QC Blog

Avignon and Provence

2012-01-06T16:24:00.002-05:00

Lucky for us, the river level went down and we were able to set sail for Avignon that evening. The ship sailed past Avignon first, so we could see the bridge of St. Benezet, better known as the Pont d'Avignon, and the town at night. We started each morning with a generous breakfast in the dining room. Hot tea (really hot tea) was served from a pot, and we could choose from eggs, waffles, thinly sliced hams, granola and yogurt, various fruit juices, to a great chocolate chip muffin that I just had to have every morning. Then it was back to the stateroom to lace up our tennis shoes and get ready for the trip of the day.

Today's shore excursion was in Avignon, in an area known as the Provence, famous for their lavender. We didn't get to see the lavender in bloom, but bought some wonderfully scented lavender soap here. The walls that surrounded the town extend for three miles.

Inside the "old town" that has been preserved is the Palais de Popes (Palace of the Popes) where the Popes lived in the 1300's.

It is a huge structure at almost 50.000 square feet. They told us it took 20 years to build this incredible stone palace. We were allowed to take pictures everywhere except the rooms where there was fabric on the walls, or in the Sacristy. The flashes (just like sunlight) would further deteriorate the fabric, so it's not permitted. The rooms were cavernous, and a fireplace took up an entire wall.

Next to that was a cathedral called Notre-Dame-des-Doms, that has a golden statue that was placed on top in the 19th century.

Naturally, on our way out of this elegant palace, there was a gift shop, that sold everything from wine to knightly gear to pens with the pope on top. I bought a jelly jar cover with Avignon embroidered on top, to try and keep to my pledge that everything I bought would be fabric or flat (so it would fit in the suitcase).

The Eglis Saint-Pierre is one of the most beautiful churches in Avignon, is located in the center of the city. It was built at the beginning of the 16th century. A few years later, in 1551, the wooden doors were added. When we walked in the church, it smelled of incense and was breathtaking It is famous for it's Gothic facade and the solid walnut doors. Along both sides of the church are chapels dedicated to saints.

I was so awed by the beauty that I only took one picture of the inside of the church.

We walked through an indoor market, that had everything from chocolates to poultry and fruits. We walked down the Rue des Teinturiers, a beautiful and picturesque street in Avignon, that runs next to the canal and saw the Chapelle des Penitents Gris, a monastery that is still active today and the Couvent des Cordeliers, Avignon's largest convent when it was founded in 1929.

The street has giant plane trees, resembling the American sycamore tree.

On our way back to the boat, we walked the 'Rue de la Republique', the main street in Avignon. There were stores and shops but we didn't have time to look at them. I think we bought lavender soap on the way. Once back at the boat, we set sail for Viviers while some of our cruise people went to a wine tasting at the Chateauneuf du Pape. That evening, Mark and Chrissie went on the Viviers walk. They enjoyed it immensely. It is a medieval town with a cathedral at the top of the hill, St. Vincent. I was just too tuckered out to walk another step.

Next: Tournon & Tain L'Hermitage

Bonjour! Comment allez-vous?

2011-12-12T12:39:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone! How are you? As you can see from my title, I'm under the French influence, since my sisters and my husband and I just returned from France 3 weeks ago. It was a wonderful trip, full of adventures and a journey into history that was awe-inspiring.

It always seems the worst part of a trip is the plane ride, hardly worth mentioning, except for the fact that my sister Chrissie, who has been practicing her French, got her first chances to use it here. As we ran for our flight from Paris to Marseilles, and had to go through security check in again, we would have missed the plane, except that she asked an attendant (in French) if it was possible to make our flight that left in 45 minutes. We were then fast tracked to an empty security check in and were aboard our Air France flight to Marseilles with time to spare. The cutest moment was Chrissie telling the male flight attendant in French that she needed two waters because we were very thirsty from running for the flight. He was smiling at her attempts to speak French and seemed to appreciate it.

We flew into Marseille airport and took a bus to embark on our ship. We were taking a Viking Cruise of Southern France, starting in Avignon and stopping at several points along the way north. When we arrived on the boat it was docked in Arles, instead of Avignon, because it had been raining for three straight days and they were not certain we'd be able to travel from our spot, unless the river went down. After we arrived, we headed to the dining room for a splendid meal, and finally got some rest after traveling for 24 straight hours since leaving Pittsburgh.

The next morning, bright and early we were scheduled for a guided tour through Arles, a city that has roots back to the year 730. We had receivers with earpieces to hear our guides, so we could follow at a distance to take photos. As long as we could still hear our guide we were within walking distance of the group.

Portions of a wall that surrounded the city still exist and we visited a Roman arena from the 1st century that is still used today for bullfighting. They have 2 kinds of bullfights there, one where the bull is killed, and the second, where the bullfighter tries to pin a rosette on the bull, and the bull gets to win in this fight, and is not killed. We were able to go in and sit in the seats while they explained about the bullfights. Imagine, here we were sitting in an arena that was around in the time of the Roman Empire. Quite amazing, when you stop to think about it.

Arles was also home to painter Vincent Van Gogh for a year. During his stay, he painted 150 paintings and over 100 drawings. We saw several spots that he made famous in his paintings and visited the hospital where he spent time after he cut off his ear. This yellow cafe was one of his paintings.

We passed the Antique Theater of Arles that was still standing and in amazing shape. We visited the Cloitre of Saint Trophime where monks had lived. The architecture was just gorgeous.

The streets are incredibly tiny and a car would come speeding around a bend when a tour group was walking down the street. When we reached the center of town, an accordion player was serenading us in the town square. We wanted to go in and look at the church, but it was closed at noon, so we missed that.

Our guided tour ended and with the afternoon free, we chose to shop a little before going back to the ship.

Since this is the first day of walking, at this point, my feet were killing me. I needed to stop and take some ibuprofen and put a heel pad in my shoe so I could make it back to the boat. I put my camera away and we were on our way back to the ship. I was concentrating on walking and how exhausted I was. But when we walked past a set of steps I just sighed and said, stop, I have to take a picture of this. It was calling to me. I got my camera back out of my bag and took what Mark said is his favorite photo of our entire trip. I took one shot, this is it.

Next: Avignon and the Popes Palace

September Already?!!!!

