We are fine. We started staying home in mid-March, only leaving to get groceries, and even then that was rare as the grocery stores moved to delivering.

Now it’s mid August. We are still staying home for a majority of the time. Our youngest has left the housing area twice in five months. The other kids have left a handful of times. I’ve gone grocery shopping as stay at home rules have relaxed.

The stores and building have hand washing stations in front of them and you have to use them before entering the building. You also have to wear a mask when you go inside, you won’t be let into the store if you don’t have a mask on. And depending on where you go, there will also be hand sanitizer stations set up.

I have been to two places outside of grocery shopping, both fabric stores. I had to go look for the Ghana Lockdown fabrics!

And I found them! It took a bit of searching, and we’ve been told that the fabrics are limited.

Otherwise, we are home. We’ve started homeschooling (more on that later) and are safe.

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If you are on Goodreads, let’s connect! I set my reading challenge for the year at 27 books, I figured I could read or listen to a book every couple of weeks. I’m ahead of schedule thanks to audiobooks, and let’s face it, listening on 1.5x speed (or even a touch faster).

I can listen while I cut fabric, sew, work on my beadwork, do dishes, make a meal, etc.

Seven of the books I’ve loved so far this year:

Life Will Be the Death of Me:…and You Too! – I’ve recommended this to people again and again. I’ve left it on my phone so I can listen again. It is so good. This is Chelsea Handler’s take on going through therapy. Everyone needs therapy, you just might not realize it yet, but you do. Not because you are bad or failing, but because there is likely something there that you could use tweaked.

Embassy Row series – this is a series of three (All Fall Down, See How They Run, Take the Key and Lock Her Up) and it is a fun listen. I describe it as there’s a teenager who goes to live with her Grandpa, and while she’s living with him she wants to figure out who murdered her Mom. Also her Grandpa is an Ambassador. I don’t remember why I picked this one, it was probably something Audible highlighted one day, but it’s an easy listen, and I recommend the series over just an individual book – you need to hear/read how it ends!

An American Marriage – I liked that this is told from various perspectives. I like being able to see how another person is thinking. It’s often mixed up in our own daily lives, you see something one way, your friend sees it another. This doesn’t have a traditional “and they lived happily ever after” feel but they do live happily ever after.

With the Fire on High – I loved this! I love stories of people who fight to do what they want to do, whatever that want is. The protagonist doesn’t let anything stop her, she works hard, and yes, she succeeds. And sure, she probably has a little bit of magic in her too.

The Sun Is Also a Star – okay, I read this one. I’ve borrowed it from my online library at least four times because I didn’t finish within the two week borrowing period. I finished while waiting at the cell phone store a few weeks ago. First we waited outside, and then we waited inside. It was enough time for me to finish reading, and I really loved the ending. So much. I have not seen the movie and I’m not sure I want to – unless it has the same exact ending, then okay, I want to watch the end.

The Dutch House – Tom Hanks read this one on Audible. I really enjoyed the story, I like the brother and sister relationship, I like the house, I like the ending. Do I like it even more since Tom Hanks was the narrator? Who knows.

In The Country We Love – Diane Guerrero reads her memoir and it is just one story of life in the United States and what happens when families are torn apart. It’s easy to think of immigrants as other, as someone who did something wrong, so I appreciate when stories are told. We need to see people for who they are and appreciate what they have to offer. As a Native person, Native to what is the United States, I view immigration issues with a side eye and a smirk, because come on.

And so, what have you been reading?

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While we may be annoyed at staying inside, and getting tired of it, and gently teasing each other about how often we are (or are not) going outside, I keep thinking of everyone else.

Ghanaians can’t socially distance from a wide variety of people, they live together in small places, and multiple people live in the same house. They don’t have running water in their homes to wash hands all the time.

It’s similar to the Navajo Nation in the US, and other reservations and places where people live in poverty.

And so we will continue to stay home. Please do the same, we need to do what we can to protect the vulnerable population – the elderly, those in high risk categories, the people who have to work. Stay home so that they may stay safe.

News story on Navajo Nation: Coronavirus batters the Navajo Nation, and it’s about to get worse

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Week one was full of anxiety and tension. We were unsure what would happen – would we have to evacuate and return to the US? Would we be okay to stay here?

We have supplies here, a small stock of food, cleaning supplies, the all important toilet paper. And this is our home. As much as we feel at home with any family member we stay with at any time, this is our home. Our stuff is here, and we were also unsure as to if our cat Diana could come with us if we had to leave.

And if we had to go to the US, where would we go? We had a moment of thinking we would go to my husband’s family in California, but after about a week, we realized that wouldn’t work. It was quickly decided that we would go stay with my Dad, after a time of quarantine.

That first week was a lot of deep breathing, a lot of staring at the phone, a lot of thinking and wondering and waking up each day not knowing if that would be the day things would have to change for us.

Week two was much more productive. We packed a few suitcases just in case we would have to leave, we organized bookcases, and we went through files. The stack of paperwork to shred was huge. We’ll move this summer (or maybe this fall?) so it was kind of like prep to moving.

