What I Do For Fun

Anyone who knows me, knows that my passion is sewing.....quilting in particular. Sewing calms me down after a hectic day, comforts me when I'm down, and is a pick-me-up if I'm not feeling well. I'm lucky to have a sewing room where I can go for all this therapy. Vince and I (mostly Vince) converted our old bedroom to a sewing room a couple of years ago. We painted the floor instead of carpeting or tiling it. I just love the painted floor; it's very country.

My sewing room as three stations, if you will. I have a wonderful sewing desk (Thank you Treva) that has plenty of room for even two sewing machines, should I need to drag out my serger. On the day I took this photo I was using it for computer work, so there's no machine on it at all.

Behind the sewing desk I have a large wood desk that I use for my cutting station. Its top is large enough to accomodate my biggest cutting mat and I can use it for drawing and lying out pieces when I'm not cutting. It also makes a nice storage spot for finished blocks, magazines I'm reading during breaks from quilting, and it's the spot where Kelsey puts things that belong to me when she's cleaning another room.

And then my pressing station is set up under a window. I have a regular ironing board that I keep there when I'm working on blocks or other sewing. I have a table ironing station that I made for larger pieces and it comes out when I'm putting a quilt together.

I really love this room. It has a television with Dish DVR, a couple of nice windows, a small heater for when my feet get cold, and even a couch for anyone who wants to keep me company while I sew. My daughter, Ashley, comes over often to check out what I'm making or to show me what she's working on. She has inherited my love for fabric!

And my sewing room is also a favorite place for my granddaughters, Annika and Alivia. They love to come and help Grandma sew. Annika insists on lifting and lowering the presser foot as I sew. She stands beside me, not so patiently waiting for me to finish my seam, all the while asking "Now, Grandma? Now?"

I love this photo. See how smart these kids are? Playing Scrabble on the computer! I can tell you this.....they felt pretty special this day. They were allowed to play with my computer while I sewed. It was a lot faster than letting them help. And they played Scrabble for a long time before deciding it wasn't as much fun as it looks when Grandma is playing.

The last project I finished was a quilt that I started over a year ago when my sister still lived in Dubai. It's called the Morning Splash and is a pattern designed by Judy Laguidara. Judy has a wonderful blog at http://www.patchworktimes.com/. I'm envious of Judy... she blogs daily.
Lavina and I decided to make this quilt together so we would send pictures back and forth to each other showing our progress. I can't find all the photos I sent her along the journey of this quilt. But here are some of the ones I sent early on, and then the ones later on as I got close to completing it.

This is where I left it after Lavina decided to move back to the states. She wasn't going to have a lot of time to quilt, so I moved on to some other projects while she got set up in her new home.

In September I attended my annual quilt retreat. I decided to finish up the quilt so I spent me first day at retreat cutting and sewing borders. The pattern called for more borders, but I didn't have enough purple fabric so I ended mine here. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Now I have 7 quilt tops finished awaiting quilting. Did you notice there is no long arm maching in my sewing room? Did you see that there is no room for a long arm in there? I've been plotting a way to get my dream machine. In two years my youngest daughter will have graduated high school (God willing) and we will once again have a free room. I'm thinking I could knock out a wall and combine the 2 bedrooms into one big room . . and voila' . . . a room long enough for a long arm. Unfortunately, every time I mention this to Vince, he starts in about how maybe he should be allowed to have some of his things in the house too! Men . . . .

The Space Needle, Pike's Market, Lots of Coffee & A Wedding...but no Frazier!

We recently took a week off and drove to the Seattle area. The main reason for the trip was so we could attend my niece's wedding. Mary Hould is my sister Lavina's daughter and on July 18th, she married her soul mate, Andy Musson. Here's a photo of the happy couple. They are so happy together. It was a beautiful wedding and a very happy event.
We were in Seattle last summer too and wanted to take in a few "touristy" attractions this year. We started out by visiting Pike's Market. I would love to visit the Market if I lived nearby, but there's just too much to see in an afternoon when you're on vacation. So we were able to watch the men at the fish market throw some fish around to the crowd's delight, and then made a short afternoon of it. Did I mention that being in a fish market on a hot Seattle day is not my husband's favorite way to enjoy a vacation day? (Sorry Honey!)

