Things you learn from a move

I'm having a quiet moment...between appointments. There are a lot of things we've done right so far this move and a lot a lessons learned. So here's my list:

- Starting early getting the animals ready with the Vet. and reading up on all of the requirements for them to travel was a good thing. The whole thing is very complicated. I still worry we are missing something.
- Donated, trashed, or otherwise got rid of stuff. Unfortunately not enough. Why do we have so much stuff? I'm committing to being very tough on things as we unpack on the other side and try to pare back some more.
- No matter how good a shape you think your house is in when the furniture moves out the walls look like....well, really bad. We should have allocatted more time for painting.
- Why do we wait until we move to make the house look really good? I finally painted the kitchen the mocha color I've wanted for the past 5 years. I love it...we're moving.
- Freshly washed windows are a beautiful thing...particularly when someone else does the washing!
- You can change your address with almost everyone via the internet. It makes it really easy. So far the only problem I've had is with an online fabric company that billed me for an order that I haven't recieved. Once I told them I was moving I haven't gotten a reply on any emails...since the one email I did get was nasty and told me to use the postal mail or faxes because they were too busy to answer email! I should have started clearing anything outstanding (ie. backorders/preorders) earlier.

I still can't post photos...how crazy!

Was this a day off?

After walking the dog, feeding the cats and emptying one more cabinet in the laundry room I drove the post office to drop off three boxes and to change our address. I then went to the appliance store to get a replacement burner for the one my stepson ruined by melting an emamel pan onto. After that I ran by my DH old office to pick up some paperwork he forgot and to drop off some he remembered but shouldn't have. I then went to the Doctor to get some perscriptions renewed then waited for them to be refilled. I got home in time to make arrangements for the windows to be cleaned tomorrow. My DH called to see how I enjoyed my day off. Let me change that...my DH called from the golf course in California to see how I enjoyed my day off!!!

I thnk my house is invisiable to my DH! Either that or he thinks elves come in and take care of things while he sleeps (or golfs!)

Blog isn't letting me post photos today...I'v found several of my quilts when they were hanging in shows and some antique ones from appraisal fairs we held. It is so frustrating when you wait a couple of minutes while it tells you it is loading only to get a blank screen and no photo! Sorry!

One Step Closer

The photo is of my Mom when she was stationed in England during WWII. Since I am packing to move to England I thought it appropriate.

We are now living in a hotel...or at least I am. The animals are staying in the house and my DH is visiting family in California. I can't believe how much "stuff" didn't get packed...I have a cabinet full of muffin tine (why, you are wondering, does anyone have a full cabinet of muffin tins? They multiply each move...that is my story and I'm sticking to it!) To continue....Paints can't go...cleaning supplies can't go...aerosol cans can't go...gardening tools/supplies can't go....So what do I do with all this stuff!!! I hate to toss it. I even have three plant left!

Of course the morning after we unplugged the main computer my DH decided he needed to look something up on the internet. He boots up my laptop and BANG...the blue screen of death! I tried everything...no luck. I scoop up the poor thing and drive to the local computer doctor. Picture a storefront filled with an assortment of spare computer parts, three teenagers with their feet up on the counter and an enourmous (5 feet across!) replica of the starship Enterpise hanging in the corner. If they couldn't fix my computer no one could.

So up my computer goes on the counter. They wrinkle their noses. My poor laptop is 5 years old and has seen better days. It was like driving a Toyota Corrolla into a Volovo Dealership. What is worse...they plugged it in, hit the on button and BANG - it worked. I had to toss around some Star Trek-isms just so they wouldn't think I was a total waste of gigabyetes....How embarressing!

Finally Pack-out!

I'm not sure how much I will be able to post over the next two weeks. Tomorrow they come and pack us out which means the main computer will be disassembled and intansit. My laptop is OK but I haven't used it on the internet in years. Even worse...I'll be using dial-up! I'm hoping the business center at the hotel has access to something a bit faster but I'm not holding my breath!

