what I did on my summer vacation

Last Monday we hopped a plane to Reno and headed south on 395 destined for Mammoth Lakes. It's a pretty drive through mostly rural areas, once past Reno and Carson City.


You know you're not in Minnesota when this is the sign that you are scanning the countryside for! It's a distant memory, but the last time I dined on an In-n-Out burger it was delish! Watching Bob savor his Double Double while I snacked on some fries was almost enough to make this girl fall off the vegetarian wagon.

We found Dan as we were checking into our room at Mammoth Mountain Inn, very conveniently located at the foot of Mammoth Mt. and just across the way from Dan's office. It is gorgeous here, and so different from our previous visits in winter. We have done some fun activities and sightseeing, and relaxing a bit this afternoon.

Yesterday morning we rode the gondola to the tippy top of the mountain, not the best place in the world for a scaredy-cat of heights, but the view is heavenly! As long as I ride in the gondola seat that faces in to the mountain and keep some conversation going, it's not half bad! Posing for this picture was anxiety-producing for me, and it was so windy it felt like we could fly right off the top.

For a fun comparison, look at this picture taken 3 years ago, I think, and a picture taken yesterday by the same sign--

Dan took Bob and I for a bike ride on a very nice paved path from town towards Twin Lakes, but it was all uphill and a bit much for my flatlander lungs and legs, so we had to turn back before we got to the lakes. Later Bob and Dan took bikes on the gondola to the top and rode back down to Main Lodge, and Bob has only a few scrapes and bruises to show for it. Mere flesh wounds, nothing to take away from the fact that he accomplished something he had never done before. The mountain is criss-crossed with bike trails and humming with activity even without the snow--well, there is a bit of snow here and there, but not an obstacle to the daredevil bikers.

While they were cruising downhill, I was hiking uphill to Minaret Vista, about a 3 mile round trip. I was glad I forged on up the hills and crossing snowbank remnants, because the view was worth it and I needed to be able to justify my calorie intake last night at our fabulous dinner at The Lakefront Restaurant. We also managed to fit in a beer tasting at the Mammoth Brewery earlier in the day, so we had a very busy and full day. Stayed tuned for more...

driving with the window open (a bit)

Yesterday was a fine, fine day, even though it included a visit to the dentist. I had several places to go and missions to complete, and since most everything is at least 10 miles from my house that means a bit of driving around. But it was a sunny day and in the afternoon, I found myself enjoying the open window and tunes on the radio as I shuttled from bank to grocery store to PO. I may have been a little premature in my thoughtthat the glacier was receding because 2 days later we got another healthy snowfall (about 8"). So we are not exactly back to square one, but took a baby step backwards in the snowbank game.

Speaking of snowbanks, how would you like to be waiting for this one to melt?!!

This picture and the next are from the Mammoth Mountain website. If you check their website and the "My Mammoth" tab, there are photo galleries there that will allow you to view these and many other pictures. The one below shows #1 son Dan leaping to his death over a cliff, I don't know what possesses an otherwise reasonable young man to do this!

Must be some fun in it, though, otherwise he would be living at home!

On my frame--

Nancy's primitive applique quilt "Town and Country", not sure who designed the pattern but it might be Sue Spargo. I am doing freehand quirky quilting around and inside some of the shapes. I know Nancy really enjoyed making this (except for the forest of little trees!) so I am taking pleasure in adding the quilting to her applique. This is one panel of about 15 that make the total design. It will fit perfectly in her new home.

Very happy to receive a little package in the mail yesterday with a new jar of my favorite and best winter skin care product, Surgeon's Secret.

Their beeswax cream is just what I need to heal up those little cuticle cracks and rough heels that are an annoyance. I sound like a commercial! If you do try some of this, don't be surprised with the consistency of this product. It is not a cream, it is not an ointment, it is nearly a solid. They do have other lotions and creams that might also be very nice, but this is the only one I have tried so I am sticking with it!

