.  This building was built in the  1700's for the education of the more elite children.  It is still being used today as the town's elementary school....beautiful construction and grounds.

A Street in Lunenburg

Although a bit more colorful than many of the houses in town, these are typical of the architecture of Lunenburg.





The Fishing Boat "Cape Rouge"

I don't know how many fans of the tv show "Haven" are reading this, but as we wandered the piers, we came on this boat which we discovered is used in the show.  We were moseying along when this ol' sea captain came out and asked us where we were from..we struck up a conversation with him and he told us that the town of Lunenburg, and this boat of his were used in "Haven"!  The show is a kind of SciFi, which I do watch so that was fun to talk to him....then after getting home and watching some I had taped, I could really recognize a lot of the places in the show....including this boat!

The Third Leg of Our Northeast Trip!

"There's no place like home!" Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz

Belted Galloway cows at Camden Maine

After getting our room at Camden, we drove around to see what we could see.  We came upon these cows, marked like nothing we had seen before so we had to check them out!

Penobscot Bay...Camden, Maine

We really enjoyed Camden...it is not far from Acadia National Park nor Bar Harbor; although it is not as well known as BH, we enjoyed it more because it seemed less "touristy" to us...a beautiful harbor, many cute shops and places to eat.  As we were driving North into Maine, the traffic heading South towards Boston and New York was backed up, three lanes deep and at least 10 miles long!  Then we realized it was Labor Day and everyone was heading back home...we felt real lucky we were going in the opposite direction!

Acadia National Park Shoreline

Beautiful park..we left Camden and came straight here..we spent most of the day here before getting our lodgings for the night.

Lunch at Jordan Pond

This was a neat spot about half way around the park that is traditional for lunches. Around the turn of the last century, this is where the elite of the east coast would dine on the lawn when visiting Acadia and have popovers with ice cream so we did, too.  There is a large restaurant with many verandas there also, but eating overlooking the water was the fun part!

 View from Cadillac Mountain

Cadillac Mountain has the fame of being the tallest point from the top of the east coast all the way down to Brazil.....compared to the Rockies, it isn't that tall, but for the east, it is a mountain!  Very pretty...a drive all the way to the top but many hikers and bikers were making the summit.

Bar Harbor Marina

We went to our lodgings then walked around Bar Harbor...still liked Camden better!

Next stop....New Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy...home of the highest tides in the world!

After Arrowmont

"A woman has the age she deserves"!  Anonymous (hmmm...think about it!)

Norman Rockwell Museum

After we left the Smokys and Arrowmont, we traveled to Stockbridge, Massachusetts....Norman Rockwell country.  Beautiful country, in the Berkshires.  The museum is located a little out of town on land purchased several years ago to locate the museum and to recreate Rockwell's studio...a lovely setting.

                       Norman Rockwell's Studio in the Berkshires

We were not able to take pictures inside...but what a thrill to see the "originals" done by an artist I have always admired!  We could tour the studio in part, which was the real thing....just moved to the new setting.

             Mark Twain's Home in Hartford, Connecticut

Then we drove to Hartford, CT and visited Mark Twain's home where he wrote "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and others works.  There is a museum and then the house tour.  Our guide was a very entertaining young man who was just finishing up high school;  he was very articulate as well as amusing.  As I grew up near Hannibal, MO, I have always been a big fan of Twain's so found the whole visit to be very interesting.  The home was located in what once was a very exclusive area....Nook Farm...where the Alcott's and others of the time had homes.  Now it is kind of surrounded by a not so nice neighborhood....but the grounds immediately around the homes are still well kept.

                     A Statue of Mark Twain made of Legos!

Located in the museum is this statue of Twain made entirely of legos!  It is life size...my grand son would love to see that...and try to duplicate it......being the "lego" King of Texas!  Both the museum and home were very worth the trip, to me...and Dick is a fan of Twain also so he liked it too.

The next stop .......... the coast of Maine and Acadia National Park!

There is no place like home!

