Lola Quilts

I have not fallen off the earth!

2009-02-06T00:13:00.004-06:00

Boy, I didn't realize that it had been so long since I last posted! I've made a change in my life - I am now a full time student (as of last Fall.) I have one more year to go until I get my Bachelors - the month I turn 50! That is if I can pass this statistics course I'm in right now. Numbers have never been a strength for me.

I've wanted to get my degree for a long, long time but with moving so much it was pretty impossible. We are here in Iowa for a little while I think - so now is the perfect time. School has definitely cut into my quilting and beading time! But it feels good to use the other side of my brain. I am usually the oldest in my classes and it is hard to keep my mouth shut at times. I don't want to be the "old lady" in the class that always talks! It was especially hard last semester when I took a political science class!

Wish me luck in statistics!!!

Lots of Pillows!

2008-07-30T11:15:00.008-05:00

Our old pillows were getting pretty shabby - so I decided to redo and give some of the others a little face lift. The material was from an old quilt top that had pieces in very bad shape - so I cut it down and free motion quilted the heck out of it and then made the top into pillows. The tan pillows were not in too bad a shape - so I put some applique on top of them from the same quilt top. I use regular bed pillows (feather) for the large pillows and put two padded pillow protectors on them to make them extra squishy. They are much more comfortable than the pillow forms you can buy at craft stores! Great for a nice nap on the couch! The small square pillow was made over from left over quilted fabric, denim and buttons.

Another Kitty Picture

2008-07-27T22:56:00.003-05:00

I came into our bedroom and found another one of our kitties had adopted the little doll bed as his sleeping spot! This is Jasper - the little cross eyed one year old. He is such a sweetie. He definitely fits better than our big cat Tommy does.

Color Wheel

2008-07-26T21:17:00.004-05:00

I am taking an online class from Machine Quilters Resource called Color and Design for Art Quilters. The first assignment was to create a color wheel. It was allot of fun to do and I also practiced free motion embroidery for the first time (the ladybug.) I have never been trained in color use - I just use what I love and sometimes it turns out well and sometimes it doesn't! That's the nice thing about scrap quilts - they usually turn out great no matter what you pick!!

Small Quilt

2008-07-25T11:47:00.003-05:00

This is a 16" X 20" quilt I finished from a pattern that I bought at Little Quilts. It's by Lori Smith of From My Heart to Your Hands. I love her pattens! This is the first of one of her patterns that I have made - and will definitely be making more.

Little Quilts Visit

2008-07-23T11:31:00.004-05:00

In June my husband and I took a drive down to Virginia and Georgia to see our girls and son-in-law. We had a great time and just reinforces my wish to be geographically closer to them! It seems most families are spread apart these days - I still don't have to like it though! Anyway, on the way back from Georgia - we drove right by Marietta, GA and had to stop at "Little Quilts." I love "Little Quilts", they were some of the first quilts I made.

I completely wore out my first book so I bought another at the store. I was able to get it autographed by Mary Ellen Von Holt,very fun! Here are some of the goodies I got!

Operation Support for Deployed Military

2008-07-21T22:21:00.012-05:00

It's Christmas in July! I was at the LQS last week and saw a wall full of stockings - there must have been at least 200 of them. I found out that they were for the "Operation Support for Deployed Military" program. I have a soft spot in my heart for the military and their families, as my husband is retired Army. So I ended up making 9 stockings. The material was originally for sleep pants for my kids - I think about 8 years ago!

Check this group out - it is a WONDERFUL program -

Head Blogging

2008-07-20T10:47:00.003-05:00

Hi! Weird title for a post isn't it! I can't believe it has been since Mother's Day since I last posted! But I have been blogging in my head! I am writing posts in my head all the time! I just don't seem to get them translated into my finger tips on the keyboard! Does anybody else do that? I'll try to catch up with what I've been up to in the next few posts.

Happy Mothers Day!

2008-05-11T10:12:00.000-05:00

My husband brought over some tulip bulbs from the Netherlands last fall on a business trip and they just bloomed - they are so pretty! The last owners of this house loved to garden - so I am happily discovering all the beautiful perennials they planted.

100th Post!

2008-04-21T09:43:00.007-05:00

This is my 100th post! I never thought I would blog this long - as I am not a diary person - but this has definitely been fun! I've "met" allot of great woman all over the world! In honor of my 100th post, I'm posting a free pattern for a quilt that I designed and made for my daughter and her husband when they purchased their first home. It is foundation paper pieced and the second picture shows it framed. Click here for the free pattern!

Lamb Quilt

2008-04-16T09:39:00.008-05:00

I've been working on challenging myself to make free form quilts. It really is allot of fun. This quilt was made with fusible web and antique "cutter" quilts and lots of playing with thread. It was so fun not to have to match seams and just go for it!

I had bought a tyed quilt from Ebay probably 5 years or so ago. When I received it there were actually 2 more quilts hidden inside! It was amazing. The very first quilt is I'm guessing from the 1870's or so and hand quilted, mostly threadbare though. The second quilt was from the late 1800's or early 1900's and was tyed. This was in better condition but still a cutter. The third layer was made in the 30's, was in better condition but still I would consider it a cutter quilt. I've always wondered what I should do with these quilts. I've always hated the thought of cutting something up that someone has made, but, the way they were was definitely not useful. So in a weak moment I cut into them, saving the larger pieces that maybe can be made into a doll quilt. My Lamb Quilt is the result. I had to do allot of machine stitching to stabilize the old quilts but I think it turned out ok. I think it would look really cute in a child's room.

Chicago International Quilt Festival

2008-04-15T11:14:00.003-05:00

Ed and I headed to Chicago Saturday for the IQS quilt show. It was a beautiful show. I didn't take any classes, but was content to look at all the beautiful quilts and of course the vendor area! I played with allot of the long arm quilting machines - they are allot of fun - but the price has always scared me off! Maybe when I win the lottery!

Ed doesn't mind going to the shows with me - and I'll tell you why. We went to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt show several years ago when it was in Williamsburg, VA and very, very crowded; you could barely move through the vendor area. I won't go into much detail here but lets just say he was inappropriately groped and not my me!

The quilt shown won the Best of Show Award- "I Ain’t No Spring Chicken" is 57” x 39” and was made by David Taylor of Steamboat Springs, CO. It really is a fun and beautiful quilt.

On the Road

2008-04-02T11:04:00.013-05:00

2600 miles and 33 hours of driving in 4 days! I am whooped. Ed and I drove from Iowa to Harrisonburg, VA to move our daughter, Kelly to Augusta, GA - in 4 days! We are crazy, but that is all the time Ed could get off from work. It was wonderful to see my girls and son-in-law and wonderful to see all the blooming trees and flowers! I love the South and can't wait to get back to living there! It is such a pretty part of the country. There is nothing like Spring time in the South. I had my fill of "good" sweet tea too!

On the drive back to Iowa, we drove by Paducah, KY and of course had to drive through the town! I had never been there before - I thought it was very pretty. On the way back to the interstate Ed had to stop and get some gas - and low and behold it must have been quilter's karma - Hancock's of Paducah was right next to the gas station! Very fun!! I was embarrassed to take pictures so I asked my husband to do it. He's so nice. I couldn't stay long, but long enough to pick up some bolt ends of Kona cotton - at $1.59 a yard. Hard to pass that up!

NO MORE SNOW!

2008-03-27T16:43:00.003-05:00

It has been snowing all day, enough already! My fake spring flowers make me happy though! There is a guy in town that has a salvage business and I love to go there and look through the treasures in his shop. He makes these flower garden stakes out of old wood - and I just fell in love with them.

Awhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2008-03-24T11:11:00.003-05:00

I had to post pictures of my cat, Tommy. He is about 7 years old and I adopted him from the pound when he was a year old. He is such a funny cat - such a tom cat! I picked up this little doll bed when we lived in the Netherlands and put a quilt on it - Tommy has adopted it as his bed! I took his picture and he woke up and gave me the "go away" look. Well, enough freaky old cat lady for the day!

Done!

2008-03-15T19:41:00.004-05:00

I think sometimes it takes me longer to put the binding, sleeve and signature on a quilt than it does to make the quilt itself! You can definitely tell what parts of quilting I don't get very excited about! Anyway, my Dutch quilt is finally up on the wall!

Spring on My Windowsill

2008-03-06T17:58:00.002-06:00

Even though it is still winter outside I can have Spring on my windowsill!!!

New Endeavor

2008-02-12T15:17:00.000-06:00

I have decided to start selling some of the jewelry I make on Etsy.com. I love to make jewelry and sometimes get comments on things that I make so I thought - why not? We'll see what happens!

