Twenty years ago - June 2004 05-30-24

The yearning for a road trip is getting me down,  but I cannot go right now, maybe in late June.   These phots are from June 2004 when I was driving cross country and wandered off the main highway.  Nice to stop and look around and take some photos.   Not sure where I was, could be the very top NW corner of Texas or New Mexico.  Lots of wild, wide open country there. 

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Friday Food 07-28-23

It is prime tomato season here in Orange County,  California. And, once again, I didn't plant any this year.  Just procrastinated too long.  Fortunately friends and neighbors were  more forward thinking and now they are reaping their reward.   And sharing  with  me!!  Friend Carol left a  bag  of  four ripe, delicious tomatoes  on my porch.  

These are the three left after I made.....

...a sandwich for lunch. Toasted sourdough bread, sliced hard boiled egg, mayonnaise, a tiny  smear of Dejon, one sliced tomato, a sprinkle of salt and a twist of black pepper. Oh, my goodness, was it ever delicious.  It would have benefited from a layer of lettuce on top, but I didn't  have any.   I'll hit the market tomorrow before lunchtime.  

I searched my photos for tomatoes and confirmed that this is prime tomato season.  This is from July 28, 2022.  These tiny sweet morsels are from volunteer plants. 

And this is from July 27, 2021 - with lettuce.

July 31, 2020

July 30, 2019

I could go back even further!  Tomato season is a big deal for me because I don't buy grocery store tomatoes that have no flavor.   So, the only time I have them at home is in July and August.  When I was growing up in Oregon we always had a garden with different types of tomatoes and a lot of other vegetable.  We canned them, of course, but the best was to pick one, sprinkle it with a little salt from the aluminum salt shaker that sat atop a post and just stand there in the row and eat them.  One of my best childhood memories. 

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Hope for the New Year 12-31-20

Since I don't do much of anything and don't go anywhere except for the walks and an occasional short trip to the market, I don't have much to say.  I've thought about telling stories from my past and may yet resort to that!  Today we dropped some things at the PO drive-by box, took some money out of the ATM at the credit union, and visited the drive though at Starbuck's down by the 91 Fwy, just to go some place different.  It is about a mile further than the Starbuck's we usually frequent.  While in line there we have a view of Anaheim Lakes where the white pelicans are moving in for the winter.  It is a distant view, but still nice to see.  Home to do a few household chores, throw Froggy for KoKo to chase, and read my current book, Barack Obama's memoir, "A Promised Land".  I do find it riveting and am surprised at some of the "characters" who are still around today; McConnell, Pelosi, Feinstein, both Clintons, and others.  I guess my memory is really failing me because I don't remember some of the really serious problems that existed in our country in 2009.   The high point of the day was a ZOOM meeting with the art quilt group in San Diego.  Always interesting sharing and conversation.  

So, here we go into a new year.  Along with everyone I know I am hoping for a MUCH better year ahead for the entire world.   Need to get those vaccinations rolling!

Some of you might remember how much I enjoy snowman cartoons!

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Oh, Venus, Goddess of Love that you are..... 03-07-20

Does that ring some bells for you?  It was a popular record when I was in high school and makes me think of a guy I went to a prom with.  Where is he now?  Anyway, this time of year when I walk out my front door there is the planet Venus brightly shining in the west.  And the music turns on in my head.  How can I remember the lyrics after more than 60 years when so much else has slipped out of my memory? 

Clouds, but no rain.  Supposed to come toward the end of the new week.  

Did you set your clocks forward?  

