Cold End, Colder Beginning

As I have written before, my husband takes all of the pictures. When we got up this morning and walked the dogs, we were bowled over by the hoarfrost on all of the trees. It looked pretty magical so my husband took a photo. We had about ten inches of snow for our first snow of the season and a true White Christmas and now the temperatures are down in the 20's for highs with even lower temps coming this week. Once again, Happy New Year.

Happy New Year

No matter where you are or what your religion, gender, political persuasion, race, etc., have a happy new year. We should all try to be better at everything we do.

Already Working on Next Project

As I wrote previously, I had several ideas for my next project--two are applique projects and one is primarily pieced. I like applique better and I had purchased a Sue Garman project, designed to be a block of the month but available as an entire purchase. Because the Friends of Baltimore quilt is so involved with so much applique and is also quite large, I have chosen to sew that one first. Plus, even in the relatively small area of machine sewing on the Summer Stars, I ended up with almost pressure sores on my bottom after piecing that part. That's sort of embarrassing but I don't see that it is my fault in any way, but I do need to find a way to prevent it for the Bella Bella quilt. 

Nice End to 2016

I finished the binding, sleeve, and label yesterday so my husband took some photos. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Despite a great deal of the year being difficult, my quilting this year went well.

 Above is the whole quilt. Most of the quilting is a simple diagonal grid, one inch on a side. In the inner corners of the pieced section, there is a modified scroll design. The appliqued elements are outline quilted. 

 Above is the lower left hand corner with the dandelions and pears and zucchini. Strictly speaking pears are more early fall fruit but their shapes and color fit with my plan. The zucchini fabric has a little gold sparkle to it.

 Tomatoes are a big part of our summers, growing and eating them seems to be most of our focus.

 The lower right corner has strawberries, lots of skinny stems and tiny petals. The butterfly doesn't look like any of the butterflies we get but that's okay. I always put bugs and birds in my applique.

 The pictures above and below show some of the sunflowers and Cherokee roses along with the bees. Yes, bees have four wings but these were how the original artist drew them.

Finally, here is a picture of me in Portico di Romagna standing next to the world's smallest volcano. We had such a good time in Italy and this was not the most memorable moment, but it is a fun memory. Very beautiful countryside.

So Far So Good

Our friend made it through his open heart surgery. The physician said the operation went well. Of course he is in a great deal of pain--even plain old broken ribs are very painful and this was clearly more involved than that. The doctor expects a full recovery with the resumption of all activity. Since this guy is an ultra-marathoner--you know, one of those 100 mile run types--all activity is a great deal of activity.

I did finish the quilting yesterday and have begun the process of trimming, making and applying the binding, etc.  Of course it is also only two days until Christmas, plus I cook pretty fancy stuff even on regular days so there are gaps and delays already. This morning I made polenta for our dinner tonight (polenta lasagna), Danish pastry dough for Christmas breakfast, and white chocolate bread pudding for Christmas dessert. But I have also trimmed the rough edges of the quilt and cut bias strips for the binding so I am feeling ahead of the game on several levels.

Quilting Nearly Done

I have about 14 inches left to quilt on the top of the Summer Stars quilt but it has been so hectic here that the work is going slowly. My husband volunteered to make dinner so that I could finish that part at least, but then he said he wanted cheese scones with his stew so I will have to make those. I should still finish today and get the binding started before I have to buckle down and pay attention to Christmas dinner. We are making the roast loin of pork Emilia-Style from my new Del Posto cookbook. The sides will all be more or less Italian as well but my OCD daughter in law wants the Kentucky Butter cake that she always asks for and everyone else wants my white chocolate bread pudding.

Old Friends

I had a very mixed up day today because I had arranged to meet with two of my young friends for lunch and talk but I also had a stack of "Hamlet" essays that needed scoring. So I worked for a few hours this morning on the essays,  spent some time with my friends, then returned to the essays.

One  young lady has one more semester at Harvard, expects a dual degree in bio-medical engineering and film studies. The other is a junior at Harvey Mudd who will be taking a semester at the University of Edinburgh starting in only two weeks. Her major is chemical engineering.

As you might imagine, both young women were also serious and good students in high school. They both came to me for tutoring because writing was not a strong suit but they both ended up with 5's on the AP through study and practice.

Entirely Different Subject

Someone my husband and I know is having open heart surgery next week. He was scheduled to have the procedure tomorrow but something came up in the hospital staff to put it off. This fellow is relatively young and vigorously healthy, running ultra-marathons  as most of us would walk to the library. The cautionary part of the story is that he was done in by an infection.

Slightly more than a decade ago, a very dear friend of mine who had just turned 30, died in the middle of a swim workout. He had been working on the computer side of the Salt Lake City Olympics and the opening ceremony was about six weeks away so he had been working very long hours. He had a family history of heart problems so to assuage his mother's fears he had undergone a stress test ten days before he died, coming through with flying colors. But he had caught a cold so had missed a couple of swim practices. This guy was not just a weekend warrior swimmer. He had won the 200 butterfly that year at the Masters Short Course Championships, approximately six months before his death. 

 When my friend came to the pool he jumped in the water and started to warm up. He had gone about 400 yards when he suddenly sank to the bottom. The lifeguards on staff and the doctors who were a big part of the group in the pool got him out quickly and began chest compression and mouth to mouth. My friend died at the side of the pool at the age of 30. The autopsy showed that his cold had caused problems with his heart leading to valves that didn't work.

When our other friend began to experience issues while exercising and went to the doctor, everyone initially dismissed the idea of heart problems because this fellow was so fit. I reminded my husband of my swimming friend and also reminded him that this guy had experienced a long term tooth infection undiagnosed by a dentist and had just had a very bad cold. So our friend told his doctors his history, not one that would have fallen into the normal questions, and they changed their protocol for his diagnosis.  They found that he had a genetic abnormality in his heart muscle that had been exacerbated by his long term infections, both tooth and cold. His case wasn't as bad as my swimming friend because his heart was still a fairly normal size not grossly enlarged.

No one thinks that a cold or a tooth infection can kill. I still remember the day my friend died.

Plans For The Future

I am not ancient but I am certainly not young any more. Not that I am complaining or whining but there is only so much time allotted to anyone. That does affect my quilting choices among other items. The quilting choices for the next project (close to finishing the current project at which time pictures will be posted) include an elaborate Sue Garman Baltimore Album project, an adaptation of a Bella Bella project, or my own version of a Suzanne Marshall quilt from long ago. If you aren't familiar with Sue Garman and you enjoy applique and "pretty" quilts you should Google her. I will probably end up making the Sue Garman first because it will take at least a year if not more to complete.

My other long term plan is already in motion. I ordered a bilingual copy of The Divine Comedy and it will arrive tomorrow. One column on each page is the original Italian, not the same in many respects as modern Italian, and the other column is English. I certainly don't plan to sit down and read it straight through but I want to get through it before I am unable to do that sort of challenge. I recently read an article about studying The Divine Comedy in college that included some verses from the ancient Italian and the translation (probably from the same text I purchased since mine is the well-known Longfellow version), and I had a lovely afternoon puzzling out the Italian and then reading the English. So in addition to working on a challenging quilt, I will be immersed in Dante.

Christmas Tree

My husband and I have been married for nearly 50 years. Over that time I have been collecting or making Christmas tree ornaments. I even kept all those paper chains and macaroni portraits that my sons made in school. So no theme, no purpose, just memories although we do weight the bottom of the tree with non-breakable ornaments so that the cats don't go crazy. My dog even brought a toy and placed it under the tree. It sort of looks like the Peanuts tree but we like the lopsided orphans.

December Rain

As people might remember, Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics. Even at the time there was some question whether there would be enough snow for all the events. Utah had gone from over abundant moisture with the great Salt Lake reaching historic highs and running across highways to steadily declining snowfall.When my husband and I  moved here  it was the tail end of a cycle and there was abundant, record breaking snow fall including one year where it snowed nearly every day of the winter including one day with 23 inches. Now it is the middle of December and there is no snow where I live. There is some snow in the mountains, but nothing like the base that is expected at this time of the year.

