I have to add in pictures of the bridal shower that my MahJongg friends and sis-in-law Kathleen gave for Amanda. It was a lot of fun and great for seeing people that we haven't seen for awhile. We had a nice luncheon, many good laughs and Amanda got to open presents! It was very wonderful how all the small groups of Amanda's friends and family ended up laughing together and telling stories.

It is making me nervous because the wedding is getting closer and it seems there is still so much left to do. I have had dreams about rain and mosquitos, you know. Either it is raining on the outdoor ceremony or the guests are being bitten all over by the 'skeeters!!

  Bianca didn't mind any noise and behaved herself very well too. Great aunt Kathleen had her turn cuddling with Bianca too. Several people also brought small gifts for her, so it was a surprise double shower. We did wait until the non-family guests had left.

I suppose if we had planned it, we would have them separately so each shower would be special to that girl. But it was all spontaneous that people brought the gifts for the baby.

Kathleen was so wonderful because she brought six beautiful baskets of prize gifts for the bingo game we played! The baskets had different lotions and skin products that were really fantastic. :)

Great Grandpa came over on Amanda's birthday (yes, it was a birthday weekend too!) 

Happy Birthday Amanda!!

Amanda and Ryan

  f

Well, so much for writing here at least once a week! It was a good goal and I'll try to do better. This time between entries has been busy with many good days, and a few of the frustrating ones too. But the highlights are really good ones!

Like I said in my previous entry, for quite a while I have wanted to fix the master bath and get it updated, so I am halfway through that. White walls are much better than the tired, dirty wallpaper. Remodling started fine but got bogged down while waiting for deliveries and getting organized. I needed a break in the 'house' work anyway because the kids all came to visit! But now things have been delivered a few days ago and the installer has said he's coming, so it will be installed tomorrow and hopefully walls painted too. I am optimistic that it will all happen perfectly!

The sewing room is in much better shape than before with good lighting so I can see what is happening - always a good thing - but you can see that the walls still need to be painted. Only, that is a huge, daunting project - not the painting but the moving all the THINGS to get to the walls...







But on to the FUN happenings!! All the kids came in to visit!! Partly for the Fourth of July, partly for the Bridal Shower for Amanda, partly for a baseball game all together, partly so we could all get to know baby Bianca, and partly just to be together!! It was busy and yes, tiring too.

Here is Bianca's daddy and Aunt Kim

 There was pretty much something going on all day and night, especially with the baby having night and day mixed up! Her poor mommy and daddy did not get much sleep. They left her with me two times! First time for leaving her with anyone so I guess I did okay. Thank goodness for instant messaging though because I did get a text asking how she was doing, and I just snapped a picture of her sleeping and sent it. Ha! Never had that when my kids were small! Of course it was hard for me to cuddle sometimes because Grandpa-pa would take her! Love!!Great Grandpa could not get enough of her and came over three times just to sit and hold her. He has always been a push-over for babies! He would be in heaven if the kids all lived close. 

We went out to eat more than we thought with the baby but she was really good - no crying at all. Of course someone did hold her  most of the time. That baby girl really enjoys a good cuddle!! Her mommy was so very good at sharing her baby!

Maybe Good Stress...?

So I have been busy a few days taking pictures for the Assistance League, plus going to extra meetings, and that has worked out okay. It would be great if they would let me be connected to the G:drive from home so I could upload and edit photos rather than drive all the way to the headquarters each time - it is about 20 minutes each way. We'll see. And it seems that we will be able to work out a schedule for taking pictures that is good for everyone.

And then my not so good decision to get some home-improvement taken care of now...
With only a week and a few days to go until the kids visit, I am encouraging the young man who is working on the house to FINISH the first half what we have talked about so it is done before everyone arrives!! He has painted the ceiling in my sewing room (removing the 'glow in the dark' stars from Amanda's pre-teen years) and installed a great fixture so I can see much better. (It is also encouraging me to clean out the excess things in the room!) He worked in the closet in my bedroom removing a boxed in area that was wasted space and now makes the closet bigger - Yea!! Plus tomorrow he will paint the bathroom (he removed the old wallpaper a few days ago), paint the closet, and paint the bedroom too!! Triple Yea!!

But I only have a week until the kids get here for Amanda's bridal shower and the Fourth of July, and it has to be clean and organized... oh my

So I sent off the email to say that, yes, I would take the job of Photography Chairman for the Assistance League chapter. I hope I am not getting myself into a big mess and going to cause problems for the others in the group if I can not follow through. I figured that I do take relatively good pictures and all they really need are snapshots that different members can use for flyers, advertisements, reports, etc. This is not a job needing a paid photographer!!

