I Quilt when there is a weather disaster

Today as we await the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, I sat down at my machine to put a border on my latest project.  For the quilters in the audience, I am attempting a Flying Geese pattern in the border of a Yellow Brick Road pattern.

As I sat sewing today, I realized that at least two other memorable quilting projects have happened during a weather emergency.  It is not surprising that I am inside and therefore think of quilting.  It must be my comfort "food".  Oh, I eat my comfort food as well.

The first quilt I recalled was one I called "Shattered Comfort" since it was a quilt that I made after 911, when the images on the TV were just too much to handle.  I listened but did not watch.  This hangs in George and Judy's house.

 

The second one was the original quilted jacket.  I had bought the kit and pattern in early December of either 2000 or 2001, and a few weeks later we had a major snowstorm.  Out came the pattern and fabric and I am pretty sure I finished the jacket in a few days.  The original is on the left and Judy's New Year's Eve jacket is on the right.

The lesson I am taking from this is make sure there is an unfinished project at all times, in case there is a natural disaster.  BTW, that is not the only reason to have unfinished projects.  My preference in Myers Briggs is P, and we usually have a stack of projects which are 90% complete.

Off the work on this latest natural disaster quilting project and listen to the wind outside while sewing in the comfort of our house, as long as the electricity is still on.

Day 2 - Washington DC

We really did have a whirlwind trip to DC with the Sisters (Mavis, Doreen and Karen).  We got up on the second day and ate at a diner really near the Capitol.  We love to find the non-touristy restaurants and through Yelp we found Pete's Diner.  Great breakfast, wonderful customer service and we were fueled for the day.

Bethany told me to make sure to see the Museum of the American Indian and I respect her opinion so I spent most of our three hours there.  From the outside design, to the organization of the inside by tribes, this museum is wonderful.  I found during this museum that I don't go through a museum sequentially.  Rather, I try to spend time on areas with information that I could not look up on the Internet.  I loved the arrangement by partial circles of the tribes, and the themes of what happened to the American Indian.  Rod and I ate lunch in that cafeteria, which was the food from some of the Indian tribes.

We stopped at the Pentagon to view the memorial there.

Our last stop in DC was at Arlington Cemetery.  I have not been there since Mama died in 1993.  Her name is now engraved on the back of her husband's, Grandpa Joe, who I never knew.  The English family toured the Kennedy graves and the tomb of the unknown soldier.

We left DC at 3:40 pm and drove pretty much uninterrupted to arrive at Lexington just after 1am.  We did have one minor mishap around NYC, when our car wanted to go across the GW bridge but we talked it out of that and we toured Teaneck for a few minutes.  Once we got on the Palisades Parkway, we pulled over at an overlook to look back at Manhattan.  This was at about 9:30-10:00pm so the view was wonderful at night.

After this full two days, we decided that once we are both retired, we want to spend a few months around DC taking in all the free museums, concerts, and touring the Civil War battles fields.  House swap anyone?

Day 1 - Washington DC, has it really been 19 years?

As part of our two week visit from the English family, we traveled to Philly and Washington DC.  We spent most of two days very near the Mall, taking advantage of all of those museums that our tax dollars pay for.

We check in at the Hyatt Regency just after 5pm at night.  This hotel is two blocks from the Capitol, so we figured it was convenient, and since they are remodelling we got a great deal on the rooms.  Oh, and it was the weekend so the Government was not around.  I have a question, "Why do all of the big hotels in DC, have prostitutes who walk in front of the entrances in broad day light?"  When Rod and I were "courting" we met in DC in a hotel in Dupont Circle and they were also very obvious.  No need to answer that question!  I think I understand human nature, but it was striking, as we checked in at 5pm at night, and it was way more obvious that in other cities, and hotels that I have stayed in.

The next morning, after a wonderful breakfast at West Wing Cafe, we bought the on-off trolley ticket which was fabulous.  The narrators were really incredible so if you go, choose one with a live narrator.  I had not seen the Holocaust Museum, so after traversing the mall several times on the Trolley we got off there.

I have learned that when I am in a museum, I don't want to be constrained by the pace of others, so we said, "let's meet in 90 minutes!".  I then took off to experience the museum by myself.  I have heard a lot about the Holocaust Museum, and it really was moving.  I was struck by how civil people were, and quiet.  As I walked through, I wondered how many people around me lost family members during that time.  I actually finished the permanent exhibit, and went back to view a few parts in more detail.  I also went through the rooms, that were designed for children.  This was the only place I saw someone taking pictures and she was asked to stop taking them.