Week three was a mix of productivity and staring at my phone. I started packing my fabric (I always pack my fabric and sewing stuff when we move), I stared at my phone, I sewed a quilt block, stared at my phone.

Weeks one and two were also online school for the kids, which we did each day and there were moments of normalcy.

And this is week four. It’s a spring break week so no online school. It’s the middle of the week and so far I’d count it as productive-ish. I’ve started cutting and sewing more face masks. I made a few last week in case we would have to travel, I figure it would be good to have them on hand. Now the CDC in the US has recommended everyone wear a mask in public so I’m glad I started making these. I’ve offered a few masks to a few people here as well. We don’t have access to the mail anymore so I can’t mail any home to anyone.

I’m waiting to hear from the school to know the plan for the older kids, and I’m sure that online schooling will continue next week for the youngest. We also signed up for an online home school supplemental website, and of course there are SO MANY free resources out there for homeschooling in this time.

We are safe here. We have food and supplies, and the grocery stores are delivering, as well as others like veggie, pasta, and bagel vendors. We are sheltering in place and hoping that others are also able to be safe during this time. I know how hard it is to try to shelter in place or quarantine in parts of Accra and other communities.

We are all getting fresh air and sun, and taking it easy with each other, and we hope you are too.

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I started making this because I wanted to use up my scraps. The first thing I did was iron and then cut to have straight edges. This didn’t take as long as I thought it would be! I just put on a podcast and got to work.

All of this fabric has been used in just the past couple of years. I gave away the majority of my scraps when we were living in France, so this was a brand new collection! I’m kind of surprised at the fact that I was able to make such a large quilt.

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Again.

We flew Air France (which we like) and were treated to decent airline food, glass glasses, and over the ear headphones already available. This was the premium economy seat. It was comfortable and fine for us, but such a long flight that I was ready to be done when there was still about an hour and a half to two hours to go.

I hesitate to declare such a thing because we’ve only been here for a couple of weeks…but this may be our best move ever. So many great things have happened to make this transition an easy one!

• We arrived in the evening on a weekend and were able to move directly into the house we will live in.
• We met all of our neighbors within two days.
• There are several (six to seven I think) large grocery stores in the area and I’ve been to five. The prices and food available is different at each of them and grocery shopping here means going to multiple places to find what you want or are looking for.
• We had cell phones within two days of arrival.
• We had internet at our house within four days.

The community is large and inviting. As I said it’s only been a couple of weeks but I’ve been to quilt club get together’s, a needle craft group, and a coffee. The North American Women’s Association (NAWA) has a group here and it was their coffee that I attended, I joined the group the same day.

NAWA, North American Women’s Association, is a volunteer organization dedicated to promoting friendship and cultural activities among women of all nationalities residing in Ghana, and to supporting charitable projects in our host country.

NAWA hosts or organizes several things a month – a book club, cultural tours, a regular coffee, women’s night out, etc. I am happy to be a part of this so I will be able to participate.

I am thankful that we have a wide range of social media at our hands too because I was able to find other kids for my kids to connect with before we arrived. So they kind of stepped into friendships because of already speaking with each other via social media. The transition here has been so much easier because of how welcoming everyone has been. I’ve been to most of the grocery stores because our sponsor took us or someone else was going and offered to take me so I could see what the store offered.

We are shipping our van and it will take months to arrive, so we are so glad to have uber available. So far it’s been reliable and so easy to use.

Head over to instagram and follow me – tsoniki – as I will be sure to show photos of our new surroundings, my sewing, the beautiful Ghanaian fabric! And much more. For now, I will leave you with a photo of exotic Ghanian animals, these guys live very close to our house.

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Let’s recap: For about eight months I regularly published the Me Being Crafty podcast, taking what I thought would be a short break when we were getting ready to leave France and make our way to Italy. There are fifty episodes if you would like to hear great interviews with a wide variety of quilters!

We arrived in Italy to a life in a hotel room, with the worst internet service we’ve been subjected to since I had dial up and lived at home when I was a teenager. Seriously, it was bad. Extremely slow, and often not working. That was in on base housing and as far as we know it’s still really slow, but not out as often as it was when we first arrived here.

When we moved into our own home I just figured it would be easy to get utilities in our own name, because it just wasn’t that difficult to do so in France. Well, we are in a whole new place. It took two months – almost to the day! – of living in our apartment until we got internet service. I know better than to just jump in and say okay service is here, let’s get to podcasting.

And it’s a good thing I waited! The service has left a lot to be desired. First of all, it’s ADSL. DSL. Phone line. *sigh* Okay I’m just happy to have service. Really I am. But it’s slower than a turtle when you have multiple devices connected, it still quits working at least a few times a week, and updates to an xbox game can take hours.

Now we move on to the time issue. We are still 6-9 hours ahead of the US/Canada. That means scheduling potential interviews with people starting in my mid-afternoon if it’s their morning, and then it just gets later for me.

