I give up 08-08-20

Sorry, I am not going to blog again until I can solve my picture problem.  It is just toooooo frustrating. 

Hope to be back with you soon.  

An A #1 truck shared by Terry Grant a few years ago.  Classy! 

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ill Struggling 08-06-20

Sorry, I still have not solved my picture problem.  I have two recommendations for guys that are supposed to be really good "computer gurus".  I'll have to call one of them and see if he can help.   Meanwhile, I just keep trying different things to see if I can just post something. 

Meanwhile, here is an image of my quilt that is in the California Quilts exhibit at Oceanside Museum of Art.  The museum is closed, but the quilts are shown on their website and there is a plan to have a virtual gallery tour sometime soon.  And it is to be hoped that the museum will be able to have reservations for people to visit the museum in limited numbers and at specific times.  I'll let you know if that happens.  

"Palms"  Del Thomas  2019  39"W X 58"L

Cotton fabrics, batting, and thread.

Fused applique.  

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Wordless Wednesday 08-05-20

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Return trip from Washington on Aug 03, 2019

Day three of our return trip from Washington state - just one year ago today.   It was an eventful day.  

Well, no success with the pictures tonight.  I've been at it for almost two hours and I cannot move them to my blog.  Sigh. Maybe tomorrow night.  

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A year ago on the road 08-02-20

After leaving Mt Vernon we drove south on I-5 and checked into a motel near Portland.  And we woke up to a light drizzle.   We found that when on the road we need to take our walk regardless of weather.  Not many pit stops along the way. 

Fortunately motels still supply hair dryers.  I don't need one for my thin, receding hair, but it did the trick for KoKo that morning.  

We met Terry Grant who lives in Beaverton, OR, for breakfast.   Picture from Terry. 

We found a place that is basically a permanent food truck court that is generally very busy, but not that morning in the drizzle.  

It cleared up pretty quickly as we drove south on I-5.

Driving down through Oregon the surrounding hills are covered with mostly Douglas Fir trees, sort of the "gold" crop of the Pacific Northwest.  I understand that clear cutting of entire mountains is prohibited but the lumber companies can still clear huge sections of trees, leaving these ugly bald patches behind.    After all these years and dozens of trips up and down from SCalifornia to Oregon and Washington I still love this drive.  However, whereas I once could drive it in 24 hours with no overnight stops, I now need three overnight stops and maybe next time I will need four!   It is harder to drive long distances as I grow older.  

A year ago KoKo and I were on our way home from Mt. Vernon, WA, and the Sue Benner class at Coupeville, WA.  It seems like longer than a year and I do wish I had been able to make the drive up there again this May.  Hoping for maybe October, but not holding my breath!  

KoKo stayed with Mabel and Mac while I took a class at the Pacific Northwest Art School in Coupeville, WA.   Mabel discovered that it is hard to do anything much with a dog in your lap.  

And Mac had the same problem.  As you can see, KoKo just took over.   Is that a relaxed dog?

I had a hard time leaving this fabulous view of their backyard. 

But the views along I-5 are pretty wonderful, too.  

More revisiting tomorrow.  

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Friday Food 07-31-20

As a child I read everything I could get my hands on and it seems that many of those childhood stories took place in England.   The only one I can recall the title of is "Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett.   But in all those books the children sat by the nursery fire and ate crumpets.  Crumpets were not part of my world, but I created an image of a muffin like cake with butter and jam.  I guess I never thought to ask anyone or look it up in the Encyclopedia Brittanica.  When I was 17 my best friend Arlene and I took what we called our "maiden voyage", surely the beginning of lives traveling the world.  We took our first airplane flight from Portland, OR, to Vancouver, BC, and then the ferry to Victoria.  We dressed in nice suits, heels, hats and gloves, as was the fashion in the 1950s.  The high point was tea at the Empress Hotel, an experience that we had anticipated for months.  We ordered, of course, tea and crumpets.  When the oh-so-proper waitress delivered our order I was aghast.  I said, "Excuse me, we ordered crumpets with our tea."  She looked at my plate and said "Those ARE crumpets, my dear."  There on the plate were two fat pancakes, they looked nothing like the muffins of my imagination.  Arlene didn't have any preconceptions and dug right in.  After I got over my disappointment I did to and found they were okay, just not what I had dreamed of. 

Since then I have eaten crumpets in Canada, England, Wales, and the USA.  And I do like them.  Trader Joe's sells them sometimes and I indulge.  just recently I have finished the six in the package.  The final two with avocado mashed on top.  Instead of avocado toast it was avocado crumpets.  Delicious. 

Just a fat pancake with butter. 

Avocado crumpet.

Not found in an English novel!