Friday, March 31, 2023

Catch-Up Friday

 I have not felt like sitting down at the computer since the beginning of the month, but wanted to catch up on the month of March.

Our friend, newscaster Gia Vang, who is now an anchor in Oakland, went back to Minneapolis where she did the morning about three years, for an event. She saw this and thought of me, which made me super happy. :)

We went to Charlotte's play for a second time and it was even better than the first time. So much fun.

Haha. Just when I was thinking of  thoroughly cleaning the house...
We had planned on spending a weekend in Pismo Beach. But then there was so much rain and we knew we would just be stuck in the room. The view would have been lovely but no walking on the beach. So we canceled. 

Instead, we opted for a staycation. And just because we were feeling clever, we ate dinner at Pismo's Bar and Grill one evening. We sat next to this photo of the Pismo Pier from the 1940s.

One afternoon we drove in the foothills. Beautiful, lush green. Soon they will be dry and brown.

Mark's cousin Ione, her husband Doug and daughter Karen are on a five-week road trip and were close enough to have lunch with us. So good to see them. Ione used to do all the long arm quilting for my MCC quilt donations and did such a beautiful job. I miss tag-teaming with her.
My friend, Janice, and I drove to Reedley to see the new MCC Global Center, which used to be the home of a really great quilt store. A quilt I designed and made, Valley Star, is hanging on one of the walls. 
There is a really comfortable seating area. If we had had more time, we would have relaxed with a cup of coffee here.
I love these little daisies, seen on one of my walks. The underside of the petals is purple. 
We were able to attend a concert at the new Warkentine Culture and Arts Center at Fresno Pacific University. The featured musician was Eugene Friesen, a four-time Grammy award winning cellist and brother of a good friend of ours. 
Two nights later, the choir from Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kansas), where Mark and I met, had a concert at our church. We had volunteered to house two choir members overnight, and one of them turned out to come from the small town in western Kansas where we lived for the first five years of our marriage. It was fun chatting about people we knew in common.

My good friend, Marilyn, has just turned 80 and her daughters held a lovely birthday brunch in her honor. She does not look her age, that's for sure. She is such a fun friend to have, as well as sharing a common love of quilting.
Our yard is so pretty this time of year. 

And finally, yesterday I had to say goodbye to Ruth Ann. She and her husband have been here from Ohio since January, visiting their son and family. We have tried to walk together twice a week, although we were often thwarted by rain. We always took time for coffee too. I'm sure going to miss her. 
And that's it for March. For those of you who come here to read about quilting and/or reading, I've done quite a bit of both in March, but that's a post for another day. Stay tuned.

4 comments:

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Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said... #

Sounds like you were doing much more important things in March than being online. So many lovely connections and moments to be there for the now.

Rochelle aka Bella Quilts said... #

So nice to read your post and see your photos. You are so good about staying active and doing fun things, Taking care of yourself is so very important.

FlourishingPalms said... #

My, my. You're certainly a social butterfly! It's nice to see the many ways you're enjoying your family and friends. I don't even know how you manage to squeeze in time for quiltmaking! Keep enjoying. You're living the life that God intended - loving others. Bless you.

Anne / Springleaf Studios said... #

As Linda said, you are quite the social butterfly. I need to get out more. I can't believe the coincidence of housing someone from your small Kansas town. We're off to Kansas soon. Hoping for good weather and no tornados. Please send a little of your spring here. We're still having a bit of snow mixed with warm days and then cold days. Spring at elevation is hard.