Marsha's Meanderings

Serger Success!

2011-03-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

There's a new baby at our house - a Baby Lock Imagine serger - and I am having a blast getting to know her. I bought a used serger years ago but could never figure out how to thread the blessed thing. After several years of moving it only to dust, I finally sold it. About a year ago, I had the urge to try again. I've been doing more garment sewing for the kidlets plus I've tackled a few things for myself with some success.

So, I researched and then visited sewing stores to try them out. Not surprisingly, I leaned towards the more expensive Baby Locks with their jet air threading ease. I managed to locate exactly what I wanted through the yahoo site, SewItsForSale, and made my purchase a few weeks ago. Probably paid a bit more than I should have, but you can't take it with you, right?

Serger project completed - yippee!

Here is a picture of my first completed project. I used Butterick 5948 and made view E. I made no alterations at all. In the garment sewing world, I guess you would call this my muslin. If I make this pattern again (and I will), I think I'll lengthen it a bit to hide more of my hips. Lordy, lordy ....

The fabric is from the stash I inherited from my mother-in-law so cost basis is zero. I learned a lot and even wore the top out into the world today with DH. That's always a good test - are you willing to actually be seen in the garment that you made?

This was a good choice for a beginning serger project, in my opinion. Simple design and construction, but I had to think about how to put it together using a serger. Construction is not quite the same as using a regular sewing machine. This was a combo project - I did the neck facing with my Bernina and topstitched the hems on both the sleeves and bottom of the garment on the Bernina as well. (My serger does not have a coverstitch. A stand-alone coverstitch is next on my list but don't tell DH!)

I had lots of good advice about the order of construction from another favorite yahoo group, the Creative Machine Newsletter. Those wonderful ladies gave me detailed instructions so I didn't mess up!

I love, love, love the way the inside of the garment is finished. Just makes the whole project more professional even if done by a fair-to-middling sewist with hand-me-down fabric!

By the way, if you are not familiar with yahoo groups, check them out. There is a wealth of information out there. Fair warning - the SewItsForSale group can get expensive!

Well, it's been a long, been a long, been a long time ....

2011-03-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

.... since I blogged. No excuses here. (I hate those bloggers who tell you all their reasons for not blogging - I just had other things on my mind.)

Anyway, Happy St. Patrick's Day! DH absolutely loves corned beef, so there is no reason at all that I only make it once per year. Well, maybe one reason - the kids hated it! They would tease me unmercifully in hopes that I would forego the annual ritual. No way. I was raised by a mom who celebrated every holiday imaginable regardless of ethnicity. (We were probably the only pseudo-Protestant family who ate fish every Friday, pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and latkes during Hannukah. Mom's goal was to celebrate every day.)

Over the years, I've gone from the traditional stove-top corned beef, to the crockpot version, to the Dutch oven version, etc., etc., etc. Here is my tried and true, never fail, would even serve it to company version. It was a success again tonight with DH. Enjoy!

OVEN BRAISED CORNED BEEF BRISKET

4 pounds center cut corned beef brisket
1 lemon -- ends trimmed
1 onion -- peeled
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
6 whole cloves
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar

Trim and discard most of the surface fat from brisket. Rinse meat well under cool running water, rubbing gently to release its corning salt. Lay meat, fattiest side up, in a 2-inch deep, 11 by 15 inch roasting pan. Thinly slice lemon and onion and lay slices over meat. Sprinkle with peppercorns, allspice, and cloves. Set pan on middle rack in a 325 degree oven. Pour about 8 cups boiling water around brisket, seal the pan with foil, and bake until meat is very tender when pierced, about 4 hours. Uncover and drain off all but about 1 cup of the liquid. If desired, reserve the lemon and onion slices and rearrange them on top of the meat. In a small bowl, mix the mustard and brown sugar; spread evenly over meat, on top of the onion-lemon mixture. Broil about 8 inches from heat until the mustard mixture begins to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the brisket to a platter. Serve hot, warm, or cold; slice meat across the grain.

The only problem with this recipe in our house is that there aren't enough leftovers. DH had thirds ... oh, my.

Success followed by failure ... oh, my!

2011-01-18T12:24:00.000-08:00

As usual, I put too many projects on my plate to finish before Christmas. I saw a fun project on one of the blogs that I read and thought I could just whip up a couple prior to the holidays. Will I never learn?

Snowflake Pillow Cover

Wisely, I put all the makings of these pillows away -- and out of sight -- until the January calm returned. I finished three this week. So, can I say that I am ahead for Christmas 2011?

The tutorial can be found here. Noodleheads is one of the blogs that I read consistently. Anna comes up with some great, simple projects and wonderful tutorials.

The pillow covers, which are in the envelope style and designed for an 18" square pillow insert, are made of felt. I just bought the cheap felt by the yard when it was on sale at JoAnns. The only problem I had with the project was that you could see the red color through the white snowflake a bit more than I would have liked. For the second and third pillows, I fused a lightweight interfacing to the white felt before cutting out the snowflake. That helped a bit. If I make any more of these, I'll use a higher grade of felt or a different kind of fabric entirely. Also, it takes a bit of time to cut all those angles of the snowflake. I tried the Xacto knife as the tutorial instructs. I found that I had better luck with the Fiskars snips that I bought a few years ago for making rag quilts. The inner cuts, however, definitely required the Xacto knife. I used one of my favorite Bernina feet, the #10C, to sew around the snowflake 1/8" from the edges. I love that foot!

Alas, not all sewing projects go so smoothly. I made both of my granddaughters skirts for the holidays and had some leftover fabric. I found a cute little purse tutorial (you can find it here - scroll down to Lezette Thomason) and decided to make matching purses for each of the girls. I've had the #62 foot for several years and have never attempted to use it. Well, I do not love this foot! I watched the Bernina video, checked out my Feetures book, and even used Google to find a lesson that would help me. After 45 very frustrating minutes, I just gave up and did it the old-fashioned way turning a narrow hem and ironing it carefully before stitching. I think I need a personal demonstration about how to get the fabric into the slot of the foot!

Now that the frustrating part is over, I should be able to finish the purses today and post a picture tomorrow. It feels good to get back to sewing!

In the aftermath of Tucson

2011-01-12T19:11:00.000-08:00

Warning - political commentary ahead!

The most powerful weapon we have as American citizens, and the ONLY one that can effect change in our government:

As a responsible adult, I am ashamed of those on both sides of the aisle, and on both sides of the airways, for the state of our political "discussion." I am as tired of indignation and righteousness as I am of slime and fear-mongering. The art of political debate is dead. Compromise is now a 4-letter word. When I see a beacon of hope, they disappoint.

Henceforth, I will be searching for moderates, regardless of their political party, who are willing to discuss, debate, compromise and who value decency, kindness, and respect. Where are you? Please, please, please .... step up to the plate. We need you.

It's a comfort food kinda night ....

2011-01-11T19:25:00.000-08:00

I've been wrestling with what I want to say about the events in Tucson. I've gone from shock, to anger, to reflection, to political commentary, to sadness, and back to anger. I realize that I'm not yet ready to translate my thoughts and feelings into words. So tonight, I made "comfort" food for me and my DH. This is the simplest of recipes, a characteristic that most comfort foods enjoy. Tonight, I served it with bacon and steamed green beans. It was perfect!

MACARONI AND CHEESE

2 cups dry macaroni -- cooked and drained
3/4 stick butter
1 pound Velveeta
1 cup whole milk

Cook macaroni as directed. Drain and set aside. Melt butter in small pan. Add Velveeta and milk and cook until cheese is melted. Mix into cooked macaroni and serve immediately.

Of course, it was also a martini night.

How to tell the holidays are over ... Part 3

2011-01-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

The urge to cleanup, cleanout, and organize is as strong as the urge to push in the last minutes of labor! Well ....... almost!

How to tell the holidays are over ... Part 2

2011-01-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

You no longer sprint to the mailbox in hopes of receiving a holiday card from an old friend. You stroll to the mailbox knowing that it will only contain bills!

How to tell the holidays are over ...

2011-01-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

No one will eat the remaining Christmas cookies.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

I finally feel human again after fighting this bug for weeks. Managed to get everything done for Christmas, even a little extra project for my SIL. Tomorrow, we're off to Ventura County for the long holiday weekend. Thankfully, our wild Southern California weather has returned to normal after six extremely wet days. I can't remember ever having rain this intense for such a long period.

We'll have our traditional spaghetti dinner Christmas Eve at our daughter's house with most of the family. I imagine the two oldest grandchildren will be beside themselves with anticipation and excitement!

Christmas morning, we'll again be at DD's house to exchange gifts and enjoy Flo's Serbian Eggs. My favorite boss, Sylvia, shared this recipe with me years ago and it has become a family favorite. We usually serve it with sausage, croissants, and fresh fruit. For Christmas, there will also be mimosas!

FLO'S SERBIAN EGGS
6 eggs -- beaten
1 pound Jack cheese -- shredded
1 pound cottage cheese
1 cup Biscuit mix
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine -- melted
1 teaspoon dried onions
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix together. Pour into a buttered 9 x 13 pyrex dish. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
My sister is hosting Christmas dinner - roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans - yummy! There will, of course, be cookies everywhere we go!

Does it sound as though Christmas in our family is all about the food? Well, food plays a big role but it is really about being together and celebrating this most festive time of year.

My very best wishes to all of you for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

How to tell that you're really behind on Christmas tasks ....

2010-12-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

It's ten days before Christmas and you're still finishing up the fall placemats you hoped to use in November! (See great tutorial on easy placemats over at I'm Just A Guy Who Quilts. Yes, they are easy; but you still have to plan enough hours in the day to finish them!)
You have the full-blown flu including a low-grade temperature, aches and pains. Therefore, your mental and physical speed is about 15 mph instead of 95 mph.
The gifts are wrapped - whoo hoo! None of them, however, have bows or gift labels (unless you consider green post-it notes labels).
The most important thing on today's "to-do" list is to convince DH that we can skip the holiday letter this year.
Thoughts of making any last-minute homemade gifts flew out the window about 2 a.m. this morning when the latest coughing spell took over.
DD called to ask what cookies I would be making so we don't have duplicates. Cookies? I'm supposed to make cookies?
Today's weather is cloudy, damp, and gloomy - a perfect reflection of my holiday spirit.

I'll feel better tomorrow - promise. Please, Santa!

Thanksgiving Leftovers

2010-12-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

Someone brought the flu bug to Thanksgiving dinner! DH and I have been sick on and off since Turkey Day. Our son, Matt, also caught the bug as did all five members of our daughter's family. Now, several in the family have either had relapses or succumbed to another bug. Fortunately, everyone is muddling through and getting on with Christmas preparations.

Little Helper - Jackson

I had a blast the week before Thanksgiving looking for appropriate designs to put on aprons for the kidlets. The pictures aren't the greatest, but you can get an idea how they turned out. Unfortunately, only Talia was interested in donning her apron and actually helping in the kitchen!

Tasha still naps in the afternoon, so a full day of family and festivities without a nap just about did her in. So much fun, however, watching her explore the house and play with the toys that we keep here - all new to her! Jackson rushes into the house and immediately heads to the toy box and demands that we empty the entire box so he can dig right in. Tasha's apron says "More sprinkles, please!" Couldn't resist this design since our daughter loves to bake, and she often sends me phone pics of the kidlets mixing the dough at the kitchen counter.

More sprinkles, please!

Sugar & Spice - Talia

Thanksgiving is all about traditions, of course, and one of ours is that the kidlets go on a walk with Grandpa collecting colorful fall leaves to adorn the table. We started this tradition at Talia's first Thanksgiving. She was all of 9 months old! Miss T., the elder, is now closing in on 5 and has graduated to working with Grandma to decorate Oma's Thanksgiving table. Note how seriously she takes her decorating!

Miss T.., the elder, aka Martha Jr.

I'm just about ready to take the turkey carcass out of the freezer and make soup. Although it's unseasonably warm in Southern California today (supposed to hit 80 degrees), the weather will turn cool and rainy towards the end of the week. Soup weather .... here's a very good recipe for Turkey Rice Soup. Enjoy!

TURKEY SOUP WITH RICE

1 turkey carcass
2 stalks celery with leaves -- coarsely chopped
2 carrots -- coarsely chopped
1 onion -- peeled and quartered
1 bay leaf
8 cups water
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 cups chopped carrots
1 cup uncooked rice
2 cups chopped leftover turkey
1 cup frozen or leftover corn
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, combine carcass, celery, carrots, onion, bay leaf and water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 2 to 3 hours over medium low heat. Strain and discard vegetables and bones. Reserve turkey stock. In a large pot, melt butter and cook onions until tender. Stir in celery and thyme. Stir in carrots and rice and toss to coat. Stir in turkey stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until vegetables and rice are tender, approximately 30 minutes. Stir in turkey, corn, and parsley. Return to simmer and season to taste.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T15:21:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for:

my good health and the good health of my husband and family.
my wonderful children who still want to spend Thanksgiving Day with me inspite of my reluctance to leave the kitchen, sit down and actually visit with them.
my wonderful grandchildren who, hopefully, will force me out of the kitchen for a walk down to the park to play.
my country. Inspite of our problems, I would not want to live anywhere else. We have the freedom to change or not to change.
my home. I have a roof over my head, a warm bed to sleep in, a refrigerator full of food. Most of the world lacks one or more of these simple things.
my parents. Although they are long gone, they gave me the foundation on which to build a happy, successful life. They made me responsible, they educated me, they taught me right from wrong, and most importantly, they taught me the power of love.
my marriage. How many are still in love after 40+ years? I am one lucky gal.
my friends. What can I say? You are my joy when things go right, my salvation when things go wrong.
learning and exploring. Reading, travelling, trying new things out, being challenged -- this is what makes life so rich.

May you have a wonderful holiday with friends and family. Turn the computer off, stay away from the tv for a bit, get out of the kitchen, and just enjoy being with the people who are important in your life.

Back to the kitchen (where I belong?)

2010-11-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

Another Thanksgiving, another marathon cooking session. Thanksgiving is "my" family holiday by default. Most of our family members live in Ventura County, California, a little over two hours' driving time from our residence. However, my FIL, who is 90, lives just an hour from us. Thanksgiving is the only time during the year that he gets to see our children and grandchildren (his grandchildren and great-grandchildren) so I persist in being the go-to cook on Thanksgiving.

I do love to cook, but this is beyond a normal cooking session. Being a firstborn, and seriously anal, I have several plans committed to the computer. I have a recipe plan, then I have a weekly plan, then I have a daily plan, followed by an hourly plan for "THE DAY." YIKES! Why do I do this to myself? Answer: because I know no other way of doing things.

Following the day-to-day plan, yesterday I made the turkey spice rub, shredded the Swiss cheese for the corn bake that my son-in-law loves, and checked the silverware, china, and crystal for spots and other indelicacies. Today, I made the sweet potato casserole (no one will know that it is 2 days old by the time they are eating it), chopped up all those veggies that will eventually go into the dressing, corn casserole, and brined turkey. Then DH and I cleaned the rented tables, set them up in the dining room, ironed the rented tablecloths, and placed the carefully inspected china, crystal, and silverware on the table. Thanks be to the heavens above, my placecards that were made last week (according to plan) look fabulous with the candles that were bought several weeks ago on a whim.

Bright and early tomorrow morning, I will make the dressing (thank you, friend Merle), simmer the turkey stock, cook and mash the potatoes -- and hope that all this is done before FIL shows up! Once he is here, I will feel obliged to converse, discuss financial deals that don't really interest me at all, and play hostess all the while stressing internally about what is and is not ready for the big day. Please, oh pretty please, let him be late in arrival ....

Oops -- also on the agenda for tomorrow: get the serving dishes down from the incredibly high shelves in the kitchen, remind DH to sharpen the knives and watch videos on YouTube about carving turkeys, remove turkey from the plastic wrapper and find all that stuff that they hide inside the various cavities so I can use it to make stock, wash the turkey roaster -- oops - find the turkey roaster, then wash it, review cooking instructions from Butterball, set timer for Thursday so turkey goes in the oven in time for a 3 p.m. dinner so that DD and family can eat and be on the road to get back to Ventura County in time to put the kidlets to bed before their nervous systems are completely destroyed.

Best part of today? Telephone conversation with 3-year-old grandson who requested crackers and chips for Thanksgiving dinner!!

Reminder to self: Relax and have fun!

Hmmmmm ....

Be still my heart ...

2010-11-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

The title of this post might refer to Harrison Ford and his new movie, "Morning Glory." It might also refer to my DH of 40+ years. But what it actually refers to is ...

Raiders vs Steelers tomorrow at 10 a.m. PST!!!

I have high hopes, which if history repeats itself, will be dimmed by the end of the 2nd quarter. A girl can dream, can't she?

While others might dream tonight of winning the lottery, Brad Pitt suddenly appearing in their bedrooms, or the real estate market taking a sudden precipitous climb upwards, I will be dreaming of completed first downs, Hail Mary passes, limited penalties (please, please, please), and a return to the glory years.

Prediction: Raiders 24, Steelers 17.

Please, please, please .....

"Oma" and the terrible horrible no good very bad day

2010-11-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

Those of you of a certain age will understand the reference to the fabulous book by Judith Viorst. You probably should read it to your kids -- or your grandkids. Well, I had a day that could rival any of Alexander's. If you are among those who think that health care in this country is just hunkie-dorry, read no further. You will not like what I have to say.

Yesterday, I visited my new doctor for a blood pressure check. My health history is not important here. I am a pretty healthy 65-year-old who has a family history of high blood pressure. My high BP has been treated for about 20 years. My new doc decided he wanted to try a different med since my pressure (in his office) registered 167/84. Not good.

Doc said let's try the new med for 30 days and then see how it goes. Sounds good to me. Normally, my meds are ordered over the Internet for a 90-day supply. With by BP so high, I wanted to start on the new med as quickly as possible. So, off I went with a brand new prescription for Lotrel, a pretty common BP med, to a VERY mainstream discount pharmacy. Dropped off the prescription. Pharmacy called me two hours later to say that they could not get approval from my insurance company for the prescription. As best that I can reconstruct the circumstances, here is my take:

I was covered by this same insurance company under my retirement benefit until I was eligible for Medicare.
I was eligible for Medicare on 9/1/10.
I elected to stay with the same provider.
I have processed doctor benefits under my new plan.
I have received 90-day drug benefits under my new plan through their mail order pharmacy.
Through some kind of computer glitch, on-site pharmacy requests are being rejected.
My online profile shows that I am under two plans: my new Medicare plan and my old "retirement" benefit plan (which I am really not eligible for any more) --- THIS IS PROBABLY THE PROBLEM.

I called my "Field Representative" last night and explained the situation to her. She said she would work on it "tomorrow" (i.e., today) and said that I had the option to pay for the prescription and then put in a claim for reimbursement.

Trusting that my representative would help me out, I did nothing until 11 a.m. today. At that time, I contacted my "provider" by telephone and went through a 20-minute phone conversation the end result of which was confirmation that I was (1) fully enrolled and (2) entitled to receive pharmacy benefits and (3) this prescription should cost me $7.

I determined that perhaps the pharmacy was at fault. I drove to the pharmacy and took possession of the doctor's script and drove to another pharmacy that had never seen me before! Guess what? Same thing happened. They could not get the prescription approved through the computer system. After spending at least 15 minutes on the phone with my "provider", they came to a dead end. The pharmacy was told that they were inputting the correct information but still my prescription would not go through as approved. My "provider" suggested that the problem was with the pharmacy's software. Hmmmm .... two different pharmacies, two different software systems, and still the same problem? Doubt it...

I paid the $56.07 in order to start on the new medication.

I came home and placed another call to my field representative. At this point, she has not called me back.

So, I believe I am the victim of some kind of computer glitch. I know this will work out, but should I have to go through this? What if my condition were more severe? What if I were less able to deal with these frustrations? What if I didn't understand the Internet? What if I didn't know how to use online systems? What if I were 90 instead of 65?

I won't name names today --- but I will if this is not resolved.

You think my blood pressure was under control today? Not likely.

A day in Berninaland

2010-11-04T19:13:00.000-07:00

I've been promising a post about our Bernina factory tour, so here it is. Our prearranged visit was scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and last about 2 hours. DH and I travelled by train to Steckborn in the morning on a cold and dreary overcast day. The clouds cleared a bit, so we had an opportunity to see the town.

Florist in Steckborn, Switzerland

Steckborn is just a delightful little place situated on the shores of Lake Constance. We were hoping to have lunch somewhere in town, but we couldn't find a restaurant. We shopped at a grocery store and bought a couple of sandwiches to eat at a park adjacent to the lakefront. We were chilly but enjoyed the view. While walking through the park, we actually came across a group of teenagers swimming in the lake!