Some of my quilting buddies come over today for lunch. I made a cheese quiche and a tomato pie. Basiclly I used up all the leftover cheeses in the fridge! We also had fruit salad and toffee bars (just to keep us from thinking too healthy!) They helped me clear out some of the cabinets...I'm amazed at how many bags of chocolate bits I had!!! Mint chololate, peanutbutter and chocolate, milk chocolate, semi-sweet, white (ok...not real chocolate!) and even crunched up heath-bars! You would think I made cookies every day! Anyway, they all went to new homes...I think I'm saved from gaining at least 5 pounds!

The purse in the photo was a going away gift from my friend Rachel. She does great felted purses. These are definately my colors.

The quilt at the left is my first quilt. I made it in the mid 70's as a school project. I only had the Margaret Ickles book to go by which has drawings of blocks but limited info on how to put them together! There was no warning about polyester batting, about using a sheet for the backing, about using Kettle cloth, nor about how difficult curves can be...ignorance is bliss. This quilt has been dragged to concerts, picnics, and campouts all around the world. I don't think anything would kill it (believe me I've tried!)

The packers are here and once again are afraid of dogs! At least this group is nice about it. Poor Macbeth is locked in the back bathroom very confused. My DH is picking up my sewing machine...did I tell you it decided to start making crunching noised on Friday night! The folks at Jeff's Sewing and Vac are so great! I stumbled in there on Saturday morning with my sob story about needing to pack out this week...it was ready by Wednesday morning just as promised! My DH even offered to pick it up!

Anyway, I'll be back on blog as soon as the tecnical difficulties are worked out. Thanks for all you support through this!!

Hot, Hot, Hot

Yikes it is hot today. By the time church was over and I got back to my car the steering wheel was too hot to touch, the asphalt was sending off wavey mirage lines, and my sunglasses were trying to ski-jump off my nose. It is hot!

I had hoped to to do a little bit of work on the yard today but that is tossed! Our deck was pressure washed and stained so it looks nice. I'd just like to get some weeds pulled. I may break down and hire the kid down the street. Heat is the toughest thing for my MS...suddenly I get very tired and then my eyes have trouble focusing. Within a few minutes my eyesight is so bad/wobbly that I can't trust myself driving a car nor can I sew a straight line! It can take anywhere from a few minutes to days to get back to normal. Very frustrating but something that if I use a bit of common sense I can ususally avoid! (common sense = hiring the kid down the street)

The little quilt in the photo was hidden in a bookcase between civil war books. I made it about 10 years ago. It is made out of one piece of striped fabric fussy cut to make it look like a sampler quilt. Yes, it is the size of a potholder but not to be used as one! I had it hanging in the bookcase at one time but I guess my DH piled a few books on top without looking. Doesn't look like it has hurt it any!

Today I will do a bit more packing. Not a whole lot of energy left! My goal to day is to seperate out the items I do not want to ship and put them in one closet. Maybe if I put lots of "Crime scene tape" then they will know not to go in there?! I also have to do one more trip to Lowes to pick up paint for the kitchen...the list continues to grow....

finished a courthouse steps

After writing down the directions for the babysize courthouse steps I started pulling fabrics from the stash (which I was supposed to be packing but that isn't the story today.) Anyway, in a moment of "I don't want to move anymore so I'm going to sulk and hide in my sewing room" I decided to reproduce the little quilt.

In all it only took and afternoon! I only used fabrics I had on hand and didn't try to be too exact in matching the fabrics. The look is close and the fabrics the right period. It is a fun little quilt. When DH got home from golf he didn't quite get why I would make a quilt-top that looked like one I already have?! Poor man gets confused often I'm afraid.

The packers showed up about 10 minutes ago...that is 28 hours late. They are afraid of dogs and allergic to cats. Not boding well!!

My favorite daylilly flowered this week. I ment to take a bit to bring up to my Dad's garden...it is a bit late but I may give it a try anyways. A bunch were given to me by a member of my quilting guild a few years ago.

Well I guess I'd best get back to either keeping the animals calm or packing...

Missed Packing Day

The quilt on the left was purchased in West Virginia about 15 years ago. It's one of those Happy Quilts...not quite pastel with lots of gingham, shirting plaids and cambry. This week I need happy quilts!

I am not looking for sympathy...but this week really has been bad.

