What a week!

The Spirit has been very close lately.  My partner Deb lost her mother-in-law recently.  It has been hard to watch her husband Tom go through this loss.  I met friends of his family at the funeral held in a beautiful little church in Maryland that has been there for over 200 years.

After an amazing weekend of conference, we helped with the funeral lunch for Joyce Racey's father.  It was a blessing to serve a dear friend that way.  Joyce was RS president before me, and I truly love her.

The same day that Br. Stockham passed we had the terrible news that a new wife and very young woman died suddenly.  James Randall lost Jamie, and her funeral was Friday.  Ed had spent time with James when he had some very bad health issues.

Then on Friday Ed learned that another dear man he has been home teaching lost his wife.  This has been a time to truly focus on the blessings of the temple as we watched these families go through so much .

It is time for some joy. 

More updates

My last entry caught up with "where in the world has gramma been?"  But there were a few other events during the past 10 months that absorbed time and energy. 

In April I had the mixed blessing of meeting more of my mother's family at the interment of my Uncle Richard in Webster, NY. He had passed over the winter, but the ground was frozen and he couldn't be buried until after the thaw.   Dad drove up with me, but had to leave from Rochester before the actual service because of a scheduled trip.  We met up with Mom and David, my youngest brother, and my other uncle and godfather Tom for dinner Friday night.  Then Saturday I met my Aunt Nikki and her sons, cousins I had never known.  What a treat to learn about my uncle, a firefighter, through their eyes.  It was a kick to have David introduce me as his big sister, and I loved the time together with a loving family.  As usual, I took no pictures--I really have to change that.


We also helped with Shelley's wedding (VT/HT) in June.  It was beautiful.  I am so happy for her.

After I was released, my new calling was to be a Primary teacher.  But with all my travelling, that was going to be really hard on a permanent class.  So I have been a substitute, but only for a couple of times.  It has been a long break.  I still write letters for RS, but only have 2 sisters to actually see.

The Blog Patrol is watching

Last weekend I received a notification that I was about to lose my blogging and Facebook rights because of inactivity.  Seriously, Ken let me know I was waaaay behind in contributing to either, so I am repenting and updating today.  I know myself and resolutions, so I make no promises  ;)

Let's just work backwards by significant weekends, and by the end I may be excused for not taking time to post.

9/29  --  Spent the day with my friend/business partner Deb Curtis at the Mountain Heritage Arts & Crafts Festival in Harper's Ferry, WV, where we manned a booth selling our quilted products.  My first quilt sale!!

9/24-25  --  Enjoyed a visit from Ken and Jay.  Julie, et al, here for dinner with the uncles.  Wonderful time and stories.

9/15-17  --  At Monticello for Mars' American Heritage Chocolate participation in the annual Heritage Harvest Festival event.  Loved helping and touring the Jefferson home.  Beautiful grounds.

8/24-26  --  Weekend at Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water house south of Pittsburg.  Discovered Fort Necessity and the National Road.  I love history!!

8/17-19 --  Weekend at Tricia and Dan's  returning Courtney and Jonah after a week at our house.  Love the hugs.

8/4-6 --  Chico for a beautiful baby blessing and family gathering at Es and Bill's.  Wonderful to see them, Giselle, Kennan, Austin, Lynn and family, and Tom.  We really loved seeing the new house and handing over a quilt of love.

7/27-29  --  Weekend in New York City hosting the daughter of a friend of Ed's in Equador.  She is an intern with Mars.  We stayed at the Algonquin with Matilda the Cat, did a chocolate shop hop in Manhattan, saw the musical Memphis, went to the Manhattan First Ward, and loved seeing old and making new friends.

7/21-22  --  Enjoyed Dallin's Eagle Court of Honor and Taylor's YW Recognition.  What terrific examples of growing up well.  Brought Julie's kids with us because I was babysitting them for the weekend while Julie went to a conference.

7/13-16  --  Visit to Mesa for Aidan's birthday and ordination.  Fun trip to the Science center and great cake decorating!!

6/22-7/8  --  2nd Hawaiian trip, this time to Kauai.  Stumbled into an amazing quilt conference.  Took a side trip to Oahu to visit good friends and to enjoy the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Honolulu Hard Rock Cafe.