A personal welcome!

We arrived at the Bernina factory early, but everything was closed for lunch. When we returned about 1 p.m., imagine our surprise when the computer screen in the reception area welcomed us personally! We had a few minutes to enjoy the sewing machine museum before our English-speaking guide, Dieter, arrived to escort us into the factory.

Let me first say that the Bernina factory is unlike any factory I have ever seen -- clean, clean, clean with very little noise. The impression that has stayed with me since our tour is how "hands-on" the process is. Now I understand a bit more why these products are so expensive! The first employee we met was packing feet individually into those neat little plastic containers that we Bernina lovers all covet. She placed the plastic containers upside down into a customized holder that held about 8 packages. Then the red & white cardboard label went in, then the presser foot, then the folded multi-language instruction sheet, then she snapped the package shut and put the adhesive label on the back. Whew! That's a lot of time to pack each foot -- no conveyor belt here!

Checking #34 feet individually

Nearby, a lady was working with the #2 foot and attaching the little screw that goes in the back of the foot so you can attach guides, etc. Each done by hand then placed into a bucket. Bernina produces 1.3 million feet per year. Just think about all those feet getting such individual attention! Next, we met a man testing #34 feet to make sure they ride perfectly on the feed dogs. Lastly in this area, we watched as BSRs were attached to a special sewing computer/screen/hoop arrangement that allowed the employee to test each foot for accuracy and calibration. If the foot passes its test, she places it in its special metal box and piles them up higher and higher --- at least 40 boxes of BSRs! Hmmmm ... what is 40 times $600 anyway????

There is automation in the factory, but it is hard to find. For instance, in the early stages of building the feet, they are polished in large steel drums with hundreds of small stones rotating in the drums --- and making lots of noise! Final finishing, however, is done by hand. Stitch plates are hand polished prior to packaging or installing in a machine.

820s all lined up

The Steckborn factory has 380 employees. Bernina has an apprenticeship program; apprentices must work 3 years before they are eligible to become fulltime employees. In addition, Bernina has had a factory in Thailand for many years. The Activa and Aurora lines are made 80% in Thailand with final assembly and finishing done in Steckborn. The Artista machines are made completely in Switzerland.

I was curious about how long Bernina makes parts for its machines. Berninas are workhorses and last a long time. When Bernina discontinues a model, they continue to make parts for 15 years after the date the last machine is sold.

At the end of the tour and after some light refreshments, we were shown a short video about the company then invited to stay for a demonstration of the new 830. The demo, unfortunately, was in German! So DH and I walked over to the Creative Center to browse through the current lineup of machines and see samples of quilts and garments made during the classes held on site.

The tour was a wonderful treat. Now I appreciate my 640E even more than I did before going to Steckborn --- and I know exactly where it was created with care and attention to detail. Bravo Bernina!

Here's what I've been up to

2010-10-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

It took me a few weeks to "settle in" after our trip. After a brief hot spell, the weather in Southern California has turned a bit wintry which encouraged me to get back to my sewing room. Here are some recently finished projects.

A friend from our quilt club gave me the pattern for these cute Halloween placemats. The pattern is Pumpkin Party by Susie C. Shore Designs. I know they'll be covered in sticky food residue once I give them to the kidlets, but I still couldn't resist them. Can't wait to give them to my favorite Halloween goblins!

The September/October issue of Creative Machine Embroidery has a fun project that tempted me. I haven't used the embroidery module on my Bernina in quite awhile. I've enjoyed stitching these doorknob hangers - one for my daughter, one for my sister, and one for me! It's not exactly a quick project since there are multiple steps. Still fun, though.

I found a tutorial for a small bag that intriqued me. I thought maybe I'd reduce the weight of the bag if I used a smaller one! I do like the finished bag, but I totally messed up the directions. I had one of those flashes of understanding in the middle of the night and realized what I had done wrong with the pattern. The bag is actually supposed to be a few inches shorter and not so narrow looking. This is something that I need to be aware of when using tutorials from blogs -- it's lovely that bloggers give these patterns away for free, but they aren't professional pattern writers. I need to scrutinize the patterns a bit more before diving head first into a project!

I love the fabric, though, which I purchased last week during our group's shop hop. We stopped at Quilt in a Day in San Marcos, and Eleanor Burns was actually in the shop! She graciously offered to pose with us for pictures (didn't have my camera - shame on me), and signed patterns and even a fat quarter! Then she gave us a personal tour of the room they've remodeled to give them more cabinetry, cutting areas, and sewing tables for creating the quilts. Quite a lot of fun for all of us.

I'm generally not a fan of yo-yo's, but I thought the bag needed an extra something once I finished it. I do like the yo-yo trim, especially with the addition of the button from my button jar. I used the button sew-on program on the 640 along with the #18 foot. Worked perfectly!

Home, home, home ...

2010-10-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

We've been home for several weeks, but I wanted to finish my posts about our trip. Now I enter real time! That means, I need to post about what I've actually been up to since returning home -- paying the bills, finishing the wash, etc., etc., etc.

Just a hint -- I've been sewing, casting my ballot, reading, and enjoying a bit of Southern California rain!

There is nothing better than reading in bed while the rain is pounding on the windows. Love it, love it, love it ....

We are more alike than different - why don't we know this?

2010-10-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

There are countless benefits of traveling especially to countries other than your own. I love the sights, the smells, the textures of travel. I love recognizing cultural differences. Most of all, however, I adore noticing how very much alike we are. Here are just a handful of memories I collected during our trip that remind me more of our similarities than our differences:

On a sunny afternoon in Amsterdam, a young man lay fast asleep on the grass with his headphones on and his book open by his side. Sunday is for relaxing .... work starts tomorrow!
A mom walking with two preschoolers carrying "noodles" in her hand - those long styrofoam tubes that are so much fun in pools for both kids and adults. Swim class, perhaps?
At lunch one day, DH dropped his pocket German/English dictionary on the ground and did not realize it. A bashful young boy, at the urging of his father, came over to our table, picked up the book, and graciously handed it to my husband. He gave us a slight bow of the head and smiled shyly. All over the world, parents want their offspring to be polite and helpful.
Moments later, the same little boy became "big brother" and started arguing with his little sister! I didn't understand the language, but I certainly knew by the tone of mom's voice that she was not happy .... All over the world, parents struggle with teaching their children right from wrong.
Whenever the sun was shining, we noticed people pushing wheelchair-bound elders through the cities to experience the joy of being in the sunshine - and not confined.
The Internet is available everywhere. We saw laptops in cafes, trains, coffee houses - the world is connected and information travels instantaneously. Yes, Mr. Friedman, The World is Flat.
We in the US worry about driving and texting; in Amsterdam, the worry is biking and texting! Now that takes lots of balance.
Couples who have been together for awhile have a universal language. One day, I noticed a man and a woman standing at an intersection each pointing in different directions. He held a map and pointed towards one street, she was pointing vigorously in the opposite direction. I have no idea what words they were exchanging, but I'd know that tone of voice anywhere!
Taking family photos at a wedding celebration - who cares where you are, what language you speak, or where you spoke your vows? This is a time for smiles, hugs, and wishes for a lifetime of happiness.
A young boy chases pigeons around a fountain - quietly. My first thought was that my preschool grandchildren would love to chase those pigeons, but they would not be quiet about it!
A little girl at a street market joyously running up to her "papa" and showing him the "chocolat" treat bought for her by momma. Ah, chocolate ... truly a universal language. Her face was radiant, her joy was boundless. I reveled in this act of kindness by a caring mother. Children take such exuberant joy in the simplest of gifts.
A mother on one of our trains took her 2-year-old boy on a tour trying to keep him occupied and quiet. He kept saying "nien, nien" over and over again. Seems 2-year-olds also have a universal language - NO!

Somehow, on our march towards adulthood, we lose that childhood sense of wonder and joy and belief that the world is a wonderful place full of surprises and mysteries. We often become suspicious and untrusting. If I were queen of the world, I would give everyone a ticket to ride to far-off places to learn once again that the world truly is a wonderful place full of people wanting only to live their lives in peace.

Random Observations and Thoughts on Switzerland

2010-10-15T03:02:00.000-07:00

Green, green, green
Clean, clean, clean
Friendly people and very accommodating!
It is very expensive to live here. We were in areas frequented by tourists, of course, but not a single store tempted me because of the high cost. Clothing costs seemed extremely high; over $200 for shoes? Not in my budget. Hard to have dinner for two under $50.
Everyone speaks English and most speak it proficiently. Only twice did we have to spend a little extra time interpreting menu items and this was in smaller towns.
I saw well-dressed women wherever we went. Most businessmen seemed to be in very traditional black suits. LOTS of high-heeled shoes. Can't for the life of me figure out how they walk in 5- or 6-inch heels over cobblestones!
The trains are superb. Our Eurorail pass was for first-class accommodations, but I don't think we needed that. Only one train was the least bit crowded. In every other case, we were among a handful of people in our car - some tourists, but mostly business people who worked on their laptops during the trips. Interesting idea: The overhead shelf is clear so you can actually see if you've put something up there! Hard to leave items behind.
Although there seems to be a jewelry store on every other corner, Swiss women wear very little jewelry. What they wear, however, doesn't come from Kohl's! And everyone, of course, sports a big, heavy, impressive watch.
Every church has a tower with a clock, and the clocks are accurate! Even if the church is hundreds of years old, the clock still works.
Takeaways - what we would call take-out - and not from fast-food places, but rather from yummy delis and cheese shops and bake shops and grocery stores and even train stations. Gotta love it!
I saw many preschoolers still using pacifiers -- 3 & 4-year olds.
Swiss efficiency. You can't beat it. Waiters and waitresses carry black leather bags on their waists filled with money so that they make change right at the table.
I've never seen so many construction cranes in my life! It was hard to take a photograph without getting several huge cranes in the background. Lots of construction and reconstruction wherever we went indicates a great deal of pride in the country.
New to us were handheld credit card machines so we paid our restaurant bills right at our table. No need for the waiter/waitress to disappear with our card into some back room. We liked it!
Jewelry stores leave all the jewelry in the windows overnight and on the weekends unlike in the US where most stores empty their displays every night. The Swiss are very trusting and trustworthy. We were told that there is very little crime in Switzerland, and we should not be afraid to leave items in our hotel room nor be concerned about pickpockets.
Pastries decorated so elaborately that you almost (almost!) didn't want to eat them. And all arranged in neat, tidy rows in the display cases.
Chocolate. Need I say more? Well worth walking miles and miles every day to justify indulging.
Cows and farms and rolling hills and well-maintained houses with gorgeous window boxes overflowing with geraniums. Yup .... exactly like you picture it!

Time to face the inevitable - homeward bound!

2010-10-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Can't I please take these home?

September 21 - I awoke this morning to the sound of vendors setting up for the Tuesday market alongside the river in Lucerne. Looking out from the balcony, I noticed beautiful flowers and plants as well as lots of produce. I was ready to explore immediately after breakfast. Doug stayed in the room to pack; it always takes him much longer than it takes me even though there are no decisions to be made - everything has to go home!

I loved the flowers especially the cute arrangements made with dried seed pods. I was tempted to buy one to take home, but I don't think we can bring plant material into the states. There was also lots of meat, cheese, and even fresh fish.

You can buy squash by the slice!

We strolled to the train station baggage trailing behind us and headed towards Kloten, a town near the Zurich airport. I don't know whether I've admitted it here or not, but I have a fear of trains and train tracks. Nothing has ever happened to me to cause this fear which, like most phobias, is completely illogical. The problem dates back to my days working in New York in the early 60s and travelling the subway system. Maybe I was tied to a railroad track in a former life? Anyway, I was a bit concerned that this was going to be a problem during our trip. I was able to get on and off the trains pretty easily and just bit the bullet and crossed the tracks when necessary. Today, however, I had big problems in the Zurich train station. The train from Zurich to Kloten left from a track three levels underground! It was dark, damp, and dreary and about did me in. Good thing this was our last train trip!

Last glimpse of the Alps across the lake at sunrise

We walked a short distance to the Hotel Allegra. "Allegra" means hello, happiness, and welcome in Switzerland’s 4th official language - Romansh. This is the largest room we have had. Obviously, this hotel caters to business travelers since we are so near the airport.

Swiss railroad clocks - always precise!

We had a big salad at a local restaurant, toured the town a bit, then went back to the room for a final pack for the flight home. We decided to pick up a "take away" dinner at Migros, one of the two major grocery store chains in Switzerland and turn in early for our 6:15 a.m. wakeup call!

Tomorrow, we fly home. I'm certainly not looking forward to such a long day and utter fatigue at the end of it. Fortunately, I'm reading a terrific book - Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Played with Fire. Turning pages should keep me sane across the Atlantic, don't you think?

Does the sun always shine on Lucerne?

2010-10-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

September 20 - Lucerne was much less crowded today than yesterday. Obviously, a day trip to Lucerne on a sunny Sunday is the thing to do in this part of Switzerland!

Me enjoying breakfast at the hotel

The Dying Lion of Lucerne

After a lovely breakfast on the balcony overlooking the river at our hotel, DH and I walked to the Lion Wall monument (the Dying Lion of Lucerne) which is in memory of the heroic death of Swiss mercenaries at the Tuileries in 1792. We met a family from Sri Lanka who asked us to take pictures of them with the lion in the background. We told them we had eaten Sri Lankan food just the other night. They’ve travelled much in the US and have been to San Diego, the Grand Canyon, and Disneyland.

Along the Swiss "riviera"

We opted for a two-hour cruise from Lucerne to various towns on the lake. We pulled away from the dock at noon with the church bells ringing. There are large hotels in each of the towns along this part of Lake Lucerne which is sometimes called the Swiss Riviera. I loved the town of Weggis. Once again, we enjoyed gorgeous views of the Alps.

On our return, we strolled through town stopping wherever we saw interesting stores or structures. They have a great idea here called Rent-a-Box. Individuals rent small boxes in a store window to sell pieces of jewelry.

I know we look like typical tourists with our cameras, etc., but today DH outdid himself. He hates to be uncomfortable and has a very narrow range of temperatures that he tolerates. So, afraid that his little tootsies might get the least bit cold, he actually tied a pair of socks to the outside of his backpack and walked around town like that until I spotted it. STOP! I insisted that the socks go inside the backpack until needed. What a dufus ....

Look closely - that's me on top of the wall!

Towards the middle of the afternoon, we walked alongside the Musegg wall which was started in 1386. I actually climbed one of the towers and walked along the top of the wall for a bit before making my way down. DH is afraid of heights, so I get to do these scary things all by myself and he gets to take a picture of my exploits for posterity.

$100 parking ticket - not for us!!

We enjoyed some wine on our balcony then took a lovely walk to the Schlüssel restaurant. Finally, Swiss fondue! (Check out the menu on the restaurant site - we had the pumpkin soup and the farmer's style fondue - yummy!) After dinner, we slowly made our way back to the hotel across one of the footbridges admiring the lights adorning the wonderful city of Lucerne.
I've loved almost every part of this trip, but I think I will remember Lucerne most of all because of its beauty. Tomorrow, we're off to Zurich for our last night before heading home.

Can I really be in this beautiful place?

2010-10-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

September 19 - We packed our bags and made our way to the Bern bahnhof to catch a train to Lucerne. As usual, we saw many busses during our short walk - one of them had seven sections! I love watching the sectioned busses turn corners. The transportation systems in The Netherlands and in Switzerland are superb. In the cities, the busses and trolleys run on electricity so they are very quiet and clean.

I finally had my first clear view of the Alps - gorgeous! Once again, I noticed the garden sheds next to each of the many roadside gardens. The Swiss must love their gardens. Lots of donkeys today, too. I wonder what they are used for on the farms.

Hotel des Alpes overlooking the river

Our room was not yet ready at the Hotel des Alpes so we left our bags in the locked storage room and headed out in search of a place for lunch. The weather was the nicest we have had, so an outdoor lunch at the Meisterkonditorei (Old Town store) was in order. Calzone and beer - don’t they go together just like ham and cheese? And, there is a Starbucks two doors down from our hotel!

DH contemplating lunch!

I’m hearing more American accents here than anywhere else. More English in general. Today is Sunday, so Lucerne is full of tourists from out of town as well as out of country. So many couples holding hands! Lucerne is absolutely gorgeous and very romantic with its swans, flowers, and medieval bridges.

After lunch, we walked along the waterfront admiring Lake Lucerne and the many sailboats and tour boats on the lake. DH noticed a group of men playing a game similar to petanque or bocce ball. They were speaking German, so perhaps it is the German equivalent of bocce.

View from our balcony!

We got back to the hotel and checked into our room. The Hotel des Alpes is on the River Reuss with views of the Chapel Bridge and the Water Tower -- an incredibly beautiful sight. We have a balcony on the first floor, which we Americans would call the second floor. I can see the entire downtown area, four bridges, swans galore, and the Alps! Doug splurged on this one, but it is worth it. This is classified in the tour books as a “middle class” hotel. Whew! It’s costing us more than any B&B we’ve ever been to in the US!

Our room is small, but the balcony certainly makes up for it. I decided to live out of the suitcase since I’ve lost track of clean vs. dirty clothes. While DH unpacked in his usual leisurely fashion, I sat on our balcony listening to a violin player, watching people enjoying their lunch in the outdoor cafes along the River Reuss, and taking in the views of Lake Lucerne and the snowcapped Alps in the distance. I am a very lucky gal! Am I really here in this beautiful place?

Chapel Bridge at sunset

We are closest to the flower-adorned Chapel Bridge, one of five pedestrian bridges crossing the river, so I can watch people strolling across and stopping to take pictures. The river is very clean; swans, mallards, seagulls, and coots enjoy the water as well as the bread tossed into the river by visitors.

I kept thinking that this is my reward for all that "budgeting by envelope" that I've done over the years. My second thought was that I want my children and grandchildren to enjoy this beautiful, beautiful city.

We spent the afternoon walking and walking and walking. If the scale is not my friend when I get home, I’ll be pretty miffed. We stumbled on a restaurant that has a reasonable menu for fondue and decided that it would be the place for our special dinner at the end of the trip: The Hotel zum Schlussel, Schlukelftube.

DH wanted to check out the river cruises so we explored the lakefront. Our Eurorail pass allows us to take a lake cruise for free. We’ll do a 2-hour roundtrip tour on the lake tomorrow. We had another one of those unexpected surprises while on the lakefront. A group of 20 costumed revelers on bicycles were riding round and round a large fountain in front of the art museum adjacent to the lake. They did not have signs, so we don’t know what the occasion was -- but they were certainly having a wonderful time. They looked a lot like circus clowns, blowing horns, etc. Fun, fun, fun …

We had a great dinner of fish and chips at Gracie Kelly’s Irish Pub while watching the Bears vs. Dallas on tv! A small taste of home ....

More pictures of this beautiful city:

One of the towers at the medieval wall

Flowers everywhere

Looking across Lake Lucerne

Fondue restaurant perhaps?

Market Day

2010-09-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

September 18 - I asked the receptionist at the hotel this morning if there was anything special going on in Bern on Saturdays. She directed us to the Saturday Market in Parliament Square. What a great suggestion! The market was full of wonderful fresh produce, bread, meats, cheeses and flowers. At one stand, a vendor cut lunchmeat to individual orders. Nothing seems to be on ice! This would not be permitted with our US health laws, I am sure. The crowded market bustled with shoppers and children. One adorable little girl excitedly showed her daddy what mommy had bought for her - chocolat! Seems toddlers and chocolate are a common language. There was one stand with all sorts of small dried gourds, etc., for making flower arrangements which tempted me -- but I don't think I'd be permitted to bring these through customs.

At the market

Our Eurorail pass entitles us to eight days of transportation during our stay in Switzerland. I think DH is determined to use all eight days! We decided to take the train from Bern to Neuchatel, a town located on Lake Neuchatel in the French-speaking area of Switzerland. Once in Neuchatel, we walked through town and ran across another Saturday market. Every so often, there was a picnic table set up among the vendors and we saw many families eating market food along with a glass of wine or beer on this sunny day.

Neuchetel

We opted for lunch at Les Brasseurs, a brewery. We finally had "flammenkueches," a type of pizza with very, very thin crust. Mine was loaded with mushrooms and DH had the caprese version. Of course, we had beer. Throughout our trip, we've noticed two things about the beer glasses: they are etched with volume marks and they always have the brand name of the beer on them. If you order a .5dl beer, the beer is poured up to the .5dl mark etched on the glass. DH says that this is due to a law that protects the buyer from being short-changed on their beer purchase. Ah, Swiss precision!