The internet connection is the reason why I didn’t continue my podcast or start a new one. I really wanted to start a new one because in this day and age, I think we need more Native voices. I am hopeful that I can have a podcast in the future, but for now, it just isn’t going to happen. Oh and I’m writing this after about thirty-six hours of no internet service at the house. It’s just so sporatic! I am getting a lot of sewing done at least.

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Oh and by lucky I mean the military had a job opening.

My list was inspired by 10 tips for travel bliss with kids.

1. A kid* is a kid, not a short adult

Kids might need naps, they’ll definitely need to eat regularly, and bathroom breaks are a must. Adults can sometimes go for hours without eating, and while a good nap is a nice thing, it’s not really a requirement to go about our day. But take a kid to a new city and plan to be out and about from sun up to night and you will not be happy. Pack a few easy snacks and you will not have to stop to buy something completely unknown or worry about finding a grocery store.

Taking a break during the day can be as simple as a long lunch at a restaurant, or a stop at the park. Do something to sit and recharge so you do not end up with a grouchy kid who has no desire to sit during dinner. That long walk from one location to another might be seen as this lovely stroll you are taking, but to a little one it can be the worst thing ever. Oh and be aware that not every park with grass is for anyone to play on, it’s simply for looks, thank you very much. (I’m looking at you Paris.)

Your child will love being with you, but they might not love not speaking while you tiptoe around a museum. Depending on their age, let them help decide what to do and what to see on the trip. We love the Big Red Bus tours and take one in every city we visit, something our kids love and it might be our youngest son’s favorite thing. And who knows, that walk from place to place could be the best thing about their day.

*kid = human child, not baby goat

2. Plan your trip

We all love to be spontaneous. Scratch that – the idea of being spontaneous is fun, but when it comes down to it, traveling around Europe calls for a plan. Take the time to figure out what you want to see and where you want to stay. A lot of cities are very easy to walk so a car is not necessary, and many cities have really great public transportation.

Once you have a place to stay, take the time to read a few reviews for local restaurants so you aren’t disappointed with your first night out. Look up the closest grocery store so you can buy a few snacks to have in your room. Restaurants in Europe open much later than in the US so you can decide if you want to venture for dinner at 8PM with your little ones, or if you’ll have a great lunch and cook dinner at the Airbnb place you are renting. While you are at it, check the times that things open. Often restaurants will open for lunch from 11-2, and close again until dinner at 7. And if your restaurant is very popular you might need to make a reservation because they only have room for 20 people. Keep in mind that European restaurants do not have you in and out in an hour. Once you sit down, that table is yours until they close. You are, of course, free to leave when you wish, but no one will rush out so you can sit down.

Taking the time to plan your trip will make the time be that much more fun. If I have things I need to print I use a folder that is organized by date based on what we are doing. Tickets to various things can often be bought online, which can no only save you time but sometimes will also give you a discount. I also use the TripIt app, and I have various airline apps downloaded as well. I don’t know about every airline app, but few I’ve used recently show the boarding pass on the app.

I am reminded of a spontaneous stop to go up the Eiffel Tower. Since we didn’t plan we ended up having to stand in line – for over an hour. However, you can buy a ticket online and by doing so, you can typically walk right up to the front and go up the tower. We also waited in the (light) rain, which doesn’t drive away nearly as many people as you think it does.

Which leads us right to number three:

3. Schedule one thing a day

Yep, I said it, one thing. “ONE thing! Only one? How can I plan one thing when I am taking my family to visit {insert name of your favorite or dream city here}!” I didn’t say do only one thing, I said schedule one thing.

When you schedule that one thing, you know you will do it. You can have breakfast and leisurely walk to the museum and maybe you pass a hole in the wall restaurant with great reviews on the way, or maybe you turn a corner and see a street market. You can take the time to walk through the market since you just have one thing scheduled and not four things. Maybe you decide to go down the narrow street with a small shop every ten feet and find your favorite souvenir. If you have a schedule to do six things a day, you could miss out on the fun stuff. Walking from place to place is at least half the fun.

If you are traveling to a major city such as Paris or London, you need to work in travel time from museum to museum and check the schedule to determine if it is quicker to walk versus taking the metro or tube. The maps will have walking travel time to help you decide. Sometimes there will be closures so be sure to double check this! Also check for strikes because that can shut down major transportation as well. And the person selling metro/tube tickets will not always volunteer this information. We had this problem when we finally went to see the Palace of Versailles – part of the metro was shut down for work, yet we were not told by the attendant. However, in Glasgow, we were told about the subway issues. Glasgow has a much, much smaller system, but it was still really appreciated that we were told versus having a surprise waiting for us.

Also keep in mind the times of opening and closing for a museum, or whatever attraction you are interested in visiting. If something closes at 5 pm and you are leisurely walking to the location, stopping at the hole in the wall restaurant, and walking through a market, you may arrive only to be told you can stay for one hour.

We visited London with a list of places to see and while we checked most (or maybe all) of the boxes on our list, it felt like we were walking or taking the tube for most of the trip. The mistake we made was staying too far outside the city. While it is cheaper to stay on the outskirts of London, versus staying in the city, it might be worth it to spend a little more to stay closer.