2011-09-02T12:39:00.004-04:00

I should have been enjoying my tomato harvest this time of year. My garden is an overgrowth of weeds, since I was too lazy to plant on Memorial Day weekend. Somehow, the thought of putting anything outside that would attract even more stink bugs to my yard was utterly distasteful. So I opted out this year. Now I'm regretting that hasty decision and hankering for the taste of a homegrown tomato. (if you have any extras you can send them my way....)

We returned in early July from our vacation at the Jersey shore. I took the opportunity to return my shells to the ocean, although at the last minute, I caved and kept some of the pretty conch shells we had purchased. I just couldn't stand to throw them away. Zachary, my youngest son, who is always a good sport, went with me to help get rid of the shells. I was ok with watching him pitch the shells back into their ocean home until he handed me

one and told me I had to participate in the ceremony. He said it was symbolic, and I needed to throw a few in. That was harder, but I prevailed and we threw the last couple shells in together, saluting my honeymoon, our vacations, their childhoods, and all the memories.

This photos is one of my favorites, fashioned after a painting that was in our beach house.

I must go down to the Sea again.....

2011-06-13T13:58:00.000-04:00

It's amazing sometimes what treasures you find when you start de-cluttering your house. Recently, I've found seashells from different periods of our life in my own room, my kid's rooms, and in our spare room. I'm sure I had thoughts of making some kind of clear jar with seashells in it that always look cool on vacation, but would never fit into my decor. I've finally gathered them all together and asked the family to help me decide what to do with them, without just saying, "Throw them out."

First there were the shells we collected on our honeymoon - almost 33 years ago.

There were various shells collected when the kids were little in Stone Harbor, New Jersey.

Some were from Florida, on our trips to visit Grandma and Grandpap and Disney World.

Some we purchased because the kids could never find anything this perfect and beautiful on the beach.

As the boys grew older, the shells were more select and fewer in number.

And of course there was the odd man out, a shell one of the boys bought because he thought it was gorgeous at the time, that made us laugh because of its' gaudiness.

What do we do with all of these collected shell memories? That one shell holds the memory of our honeymoon and walking the beach together with stars in our eyes. The other holds the memory of our children racing to the water's edge and digging frantically in the sand to find their treasures. There's one that held a living thing when we found it, and one that Grandma and Grandpap found that was a perfect conch shell. Some of those stones came from "digging for diamonds" in Cape May and Stone Harbor with my niece and nephew. Others bring memories of shopping at the shell store, searching for just the right shell to take home. Some bring memories of driving home with clam shells smelling from baking in the hot sun in our car. All bring memories of buckets and shovels and wonder eyed children who find life fascinating and joyous every moment they breathe.

Where do we put the memories of our children digging in the sand searching for treasures? What happens to the wonder of finding that 7th clam shell, that looks just like the other 6 clam shells before it, but fills a child with elation? Where do we throw the stones that are so smooth they make you rub them over and over again, just to feel their perfection, and keep them for a "worry stone?" Do the memories disappear with the shells or are they in our hearts forever?

We've decided to keep our shell memories in our hearts and return the shells to the sea. This year when we visit the ocean, we're going to take the shells with us, and deposit them back in the ocean to thrill some other child in their quest for seashells. Even the ugly one. If someone finds that in the ocean they'll think they hit the jackpot. And they'll never have a clue how it got there.

Oh, wait, that last one is a soap dish! Surely I can find a place to put it?

Steelers beat Ravens, and I Scored a Genealogy Win!

2011-01-17T12:12:00.023-05:00

The Steelers had a big day on Saturday, and so did I.

One of my hobbies is Genealogy. Some days when you're researching your family Genealogy, you move forward in the game, by finding a name here, a small piece of information, a little hint that allows you to find out more. Other days, you score a touchdown, and find a huge piece of information that alters the course of your research. Once in a while, you score the equivalent of a Steeler Win and you find that piece of information that is the ship your ancestor came over on - the name, the date or anything related to that trip they took across the ocean that was the beginning of your life here in America.

My relatives took many journeys, some from Ireland, others from Germany and some from Italy. I do most of my research on my Irish side of the family, since those are the relatives most familiar to me. If you aren't famous, like the Rooney family, your poor Irish history is pretty difficult to find, combined with sparse record keeping in the 1800's. About 2 months ago, I did score a touchdown in my Irish history by finding a lead in where my Kelly family (the Smith's of Irish names) possibly came from. I was excited and thrilled because it's the first thing I really have "discovered" on my own, without help from my genealogy cousin, who's done a ton of research before me.

In the past two months, I've been concentrating on the Italian side of my history. This is the side I know the least about, but since they came here in the 1900's, there are likely to be more records to be found. Unfortunately, even though the 1930 census became available last year, I can't find my father's family at all. This should have been easy - I thought I even knew the street they lived on - but inexplicably, they aren't there. Where could my grandparents and three children (one of those is my dad) have been in 1930? I was disappointed and discouraged, but I continued to sign on to my Ancestry account several times a week, typing in names and searching for information. I've searched the Ellis Island site and can't find anything relating to my grandfather, even though I know the approximate year he came here. The thing about researching on the Internet is that search engines are not perfect. Sometimes, finding information depends on how you type a name in or how the transcriber read the words on the ship's manifest or the census report.

The big event for this past weekend was the Steelers-Ravens playoff game. Sometimes when I watch the game, I wear earphones to hear the radio play by play, so I don't have to ask so many questions (because even after 33 years of watching this game, I don't think I'll ever understand it!) After the first half, I was frustrated, so I got up and logged onto my computer and started typing in genealogy searches. There were 15,000 matches to my grandfather's last name and with the game proceeding in my ears, I started clicking through page after page of results. The Steelers started to do well, which of course means if you're not in the room when they do well, you need to stay where you are, so their luck won't change. I'm still searching, page after page.

The Steelers score a touchdown. Well, now I'm just staying right where I am, so I don't jinx them. When I reached about page 35 in the results, I started to see his name on citizenship papers, and opened one up that I knew the second I saw it - it was him. This was my grandfather and the ship he came over on was listed and the year was close, and I'm asking myself, could it actually be him? I then went to the Ellis Island site and typed in the ship name and the date I found on the papers discovered on Ancestry and there was his name and his father (I did know he came here with his dad), and it was spelled incorrectly in a way I wouldn't have even guessed. But it was him.