One of the things we've been wanting to do is take the tour of Seattle's Underground. The underground has a fascinating story. When Seattle was first founded, the city was built right on the edge of the Sound and it caused big problems with the sewer system, primitive as it was, as well as flooding in the streets. In 1888 a huge fire took out 33 blocks of businesses. They started rebuilding immediately with the plan to raise all the streets one story. Businesses didn't want to wait to rebuild as there was a booming logging business and they didn't want to miss out on one cent of business, so they rebuilt and along with the entrances at the current street level, they build another entrance on the second floor. I can only imagine these great buildings being built with very modest entrances and doors and then on the second floor...there were elaborate entrances. Here are some photos of the buildings as they stand now, as well as a photo of the original doorways to one of the buildings. The original was
pretty bare boned compared to the ornate one of marble that was built on the then second floor. And did you know....they built the windows slightly smaller on every floor as they go up. It creates the illusion that the buildings are taller than they actually are. I can't go into a city now without checking to see if this holds true.

The underground is full of remnants of the age. There's a lot of debris that has never been cleaned up, as well as some relics that are very interesting. Seattle is rather proud to claim that they had the first toilets in the US so they have the first "crapper" of the underground on the tour. And being the tourist that I am....here's the proof!

So how do you top seeing one of the first crappers to be used in the US? How about Mt. Rainier looking like it is just sitting in the sky? I just love the way this looks during the day. It just seems to be floating there just out of reach. I know that Montana is the Big Sky Country, but it's pretty amazing how this mountain just pops out of the sky. And we witnessed some of the nicest blue skies that we've ever seen....outside of Montana, that is.
So I feel like I'm not a very good tourist. I have been to Seattle twice in the last two years and this is the closest I have gotten to the Space Needle. I hoped to go up in it, but with all the activity going on around the wedding...which was the main event after all...we just didn't make the time. I guess it just wasn't a priority.

And while I'm talking about priorities...there is one thing I regret that we didn't make the time to do. We didn't get to take a tour of Quest Field.....home of the Most Awesome Seattle Seahawks. My husband has wanted to go there for some time and I promised him we'd make the time this year. And I didn't make good on that promise. Maybe next year. (Again, Sorry Honey.) Guess this picture will have to do for another year. Of course, I'm sure a trip to a Seahawks game this season would make up for it.

As usual, the traffic in the whole Seattle area amazed me. I can't imagine having to drive every day in that kind of traffic. It's not that it scares me or anything...I'm just frustrated with waiting during the busy hours. It was like a giant parking lot the day I took the photo below.

And one more thing about Washington 2010: We were in the state for a whole week and during that time it did not rain one drop. It did however, pour rain nearly every day in Montana during that week. It wasn't until the day we left for home that we saw anything that resembled rain. And I really enjoyed the early morning clouds and drizzle. I think I'd like living in Washington. The clouds are very soothing.

It was a great week. Thank you Seattle and thank you Lavina...you were a gracious hostess. We enjoyed some (ok, LOTS) of the best coffee we've had in ages. And I was able to buy my first designer handbag (Pictures available on request!). But there was only one thing missing. As hard as I tried, I couldn't find the radio station with Frazier Crane's program. And I was all ready to call in!

The Burleys Go Camping

Ah...our first weekend of camping during 2010. We took Friday off and headed out with the pop-up camp trailer, 2 vehicles and 7 eager campers. Hours later we arrived at beautiful Crystal Lake Campground. Little did we know that had we left any earlier we would have been turned away. As it was, we were the first campers of the season.
It was a very fun filled three days. Our granddaughters came along so they provided hours of entertainment all by themselves.
This lovely creek is seen before you actually enter the campground. I had to take a photo since most years it's pretty low and come August it's pretty much dry. But this year left that creek is nice and full.