4. Entertainment

One of the hardest things for my family is figuring out any extra things to bring with us. We all read voraciously and it’s natural to want to take a book (or seven) on a trip. But that leads to heavy luggage, something we’ve dealt with while standing at the check in counter. For our trips this summer, I’ve given in and downloaded books to my Kindle app. I am also finding books for the kids and made a note in the calendar to download them to kindle the day before we leave. Download before you go, you never know the state of wifi where you will be staying (or if you’ve made a mistake and booked a place with no wifi like we did one time).

5. Check the weather

If you are traveling Europe from October to May, pack a rain jacket. If you are going to Ireland or the UK, pack it regardless of the month. Packing for a trip is difficult – you want comfortable shoes, will you and your partner sneak away to a fancy restaurant that says no to jeans and sneakers? How much do the airlines let you bring? What about room for something you buy to take home? We go for casual because it’s vacation, no extremely fancy restaurants, and remember to layer our clothing. It’s easy to have little kids wear a shirt and a sweater, and take off the sweater once the weather warms up. The Big Red Bus tours will give you a poncho in case of spontaneous rain.

6. Admire the touristy stuff in the store

My kids are lucky to have Grandpa Dan in their lives. And Grandpa Dan once told them, “don’t buy the junk you see in the stores, it will be wasted money, buy something you will use.” I’m paraphrasing, but that has been really great advice. My husband likes to collect the Starbucks cups that have city names on them, yes even if he only stopped in the airport. I like to get a tea towel. It is so hard when you are young because you want everything – you want a keychain, and maybe a button, and oh look at this mini Eiffel Tower it is only one euro that isn’t much! It’s hard to not buy stuff because it really is everywhere.

But when our daughter took a school trip to the UK and came home with chocolate, I knew that Grandpa Dan was proud of her. She brought something she could use, something she could share, something she knew we would all appreciate, and it was edible so it didn’t collect dust on a shelf.

So look at the stores and smile at the touristy stuff. Laugh at the fact that you will see the same thing seven different times, with just slightly different prices depending on the area of town you are in. Remember you can buy that Eiffel Tower keychain at every tourist stop in town. And then stop in at the corner bakery and buy a box of treats to take back to your hotel. Take a selfie with the Eiffel Tower, or pretend you are holding up the Arc de Triomphe. It’s the memories we make, not the one euro toy that matters. Of course if you are somewhere like Quimper, France, and you need to buy pottery, I say buy two. We’ve also bought tshirts, which can scream tourist, but do get worn in our house.

7. Relax and have fun! Traveling with kids can be stressful. Plans can change, metros can be closed, the weather can be just too hot/cold for you to want to enjoy anything. During a trip we will sometimes have packed days and other days we have little to do, either way it ends up being fun.

Life in Italy has taken some time to get used to and we’ve decided that we will make the most of our time here, but sometimes the best part is being able to travel to another place.

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The smaller airlines here offer great opportunities to travel. Naples is a large enough airport that you can fly direct to many places and the tickets are not very expensive. We flew with a Greek airline, Aegean Air, and managed to get seats in the second row. No first or business class on the small planes, I think your seat choice is made when you check in since it’s a budget airline.

We always stay with an AirBNB rental because hotels in Europe are small and would require us to have two rooms. It’s easier, and more fun and relaxing, for us to rent someone’s apartment for a few days and also have access to a kitchen if we desire to cook. I found an apartment with a great view of the Acropolis and walking distance to almost everything we wanted to see. But like many other European cities, Athens is laid out in such a way that walking to things is fine. We did the big red bus tour (a favorite of ours to do in every city we visit) and enjoyed walking the tourist strip and side streets.

Outside of seeing all of the sites, finding good food is a priority. We arrived very late and despite it being around midnight (or possibly later?), we were hungry so our taxi driver stopped at a place for us to get gyros. Delicious! And only a few euros each. We had three full days to explore the city.

Favorite museum: Acropolis Museum. Everything from the Acropolis is in here, save for what other countries stole years ago and won’t return. We also went to the National Archeological Museum (statue here is from this museum) which also had really a lot of artifacts from a wide variety of areas. The NAM was nice, and it was cool to be able to take photos (not allowed in most of the Acropolis Museum).

Favorite restaurant: Piatsa – we liked this so much we ate here three times! Top to bottom: feta w/ olive oil and herbs, chips w/ feta, feta wrapped in pastry and topped w/ honey and sesame seeds. I promise we ate more than feta. We ate at a couple other places that were huge disappointments, we feel like they thought, “oh Americans, give them the American type food” which was hot dogs in one restaurant. No thanks.

Favorite drink: freddo cappuccino! A few euros and served everywhere. I loved these, especially in the hot weather. We paid no attention to the weather forecast when planning the trip.

Favorite thing about the Airbnb rental: the rooftop eating area and view of the outdoor theater next door. We watched The Godfather one night. It played in English with Greek subtitles.

A tip about climbing the Acropolis: walking to get to the ticket booth takes the most time. I read review after review talking about the amount of walking you have to do, how steep the steps are, how many steps there are, one reviewer said there isn’t an escalator (we’ll just let that slide), etc. So I was nervous! We are used to talking, but it felt like everyone mentioned only the amount of steps and how steep it was.