When I get nervous I grind my teeth. I ground them so bad this past week I cracked my back tooth and yesterday I had to have surgery to remove it. This of course knocked me out of commission for the last two days. My DH, who hasn't done a whole lot getting ready for the move to date, went into hyper-drive. Here I am with a swelled up mouth filled with cotton and two black eyes and he is asking me questions every three minutes about what is going into storage, what is being packing, who does this or that box go to? If I wasn't so pumped with pain meds I would have screamed!

Today I am feeling much better. We got up early and walked the house and garage with the ship vs. hold tags one more time. DH felt compelled to seperate everything in the garage into two seperate piles. During which my little dog decided to take himself for a walk. (he was feeling unloved and ignored I'm sure.) Now Macbeth would not hurt a fly...a rotweiller on the other hand if fair game in his book. Someday that Rot up the street will realize that Mac is only 17 pound and she is 75 pounds...Anyway, I go into the garage and ask where the dog is? For 20 minutes we walk the neighborhood looking for him. When we get home he is sitting on our front porch looking at us like we were lost. One panic over.

I did run over the quilt guild and drop off 4 boxes of miscl. craft stuff that isn't coming with me. I needed to cull the herd a bit. It is good to see it go to places it will be used. I rushed home because we had/have several appointments today: First and foremost the movers were coming to put things in storage, the yard guy is coming to fix the inground sprinkler that my husband ran over, and the handyman is coming to fix the window in the back that cracked. It is now 1:40 and I have not seen any of them. The movers have called and are running behind on another job and would like to reschedule to tomorrow...there is a goodbye lucheon for my DH but I guess I'll just have to pass on a free lunch! Fortunately there is a goodbye golf tournament for him this afternoon so he is not here pacing and complaining about the no-shows! I am trying to reschedule showing the house to some potential renters tomorrow so they are not here during the move but so far no answer on their cell phone!

At this point I almost don't care....what happens happens. Moving is too much work! Sorry for all the whining..... To make myself feel better I am going on-line to order another basket fromDawn Gabrielli. I bought the one on the left at the Quilt show last spring in Charleston. It fits blocks 15x15 and has a rod across the middle to hang your thread. I have been using it to keep my applique blocks together. She doesn really nice work. Nothing like some quilting shopping to cheer ya' up....

More than you'd ever want to know...

The photo on the left is of me and a few of the folks in my guild in front of the donation quilt we raffled off last year to support Camp Rainbow. I am the one with the white pants second from the left. The quilt is from Barbara Brackman's Prairie Flowers. I made the purple flower block second down on the right and pieced the baskets in the corners.

I took the ABC tag from Anne at QuiltingBebbs...here goes.

Accent: Not much of one. Originally had a Boston accent, but several years of traveling and broadcasting classes pretty much broke me of it.
Booze: OK, with that I have an accent! I have no alcohol tolerance anymore so one glass of wine or a good beer and I'm done. Two drinks and I'm asleep!
Chore I hate: Vacuming. The dust makes my eyes swell shut and my nose whistle.
Dog/Cat: One Scottish Terrier named Macbeth and two cats, Goldie and Brownie.
Essential Electronics: Obviously the computer and digital camera. Beyond that I need my heavy duty mixer...can't bake without it.
Favorite perfume: Beautiful
Gold/Silver: When I had my colors done the man told me I always had to wear gold (I'm an autumn.) However I love southwestern silver and tourquise and continue to wear lots of it.
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts.
Insomnia: All the time. I have MS which sometimes requires me to take lots of muscle relaxants for the spasms...the relaxants make me groggy so I take a stimulant which can keep me up at night. If I don't take the relaxants my legs can be kicking at night and keep my DH up too. I usually read for awhile and/or drink warm mild with lots of honey!
Job Title: Ouch...as of last Friday, unemployed. Once the move is finished I am going to take a crack at writing full time again. (I am surpressing this need to list my entire CV to show I am not a slug...I've had important jobs...corner offices...secretaries...being unemployed, even by choice, is very scarey!)
Kids: Three stepsons and four step-grandkids. (my husband is a lot older than me!)
Living Arrangement: Boxes. We are two weeks away from moving.
Most admirable trait: Uhmmm, I used to be organized...now, I'd say generous.
Number or Countries: Join the Army see the world (or was that Navy?!) Anyway between my years in the Army and in business I've traveled a lot.
Overnight Hospital Stays: Join the Army see the inside of a hospital room...not a great recruiting slogan aye! Let's just say I've had parts broken, parts removed and a few metal parts added. I even got to liking red jello.
Phobias: Heights and water. Each allone I am fine - for example I can jump out of a perfectly good airplane, but say standing at the edge of a bridge and looking down at the water. Not good.
Quote: "Your can lead a whore to water but you cannot make her think." Dorothy Parker
Religion: Boston Irish Catholic (we feel slightly more guilty than any other Catholic)
Siblings: Youngest of seven.
Time I usually awake: See J above...anyway, I am still getting up around 7:00.
Unusual talent: Not that I can think of.... I am sort of a math geek.
Veggies I hate to eat: Raw tomatoes. Even just slightly cooked and I'm OK. My sister eats them right out of the garden like an apple...yuck!
Worst habit: overcommit...this has gotten worse since the MS. I just can't do as much as I used to and my mind hasn't quite trained my mouth to say NO/sorry/not going to happen. Yesterday my DH rattled off a long list that included touching up paint on the cabinets, rolling up carpets, and picking up 5-gallons of desk stain...I asked him what woman did he think he was living with? I guess my mouth-brain connection is getting better!
Yummy Food: I love little tiny fancy desserts like eclairs, cannollis, cream puffs, and chocolate dipped strawberries. My mom's sister used to bring big boxes of them to family gatherings from Montillio's Bakery. They would carefully put them on fancy china dishes and to a small child it was heavan. My Aunt would take the first one off the tray and give it to me saying if the tray was full no-one would take one.
Zodiac: Gemini...and boy does it fit!

