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Happy New Year – 2022

I feel I should be saying “Happy Ground Hog Day” since: 1) it is just two days after 2/2/22 and 2) I am about to write post about how I’m going to pick up the blogging, AGAIN!

So:
1) Happy new year!
2) Happy ground hog day!
3) Happy “year of the tiger”
4) Happy opening day of the 2022 olympics

No photos here, but will hook up a camera soon – or transfer some from my iPhone (if I can figure out how). So much has changed technically since I used to do this easily. Apple, in its ongoing effort to make things more interesting, has actually made it harder to grab photos randomly from my iPhone and put them on my MacBook. Go figure!

And, if I weren’t so tired, I’d put in a haiku here as that’s one of my “resolutions”. So, nothing profound here; nothing new either.

But, begin as you intend to go forward, or something like that.

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Life is an Adventure

Hubby and I set out today to go out to lunch, each of us in our respective convertibles. His (a 1951 Crosley) and mine (a 2005 Mini Cooper). I was following him down the road when he rolled to a stop on the low bridge over the swamp / Norwalk River about a mile and a half from home. Assuming the car was out of gas, he sent me back home for the gas can. But even when the little “yella fella” was fully supplied, he wouldn’t start. An antique car enthusiast stopped by but all he was able to do was use his pickup truck to successfully protect the little car from traffic while they tinkered with it.

We pushed it onto a convenient parking area alongside the road and I took Hubby home for the truck and trailer. As you can perhaps tell, it was a beautiful day. Facebook photos for documentation purposes.

Yella Fella safely tucked into trailer.

Still smiling

Yes, an adventure, but I would have rather had the lunch on the deli’s patio that we had planned.

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Macro view of my garden

The Olympus digital SLR camera came out of the case to receive some freshly charged batteries and start recording a view of the world or more particularly, my gardens. Today’s excursion outside included photographs of the peach lilies in the pond.

peach lily – August 29, 2021

The way that the lens softened the top of the water just fascinates me. And note the fallen oak leaf sneaking into the photo on the very right edge. Just like fall — getting ready to sneak in here and end our glorious summer.

There are actually two lilies blooming out there, but the light and the angle I had to stand to photo the other one just didn’t work. If I had actually been IN the pond, it would have worked fine. Maybe later this week.

And, the real reason for getting this good camera out and back working was evidenced in the prior post — I wanted to get some good sunset photos at the Cape. Well, it was a bit cloudy there in early evenings the past two weeks and there wasn’t much of a sunset to photograph. But this past Thursday, at the Chirp concert in Ridgefield, the sunset wasn’t bad.

sunset in Ballard Park, Ridgefield, August 26, 2021


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Walking the flats — August 23, 2021

One of the most peaceful, squishy, pleasant, awe-inspiring things to do on the Cape.

We headed into Orleans for takeout — took it to First Encounter beach where we “watched” the sunset, or what would have been sunset if the cloud bank had not been so thick. However, it was low tide and you could walk “forever” on the flats or as far as you wanted until the returning tide would chase you in. We walked out a bit – nice to be out away from shore — no mosquitoes out there. This is absolutely one of my most favorite things to do here. It’s something about walking out far enough to turn around a look at shore and be standing where you wouldn’t be able to with the tide fully in.

First Encounter flats after sunset Aug 23, 2021
Hubby on First Encounter Flats August 23, 2021

And hopefully, this is the beginning of a new year. I always make new year’s resolutions on my birthday. Going to try blogging once again — as I enjoy looking back at this electronic scrap book.

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Hello. It’s me again

I did read that, during the Coronavirus pandemic, people were turning back to writing and blogging to document their feelings and fears. Apparently, blogging has not captured my intention for over a year now, and sporadically prior to that. So, new year’s resolutions abound in my mind. Not New Years Day, you say? Well, according to the calendar, you are correct dear blog. But in my mind, this is a time of new beginnings and I have never been one for resolutions of change around January 1st anyway. Usually I reserve them for nearer my birthday.

