Still Not Back

Greetings from Little Rock!  I am here to see where my middle son has moved to.  Nice.  Very nice.  If you have to relocate to a place you've never been, you could definitely do a lot worse. He seems to be adjusting to life here quite well.

 I have no idea how to write between photos or shift them or anything.  You get what you get, because I haven't figured out how this new blogger works.  NOT user friendly, at least not to this user.

 Yesterday we went to the zoo.

 These guys were pretty aggressive.  It's like they are conditioned to something.

 These guys were hilarious.  I could have watched them for a lot longer than I did. Then again, maybe they were the ones doing the watching.

 This is the first time I've ever seen a rhino with a long horn.  In San Diego, all of the rhinos had their horns filed.  They told us that the rhinos filed them down...or maybe the zoo did?  To keep them from injuring each other?  I never understood "sawing off the horn" for an aphrodisiac, but seeing this horn?  It made a bit more sense.  (If you can make sense of a senseless act.)

 This was Daniel's favorite.  This guy went in for a dip in the spa, and was just emerging when I snapped the pic.  I am so glad that my good camera decided to go back to functioning.  I have a lot of "good" pictures...or at least a lot of keepers.

And on that, I'm in the airport, awaiting my flying chariot(s).  From here to Dallas to Phoenix to Fresno.  I should be home before the last episode of House begins.  Goals are good!

Still in Unfamiliar Territory

 Now that I've gotten used to driving it, this car is pretty nice.  It's got some get up n go, just in case I need it.

As you can see, I didn't need it yesterday!

 We had some weather as I got on the road.  I wish I could blame that for getting lost, but when I did (get lost), the sun was shining.  *sigh*  I need a navigator!

 The giant chicken was my indicator that I was almost to Fancy Farm.  I noticed him the first day, and was glad my camera was out the last time I passed him.

 Have you figured out where I was?  I was in Paducah!  Just before I left, I voted for my Viewer's Choice quilts.  This was my choice for favorite wall quilt.

 "Fairer Still the Moonlight"

Rebecca Muir MacKeller of Canton, NY

My photo does not do the quilt justice.  It quietly hung there, sparkling.  Despite being a black quilt on black drape, it did not get lost at all.  The black just enhanced the beauty of the quilt.  And it is beautiful!  :)

And now I'm in Memphis (after a scenic tour of rural TN), and will leave shortly for Little Rock, AR.  Stay tuned.

Toto, We're Not In Cali Any More...

I'm Not Driving My Car, I'm Flying a Charger

 And the traffic lights are too many to count, blowing in the wind.

 The rivers don't crash down the mountains with melting fury.  This one makes no sound at all, except for the barge, barging along.

 You would never see this slogan in CA, because it's CA.  I kind of like it.  :)  (the license plate, I mean)

 I don't know the woman, but the kind man was offering her assistance.  You know, that guy COULD be from California...

And that's what I've got for you.  I haven't the time to figure out the new "improved" blogger.  It's reminding me of Word Press - "intuitive and user-friendly," which means that I'm in the deep end without assistance.  I struggle with Word Press and used to like the ease of Blogger.  With this update?  I'll be surprised if I ever figure it out.  In the meantime, I look at it, and have zero desire to use it.

Blogger - I stick my tongue out at you, even if my mom would scold me if she saw.

Simple Things

 hmm.  blogger used to be simple.  Now it's all different.  *sigh*  Not easy to face at 5:59am.

 

Why am I up?  Places to go, people to see!  Will you be one of them?

The Parade Continues

This is today's installment. ooh! aah!!

Back to Nature

It's fuzzy, but maybe that's because it's a peach-colored iris. (hardy har har)

Edgar wonders why I take pictures of flowers, instead of him.

ooh! This is a lovely yellow! I think it's different from the first yellows of the season.

Malcolm continues to live outside. He's given up trying to get indoors. Here he hunkers down, trying to ignore Charlie, who is more than welcome to cross through the magic barrier.

I must be tired. I finally put together this corny card for my #2 son. If you tip your head, maybe you can catch the "ark" n "saw"...where he's now living. yuck, yuck, I crack myself up.