Courthouse Steps

I posted this baby/crib courthouse steps a couple of weeks ago and got some requests for meaurements. My DH deleted the emails so I'm not sure exactly who it was so I am posting them here along with the photo.

All measurements are finished size. They start in the center of the quilt. The long side is A and the short side is B. After the center I only wrote out the width of the strips With all the seams it is best to measure as you go...just be careful not to allow it to get too wavey!

Center - Brown#1, 1-1/4 x 1-1/4; A - Pink,3/4 x 1-1/4; B - Brown#1, 3/4; A -Pink, 3/4; B - Brown#1, 3/4; A - Pink 3/4; B - Brown#1, 3/4 (this should be a center brown block with three pink and three brown steps.)
A - Shirting#1, 3/4; B - Brown#2, 3/4; A - Shirting#2, 3/4, B - Brown#3, 1; A - Shirt#3, 1-1/4; B - Tan, 1-3/4; A - Shirt#4, 1-1/4; B - Red#1, 1-1/2; A - Shirt#5, 1-1/4; B - Tan#2, 1-1/2; A - Red#1, 1-1/4; B - Dark Stripe, 1-1/2; A - Shirt#5, 1-1/4; B - Tan#3, 1-1/4; A - Blue Stripe, 1-1/4; B - red#2, 1-5/8; A - Shirt#6, 1-1/4; B - Dark Stripe2, 1-1/2, (NOTE here the B side repeats) B - Tan2, 1-1/2; A - Light stripe, 1; B - Dark stripe 1-1/4; (repeat again) B - Green, 1-1/4; Border Tone on tone beige 2-1/2 inches on each side.

The backing is a brown and green homespun. The binding is just back to front with the homespun. It finishes about 44-1/2 by 35. (several of the strips are pieced...particularly the shirtings.)

Looking at what I've typed it reads more like a crochet pattern! Good luck.

Pots and quilts

My DH and I decided I should use today to decompress so no schedule. So what happens - we go to lunch at my favorite Indian restaurant and who is there but 3 folks I used to work with! It was like my goodbye luncheon all over again!


I did go to the pottery talk on Friday. Unfortunately I was a bit late and most of the items brought by my favorite were already gone! He did make a cat riding a fish for me but a woman bought it from the gallery owner as he was unpacking his van! I ended up buying the green vase in the photo. The color is much more vibrant than the photo looks. I am also posting a photo of my one piece of Dorchester potter because the green vase is in the background and the color is much truer. If he doesn't make a cat before I go then it just isn't ment to be...