If you have a place to move where there is more reliable water, now would be a good time to make that move. Our politicians and leaders in Utah are completely feckless. Our president elect is not necessarily a climate denier but his opinion seems to be if decisions hurt the bottom line (even if they ultimately help everyone) then they are wrong because great leaders couldn't possibly make poor decisions.

We have heard this all before and it doesn't end well.

Family Tradition

While we have been messing around with some of our traditional meals this year, there is one family tradition that is practically sacred. My husband is part Japanese and his mother was completely Japanese, from Tokyo, so we eat more Japanese food than the average American. Most of what we eat is simply because we like it such as chicken katsu and miso shiru but every New Year's Day we eat o-zoni. This is a Japanese chicken soup flavored with gobo (fresh burdock root) and served over grilled mochi. The soup is always eaten on New Year's Day and it's supposed to bring good luck for the entire year. Since no one really wants to mess around with superstition, we will certainly have o-zoni again this New Year's Day. In order to make that easier, we are roasting a chicken tonight so that we will have some chicken meat, and chicken bones with which to make the soup base. I make a pretty basic roast chicken with thyme lemon butter rubbed underneath the skin on the breast, thighs, and drumsticks so right now my kitchen smells delightful yet again.

Baby It's Cold Outside

We haven't had much snow yet but in the valley that is pretty normal. What we have right now is clear and cold. It is still higher than 20F as the low but not by much. I try to tell my dogs that it is too cold to go for a walk at 5 am but they simply salivate when they even think about a walk and they have a daily routine that doesn't take into account what the weather is like. It's funny because the two dogs are so different. One is a rat terrier. At this point he is our oldest pet but he is bouncy and excited at even the idea of walking and chasing a ball or a frisbee. Our other dog is a bluetick coon hound and he is just a lazy lump of love with a nose. He goes on the walks because he wants to smell all the smells, both new and old, and I carry a treat bag and the poop bags. We got the second dog to keep the first dog company because that worked very well with our previous two--another rat terrier and a border collie. But these two just aren't interested in each other. They aren't antagonist at all, the coonhound is too lazy for that, but there isn't any interaction at all--they simply ignore each other. The coonhound is better friends with the Maine coon cat with daily grooming and dancing.

Coincidence

During our recent trip to Italy, my husband and I stayed in Siena for four days. Though we had been told that the town was mundane (told by Italians), we enjoyed our time there including those places that were not geared toward the tourist trade. We liked the restaurant Tredici Mori very much and we walked outside the city wall to the communal garden area which has to be one of the oldest in the world. We purchased a work from a man who restores old texts, creates new illuminated pages, and repairs old books. This week we will pick up our piece from our local framer to hang in our bedroom. We did walk down St. Catherine's path which we found remarkably free of tourists. Perhaps that's because the walk is steep so going and coming back are not as easy as other parts of the town.

Coincidentally on our recent trip to Cambridge, the whole walking down memory lane, we went into Houghton Library at Harvard--the repository of many rare books, for a display and lesson about illuminated manuscripts. It was fascinating as well with the volumes displayed and interactive videos about how and why they were produced. Now I feel even better about buying a hand made, hand inked piece from the Sienese artist.

Utterly Delicious

The slow cooked roast beef was fabulous but the real star was the gravy. I always begin by making my own demi-glace. The only disappointment was minor. I took the popovers out about five minutes too early so they slumped a little but they still tasted good.

At Husband's Request

My husband decided he wanted something else for Christmas dinner similar to the decision to change Thanksgiving. But the difference is that he still wanted roast beef for dinner which turned out to be this week. So tomorrow I am making the usual Christmas dinner (slow cooked roast beef, roast potatoes, baked mushrooms and baked onions, peas and carrots, and popovers) for dinner tomorrow. To top that off my husband invited our sons and at least one other guest to come. He's lucky he's a great husband otherwise I would smack him upside his head--at least figuratively. If you haven't tried slow cooked prime rib you should check it out. You stick the seasoned meat in a pan at a very low heat, whatever the lowest setting on your oven is (for most that's 200F) and cook it for a very long time. For a 5-6 pound roast that takes about six hours. Then you let it sit for 30 minutes, then broil the top to brown it, slice and eat. I make a beef gravy that takes two or three days so taking six plus hours to cook the roast is nothing, plus I have two ovens in my kitchen, one gas and one electric.

Small Saturday--On Sunday

My husband and I went to a local bookstore today. I have a tutorial on Saturday mornings and never know how long we will talk so we didn't go out yesterday for small Saturday. My husband didn't find anything for himself but he found a Maxine Kumin poetry collection for me. He knows that I find her work compelling and enchanting. I also got the new Jane Hamilton, the new Kristin Hannah, and a Michael Connelly Lincoln Lawyer book (you didn't think I only read Shakespeare, right?). This finished the gift certificate that I got several years ago.

I also made my first dish from my newest cookbook. Cookbooks were among the gifts I requested at our wedding and after 46 (going on 47) years of marriage I have many that feature food from all over the world. Tonight's dinner was from the new Del Posto cookbook. We have eaten at the restaurant a few times so we thought the new cookbook might fill in the gaps between visits to NYC. As a side note before I describe the meal and its preparation, although it might seem strange to eat so early, it is better if you arrive very early--the 4:30 slot is good--because then the restaurant is not completely filled with people. At that time your server will be more attentive and your experience will be more pleasant. I never find it fun or interesting to have to wait in line for access to the women's restroom.

Anyway, I made the red lamb sausage with orrechiete for dinner. Oh my goodness was that good. Definitely not health food with the lamb, 14 tablespoons of butter, and a bucket of grated Parmesan cheese, but the flavor combinations were spectacular. I don't know if the restaurant serves this as a primo piatti or what but we both had small servings and were more than satisfied.

Still Crazy

I spent the morning putting up angels. As I wrote previously, there aren't as many angels as there are nutcrackers or even Santas and snowmen but there are still several.

Holiday Decorating

Last year was a nutcracker year but this year will be an angel year. We don't have quite as many angels but they still make a crazy display. I think I mean crazy in a good way although I am never sure. I will post pictures once the work is done.

Happy Thanksgiving

For the first time in 46 years I am changing the menu for Thanksgiving dinner. I have a very large turkey breast and two drumsticks that I am going to cook with pan vegetables in the oven in a Calphalon. Then the side dishes will be leek flan, mashed potatoes, green beans from our summer garden, and a mix of farro, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, dried cranberries, and onions. No pumpkin pie this year even though we have a few pumpkins left from our harvest, but pecan pie and Kentucky butter cake as usual.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Weird and Wacky

We had our first snowfall two days ago but yesterday the temperature rose well over 60F and today at 5 am it was 45F. So far the chances of our drought situation changing this winter seem slim. Even the plants are confused about the weather. I have daffodils and violets blooming in my yard and I saw some bearded iris in a neighbor's yard this week.

A Long Time Ago

When I was a high school student, nearly fifty years ago, there was a test that made the circuit of teachers. It didn't matter whether the teachers were in Massachusetts or Texas; what mattered was how students reacted. I was very good at taking tests. I was never nervous, never worried about the results.

So this particular test was simply given to students as soon as they entered the classroom with little to no introduction other than to read all of the instructions. As I remember the class groaned a little since there had been no preparation for the test, but all of us took out our number 2 pencils (remember that ?) and began to answer the questions posed by the test which the instructions said were to take 30 minutes. I read the instructions through and the final instruction was to lay my pencil down and sit quietly. That's what I did. My classmates who were busy answering questions, looked at me in astonishment and with puzzled faces. The thirty minutes dragged on but my beleaguered classmates continued to answer the questions while I continued to simply sit.

The point of this story is that the point of the test was to read all the instructions of anything whether it's a quiz in a classroom or how to use a paint product or tool.

