Birthday pie and Morning Fog 09-03-10

Yesterday was Joe's birthday which we celebrated with baked salmon and fresh corn on the cob.

Followed by dessert. Last year we had olallieberry pie instead of cake to celebrate Joe's birthday and my birthday. This year we established the olallieberry pie tradition. For the three of us we can serve the pie two nights in a row. Best with ice cream, of course, and nothing beats CostCo vanilla ice cream. One drawback is that it comes in packages of 2 - 1 gallon containers, so I feel that I really help out by being there to eat my share!

Today was my drive-home day and I needed to be on the road early (7am is early for this night owl) in order to pick up the Poodle Prince in Long Beach in the early afternoon. The actual driving time is about 5-1/2 hours, but since I have been having my muscle problem I need to stop several times for some stretching and walking or I won't be able to get out of the car when I arrive where I am going. So, today the drive was about 7 hours, including stop and go traffic when I got into the Los Angeles basin.

When I drove down the hill from Mary and Joe's I saw that the valley was foggy. Not unusual, I guess, but not what I had expected.

It got very thick along the way, but started to lift as I went up into the Pacheco Pass and down to Santa Nella. These are the only two pictures I took today - preoccupied, I suppose, although the traffic was very light going south until I hit that stop and go business.

After I unpacked the car Corky and I had a nice little nap - with the A/C running.

A really exciting day, eh? Well, a long day, anyway.

And even more fabric! 09-02-10

As we all expected I did have to buy some fabric at Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove - not a surprise. Gail Abeloe has a good eye for stocking just what I want. I don't know if it is my eyes, my camera, the time of day or my computer, but the colors are all off in these pictures. The black and white fabrics are really black and white or black and pale cream - not blue. And this top fabric is more red than pink. I'm sorry I couldn't be more accurate. http://www.backporchfabrics.com/

Surfside Quilters Guild is holding November Fest on November 9th - it is our major fund raiser as we do not have a quilt show or opportunity quilt. I am going to donate a basket to the silent auction and will call it "Simply Red". So, I am collecting red things for my red basket and here are two half yard cuts to add to the stack of fabrics I have so far. Gail Abeloe donated several items for my basket. I don't know what all I will gather in the next two months, but I am really going to work hard at it.

One of these days I will have to make a black and white quilt - well, several will be required to even make a dent in my black and white fabric collection. Here are four more striking pieces.

This is a one yard cut of a Japanese fabric designed by Yasuko Saito. It is divided vertically into black on white and white on black. If I use it for a border I will probably regret not buying a longer piece. You can see more Saito fabrics at: http://www.qejapan.com/catSaito.html

The following three pictures are all of the same black-on-white yardage! The designer is Yoshiko Jinzenji and it was printed in Japan by Yuwa. I don't understand what the designer had in mind and I also don't have an idea for using it. It is just a fascinating new look in quilting cottons. You can read about Yoshiko at her website: http://www.yoshikoquilt.com/english/menu.html

The fold of the fabric is on the top of this first picture.

The fold is at the bottom in this image.

With selvedge showing.

This is a gorgeous rayon fabric for a 'camp shirt'. It is a soft as baby skin.
I may need to find a professional seamstress - it has been many years since I made any clothing.

Birthday Purses and Hats 09-01-10

Thanks for all the Happy Birthday wishes. I have finally reached an age when I see each year as a gift - being 72 is not to be sneezed at! It was a lovely day - weather wise - and a lovely day spent with my friend Mary. She has been slaving away in her studio making me a purse.

This was her first fabric choice because I am such a fan of bird images.

But she made some slight error in her sewing and decided that it wasn't good enough.

Then she made this one - which is perfect and has colors that will go with everything that I wear except for maybe brown and I haven't been wearing a lot of that. The fabric on the inner bag is some that she dyed herself.

The other side has a rich dark red-violet with a little acid green - perfect. And more hand dye on the inner bag. These purses are two completely separate constructions that are then joined to provide pockets inside and out. She even stitched in a pen pocket so maybe I can find my pen.