6/14-17  --  Great trip to LA to see Heather, snuggle Shelby and Cameron and to celebrate our anniversary at Disneyland and Tom's graduation as an MBA from the best school!!  Go Bruins!!

5/26-28  --  Quick trip to Las Vegas for The Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Tour at Red Rock Casino.  Sound test tickets, seats in center row 8 (closer than Nicholas Cage!), and dancing until we hurt for a week afterwards!!  WOW!!

5/20-26  --  week at State College with kids while Justin joined Julie in Paris.

5/13-20  --  week in London with Julie at the British Library and Ilana and me touring everything from the Tower of London to Kensington Gardens and the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, including the original Hard Rock Cafe, M&M World, and Lion King at the theatre.

5/4-13 --  more than a week with Lynn, Julie, and Ilana, on a girls' trip to Paris with the best possible tour guide and lots of adventures and good food.

4/20-22 --  To Chico to meet baby Giselle.

4/13-14 --  To Raleigh to cheer for Carter at the Region 8 meet.  What an amazing gymnast!!

3/29-4/3  --  To Argentina for Jonah's baptism and a wonderful visit with Debbie and Doug Carter and our shared grandkids.  What an awesome trip, including a log to sit on, an endless bar-b-que, amazing food, and tango shoes.

3/11  --  Released as Relief Society President.

3/2-5  --  Cameron's blessing in Redondo Beach.

1/7-1/22  --  The first trip to Hawaii in 2012.  Spending time with Bobby and Andy Csaplar, and the adventures I already blogged about.

WHEW!!!  And that is why I haven't had time to blog.  In the same time period the business, Cat Hollow Quilting, has taken off and I have delivered 108 quilts to satisfied customers.  It just gets better from here.

(Note to Ken:  am I reinstated??)

Sharp contrast

Okay, my planning was not the best for our return to PA.

Here is what it looked like the morning we left Maui.

It was about 80 and beautiful.

We flew overnight to LA and then on to Dulles that morning. I had dressed for my afternoon in Hawaii--denim skirt, Hard Rock tee-shirt, zip front sweatshirt, and tennis shoes.

Imagine my surprise when I looked out at the runway as we landed at Dulles and saw SNOW!! As we walked through the airport to get our luggage, there were some puzzled looks and smiles because I was the only woman in the entire airport with bare legs!! They all were dressed appropriately, even the ones who got off our plane. I just want to know who told them!!

Surviving Haleakala and other adventures

Can you believe this is us?

Yes, Dad and I blazed down the road to the volcano on Maui!! We were picked up at our hotel at 3 am and rode to the summit of the volcano to observe the sunrise. It was a crunchy 45 degrees with a wind chill of about 30. After waiting an hour for the spectacle, we rode in the van partway down to just outside the national park boundary where we got our helmets and bikes. (Federal law prohibits the ride operators from starting at the summit because of the dangerous conditions and liability issues.)

We started at 6500 feet and coasted 21 miles down to sea level at the town of Pa'ia where we had breakfast and climbed back in the van for the return to the hotel. It was screaming fun!!! I was right behind the guide all the way down and Dad was back in the line of our 8 companions on this adventure. Clearly we were the oldest (65 is the age limit), but we were not the most cautious or the twitchiest. Dad said I was the best of the women because I let it out and stayed at my assigned distance behind the guide (25 feet) the whole way. I often had to ride my brakes to keep from overtaking him. The other women were strung out behind me since we had to ride single file down the two-lane switchback road. They all seemed to stretch the distance between bikes and the leader and I had to slow down for them to catch up. I had a ball and would do it again in a heartbeat. The curves were awesome and the few straightaways allowed me to live up to my high school nickname of "Parnelli".

Where DOES the time go??

I just realized how long it has been since I updated this.  I really have to do a better job.

Take this weekend, for example.  No one knew where Dad and I were--The New York Chocolate Show! (Check it out at www.chocolateshow.com)  We drove over Friday, got in about 6, walked all over, had dinner, hung out on Times Square, and went to sleep kind of late.  Saturday morning we took a cab to the Metropolitan Pavilion for the show where Dad was in the Mars American Heritage booth, and I cruised the other exhibitors,  tasted chocolate, bought books, and watched demonstrations.  We ate dinner at the Playwright Tavern (Irish, but not real good), and went to see "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."  Daniel Radcliffe was very un-Potterish and John Laroquette truly deserved his Tony for an amazing performance.  It was a great show.  Today we drove home in time for church, and Dad is leaving for DC for the remainder of the week.