"Reality is the leading cause of stress among those who are in touch with it." --Lily Tomlin

dan's day

It was only 2 weeks ago that Dan returned to Mammoth Lakes after his Christmas vacation here. Seems like longer. So I was looking back at some pictures he has sent us--

He moved there for a job with the Mammoth Mountain ski resort after searching for something that he liked and could use his degree in mass communications. This was about 3 years ago, I think, and jobs were not plentiful. He had looked in the Twin Cities area for months, making do with "gap" jobs. I call them gap jobs because they are something to fill in the gap, not working for The Gap! But thanks to his gap job at IKEA, he now can tell me where everything is in that store! Something else needed to happen, and since we have family ties to CA, he packed up his truck and headed west, not knowing what would evolve. Thank God for good family, allowing him to afford to live there until he found his job at Mammoth. A seasonal job as snow reporter, renting a room in "company housing" and skiing whenever possible--what's not to love!

Through persistence and hard work and some luck, he has been able to continue to work for Mammoth Mountain year-round and is their Public Relations Manager. This job seems to be made for him, he is always full of positivity when I ask him about his work, and he loves to make connections with people which is a lot of what his job takes.

I am writing about this because I think a lot of people, especially young people, are searching for jobs and direction. I think that Dan's path shows that good things can happen. There were problems and bumps and troubles and worries and tears along the way, to be sure. But he tried to stay positive and has benefitted in the long run.

There is another angle to his career that I find very interesting. His work does involve a lot of video media and tech stuff, but the underlying basis all revolves around the written word. Dan was not a lover of the written word as a kid. I used to strain my brain to come up with ways to interest him in reading. Something happened along the way to change that, I credit his HS teacher, Mrs. Beyer. I saw a huge change in his attitude when he was in her English class. For all you teachers out there, remember that one teacher can really mean the world to a student.

So have a happy Tuesday, Dan! You are the best!

pomp and circumstance

We had a quick but fun trip to Ames, IA, on Saturday to attend the graduation of my nephew, Spencer, from Iowa State University. It was fun to watch all the red and black robes march into the auditorium and then proceed with the ceremony. Afterward we had a good dinner together and we took numerous pictures, since it not only was a greatday for Spencer but for the rest of his family, too. Here are the proud parents and sister--

Turns out there are 16 cousins on both sides of Spencer's family, and he is the final of the 16 to graduate from college--wow!

This also was one of the few times that my parents have their 3 kids together--

That's me on the left, next to little sis, Jan, from San Francisco. On the right is brother Jarry, with mom and dad in the middle. Not a bad bunch, except it looks like Jan is growing a poinsettia on top of her head!

I am counting down the days till Christmas, we have a bunch of fun things to look forward to! I went out this morning for my one and only shopping excursion to the mall, and got in and out without any problems. Got everything on my list plus a few more surprises! Spent the rest of the day wrapping and admiring our Christmas decor with snowflakes coming down outside. It's hard to choose favorites, but these are some of the ornaments that I especially like--

I made our stockings a few years ago from a Thimbleberries pattern (now out of print) and I was able to find the directions and enough similar fabrics to make a matching one for Ben this year. I even uncovered some of the same fabrics that I used in the first 4 stockings! Well aged!

The next picture has me a little worried--this is son, Dan's, pickup out in Mammoth Lakes, CA. The worry is that he won't get it shoveled out in time to get on his flight home on Thursday!

They have had many feet of snow in December, it just keeps piling deeper and deeper. They report that it is the snowiest December on their records, which is what they are saying about MN right now, too! Although our snow bonanza is peanuts compared to the mountains, it still causes some problems for folks around here. And makes the snowmobilers and snow removal companies happy! Once again, we have proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder--lots of snow can mean lots of fun, a boost in income, a hassle and a mess!

a bunch of misc.

Odds & ends to share with you--

Just found this video of a special thing going on at Mammoth Mt. (yes, they are STILL getting snow!). It was on their Facebook posting so I watched it, only to be very surprised at the end with a cameo by my guy Dan! Looked like he almost made that jump, too!

The fight over possession of our front porch has ended for now, and Mama Robin won! We have been through this before with robins that want to nest in a nice protected spot under our porch roof. I thought last year was the worst because the nest was used 3 times for 3 batches of baby birds, and we couldn't even think about making use of our porch swing without getting chased away. But this year, the nest was moved to the other end of the porch, right near the front door, and ole' Mama Robin is not happy with anyone in her space. So after the first batch of birdies flew out of the nest, I asked Bob to please knock down the nest so it wouldn't be used again. Which he did. 3 times. Very persistent nest builders.

