Thursday, October 31, 2019

Really Random Thursday, 10/31/19

Boo! It's the Halloween edition today. I love the smoke in this picture.
Mark smoked a brisket on the Traeger the other day. And wow, did he work up some good smoke!
Charlotte was part of the worship team on Sunday. And for the first time, she and Christa sang together.
Gabe turned 8 earlier in the month, and to celebrate Mark and I took him to John's Incredible Pizza the other day. In the past he has chosen Chuck E. Cheese but we branched out this year. Our consensus: the games are better at Chuck E. Cheese but the food is better at John's Incredible Pizza.
Anyway...we had a fun time.
I finished my cute ghost quilt just in time for Halloween. And apparently I'm on a smoky theme--the background on this quilt is one of my favorites ever.


This was my favorite decorated pumpkin at the skilled nursing facility where my father lives.
I've been catching up on TV shows lately. This is the truth! Back in the 1970s when the mini series Roots was on TV, I remember the high school changing the time of some of the basketball games so people wouldn't miss any episodes.
Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Really Random Thursday, 10/25/19

It has been a nice and relaxed week, with not much going on. Although Mark had planned on driving me to Santa Clara to the Pacific International Quilt Festival on Saturday, and coming home the same day (three hours each way), we decided to stay home instead. I was sorry not to meet up with friends but it was a good decision to stay home.

Our church is celebrating its 50th year anniversary. Mark and I started attending in 1978, shortly after Aaron was born, and have attended ever since. It's hard to believe we have been attending over 41 years! And other than the five years he was in the Portland area going to optometry school, Aaron has grown up in this church. He is now the head of the celebration committee. He and the committee have been delving into the archives and have been finding some (ahem) interesting photos.

For years, Mark sat in the sound booth. This must be from the early 1980s. He has made it known that he would like to go back to the mullet. His family unanimously gives him a resounding "NO!"
I accompanied the choir through quite a few different choir directors. This is me on the left. Ah...the hairstyles of the 1980s. Mine is totally from a bottle. My friend, Julie--her is totally natural.
One of the things that was uncovered while going through a storage room was the old track for the Pinewood Derby.
Familiar with the Pinewood Derby? Our church used to have one every year. When Aaron was small, we had groups on Wednesday night called Pioneer Boys and Pioneer Girls. And only the boys participated in the Pinewood Derby.

Once the track was uncovered, it was decided to hold another one. It has probably been 20 years since that track got any use. And this time, girls were allowed to participate!

It was such fun to watch the cars compete. I wish Aaron had kept his cars. Back in the day when he competed, his cars were always up against friends whose fathers worked on cars for a living. They knew their way around professional paint jobs. So while Aaron's cars were never the best looking, he had a father who knew how to make them fast.  Aaron came away with a couple of trophies (he also asked if I had kept his trophies. I told him that I had given him the box with trophies a couple of years ago when they bought their own house and I decided we were no longer storing his things. Ha!)
I think the blue one is Levi's.
Gabe's car. Love the flames.
Ella was quite proud of her car.
Hank Nickel built the track all those years ago, and he was here to see it used once again.
Aaron was in charge of letting the cars go. Four cars raced at a time. They were put into slots and then Aaron dropped a little contraption and they were on their way.

I tried to get a good picture of the kids and their cars. Cooperation from two out of three--Ella (as is often the case) did not want to have her picture taken. She was only willing to make her "fake" smile. I should be happy I was able to get a real smile in the picture above.
We thought maybe taking a picture with her friend Amelia would get her to smile. But no such luck. So I just told them to make a crazy face instead. Silly girls.
Haha, number one. I feel like I could actually make this costume myself every single time I shop at CVS Pharmacy.
Darby (@quiltedsquid) finished three of my quilts this week. I'm super happy with them. Stay tuned for the full reveals as I get the bindings on!


Haha number two.
Every season, the manager of the thrift store (Thrift on Blackstone) changes out the display in the front window. It it always stunning. This was the summer display. I'm going to miss it, but I'm anxious to see what she has come up with for the new display.
photo via @thriftonblackstone
I had lunch with Janice and Angie the other day. Angie was here from the Bay Area to stay with Janice for a couple of days. We met at a new favorite restaurant, Heirloom. And Angie brought a burnt almond cake (famous in the Bay Area) to share because yesterday was Janice's birthday.
Heirloom has the MOST amazing mural on the wall. I particularly love it because of all the drippy paint. It got me to thinking about quilts. Well, in all honesty, quilts are on my mind like 75% percent of the time anyway. Isn't it gorgeous?? I already have an idea...and a stack of fabric has already been pulled.
Mark and I enjoy starting our day with the outmoded tradition of reading the local newspaper at breakfast. I'm going to miss the days of turning the pages over while drinking my morning coffee. We have already been informed that starting in January, there will not longer be a Saturday edition. I think that is just the sad beginning of no more real newspapers. And reading it on a tablet is just not the same.

