2013-5 CHINA

Such an adventure! We planned just far enough ahead to be able to go - not my usual wa-a-ay in advance. So my daughter Kim and I went off to China. It started because a friend of hers had been transferred to Shanghai for work and had invited her to come visit. They planned the dates roughly and as she was telling me about it, my husband said to her, "Why don't you take mom?"

Ha! Don't know about who was taking who, but we found a tour offering 'great deals at this late date' and we decided to do it! The tour started in Beijing so we met there - Kim lives in England.

Great Wall of China

Dragon boat

Stone Warriors

modern apartments dominate most city landscapes

These are just a few of my photos  but there's not room for the close to 900 that were taken between us!

I left after the tour and Kim stayed with her friend for three extra days relaxing and seeing Shanghai not as a tourist.

Yep, you should go if you ever get the chance!

 The tour we took was partly on land and partly on the river. We were taken to many temples, museums and other places of interest and it was all very wonderful. The people were nice for the most part although there were always vendors in our face to sell things. The only other big negative for me was that the air quality was poor and made me cough.

Shanghai on a clear day! It rained the rest of our stay here.

I love gardens!

2013 May - Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Here's the Birthday Girl - YAY - 1 year old now!

I so very happy being a Grandma and having this little one to love. It is a great pleasure to do any little things with her. Just wish she and her family lived closer so we could see and play more often.

But then there is Facetime, which is the next best thing!

2013 Spring meeting of Rambling Art Quilters

Last fall the group of us met in Columbia, MO (since that is about half way between Kansas City and St. Louis) to show what we've been working on and to see our "Red" challenge pieces. Jane took all the small "Red" quilts and put them together into this wonderful collage which she showed to us at this Spring meeting.

Mine is second from the left, top row, and is "Passion." If you could look closely you would (hopefully) see a woman's face in the top third. I was trying to portray passion erupting from her like a volcano, but you can add your own interpretation. I personally think I kept adding fabrics way past when I should've stopped. My favorite is the bottom right quilt named, "SWAK," or sealed-with-a-kiss.

So going back to last fall, being done with our meeting, as we meandered around the quilt shop picking up things we absolutely had to have, a few of the girls found a print they loved. They oo-ed and ahh-ed and we ended up buying enough for everyone to have ½ yard. So we ended up with another challenge: using the 'One Block Wonder' technique make a small quilt and bring it to the spring 2013 get-together.

The One Block Wonder technique has the maker cutting out six identical triangles that when sewn together into hexagons make wonderful kaleidoscope designs. 

So here we are and here is my wallhanging.  

March 2013

Oh, well, I'm sure anyone reading this has noticed that I am trying to play catch-up and am now only one year behind. As I'm doing this I wonder if all these retro-postings fit in with why I originally thought doing a blog would be a good idea.

But as this day was meant to be an organizational one, maybe this is exactly what I should be doing: as sometimes looking back might give a signal for where to go ahead. Besides, it has been fun and interesting to see how the past bit of time has flowed.

Harry Potter at Universal Orlando

We started the month with another of those trips where my husband has to work most of the time and, in this case, Amanda and I get to play. We all enjoyed Harry Potter except that it was extremely crowded, whew!

This trip gave me quiet time to sew and to read, time to reflect, and time to spend one on one with my daughter. Many times I know I don't appreciate the quiet time I have at home and try to 'fill' it with usefulness when maybe doing nothing is most useful. Or doing nothing with someone special is even better.


We came home from Florida and left the next week for some skiing in Utah. Yes, I know, we are lucky! Everyone else is quite good so it was always nice when I took a break to sit and watch - to rest, yes, but also just to enjoy the beautiful days. I really do like to ski; I just need more practice! Haha!

Ryan, Amanda, Nancy and Dick

And there must be some truth in the saying "March, in like a lamb, then out like a lion!" because we ended the month with a lots of snow! Pretty, but the best being that it didn't stay around very long.

2013 - Mom's a Photog!

Poor baby Bianca will love the pictures later, when she isn't mad at her mom for taking so very many pictures of her.

But what can you do when your mommy is a photographer?

Smile!

or try to escape...

or cry a bit...

 Whichever you choose 

we love you and wish you a very 

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Happy 2013 - It's a New Year!

I've been reading different blogs and web sites that have been proposing that everyone choose a special word for the year - just one word - that is to help you reach your goals for the year. Not as easy as is seems…

So I am choosing FOCUS. Hopefully it will help me zero in on what is important to me and how I should go about it during this year. Fingers crossed!

So my FOCUS is my family…

…and my quilting and my photography which are more than hobbies, also being artistic expression…

…and my learning to accept life with the lessons and opportunities it gives me, even if I do not want or like what I'm given...

Christmastime 2012

We really stretched Christmastime throughout December this year. Karly and baby Bianca spent a week with us while Michael studied for his final exams, which of course I loved!

Yes, sweetheart, of course I will take you and your Mommy to see Santa Claus! Best Santa Claus ever and you did not mind sitting with him at all. Yay!

Plus we had a fun time seeing Great Grandpa Sinise, learning to use a sippy cup, and getting early presents from people since we won't see you on Christmas Day.

Great Grandpa Sinise and Bianca Ray

twins!!

and how does this work?

Christmas morning with Kim, Amanda and Ryan