Enough Already!

I'm packing to go to the AQS show. I have all the necessaries (clothes, toiletries, tickets, etc.), but it's all the unnecessary things that are doing me in.

I brought 3 books with me, Ping, and yarn for 2 pair of socks. I have my mp3 player loaded with about 40 hours of books. Oh, and a book for a class I'm taking. And a sketch pad for a class I'm teaching. And some notecards in case I want to write some letters.

Someone stop me before I pack anything else.

See y'all in Nashville!

Happy 100th Post!

I noticed that this post was to be my 100th post and now I wish that I had planned something monumental. I didn't. Sorry. Here's my post anyway:

My blog silence in the past has meant many things, but this time it means that I've been busy working. So busy working, in fact, that I forgot to have fun. Fun for me is sewing and today I finally did some:



This morning was the "Strip Club" at the Quilt Basket. For you non-quilters, we use strips of fabrics to make various projects and today's project was a bag. I've made a few bags in the past, but I've never really done any that were very involved (i.e. linings, inner pockets, etc.). This one had lining and ties and button flaps and TEN pockets. One for my wallet, camera, mp3 player, and seven more that are currently empty. Any suggestions?

I also heard recently that McDonald's serves iced vanilla coffee. I was led to believe that it's impossible to drink it without the proper amount of sweetener. I've never been a fan of coffee, but this sounds like it's worth a try.

Well, Post #100 was lame, but at least there was a picture, right?

Look at who I met!

I was working at Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, Pennsylvania and I met Amy from calicocat. She's as lovely in person as she is in blogland.

I wish I had spent more time with Amy, but the show was pretty hectic.

If any quilty bloggers are going to be at the AQS show in Nashville in a few weeks, let me know, cuz...... I'm going!!!!!! (But I'm not very excited about that). I'd love to meet any of you and Ill make sure I have fresh batteries in my camera.

____

Side note: my husband and I just finished watching The Fountain starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. All I can say is.... it's different. That and I'll probably not watch it again.

Scenic Kingston

A few weeks ago, we dropped our daughter off for a summer college program. For two weeks, she would study art and literature and we would try and amuse ourselves without her. Sounds like a win-win situation to me!



We decided to explore the area and try to take pictures of lighthouses*. We were hoping to take a boat ride, but the boat sank earlier this year. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. We decided to walk along the river to see if we could catch a glimpse of the lighthouse. On our walk, we kept seeing these metal things sticking out of the ground. We were baffled as to their function until we saw this one:




I learned something new that day.



We walked for about an hour before we came upon a beach. It was hysterical to see this little patch of riverbank with sand dumped onto it. There was even a paid lifeguard. We didn't feel compelled to take off our shoes and wade in the pristine waters of the Hudson River.

I assure you that it looks prettier than it smelled.

After our walk, we went on to explore some local wineries and then met with some friends for dinner. It was a beautiful start to our two weeks of kidlessness.

*We never did see that lighthouse.

At long last.....

Quilt Pics!

My husband and I have had a bit of a vacation for the last few weeks, and it was nice. My children are both nearly grown, but it's still a treat when they both are away at the same time.

Since I don't have cable tv and sew for a living, quilting for fun while watching CSI dvds is the height of luxury for me. I wanted to spend at least one day during my mini-break indulging myself.

Here's a(nother) tablerunner for my mom. Made from leftover blocks from a chocolate quilt for a friend.

This is an old Thimbleberries Club quilt. The quilt has been done for ages, but I finally finished sewing the sleeve. It's on my wall temporarily to help me feel cooler. And to remind me to put the sleeve on the summer and falls quilts, too.

And this is a quilt I made just for me just for the 4th of July. Pieced, quilted, bound and on the bed in 13 days. Projects like this remind me that I quilt because I ENJOY IT!

*Afterthought --- After I posted, I realized that all three of these quilts were from Thimbleberries patterns. I'm not a lover of all things Thimbleberries, but they write some amazing patterns.

