WESTWARD HO

Over Easter I spent a week in Mesa, AZ visiting my gal pal Nancy and sister, Linda.  I had a great time. I enjoy visiting this area and love the mountains, but sure was glad to be back in Georgia where it is GREEN! 


Nate and me

 A highlight of the trip was meeting my second cousin, Nathan, son of my cousin, Scott. The last time I saw Nate he was six weeks old. Now he has hair, teeth and is no longer in diapers (joking here) and is all grown up into a very nice and handsome young man. He is attending the University of Arizona on a full scholarship and going into enginering.  Linda and I had dinner with Nathan and his mom, Kaye and had a great time. It was so good to make this connection and next time I am in Arizona I hope we can get together again.



Sister Linda, me, Nate and Kaye, Nate's mom

 Nancy and I went to the Desert Botanical Gardens.  I took a ton of pictures, a few of which are shown below.  It was spring time in the desert and so many plants were in bloom.  It was a lovely day there.
Nancy and I always have fun together and this trip was no exception.  We ate laughed a lot, shopped a little, shared secrets and ate great food (YUM to the Thai and East Indian place, and Agritopia).  The best part is that Nancy is purchasing her very first house in Gilbert, AZ!  I got to tour the house three times and it is just charming.  She closes in a few weeks and I hope to return soon so I can see it all decorated and really made into "Nancy's home."

Alice rocks!

I also stopped at Coopertown - Alice Cooper's bar/restaurant so I could pick up a birthday present and tee shirt for my nephew, Paul.  That was fun.

This was the first time in almost a year I ventured more than 100 miles from my new home here in Georgia.  It felt good!  I'll be back soon, Nancy!



Feeding a squirrel noodle salad!



The three Chichuly glass sculptures at the entrance to the gardens. Fabulous!
If you EVER get a change to see his art, GO!  I have seen his art in various locations
in the United States and it is always wonderful



Home Again

Here is what I have to say about my vacation:

Wonderful. Fabulous. Relaxing. Fun.

I traveled to Mesa, AZ to visit my dear friend, Nancy. Nancy followed her dreams and moved to Mesa, AZ in April after a long and happy career as a teacher with the Milwaukee Public School system. She told me she misses teaching every single day. I think she does. She is a master teacher. She lives in a charming 2-bedroom apartment that includes a beautiful club house and pool.

Nancy was a great host. She loves to entertain and her passion is cooking. Thanksgiving dinner was awesome! She also likes to explore new places and restaurants. Ahhh - a woman after my own heart! I ate well on this vacation! (Marcie - we never made it to Tia Rosa, but will on my next trip).


Highlights include the a great lunch at the Olive Mill in Queen's Creek, meeting up with Pam (another teacher we knew when we all worked together at Eighth Street Middle School where I was the secretary) and her husband, daughter and grandson to watch the Packers on Sunday. A trip to Urgent Care to get meds so I could survive Nancy's cat, Lucy. Only my eyes are happy to be back in Wisconsin! Drives to ruins and up to the mountains. Singing to Peter, Paul and Mary at the top of our lungs. Watching TV in our jammies. Going to the date and nut store where Nancy negotiated a great deal on a bench for her porch (where I had a yummy date milk shake) and visiting on quilt store (had to do that).

Nancy & her great deal of a bench!

We also saw two musicals. The 25th Annual Putham County Spelling Bee was just a hoot. It was funny and included four people from the audience participating in the "bee." One had to spell Kinnickinnic. Well, being good Milwaukee girls we laughed so hard as we were probably the only people other than the actors who knew how to spell Kinnickinnic within 1,000 miles(Kinnickinnic Parkway, Kinnickinnic River, Kinnickinnic Avenue - you get the picture!). The other musical was Meet Me in St. Louis at a dinner theater. It was fun, too, and we all enjoyed it. I love the songs, but somehow the Judy Garland movie will always be the best.


I spent time with my sister, Linda. She moved to Mesa in October and lives in a very nice trailer park 10 minutes away from Nancy. She still is unpacking a little, but I can see where she will love living there. Her trailer is very nice and the park has a great community room with a nice large pool and hot tub. She is already involved in many activities.