The lake itself was also high this year after all the rain. I didn't even look like the same lake we visited last year. Much of the outskirts of last year's lake was underwater this year. I can remember thinking that it would probably be possible to walk across it in years past because it was so low and there were weeds sticking up out of the water. It's really a nice change!
Here's a photo of Kelsey and Jasper. Kelsey's doing what she always does when she sees a camera in my hand. I don't understand why she refuses to let me take her picture, while she takes hundreds of photos of herself all the time. It must been a teen thing?
The first night we broke out the new peanut butter filled Oreos. They didn't last long. Here Jasper is showing his sadness that he just realized this is the LAST Oreo.
And here's Jasper again..............searching for just one more!

Vince's mom surprised him with a visit on Saturday. Barb lives in Lewistown but has never been out to Crystal Lake so they ventured out to see what we are always talking about. She decided it was a nice drive but wouldn't want to do it at night. I agree...you'll never find me on that road after dark!

We got rain on Saturday night and it was still damp and chilly on Sunday morning. We left all the chairs out so there wasn't a dry seat in camp. Alivia was cold and tired and since the camper was being packed up, she had to find another place to stay warm.

I believe when I asked Alivia why she was doing this, she said "Somebody tooted."
And last.......Kelsey must not have seem me coming because this looks like a smile to me!

My Date With Abu

Get yourself a cup of coffee or tea and have a seat. This story needs to be told and I won't be condensing any of it....every word deserves to be told.
For months my laptop has been freezing up on me at the most inconvenient times. Really, is there any time that is convenient? And last week the darned thing started something new...any white areas would turn pink and the images would distort and then the computer would shut down. It would also try to restart, but unsuccessfully. So it would shut down again. And it would try to restart again, unsuccessfully. And this would go on until I was lucky enough to get it to shut down. Now sometimes after it sat idle for a while it would start up normally. But as soon as I opened a game of solitaire or was working on something really important (that I hadn't had a chance to save yet) the dance would start again. I was ready to pull my hair out, but I wasn't quite ready to give up and call tech support.
Yesterday a very nice young man volunteered to call tech support for me. I accepted so quickly I don't think he even managed to get the last words out of his mouth before I had answered. He's been there when it has been doing it's little dance and I've asked him if he had any ideas. His idea was to call tech support. His idea was to make the call for me. His ideas were great!
So he called and was quickly connected to a very nice lady who was probably located in the USA or Canada. She could have lived next door. But alas, she could not discuss the computer problems with him since he was not the owner. I'm not sure if I was saddest because he could not handle the tech support or if it was because for every 1000 times you call tech support, you get an English speaking support technician 1 time.......and he had just wasted my one time. Now I was destined to have to try to understand the strong middle east accent of the technician for my next 999 calls.
So I was going to do what I do best and procrastinate. The computer was working fairly well today so I thought I could probably get a couple days out of it before I had to give in and make that call.
This afternoon I was checking my email and about 2 minutes into it, this is what I had on my screen....
It was a nice change from the blue screen screen of death I've been getting a lot lately. You know the one....bright blue with the warnings that I've caused a fatal error and I should abort immediately and take cover! Yeah, that blue screen of death. But as nice a change as it was, I couldn't hardly touch base with my facebook, check my email, or play a game of Bejeweled with the blue checkered screen. So the time had come....I had to make the call.
I've learned a lot today about tech support. It used to be that you called and were put on hold forever but all that has changed. Now you get through to a technician right away. And they get started helping you with your problem right away. After taking down your name, address, phone number and shoe size, they ask you what the problem is and immediately put you on hold. And they let you stay there for a very long time. And then every 2 or 3 minutes your tech comes back on the line and asks you to be patient for another few minutes. I am convinced that they are helping others during these wait periods.
So after waiting for my little helper to look up my account he returns to tell me that my warranty on this computer has expired. I explained to him that I had purchased a 3 year warranty with the computer. He argued with me a while about how he had no records of any warranty being purchased. He went into great detail to describe my computer and had the date and hour that I purchased it, but for some reason did not have any information on the warranty I purchased with it. So I, being prepared for just this glitch, produced my warranty and gave him the order number. And he waited me to please be patient for a few minutes while he looked it all up. This means of course, that it was time to check in on his other computer owners who he had on the line. And when he returned he read to me the warranty number. He asked me when I ordered the item and I told him February 19, 2008. The same date he read to me earlier as the date I ordered the computer. Then he said I was correct about the date of purchase and that the warranty was expired. I am now starting to get a little peeved. So I told him that the date of purchase was correct and asked him if it showed the warranty to be a 3 year warranty. He agreed that it was and then again told me that it had expired. My voice got louder and according to my daughter, I was quite animated as I told Abu that "in MY country 3 added to 2008 is 2011 and it is now 2010 so the warranty is NOT expired until next February." Again......please be patient for another few minutes while I look into this.
When Abu finally got on the line again, he informed me that I had an another year on my warranty and then he added "You're Welcome". I was quick to point out that he had not done me any favors as I had paid for the warranty and it was never expired.
After another few hours of diagnosing the computer problems Abu agreed to send me a hard drive to replace mine. I was not satisfied that this would correct all of the problems but I was getting pretty tired of spending the evening with Abu and would have settled for almost anything. So in wrapping up my technical support experience, Abu asked me to wait on the line until another technician could confirm the order. And then he added that it might be a long pause or a serious of many, many beeps, but I should continue to hold. And then right before he put me back on hold he added, "And just to confirm....I extended your warranty for another year so it will be in effect until February of next year". And before I could thank him for generously giving me what I had paid for, he was gone. So I had already invested a whole evening into this and I was not about to end it all before we were done. So I put the phone on speaker and did the dishes, made a pie, visited with the kids and did some other chores around the house before the next agent came on the line. This gentleman also had a strong accent but he was easier to understand than Abu and he never once asked me to be patient while he put me on hold. I mentioned to him that I didn't think that replacing the hard drive would solve all of my problems (let it go......too easy!) and he asked me what other issues it had. After briefly telling him, he asked if I'd feel better if they took the computer back and did a thorough check on it and repaired all of its issues. Finally! I quickly agreed to it and I can now look forward to getting my computer back free from problems. I asked this young man "Where have you been all of my evening?" In hindsight, I should have asked for his name and extension. But then I might not have a chance at a second date with Abu...and after all he did for me......