I read some essays for a class yesterday. The prompt was very clear. It told students to "note briefly" the social or political changes that the author advocated, and then, "analyze the techniques" used to  convince readers. Well, as you might already know, the students noted at length what changes Charles Dickens advocated for in Hard Times without ever getting to how he convinced his readers.

The most astonishing part to me is that Hard Times is so clear about the author's various techniques. The list could begin with tone and move through foreshadowing, imagery. voice, etc.
Charles Dickens is never subtle in his writing and Hard Times is perhaps his least subtle work.

Consequently when students wrote essays that only answered the "note briefly" without actually noting anything briefly but rather at great length, I did not feel inclined to reward them even if their writing was decent.  In a similar fashion, if students only discussed one technique (characterization was the common choice), I did not reward their efforts even if the writing was all right. Of course most of the time the writing was mediocre with grammar and spelling errors throughout but that is only one aspect of the essay score. The teacher told me that they had spent an entire class period, 90  minutes, discussing what the prompt expected. That means most of the students were like my classmates of 50 years ago--they listened to the opening words, but then set off on a frolic of their own.

Nowadays everyone wants students to be computer, science, math whizzes when they finish high school. Besides the fact that that isn't working very well, students need to be able to read a piece of writing or hear a commercial and understand how the creator has altered the thinking of the reader or listener. This isn't simply the key to appreciating literature--it is the key to understanding how political speech, commercial speech, romantic overtures alter the reader or listener's understanding. The students whose essays I scored are not college ready. If they end up scoring a 3 or above it will be a shame if they are given college credit.

Progress on Project

I finished the applique on the new quilt, Summer Stars, and I spent part of yesterday and part of today layering it. I haven't started quilting yet because simultaneously I received two sets of essays on tone from one of my teachers. The curious problem is that I haven't been paid for the work I have done to this point, about sixty hours worth, with no clear end in sight. Though I have been doing the same work for nearly 25 years, the district changes its guidelines for pay every year. They don't inform me ahead of time and they don't inform the teachers either. I know they have limited funds, this state is the lowest per pupil expenditure in the entire nation, but there isn't very good communication--a common problem in large entities. I would be perfectly happy if I could get something from the district that allows me a tax deduction, but I cannot get that either. The final result will be that I won't score essays any more, the teachers won't be able or willing to score them, the students will lose out.
 
The new quilt is happy. I am happy because I have already found a home for it. That doesn't happen that often so it is a cause for celebration.

As an addendum to my previous comment--Trump clearly didn't expect to win. Now he doesn't know what to do. The turmoil in his campaign is now occurring in his transition. Just wait until he has to appear in court on his fraud charges. This is not a good event since he is clearly and demonstrably incapable of handling criticism.

Once again, I am very sorry that this has come to pass.

Dear World

I am very sorry.

Memory Lane

My husband and I just got back from four days in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I know we just got back from Italy, but there was a concert in Massachusetts we wanted to see so we thought we would take my young friend and some of her friends to dinner as well. Visiting Harvard is always interesting though not always a barrel of laughs. The weather was very good, crisp fall air and sunshine, beautiful colors on the trees.

The concert was up practically in New Hampshire in a very small town named Salisbury. Part of the year it is a beach destination but luckily all the pizza shacks and soft serve ice cream joints were closed for the season. The concert was Tom Rush. Most readers have probably never heard of him but I had a huge crush on him when I was 13 or so, more than fifty years ago. He is and was an acoustic guitar, sort of folk singer. He also went to Harvard though he is nearly a decade older than either my husband or me so there was no overlap. Well he is around 75 now but that hasn't changed much. For a very short period in the 60's and early 70's he had a record contract with Elektra and some of his records had much bigger production style from what he started with or what he does now. The record company wanted him to be more of a rock guy but he was more of a coffee house type. Anyway, he still is an amazing guitar player, still sings reasonably well though his vocal range isn't quite what it was. And he is just a funny guy, good sense of humor, funny stories. We have been to a couple of concerts before and this wasn't a let down in any way. He joked that he was having his own grandchildren since he has a 16 year old daughter now.

While we were in Cambridge we visited my husband's old dorm, went to a couple of the buildings where his primary classes were, went to the Fogg Art Museum and Mt. Auburn Cemetery. The funniest episode was at the Natural History Museum. We were looking at the displays about evolution and came to two Galapagos tortoises. The didactic information on one of the tortoises had the name misspelled. It's not that I am such an expert on Galapagos tortoises but I was pretty sure that "Alebmarle" wasn't right. My husband tried to find it on his smartphone but couldn't and then I noticed that the tortoise still had one of those old manila tags wired to his neck. It was sort of tucked under the shell carapace but I was able to read the original information and sure enough it read "Albemarle" as I was sure it should. Naturally I sent an email to the museum staff. I am sort of a pain in the neck but there are so many school groups going through there that having errors just doesn't seem like a good idea.

Laugh Out Loud

My youngest son is a cook. Even though he is now titled "executive chef", he is a cook. That's fine, even great. He likes what he does and goes to work daily not thinking about work bur thinking about the task. Lately the task has transformed into something different. The owners of his current establishment purchased a very old "diner" in Park City. Park City is home to the Sundance Film Festival and a few ski resorts, so it caters to the "do you know who I am?" crowd, but also to the more grungy types who frequent either of those activities. I worked for the film festival several years ago so I have no sympathy whatsoever to those who think their product shines.

Anyway, my son was asked by his boss/owners to develop a new menu, in keeping with the diner style of the place, for their purchase. He came to dinner last night after what has been an exhausting few weeks developing a new menu, still in keeping with the "diner" ethos but different from what happened before. We had talked both before we went to Italy and after and he had said that he wanted to put Salisbury steak on the menu since so many diners currently feature meatloaf. They are in their first week of operation and the Salisbury steak is the current favorite of all diners.

Always Planning Ahead

Though I am not even done with the applique border on Summer Stars let alone layering and quilting it, I am planning my new project, sort of. Before we left for Italy I ordered "Bella Bella quilts". The book arrived while we were in Europe. Then when we were in Italy we spent a fair amount of time in various churches in Florence, Siena, and San Gimagnano. Some of the floors, as many quilters before have remarked, are spectacular mosaics and of course the Bella Bella book demonstrates this nicely. Norah McKeeking isn't the first quilter to see this. I even have a very old book by Ami Simms that has quilt patterns from ancient mosaics. But what I am contemplating is slightly different since I am more of an applique person.

While driving through the spectacular Tuscan country side, I realized that the hills on the horizon in many cases are different from the norm. Often there were cypress trees, lined up in a row, across the horizon, not like a clump of trees but more like the spikes on a New York Beauty block-silhouetted against the sky. Add to that mental image the fact that we walked part of the pilgrimage trail of St. Francis and you probably can begin to see what's going on in my brain. Of course my son has already told me he wants some variation of the spectacular La Rosa Veneziana so I don't know what I will end up with.

And then, the most spectacular floor wasn't a geometric mosaic at all. The floor in the church of San Miniato on the hillside overlooking Florence reminds me more of scherenschnitte, with floral and bird designs in black and white. That would be a fun project as well.

Places I Do Or Don't Want To Live

My husband and I joke about moving somewhere, probably in Western Europe, because life in the US has become so irritating. We like Europe and since we wouldn't be citizens of any of the European countries, their politics wouldn't annoy us as much as politics in the US annoy us. But I have always told him that I don't want to live anywhere the bugs are bigger than say an inch long. That even knocks out many places in the US like Florida where the cockroaches are way bigger than that and they fly. They are so big they don't call them cockroaches, they call them palmetto bugs as if that makes them unique or desirable.

Well I really enjoyed my one trip to Australia and because I didn't take my husband with me (it was a swimming competition), I have told him that we should go before we get too old to endure the interminable plane ride. After seeing this

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/oct/24/australia-giant-spider-mouse-carry-horrifying-impressive?CMP=share_btn_link

in  the newspaper this morning, I think I have changed my mind. I didn't mind the flying foxes in Sydney but I don't want to be in the same room with a spider that hunts and carries off mice. 