"Mid Pleasures and Palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble, there is no place like home!" John Howard Payne
                                                                                                                                  

We just returned from a long trip...first went to Arrowmont Arts and Crafts School at Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  This is our fourth time to take classes there.  My class this year was with Martine House who is a wonderful, talented lady in the field of fabric manipulation, use of different kinds of fabrics to create texture, hand stitching and beading techniques...and so much more.  This is just a very loose beginning of my work in various  parts started there.   I hope to get back to work on it quickly so I can remember the different things she taught us!!!!

After spending a really great week at Arrowmont, we left there on an extended trip to the far Northeast...all the way to Prince Edward Islands via many other interesting sites!

Finally a cool day in Texas!

"I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work!" Thomas Edison

Yesterday....105!  Today...79!  And Monday when we were in Granbury, our car temperature showed 113!  I don't think I hae ever seen a themometer read that high!

I just watched a short video that one of my quilter friends had put out on Facebook...It was an interview by Susan Shie at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England.  Susan's website is http://www.turtlemoon.com/ and her blog is http://www.susanshie.blogspot.com/ .  I didn't see the interview on either yet but I bet it will show up soon.  I am interested in her technique more than I am in her final product...although it is very interesting, it is just a little way out for me.  But she is a marvelously creative spirit!!  I would love to take her workshop sometime.

I just finished reading "A Reliable Wife"...it is touted as a Gothic novel and, although it is set up similar to that genre, it is more contemporarily written.  It takes place in winter, Wisconsin, 1907...a gentleman puts an ad in the Chicago paper for a reliable wife and as it is described..."she is anything but reliable"!  It is written by Robert Goolrick, author of "The End of the World As We Know It".  This is his first fiction novel and is a very intriguing read.

I am now starting "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver...a book sent to me by one of my "blogger buddies" after I had mentioned I had not read it.  I think it will travel well with me as we head out.

Going International!!!

         "Knowledge speaks, but Wisdon listens!"  Jimi Hendrix

In addition to our daily crossword puzzles, the Tuesday newspaper has an additional quiz.  Today's "test" was to finish "famous Quotes".  Although we weren't real successful, I really liked some of the quotes so am going to add them to my "quote of the blog" list.  The above....Jimi Hendrix...who knew he could be so deep???

I just finished reading "Moonlight in Odessa" by Janet Skeslien Charles....and we are not talking Odessa, Texas!  This is her first novel and I am looking forward to more from her.  It was really good...one of those "okay, what next!!"  kind of books...not a mystery, just human interest story but gave  a really good aspect of life in post communist Russia/Ukraine.  The author had lived there for two years and her writing certainly reads authentic!  A warning...guys, no automatic  weapons/ bombings/ violence...so you might not care for it as much as we gals!

The book I just finished right before this one was "The Children's Book" by A.S. Byatt.  She is a new author to me and I would read her again...not a  first novel.  This book takes place in England at the end of the 19th century into the 20th, around the time of the first World War.  Very good also... descriptive of the time period...historical fiction...and full of quirky characters...but as with many British authors, a little to wordy at times...sometimes TMI!!!  I am a pretty good scanner though so can move a story right along!

My last International thought is the Netflix we watched the other night..."Invictus".  A movie about South Africa and Nelson Mandela when he first became president...how he got the country to get excited together over their National Rugby team...I highly recommend it!  I still do not understand rugby...seems a little odd to me.   I may have to check out the procedures on the 'net sometime!

Trinity Valley Guild Meeting Friday..am going to show my "Chinese Coin" quilt.  No meeting in September as our quilt show is at that time.

Happy Birthdays!

"Growing old is compulsory - growing up is optional." Bob Monkhouse

At the pool at Andrea's

Getting ready to use that new grill!!

Happy Birthday, DAD!!

And Happy Birthday, Graham!

We had a great day with everyone today...celebrating birthdays..cooking out...much laughter..a little swimming for the family fish...seeing all Andrea's new stuff...furniture, grill, etc.  Family fun is hard to beat!!!