And here I was, while the Steelers were winning the game and my husband and sons were yelling and cheering in the other room, and the game is blaring in my ears and I'm thinking - this is it - the ship he came over on, the date, the name of the boat and I'm scoring my own WIN in my family history. In addition, I've discovered that he came over and stayed with an uncle, so there were relatives from Italy here that I didn't even know about before, so it's an entirely new family lead to research. And I found one of the most important finds in the family history game, another name. On the ship's manifest papers, his step-mother's name is listed, and the great grandmother who was a blank space on a chart before, now has a name. Her name was Frances.

Tea, anyone?

2011-01-11T11:18:00.016-05:00

I consider myself an avid tea drinker. My mom would give us tea when were were little - when you're sick, a little tea and toast is good for an upset stomach. On a normal day, we would have tea with breakfast in the morning, in the evening we would have tea with our cookie snack, and there was always a cup of tea before bedtime. My mother would drink her cup of tea at breakfast, a cup after work, before dinner, after dinner, with her snack, in the evening, and before bed (and that doesn't count what she may have had at work). She was able to drink tea like water, to quench her thirst. Back then, we were just drinking regular tea, whatever was on sale at the A&P grocery store.

I order tea when I go to a restaurant to have breakfast or sometimes as an after dinner drink with dessert. It's never good. The temperature of a cup of tea has to be hot, or it ruins the taste. There is nothing worse than a tepid cup of tea. I find myself constantly searching for the perfect cup of tea. There are so many factors that go into a good cup of tea.

First, the water has to be the right temperature. My family is driven crazy by my whistling tea kettle, as I won't pour my tea until the cup is ready, and won't turn off the kettle until then. I want it boiling till the last second, so maybe, just maybe, I can have a hot cup of tea.

Second, the tea has to steep for the right amount of time. After I put sweetener and milk in, the tea has to rest - about 3-5 minutes before you can take the tea bag out, then maybe another 2 minutes before you can drink it (because it's too hot to drink). Sometimes, I get it right. Most of the time, though, by the time I start to drink the tea, it's already cooled off too much and I missed the "sweet spot" - where it was not too hot to drink, but hot enough that it tastes wonderful.

Third, you can't over milk it or under milk it (assuming you use creamer or milk). My mom always took milk in her tea, and as a result, so do I. It has to be just the right amount of skim milk, not enough to take the heat out of the tea, but enough to cool it slightly. My sister mentioned the other day that it's hard to put the milk in for someone else. It made me think of making tea for my mom when we were living at home, just the two of us. I prided myself on the fact that I could pour her milk "just right, " to borrow the Goldilocks analogy. Maybe she just always said it was perfect so I wouldn't feel bad.

Fourth, don't forget the sweetener, or you've taken that first sip and it's horrible. Adding it afterwards never really helps the taste, and you've missed having the perfect cup of tea before you even started drinking it.

Fifth, it has to be the right flavor of tea. About 8 years ago, I started drinking green tea for my heart health. In trying to avoid cholesterol drugs, I was looking for herbal solutions. It has a bit of a bitter taste but I've become accustomed to using it. I often get tea as a gift from friends and relatives. Most of these are flavored herbal teas. Some are delicious (Can something be delicious if you're not eating it?) and some just miss the mark. I've discovered that I dislike strawberry teas and anything that is too fruity. I love orange teas and have just recently discovered ginger tea, which is a soothing tea to drink at night. If you're trying a new herbal flavor and take that first sip and it's gross, it's such a waste of all that anticipation for that cup of tea.

Sixth, you have to have the right cup, one that isn't so thin that it burns your hands and one that isn't so big that your tea is cool before you've even started. The cup has to have a lip that isn't either too thin or too thick. (back to the "just right" analogy).

Seventh, and most important, it has to be hot all the way through the cup of tea. If only the first few sips are hot, you've missed the perfect cup of tea, and of course, have to try again next time to achieve it. It only happens every once in a while.

Last night, I had 3 cups of tea in a row, with a new herbal flavor I tried. Chai Pumpkin Spice. They were all perfect. Hot to the very end.

The bottom line is this. My mom's birthday is this week, and I miss her more than ever. But I am grateful that I share her love of tea because every time I drink a cup, I think of her. Happy Birthday, Mom.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas...

2010-12-14T19:35:00.013-05:00

My quilt circle friends and I went to a Christmas tea last week. We decided to do something different this year. I just love having scones and clotted cream, something I never have in my regular life.

My friend Jenny made me this Beatles wall hanging, to show off the Abbey Road patch she bought me on a trip to England this past summer with her family. Isn't this cool? She even printed out the apple and glued it on the top of the hangar.

My Christmas cards were in the mail yesterday, an anomaly for me. Some years are so busy I never get to sending the cards at all. I used one of my own photos this year, and had the card printed with our names. That made things easy. When I got out my list, I realized quickly I hadn't ordered enough of them. The photo was taken from my front door last February, the night we had 18 inches of snow. I happened to be up in the middle of the night (as a night owl, I often am awake at odd hours) and was watching the snow, marveling at how bright it was outside. Finally I had to get out the tripod and camera and take the picture. I then added the bit from The Night before Christmas to the card because it was so perfect. I have never experienced a quieter, more beautiful snowfall. If even a tiny bit of the beauty of that night comes across in the card, then I accomplished my goal. Happy Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Snow!!

2010-11-22T01:07:00.009-05:00

Here comes December with the first snowfall of the year. It came on quickly, changing overnight from pouring rain to snow. I'm always in awe of the weather when that happens. I'm using a photo of last year's huge snowfall for my Christmas cards this year.

About a month ago, I discovered I had pneumonia, which seemed to come out of the blue. It made no sense to me that I didn't even have a cough and had walking pneumonia. I had chills and fever and a horrible headache for 5 days. I was so relieved that I didn't have to have a lumbar puncture to test for viral meningitis, that I was thrilled to be diagnosed with pneumonia.

I finished a quilt this weekend for my cousin's baby, Skye, who was born at the end of September. I wanted to make a tote bag to carry it and got thrown off my timetable by being sick. I particularly like the orange in the quilt. It was very simple strip piecing.

