Friday Food 04-07-23

The food at Empty Spools is provided by the Asilomar Conference Center and they have different vendors in different years.  Sometimes the food is excellent, sometimes it is awful.  This year was one of the awful years!   I usually eat something in my room in the morning, don't usually go to lunch, but depend on dinner to carry me through.  The menu offers a regular diet or vegetarian diet, so one has a choice.  One night the choice was pork with chili verde or tofu with chili verde.  Since I don't eat pork I tried the tofu and found  it inedible.  NOT a good combination.   But there is always a large bowl of fresh green salad and bread or rolls.   I survived!  I do think they must have hit a  good deal  on black beans and polenta, because both were served at every dinner!  

The one night that there is not an evening program some of us go out to dinner in town.  My choice was Il Vecchio, an lovely rustic Italian place about a block from the Aquarium.  And my choice is always Carbonara and a side of broccoli.  Everyone tells me that all the food is exceptional, but since I can only go there once a year I always have the Carbonara, the best I have ever eaten.  This time I couldn't eat all of it, so had a doggy box to take back to my room and eat for breakfast! 

I like the "decor" at Il Vecchio.  

 On one wall they have assorted chairs hung high up, just to look at, not for sitting, of course.

 

And in the restroom they have this lovely large naked lady... 

  
                                          ....and strange tiling on the floor.

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A down time! 04-06-23

It has been a slowwww time since I came back from Empty Spools a week ago.  I very much over extended myself to go and to return so I was wiped out and just wanted to sleep.  Which I did - one night I did ten hours, with several woozy trips to the bathroom.  Dogs sleep a lot, so KoKo wasn't bothered.  As long as he had his meals and two walks a day he was happy I was home and he could just sleep in my lap.  During my trip my right shoulder started giving me trouble, perhaps the old rotator cuff injury, but Heidi, who gives massages at Empty Spools, thought I might have a tear.   Once I relaxed at home the pain was worse and I could hardly use my right arm.  Perhaps that is why all the sewing equipment has not been unpacked and put in place.  I also had a car problem - "check engine light" lit up while I was still going north on I-5.  I called my mechanic in Placentia and explained, he said it was okay to drive as long as the light wasn't flashing.  So, I drove it around PGrove a bit and after class on Wednesday went to a mechanic in PGrove.  He ran the computer test and said it was the catalytic converter and okay to drive home - unless the light started flashing!!  I was nervous, but made it home without a problem.  However, I had to skip the meeting in San Diego on Saturday, although I doubt I was physically capable of doing that 2+ hours down and 2+ hours home.  Sooooo tired!  The local mechanic could book me on Tuesday, so I was without a car Tuesday and Wednesday.  I took a few naps.  The physical therapist worked on my shoulder and gave me some exercises specifically for that.  They have worked quite well and I have not made an orthopedic appointment.  Hoping that I can just use heat and exercises to make it well again.  All this has kept me off the computer and not blogging for all these days.  I am still working at editing the pictures, which has been painful just sitting and balancing my arm so that the shoulder doesn't hurt.  I am a complete Tylenol junkie now.  I will continue to whittle away at the editing and post about the trip and the class.  Bear with me, please.  

Here is the super Sue Benner teaching.  She looked extra sharp this day with black boots, B&W polka dot tights, very short black skirt, black top, black sweater, B&W Jane Sassaman silk scarf and  her funky hairdo.  A classy lady and an excellent teacher. . 

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Ruth B. McDowell quilt from Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection 04-02-23

This is the quilt most representative of SPRING in TCQC.  The color here is more dull than the actual quilt, but I seem to have no luck brightening things  up.  I only have one place in my house I can show this without furniture in front of it.  So it hangs there for three months every now and then.  Currently it is on loan so others can enjoy it.

"Summer Lily"  Ruth B. McDowell  2002  59"W x 70"L

Cotton fabric, cotton batting, cotton thread

Machine pieced and quilted. 

www.ruthbmcdowell.com

 

The actual lily plant is 7 - 9 inches tall, so this exaggeration is an eye stopper.  

One of the delights in Ruth's quilts is the variety of fabrics that she uses and manages to mix together successfully. 

In the early 90s Ruth designed a line of fabrics for South Seas and has used bits of them for years in her quilts.  The leaf in the middle with the blue nine-patches and the snaky white "stitches" is one of hers.  The Swiss chard at the bottom is a Kaffe Fassett.

 

At the top of the picture with the floating triangles and also the light fabric with white bits that is in the middle of the picture are both Ruth's fabrics.  The gold and white checks in the bottom flower is a Marimekko.

 

The back fabric is also a Marimekko.  In this picture you can see the intricate quilting done on a domestic Pfaff machine.

And here is the back with those enormous yellow/orange/green poppies - one of Marimekko's best. 

Ruth's hand lettered label and the TCQC label above it.

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