My DH finally consented to hold up a few quilts for me to photograph. (my apologies for the kitty butt!) This quilt is from Pennsylvania. Yellow and red quilts are typical of that area. There are about 15 different red calicos. The quilting is simple but good and it has a very plain muslin backing. As I'm packing up my quilts I'm noticing I went through a serious "red period." Maybe I was thinking Christmas?! It is my favorite holiday. I just never thought of red as my favorite color...I must be drawn to it though.

It is well over 90 degrees today so I think I am just going to go hide in my airconditioned sewing room for awhile. Who knows I may finally make enough Tonya letters to finish a sentence!

Last day of work

I barely slept last night. Today is my last day (very, absolute, not even for a few hours) of work and I had lots of those "go into a classroom only to find it is a major exam and I'm not ready" dreams. I hate those!
I like my job. The folks I work with are interesting and my boss very understanding of my need for flexible hours. It is just working with MS can be challenging and when combned with moving...ughhh. Add that to not having an operable AC system in my building and then facing summer in the American South again and I just get depressed! It will be in the high 90's today...that is just plain miserable hot. Picture sweat running off of your fingers while you try to type...Projector bulbs exploding...students passing out...Fortunately they have scheduled a luncheon today which will take up several hours and the rest of the day is mainly cleaning out the office and saying goodbyes.
Moving and packing I've decided is a full time job. Next week there is something that needs to be done every single day. I had hidden hopes of being able to sneak in a quiet day of fabric fondling but it doesn't look to be in my future. We are going to one of my favorite art studios tonight however to see a local potter's new exibit. They gave me a pretty generous bonus check for staying on the job a month longer than I had planned and this potter makes some great animal pots. (Last time I asked him if he ever did cats and he said he'd consider it....)
The quilt in the photos is another of antique ones from Maryland. It is crib size and has some amazing hand quilting. I can see why some folks only collect crib-size. It is so much easier to handle and store!

Roadtrips and pottery

Let's just say my roadtrip this weekend didn't live up to expectations. Not even close. Too much driving, too many u-turns, too much really bad coffee, not enough road signs, too many mistakes in the Mapquest directions, too little reception for the cell when the tire no longer has enough tread, too few tow trucks when the two truck carrying our car also blew their tire, and way too many bug bites from sitting next to a cotton field waiting for someone to find us in the middle of nowhere. Now I have whined about it for too long...

So we got home last night very late. Piled a U-haul truck full of stuff for my stepson and his family. Doesn't seem to have made much of a dent? Scarey, a truck full of stuff and there is still too much here! Our next shipment is on Thursday...maybe then it will seem a bit more managable!

Needless to say I haven't gotten any stiching time in so instead of talking quilts I decided to show some photos of my other love...pottery. (I saw Laura's collection on her blog Pine Ridge Quilter and really enjoyed them!) I love the feel of hand-thrown pottery. I particulary like it if I get to meet the potter or know something of them. A majority of my collection is either from Ireland, the southern U.S. or New Mexico. A few I've made myself...the two face jugs at the top of this posting are mine! Edgefield S.C. is famous for it's facejugs made in the late 1700's so I felt I should make one...paticularly since that was the only way I'd ever be able to afford one!

The center piece is a Majollica dish my Mother gave me. She bought it in England when she was stationed ther during World War II. How ironic that it will make the trip back there again! The blue and tourquise vace to it's right is typical of what I buy when I'm out west. On the shelf below are several Irish pieces fromNicolas Mosse Pottery. I visited his pottery back in the early 1980's and have continued to add pieces ever since. My earlier pieces from him are a lovely grey with a blue dove on the side. (those are aleady packed.)

The purple-blue round pot is from Polly Whitcomb who has a gallery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe. The glaze on this one is so unusual I love to just stare at it! The round dish next to it comes from Carlsbad N.M. Whenever I visit my sister who lives there I go to the Artist Exchange downtown. A group of artist share exhibit and sales space. I've never walked out of there empty handed or had buyers regret! I particularly like Bill Crabb's work. He uses lots of blue and tourquise glazes which I am obviously patial to!


The raku vase in the photo on the lower left came from Dave Warfield in Maryland. The smaller jar with a top was made by Jack Mason from around Atlanta, Georgai. He also painted and did sculpture pieces. This piece has traveled with me a long way...over twenty years! And unlike the couch, clothes or even plates that I bought back then, I still love this jar. Most of my pieces are already packed or are in places I've made unaccessable due to huge piles of "stuff." I'm acually looking forward to just getting there so I can refind things again!

