Pacemaker #6 and Oceans 01-23-24

Saw the surgeon this afternoon.  Bandage removed, just the steri-strips remain.  I am cleared to do whatever I want to do.  No restrictions.  Follow  up the end of April. And then every six months, I guess until I die!   Perhaps they will have the check ups electronically and I won't have to pay $5 parking to see the doctor!!

I stopped on the way home for a Vente Latte - it was delicious with one of the cookies I bought yesterday!   I planned to take a half hour shower, but there were messages to send, KoKo's walk, warmed over dinner, and I just lost the inclination.  I will take Immanuel to school in the morning, then KoKo will take me for the morning walk, and THEN I can have a shower.  I have such an exciting life!!   But I really do feel so  much better than I have for the last 2 - 3 years.  My new primary doctor, Dr. Sidigian thought I might need a pacemaker the first time she saw me.  I saw her Thursday morning  before the implant and thanked her for the diagnosis.   And today I found out she will retire the end of January.  Bummer

 When I travel I take pictures of the ocean, even if there is nothing but water.

My laptop background.

These are stand up paddle boarders - Monterey Bay.

Pacific Ocean along I-5

Cruise ship in Monterey Bay

Acadia National Park,  Atlantic Ocean - Maine

Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve - Washington State

Cascade Mountains, Olympics, Salish Sea.

Dana Point Harbor

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Last day in Pacific Grove, CA 10-16-21

And it was a busy day.  

 

Had this hearty breakfast at Toastie's - 2 eggs over easy, five enormous strips of excellent bacon, six 3" pancakes with syrup, 3 cups of coffee and lots of people watching.  Something I have certainly missed during the pandemic.  I do love to observe people and make up stories about them.

I saved half the bacon and ate it for dinner tonight with my left over broccoli and a hard boiled egg from home.  Tasty!

Then another browse at Back Porch.  It is the BEST quilt shop ever.  And the ladies are so friendly and helpful.  I was specifically looking for a background for the Canyon Quilters Challenge and bought a piece of greenish-greyish Scrunge.  Thought I might get going on that 14" quilt today, but ran out of time. 

As you see, a fabulous day and there were people all along the road that follows Monterey Bay to the end of Hwy 68 at the entrance to Asilomar.  There were people setting up their spots to relax.

 

And people watching the birds, like this long line of brown pelicans flying along. 

And people running.  This one gave me a pang as he resembles my late husband was a daily runner, a habit he formed in college and he ran wherever we were in the world. 

 

And some people hauled their home in and parked, apparently for the day since they have their bump-out set up.  I thought there was a limit to how large a vehicle one could park and how long one could stay.  

There were also walkers, dog walkers, baby strollers, electric bikes, non-electric bikes,couples, families, singles, hand-holders.   It seemed that everyone was out and about in the sunshine.  I just drove along at 15-20 mph enjoying the sights.  Wonder when I will be back here again.  Hopefully before Empty Spools in the spring.  

Back in my motel room I set up for the ZOOM workshop with Brenda Gael Smith in Australia.  It was her three hour circles/curves and was an excellent little class.  I had all the materials and equipment with me and found her to be a good teacher.  It would be better to have her in person, but under the circumstances it was great.  The last time I saw Brenda was at PIQF  few years ago.  Hope she will be able to come to the States again one day.  

And here is a little quiz for you.  Which side is up?  The very light color is actually a pale yellow on yellow print, not quite as pale as in the images.  I'll try for better color when I decide which is the top and which is the bottom. 

Back to PIQF in the morning to look at the quilts until they close and I can pick up our six quilts and head home.  I'll stay some place along I-5 and finish the drive on Monday.  Don't expect I will get very far tomorrow evening.  

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Pacific Grove, CA 10-14-21

I do love the little town of Pacific Grove.  It is what is known as charming!  Lots of fancy Victorian cottages and houses, well maintained over all the intervening years.  Of course, there are more post WWII houses than the Victorians.  Since the town putts up to the north end of Monterey they just run together so I'm not sure exactly where one ends and the other begins.  Every day I am here I will drive the shore line of Monterey Bay, stopping to breath the special air, watch the birds, greet the dog walkers, remember the poem "I must go down to the sea again......" learned in grade school.  Some of these pictures are sideways to show them better.  Let me know if this is not a good idea.

Waves splashing high

Asilomar Beach with series of waves rolling in.

White and blue with birds.

This pile of rocks is completely covered wih seagulls , cormorants, and other sea birds.  They fly up in a cloud and then settle back down again.  Even with my binoculars I could not tell what species they are.  