Drivers drive fast in this part of Switzerland -- the French area! Reminds me of how fast my BIL drives. Hmmm.... Also, as soon as we entered this area on the train route, the signs turned to French in rail stations and the announcements on the train were made in French first, followed by German. Up until now, the announcements have been in German first, then French, and English in the larger stations. It must be interesting to live in a country with four official languages - German, French, Italian, and Rumantsch.

Approaching the castle

We shopped in the old town then hiked to the castle for a wonderful view of the city. There's a first time for everything department: We both desperately needed to use a restroom and the one and only one at the castle happened to have two stalls. We felt very liberated taking a dual potty break!

As we were walking towards the cathedral next to the castle, a wedding party with a few hundred guests arrived and the church bells chimed. This is the third wedding that we've just happened across on our trip - a nice touch since this trip is partly to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. I hope all three couples enjoy a marriage at least as long as ours!

I was hungry when we got back to the Bern railway station so picked up a Movenpick ice cream cup - delicious! I've had ice cream on my mind for the whole trip but the weather hasn't been ice cream weather. I finally decided to have it anyway and just deal with the chill!

I could live in a castle - couldn't you?

Since our lunch was a bit late and very filling, we planned on a takeout dinner from the Coop. We relaxed in our room for a bit, then found that the Coop was closed! On Saturday, many stores either close at noon or early in the afternoon. We ended up at the bar across the street from the hotel for a beer and saw people eating food that looked scrumptious. Seems the bar owner is from Sri Lanka so we ordered what we thought was the same as the people near us. Well, our food didn’t look anything like what we expected to get! It was still good and quite spicy.

Our nice waitress hails from Bangladesh. She told us that she has been here 8 years and hasn’t had fondue yet. She also commented that the Swiss eat then have salad then another drink then coffee, etc., etc., etc. In other words, very long meals!

Tomorrow, we're off to Lucerne -- our last city before the long trip home.

They're out there somewhere!

2010-09-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

September 17 - Our room key is attached to a piece of metal that looks just like an extra large beer bottle opener. DH did not want to lug this around, so he removed the key to carry separately. Sometime during the night, DH decided to open the window to our room to get more airflow. In order to keep the window open, he used the "beer bottle opener" as a wedge. Whoops - bad move. When we woke up in the morning, it was gone. Considering the cost of things in Switzerland, this is probably going to set us back a hundred bucks! DH went outside and looked all over but couldn't find it. Hmmm ... should be another interesting hotel checkout!

Today is the day to go to Interlaken and see the Alps up close and personal. Unfortunately, the weather is pretty gloomy. The weather report earlier in the week indicated that this was the best day during our Bern stay to go into the mountains. We're hoping that the clouds clear later in the day.

On the way to the train station, we walked by the Bernina store. They had the full line of the new 300s in the window. I'm looking forward to visiting the store later in our visit.

Too beautiful to miss

We really enjoy our rail trips. The trains are so clean and quiet and the Swiss countryside is just beautiful. I thought I'd be reading my book or doing my hand sewing during these train trips, but I can't stop looking at the views. We could definitely feel the increased elevation as we made our way to Interlaken.

A bit touristy?

Interlaken has huge hotels and lots of tourist shops; it is the most "touristy" place we've visited. We walked the length of the town, found the fondue restaurant that was highly recommended on the Internet, then decided to take the train farther up the mountains to Grindelwald. The weather was still overcast. The Alps were out there - somewhere! - but we couldn't see them.

This is the smallest train we've been on, one of the special cogwheel trains that go to the higher elevations of the Alps. Shortly after we started the trip, the conductor came for our tickets and told us that our Eurorail Pass did not cover this train. The mountain trains are privately run. Not only did we have to pay an additional $52 to continue the trip, but we were on the wrong car! At the next stop, we exited the train and got on the car right behind us. They split the train at that point, and only a couple of cars continue to twist and turn their way up the mountainside.

Where oh where are you, Alps?

We sat right behind the engineer and had a fabulous trip to Grindelwald along a beautiful river with rapids. The Alps were covered in clouds and fog. It is a strange feeling - you know they are there, but you can't see them.

DH thought he saw one of the military bunkers that Switzerland uses for their defense. They apparently have a highly sophisticated and secret defense system.

Grindelwald is a bit less touristy than Interlaken. The weather was chilly enough for us to have a hot chocolate and something sweet: a schwarzwalmer torte (black forest cake) for me and fruchtekuchen (berry tart) for Doug.

Hot chocolate and sweets - yummy!

We took the cogwheel train back down the mountain looking forward to our fondue dinner. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not start serving dinner until 6 p.m.

The Berner-Oberland Bahn

While wandering in and out of shops, we suddenly saw skydivers! People pay LOTS of money to go up one of the mountains and skydive down into the town of Interlaken landing in a large open field in the center of town. Someone would have to pay me LOTS of money to even think about doing such a thing.

There's a skydiver in there somewhere ....

We took the train back to Bern, had some wine in room, and dined at the Eiger, a family run restaurant near the hotel with excellent service and delicious food. Clouds, fog, drizzle, and good memories of a special day in the mountains.

A Sunny Day in Bern

2010-09-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

Our last days of vacation got a bit packed with activities so blogging went by the wayside. Even though we are now back home in California, I want to finish my vacation posts. BB (before blog!), I kept a written travel diary. My blog has now become my diary, so I need to write about the rest of our adventures.

September 16 - The breakfast at La Pergola is similar to the one offered by the Hotel Dom. Lots of bread choices, including whole loaves where you can cut yourself a sizable chunk. Fresh fruit salad, sliced meats, and a large selection of cheeses. Cold cereal, milk, juice, a basket of apples/bananas/plums, and several flavors of yogurt. The yogurt that I’ve had while on this trip is much creamier and more flavorful than what I am used to. I’m certain that it is a lot higher in fat content, too! Fortunately, there are no labels to peruse on the breakfast buffet, so I can just enjoy without guilt. The best part of the breakfasts, however, is the coffee. They brew a small pot of coffee for each guest individually and serve it with a pitcher of steamed milk. It is wonderful!

DH and I marked off the sites we wanted to see today and mapped a circuitous route through the Old Town in order to catch as many of them as possible while the sun is shining.

During a visit to yet another church on the early part of our walk, I had one of those surprising moments. A blind man entered the church and walked directly to the altar of Our Lady. He prayed a moment, then took out a harmonica and played a lovely serenade. My heart told me that he does this every day.

The Ensign Fountain

Bern is known for its 16th century fountains located throughout Old Town, and we were determined to see each of them. I'm not sure we met our goal, but we certainly enjoyed the effort. We spent some time at the House of Parliament building on the Square of Parliament - quite an impressive building. While strolling along the lovely promenade behind the building, I suddenly realized that the Alps were peaking out above a few low clouds. I was actually looking at the Swiss Alps!

Approaching the Clock Tower

The Zytglogge is a must-see in Bern. The clock on this 13th century tower puts on quite a show from 4 minutes before the hour through chiming the hour. Bears rotate, gilded figures strike the bells, and dozens of onlookers admire the clockfaces and astronomical clock. We tried several times to get to the show on time but missed seeing the entire 4+ minutes. Oh, well - a reason to go back perhaps?

DH did most of the planning for this trip, but neither one of us remembered that the house where Albert Einstein did most of his work on his theory of relativity is now a museum dedicated to the physicist. Climbing the narrow circular stairs from floor to floor in the museum reminded me of the stairs in the Amsterdam apartment! There isn't much to the museum (entrance fee is just $4 for seniors), but the displays detailing Einstein's life and work are quite interesting even for a non-scientist.

House of Parliament - Bern

We found a small park next to a church and had sandwiches for lunch on a park bench. Then more walking and sightseeing through Old Town. By the time we got back to the hotel and rested awhile, we were too tired to hike anywhere far for dinner. The Italian restaurant across the street called to us again.

I think we've taken 2000 pictures and climbed 2000 steps - I hope my knees hold out!

Taking the Road Less Traveled

2010-09-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

We tried to check out early at our hotel today, but the server was down. They could not process our bill on Mastercard. Fortunately, an ATM a few doors down spit out 6 crisp new $100 franc notes and off we were to the train station. I don't know how the Swiss can afford to live in Switzerland!

Once our train was in the Bahnhof (station), we looke for our reserved seats in Coach 4. We were separated for about five minutes with me standing on the platform securing the luggage and Doug on the train looking for our seats. I was getting nervous as it got closer and closer to departure time; these trains wait for no one. We are so reliant on cellphones to communicate! We even call one another in department stores to find out where the other one is. I did not like feeling alone and abandoned at all ....

Fortunately, Doug found our seats, we boarded the train, and sped our way from St. Gallen to Bern along the beautiful, green countryside of Switzerland. This train was a double-decker, so our views were spectacular. We should not have spent the extra fee for reservations since the train was only about 25% full. How do you know?

Bern architecture

We arrived in Bern and made our way to the Hotel La Pergola. Unfortunately, the street we chose did not have a sidewalk -- we ended up dragging our bags down steps and over dirt pathways through a park. I don't think rolling luggage was designed for this type of "travel." I need to be more forceful with DH when he comes up with these schemes. I ended up with several big, bad, ugly blue bruises from the luggage banging into my leg. Of course, if we had been more patient (or, heaven forbid, asked directions!), we could have avoided this route to the hotel. This is a read-between-the-lines message to friends and family who will know exactly what happened!

A small section of Bern's shopping arcade

The hotel is back off the street a few blocks from the Old City so it is nice and quiet. We checked in and wandered through the streets of Bern. As the capital of Switzerland, it is the largest city we have visited since Amsterdam. Lots of traffic, both foot, bike, scooter, bus, tram, and car. Even the intermittent rain did not stop us from walking through the seemingly endless arcades of shopping.

The most delightful aspect of travel is the unexpected. We heard live music coming from a square adjacent to the shopping area. A military band was playing! We stayed and listened for a few minutes enjoying the music. Fun, fun, fun!

Toddler enjoying fountain spray!

The fountains of Bern are quite interesting. We ran across several today; we will try to see all 11 of them in the Old City before we leave.

We slowly made our way back towards the hotel and came across what looked like the American Embassy. Three soldiers stood outside, with one female soldier holding an automatic weapon. DH tried to take a picture of the building, and a soldier shouted at us not to take pictures! We tend to follow instructions when there are weapons involved .....

There's a first time for everything department: we can't get ice at this hotel! So, my favorite bartender served our bottle of red wine unchilled. We ate dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant across the street owned by a Spaniard -- delicious spaghetti a la carbonara for DH and cannelloni for me. Weather permitting, tomorrow we walk 'til we drop!

Bernina Day!

2010-09-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

The alarm did not go off today, but the church bells rang! I assumed the bells were ringing at 7, but it was only 6 a.m. The Swiss are known for being exact about time. You can't possibly oversleep here.

On the way to the train station, we encountered a mom with 3 preschoolers all singing "Brother John" in German! How very cute ...

Apple trees along the train route

Our train trip was on a local this time, so we made many stops along the way. The countryside was exceptionally pretty with farms, fields, distant rolling hills, cows, a few horses, and lovely homes in each township. And apple trees galore! Full size trees and also rows and rows of younger trees planted similarly to vineyards.

Except for the stations that are large enough to have connecting trains, each stop is a maximum of two minutes. Hesitate and you go to the next station. Fortunately for us, a very nice woman must have realized we were getting off at Steckborn and pushed the button for the train to stop. Apparently, Steckborn is not a regular stop! Can you imagine us whipping through the Steckborn station and wondering why the train didn't stop????

A wonderful home in Steckborn.

We wandered through the quaint village of Steckborn enjoying the sunny day and the lovely homes. Steckborn is on Lake Constance (the Bodensee), and you can see the German city of Konstanz quite clearly across the lake. The day was so warm and sunny that we decided to buy a sandwich at Coop (a supermarket) and sit by the lake to enjoy the views. Suddenly, we noticed a blimp. It took me a second or two to realize what was strange about the blimp - no logo! A totally white, unmarked blimp. Hmmmm .... a Swiss mystery.

Me - in front the of Bernina factory!

We walked up the street towards the Bernina address, rounded a curve in the road, and there was the large red Bernina sign. We spent the next several hours in Bernina heaven (for me), but I will not bore you with a lengthy report. I'll do a separate post just on the tour. I will say, however, that I now understand why the sewing machines and the accessories are so expensive; almost everything is done by hand. I was amazed.

Back via train to St. Gallen, pick up a bottle of wine, pack for our trip to Bern tomorrow, then a hamburger & French fries at the American Bar & Grill around the corner from the hotel.

Our own walking tour of St. Gallen

2010-09-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

DH had a tentative plan to get on a train (again) and head to Appenzellerland, an area not far from here famous for cowbells and yodelling. The weather was threatening so we decided to stay in town and fully explore St. Gallen. I think we've walked 10 miles today and seen every street in the old city, some several times.

We started the day with a mishap. The shower in the hotel does not have a lip on it -- the entire bathroom is tiled on one level, with the floor tilted slightly to the shower drain. I managed to get so much water over the bathroom floor that it started to seep into the bedroom! DH had to give me a lesson in European showers ....

"Menschen"

The Hotel Dom offers a nice breakfast. Coffee was freshly made for us and served in individual pots with warmed milk in individual creamers. What service! The coffee was the best I have had in a long time - sorry, Starbucks. The Hotel Dom is part of an association called "forderraum," an institution which supports handicapped people. The hotel provides about 50 jobs under this program affording the opportunity to work according to their capabilities in a meaningful way. Everyone in the hotel has been extremely service oriented, friendly, and professional. Each room is named after the artwork placed in the room done by an employee, either present or past. Our room is the "Benjamin Bonjour Menschen" room. Here is Benjamin's drawing entitled "Menschen."

Things are expensive in Switzerland! We hit an ATM this morning for a $100 withdrawal. We got the $100 - in one bill! That's a good indication that you can spend $100 pretty easily.

Our first visit after breakfast was to the Textile Museum. St. Gallen is well known for its textile industry and especially lacemaking. I was thrilled by the displays of exquisite antique lace from all over the world. One of the gowns on display was worn by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. Unfortunately, you are not permitted to take pictures in the museum - so please click on the link above to see a few. There is a case in one room with multiple drawers that you can pull out (similar to drawers holding maps in many museums). Each drawer revealed a beautiful display of hand embroidery, one more gorgeous than the next. The tiny, tiny stitches on fine batiste took my breath away. The nicest part of the museum was that DH enjoyed it, too!

Oma Bratwurst and Fries - Yum!

For lunch, we had a local specialty, an Olma bratwurst. They serve it in a bag and also give you a large slice of bread. The trick is to take a bite of the bratwurst, then a chunk of bread. No mustard allowed! People walk along the streets while eating their lunch in this fashion.

DH is having a blast using his high school German. He's doing quite well, especially since buying an English/German dictionary a few days ago.

There are four or five stores in St. Gallen specializing in musical instruments. We have asked about this, but the residents don't think this is odd. I don't know how far we would have to go to find as many within walking distance of one another. In the afternoon, we browsed in one such store with six stories! The pianos are on the bottom floor, including a beautiful Steinway grand with a price tag of $116,000. I resisted the urge to play chopsticks.

Six stories - two underground!

Dinner was a picnic in the room: delicious cheeses from a small shop on the next street, bread from the bäckerie around the corner, wine from the grocery store that we stumbled upon (Coop), and a hunk of Swiss chocolate. Is this heaven?

Bernina Day tomorrow. Now that must be heaven ....

River Cruising vs. Ocean Cruising

2010-09-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

This was our first river cruise, but I don't think it will be our last. As with most adventures in life, there were some things we liked and some things we did not like.

We chose Avalon Waterways primarily because each room has a French window. The larger size of the window gives you better views while in your room. The room was so small that we found ourselves in the public rooms most often. On our last two ocean cruises, we've booked a balcony room which is high on my list of "must haves" for future cruises. It is just so nice to have a quiet breakfast or a glass of wine on the balcony. I don't think the French windows on the river boat, however, offer as much of an advantage. All things being equal, I would not pay extra for them.

The room was small, small, small. It was very hard for us both to be in the room at the same time if we were moving about! DH needs a lot of space to feel comfortable (it's hard for us to be in the kitchen at the same time, for instance), so maybe other couples wouldn't have the same problem.

I thought the boat was noisier than the ocean liners. Going through the locks at night caused most of the noise disturbance. On a positive note, fewer passengers (only 130 on the Felicity vs. several thousand on the Princess ships) means less noise. Since there are virtually no activities after 9 p.m. other than a chance to dance in the lounge to the music of a single piano player, there is little if any noise from passengers in the hallways. If you need shows, casinos, bingo, art auctions, spas, shopping, choice of restaurants and bars, river cruising is not for you. If you like a more relaxed and casual atmosphere, give it a try!

We found the food above average, but not superb. There were enough choices at the breakfast and lunch buffets to suit us. We were hoping that there would be more regional specialities as we made our way up the Rhine. Wine flowed freely at dinner, and there was a nightly happy hour in the bar where drinks were 2 for 1. This was not true on our ocean cruises. Avalon has a card at each dining table with their "food rainbow" listed. Each of the colors represents a type of diet; i.e., low carb, low fat, vegetarian, etc. The labels on the buffet are bordered by the appropriate color. This was a nice touch for those on special diets.

We loved the coffee machine in the front lounge. You had your choice of coffee drinks including cafe latte, cafe macchiato (whatever that is), regular coffee, hot water. It was easy for DH to bring me a hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning.

Service was absolutely excellent. We blew a fuse or tripped the circuit breaker in our room halfway through the cruise. I heard a pop, then all the lights went out. DH was charging his electric shaver when it happened. Question: Did the shaver die? Did the converter die? Did we do costly damage to the room? Answer: Shaver dead. Avalon was nice enough to lend us the Hummer of converters just to be on the safe side. We bought disposable razors for Doug in Heidelberg; he hasn’t used a razor since his Army days!

Unlike ocean cruising, the daily tours are included. There are also optional tours on the days when you stay in a port long enough for two activities. I felt as though I was in the Army with revelry at 6:30 a.m.! Busy, busy, busy …. I've also had this experience with ocean cruising. Sometimes, it's the old "if it's Tuesday, we must be in Belgium" routine. I wonder if most passengers would like to slow down a bit.

DH and I loved that the tours were conducted using headphones with FM transmission. We could wander off quite a distance and still hear the guide talking. Great idea!

Even though Avalon caters to Americans and Canadians, the bedding is strictly European with a duvet and extra large pillows. We can't figure out how to be comfortable with this system! Of course, that is our problem, not Avalon's.

Dress on the river cruise was much more casual than for ocean cruising. A typical day in port on our ocean cruises allowed enough time for passengers to change into a dressier outfit for dinner and evening activities. On this river cruise, we barely made it back to the boat for happy hour! Although I did not like the pace of the days, I certainly enjoyed not having to spruce up!

With only 130 passengers, we had the opportunity to meet far more people than on the larger cruises. People were very friendly by the end of the week. We like this.

Will we give up ocean cruising in favor of river cruising? Not on your life. We're already talking about cruising to Hawaii on Princess followed by another river cruise perhaps on the Danube. They are different experiences, but equally enjoyable.

Random Observations and Thoughts - Rhine Cruise in Germany

2010-09-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

We had dark, overcast weather most of our days. This enforced my preconceptions of Germany. My mind kept wandering back to stories that my parents told of World War II. It will take several generations, I believe, for the strong connection between Germany and the horrors of World War II to fade.
Several of our tour guides mentioned that German nationalism has not been encouraged since the war. Only recently have German citizens begun to fly their flag.
German law is tough! Our tour busses had seatbelts, and the tour guides were insistent that we use them. The fines are quite steep for breaking the law.
Privacy is very important to Germans. For instance, there are no public records when a house is sold nor are there public tax records. No one can find out the selling price of a home.
When speaking about the war years, guides used the word "Nazis" rather than "Germans." One guide referred to the time period as the “difficult time in Europe." My impression is that modern day Germans want to distance themselves from those who were responsible for the conflict.
On a happier note, we saw many people fishing along the river. They had extraordinarily long fishing poles, maybe 15 or 20 feet! Perhaps the fish only live in the middle of the river?
Wherever we go, the bread is fantastic. I could probably eat only bread and cheese at every meal and be a happy gal.
I started to read Reading Lolita in Tehran on the plane. I chose this book quite by accident; it was a donation to our Oasis library and I thought I could just leave it on the boat when I finished it. It turned out to be an interesting choice. Totalitarian regimes even decades apart have much in common. The Nazis persecuted the Jews, and the Iranian government persecutes women. Towards the end of the book, the author, Azar Nafisi, says, "How does the soul survive?" Her answer is "through love and imagination." In order to survive, one of the characters in the book paints her fingernails bright red forcing her to wear gloves when in public. She lives in fear of being stopped by the police and having her gloves removed. She could be punished severely, even to the point of being stoned to death. Yet, she remains defiant. In order to survive, Anne Frank and her family created as normal a life as they could. They celebrated holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries with parties. Otto Frank tracked his daughters' growth by marking their height on a wall in the secret annex. In both cases, the human spirit refused to allow monsters to steal their souls.
It was good to come to Germany. I felt safe and welcome. I hope we can return some day.