9 Inches and Counting

2008-02-06T09:24:00.000-06:00

It sure is pretty isn't it? I refuse to complain about the amount of snow today. I am redirecting my negative thoughts into positive thoughts for the victims of those awful storms in the South yesterday, as I write this 49 people have lost their lives. It looks like those storms are headed farther east today. God bless those people.

The news said some of the tornadoes came at night, that brought back memories of what my mom used to say to me. She said tornadoes never come at night! I think parents will tell their children ANYTHING to get them to go to bed!! I also remember about being told if you hear the sound of a train coming - take cover, it is a tornado. Well, being from a railroad family I always listened for a train whistle!!! I wasn't the brightest kid!

Quilt Hangers

2008-01-31T20:12:00.000-06:00

I love flea markets and you can usually find pretty good deals on salvage pieces of old furniture. I saw these old moldings and turned them into quilt hangers. I used large cup hooks and screwed one into the bottom on each side and then put a hanger on the back. I used a regular cafe curtain rod to hang the quilt through its sleeve and placed the rod on the cup hooks.

The top picture shows a molding that is from a dresser I had as a child. The dresser was crushed by the movers placing my husbands motorcycle on top of it when we moved to Germany! So much for that dresser, but I saved the molding - it was too pretty to throw out. I've seen lots of small molding pieces that I thought would make cute hangers for miniatures too - someday...

For the quilt hanger to the left I used a pair of old skis and poles that we picked up at a yard sale when we lived in Alaska. I tied the skis to a nail in the wall with jute thread since I didn't want to damage the skis.

Happy Anniversary to Me & Hubbie

2008-01-30T17:34:00.001-06:00

Today my husband and I have been married 26 years! Hard to believe, even though the aches in my joints keep telling me that I'm not 21 anymore! I don't think we've changed at all! ;)

It is 6 degrees outside right now and I have no heat! Turns out I haven't had heat for a couple days, I just didn't realize it until the temperature dropped outside yesterday morning. I guess our house is pretty well insulated so that is at least a good thing. I have the fireplace going so that helps, three of the kitties are curled up by the fireplace and the other one was curled up on my lap and not happy that I got up to do some chores around the house. Hopefully the furnace will be fixed tomorrow morning -so for tonight I will be sleeping on the couch!

Military Quilt

2008-01-29T18:37:00.000-06:00

I'm still working on machine quilting the Dutch Tulip Quilt so there is not much new to share. I thought I would share something older. My husband retired from the Army six years ago and I made him a retirement quilt to pin all of his past company insignia on. I paper pieced it and then hand quilted it. During some of our moves I think a couple of his pins have been misplaced, so hopefully he can get some new ones.

My Dog has me thoroughly trained!

2008-01-28T17:34:00.000-06:00

It's hard to be mad at a dog that looks this ridiculous! I've learned that Golden's are notorious for "stealing" things. Uh, yeah, I guess so!!! What a stinker. If it ain't nailed done he thinks it is fair game. I won't list the things he has gotten into because I don't want my husband to get mad at me all over again, let's just say I have had to replace quite a few things, including my quilting gloves! We are still going to obedience classes and it is helping, but I think we still have some major work to do!

Amazing!

2008-01-27T19:39:00.000-06:00

Every year bald eagles from the North migrate to the Quad Cities area to hang out for the winter. Due to the locks and dams on the Mississippi River in this area, the water does not freeze solid so the eagles come here to fish.

Yesterday was the first time that we saw them - it was AMAZING!!! In one area alone there had to be at least 100 Bald Eagles sitting in the trees. They are such huge birds, I never realized that they were so large! We got to see them soar over the river and look for fish and then dive and pick one up - truly amazing! We saw some nests but not too many, I'm thinking they were probably deeper in the woods and people are prohibited from walking back into the forest. It was hard not to get teary eyed while watching those beautiful birds.

I grew up only about 45 minutes from the Quad City area and had never heard of the eagles here. I learned that the eagles were on the endangered list and there were not many left. Thankfully, the last 15 years or so they've made a wonderful comeback.

Click on the picture for a better view of the eagles. The picture with the single eagle in it is of a younger eagle, he doesn't have his white head or tail feathers yet. I felt silly with my tiny Sony camera, most people were there with major, professional heavy duty cameras! I have more pictures in Webshots if interested.

Thank you Krisi!

2008-01-27T11:57:00.000-06:00

My daughter Krisi pointed out to me last night that I had a punctuation error in my Blog that was driving her crazy. I had "Lola Quilt's" for my Blog title. She said it should be "Lola Quilts" instead. It's nice to have an English teacher in the family now to correct my bad grammar and punctuation! Too bad she's too far away to smack her on her rear! My other daughter, Kelly, is a journalist for a newspaper but she would never tell me if I goofed up because she's nicer!!! I love you Krisi! :)

Enough Winter Already!

2008-01-26T07:55:00.001-06:00

And it's only January! I'm so ready for spring.

English Flower Garden Quilt

2008-01-25T08:18:00.000-06:00

This is a quilt I just finished putting the binding on. The blocks were from a block of the month club from High Country Quilts in Colorado Springs. I was glad to see that it was still there when I looked online, it's a great store. We lived in Colorado Springs over 8 years ago! Yes, it does take me along time to get things done!

The original blocks had art nouveau flower appliquéd in them, but I'm not a really big fan of that style, so I replaced them with Grandmother Flower Garden flowers. I love the bright colors of the quilt, I think that originally drew new to sign up. The blocks are hand pieced and the borders were put on my machine and then machine quilted.

New Sewing Room

2008-01-24T14:36:00.000-06:00

When we moved from the Netherlands in August we had these cupboards from Ikea that we had bought for our clothes since our apartment did not have built in closets. Of course we do not need them here in Iowa for our clothes - but they make wonderful storage for my quilting room! We took a spare bedroom in the house and turned it into a sewing room - it's great to have so much space to spread out for a change.

The picture to the left shows my flannel board. It is made out of a preprinted flannel piece of fabric that I picked up at the local quilt shop. My husband and I wrapped it around a thin piece of particle board and hung it on the wall. It works great and no more cats on the floor laying on my quilt blocks!

I used to collect crocheted potholders from the 40's and 50's - I looooooooove them! My husband hates them though so I put them in my sewing room as valances for the windows. They are so fun to look at and I love the bright colors.

Dutch Fabric Quilt

2008-01-23T10:20:00.001-06:00

I'm almost done with my Dutch Fabric Quilt! I really should have a name for it by now, maybe something will come to me soon. The center is hand pieced, the tulip border is appliquéd with machine embroidery and I am machine quilting it. I really enjoy hand appliqué but the carpal tunnel problem still nags at me so the machine works quite nicely for right now! When I was ironing the quilt top some of the red bled onto the white and beige background so hopefully that will not be a problem when I wash it. Maybe some of the color catcher sheets will help in the washer.

26th Anniversary Celebration

2008-01-22T15:12:00.000-06:00

Ed and I will celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary on the 30th of this month so we went on a quick getaway to Galena for the weekend. It was sooooooooooooooooo cold! -13 degrees! We had a great weekend regardless of the weather. Ed was a good husband and heated up the car and dropped me off at the door so I wouldn't freeze my toes. We stayed at a victorian mansion built in the 1880's called the Cloran. We would highly recommend it, the owners were gracious and the breakfast was the best!!!

We had some wonderful meals, not particularly in line with my attempt at healthy eating these days but I guess it could have been worse!

Of course there was a quilt, bead, and yarn store in the agenda!!!! Phat Quarters Quilt Shop was very nice, had a great selection of fabrics and patterns and a nice and helpful staff. The more I move and travel, the more I appreciate kindness and helpfulness in stores!!! Galena Bead is a very fun store. Nicely layed out, fun owners and staff and they have a great selection of beads and supplies. My other favorite store in Galena has to be the yarn store. Though I don't knit as much as I used to, I still love wonderful yarn and will still answer the call to come into a yarn shop!! Fiber Wild! does not have a web site yet, but said they were working on it. This is a beautiful yarn shop. The owner is very, very friendly and helpful.

On the way back to LeClaire on Sunday we stopped at the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque. This is really a great museum, very well done! We kind of hurried through it to get home to watch football, but well worth the visit if you are ever in the area!

We had a wonderful weekend in Galena and I really look forward to going back when it is maybe 75 degrees!!!! Thanks Brad for watching Bear and the kitties!

Back to Blogging

2008-01-18T15:31:00.000-06:00

I'm back to blogging after being absent for six months. Time flies when your having fun moving huh???? We are finally settled in LeClaire, Iowa it's a pretty little town outside of the quad cities (Bettendorff & Davenport on the Iowa side and Moline & Rock Island on the Illinois side. It's the birthplace of Buffalo Bill! And best of all it has a wonderful quilt shop: Expressions in Threads. The house is about 10 years old and was ready to just move in, we didn't have to paint, carpet or anything which is a real plus when you move so frequently. There were some wonderful older homes in the area, but they just needed too much work on them to move into. I guess an "old home" is a relative term after seeing people live in homes 300 years old in the Netherlands! After having so much snow and it being so cold, it is hard to remember that it was so green when we moved in!

