Sister's Choice Quilts

Vacation Week and Easter

The family spent last week down in Palm Desert, having a wonderful time in the sun. Our daughter Sara and granddaughter Eva came with us. Besides celebrating Spring Break, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary. 53 years! We escaped a nasty cold spell at home and enjoyed temperatures in the 70s and 80s. There was a bad freeze in our county which affected the new growth on the grapevines, which will mean our harvest this year won't amount to much. Pretty tragic, actually.

We had a wonderful Easter brunch at a local winery my son in law is associated with. Several families with young children were invited and it was such fun to watch the kids do the Easter egg hunt. Eva and her best friend Addie mostly gave oversight to the event and made sure the little kids got their fair share of eggs. We had such great weather. It was a lovely perfect day sandwiched between rain on Saturday and more rain predicted for this week.

Some happy mail arrived while I was on vacation. You will never guess my plan for it! I have started starching and will share more later.

I'll leave you with a cute picture of Eva by the pool at our vacation resort.

Hope you all had a lovely Easter.

 

 

Cheerful Rocks

Before I tell you about our cheerful rocks, I'd like to share my latest Moda BlockHeads block, #17, by Betsy Chutchian.  She calls it Crossroads.  I changed it up a little ( of course I did) and am very happy with the play of red and white prints.  I made my block 8 1/2".  There it is on the design wall with its sisters.

So, about our rocks.  About two weeks ago, Eva and I started noticing something interesting on our morning walks.  Every now and then we would discover a painted rock with an inspirational word written on it, tucked under a shrub along the sidewalk.  Some had flowers or other designs painted on, some had a word such as "Kindness" or "Love" or "Smile" on it.  We found them enchanting and tried to be observant to spot as many of them as we could.

When I read the latest online neighborhood newsletter, I discovered that these painted rocks are a thing.  People are trying to cheer each other up and leave these pretty little things along popular walkways for folks to see.  One person suggested picking one up and keeping it, and replacing it with another one.  But one man said his wife spends hours painting her rocks and doesn't want them taken.  I get it.  We plan to just add to the scenery and not remove any.

What you see in my photo is Stage One of our Cheerful Rock Endeavor.  We got the base coat on and let it dry and tomorrow we will add our flower (or other decoration) and our cheerful word of choice.  Isn't this a fun idea?  I will show you our finished rocks before we leave them for others to discover on their daily walks.  My girl and I plan to spread a little kindness and cheer!

Eva has a plan for where she wants to leave hers.  When we walk, we sometimes pass a house with a wrought iron fence.  Occasionally, there is a young girl, maybe five or six, peering through the bars.  She always calls out "Hi!" and looks so wistful for a playmate.  Eva wants to tuck her rock into their front flowerbed like an Easter egg in the hope the girl will find it.

A Short Interruption

My regular posting may be interrupted this week while my husband and I are visiting our favorite desert hang out down in Palm Desert.  That is the view from one side of our balcony.  We have such a good time watching the golfers on the 17th hole.  I am sure they have no idea how entertaining they are.

I cannot tell you how fabulous the warmth of the sun feels.  The weather where I live has been in the 50s for weeks and I am so enjoying the high 70s in southern California.  I know 50s probably sound pretty good to those of you in colder climates, but this California girl likes it a lot warmer!

Hope you are all having a great week.

Great Get Away

This little trip up to the mountains has been the best getaway.  We have had some wonderful weather, some great hikes, and some really lovely time together.  It was such a good idea to bring Ozzie along with us, as his enjoyment of the outings has given us a lot of joy as well.

It has been a lot more exercise than he apparently is used to, and he is spending a good deal of time recovering from the activity.

On the last day of our trip, we relaxed.  I did some hand sewing, my husband did some computer work, and as you can see, Ozzie continued his nap.

I attached the binding to a couple of small table quilts, and have finished two books and started a third.  The fall color has been so enjoyable.  Did you know ferns change color with the seasons as well as trees do?  Isn't that a pretty sight?