The bunnies are back!!

I was busy picking strawberries and heard some rustling and saw a few flashes of brown fur. Here are the three babies whom I disturbed from my garden. They ran and froze just like Mom said to do. I finished and left them to find their way back to the nest. They are not rabbits, they are hares, according to local experts, because they do not live underground in burrows but rather are born in shallow nests and live more above ground.
Mom was on my front porch the next day observing and being observed by the cats through the glass door.
They actually must have decided that berries are really tasty because the next time I went to pick, most of the fruit had bites taken out of them.

High Five for Dad and Me!!

What do you think of our pasta collection?? These are 1-pound boxes of pasta destined for donation to a food bank when we think we have enough. It might well be doubled before we are ready.

Some of you know but others do not. Dad and I started a project on February 4. Today is our 4-month anniversary of Nutrisystem. Together we have lost more than 50 pounds!! I am really proud of us. I have dropped two pant sizes and got to buy new jeans, and Dad has had to buy new belts and pants. (Remember the Hawaii post about emergency shopping for his trip to Dubai??) His shirts are baggy and his pants were sliding off his hips. He is wearing things from his closet he hasn't worn in 15 years! I am pinching inches around waists of skirts and passing them on. We put out three big bags of too-big clothes for Am Vets to collect last Monday. It is great!! We plan to continue until ... we're done!

Yard beauty

Here are two focal points of spring: our Chinese dogwood on the left and "Wild Thing" (Eddie's rose) on the right. I love my little piece of earth!!

OUCH!!

Well, the first strawberries and radishes I picked today are not the only things that are RED.
After spending three days in bed sleeping off a sinus infection, I got the crazy idea that the best thing I could do was work in the yard with Dad for about 4 hours yesterday. It was only 90 by the time we quit at lunch. Do you think we put on sunscreen?? (Remember, Dad is the one who takes at least half an hour slathering up in Hawaii before he goes outside.) NO-O-O! So we are sporting really pink faces, necks, and arms. But the berries are really sweet, and the radishes are really crisp and snappy. And we picked green and red leaf lettuce for our dinner. I love gardens! I am channeling my Grandma Hofmann.

"Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow ..."

There are no oats or barley, but the peas and beans are ready to go.

This is what the garden looked like at the end of March just as we were ready to go to Hawaii. These beds were planted in carrots, beans, rutabagas, and beets



Now, let's see what we have looking out the deck right now.

Here are the peas and onions:
And our amazing strawberries (we are having some for dinner tonight!):
And more peas and lettuce:
And more peas and spinach and radishes:
And more peas and lots of potatoes (you see two of four beds):
Here are the blueberries (under cover for bird protection) and more peas:

And now tomatoes and green peppers:
And squash (zucchini, crookneck, spaghetti, and butternut) and cucumbers:


We are set until it is time to harvest and preserve everything. Come on over for good eating!!

Before I get back into the bad habit of forgetting to blog, I better at least get in one entry this month.

Ed surprised us by stopping by on Mother's Day for dinner on his way to NC.

Early in May I stayed with my little State College group while Julie and Justin went to Kalamazoo for her conference presentation. We had fun planting a new garden in front of their townhouse as a surprise for Mother's Day, and I got pictures of the two quilts that are in the girls' room. (They would have been better if they were held up vertically or I were taller.) The one on the left is Ilana's Flower Garden and the one on the right is Aspen's Very Hungry Caterpillar.

At the end of the month, Bill had surgery on his shoulder, and Dad had meetings in SF for the World Cocoa Foundation. It made sense to me to fly out with him, and then to drive over to Chico for a couple of days with Es and Bill. I loved spending time with them. And Polo is a wonderful little granddogger!! Unfortunately, I left my camera at the hotel, and I haven't figured out how to get pictures from my iphone to my computer. Any tech help out there??