Then he informed me that he couldn't take it any longer and it was my turn to rid the porch of the robins. So I have relented and decided I better not mess with Mother Nature any longer (since I can't get Bob to do my dirty work)! So we are expecting again!

My clematis is blooming, which is a cause for celebration because I don't have a good history with clematis. They never seem to like to grow where I plant them. This one was planted last summer and I was happy to see little shoots starting after the snow melted.

The garden is up and nothing has eaten it yet! Beans and squash, lettuce, spinach, peppers, tomatoes, asparagus. The asparagus hasn't shown up yet.

My hand quilting project is coming along, but I have reached the end of my thread for now. This is Winterberry Table Rug by Sue Spargo. The red background fabrics are flannels and most of the rest of it is felted wool

I am using Weeks hand dyed floss, 3 strands, and making a big "primitive" stitch (since that's what I can do!). I started out with outlining a row of stitching all around the shapes, and then thought about echo quilting out to the edges, since that seemed fitting for this style of quilt. But that was a real bugger to actually do, way too many twists and turns, so I am just doing a crosshatch grid over the background. 1 1/2" between lines, since that's how wide my masking tape is. So I used up my Lancaster Red floss, then Nancy had some the same color and gave that to me, and then my source dried up until last Friday. Weeks had a booth at the Quilt Market, and I found one remaining hank of this color on their display. I tried to buy it but the gentleman very kindly donated it to my cause. But these are small hanks, and I have used that all and still have a ways to go. I'm crossing my fingers that Maggie will come through with some for me after her trip to a stitchery shop out in Wayzata. There aren't many places left that sell supplies for cross stitch, crewel, hardanger, embroidery, etc. This was to be my May completion challenge project, so I'm hoping I don't get in trouble with the Posse if it's not complete in time!

Leisl's rather large (and heavy) flannel quilt is ready for delivery...

And Nora's quilt is ready to have the binding stitched down. The binding is the striped fabric you can see at the bottom. The pattern is BQ from Maple Island.

Nora is my niece and has recently moved into her own new home, so she needs a new quilty accent to complement her decor. Hope to have this done in about a week when I can take it down to Lake Park when we go for a visit.

That's it for today! Now I can load up another quilt!

Uff Da!

If you don't talk Minnesotan, that means OMG! Four full (very full) days of walking, talking, learning, listening, planning, dreaming about quilts at International Quilt Market are finished! Plus a day leading up to that of 100+ bus people visiting Bear Patch combined with many who brought themselves to the store prior to the start of Market. And a fun day tomorrow at Bear Patch with our guest designer, Bari Sue Gaudet, of Bareroots pattern company. Debbie, Laurel and I spent much of this time together, trying to be discerning shoppers for new store merchandise. Here you see me with Debbie, and our colors might clash but we really do well with picking and choosing.

Debbie has been doing a good job with taking pictures that she is posting up on the Bear Patch blog so you might want to hop over there to take a look.

A treat for me was viewing some of my own quilting on display in Stacy West's Buttermilk Basin booth. She has a terrific sense for design and display, and her whole booth was a Halloween theme this year. Complete with spiderwebs! The pinwheel quilt behind us is her pattern which I had the privilege of quilting. Her embroidery and wool applique designs were very popular, I'm sure you will be seeing them soon in a quilt shop near you!

Also had a very special day yesterday as we celebrated Dan's 27th birthday--another uff da! It's hard not to have him nearby to celebrate, but we will do that next month when he is here for a visit. Instead, he got to ski! Still lots of snow at Mammoth Mountain, and fresh again yesterday.

So now, it's time for a few moments of R&R and then continue with some quilting...

my ticket to paradise

Here's an example of a very good idea. Finnegan's Beer, which is brewed by Summit (local brewery) exists solely to support good works. All profits from the beer-making go back into the community. They focus on charities and projects that make a difference for homeless and working poor populations. Luckily, I do not fit into those groups, but bad stuff happens to good people who need a little help. I love Finnegan's philosophy, and the beer tastes really good, too! Just the idea of getting a box full of credits in heaven is making me think that life is good!