Hopefully not a premature post

My friend just graduated from nursing school and I'm taking her out to lunch today after she finishes her boards. Since the chances of her seeing this post before I see her are slim, I feel somewhat comfortable posting a picture of her graduation quilt here. M, if you happen to see this before you receive the quilt, surprise! This is made from 2-1/2 inch strips. I like the unusual shape of the quilt and may make another one of these. It's not Vera Bradley fabric, but it sure looks like that, doesn't it?



I mostly make quilts that I feel like making and then worry about what I'll do with them. When I was binding this next one, my husband said he liked he and he usually has no opinions about my quilts. That was my clue to keep this one. It's going to be my fall bedspread. It's Bound to the Prairie from the Moda University. It's huge and all half-square triangles. I will NOT be making another one of these.



Since I haven't had a chance to hike this last week and therefore could post no nature pictures, I had my son hold up the quilts outside just to show some green.

Just call me......... ROVER!

You may have noticed most of my posts deal with hiking. There's a simple reason for that...... I hike quite often (it's cheaper than therapy). I live in the Hudson Valley of New York which is also the Lyme's Disease capitol of the world (or really close to it). My son had Lyme's two summers ago, was treated promptly and has made a full recovery. Others are not so lucky.

Anyway, tick checks are a part of every day life in these here parts. That means you search your entire body daily for tiny little critters that think of you as dinner. FUN! This morning I checked for ticks as usual and, as usual, found myself tick-less. This afternoon, however, I was changing my shirt and found a not-so-little critter attached to the middle of my back. It was actually huge. Like a quarter-of-an-inch huge. Sticking-straight-out-of-the-middle-of-my-back huge.

You know when you get an itch in the middle of your back that you cannot scratch by yourself? That's where this tick was. Removing it by myself was not an option. Fortunately I was not home alone. My 20-year-old son, his 19-year-old friend-who-happens-to-be-female (I make no judgements here and she reads this blog), and my 16-year-old daughter. My daughter is scared to death of bugs, so she's out. The 19-year-old is a bit squeamish, so she's out. My son had his wisdom teeth removed this morning and is a little drugged, so he's out. Wait a minute, that leaves no one! I called upon my poor son for assistance.

I apologized ahead of time for possibly scarring him for life since he was going to have to see his mother's bare back, but he handled himself like the adult he is. Pain-filled, swollen and drugged, he pulled (most of) the tick out of me and tended my wound until my husband came home to dig out the rest. (My husband spent 30 minutes doing just that. He loves me. And no, that doesn't qualify as a date night.)

We checked out the ticks that are native to New York state and identified the ridiculous creature. It is, of course, the big one in the photo. Yes, it was sticking straight out of my back. It's a brown dog tick. I must be a brown dog. Call me Rover. *

"This tick is considered a nuisance species and is not known to transmit disease-causing organisms to humans in the United States." I'm still going to watch for symptoms since "Although brown dog ticks can be found crawling on humans they rarely attach and feed on humans." I'm already the exception to one rule.....

_______
*We do not have a dog. We have two cats that never go outdoors. This was just a random and freaky event. Did I mention gross? Because it was truly gross, too.

It's a beautiful morning.....

.... Ahhh,I think I'll go outside a while,
An jus' smile.
Just take in some clean fresh air, boy!
Ain't no sense in stayin' insideIf the weather's fine an' you got the time.
It's your chance to wake up and plan another brand new day.
Either way,
It's a beautiful mornin',
Ahhh,Each bird keeps singin' his own song.
So long!
I've got to be on my way, now.
Ain't no fun just hangin' around,
I've got to cover ground,
you couldn't keep me down.
It just ain't no good if the sun shines
When you're still inside,
Shouldn't hide, still inside, shouldn't hide,
Ahhhh..Oh! (shouldn't hide) Ah, ah, Oh.....






Even dead mountain laurel looks pretty when sunbeams come to play:

Don't you just love ferns?

Evidence of humans.






My son came home from college on Saturday. I think I'll take him out to lunch. I have such a tough life.

Epiphany or Nervous Breakdown? You decide.