Long Hours

I just finished 31 hours of essay scoring. Four of the teachers at the high school saved their The Grapes of Wrath essays for my return from Italy. Some of the essays were good, some were rotten, some were wild flights of fancy that had nothing to do with the topic. Sophomore students here have the grammar skills of third graders so there were tense shifts and pronoun problems throughout the essays. One teacher, who is brand new (which brings up the entire issue of why anyone who is smart and young would pick teaching in this state that has the lowest per pupil expenditure in the entire country), emailed me when I was in Italy to ask if I would include his papers in my schedule. He wrote, "I heard you were kind enough to score these essays." I wrote back that my kindness was exaggerated even though I was certainly willing to score his essays. I think he thought I was kidding.

Guess What?

My husband and I were only in Italy this trip but we did talk to Italians, Americans, and British citizens. Universally they were all opposed to Trump to the point that some were hesitant to deal with us if we showed support for Trump. That's curious for a couple of reasons with the first being that under other circumstances we have not found a unanimous opinion. Going back to the Iraq invasion we found a diversity in those who would express their views. One shopkeeper/artisan from whom we purchased a hand worked poem shrugged and said that Italy had lived through Berlusconi so he wished us well.

Jet Lag

It's funny that when I travel, I don't get much jet lag going east to Europe and losing a day, but I suffer for several days coming back west. My husband and I just got back from 12 days in Italy. We went to Florence, Emilio-Romagna, and Siena. I list Emilio-Romagna even though we did stay in a town because that was more for the Italian experience than for visiting a specific place or site. It's a lovely time of year in Italy--nice temperatures and good harvests. Our trip was a mix of famous museums and cathedrals and walking some of the St. Francis trail along with fabulous food and welcoming people. We only had one bad meal the entire time and we visited churches from the Duomo in Florence to small Romanesque churches. It's not that we are religious; it's that so much of the art, technology, and sheer effort of humans went toward building these buildings so visiting them gives one a better sense of who they were than simply visiting a building filled with paintings.

Double Standard

I have written before that Hillary Clinton is not my first choice for president but we have two candidates (yes, there are more than that but only two that are possibilities given our electoral system) from which to pick. Neither is  without blemish, but what astonishes me given the most recent revelations is that there hasn't been much outcry over Trump's behavior at his beauty pageants. People all over the country were up in arms about Obama's announcement of gender neutral bathrooms, exclaiming that "...no man can see my daughter naked."  But Trump walks in unannounced and surely unwanted into his teen beauty pageant dressing rooms, timing it to when he knows these barely pubescent girls will be naked, and so far no one is crying foul. These aren't 70 year old women remembering a plane flight from thirty years ago. These are girls who are only 18 now describing events from only three years ago.

Honestly

Recently another new teacher contacted me about scoring essays and giving feedback. He wrote that the other teachers said I was kind enough to do this service for the teachers. I wrote back that although I was more than willing to score the essays, my kindness was exaggerated.

That's my basic philosophy. If you tell the truth you won't surprise anyone later. Is it surprising to me that Donald Trump made repulsive and aggressive remarks about women? Hell no. His behavior is obvious for all to see; it's even one of the traits that those who support him think is admirable. It's his stock in trade but it doesn't make him more palatable to me. There's a difference in character between thinking that honesty is refreshing and thinking that blurting out those vulgar ideas that float around in your head is all right.  I am not even talking about political correctness but about common decency. It's easy to see that Trump went to a second tier private military academy for high school as that is the level of his personality and the imprint on his character.

The Practice of Medicine

Last post I outlined the reasons I thought getting a CT scan was a reasonable action. Turns out it was pretty much a waste of time and resources, plus an unnecessary dose of radiation. The original MRI result showed what the radiologist read as a venous malformation. The CT scan showed conclusively that that reading was false. What was read as a venous malformation is really a genetic abnormality in my bone structure. That's why it is called the practice of medicine.

CT Scan With Contrast

Just a few weeks ago I had an MRI to see if I had trigeminal neuralgia as the cause of my jaw and ear pain. This has been going on for a couple of years now, most of the time mild pain, occasionally bumping up to more severe. There was no evidence of trigeminal neuralgia but the radiologist told my primary care doctor that I had a venous malformation of the jugular and the carotid and recommended a CT scan to get better information.

I talked it over with my primary care and we decided to go ahead although as far as either of us know there are no current symptoms arising from the malformation. My main concern was that I have had several friends recently suffer dissections of their carotid arteries or jugulars. In one case this led to death and in the other four cases there was some degree of paralysis and aphasia. I also have a brother who had a stroke although because we are estranged I know very few of the details but sometimes the venous malformation episodes can present with similar findings and he was in the Czech Republic where there were language issues. So it seemed like a reasonable precaution to have the scan.

I certainly haven't received any results yet but I had other problems prior to the procedure involving the intravenous catheter. The technician had problems inserting the catheter prior to the MRI a few weeks ago, and then when I had a blood draw for a physical that phlebotomist had problems, so this time when the technician asked which arm to use, I simply told her to use the arm that worked best. Well, that turned out to be neither for her. She tried twice on my right arm and once on my left arm. The needles for the dye contrast are a little bigger than for either the MRI or the blood draw so this was not the most comfortable problem. So the technician went off to find the nurse who uses an ultra-sound machine to locate the veins and to help with the insertion. Hallelujah baby, got the needle in the first time and didn't wiggle it around looking for help. I have never had the easiest veins to work with and with aging and having to fast, including liquids, prior to these tests my veins have become the biggest pain.

Sexual Abuse Charges

I just watched a news report about the sexual abuse charges being lodged against a doctor who treated the US gymnastics team. The charges don't surprise me, nor does the fact that it has taken a long time for the young women to come forward. I am an old, post-menopausal woman now but even in the last few years I have suffered from unwelcome attention when in a medical setting. 

In Utah, doctors are supposed to have a female attendant if they have a female patient. Most doctors ignore this, or if they pay attention to the law it is in a passing fashion. I recently left my previous dermatologist after a few odd incidents. The last one was when I was sitting on the plinth (you know, the exam table) waiting for an exam of two odd spots on my upper chest. The doctor came over, looked at where my hands are, and then after determining that one hand was sitting over the edge of the plinth, walked up and leaned his entire body against mine. He had already judged where my hand was so he knew that his genitals would be pressed against my hand. I don't doubt that he already knew that the plinth was just the right height for this to occur. I sat there while he was examining my chest trying to decide what to do. I wanted to grab the testicles and squeeze but for all I knew that was his desired response. He had my hand pinned hard enough that simply pulling my hand back would probably have been a thrill for him.

I didn't yell at him, I didn't report him. At the time the assault was so repulsive that I didn't even want to think about it. I did tell my husband as soon as I got home and I did call my primary care doctor and tell her, assuming that the medical community should know. The unfortunate outcome of my encounter was that shortly after that visit, I looked at my chest and realized that I needed the spots looked at again and quickly. So I had to go back to the same man who was quite abusive. "You should have told me about these spots. Now I have to perform surgery." He probably did end up excising the suspicious spots thoroughly but he sure wasn't happy about it. Now I have a two inch scar and a memory of the doctor throwing down his surgical gloves and blaming everything on me. I also have a new dermatologist.

Vindication, Of a Sort

There is a very interesting article in the current issue of The American Scholar magazine about a charter school in Chicago attempting to adapt a teaching method from Phillips Exeter Academy to both larger class sizes and an entirely different cohort of learners. The teaching and learning mode is called the Harkness Method and relies to a much greater degree than is the norm on student interaction, student participation, and student ideas. The article outlines how this works in the rarefied atmosphere of Phillips Exeter but it also shows how it is used in a radically different setting.

Generally I am not a fan of charter schools because around here they are perverted by profit motives and anti-federalists. There is less interest in seeing students learn than there is in advancing a particular political agenda. That doesn't mean that I am entirely smitten by any top down administration of schools whether it is from the federal or state government either. What I do want to see is results and those have been sorely lacking lately.