A Day At The Imar Spa

"Situated in the heart of Umm Al Quwain, UAE, Imar Spa is a haven of tranquility, a caring and peaceful environment created to nurture the true spirit of modern women." This is a quote from the brochure of the Imar Spa. I spent the better part of a day at this spa last summer while visiting my sister, Lavina. And this spa lives up to it's promise. It is surrounded by a tall fence and a beautiful beach. Men are not allowed on the premises. The buildings are beautifully designed and the atmosphere is very calming and relaxing. Cell phones are required to be turned off inside the spa.

Lavina and I tried a treatment for the first time called Abhyangam. It's a traditional massage from South India and it features very brisk massage combined with warm aromatic oils. It's different from other massages with oil in that in abhyangam they use lots of oil. It's warmed in these metal bowls and liberally poured on you. The massages are given in little rooms in a separate villa and once you enjoy a long, hot relaxing shower and change into your robe and complimentary flip flops, you are escorted outside and across the yard to your room. (Just a little footnote........I was in a country where the women are very small in stature and I wear a size 12 shoe. . . .you can imagine how comfortable those complimentary flip flops were.)

My masseuse was a small Indian girl dressed in traditional Indian clothing, complete with the jewel on her forehead. I began the massage seated on a little stool and oil was poured over my head. It was massaged into my hair until it was literally dripping in oil and then I was told to lie down on the table. Now, this table is not like a conventional massage table. It was large and dark hardwood, with leather bumpers all around. And the top was quite high for me and I had to step up on the stool I had been seated on in order to sit atop it. Next the little gal poured the warm oil over the rest of my body. The massage was very relaxing and the oil allowed the masseuse to squeeze the tension right out of my body. All was well with the world.