Okay, so the card was silly. Here's something seriously beautiful. I love my springtime garden. I hope it survives the coming weekend, when 92 is the prediction. yikes! Stay cool!

Where to Begin?

We had a quilt show.

The people came and saw and shopped and went away happy.

"Prayer"
Sara Kelly
BOS, Wall Quilts

"Where the River Meets the Sea"
Linda S. Schmidt
BOS, Small Quilts

"Floral Fantasy"
Molly Hamilton-McNally & Cindy Seitz-Krug
BOS, Large Quilts

We had a quilt show. It was wonderful. The end. :)

P.S. All while we quilt-showed, the flowers bloomed...

Almost Over

On Thursday morning, the show looked like this before the vendors arrived.

On Friday morning, the Committee looked like this, before the people arrived.

On Friday, the rain also arrived. We put a limo into the shuttle fleet, to move the ladies to and from parking.

By Saturday, the skies had cleared and the people came. And the people shopped. And the people smiled so much their faces hurt. It's true. They told me so. :)

And all the while my beautiful beauties were bursting their buds into brilliant blooms, behind the scenes, in my backyard.

The show is open 10-4. Hope to see you there!

Staging a Quilt Show

Once all of the quilts have been judged, they are carefully stacked and waiting to be hung. This is this morning, after we uncovered them. Aren't they beautiful?

Where do they hang? How do we decide? A small band of stylists put their heads together and start the groupings. Group, group, group. Someone was actually heard to say, "I think we have too many quilts!" Say what?!! Is that even possible?

While the quilt coordinators work on the hanging layout, the rest of the team gets a workout, setting up the pipe and drape.

What? You thought I would show you some of the winners? No, you'll just have to come to the show to find out the results. We're too busy putting it together to let that cat out of the bag this soon!

See you Friday!

Good News

First, I'm excited/delighted to tell you that at least one missing quilt has recently been returned!

When I peeked in at Allison Aller's blog this morning (at 5am, yawn!) I found that her cover quilt from her book that went missing last year at Cincinnati has been found and returned. yay!

Our local good news is that the quilt judges came, they saw, they conquered. Meet Ann Turley and Linda Rasmussen. They both drove up from SoCal, to perform judging duties at BOTV yesterday. They judged 241 quilts. whew!!

They always look at the binding. "Binding should be full." "Binding corners should be square." "Miters should be stitched closed." Those three phrases were heard a lot less this year than in previous years. yay for our quilters! We bind pretty well. :)

If you're wondering how all of the comments get onto the judging sheet, they're written down by the scribes. These are Ann's scribe's. Linda's are on the other side of the room, writing down every word.

The picture was taken before we began. Betsy? Are you meditating? Imagining the show is hung and the day is done? Not yet. We hang the show today.

And the rains began coming down at 4:39...oh, dear...

Show Week

I hit the ground running yesterday, and by the time I remembered to take pictures, the quilts were all checked in, sorted and stacked and ready for judging this morning.

Only these three ladies were left. I thought I had a lovely picture, but now I see that apparently Karen is an "extinguisher," as she has an arrow sticking out of her head. I must have been tired! :)

Elaine, in the middle, is in charge of the judging arena. Wanda is her right hand, Karen is her left. I don't know what I'd do without the three of them. It's something I wouldn't want to think about for even a moment. They are irreplaceable! :)

No time time smell flowers, but I'm still looking at them...once the sun comes up...

Friday the 13th is coming soon. I hope you've pulled up your google map and are pointing your car towards Lindsay! Best of the Valley, here we come!

Getting BUSY

Remember that quilt for hire that I made? From Hawaiian shirts?

The memorial service was held last week, and my 'client' sent pictures last night.

It was beautiful, if the pictures are anything to judge by.

Today I'm off and running, running, running...Quilt Show opens this weekend, today we are taking in the quilts.

Take time to smell the flowers? No. I'm lucky I get a chance to snap their pictures as I run off to Lindsay.

See you there!!