The strangeness that was today started after church when I found myself walking laps backwards in the narthex. No, I didn't do that for exercise. I did that in response to a woman who took a step toward me with each sentence causing me to answer with a step backwards.

After church we drove on very crowded roads to a very crowded mall to get clothes for my darling daughter. She's going to a college for a summer study program for a few weeks and needs some new duds. She'll have a great time and study literature and art, too. We're very proud of her for being accepted.

Back to the mall. Too many people on the roads. Too many people in the parking lot. Too many people in the stores buying too many things that they don't need. I sat on a bench while waiting for my daughter to try on some clothes. Within seconds, there were two families worth of children climbing on me. Not next to me but ON me. Is this necessary? Was buying two pairs of jeans and swim shorts for my daughter worth all this? I vote no.

At Steve and Barry's I saw Sarah Jessica Parker's new clothing line, Bitten. Do I really need a dress for $12.99? Agreed, it's not a bad price but do I need another dress? How many dresses do those women in China or wherever have to make in order to make $12.99? It just seems pointless.

After we made our planned purchases, my husband asked if I needed anything else. "I need to get away from these people," I replied. "Which people?" he asked. "ALL OF THEM!" was my final answer.

Now that I'm back home, I plan to sit on the front porch and look at nothing and drink a glass of wine and simply breathe. And plan a hike for tomorrow. Being alone in the woods is the antidote to the ridiculousness of today.

Fair reader, it is now for you to decide. Was today's experience was an epiphany of a sort, possibly leading me away from the consumer culture and toward a simpler and more meaningful existence? OR am I just having a nervous breakdown?

Comments are welcome and appreciated.

How did that get there?

So this morning I was (shock) hiking along, minding my own business when out of nowhere, I see this:





It's obviously long-abandoned and in very poor repair. I didn't go closer to check things out (I'm a rule person and the rules say to stay on the trails). From what I could see, though, it was made with semi-modern building techniques. There were rain gutters, plaster and lathe walls, red brick foundation, and a tin roof. Did I mention that I was an hour's walk away from any road? How the heck did all those building materials get there? And when? The picture doesn't show scale well, but the house is twice as large as the house I grew up in. This is not a 'little cabin in the woods'.

Curious.

I'm being stalked

Playing hookie yesterday was fun but in case you get too jealous, I did work until 10:00 last night. I went hiking again this morning and it was lovely, but I will be burning the midnight oil yet again.

I added a few miles to my total this morning with a fairly short hike. I was about half way through and thinking that this was going to be a pretty run-of-the-mill hike today and nothing much special was happening. But then.......

I met a thru-hiker. Then another, and another, and another! FOUR thru-hikers today, and one was a GIRL. They've been on the trail since Georgia and won't stop until Maine. It takes about six months. All the conversations with them were as we were passing. I guess if you're hiking 2,175 miles, you don't stop to chat with every person you meet.

So once my hike became 'special', it just kept going that way.

There was a lot of this flower. Is it mountain laurel? If you can enlarge the photo, the buds are so incredible! It doesn't smell very much, but it's gorgeous.

I finished today's section of the trail and then hiked back to where the stepping stones were installed yesterday. I sat beside this waterfall for a while. It was so cool and refreshing with a wonderful breeze. Being in places like this make me feel like the me I've forgotten about. It was absolutely perfect! And then a huge water snake zoomed by. Did I say huge? I meant HUGE! So as I was running back up the trail to my car, another snake like the one yesterday slithered across my path. SQUICK! They are so stalking me!

It's 72 and sunny.....

.... so what do you think I did today? I added a few miles to my summer goal of hiking the AT in NY.

Things I learned:

1. Elevation maps don't always tell the whole story.

2. Sometimes we scare hawks, sometimes hawks scare us. Today they both happened at the same time when a small hawk was sitting on the trail. (thus, no photo)

3. Hikers are cool people. (see photos below)

4. Snakes are not cool people. (see photo below)

5. I need to get outside regularly. I feel like I can breathe again.

6. Sometimes the trail isn't marked too clearly and you have to pay close attention.

7. I live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. I haven't been to very many of them, but they can't be much better than this.