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In the Beginning 09-24-19

I started this blog twelve years ago and below is the first post.  It has been interesting and sometimes a real burden.  For years I just posted every day, then I took a week or so off, which gave me a new view of blogging.  Since then I usually write every day, but skip days now and then.  I'm always surprised that people still read my words and always grateful.  I have been a widow since March 2, 1990, and have lived alone all those years.  Life changes and we change.  I am not unhappy, but I do get lonely at times and writing the blog is like writing letters to someone far away.  So, I will keep doing it as long as I can, not necessarily when I have something to say, but on a somewhat regular basis.  Drop me a comment once in a while, just so I know someone is still out there in blogland.   Love, Del & KoKo

Monday, August 20, 2007

A thought about age

"In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in inellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways." Edith Wharton

Too hot to think of a topic! 09-05-19

It was 91F at 7pm tonight and we didn't go for our evening walk until 9pm when it was 84F.  The humidity is about 50%.  Not much to those who suffer from heat and humidity all summer, but I guess I'm not used to it and my old body suffers. 

Here is a look back at September 5, 2007

https://delquilts.blogspot.com/2007/09/south-on-i-5.html
https://delquilts.blogspot.com/2007/09/i-5-south-continued.html

All these years I have been driving back and forth on I-5!  I'm glad I posted some pictures so I can visit my memories.  

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Just trees tonight 08-01-19

One of the great things about Oregon and Washington is the abundance of trees.  If I had realized all those decades ago how much I would miss them I might not have moved to California.  My original destination was San Francisco, but somehow I ended up in Southern California where trees are landscape decisions rather than natural growth.  The towering Douglas Firs are my favorites, with their shaggy growth and funny "tongues sticking out" pine cones.   In Mt Vernon they have many varieties of trees, but it seems that cedar is the most common.  Majestic. 

Bark of a cedar tree - shaggy. 

Cedars in Mabel and Mac's backyard. 

 Showing the back deck overlooking the backyard and the cedars. 

Mixed forest with evergreens and deciduous trees.  Big leaf maple, I think. 

Around every house in Mabel and Mac's neighborhood are groves of tall trees. 

 And there is an occasional dead branch but not many.

 And a sumac tree with berries. 

Under the trees a great variety of ferns grow naturally. 

I couldn't tell if these two stumps were left in place or "posed" there.  Great cedars again. 

Fir tree branches growing close to the ground.  

More ferns.  Sword fern, maybe. 

In all this green I can tell where to turn into Mable and Mac's driveway because long ago they planted a lovely Japanese maple that is red toned all year. 

I remember these evergreens from my childhood, but don't know their name. 

It was planted here, not natural to the area. 

And the same for a lovely blue spruce planted in the same yard. 

Huge leaves on this - again, I think it is called a big leaf maple. 

Here we are all packed, ready to head home.  KoKo thinks he should get the driver's seat. 

There is my umbrella at the bottom of the picture, all ready for rain that never came. 

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Saturday Stories - Money

Lack of money was a common problem during the 1940s and our family, and many others, had some hard times.  We didn't go hungry, but I went through shoes like water through a sieve, so mine were almost always in poor condition.  Clothes frequently came from the Willy-Willy (aka Goodwill) and the only time the car was out of the garage was to drive out to the country to Grandmother's farm.   But we were generally a happy bunch and, as children will, found lots of fun things to do.  Our dilapidated bikes took us far afield and in those days we had no fear of being kidnapped.   One of the best things that could happen on our adventures was finding money.   I seemed to have a knack for it and discovered places where coins could frequently be found in the dirt or on the pavement.  Gas stations were good, but the attendants didn't let us hang around much.   Bus stops offered good hunting as people pulled change out of their pockets and lost a coin here or there.  My best spot was outside the tiny neighborhood store where residents stopped for milk or bread and the kids bought penny candy.  

I still find coins these days, mostly in parking lots.  I guess guys pull their keys out of their pockets and flip out a stray coin.  But the real scores are paper bills.  Once I looked down as I was getting in an elevator and there was a $20 bill.  There was nobody around and I picked up the bill and sat on a nearby bench, thinking that someone would come looking.  But nobody did and I tucked that luck bill in my purse.  