We drove to Pacific Grove and fondled fabric at Back Porch Fabrics. Naturally, we couldn't resist buying some very special yardage. Gail Abeloe has stacked the shop with fabulous new fabrics, some from manufacturers and designers I haven't previously heard of. But I hope I see lots of their work in the future - gorgeous stuff. She has a wall of new Kaffe Fassett bolts and some 'far out' tie dyes. If you are anywhere in the area you need to check out the wonderful, colorful fabrics that are in stock right now. Too soon we had to go for lunch before it got too late. Mary's treat for my birthday, but my choice. So, of course, I chose the Red House where we split the carrot/ginger soup (so good) and I had my favorite Portabella Sandwich. I almost licked the plate! We stopped at the market close by that sometimes has Ollallaberry pie and tucked one in the backseat to have instead of birthday cake tonight. Served with vanilla ice cream it was devoured in silence out of respect for it's deliciousness.

When we got back to San Juan Bautista we stopped in town at a funky clothing shop that Mary had noticed carries a range of hats. Since I am always grousing about not being able to find hats these days she thought I might find something there. They have some unbelievable hats - some good unbelievable and some "Oh-no- unbelievable". I selected two that are a little fancier than what I wear for everyday, but now that I am of an advanced age I figure I can wear anything and people will just consider that I am old and eccentric. When we were back at Mary's she obliged with some picture taking.

This is a very fine weave and lightweight. The bow is intended to be worn in the front.

This one is actually beige and a rather strange green and I just love it. This is the way the designer intended it to be worn. However, I think....

...it looks better with the bow in front. I was making a terrible face when Mary snapped this shot. But it is the best one of the hat.

Most people know that I always wear a hat - even in bed with the weather is cold. So, when a few of the ladies at the Westside Quilters event on Saturday were browsing in the gift shop at the Fowler Museum they found a hat made from the outer sheath of a new palm frond - it is all one piece, no seams. This hat is from Columbia and is part of a project to provide work and income for the people there who are struggling with poverty and unemployment. I can't imagine that they would sell millions of these, but I love this one and plan to wear it to very special occasions. Maybe even a quilt guild meeting. Brace yourself!

I like it this way, with the tip poked into the fold.

But the card that came with the hat has a picture of a man and a woman, both wearing the tips swinging free. A little dangerous - might poke someone in the eye.

All during our photo session Sassy, the Sussex Spaniel, was under my chair begging for some loving. Such a good dog and very clean after his morning bath today.

It has been a special birthday and tomorrow we celebrate Joe's birthday and send good wishes to Gloria in Sonoma.. But for me it will mostly be a day of rest before driving home on Friday. Yes, I know it is the beginning of the Labor Day weekend, but Corky needs me to be home that evening, so I must be there!!

More views of Hwy 101 08-31-10

In just three hours I will be a year older! I was born September 1, 1938 at 3am (or thereabouts). My father called me his "September Morn" baby, after a painting that was popular in that era. Now that I am getting up in years I feel very lucky to have lived to see another birthday. So, think a good thought for me and, in my honor, hug someone you love.

Yesterday when I drove up 101 I knew I could make it to King City to get gas. I was wrong! There didn't seem to be much of a headwind and I didn't wander off the road to see the sights, but suddenly I realized that the little "low fuel" light showed on my dash. When I came to the next mileage sign it said so many miles to King City and my little dashboard computer said I had nine miles of fuel left - which was the lesser number. By the time I came to a station off the west side of the highway the needle was on the peg and the computer said zero fuel! I haven't come this close to running out of gas for decades. Guess it just shows how much I was enjoying myself and not paying attention.

The wind was enough to blow me off my feet, so after I filled up I drove around to try to get a picture of the flag whipping straight out without my having to get out of the car again.

