Nora Roberts

My favorite writer is Nora Roberts and I especially love her "In Death" series. While we were in DC, we went to Boonsboro, Maryland one day to visit Nora's home city. She owns and Inn there where all the rooms are named for famous couples in history. Staying there is on my bucket list. We got lucky and got to tour the bottom floor of the Inn. We were visiting the gift shop across the street and the manager called and got us a tour. We also visited the bookstore owned by her husband Turn the Page and bought some signed copies and other books. Plus we had lunch at a place owned by a family member. It was the best day of the trip for me.

Painting with a Twist with the office

The office wanted to do a Painting with a Twist private event. We needed 18 people so we invited other people across campus. This is the picture we completed. My state of Tennessee does not look too good, but we had fun.

Felted hat class with Tone

This is the third wet felting class we have taken with Tone. This time we made hats. It was just me, Marian, Tone and her daughter. It was a fun day. I made two hats. Well actually three. My first hat attempt fell off the ball. We thought the second one had two, so Tone worked on it, and it turned out okay. So I have two beautiful hats. Fun day! Cannot wait to do more.

Trip to Georgia with Thursday Bee

Marian and I were lucky enough to be invited to spend a long weekend in upper Georgia (Blue Ridge) with the Thursday Quilting Bee. We love these ladies. They are all such special people. We stayed at a cabin owed by one of the ladies, Deb PiPietro. We had such a lovely time. Lots of good food, laughter and a little bit of sewing. I was working on yo-yos most of the weekend. We went to this cute play at the local theatre. It was call The Last Romance. The theatre was tiny so you felt like you were part of the play. We did some shopping in the local quilt shop and other shops. Had dinner in town two nights. We visited a local orchard. When we left Marian and I drove over to another quilt shop. We did have a little difficulty one night. Marian's car would not make it up the gravel road at one point when we were returning home from an evening out. It took a while but we finally made it up the hill. The road to the cabin was long and graveled and scary in places. Pretty sure we heard banjo music a couple of times.

Wreck

Right before Christmas, a young kid ran into my car. The insurance company totaled it. Fortunately they paid off my loan. On Christmas Eve I bought a new one. 

3rd Annual Christmas Cooking Weekend

As you can see, Taylor and I made lots of cookies this weekend. We made 8 types of cookies and a snickerdoodle loaf bread. We had so much fun! It was our first year to do it at her new house and we quickly discovered her kitchen was seriously under prepared. So it was off to Walmart. We bought new measuring cups and spoons so she would have every size. We got new potholders. The child only had one. :( We started cooking on Friday afternoon and finished up Saturday night. It took two more trips to Walmart, a trip to Krogers and a side shopping trip to Kohls. We watched all the new Fuller House episodes that Netflix had just released and then Lifetime holiday movies. Couldn't have been a better weekend. Can't wait until next year!

More quilts

Some of my quilts

A few of the quilts I have made over the years. I am trying to add them all to my blog so I will have a record of them. I am giving one today to the people who lost everything in the Gatlinburg fire. I am donating my Tennessee Waltz quilt, 2 baby afghans, a hat and scarf, a shawl and a sweater that I crocheted.

D.C. Pictures

Yearly football trip with Jonas

My son, Jonas and I started a new yearly tradition last year. We are going to attend an away football game together every year. We started with the Alabama game last year. This year we picked the Georgia game on October 1. It turned out to be the perfect weekend to go. His daughter, Tuesday, was being presented as part of the Homecoming Court on Friday night so I got to see that. Then we hopped in the car and headed for Commerce, Georgia. Jonas drove my car, thank goodness. It was dark and I hate driving at night. In fact, he drove all weekend. Isn't he a sweetheart? Our hotel turned out to be a perfect one. It was located on the exit we needed to take to get to the stadium and was surrounded by lots of places to eat. We got there late due to a wreck on the interstate so we pretty much just went to sleep. Up early the next day and headed to the game. We found a good parking spot. Only had to pay $20 and it was easy to get out of at the end of the game. We walked around campus and both were surprised by how hilly it was. Beautiful though. We visited there bookstore, which put our to shame. We waited around and saw the team get off the bus and then headed into the stadium. Really nice place and we had great seats. It turned out this was the game of the year. In the last couple of minutes of the game the score went back and forth and UT ended up winning with a hail mary pass in the last seconds of the game. It was such a great trip. Jonas told me how much he enjoys this tradition and I have to say I do too. Getting to spend a whole weekend with my adult son...words cannot express how grateful I am to have this opportunity. My son is such a nice person. He is intelligent, mature, kind hearted and funny. My heart swells with pride. We have already planned out our next couple of years - next year will be the Georgia Tech game and the year after that we are going to South Carolina. I love you Jonas!!!