Ed is traveling quite a bit, probably about 50 - 60% of the time. He gets to go to Argentina, China, Canada, China, France and Germany. He's usually pretty thoughtful and brings me good presents back!

Big news is our son Brad is living with us! He is working full time as a programmer during the day and a part-time student at night. He is still working on his own business too of building websites. He has one of his own that he has had for a while, Mactips. Check it out if you are into Macs or if you have i pods, it's really good! Of course I'm biased! Brad brought a little friend with him when he came home! Not a girl friend thank God, but a cross-eyed orange kitten named Jasper. He is adorable and constantly messing with the other cats, very cute!

In October, while Ed was in China, I decided I really, really needed a dog. Actually I had decided a long time ago, but significant other did not agree. He stopped protesting as loud as he once had, or maybe I was just wearing him out? Anyway, I ended up finding an 8 month old golden retriever named Bear at the Davenport shelter. He has been a handful! The poor thing developed a severe infection after he was neutered and then he had kennel cough. After me babying him for two weeks, I had a monster of a dog on my hands. After three months, he is becoming a wonderful dog!!! I just adore him. I take him to obedience every Wednesday night and I think I'm being more trained then he is. It is so much fun to see all the dogs and puppies!!

Life back in the states has taken some getting used to. I got used to not eating fast food overseas so I really didn't want to get back in that habit. I miss our friends, the flowers, flea markets, cheese and the cows and so much more!!!! My hometown is about 35 minutes away. It's been hard coming back to this area. Lots of memories. It has been wonderful to reconnect family that we don't get to see often. Don't know if the sadness ever goes away when you loose your parents, grandparents and others though.

Other big news is I'm going to school! I will graduate from Western Illinois University hopefully in 1 1/2 years! I'm taking 16 credit hours right now, so it definitely cuts in on quilting time, but this is something I've always want to do and why not now?

I'll get more pictures up soon and try to fill in the last six months!

Visit to Mannheim, Germany

2007-07-15T08:16:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we visited our friends Steven, Susan and Jonathan in Burstadt, Germany. They are our long time friends from when we lived in Mannheim. It's always wonderful to see them! Ed and I spent almost 7 years there raising our kids. We have so many wonderful memories. The military community in Mannheim is like a ghost town now, so many young men and women deployed to Iraq. I believe allot of their families have gone back home. I think I would have done the same.
Ed worked at Coleman Barracks in one of the aviation units. He arranged the placement of this Huey helicopter in the front of the installation when he was stationed there and it is still there!!!

Charming Custom

2007-07-15T08:09:00.000-05:00

The Dutch have such charming customs! I saw a book bag hanging from a flagpole and thought to myself, that was a cruel practical joke! But then I kept seeing them - so I had to find out why so many back packs were on flag poles! Turns out it is a custom when a youth graduates from High School to hang their backpack from a flagpole!

12 Days and Counting!

2007-07-15T08:01:00.000-05:00

12 more days and I'll be home! I told two of my kitties we are moving and this was their reaction ;) . I have not told Gabby the little one, her mental status is much too delicate for the stress. (Yes, kids, I am indeed a freaky old cat woman!)

Sorry for Not Posting

2007-06-20T17:46:00.000-05:00

Sorry for not posting to my blog in a couple of weeks, I've been in major denial. That is usually how I cope with change and stress - denial and lots of carbohydrates! Those of you that have seen my hips know I'm not kidding!!!! Anyway, not a good example for my now grown up children, but I do the best I can. I guess I could have worse coping skills! The big news is that we are headed to the Moline, Illinois area at the end of July. I was hoping for the southeastern United States to be closer to the kids, but Moline is only a couple hour plane ride away or a very, very long days drive.

I was born and raised only about 45 minutes from Moline, and after living all over the world it seems strange to me to be heading "home." I have many bittersweet memories, as I'm sure most people do. It will be wonderful to reconnect with family.

Ed and I have been looking at real estate sites in the Quad Cities area (Moline, Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Bettendorf, Iowa) for houses. Housing prices seem to be more affordable than they were in North Carolina. It's hard to tell since we are not checking out the whole neighborhood though. It has always been a dream of mine to have an old house. Now, I know that is a relative term, old to me is 100 years old, I know that is nothing over here in the Netherlands, but that is old enough for me. I love the craftsman style prairie houses of the early 1900's. They have such beautiful wood work in them. I haven't found too many Victorian houses. That's ok, I think I saw too many horror movies that had Victorian houses in them as a kid and I think they are all haunted! Ed is really drawn to brand new homes, which are fine, they definitely have their pluses. I'll let you know who wins!

So it looks like the end of July we will be headed out of here with our three cats. It will be crazy, we will have to buy 2 cars, a house. I don't think Ed will want to ride his bike to work in the States like he does here!

We are planning one last mini trip - "mini" due to the costs of the above paragraph!!! Ed wants to go to Normandy and I want to go see Giverny where Monet lived and then spend a day or two in Paris. Looking forward to it!

Birthday Pictures

2007-05-31T10:59:00.000-05:00

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

2007-05-21T16:25:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-05-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-05-13T17:13:00.000-05:00

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

2007-05-10T07:46:00.000-05:00

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

2007-05-08T19:04:00.000-05:00

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

2007-05-07T16:50:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-05-03T17:03:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-05-03T15:54:00.000-05:00

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!

Het Stift

2007-04-10T16:42:00.000-05:00

Monday morning, (2nd Easter here in the Netherlands) we headed to the flea market in Weerselo. It was very crowded so it was difficult to look at things. There were not many antiques, nothing that really excited me too much, so we didn't stay long. We stopped at this little place in Weerselo that we always say we are going to stop at and never do. I'm so glad we did! Turns out it was a very old convent from the year 1100! Most of the remaining buildings are from the 16th and 17th century due to fires in the 1500's. We ended up having lunch in a converted barn and I had my very favorite Dutch treat, Appelpannekoeken! YUMM! Here is the website, if you are interested - Het Stift.

Paasvuur

2007-04-09T15:25:00.000-05:00

Easter evening we went over to our friends house and they had wonderful Dutch Easter goodies for us to eat! We then went to a Paasvuur (Easter Fire!) I had never heard of one of them before. But it is an old custom of long ago of celebrating new life, ridding the area of demons and ensuring fertility. Well, I could go along with the first two, but not the fertility one, maybe I can pass it along to my daughter Kristen ;) I'm teasing, NO I am not ready to be a grandmother!

Anyway, back to the Paasvuur. It was amazing. People had piled trees and brush and lumber at least 3 stories high. At dusk it was lit and we had a huge fire. From what I understand the Paasvuur is especially still held in the eastern part of the Netherlands. With my American mind, all I could think about were lawsuits and how we could never have something like that in the States! It was wonderful. This is the first year in my entire life I don't think I have a chocolate bunny hangover after Easter!!! If interested, here is more information on the Paasvuur.

Update on Dutch Quilt

2007-04-06T15:17:00.000-05:00

This is one block from my Dutch quilt I've been working on. The block is 18" square and there will be 4 of them set on point alternating with blank squares. I think I'm going to do some appliqué in the blank squares. I'm not sure of what yet but I'm thinking it makes sense to do tulips, it being a Dutch quilt! I've been hand piecing, which I really love. I'm not sure if I like the very pale yellow along the outside of the block though. I ordered it from a shop in Amsterdam and on the website I thought it was a little more beige. Maybe it will be ok. In the picture, it doesn't look so yellow, (maybe it is my computer!!!!)

That's Not Cute!

2007-04-06T06:21:00.000-05:00

Ed sent me this picture along with this text from a local TV station:
" FC Twente… (local soccer team) could have sheep on the team and still beat Almelo (another cities soccer team) this weekend"…. These sheep are along Hwy 1 along with a banner saying the same thing!

I know Europeans are crazy for soccer, but leave the poor sheep alone!!! :)

My 40th Birthday Quilt

2007-04-04T16:23:00.000-05:00

It seems like I can't get anything completed lately, so I thought I would show a quilt that is done! I think maybe I am working on too many things right now, if I could focus on completing one project maybe I would feel like I am accomplishing something! All this beautiful weather has given me spring fever I guess, so I have difficulty working on one project for any length of time. Anyway, this is a quilt I made in honor of my 40th birthday. It is a tree of life quilt and if you look close there are a couple "planned" errors in it. That is to reflect the side of the family that gave me my mental issues!!!!! It is scary to say, but my 50th birthday is in 3 years and 1 month. Goodness! Well, I guess it beats the alternative. The Dutch have a custom of calling one's 50th birthday their Abraham or Sarah. When one reaches the age of 50 they are supposed to be filled with wisdom. Well I better hurry up and start getting some of that wisdom, because I could sure use it! Can you see the errors?