And then it took maybe fives minutes. Sure it’s a little steep (but just a little) and the stairs are for sure slick/slippery (JW slipped once on the way up) so care needs to be taken. But otherwise, it’s a relatively easy walk. There were tour groups with older people in the group and they were going slow and doing fine. It’s not a site you would run up the stairs at, but it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of time like many reviews suggest.

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Things we’ve all said or had someone tell us. For the past few years we’ve gone on vacation to a place that has little to no cell phone or wifi service. We are sure to download books to the Kindle so we have something to read, and we update our favorite game apps before we go. And then we just enjoy the time.

This year the taxi driver mentioned that us being at the campsite for one week was not enough, many people stay for ten days or two weeks as just a minimum. Maybe in the future we will have this option, but for now one week swimming and enjoying the sun has been enough for us.

After two weeks away from home, with limited wifi during the week in various cities, we all come home refreshed, maybe a little happier. We’ve all read a handful (or more) of books, and enjoy our new magnets. It’s difficult to live in Europe sometimes, the disconnect that happens with family and friends in the US isn’t something easily solved. But getting away and being able to just be present in the space we are in is a good thing.

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I appreciate the Kindle for reading what I call chick lit (is it still called that?), beach reads, or stuff I just don’t want to own. For everything else, I’m a book buyer.

One of my recent purchases was the Year of Yes, by favorite character killer Shonda Rhimes. Of course, reports say she does not do actor drama so people leaving the shows she created is because they have some drama. I’m on board with that, even if McDreamy was killed and his funeral not attended by his family and Meredith turned off the machine after moments, also without his family there.

Anyway – 20 pages into the book and I love it. I’m easy to love books though, so let’s get into this.

My word of/for the year for 2016 is YES.

Yes, I will make a quilt on commission.

Yes, I can sew that seam for you fashion designer friend.

Yes, I will make another quilt on commission.

Another quilt? Yes.

Yes fashion designer friend, I will meet your fashion designer friend.

Make something for you friend of a friend? Yes.

It’s almost the end of March, I really want to recap January because that was my “finish projects or get rid of them” month, but overall my year is YES and wow – it’s kind of awesome.

I am saying yes even though I am freaking out on the inside. Even though I am going to meetings completely unprepared, I get through it. Because even though I really want to do all of this awesome stuff – it’s scary. There are a couple of things that I am working on for other people outside of sewing that are making me really freak out and be scared, but I am going through with it anyway.

It’s Shonda Rhimes playing in the pantry, enjoying creativity and imagination alone, and loving it. Because I love to sew. I do. I sew every day – well, let me rephrase that – I am creative every single day. I am designing or quilting or sewing a binding or beading or organizing beads for a project. I love being creative and I feel less energy when I don’t have a chance to be who I am when I can create. I love writing and why wouldn’t a magazine submission be on my list. I want to podcast again so why not get back to doing something I really enjoy.

And it really is a powerful feeling when you say yes to the scary stuff. I hope you have someone who can push you to say yes.

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Our first stop was a factory that makes inlaid wood products. It was simply beautiful. We are always a little wary of a stop on a tour where you can buy stuff, it’s a set up, it’s just because of the tour, etc. But I don’t think about any of that stuff – we are in a new country and have the chance to visit some awesome places, just take advantage of that.

I wish we took pictures while we were inside! But all I got was a picture of the side of the mountain – white limestone.

We were walked through their process from design to cutting, to how they dye the wood, how thin the wood is cut, everything. It sounds like a lot, but it was a quick explanation so we could get to the browsing and shopping. They even use some wood from Wisconsin, and the gentleman explained that he lived in San Francisco back in the 60s for less than a year, but he traveled the US for work so he knows the East and West Coasts well.

There was a beautiful desk that we all admired, but we couldn’t find a price that we could say, “yeah right” to. I did pick out a beautiful box – made of olive wood and the inlay on the top made up of a few different types of wood, cut very thinly into veneer. I’ll have to ask someone if they know how an olive tree ended up growing in my Grandma’s yard, but it was there for years and years, and now I have a box made of the wood. This area (and maybe Italy in general?) is known for olive wood products, I can’t wait to get a few more things!

After that shop, we went into Sorrento. The city center is laid out in a grid so it’s easy to walk around and not get lost. We had about an hour and a half so we just explored. There were some great shops off the main street, but it was early and few were open. The area is known for limoncello, a liquor that is produced in this area of Southern Italy; and ceramics.

We stopped for chips (french fries) and a snack, and even though I read a little about the area I was still surprised that everyone spoke English. There is just so much tourism that it makes sense for them.

One of the shops we went into was huge and packed with inlaid wood products. Everything from small tiles on up to furniture. They offered a discount because of the tour (we basically wouldn’t have to pay the Italian tax – it’s called ITA here, in France it is the VAT), but everything was expensive. The same box I got at the factory was about 1/3 more at the store.

They did have a wider variety of products – including this crazy chess set.