So anyway...we love the comic strip Pickles. I guess we identify with them because of our age right now. Anyway, I'll end with this...




Thursday, October 17, 2019

Really Random Thursday, 10/17/19

Here we are in the middle of October already! I am constantly amazed at how quickly 2019 is speeding by.

Two weeks ago we were at Lakeview Cottages for the week.
Beginning on Thursday morning and ending after breakfast on Sunday, I spent my days at a quilt retreat held at the campgrounds right next door to the cottages. There are always two groups of women there--those from our church, sewing in the dining hall, and those from other churches, sewing in the chapel. We share meals. Our group was small this year, just four of us. But it was really fun and I think we each accomplished quite a bit.
Marilyn, Gisela, me, and Dotty
This is the entire group.
I completed my ghost quilt top (but only got a picture of some of the blocks...)
And began a project that has been floating around in my brain for awhile. I'm still not sure if it will look as good in reality as it does in my head, but this is the beginning.
On Saturday evening, the other group came to the dining hall and we had a show and tell, something we have not done in previous years. It was really fun to see what they had been working on.

It was a very relaxing week, something I look forward to every year. I had initially kind of dreaded it this year because of the cold temperatures that were in the forecast, but Mark and I had enough warm clothing and blankets that it was quite pleasant in the cabin. By the end of the week, the temperatures had warmed up and the weather was beautiful.

On our way home Sunday, we stopped in Shaver Lake for lunch. There is a new restaurant there called Seasons Bistro, with Cordon Bleu-trained chefs, something you would not expect in a small mountain town. I hope the restaurant is a hit because, wow, the food is amazing!! This burger had melted brie with bacon, arugula and perfectly grilled onions. We have heard the bananas foster is out of this world, so we plan on making a trip back for dinner one of these evenings.
On a weeknight last week, Mark and I went out for dinner and headed to a movie. The sky, lights and palm trees made for a beautiful picture.
I haven't been quite sure how I have felt this year about October being breast cancer awareness month. Little did I know last year at this time that cancer was already in my body--I just had not found it yet.
I kind of reluctantly changed the profile pictures on my Facebook and Instagram accounts. And then I received a text from Grace, one of Charlotte's good friends. She is on a volleyball team. Their game last Thursday was called Dig Pink, and each of the players was to choose a friend who had been touched by cancer. Grace chose me. I was very honored.

I wish I could have attended the game, but it was at the same time I was presenting a guild trunk show.  I keep forgetting to take pictures. This is what the dining room table looked like in preparation.
This is the only picture I took--after the presentation, and during the guild show and tell. That is Mark helping to hold up a quilt.
Aaron and Christa headed to Mammoth for a wedding, and we had grandchilden from early Saturday morning until Monday night around 6:30 p.m. We had the best time!

Saturday was mostly taken up with soccer games.

Ella got these vampire teeth in her treat bag after her game.

In the evening, we celebrated Gabe's birthday.

Mark built a fire and we roasted hot dogs.
The evening was really beautiful, so we ate outside. In fact, we ate outside all three nights.
Bubble time.
We gave Gabe the classic game, Clue.
We watched Aladdin--the newest version. About midway through the movie, we took a break to make s'mores.


 Sunday after church, we decided to go to the zoo for lunch. We have the best zoo.

There is a special exhibit right now called Zoorassic Park, so we walked through that. The dinosaurs move and make noises. I have never been a fan of dinosaurs, but it was kind of fun to walk through the exhibit.


Family pic.
Silly Levi.
The kids wanted to end the time at the zoo by walking through the reptile house. That is a NO WAY for me. You could not pay me enough money to walk through there. Ever. Instead, I watched these two for awhile.
Gabe decided he wanted to sew a pincushion. I think learning how to do a little hand sewing is a great skill. We both laughed when he sewed part of it to his shorts. But I assured him that even seasoned seamstresses have been known to do the very same thing.
He learned the running stitch, stuffed it, and then learned the whipstitch to close it. It always makes me happy when they want to learn a skill related to sewing.
Our Double Delight roses are showing off one last time. They are by far my very favorite rose.
We had no trouble with getting the kids to sleep either night, but I still thought this was funny.
And I'll end with these. Happy fall...