We then grabbed a hot dog from the street vendor, ate it standing up, and boarded another trolley to travel to the war museums.  Here I was struck that most of what we saw that day was oriented around a war:  Holocaust, WWII, Vietnam, Korean, Lincoln Memorial.  This is where we also discussed that it has been 19 years since we were sight seers in DC.  My maternal grandfather was killed in WWII so we took pictures at the WWII memorial, of Virginia (His home state), Alaska (where he was killed) and Vermont (Where my other grandfather who served in WWII was from). 

We then boarded another trolley, and did the loop which goes by all of the embassies.  I want to go back and walk those streets, but it was fun to fly by them on the bus.  The National Cathedral is under construction, and it was still magnificant.  Georgetown on the trolley, and then back to the hotel.

We had dinner at Union Station and had arranged for my cousin Kit to join us.  She lives in DC and it was great to catch up with her.

After "The Sisters" went to bed that night, Rod and I went for a long walk, around the Capitol, down to the Washington Monument and back to the hotel.  It was a quiet night on Capitol Hill, and fun to revisit our walking days of DC in 1986.

Lessons Learned from Chamber crew at Star Island

This past week, I volunteered with my friend Amy, on Star Island.  We were assigned to the Chamber crew.  This is where all of the entry level volunteers are assigned.  Bright and early on Sunday morning we reported to the Linen Closet, which is in the basement of the Oceanic hotel on Star Island.

I learned a lot this week and here are three of them:

1. If you say you "Can't" you probably can, with some practice.  At the beginning of the week, as we were occuping ourselves folding linens, I really resisted folding contour sheets.  My MOM taught me how to fold sheets as a young lass, so it is not that I DON'T know how to fold them.  They are just difficult for me.  Amy asked me what I do at home with contours, and being a path of least resistance kind of person, I strip the bed in the morning, wash the sheets during the day, and put them directly back on the bed.  No folding needed.  However, as the week wore on, and as I listened to the professional chamber workers, I realized that with lots of practice, and I mean folding sheets in the tens if not hundreds, that I actually learned to like folding contours.  Notice I did not say LOVE!  So whereas I resisted on Sunday, by Friday I was actually reaching into the never ending bin of folding opportunities, for a contour.
2. Bleach, is a really good disinfectant and cleaner, and it does whiten things.  Living on Star Island, which is 40 acres big, with 400 others, is tight quarters.  There are many procedures in place to make Star seem like it is 1900 still.  Part of the intrigue of the Island is that you can go back over 100 years, as you sit in a rocking chair on the front porch, look out across Gosport Harbor to Appledore and Smuttynose.  Things have changed, but very little in some ways.  One of our jobs, in our 3 times a day rounds, was to disinfect the common living areas and the guest quarters.  With a bucket of diluted bleach, a rag and rubber gloves, off we went to clean while the conferees were eating their meals in the 19th century dining room.  Because of our waste water treatment plant, and the regulatory discharge rules, we cannot let bleach get into the system.  The white towels, and wash clothes become stained, and dirty and we cannot use bleach out there.  One of the tasks is literally, with a tooth brush and a paste of cream of tartar and diluted bleach, to scrub stains out of the linens.  Believe me it was a thankless job, and one that we wondered aloud if there was any positive result.  However, we were sitting outside doing this, and talking with a few others while we scrubbed away, and we were looking out on White Island Light House, so the task was arduous but the scenery was fabulous.  AND, my favorite Star Island shirt is now covered with spots of white, from when I sprayed the bleach bottle in the wrong direction.
3. Our young adults are very wise, full of energy and dedicated and brave.  The job we had on Star is a difficult one, and keeping everyone clean and healthy was compounded by a virus among the community.  Working with the CDC, the management team has put procedures in place to minimize the impact of the virus, on the workers and the guests.  There were a few disgusting tasks that chamber has to do, that the young workers would not allow Amy and myself to do.  We are eternally grateful for this gesture.  As they put on their masks, and gloves, and other protective equipment to go clean up a bathroom, or guest room, I marvelled that they did not get on the next boat to the mainland.  We discussed in our three times a day meetings, what was being done across the teams on the Island, to ensure good hygiene and safety.  They had really good ideas, and alternate solutions to issues, and verbalized these.  Often times their suggestion was implemented.  This community makes it safe to be open and honest, and brave.  Let's hope that Star is a microcosm for the others communities that these young adults return to at the end of the summer

We returned home exhausted, and I wonder how the Pelicans (college age workers on the Island), do it day after day.  I do know in a way, why they work there.  The natural beauty, the lack of technology and the deep community that is built there year after year.

Measuring tapes gender differences

We were having some work done on a bathroom recently.  The male carpenter asked if I had a measuring tape.  I reached into my knitting bag and produced a measuring tape that I use in knitting and because it is a nice long one, I actually use it to measure most everything I need to measure up to 4 feet long.

This friend looked at me as if I had two heads and not being a person of many words, that was about it.  I wondered what the problem was.  I had actually laid my hands on it in less than 15 seconds, which is pretty good in our house.