My questions about it are if I will be able to be at all the places I need to be in order to get the pictures, or if I can not go I need to find someone else to volunteer to go. So there are quite a few meetings to go to within the next two weeks where others will let me know what's expected. So we will see...

Now that I have volunteered away a chunk of time I will have to be more organized to get my own photos and quilts done. Plus we have wedding planing to complete and invitations to address - Oh My!

Our Memorial weekend started out on Saturday with a very fun house warming party at Amanda and Ryan's. Fun bar-b-que with volleyball, ping pong,and conversation! 

Then Sunday Amanda, Dick and I drove to Indianapolis to visit Mike, Karly and baby Bianca! It's only a 5 hour drive so not too bad, and we timed it so we would miss the Indy 500 traffic. This was the first time Dick and Amanda got to meet Bianca. 

  

Today has started out with beautiful weather and a long list of things to do. I talked with Amanda about wedding plans and that to-do list, with her adding more to my list. Then I walked to the Assistance League resale shop where I spent the morning volunteering, stopped by the bank to deposit the certificate money for the church and then walked to church to drop off the deposit slip. (My foot is hurting less so I hope I didn't hurt it more by so much walking!)

I do want to share the quilt I made for baby Bianca. Her mommy and daddy had been calling her their 'honey bee' while waiting for her to be born so I had to use this cute 'bee' fabric I found!

Here's the front and back. I quilted it with a honeycomb pattern and little bees.

And now for MY list--

First off,  I really want to set out time to go through the pictures from my trip to Japan and fix any that really need it. You know, cropping and straightening a bit, and some need shadows lightened. But I have surprised myself because I really like most of them as I took them! Yay! Here's one of the first fun meals we had where we cooked the veggies and meat in our individual bowls of simmering broth. Yummy!

And these next two were taken at a festival celebrating Budda's birthday. So many interesting things to see but so very, very crowded! There were booths selling trinkets and booths with food lining the long walk into the main festival area. Then there was a large pavilion with musicians playing that was wonderful. The cherry trees were not quite full-bloom, but close, and people had claimed their space under the trees with big blue plastic tarps so they could have picnics.

So what would be most fun would be to divide my pictures into a 'short program' of what I think are the best to give a nice travelog story - because there are way too many for anyone to really spend the time looking at them, other than me! That way if someone is really interested they could look at more pictures but I wouldn't be boring anyone, hopefully. It was a lot more fun taking the pictures I think. 

Then second on my list - also with photos - is to work on the scans of the slides from Grandpa. They desperately need to be color corrected and fixed because many have water damage. I'd like to arrange them with stories from Grandpa and have them made into a book. How much time is THAT going to take? If I work on a few pictures everyday I may get it done in time for either Grandpa's birthday or Christmas.

And third, because not all my projects should deal with photos, I must finish the T-shirt quilt I am making for a friend from church. I have only had the shirts for almost 6 months and it needs to get done. The main part of the top is finished and I am working on borders. So I am giving myself one week - I want to take it to quilt guild for show and tell. I really need deadlines!

Another reason that I'm behind in putting up these posts is that I am now a Grandma!! My little darling has arrived May 10 (early by almost 4 weeks) and is a bit small at 5 pounds 13 ounces, but is doing fine. Her name is Bianca Ray and she is beautiful!!!

She arrived in the middle of the night so I was not there, but drove over the first thing in the morning - she's only 5 hours away for now! Look at all that blond hair! I do miss holding her!

 I've been back from my wonderful trip to Japan for 3 weeks now and am just now commenting about it. Here are just a few of my photos...

"Springtime in Japan - Textiles & Cherry Blossoms" was the name of the trip and it did not disappoint! We were told that we were so lucky to be able to see so many of the trees blooming at the times we were visiting. They were very beautiful! We got to spend a lot of time in Kyoto which was so beautiful.

We saw a great mix of gardens, pottery studios, museums and temples. The tour was arranged to go to several of the Spring Festivals that were being celebrated and if I put all the photos I took on this page it would take an hour at least to skim through them all. We were lucky to be able to attend a smallish quilt show too that was held on a floor at a department store. What a treat! The vendor booths at the end were almost as much fun to browse through as the show. I picked out some great taupe fabrics (that I have not seen here at home) to go with the ones I have been collecting. Now I will have to get going on that project - except I came home with several projects to do! Which should be first?

