A visitor to my hometown

I got this one from DebR


Imagine you’ve made a connection with another blogger who lives in a completely different part of the world than you do. This blogger is about to take a trip and the connection you’ve made is so strong that she is going to make your house one stop on her trip. (Yay!) Unfortunately she can only stay at your place for 24 hours (boo!), but she’d like to see some nearby sights while visiting with you.


Keeping in mind that time is quite limited so you have to stick pretty close to home (although not necessarily right IN your town - just anyplace you could go as a day trip), try looking around you with the eyes of someone who has never seen your area and tell us some things you’d share with…



A Visitor to Your Hometown



1. Your visitor wants to see something historical. Where would you take her and why?

It's hard to go anywhere in Charleston, SC without seeing something historic. I suppose one of our first stops should be at Ft. Sumter - where the Civil War started. (or as they say down here "The War of Northern Aggression")

After that we could take a carriage tour and see some of the beautiful old homes that were standing during the war.

We could just take a walk through the streets of downtown Charleston and see something historic with every step.

2. She wants to see something hysterical…well, mildly amusing anyway. She’d even go for cute, quirky, odd, or unique. Where would you take her and why?

Well, in addition to our elegant downtown, we have the less elegant outskirts when the 21st century hasn't caught up yet. I'd probably take her to the flea market where we would see a large number of mullets.

3. She wants to take some beautiful and/or interesting photos to fill her albums when she gets home. Where would you take her?

Again, it's hard to turn around without seeing something worthy of photographing, but I might take her to Middleton Gardens where the flowers are breathtaking in the spring.






Or maybe we'd go to see Angel Oak - a tree reported to be hundreds of years old.

Or we could go down East Bay Street and see Rainbow Row - a row of homes painted...you guessed it...rainbow colors.

4. She’d like to buy a souvenir that will remind her of your area every time she sees it. What would you suggest and where would you go to get it?



I'd have to take her to get a handmade sweetgrass basket. These baskets are hand woven in many different designs. They are not cheap, but are very much a Charleston tradition.







I hope she would enjoy her visit to my hometown. I know I would enjoy showing it to her.

My two brothers

I was feeling a little guilty about cropping my brothers out of the photo I posted yesterday, so here they are. Ed is on the left and Claude is in the middle.

It's funny how Claude ended up with blond hair and blue eyes (like our dad) while Ed & I ended up with dark hair and eyes (like our mother). When I was a teen I was jealous of Claude's blond hair because the surfer girl look was in at the time. It probably would be easier to cover the gray as a blond than as a brunette, so maybe I should covet his hair color again!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm not sure how this sweet little girl turned into the 55 year old overweight woman with a bad knee and sciatica that looks back at me in the mirror each day, but she did.

I'm guessing that I was somewhere between one and two in this photo. I'm wondering where the curls went. My hair is pretty straight now and it went straight fairly young otherwise my mother wouldn't have given me those bad perms when I was a kid!

It's a Girl!

Chrystal had the "big" ultrasound yesterday. She, Craig, Noah, her Mom & I all crowded into the room and watched as the tech checked everything out. The baby is doing well and is most decidedly a girl.

Noah was hoping for a brother, but I'm sure he'll do fine with a little sister. I would have been happy with a boy or a girl, but I'll admit I'm excited that I'll be able to buy pink outfits! Yesterday afternoon I 'happened' to walk through the infant department at the store and came home with a little onesie that has "I'm the little sister" embroidered on it. Too cute!

Work in Progress Wednesday

(clickable for a larger view)


I've been collecting silk dupioni and asian brocades for a while to make a quilt I saw on the cover of a New Zealand quilt magazine. I even marked and cut out a good deal of the quilt and pieced the first block. At that point I decided it wasn't going to work out the way I wanted so I put it all aside.

Recently I came across the foundations to make a NY Beauty that I'd ordered some time ago from equilter.com and decided that I might like to use my silk fabrics for that. (the foundations are muslin not paper)

The block size is 8" and I decided to also add some 4" blocks that I drafted on muslin from a pattern I got in Valori Wells' book "Radiant New York Beauties."

While I had already backed the silk fabrics with a soft fusible interfacing type fabric (to lessen the fraying) working on the muslin foundations gives it added stability. I quite like how it's turning out and am having fun putting the blocks together. Right now the blocks aren't arranged in any kind of order - just pinned on the wall as I complete them (well, that 4" block in the middle isn't quite complete - it still needs to be sewn together). I'm looking forward to finishing all the blocks and then playing with the layout.

Things we didn't know last year...

The BBC has published a list of 100 things we didn't know last year. I thought #2 was interesting. "There are 200 million blogs which are no longer being updated, say technology analysts."

I'll try not to be number 200,000,001.

The Old Alma Mater

I learned today that Redford High School, from which I graduated way back in 1969, is on a list of schools to be closed by the Detroit Department of Education. The school is old. It was originally built back in the '20's with the first addition constructed in the '30's. The joke when I was there was that the "new section" was already 30 years old. There have been several additions/remodels since I graduated. Enrollment has now declined to just over 1,000 students (it was probably closer to 3,500 when I was a student) and now the school is far too large for the current enrollment.