The board was wood but the pieces were porcelain. The set cost around 200 euros. The shop had quite a few sets – sailors, British military, animals, etc. We almost bought a small travel game set, but decided it was too expensive so we’ll just remember it and buy it in the future.

After Sorrento, we started the crazy drive to Amalfi. So there’s a funny thing – there is the Amalfi Coast and there is a town on the coast named Amalfi. Driving is simply out of the question. It is just a series of really sharp turns. The bus drivers are so talented, we decided early on that we were not coming back on our own. We stopped a couple of times for photos – the first stop we just pulled over on the side of the road and we weren’t allowed to get off the bus for safety reasons. The second stop was sort of a tourist stop – just a place to take a photo and a couple of small road side shops. JW was feeling sick so we were happy for a stop at that moment.

 

We made another stop at a ceramics shop – both to shop and use the restroom. Oh that’s a bonus with the shops the tour stops at, they all have free restrooms. There are generally not free to use restrooms, there might be one public facility at the end of the street or near a beach, but otherwise that’s not the case, and they charge per person. What everyone does is buy a coffee or two at a shop and use the restroom there.

We made it to Amalfi around 1PM, in time to find something for lunch and shop. We walked up to the end of the shopping area and just happened to find a sandwich shop that Kevin Costner visited.

Seriously delicious sandwiches. Another thing I should have taken a photo of! I got a simple tomato and mozzarella – they poured olive oil on the bread, added arugula, and the last piece of ham from making the other sandwiches we bought and it was so good.

At the end of the street we searched a ceramic shop for an olive dish. I saw one particular one that at the shop outside of Amalfi, but for some reason didn’t buy it. There are some beautiful ceramics available, but we didn’t buy anything. We have some time here, so no need to rush and make a lot of purchases.

We did find olive oil in tins! That is something we have been looking for (okay, we looked at two stores locally, so we haven’t been looking that hard) so we could ship it home easier. The store we were had had lemon everything – lemon candies, lemon salt, lemon sugar, limoncello, lemon soap, lemon candles, lemon everything.

The Amalfi Cathedral is in the Piazza del Duomo we were in and JW wanted to see it, but only to make it look like he was lifting it up. He was wearing Jake’s sweatshirt so he looks funny, and his hands are pointing upward, but he’s crazy happy.

After our time in Amalfi, we got back on the bus to make our way home. Our tour guide said it was a one way trip, in the sense of the roads we were taking so the return home was over the mountain versus along the coast. It was still a twisty road, not as bad, but still there.

Once we got out of the mountains, it was a quick trip back. It was really a great experience. And we needed to do something fun. This trip was after a hectic few weeks of apartment hunting, living  in a hotel, and cooking with only what the hotel provided for us. A break was definitely in the cards, and it was a nice way to celebrate that we were moving out of the hotel very soon. We’ve been in our apartment for a few months now and are enjoying finally having internet service!

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I watched just enough to make me realize that I would love the class.

During the class she shares a timeline that shows her progress in the career she’s in now. She said one thing that made her shift her focus was that she needed to “Do one thing every single day towards reaching the goal of your dreams.” That’s simple right? Well, simple to say, maybe a little harder to do the follow through.

I haven’t published a podcast since this summer. I didn’t mean to take a break. I figured I would while we were moving, but it happened before that move. And of course we get here and we discover really bad internet. We are moving into our place soon, we don’t have a date yet so it’s just soon, and we’ll get ADSL.

DSL. Over the phone line. What? I know! But hey, I’m just glad we’ll get service. We had to sign a paper acknowledging that we understand there is a possibility of not being able to have service at our house as the growth of the city hasn’t caught up with the demand. It’s mildly understandable – rural parts of the US don’t have great internet service. But it’s certainly not what we thought we would run into here.

Because of that bad service, who knows what will happen to my podcast. But it is definitely time to do something every day to reach the goal of my dreams. In between unpacking boxes and getting out there driving these crazy streets.

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The whole point of going to the mall was to get a cell phone. There are services on base, but we had such great service in France that I just knew we could get something just as good. A couple of locals told me about cell phone providers and I took a chance with one.

And I was right! I got a 10euro a month plan that includes 4gb of data a month. Yay! We use a map application on our phones to get us to anywhere, so we do use a lot of data. I turned off the cellular service for the majority of the apps on my phone until I figure out how much I end up using. The kids both need phone plans still, but it was a heck of a time to just get mine set up so we are waiting on them. Maybe this upcoming weekend.

Next up was IKEA! It’s the same everywhere right? Well, mostly the same. JW (and the rest of the family) loved the hot dogs at IKEA in France, but really who doesn’t like a grilled hot dog? So that was high on his list to eat for lunch. But the hot dogs, not the same. They were more like sausages, and they were boiled. They were edible, but we probably won’t do that again. We ended up buying just a few things and looking at beds for the kids. All the moving we’ve done and the taking apart/putting together has caused the beds to need to be replaced. Plus we had to have an ice cream.