We could learn a lot from the Swiss . . .

2010-09-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

. . . about train travel. Wow! The trains are absolutely wonderful: clean, quiet, and exactly on time. Our trip from Basel to Zurich was on an express train which ran at 123 kph and completed the trip in 53 minutes. There are signs in the cars that say these are "quiet areas." In other words, no loud talking and no cellphone use. Wouldn't that be wonderful in the US?

I had a bit of trouble in the WC. In order to flush the toilet, you have to push a red button. Now to me, pushing a red button means "Help, I'm in trouble!" I took a chance and pushed the button and voila! A flushed toilet.

We passed through several long tunnels - a bit disconcerting since we don't travel by train very often. The landscape was beautiful: large areas of green countryside below rolling hills, small villages appearing now and then, grazing cows on the hillsides, fields of corn. I even saw two cows in a backyard no bigger than mine! Fresh milk every day at that house, I am sure.

The majority of houses are beige with brown roofs and 2-3 stories tall. In the villages, there are well-maintained community gardens alongside the rail tracks.

The helpful conductor told us that the train from Zurich to St. Gallen would be leaving from Track #10. These two old folks managed to get off the train with our bags and hot foot it over to Track #10 to board our next train in less than 9 minutes! We are now confident train travellors.
This second train was a "tilting train." You really feel the tilt as you go around curves, especially the long S curves. Our train-loving grandson, Jackson, would love these babies!

St. Gallen oriel window

Arriving exactly on time (I expect nothing less from the Swiss), we walked several blocks to our hotel, the Dom. The hotel is quite contemporary. The room seems HUGE compared to what we had on the boat.

Stores are closed on Sunday in Switzerland by law. Many restaurants also close, apparently. We walked quite a bit looking for a place to have lunch before giving up and returning to the restaurant adjacent to the hotel for their expensive Sunday brunch - 26 Swiss francs each! Between lunch and the 50 Swiss franc taxi ride to the railway station in Basel, it has been an expensive day.

We visited the gorgeous Cathedral of St. Gallen and it's world famous library. The Cathedral is the centerpiece of a monastery that dominates the old city. Only portions are open to the public, but the central area with its grassy area and parklike setting is open. Many families and couples, both young and old, were enjoying the sunny afternoon.

Cathedral of St. Gallen

The library is amazing. Before you enter, you put on slippers that fit over your shoes so that you do not damage the wooden floor. Visitors seem to be skiing over the floor! The ceiling is covered in beautiful frescoes. I stood in the room transfixed by the hundreds of texts on display some dating prior to the year 1000! I walked from stack to stack trying to find something that I could decipher; many titles are in Latin. I did find one that said it was the correspondence of Napoleon I. That's impressive. The library owns the original plan for the monastery from the 9th century, but it is too fragile to have on display. A replica is displayed for visitors. Apparently, Umberto Eco spent two months in the library's reading room studying the plan and used it as a basis for his bestselling novel, The Name of the Rose.

Starbucks St. Gallen - really!

A beer at a corner pub, then pizza at the restaurant across from our hotel. Uh, oh. There is no laundromat in St. Gallen. Time to wash out a few essentials in the hotel sink.

A Relaxing Day in Breisach, Germany

2010-09-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

No alarm at 6:30 a.m. - how sweet it is! We are both so glad we elected to pass on the trips scheduled for today and just relax, play catchup, pack, and even read a bit. Today is sunny and warm enough to sit on the top deck of the boat. Several passengers even braved the whirlpool.

Once again, the swans are everywhere. It's fun to watch them move from the boat, to the opposite shoreline, to a small sightseeing vessel as people feed them in different areas of the river.

A Breisach square

View from the Cathedral

We took a leisurely walk into the small village of Breisach for lunch and stumbled on a Turkish restaurant. Although we both had salads, the homemade yogurt dressing was a Turkish recipe and it was superb. I had a beer from Turkey (Efes).

We kept seeing a wedding party during our stay in Breisach. First, we saw them in a 12-car motorcade (all BMWs or Mercedes) blowing horns on their way to City Hall. As DH and I were having our lunch, the motorcade made its way through the village to the Cathedral. We climbed up the stone walkway to the Cathedral and the wedding party was assembled to take pictures. Then back down the hill with the horns blaring!

Memorial to German soldiers

Over 85% of Breisach was destroyed in the Allied bombing during 1945 because of its proximity to the river and the number of bridges nearby. It is hard to imagine this charming village in ruins.

Tomorrow, we start the great train adventure. Let's hope that two 65-year-olds can manage suitcases and backpacks while getting on and off trains!

Our Day in Alsace

2010-09-11T06:11:00.000-07:00

We were already docked when the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, September 10. Dozens of swans swam near the ship including a youngster who has not yet turned white. We hurried through breakfast and took off for a canal cruise and walking tour of Strasbourg, France.

The beauty of Strasbourg

I did not realize that the old city of Strasbourg is an island surrounded by a lovely canal. The architecture is quite different from what we have seen in the last few days. I’m not a student of architecture, so I can’t really describe it. Our guide described them as “half-timbered houses” with roofs made of terra cotta tiles shaped a little like beaver tails.

There are flowers everywhere, mostly geraniums -- adorning bridges, filling window boxes, encircling lampposts. We went through two small locks on the River Ill (pronounced “eel”) during the canal cruise. I am certain that the sounds I hear in the middle of the night are the sounds of making our way through a lock.

Looking skyward at the Cathedral

The Strasbourg Cathedral is, of course, the centerpiece of the old city. It’s spiral rises hundreds of feet in the air. The next time you are frustrated when a home remodeling project takes longer than expected, remember this: it took 250 years to build this cathedral! As in other cities we have visited, the cathedral is under constant repair and renovation.

During our free time, we shopped a bit and took pictures as we walked from street to street. Strasbourg is charming and definitely a place to return to. These visits are all too short!

In the afternoon, we took an optional bus tour along the Alsace wine road which is 190 km long and passes through over 100 villages and countless wineries. Before getting on the wine road, we saw fields adorning both sides of the motorway, primarily corn grown for oil and white cabbages to be turned into sauerkraut or "choucroute." You can actually smell the cabbage!

Each time we wove our way through the narrow streets of a village, I wanted to stop the bus and see the sights. This is one of the problems with being on a tour; you trade off your freedom to explore in exchange for the security of a bus and guide.

At some of the villages, we had to pass through stone portals dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. Our 21st century bus was only inches away from the sides of the portals. DH and I could see scrapings on the portal walls from drivers who were not quite as adept as Willi, our driver for the day. We encountered a detour and Willi had to back up the bus!

Wine Tasting - Yum!

In the town of Barr, we visited Domaine Klipfel and tasted four different wines from the Alsace wine region: a Reisling, a Pinot Gris, a Pinot Noir, and a Gewürztraminer . Wonder of wonders -- DH and I were actually able to taste the difference between these wines and the ones that we normally buy from Trader Joe’s! David explained each of the wines and gave us hints about what foods would best accompany them. Surprisingly, I liked the Gewürztraminer the best. It is a wine that I usually do not like. But this one was exceptionally spicy and not overly sweet. “Gewurzt” means spicy in German. David said it was normally served with strong cheese or foie gras at holiday time. It is best if stored for 5-6 years. I think I’ll look for a nice bottle when we get home. I’d like to serve this wine to my French brother-in-law who thinks that only red wine should be served with cheese!

On the way home, we made a short visit to the lovely town of Obernai, also called Little Strasbourg, where I bought a "bretzel." How can you visit Germany without having a pretzel?

Captain’s farewell dinner is tonight. We’ll be staying onboard tomorrow and not going on the trip to the Black Forest so we can relax, pack, and get these blog posts posted. After so many days of vacation, I do not need a piece of Black Forest cake!

From Castles to Sauerkraut - A Day in Heidelberg

2010-09-11T03:26:00.000-07:00

Heidelberg Castle

A luxurious bus took us on a 30-minute trip from the dock to the university city of Heidelberg this morning via the autobahn! The “suggested speed” on the autobahn is about 90 mph and those who go slower apparently are not well thought of. We did not see lane changes as frequently as we see in LA, but I cannot imagine either of us driving at 90 mph. DH has a hard time with 70 mph. Glad we decided not to rent a car on this trip.

A view across the Neckar River

The earliest recorded reference to the town of Heidelberg is in the year 1126, but the buildings and churches of the old city date to medieval times. Heidelberg is a delightful town with narrow, winding streets as we have seen elsewhere on our trip. One of the distinct features of this town, however, is that the houses in the old city all have red roofs. Lovely!

The bus climbed up to the castle which overlooks the city, and we spent about an hour on a guided tour. The castle is not intact; large sections have been destroyed over the centuries through warfare. However, you can still get the feeling for what it must have been like in its prime. Our guide delighted us with the stories of those who had lived in the castle.

Beer Tap at Jacobs

We opted to stay in town for the day instead of returning to the boat. We found a small restaurant, Jacobs, for lunch and ate bratwurst and sauerkraut with a Furstenberg beer. The sauerkraut was unlike any I have ever had. It was almost creamy and very mild. The beer was great!

At 4 p.m., a bus took us back to the boat which had passed the afternoon cruising from our morning dock to Speyer. Cocktail hour was approaching, so we chose to bypass Speyer and relax on the Felicity. Oh, no -- the bar has run out of Bombay Sapphire! We had a fun dinner with a couple from the Miami area and Joan and Ken from Nova Scotia. Quite a riot to compare stories of how the couples met.

This has been my favorite day so far. I just love this town!

The castle above the streets of Heidelberg

There are lots of noises during the night which Doug manages to sleep through. Are we perhaps going through more locks at night?

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-09-11T01:26:00.000-07:00

One of the many statues in Koblenz

I awoke on September 8, my 65th birthday, moored on the Moselle River at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle adjacent to the beautiful city of Koblenz.

Our mornings are quite rushed, since the tours begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. Our cruise director talks about a “German minute" which means prompt, precise, and exact! So we rush our mornings a bit more than usual so that we are not late.

As we left the boat and walked to meet our tour guide, the church bells were ringing. I hear the lovely sounds of church bells every day. In Koblenz, the bells of the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of our Lady) ring for almost a half hour beginning at 9 a.m. I don’t think you could sleep in if you lived in Koblenz.

We enjoyed a wonderful walking tour of the old city then wandered off by ourselves for about an hour window shopping and taking pictures of the beautiful flowers and buildings. I even found a quilt shop. I see some of the same manufacturers that we find in the States. This shop also had beautiful wool fabric which is not something that I need in Menifee.

It sprinkled off and on, so DH and I hopped into a café for a coffee and sweet roll. The sweet rolls and desserts seem to have less sugar than the ones in the US. They look, however, so much prettier with the carefully sliced fruit and crumbled toppings. Yum!

Believe it or not, there are two other passengers celebrating a birthday today, Carol and Darryl.

We spent the afternoon cruising through the Rhine Gorge which our cruise director, Andrzej, describes as the loveliest section of the Rhine. There are over 30 castles between Konigswinter and Heidesheim. It was foggy and rainy during part of our trip, but we had wonderful views of many of the castles. They were built on hills overlooking the towns to afford protection. We even passed the hill on which Loreley supposedly sang. Castles on the Rhine -- could there be a more romantic way to spend a birthday afternoon?

Castle on the Rhine (in the fog)

In between the towns, there are large vineyards planted on the hillsides. This area is home to many well known wine varieties: Rieslings, Grauburgunders (Pinot Gris), Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir).

After about two hours, we were through the Gorge and approaching Rudesheim, one of Germany’s best known wine towns. We were treated to a train ride into the city where our group gathered at a local restaurant famous for its special drink. The drink is served in unique china cups shaped somewhat like a womans body. First, you pour a generous amount of brandy into the cup, then you add strong coffee, stir just a bit, and top it off with yummy whipped cream and a dusting of chocolate. It was wonderful! Of course, you can buy a gift pack to take home with two of the cups, the long-handled spoons, and a bottle of the brandy for about 50 euros.

We next walked a block to Siegfried's Museum of Mechanical Instruments. What a surprise! I was prepared for something a bit boring, but I was fascinated with the collection. Siegfried collected a houseful of mechanical instruments from all over the world and renovated them so that they can actually play. There are grammophones, player pianos, glockenspiels, and more. Just a treasure trove. In each of the 8 rooms that we visited, our guide played one of the instruments for us.

DH and I walked back along the water to the boat. We sat by ourselves for a quiet birthday dinner. Suddenly, the wait staff came out of the kitchen with a little chocolate cake and a sparkling candle. Happy Birthday to me! We shared the cake with the couples at the next table and then -- another cake and another round of Happy Birthday for a passenger from Canada! And, we later learned, a third passenger with a September 8 birthday was at the optional German dinner in town. No cake for her -- she had to down a bottle of a special wine in one gulp!

We partied for awhile in the lounge with Darryl, the birthday boy, and a group of Canadians traveling together. Boy, they know how to party! Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash and saw that a town on the other side of the river was shooting off fireworks! What a nice touch on a very special birthday.

On returning to our room, we found a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for us. What a wonderful birthday!

A rainy day in Cologne

2010-09-08T03:29:00.000-07:00

Rain. What can you do? Fortunately, I was able to grab an umbrella from the few that Avalon put out for our use and off we went.

Our walking tour was quite interesting winding us through the cobblestone streets of the Altstadt (Old City) before ending in front of the Cologne Cathedral. The Cathedral is immense; in order to actually stand and look from bottom to top, I had to put my head back so far that I was afraid I was going to topple over! There is scaffolding covering some segments since repair, restoration, and cleaning is a constant task with an ediface so huge.

Door Knocker at Cathedral at Night

DH and I spent quite a bit of time in the Cathedral trying to take pictures that would illustrate the size of this building. Very difficult to do.

There are more flowers than we've seen in Amsterdam. Quite pretty as you walk through the city.

I apologize for the order of the pictures. We're trying to get them all organized by day, but not always successful!

Flowers by the fountain telling the story of the elves.

Starbucks iin Cologne!

After a brief stroll along the river and short visit to the Chocolate Museu,m we returned to the boat in the late afternoon for cocktails and a lovely dinner with Del and Tom from Texas. Del is originally from the Phillipines, and she has quite a vibrant personality.

Along the riverbank

I convinced Doug to go back into Cologne to see the city at night. The Cathedral is even more magnificent at with the city lights as a background.

Church bells chime at all hours of the day, not always on the 1/4 hour, and for various lengths of time. I love hearing them!

Tomorrow, my 65th birthday, we'll be in Koblenz then sailing through the Rhine Gorge where many castles are located, then stopping in Rudesheim. What a wonderful way to spend a birthday!

Approaching Cologne, Germany

2010-09-08T02:58:00.000-07:00

Our dinner last night was quite enjoyable. We shared a table with Joan and Ken from Nova Scotia. There is one sitting for dinner (7 p.m.), and seating is open. DH likes this setup because we can sit with different people every night. That part I enjoy, but I miss getting to know individual servers who learn what you like and don't like. My sister and brother-in-law would be so proud of us -- we are "dining" rather than "eating" and often spending two hours at the table!

Cruising overnight was uneventful, and we awoke late to a very overcast sky. Rain is inevitable today, but we will survive! When we visited Gdansk several years ago, it was pouring rain and it turned out to be one of the best days of our trip. Maybe Cologne in the rain will be the same.

The Felicity offers two choices for breakfast: buffet in the dining room with made-to-order omelets and a variety of other hot and cold dishes, breads, fruit, etc., or a light breakfast in the lounge with rolls, juice, coffee, tea. Although the food choices are limited compared to ocean liners, we find no fault so far. Wine flows freely during dinner. There is a one-hour cocktail hour before dinner where drinks are 2 for 1. No complaints there!

The river is wider than the man-made canal leading from Amsterdam to the Rhine, but not as wide as I had expected. Riverbanks on both sides are lush and green. There are intermittent industrial areas. Occasionally, you can see a small village with lovely homes. Once per hour or so, you can see trailer parks/campgrounds with older, small campers. Apparently, Germans rent a camping space by the year along this part of the Rhine and leave a camper parked for weekend visits. Interesting!

The main attraction in Cologne is Kölner Dom. The Cologne Cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. Building commenced in 1248. Although the cathedral was hit by 14 aerial bombs during World War II, it remained standing. The incredibly tall building was perfect for allied aircraft to use as a landmark from which to calculate bearings to other bomb targets in Germany and Southern Europe so the cathedral was left intact for future missions. Think of the stone masons and other workers who toiled over the centuries to construct this magnificent edifice. Never would they have imagined that their efforts would aid a future generation defeat a horrific enemy.

Dag Amsterdam

2010-09-07T01:41:00.000-07:00

I got teary eyed on leaving our apartment and walking for the last time through the streets of Amsterdam. This is a great city and one in which I think I could live. I'd have to buy a couple of dozen scarves, however. Women wear stylish scarves around their necks so they can keep warm and cover their heads at a moment's notice as the weather changes.

Thank you, Amsterdam, for a wonderful visit. I wish I could say that I'd be back --- but there are other cities to visit and time is running short. But who knows?

Farewell to Amsterdam and off to the Rhine River

2010-09-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of harbor activity even early in the morning as we awakened and started the day. The busses left early for our canal cruise, so we had to have breakfast and be ready to go by 8:15. Glad we did not take a canal cruise earlier in the week. It was pretty neat to see Amsterdam from the canals. The parking garages for bikes near the railway station, where the canal cruise started, were overflowing with bikes. Quite a scene. The garages are free, but there is no guarantee of safety. Our guide said that the safest way to store a bike is with 3 different locks! There are 16 million people in Holland and 20 million bikes. Obviously, the Dutch love their bikes!

The “hooks” on the top level of the houses along Amsterdam's canals are actually called hoisting beams. Since the steps are so steep and narrow, the only way to get furniture and other belongings to the upper levels is by a pulley system using the hoisting beams. The facades which lean forward are deliberately built that way to avoid damaging the building and your belongings during a move. Imagine what it must cost to move in Amsterdam?

We returned to the Felicity ready to set sail at noon. The upper deck is open - cold and windy! The lounge was the perfect place for us to relax, have a glass of wine and a light lunch and watch as we slowly made our way through to the river. Farmlands along the river are lush with trees and greenery and fields. Cows, horses, and many sheep graze in the fields on one side of the river while some light industrial buildings and the train tracks can be seen on the other. Occasionally, you can see church steeples in the distance.

We’ll be sailing all afternoon and into the night. Tomorrow we arrive in Cologne, Germany. Hopefully, we'll have some time in the morning to upload a few pictures that I can post.

Onboard the Avalon Felicity

2010-09-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

We spent the morning making an effort to finish the washing and drying a few “essential” clothes; i.e., DH’s stuff! Mine remains in the dirty clothes bag. Hmmm...

I finished up the leftovers in the frig and made a sandwich for lunch, finished packing, and left our little apartment for a short walk to the NH Amsterdam Centre to check in for our cruise. Vondelpark, the city’s largest park (comparable to New York’s Central Park), is a short distance from the hotel. We try to have at least one picnic lunch during our trips, and the weather today was perfect for such an outing.

Amsterdammers must love this park especially on a sunny day. It was crowded with families, young lovers, groups of men playing soccer, sunbathers, a few musicians, dogs, and even some just dozing in the afternoon sun. We enjoyed our picnic lunch by a small waterfall while listening to a guitarist play and sing Neil Diamond songs in Dutch!

Avalon took us by bus from the hotel to the dock where we boarded the Avalon Felicity. The river boats dock side by side so that you have to walk through another boat in order to board. We were greeted with the friendly smiles of the crew and shown to our cabin. No security at all unlike the ocean cruise lines. More trust? Less threat? Who knows?

The room is quite small, but well designed. We managed to find a place for everything, then struggled with the room safe until I finally figured out that the “B” looked strikingly like an “8!” I finally got my cocktail - a small bottle of Gilbey’s from the room mini-bar over ice. Oh, well - it will make me appreciate my martini nights at home all the more.

We shared a table at the welcome dinner with Frank and Joyce, an interesting couple from Ontario, Canada. His wife has been in a care facility for over ten years, so Frank and Joyce consider themselves “traveling companions.” They were actually introduced to one another by one of their children. I hope our children would do the same for us if one of us goes into that long dark hole called dementia.

