It's going to get cold around here!

The weatherman is predicting snow for Humboldt County tonight and through the weekend. Ring down to sea level! That is pretty unusual for us. It usually doesn't get very hot or very cold here....just sort of medium. So we're leaving tonight to try beat some of the snow. Yes, it's finally time for our Scottie Dog Quilts Quilting Cruise to Mexico aboard Carnival Splendor. The ship had a fire in November that made the news but it is repaired and newly refurbished and in Mexico as we speak. We have a great group of quilters going with us and many of them are bringing their husbands this time (or sisters or daughters or children or mothers....lots of extra people too!). Both my daughters, their husbands and children (my grands!) are coming as well as Mr. Scottie Dog, of course. We will have a lovely time and especially when it's going to be so cold at home. Mexico here we come!

Here is some fabulous news for those of you who wanted to come to Mexico with us but couldn't make it this time. As soon as we return we'll have all the details for our next Quilting Cruise:

We'll be cruising this time with Norwegian Cruise Lines around the Hawaiian Islands! Save the dates: March 3-11, 2012. If you are interested in a brochure, email me here and I'll send you the information when we return March 12. We're taking another week after Mexico to go to Disneyland and a Pfaff training in LA. Oh, yes, and I'll be having dinner one night with some of my elementary school friends....can't wait!

Adios! See you in a couple of weeks!

100 Day

100, One Hundred. Last week I heard about a friend of Sydney's needing to cut some stars on our AccuCut machine. Her mom came in with fabrics and cut out 100 star shapes. Wow! I thought 100 stars. Being the nosey woman I am, I asked why they needed 100 star shapes. Larissa explained it was for 100 Day at School. I hadn't heard about that but she made a garland out of all the stars by tacking them to a (long) length of ribbon. Larissa later mentioned that the teacher had asked to keep it up in the classroom. Sounded cute to me. With that, I put all thoughts of 100 Day out of my mind.

Enter this week when daughter Liz told me that Sydney was making a chain of beads....100 beads for 100 Day. What in the heck is "100 Day?" Turns out it is the 100th Day of School. I guess since my girls were young there is now celebrated in most schools around the country: "100 Days of School." Just Google 100 Days of School and you'll get tons of stuff....school lesson plans, ideas of how to help kids visualize 100 of any thing (jelly beans, marshmallows, leaves, rocks, candies, etc). Sydney's chain of beads had a "special" bead at every 10 beads. Here is a pic of Sydney on 100 Day.
Times have certainly changed....Sydney is in Kindergarten. She has learned to read, write, count and understand numbers, simple addition, count by 2's, 5's, & 10's. She has learned to tell time on an analog (dial) clock. She has an understanding about the Civil Rights movement, the names of many of the Presidents and what they accomplished and so very much more. Most of these things I didn't learn until 1st, 2nd or 3rd grades!

I'm glad I'm not in school today. I enjoyed being a kid and playing with dolls until I was 10 or so. But what a wonderful thing to actually teach children young while their brains are just asking for knowledge. At my time of life I can't seem to remember much of anything anymore.

High Tea at the Eureka Inn

There was a benefit today for the Humboldt County Historical Society today at the Historic Eureka Inn. The Inn's owners had gone bankrupt in 2004 and it had been closed and changed hands a few times before opening in May of 2010. There are only 50 rooms ready for occupancy and the restaurant, pub and coffee shop are currently closed, but the current owner, Mr. Libo Zhu has a vision to restore this wonderful Eureka Treasure to it's former glory.Redwood Sewing Center will be holding our next Mystery Quilting Retreat here April 8-10, 2011. ( If you are interested, call the store at 707 444-9662).

Today we were there for High Tea! And what a wonderful time was had by all. I think there were 100 guests. Most of the ladies present wore hats. At our table we wore hats, gloves, pearls and our pinkies were held up high! My beautiful daughter, Liz and Geri.Just a small portion of the dessert table...lemon bars, cookies and scones from Ramone's Bakery.

Margie and her lovely daughter Charlotte.

Here we are, mother and daughter.

Some more desserts...luscious cupcakes filled with goodness! (mine was chocolate with raspberry filling.) There was so much more food, but I guess I didn't get a photo. Cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad, Thai wraps, shaved Tri-Tip roast from Porter Street Barbecue ( with Cypress Grove Cheve blended with Tulle Lake horseradish!), mushroom tarts, Swedish cucumber salad and so much more. The food was fabulous, the company even more so! We laughed, told stories on one another, planned our next quilting projects, caught up on family news while entertained by a 6 piece musical group which played an eclectic mix of classical and folk tunes from many lands.
Donna, Brigette & Kenny. I loved his hat too! See Liz's bag? So chic black satin with just a peek of pink. So girly, yet sophisticated.
Here we all are (thanks Kenny, for patiently taking photos with all our cameras). L-R: Margie, Dona, Geri, Judy, Brigette, me (BrendaLou), Liz and Charlotte.

After we had our photo op we took a tour of some of the guest rooms. We are so excited about our upcoming retreat being held here. Don't worry about the restaurant not being open yet...we've got wonderful caterers coming in. And the Redwood Lounge may just be open by April.