I soon realized that he meant one of those measuring tapes, that retracts and lays on the item you are about to measure and has a hook to hold onto that end so you can measure pretty long things.  He meant a "measuring tape".

I said to him at this point, "You mean a male measuring tape?".  We both laughed and about 100 times since then, this expression has been of use.  "Oh, you mean a female measuring tape" or "Oh, you mean a male measuring tape".

Gender differences are pretty funny, aren't they?

We found the best Maple Cremee in VT!

This summer I am on the quest for the best Maple Cremee. When I mention this to many non-Vermonters, I get that "What the heck are you talking about now?" quizzical look. I am not even sure this is a broad Vermonter thing, but in the circles I move in, in the Green Mountain State, it is.

Two weekend ago, I drove north to our South Hero home, Coniston, with two girl friends. As we approached the middle of the afternoon, we were in the center of Vermont, and I asked aloud, "I wonder where we could get a Maple Cremee?". First two quizzical looks! Then the question, "What is a Maple Cremee?" simultaneously they asked. Just wait, and you will see.

Phone calls to two close Vermont relatives later, produced our first one, at Morse Farm in Montpelier, with brother Ken. This one was mapley and creamy, and a little too much of both. My two girlfriends ordered a mixture of chocolate and maple, and the chocolate seemed to cut the taste of the maple, in a good way. C+ score from me, and the small portion was not SMALL!

Fast forward to Sunday of this week. SIL Judy swears that Burlington Bay Market has the best in the same way that I swear Allenholm Farm 2.5 miles from Coniston has the best. They are the best, and the closest for both of us, which helps with our individual claims. We have both sampled the most from these two institutions and have a fondness for them. I tried the Burlington Bay one since I was staying the night with Judy and it was good, creamy and a B+.

On Monday as Judy and I headed to Long Point to spend two days with a distant cousin, Linda, we pulled the car over at the Love Shack in North Ferrisburgh. Their claim to fame are chocolate chip cookies (warm fresh ones and frozen dough to take home), AND they sell Maple Creamees!  We were approaching a near perfect one, we both agreed with chunks of actual maple candy in the creemee. The only deductions were for the size of the cone. Too big! BTW, this was our lunch on Monday!

Tuesday, also for lunch, we tried the Maple Frozen Yoghurt at Dakin Farms in Ferrisburgh. The counter person, when we mentioned that portions were too big, said she could split a small between two cones. A+ for customer service, and A for maple, but not a Cremee, rather a frozen yogurt. Again, this was our lunch.

Today, as we left Long Point after our heavenly two days, we returned to the Love Shack. We ate our lunch first this time.  Only Maple Cremees for three days in a row for lunch would be too much! We stepped up to the counter, and saw that they have a Baby size of a coffee/maple mixture, which we both ordered. Both of us agree that this was the A+, best Maple Cremee.

The purist among you will argue that with the coffee mixed in, this is not a Maple Cremee. We are ignoring any nit picking for this contest, and making up our own rules.

Best Maple Cremee- LoveShack, baby size, coffee/maple mixture!

I gotta be more careful

I come by it honestly, I am impulsive and prone to falls just like my Mom.  We both move quickly, and often are in conversation or have our head in the clouds.  We don't see the pot holes and we step in them.

The Friday before I left for Star, I tripped on the hammock stand.  My left foot stayed put and the entire force of my body went down on the right knee.  I have bad knees and until my surgery a few years ago, my right knee would occasionally give out.  The arthroscopic surgery fixed it, and honestly, I think my yoga practice has kept my knees and back healthy.  This was not the same kind of fall.

My family thought this was a knee give-out fall, since they have lived with me for over 20 years.  I ordered them around, asking for ice, refusing help to get up etc.  Following the advice of everyone, I iced it and kept it elevated for much of the first 24 hours at Star.  I also wore a "sock" on my knee for compression.  At Star there was a friend who is a PT, who gave me great advice on how to treat the knee.

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, I re injured it, tripping up the front stairs of the hotel at Star.  I was carrying too many things, and was not holding the railing.  I currently have a really colorful bruise from the around my knee cap down the front of my leg.

What have a I learned from this injury:  1)  Use the railings (my women's group today helped remind me of that one.  2)  Slow down.  Since the injury I have actually been approached stairs differently and rather than running of them, I have been walking on my heels up them  3)  To be safe I am going to get some assisted devices.  I ordered hiking sticks for my Mom and myself and I am going to try to start using them. 

Funny story, I have a cane and tried using that yesterday around the house to experience what the walking sticks will be like.  I left it lying around and tripped over it.  This is going to be a journey to learn to slow down and walk more deliberately.

This is not the first post I have made about accidents, and probably won't be the last.  Oh well......