I hope you will all have a good weekend.  Looking forward to sharing some book reviews with you next week.

 

The Adventure Continues

Ozzie is, if anything, more excited than ever to have been included in this fun road trip up to Lake Tahoe.  He can't believe his good luck in experiencing all the wonderful smells and seeing all the new sights.

I can't even believe I took this picture, it turned out so well.  We were walking around at Sugar Pine Park and discovered this little lake that feeds into Lake Tahoe (you can see the big lake in the background).  It was such a beautiful sight, framed by the large pine trees.  Look at the reflection of those trees...

We hiked around Taylor Creek, which is a dog-friendly place, and were mesmerized by the quiet beauty of the marshlands.  The salmon were running, which was a pretty amazing sight as well.  Can you see them swarming away under the water?  Now that was a sight.

The fall color is so pretty.  This is definitely the best time of year to be in Lake Tahoe, in my opinion.  You skiers will disagree with me, but I love the cool weather, the gorgeous color, the ease of driving around and the lack of crowds!

Ozzie had to be dragged down to the Lake.  He saw all that water and wasn't having anything to do with it.  I carried him down to the water's edge to show him it was all good, but he was pretty reluctant.  He finally explored it a bit, but whenever a teensy little wave came up onto the sand he was done.  Right now he is asleep on the couch and looks down for the count.  A good measure of the day.

 

 

On the Road Again

We managed to survive the massive power outage, which did not last the predicted five days.  Only 24 hours (for my town at least) as it turned out.  It was extremely inconvenient--I had to throw out two refrigerator/freezers full of food and my kitchen fridge leaked and damaged my hardwood floors.  A lot of people are up in arms with Pacific Gas and Electric, claiming they exaggerated the danger to a few by shutting off power to 800,000 citizens.  At least no fires started during the period of the outages.  I don't know if the decision to cut off the power was right or wrong, but I have seen the devastation that huge fires cause and my inconvenience is a small matter by comparison.

And for those of you who read my blog who do not live in the US, Pacific Gas & Electric is a State agency, not a Federal one, and hence has no oversight over arms control or immigration policy.

My husband and I have hit the road and are up in the mountains at beautiful Lake Tahoe.  To his complete and utter amazement, we brought Ozzie with us.  He looked out the window the two and a half hours it took us to drive up there and has been deliriously happy smelling all the alpine scents since we arrived.

This is the view from our balcony.  The weather is quite chilly (50s during the day and high 20s at night), so we warmed up this morning with Honey Orange Lavender Lattes and Avocado Toast.

I'll keep you posted this week as to our activities.  I brought along three books and some hand sewing and hope to keep busy in between making crockpot meals and taking long walks.

 

Bookshops of London

Londoners certainly appreciate their bookstores.  I have a number of favorites which I always try to visit when I can.  Daunt Books is in Marylebone, a fancy London neighborhood.  When you go in, it is like entering a church.  Doesn't the light from that back window set off the shelves of books?

My number one favorite bookstore experience may be Foyles.  When I enter I literally hear angels singing.

All the bookstores we went to were heavily promoting Margaret Atwood's latest book "The Testaments", the sequel to "A Handmaid's Tale". 

Just look at this special edition of Jane Eyre.  

Next up was Waterstones, which was really into The Handmaid's Tale.  It gives me an idea for an easy Halloween costume...

This amazing shop, Hatchards, has been in business since the late 1700s.

We have been taking the Underground everywhere and were discussing between ourselves how interesting it would be to find a book about its history and creation.  What do you know?  Hatchards had one.  It must weigh ten pounds though, so it will not be coming home with me.

If I lived in London, I do not think I would have a dull moment.

I'm at Fortnum & Mason and I'm Never Leaving

We had been to Fortnum and Mason previously but had never taken the time to explore the lower food court.  Fortnum and Mason is known for their selection of teas, and that is what we had concentrated on.  We were really missing out on an extraordinary experience.

