Flying Llamas

This afternoon Gordon and I needed to run an errand to Spanish Fork JoAnn's and I just needed a Teriyaki Chicken sandwich at Carl's.  As we drove past Sonic's I saw on their marquee Festival of Colors. I'm glad I saw that because if I hadn't I would have been totally unprepared for what I saw inside.



The first person I asked turned out to be a Japanese speaker who didn't understand the question,

"What is the festival of colors?"

Her response, "Orange, pink, red." Accompanied by fluttery fingers.

So I tried the girls pictured above. They told me that it was a celebration at the Hindu temple (actually, it is Krishna) where bags of chalk in a myriad of colors are thrown at each other then on the hour there is a gigantic explosion of chalk shot into the air.

Gordon says, "Color fest at the same place as the llama fest?"

At which point another customer piped up and said, "Yeah, that's when they shoot llamas in the air!"

We all busted up!

Just One Star

I'd like to share something that I did today. Maybe you would like to play too!

Just One Star * can comfort a soldier

This is the note that I sent along with the blocks.

Hi Ladies-
     I discovered your flier in one of my favorite quilt shops, Cotton Shop in Provo, UT. I was so excited to see the project you are planning. I came right home, pulled fabric from my special Americana stash and made these blocks. I may end up sending more.
     Now, lest you think I am confused and don’t know who I am OR where I live I’ll tell you about my signatures on the blocks.
     • I started life as Joanie Caraway (living in a tiny town in Plumas County, in way-north California). I learned to sew at age 8. I had a wonderful 4-H teacher, Mary Griener, who was so picky I thought I would die. But as my sewing life has progressed I’ve blessed Mary’s name many times because she taught me the right way to do things!
     • Fast forward 21 years... Now I am Joanie Lewis. I moved to So Cal where, in 1995, one of my friends *infected* me with the quilting virus. I love it! I’d always sewed clothes for my 6 children, but by now they are too cool for Mom-wear... but nobody is too cool for a quilt!
     • Then, 6 years ago, my husband retired and we moved to Northern Utah where we have 9.5 of our 20 + two-on-the-way grandchildren and I spend part of my time trying to sew up all the fabric in my stash... problem is- I KEEP BUYING MORE!

     I‘ve put this info on my blog so I am hoping to drum up more blocks for this wonderful cause.

Still in stitches...

Joanie

(IF YOU CLICK ON THIS PHOTO IT WILL TAKE YOU TO THE PHOTOBUCKET LINK WHERE YOU CAN VIEW IS LARGER.  YOU CAN ALSO RIGHT CLICK, COPY IMAGE AND THEN PASTE IT SO YOU CAN PRINT.)

Send untrimmed blocks to:

United Notions/Moda Fabrics

Attn: Just One Star Project

13800 Hutton

Dallas, TX 75234

"Oh Honey, My Cup Runneth Over!"

With our children spread out across the United States it isn't often that I can say that I've seen all of them [read grandkids!] in a short period of time. The last time I accomplished that was in the fall of 2007.

This month is a close second. I've seen all of them in the last month except Kristi and Jim's family in West Virginia.

I arrived home from seeing my California grandsons on Monday. Imagine my surprise when Erik called on Tuesday and said they were in Cedar City and would like to visit with us when they got into town. We visited with them that evening. Grampy provided a wonderful dessert of hot chocolate chip cookies and root beer floats.

They have so much family in Utah that we have to share but when they arrived for dinner Friday Bryan was thrilled to see that there was snow in Grammie's front yard! The minute they pulled up he dove into the *trunk* of the van and got out his jacket and gloves. He was a boy with a mission.



Even though there was only a few inches he managed to build a snow tower taller than himself! (And no wonder! Look at his freakishly large hands! Oh, wait, those are just his dad's gloves. bwahahahaha)  The other kids weren't so enamored with the snow.



When it was time for them to leave I gave hugs all around but little Bryan gives the best hugs, you know the kind. They melt a Grammie's heart. That's when I said, "Oh Honey, my cup runneth over!" [name that movie]

Another funny aside- Later that evening a friend came over and said, "It looks like you've had kids playing in your front yard!"  Lucky yard.  Lucky Grammie...