Washington DC trip

Our girls trip this year was to Washington DC from October 22 through the 29th. It was Mom, sisters Karen and Marian and daughter, Taylor. We drove Karen's new car. It had the best trunk space. It was a little tight in the back seat, but a comfortable enough drive. Our apartment was near Dupont Circle. Marian made our reservation through Airbnb. It was a great 2 bedroom place, close to lots of things. Our first night in DC we ate at an Irish Pub across the street from the apartment. We knew they were having a private party upstairs that night. Turns out our friend, Kelly came to the party. We just missed seeing her. Wouldn't that have been fun to run into her? Sunday we drove to Mount Vernon. The day began with a scary event. Mom tripped and feel flat on her face while walking to our parking place. She hurt her arm and busted her lip. It could have been much worse since she fell in the middle of the street. The trip to Mount Vernon was fun. Marian was driving and I don't know what she put into Google, but we ended up at this tiny house that was NOT Mount Vernon. We finally found it and it was a lovely day. We got to watch women spinning thread, talk to a furrier, tour the house. We ate lunch there. It was a little chilly but lots of fun. Then we went grocery shopping at the Walmart. Monday morning we went to the Holocaust Museum. I took my first Lyft ride. We used Lyft all week so Mom and Karen wouldn't have to walk far. The Holocaust Museum was incredible. The top floor was dedicated to the rise of Hitler and his treatment of the Jews and other minorities. It was interesting to see Taylor's reaction to the films they showed and see it through her eyes. I cannot begin to explain how much I cherish spending time with my daughter and sharing my love of history with her. The second floor of the museum is about the actual events and camps. Very horrifying as you can imagine. The bottom floor was dedicated to the resistance and the people who tried to help. Next we went to the American History Museum. Taylor and I played a game of the Price is Right. The things you had to guess were from different centuries. I won! She enjoyed this museum. We ate lunch at the museum. The food wasn't great and cost a lot. Tuesday was our tour of the White House. It was an amazing tour. To know you were standing on the floor where all those Presidents stood. And to imagine President Obama being in the building while you were there. WOW! It was Mom's favorite part of the trip. After our tour, we ate lunch at Old Ebbitt Grill. Food was good and so was the atmosphere. Today was the first day of our hop on and hop off tour, so we hopped on and headed to Arlington. We got to see the changing of the guard, but not much else. Everything we did seem to take so long. There is never enough time to see everything. Plus everything closes at 5 in DC. We had dinner with Kelly that night and truly enjoyed seeing and spending time with her. Wednesday was our hop on and hop off all day event. We saw all the monuments, some during the day and some at night. We did get our capitol tour by Senator Alexander's office. Got to see both chambers. Went to the Library of Congress. It was a long day and night. We were exhausted. Still love the Korean memorial, especially at night. Thursday was my favorite day of the trip. We went to Boonsboro, Maryland to visit Nora Robert's Inn. She lives int he town and has raised her family there. Her husband owns the bookstore "Turn the Page", her son has a bar and grill there and other family members own the local eating establishment. We got lucky. While we were shopping at the gift shop for the Inn, the woman that runs it called across the street to Nora's Inn and got them to give us a tour. It was amazing! Best day ever! That night we attended the play "Sheer Madness" at the Kennedy Center. The play was Taylor's favorite part of the trip. Friday was museum day. We visited the Natural History and the Air and Space. Then we finished the evening with dinner with my friend, Lucy and her husband, Ernie. It was a great trip. Didn't get to see and do as much as we hoped, but we hit the highlights and it was fun being with the girls.

Death

This year has been filled with death. First my ex-father in law died in July. It was his choice. His friend, Yvonne was moved back to Indiana by her children and he was tired. He was on kidney dialysis. He made the decision to stop and for the next two weeks he was visited by many friends and family. It was a great way to celebrate all he had done.

Yvonne died not long after Bob.
 

On August 6, my best friend Carol lost her battle with cancer. The end came quickly. I miss her terribly but she's no longer in pain.

At the same time as Carol, my cousin died suddenly. Very unexpected and shocking. He was young.

We also lost Pat Summit this year. They had a wonderful celebration of her life at the arena where she coached all her games.