The room was dark, the boat was quiet -- blessed sleep!

Random Observations from Amsterdam

2010-09-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

The Dutch are a very tolerant people. Not only is prostitution legal (and regulated to protect both seller and buyer), but one may buy marijuana in licensed coffee houses. We occasionally caught a whiff of a familiar substance while taking our daily walks.
I love the bicycles with carts in front for the kidlets. Some moms (and dads) are able to maneuver the bike with 3 toddlers in the front cart. And they also have baskets draped over the back wheel for groceries! Now that's really "going green."
There are potted orchids growing in apartment windows everywhere. They all seem healthy and hardy. I'm jealous!
European women, at least in Amsterdam, are a step ahead of us in style. Style is not my thing -- whatever fits and is on sale on senior day at Ross becomes my style! However, I do appreciate a woman stylishly dressed and they are abundant in this city.
Some of the ladies' footwear is just amazing. Six-inch high stilleto heels (at least) with gladiator type straps across the instep. How the hell do you walk in these things? A lot of younger women wear these spectacular shoes with tights. Tall, thin bodies and magnificent gams -- quite a sight.
Smokers are everywhere.
Catching an unexpected scene down an alley or side street is one of the joys of walking through this city. It might look like just another alley, but at the very end is a magnificent steeple rising into the blue sky. Takes your breath away.
People congregating on the front steps leading to their apartments - having a coffee in the morning, reading the daily newspaper, enjoying a cocktail with friends and neighbors after work. Did I see champagne glasses?
If I were 21 and single, I could live in this city.
Tolerance, acceptance, basic human decency -- what made the Dutch so important in the Resistance Movement of World War II. Thank you!

Look at me - I'm in a windmill!

2010-09-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

We slept in this morning. After breakfast, we walked to the train station to catch a bus to Zaanse Schans to see windmills. DH plans our daily routes so we walk on different streets. All of a sudden, we were in the Red Light District once again! I managed to get a picture of the red lights along a side street. Apparently, the photo rule is that you cannot take pictures of the gals, but otherwise photos are okay. The photo needs a little editing, so I won't post it until after we get home.

We had a lovely bus ride with a family from Argentina to this picturesque village on the Zaan River northwest of the city. Their little boy was an energetic as Jackson! The busses are very clean and quiet. Many of them are doubles with the flexible middle allowing them to easily turn corners. There's probably a name for them, but I don't know it!

I'm so glad we did this sidetrip since it allowed us to see the immediate suburbs of the city. The neighborhoods are filled with apartment buildings three or four stories tall. Some of them have small patios and lovely well-maintained gardens.

I loved Zaanse Schans! Even though this is obviously meant for tourists, it was not "touristy." Throughout our visit, we saw residents riding bicycles or visiting with one another. People in the half dozen shops as well as the mill operators were extremely friendly and informative. We visited a cheese shop and learned how goat milk is magically transformed into delicious Edam cheese then wandered along the grassy fields and watched the goats.

We walked along the river stopping to visit four or five windmills. There was little wind at first. There's a small fee to tour a windmill (3 euro per person), so we chose one to visit. The De Bonte Hen (The Brightly Colored Hen) was built in 1693. At the present time, it is run by volunteers and produces vegetable oils. It is dark and musty smelling on the inside. The mill operator apologized that there was no wind, but suddenly we heard creaking and the gears started to slowly turn. As the wind picked up, you could hear the mill come to life with the sounds slowly accelerating.

I decided to climb up to the second level and go on the outside of the mill. The stairs are incredibly steep. They reminded me of the stairs going into the depths of the tall ships, but these were steeper and narrower. Fortunately, there was an iron handrail -- but only on one side! I managed to climb the stairs and was rewarded with a spectacular view of the countryside and the village of Zaandijk across the river. I will never forget the sound of the windmill turning "up close and personal."

We crossed the river by ferry (actually a small boat) and wandered around for an hour or two stopping by a little sandwich shop for a "broodje." We even splurged on a nut tart for dessert. Our meal times are totally off; breakfast at 10, lunch at 3, and dinner at 9. My SIL and BIL would be so proud of us for eating dinner so late!

As we were heading back across the river, we heard sirens everywhere. Once per year, there is a truck parade when handicapped children get to ride along with the drivers and tout the horns and sirens. There must have been 200 vehicles! The children were having such fun, but the noise was deafening.

The #91 bus brought us back to the railroad station and the start of our long walk home. Time to try out the washing machine, which is both a washing machine and a dryer in one unit -- not the piggyback style that we've seen before, but actually one unit that serves both purposes. Susan, the owner of the apartment, left handwritten instructions that left us baffled. We figured out the washer, but after several attempts with the dryer, we had to call Susan for a walkthrough. Even after two hours of drying, the clothes were still wet. Hopefully, they'll be dry by morning!

DH and I tried Restaurant 't Zwaantje for dinner. It has a delightful atmosphere and wonderful food, typically Dutch so we've heard. Doug had a delicious fish dish. The French fries served with it came with mayonnaise as a dipping sauce! He loves mayonnaise, so he was in heaven. I ordered Oma's beef stew (how could I not?), a melt-in-your-mouth beef in a marvelous sauce served with a variety of fresh steamed vegetables (carrots, leeks, green beans, red cabbage) and mashed potatoes.

It was 11 p.m. when we finished our wonderful dinner and walked back for our last night at Herengracht 311.

Walk 'til you drop!

2010-09-04T23:35:00.000-07:00

After our tour of the Anne Frank House, we spent a few minutes at Westerkerk, a gorgeous church with a rich history. There is a free organ concert on Fridays, and we were lucky enough to be in the church during rehearsal. The pipe organ is the centerpiece of this majestic church.

Walking, again, we headed to De Kaaskamer cheese shop where the proprietor made us two wonderful sandwiches to take back to the apartment for lunch and some much needed down time.

How could you choose?

After a nap for DH and a bit of reading for me, we decided to walk the canals in search of the two quilt shops that I located on the Internet. We found them! I could not resist a charm pack of Dutch fabrics -- colors that we do not see in the US. Who knows what I will do with them? Probably just enjoy looking at them and remembering our time in Amsterdam.

Along the way, we found a nice neighborhood playground loaded with children and parents enjoying the mild weather. And the park had benches! There aren't a lot of benches in this city; DH thinks it is because they have to allocate so much space for parking for both cars and bicycles. Anyway, it was a delight to be able to sit awhile and watch the kids play and the moms talk.

We found a great bar on the way home and had a couple of brews you can't get in the good ole USA: Westmalle and Affligem. DH wanted to try one of the many Indonesian restaurants; we found one a few blocks from the apartment. Although it was a lovely meal, the tempo wasn't quite right for Southern Californians - well over two hours from the time we arrived to the time we paid our bill. Americans just aren't used to the relaxed way Europeans dine.

Friday night brought party central to our neighborhood. Doug finally got up and read until 2 a.m. or so to avoid the street noise.

Random observations in Amsterdam

2010-09-04T01:34:00.000-07:00

Amsterdammers may not arise early, but they sure like to party late! Bars do not have to close until 4 or 5 a.m., so there is street noise until the wee hours of the morning.
The Flower Market was disappointing due to my expectations. I envisioned row after row of stalls with blooming flowers. Instead, the stalls are filled with bulbs, both packaged and non packaged, for sale. The vendors will ship worldwide, but with my inability to grow anything in the garden, I will pass. I did see bulbs that I have never seen in the U.S. There are flower carts placed sporadically throughout the city with flower bouquets that are gorgeous. I imagine there are more in the spring.
When I open up my blog, Blogger opens in Dutch! I was floored the first time I tried to blog until I realized that everything switched to English once I logged on. The Internet truly is an amazing thing.
One of the first things I saw this morning (Saturday) was a man dressed in a tuxedo with tails and a boutonniere riding a bike! On his way to a wedding perhaps? Shortly thereafter, I caught a glimpse of a car decorated with a fresh flower arrangement on the hood.
You can take a guided bike tour of the city. We've seen several groups. I'm sure it would be lots of fun to pedal around, but I can't imagine trying to navigate the intersections!
As in Copenhagen, the preferred lunch seems to be a small sandwich eaten while walking or biking. "Lunchtime" is about 2 or 3 with dinner no earlier than 7 p.m.
During the light rain the other day, many bicyclists were adeptly handling the bike and an umbrella!
The street cleaner comes by often. Garbage is left in plastic bags at a designated spot near the side of the road for pickup.
The arches under the canal bridges are rimmed with small white lights at night. Simple, but very pretty.

An emotional reminder

2010-09-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

When we planned this trip, I knew that our visit to the Anne Frank Museum would be difficult for me. I read The Diary of Anne Frank at about Anne's age when she was hiding with her family in the secret annex. Decades later, my mind still cannot understand how human beings can commit such horrors as occurred in Europe during the Second World War.

The museum is very well done. There is little conversation as visitors move from room to room reading Anne's story. The rooms are small; it is hard to imagine eight people living within these walls -- breathing, sleeping, eating, bathing, cooking, reading, writing -- maintaining their lives for so many months. The furniture is gone, but the words tell the story well enough that pictures form in your mind.

I could not stop the tears when I walked into Anne's room. Her father, the only family member who survived the Nazi concentration camps, returned to the house after the war and removed the wallpaper from Anne's room to ensure its safety. When the house was preserved and turned into a museum, the wallpaper was returned to Anne's room. Typically for a teenager, Anne glued pictures to the walls in her room - movie stars, flowers, other images that appealed to her. I could not stay long in that room.

I will read Anne's book again when we return from this trip. Her story is not to be forgotten.

A day of firsts

2010-09-03T00:41:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam does not wake up early it seems. Even the cafe below our apartment, which only serves breakfast and lunch, opens at 8:30 a.m. Imagine if Starbucks opened that late? We slept so late in part because we did not hear traffic noise or bicyclists until after 7:30. What a treat!

I cooked my first meal in Europe! Fried eggs, bacon (which is round cut), toast, yogurt, juice, and coffee. Actually, Doug made the coffee in the Philips Senseo. We watched the canal come to life as we ate.

We planned for the day, which means that DH poured over the maps and highlighted a suggested route while I took pictures of our bedroom. Isn't it cute?

Off we went on a convoluted route through a maze of interesting streets towards the famous Red Light District of Amsterdam.

Without warning, we sighted a scantily clad female standing provocatively in a window. No doubt, we were there. The Red Light District actually does have red lights which for some reason surprised me. I was warned by a friend not to try to take pictures. Rumor has it that you might have your camera taken and thrown into the canal. I doubt if snipes.com covers this sort of thing, so we decided not to take a chance. I have no pictures to share with you. Considering that we were walking through the area about 11 a.m., there were quite a few girls already at work - young to middle aged, ivory to ebony, slim to stout. In the middle of this unique district sits the oldest building in Amsterdam, the 14th century Oude Kerk (Old Church). You can literally stand at the entrance to the church and see the red lights and occupied windows.

Along the streets of the city

We settled in a cafe right outside the Red Light District for a cup of coffee before heading off to the bustling train station. Doug researched the tram system while I watched for pickpockets. We tried to find a tour to the windmills and dykes at the visitor's center, but the tour we wanted does not run on Saturday, our only day to explore somewhere outside the city. The visitor center guide suggested that we just take a local bus to the Zaanse Schans, a nearby town with working windmills.

Letting our adventurous spirits guide us, we tackled the tram system and headed off towards the museum district. It was raining softly as we exited the tram at The Van Gogh Museum. Fortunately, the museum has a lovely cafeteria where we ate a "club sandwich" Dutch style - salmon, butter, capers, and thinly sliced cucumber. Yummy!

The Van Gogh Museum has a security system that could rival any airport. The museum has over 200 Van Goghs in its collection as well as works from other masters such as Monet, Renoir, Picasso. We watched an informative short video on the life of Van Gogh then explored the four floors of the museum leisurely for several hours. I had seen some of the paintings at the Los Angeles Museum of Art when they were on special exhibit, but seeing so many of his works in one collection was quite a thrill. Occasionally, I would enter a gallery and gasp -- there's a Monet! there's a Pissarro! a Renoir!

We walked "home" among Amsterdammers finishing up the work day and heading to their own homes. The grocery store was mobbed with shoppers. As we got closer to the apartment, we noticed the cafes and bars full of young people sipping after-work beers and visiting with friends. At our favorite little cafe a block from the apartment (Cafe Wheels), we sipped our own cocktails (Bombay Sapphire on the rocks with a lemon) and asked the bartender about smoking laws. The Netherlands adopted a no-smoking law in pubs and restaurants only two years ago - the 14th nation in Europe to do so. If you sit at one of the outside tables, smoking is permitted. Interestingly, he mentioned that Ireland was the first in Europe to adopt a no-smoking law!

View from our dining table

There are water taxis on the canals. It is fun to watch people in business attire on their way home from work laughing and talking with others on these taxis. Reminded me of taking the bus or the train home everyday with the same people and developing friendships.

Tomorrow, the Anne Frank House then more adventures on the streets of Amsterdam!

The longest day(s)

2010-09-02T01:28:00.000-07:00

Good morning, Amsterdam! We left our home on Tuesday, the 31st, at 3:30 a.m. in the morning. The limo took us to LAX without incident. There aren't a lot of cars on the freeways at that time of the morning even in LA! I've never driven so fast on the 91 -- it's usually one long parking lot.

The downside of leaving so very early is that we had a 3-hour wait before boarding the plane. Even with a leisurely breakfast and a few long walks around the terminal, it was boring. The plane trip from LA to Philadephia was fine, and the layover in Philadelphia was less than two hours. We must have missed an incident in Amsterdam the day before. Whatever happened resulted in extra security for everyone flying to Amsterdam. Both of us had our hand luggage personally checked and "swiped" with some kind of cloth/chemical. We passed! And all of our checked luggage was inspected as well.

4 1/2 hours on the first flight, then over 7 on the trans-Atlantic flight. My nervous system gave out somewhere over the Atlantic! I tried to sleep, but with the overhead movies on throughout the entire flight and two infants on board, it was a futile effort.

As we came down through the clouds into Amsterdam, the spacious green landscape unfolded. Everything is lush and green. You don't see that much green in Southern California even in the rainy season. And water is everywhere. I was finally feeling the excitement of the trip!

The airport is very modern and huge. If I had been less tired, I would have explored the intriguing shops. One was just full of Crocs! Doug was a bit harried by this time and also overwhelmed by the complexity of the airport. We did manage to find a Starbucks! Then bought a phone card, contacted Franklin about our apartment, and arranged for a shuttle to a hotel within walking distance of the apartment.

The apartment is adorable. We are over a cafe that is open for breakfast and lunch. You enter our apartment through a door at street level, then climb a flight of very narrow steep stairs to the next floor with a kitchen and sitting room. There is Internet access and a nice tv/stereo system and comfortable seating. Susan, the proprietor, left lots and lots of food -- cheese, lunchmeats, fresh fruit, milk, juice, eggs, quiche, butter, fresh bread, coffee, tea. The top floor houses the bathroom and bedroom - with an iron bed. Quite cute. Will post pictures later.

We unpacked a bit then headed out to explore the city and to try and stay awake as long as possible. The canals wind throughout with bridges every few blocks. Most people are on bicycles with a motorscooter here and there, a few cars and delivery trucks. As a visitor, watching the traffic is amusing. We haven't quite figured out how to cross the streets safely. There doesn't seem to be a "right-of-way" rule! Pretty intimidating. Our best bet is to find someone who looks like an Amsterdammer and walk across with them! From time to time, you can see personal boats on the canals as well as tour boats.

We found several nice antique stores to roam around in and a terrific lace & trim store. Hope we can find that one again - I saw something I wanted to buy for the girls. Also stumbled on a long shopping street with recognizable shops (even Foot Locker) similar to the shopping area in Copenhagen.

The weather is fall like - mid 60s and sunny. Most people are wearing coats or jackets and long pants. It's funny how Americans stand out just because of the way we dress! Most women are very fashionably dressed. I saw several wearing a new style of pant with flowing trouser legs. Hard to describe, but very flattering.

We found a nearby corner bar for a beer and a hamburger then continued to explore. I think we walked 10 miles! DH and I decided to come back to the apartment to shower, unpack totally, then just eat some of the goodies here for dinner with a bottle of Bordeaux wine we purchased when we finally found the grocery store. We did just that. At about 7:30 local time, we both decided that we were desperately in need of sleep. Believe it or not, we slept about 12 hours straight!

Off on a grand adventure!

2010-08-31T03:30:00.000-07:00

DH and I are off today on a 3-week adventure. The adventure, unfortunately, begins at 3:30 a.m. when the shuttle picks us up for the drive to LAX.

We both celebrate our 65th birthdays this year. It is also our 40th wedding anniversary. Spending big bucks seemed the appropriate way to celebrate! We fly to Amsterdam for a 4-day visit, depart on an Avalon Rhine River cruise, then spend about 10 more days exploring Switzerland from several cities. We'll be traveling via rail in Switzerland on our Eurail pass. Talk about an adventure! I don't do well getting on and off trains (something about my past lives, perhaps), and DH has us on a train every day once the cruise is over. We may have to discuss this a bit.

There is so much to look forward to on this trip. Our stops are all new to us. We enjoyed walking along the canals of Copenhagen immensely several years ago and hope to have a similar experience in Amsterdam. Visiting the Anne Frank House will be emotional, I am certain.

We plan to taste German beer at each stop along the Rhine!

We are even spending a day in Steckborn, home of Bernina International. We'll take a tour of the plant, then I get to play in their Creative Center. I'm hoping to have a demonstration of the cutwork tool to see if it might be something I would actually use rather than just keep in the box.

Inspite of our determination to pack light and do without e-mail and the Internet for three weeks, we just couldn't do it. So yesterday we hopped over to the shopping center and purchased a Toshiba netbook. It's cute! We'll have access to our e-mail and the Internet from time to time on the trip. I hope to blog a bit, as well.

Packing is done, refrigerator is empty, bills are paid, books returned to the library. Alarm is set for 2:30 a.m. Next stop - Amsterdam!

Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #14

2010-08-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

Introducing Doll #14. Taking some inspiration from Brandywine Design as well as the Martha Pullen tv show, I used stitch #702 on my Bernina 640 and adjusted the width a bit so that I could weave the little satin ribbon through the stitch. Boy, did that take some doing! I envisioned using a safety pin or a bodkin to pull the thread through. That did not work at all since the stitches were so small. After almost giving up, I remembered that I recently bought a very slim pair of tweezers at a swap meet. Worked like a charm!

Stitch #702 is the heirloom style stitch that Martha says looks like little railroad tracks, and it does. I know I'll use this idea again. Learning more about heirloom sewing is on my sewing to-do list.

The last piece of fabric from the quilt guild project is a pretty shade of lavender with just a touch of orange. I had an idea for this dress and was determined to finish it before our trip. That was before our unexpected excursion to Los Angeles last Saturday. The next block will just have to wait until we return from our grand adventure - more information to follow!

Another kick-in-the-pants reminder --- do it now!

2010-08-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

On the day I received my official driver's license at the ripe-old age of 17, I called my grandma and invited her to go shopping and lunch with me as long as I could drive her car. Typically for a teenager, I procrastinated. I never did take my grandma to lunch. She committed suicide before my 18th birthday.

Decades later, my DH and I planned a weekend visit with dear friends who had just built their dream retirement home on a beach in Mexico. Something - who remembers what - interfered with that visit. Shortly after our postponed visit, my dear friend passed away from lung cancer. I did not even know that she was ill - she was that kind of person. Keep it personal, keep it close to your chest, be brave, be stoic, be undemanding.

Last Saturday, DH and I attended a memorial service for a friend of 20 years. Bob was the best man at my sister's wedding; we attended his retirement party; we've hugged his wife, daughters and granddaughters, numerous times. We've camped with Bob, we've partied with Bob, we've raised a glass of "gout" with Bob - we never imagined that we'd be saying goodbye to Bob before his 70th birthday.

Bob was a Vietnam veteran, wounded several times, and a tireless advocate for the Disabled American Veterans. Bob was married to Renee, a Frenchwoman whom he met while stationed in France in the late 50s and my brother-in-law's aunt. We talked about vacationing in France and finally getting to meet the family and seeing La Boule. We didn't do it. Time ran out.

I'm revisiting my bucket list. Tonight, take at look at your own bucket list. Your personal timetable may not be in synch with life's timetable. Do it now!

Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #13

2010-08-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

We are ending up with lots of pink and yellow fabric as we reach the end of this project. Once all the blocks are done, of course, I'll be mixing and matching according to the wishes of my little granddaughters (and their momma). Should be interesting to find fabric for the sashing and borders, too. Can you just see me with all these blocks strewn about the local quilt stores? Yikes! I'll have to rent their classrooms just in order to shop ..... and I'm sure they'll be lovely enough to help me make a great decision.