Post 60!!

I am writing my 60th post...I can't believe I've hung in there this long! My DH is starting to refer to it as an addiction!

Well I took Tonya's advise and we went and picked up a new Lazyboy recliner for DH. I didn't have a choice really...he saw her email saying they were scarce outside the US. I was in the middle of a presentation to a conference room with about 20 people when DH sticks his head in the door. I give him a hard-what-are-you-doing- stare. 15 minutes later I go to my office and there is a note telling me to meet him at the LazyBoy store at 5:00. (he only saw the email the day before..he was serious!) I get to the store and there he is sitting in the biggest ugliest recliner in the store (and that my friends is saying something!.) I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. "Try it," he begs. I get in. I shift the chair back...back again...and then yet further back. I felt a bit like Edith Ann from Laugh-in. This chair was as big as our love seat! "I feel a little lost," I said, "could we try others?" So off my husband runs in search of anther chair. I try and get up. Nothing happens. I'm flapping my body like a fish on the pier. That chair isn't moving an inch. I'm afraid of what would happen if I try an climb out while it is reclined all the way back. Do I wait there? Call for help? Take a nap? Finally I roll over so I can reach the wooden handle that helps move the chair and almost gracefully slide to the floor on my knees all the while trying to make it look like I'm just inspecting the fabric.

In the end he got slightly smaller chair which is slightly more attractive. He and the cats got to use it last night watching the basketball games. I took several photos of the chair but it is even uglier in the photos...instead you get one of brownie sitting on the give-away pile of craft stuff going to the next quilt bee!

We are headed down to Charleston for an overnight and then to drop my DH's car off at the port. Are we taking a sensible auto with us...like my beloved Hyundi Tuscon? No. We are taking a bright blue Mazda Miata that doesn't even fit my husband's full set of golf clubs in the trunk. I lost on the car controversy but settled for final say on the apartment/house/flat rental. I am looking forward to stopping at a few quilt stores on our way down to the coast. I have a favorite in Summerville, SC called People Place and Quilts. She carries everything from repro's to Kaffe Fassett. The samples on the walls are really fun and original. They also have a store in Charleston.

After the car drop off we will visit with his son and grandkids in Savannah and then head back home. His son is coming back with us and will haul a rental-truck full of stuff back with him. He is taking the huge couches (my DH likes biggggg furniture), some tables, bookcases, and dishes. He just recently bought a house so this trip should fill it up!

I'm also bringing down lots of daylillies. The photo on the left is how some of them looked this morning. Last year I divided them up and have a dozen pots filled with "baby" lillies. SS's house doesn't have any flowers around it yet so I'm bringing everythig from the potting bed. It also saves me trying to get them all planted at our house before I leave!

Not too much in the way of quilting stuff to write about. Very sad. I am packing some to bring with me on the road trip though...

Thanks for all the reading reccomendations. A few of the authors I've already run through (Brown, Michael Connelly, Austin and Kingsolver!) When I find an author I like I tend to just load up on all their books. That ends up leaving me on hold until they write more! A neighbor just gave me copy of the latest Laurie King "Mary Russell Mystery." I have a real soft spot for historical mysteries. Also for the Jane Austin fans, the Jane Austin Bookclub (which I've already loaned out so I can't remember the name...) is excellant. It has some of the best character development I've read in a long time. It does help if you've read a bit of Austin, but she gives you enough to keep pace if you haven't read them or are just Austin-rusty. In honor of Austin I give you this 1850-ish turkey-red signature block purchased in Annapolis Maryland. The quote reads, "May you be happy."

I am getting happier about moving...not so much about moving - but excited to think the move will be over in the forseeable future and England will be exciting. We went to an Irish Pub the other night with friends and had Shepard's Pie, Bubble and Squeek, and Fish and Chips. (Can you believe this Irish Pub hasn't gotten their liquor license yet! At least the food was good!) It did occur to me that maybe I should be getting my last taste of American or Tex Mex before heading out instead of getting the American version of what we think we will get over there? Guess the next night out will be somewhere else!!!