My quilt group and I have been trying to decide what to do for a Christmas celebration this year. Usually one of us has a party, but with our numbers dwindling, I thought maybe we could do something different this year. We've decided to go to a tea room this year, and have an afternoon celebration. December is such a busy time, we wanted to slow down the pace.

Time keeps rolling on....

2010-09-08T14:49:00.030-04:00

I can't believe it's September already. I had an incredibly busy summer.

I planted a beautiful garden.
Part of the squash garden came up early from seeds of last years' plants.
Mark and I put a cover on it this year, to hopefully protect it from the deer. It worked pretty good right over the tomatoes, because of the sticks. But right in the middle, where they could press the netting down,they still reached the plants on the end and ate them. I'll outsmart them next year. I didn't harvest a ton of stuff. When I came back from vacation, the squash looked like it had developed some disease and started to go downhill from there.

After recovering from the shower, I spent most of June baking cookies for my niece's wedding. The wedding was July 16, and I was determined to finish baking by the end of June. The plan was to have time to work on the quilt I was making for their wedding. Of course, other things interfered, like doing my job, and still doing PT for the foot. I spent one entire morning buying tickets to go and see Paul McCartney in August. But I digress.

I made about 230 dozen cookies. I baked 58 dozen ladylock shells. I took photos so I could make a tutorial on how to make ladylocks. Eric and Zack and Gretchen (Zack's girlfriend) filled them and made them cookies. Gretchen and Zack made oreo balls in exchange for thumbprints for her sister's wedding. (Her sister got married the day after Madeline). Eric iced 14 dozen Maid of Honor cookies for me because my hands were cramping. My mother-in-law made 46 dozen cookies (she's the Pizelle maker). My other volunteers made another 100 dozen cookies. I also made mincemeat cookies in remembrance of my mother (our traditional Christmas cookie). Needless to say, it was a successful cookie table at the wedding.
(This is one of three tables) I would do it differently next time, like traying the cookies myself so they'd all have a container to go home in.

In the meantime, I was working on a queen sized quilt for Madeline and her new husband Zach. Her husband is an artist and has made quilts for Madeline and his family. At the rehearsal dinner, he made prints of two of his paintings, one of the church and one of Stone Harbor and they gave them to family and friends they as a special gift.

At one point I had hoped to finish the quilt before our vacation at the end of July. Clearly, as time went on, it became quite clear I was going to be hard pressed to finish the top, while I was baking cookies. My friend Jenny offered to help me out by cutting and sewing while I was baking. So for two afternoons, she came over and spent about 10 hours of her time, sewing strip sets and cutting 2" segments. When I finished making the cookies at the end of June, Jenny came and helped me lay the blocks out.

I started sewing blocks, because everything was ready to sew. Because of her help, I was able to take the top on vacation with us and present it to Madeline and Zach. They loved it. It was a beautiful moment, and when I started to tell them about the quilt, and why I chose the colors, I got all choked up.

So we spent a fun vacation at Sea Isle City this year. It's a busier place than Stone Harbor but it's still the beach and we had fun. I had my first mani and pedi with my sister Patty. Of course I chose fuchsia for my feet.

In August, after arriving home, I went to see my Cardiologist who is monitoring my cholesterol and he told me that because my Apolipoprotein B number is low, I don't have to worry about being as aggressive about my high LDL since I can't tolerate any of the drugs they give me. I promised to exercise, lose weight and keep improving my lifestyle and made an appointment for next year.

On August 18, 2010, Paul McCartney opened the Consol Energy Center (the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins). I'll miss the Civic Arena for its' unique looks, but not for concerts. Beautiful new venue for the Penguins. Paul was awesome and I cried several times during the concert. One was when he started to sing "Close your eyes, and I'll kiss you..." It just brings back my entire childhood. Then I cried when he sang the song he wrote for John Lennon, and again when he was singing the Long and Winding Road. It was fantastic, and Paul McCartney is quite a showman. The movie screens on each side of the screen make you forget he's the size of a peanut on the stage. I loved it.

Finally the weather has broken. We can open our windows at night and there's a small breeze coming through. I'm busy cleaning up my desk today so I can finish the other border on the quilt and then start quilting it. Now that I've given them a glimse of the quilt, I'm anxious to finish it.

Have a great day.

It's been a long time!

2010-05-31T23:18:00.021-04:00

You must've thought I fell off the face of the earth, it's been so long since my last post. I've been working on a project for my niece, Madeline's, wedding shower, that I was hosting at my house. I couldn't blog about it or post photos of it. The shower was on the 22nd of May and was a great success. I used this great umbrella fabric I bought at a quilt show and made "Snap Happy" bags by Stitchin' Sisters. I made 40 bags and filled the bags with the 40 scrubbies I crocheted since my last post. I added mints and a Revolution teabag (comes in a cute little box) to the umbrella bag. It was an awesome favor. I asked the cake store to use the fabric to decorate the cake.

Carol's Pastry Shop in Zelienople did a wonderful job. She added some purple umbrellas because Madeline's colors are purple and green. Here's a photo of the what was stuffed in the bags.

I'm now making cookies for the wedding and coordinating the other cookie bakers for the wedding, so that we don't all make the same thing. I've recruited a couple people to help me bake. I'm making a cookie every other day and have mapped out a schedule of how much time I have before the wedding. I researched all my cookbooks and made a list of a good variety of cookies. I have all the recipes ready in case anyone offers to make something.

Right now, I am sewing a little every day, making a cookie, and still going to PT for my plantar faschitis. Online, I'm fascinated by the Baby Osprey that you can look at live at The Chestertown Spy. If the camera isn't working, go to the Home page and click on the Osprey Cam, sometimes they change the link. During the day, it seems like there's always a bird in front of the camera. At night though, the little birds are moving around and you can see them much better. They really blend in with the nest during the day.

I'm also checking in everyday to the Inspired by Iceland website where you can click on different live camera views of cool places in Iceland. This link will take you to the geysir and you can navigate on the map to other places to visit.

Check out the links and have a great day.