8. I should have left those old hiking boots that I found in the closet, well, in the closet.

9. Always carry food to share.

10. Wear insect repellant when hiking. Seriously.

Now for the pics:

These young fellows (and Dora, their dog) were found resting on the side of the trail. They are between college and real life and enjoying their time together. They gave me my trail name, Angel. (Much better than my husband's offering, Hike-O-Path, don't you think?) The name may have been a response to a gift of blueberries. Everyone always complains about 'the youth of America'. Well, these were some wonderful and thoughtful young men and America is in good hands.

These reluctant subjects are Trail Heroes. They work maintaining the trail. I was the first hiker to cross the new stepping stones across the stream. Kudos!

This evidence of my great photography skills is just for my darling husband. He loves snakes but generally hates the outdoors. I'm just the opposite. I think the photo was remarkably clear considering it was taken while I was jumping up and down and screaming like a girl.

Now it's back to real life. Finishing quilts and cooking dinner and cleaning the house. But tomorrow is going to be 77 and sunny. Maybe I'll have to play a little hookie again. Who wants to come with me?

Just in Time!

I've been working on quilts for my son's college friends and today I finished the last one.






This was a quick and easy pattern using all 2-1/2 inch strips. I will definitely make this pattern again.


This past weekend, we went to my husband's family reunion and I got to see my son! His grandparents brought him for the day and then he returned to college for his finals.

Of course, I finished this quilt ON THE DRIVE HOME so I'll have to mail it to the neglected friend.

Why do quilters always wait until AFTER the last minute?

Surprise! More Hiking Pictures

This hot and humid morning, I enjoyed a 3 hour hike with a lovely young lady from my church. We enjoyed the scenery and the company and just had a marvelous time chatting. We shared my trekking poles. They make nice walking sticks, in case you wondered.

We saw four frogs (no pictures cuz they blended into the background too well), a mole (no picture cuz it just looked like a gray blob), four million crunchy millipede-thingies (no pictures cuz ick!), three trail runners (no picture cuz that would be rude), a snake (no picture cuz I was screaming like a girl) and some other good stuff.

We saw this wonderful creature. Maybe a salamander? He stood still for the picture and wandered off as soon as I took it. Kind fellow, wasn't he?

Then we saw these bones covered at the side of the trail. I borrow dvds from the library and watch too much CSI. They looked human until we uncovered them. Maybe a deer? I'd seriously like feedback from you medical-types out there, cuz my mind runs to the gruesome. (The shoe is in the photo to give you an idea of the size of the bones.)

Remember the outhouse from a previous post?

This is the dedication sign inside:

Those hikers spend too much time alone in the woods, I think.

We returned home before the vicious thunderstorms started. Hopefully the temp and humidity will now get out of the 90s. Today was really, really gross but we had fun anyway.

Hiking is like Childbirth?

On Saturday, I thought it would be fun if my husband dropped me off several miles away and let me hike home. Flaws in that plan:

1. I only slept 2 hours the night before. Note to self: don't drink 2 caffeinated diet cokes with dinner EVER AGAIN! Finally going to sleep when the sun is rising is NOT FUN!


2. It was ridiculously hot and humid with a stagnant air advisory. And lest we forget, I have asthma.


3. I'm overweight and out of shape and my knees hate me.

Some pics from the day:




I rested on a rock overlooking this farm while a mosquito devoured my backside. Laugh if you must, but I'm slightly uncomfortable.





This flower is no larger than my thumbnail. It was so fragile and intricate. Each petal is actually a hollow cone. Being plant-challenged I have no idea what it is, but it's cool anyway.






My dear quilting friend bought me these trekking poles for my birthday. I LOVE trekking poles. I saw about a dozen hikers on Saturday, and 100% of them used poles. Try them, you'll really like them.

The good news is that I made it home. The rest is like childbirth...... I blocked it out.

Godzilla versus ........

Yes, Mothra was on my house.

(if you can enlarge the photo, the antennae look like feathers --- very cool!)