I suspect less actual money is floating around these days, so found money is probably rare.  So many people use credit cards or use their cell phone app to charge things.   I was reading an article online about the change in the habits of thieves.  The incidents of armed robbery and burglary have declined because the bad guys do better with high priced merchandise.   One of the products high on the list is baby formula! 

However, these remarks are about found money.  The other day I was walking KoKo with a slight wind blowing debris down the street.  And what should roll by?  An almost new five dollar bill!  There was nobody around and I had not seen anyone getting into or out of a car in the entire block.  I didn't hesitate and picked up the fiver and folded it into my pocket.  Funny, it gave me the same elation that I had felt all those years ago when I would find a dime at the bus stop.   Inflation?

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Remembering Things 06-16-18

When driving alone, cross country or just up the length of California, there is a lot of time to think.  And that is one thing I love about driving alone - lots of time to think.  When Liz and I were driving home from San Luis Obispo we talked about the jumble of memory; why do we remember some things forever and yet can't remember what we ate yesterday?   We don't have an answer.  I think that sometimes it is because there is a picture of that event or location that keeps reminding us of a certain person or event.  Here is one of my mother with a group of children in about 1942:

I was four or younger in my California sun dress (front 2nd from right) and my sister, about six in her matching dress stands in front of our mother.  I'm not sure who the other children are, possibly out Palmer cousins from Idaho, they appear to be the right ages.  But my point is that when I think of my mother this image frequently comes to mind.  I can't possibly remember the event, but I have seen this picture over the years and because of that it seems like a memory.  

I just read Anna Quindlen's book "Alternate Side" (which I highly recommend) and marked a sentence that struck me right between the eyes!  "Nora could remember it all so well, better than she remembered what she'd done yesterday, how smooth and warm his skin had felt against hers.  She'd realized that that was how life was, that certain small moments were like billboards forever alongside the highway of your memory."  

But what puts those billboards there?  How can I remember the name of someone I knew in grade school seventy plus years ago and have had no contact with since?  But I sometimes can't remember the name of a dear friend that I see frequently and talk to online and on the phone.   Some of my "billboards" seem to be blank most of the time.  My little California grandmother said her memory was like a bucket, when it was full everything new that went into it fell out and all the old, old memories were still there, way at the bottom, but there.  

Just musing.  
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Looking back 06-10-17

I am one of those people who likes to look back to see what was happening on any given day in the past.  I don't record something every single day, but the advent of computers and digital cameras has given me a photo record on Picasa that stretches back to a few pictures from 2005 and some very old shots that have been scanned in at different times.  I have boxes of photos and slides going back from before I was born, but not the energy or inclination to go through them and scan them into the digital files.    Maybe some day in the future I will find time and interest. 

This is a week with several special memories.  Fifty-five years ago on June 9, 1962, I married my first husband with all the wonderful future stretching out before us.  We were divorced in 1971.  Such mixed memories of those nine years.  In 1991 I took my first class from Ruth McDowell (whose birthday is June 8th), one of many over the years.  A great teacher, a lovely friend, and a large part of the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.   On June 6, 1997 I started being "nanny" to Corky, the Poodle Prince.  He had a great influence on my life and took me on many adventures I wouldn't have had without him.  He wasn't quite a year old and rather a handful at first.  He died in November 2013, leaving me bereft of a lover in my life.   A job taken in August 2016 by KoKo. 

Here I am with my sister, Ellamarie, taken in Portland, OR, sometime in 1941, I think.  Do I look like I am three-something and Ellamarie is six-something?   I had bangs and pigtails because my hair is as straight as hair can be.  Ellamarie has flowing locks because she inherited the natural curly hair gene. 

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More Needlework Treasures 10-25-12

After I posted about handmade gifts I took pictures of a number of others that I treasure.  I'll post them over the next month.  Warning:  This post contains nudity!!

Here are two gifts I received about twenty-five years apart. 