So Cute!!!!

2007-04-01T19:33:00.000-05:00

Ed and I went for a drive Saturday to the farming village of Staphorst. It is a little town about 1 1/2 hours west of Enschede. We saw this little fella - isn't he adorable! There is nothing cuter than baby animals! There were lambs, kids? (baby goats), calves and baby horses every few feet along the roads! I'm sure Ed got sick of hearing me say - "OH, MY GOSH! HOW CUTE IS THAT!" I've never eaten a baby animal in my life and I know I will definitely not eat one now! You wouldn't eat lamb chops anymore too Brad, if you had seen the little sweeties!

Staphorst was very quaint. I felt like we were transported back in time!!! Almost every house had a thatched roof and beautiful lace curtains at the windows. The barns were actually attached to the houses so they looked like one huge building. I love animals, but I think that might be a little too close for me. The woman (mostly older woman) still wear the traditional clothing and wooden shoes! Here is a picture of a woman mowing with her John Deere Lawn Mower (the residents are smart too!)

I saw this bike outside of a shop (a quilt shop of course!) and thought what a cool idea! They had crocheted a decorative piece for the wheel, (I have no idea what to call it!) Ed said that the lady had too much time on her hands.

Thank you Frau King

2007-03-26T18:38:00.000-05:00

A lovely woman recently passed away, Judith King. She was a very dear, special lady who was so kind to our family. Steven, our good friend in Mannheim introduced us to his mother when we were stationed in the military there. I loved to hear her stories about WWII and what life was like. There are many things I will remember about Frau King. She loved to have guests in her home and would spoil them by setting out her special china and silver and serve delicious coffee and pastries. I remember once she had me over for coffee and I hadn't drank coffee in the last 10 years due to being pregnant and nursing babies. I didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't drink coffee after she layed out such a pretty table! I was so wired from the caffeine of that strong German coffee, (I haven't stopped drinking coffee since!) Frau King tried to teach me to knit in the continental way. Unfortunately I never got the hang of it and am still a "thrower." At Christmas time she still used real candles on her tree!!!! She had our family over and she lit the candles (and yes, the tree did catch on fire!) No big deal though, she simply squirted it with a spray bottle of water! I started quilting in earnest when we lived in Germany and Frau King had me make some items for her. She had a collection of antique white linens and lace that she asked me to cut up and make into a quilt for her. I was very reluctant to cut up such beautiful pieces of fabric, so I was able to persuade her to just cut up the damaged ones. It turned out quite pretty and I hope to make one for me one day.

I never thought I would see Frau King again after we left Germany for Colorado. It's funny how life twists and turns and you never know where you will end up. Seeing Frau King again after moving to Holland last year has been one of my highlights of being back in Europe. All three of my children were able to see her again before she passed away and for that I am grateful. She was very special to us. I will miss you, Frau King.

Clam Shell Quilt

2007-03-22T17:24:00.000-05:00

This is another quilt that I used the millennium charm packs for. As you can see, I got bored with this one too - so it is small also! I love charm quilts - I love owning them and looking at them - but boy do I get bored with making them! I have it hanging in the little bathroom - so I had to photograph it at an angle (in other words - it really isn't as crooked as it looks!!!)

My "Millennium" Quilt

2007-03-21T19:23:00.001-05:00

This is a quilt that I made for the new millennium. It was part of a charm pack a month club during the year 2000 from a shop in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Needless to say, I got really, really sick of this quilt - and ended up making a small quilt instead. So instead of the 2000 different fabrics it is supposed to have I think it only has a couple hundred. Oh well, I started out with good intentions!

Enschede

2007-03-20T19:09:00.000-05:00

I realized the other day that I haven't posted much about the city we live in. Enschede is a good sized city - about 160,000 people live here. Their are several colleges and universities in the area so there are allot of young people here which always is nice - it gives an area energy I think. Enschede is just a few kilometers from the German border so it is in a nice location for traveling.

Enschede has a great market on Tuesday's and Saturdays in the downtown center shopping district. European markets are wonderful. Wonderful flower stands, fruits and vegetables and cheese stands. I don't care much for all of the fish stands though. I like my fish without heads and tails on them.

Enschede was once a large textile center in the Netherlands, and there are many remaining beautiful villas in town of the wealthy textile owners. We have two old villas in our front yard. Today, most of these gorgeous homes have been converted into businesses.

We are in walking distance of downtown which is nice. I know my husband is laughing at this comment, because I usually take the car - (it's usually raining!!!)

Flea Market Treasure

2007-03-20T14:14:00.000-05:00

This is my latest flea market treasure. It is an old graniteware bread box from the 1940's. I'm guessing that was when it was made. It does have some wear on one of the corners - (I call them character marks) but I only paid 8 euros for it and I've seen ones in perfect condition going for 50 euros and up. It will come in handy when the weather gets nicer and the little flying bugs start to invade our kitchen to eat our bread (we don't have window screens.)

I also picked up a toy barn that a gentlemen had made. I have a collection of German toy farm animals and they needed a place to stay! Ed gave me a horrible time about buying it - but I saw its potential!!! I'm going to paint it and try to turn it into a miniature version of a beautiful Dutch barn that you see in the country here. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Spring has arrived!

2007-03-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

Spring has arrived in Holland! The daffodils are out in full force on our patio and the flowering trees are doing their spring thing. It has been a beautiful week - SUN! Wonderful sun!!!

Brad was here visiting on spring break, it was great to see him.

I haven't done allot of quilting this week - but hopefully I will get back to getting my current projects going again. I did baste my Lone Star and appliqué quilt and started quilting it though. I added a pieced border to it containing the other fabric in the star and appliqué - and I think it will be ok. Ed is playing golf - so I am off to quilt!!!

My Baby Girls

2007-03-07T18:08:00.000-06:00

Never in my wildest dreams would I have hoped or believed my girls would ever learn to play nicely together!!! They were born 17 months apart and I think until recently have never stopped fighting! I believe they still have bite marks that they had given each other on their arms from when they were little! I'm glad you both are becoming friends - especially with me and your dad being so far away. You make me proud! Love you!!!!

Dutch Fabric Quilt

2007-03-07T09:46:00.000-06:00

I've been looking through my old quilting magazines and books to get an idea of what I want to do with my Dutch fabrics. I think I've decided to do something with this block . I'm thinking maybe 4 of these blocks set diagonally and then work out from there to make a medallion quilt.

I'm not quite sure what to do with the background though. I feel very comfortable with using white or off white for backgrounds - kind of like all the white walls in my house! I love to see color on walls and in quilts that people use, but when I use it - I feel it doesn't look right. It reminds me when we lived in Colorado and I decided to paint the bedroom a lovely shade of green, well the bedroom looked like it had toothpaste thrown all over the walls! Needless to say - we repainted it white!

Yesterday's Post

2007-03-05T12:43:00.000-06:00

You know you are getting old when...................you start telling stories that use to embarrass you and you thought you would never tell!

Rome Was Wonderful!

2007-03-04T12:40:00.000-06:00

Ed and I got back from Rome a week ago and my ankles are still aching from all the walking we did! It was definitely worth the pain! This was one of the best trips Ed and I have ever had! We flew to Rome on Air Berlin - a charter service out of Germany. I was pretty impressed, our tickets round trip were only 109 Euros! They were actually great flights - I guess if you can call flying great. I think I have flying short distances manageable - I sure still hate those big trips over and back from the States though. I know, get over it!

We got to Rome on Monday, checked into the hotel. We stayed at the Residenza Farnese Hotel, close to Piazza Farnese and Campo dè Fiori. The hotel was originally a palace in the year 1000! In the 19th Century, the palace was bought by the Church and became the seat of the Ecclesiastical Institute for the formation of young new priests. We got a great deal from our new best friend, Carola - our travel agent!

We headed out for a walk and to find a place for lunch. We found a great little restaurant and sat outside - (yeah sun!) The food was wonderful - in fact it was wonderful all week. I have even grown quite fond of expresso! After lunch we headed out walking and were just amazed. Ed had been to Rome for a day several years back, but this was my first trip to Italy, (except for lunch over the border from Austria several years ago - so I don't think that really counted.) I felt like I had been dropped among a movie set. It was difficult to comprehend that this was Rome!