Instructions for the Best Scrubbie

2010-04-03T12:17:00.004-04:00

My friend Cassie has graciously given me permission to post her instructions for scrubbies on my blog. She said she would be pleased if others were able to benefit from the pattern. If you use it, and are pleased with it, I would encourage you to leave a comment on the blog to let me know how you like it, and to let others know if it's a useful pattern, and then I can pass it on to her. Trust me, after all this experimentation, this is the best pattern around. You may need a crochet instruction book to help you with the correct stitches. Enjoy!

Nylon Scrubbers

Cut nine 2-inch wide strips of nylon net.

Tie these nine strips together to form one long strip leaving approximately four to six inches as "tails." (Shorter "tails" if the net is stiff, as much as six to eight inches if the net is really soft. This will be your "stuffing" later on.)

Make a slip knot and put on crochet hook (I use Size K).

Chain Four.

Join to form a circle.

Insert hook in center of hole and single crochet eight stitches around the circle. (Insert the hook in the middle of the circle eight times and make a single crochet.)

Make two stitches in each of the eight stitches and continue until you have 28 stitches around. (Increase)

Single crochet around the scrubber (28 stitches) three times. (You can use a piece of string to mark the beginning of your "rows" until you get used to how far to go.)

Begin to decrease (single crochet in every other stitch.)

When you have a hole about the size of a silver dollar, turn the scrubber inside out. You will be stuffing all the "tails" inside and they will act as stuffing.

Continue decreasing until the scrubber is completely closed. Pull the end of the nylon net through several holes in the scrubber to secure it, pulling the last bit to the inside with the crochet hook.

All the measurements are approximate. All nylon net was not created equal. Some is stiff and scratchy, some softer. Your tension will also influence the size. You may have to experiment to find the right number of stitches for your liking.

Found my scrubbie!!

2010-04-02T02:53:00.008-04:00

I forgot to update on my scrubbie saga (see previous post). I went back to the crochet book and realized that I was indeed doing some of the stitches incorrectly. I bought an inexpensive pattern from the Internet that looked like a really good one, and I achieved my goal of the scrubbie being round but still not completely flat. I emailed my aunt and asked for her pattern, but it was written in that kind of crochet shorthand as if she was talking to me, and I didn't entirely understand it, but it was the closest to being a normal size scrubbie. Unfortunately, she uses a much smaller hook than I'm able to use. The scrubbie was hard and I didn't like the way the back looked. And I couldn't repeat the same shape twice.

Finally, in a round about way, I found my friend through someone else on the Internet and asked her if she would send me her instructions for the scrubbie. First try, it was perfect. Now the real test, could I repeat my success? YES! I finally have instructions for a scrubbie that is perfect. It all comes down to the right size strip, tying it the right way, so there's something to stuff inside, having the correct size hook, and clear, clear instructions. Thank you, Cassie.

Christmas in March

2010-03-25T00:31:00.006-04:00

Are you busy filling out your census? It's not hard, right?

Here's an update of what I've been working on this week. I was following a pattern in a Quilt in a Day book called Stockings and Small Quilts. Eleanor Burns' sister Patricia Knoechel wrote it. Aren't they cute? They're pretty simple and I'm using them for a wedding shower this weekend.
Mark and I went to see John Oates (of Hall and Oates, my favs, of course) in a solo concert last week in Kent, Ohio. It just so happened that the Kent Stage Theater was right across the street from a charming little quilt store, the Katie Brook Quilt Store, where I was lucky enough to while away an hour or so before the show since they were open late on Thursdays. I found some fabric that might go with a new project I'm working on, but limited myself to only 1/2 yards (a lot of restraint for me).

The following day, my friend and I attended a quilt show in North Hills. The same store I visited in Kent had a setup there as well. They carry a lot of embroidery panels that were really pretty. The show was really a good one. Every few years there are a lot of hand quilted quilts in the shows (probably due to the time it takes to quilt them). I enjoy seeing that. Quilt shows are great inspiration to keep working on your quilting.

I'm in the process of quilting a baby quilt on my Voyager machine, but can't seem to get the tension right. I changed from a regular bobbin to a pigtail bobbin and the thread keeps breaking and driving me crazy.

That's all for now.

2010 Census - what does this have to do with fabric?

2010-03-15T16:02:00.009-04:00

This week you'll be getting your 2010 census in the mail. We all know that the census is used to allocate government funds and to form legislative districts.
As a genealogist, I want to stress the importance of filling out your forms for your great great grandchildren. No one will be able to see the answers to these questions for 70 years. Be accurate. Make sure you print very clearly and legibly. Spell everyone's name correctly. Give the correct age.
The census is an invaluable tool to find family members and learn who they were and where they lived at a certain point in time. There are only ten questions in this 2010 census. They are extremely simple. To paraphrase the questions are these:

How many people in your household?
Are there any additional people living there?
Is the home owned or rented?
What is your telephone number?
What are the names of all the people living there?
What is their sex?
What is their age and date of birth?
Are any members Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
What is each member's race? (multiple choice answers)
Does any member sometimes live or stay somewhere else?

That's it. It should take no more than 10 minutes to fill it out. And this is the really important part ---MAKE A COPY of the form you fill out. Keep it with your important papers. Let it be something that is handed down in your family. If you have kids that don't live at home, ask them to make a copy for you and keep the whole family's records together. Remember, your own family can't access these records for 70 years, so if you had a copy it would make genealogy record keeping so much easier for your family's historian.

How does this relate to fabric, you're asking? Let me tell you a story.

It took Census workers about 8 years to tabulate the data from the 1880 census. The Bureau appealed to their workers to find a more efficient way to tabulate the data. A man named Herman Hollerith, a statistician who worked for the Census Bureau, riding the train on his way to work one morning, found his inspiration while watching the conductor punch holes in tickets. The conductors could punch codes onto the ticket indicating a passenger's height, hair color, build, eye color, etc, so only that unique passenger could use the ticket. Hollerith designed a similar paper card and punch hole system to record the information the Census Bureau needed. One column was used for a person's sex, another two for their age, two for the year, etc.