More on this wonderful trip later. Today in Milwaukee it is overcast, in the low 50s and very, very damp. Where's the sun?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I am here in Mesa, AZ - staying with my good friend, Nancy. It's been a great vacation. Well - except the trip to the Urgent Care Clinic on Sunday, due to my allergic reaction to her kitty! The weather is just beautiful and we have been all over the area. I have also seen my sister, Linda, and we will all spend today together. (More on this trip when I get home).

Last night Nancy and I watched Slum Dog Millionaire together. It is a great movie and I highly recommend it. At one point - watching the poverty of India - I looked over at Nancy and said, "Thank God we were born in the United States!"

I have so very many things to be grateful for and I will spare you the list as it is long! But today my thoughts will drift to all of the wonderful things in my life - past, present and future - and I will be filled with awe and gratitude.

I am a very blessed woman.

October Accomplishments

Well, I quilted my little heart out in October.

I added my "to do" list to the side bar of this blog. It was really fun to "check" things off as I completed them. I can't believe I got so much done considering one weekend I didn't quilt at all and I have a home to maintain. I did a lot of yard work, too.

I wish you could see the metallic thread I used on the stems of the fern.

Underground Railroad blocks 6 & 7.

Carpenter's Wheel on the left. Bear Claw on the right.

I'm posting of a couple of wall hangings I finishing binding in October - Jars Aplenty and the small fern piece. My witch wall hanging is shown in a previous post. I also finished my two Underground Railroad blocks, and am I am on a roll with making more this week.

This month I am gone for a week to Arizona to visit a good gal pal and my sister. Both recently moved out there and, unbeknown to each other, moved within a few miles of each other! Small world. So this trip will "kill to birds with on stone" so to speak. I will be staying with Nancy and she invited my sister Linda over for Thanksgiving dinner. This way we will both be with family. I think my sister is feeling the effects of moving so far way from her son, daughter-in-law and grand kids. Even though we are not that close, it will be good for her to be with people she knows and feels comfortable with.

I am so ready for this trip to Mesa. However, my quilting accomplishments will suffer. Oh, well. . . .

On the bright side, Nancy has already located quilt shops in the area!

Weekend at Sally's Part II

Friday and Saturday we never left Sally's property (all 12 acres). I did venture out mid-day to walk down to her mail box and walk all around her property on Friday. We were too busy quilting.

We finished up the little lady. I think she is perfect. I found backing for her in Sally's stash.

We cut and pieced the Jars Aplenty. We were both tickled with the results! The napkin is from Sally's stash. Also in Sally's stash there is fabric for all of the major holidays. We decided next time we would do a Jars Aplenty in holiday fabric - each jar a different holiday fabric. We would call it "Holidays in a Jar!"

Sally, who is a newbie quilter, started her tea cup place mat on Saturday. There were a couple of errors on the pattern and not enough fabric was included in the kits. However, Sally's friend, Jean, brought Sally a ton of quilting supplies, including 3 (yes, 3) bins of scraps, some quite large. I guess Jean quilted a few items and decided it wasn't for her. Lucky for Sally, though! We used my machine to piece all of the projects we made. Isn't the pocket for the tea bag cute?

Sally did a great job on this project. I love, love, the colors. By the time I left early Sunday morning, she had a lot of it hand quilted. I would love to have one hanging in my kitchen. (That, dear Sally, is a direct hint!)

Saturday I was a little under the weather due to a medication error. So, I napped, read, made pasta and a Waldorf salad - just hung out. Sally made wonderful fish. Yum. We ate well over the weekend!

It was fun to teach Sally the little I know of quilting. At one point she said, "Isn't this wonderful? We are so comfortable around each other that conversation isn't necessary. We work well together." Ahhh, Sally - that's why I love you! Friends like Sal are far and few between!

Sally has been bitten by the quilting bug! Her cup of tea (pun intended) is hand stitching and she does a beautiful job. This is her very first project, a pillow all hand done. No pattern, either. I'm impressed.

I left early Sunday morning. Stopped in Indiana long enough to go to the bathroom and hit the Skyway and straight through Chicago no problem. Stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Kenosha for an early lunch as by then I was very hungry.