I used this idea before (see Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #5) with the ribbon down the center of the dress. I picked up this lovely lacy edging somewhere in my travels and rummaged through all my scrapbook embellishment stuff to find these cute little organza bows with little pearls. The smaller sleeves seemed to go with this dress maybe because the temperature has been rising steadily over the last days - summer has finally arrived!

The color is showing up a bit darker in the photo due to my poor photography skills. DH would be happy to do the photos for me, but I hate to keep asking him since he sets up all kinds of stuff in order to do it "his way" and makes me feel guilty! So, try to imagine this color as a little brighter.

If you've taken on a project like this one - or are thinking about it - here's a site that I found with some cute ideas. I'm using one of the designs for the next block with a few modifications. Guess I needed a kick start to my creativity button and these cute outfits just did the trick.

Our big trip is coming up fast -- next Tuesday! DH and I are working our way through the to-do lists. More about our trip in the next post. Here's a teaser: I'm actually going to tour the Bernina factory! Whoo hoo!!!!

Definitely a martini night - help, please!

2010-08-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm usually a pretty calm person and reasonable to boot. BUT - and this is a super huge but - my third Rowenta iron just bit the dust 3 days before we leave on our trip. Purchase date: 8/12/09 Warranty: one year from purchase date. Today's date: 8/27/10 I don't have time for this!

Three strikes and you are out, Rowenta. I thought you were the cream of the crop. So, tomorrow, after driving all the way into the valley to attend a memorial service and then driving all the way back home (five hours in the car minimum), we will have to buy a friggin' iron!

Do you see why it's a martini night? Yup, one wonderful Bombay Sapphire martini with a twist made by my favorite bartender coming up.

I'm seriously considering buying the cheapest iron I can find. Help!

One proud momma - make that two!

2010-08-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

I spent last Sunday at my daughter's house working on a cute little sundress for Talia's first day of school in September. Sara had seen an adorable dress on display at her local JoAnn's over the summer and fell in love with the pattern. Unfortunately, by the time we got around to checking on the pattern number, the store had replaced the sample with a fall dress! We researched online, asked clerks at several of the stores, checked and rechecked, then finally settled on a substitute pattern that resembled the first one.

Sara took Miss T., the elder, to the store to buy the fabric. Big mistake! Sara had her heart set on coordinating print fabrics that are so plentiful now for children's clothing and quilts. Miss T., however, zoomed in on an Ariel print! How could we not see that coming?

I loved working with Sara on this project. Sara's home economics classes in school consisted of making an embroidery sampler and a batch of chocolate brownies. Being a working mom myself through most of her growing up years, I had put my own creative sewing on the back burner in lieu of keeping the household running and the bills paid. I have some regrets that I didn't at least do some simple sewing with my daughter while she was growing up. Add that to the list of "things I would do differently if I had the chance."

The manual for Sara's sewing machine (a very nice Husqvarna Viking) is "somewhere in a box in the garage." The first time we tried to sew together at her house, we couldn't figure out how to wind a bobbin. I ran to the JoAnn's and had the salesperson show me how to do it. Did I take a picture? No. Did I write down the instructions? No. For this project, I ordered a duplicate manual for Sara. Hurrah! We now know how to wind the bobbin properly. Progress!

Every hobby has its own language, I suppose. Those of us who have sewn for years take our language for granted. Sara had difficulty with the pattern instructions not because they were written poorly or unduly complicated. She simply does not know the language of sewing. She's a quick study, though, and was gaining confidence with each step.

Here's Talia's first day of school dress made by her proud momma.

And I am so very proud of my daughter who told me as we finished that she might make another dress from an easy pattern. Now we have all three generations interested in sewing. Isn't that lovely?

Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #12

2010-08-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

The old cliche - seeing the light at the end of the tunnel - seems appropriate today. I've finished the 12th block and am well on my way to completing the next one. I have two more pieces of fabric from our quilt group swap. Drum roll please ..... I even have ideas for those! My goal is to finish these last blocks before we leave on our trip to Europe. (More about the trip later.)

Here is block #12. Maybe it's the butterfly button that I found somewhere in my travels or maybe it's the white collar, but something about this block tickles my fancy. Many of the gals from my quilt group have drafted new collars or sleeves or pockets or even dress shapes. Their creativity seems endless. I'm intimidated by straying from the rules, but I took a chance and drafted both a new collar and new sleeves for this block. I like both of them. I'm using the sleeve pattern for the next block as well. It's hard to see from the picture, but I used a yellow thread for the buttonhole stitch on the main part of the dress and on the white collar. I think the yellow against the white adds a little zip especially with the butterfly button.

So, I'll have 15 blocks when done. Now the math part .... how do I make 15 blocks stretch into two wallhangings -- one for Miss T., the elder, and one for Miss T., the younger?

He's back! Or, Grandpa goes to summer camp ...

2010-08-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

My love of professional football started years ago when I would watch the Sunday game on tv with my dad. In those days, games were only played on Sunday afternoons. Usually, one game was broadcast in any market as long as it wasn't subject to a tv blackout. My dad worked 6 days a week; so, Sunday afternoons with him at home were pretty special.

My passion for the NFL and the Raiders, however, dates to the late 60s and early 70s when the Raiders could actually win games and championships and when a 40-something football legend, George Blanda, often saved the day by kicking a game-winning field goal. I loved this guy!

If 60 is the new 40 (sounds good to me), then 40 must indeed be the new 20. Brett is back! Yup. The on-again, off-again retirement of Brett Favre is off-again. He has returned to the Vikings summer camp to begin yet another quest for the Vince Lombardi trophy. Brett, who turns 41 this fall, became a grandpa last spring and wants to give "one more try" for a Vikings Super Bowl berth.

I'm a committed Raider fan - Commitment to Excellence or needs to be committed - you choose! But watching Brett Favre play football is pure joy for this football nut. The man loves the game. The man gives everything he has to the game. It's just FUN to watch him play! By the time it's obvious that the Raiders won't be headed to Cowboy Stadium on February 6, 2011, I'll be pulling for Brett and the Vikings to head that way.

Go, Grandpa, go!

Better?

2010-08-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

I must not have been completely satisfied with the last dress block because I kept it out on the dining room table instead of putting it away with the other finished blocks. As I was getting ready for our Monday quilt guild meeting, I realized that it needed a little extra zip. I added 3 small red buttons, and I am much more pleased with the result.

What do you think? Is it better?

Almost done with the next block, too, which I will share with you tomorrow.

It is hot, hot, hot here today. Summer has finally arrived. We've had such a mild spring and summer with few days in the upper 90s let along approaching 100. We've run the air conditioner the last two nights, which we prefer not to do. But the house is just too uncomfortable for us to sleep well even with the ceiling fan. Guess we're just wimps!

Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #11 (Finally)

2010-08-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

I've noticed over the last few days that my energy is returning. Hip, hip hooray! Life was getting to be a bit boring, I must say. I think spending the weekend with family celebrating our daughter's 33rd birthday and playing with the three kidlets - who have an endless supply of energy - forced me into recovery mode. Lunching with some dear friends helped lift my spirits, too. Or maybe it was just the passage of time. Today marks four weeks since the surgery. I am now free to go swimming, have a tub bath, soak in the spa - and remove the last remnants of tape covering my boo-boos. Normalcy! Can't be beat.

I finished up another dress block this week. At a recent quilt show, I purchased two small hand-crocheted red hearts. I intended to use one of them on the bodice of a dress, but the scale didn't seem right to me. So, they became pockets. The mini-rickrack also seemed a better scale.

Four more to go. I already have an idea for the next dress with a fabric that is not quite pink, but not quite salmon either.

I'm still crazy about the Nook e-reader that Doug bought for me. I'm halfway through Emma by Jane Austen. This was my favorite Jane Austen book as a teenager, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it the second time around. Barnes and Noble sends me an e-mail once a week offering about a half dozen of their classic editions for free download. So, I loaded Howie (that's the name I gave my Nook - guess why?) with a few of the titles on my "Books I Should Read Before I Die" list: Women in Love, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Sons and Lovers, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, Three Musketeers, Dracula.

Now the problem is to find time to read all these wonderful classics and still keep up with the bestsellers that I enjoy. And sew. And play. And see the family. And travel. And visit with friends. And sleep. And blog!

Cherished moments

2010-08-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

My oldest granddaughter (Miss T., the elder) has always shown an interest in sewing. I usually take some kind of sewing project with me when we go to visit family, so the kidlets are used to seeing Oma with needle and thread in her hands. From the time Miss T., the elder, was quite small, she would sit and patiently watch me sew and ask to help. I try to find something for her to do - push the needle through the fabric, take out the pins, etc., etc. About six months ago, she asked to make something by herself. So, we decided a blanket for her baby would be a good first project. What fun!

I brought lots of pieces of colorful fabric from my stash as well as my little Featherweight for our sewing adventure. Talia picked out the fabric she wanted and then we proceeded to sew. We had a wonderful afternoon together. She's not tall enough to run the machine by herself, so we alternated between her using the foot pedal and me guiding the fabric and then switching roles. She took to the process like a charm even though she had just turned four! Sewing teachers would be proud of me .... I emphasized that we never, ever sew over pins and Talia was quite emphatic about shouting "Stop, Oma!" as we approached one. Cute, cute, cute.

Of course, just having a baby blanket wasn't enough since there was more fabric to look through. How about a pillow? We agreed that her baby doll needed a pillow, and Talia picked out some great red fabric with chocolate bon-bons all over it. We quickly made up a pillow and then placed an emergency call to Grandpa to find Oma's stuffing and bring it with him the next day.

Poor Grandpa. He had hardly stopped the car when Talia was running out the front door asking, "Did you bring the stuffing, Grandpa?"

Of course, if you learn how to sew, you also have to learn to unsew! Here we are a few months later learning how to unsew the "scratchy" underskirt of one of Miss T's favorite dresses.

These are cherished moments, indeed. Brother Jack isn't quite so interested although he does like to take the pins and put them in the pincushion. And Miss T., the younger, doesn't stop moving long enough to contemplate anything as sedantary as sewing!

We're off again this weekend to visit family. This time, we'll be looking for fabric and a pattern to make Miss T., the elder, a sundress for the first day of preschool in September. Betcha she'll want to do more sewing!

By the way, notice the hair style change on Talia between our sewing dates. She had been asking for short hair. Guess Mom wasn't fast enough in making a trip to the beauty salon! So, Talia managed to climb up onto the bathroom cabinet and find her mother's hairtrimming scissors! She loves it -- no tangles! Mom's hoping it'll be long again by kindergarten!

Ahhhhhh .... this is it!

2010-08-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

If I was destined to have an appendicitis attack and subsequent surgery, I can think of no better time of year for it to have happened. No one wants to be sick around the holidays, birthdays, wedding anniversary or - horror of horrors - right before our BIG vacation to Europe next month! But July? Well, that's a horse of a different color in our household.

NFL summer camps start in July, you see. Around the second week of July, daily news stories crop up in the paper. How many millions will it take for that first round draft choice to make it to camp? Is that off-season surgery really going to work? How many players are going to be late to camp because they (1) are still fulfilling their probation requirements, (2) haven't managed to lose that extra 45 pounds, or (3) failed the random drug test? Is the new coach a miracle worker? Has Al Davis' money run out or will this be the year he finally buys his dream team? Is Brett Favre retiring? Thinking about retiring? Talking about retiring? Texting about retiring? Ahhhhh ..... gotta love the NFL.

My Raiders cut JaMarcus Russell so shouldn't be bothered by his recent arrest for possession of a controlled substance (cocaine syrup, whatever the heck that is). Mommas - don't let your babies grow up to be NFL quarterbacks. They have way too much money and way too little common sense, it seems.

By the third week of July, summer camps are underway, the news gets even juicier, and my blood pressure and sense of excitement start to climb. Can't be too long now until the first exhibition game in August. This is also about the time that the subject of football creeps into my conversations and eyes roll. I am sure my family starts to think, "Here she goes again."

So, if I have to be sore, fatigued, and totally lacking in motivation, I can still read about my sport. I can get Howie Long's book down from the shelf ("Football for Dummies") and once again try to learn the intricacies of this game. I can ask someone to buy a $5 bet for me on the Raiders to win the Super Bowl. Don't laugh. Real fans are ever hopeful. I can wonder what an NFL season would be like without Brett Favre. Not a nice thought.

Post Op Benefits - Chapter 2

2010-07-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

In my quest to find things to occupy my time and keep me awake during daylight hours, I decided to tackle a cleanout of our business files -- a long overdue task! I don't have to do much lifting, the cleanout can be done sitting down, and I get to do one of my favorite things - toss out junk! I'm a master at organizing and cleaning out, you see.

DH, on the other hand, is a pack rat. He agreed to be more proactive this time and not keep things "just in case." The shredder is getting quite a workout, and the recycling can is almost full.

I'm also going through my clothes and making piles of things to give away. Groan. Trying on clothes is bad enough. Trying them on while still keeping my tummy out of harm's way takes some doing. The good news is that the few pounds I lost due to the surgery is actually making this fun. I look slightly less dumpy and matronly than I did two weeks ago. Let's see if I can manage to keep the 5 pounds off!

I haven't really gotten back to sewing, yet, which surprises me since I enjoy it so much. Plus, it's definitely a sedentary activity which causes no abdominal strain! I did finish a little puffy pouch for my sister from the Pink Penguin tutorial, but the flex frames I ordered are too small (4"). Ordered the 5" variety online last night, so will have to wait for them to arrive to finish the project. I found another tutorial for a coin purse using the smaller frame and hope to finish up one of those this afternoon. I promised myself that I will then get back to the doll dress quilt - I now have 5 pieces of fabric! Yikes! I need to find 5 more creative ideas. Time to surf the Internet to find an idea to steal.

I find myself spending more hours of the day sitting on our patio, which I usually don't take the time to enjoy. Being in "recovery mode" forced me into this. I definitely should sit and watch the flowers grow more often. I can't do anything about the weeds or the trimming for a few more weeks which is definitely a post-op benefit.

DH bought me The Nook, the e-reader from Barnes and Noble, as a get well gift. I'm loving it! I thought I might miss the feel of a book in my hands. So far, that is not the case. I know that I'll still get my bestsellers from the library, cheapo that I am, but I downloaded about a half dozen classics for free that I've always meant to read. I'm halfway through "War of the Worlds" by Wells. Great read for a lazy summer day. Which reminds me -- my patio is waiting!

Post-Op Benefits - Chapter 1

2010-07-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, DH asked if I thought I should call the doctor to tell him that I am very tired and still in need of an afternoon nap. My response was that I'm 64 years old and not going to bounce back as quickly as I did the last time I had surgery - in 1989! Considering that I was pretty sick for two days prior to the surgery and had my body beaten up during the surgery, I think I'm doing quite well. Patience, dear man, patience. I don't think hubbies do well when spouses are under the weather.

Anyway, I've been looking for some positives to dwell on while I recover. Being able to take afternoon naps without guilt is at the top of the list. Getting regular phone calls from baby sister, daughter, and son is a blessing. My daughter and I talk pretty regularly, and my sister and I talk at least once a week. But our son is one who only calls when he really has something to say. It's been nice to have him check up on me.

Reading. Ah, reading. I'm a lifelong avid reader. Growing up, my bedroom was upstairs. I had the second floor all to myself. I was permitted to read until Mom called up "lights out." Being a kid, I learned how to put pillows over the bedlamp and continue reading until I decided it was time for lights out! Remember the bedlamps that hung over the headboard? I marvel that I never set the house on fire ....

With my physical activity restricted, I've spent a lot of time over the last two weeks reading. Finished "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I highly recommend this book especially for those of you who grew up during the 50s and 60s and remember the civil rights movement. I could not put this book down. Since my genre of choice is modern mysteries or crime novels, this was a bit different for me. I'm still thinking about it a week after reading the final chapter. That's a good book.

Today, I will finish "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Wow! I don't often read two books in a row that keep me turning pages fast and furiously. No wonder this book has been on the bestseller lists for months. I can hardly wait to read the remaining two books in the trilogy

John Sandford's new book, "Storm Prey," is waiting for me at the library. Hmmmm ... can we make this three in a row?

Random thoughts on life in the hospital ....

2010-07-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

How does anyone manage to get better while in the hospital? I'm a rational person of some intelligence, so I understand that procedures are in place to protect the patient and care for them. However, must they wake you at regular intervals preventing you from sleeping for more than 90 minutes at a time? Blood pressure check, meds, change the battery in the heart monitor, stick me for more blood samples, empty this tube, fill up the other tube - what level is your pain now, Mrs. G?

Ice chips on the third morning .... nothing without taste has ever tasted better.

A surprise visit from a quilting friend who knows enough to stay 10 minutes and not a second longer. Thank you, Ann.

A longer visit from our daughter brought joy to my heart - and the realization that my stoicism might have cost me the chance to see her, hug her, love her again. Once in awhile, I guess we need a smack in the face to remind us how fragile life really is.

My doctor knocking the socks off me as he described what they had to do in the operating room in order to "flush out" my abdomen of the nasty pus stuff. A reminder of how tough our bodies are as long as we keep them in pretty good running order.

Losing one tube per day - priceless! First, the oxygen. Then the naso-gastric tube. Then the catheter. The drain. Finally, the IV and the heart monitor! Freedom, blessed freedom.

Walking - shuffling? - along the hospital corridor with DH pushing the IV and me trying to hold onto the wall and the drain tube at the same time. No photos, please.

Phone calls from our son, Matt, every day. I'm so glad I had kids!

Having a 4th IV inserted since the first 3 worked their way out of my thinning veins. This time, I asked for a board to keep my elbow straight to prevent being stuck again. This is the sound of an angry woman - I will not be stuck again.

Get well drawings from the grandkids. Trying to figure out how Tasha's blue eagle is going to help me get better. Soar like an eagle?

Trying to eat jello with my left hand. Hmmmm .... Dougie, can you please cut up my jello?

Meeting nurses from the Congo, the Phillipines, Ghana. A worldwide tour without leaving my hospital room.

Sticking tissue in my ears to keep the nighttime noises down. Trying to sleep on my back.

Needing help from DH to take a sponge bath and manuever in the bathroom. For better or worse, in sickness and in health. He did great 40 years after reciting those vows.

Coming home. There's no place like home, there's no place like home - there really is no place like home!

When stoic equals stupid!

2010-07-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

After a fun weekend of family get togethers and babysitting our wonderful grandchildren, I woke up at my sister's house on Tuesday, the 13th, about 3 a.m. with intense abdominal cramping. Cramping led to the usual intestinal problems for the next few hours and I assumed that I had a really bad case of food poisoning. Being a mom and a grandmother, my first thoughts were to run through what we had eaten in hopes that no one else shared my pain! I traced my dilemma to a fast-food salad eaten at lunch the day before.

We were due to meet Matt, our son, for a quick lunch at an Indian restaurant in the San Fernando Valley before returning home. I nixed the Indian food, obviously, and nixed the lunch as well. Just get me home, I said to DH! I dosed off and on in the car on the way home and realized I was running a slight temp. The rest of Tuesday was spent dozing, eating nothing, and just generally being miserable. I now had my ailment pegged as an intestinal virus. Oh, no! What if I infected the kids and Sara has 3 toddlers all sick with the yuckies at the same time? I warned the family - my sister Lysoled her guest bathroom.

Tuesday night, around 10:30 p.m., I was hit with a wave of the most painful cramping I have ever had - worse than labor pains, I assure you. We had already decided that Doug should sleep in the guest room because I knew I would keep him up with my tossing and turning, fever, bathroom visits, etc. I was literally doubled over in pain for 10-15 minutes before I could get control and limp down the hall to tell him I needed to go to the ER. Doug was scheduled to get up early on Wednesday and drive to the Carlsbad house since the carpet was going to be installed. Obviously, my ailment was poorly timed! We went back and forth for a few minutes and figured we'd probably sit in the ER all night, we didn't have a fallback plan for getting the house open for the carpet installers, etc., etc. So, stoic that I am, I said I would take some pain meds that I had in the house from last summer's undiagnosed gut pain and try to tough it through the night. Big mistake. Bad judgment. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why can't I ever put myself first?

Wednesday morning, Doug made a quick turnaround trip to Carlsbad to let the installers in and arrange for a neighbor to secure the house when they finished. I called my doc (who is no longer my doc) and described my symptoms. Rather than have me come in for an office visit, my doc had her nurse call to say it sounded like a viral infection that needed to run its course. Keep fluid intake up, soft mild diet, etc. In other words, suck it in, Marsha, and deal with it!