He made the card the size of a U.S. banknote and then created a tabulation machine based on an 18th century machine invented by Joseph Jacquard, that had automated the weaving of fabrics. Jacquard was a French silk weaver, who invented a way of controlling the warp and weft of threads on a silk loom by recording patterns of holes on a series of wooden boards, looped together with a series of cords. (That was the fabric part)

Hollerith succeeded in producing the machine that Charles Babbage (considered the first computer pioneer, designing analytical computing engines) and Ada Lovelace (possibly the world's first programmer) had dreamed up in the 1930's. The machine allowed the user to input census data using punch cards, store the data, process the data, and output the data. The 1890 census count was completed in 3 months. He not only solved the Census problem, his punch card system was the basis for computing for the next 70 years.

In 1896, Hollerith quit his job at the Census, and started the Hollerith Tabulating Machine Company. The company rented it's equipment and maintained the right to produce the cards. The card was able to represent an account, a transaction, a part, an invoice, or a check and as a result businesses could automate their processes. His company merged with two other companies and was renamed CTR (the Computing, Tabulating and Recording Company). By 1914, the company was suffering some hard times and sales were lagging. Hollerith hired Thomas J. Watson, the top salesman at National Cash Register Company. Watson was an effective leader. To boost employee moral he increased sales commissions, provided employees with insurance and paid vacations and demanded absolute loyalty. Under his leadership, sales soared. By 1924, the company had expanded and changed it's name once again to International Business Machines (IBM).

By 1918 over 100 million card were being produced. All data was transcribed to punch cards. The card became the perfect medium for entering, manipulating and storing data. Cards had become the universal medium for handling data and IBM machines processed the data. This set the stage for the computer revolution.

Herman Hollerith and his punch cards truly changed the course of history.

Filling out that 10 question census doesn't seem so hard now, does it?

(Don't forget to make a copy for yourself!!)

Chandra Wilson | Touch of Comfort

2010-02-20T19:10:00.015-05:00

I interviewed Chandra Wilson today from Grey's Anatomy. I was a little nervous, but tried my best not to be too annoying over the phone. She was very gracious and sweet. I mentioned this program in my last post. Watch the video and Chandra will tell you a bit about the Downy Touch of Comfort program. Click HERE for the video link.

Downy Touch of Comfort Program

2010-02-12T13:35:00.009-05:00

Have you heard about the Downy Touch of Comfort Program? They are pledging to deliver 10,000 more quilts for kids this year to children who are hospitalized across the country. You can buy specially marked bottles of Downy to donate, or order a quilt kit to make a quilt for a child. I bought this month's issue of The Quilter Magazine with Chandra Wilson (Bailey on Grey's Anatomy) on the cover. I've just been offered an opportunity to interview her about her involvement in the program next week. Stay tuned for that. Watch the video below and see two touching stories of how quilts can touch people's lives. If you can't see anything below, try this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igraIvlADEs

How Times Have Changed

2010-02-03T14:15:00.002-05:00

I was at the office supply store today (one of my favorite places in the universe to shop) and I was enjoying looking at the numerous personal journals that were for sale. I was remembering that when I was a freshman in high school, I went out to buy a diary that didn’t say “My Diary” on the front and come with a key. The only plain lined paper book I could find other than a black and white Composition notebook was a red book labeled Journal on the front, that was for recording finances. Seriously, it had the columns and everything, but it was plain lined paper so it filled the bill for what I needed. Today, the choices are all different shapes and sizes with beautiful lined paper and embossed covers in leather or with prints that have amazing color. The sad part is I want them all. I just cleaned off my desk (yes I can see the top again) and I filled a box with empty notebooks I’ve bought. There were at least 8 of them. I’m one of those people who loves the smell of a new textbook and the smell of mimeograph paper. Remember those purple pages coming off the drum. How far we’ve come!

One of my favorite shows is NCIS, and I was reading another person’s blog, and she said she was dismayed to find out that Ducky was also Illya Kuryakin from the series The Man from Uncle in the 1960’s. (She meant she was bummed he was old). I realize her point, and maybe the first week or two felt the same. But I gotta tell you, after a couple of years of watching the show, I love him now just as much. He has a quirky sense of humor and is one of my favorite characters on the show. They even had a show where he had a picture of himself when he was younger at his house and when someone said, “who’s this?” Mark Harmon replies “Illya Kuryakin.” It was so cool. Hey we’re all older, right? I wish I had the Illya scrapbook I made when I was a kid. The one thing I didn’t keep!!

What’s Going On?

2010-02-01T13:56:00.001-05:00

I watched the Grammys last night, naturally to see if Hall and Oates won in the duo performance category (they didn’t – Black Eyed Peas won), and am puzzled by this 3D thing. Why would they chose to air a 3D presentation to a world who doesn’t own 3D glasses. It just looked like a blurry song to me. The singers performed well, but why would you do that for television? I thought the worst pairing of the night was Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks. On their own, both are very good, but together they sounded off key and didn’t mesh at all.

I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to crochet a scrubbie like the one a friend of mine used to make. I can’t get in touch with her and have downloaded several different directions from the internet. None of them are working.

Here’s my first attempt. It doesn’t resemble anything nice and round and flat.

Then my second attempt. Closer to being a circle, but I can’t seem to make it flat.

Then I got about six new sets of instructions and tried combining them all. The result was something that was rounder but still not flat. Pretty funny if you look at it from the side. And I bet it will scrub the hell out of a pot, it’s so thick.

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I just don’t get it. I’m going to go back and review my old crochet book to see if I’m doing the stitches correctly. If anyone knows what I’m doing wrong, please tell me!!

Goals and Resolutions - 2010

2010-01-14T00:41:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! I've asked several people about their New Year's Resolutions and no one has given me even one new resolution for 2010. Why are people so resistant to making a NY resolution? I use it as a time to set goals. My first goal for the new year is to spend less money and concentrate on debt reduction. My second goal is to learn more about photography. I've set myself a goal for the end of the year - there's a job I want to be considered for and that's my end goal. Of course my third goal of the year is to exercise and lose weight. My niece is getting married this year and I'm hoping to wear a pretty fuchsia dress that I bought for the occasion.

I've been immersing myself in self improvement shows. Between shows like The Doctors, Dr. Oz, and The Biggest Loser my head is spinning with ways to have a better diet and exercise program. I think the reason people fall off the diet wagon is because television programs stop talking about losing weight by February. Having all these shows talk at me every single day about diet and exercise is really helpful. I need someone to talk to me like that all year long. Oh, don't get me wrong, I know all the ways I should be eating and how to walk on that treadmill. I just like having someone telling me at least twice a day - "get up and do it, change your life, be healthier, lose weight, exercise, it's good for your heart, blah, blah, blah......."

