Sisters 08-06-10

I was looking through some pictures on Picasa, thinking what I should delete, if anything. When I first started doing photos on the computer I saved everything, but over the years I have learned what to dump and what to retouch and keep. Today I came across this picture of my sister (now 75) and me. I never hear from her and rarely see her - maybe every three or four years if I drive up to Oregon. The only time I know of that she visited SCalifornia as an adult was in about 1958 - she didn't inherit a wandering foot as I did. Our maternal grandfather was a wanderer.

This was Aug 17, 2004, when I was driving to Cheyenne, Wyo, via Seattle (for APNQ), Portland (to see family), and then east through the Columbia Gorge. I took Ellamarie, my sister, her daughter and two grandchildren out to lunch at a place of their choosing. People say we resemble each other, but I don't see it. She has the blue eyes, up-tipped nose and slender frame of our father's family, and I have the hulking physique of our maternal ancestors. This was before I had my eyelids lifted so that I could actually see out of my eyes when I looked down!

I saw Ellamarie when I went up to see Aunt Dorothy last November - she looked about the same as she does in this picture - maybe a little grey hair now. Both our maternal grandmother at 85 and mother at 65 had very little grey hair, whereas everyone on the paternal side developed grey hair in their 30s. Guess neither of us has the grey-hair gene.

Not really a post! 08-05-10

I am still struggling with my computers, but wanted everyone to know that a change is in sight. The new Dell laptop arrived yesterday and is awaiting the computer guru to come and help me set it up. Friends keep saying I can do it, but I am too fearful of messing it up. I can do that without half trying. Sometimes, if I just ignor a problem long enough, it seems to fix itself. Like Blogger - it has been a mess since I thought I'd try their new format/program/method - whatever it is called. But this morning without pictures it is back to the way it has always been. However, there is no "browse" when I try to add pictures. Suggestions anyone? I am going to wait until I have the new Dell up and running before I try to interact with Blogger Help.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

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Wordless Wednesday -LBeach 08-04-10

Out to Lunch! 08-03-10

Out to Lunch. Ladies who Lunch. Let's have Lunch. It has become a meal that I enjoy eating out. Usually, if I know I am going to eat lunch out, I skip breakfast and plan a light supper. I have gotten into the habit of lunching out if I have an early 'doctoring' appointment - best to go fasting, just in case a visit to the vampire is required. But even if it is a dental appointment or a session with the physical therapist, I generally plan to eat brunch, or lunch, out.

This is the Kimmie's cafe on Glassell St. near the Circle of Orange (called a roundabout or traffic circle in some parts of the country/world) in the Historic Downtown area of the City of Orange. It is just down the street from "Paris in a Cup" where both the Book Group and the Victorian Tea Society ladies enjoyed tea recently. The original Kimmie's Cafe is near the Fullerton Airport and the second location, the one I have frequently most in the past few years, is on Brea Blvd in Brea. Since this location in Orange opened several months (maybe a year?) ago, Kimmie (a real person) has opened another, larger place in Anaheim/Yorba Linda near the Kaiser Permanente facility. Maybe she is building an empire! At any rate, I have always been pleased with the simple food and the attentive service, so I go back and also tell my friends about it. One day this past week I visited the vampire and then enjoyed blueberry pancakes w/scrambled eggs and bacon. It was delicious and I enjoyed people watching from my table in the front window. If I ever knew just when I would be done doctoring I would invite someone to meet me and we could get caught up with each other's news over brunch.

Just one door away on the corner of Glassell and Almond is Orange Cycle, a business that has held its own for many years. I don't know when they built and decorated this building, but I vividly remember the first time I saw it. I wondered what bells with weird clappers had to do with bicycles! But, after some contemplation, it dawned on me that these were bicyclists depicted from above! I suppose if I ever watched bicycle races I would have understood immediately.

I think whoever designed it was very clever and I always enjoy looking at such a great graphic. I adore the red bike (attached to the pillar) with the whitewalls - waaay kewl. It would have made someone king of the hill in the 50s.

I probably should have said in yesterday's post that I am the one holding the two doggies. I sometimes forget that people are so accustomed to seeing me in a hat that they don't always recognize me without one. One day I took my hat off in a workshop because I was so overheated and a friend of some 20+ years looked at me and said, "My God, I wouldn't have know it was you - I have never seen you without a hat." So, if I want to be incognito I just need to not wear a hat, no need to put a brown bag over my head!

Two doggies on a Sunday! 08-02-10

A week ago Sunday I had Corky, who doesn't go to quilt shows, so I couldn't go to Quilt Festival - LBeach again. And my friend Nancy Ota encountered several unexpected events that left her with a doggy and she needed to go to Quilt Festival to meet several quilting friends from Japan. So Nancy, accompanied by our friend Hiroko, dropped off Suki to stay with me and Corky at his house in Long Beach. The two doggies had not met before, but after the initial sniffing routine, they pretty much just ignored each other. It was a very quiet day as I was working on my laptop while they were mostly snoozing. When Nancy and Hiroko returned with the Japanese ladies and a car stuffed full of luggage I met them at the door holding both doggies. I knew that Corky would not run out when the door opened, but I was sure that little Suki girl would. Nancy took this picture with the windows overlooking Marine Stadium in the background.

I took pictures of the Suki and Corky to send to Corky's parents in the desert. If you like, you can see them at http://tinyurl.com/2a6xdkn

Thom Atkins quilt in TCQC 08-01-10

This is another of the 12"x12" quilts I recently purchased from the Visions member's challenge exhibit at Visions Art Quilt Gallery in San Diego. The challenge was titled "Fantasy Flowers". The image of the whole quilt is about right in color, while the closeups, even though I corrected the color in my computer, are way too pink. Sorry!

"Gold Scarab" Thom Atkins - Santa Cruz, CA 12" x 12" Machine raw edge applique, machine quilting, hand beaded.

This golden guy is almost too much like a spider for this arachnophobe - but two fewer legs make a difference.

I have seen Thom's work at Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara and it always attracts a crowd. He is very adept at presenting visual impact from a distance and intricate, fascinating detail up close. I'm very pleased to have this piece in the TCQC.

The edges are faced rather than bound, using the same fabric as the background - a heavy silk faille.

Thom has a life time of art experience and an interesting, informative website: www.thomatkins.com