Birthday Pictures

Here are some pictures from my surprise birthday party that Ed gave me - very cool! There were like fire works on my cake, much better than 47 candles!!!!

Sad, Very Sad News

The company my husband work's for has announced the intent to close the factory in Enschede. It's very sad, many people will loose their jobs, I pray the transition will not be painful for them. As for us? Who knows. Ed's job is secure, the location we will move is yet to be determined. More to follow...

It's Been Quite a Week!

Ed has always teased me that the week between Mother's Day and my birthday has always been a week long celebration, but I do have to agree with him this year! He really spoiled me this year! We went away on Mother's Day weekend and stayed in Maastricht Saturday night after seeing Luxembourg and drove around Belgium. We saw Bastogne where the Battle of the Bulge took place and the American cemetery in Luxembourg city. It was nice to see that the cemetery is so beautifully kept but sad to see so many young lives cut short. We also saw the German cemetery and was reminded that they too lost sons and fathers.

We stayed in Maastricht that night on the river and had a wonderful dinner.
The next morning we headed to Tongeren for my favorite thing to do - checking out flea markets!!! Ed found a great painted trunk and lamp made out of an old surveyors tool. I picked up some wooden bowls and some white stoneware potties (yes, I know that's weird.)


Thursday we headed to Amsterdam by train and checked in to our hotel. Kelly, our daughter had arrived in Amsterdam the day before with a group from her church. We met up for lunch and then took a tour of the Van Gogh museum. I think he was my favorite artist. The museum did a great job of displaying how his style progressed over the years of his life. We then went out to dinner with Kelly and then Ed and I headed down to the Red Light District. It was kind of sad actually. I couldn't look the young woman in the eye's. It sickened me to hear men making obscene remarks at them and laughing at them, but most of all I think I'm not happy with my self for going down there.

Friday was totally a fun, fun day!!!! Coffee with one of my daughters, two quilt shops, a bead shop, a canal boat tour, apple pancakes, and two English book shops, need I say more!!!!!!
This is a picture of Den Haan & Wagenmakers in Amsterdam. It is such a beautiful store! It is not a traditional quilt store, but sells mainly the traditional reproduction Dutch fabric that I just adore!!! I learned that the fabric is actually made not to far from Enschede, it would be great to go see it made, hopefully I can figure out how to make that happen.

We got back home Friday night and then Saturday morning, the day of my birthday we headed to Munster, Germany for the first big flea market of their Summer season. It's a great flea market and huge! Needless to say, I took a long nap that afternoon! Saturday night Ed took me out for dinner and boy was I surprised when several people we knew were there waiting to surprise me! I felt very honored and loved this week!!! Thank you honey!

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

I can say without a doubt that motherhood has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It has also broken my heart, made me mad as hell, made me anxious and worry, and taught me what true unconditional love is. It has made me laugh so hard I cried and so proud that I thought I would surely burst. I consider my now grown children my closest friends along with my husband Ed, I am truly blessed. I miss you guys and love you soooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!!

Having Fun Making Jewlery

The last few years I've gotten in to making jewelery and with Spring upon us I was in the mood to make some costume jewelery. I like to use sterling silver but have been unable to locate any sterling silver jewelery findings here in the Enschede area so I've been using just what I've been able to find. When I lived in Raleigh I took a metal working class at a local college, I had allot of fun, but I'm just to intimidated and clutzy to work with power tools and fire!! I haven't managed to hurt my self with my quilting yet, though I have heard of people sewing through their finger!

More pictures of Germany

We've had three straight days of rain, I know we need it badly but I am missing the sun so I thought I would post some recent sunny pictures from our trip. We drove through miles and miles of beautiful fields of yellow. I've learned that the fields are actually planted with rapeseed. I had never heard of that before, but I guess it is used to make vegetable oil and is also used in the production of diesel fuel. I'm partial to olive oil, but the rapeseed fields sure are pretty.

New Hairstyle

I've come across a website that you can upload your picture and try on different hairstyles (TheHairStyler.com), very fun!!!!! I've been letting my hair grow; this is the longest Ed has seen it and I wouldn't even consider it long. Well, I have had it with the hot flashes and the back of my neck being constantly wet, so I'm getting it chopped off again tomorrow. I still want a different style, I've basically worn it the same more or less for the past 25 years. I'm printing off a bunch of pictures and hopefully my hairdresser will help me decide on which one. If all else fails, I can always go for this free and easy look - and with the hormones in wack I may just be able to grow the beard too!!!!

Another One Bites The Dust!

One more quilt is done, yeah! It's my mission this year to get all my UFO's finished. It is so hard to not start something new! Seeing what everyone is doing on the Quilting 4 Pleasure Ring is filling my head with all sorts of projects I want to do. All in all, I don't have too many UFO's left, so I should be able to get them done within the year. I don't count my Dear Jane quilt. That is on the five year plan at least! The carpal tunnel problem keeps flaring up, so I find my self using the sewing machine more and more. I love to hand piece and hand appliqué though and I hate to give that up. When I get back to the states, I guess it's time to check in with a dr. to see what can be done.

Back at Last!

Sorry for the long absence! My sister and her husband were visiting for 2 1/2 weeks and we were traveling much of the time. I also ended up with a cold that turned into a sinus infection so I was not feeling the best. It was wonderful to see my sister Laraine and her husband Gregg. We had a great time, got to see allot and catch up with each other since we saw each other last year.


We spent 5 days in Germany traveling all the Martin Luther sites, Wartburg Castle, Erfurt and Wittenberg. I must say I was quite surprised by how "depressed" the former East Germany still is. I guess it will take some time to restore the old buildings. Regardless, it was amazing to see the places where Martin Luther walked. The museum in Wittenberg was particularly interesting. To see actual items that Martin Luther used and his pulpit that he preached from for 30 years was a highlight. We spent 1 1/2 days in Berlin, not nearly enough time since there is so much to see. We also spent 1/2 day at Buchenwald concentration camp. We hadn't planned on stopping there, but I'm glad we did. It was hard for me to ignore the contrast of such a beautiful spring day with beautiful views and the horrors that happened there 60 years ago.



Later in the week we headed to the tulip fields, Kinderdijk, Delft (and drooled over all the beautiful blue and white dishes!) We then headed up north of Amsterdam to stay the night in a small village. The next day we went to the Zuiderzee Museum and Marken, an old fishing village. It is a little more touristy than I remember it from 12 years ago, but it is still quite charming.

I hope Laraine and Gregg had a wonderful time. I told them they had to go home, because I was exhausted!