Heatwave 04-25-20

We are having a very warm end of April.  The high today was 90F, but yesterday we were up to 91F and Thursday was 101F.  Even with the A/C I am flushed and sweaty and don't feel like even moving.  KoKo and I are walking early in the day and waiting until the temp gets down to 80F in the evening, the last few days this has been about 9pm.

This gives us a chance to admire the crescent moon and the brightest light in the sky, the planet Venus.  Even though I held the camera against a car I still shake too much.  The crescent moon is in the tree and Venus is high above - both are blurred.  I'm always amazed at the lightness of the sky in the pictures, as it is quite dark in reality.  

I did takeout sushi for lunch from our favorite local place, Fish in a Bottle, and it was very good.  I bought two rolls, but was more than full with one, so it is sushi for breakfast tomorrow.  Yum! 

In today's mail I had a lovely package from Carol Esch of New Jersey who I met in an Empty Spools class at Asilomar several years ago.  She had come across some Ruth B. McDowell postcards and sent them to me because she knows that I collect Ruth quilts.  AND she included one of the masks she has been making.  The quarter inch elastic goes through the channels on either side and fits behind the neck and over the head, so it fits very snugly against the face.  it is sort like a halter top only on the face!  Much better than what I have made with ties on all four corners.   I am looking up because I think it shows the fit better to have my saggy chin stretched up!!  

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Friday Food 04-24-20

The hunger for sushi has caught up with me.  I think I need to find a sushi dinner tomorrow.  Or maybe lunch.  Looking back I see images of wonderful meals like these.

These were all at Ikiru at Liberty Station in San Diego, a little too far for me to go to fulfill my craving.  But there are sushi restaurants near me here in Placentia, maybe Fish in a Bottle is serving takeout.  And takeout is fine!

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New quilts for TCQC 04-23-20

Several years ago my friend Andrea Bacal of San Diego asked me to send her some pictures taken from above of a few of my hats.  She needed some inspiration for a Challenge called "From Above".  She chose three of the pictures and made three 12X12 quilts and submitted the one on the right for the Challenge.  I bought it and told her I would buy the other two also.  She got busy and they disappeared into her WIP and she just couldn't find them.  Then came the great clearing out of her sewing space and VOILA there were the other two quilts.  She gifted them to me and I have them up on my "feature" wall to admire every day.  I am so impressed with her work and the amazingly expressive quilting designs she used.  

This is a straw hat with silk flowers on the band.

This is one of my oldest hats made of fabric and constructed in a coil and a black & white band.  

Another straw - a Sunday Go To Meeting hat. 

And here are the original pictures she used for inspiration. I think she did an amazing job - the quilts are beautiful.  

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Wordless Wednesday 04-22-20

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Morning Walk 04-21-20

Twice a day KoKo and I go for a walk around the neighborhood.  There is a convenient loop that is about 1/2 mile, so we walk south in the morning and north in the evening.  I do take a lot of pictures, but mine don't hold a candle to other walkers that I follow.  Carol Larson is very good and sees beauty in things I don't even notice.  But I try.

In this beautiful front garden, with almost a hedge of 5 to 6 foot poinsettia plants, there are always hummingbirds, year around.  They don't feed on the poinsettia flowers, but flock to the six large hummer feeders hanging from the eaves of the house.  I usually see one perched here, a prime spot to rest before rejoining the buzzing at the feeders.   This is an Anna's Hummingbird, very common in Orange County, CA. 

Around the corner is a yard full of succulents.  One of them has cup shaped bright pink flowers, but they bloom on such long, gangly stems that they are hardly noticeable.  There are occasional bees, but no other winged visitors. 

Sometimes after the rain there will be a little pool of water in each flower cup. 

There are always dandelions which the bees and butterflies appreciate.
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Surviving the Virus 04-20-20

Well, I am surviving the isolation, but it is a struggle.  The last few days have been big time isolationitis.  I just wrote a long explanation and Blogger erased it!  All you received was the title of the post. So, I am trying to recreate it.   Today I had several contacts with other humans and it cheered me greatly.  First I visited with a neighbor who I sometimes see when KoKo and I are walking.  She had workmen to fix a wall in her backyard so she was out on the sidewalk when we came by.  We stood ten feet apart and had a nice visit.  Then I had a call from a friend in SDiego to talk about quilt making and our dogs - KoKo and CoCo.  CoCo is new to their family so they are still making adjustments to each other.  Then I received an e-mail from Floyd's niece Traci who lives with her family in Florida.  She is a substitute teacher so is currently unemployed.  It was great to hear about her family.  I haven't seen her for about 33 years and have never met her husband and kids.  One day I may drive that way and stop for a visit.  

So, my day was full of interaction and maybe that is what I need to keep me going.  So, if you receive a call from me, just chat for a bit - human to human. 

Here is a picture from Facebook of a sunset in Tucson, AZ, taken recently.  The caption said it is not Photoshopped, and I believe it.  The desert sunsets in that area are astounding. 

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Do I need a new project? 04-19-20

No, of course not, I probably have a hundred WIPs.  But I just can't seem to get going on any of those.  So I started cutting pieces for Little Houses, as suggested by Diane Perin Hock (one of her quilts is in TCQC).  I can't find what she posted about it several weeks ago, but I did write down the sizes of the various parts.  Each house finishes 4"W X 5.5L.  I've seen several already finished tops on Facebook and they are cute.  I started out thinking I would just do scraps, but while cutting I decided that all the houses would have dark brown to burgundy roofs, red or red/orange doors, blue sky (of course), and the fabric for the house must be striped.  This is what I have cut so far. 

At this point I am working toward 40 blocks. 

I was surprised at how many green stripes I found in my two boxes of just striped fabrics.  Maybe this quilt will be called
"Green Houses"!

But they won't all be green. 

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