I came back to SF to spend Friday with Dad. We drove up the coast to Stinson Beach and beyond Bodega Bay. Then we came back down and had dinner on the bay in Sausalito. I will always be a Cali girl! Saturday we went to the airport together and I flew home to Dulles while Dad flew off to Slough, England. We were both grateful that the world hadn't come to an end so that we had a place to land at the end of our flights.

During the five days we were gone it rained enough here to completely FILL MY BIG WHEELBARROW!! Needless to say, the garden is flourishing. More on green stuff next time.

A week of miracles

The Sunday before we left on vacation I had the privilege of speaking in Sacrament. First, some background.

Shortly after our new bishop was called, he told the ward council that he had been strongly impressed that we needed a focus on the Savior leading up to Easter. He asked one of the former seminary teachers and her husband to design a monthly curriculum with appropriate scriptures for two talks to be given either the third or fourth Sunday of each month through April. The topics and scriptures were printed ahead of time in the bulletin so that all who wished to could come prepared for the talks.

I was asked to speak on the topic of the days following the raising of Lazarus from the dead through the days leading up to the Last Supper and the betrayal of Judas. I love this topic! If there is one thing I learned well growing up as a Protestant, it was the details and significance of the events of Holy Week. I prayed and studied and prepared and presented my testimony on this topic, and I was blessed with insights and clarity by the Spirit.

In the process, I learned of a moment that I had never before known--even after teaching Gospel Doctrine class, Institute courses, and Seminary for years.

In John 12 there is a brief mention of small moment after the triumphal arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The Savior and his party have come to the temple where many other pilgrims of the day have come. Elder Talmage recounts the lesson in Jesus the Christ, pp. 518-521. He describes the appearance of certain Greeks who wish to meet the Savior. They approached Philip and Andrew with their request, and were invited to come to Him. In verses 20-26 Jesus tells them "The hour is come," and teaches a lesson about death preceding life in the example of a corn kernel. The next verse, 27, is the first mention of His own sorrow, and a conversation He considers having with the Father.

The beautiful gem that I did not remember ever reading starts in verse 28:
"Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered; others said, An angel spake to him."

This plea was real, and as Talmage says, "The voice was real; it was no subjective whisper of comfort...People who were standing by heard the sound,..."

I bear you my testimony, that again as at the baptism, the man Jesus and His (and our) Father in Heaven spoke with distinct voices and are unique personages.

I love my Savior and the reality of His Atonement and Resurrection is without question.
Happy Easter.

The quintessential Dad

Yesterday I drove over to Philadelphia airport to pick Dad up after a trip to Brussels. He was a speaker at one of the events of the Philadelphia Science Festival (www.philasciencefestival.org) that evening. He landed at 1:30, and we decided to take a few minutes together at the Liberty Bell. Doesn't this picture remind you of multiple vacations with Dad? (Think, "Yosemite.")


He loves to learn new things!! The trip through the visual displays was very emotional for us both. I am so grateful for the blessings of living in this country where the Lord's hand is clearly evident. I selected books about the Underground Railroad, since this is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the "railroad" and its quilts were a prominent piece of our area (and even into LeRoy!, but more on that another time.) Dad selected a book by W. Cleon Skousen that I am now very excited to read. (More on that later, also.)

We had dinner at the Parc on 18th and then Dad made 2 presentations at a chocolate cafe up the street. I always love to listen to him! His passion for what he does is so contagious. (Notice that Ms. Green and Red attended, too!)

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig

All the laundry is done, and the Hawaii bags are repacked and ready for August. The house is restored to order, and the mail has been collected and dealt with. The cats are starved for attention and underfoot at every step. And I have returned to my beloved quilting.

I am very bad at taking pictures of my quilts. This is Kennan's "Puzzle" and the only reason there is a picture is because Bill took it! As soon as I get pictures of Ilana's "Flower Garden" and Aidan's "Goblet of Fire," I will post them. (Hint: Send pictures, girls, please.) Courtney's "Horses in a Midnight Meadow" is on the frame and ready to be quilted next week.

In the past year I have completed several other quilts--all without pictures. I made a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" quilt for Aspen because I fell in love with the pattern and the fabric. Shelby and her puppy Patch got quilts when I went to visit in March. And there were baby showers and crisis quilts for members of my ward.