And now my daughter's friend Lucinda is losing her sister to cancer. She just turned 39. 

Such a hard year. Hopefully we will all learn to appreciate what time we have. RIP to you all.

One more to add to the list - Diana, my ex-sister-in-law. The police found her dead in her apartment. We don't know yet what happened. I hope we make it to 2017 without another one.

One more - Mary Lou Pickens. She kept my kids and was such a sweet lady. So kind and loving.

Great week off

This past week I was off work. The original plan was to just take off Wednesday through Friday. The stress of the year plus my boss will be gone for 2 weeks in August meant I needed the full week. On Monday and Tuesday I quilted. First I combined two row by row quilt patterns to make a wall hanging for my friend, Karla Sass, the Director of Ops for the rowing team. One pattern was from Gina's Bernina Quilt shop - it was the Knoxville Skyline and the other was from Atomic Fibers Quilt shop in Oak Ridge and was the mountains with rowers on the lake. Here is the finished quilt.

I was so pleased with the way it turned out. I can't wait to give it to her. 

The second wall hanging was inspired by Karla. She made me a sign for my office. It is the state of Tennessee in grey, orange and wood color. I took the plaque and traced it. Using wood material, I made the state and appliquéd it to some UT volunteer material. My daughter has requested it. Since it is her birthday August 4th, I am going to give it to her. Here it is.

A close up.

The rest of the week was spent at the Airport Hilton taking basket weaving classes. It was great! My first class was Wednesday night and was called Lil Twist by Nancy Matthews. It was a good class and I liked the teacher.

The next class was Gambler's Money Pouch taught by Joyce Smith. It was my first time working with cedar. Joyce was a great teacher. She strongly encouraged being creative with your pouch. I loved working with the cedar.

The bracelet you see in the photo was a Make and Take class. The teacher was not very helpful. But the bracelet was cute. Quick easy project.

Friday was my favorite teacher from last year - Billy Owens. Three weeks ago the material for this basket was a tree -a white oak tree. He harvest the tree and makes the weaving material. This project is called an Ozark Baby basket. He liked my finished project. One woman told me mine was the best. 

My final class was taught by Sandy Atkinson and is a Wind chime. It was an easy project but I wasn't crazy about her teaching style. It could have been she was tired. My wind chimes still need work but I will finish it.

I want to hang some beads from it, also.

Next year's convention is at Fall Creek Falls state park. I hope to attend and take more classes. I also intend to work on some baskets this year. My hands are killing me. Lol. I need to practice more.

Today was our second bridge lesson. Really enjoying learning to play bridge.

Catching Up

I promised to write and again and I never did. Life has been crazy so far this year. My friend, Carol is still fighting her battle with pancreatic cancer. She was released from her doctors on June 3rd to Hospice. It has been up and down since her diagnosis. We thought they would be able to perform a whipple but that was unsuccessful. While I was on my cruise in April, she was put back in the hospital. They had to do a bypass. Her tumor was blocking her stomach from exiting into the small intestines. She really struggled to recover from the two surgeries so close together and ended up back in the hospital. Our "Stitch and Bitch" group took her to the mountains for Memorial Day. We had a great trip and we were sure she would pass soon after, but she rallied and she is still with us. We are so thankful that she is still here and we can still spend time with her.

 

On June 24th my father-in-law decided to stop his kidney dialysis. As he told us, he has had almost 90 years on this earth and they have been great years. My children have been able to visit with him and say their goodbyes. He died on July 7th. He will be missed by so many people. He has always treated me like family even though I divorced his son many, many years ago.

 

I have followed through on my new year word - discipline. I have taken control of my health and my life as much as possible with all the things happening around me. The only thing I have let slide is my art. I hope to gain control of that soon and get back into it. I have been working with my chiropractor and my back is much better. My neurosurgeon said the only cure was surgery, but we are putting that off as long as possible. I have gotten a standing desk at work along with a balance disk. That helps take the pressure off my disk and strengthen my core. I had sinus surgery on June 3rd. It turns out it was a real mess up there. The week following the surgery was horrible. Couldn't breathe through my nose at all, but I am much better now. I didn't realize how much my nose was blocked. I am seeing a podiatrist on June 7th to see about getting my feet to stop hurting. I started Weight Watchers on May 7th. I have lost 24 pounds already! The best part - my sisters have joined me from the beginning and my daughter started last week. It is always easier when you have support.