Both of these pictures above show a bucolic scene that takes me back to my childhood when there were many little cafes with gas pumps out front and lots of old farm equipment and wagon wheels as decoration. Of course, in Oregon the hills were more likely to be dark green with Douglas Fir and cedars, instead of the tawny dry grass of California in the summer.

A little further up 101 the sky slowly filled with dark clouds and I could see the fog bank piling over the coastal hills. I passed this crew truck hauling a trailer of port-a-potties. When we are irritated that the spinach is polluted, we need to remember that the farmers are making huge efforts to keep their produce unpolluted. I don't remember when they started this mobile potty business, but you can see they even provide basins with soap and water. We can just hope the workers will use such facilities. When I picked berries and nuts as a child our habit was to find a sheltering bush - no hand washing. How DID we survive?

Mary and Joe live high in the hills above San Juan Bautista and are surrounded by undeveloped land wooded with oak trees. There is much wildlife - deer, bobcats, squirrels, rabbits, mice, foxes, birds, skunks and I don't know what else. Yesterday in the late afternoon this doe came to have a drink from the birdbath. She was preceded by a young buck with straight antlers - maybe her son who would have been kicked out of the 'nest' not long ago. Mary has to refill the birdbath daily to keep up with the thirsty birds, deer and squirrels. As much as I love visiting here I am constantly alert to spiders (brrrrrrrr) which seem to want to live inside - when there is all that open country outside.

On the Road, At Last! 08-30-10

It was a WONDERFUL DAY! I haven't been on a Road Trip since the first of June and that trip was not great because I was having so much pain from..... ?? Whatever. But for more than a month I have been going for physical therapy for my psoas muscles - lower back, buttocks, groin, crotch - Google it if you are curious. Why there is a problem I don't understand - maybe years of inactivity, maybe the fall on the stairs last August, maybe.....? But, whatever the cause, the exercises have caused a great improvement and this trip is, in part, to see just how much of an improvement. I drove up the "Coast Highway"(101) stopping every two hours, or maybe more, to walk around, do some stretches, swing my legs about! I am sore tonight, but nothing like the trip in June. If I can just be diligent about the exercises maybe I will be back to my marathon drives to Kansas or Montana - or even the distant Atlantic Ocean!

Can you even believe that blue sky? It was awesome. North of Rincon Beach I pulled off at a wide spot in the road where there was a locked gate and just walked around a bit and took some pictures. This is the view to the east.

And across Hwy 101 to the west I could look out at the blue Pacific. It was very "pacific" today, when I passed Mussel Shoals south of Santa Barbara there was only a handful of surfers and they were just floating on their boards, hoping even a tiny wave would come along. There is an oil platform out in the distance - about the middle of the horizon.

Slightly to the north was a grove of eucalyptus that probably goes down to the shoreline.

As I turned back onto the highway I could see the rolling hills that go for miles along the coast here - mostly covered with dried grasses and California live oak trees. And, of course, groves of many varieties of eucalyptus.

Mary and Joe's home is always so welcoming - I've missed visiting for the past three months. We don't have anything much planned, but one day we will go into Pacific Grove for lunch at the Red House and a fabric feeling session at Back Porch Fabrics.

A feel good tale and sad news. 08-29-10

Animals are special to many of us - maybe even MOST of us. And some animals seem to have gifts that go beyond just bonding with their owners. Here is a tale about one of them.

http://www.pawnation.com/2010/08/27/caretaking-cat-saves-lives--at-animal-clinic/

Do you remember Max, the cat who pulled pins from his owner's pincushion - very carefully? http://delquilts.blogspot.com/2009/09/miscellaneous-stuff-09-21-09.html

While I was having my computer problems I didn't read many blogs, but have tried to catch up a bit and discovered that Max was killed by a car one day. Here is Susan's post about that event: http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/2010/08/goodbye-max.html

I was very fond of Max, still am! Some animals, like some people stay with you as long as you live. Max will be well remembered - even though we only met in cyberspace.

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