My other goal for the year is to declutter a little every day. I heard a new quote tonight by Mildred Lisette Norman...."Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its' usefulness possesses you...."

On the quilting front, we had to cancel out quilting circle the first Thursday of the month due to a large snowstorm here in Pittsburgh. I did finish hand quilting the inside (without the borders) of my son's quilt (the 1999 graduation quilt) and was going to do the borders on my quilting machine. Then I decided I have to finish it by hand. Throwing it on the machine at this point would totally change the way it looks. So, a few more months on that. One more goal I have is not to buy any new fabric until I make a new quilt with some of the fabric I have.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

Yikes, no power, now what?

2009-12-28T14:50:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, the power went out for a couple hours at my house due to a giant windstorm. There was no TV, no stove, no microwave, no refrigerator. I couldn't use the computer and my cell service was down as well. The only thing still operating was my non-electric land line phone. All those little lights that tell you every device in the house is charging (or just eating up electricity) were off. There were no lights, no stereo, and more importantly no heat.

Our dependence on electrical appliances is staggering. My camera would still work, until my batteries ran out of their electrical charge, and I can't look at the large photos without a computer. I wouldn't be able to use the sewing machine. I can't make a cup of tea or wash the clothes. As I sat there reading in the fading daylight, I realized this was the only thing I could do with no electricity. (I could be hand quilting, but chose reading instead.) There was no hum of electricity or a heater or a TV through out the house. Except for the ticking of the analog clock in my kitchen, the house was dead quiet.

It made me wonder about what people in the old days did with all the quiet? I assume they worked. Hard. They sewed, read to one another, and talked. No wonder they all went to bed at sunset. What else could they do? Thank goodness the plumbing still works even though I had to use a candle to light the bathroom. The house kept getting a little colder and the clock ticking was an annoying reminder of the time passing.

Suddenly 3 hours later, the house blinks awake - and I mean blinks. The clocks are blinking on the TV, the DVR, the microwave, the radio, the stove, and on all the alarm clocks. I heard the flame of the gas heater click on to reassure me that there's heat. The lights are blaring and the TV roars to life, with Dr. Phil giving advice on how to improve our lives. The noise is jarring and for a few moments very unwelcome. For just awhile there, I knew what peacefulness was. I can't say I am not dependent on my appliances. But maybe we should turn them off now and then to drink in the silence and enjoy the life you're living. Read a book. Talk to someone. Eliminate the distractions. Be quiet with your thoughts.

I'm now at the point in this holiday season where it's too late to send Christmas cards and now I feel guilty. To those of you who send me cards and care about me, I want you to know I love getting your photos and your cards. I display them each year on my quilted Christmas tree. (Look here's a picture to prove it - there is actually a quilted tree underneath all the cards!) I really do appreciate your warm thoughts and wishes. I'm writing this so you won't cross me off your Christmas list next year for being totally disorganized and unable to get it together before the holiday to send cards.

I almost feel like I'm writing a Christmas letter, catching you up on the past few weeks. My own life is taking some exciting turns and twists. I've been quilting a few quilts for my friends on my Voyager V17 machine. Frustrating to be sure. I've also been hand quilting my oldest son's high school graduation quilt (from 1999). I wanted to finish it by the end of this year. Whether I meet that deadline remains to be seen.

I sold my first picture at Imagekind - the photo of the Viking Ship, and joined a Pittsburgh group on there as well, a place to share photos of our favorite city. I made less than 10.00, but I was so excited. It's the first time I ever sold anything (ever!).

To all my friends and family and followers, I'm trying to form a tribe. That means if you tell 10 people you trust about my blog, and then they tell 10 people etc, etc, I'll have a tribe of people following me. So to those of you in my tribe already, thank you. Have a Happy New Years celebration and be safe and take care.

I'll see you in the new decade!

Mary Jane

Party Crashers

2009-12-02T15:25:00.006-05:00

I'm so sick of the White House party crasher story. Watching that couple walk into the party over and over again makes me want to puke. Seriously, if you were going to crash a party at the White House - is that red dress something you would wear? She looks like something out of the 1960's. I think it's interesting that they seem to have a photo with EVERYONE at the party. How is it that no one said "who are these people?"

Have you used StumbleUpon yet? If you install a stumble toolbar on your browser, you can just click on stumble and it will find sites that are similar to the parameters you typed in. It's great when you're bored and want to find new sites on the internet. I am only searching on quilting at the moment and it finds some awesome sites. If you are searching and find a site you like, you click on the thumbs up symbol and it will save it for you and add it to stumble's cache of sites. (Click on "I like it" for my blog - it will drive more folks here) I found a beautiful quilt on the Purl Bee website yesterday. If you click on that link, it will take you to the quilt. It has my favorite color - fuchsia. It's a wedding quilt she made for some friends. Gorgeous.

I decided that I want to travel more. Of course to do that, I need to have more money, so I'll have to figure that part out. But I want to see Ireland and Scotland and Paris and England. My sister wants to go to Norway, and that would be really cool too. My husband has always wanted to go to Hawaii and I'd love to do that. It's time. I'm going to start setting travel goals for myself. Honestly, I want to photograph some beautiful places in the world.

Black Friday

2009-11-27T15:54:00.006-05:00

Well, here it is Black Friday. My family and I spent a nice Thanksgiving at my sister's house and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. We listened to Beatles music most of the day and talked about their influence on us as kids growing up. It was very satisfying to give into the tryptophan urge when I got home and go promptly to sleep (a wonderful restful sleep). This morning it I am so happy I'm snuggled in my house, and not out there shopping with the crowds. I watched the Paul McCartney concert that I taped last night and as much as I love him, I discovered something last night I never knew before. He's a Detroit Red Wings fan!! When he was singing "Yesterday," I noticed a Red Wings sticker on his guitar. Oh, Paul, how could you? Don't you know the Pittsburgh Penguins are the best - the Stanley Cup Champs?