I didn’t really believe Chris when he arrived before the kids and I did and he said there’s trash everywhere. I mean, really? I just couldn’t see it. But unfortunately, it’s true. Here’s a better picture of Mount Vesuvius, taken when the map took us on a wild way out of IKEA’s parking lot.

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Leaving France was hard – for a lot of reasons including and not limited to plane tickets only arriving two days before we were scheduled to leave, and they were the wrong dates but I got them fixed – and so we did managed to attend my brother’s wedding in South Dakota, arriving the evening before. Nevermind that we arrived to a city about six hours away, so we had a very early morning getting up and driving. My husband performed the ceremony, which was short and sweet, and quickly two families were joined. My brother looks crazy happy in the photos, as does his new bride. She’s great, his new kids are good, and they’ve recently moved for their jobs. They were getting settled in as we were leaving to move back to Europe.

We did get to celebrate Halloween! Two years in France not dressing up and you end up with kids that were so happy to get to participate.

Thor wore his costume for days, it’s with us now but surprisingly he has not worn it. There’s a chance he forgot since we are in a hotel room and the suitcases are all stacked in a closet.

It’s hard getting settled in. Sure there are facebook groups and random people that I “know” who live here, but it’s tough. We are hotel living, and crossing all of our fingers that we’ll be in our own place by Christmas. That’s so close!

Some highlights – we will have a pool! And a great view. Plus an alarm system and locks everywhere. We will hopefully have decent internet service – in the hotel on base the internet *sucks* – it is seriously so terrible. A few days after our first arrival the service went out for probably a day and a half, and ever since we reset the router multiple times a day. We are not within walking distance of anything like a grocery store or market, but we’ve already bought one vehicle and we will more than likely have to buy another. It’s just so completely different than life in France. I’m working hard to remind myself that every place is different, nothing will be the same, and probably very little will be similar.

The sunsets are beautiful, and base reminds me of San Diego.

We are still on base so no great pictures, any errands we run are on base. We did go to a cool mall last weekend – it’s modeled after a volcano with parking around the outside, the stores in a circle, and the interior of that circle is a space that is used for things like concerts or mini carnival rides. It was kind of surprising to see a lot of mining on our way to the mall, but it’s the same kind of surprise you feel when you realize people are homeless in your town, or there are kids who only eat at school. It’s not really surprising – it’s actually happening every day.

Here’s to a new adventure. Oh and here’s a bad picture of Mt. Vesuvius. It’s right there!

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And for the quilters, crafters, and sewist’s out there – matching Kona colors!

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French children usually dress impeccably. And by that I mean if you can imagine what French children dress like based on a movie or book you saw or read, you will probably be correct. They all wear scarves, Mary Jane shoes or what I call a loafer, shirts on hot days, skirts with a shirt and sweater, sometimes a hat, and they are set free in the playground to do whatever they wish.

JW pushing his friend

The slides have that soft playground padding surrounding them, while the slide/climbing set for the big kids has rocks underneath. Not hurt you rocks, but small gravel, sufficient for padding and for the little ones to throw happily in the air.

Parents will gather on the benches and visit, I think they are gossiping but the French speak fast and in groups like this more than one is speaking, and I listen slowly. I just like to imagine they are, and not in a malicious way, but just visiting excitedly. On occasion a child will run to someone, to complain, to ask something, to get a snack.

The fence feels secure. My son knows not to leave it and he will usually find someone he knows to play with, though on a school day the playground is full of children from another nearby school, not his. The kids chase each other until it’s time to leave, they play touché (which is basically tag), they take turns following each other down the slide.

Older kids are outside the gate usually playing soccer, but occasionally riding a scooter. The entire park takes up the space of a city block so there is a very large gazebo, more benches, and a merry go round in the same space, all of that outside of the fence of the playground. The park is named after the U.S. President Wilson and there is a memorial for the Second Infantry Division.

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And for the quilters, crafters, and sewist’s out there – matching Kona colors!

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And for the quilters, crafters, and sewist’s out there – matching Kona colors!

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And for the quilters, crafters, and sewist’s out there – matching Kona colors!

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Welcome to episode 050 of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I am giving you an update on me! I had tech difficulties, and we had friends visiting, and the end of the school year, and a quilt for a teacher.

Technical issues = no internet. And just when I had an interview scheduled! But things move slowly’ish here, so it took a couple of days to fix, during which I read a lot.

I highly recommend the 11.22.63 book! So great!

We had friends visit, and we have another friend coming to visit soon! We are so thrilled to have people visit us here and it’s just a great time when we have visitors. We had a full, busy weekend when our friends were here that left us all tired.

I finished a quilt for JW’s teacher:

And as this is posting, and as you are listening, we are on our camping vacation!

A reminder of where you can find me – Tsoniki on Instagram – Tsoniki on Twitter – Me Being Crafty facebook page

Listen to episode 050 and let me know how your summer is going!

Leave me a comment and let me know how you were creative today. Me, I’m on my camping trip as this posts and all I took with me is some beadwork and embroidery. No sewing!

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Hi everyone! Whew, I did not mean to be gone for that long! I hope your summer has been amazing! We had a late start to the summer here since the kids didn’t finish school until early July. I love the schedule (I’m sure I’ve said that before!) and the past week has been a great entry to our summer.

