Omi promised

William said "I miss you, Omi" and I had promised to visit as soon as I could. I had also promised to bring Buddy. Two promises!

With James being on his Camino in Spain I had to drive the whole way (500+ miles) by myself. Well, no, not totally by myself. Buddy the bunny was in the passenger seat ... buckled in. I decided to do it Wednesday April 20th.

 

 

 

The welcome center showed of a southern quilt ...

 

 

... and flowers.

 

 

I had told William I would come Thursday. Helen hat printed a calendar page for him and marked my arrival day. Now he could mark of each day. She told me his first words when he woke up on Wednesday: "Today is Wednesday. That means tomorrow is Thursday. That means Omi comes tomorrow." Ah, love that guy!

Because it was Wednesday and I had made it in good time, I met Helen and William at their church. When I walked in and he saw me ... "Wow, you where coming tomorrow. You came today"

 

 

I had promised Helen that we would go to Paducah KY on Friday ... the area where we lived for about 30 years. It was quilt week, always a special time in Paducah with Grace Church luncheon on Friday and the Lace Exhibition and Demonstration at the church too. I founded the Heartland Lace Guild many years ago and was looking forward to see old (like in time knowing) lace friends and church friends.

I picked Helen up at 7:30 am and we stopped half way for a little breakfast.

 

 

We went to the church first. You can see all lace related and all quilt pictures from today IN THIS BLOG!

It was disappointing that there was no Grace luncheon this year and only a lace day. Many lace friends missing and of course none of the church friends since it used to be buzzing with friends working for the lunch.

Helen and I visited Opa Heinz in the Memorial Garden though.

 

 

 

The bench had been donated by us and the plaque was in both of our fathers' names.

 

 

The Easter mobile in all its glori.

 

 

 

Name tags for everybody in the congregation. I love it. There were two places because the members by habit come into church different entries.

 

 

And then the quilt show where we had a couple of hours (see blog mentioned above) and then decided we needed a break. Lunch. And who was standing next to us in the line? Lori is the wife of Andi who was in James' work team ... way back when.

 

 

Eventually we got around to the lunch. Sooooooo Kentucky.

 

 

Back to the quilt show. And there was Mary. Fun.

 

 

Again, all the quilt pictures are on the other blog. Here is Helen though buying a little gift from us for a mutual friend who likes batiks. Needs to be mailed later.

 

 

I almost got in deep trouble. Time had run away from us and we were supposed to meet friends for dinner at 5:30pm. Sara and Barb were waiting for us but luckily we were not too much delate. We were pretty much the first customers and almost closed the place down. Talk talk talk. Good old days.

After that to Barb's house were Helen and I spend the night. Forgot about pictures in the evening but next morning the cat checked out my bag. That cat would take all the loving you want to give and more.

 

 

Treated Helen to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then we quickly popped into Hancocks because Helen needed something. Met two more friends and Justin the owner. Loved all the quilts hanging. Gave you more ideas. Do we really need more ideas?

 

 

Back home by noon on Saturday. Helen and I were unanimous. We had had a great time!!!

Later in the afternoon Helen, William and I met to go to the Earth Day Festival in Centennial Park. There were all sorts of stands/booths but the science ones caught William's attention.

Rocks, rocks, rocks. Fossils and dinosaur footprints.

 

 

This was all about solar eclipses, the power of the sun and things like that.

 

 

 

VIDEO! Unfortunately it's upside down but I am sure you can handle it. It's short.

 

 

 

These gadgets measure sugar contents. William tested 4 different jars of baby food. Do peas have more sugar then sweet potato? Very interesting.

 

 

Helen knows a new place. Special treats. Paletas = Mexican popsicle

 

 

 

I had promised William he could spend the night if there was no school next day. So he did. He is so good. We had a great time.

Sunday ... We took our time waking up.

I just love it when he wakes up, sits up and gives me that beautiful smile.

Didn't make it to the service. But we did make it to Sunday school where we met Mommy. We went our seperate ways afterwards but William had "junior milers training" later. Thanks to the GPS I found it.

First some stretches. Then the children were "sorted" by age.

 

 

 

The "training" really happened while playing games. Helen has found again a great opportunity for William to participate in.

And yes, I have some videos:

VIDEO = cotton ball game

VIDEO = Mr Fox game 1

VIDEO = Mr Fox game 2

VIDEO = Mr Fox game 3

VIDEO = the race!

 

 

 

It was very hot in the afternoon sun but much fun. It was all about having fun.

 

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Not bored

As I said at the end of my last blog here, the report about "the week of twist and cross" is on my other blog.

 

Saturday April 9

 

Sarah had to work and so did Wade. Actually he volunteered to help out at work with frost in the forecast. Yes, the weather is a yo yo. Will we ever get spring? I had to throw a blanket over my hibiscus for a couple of nights too. James took such good care of it in the garage all winter. I am not about to let it be killed on my watch.

Anyway, there was Omi at 8:30 am. Am I getting better at selfies?

 

 

We tried going for a walk outside but it was just not nice. Cold. We made it up the driveway and back. But we had fun anyway.

 

 

 

Quilter's meetings the following week, but for Tuesday afternoon an invitation for "Kaffee und "Kuchen" at Gisela's across the river. I had met Gisela several months ago at a quilter's meeting. Suddenly a week earlier I received a letter from her invited all the German ladies she knows I think. We might have been a dozen.