Anyway, I don't want to beat a dead horse but the Harkness method as described in the article begins by asking students to speak in class. This happens in all disciplines but of course my focus is on language. Two students in a literature class are given the assignment of describing to each other, and to the rest of the class, their ideas about the meaning of a work they have read. The very first homework assignment I give my tutees is to go home and talk to their parents about the book they are reading for class and also about any shorter assignments I have given them. Far too many students I work with have no familiarity with language. Sure they can talk to their friends or more likely text them but they cannot form arguments with language that use logic and structure. If you don't know how language works, how can you ever understand literature, no matter what language you speak. The kids say "My parents haven't read this book," and I say, "It doesn't matter. It's up to you to tell them about it."

So, parents, don't just ask your kid how school was. Ask them to tell you about their stories, their books, their math, their science.

Lovely Fall Days

The weather has been good since the storms of last week. Although Utah isn't a common location for tornadoes there were a couple that touched down a little north of here. That's good since the house I live in now was struck by a tornado about twenty years ago. Anyway, now the sun is shining and the weather is breezy and mild. Storms are predicted for later on this week.

I made this quilt in the year 2000 and donated it to a local charity fundraiser for a large area hospital. This used to be a big splashy social event but my only involvement was behind the scenes.

I posted the picture to show that yellow has always been a personal favorite. I got some grief from traditionalists for doing an album quilt with a yellow background but that's fine. Everyone has an opinion even if no one cares about that opinion.

I am having fun working on the applique border. I have reached the upper left hand of the border, moving into the top section. I used the original design as a starting point but I changed many elements to suit my own fancy. The original was sort of alternating sunflowers and grapes but mine moves from the fruit and vegetable bottom through dandelions, violas, birds and moths and then from about halfway up it is almost all sunflowers and grapes so to me they look as if they are reaching for the sun.

Should Have Used Conditional

Two very nice women have left comments telling me to vote. Their reasons are not the same but their view of voting is similar to mine. The only vote I ever missed since I reached voting age was when I was in the hospital giving birth to my second son.

I should have used conditional, as in "I could vote for X or I could vote for no one." But rest assured I will vote in the November election.  Although there are no major party choices for president that appeal to me there are county council and school board votes that have a large impact here. I don't agree that those who don't vote have no voice to complain, however. That "rule" leaves out children, those who are disenfranchised for reasons that are often racially based and racially biased,  large groups of people who are rewarded or damaged by votes by others.

Although I am in no way a socialist, I supported Bernie Sanders because he was not a major party acolyte. Even here in Utah he won 83% of the caucus though only 50% of the delegates voted for Sanders in the first ballot at the convention. That's what I oppose.There are no provisions for political parties in the Constitution, let alone parties with the massive power that we have now. Our system was never supposed to be a "democracy" since that would be chaotic.

Utah is a prime example of what happens with powerful political parties. The Republican party controls state government (more than 90% of state representation) with a certain type of man (yes, there are more than 95% men in state government) being the ideal candidate. Given that most elections are foregone conclusions, the voter turnout is very low--usually around 30% of registered voters.

We cannot sustain the ideal that our country is supposed to represent if we let cabals hold the reins. Though not in any way a socialist, I  admired and applauded the enthusiasm that Sanders engendered. Thousands of normal Utahns attended his two rallies here. They wanted to vote--they wanted to vote. That's what our country is supposed to represent--our republic needs enthusiasm not ennui. We need to raise the percentage of voters but it won't happen if we let two major parties choose.

In Addition

I am a woman approximately like Hillary Clinton. About the same age (she's 68 and I am 66), about the same educational background (she went to Wellesley and I went to Bryn Mawr), about the same political journey (we both moved from Young Republicans to Democrats). There are still numerous differences between us. She has no foreign living experience (I lived in Germany when I was young), she speaks no foreign languages (how she managed that at Wellesley puzzles me but Bryn Mawr insists on speaking ability in two languages prior to graduation or extra math classes), she is not and has never been athletic (I swam age group, college, and adult competition). There are numerous other differences as well but my point is that in many ways I understand Clinton on a different level since our experiences are so similar. Hell, my brother went out with her roommate at Wellesley when they were both freshmen.

So I know that Clinton is reasonably intelligent. That leads to my next diatribe. Why are her commercials playing to Trump's game plan?  Commercials are different depending on the area of the country, but where I live her commercials are attack ads not thoughtful policy statements. Since one of her drawbacks for many voters is that she is an older woman, attack ads are stupid. Frankly they are stupid anyway, but no one wants to see an older woman shake her finger at them and criticize.

If she would play on whatever strengths she has as a diplomat, she would lay out policies, share a vision, show intelligence. All she shows in her ads in my state is what most people find off putting. That doesn't mean that women can't be strong but for hell's sake, if you want to be President, show me why you are good, not why your opponent is not. I don't think simply being female is a qualification for being the leader of the United States; I certainly don't think acting like my mother is a qualification either. At Bryn Mawr we didn't think vaginas were destiny.

I Take It Back

In a previous post, I wrote that from what I know, Donald Trump's children are decent, smart people. I take that back. Like many American voters I despair of the choices that we have before us. Where I live my vote won't make any difference at all since my vote will be inundated by the votes of those who vote R (Republican) and M (Mormon). Donald Trump is not LDS but there is no doubt at all that the vast majority of local voters will choose the R even if he isn't of their same persuasion.

I don't like any of the Clintons either.  Their behavior and their choices damn them even without faint praise. Since my vote will be wiped out by other people's votes, I can choose anyone or no one. It won't make any difference here in Utah.

Border Photos

My husband came home from rock climbing in Yosemite and took some photos of the borders in progress on Summer Stars.

  The first picture shows the complete section with the center and the others are close-ups of details. As you can see from the complete photo, the basket of tomatoes is straight although the final close-up makes it look  crooked. There will be many different flowers on this, and, as in the original, a beehive at the top. That's sort of funny since the beehive is the symbol of the state in which I live. It's on all of the highway signs.

Summer Stars

I have been working on the applique border on the Summer Stars quilt. The original quilt has all sorts of grapes and bees and flowers so I am using the same plan but with my own stamp. The original had a birdhouse on the bottom border and I wanted to keep the birdhouse but I moved it to the right side so that I could have different motifs on the bottom. There I put fruits and vegetables. There is a basket of tomatoes, some grapes, some zucchini, butternuts, and a crookneck along with two sunflowers. The left hand corner, already complete as far as the applique and embroidery goes, has a big dandelion. What's summer without dandelions, right? I made the flowers three-dimensional and the dandelion clock is worked in embroidery. That took a long time and I am not a proficient embroiderer. I am about half-way done with the left side so there is still a long way to go.

Time Passes

My husband and I are senior citizens, that's the common parlance. We married young, as we were reminded when we met one of my previous tutees from a very long time ago in San Francisco. He went on to Berkeley as did his sister. Now he works in Palo Alto for a hedge fund investment firm. It was very nice to see him again and to meet his new wife. He met her his freshman year and they hung out, became friends, became lovers, finally married. It happened a little faster for my husband and me but their eagerness for the life in front of them definitely resonated. 

Anyone who questions whether the US needs new policies should meet young people like my young friends. They come from all over the world to become Americans. They work hard, they plan, they study. They are from China, Taiwan, Viet Nam, Pakistan,etc.,  as well as local students whose families came in the great migration of LDS people from all over western Europe. My lone student from last year was the child of a mining background from Wales and she was the saddest case I have ever had. If anyone thinks these bright young people who are Americans from birth are a problem in our country, that person needs to look at 17 year olds like my most current tutee. All her life her parents told her they didn't plan to have her. They told her they wanted to abort her but her mother had health issues that stopped that. Both of her parents earned GEDs rather than finishing high school and both of them tell her constantly that her aspirations are impossible to reach.

I cannot extrapolate my student's issues to the broader issues that face my country. Personal stories are not in any way data. We need all of our young people to be pushed to excel.

