Saturday, May 3, 2008

Jane too

I just can't believe this, what a terrible thing to have happen.
The board has been so quiet lately. It's easy to assume everyone is just busy,
who would think something like this had happened to our Jane.
Rosey can you send me her snail addy? I'm sure I have it somewhere but.....
I'm easystitches at yahoo.com
I really want to send her something. Jill

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Jane

Have tried to email Jane, but since she changed her password, it won't accept mail from me.
Can someone please tell her that I am thinking of her and hope she gets better very soon.Thanks.
Stripey Bear.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

What fun!

I just got home after having a play day with Grace! She is out here on the Left Coast visiting her son and DIL, trying to escape the last of winter back home in Ontario -- lousy timing, since we are still not having the lovely weather we have come to expect at this time of year. :(

Anyway, Grace joined my Tuesday morning sewing group and we did no sewing but quite a lot of shopping -- the LQS where we meet was having a sale and half price batiks are irresistable. I got what I hope will be enough to do Rosey's Provincial Flowers quilt, and Grace bought for two projects. And then we went for lunch and chattted about life on the BB -- like, where is everybody who used to post, anyway? -- and then we talked about plans for the Retreat in September.

JANE, Grace wants me to tell you that she can't access her e-mail from her son's house but will be in touch when she gets home. In the meantime she is praying for you and hopes you will be well enough to come to the retreat in September.

Retreat plans are coming nicely. There is a hotel in Pembroke (not far from Grace's home) that will be able to provide rooms at quite a reasonable price, and a suite which can be used for meeting and sewing and chatting, etc. The manager says he can guarantee rooms will be available for our group until July, after which latecomers may find it necessary to stay elsewhere. Booking early sounds like a good idea to me. Getting there will not be difficult. There are plenty of flights into Ottawa, and Pembroke is a little more that an hour's drive north on good roads. I will be renting a car and driving up, pooling with whoever will be arriving at a similar time. I am waiting to book tickets and the car until I know who might be sharing.

The hotel provides breakfast as part of the room rate. We talked about places for dinners and also various forms of entertainment and possible shopping trips. It all sounds good to me!

Grace will be back home after May 13 and at that point she will want to be able to start making solid plans. It would be great if anyone interested could let her know so she has some idea of the numbers to provide for. And I am anxious to know who will be there to play with me!

Jean, heading off to Curves to work off that lunch!

Monday, April 28, 2008

For Laura in IA, and other stuff

When I was in Denver about 15 years ago with DH I rented a car and drove out to Golden, CO. I think it's about 30 miles. Since I don't like beer I didn't visit the Coors brewery, but went into the town. There is a small storefront shop, the rocky mountain quilt museum. I was the only person visiting and got a personal talk, and the lady sent me across the street to a hotel to ask if I could see the star quilt hanging in the stair well. It was signed in india ink my members of a church who gave it to their pastor and wife when they traveled to Golden.
Since I was just starting quilting then I was in awe of everything, and how genuine and nice the quilters were/are. If you can, read the Quilt That Walked to Golden before your trip. It is more than about one person and her trip (on foot) to Colorado. It is about quilting and the hard life of frontier people in general, and a very good read.
JANE- I wondered why we had not heard from her in the past month or so.
Gosh, she must be a tough cookie to have survived that crash, but I'm sure she is "put out" over having a broken ankle.
MARION-Thanks for the info on your trip. Sounds like it was tons of fun, and great to see the family. I'm going to check out the vagabon tours right now for our visit to the travel agent tomorrow. A few months ago when we paid for our air flight I thought it was so much money. Now I'm really glad we did, as the cost has gone up with the cost of gas (petrol). We just have to hammer out some B & Bs and the rental car and a few other things.
DH & I have been doing physical work, I've put in lots of Lantana, honeysuckle, and other butterfly plants, and we are re-doing the entire front yard.
This has taken all our time and money and energy over the past month, so no quilting here -yet again.
I'll E to Jane right away.
Sara in Fla.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Home sweet home..!

Back home after two months away. Popped in to catch up on the news and there was the distressing account of Jane's misfortune... What a nasty incident, the car rolling over was bad enough ,without the slipping and falling in the riverbed . She must be one tough lady to have survived all of that. Thanks for giving us the email address Rosey, I'll drop her a line later today.

We had a great time away, two weeks in Israel, back to DD#1and family in Scotland for a week then off to England to visit my two sisters and their families. Called in on a college friend driving back north, she had invited another friend from our college days (hadn't seen her for 47yrs!!) so that was a nice surprise, we had a great time doing the "remember when" bit !!

Back to Scotland and then off to Ireland with the family on a "Vagabond Tour " (www.vagabondtoursofireland.ie) Such fun to holiday with DD and DSIL and their four children, we were also joined by DSILs mother , who we really enjoy,and his brother IS "vagabond tours" so it was very much a family affair. We drove the coastal route around from Cork to Shannon. Some of the most beautiful coastline in the world I should think.. Lots of long walks over mountains and picnics on deserted and beautiful beaches. The weather was fine (thank goodness) but quite cold and windy, we all put our best feet forward and made the most of being together and out in the countryside !! We were in a custom made twelve seater vehicle, it was very comfortable and built so that we could get the best of our views. Our driver was well informed and amusing, our overnight accommodation was warm and comfortable . The family ranged in age from 4 1/2yrs to 72yrs and we all enjoyed ourselves. Certainly the way to go for a family holiday. We were offered horse riding, kayaking and surfing (!) The children had a wonderful time. Back to Scotland after that and a w/end at Tayvallich, a coastal fishing village in Argyll. DD and DSIL have a cottage there. We had a lovely w/end and launched a boat (a RIB...Rubber inflatable boat) It's new/ second hand, to the family, so they were all excited about checking it out. Back "home" to Sorn (Ayrshire) and a busy time getting the three eldest children ready to return to Boarding School. They had four weeks holiday over Easter so were a bit reluctant to return... We stayed on for another few days, then took a deep breath and prepared ourselves for the long flight home ...24hrs in the air plus another twelve hrs hanging around the airports...
Good to be back but it will take awhile to settle down..... The property looks lovely with the autumn colours at their best, The days are still warmer than they were in Scotland. The unpacking is done , the washing is done and I'm off for a hair cut this afternoon, after that I will be ready to face the world again !
Now I must write to Jane..
Marion .