What a great weekend!

Weekend at Sally's Part I

I drove to my dear friend, Sally's home in Watervliet, MI Wednesday afternoon for the long holiday weekend. I hit a lot of traffic from Dempsey through Jackson in Chicago. Caught the Skyway and breezed through the rest of the trip. Got to Sally's in time to celebrate her birthday with Amy and Jerry. We had a yummy dinner in Coloma and returned to Sally's where shortly afterwards Amy and Jerry went their separate ways back to Illinois. I'm glad I made it in time for dinner as it is always fun to see Amy and Jerry.



Thursday we hit the road. Stopped at an antique store in Watervliet and several stores in Benton Harbor. One was a great dollar store and the other a health food store. I wanted Sally to candle my ears that night. However, before these stores we found 2 quilt stores.


Carol's Cozy Cottage is outside of Benton Harbor, really in the country. It is even down a dirt road. It is very cute on the outside. However, it is small and she doesn't have a large selection of fabric at all. Maybe 30-50 bolts? She seems to cater to her church group or other church groups. But, it was nice and Carol is very friendly. I bought something to hand stitch while at Sally's and Sally bought a cute tea place mat kit. More on this in my next post.







Next we found Loving Stitches in Stevensville (?), MI. And, we found Holly - the awesome owner. Not only is it a quilt store, but Holly has a perfectly charming English cottage garden that people are free to explore and enjoy. Sally and I were amazed at the wandering paths and all of the different flowers.

Holly in front of her shop





When Sally and I walked into Holly's store there was a very young girl there, maybe 14 or 15, who Holly said was her daughter, Heather. I was surprised as Holly has over a dozen kits she made up for sale and all have been sewn and most were machine quilted by Heather. Also, on several of these quilts there was some with beautiful applique work, also done by either Holly or Heather. Sally and I oohed and ahhed over these samples. Holly has a very nice variety of fabrics, too.
Sally and me in Holly's garden



We got to talking with Holly (who is a lovely person) and in the course of conversation she showed us pictures of Heather quilting at age 5. In the photo album was a picture of a young woman on her wedding day. Turns out the young woman is Heather! Holly, with a twinkle in her eye, asked us how old we thought she was . I said 35-37 and Sally quickly agreed. I looked a little closer at her and thought to myself, "Well, maybe 42 at the most." Ha! Holly is 62! Yes, SIXTY-TWO. Sal and I were flabbergasted. Truthfully, this woman doesn't look older than 42 max. She has beautiful long blonde hair - all natural. And, Heather? Not a young teenager, but 25 years old and married!



Of course Sal and I asked Holly her secret to looking to young and beautiful. Holly said she never smoked, never drinks anything but milk, water, and fruit juices, eats healthy, loves to be outside, loves to golf and she keeps herself busy. She also has a great outlook on life, which is very evident.



Sally and I asked her about guilds and classes for Sally and Holly told us about a quilting guild and a group that meets at a nearby library.





When we got home Sally made us a wonderful dinner (she is just a great cook). We worked on my little lady project and later cut out all of the pieces for Sally's tea place mat.



It was a great day.

Plaque in Holly's garden

More on Friendship

This past week I had the pleasure of spending time in Atlanta with my gal pal, Anne-Marie, who flew over from her home in Ireland.

We stayed with my sister & brother-in-law, Sue and Marty, who were wonderful hosts to both of us (well, I'm there A LOT as it is). Anne-Marie thoroughly enjoyed Sue and Marty as well as their great home.

Anne-Marie and I don't see each other a lot due to living on different continents, but when we do see each other it is like the years and miles fall away. We truly enjoy each other's company and travel well together. She is friendly and easy going and up to try anything.

Highlights included Callaway Gardens, Anna Ruby Falls, hiking the Appalachian Trail for about 4/10 of a mile - just long enough so that she can honestly say she was on it (after explaining to her what it is all about), and hiking up Brasstown Bald Mountain.