I finished quilting one friend's on my Hinterberg and am getting ready to quilt another friend's quilt. My cousin has asked me to teach her how to make a quilt - she wants to make a memorial quilt for her daughter, who lost her father this year. We're going to start on that next week. I'm actually making some slow progress on my oldest son's graduation quilt (from high school-1999). I think I'll be finished quilting it soon, and may be able to give it to him this year. I'm still hand quilting that one and have let it go much too long. I've decided that I'm going to be all about finishing things right now. I'm going to try not to buy any new fabric for at least 6 months, so I can use some of the fabric I currently own.

The holidays always make me happy and sad at the same time. I cry for the people I miss - my mother and my grandmother, cousins and friends I have lost. Even though Christmas is the happiest time, I still miss them so much. When my grandma died, it was the first time I realized what "heart ache" means. And even through the happiness, I cry, because it's there, the missing, the aching, the what ifs.

Take a moment today and appreciate the joy in your life. The family, the friends, the sunset, the snow. Look around and say, I'm glad it's Friday, because I'm here to enjoy it.

Autumn splendor

2009-11-02T10:42:00.008-05:00

I just finished listening to the October episode of Live From Daryl's House with special guest Diane Birch. I had never heard her before and she's a wonderful singer. I thoroughly enjoyed her harmonies with Daryl Hall. She has a very engaging personality and is very sweet (and so young). I was totally inspired by her voice and by her songwriting. I understand she has a new debut album out. She reminds me of a young Carole King - she has that ability to write those songs that just grab you and the vocal chords to back it up.

This has to be one of the most beautiful autumn seasons in Pennsylvania I've ever seen. The colors on the trees have been magnificent and the leaves have lasted far longer than they usually do, thanks to little rain during this fall season. The oranges, yellows and reds have been so vibrant, and have now turned to several shades of brown. The palette of colors I have been witness to is a constant and varying array.

I took some pictures for a friend recently. She wanted to take advantage of the fall foliage to get a photo for her Christmas card with her dog, Cooper. I thought this picture was funny. The photo session was pretty wild. There were 2 additional dogs that a neighbor owned that are related to Cooper. Finally at the end of the trip when Cooper was in the car and ready to go home, I took this shot. It cracks me up every time I look at it.

All You need is Love, not a Blackberry

2009-10-16T03:36:00.005-04:00

Based on the searches that led people to my blog yesterday and the Twitter messages expressing disgust over Blackberry using All you need is Love in their most recent commercial, let me explain just a little further why this upsets me specifically. Although I would hate the use of any Beatles song because I know how much they didn't want to be used commercially, this one is particularly offensive.

My kids tell me this is not their favorite Beatles song. I try to explain to them the significance of this song in a historical context. The Beatles wrote this song to represent Great Britain in the first ever World Wide Satellite hookup. What better message could they think of to send than All you need is Love. It may not be the most complex of their songs, but it's simple and to the point.

There are several reasons it irritates me personally. First I hate that Alan Klein was such a terrible manager that he let the Beatles catalog slip away from their control. Second, I hate that Michael Jackson was such a terrible friend that he stabbed Paul McCartney in the back after getting advice on where to invest in music, by buying the catalog out from under him. I hate that Sony owns a piece of it because Michael Jackson was too deep in debt and lost control of the catalog. I hate that every time one of these commercials air it pays money to Michael Jackson's estate.

But most of all, I hate that Beatles music, that somehow stands by itself in an iconic sense of time and place, is sullied in this commercial way. The Beatles would probably never have agreed to using their songs in an ad. Who knows? I just feel better knowing I'm not the only one who hates it.

What ever happened to jingles? Are people so lazy they can't hire someone to write a catchy tune? It would be a lot cheaper than using a Beatles tune.

All you need is .... a blackberry commercial??

2009-10-14T15:49:00.013-04:00

I was watching TV and suddenly Beatles music strikes a familiar chord in my ear. I'm listening to All you need is Love in a Blackberry commercial, which made no sense by the way. I kept waiting for the tie in to the song, and there was none. There was the Hello Goodbye Target commercial. Then it was Come Together in a Macy's commercial. Is it a coincidence that since Michael Jackson died, I've heard more Beatles songs in commercials? I think not. The lawyers are doing everything they can to make money for his estate to cash in on the image he died with as opposed to the image he lived with. It actually makes me angry. Angry to know that Michael Jackson's estate and Sony are reaping the benefits of those endorsements. Angry because in my mind that's not what their songs are about. And angry because the artists have no say in it. I think if you write a song, you should be able to say whether you use it to sell a product. And before you say the commercial did its' job because I remembered who the commercial was for and that's the idea behind advertising, I would respond that I remembered so that I won't patronize those people.

My friends and I attended a quilt show last week that was fun. My friend entered one of her quilts that I had quilted on my Hinterberg. It was my first show for my machine quilting. I objectively (?) compared it to others and felt that it was just OK. I have a lot of room for improvement. I bought some pretty teal fabric with daisies. I love daisies. They have a fabric called gradations that includes 4 different shades of a color in the same yard of fabric. I had never seen that before. Of course I had to buy my favorite color - fuchsia.
My sewing room has two skylights and I also use the room to do stretching exercises. As I was laying on my mat the other day, I was staring up at the blue sky and the puffy clouds through the skylight. I started remembering the days as a kid when you laid on the ground trying to make shapes out of clouds. As I lay there, watching the clouds move across the sky, I realized that if I weren't stuck on the floor, I no longer have the patience it takes to find a shape and besides I can't see them right unless I'm looking over the top of my bifocals and how did I spend so much time doing this as a child?

Last week, I was trying to make rice for dinner. I had parts of 3 bags I was going to use and found some of those little rice bugs in the first and second bags, so I threw it in the sink and rinsed it down the drain. I made dinner with the good stuff from the 3rd bag. You know where I'm going with this, right? After dinner I couldn't figure out why the garbage disposal wouldn't work. My husband had to take the drain apart to fix it, and we discovered that rice expands even if you don't cook it. The entire drain and elbow was packed tight with rice. Even more amazing than the fact that it never occurred to me that it would happen, since I've thrown cooked rice down the drain multiple times, was the fact that in almost 32 years of marriage, it's not happened to me before. So, watch out for that rice!