My lovely beer glass, above, is from Mammoth Mountain in California. Beautiful place, fabulous snow sports, nice people and my favorite son all combined in one special spot. Which was the scene on Sunday for their annual Pond Skim, a good excuse for a party! This is not the first time Dan has attempted to slide across the water, but it was the first time dressed as Uncle Sam! Helping promote the fact that they are open for skiing and snowboarding through the 4th of July--it's a tough job, I know. The pictures look like it was a great day. Sadly, Uncle Sam didn't make it all the way over the pond, needed water skis, I guess. I hope the suit and hat survived!

Preparing for the Olympics

I'm looking forward to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver starting Feb. 12, in fact, Bob and I have scheduled some Olympic-watching time on our calendars so we can keep up with the happenings. This stems from a serendipitous vacation 4 years ago that brought together the Olympics, a week in a northern MN condo, and record-setting cold weather that encouraged us to find indoor entertainment. We discovered that tuning in to watch someone else excelling at both indoor and outdoor winter sports was a good substitute for actually doing it ourselves! So this year, even though we aren't going away on an official vacation, we are going to squeeze in some special time to watch these wonderful athletes. A couple weeks ago, our man Dan was involved with a big snowboarding event at Mammoth Mountain, so got to see a preview of the Team USA athletes. If you want to see a bit of what they are doing as they fly through the air, you can watch them by using this link, click on the tab for video galleries, then scroll down a bit to the early January videos on the Grand Prix events. But it sounds like a couple of their top picks are sidelined with injuries this year, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they can still come through with some medal-winning performers.

Now, what does this have to do with my world of quilting? Well, I am clueing you in to an up-and-coming sport that won't be represented in the 2010 Games, but maybe we should create a lobby to get it accepted in 2014 because it is close to the hearts of all of us. What is it, you ask? Well, it's Extreme Ironing! Not familiar with this sport? Don't worry, neither was I before I saw their calendar. And take a look at this Extreme Ironing website for everything you never imagined you would see happen to an ironing board. Makes my own ironing look pretty tame! It just might make you look at your ironing board in a whole new light.

I'm his #1 fan!

Just got done listening to my amazing son, Dan, speaking on Sirius radio! He was interviewed by a talkshow radio host on the Martha Stewart radio network during a segment about festivals. Each Friday they talk to someone around the country about a local festival, and Dan was promoting the Mammoth Festival that is happening this weekend. I have to say that I think he did a good job of thinking on the fly to come up with the best responses to the host's questions in an accurate and understandable way. I don't normally listen to Sirius but Dan tipped me that I could get a free trial so I signed up for that in order to catch his talkshow experience. Now I just wish I could go to the festival! Wine, food, music, art and mountains--how good can it get?!

As I'm listening, I'm cooking berries and it smells delicious! I am preparing them for the sangria that I will be serving tomorrow at the bridal shower brunch for Brita, a very special event for us! Brita and Ben are "home" this weekend for golf and girlfriends. Ben is enjoying an annual tournament of friends, 24 golfers from all around the country that flock back to St. Paul/Minneapolis to enjoy the heat and humidity. Since Tiger Woods and other greats are also in the area for the PGA tournament, maybe they should plan a little get-together? Sounds like Ben had a good showing yesterday, maybe he could pass along a few tips to Tiger to help him get his game on! As for the girlfriends part of the weekend, Brita is going to be the recipient of showers of happiness followed by a night out on the town with her bridesmaids-to-be. Molly, marvelous maid of honor, is hosting the brunch at her cute house in St. Paul. I am trying to help out by bringing an adult beverage, a concoction that I have been developing. This stems from a white wine sangria I tasted last spring which has now been modified and named the Minnesota Mixer. Want to sample it for yourself? Here's what you do:

Mix 3 parts chardonnay, 1 part gin, 1 part mixed berry puree, 1 part 7up or sprite, and 1/2 part simple syrup. Pour over ice and enjoy! I am using the frozen assorted berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.) and cooking them a little to get them softened. Then I puree them in the food processor and then through a strainer to eliminate the seeds. A little bit of work, but worth not having seeds stuck in my teeth!

Hope you are enjoying this fine summer day! I would like to be quilting but need to finish up these berries, take my car to the mechanic to see if they can tell me why the carpet is soaking wet, and then take Bob shopping for new dress-up clothes. Maybe tomorrow I'll get back to the witches!