The list of "to-be-dones" gets longer and longer. I finally finished the lavender sampler tops, and Es and Bill's is ready to cut. There is a surprise quilt for a "house warming" (perhaps "house cooling" is a better name, since the previous house got too warm!). And I had made Dad a quilt top for Valentine's Day called "Chocolate Cherries" but I disliked one of the fabrics I had used throughout, so I ripped it apart and now need to put it back together with a better color.

There is also one 10-year quilt in 2011, Cami's, and I know Carter and Forester are in the wings. Actually there is a master schedule with everyone listed for 10-year birthday, graduation, and wedding quilts--for some of you that will be an anniversary quilt since I couldn't quilt back when you were married! I told Dad I was going to be sewing until I am 130 in order to finish everything. He observed that would only work if I quit buying fabric right now!!

Bill once asked me why I would take a big piece of cloth, cut it into small pieces, and then sew them back together into another big piece of cloth. I could only smile and say, "Because I can." I want my quilts to be hugs for all those I love for all the times I can't be there in person. My sewing machine is calling....

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,...

Sigh, we are home, and as always returning is a challenge. Saturday as I followed my email weather alerts from the National Weather Service, I worried about what we would find back here. I had received 19 advisories, watches, and warnings covering flash floods, high winds, severe thunderstorms, and even tornadoes--all in one day!

The landing was really bumpy through the remnants of the storms, but we got home to find almost everything okay. The cats had not set off the alarms (I know Jen appreciated not getting a call at 4 am), and they only broke one thing. There was some minor wind damage to the yard, but the real problem was in the basement.

The GFI circuit had been tripped, probably because of water in the post lamp out by the mailbox which was out. Unfortunately, our freezer in the basement was plugged into that outlet, and it had all thawed. We decided to reset the circuit and refreeze everything to make it easier to toss. Fortunately, there was only a small puddle on the floor because everything had been securely sealed. Unfortunately, we lost all the vegetables from last year's garden and ultimately threw out 5 big garbage bags of food. Hence, the need to go "to market, etc." today.

I honestly cried, not because of the cost or the mess, but because of all the work that had gone into that garden. I was really proud of what our little raised beds had produced over the summer! (The meat is in a different freezer, so it is fine.)

Oh, well, it is just about time to put in this year's plants, so there is another season forward to look to (yeah, Pennsylvania Dutch). I am just grateful that we have grocery stores as a backup plan for self-sufficiency.

And tomorrow Dad (ever the globe-trotter) takes off for Brussels for the rest of the week. Vacation is over!

Green and Red do the tourist thing

We took these pictures the last day around the resort. Lots of people passed us and smiled or commented. One guy thought it was great that we "brought the kids along." Enjoy our doppelgangers. (And, yes, they did get the sales pitch to buy another timeshare week, but they controlled themselves!) It is time to shut down and clean up to head to the airport for the 10:45 pm to LA and then on to BWI. We get home Sunday at 5:30 or so, but we will be back to Kauai in August, and back here in January--just in time for a new tan!

Sunrise, sunset

Here is the challenge: Which is which?? (hint, this is looking across the channel from Ka'anapali toward Lanai--answer at the end)

This is our last full day on the island. It has been a great vacation for me, not so much for Dad.

I am reading a book that I can only stand for a couple of chapters at a time. It was recommended to me by a lady at the Lahaina B&N, with the caveat that the locals swore by it and at it depending on their particular heritage. The book is The Last Aloha by Gaellen Quinn. Although it is historical fiction, it is much like Hawaii by Michener in recounting a very real piece of history not taught in school. (For those who smile, this one does NOT begin with the creation!)

Poor Dad has had to endure my frustration and outrage with the book. I have slammed it down and cried in anger at the story as it is depicted. I vow not to pick it up again, but the author writes so well and the story is compelling. I set it aside and read something else for a while. (I have finished Kate Jacobs' Knit the Season as fluff to decompress with, and I go to the Kindle for The Centurion's Wife, so that is a good thing.) But I have to return.