I never realized how extensive their offerings were.  In our English novels, some character often appears with a "hamper" full of F&M delights for a romantic picnic, but seeing it with my own eyes was mind-blowing.  I expected cheese and wine and perhaps some exotic jams, but who knew they had a produce section and a butcher's stand?  I am just going to share some pictures, as they speak for themselves.

If you can't tell what you are looking at, they have assorted hams that can be sliced right off the leg.  I know.  It kind of made me take a step back too.  I am interested in where my food comes from, but that is a bit up close and personal.

Wish I could have brought this home to Eva, but I don't think it would have survived the journey.

Yesterday we had a VIP tour of the Harry Potter Studio.  I may have been photographed on a Quidditch broomstick...

Loving London

We are having such a great time in London.  We've had gin cocktails at a Victorian/Steampunk style place called Phineas Foggs.

I got to visit Daunt Books in Marylebone.

And  I picked up the new Tracy Chevalier book A Silver Thread.  Tracy wrote The Girl with the Pearl Earring if you recall. This latest book is about Violet, a young woman who has been made very much alone by the loss of her fiancé in WWI.  To support herself and make a life that is meaningful to her, she joins a group of women who do embroidery for Winchester Cathedral.  After WWI, due to so many men being lost, there was a huge surplus of single women with no prospect of ever marrying or having families of their own.  This book explores the "thread" that ties women together as well as how these women were trailblazers at a time when single women were considered a pretty worthless drain on society.  I can't wait to read this one!

We saw the changing of the guards and toured Buckingham Palace.

We took a boat ride down the Thames.

And had cream tea with scones in the Cotswolds.

We really are having a fantastic time.  We toured Buckingham Palace yesterday, which was amazing.  That being said, we felt very "herded" through things, and there was an awful lot of just standing around waiting for things to happen, like the guards marching by etc.  We also toured Kensington Palace, which was pretty blah imho.  They do have a lot of Queen Victoria memorabilia, which was very interesting to me.  Do you watch the British TV series Victoria on Amazon?  It is so good.  Anyway, a lot of her gowns were on display and it was wonderful to inspect them close up.  Did you know when her dear Prince Albert died she went into mourning for the rest of her life and never wore anything other than black dresses and a gold charm bracelet he had given her? 

We are doing a tremendous amount of walking.  T.r.e.m.e.n.d.o.u.s.  Between 6.5 and 7 miles per day.  With luck, I won't gain weight from all the clotted cream and jam on the scones I have been consuming at every opportunity. 

Our Favorite B&B

Our favorite B&B is one we discovered two years ago by a happy accident.  We had planned a drive to the town of Enniscorthy and there was a mixup in our hotel reservation.  The hotel employee recommended a B&B outside of town called Anam Cara, which luckily had room for us.  We drove over to meet the owner and discovered the place to be not only welcoming but extremely luxurious.  We clicked immediately with Moira and Michael, the owners, and have included a stay there every year since.

It turns out, that Moira lived in rural California for some years, in the town immediately next to ours!

She has her personalized license plate on the wall in her kitchen.  The girl has a sense of humor, that's for sure.

This year there was a couple from Virginia who was visiting as well, and we had a lovely time drinking wine and getting to know them in the cozy living space.

That big bathroom is not typical of what you normally find in Ireland, I have to say.  But I sure did enjoy that tub and the luxury bath products Moira provides her guests.

 

Our bedroom was palatial, and we enjoyed a great night's sleep.

The breakfast we were given each morning was enough to get us through most of the day.  We started out with a fruit parfait and finished off with eggs, toast and smoked salmon!  And do you see, Moira has the same Royal Albert china I have at home?  I knew we were kindred spirits.

The town of Enniscorthy has lots of things to see, but I have to say, we didn't want to leave Anam Cara we were so comfortable! By the way, the name Anam Cara means Soul Friend in Irish.