Birthday Week

This past week was Willie's Birthday. Willie (Willa Mae) is my stepmother. But somehow it's hard to call her that since she only came into my life in 2004 when she married my dad. Dad had known her in High School and reconnected with her after my Mom passed away. And Stepmother has such nasty connotations. Willie isn't nasty in any way. She fun, funny, pretty, interested in lots of things, does lovely cross stitch work and made my Dad's last years incredibly happy. I love her for all those things. Willie and Dad, Christmas 2008

The night before Willie's birthday I got a call from my brother to tell me that Willie had cancer. She'd just heard from the doctor that she has CLL or Chronic Lymphcocytic Leukemia. Bad news is she has to go through a round of very low dose chemo (she won't be sick or lose her hair). Good news is that it is so very slow moving that she'll die of natural causes years and years before it could cause a problem. I chatted with her on her birthday and she seems upbeat. So please say a prayer for Willie...I love her so.

Friday it was my youngest granddaughter Shiloh's First Birthday.I haven't seen any birthday pics yet so here's a favorite one of mine from November. Mr. Scottie Dog and I sang Happy Birthday via SKYPE. Friday was a bittersweet day. Shiloh's first birthday and the first anniversary of my beloved Dad's passing. The circle of life. Daddy knew all about his latest great-granddaughter and had remarked how much he liked her name.

Our cruise is coming up. Two more weeks and we'll be on the road to So. CA to embark on our Mexican Quilting Cruise. It's countdown time. Cut and package up the Quilt Kits (check) (Liz did 90% of the work on these). Get my hair cut (Check), get the suitcases from the attic and pack (to do), chose clothes for the cruise (check) (whew! they all fit!). Still need to make an appointment for a pedicure (I'm going to be wearing sandals!). Picked up sandals from shoe repair guy (check!). Still need to finish name badge holders for those who are sewing with us (I am 80% done with these). Here are a few of the completed ones. There is a pocket under the flap to tuck a little something inside and a clear vinyl pouch for the names. These will be worn around the neck in the sewing room on our cruise. I need to make a few more. Each one is different.

It was supposed to rain today but the weather is gloriously wonderful! The sun is shining, the daffodils are ready to burst into bloom and some of the azaleas are blooming. The rain is now holding off until Monday. Happy Weekend to you!

Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This week these days were filled! Thursday my local Quilt Guild, REQG held it's February meeting. The program was our Basket Auction. I don't know how many baskets there were, but there were lots! All proceeds were to bring National Teachers to Eureka. Here's Maggie with three of the baskets.

This next picture is of not only a fantastic basket, but a lively quilt waiting for Show and Tell! The basket was from the Wednesday Group....a quilting group of ladies that have been meeting for at least 25 years. The theme of their basket is obvious: LEMONS! Lemon Curd, lemon lotion, lemon fabrics, lemon pot holders, lemon tea, lemon soda, even lemon scented dish soap! So much more. I was impressed that everyone contributed a lemon recipe too! Leta's Lemon Meringue Pie was included. Whatever the last bid on this basket was, I'm sure Leta's recipe was worth it!
Here's our contribution: An Amy Butler box. It included some Amy Butler patterns, Amy Butler stationery notes, Amy Butler software, Amy Butler Fat Quarters, Amy Butler scented Soak and more....a Redwood Sewing Center gift certificate too!Liz and I couldn't stay until the end of guild, so we didn't' see who won the baskets, but they were wonderful and for a worthy cause.

Friday morning I went to the pool for my Aqua Aerobics class and boy, did we have a workout! I was bushed. At 3 pm I picked up Sydney and back to the pool for Sydney's first swim lesson from Grandma. Quite tentative at first, she was finally having fun and off to the deeper end as we ended our 1 1/2 hour time. We'll go back on Monday and see how far we get.

As usual, Friday night is date night around our house and Mr. Scottie Dog took me to dinner. Afterwards we came home and I was asleep within half an hour....all that swimming had me tuckered out!

Today (Saturday) I was at the store bright and early. Katie taught a Heather Bailey Pattern called Smartie Girl Book Bag.It was fun to see all the gals as their bags progressed. Here they are at the end of the day (minus Judy...she went home a few minutes early!)
Back Row: Katie, Donna, Cathie, Connie, Susan. Front Row: Margie & Geri. Aren't their bags wonderful!

Picked up Sydney after work. She's spending the night. Ahhh.....

Some of Grammy's Girls

As you know, I am a Grandma, a Gamma, a Grammy...doesn't matter what you call me, I am crazy for my girls (and my grandson too!). Mercedes (Sadies) Sarah Grace turned three last week. She had a SweetPea Princess Party. Technology being what it is, I used Skype to close the miles and got to go to the party. Here's a picture of the big girl now with the adorable Castle Cake Beka made.Happy Birthday Sadies! You and your cake are truly adorable!

Sydney had two milestones back to back. First we pierced her ears and Monday she lost her first tooth. It's been loose for about 3 weeks and the 2nd tooth coming in right behind it. Liz tied a thread to it and before she could even pull, the tooth popped out as she tightened the thread around the tooth.Lots of root still on that tooth! Here she is with her new tooth coming right in. I have it on good authority that the Tooth Fairy who used to bring me a dime or quarter now brings 5 (that's right, FIVE) golden coins (Buchanan dollars). The golden dollar coins are fun...they are doing all the presidents. You can ask for them at your bank. Today is clear and sunny. Sorry for my friends in the Midwest & East.