I did some sewing work today, got gas at $4.79/gallon, and went to the Red House for a salmon dinner.  I wanted some Olallieberry pie, but was too full.  Might go back tomorrow for breakfast.   Pie for breakfast is very special.

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Wordless Wednesday - 12-30-15

 Monterey CA, 12-31-08

A Visit to Pacific Grove, CA 02-05-15

Yesterday Mary went to be with Joe at the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNIF) and I drove to Pacific Grove and Monterey.  I just couldn't convince her to go with me.  But I remember how I felt when my husband was hospitalized - I wanted to be there to keep track of every pill and to be sure he was well taken care of. 

 

Lunch with Gail Abeloe and Joan Hughes was lovely.  We went to the Red House and I had their special grilled cheese sandwich - with artichoke hearts and chopped bell peppers, it is delicious, but not photo worthy.  Also had huge latte in a cup that requires both hands.  We shared all our news and talked about quilting friends and quilting in general.  And, of  course, fabric.  After lunch I went shopping at Back Porch.  Oh, dear, decisions, decisions.  I always think I would like to go into a shop and just say cut me a yard of everything, but what would I do with it, I have so much fabric now.  There were some great things on the sale table and I picked up a few yellows for my friend Liz, who is always raiding my boxes of yellows, and a couple choice pieces to send to Ruth McDowell who doesn't have easy access to any quilt shop, much less one of Back Porch quality.  Then I was exhausted from spending so much money and I drove back to  Mary's intending to take a nap, but never quite got around to it. 

 

It has been quite cool and I am definitely an old lady who needs at least 70F to be comfortable, so I stay bundled up.  The weather has been cloudy and rain is predicted for tonight and the entire weekend. 

 

Monterey Bay was mostly covered with clouds and fog, but there were several sailboats out, keeling over in the wind.  There is actually one in this picture just above the projecting rock in the middle. 

 

This crow was watching from the fence!

Heading back to Mary's on CA156 one passes several of these eucalyptus woods, planted at the turn of the 20th Century to use for railroad ties, until they learned that the wood was no good for that purpose.  All the seedlings were imported from Australia and there are many remaining wood lots all over central and southern California. .

The Acacia trees are starting to bloom, with the clouded sky it is hard to take a decent picture.

Here is another shot along US101

Mary and Joe live high up off the fertile plain on a steep winding one and a half lane road and there is no cell service.  Many people stop at the foot of the hills to make their cell calls, as I did here, just on the south edge of San Juan Bautista.  This is one of the few fields of wild mustard I saw on my trip to the coast and back. 

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On the Road Again and HOME 08-18-14

I was gone for about three and a half days and it wore me out!  Today was a day of recovery, although I had two appointments that couldn't be missed.  I did unload the car and my suitcase, but then I napped and read and napped again.  Yesterday's drive home from San Juan Bautista was about six and a half hours and included a stop for coffee, a stop for gas and two stops to walk around a bit to hopefully avoid leg and hand cramps - darned arthritis. 

 

Isn't this a weird and beautiful image?  I took it while driving (very slowly in heavy traffic) along Monterey Bay.  In the foreground are the sand dunes topped with patches of ice plant between the road and the Bay.  Beyond that the dark blue water, then a thick layer of white fog topped with a layer of dark grey fog.  And over it all the clear blue sky.  Way off to the left, and barely discernible, where the ocean meets the fog is the point where Asilomar is located. 

Quite a different landscape just at the beginning of the road toward Mary and Joe's house near San Juan  Bautista.  This is surely an ancient fence, constructed of oddments of  limbs and sticks gathered locally, with just a few metal fence posts inserted more recently here and there. 

This is the view ahead as the road twists through open fields that are drier than dry and coastal live oak trees that are starting to die from the lack of rain.

 

On the way home Hwy 152 skirts the San Luis Reservoir which is surrounded by beige hillsides.  They are covered with wild grasses which dry to this shade in the summer.

The Reservoir has receded until little islands are poking up from the bottom.  All of the foreground of this image should be covered with water, right up to the fence you see at the bottom of the picture.  After three years of drought everything in sight is dried up.

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Monday Browsing 09-23-13

Article on “status” of art quilts: 

http://www.artandantiquesmag.com/2013/09/quilts-fabric-artworks/

12x12 group blog about their 12”X20” quilts  shown in Portland: http://twelveby12.blogspot.com

Have a cow?  This might be of interest:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/18/cow-waterbeds-advanced-comfort-technology_n_3429706.html?utm_hp_ref=small-business&icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D378788

The Studio Art Quilt Associates  (SAQA) are into the last week of their annual quilt auction.  Check out the site, there may be something you can’t live without! 

http://www.saqa.com/gallery-mini-detail.php?ID=2416

 Visit Luana Rubin's photo pages to see quilts all over the world.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/luanarubin/sets/

Monterey Bay  09-21-13

Empty Spools - Last day of Session One 03-30-12

Not enough energy to post much tonight!