That stress free feeling lasted about 10 seconds! The masseuse, in her strong Indian accent, told me that she would leave me to relax on the table for as long as I liked. When I was ready to leave, I was told to walk back through the courtyard and return to the showers and wash all the oil off before proceeding to my manicure. With that said, she shut the door and vanished.

I didn't feel like staying on the hard table any longer than necessary so I immediately sat up and dangled my feet off the edge of the table. All of a sudden I realized what the bumpers were for. Had it not been for those bumpers I would have slid right off that table and found myself on the floor in a pool of oil! I didn't spend very long thanking the powers that be for that bumper when I realized that I was going to have to either jump off the table or slide myself over the bumper in order to get to the floor. I was not at that time, all that happy to find myself alone! I decided to try sliding over the bumper until my foot touched the floor and proceeded to give it a try. My plan was good until my slippery foot hit that marble floor and headed east without the cooperation of the rest of my body. . . . It was all over in a matter of seconds. It took considerably longer to get up on my feet and get that robe and those complimentary flip flops on again and get headed out the door. Once outside, I realized it was not a good idea to walk in the hot sun in 125 degree temperatures covered in oil. I arrived back in the shower room half baked. It was then that I made the suggestion that they put a slide in between the massage rooms and the showers. One could slide right off the table and not stop until she hit the shower.

Those of you who know me know that I love a good story. And while this was a good story, it was also a wonderful day of pampering. We started with a long swim in the pool and went from there to our massages. Then it was on to manicures and pedicures and I finished off the day with a artful henna tattoo. And there was so much more available at the Imar Spa. We just didn't have enough time to enjoy it all.

These are photos I took of the swimming area at the spa. It features a great view of the beach and ocean. Muslim women swam in the pool with their abayas on for years until the lint from the abayas started clogging the filters. Now these woman are required to swim in bathing suits but they are very modest and prefer to cover whenever in public. So when the Muslim women are swimming the doors are closed to give them privacy and those of us who do not cover in traditional abayas wait for the other swimmers to finish before entering the pool area.

Lavina and I spent the day here before going to the Burj Al Arab for high tea. It was the day that I flew home and it was the perfect ending to a great vacation. Thanks Lavina!

A Mosque For Everyone

While in the UAE I saw, and heard, Mosques everywhere. The Koran requires that there is a Mosque within walking distance for every Muslim. Five times a day you can hear the Call To Prayer. This is a chanted prayer that is sent out from a loudspeaker located high in the spire of every Mosque. It is quite an honor to be the man who gets to do this chanting. Every time it is the same and it is a time for Muslims to go to the closest Mosque and pray. Many Muslims do not actually close up their businesses and leave, but instead lay their prayer cloth on the floor and kneal in prayer. And they always face Mecca. On my flight to and from the Muslim country I noticed that the movie monitors directed fliers to where Mecca was so they could pray. This first one below is the Mosque that is on the University Campus where my sister is employed. It is located in the center of the campus. The architecture of these buildings is magnificent. They are very ornate and each one has that tall spire. I wish I had seen the inside of one, but maybe on my next trip. Here are some photos of some of the other Mosques I saw in my travels.







I found it interesting how Muslims went to Mosque when the Call To Pray began. All of a sudden the streets were filled with people. Men walked on the medians between lanes of traffic and women emerged from homes and businesses and all were headed in the same direction. This is even more obvious on Friday, the Muslim Holy Day. On Fridays, there is a service 5 times a day instead of merely a time for prayer. So the Mosques are even busier on Fridays. I like to compare it to Easter and Christmas in many of our churches where people who don't take the time to come to church every Sunday make the effort to attend services on these Holidays. On Friday Lavina and I were on our way to the beach when we drove past a Mosque that was located very near the desert. I had to take a photo when I saw that parked among the newer vehicles in the shade of a big tree were some camels that had been ridden to Mosque. Now that's not something you see in the USA.