I feel like a piece of my childhood is being taken away!

Noah & Mom

Here are Chrystal & Noah on Christmas Eve. I think it's cute.

I've been working but don't have any photos to post right now. I'm using all the silks and brocades that I had planned for a project and decided to use them in a New York Beauty instead. It's been kind of fun to work on so far.

Happy New Year!

How is it possible that 2006 is over? I don't make resolutions, but I hope that I can accomplish some things this year.

I'd like to lose weight. My friend June and I have been lamenting that we need to lose weight by October before a crew reunion for the USS Grant, a submarine our husbands were on together.

I need to keep my studio more organized. Right now it's difficult to work in the clutter.

I need to get more sewing done. I have all this fabric and all these ideas, but I just don't seem to get going on it. My quilt guild is having a UFO busting challenge. We're to bring a UFO to the January meeting and pledge to finish it by the February meeting and so on. We'll see how good I am at keeping up! I think I'll take my Adam's Apple quilt.


I want to add more leaves to the trees before I can think about basting it for quilting so I should get going on it.

Not doing much work

I haven't been in my sewing room for a week or so, expect for a brief visit on Christmas Eve to fix Noah's Buddy. Buddy is a square of flannel fabric backed with a satiny fabric. One corner has two 'ears' sticking out and diagonally from that corner there are two 'tails.' Noah drags Buddy with him everywhere and after 5 years Buddy is showing some wear. I've done several patch jobs trying to fix worn spots and had to make an additional repair on Christmas Eve. Pretty soon Buddy will be beyond fixing. If Noah is anything like Craig, he'll be taking Buddy to college with him!

Noah and I are going to make a similar item sometime soon for his new sibling that is due in June. Yep, we're going to be grandparents again! I can't wait to cuddle the new baby! The big ultrasound is scheduled for January 18 and if the baby cooperates we'll know the sex. Isn't technology great?

Chrystal's birthday

Today is Chrystal's birthday. I know she hates having her special day so close to Christmas. We had dinner with them tonight & Chrystal's mom & brother stopped by for cake & ice cream.

This is what I made for her birthday.



I actually finished this a month or so ago and, of course, couldn't post it because it would ruin the surprise. I used an Eileen Sullivan paper piecing pattern. It's actually supposed to be a rectangle, but I tried something different for the borders. The first attempt border design was a failure, but I think the final result turned out okay.

I started this at our state guild retreat in October and it was strange to me the number of people who seemed surprised that I was making something for my daughter in law. More than one person said 'you must really like her.' I guess not everyone likes their in-laws.

Happy Birthday Chrystal!

He was lucky

Craig had a motorcycle accident tonight. He was merging on the freeway, looking over his shoulder for oncoming traffic. When he looked forward again he discovered that traffic was coming to a sudden stop. He hit his brakes, the bike dropped and he ended up going head over heels on the roadway. Luckily he wears lots of protective gear - helmet (this is a helmet optional state) gloves, boots, protective leather pants and jacket. He ended up with a low level separated shoulder and a badly sprained ankle.

By the looks of his helmet, he would have had some serious injuries if he'd been bareheaded. We're counting our blessings.

Getting ready for Christmas

I purchased a pre-baked gingerbread tree kit for us to work on with Noah. The kit also included the icing and decorations for the tree. Initially Noah wasn't too interested in working on it because he said he didn't like the way the gingerbread smelled.




Once I got the icing all prepared and started working on the tree he got more interested in the project.



















It was hard to sit him down for a photo with the completed project because he was too hyped up from all the sugar in the icing he licked off his fingers!

Another WIP Wednesday

Years ago - late 1980's - my mother asked me if I'd make her some embellished beaded and sequined Christmas ornaments. I ordered some kits from a company called Crackerbox. I gave her the ones I completed and stuck the other kits in a drawer. I've moved those kits 5 or 6 times and always put them in the same drawer in the same desk. Last week I decided I'd try to assemble one. I just finished it tonight and only because I cut a few corners and fudged the instructions a bit. I figure it took about 10 hours. Now I know why I left them in the drawer for so long. These buggers take a lot of work!




I was going to send it to my mother, but since she doesn't really decorate for Christmas anymore I decided to keep it for myself!

WIP Wednesday

I've been a slacker on Work In Progress Wednesday because I haven't been doing anything. This is a bad photo of the only thing I've done lately. An advent calendar for Noah. I have it hanging in a place where I couldn't back up far enough for a full shot so the bottom & sides are missing. This was a preprinted panel that I purchased at my local quilt shop.

Since Noah doesn't have much of a sweet tooth (he must not really be related to me!) I've put little mini ornaments in the pockets and have gotten him a little tree to place them on.