On the left is a scissors bob made with alphabet beads by Mabel Huseby from Washington Sate who I met at Empty Spools   She made me several of these that adorn a hemostat and.  various scissors, including my favorite Gingher Craft Scissors.

  

In the middle is a scissors doll made in 1986 by my late friend Margie Vandenberg as part of a Christmas gift project that was once done by Orange County Quilters Guild.  Even with over 400 members we handmade a gifts for each and every one.  This lasted several years until, I suppose the members that always volunteer got tired of volunteering.  Margie, who made the majority of these little dolls with their eleven black French knot eyes and hair, was a pro at making multiples of anything.  She was a volunteer at a local hospital and over the decades that she served she sewed tens of thousands of handkerchiefs with lace edging that were given to each newborn in the form of a little bonnet with a poem and instructions to clip certain stitches to make it back into a hanky for the baby's wedding day (girl or boy).  It was a lovely tradition that apparently ended with her death.  Many people, including me, have loving and thankful memories of Margie.    

 
I know this one was made by Margie because she gave it to me herself before the meeting.  You see the date 1986 and OCQG.  Above the date is "Xmas", but I didn't want to get the poor girl completely naked.

Another treasure from a quilting friend 10-08-12

I'm still thinking of the treasures friends have given me.  Over the years there have been several sewing accessories that became integral parts of my lifetime sewing addiction.

This is an "ort catcher" - an "ort" being a scrap or tidbit and is usually used in connection with food scraps.  But embroiderers co opted the word to mean the thread ends and tiny bits of  fabric leftover when sewing.
 
 
This little basket block ort catcher was made about 25 years ago by my dear friend Betty Lou Lucas who died ten years ago this month.   She was an accomplished needlewoman and we belonged to several of the same groups, including a long lasting friendship group. 

 

This piece has been well used and I still use it when I am able to do handwork - it brings my friend into my mind with joy.  

"Watermelon Chickens" Ruth McDowell 02-20-11

It is pitiful how my memory keeps receding as the years go by.  I had a memory test at my doctor's office and I am down to 57 on a scale of 1 to 100.  It is a wonder I know where I am half the time.  But the doctor says that is very acceptable at 72, so I try not to worry.  However, I went through the TCQC records and have discovered 34 quilts that I have not shown on this Blog.  Thirty-four!  I find that amazing.  So, I will be reaching back, sometimes into the last century, to feature those quilts I have neglected.  I purchased this quilt in January 2009.

"Watermelon Chickens"  Ruth B. McDowell  2008  58"W x 31.5"L

Machine pieced and quilted.  Commercial cotton fabrics from everywhere.

Ruth's statement about this quilt: "These hens took on a life of their own when I started rummaging through my fabric stash. A wild array of old and new fabric, from all over the world. Possibly a new breed of calico chicken. I love the watermelon fabric (which I've had for years) that I used for much of the background. It was surprisingly difficult to decide exactly where on the print to cut each piece."

Such a vast array of fabrics - prints and batiks, from Africa, Australia, Japan, Indonesia.

Only Ruth would look at Kaffe Fasset's Swiss Chard fabric and think "Chicken tail feathers!"

 

The feet are sturdy, but detailed, and have the texture of chicken feet.

This quilt attracted me for many reasons, especially that it is so very, very Ruth McDowellish.  Also going back to my childhood when my maternal grandmother raised chickens and always tossed scraps in the chicken yard.  They loved watermelon, as did I.  The watermelon fabric also brings back memories of the years during WWII that my sister and I spent in California with our paternal grandmother.  Fabric was rationed and difficult to find, so when it was available our grandmother and aunt purchased what they could.  They found a partial bolt of watermelon fabric, very much like what Ruth used as the background in this quilt, and we all had watermelon dresses or camp shirts - Little G'ma, Aunt Vernice, Ellamarie, Delmay, Gail and our dolls!   I remember a picture (black and white, of course) of us in our new dresses.  Maybe I will come across it one day.