After another very uncomfortable night Wednesday, I told Doug on Thursday morning that we had to go to urgent care. We were there when they opened the doors at 9 a.m. It didn't take the doctor more than 2 minutes to diagnose my problem, give me a shot of Demerol, and send me off to the emergency room. By 5 p.m., my surgeons were ready to go. I had a laparoscopic appendectomy. My appendix had burst (probably sometime Tuesday or Wednesday), my gut was full of nasty bacterial stuff, they had to rinse me out several times (thankfully, I was dead to the world on anaesthetics), and I woke up hooked up to more tubes than I had ever seen! Massive doses of antibiotics to prevent continued infection, drainage tube, naso-gastric tube, oxygen, catheter, IVs - a true sick person!

And an unhappy surgeon telling DH that we were less than 24 hours from sepsis - systemic infection. Suck it in and deal with it, Marsha, was obviously not the best choice.

Plans diverted .... once again!

2010-07-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

I had an emergency appendectomy one week ago tonight, so things have been a bit rough around the edges here at the old homestead. I'm home, feeling okay, and moving towards recovery. More tomorrow ... promise!

Today is DH's 65th birthday. We were planning to celebrate in Big Bear, at the best restaurant available. Instead, we had great homemade spaghetti sauce compliments of my sister who has been here three days helping out, lovely salad and Italian bread. Happy Birthday, Dougie!

Playtime!

2010-07-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Off to see the family today. We're doing an early celebration for Doug's birthday - his 65th! We'll be in Big Bear for his actual birthday, so we're combining a birthday party with some babysitting to help out our daughter next week. Never miss an opportunity to be with our 3 wonderful grandchildren .... oh .... and, our wonderful daughter, SIL, son, sister, BIL, too. Truth be told, the kidlets are much more fun!

I've got my fingers crossed that our gardener will visit while we are away and finally put some annuals in the empty space in our backyard. I am a TERRIBLE gardener. I have neither talent nor interest in playing around in the dirt, but I do like the yard to look presentable. I'm going to run out and take a "before" picture in hopes that I'll also be able to share an "after" picture with you next week.

I've had a lot of blog traffic lately, and I can't quite figure out why. It may be due to some lovely comments about my doll dress blocks. Love to have readers and love to have comments! Two more doll dress blocks are on my agenda for next week after we return. Let's see if I can get them done, or at least one of them, before we take off for Big Bear Lake next Friday. I'm not planning on taking the Featherweight with me this time since there is so much to do at Big Bear. Doug likes to keep on the go.

Have a great weekend! Hope the heat has subsided a bit in the rest of the country. Southern California has been remarkably cool this spring and early summer. There is a warming trend on the horizon. Should be in the 100s soon. Ugh. Double ugh.

Uh, oh ... we're moving again!

2010-07-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

Southern California moved again tonight. At about 4 minutes before 5 p.m., as I was standing in the kitchen contemplating dinner (for the umpteenth time ...), the earth moved. I felt a small jolt and a bit of shaking, pretty much the norm, then a second jolt occurred that told me "This could be the big one!" The pictures swayed, the noise got a bit louder, the crystal was tinkling, and I hit the ground running for the front door ...

If you've lived in Southern California as long as I have (since 1976), there's a time when your mind and your body says ... move, baby, move!

Glad that this old body can still move ... and also glad that this wasn't the Big One!

Time to Let Go

2010-07-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

I celebrated Independence Day by tackling a long overdue project . My mother-in-law passed away in April 2007 from the effects of Alzheimer's Disease. Although we suspect that she had been ill for quite some time, it was the last two years of her life that were particularly hard on the family. I wish I had been blogging then! I don't mean to be flippant, but I find that blogging helps me think through problems and analyze exactly what is going on in my life (and in my mind!)

Because my DH and I were the closest geographically to my MIL, the task of dealing with doctors, health providers, facilities, law enforcement, etc., fell to us. We are both firstborn, so you can imagine how well we documented everything! With my secretarial background, Doug's business experience, and our shared tendency to overdo, we ended up with a huge box of files. I had been reluctant to get rid of these papers thinking that I might try my hand at writing the story of our struggles with Mom and her illness. I've played around with various ways to put this story into words, even drafting a chapter or two. I would, however, inevitably walk away when it got too painful.

Yesterday, I decided the story was never going to be written. It was time to let go of the pain and time to get rid of the papers.

I went through everything page by page one last time to make certain there was nothing of continued value to the family. I set aside a few things that might have some future relevance as my father-in-law is still alive and active. The rest is in the "shred" pile.

Surprisingly, the memories came flooding back - the early morning phone calls from my FIL, our frustration that he just didn't accept what was really happening, my acute and searing anger with a system that refused to let us place Mom in a safe and secure environment against her wishes. How can a victim of Alzheimer's Disease make decisions in their own best interests? It still amazes me three years later.

The papers are gone. The anger is not.

My $500 Tote Bag

2010-07-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is - the $500 tote bag! How did I arrive at the $500 mark?

$110 - retreat fee
$125 - my share of the cabin rental
$80 - what I bought at the retreat
$100 - what I ate over four days
$20 - gas
$20 - what I bought at Schatz' Bakery on the way home (yummy breads)
$10 - two bottles of wine for Happy Hour

Okay, okay - that's only $465. But doesn't the $500 tote bag sound better than the $465 tote bag? Poetic license, I believe, is the term. To be fair, it's actually only the $320 tote bag since my companions paid for my room and the gas to compensate me for using my car and for doing all the driving. I think they were extra generous!

I'm pleased with the pinwheel blocks especially since it is a 5" block! I didn't do as well with the sashing which starts out as a 1" strip. Yikes! With that narrow a strip, an accurate 1/4" seam is essential. That lovely wooden button that I've been yearning to use now covers up the sashing which doesn't align perfectly.

I really do like the bag, and I am glad I went on the retreat. Will I go next year? That remains to be seen. If I do go, I'll be better prepared for the experience. I'll bring my own fabric and be much more relaxed. I'll take more frequent walks around the lake. And, I'll bring one more bottle of wine!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Okay .... I said I would post a picture of the tote bag, but I'm tabling that until tomorrow. We spent the whole day at the Carlsbad house and I AM TIRED!

So, instead of a picture, I am wishing all of you a very Happy Independence Day! Spend a minute or two today thinking about what our lives would be like if those brave men in the 1770s hadn't defied authority and set upon a course that they believed was right and just. If you have never read the entire Declaration of Indendendence, I suggest you take the time to read it now. Think about how these words have impacted your life. Better yet, think about what your life would be like without these words. Then read the names at the end of the document. We owe much to these men. Actually, we owe almost everything to them.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an
arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Quilt Retreat - Day Two

2010-07-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

Fortunately, I slept very well on the second night. I think I just collapsed from fatique and frustration! So I was in much better spirits on the second full morning of the quilting retreat. Here's a picture of the gals that I went with:

That's Nancy, me, and Ann in the first picture - Nancy again and Lois in the second picture. We should have asked someone to take a picture of all four of us.

The best part of the retreat was being with these great friends from the Oasis Quilt Guild. We are at vastly different stages in our quilting adventure - me being the least experienced, least serious, and most stressed out about quilting! It's difficult for four women who haven't been friends very long to get through four days of togetherness, two of which were spent in a car driving 350 miles!

Back to the retreat. By the time I got to the community center on the second day, I had decided to relax, enjoy the experience, and not fret about what I did or did not get sewn. I also decided to just focus on the $500 tote bag and forget about actually making a quilt top. I cornered Cheri, one of the organizers and teachers, while she was taking a break from cutting fat quarters and just plopped down in front of her on the floor with my pen and pad in hand. I told her that I wanted to make one of the blocks from her large quilt to use as the front pocket of the tote rather than the needle felted design that the tote project called for. She patiently walked me through all the steps on how to make the block (a 5" ~~spinning wheel~~ pinwheel block). I think she realized as I was writing down everything step by step and clarifying as we went along that this quilter needs lots of help and lots of instruction!

It took me the rest of the day, but I did get the blocks done, the pocket made, and the quilt almost completed! I took lots of breaks to walk in the neighborhood, even perusing the used books at the local thrift store. I also enjoyed talking to the quilter next to me, a local resident whose husband is a recently retired veterinarian. Best of all was watching the grandmother and granddaughter work together at the table behind me. Grandma brought her 11-year-old GD to her first quilt retreat! The GD did marvelously both on her own and with Grandma's help.

We had the only row with all Featherweights! Five little Featherweights all in a row. From front to back, Lois' from around 1940, Nancy's from the 50s, Ann's then mine (both from 1938). The last one nearest the window belonged to a fellow quilter from Mammoth Lakes. She is the original owner - it was her first sewing machine that her parents bought her when she was 14! I didn't ask her age, but my guess is that the machine dates from about 1958. She's just recently gotten it out of the closet, had it cleaned and tuned up, and started sewing again.

Tomorrow, I'll show you a picture of the tote bag. I actually like it and plan to use it!

Okay, Marsha, take a deep breath and carry on

2010-07-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

As usual, I slept fitfully the first night of our getaway. Since I was on the futon in the living room, I doubt that I kept anyone awake with my tossing and turning. We all awoke early, had coffee or tea, showered quickly, and set out on our quilting adventure. We arrived at the community center about 8 a.m. assuming that coffee would be waiting for us prior to the designated start time of 8:30 a.m. Not so. Apparently in the quilt retreat world, 8:30 really does mean 8:30!!!

You could hardly find a more beautiful place to wander around for 30 minutes than Gull Lake. We watched the early morning fishermen, listened to the gulls, and took a few pictures. Once the door was opened to the community center, we were ready to go.

The food at the retreat was spectacular. We were treated to continental breakfast on both mornings (even warm cinnamon rolls), and one of the dinners featured homemade bread and individual quiches. Definitely one of the high points of our adventure.

So, on to quilting. I wish I had a better picture of the project wall to share, but this is the best I can do. The feature quilt the first day (unpictured) had a dozen or so individual small blocks including a pinwheel, a house, a basket, etc., etc. I spent most of the morning trying to figure out what exactly was going on. A second project featured 3 totes with needle felting embellishments. Ah, ha! A tote. I can make a tote. So, by midday, I had concluded that the only way I was going to mentally survive this marathon quilting session was to pick a simple project and go for it. Hence, the $500 tote was born.

As others were busily cutting strips, buying dozens of fat quarters, forging ahead with their quilting projects, I sat quietly at "my space" reading and re-reading and re-reading the directions on how to make a simple tote from 2 1/2" strips. By noon, I had figured out how many fat quarters I wanted to buy to make the tote something I would actually use (9). Whew! I had a goal! I might actually sew something at this quilt retreat. I happily looked through the dozens and dozens of fat quarters and chose my 9. Not my perfect colors, but they would have to do.

Lunch break! Yippee! Off to downtown June Lake for a relaxing lunch. Oops. There are only 3 restaurants in June Lake. One is closed for lunch; one is the place we had dinner last night - third one must be the place!

Slow service (only the owner working diligently to make sandwiches, make pizza, clean the place up, take orders, etc.), but great sub sandwiches. Unfortunately, lunchtime was over and we headed back to the community center.

Do you sense my negativity? I was really struggling this first day to find my place among these experienced, accomplished, RELAXED quilters. I did manage to get my strips cut that afternoon and even had a fundamental idea of how to sew this project. And, I began to sew ... wonder of wonders. My little Featherweight is a joy. This is the most that I have sewn on the Featherweight since buying it two years ago. It is a beautiful piece of equipment. I scored big time with this purchase. Not once during the quilt retreat did I have any difficulty with the Featherweight. Others were not so lucky. I'm going to take very, very good care of her.

By the end of the afternoon, I could see that I might be able to complete the tote bag before going home. A quick glance around the room (filled with 30+ quilters) showed me that others were headed towards finishing a half dozen projects. Hmmmmm .... Happy Hour was a much better choice than continued frustration!

Might I be too old for camp? Could be .....

2010-06-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

I've been mulling over my experience at quilt camp and haven't yet reached a definitive conclusion. Overall, I had a great time. The best part was being with 3 friends from our Oasis Quilt Guild. We got along famously even in a small mountain cabin with a kitchen big enough for one and a single bathroom. Four women using a single bathroom? Yup - we made it work.

I have never been to a quilting retreat before, so I did not know what to expect. I'm a died-in-the-wool Type-A personality as well as a compulsive organizer. This makes me extremely critical of how others organize or fail to organize. I have to say that this event rated fairly low on my personal organizational scale.

We arrived in June Lake about 3 p.m. after a 350 mile drive and checked into the cabin then made a beeline for the community center to set up our machines for the 2-day quilting retreat. I was expecting some kind of introduction to our projects and an overview of how the next two days would play out. To be fair, the four of us were among the minority - the majority of those attending the retreat were repeats and were familiar with the routine (or lack of routine). We set up our machines, looked at the project samples, perused the fabric for sale. Our retreat leader told us to take our fat quarters, cut a 2" strip, then cut a 5" strip, which would leave us with an 11" strip, then we would be good for all the projects!

Say, what? I was totally lost. How many fat quarters should we have? What if we didn't want to make all the projects? She repeated: cut a 2" strip, cut a 5" strip, you'll be left with 11" for the second quilt which wasn't going to arrive until the following day so we didn't even know if we wanted to make it!

I was still totally lost. Amazingly lost. I kept looking at the sample quilts, none of which actually appealed to me. Then I looked at the project directions. Disaster loomed! I need step-by-step directions. None of this made sense to me .... What were all these little drawings? HELP!!! I felt just like the 8-year-old at overnight camp for the first time. I want to go home! I don't belong here! Everyone else knows what is going on. I should not have come. I'm the worst quilter here. Can I get through the next 2 days without crying?

To be continued ....

Back from camp ...

2010-06-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

I am slowly recuperating from my quilter's camp experience. The bottom line is that we had a FANTASTIC time. However, it does take some moments to recoup from being away for 4 days. So, I am busy getting the wash done, paying bills, making sure there is food in the house, ironing, watering the plants, catching up on family news, etc., etc.

700+ miles up and down the 395. Whew! I love to drive, but it was a long haul ..... scenes like this helped make it worthwhile.

I'm going to camp!

2010-06-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Three quilting friends and I are off to Quilt Camp in the Sierras's tomorrow - fun, fun, fun! I haven't been to camp in many years (decades?) and I also haven't been away with just the girls in a long, long, time. I'm looking forward to it.

The four of us have rented a mountain cabin, and we'll be working on quilt projects Monday night, all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Non-stop sewing .... isn't this heaven on earth? I don't even know the projects; I just know I'm looking forward to it.

I am not, however, looking forward to the 6+ hour drive. I offered to drive, and I'm okay with that. I love my little Honda!

Doug has a long to-do list while I'm away. Hmmm ... let's see what really gets done!

More projects down .... hip, hip, hooray!

2010-06-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

Another successful day finishing up projects that have been on my mind. Now, if I can just STOP creating more projects for myself .... hmmm. Not likely, you say? I'd have to agree with you.

I've had a delightfully pretty summery piece of fabric in my stash since combing through the 42 boxes of projects my MIL left when she died 3 years ago. She's been on my mind lately as we struggle to get repairs completed on her house in Carlsbad. Maybe remembering how many hours it took to go through those endless boxes is the impetus to get some of my own UFOs finished! I don't want my kids (or grandkids) going through stacks and stacks of projects wondering if I was nuts ...

I digress. This particular fabric really caught my eye and is one of the few pieces that I kept from my MIL's stash. Granted, it would have made a great little dress for one of the girls with the cute butterflies, but I've been in a "sew-something-for-me" mode the last few weeks. So, this adorable fabric became a pair of pj bottoms just for me - me - me! I didn't have quite enough to handle the length I wanted, so I added the border from another small piece in my stash. Aren't stashes wonderful? Projects like this help justify keeping all those fabric pieces.

The pattern is McCall's 3370 which also includes a robe, a short version of the pj bottoms, and both a long and short-sleeved top. I've always wanted satin pjs - maybe this is the way to get them!

A couple of months ago, I showed one of the outfits that I made for Talia to a friend from my quilt guild. She looked inside the dress and said, "Oh, you didn't finish the seam edges." Well, that got me thinking again about a serger. I'm still thinking about it and wrestling with (1) the expense and (2) where the heck to put it. While I ponder whether a serger is a good move or not, I've decided to try to finish my garment sewing projects in a more professional manner. Even though these are only pj pants, I took the time to overcast the seam edges. It doesn't look all that great; more research on how to do this properly without a serger is in order. I used Bernina presser foot 2A with an overcast stitch (#3 on the 640).

Then I embroidered a kitchen towel with a design that I won - yes, won! - last week from a great digitizer, Mary Rease of Rease's Realistic Designs at the OPW mall. I've purchased several of Mary's sets; they never disappoint. I'm also a member of her yahoo group. Last week, Mary sent her group members a picture of a design she was working on and asked us to identify the mistake she had made in digitizing it. I managed to locate the boo-boo (no easy task), so Mary sent me the design for free. This lovely appliqué teapot is my prize! I thought it would look great on a white microfiber towel that I've had for ages just waiting to be embellished. Fabric from my stash again (whatever was I going to do with this fat quarter?). Adding the border gives the towel a more finished look, IMO. I'm thinking this design is perfect for gift-giving especially if I take the time to add some words as well. Time for tea? The kettle is on? Lots of possibilities.

Now it's time to get back to the doll quilt. Received these two fabrics for the month of June. June? YIKES! Must put the pedal to the metal to get these blocks done before the end of the month. Hope my creative juices haven't stopped flowing. I think it's time to bite the bullet and try pintucks.

Another UFO completed - whoo hoo!!!!

2010-06-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a project that was supposed to be finished for Jackson's third birthday. Didn't quite make the deadline, but at least I can check it off the UFO list. I'm determined to keep the projects under control - finish 'em or toss 'em.

I fused knit interfacing on the back of the t-shirt first. Since the design had over 11,000 stitches, I also used 2 layers of polymesh cutaway stabilizer. It's a bit stiffer than I would like. If I did this design again, I think I'd try it with only one layer of the polymesh. This is another project that I can see making for Miss T., the elder, or Miss T., the younger. Can't you see this in shades of pink or purple?

I was happy, though, that the placement came out well. Practice, practice, practice -- it's worth it! This was a longer project than I planned. I really had to fuss with the t-shirt (a size 3) in order to get it on the hoop and keep the extra fabric away from the needle as the Bernina embroidered away. I slowed the machine speed down almost to minimum and sat by the 640 the whole time the design was stitching out to make sure all went well.

Next on the UFO list is a pair of pj bottoms for me. I'm glad that I started garment sewing again. I found a nice piece of blue and yellow butterfly fabric in the stash that I inherited from my MIL. Perfect for summer pj's. If I put my mind to it, I might be able to check off another project from the to-do list.

Whoo hoo!

Indeed - a picture is worth a thousand words

2010-06-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

As the Gulf Coast oil spill grows ever more menacing, I thought I would share some pictures from our recent trip to the California Coast. These pictures are unedited and need no captions. I can't imagine watching oil spill over these precious parts of our world.

I don't know the answer .... I just know we need to find the answer before more of the irreplaceable magic of our earth is destroyed by human hands.

Something Special for Jackson

2010-06-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

I ran across a great little tutorial on how to make a bike basket for a preschooler's bike. Since we gave Jackson a bike for his birthday, I thought I'd give the tutorial a try and add a little zippiness to his bike. Plus, it's hard for Jackson to go anywhere without his beloved Thomas trains. Now he can take his trains and his water bottle on a bike ride with room for a snack or two!

The tutorial is from the Noodlehead blog. She's got some other cute tutorials - check it out!

The rear of the bike basket has a strap with velcro so you can attach it to the crossbar of the bike. I followed the directions without benefit of having the bike close at hand to measure. Hope it fits!

If I make this again, and I probably will once Miss T., the elder, sees it, I would play with the instructions a bit. I had a difficult time putting the fusible interfacing between the bag and the lining and then getting an iron in the small space to fuse it all together. I tried a smaller craft iron, which helped a bit. I have to remember, though, that it's for a 3-year-old who is (1) not fussy and (2) going to be thrilled to have something his sisters do not have!

If I was a bettin' woman, I'd say there's a pink bike basket somewhere in my future .....

The mind sees what it wants to see

2010-06-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, some quilting friends and I were on a shop hop when I ran across a really cute purse pattern, the Crazy Patch Purse. I haven't done any crazy patch quilts, so I thought doing a small project like this would be a good place to learn a few tricks.

Actually, it's more of a tote than a purse since there are no inside pockets. (The Bow Tucks Tote has forever sold me on the value of lots and lots of inside pockets.) Anyway, it was one of those "I have to have that" moments.