 

I have had one great trip so far this year - a cruise in April to the Caribbean with Marian. It was such a wonderful trip. We left out of Miami after flying out of Atlanta. We spent the night before the cruise at a hotel in the Miami airport. That was fun. Once on the boat we discovered you could pay a little extra and use part of the spa which included a therapeutic hot tub and chiropractic beds. That was money well spent. My back didn't bother me all week! I went snorkeling for the first time and loved it. Cannot wait to go again. We took a bike ride and hike on one island, our snorkeling trip on a catamaran, a tour of the Barcardi factory and a shopping spry on our final island. We stopped at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, San Juan and the Dominican Republic. It was our best cruise so far. Looking forward to the next one for sure. We had a cabin with a balcony this trip, but it did not enhance our trip any so we probably won't spring for that again.

 

Accomplishments so far this year:

87 books read

13 movies seen

17 plays seen

2 concerts seen

1 trip

 

I have learned to make yo-yos. That has always been Carol's thing and she got me started. I have 2 gallon storage bags full now. I am going to use the purple ones to make a wall hanging in memory of Carol. Purple is the color for pancreatic cancer. Carol sews them on pre-made quilts she buys from stores. She bought me a pre-made quilt in grey so I can sew my yo-yos on it.

 

I hope to be better at blogging. 

2016

I haven't written in a long time. Life has been challenging for me since mid December. A disk in my lower back has been degenerating for many years. Probably from arthritis. What I have is called spondylolysis. It is quite painful and has prevented me from sewing. I have been reading quite a bit. In fact, to date I have read 33 books. 

Here is the list of some of my favorites:

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Brotherhood in Death by J D Robb

The War of the Worlds by Max Allan Collins

The Sound of Glass by Karen White

Several books by J A Jance

I am also reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon 

As I am writing this, I am watching the Stazs series, The Outlander. I like the actors they picked for the roles. They don't always follow the books but it is still good.

I will do better about writing. Since I am not sewing, I will post more of things I made in the past.

2015 - The Review

Happy New Year!

     Today is the first day of 2016. I like to take today and review last year and set goals for this year. I keep a small journal in my purse and I use it to keep track of movies I see, plays and concerts I attend and trips I take. It becomes my memory helper. I had some great trips this year. I went to Hilton Head with Taylor and Marian; Blowing Rock with Mom, Karen and Marian; Harry Potter World with Marian; the UT vs. Alabama game with Jonas; two quilt shows with Mom and Marian; Thanksgiving in Atlanta; and finally the California vs. Virginia game in Charlottesville, Virginia with Lora and Marian to see Marco.

     I took a couple of quilt classes. One with Anita Chaisty and the other with Linda Cantrell. I took tow basket classes. One with Billy Owens and the other with Mary and Jimmie Earl Mckenzie.

I saw 19 movies, 11 plays and 3 concerts. The two biggest concerts were Fleetwood Mac and Frankie Valli with the Nashville Symphony.

      The one thing I have been keeping up with since 2010 are the books I have read. I went back to see where this year's total fit. I read 134 this year, which surprised me. I thought my total was low but discovered it was my second highest amount. I think listening to books, which I started this year helped shoot my numbers up. Here are my totals -

2010 - 113

2011 - 126

2012 - 138

2013 - 104

2014 - 119

2015 - 134

I discovered several new authors this year. Donna Ball, C. J. Box, Patience Griffin, Julie James, Alex Lukeman, Alexander McCall Smith, Ingrid Thoft, Wendy Wax, Andy Weir, Kate Wilhelm, Diane Gabaldon, Lee Child, Max Allen Collins, and George R. R. Martin. 

My favorite books of the year - The Liar by Nora Roberts, and  The Martian by Andy Weir

My proudest accomplishment of the year was the Book Club I started at work. 

My best trips were the one to Hilton Head and the Alabama game because I got to spend a lot of one on one time with my children. Jonas and I decided to make the away game trip and annual event.

My best class was the basket class with Billy Owens because he was a great teacher and it was the first time I made a basket out of white oak splints.

The best movie was Star Wars, the Force Awakens.

The best concert was Fleetwood Mac.

The best play was Les Miserable performed by the Tennessee Valley Players.

It was a great year. For 2016 instead of having a project, I am going to have a word. Discipline 

The thing in 2015 I am least proud of that I did was allow myself to get lazy. That stops now. Life is too short to sit around watching TV. Plus I have allowed myself to get terribly out of shape. No more. I plan to make each day count. I will have one day a week to be lazy. That's all. 

Hello 2016 - let's make this year count.