But on this, the first full day of Summer in 2020, I am looking at the recent and not so recent past and am going to write about it. I don’t enjoy re-reading this blog without photos, so tomorrow at the table on the patio, I will hook up my phone and see about adding some photos to this here post! In the mean time, a good night’s sleep is on the agenda for the immediate future.

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Quilting — Inspiration

Quilting has been my therapy for the past year. Actually, fondling fabric has been a pastime for quite a few years. But in 2018, after my youngest sister passed away, it became a necessity. When in my quilting studio — whether picking and cleaning up, or organizing, or planning, or actually creating — time just seems to fly by. And my worries and cares recede a bit and things get back into perspective.

Colors and the peace that comes from cutting up fabric and putting it back together again into a quilt top are a necessity.

And I hope to be busy in this studio for quite some time — and have named it “The Beehive” — in much positive contrast to the bomb shelter, or bat cave, as I was referring to it in my mind.

So — some photos for inspiration of works in process in The Beehive.

Drinking Bird – CPQG February guild challenge, will hang in the 2020 show
Marlene’s Block Party
words to live by — prayer flag from March work shop with Judy Coates-Perez
Yankee Quilter BOM – block 1 in test fabrics — LOVE IT!
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Spring! At least in New Jersey

So, I’m really allergic to the fragrance that comes from Bradford Pear trees (ornamental tree pictured below). However, they are such a sign of early spring that the sniffles are worth it.

We took a beautiful, short walk with our friends Dave and Jane (and Milo) in one of their suburban parks in the middle of New Jersey. This tree was irresistible on a beautiful, sunny Spring morning. It’s hard to argue with this kind of day.

Spring blooms in New Jersey

Milo was riding shotgun and anxiously looking through the windshield as the park appeared on the horizon. Time for a walk! Time for a walk! Time for a walk!

Looking forward always — to where we are going — is it the park???

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Cabin Fever Retreat

So, I spent a long weekend with several quilters at Michelle Hiatt’s Cabin Fever Retreat 2019. Retreat included lodging, all meals served in hotel dining rooms, and 3 days of uninterrupted quilting with instruction on one of Michelle’s patterns. What a wonderful experience. Deposit put down for same place, same time, next year!

Ice is on the trees
I’ve worn slippers for three days
Cabin Fever quilts

Bloom in progress

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Dear Blog — It’s 2019? How have you been?

The last I said “hello” was March of 2018 and I think I vowed to start blogging again. What happened? Well, not much blogging, that’s for sure.

So, I’m going to try again. I loved (at one time) looking back at old posts and photos and also loved the challenge of writing something intelligent, witty, insightful, or just at least grammatically correct. Finding that Facebook is causing my writing and sentence structure to deteriorate, I’m going to see if I can improve on things. Of course, this is going to require me to hook my phone up to ye’olde laptop to transfer photos more often.

Just home from a 3 day quilting retreat, I’m thinking about all the fun times we had, all the sewing I got done, and how interesting it was to spend time with 20 women that I had never (or barely) met before. Should be able to write some interesting thoughts here soon.

In the mean time – to insert a photo has become cumbersome on wordpress, but I’m going to try. — and once again, promise to start writing again.

An old photo of some blocks from Cape Cod Log Cabin, which has actually been finished and sits on my coffee table/trunk in the sitting room during spring months. More to come 🙂

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Dear blog, how have you been?

It’s been a long time since I’ve been writing here, and in terms of life events, an even longer time. Way past time to be acting on new year’s resolutions, I am going to add a few reflections on the past months here, once I do a little catching up.

So, today being snow day sew day, I’m just putting up a post of the blocks I’m creating in my quilting studio. Hoping to have more blocks done soon and a quilt top soon after. I took a class, held by Christie’s Quilting Boutique in Norwalk Connecticut, where I met Rob Appell of Man Sewing fame from California. His enthusiasm was so contagious. So, here are a few of my blocks ……