While walking, Ed and I came upon a building with ruins around it. Ed got his map out and said, - hmm, this is the back of the Pantheon! We walked around the front and there it was - just like I had seen in dozens of history books. The mosaic tiles and the domed roof were amazing. I know I keep saying amazing, but if I had one word to sum up Rome, that would be it.

There were liturgical shops everywhere with beautiful robes, crosses, and altar pieces. And of course lots and lots of nuns and priests. I'm not fond of nuns, I've never had a good experience with one. Maybe, I've just met mean ones - I guess they're allowed to be cranky. When I was 13 I wanted to be a candy striper (volunteer at the local Catholic hospital) and I went with my best friend Debbie to interview with the nun in charge of the program. This delightful nun told me, you know Laura, you should lose weight, boys don't like fat girls! When I was in Rome, I wanted so badly to go up to a nun and say - ha! I found a boy that loves me just the way I am!!!!! I told Ed that story and he made me promise I wouldn't accost a nun while in Rome, he wasn't sure he could get me out of jail.

Here is another naughty nun story. Maybe it was me that was naughty! When Ed and I met, I lived in an apartment building that was owned by Catholic nuns. It was a residence for single working women. Well, one night Ed and I were caught necking in the recreation room and I was called in the following day to the head nun's office about our inappropriate behavior. I was told if there was another indiscretion, I would be out! Of course, I totally played innocent, shame on me for not being truthful to a nun! Any way, back to our trip-----------

Monday night we went on a tour of Rome at night. I love city tours at night. The fountains and buildings are so beautiful lit up. We saw the Trivoli fountain, so beautiful. I was severely pestered by a rose carrying conman. These guys hold bouquets of roses and give one to the ladies saying they are a gift and once you grab it - you are expected to pay for it. Well one guy would not leave me alone, he would not take no for an answer. Ed stepped in and yelled at him to leave me alone. The guy bumped Ed, and well, you just don't bump Ed. Ed bumped back a little more forcefully, they exchanged a few words and then the guy finally left. Eddie, my hero!
Tuesday we headed off to the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. I hadn't realized the Forum was so large and had soooooooooooooo many ruins. Yes, amazing. We had another great dinner out. Wednesday we took a bus down to Naples and Pompeii. The port at Naples is so pretty - so blue. Pompeii was much larger than I thought it would be. There were stray dogs sleeping everywhere. They looked like people were taking good care of them, but it still made me sad.
We went on a tour of a cameo factory. Yes, Ed bought me one for our anniversary. It's beautiful!
Thursday we went to the Vatican. Wow! We saw the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Cathedral.

St. Peters Cathedral is beautiful. I have seen some of the most beautiful churches ever built, but my favorite churches are still the small white country churches that you see in the rural United States. I saw the strangest thing at the Vatican. There was this middle aged man with short hair that had twisted the hair on top of his head to form two "devils horns." I thought he was pretty bold walking around the center of Catholicism, maybe a nun had been mean to him when he was a child also!

Friday we took a bus out into the countryside to the Appian Way. So beautiful. We stopped at the catacombs at St. Sebastions Basilica. I actually went down into them! I'm getting brave in my middle age! We had wonderful lunch at a restaurant that use to be the stopping place for travelers on the Appian Way to rest and water their horses. It looked like a dive on the outside, but on the inside it was so charming. Their wine cellar was in one section of the catacombs. We then went on to see the aqueducts and some more of the Appian Way. We ended our stay in Rome with another wonderful meal. The wine was wonderful, though wine and cobblestones streets don't mix well with me!

On trips Ed and I usually ask each other what our favorite thing we saw was. I honestly could not give an opinion this time, the whole trip was my favorite! Click here to see more Rome pictures!

Always a Patriot Quilt

2007-02-27T09:02:00.000-06:00

I started this quilt last fall when I was feeling particularly homesick for the States. In the corners I was going to add some appliqué, but I think I am going to leave it blank and do some pretty quilting. I've never done trapunto - so maybe that would be a good idea for that area. I'm piecing red and off white half square triangles for the border right now. I'm not quite sure how I am going to lay them out yet, but I'll figure something out. All the cats were asleep, so I was able to get the quilt up and off the floor before they knew what was going on!

Sewing Kit

2007-02-27T08:23:00.000-06:00

I hate not having something to do with my hands when I fly, so I thought I would put together a little "kit" to work on. I cut up my beautiful collection of Dutch fabrics (that was painful.) I decided to make 8 pointed stars, I have an idea of how I want to put them together, but I'll just have to see where it goes. I'm paper piecing them and have everything I need in a little pouch. I wound different colors of thread on bobbins to take up less room and included a little container for pins. I included a thimble and some needle threaders. I also added a thread cutter. I had heard that even those would be a problem on airplanes, but it was no problem. My kit worked really well, though I kept dropping my thimble on the floor and it would roll down the isle! I'm not sure of a solution for that!

Flea Markets

2007-02-13T12:44:00.000-06:00

I love flea markets, especially flea markets in Europe. Most items are very inexpensive - compared to prices in the States. The above picture is from the flea market at Tongeren, Belgium that we went to a few weeks ago. It is about a 3 hour drive south of Enschede. Antique dealers or individuals selling their stuff were lined up along the old streets. It was very cool! They have the sale every Sunday rain or shine. Luckily the day we went it was beautiful! To mark the end of a fun day we had an official Belgian waffle (yummmmmm!)

This was my treasure for the day, an old antique toy horse and an old box made from lit matches!

Anniversary Flowers

2007-02-08T13:03:00.000-06:00

Ed gave me these flowers 8 days ago for our anniversary. I can't believe how pretty they still are! I use to not like getting flowers when I was younger. I thought they were so expensive and they just died anyway! That all changed when we moved to Germany and I saw how beautiful and reasonably priced the flowers were. I think the flowers are even more beautiful in The Netherlands. The florists arrange them so pretty and use such unique combinations of flowers. I'm still amazed at how inexpensive it is to buy flowers here. They have big bouquets of tulips in the grocery stores for 3 Euros! Note to my sweetie, you can bring me flowers anytime ;)

It's Snowing!!!!!

2007-02-08T12:52:00.000-06:00

It's so pretty! I haven't seen this much snow since we lived in Colorado, and people are still riding their bicycles!

Lone Star and Applique

2007-02-07T19:10:00.000-06:00

This is another quilt that I have been working on for a while. I decided to get those old projects done this year! Sorry about Willy in the picture, those of you with cats will surely understand! Cats can be sound asleep and as soon as a quilt hits the floor, it is like Big Ben is going off and they have to come see what is going on.

The appliqués are fused on the top and I'm doing buttonhole stitching to secure it. I plan on machine quilting it. I think I will tea dye it when it is done, not sure yet.

Some Quickies

2007-02-07T19:04:00.000-06:00

These are a couple of quick miniature quilts that I worked on over the weekend. I had picked up some antique quilt blocks at a flea market in the States and thought I could use them for something! I added a small border, did a little quilting and added some old buttons. It's fun to do something really quick sometimes.

Dear Jane Quilt

2007-02-06T14:08:00.000-06:00

I've started working again on my version of the Dear Jane Quilt. I've been working on it off and on for a couple of years now. Hopefully I will keep motivated to get a few blocks done a week. The picture above is of the original one that is now located in Vermont. It's hard to believe that one woman (Jane Stickle) actually finished that quilt in 1863 without the benefit of our modern methods today!

Kitty Yarn

2007-02-05T17:10:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I like to take a break from quilting and do some knitting. I mainly make socks, scarves and shawls. I love to do lace knitting but I tend to drop the yarnovers really easily and end up getting frustrated and stop. One of these days I will make a lace shawl!

With three cats I have always told my family that I should spin their hair and make yarn! They think I am a freakish old cat woman, but I think why not! Ed picked up a Vogue Knitting magazine for me in the States and in the back it has an advertisement for VIP Fibers Inc. They will spin your pet's fur into yarn for you! See, I knew it could be done! How cool is that! They even do horse hair! Willy's picture is at the top, wouldn't he make a pretty scarf? ;)

25th Anniversary Quilt - Done!

2007-02-05T17:06:00.000-06:00

On the 30th of January, Ed and I were married 25 years ago. It’s really hard to believe. Mentally I still feel like I’m in my 20’s but I quickly face reality when I look in the mirror or try to pick up something off the floor and feel the pain in my back! We went out for a very nice dinner and Ed brought me some beautiful flowers. On the 19th of this month we are headed to Rome for a week for an anniversary gift to each other. I’m really looking forward to it!!!!! I made the quilt pictured above in honor of our anniversary.

Tommy is Here!

2007-02-05T13:05:00.000-06:00

Lolajasper

Our kitty family is all with us now! Ed brought back Tommy from the States last week. He is doing well (Brad - you made my cat really fat!) Gabby and Willy are slowly adjusting to having their big brother back in their lives. He loves the patio and hopefully he will not jump off! Tommy's favorite person is Ed, and this is his favorite spot in the house - on Ed's chest! I apologize in advance to anyone that visits that is allergic to cats!!!