Being Festival time there were many Japanese tourist out and enjoying themselves that it seemed even more fun, and crowded! At one temple the young girls dressed in kimonos and went to find out their fortune about who they would marry. It seemed that all the young people love posing for pictures. Most of the people we met were very polite and helpful. I think one of the best things about the tour was the beauty of all the gardens. They were all so carefully tended and peaceful with special care in the placement of rocks and statues to the planting of each flower or tree. So many of the gardens were very old and had the feeling of a warm hug to me. I never got tired of walking along a path waiting to see what was around the bend - and many times there was a group of 5 or 6 students with their teacher. I don't know if it was a special time for field trips or if the teachers always take the students out, but it was interesting to see the kids in their uniforms out taking pictures and enjoying the gardens too.

Today my day is not starting with sunshine; it's a bit blue. My trip is coming and while very excited, I am not ready. 'Ready' is a relative term and in my case might be better if changed to 'ready enough.' I am tired, and I am worried. Have I covered everything? What might happen while I'm gone that I can 'pre-fix?' Stress can be a good motivator sometimes, and while I am much more organized than usual, it is making me too anxious. Since ironing, which still needs to be done, is probably not going to help, maybe a short walk with my dog is the best solution.

"Happiness can be as easy as opening your eyes and heart." This is what I have had engraved on a few things to remind me to look around and notice: nature, people, art, color, feelings, smells, (everything) and then see them again in my heart, with a new viewpoint. Sometimes it works.

Maybe I should take the camera on that short walk.

Oh my! Just a few days until my trip to Japan!! We were told to make or buy something small pertinent to us to give as special thank you gifts, so I made 5 little 4"x5" pouches from this St. Louis fabric to give away. They turned out really nice! The other pouch is cute with a small pocket on the outside and I like it a lot, but it has nothing special to do with my area. So that was fun to do & easy!

This trip will be very interesting and I will learn so much, but these next few days are going to be hectic getting things in order at the house. I am packed - lightly so there's room to bring back the fun things I know I will buy! - so that's not a problem. I've arranged for my dog to go play at a friend's house so my husband won't have to worry if an out-of-town business meeting comes up. Laundry will be done and house reasonably clean because I know he's not going to do much of either of those things. Two meetings are lined up to take care of business and one volunteer session I wish I could get out of, but no matter. The tasting for the reception is the day before I leave which will help get decisions made early, and that's good. What am I forgetting?!?

I want to take a few minutes to learn some basic Japanese phrases, so I hope somewhere on the internet there will be a uTube lesson! Plus I have my book to read for the long plane ride and some handwork to do. The main thing is to finish the baby quilt I want to send to Mike and Karly as an early surprise - and it has a way to go. So I need to stop writing here and go sew!

Happy April Fool's Day!!

It is such a beautiful day but beware, the weatherman says we are on our way to setting a record of heat - possibly getting as high as 90 degrees today!

So I thought I'd better take a few pictures before more of the Spring flowers are wilted by the heat. These azaleas are full of blossoms this morning. Little stars of color!

And right next to them is the dogwood tree with its delicate blossoms. I wish Spring coolness would stay longer so the flowers would last!

I am packing and getting ready for my trip to Japan, which is so exciting and really something I'd never, ever thought would be happening. But more on that later. The only thing about leaving in a few days is that I'm going to miss most of my garden's flowers! Oh well, really I should not complain and I will take photos of the beautiful cherry blossoms that will be in full bloom while I am visiting Japan!

So last Friday March 30 I went with my daughter Amanda and her fiancé Ryan to a 'tasting' for the rehearsal dinner. Oh my, such good food! We did have fun, but are trying to make things more casual - like an at home Italian dinner not a plated fancy dinner (which is more for the reception anyway.) We will start with beer, wine and sodas on the patio with a bruschetta bar until everyone arrives and gets to say their hellos.

Then we go inside for dinner with served salads, but the rest of the food we will pass around. We will have platters of spaghetti with marinara sauce, and people can add meatballs or eggplant parmesan as they choose. There will be fresh bread too, of course. Dessert is planned to be out on the patio again with a gelato cart and cannelloni. Plus more time to sit, talk, have wine or coffee and chill for a bit.

How does that sound to you? I'm hoping it is fun & relaxing!

