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Archive for November, 2007

Just Another Rainy Wednesday

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

It is Portland, Oregon, after all. I don’t mind the rain so much as the bitter cold. It hovered around 40° today.

Wednesday means that it is weigh in day. I survived Thanksgiving with only a half pound gain. I am okay with that. Stephanie took this photo of me at the beach. I am finding that I am no longer repulsed by seeing photos of myself. This is a good thing!

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I spent the afternoon and most of the evening doing the quilting on the “Good to be Green .” It is very tedious, but I love how it is looking. I am using a variegated thread in shades of blue on the blue indigo. I love how it works with the variegated indigo. Here is another sneak peek.

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Time to put my attention to Project Runway. Ta.

Good (make that) Great Mail Day

Monday, November 26th, 2007

When we arrived home from the beach, I found a card from the PO, saying that I had a package to pick up. I couldn’t wait until this morning to drive over to retrieve it. This was inside:

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It is Village Series #2, made by one of my favorite art quilters, Kristin La Flamme. She started it last year at Art Quilt Tahoe, in a class with Gerry Chase. I kept dropping by the room and calling it my quilt. I really loved the mix of fabrics and the variety of surface design techniques. It is whimsical with a gracious nod to traditional quilting. Yet, it is very abstract and almost ethereal. What can I say, I love it. So I did a payment plan and now, it is all mine!!

Here are a couple of closeups:

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I have to do some rearranging of art on our walls so that this will have a place of honor. I’ll post a picture in its new location.

Now, after several days away from my Janome, I must finish quilting the “Good to be Green” piece before the end of the week.

A Beachy Good Time

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

We are home, catching up on e-mails, putting stuff away and still looking for ways to use leftover turkey — tonight it was Turkey Enchiladas.

Day One (Wednesday): We arrived at 4 pm, and soon after we hit the beach to witness the first of some glorious sunsets.

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Our beach house was only a couple of blocks from the beach in the quaint and lovely little town of Manzanita which is just south of Canon Beach. We ordered pizza from the nearby pizzeria. After dinner, we played Monopoly. Miles and Mia had played the junior version and really impressed us with how quickly they picked up the regular version. In fact, Miles ended the game with the most money and real estate. We were having so much fun that I almost forgot to make the pumpkin pie!!

Day Two (Thanksgiving Day): I jumped out of bed later than I had planned, but I still got the 20 pound turkey in the oven by 8 am for our early afternoon dinner.

After breakfast and before we needed to cook the res of the meal, the family went back to the beach for a morning walk.

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Here is Mia sitting on this funky bench. Please note that her doll, Melissa, is safe in her arms.

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The weather was sunny and brisk, and we all worked up a hearty appetite. I rushed back to the house to start cooking. The rest of the family showed up a little later with Mia in tears. Melissa was missing. they had backtracked and searched in places where they thought she might have been dropped, to no avail.

We made up some stories about what might have happened to her. She was swimming to Japan and would be adopted by a little Japanese girl. Or, she was the new toy for some happy dog. Mia gamely played along. She made this poster to post in case someone had found her.

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After we had stuffed ourselves on turkey and all the proper accompaniments, we headed back to the beach with the poster, for one last look.

Mia was despairing of ever seeing Melissa, again. I bought the doll for her one day when she and I had a special outing together. She always has the doll with her and so I was quite excited when I looked down and saw her in the sand. I wish I had taken a photo of the pathetic sight!! I started doing a happy dance. So, here she is with her very happy Mia.

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Feeling relieved, Steph, Mr C, Mia, Melissa and I took a walk in the glow of the setting sun. And here is the sunset photo of the day.

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Day 3 (Friday): I love having Mia around because she has so much energy. She is always up for a walk on the beach or an opportunity to go shopping. Steph, Mia and I took a girls walk on the beach in the morning. I took lots of photos of interesting flotsam and other beach stuff. (Clickable to see larger.)

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After lunch at a local restaurant, we drove up to Oswald West park, which is Stephanie’s favorite spot on the Oregon coast and now I know why. We hiked down to the beach. which was sheltered and it was so warm, we were able to shed some of our layers. M & M played in the water and climbed rocks. We stayed until it was getting dark.

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Day 4 (Saturday) The Barnes family left to go home to their new kitty and to meet up with friends today to cut their Christmas tree. It was our only cloudy, drizzly day. Mr C and I drove to Canon Beach for lunch and to walk around town, but it was chilly and rainy so we came back to Manzanita, where we found a nice sale on shoes and each bought a new pair.

Day 5 (Sunday) We awoke to another beautiful day, and we were able to take a last walk on the beach before we left for a beautiful drive back to Portland. You can see all of my photos on my Flickr site.
It was a wonderful way to spend the long week-end. I think we will do it again. I went internetless and survived. I read The Road by American writer Cormac McCarthy. It is a post-apocalyptic tale describing a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted years before by an unnamed cataclysm which destroyed civilization and most life on earth. I read the book in a period of 24 hours. I was riveted by the story, and I am begging Mr C to read it so that I can discuss it with him. If you have read this book, let me know what you think of it.

Giving Thanks

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

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I said I would post today IF I had lost weight. Well, I did – almost 2 pounds. I think I have finally broken through my aggravating plateau. Of course, now there is the groaning board to deal with tomorrow. But, I have that under control. I am cooking lightened recipes, substituting mashed cauliflower for potatoes, using a leaner graham cracker crust and nonfat milk for the pumpkin pie. Lots of 0 points veggies.

Best of all will be the filling of my time with fun and games with M & M and their parents. I will try once again to beat Jack at Scrabble. We will take lots of walks on the beach. We will laugh at silly dvds. We will find time to read books. Food will be so secondary.

Wishing all of my good blogging friends a blessed and safe and happy Thanksgiving Day, if this is a holiday that you celebrate. For the remainder, I hope that you too, will give thanks for your many blessings, along with us.

Finishing Work and a Birthday Boy

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

Tonight I needed to turn in at least two small quilts for the High Fiber Diet show next month. Last week, I collaged a background of my hand dyed silks. Yesterday, I started adding Asian Textiles.

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Today, I noticed some spots that needed more collaging and then I quilted it with simple curved lines in metallic gold. I stained a piece of bamboo with gold paint and here is the finished product.

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And a closeup of the quilting.

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The Indigo Aspen Moonlight piece got a silvery bamboo rod.

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I would like to make a couple more pieces for the show. We shall see.

Today was Miles’ sixth birthday. M & M have no school this week, but Steph had to go to conferences with their teachers this morning. She dropped them off early. Here is Mia, looking so pretty in a brown outfit with a necklace and bracelet.

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Here is Miles reading in what looks like a very uncomfortable position.

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He was so excited to have a date with Grandma and Grandpa to go out to lunch and to pick out a birthday present at the Lego store. He could hardly contain himself.

Steph picked up Mia so that we could make it a really special time for Mr Milo. It took him all of 5 minutes to select a wonderful castle and pirate ship combo. We had lunch at the mall food court so that Milo could have one of his favorite meals: steamed rice and teriyaki chicken. He is reading one of the boxes and finishing his cookie, on the ride home.

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When he got back to our house, he assembled the bonus set, with no help from Grandpa. I can’t believe how grown-up he is becoming. We keep thinking it can’t get any better with these kids, and then it does. We are truly enjoying the conversations that we have with them.

Tomorrow, we are all heading to the coast for a long Thanksgiving week-end at the beach. I don’t think we will have internet access. I may check in tomorrow if I have good news when I weigh in at WW. Now, I must go figure out what I still need to buy at the store for the finishing touches on our feast.