This is cool

I got an email today from someone who saw my quilt in Houston. She wanted to know if the quilt was for sale, or if I would make a duplicate to sell. I don't make quilts for sale, so I had to decline, but it sure made me feel good!

Ancestry

I saw an article in my local paper today talking about this website on which you can find passenger info about people from the UK who immigrated to the US. The data is available for entries between 1820 to 1960. I was able to find both of my maternal grandparents who immigrated through Canada into Detroit. They were already married when they came into the US in 1923, but separately; my grandfather in March and my grandmother in May. I've always known that one of my grandparents was from Ireland and one from Scotland, but I didn't know which. Turns out my grandfather, Sidney Gunning, was born in Belfast Ireland and my grandmother, Agnes Gunning, was born in Greenock Scotland. The odd thing about that is that when we lived in Dunoon Scotland, we were just across the River Clyde from Greenock and I never knew it was her birthplace.

While I never knew either of my grandparents, I have seen samples of my grandfather's handwriting - which was very elegant and looked a bit like calligraphy. The image of his entry card that I found on-line was obviously filled out by him in his own beautiful handwriting.

The info on the website is only free until November 30th and does require registration, but is interesting to browse.

My quilt in Houston

My friend Sarah, a fabulous quilter and a former state dept. worker who has lots of very interesting stories to tell, took this photo for me of my quilt as it was displayed in Houston. (clickable for a larger view)

I'm hoping that the woman pointing to something on the quilt wasn't pointing out some mistake!

Thanks Sarah!

Boys and their toys

I think it's now official - Jerry has reached the height of a mid-life crisis. (although as Craig pointed out, he's a bit late for 'mid-life' unless he's planning to stay around until he's over 100).

About 2 weeks ago Jerry decided to grow a beard. I've never been a huge fan of beards, so I've been giving him a hard time, which he just laughs off.

Now, to go with his beard he has purchased a motorcycle.

This is the 3rd bike he's owned, but the first since the 80's. This wasn't a spur of the moment purchase for him as he's spent the last 6 months or so looking for just the right bike.

Now that Jerry has a motorcycle, I think I should be able to get what I want - don't you?

A bunch of odd questions

I got this one from Deb

Someone knocks on your door at 2am, who do you want it to be?

It better be either Ed McMahon or the Publishers Clearing House people with my $10,000,000 check.

Your boss tells you he/she will give you a $20 raise if you'll do your job naked. Do you stay and take the raise?

Nope, Nope, Nope - although now that I'm retired I no longer have a boss.

Put yourself in a nutshell.

Yeah, like I'd fit...

Ever see a ghost?

No!

Happy with your body?

Hate it!

A reason to move to Iceland.

We have old friends who lived in Iceland for a few years. They liked it.

A place you've lived that you miss.

The California weather and the drive along Pacific Coast Highway

A job you'd never do, no matter how much you were paid.

Sewer worker

A band/group you thought was cool when you were 13.

I was the biggest Beatle fan at 13. There wasn't another band to compare.

You have a nightmare, who's the first person you think to call?

Jerry

Wanna have kids before you're 30?

Been there, done that.

A memory from high school.

Singing in Choir concerts

Ever had a crush on a friend's parent?

What a weird question! NO!

Do you look more like your mom or dad?

My mother

Something you've always wanted to learn to do.

Be part of a rowing crew

How you'd like your life to be in 10 years.

Just like now

Something you learned this year.

That not exercising equals added pounds.

What do you want for your birthday?

A golf cart.

Name 4 things you did yesterday.

1. Went to the quilt shop
2. Picked up Noah from school
3. Played checkers with Noah (with the chess pieces)
4. Surfed the web

Last item you bought yourself?

3 magazines

What did you have for breakfast?

Peanut Butter sandwich

Name a celeb you crush on.

Mark Harmon

Name the last 3 songs you heard.

I don't know the names - they were on the radio this evening

How many hours of sleep do you get each night?

Fewer than I'd like

What do you wish you were doing right now?

Seeing the quilts in Houston

Who's the first person in your phone book on your cell?

My cell phone number (which I had to put into the phone because I don't know it.)

Last time you witnessed a fight?

Don't know

Name 3 places you'd like to travel to.

Not sure, let me get back to you on that

Do you know how to ice skate?

Not really, but I do roller blade sometimes (not well)

Name something you like that's out of the ordinary.

??

Is bigger really better?

Depends - bigger is better for ice cream but not so good for rodents

What do you think of Brad Pitt?

I don't think about Brad Pitt

What color are your toenails.

No color right now - I just took off the chipped polish the other day

Do you own anything with a skull on it?

We have a pirate flag.

Traveled to Europe?

Yes (and if you consider the UK Europe than I even lived there for 2 years.)

Last movie you watched?

Some movie on WE today when I was sewing

Where were you when you had your first kiss?

Can't remember back that far!

Last board game you played?

Sorry with Noah

Leather or lace?

How about lacy leather

Ever had a black eye?

No

Have you ever worn fishnet stockings?

I think so.