More on Dutch Fabric

2007-01-25T08:49:00.000-06:00

Lolajasper
While I'm obsessed with Dutch fabric, this is a little quilt I made back in the middle 1990's when we lived in Germany. I bought the fabric when we went on vacation in the Netherlands for a week. As you can see, I like hearts. I didn't realize I was using so many of them!

Dutch Chintz Fabric

2007-01-24T17:55:00.000-06:00

I found the website of the company that creates the beautiful Dutch chintz fabric. It's expensive, but soooooooooooo beautiful. A little can go a long way in a scrappy quilt. The name of their store in Amsterdam is: Den Haan & Wagenmakers bv It truly is the most beautiful fabric I have seen. I bought a couple of pieces today that were about 16 x 20" and they were 7 euros a piece - so basically for one fat quarter I paid almost $9! I figure I will pick up one or two when I go look around at shops and slowly increase my collection. I'm not sure what I want to do with it yet. I keep coming back to the idea of flying geese (must be coming from my subliminal hatred of flying!)

I Have a Headache

2007-01-24T15:54:00.000-06:00

Well the second day of my "quilt winkel" adventure has given me a headache. I started off about noon today amongst pea soup visability. I got the good old Tom Tom out and headed west. I drove about 45 minutes and reached my first stop. The first quilt shop was in someone's house. I tend to be on the shy side, so I am not one to just go up to someone's door and ask - can I look at your quilt stuff?! There were no cars out front, just a teeny little sign - so I kept on driving.

I then drove about 30 minutes to Zutphen. I was looking for the shop Petra Pins The Tom Tom kept telling me to go down one way streets the wrong way or pedestrian zones, so I ended up parking. I had good walking shoes on so I thought what the heck. Well, I walked and walked and walked. I was very dorky and kept looking at the Tom Tom in my purse trying to figure where to go. I could not figure it out. I went into a shop and asked a salesperson if they knew where the address was located. She was very abrupt and said, "No, I do not!" I even bought some cards there! I then went into a coffee shop hoping to find something to raise my blood sugar and help with directions. I evidently did not close the door all the way to the store. This guy starts yelling at me! I didn't do it on purpose. Needless to say, I left quickly (closing the door securely of course!)

At this point, I'm hating life, including my husband for bringing me here (sorry Ed, I still love you.) I had no idea where the car was, just that it was by a canal and a big old church (narrows that down!) I tried again to get some coffee at another cafe and thank you God for having a nice person there! Also, the cafe had the best apple cake I have ever had. The waitress was so nice and helpful. When I was leaving she even walked with me for a block to show me where the store was. Just goes to show you there are nice and nasty people wherever you go.

The quilt shop was wonderful. They have a huge collection of reproduction fabrics. I picked up a few of the traditional chintz Dutch fabrics. They are so beautiful. Too pretty to cut up!

I did manage to find the car. I was thinking boy it would be nice if Ed were here and he could drive! I would definitely be taking a nap!

I then headed off again to my last quilt shop for the day - about 20 minutes away. Again this shop was located in a private home, so I decided not to go in. I know, I'm a chicken. Maybe if someone was with me.

All in all a good day, but like I said, I have a headache!

Yeah Quilt Shops!

2007-01-23T13:49:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited! I found a website today that gave all the information for the quilt shops in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany! http://www.miaverhoef.nl/quiltwinkels.html With my limited Dutch and German I have not been very good at tracking finding them. Within an hour of finding the website, I was in the car off to two of them. Ed has flown to the states for a week, so this will keep me busy! I found the first shop ok that was located in Delden. The TomTom makes it pretty much fool proof unless I put the address in wrong. I never did find the second shop I was looking for. I felt like I drove in the country forever. I never did find it. The TomTom said, "You have reached your destination" but I sure didn't look like I was at a quilt shop! Some farm in the middle of the country was more like it. Well, I thought I better get out of there before I got myself into trouble! I love the Dutch countryside so I didn't mind getting lost at all. A woman was walking her two huge draft horses down the road, they were so beautiful. I have another list of shops I want to try and find tomorrow (I better leave my debit card at home!)

Mariners Compass

2007-01-19T18:40:00.000-06:00

This is a Mariners Compass quilt that I finished a couple of years ago. I had never worked with a dark background before. I tend to usually stay with white and off white. It was a nice change, (plus it hides stains!) It's hand pieced and hand quilted. Don't look too close - it's definitely not perfect! It was a nice challenge though.

Funny Quote from a Book

2007-01-19T18:13:00.000-06:00

Last night I had yet another episode of insomnia. I picked up one of my quilting books on the way to the bath tub to hopefully get me in the mood for some sleep. I picked up a book that I found at a yard sale years ago called, "The Standard Book of Quilt Making and Collecting" by Marguerite Ickis. It was published in 1949! It's wonderful to see how times have changed in the quilting world! I'm pretty confident that quilting would not be as popular today without our wonderful rotary cutter and rulers! I had to share this one short paragraph, it cracked me up.

Not Too Dramatic
The quilt should take its proper place in the whole decorative scene of the room. It should accent but never drown out the other beauty spots about it. As a covering for the bed, it plays a dramatic role, but must harmonize in color and refinement with the color and proportions of the bedroom. In other words, your quilt must blend into its surroundings.

I don't know about you, but as many quilts as I have made, I do not have one quilt on any one of my beds! They are all hanging on walls or "artistically" (of course!) draped on a chair or maybe at the end of a bed! Over the years I have seen what animals, children and regular use can do to a quilt! I make an exception for baby quilts. I love to see my baby quilts being used. Maybe I would not feel as protective of my quilts if it didn't take me so long to get them done or my hands didn't go numb!

I also found it funny that the author thought the quilt must blend into its surroundings! I don't think so! It must be the gray skies and short days that I've been seeing here in the Netherlands for the last couple of months, but I think the more color the better!

Sampler Quilt

2007-01-18T05:38:00.000-06:00

This is one of the first few quilts that I made. It's a quilt that has very special meaning for me. My mother bought me the fabric for this quilt the summer she died. It was difficult to work on it as I was so sad. This quilt is in memory of her.

The quilt at the bottom of the bed is an embroidered quilt from the 1940's, maybe 1950's. I found the top at a Salvation Army Store in Colorado Springs, Colorado and paid $5 for it! I finally had it machine quilted a year ago. The quilting lines were already marked on the quilt in pencil!

Star Quilt

2007-01-18T05:34:00.000-06:00

This quilt is English paper pieced and machine quilted. I enjoy small projects that I can take in the car and work on, (keeps my mind off my husbands driving - especially on the autobahn!) I'm not too great though at English paper piecing, my stitches usually show on top. My friend Susan does beautiful English paper piecing; none of her stitches ever show! I felt like it needed a little something, so I added some antique buttons in the middle of the stars. I love buttons.

Hearts Quilt

2007-01-18T05:28:00.000-06:00

This is a quilt that I have had done for a few years. The hearts are hand appliquéd and the rest was machine pieced and then was machine quilted. Sorry for the bad angle, but I have it hung in a narrow hallway. It's hung on old wooden skis that Ed and I got when we lived in Alaska. It's amazing people could ski on those things!

My Sewing Room

2007-01-17T19:01:00.000-06:00

This is my happy little corner of the world; my sewing room. I like to collect old sewing notions and antique toy sewing machines so I have those scattered around. And of course buttons, lots and lots of buttons. The best part is my sewing machine, a Bernina. I love my sewing machine. It's such a joy to sew with, and I no longer swear when I sew (except when I goof up, I only have myself to blame.) It has the stitch regulator on it for machine quilting. It is fantastic. I do feel like I'm "cheating" a little bit by using it, but my machine quilting is much nicer now! I use to have an old Singer that was made the year after I was born (1961.) I bought it for $50 at a US Army thrift store in Germany. Krisi, my daughter is now the proud owner of it.

I share my space with the washer and dryer. I don't mind as long as it it not hot outside, then I just have an excuse not to do laundry because the room will get too hot!

Current Project

2007-01-16T17:50:00.000-06:00

This is the quilt I'm currently working on. It is in honor of Ed's and my 25th wedding anniversary on the 30th of January. I can't believe we've been married 25 years (even more, I can't believe we haven't killed each other yet!)

The rings and flying geese are paper pieced. The flying geese represent the 17 times we have moved during our marriage. I was machine quilting it and decided it looked bare, so I added appliqué flowers and leaves. It's been difficult on the fingers appliquéing after quilting, but I'm glad I added it. Hopefully I will get it done by our anniversary on January 30th.