What a good looking bunch!!!

HOT IN TEXAS!!

I did forget to mention that it is hot!!! The weather report is on tv right now and they said this is the 19th day of over 100 degrees!   Our outdoor thermometer shows 106.9 right now at 6:25 PM.  Gotta' love Texas!!!

I am posting this to remind myself that it CAN be a whole lot cooler!

Finally finished!!

"The cardiologist's diet: If it tastes good, spit it out!" Anonymous

I can finally report I have some finished products!!!  Below are the small quilts I have finished for our guild show's Silent Auction.  We have a scholarship fund for college students we choose from several applications to help with their college expenses.  (See our website http://www.tvqg.org/ if interested in finding out more about it.)  The money we make at our Silent Auction goes towards our scholarship money...the more we make, the more we can give. 

The top Quilt was pieced by my daughter and quilted by me..24" X 24"; the bottom quilt...12" x 12" was  a leftover block from a previous quilt to which I added some more borders.

The top quilt is a block I was experimenting with to see if I wanted to make a larger quilt.  And the bottom one is from the Paula Nadelstern class I took a few weeks ago...some of the left over small blocks I had made...both are about 14" X 14".

And I finally have finished my Challenge Quilt...each year, the guild has a member's only challenge with a different topic...I think I have given the criteria in a previous blog.  My quilt turned out to be  21" x 42"; I have titled it "Chinese Coins: 170 X 2"...the title comes from the traditional block (my interpretation) Chinese Coins, and the fact that I have used 170 fabrics/six columns/ split in half which gives me 12 columns...thus the "x  2"!  And I added some fake Chinese coins and a little Asian script (which I have no idea what it means!) for some embellishments....also hand quilted with perle cotton thread.

Chinese Coins: 170 x 2

Two close ups of my embellishments.

I meant to make it kind of "crude"...not straight lines etc. so I am hoping that will not be taken as errors!!  But, oh well, I am happy with it!

Other distractions from my quilting...(not really complaining!!!)...Monday I met with about 15 of my ex-fellow teachers from when I taught....some still teaching; most retired as I am...We had a great time and are going to make it an annual event!  Second Monday in August.  Then Wednesday, we met with our poker pals...fun time as always...we again weren't big winners, but we made a "not quite such a loss" comeback before we called it a night!  I am sure if we played for several more hours we would have come out way ahead!!!  NOT!!

Another busy week!!

"The old begin to complain of the conduct of the young when they themselves are no longer able to set a bad example."  Francois de la Rochefoucauld

I think Francois is right!  But then, some people have always been old all their lives!

I had no idea retirement could be so much fun!  It is hard to believe I have been "unemployed" for eight years, now...and never busier!!  But MY choice of what to do!  I highly recommend it!

Monday my "studio Q" group met...we had a fun lunch...Stone Salad!  Our hostess came up with the idea from an old Russian folktale "Stone Soup" about a peasant lady who made a delicious soup from water and a stone..improved upon by all the neighbors contributions of veggies, meat, etc.  We all brought anything to make a salad with greens (lettuce/spinach) as the base.  Without discussing it, we had a very good assortment of things to add...tomatoes, croutons, hard boiled eggs, cheese, nuts, etc.   After we had our "show and tell", we discussed our new goals/challenges for the coming few months.

The start of a quilt by Bethany

A quilt by Nancy using her own hand-dyed fabrics

A cute Halloween quilt by Sue...very cool quilting!

Then on Tuesday, we went to Fossil Rim with the grands and their parents. 

 

Fossil Rim is  wild life preserve near Glen Rose, Texas.. http://www.fossilrim.org/ .  We had not been there before and it had been several years since the kids had.

An addax

A wildebeest                    

A herd of Oudads

There are a lot of really interesting animals there and visitors can feed them (with their food) right from the car.  After our tour around the park, we had a picnic at the Glen Rose park at the Paluxy River.