Dead Fish

My dad use to have a saying... Company is like fish; after 3 days they stink! Whereas this is not always true I have found that I would rather have a visit end with all of us saying, “This visit was too short!” as opposed to “Oh, schmack, I wish I’d left yesterday!!” My visits this trip falls into the previous category. It just wasn’t long enough.


[THIS PIC HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS POST EXCEPT IT IS A POT OF TINY BULBS BY BEK'S FRONT DOOR. THE DAFFODILS ARE NO LARGER THAN MY FINGERNAILS!]

I had a lovely week with the Flynn family and on Friday they all got a big treat! Uncle Stuey flew into Fresno to surprise them when they all got home from school. Those boys just idolize their *St'rt*.

And speaking of dead fish... Curt and Bek treated Stuart and I to an excellent sushi dinner on Friday night (the boys decided they’d pass on that one!) We sat right at the bar and watched Wan prepare all of our sushi rolls and sushi. I’ve decided that eel is a new favorite. Wan is a master at the art of sushi.

Saturday we drove back to Palmdale where Stuart dropped me off at Auntie P’s then hot-footed it down to Brea to visit a friend. He stayed there to hear her speak in church on Sunday.

I went to church with P in the Palmdale 4th ward (sniff, no more Palmdale 2nd ward!). I got to see old friends, some of whom I haven’t seen for years since they were split into 4th ward years before we moved from Palmdale. P told me that Glenn Tong was now on the High Counsel so when I saw him I told him I’d love to hear him speak someday. My wish is his command! By coincidence he was speaking in the Littlerock 1st Ward which meets right after 4th ward. I ditched out of 4th ward’s Relief Society and sneaked into the back of the chapel. Imagine my surprise to find more old friends!

We ended up sitting in the chapel for nearly another hour after sacrament meeting was over visiting! The happiest news is that both Ann Keelan and Pauline realized they were quilters and now we have a new quilting friendship. Happy times.

So today, Monday, finds us winging (fly little Beatrix, fly) our way home with another perk... I have Stuart to share the driving. (FYI- the trip took 8.5 hours!  It usually takes me 9.5-10.)

No Worms Were Hurt... Opps!

It started raining Saturday evening and pretty much didn't let up for the next 36 hours. You know how that is. It was my last night in CA at Uncle Steve and Auntie P's house, we were getting ready for bed when Steve called from the bedroom,"Hey, come look at this!"

We dutifully came and this is what we found!



In unison both P and I exclaimed, "Hold on! I need to get my camera!"

We all know that heavy rain will drive worms out of the ground and then they drown on the sidewalk. Ah, but this little adventurer had a different idea. He was going to get out of the rain.  Can you believe this? He slithered under Steve's office door, through his office at least 15 feet into the bedroom all across the carpet!


HYPOTHETICAL WORM ROUTE

I'd like to say that no worms were hurt filming this incident... but, sadly, that is not the case.

"Treacle Tart, Hermione?"

Since forever ago we've had a leprechaun feast every St Patrick's Day. That's just what we DO! But for the first time in 20 years I got to have that feast with my leprechaun-Bek.

Bek and I tend to be Harry Potter fans; we're known to quote it to each other (well, and sometimes to perfect strangers!). This year Bek wanted to try making some Treacle Tart.

"Treacle tart, Hermione!” said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. “Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!”

She'd found several recipes, all in metric, of course, that looked promising so we collected the ingredients with care and looked forward to some treacle tart.



Oh My Stinkin' Heck! What a lot of work! The crust had to be made way in advance so it could be very cold for rolling out, we needed brown bread for the filling (which Bek made the day before), tons of butter (this is not a bad thing!), eggs, cream, lemon juice and zest... but hardest to find was treacle syrup. One recipe suggested substituting golden syrup for the treacle syrup.