Philip flew down on Thursday and treated all of us to a great time (despite the cold and rain) at a Braves game. Marty caught a fly ball and presented it Anne-Marie and Phil arranged for her to receive a "goodies" package which included a Braves hat. Phil drove us drove down to Reynolds Plantation so Anne-Marie could see where we plan to purchase a home and live. I am so pleased that the 2 of them finally had a chance to get to know each other.

It was a busy week. Anne-Marie loves to shop so there was a lot of stores (ahhh, those Brighton bags!). And, there were wonderful chats over the tea pot.

Now she's back home and so am I. I feel a little empty. I miss her company and her laughter. We parted with no immediate plans to see each other, although we discussed the possibility of meeting in Rome or someplace in Spain within the next year or so. Maybe I'll go back to Ireland for a 4th time and we'll tour Northern Ireland or southeastern Ireland - places I haven't been yet. Maybe Phil will come along and golf while we talk and shop.

What I do know is I'm blessed with the friendship of this kind and generous woman. I know our friendship will last until neither of us are able to pick up the phone and call or text each other! And, I also know that the next time we are together it will time time filled with chatter and love.

The Locket

While traveling in Scotland, Anne and I stopped at an antique store in a little village. It was here that I purchased a Victorian locket. Although I know nothing about its previous owner, the locket called to me since I first saw it.

I have always enjoyed antiques and have collected them since I was a teenager. Many of my antiques have family history behind them. I have a spinning wheel that has been passed down on my grandma's side of the family for generations, a clock that was in my uncle's family, dishes from my grandmother, quilts made by my mother and her mother. Recently my aunt sent me two antiques plates - one hand painted and signed and dated. It turns out it was painted the same year my home was built. I love it! My 1930s kitchen set was refinished by my mom.

I remember my first antique purchase. My mom and I went to the home of my grandmother's "egg man" - a farmer who sold her fresh eggs on a weekly basis. He was selling his farm and invited us over to purchase any items we liked. I bought a rocking chair that now sits in my guest bedroom. I was 14 and I paid $10 for it.

I treasure these items. They are like old friends to me. I am a sentimental person and I like the history that surrounds them, even if I don't know all of it. I often wonder why people let antiques be sold out of families. I have a difficult time understanding how family history could be sold.

However, now my house is filled to the brim. So, I have started looking at antique jewelry. I have some antique jewelry that has been passed on to me. I have my grandma's wedding band, my mother's engagement ring. I have a few great pieces of my grandma's old costume jewelry. My mom had a beautiful locket with my dad's picture in it. My sister now has it and I have seen her wear it with pride. And, I have a very small little locket that was my mom's. However, she never put pictures in it, probably due to its size.

When I first saw this locket in Scotland I asked the price. Quickly converting English pounds to dollars, I didn't think I could afford it. Anne and I walked out of the store and wandered around the village a bit and sat by the sea. Finally I said I wanted to go back to the store and look at the locket again. While examining it I asked again what the price was. The lady quoted me a price of 20 pounds less then she originally stated. I felt it was an omen (although obviously a mistake on her part). I bought the locket.

The locket is heart shaped. The area when the chain would go is shaped like a ribbon tied into a bow. Both the front and back are finely etched with vines and flowers. In the middle of the front are the initials "EL." Inside are two pictures. From what I can tell the pictures were probably taken in the 1930s or 1940s. The are both of men, one in a military uniform. I have determined (with the help of several other people) that they are not the same man, but quite possibly related, maybe brothers.

Who was "EL"? Who are the men? Was EL their mother, their sister, aunt? Where they her brothers, her lovers, father or uncles? How did this locket end up in an antique store in a little village in Scotland? Was EL Scottish? Was she German and the locket spoils of WWII? When did she live and die? When did the men live and die?

While driving, Anne and I decided to give her a name. Anne suggested Ellen, which I immediately agreed to (I have a cousin named Ellen). We tossed around a few last names beginning with L. I looked up to see a sign post pointing towards the village of Logie. Hence, Ellen Logie was born. But, still, so many questions remain that will never be answered.