High Tea with the Queen

One of the highlights of my trip to the UAE was going to High Tea at the Burj Al Arab. This beautiful motel shaped like a sailboat is even more spectacular in person. I took this photo at dusk and it really is outstanding.

I attended High Tea at the Burj Al Arab on the 27th floor. Above it on the 28th floor is the Helipad. It's much larger than it looks. Tiger Woods played golf up there last spring! This next photo is the Jumeira Club and private beach, taken from the 27th floor. On the other side of this floor you look over the new palm shaped development but it was very cloudy with sand the day we were there so I was unable to get any good photos of that landmark.

My sister, Lavina, surprised me the day I was scheduled to leave by telling me we had reservations for high tea. The custom of high tea at this luxury motel started when Queen Elizabeth was young and would ride in the early afternoon. She would return from her ride and would be hungry so she would go into the kitchen and make herself something small to eat. She did this so she would not be caught eating between meals. She would get hungry again soon as the small amount she ate would act as an appetizer. So she would eat something tiny again. When she was finally discovered it brought her embarrassment and she decided to start having high tea every afternoon when she would return from riding. Chefs would prepare her little sandwiches and sweets and she could eat them leisurely as she wished. This custom is now one of the most lavish treats in the UAE. We started our tea with a glass of fine champagne and berries in cream. Then we were treated to finger sandwiches. The main course was beef wellington and although I live in beef country, I can honestly say I have never tasted a finer piece of beef. (It was NOT local beef as I did try that, and it was not a treat.) After the main course we were served a fresh sorbet to cleanse our palate and then warm scones with fruit jams and clotted cream. Following this course was an exquisite selection of french pastries and finally hand-crafted Petit Fours. Putting the finishing touch on the experience we selected a specialty coffee or tea. During the tea, food was constantly replenished. If we ate a certain type of finger sandwich it would be replaced by a fresh one quickly. Fancy pastries appeared instantly! I was especially impressed by the Petit Fours. Each one was a miniature work of art. They were as much fun to look at as they were to eat.

Better Late Than Never

In July of last year I had the opportunity to travel with my sister to the United Arab Emirates. She lives in Sharjah and we travelled over together and I spent 10 days with her there. The Emirates are fascinating. I could have stayed much longer as there is so much to see and so much to learn in the UAE. I'm going to share some of my trip with you but there is so much to tell that I will have to do it in pieces.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of the UAE is contrast. You see some of the richest people in the world and living right beside them are some of the poorest people in the world. The immigrant workers who make so little working for the Emiraties feel rich, as they come from impoverished lands and are thrilled to have the opportunity to make such good money. These laborers make what amounts to about $200 to $300 US Dollars a month and they are sending most of that home to pay for the care of their families. And they continue to come to this land for this opportunity from many countries. I met people from many different countries who all came to the UAE to live out a dream. A lot of these workers reach a time where they are able to bring their families to the UAE to live with them. These are workers who have better jobs, in business and education. But the majority of immigrants have service jobs and will continue to support their families from afar.

Another big contrast that I found amazing was the housing and buildings. In the UAE nearly every large building has a crane on it's roof because it's still in construction. There is some of the most modern, high tech architecture in the world at home in the Emirates. And property right beside these wonderful buildings can be run down apartment buildings and shops where the immigrants live and work. My sister lives in a wonderful modern apartment building. It has marble floors, huge windows, lots of decorative artwork in the design, and a very modern gym and indoor pool. Upon leaving the building and crossing the street you come upon run down buildings with many people living in one room apartments. Next to that can be a laundry with no ventilation and the windows all foggy from steam and worn from blowing sand, or a small grocery store with goods all crammed together tightly to allow for the most merchandise in the smallest space.

And then there is the contrast between the lavish green lawns and the dessert just miles away. While in the city I was just amazed by how green all the vast lawns were and how spectacular the large flower gardens and trees. But when driving out of the metro area it is no time at all before you are driving through desert and seeing camels walking around freely or finding cover from the hot sun and blowing sand.

I'm including some of the photos from my trip. I have many to share with you and I would have more, but that's a story for another post!