My youngest child is turning 37 on Wednesday--I remember planting 100 Elizabeth Arden tulips the day before he was born. Huzzah and hurray.

Really?

My husband and I just spent four days in San Francisco. The weather was good, even unseasonably warm, and we did our usual  4 to 10 miles walking a day. We went just to see the new extension of the SFMoMA. That was impressive. Most major extensions are obtrusive and odd but this one improves the previous building. We had already seen a great deal of the Fisher art donation but both of us are interested in  architecture.

The big "really?" derives from our hotel experience. We used to live in Sacramento and visited SF frequently. During those years we tried a variety of hotels but eventually ended up at the Prescott. When we first visited, there was a celebrated restaurant, and the hotel was pretty swank, as we used to say. We kept coming even though the hotel was obviously falling apart at the seams. Even at that point the staff was good, very welcoming, and the rooms were lovely with all the amenities a traveler would want.

The hotel was purchased about 18 months ago. For one reason or another, including that the SFMoMA was still closed, we didn't visit the city. Then the museum reopened and we got a solicitation from the "new" hotel to visit and stay multiple days at a discount. Okay, right?

Do not under any circumstances go to The Zeppelin Hotel in San Francisco. I don't care if they give you a discount. The designers ripped out all the soft surface, painted over all the color, took away any hint of romance. That's fine if that's your design style but it takes a tremendous amount of upkeep and attention to keep a black surface clean, there is no debris that is black, so if you don't work to keep it clean, swept, vacuumed, and polished, it will look like hell in short order. This brand new iteration looked like a flop house.

Then we went up to our room and my first double take involved the ironing board. Why was the ironing board sitting in the corner of the room, magnified and duplicated by the mirror behind it? Who doesn't put the ironing board away when done? It turns out there wasn't a closet. That's right--a hotel room without a closet. An expensive hotel room without a closet. There was a six inch wide, three foot tall slit that had three awkwardly arranged hangers that clearly wouldn't work as hangers.

There was a very generously proportioned bathroom but most of it was empty space. A very empty grey space with no shelves, no benches, no place to put one's sundries or medications.

If that's your deal that's fine. But don't sell yourself as a luxury stay in the heart of old SF. It isn't just that the charm was gone. There was no comfort, no care but they had sold us the package as an extended stay. Where were we to put our stuff? It isn't even that I am an older person with a certain degree of needs. I cannot imagine anyone who would have found our room acceptable. The rest of the hotel wasn't much better. Hard, shiny, black surfaces need constant attention. Dirt shows.

So remember that creature comforts are not what is for sale at The Zeppelin.

Feast or Famine

We have had an odd weather summer, starting out cooler and much wetter, then blazing hot, then cool again, then blazing hot. Now summer is fading and most of our harvest is slowing down. The tomato production was adversely affected by the variable weather. We did have a counterful a week ago. So of course we made tomato sauce and ate tomatoes at every meal. Our son, whose restaurant makes weird but delicious bratwurst sandwiches, came over and took tomatoes down to the restaurant to make BLT bratwurst sandwiches. Those sold out so quickly that he came and got more. Now we only have the rejects inside (still good for sauce and jam) and the weather has cooled off enough that the ripening is slow. There are still many green tomatoes and we are still picking green beans and lima beans daily but the season is nearly over.

The pumpkins are almost completely orange and the butternut squash is about to turn the appropriate color. We only have a tenth of an acre yard, including the footprint of the house and garage, but we don't plant grass so there are lots of places for food production.

Funny Compliment

My young friend who is just starting senior year at Harvard moved in to her new room this week. She went to Michael's and got advice from them about how she could hang her new quilt while following the dorm rules about tape and pins, etc. Once she got it up she took a picture and sent me a thank you along with a short note. She told me all of her roommates and friends were very impressed and a little jealous. One girl said, "No one loves me enough to make me a quilt," which she thought was very funny.

She said it was the nicest thing in her room and she felt incredibly lucky.

Stars and Chains in Progress

As I wrote in the last entry, I am working on a new quilt that combines piecing and applique, replicating, though not exactly, a quilt made about twenty years ago. That's funny to me since some of the fabrics I have used and plan to use in the quilt are from about twenty years ago. Anyway, the picture I have doesn't even give dimensions but I suspect the original blocks were a little larger than the ones I have made. I don't do a great deal of old-fashioned piecing. If I make a pieced quilt these days it is usually using foundations to assure perfect points and good matches. So these past few days cutting and sewing have been a reminder of what I liked and what I disliked in matching seams and trying for perfect points. Now that I have a fancy computer Bernina the work is a little easier but it still requires attention to detail.

My husband sort of picked out this project because he was entranced by the colors and the design in the original.  He especially liked the light grey background with the varied yellow squares. The center section is sewn but some of the edge pieces are only laid down next to that. It's laid out on my dining room table which is why the other finished quilt is underneath. There is another grey and yellow border beyond this piecing and then a very elaborate appliqued border, one that I have not drawn out as yet.

New Quilt, Old Tradition

If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know that I am a traditional quilter. When I write or use that description I think of the classic quilts from the far past and the near past. There are some machine quilted creations that attract me, but far too many seem loverquilted with motifs that obscure the top rather than set it off. I don't like piecing that much anyway, and machine piecing is particularly frustrating. My current machine does a nice job of sewing true seams, running over seams without distortion, but that doesn't mean I like sitting at the machine.

However I have been making a pieced center since I finished my husband's quilt. He saw a photo of a forty year old quilt (or thereabout) made by a woman named Rita Ilene Ptacek. It has a pieced center that is an Irish chain with stars. The quilt has a grey background which my husband finds very pleasing. He also likes the yellow chain portions because the original quilter used bright and light yellows to make the quilt sparkle. The appliqued border is charming, each side differs with sunflowers, bees and birdhouses.

Anyway, I have been making something approximating this quilt. The source I have does not provide patterns, or measurements but I have made enough quilts to be able to approach the mastery of the original even if I don't reach that standard.

Mad Max

Although I think I posted this picture before, my husband thinks it's so funny he wants me to post it again. We have three cats with Max being the biggest and the youngest. He only weighs about 15 pounds so he isn't so big for a Maine coon cat but his hair makes him look bigger. Like most pet cats, he is the king of all he surveys.

The picture at the top of the blog is Max when he was a kitten. The quilt is a recreation of one I saw in an article in House Beautiful about 15 years ago.

My Samurai

My husband calls this the lovebird quilt. He picked that image to turn into applique but I am responsible for the rest. I adapted designs from a book called Japanese Design Motifs published by Dover Publications in 1972. The designs are primarily kamon or emblems, suitable for badges to show one's rank or family. I replicated those for the corners, with the family crest being the one on the upper left hand corner.

The borders were just inspired by the kamon, using images that are common or familiar in Japanese pottery or china like the eggplant and the peony. So in many ways this is my own creation. Even though the designs are ancient, as far as I know they don't appear anywhere as I have drawn them. As I wrote previously, the lovebirds were inspired by an embroidery design made to imitate Delft pottery.

The quilting just follows the curves of the design and there are some embroidered touches, most visible in the plum blossom motif in the bottom right. My husband really likes it.

Supporting Youth

One of the young people I have helped had a bad sophomore year at Harvey Mudd. She is a very capable and talented young woman but has not faced emotional turmoil. A year younger than the typical sophomore, she had not had a "boyfriend" before. She thought she knew what all of that would entail but she didn't.

Anyway, she came home early from school, finished her final exams here, and stayed at home rather than working as she did last summer. I am not her parent so I don't have any control over those decisions but I  invited her to the house several times this summer. I asked her what she liked at school and it turned out that she liked painting images  on walls and sidewalks at her school. So I invited her to paint a part of my ceiling.

Everyone needs to pay attention to young people. Sometimes they need more help than you know.

Still No Answer

The MRI didn't show trigeminal neuralgia so there still aren't any answers to why I have this recurring pain. The radiologist did see a venous malformation in my jugular vein on the left side so he wants to do a CT with contrast to see just what is going on there. At this point since no one can say that this even means anything, I don't know that I want the scan.