I think of the jewelry I have. The first year we were together, Gotti gave me a beautiful dragonfly necklace for my birthday. I was speechless when I saw it, it is so lovely. I commented that it was the most beautiful dragonfly I had ever seen. He looked at me and said, "Honey, that's a butterfly, not a dragonfly!" I looked at it again. Most definately a dragonfly! I pointed out the differences to him. We laughed about it and still do. And, every single time I wear the necklace I smile at the thought of "Gotti's butterfly." And I wear it with the love with which it was given to me.

Yet, in 50 or 60 years will this dragonfly treasure of mine end up in an antique store? Will some woman ponder over it? Will she wonder where it came from? Gotti, upon hearing these questions, sweetly suggested that it would be passed on to our grandchildren. I hope so. I also hope the tender story that is part of it, is also passed along.

In the meantime, I intend to take good care of EL's locket. I plan to find the appropriate antique chain for it. I will wear it in her honor and also for the men whose pictures are kept tucked away inside. And as I do with all of my "old" things, I will preserve it and keep it safe.

Scotland

I recently returned from a trip to both Ireland and Scotland. I went to Ireland to meet up with my gal pal, Anne. I spent 3 days at her home in County Clare and then the 2 of us flew into Edinburgh for over a week of touring the country side of Scotland. I had a fabulous time!

I love Anne's house. She remodeled in 2004, adding a lot of space to her 80+ year old house. It has the traditional deep windows and peet fire place of the cottage it once was. She has a great kitchen and I love sitting there, sipping tea and talking.

Highlights of my time in Ireland include meeting Anne's beau, Michael (great guy), visiting with her mom and sister, Helen. A short visit to Ned, now in his late 80s, and dinner with Anne's daughter, Melissa. I also helped Anne and Michael move a small herd of her cattle from one field to another, down about a mile of roads. Thanks, Michael, for putting me BEHIND the cattle! I also enjoyed a 3-mile walk where I had my own epiphany about life and love.

I really didn't know what to expect in Scotland. We had no real set plan until we got there and sat in the rented car and said, "Now what?"

The first night we made it to right outside St. Andrews. For most of the trip we stayed in B&Bs, always trying to get one of the outskirts of a little town or village so that we could walk to a pub or restaurant for dinner. This really worked out well, although we should have stopped earlier a couple of times as it was difficult to find a good B&B as it got later in the day.

Truthfully, Scotland wasn't high on my list of places to visit, but I have completely changed my mind. It is a beautiful country with much diversity in its landscape. The roads are very easy to follow (if you can figure out the roundabouts!) and the sign posts are very frequent. Plus, the people are awesome.

We drove up the coastal highway towards Inverness. This isn't a "highway" by American standards. It is a well-marked, 2 lane road. We made several stops along the way. At one point we got off the highway and took a small road through 2 villages until we reached the sea. Both villages were charming. We walked along the road by the sea and watched a woman riding her horse on the beach. At the next village we went into a lovely antique store where I purchased an antique locket. More about the locket in another post. It was a delightful way to spend some time and a beautiful day - the sea was lovely.

Also, while on this road we had to stop as a farmer was moving his cows from the field to the barn. He had a working sheep dog helping him - in fact doing all of the work. I got a real kick out of this and stood outside the car so I could watch the dog at work. That dog was having a great time.

Every day we stopped for tea and, of course, a little something to go with it! Near the end of our trip I did find a place that made plain old coffee. Yipee! It is easy to find latte's and the like, but not basic coffee.

One of the most beautiful sights was the green fields against the setting of another crop that was in full bloom. The blooms were a bright yellow - just beautiful. I can't remember the name of the crop, but they use it to make oil that they use for cooking. The yellow against the green was something I will always remember.

We stayed in Inverness one night and then drove up a little further north to visit a castle. However, we got there just as it closed and back tracked, staying again near Inverness. We spend the next day shopping and looking around Inverness before heading down through the middle of the country.

We spent a couple of days traveling down the "loch highway." Now, I had heard of Loch Ness and the Loch Ness monster. I didn't realized (not really studying Scotland before I went) that the lochs run down basically the center of the country and are surrounded by mountains. Some of the mountains were high enough to have snow on the tops and a tree line. This made for more beautiful sightseeing.