So today is a wonderfully beautiful day outside - Thank You Mother Nature!! And I do plan to enjoy it later with my dog, but for now you see this huge pile of folders and miscellaneous? Well, there's more on the floor in a few boxes and some in the garage too, and it needs to be organized so I can store it for the next Quilt Show come March 2014.

My main goal here is to make sure there is a Red Folder for each committee that has their responsibilities, timeline and history of what was done before for the job, and with this year's suggestions and evaluations. I just didn't understand all the jobs when I said I would be chair and that made me uncomfortable since I couldn't answer even some basic questions. Last show's chair was amazing in her help and support, but hopefully next show's chair will have extra notes - plus the same great support! Plus I do like organizing things... maybe not just closets and household things.

I am almost packed and ready for my trip to Japan, and yes my clothes are probably getting more wrinkled than if I waited, but it makes me feel so much more comfortable to see the suitcase ready to go - almost. One suitcase that can not be too full because I do want to bring things home with me of course, and a carry-on big enough to have a few days' necessities since on the tour we will be without our main bags for a bit. Plus, more room to buy things, so definitely pack light!

I've been practicing and playing with the settings on my camera so I can take better pictures while there. Plus I watched a great video by Jane LaFazio about art journaling, which I'd love to do on the trip! She teaches many techniques for watercolor in the journal, but even though I'd love to do that, I think just drawing (or trying in my case) and writing will have to be enough.

Today brought a chance to spend time with a great bunch of women as we volunteered for the Assistance League by working in the resale shop, named 'Fantastic Finds,' sorting through donations, pricing items and arranging them so they hopefully sell quickly. All the money raised goes to serve the needs of children and adults in the St. Louis community.

So that was a well spent morning!

Then it was errands, a hair cut, and laundry - not the most glamorous day at all. But as a break I got to play outside in the beautiful weather with my dog and my neighbor's dogs that I'm caring for while she is off to Chicago to see her grand baby. Spending time with dogs outside on a nice day could work as a prescription for a well balanced self I think.

And now I want to play in the sewing room for a bit and make some small things to give as gifts on my trip to Japan. It is coming up so quickly and I have so much to do. Today was a good day!

What a fun day with great friends of more than 30 years! We got together to celebrate 2 birthdays and just spend the day. Here we are in Kimswick, MO where we had a great lunch and did some shop browsing.

After this we went home and played MahJongg (which we've been able to do for all those 30 years) before getting ready to go out to eat! What a fun day! We are aging pretty good, hey!

Retreat at Shaw Nature Reserve

Such a wonderful place off Interstate 44 near Grey Summit, MO!!

With the warm weather we have been having this Spring the trees and wildflowers were blooming and so very pretty. We went there to sew but had to take a long hike to enjoy the beauty.

Sometimes the best medicine for overload is a walk in the woods. Nature is a gift to our soul.

Here are some pictures of the Quilt Show set up and waiting for people to arrive on Saturday March 17 & Sunday March 18. The first picture is of the chairs for the demonstrations area with the Rambling Art Quilters' exhibit "The River" which will be at the Denver Show in a few weeks.

The next picture is an over view from way up in the bleachers to show how big the room is. There were over 500 quilts! And the last picture is a quilt by Ricky Tims and his father named "Dad's Lone Star."

The family is home now from their ski trip in Colorado. The weather was warm in the low 60's for them, but still fun they say. What a surprise they had coming back to record setting temperatures here - upper 80's!!! All the Spring flowers are blooming; it looks so very pretty!

The quilt show is just one day away until we set-up and this is what my car looks like full of pretend plants that will 'soften' the space - we'll use some real flowers though here and there. The rest of the car is full of baskets of things and signs. My quilts will be the last thing to put in - hope there's room!!

I thought everything was going well until 3 'YIKES!!' have happened: #1-we can't find the big "Quilt Show" sign to put by the main streets so must borrow or make one, #2-the pipe and drape company finally sent the layout and it is missing a whole row (biggest YIKE) but that's been talked out, and #3-the printer won't have all the programs done until the afternoon (hopefully, they say) before the show. She said 800 should be done tomorrow afternoon and the remaining 600 the next morning. Is that okay she asked? Of course, not much else I can say. Thank you.

It will be fine. The show will be fantastic!

I love the beginnings of Spring when the flowers start to bloom and we get to see the bits of color decorating the landscape. Today is going to be cloudy with rain, which means more beautiful flowers and color. Nice!