Sweet Nothings

My husband has a new term of endearment for me. Darling? Sweetheart? Not even close. I may tell you later.

So, last week I had to respond to a friend's emergency and it kept me away from home for a few days. All will be well with my friend's family. She's terribly worried that she inconvenienced me, but the worst she did was caused me to skip my planned hike on Sunday and finish up a few quilts for a Monday deadline. No biggie.

Today was spent sitting through two classes, so I basically yawned all day and felt sorry for myself. When I got home I loudly said, "No more!" (Forceful, aren't I?) I grabbed my trail shoes and my daypack and hit the AT. I've stated before that I want to hike all 88 miles of the Appalachian Trail in New York this summer, so today I furthered that goal. Since the NY/NJ trail maps are currently out of print, I borrowed a set of maps from the library. There's a full topographical map on one side and an elevation chart on the reverse. I've been saving today's hike for when I was up for a challenge. The elevation chart showed it going straight up -- and it surely did that. If you question that, borrow my calves for tonight.

The first part of today's hike was, as I mentioned, somewhat steep. I could hear running water for quite a bit of it, so I wasn't too surprised that I had to cross it at some point. What was a pleasant suprise was the quality of the bridge. There's not always a bridge and I've shown pictures of bridges that make my knees knock. (I'm not a happy bridge crosser which is odd since I've always lived near major rivers and have had huge bridges as part of my everyday life. I just never enjoyed the bridge-crossing aspects of my everyday life.) So, today's bridge was quite safe secure sturdy lovely.

Wouldn't you be happy to cross this bridge?

Have you every played Jenga? It's this game where there is a tower make of little wooden tiles that you pull out and stack on top of the pile and try and keep it from falling over. Well, this reminded me of a Jenga tower.

I thought the fungus in this picture looked like little butterfly wings.

I know, I'm weird. Yes, my husband bought me a camera for my birthday and all I take are pictures of decaying wood. Sounds like a T-shirt, doesn't it?

I'm still learning to use my camera (wait, isn't there an instruction book somewhere that I should maybe read?) so this picture doesn't do a great job of showing just how GREEN everything was today.

Hiking at dinnertime has it's advantages, and one of them is that the sun is at a really cool angle and you get to see scenes like these:

This next picture is really a part of the Appalachian Trail, I promise. If you don't believe me, enlarge the photo and look at the brown sign on the left side of the road. You should see some white marks. The official AT markers are white strips that are 2x6-inches. The trail goes under a major highway by following this road for a short time.

Since the hike started uphill, hiking back to my car was a joy!

Look what was waiting for me:

My baby.

The weather is supposed to be this glorious all week. I'm going to have to do this again (and again, and again, and again).

Oh, wait! Didn't I start this post by talking about my husband's new nickname for me?

Hike-o-path

Yep, he loves me.

A Tale of Three Books

I just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It reminded me so much of Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. They really aren't much alike, since one is post-apocalyptic and one isn't, but something was there. I recommend both books.

I've read all of Clive Cussler's books and was excited to get Treasure of Khan out of the library. After three weeks and struggling to get through half of the book I'm still not sure what happened so far, and I find I don't care much. Back to the library it went. Maybe my 20 year crush on Dirk Pitt has finally ended?

O Punctuation, Where Art Thou?

After nearly wrecking my car due to laughter, I drove back and took a picture of this sign:








If you want to be an author you'd better move out of the Hudson Valley, I guess. Or just maybe there's a book called Hudson Valley Ruins and the authors of said book were speaking at the library tonight?

Imminent Rueage

I mentioned before that my mom asked for a quilted tablerunner. Well, she's gonna rue the day she said that to me. Here's another one:







It's an old Thimbleberries Club Quilt. It hung in the store for a year and then sat on a shelf. I went to mail it to Mom and realized that I had only basted the binding down. Well, I just rectified that situation.



*****
For those who wonder about the title of this post, it's from the movie Twister.




Dusty: He's gonna rue the day he came up against The Extreme, baby. Bill, I'm talkin' imminent rueage.