We drove to the other side of Scotland to the port town of Oban. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain. After a nice lunch and a couple of quick stops, we drove on towards Stirling. Anne had agreed to tour the castle there with me. Let me point out that Anne really doesn't enjoy touring castles or old houses/buildings, which is something I just love.

We weren't able to find a B&B in Stirling so we drove north to another little village where we stayed in a lovely old house. Again, we walked into town for our evening meal. There we met a man who is married to an American. He was also thrilled and actually knew where Milwaukee was because he owns a Harley! He and his wife moved back to his hometown and opened a coffee shop. So, of course, the next morning we stopped in for a latte.

We returned to Stirling and toured the castle. By this time I had come down with a terrible cold, so even though I enjoyed myself, I was pretty miserable the whole day. When we were done we drove into Edinbourgh.

More to come . . . .

Travels and Pen Pals and Friendships

I'm starting to gear up for a two week trip to Ireland and Scotland.

This will be my 3rd visit to Ireland. My good friend, Anne-Marie, lives in a rural area outside the little town of Corofin, County Clare. I am fortunate enough to be able to stay with her, travel the country and more importantly, I am blessed to have her as a friend.

Sometime around 1991 I was at work and filling in for someone over the lunch hour. Without much to do, I grabbed an Irish/American newspaper sitting on the desk. Inside was a small ad for Irish and American pen pals. I had always dreamed of going to Ireland so I thought, what the heck? I wrote a note expressing my interest. About 6 weeks later I received a short application form, which I promptly filled out, mailed and forgot about. A couple of months later a letter from Anne-Marie arrived and a wonderful friendship began.

In 1998, newly divorced and before becoming a homeowner, I decided the time was right for me to travel to Ireland and meet this woman I had been writing to for 7 years. Now, I had never traveled overseas before and I had no idea what to expect. I had no clue has to how Anne-Marie lived, where exactly she lived or what she was really like. Although I felt very confident from our many letters that we were meant to be great friends, this was certainly the biggest adventure of my life to date. And, a huge leap of faith.

I love being able to say this and it is the truth - from the moment I spotted Anne and her daughter, Melissa, at the airport we started laughing and laughed for the duration of my 2-week visit. Only when I was leaving did tears begin to flow. I had a wonderful time. We agreed that when Melissa graduated from high school they would come to the States and the year after that Anne-Marie and I would tour Scotland.

In 2001 Anne-Marie invited me to join her on an all-Irish Caribbean cruise. Sail around the Caribbean in February on a ship full of great Irish people and entertainment - I jumped at the opportunaty. Boy, did we have fun! (the picture in this post was taken during that cruise - please note - the glasses were empty and the guy went around posing for cash!) In 2004, I returned to Ireland with my friend, Susan. Once again, we had a great time. Finally, in 2006, Anne-Marie and Melissa (now an all grown up young woman of 18) came to Milwaukee for 10 days. And now, Anne-Marie and I will have our Scotland trip that was tentatively planned 9 years ago.

Whoosh! Has it been 9 years already?

I'm looking forward to spending a few days with Anne at her home before flying to Scotland. I have grown to love Melissa and Ned (her elderly house guest of 20+ years). It will be great to see her Mom, sister and extended family. I am so fond of all of them. And, I get to meet Anne's "fellow", Mike, who I heard all about last summer.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to traveling the moors of Scotland with a dear friend. I know we will laugh, talk, share stories and have a wonderful time.

What started as a shot in the dark to find a pen pal in Ireland has turned into a remarkable friendship. Who would have thought that two women from different life styles and different countries would have ever become such dear friends?

This weekend I will haul up my suitcase and start to pack. I have a while before I go, but I always pack and unpack several times and trying to narrow down my shoes to only 3 pair is always challenging! As I pack I will smile with delight of the adventures Anne-Marie and I will enjoy together.

Last summer when Anne-Marie was here, we joked that we would continue to meet and travel, but in different countries. We've talked of Paris , of Spain, of Greece, of Atlanta and all parts in between. Where should we go next?

In the long run, it really doesn't matter. We can sit in a pub in Galway, a restaurant in Chicago, my porch in Milwaukee, her kitchen in County Clare or a cafe in Paris. The important thing is our friendship. No amount of miles or locations will ever change that.