This is a path leading to Asilomar State Beach on Monterey Bay.   I'll have a few days rest and will try to catch up with the pictures of the class. 

Empty Spools Day 3 & 4 w/Ruth B. McDowell 03-28-12

It was a bit of a stormy night - not wild, but rain and wind.  When I left the campus to drive into Monterey to Kinko's (which I know is now FedEx, but old habits are hard to break) the water in the Bay was still running with large breakers and flying spray.

I drove along Sunset, which is the longer way to go, just to see the white/grey/black colors.  Several couples were walking on the beach and I had to wait for this one to stand where they were against the sand rather than blending into the rocks. 

Back in the classroom this is my view when my table mate Martha Calahane has gone off somewhere - Kathy Calahane sits at the table to my right.  It is usually quite colorful in Ruth's classes and Wednesday is usually when the fabric comes out.

After the drawing marathon on Monday the students spend most of Tuesday and at least part of Wednesday refining the drawing, marking the seam lines and putting tick marks over them so the cut out pieces can be matched when they are sewn together.  With very complex designs many different colored pencils are helpful. 

After the design on paper is complete, it (or a copy) goes up on the design wall and fabric selection starts.  This is Carole Garcia's Eucalyptus Tree with the sky fabrics cut out and pinned where they will go.

Pat Thompson is selecting fabrics to indicate the water and stones behind the egret.  She found the perfect fabric with a circle within a circle for the eye.

Here is my Fuchsia with the picture pinned to my design board and half a dozen fabrics I have picked up at the fabric shops.  I'm considering the blue and white printed ikat fabric for the background.  I pinned up the red/pink/white/chartreuse piece in the middle just to keep things interesting.  "You aren't going to use that one are you?" has been asked several times.   

This evening a group of five old friends went to Passion Fish in downtown Pacific Grove for dinner.  It was a happy group and we enjoyed the excellent food.  I had sea scallops that were almost two inches across and cooked perfectly - they came with braised celery (one of my favorite veggies) and ...something else that was not memorable.  Perhaps it was polenta w/a slightly tomatoey sauce.   Sorry, no pictures - guess I'll have to go back!

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Empty Spools - Day 2 w/Ruth B. McDowell 03-26-12

Sorry about not posting yesterday, I was so exhausted I fell into bed about 10pm and slept until 4:30am!  Unheard of!  But it had been a busy day and lots of in & out and up & down.  My sleeping room is one that I am always happy to have in Pirate's Den (building) and the classroom is Nautilus (my favorite classroom here on the Asilomar campus).  Unfortunately they are not in close proximity and I have to go up/down stairs to the parking lot.  I'll survive, but it is very tiring and makes my ankle hurt.  Next session I will be in Pirate's Den again, but the classroom will be right across the driveway in Merrill Hall, so it will be much easier for me. 

 
Ruth B. McDowell with her quilt "Miner's Lettuce" 2007 35"W x 51"L  http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/clients/rbm/catalog.cfm

Day One is just two hours - from 4 to 6pm - and Ruth showed some of her quilts and talked about them, pointing out things we should keep in mind when we are designing our own work.  I brought two of her larger quilts from TCQC to share with the class and to show on Thursday evening when she gives her talk.

 
On Day Two Ruth devotes the entire day pinning up each student's design inspiration (photo or drawing) and showing how the image might be developed into a quilt design.  It is a long process with 21 students and 21 entirely different designs so she is wiped out by 4pm.  Everyone watches and listens and takes notes and photographs to learn how to approach many different images.   On Day Three we will all work at creating a full size pattern from our design inspiration.  


I've been coming here for 21 years and long ago discovered that the best thing to do after class, especially the first long day, is to get away from the classroom, the students and the ideas whirling in my head.  My favorite escape is to drive along Sunset Dr., which follows the shore of Monterey Bay, and to stop to contemplate the view.  This was one view about 5pm today as the sun was sinking and the rain clouds were gathering - rain is predicted for tonight.  And my umbrella is in my car!!  Oh, well, maybe it won't rain. 

There were many otters playing around in the water, but it is impossible to get a picture without specialized photo equipment.  With my point and shoot I took this shot which has two of the little guys - one in the middle directly above the rocks and another toward the top right hand corner.  The other double dark spot is a rock. 

 
While I was trying to take pictures of otters this California Gull was looking on with disdain!