I’ve been saving links to share with you so let’s get started!

I love zip pouches and this quilt as you go tutorial is so great.

I’ve shared a link to the Ripples block tutorial before, and here are the blocks I’ve made. I was the queen bee last month so I can’t wait to see the blocks that were sent to me once we get our mail!

I really want to do a round robin quilt with someone. A couple of friends and I talked about doing it once, but that planning didn’t go beyond talking. I am making a note in my journal to remember this for when we get settled next. Here is a great explanation of how a round robin quilt works.

Check out this beautiful pillow made as part of a blog hop for a new english paper piecing book by Sister Diane! I love this design.

And finally, a free quilt pattern from Angela over at Cut to Pieces, an orla-look alike!

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And for the quilters, crafters, and sewist’s out there – matching Kona colors!

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Welcome to episode 049 of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I am recapping episodes 008-021! I meant to do recaps at a more frequent pace, but that got away from me.

I love doing a recap episode. I enjoy remembering my visits with people and looking back at what our conversations were about.

Episode 008 – My friend Andrea House and I visited about her website, Tickled Peach, and her experiences with postpartum depression. Andrea has good words for people based on her experiences so I hope you listen to this or recommend it to a friend if they are struggling.

Episode 009 – Alorha Baga is a beadwork designer as well as a youth group coordinator,
Episode 010 – I found Allison Dutton‘s website when she shared the Falling Leaves pattern. We had a fun visit about her sewing journey, and social media. At the time of our visit she had just started her website, though she had been active on social media for a lot longer.

Episode 011 – Tracey Wirth and I have a really fun conversation that you just have to listen to! We talk about her experience designing and how we can’t let anyone hold us back. Tracey and I met a few years ago at Sewing Summit and she is doing fun stuff!

Episode 012 – Sandi Sawa Hazlewood now has a podcast of her own and I am happy to be an influence on her decision to start her show.

Episode 013 – Nicholas Ball and I talk about his journey with quilting and his amazing veggie quilts. He’s recently been on the Quilt Monkey show on QNNTV.com and showed how he does the veggies, such a great technique!

Episode 014 – I loved being able to visit with Christa Watson because I love hearing the story of how someone started and how their journey has gone. Christa has been quilting for years and years and she’s learned so much along the way, and she’s taught so much along the way too. Her website is full of tutorials and quilt alongs so be sure to check her out.

Episode 015 – It was so great to be able to talk with Julie Persinger. Julie had a podcast, CraftBorg, which was so awesome to listen to, we were a part of those early craft podcast back in 2005, 2006, 2007. She has a quilting business now and I am getting ready to send her a quilt of mine!

Episode 016 – If you don’t know May Chappell or the force behind it, Lee Monroe, head on over for a listen to hear the story of this woman and her business. I love anyone that recognizes their Grandparents too.

Episode 018 – At the end of 2014 I talked about my plans for 2015 – using the bullet journal, working on the year of making, thinking of a word for the year.

Episode 020 – I picked my word for the year! Embrace – something I am happy to report that I am still thinking about frequently.

Episode 021 – My visit with Jennifer Ackerman Haywood was a long conversation about Jennifer’s experience and life with art, of being a journalist, and writing about art and craft in her community. Her CraftSanity podcast and website are a fantastic resource for anyone interested in hearing the stories of artists.

A reminder of where you can find me – Tsoniki on Instagram – Tsoniki on Twitter – Me Being Crafty facebook page

Listen to episode 049 and let me know if you have a favorite episode, a favorite interview I’ve done, or if you have a suggestion for someone you would be interested in hearing on the show!

Leave me a comment and let me know how you were creative today. Me, I’m sending out my last two mini quilt swaps. I’ll have more on this in future episodes!

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And for the quilters, crafters, and sewist’s out there – matching Kona colors!

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Here is a second block I made as an example for my bee mates for The Bee Hive quilting bee. I picked the Ripples block.

And this is the first block I made, but my “pop of color” didn’t work out very well. This is a before pic, I have since moved the matchstick print to the four outer corners.

I have other fabrics in the same colors to use, but I had these already cut up so I put them together. I’m happy to see these with what my bee mates send me!

I also finished the top for a mini quilt I’m making for the Allison Glass Quilt Swap, organized on instagram. I SO love this! My partner mentioned loving two of these prints, and similar colors, and of course making something for another person can sometimes be intimidating but I think this turned out well. This block is so great!

I’m linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday. Next week I know I’ll have even more, deadlines you know!

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I love Craftsy sales. I will definitely been checking out the quilting and sewing sections, and checking my wishlist to which classes I need to buy.

I am also going to check out the art classes, and cooking. The art might be for me, but I am thinking that my kids would love to learn something new in cooking. They both love to cook and bake and I know that my oldest son especially is interested in learning new things. I think that’s a growing kid thing – once they hit that growth spurt and want to constantly eat, it’s just easier for them to cook for themselves! Well I am not complaining there.

I hope you find something you will love to take! Get the summer started off in a crafty way.

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