It was very nice. She shared the next picture with us. It is a play on German words and very funny. I don't know whether it makes sense in English.

 

 

Gisela and her husband try to "downsize" and had 2 card tables full of German books we were supposed to take home. Here is my selection. I hope I have time sometime soon to do some reading. There is always hope. Especially the red one is a true classic.

 

 

An interesting lecture Saturday evening the 16th. A Camino talk. Funny since James is "on the way" right now. Theresa is the daughter of a couple in our community and was visiting. She had done the Francese last year and was so excited. Well, I have not met somebody yet who had walked and was not excited.

 

 

 

 

I did a walk before the lecture and then walked to and from the pavilion. Walking in the neighborhood is not so exciting but better then nothing and I try whenever possible. That should improve when James is back.

 

 

A little meddling in the garden.

 

 

 

And look what I found when I looked for tools. I had been searching for it. When I couldn't find it I was afraid this might happen. I should have looked up.

 

 

And I potted it right away. I planted the finished amaryllis in the outside container where this one was before the winter. I think I had done something right there.

 

 

There were a few more things to keep me busy (written with a grin) but there was always time to read James blog and re-read and re-read. So happy all goes well for him. But please send some rays of sunshine to him. Too much rain.

 

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What to do first

Tuesday ... back from the airport ... strange after such a "lively" week to have the house all to myself.

So much I should do. Close to the end of a month and also end f the first quarter. Waiting to be done: the April newsletter for the church, the contribution statements, the next teller schedule. Oh well ....

Couldn't get my thoughts around it so I did some sewing. A lot. The third step of the Cotton Robin is almost done. Ahead of deadline. Just have to make a decision about the final touch. But I can't really tell or show you ... yet.

The butterfly is the April Block Lotto.

 

 

Ha-ha, at one point I looked at my photos and wondered when I took this photo of the beer and sub. Then I realized ... I didn't. James is using my mini iPad in Spain to blog and the photos he pulls on it end up in my cloud. Helen says it's not fair that I get a sneak peek. Fun.

 

 

Thursday

I had started on the newsletter but really didn't want to miss out going to the Stitchers. And I had a successful day there. In the beginning I was wondering what the heck I was doing because I didn't like my idea any longer. But after I had sewn I few rows together I really liked it. Now I can't wait to finish it. It's all 2 1/2 inch precut squares from the remnant bin.

 

 

I almost finished the newsletter afternoon/evening/night before I went to bed after midnight.

But Friday was promised to Sarah. I had to get going early because Sarah's car was being serviced and she needed help getting Caleb to daycare. I took my computer with me though and was able to get it out almost on time on the first day of the month. Sarah also wanted help with organizing another area in their house. We made great progress and since we had to get out anyway for something we had lunch at Genghis Grill.

 

 

 

Caleb was fun after daycare. We all cooked dinner together and I spend the night because Wade was out of town.

Saturday ... the fun continued. Caleb was awake early. He helped Sarah to bake banana muffins.

 

 

 

 

It rained in the night and morning. Cabin fever? Sarah decided that Caleb's shoes needed replacing. The Stride Rite store had closed but Caleb was cooperative and we were successful.

 

 

 

The reward was a little while in the play area. It was fun watching him.

VIDEO!

 

 

 

 

He is quite happy about his new sneakers.

VIDEO!

 

When Caleb went to take his nap I sneaked out to go home. This Saturday was the last in the Richmond Forum Series. Susan, my friend from Stitchers, came with me to use James' ticket. It was so much fun. Historian Dr Henry Louis Gates Jr and Quarterback Russell Wilson were the guests. It was exactly like the PBS show "Finding your roots" but life. It was so interesting. Here is and article about it in the Richmond Times Dispatch.

 

 

Most of Sunday was taken up by church of course but the weather was so nice that I had to go for a neighborhood walk. I did about 4 miles. Short before home I stopped at my friend Julie's just to say hello for a minute which turned into a nice glass of wine. I hope my friend Irma will not be upset now because I had declined her invitation to a piece of "Bienenstich". But that was before I had my work done.

Coming week: Monday = give lace lesson to Phoebe who really wanted to learn to make bobbinlace. Tuesday and Wednesday = lace workshop in Williamsburg. But all about that on my other blog!

 

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Empty Nest

Tuesday

 

Even the rooster has left!

 

To the airport yesterday: Helen and William left

To the airport today: James left

 

 

 

James always likes to finish a job he started. He wants to walk the Camino Via de la Plata, the one he broke his ankle on 2 years ago on the 3rd day. 500 miles to go! He has trained well and is eager. He will be blogging again ... hopefully every day. Here is the link! You can also find the link on the right side of my blog here under "I like to read ..."

James is definitely on an adventure. Of course he keeps in touch: bad news, good news, bad news, good news. Everything seems to be sorted out though. I hope and pray that he has a great time.

Here? It's strange. I am not used to have the run of the house for a while.

 

 

 

I worked a lot on the computer. The church newsletter is due. Today is already Thursday and the last day of the month. I neglected a few things while Helen and William were here so it's catch-up time now. In between I rewarded myself with some sewing. I could check off two projects. The Block Lotto block is one and the other is the third step of the Cotton Robin. That's a fun project with total strangers but I can't talk about it until the conclusion of it. Girl has to have fun. I linked to the center blocks which are going around the world to get a first border from one person, a second from another and is going to be quilted and finished by a third. You can guess which one is mine?

Time to turn the light off. It's already tomorrow!

 

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