I want to quote one of the reviews to preface my problem with the book (well, not so much the book itself as the events it recounts):

" Some of the best accounts of Hawaii's past have come not from scholars, but from fiction writers, able to build on the historical records with acts of insight and imagination that bring them closer to the probable truths. Quinn's novel of Queen Lili'uokalani, is as empathetic and accurate a reconstruction of the downfall of the Hawaiian monarchy as it may be possible to get. Hawaiian readers, who already know so much of the queen's story, will be moved to see it once again so inexorably unfold. Other readers will have much to learn." --Elinor Langer, The Nation, April 28, 2008.

As I read this book (and I will finish it), I find myself furious at the shameful way the second generation New England missionary families conducted their not-quite-bloodless-coup in the name of sugar and greed. The intrigue, lies, deception, and bare-faced arrogance of these "Christian" businessmen drive me right up the wall. I know (as Dad reminds me) this has been over and done with for more than 125 years, but I wonder if we are not capable of doing the same type of things again, even to our own country. We ought to seek lessons from past mistakes, but if we never learn of those mistakes, we can never learn from them.

You have read Farewell to Manzanar and Snow Falling on Cedars, but do you realize that I had never heard of Japanese relocation camps in all my years growing up through California schools? I did not know they existed until you studied about them in school. We are very good at hiding our faults from ourselves and our children; but eventually what we do not acknowledge, we are doomed to trip over.

Okay, I guess I better dial it back a little. Calm, peaceful dialogue is preferable to bombastic rhetoric, no matter who is doing the talking. If anyone else happens to read this thought-provoking book, I would love to chat about it.

(answer--sunset on left, sunrise on right, both beautiful every day!)

More vacation books

When I come to Hawaii, I read. That's pretty much it--sitting on the beach with a book, sloshing in the ocean, sitting on the beach with a book, cooling off in the pool, sitting on the beach with a book, listening to the pounding of the surf, sitting on the beach restoring my tan but always with a book.

Dad teases me, but he is an enabler, as all of you know. He feeds my passions with suggestions at the bookstores of "Do you have this one?" This year was especially bad because we stopped at a Border's "going out of business" sale a few hours before we even left! Our flight was scheduled to leave early Saturday morning, so, like always, we were spending the night before at an airport Marriott and leaving the car there for the trip. For this trip we were flying out of BWI, so we decided to leave early on Friday and go to the temple first. After a 1 pm session we went to PF Changs for dinner and took a walk around White Flint mall. There was the big, sad sign announcing the closing of that Borders. I couldn't pass up a BOOK SALE, now, could I? I mean, I don't have enough books already (can you ever have enough books? I think not!).

We shopped and got some real bargains, paid for them, said we were sorry they were closing, and continued to walk around. When we went to the second level, we discovered the Border's was a 2 story one!! Wow, that meant there will still more bargains to be had! So, after many more selections, I had to make decisions about what to add to my vacation pile, and where to stuff them in. I am so glad Dad is Global Services and gets 3 70-pound bags!!

I usually bring enough to finish 1 per day, but we ALWAYS make a stop at Borders (on Kauai) or Barnes and Noble (on Maui) to pick up anything else that strikes me. And we usually end up having to ship a box home because I have overloaded the suitcases. This trip is no exception.

To date, here is my additional completed list:

• Leann Sweeney, The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse and The Cat, the Professor and the Poison--Both are entertaining mysteries with a main character who has three amazing cat children and makes cat quilts for a living.
• Kate Jacobs, Knit Two--Another knitting club friendship book. Okay, but not too exciting.
• Stefanie Pintoff, In the Shadow of Gotham--A first historical crime novel with a feel like Caleb Carr's Alienist set in New York at the turn of the century so forensics is still in its infancy.
• Bernard Cornwall, Stonehenge--Quite an epic totally imagining the ancient civilization that might have built the temple, (shrug) not as good as the Marion Zimmer Bradley construct of the Mists of Avalon series.

So far there is no pattern to the things I am reading, but my tan is looking great! (BTW Dad got back from Dubai on the 12th, but he has no idea what time zone he is in.)

I actually made it to 100--I think I surprised myself!!

I know that some of you hit 100 in your first year of blogging, and it has taken me almost 4 years. I also honor those of you who have over a thousand blogs, and books of blogs. You have inspired me and encouraged me and taught me. Our family is enriched by your creative history and testimonies. Thank you.