MRI Monday

I go in on Monday for an MRI of my head.  It's a long story but it boils down to my new doctor thinking I might have trigeminal neuralgia. I have recurring pain in my jaw, my ears. I have been to the dentist, the periodontist, the jaw dentist. I mean when your teeth hurt you go to the dentist first, right? Anyway, my previous primary care doctor retired, I got a new primary care person within the same practice and had a meet and greet with him three weeks ago.

I know nothing about trigeminal neuralgia. I really have been to all the mouth related people I could think of including my otolaryngologist since some of the pain is a very sharp stabbing pain in my ear that stops me in my track. The jaw dentist said unequivocally that I don't have TMD even though some of the symptoms are similar.

If the MRI shows what is expected, I will probably have to go back on neurontin. I took that about fifteen years ago before I had the discectomy and fusion on four vertebrae in my neck. Even that wasn't for the pain but because I was losing the use of my hands.   

Jury Duty Results

Well my husband wasn't impressed with much of anything at the court. The case was a drug offense (selling heroin to an undercover police officer) and then running away from the police. Although husband didn't think the prosecutor was particularly good, he wasn't impressed with the defense either. He also had a pretty low opinion of his fellow jurors, saying that the loudest one was a computer nerd who wouldn't listen to the other jurors because he didn't like the police. Of course my husband is something of a computer nerd as well. He also agreed that practically everyone has had an unpleasant experience with a police officer no matter how law abiding they might be. But he didn't see any reason at all for the police to lie in this case since it was so penny-ante (it was only $20 worth of drugs even if it was heroin) so he argued that the police were being honest and the drug dealer was lying. After nearly four hours of deliberation following a 90 minute trial presentation, my husband and the only other holdout gave up and agreed to let the accused go. He certainly didn't come home feeling that justice was served or feeling ennobled in any way.

Jury Duty

My husband who is 68 just got his first ever notice for jury duty two weeks ago. He filled out the card and sent it back and got the notice to appear last Saturday. Around here the system is that you get that notice that gives you a phone number to call every night to find out if you must appear in court the next day. Well he didn't get summoned for court appearance until this morning and he is sitting on a jury right this minute. I have no idea what the case is and he seemed very unsure about how long he would be at court.

It's sort of funny because I have gotten summons to appear in every state where we have lived except South Carolina since I didn't register to vote there because we were only there for six months for a Navy school. All the rest have called me up but I have never been picked for a jury.

Japanese Apples

Several years ago, a local quilt auction for charity featured an apple core quilt. It was in browns and reds and greens mostly in plaids. It sounds very mundane but since then I have wanted to make an apple core quilt. I don't know what pushed me to make this into Japanese apples, so to speak, but this quilt is for my husband, including his family crest and other kamon designs.

Some of the fabrics are true Japanese cottons, some are inspired by Japanese design, and some are regular American calico.  The side panels are my own take on mostly Japanese inspired ideas, with peonies and butterflies, Japanese eggplant, spider lilies, but the upper panel with the birds was inspired by a Delft embroidery pillow. The small spot on the right hand side is just water that I sprayed on it to press the edge prior to photographing. It was curling from working on the embroidery elements.

Enjoyable Reading

I don't remember learning how to read. As the youngest of four children of parents who were both readers, I don't doubt that someone was always reading to me or showing me a book. I do know, through family lore not personal remembrance, that I was reading the New York Times before we sailed to Germany when I was between two and three. My mother used to show me off like a trained seal and especially if she thought she was getting one up on her own sisters who were all older than she, so she told her sisters that I could read the NYT and then had me prove it. We all grew up with our noses in books including the encyclopedia.

I still read, usually two to three books a week plus multiple newspapers every day online. My husband was not much of a reader until relatively recently, but now reads every day and enjoys commenting on the books and authors. His turnaround occurred primarily because of my work with the high school students. It's often a frustrating task, one that pretty much requires talking it out with someone. Since my husband is a good listener, he is my sounding board and talking about characterization and point of view, dialogue and setting, et cetera, got him to think about literature in a way that no element of his education had previously. He is pretty typical of many very smart men. Reading was what you did to pass the exam. That seems to be an even bigger group now including many young women I meet. Sometimes I ask these young women how they intend to pass their time when they are my age since it seems unlikely if not impossible that they will still be playing computer games. The future does look to be largely devoid of reading as I understand the activity.

Anyway, I am reading Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs right now. Sometimes I like certain authors because they describe people and situations that are quite foreign to me or to my experiences. Russo's work often embodies the opposite concept. His settings and his characters are like blasts from my past. Even though I was only about ten when we moved from western Pennsylvania, the neighborhoods and attitudes in this book, though it is set in upstate New York, mirror what I remember and in some ways also mirror what we experienced in Cleveland when we lived there after my husband finished graduate school. Of course Russo is describing pretty much the same time period in which I grew up so it has that familiarity as well.  Good writing, good reading.

Ordeal

The oral surgery was an ordeal which is hardly a surprise. Multiple anesthetic injections, gum flayed like a dead animal, grinding of bone, injection with pig collagen, sutures hanging down--I am glad that yesterday is history. Now I just have to maintain a positive attitude even though the pain is pretty intense and I am not allowed to brush one side of my mouth. I am thinking that my breath is going to be pretty bad before the week is up. Lots of salt water rinses followed by that nasty blue antiseptic mouthwash that stains the teeth and makes food taste terrible.

Dreading Tomorrow

I have an appointment for what should be minor oral surgery tomorrow. For most of my life I had very boring teeth, no cavities to speak of, good gums, no problems. Then in the last fifteen years or so my bite changed and I broke a couple of teeth, had to have some crowns, and had two implants. Still pretty good teeth according to my dentist, but when I broke one of my eyeteeth a while back I broke it in an odd way. Looking back I probably should have just gone ahead and had an implant on that one but my dentist said all I needed was a crown. Since the break was so odd, the lingual (tongue) side of the gum got damaged and has been an issue ever since. Never hugely painful, never a massive infection but constant and sometimes worse than others. So I finally took the dentist's advice and I am going to the periodontist tomorrow to have oral surgery to correct  the problem for what everyone hopes is for once and forever. I don't do well with the painkillers that are usually prescribed, ending up with nausea and constipation. Luckily mouths heal quickly but I definitely am not looking forward to tomorrow.

Somewhat Asian

My current project is sort of Asian. The center section is various blue fabrics light to medium to dark, some of which are real Japanese fabric and some that have some Asian theme such as ginko leaves and some that are simply blue. The outer border is a brown and blue and white plaid that both my husband and I thought looked like Japanese yukata fabric although it is a reproduction of American fabric from the mid-nineteenth century.  The applique motifs on that outer border are sort of Asian--with ideas borrowed from Japanese kamons.

The center is the apple core pattern. I hand pieced it since I hate sewing curves on a sewing machine. Even with the half-speed function I always go too fast.  Although that pattern is pretty much true blue American it still looks sort of Asian to both of us.

Zdrazvitye

It's funny that a huge number of Russians, or at least Russian  computers, perused my site yesterday. Probably not quilters since they didn't go to any of the entries that had quilt pictures or quilt information.

I had a Russian uncle once, named Kulik, which I gather is a common name, nearly anonymous. He married my mother's sister. The family joke was that he was a Russian spy. As he worked in the aerospace industry this might have been true. He disappeared off the coast of Long Island during the McCarthy nonsense so once again the spy rumor might be true. He took one of the family boats out at night and it was found empty but neither he nor his remains were ever found.

Another Big Name Gone

Seems as though every time I turn around some other well-known quilting entity goes out of business. First it was one of my favorite local quilting shops, then the best known shop in France, then Hancock Fabrics local stores, and now Quilters Newsletter Magazine. Does this mean that quilting is less popular? I don't think so and I certainly hope not. Not having fabric stores around is a real pain since part of the experience is feeling the fabric and those little thumbnail shots don't give a true view. Buying certain items online seems wasteful in so many ways. What if all I need is a package of quilting needles?