I took the pattern with me to the Quilt, Craft and Sewing Expo in Del Mar several weeks ago to shop for fabric. Just as I was about to give up, my eyes focused on a fat quarter loaded with coffee and tea cups. Voilá! I had found the theme for this purse - I love coffee! So, fat quarter in hand, I searched through the vendor's stash and found a coordinating print in brown with the word "coffee" written in various fonts all over it.

Hmmm .... trouble is that the word was not "coffee" - it was chocolate! Guess my brain just wanted it to say coffee. Oh, well. I love chocolate, too. So I call this purse my mocha purse. Who will ever know?

The pattern was fun to do. I enjoyed going through my stash looking for fabrics that would coordinate yet be different enough to make the crazy patch stand out. I used a variety of my decorative stitches, too. The stitch reference sheets that I painstakingly worked on paid off (see this post). I opted not to add the buttons called for in the original pattern. I'm thinking that this purse needs a big, puffy fabric flower with a button center.

That's about 3 projects down the road .... pillowcase for the one million pillowcase challenge, a project for Jackson's new bike, pj bottoms for me, then a big, puffy fabric flower! Never a dull moment around this house.

Art Linkletter would have loved this one

2010-06-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

My 4-year-old granddaughter, Talia, has suddenly taken an interest in discussing death. (My daughter thinks this is prompted by the requisite scary parts of any Disney movie, especially "The Lion King.") Our daughter is now explaining, at a 4-year-old's comprehension level, various beliefs about death and what happens, or does not happen, afterwards.

Simultaneously, our grandson started potty training. Our DD's tried and trued method of potty training involves rewards, including M&Ms (for trying) and small prizes (for successes). Talia announced that potty training was really fun and she wishes she could be potty trained again.

The next day, Talia told her mom that she has decided to believe in reincarnation. Her reasoning? She would come back as a baby, grow up to be 3, then get to be potty trained again - and have M&Ms!!!!

Yes, Art, kids really do say the darndest things!

Home

2010-06-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Our trip was wonderful, but it is oh so marvelous to be home. We actually arrived back at the farm on Sunday, but it has taken me several days to settle in and feel in control again. As a Virgo, I need to have everything in its place, neat and tidy and organized, to really feel right. Sigh .... today things are as they should be!

The wedding was lovely - different, but lovely. It was held on a farm just outside the charming city of Sebastopol, California, in the Sonoma County wine country. Chickens, horses, birds and bees kept us company as we listened to Amy and Jonny recite their vows. They seem well suited, and I am supremely happy that they were able to find one another in the midst of this crazy, crazy world. Apparently, they met through an online dating service jdate.com. Mazeltov!

Doug and I enjoyed meandering down the coast of California. We haven't done this in years. Stopped often to view the miraculous Pacific coastal areas. Each time we pulled into a parking area to enjoy the vista, my heart skipped a beat. Imagine this magnificence covered in oil? Imagine the sea birds and mammals struggling through layers of oil? Somewhere, somehow, we need to find a balance between nature, business, progress, development, environmental protection. We are squandering the best gift mankind has ever been given --- the beauty of our earth.

Back to sewing tomorrow - finish a purse started before the trip, try my hand at making a new pair of pants by using a well-loved pair that have seen better days, and embroidering a t-shirt for our grandson that missed the deadline for his 3rd birthday. And, watch the Lakers beat the >>>>>> out of the Celtics tomorrow night! Go Lakers!

One thoughtful moment

2010-05-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

DH and I are heading north tomorrow morning - early - to attend the wedding on Sunday of a dear friend's son. It's an outdoor wedding somewhere nestled in the Sonoma Wine Country. Should be lovely.

I'm not crazy about traveling on Memorial Day weekend, but there was never a doubt that we would attend this wedding. Jonny, the groom, has been a part of our lives since the day his sister and our daughter were born within hours of one another. Our families and our lives have been intertwined ever since. We look forward to meeting Amy, the girl Jonny has chosen to share his life. She must be extra special to have stolen Jonny's heart!

As we head off to this most happy occasion, I promise myself that I will take at least one thoughtful moment to say a silent "thank you" to the men and women who have fought and died over the years to protect our country, our freedoms, and our future. This is not a time to be partisan. This is simply a time to be grateful for their sacrifice and the sacrifice of their families.

As you watch parades, hang the flag, start the barbecue, I hope you, too, will take one thoughtful moment to remember those whose lives were shortened by the anguish of war.

I had to hear it to believe it

2010-05-24T18:04:00.001-07:00

Today was errand day for me so I spent lots of time in the car listening to NPR this afternoon. On one of the afternoon shows, The World (which is actually produced as part of the PRI network - Public Radio International), I heard a story that made me laugh so hard I almost pulled off the road! Did you know that there is a United States Lawn Mower Racing Association? Otherwise known as, Let's Mow. Before this afternoon, I did not know it either.

If you have the ability to download podcasts in MP3 format, give this one a try. I guarantee that it'll give you a few laughs and lighten your day.

I hope Bob Cleveland gets to defend his title. His sense of humor, delightful accent, and playfulness demand it.

Have fun!

An "ah-ha" moment

2010-05-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

I belong to several Yahoo groups about sewing, quilting, machine embroidery, Bernina sewing machines, etc. They are a great resource. The members are generous with their time as well as with their knowledge. Someone is always posting a hint, a new must-have notion, best prices on supplies, etc. What I like best about belonging to these groups is the response I get when I have a problem. Simply post your question or problem or dilemma, click the send button, and voilá - your question has bounced around the world in record time. I usually hear from someone within minutes. Answers come from Australia, Texas, the United Kingdom, Georgia - you never know! Fun, fun, fun.

A few weeks ago, a member of one of my groups posted about using her Bernina walking foot in a surefire way for stitching in the ditch. Here's a link to her blog post where she describes this method. Susan posts often on our Bernina group and has lots of great information on her blog. Worth a bit of your time to scan through her older posts.

I tried this method over the weekend on Jack's birthday present, a tablerunner. Wow! It worked perfectly. I quickly e-mailed Susan my gratitude for her post. Now the trick is to remember this the next time I need to stitch in the ditch!

Hang up and govern!

2010-05-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed the seasons changing in the last few days? Yup. We are officially in the 5th season of the year - the political season! Tuesday was election day in a handful of states and June 8th is the primary election in California. Time to stop answering the phone, toss the daily flyers in the trash, and hit the mute button during tv commercials.

Robocalls - sounds like a 4-letter-word to me. The first time Arnold S. left a voice message on my phone during his campaign eight years ago, I thought it was really cool. I also loved hearing Bill Clinton's voice - then Hillary's. The glamour has worn off, however, and I now dread answering the phone during the days leading up to next month's primary election.

I've had calls from Steve Poizner, Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, Dick Cheney, and countless lesser known politicians hoping to garner my vote. Then there are the local school board members, judges, firefighters, policemen. Now, I am very interested in how local school board members, judges, firefighters, and policemen do their jobs. I am not, however, interested in their politics.

I am also not interested in voting for someone who could not take the time to vote during the last few decades, i.e., both Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina. You can vote by mail, ladies. It doesn't take a lot of time. I'm pretty sure these corporate giants had a handful of personal assistants during their years at Ebay and Hewlett-Packard respectively. I'm also pretty confident that these PAs prepared issue papers for the boss. How about an issue paper on elections? Then the boss would only have to read the paper, reach for the mail-in ballot, fill it in over the daily cup of Starbucks, and give it back to the PA to mail. This process, of course, assumes interest in the political system and the future of our state and country.

Apparently, Ms. Whitman and Ms. Fiorina believe voters will overlook their voting "history" because of their corporate "history." Not this voter.

Steve Poizner has reportedly spent $22 million of his own money on the campaign - so far. Meg Whitman's total is reported to be $68 million. That is not a typo - $68 million. That is an obscene amount of money to spend on robocalls!

There are countless more worthwhile ways that money such as that could be spent.

Here's a scenario for you. Imagine gathering 6 petroleum engineers and telling them they have 6 months to design a failsafe mechanism for off-shore drilling platforms that would eliminate the possibility of a disaster such as we are seeing today in the Gulf of Mexico. We give them $10 million for expenses during the 6 months, probably more than they would need. Then we tell them that we will pay them each $13.33 million dollars at the end of the 6 months if they are successful. I think we have a winning proposition here!

Don't insult me by running for office just because you can afford to run. Don't ask for my vote in your re-election campaign unless you have earned my respect by actually doing your job, doing it well, and have only been in the headlines for your accomplishments, not your misdeeds.

Don't call me. I really don't want to listen to you. I want you to do your job. I'll read about your successes and failures in the newspaper, online, or hear about it on NPR.

Hang up and govern!

Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #10

2010-05-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

I had great plans for this dress but some of them did not turn out exactly as I had hoped. I love the soft pink fabric with the red roses which went very well with the blue fabric from a previous month. I've had the strung pearls around for awhile just waiting for the right fabric to show up. I decided to use the pearls on this block as a necklace. I planned to couch the pearls, but I couldn't get the Bernina to cooperate with the feet that I own. I thought my #12 foot would work, but apparently the diameter of the pearls was too large.

Someone on my trusty Bernina yahoo group came through and suggested that I try the 59C or 60C foot. Another foot (or feet) to put on my "must have" list!

There's always another way to do things, right? I just took a few hand stitches at the first pearl on either side of the necklace to hold it in place. I'm a bit concerned how this is going to work when I get to the quilting part - but that's months away! Lots of time to think about it.

If I'm counting right, we have 5 more blocks for this project. Hope my creativity holds out! I still want to try one block with pintucking and I might give ruching a try. Even though I swore I would not do another apron, I'll have to tackle it if I'm going to make both wallhangings somewhat equal for the girls.

Worth every boring minute

2010-05-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

In a carefree moment when I first bought my Bernina 640E, I decided to stitch out all the decorative stitches so that I would be able to see an actual stitchout before choosing a stitch. Sounds like a great idea, right? It is a great idea. The only problem is that my implementation was less than satisfactory. I just grabbed whatever fabric was available, added a bit of spare batting in irregular pieces, and went to town. I stitched out all the stitches in random lengths paying absolutely no attention to the defaults. Not a pretty sight. Although I did refer to them from time to time, they proved less useful than I expected.

One of our LQG members suggested a better approach a couple of months ago. Here's a picture of one of my sample pages:

This approach is so much more useful and well worth the time and effort (and thread!) that it took. Here's a mini-tutorial on how to do this:

Using a neutral-colored duckcloth, cut rectangles 8 1/2 x 11 inches.
If you are lucky enough to own a serger, serge the edges. Otherwise, finish edges with an overlock stitch.
Using an indelible marker, draw a line down the vertical center of the duckcloth. Draw parallel lines about 1/2 inch on either side of this line.
Draw horizontal lines approximately 1/2 inch apart from the top to the bottom of the piece. (I ended up with 19 rows on my samples, although you might be able to squeeze in 20 rows.)
Thread your machine with machine embroidery thread (I used 40wt. rayon) in the top and bobbin weight thread in the bottom. (I used Superior Thread's The Bottom Line by LIbby Lehman which I absolutely love.) Tip: Use a color that you really, really, really like because you will be looking at it for hours!
Starting from the very first numbered stitch on your machine, stitch sample stitches from the top row on the left down to the bottom row on the left then from the top row on the righthand column down to the bottom.
Number the stitches in the little boxes in the middle after you have stitched each row not before! I learned this the hard way. My manual said I had a certain stitch. However, when I went to stitch it out, it was not on my machine. I assume that, for some reason, Bernina deleted it from later editions of the 640 and did not reprint the manual.
You will not need to stabilize this project since the duckcloth is pretty solid. If you choose to use a lighter weight fabric, use stabilizer!
I chose to stitch out each group of stitches separately. In other words, I started a new piece of duckcloth for the 400s, another for the 600s, the quilting stitches are on a separate piece, the practical stitches on another, etc. You'll use up more sheets this way, but it seemed to make better sense to me.
Place each individual sheet of duckcloth into a plastic page protector and put in 3-ring binder. Voila! You have instant access to the way your decorative stitches really look when stitched out.

If you are like me, you will be amazed at how some of these stitches look when actually stitched out. They bear no resemblance to the black and white photos in your manual! They also bear no resemblance to the graphics on your sewing machine screen. Also, size does matter. Some stitches that looked small in my manual actually stitched out much larger than I would have guessed. Stitches that I thought I would never use caught my eye and are destined for future projects.

So, get something good on the tv in your sewing room, listen to a book on tape, or put a couple of CDs in and stitch away!

Why me?

2010-05-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning to DH's announcement that there were stains on the carpet in his office! We have no idea how the stains got there (hmmmm ....), but there are definitely 4 nice round stains that look very much like blood. We've done a full body check on DH and cannot find evidence. No doubt, though, that HE DID IT!

Fortunately, I was able to get the stains out. Whew! After the expense and ruckus of the carpet cleaning, I sure didn't want to call those guys back.

Hope the rest of the day proves more positive. I think I'll sew!

Disarray - once again!

2010-05-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

We had the carpets cleaned this morning. It was way overdue .... when I still see coffee stains on the carpet after the vacuuming and spot cleaning, I know it is time to bite the bullet and call the professionals in.

Unfortunately, this means moving everything out of the bedroom and guest room, which also doubles as DH's office. So the other rooms in the house are chock full of furniture that shouldn't be there and we do not have access to all of our STUFF! We tried to anticipate needs, but you can't think of everything. So DH went to the pool this afternoon, came home and took a shower in the guest bathroom, then realized he would have to walk across the "damp" carpet to get to his toiletries! I decided to research European temperatures in September in anticipation of our big trip then realized that all the travel books were in the "damp" guest room! Ah, ha! I still had access to the Internet even if DH did not have access to his deodorant.

Hopefully, we will put the house back in order tomorrow and both of us will feel more relaxed. What is it about firstborns? We don't take to change or disorder very easily.

The good news is that September temperatures in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Switzerland do not invite swimming. Yippee! No bathing suit is going into the luggage .... doing the Happy Dance!

Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #9

2010-05-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm still working diligently on the doll dresses. I really do not want to fall behind on this project because I know I will never, ever, ever catch up! So, here's the latest and greatest from my designer brain. I do like the contrast between the green floral print (great choice, Ildiko) and the graphic yellow and white. But what really makes this dress special is the little bug pin! I found this pin in a new shop in Old Town Temecula called The Wool Lady. She specializes in hand embroidery, ribbon embroidery, and wonderful yarns and threads, and also has an artist who designs and makes one-of-a-kind ceramic buttons. When I saw this bee button a couple of weeks ago, I knew it had to be part of the doll dress quilt. Don't you agree that this is just perfect on the yellow?

I just realized that with the closeup you can see my machine buttonhole stitches. I'm getting better, don't you think? Today, I have been working on a birthday project for Jackson, my soon-to-be-three-year-old grandson. Hmmmmm .... my satin stitch applique is not looking good on his present! I wish I had started this newest project with the machine buttonhole stitch that (1) I enjoy doing and (2) I seem to do well. I doubt if Jackson will realize that my satin stitching isn't quite perfect. As long as we have cake and candles and singing and presents, Jackson will have a great time at the party! I'm not even sure that I'll be able to finish his project before his birthday. So, it might be a present for his 3rd birthday, or his 4th, or definitely by his 5th!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

We spent the day yesterday with our family at National Train Day in Los Angeles. The grandkids had a great time exploring Union Station and Olvera Street. All 3 of them were so well behaved that we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a Mexican restaurant on Olvera Street.

So, today, it's just me and DH. We've decided to spruce up our two outside benches. They are in need of some TLC to get ready for the summer season.

Give yourself a treat today and listen to an NPR story that I heard on Weekend Edition Sunday. Some of NPR's broadcasters speak about their moms as only great broadcasters can do. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will feel some heartfelt moments on this special day. Enjoy!

Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #8

2010-05-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of tearing my hair out trying to be creative with this project, I've managed to finish 3 blocks in one week! Whoo hoo!! I still haven't tackled the one idea that's been rummaging around in my brain - using pintucks down the front of the bodice. Maybe when I get June's fabric selections I'll finally get over my fear and give it a go. My hesitance is that I am using the fusible web technique for putting the appliques down and then doing machine blanket stitching. I'm concerned about what might happen to the pintucks once the dress piece is ironed onto the block background. I could, of course, do the prudent thing and cut out the center of the fusible so the dress is not actually fused in the midsection where the pintucks would be. More thought, obviously, is needed here!

I plan to make two wallhangings from these blocks, one for each of my two granddaughters. I needed another sleeveless dress so that there would be at least one for each quilt. I might do more in this style depending on the fabric that is yet to come.

One of our local quilt stores is selling off their heirloom fabric and trims; I bought the trim at 30% off. I don't really know what it is called (heirloom sewing is somewhere in my future - maybe), but I could weave small ribbon through the openings to get this effect. I found a matching embellishment in my stash of rubber stamping goodies. Perfect match!

My small window into a stranger's life

2010-05-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

DH and I love antiques and antique shopping. Although we sometimes have a goal in mind, it is the unexpected treasure that really fills us with joy. I have long lusted after a wooden spool chest but the price always seems ridiculously high for a decorative item. I rarely see them under $500 and most are much more than that. While rummaging through one of our local antique markets last week, I noticed a metal spool chest and zoomed in like a torpedoe. The price wasn't out of reach ($249), I had the money squirreled away from my Etsy sales, and I thought I could bargain for a better price since it was the last day of the month.

The prudent part of me took hold, so I slept on the idea. Or, I should say, I tossed and turned on the idea for the night! By morning, I had convinced myself to go for it. I called the shop and asked them to contact the dealer to see if he would accept $200. Whoo hoo!! Price accepted, and I was off to bring back my new treasure.

I was so excited when I first saw this piece that I did not really appreciate the contents. It has four glass-fronted drawers; each drawer was chock full of goodies. I soon realized that this piece was used as someone's sewing box. I love that idea! Then and there I decided that I, too, was going to use this lovely piece as part of my daily sewing life.

It's hard to tell when this was actually last used by the owner, but it was pretty dirty. I doubt that a seamstress would allow her possessions to get in such a state. I surmised that this chest has been in someone's garage or someone's antique store for quite awhile. As I carefully removed all of the items from the drawers so that my wonderful DH could clean this baby, I realized that I was uncovering pieces of another person's life.

The top drawer held only thread - silk thread! Manufacturers I've never heard of: Champion, Belding Hemingway, Corticelli. Silk thread is expensive, so I decided that the seamstress was not just mending and making doll blankets! This was a person who loved quality in her craft. Did she do alterations on expensive clothing? Did she make designer fashions for herself? Did she create beautiful appliqued quilts with tiny, tiny stitches?

As I worked down into the next drawer, I found crochet needles, zippers, several hemmer feet, hat pins! A bobby pin - that reminded me instantly of my own mom who thought bobby pins were the best invention since the wheel. What would I find next?

Scattered throughout the 3rd and 4th drawers were plastic pill bottles (snap on caps - nothing childproof back then) from a Rexall drugstore filled with various items. Fabric-covered buttons, small white buttons, pink sequins, pearls, small metal "coins" with a punched hole for sewing. Costumes! Maybe my seamstress worked on costumes!

Eureka! Tucked at the back of the third drawer were two more pill bottles. This time, however, the prescription paper was still in the bottle. Lydia Nicklesen had a prescription filled at the Rexall Drugstore in Montebello, California in November 1959. The second bottle was for Aron Nicklesen in 1966. If Mrs. Nicklesen was sewing in 1959, she would most likely be in my parents' generation - the Greatest Generation - those who lived through the depression and were in the prime of life during World War II. No wonder all the bits and pieces from her sewing life were saved in these little bottles. No one from the depression era ever throws out a single thing without a fight!

More odds and ends:

A sewing machine lightbulb
A penny
Tailor's chalk kept in a small box marked "Helena Rubinstein, Apple Blossom Time Perfume Purse Flacon"
Two small boxes of matches carefully covered in yellow and green felt and decorated with tiny metal shells - perhaps a gift from a child?
A bandaid marked Long John No. 100 Adhesive Bandage
A box of glass head pins from K-Mart - 61cents!!!!
A receipt from the Montebello Sewing Center (a Singer approved dealer)
A tiny plastic camel - did a grandchild come to play in grandma's sewing room?

I'm going to keep some of Mrs. Nicklesen's things in her sewing kit along with mine. I want to remember that someone else used this chest as part of her creative life. Glass head pins have been on my "to buy" list for quite awhile. I'm going to use the ones from K-Mart. Thank you, Mrs. Nicklesen, for your pins -- and for sharing a bit of your life with me.