Wedding Quilt

2007-01-13T18:15:00.000-06:00

Lolajasper

This is the wedding quilt I made for Krisi and Chris. Hand appliquéd and hand quilted with a little bit of machine piecing. I injured my shoulder one month before the wedding, so I had a difficult time trying to complete it, but I was determined to give it to them before we moved to the Netherlands. Krisi is my pink girly girl, so of course it had to be pink!

Kelly and Tommy

2007-01-08T13:16:00.000-06:00

jellykasper

My daughter is crazy! I love her for taking such good care of my cat, Tommy! (Yes, she is walking him)

Christmas!

2007-01-06T13:07:00.000-06:00

Christmas was wonderful! First of all, the kids were here! It was so nice to see them! It was bitter sweet though - cuz it only makes me realize even more that life has definitely changed, and my children are now grown! I am so proud of them, they are all terrific , good and kind human beings. I am very fortunate. I still struggle with what to do with my time these days. I don't see an end to the frequent moving for the next 20 years or so, I will have to adapt. Wow did I just get melancholy, sorry!

Again, Christmas was wonderful! I caught a cold, but that was probably a good thing. It gave me an excuse to stay home and Ed took Krisi and Chris to Amsterdam for a speedy jam packed tour. They were definitely able to cover more ground without me!!! I would have been asking "where's the cab!!!!" We went to Mannheim, Germany to see our good friends, Steven, Susan and Jonathan. It is always wonderful to see them. They are just like family to us! We went to a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France that was very beautiful. On the way back from Mannheim we drove up along the Rein river valley to see the beautiful castles. I think it is more pretty in summer, but it is still awe inspiring in winter!

Christmas is not so commercial in The Netherlands as it is in the states or even in Germany for that matter. It was very nice and understated! I probably gained 5 pounds over the holidays, sampling all the goodies. They have the best spicy goodies here!

Christmas Markets

2007-01-02T13:11:00.000-06:00

The Christmas Markets in Europe are so much fun! They definitely put me in the Christmas spirit! There is nothing like walking through a 1000 year old town on a cold December night holding on to a mug of gluhwine (actually kinder punch for me.) The largest market we went to was in Dortmund, Germany. It was huge and very crowded! I think weeknights are the best time to go, but it's not always possible for Ed to get away from work early.

The gluhwine comes in ceramic mugs made especially that year for that cities market. We have a collection from when we lived in Germany in the 90's and I must say they have gotten prettier since then. Of course, there is lots of food: bratwurst, frits and even pasta!

Some markets are more commercial than others. I prefer the smaller ones as they tend to have more handcrafted items.

Brugge, Belgium

2006-11-10T13:17:00.000-06:00

Lolajasper

We went to Brugge, Belgium in November. What a beautiful little city. We stayed in an old converted home from the 17th century. And yes, I do think it was haunted, I got very little sleep! Brugge is full of lace, chocolate, beer and beautiful streets. What more could I ask for!

This is some of what we saw:
-We toured several cathedrals (one had an original Michaelangelo sculpture of Mary and Jesus that was beautiful)
-An old brewery that has awesome beer, the tour had hundreds of steps, many that had to be navigated backwards!
-Lace and Chocolate shops of course!
-Chocolate Museum (this was very stupid)
-Canal boat tour (the boat was a little too small and too crowded for my comfort!)
-Several beautiful municipal buildings
-A medieval public hospital

It was quite a full day. We went back to the hotel where we had a 6 course meal! It took 3 1/2 hours! The best part was the dessert, chocolates and coffee! They had a set menu of rabbit, goose liver and eel. I didn't want to be impolite but there was no way I could eat that. I'm pretty much vegetarian these days except for the occasional chicken when nothing else is available. The chef's were very gracious and fixed me some fish which was actually pretty good.

Sunday we left Brugge and headed to the sea. It was quite windy and chilly, but I've always preferred that to the heat of summer on a beach. Plus, no bathing suits! We then drove to Ghent; by this time, my back and feet were in agony so I really didn't appreciate Ghent as much as I probably would have otherwise.

It was a great trip, very romantic and would definitely go back again!

Things I Miss About the States

2006-10-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

My kids (that includes you, Christopher!)
My dog and cat
My old house
Laraine, Gregg, Andrew and Lizzie (Not Kujo though!)
Chuck, Kelly, Jenna, Katie & Hampton
SUN
American television
Nascar (I know, I'm a dork)
American medicine
Low fat and non fat foods
Being able to read stuff (signs, books, magazines)
Poptarts (I know, I don't need them!)
Weight Watcher meetings (silly, to put that under Poptarts!)
My favorite stores (A C Moore, Michaels, Barnes and Noble, Hancock Fabrics, JoAnn Fabrics, Target, Hudson Belk)
American radio
Quilt Stores with American Prices
My dentist in Apex
Fall (real Fall)
SUN
Garbage disposals
North Carolina's blue skies
Have I said SUN?
Awesome thunderstorms in North Carolina
Fox News, (Yes, I know, I'm sorry Kelly)
Local News
Reading the newspaper
American grocery stores
North Carolina Barbecue
Being able to tell what I'm buying, i.e. I bought toilet bowl cleaner to use as bleach for clothes!
American beef (I probably have mad cow disease by now)
Have I said SUN?????
Central heating and airconditioning
Country music
A goooooooooooooood hamburger
Manicures and pedicures
Quick dinners in a restaurant
Rice Crispies and marshmallows (So I can make Brad mega Rice Crispie treats)
No bikes (the bikes are ok, I'm just scared I'm going to hit the people on them)
My kids :(

Things I Love About the Netherlands

2006-10-13T14:20:00.000-05:00

I get to travel to awesome places
It's nice spending more time with Ed
Windmills
Gorgeous churches
A large majority of people can speak English
The cleanliness of the Netherlands
I get to see Steven, Susan and Jonathan!
Flowers
Cows (They are so beautiful and healthy!)
Thursday nights (the downtown is open until 9 and it is packed!)
The Netherlands farms
Church bells
Markets on Saturday mornings
The Dutch children are darling
Flea markets
Antiques
Dutch traditional fabric
Dutch quilt shops (unfortunately expensive)
European coffee
More time to quilt
I like living on one floor
Wonderful bread
Fun to shop
Sex shops (kidding ;) )
I am walking more and getting more in shape
Slower pace of living, it's not crazy like in the States
The Dutch television channels don't dub their American tv shows like the French and Germans
Channel 211 on the TV (you have to come visit to find out what it is!)
Sundays are very peaceful, nothing is open except restaurants
I love to see 80 year old men and women riding their bikes!
You can sit for hours in a restaurant
No telemarketers (not that I could understand them anyway if they called)
No junk mail

Giethoorn, Netherlands

2006-08-20T14:24:00.000-05:00

Lolajasper
Saturday Ed and I headed to Giethoorn, (voted the prettiest village in the Netherlands.) It's about 2 hours Northwest of Enschede. On the way there we saw beautiful farms with the healthiest horses, cows and sheep I've ever seen. So pretty. We've gotten lots of rain lately so everything is bright green. Arrived in Giethoorn and had some lunch. I had my first official "Dutch" pancake, YUMM! We then walked around the old historic part of town. It has canals winding through it with rustic bridges crossing them. Individuals can rent boats to tour the canals. We ended up walking; I thought I would end up in the water if I tried to get in one of those little boats! Next year I will though when I'm in better shape! Giethoorn is a darling town; it's hard to believe anyone actually lives there.

Ya Gotta Love Yard Art!

2006-08-20T14:23:00.000-05:00

Lolajasper
On the way home Saturday we drove country roads back to Enschede. We drove by this awesome house!

Lots and Lots of Windmills

2006-08-20T14:22:00.000-05:00

Lolajasper
More to Come!

Note to self...

2006-08-15T14:27:00.000-05:00

Don't put on makeup before I have my coffee in the morning. I used pink lip liner as eyeliner this morning and didn't notice it until I was in the car running errands! Duh.

Market Garden

2006-08-15T14:25:00.000-05:00

Saturday we drove to Arnhem and visited the site of where Operation Market-Garden took place. That was the battle that had the most Allied casualties during WWII, most of them British. The book and movie "A Bridge Too Far" tells the story of this sad couple of weeks in September 1944. The museum is in an old hotel that was used as the Allied headquarters. There was such heaviness there. I've gotten the feeling maybe five times in my life of overwhelming sadness of tragic past events at locations I have visited or objects that I have been around. I know, weird. It's hard to describe.