Valedictory Quilt Completed

Commencement is still many months away but I have finished the graduation present for my young friend. I don't even know all the struggles she went through to get to this stage but I do know she deserves a pat on the back. I hope she enjoys her quilt. Some of the various symbolic meanings in the quilt are cherries for sweet nature, laurel leaves for achievement, roses for virtue, lilies for idealism.

Unfortunately, I made the wrong assumption that an old piece of red fabric (the vases and some of the flowers and cherries) had been pre-washed since I had had it so long. As it turns out there was some minor bleeding. If anyone has a fix between now and next May, please let me know. I tried the washing sheet put out by Shout that works pretty well but it didn't do much. I am not going to obsess over it though.

Quilting Complete

The valedictory quilt is 45 inches square so finishing the quilting isn't that remarkable. The quilting itself isn't very elaborate, no feathers, no  fancy motifs, and everything is about 3/4 inches apart. I will trim it tomorrow and start the binding process. After that a photo will be posted. That looks like it will be Tuesday at this point.

Give Me A Break

Fourth of July is tomorrow. Rather than celebrating the ideas and ideals behind what happened in Philadelphia in 1776, people around here want to blow stuff up and celebrate wars and weaponry. I just saw a local  news program warning people about the dangers of even those safe fireworks that are sold locally, but they didn't say anything about how to report dangerous and illegal use. My neighbor's grandson has already been throwing exploding fireworks in everyone's yards, where no fireworks are allowed at all, but omitting his grandparents. If I call the non-emergency police line they always act bored and disinterested.

Yes, I have called the non-emergency line in the past, once for three drunk teenagers who drove their car into a local pond but were clearly not hurt, and once for a car that was abandoned in a place where cars weren't allowed. Both times the responder acted as though I were the problem.

Five More Years

My husband had his third colonoscopy today. He doesn't have colon cancer but he does have recurring adenomas so this is simply the third in a series.  When the doctor came in to give his report, he said  that because of the three in a row findings, my husband needs to come in every five years until he is 85. I told my husband I didn't plan to live to be 83 so he would have to find a new driver (we actually live a block away so there is no driving) some time soon. I took the current quilt to work on while waiting and received numerous compliments and questions. I am glad that complete strangers find the quilt attractive.

Valedictory Top Completed

I finished adding the border with swag applique today. The quilt is very strong with strong colors and design. Most of the fabrics are from Moda's Lorraine series because the young lady who is the intended recipient speaks fluent French and dreams of Paris. The dark green (which is primarily black) is a Windham Fabric New Colonies reproduction fabric by Nancy Gere. It is not the norm to use a large patterned  background fabric but it suits this quilt. The block where that makes the biggest difference is the laurel wreath with cherries and I inserted reverse applique in the vase handles and in the inked areas. As previously described, the blocks are from a variety of sources but none is as originally drawn in the patterns I have. Each has some element changed to suit my overall scheme. The border, however, is pretty much as drawn by Bonnie Browning in a 1998 book called "Borders & Finishing Touches" though a third smaller than the original. 

  No quilt is without errors but this is nice and square with only one, to me, glaring issue. I have to decide if I will fix it or leave it be. I plan very simple quilting so I expect to be done before the end of August when she goes back to school. NB--I did fix the errant element and I am probably the only person other than my husband who will know which one it is.

Setting Records

After our cold wet spring we are in a period of intense heat, setting records and wilting plants, animals, and people. We have very low humidity here but even dry heat at 97F is hard to deal with.

I sit indoors working on my new project. I have finished setting the blocks together and four of the twelve swag elements on the border. I think I am going to make myself a new kappogi today. My mother-in-law gave me one about thirty years ago (yeah, really) and I have finally geared myself to replace it. I used to make most of my clothes but I do very little clothing sewing so it's good that this is simple with straight seams and no fitting issues.

Valedictory Quilt

The current project is for an event that will take place a little less than a year from now, May of 2017. My young friend who is the proposed recipient has worked hard to get where she is already and eleven months from now a major milestone will pass.

It feels sort of like the old wives' tale of not giving baby gifts prior to the birth but barring an unforeseen calamity this young woman, of very modest immigrant background, with nothing but her own hard work and ability will graduate from Harvard College. There have been bumps in the road and struggles along the way but she deserves every accolade anyone can dream up.

The quilt is far from done but my husband and I, with two of our furry friends, were trying out the material for the sashing. There will be an appliqued swag border as well. In the Baltimore tradition with the hidden language of symbols and inked inscriptions, these four blocks praise her achievement and her good character. The animals approve.

Weather Is Changeable

We have had a cooler and wetter spring though we did have ten days a little while ago where it was nearly 100F and as arid as the Sahara.   A series of cold fronts has been moving through over the last four days and the temperature is back to more normal (78F) but we have had some rain as well which isn't as normal.  Our tomatoes are already setting fruit and our potato plants are growing well.  The peonies are done for the year but the Shasta daisies are just starting and the lavender is full and lush. I ordered over 300 bulbs for planting in the fall. Most are various tulips but I also got some fritillaria meleagris. I had some in my previous yard and found them to be so charming and delightful that I thought I would get more.

New Project

Although I only work on one project at a time, my brain is always planning ahead. Not just in quilting but even in daily life. My husband laughs because I always have a plan, whether it is simply driving to the grocery store or which step to take next. I am not completely rigid and I certainly change direction if the situation changes but working out how I want my day, my trip, my life to move gives me a certain kind of comfort.

It should come as no surprise that I have already started the next quilt project. I am not like most quilters; I cannot move past an uncompleted project. I don't have UFOs lying around. But I am working now on a graduation present for the young woman who is a rising senior at Harvard. I asked her back at winter break what her favorite colors, flowers, etc. were and whether she liked traditional or modern. She has seen me working on a variety of quilts in the seven years we have known each other and she has had two friends at Harvard take the quiltmaking class that is offered in the Folklore and Mythology department so she knows what each question means or implies.

I have nearly finished the first block of a Baltimore album style quilt for her. The basic block ideas come from a variety of sources but I have altered them slightly to fit my plan. All Baltimore album blocks and quilts had at least some small amount of underlying meaning and many of them were given as tributes to the recipients. Sometimes the sentiments were heroic with war monuments and flags, and sometimes the tributes were more subtle. I don't want to burden this young woman with a bed-sized quilt--the chances of her life being on the move in the future after her undergraduate degree are very good--so I am working on a four block format with border and probably sashing. The blocks are big--16 inches square- -and the finished quilt will be approximately a standard crib size. I am using the classic red and green combination but with printed fabrics not solids except for small areas where I am doing a reverse applique circle to accommodate some handwritten inscriptions suitable for a graduation present.

Spring Complete

It turns out there is good news and bad news about the alpaca batting. I am fairly used to batting bearding, especially visible on darker quilts, but this batting sheds like an elk in spring. I tried several different methods to get rid of the longest, most obtrusive fibers, then finally used my cat brush but if you look at the quilt up close the hairiness is very apparent. That's all right (though not welcome) since I don't enter shows or anything.

For some reason, my cat Max likes this quilt best of all the ones I have made in his five years of life. He played under it, he played on top of it, he tried to sit in the hoop as I was quilting. Cats typically like quilts but this was beyond the norm so the label I made features a paper pieced cat in his honor. 


I would like to to thank Barbara Brackman and Ilyse Moore whose design for the Garden Quilt was the primary inspiration. I changed it from a center medallion to a corner focused design and added several other elements while dropping many as well. The original design was very nice but too large and too formal for my interests and I have made so many quilts with grapes that I thought wisteria would be better. I clearly changed the color direction as well from a dark background with pastel flowers to the bright spectrum that I finished with (once again that yellow fling from a while ago). There are numerous other differences but the similarity is still apparent.

The area that looks a little like a fingerprint in the photo above is just a spot that is still damp from getting rid of the blue ink.  Please let me know what you think.