Amsterdam

2006-08-14T14:29:00.001-05:00

Lolajasper
Went to Amsterdam for the day a couple weekends ago. Wow what a crazy place! Ed, me and the kids were there about 14 years ago. I can tell I'm getting older! I prefer the quiet farm fields and cows these days! I didn't see many people younger than 30! Maybe they were all in the coffee shops! We hit the American Bookstore and picked up some books. I got a couple of books on Netherlands history; I hope I can get through them. They don't seem to dry. We then headed to an antique mall. A little overpriced, more "fancy" stuff. I love the more primitive style of everyday folk. I haven’t found any really good flea markets yet. That will be where I will probably find more items to my taste. We then drove up to Volendam, an old fishing village and had dinner. By that time I had a migraine. I finally found out what the Dutch word for MSG is. It's funny the things that you have to learn when moving!

Health Care in the Netherlands

2006-08-14T14:29:00.000-05:00

I have been pleasantly surprised by the health care here in the Netherlands. I've gone to the dentist once and had a filling replaced. Met with our new doctor (female, very nice.) I have also gone to the physical therapist several times for my shoulder. Language is the biggest problem I've come across. Everyone speaks English, but sometimes word order and the "correct" word is hard for them to find. I went into an Apotheque (pharmacy) the other day to try to find Tylenol. They had never heard of it and suggested I try such and such. I ended up buying it thinking - well I hope it doesn't kill me! Turns out it was plain acetaminophen. Silly me.

London!

2006-08-14T14:28:00.000-05:00

Lolajasper
London was awesome! I think my feet and back have finally recovered from the miles of walking we did!

Saturday
Ed and I flew from Amsterdam to Heathrow on Saturday, August 5th. We took a cab to the London Bridge hotel located in the Southwark section of London. We then headed out to do some walking and find a place to eat dinner. We ended up at a pub called "The Anchor" which has been there a couple hundred years. Food was ok, but it was so pretty and right on the Thames River.

Sunday
We took a double decker bus tour of London. Traffic was crazy due to a triathlon in town. Had lunch in another old pub. I was really enjoying the fish and chips! We headed to Harrods department store and spent $4.50 on a single scoop ice cream cone! Crazy! It's the most gorgeous store I have ever seen; too bad I can't afford anything in it!!! We then went to Harvey Nichols, another really pricy store and didn't buy anything there either!!! We walked around Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar square. Very fun!

Monday
Tower of London first thing in the morning. Very cool - I really enjoyed the crown jewels. So amazing they looked fake! Headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral, so beautiful. Took an in depth tour and was really touched to see the Memorial Chapel for US service members who died in the UK during WWII. At the entrance of the cathedral it was amazing to remember that Princess Diana walked to the altar in that beautiful wedding dress many years ago. We then headed over to the Churchill museum and under ground cabinet room. The Churchill museum was very well done, very creative. The under ground cabinet room was where Churchill and his staff were housed during the bombing raids on London during WWII. Very interesting. Several rooms were just as they had been left 60 years ago. Walked around St. James Park and fed the pigeons (flying rats) and ducks. Had dinner at the George Inn that evening, a several centuries old inn.

Tuesday
Went to Westminster Abbey. It's hard to wrap my brain around the idea of a building being more than 1,000 years old. We paid for a guided group tour of Westminster and I was glad we did. We were allowed access to many parts of the cathedral that were off limits. Went to the British Museum in the afternoon and checked out the Egyptian displays. Had Greek food for dinner (YUMM!) and then went to the Globe Theater and saw Anthony and Cleopatra. Globe Theater is the reconstructed 17th century theater of Shakespeare. I'm not a big fan of Shakespeare, but it was interesting. I only understood about half of what was said due to the accents and the Old English, but I got the jist of it.

Wednesday
Went to Buckingham Palace. During the month of July and August the State rooms are open for public viewing. I'm so glad we went, though the ticket prices were high ($36.) So gorgeous. We also went to the Royal Mews where the horses, carriages and cars are kept. I could travel like that, though I don't know if I could get into one of the carriages! Headed out to the Guards Museum. We then caught a cab to the airport.

Thursday
We woke up Thursday morning at home to find out that we missed the closing of Heathrow airport by about 5 hours due to a terrorist plot to blow up planes to the US! I'm glad to be in my own bed!

It was a great trip! London is expensive but I'm so glad we went! The people were great and everyone speaks English!!!!! Plus I can read everything! We hope to get back soon - there is so much to see. Check out the pictures on Webshots!

A Little Bit About Me

2006-07-31T18:33:00.000-05:00

I'm 46 years old, have three children (ok, 3 adults.) Kristen is an eighth grade English teacher, married to Chris and living in Virginia. Kelly is a journalist for a newspaper in Virginia and Brad is a junior at Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina. I have three cats (all orange tabbies.) When each of the kids went away to college, I replaced them with a cat! It did help somewhat with that awful empty nest feeling. The picture is of Krisi's and Chris's wedding with our family.

I had a bad shoulder injury in June so have been slow in quilting the last few months, it is much better now so I am hoping to get busy again with all of the ideas in my head.

We're not sure how long we will be here in the Netherlands, but the people are lovely and their are oodles of quilt shops and many talented quilters. I hope to meet more in the future. I usually try to rope in a quilt shop when Ed and I go on a day trip. He hasn't complained too much yet!

Denial Got Me Through It

2006-07-24T14:30:00.000-05:00

Denial got me through it!

I haven’t posted since April, but this is what has been happening:

-Sold the house in Apex, North Carolina
-Flew on an airplane 11 times in 3 months (yes, believe it!)
-Quit job (Yeah!)
-Packed up overseas shipment to the Netherlands
-Kelly graduated from James Madison University (Yeah! See pictures)
-Helped Krisi with wedding stuff
-Rented 3 U-Hauls for the kids so they could cannalbilize our possessions!
-Packed long term storage and air shipment to the Netherlands
-Said goodbye to Tommy (cat that Brad is taking)
-Flew to Michigan to see Larraine, Greg, Andrew and Lizzy
-Fell while in Michigan, dislocated shoulder, compression fracture and torn rotator cuff
-Krisi and Chris were married July 8th! (See pictures)
-Got to see my cousins that I haven’t seen in 12 years!
-Said goodbye to my 3 babies (Krisi, Kelly, Brad)
-Said goobye to Tazy (dog that Krisi and Chris is taking)
-Flew to Amsterdam
-Moved to Enschede, the Netherlands
-Settling in hanging curtains and pictures

Whewwwwwwwwwwww!

I’m tired, but it’s nice to be back living with Ed, even though he does snore! We have a pretty two bedroom apartment and the only thing I hate is that it is not air conditioned. It has been so hot here. No one has air conditioning so I guess we are all in misery together! I’m trying not to think of my nice air-conditioned house in Apex! At least we won’t have the $500 electric bills for air-conditioning!!!

One nice thing about the heat is that it is too hot to cook! I’m not sure if I remember how after not cooking for a couple of months! We have this teeny, tiny oven. I asked Ed where I put the batteries because it reminded me of the “Easy Bake Oven” I had as a child. The refrigerator is cute and little too, though it necessitates going to the grocery store every day! That makes it hard to stay away from the bakery!

We are hooked up on “Skype” so we are able to video call to anyone that has downloaded that program and has a web cam. Definitely nice to see the kids plus it’s free! I’m lolaj19 so if anyone wants to call me, please do!

Well off to do some more decorating.

Trip Back Home

2006-04-17T14:32:00.000-05:00

It's been a crazy week. Ed flew in from Holland and a couple of days latter we flew to Moline, IL for orientation on his assignment overseas. I was really impressed, the people were so nice and thorough. A little too thorough as the corporate nurse wanted to give me shots! That's quite ok, I told her I would get them from my home Dr. (We'll see about that!) After the orientation we toured the John Deere store. They probably make more money from their merchandising than their tractors! It was very cool to see though. Made a quick stop in the John Deere Museum before it closed, very interesting. Also stopped by the Isabel Bloom store. Darling concrete sculptures native to that area.

We drove down to Galesburg. It's been 12 years since I had been back to my home town, since Mom died. It was very emotional, but I'm glad I went. Hardest things were seeing my Grandmother Rylander's house and gardens torn down and visiting the cemetery. Best thing? That would definately be seeing my aunts, uncles and cousins on my father's side. They were great and look great too! I've posted pictures in Webshots.

I managed to get on 4 airplanes in 2 days! I hate to fly, but I have to force my self to do it. It's hard to get to Holland by car - so I have to get over this fear! Or at least not freak out about it so much.

We got back and then it was a mad dash to get things done around the house that only Ed could do before he flew back to Holland, like go through his tools and clothes. He's the energizer bunny, he wears me out!

Easter was a weird one. Took Ed to the airport at 11:00am and kind of spent the rest of the day on the phone! It was hard not having anyone here for Easter, I really missed the kids! I'm used to making big Easter dinners and having lots of guests. Life does change doesn't it.