The recipe called for a tart pan (which just happened to be living in my dungeon in Springville, but too bad for us, we were in YLP!) I told Bek that using a mesh-bottomed pizza pan would do. My mom used mesh-bottomed pie pans all the time. What we didn't reckon with was the metric conversion (which we got wrong), the ratio of butter to flour was too high. As the crust baked (remember in a mesh-bottomed pan) the butter melted in great waves that coated the bottom of Bek's new oven!



Isn't this so pretty? It is the crust oozing out of the holes. This is one of those *puddings* that requires two baking times: one for the crust alone and one with the filling. So can you guess what we got to clean up twice? Somehow I didn't get a photo of the finished treacle tart but I found a reasonably good facsimile here. The saddest part about treacle tart? It tasted so much like lemon bars, which we'd just made earlier in the week, that it was a disappointment.

But here is something that didn't disappoint! I love a good ol' traditional boiled dinner. Yummy!

Alexander the Great Grape

Several years ago when I was at Bek’s house on Grammie duties I just happened to catch Tadhg as Sir Isaac [Fig] Newton at the Rivergold’s History/Wax Museum night. So as I was planning my trip this time and found out that Caden would be participating in the same event I knew I would have to be there to see him as Alexander the Grape!



The students each choose a mythical, fictional or historical character they want to represent. Then study to learn about their character and write themselves a little script. The parents get to help them make a dandy costume. The students memorize their little schpiel and they are all set for the big performance.



Usually the characters are frozen in one of the many outside quads, but this year rain moved them into the classrooms. The idea is that they stand frozen until a spectator comes and taps them; they awaken and give their informational speech and them freeze again. I’m always amazed at how clever they are.

Caden was just slightly nervous when Grammie came, in all her state, to hear him. But he managed to make his way through his speech.


Being an all powerful conqueror he knew that he needed to get his rest before the big battle.



We wandered in the several classrooms to see the rest of the wax museum. Some of my favorites were-

The goddess- whose daughter ate 6 pomegranate seeds and was taken by Hades, God of the Underworld, for 6 months of the year. This little girl was so animated she was a joy to watch.



Moses- who was wearing his father’s jamaka and prayer robes.



A sea goddess- who somehow got on the wrong side of King Tritan.



This little girl, who I don’t remember what she was, with beautiful amber eyes.



I saw Indiana Jones wandering around outside after the wax museum was finished, I ran up to him, gave him a tap and he accommodated me. He even showed me how he could use his whip with a big crack!



I asked Caden if I could carry his shield and spear (to avert another world conquest right there on the Rivergold campus). As Bek snapped this pic Brock informed me I was not Grammie the Great... but I told him he was mistaken... I definitely AM GRAMMIE THE GREAT!

Life in the 'Park

Almost 11 years ago Rebekah and Curtis moved to Yosemite Lakes Park AKA YLP. Caden was just a baby who we put in baby jail his playpen so we could do all the fix-up, painting, etc that needed to be done on their little repo home. If Caden wasn't in baby jail he would eat anything that moved! Ick! YLP has a wonderful rural lifestyle that suits their family just fine.

Over the years they've done all sorts of improvements including adding an in-ground pool (watch out for all the ginormous granite rocks when digging!), a garage conversion, pulling up carpeting and replacing it with laminate or bamboo flooring, removing the popcorn ceilings and replacing it with pine planks. I love visiting here.

When the *little* boys; Caden, almost 12, and Brock, 9.5, got home they were *hot* (yes, it was all of 75°) and they wanted to go swimming. Bek told them that if they wanted to clean all the pine needle debris out of the pool they could swim. "You want to swim... you do the work!" I like that kind of mothering!



Tadhg is in high school now and gets home an hour and a half after his brothers. He's all about skateboards right now and wasn't interested in pool maintenance.



Since we were outside on this *too hot* day (notice she has on a sweater?) Bek pulled out her rake and started cleaning up the flowerbeds inside the pool area... can you say PINE NEEDLES?



This is Super-Girl the bestest cat around! She's only four years old; which is old for a hill-billy cat. Sadly, cats don't have a very long life span here. There are too many predators/dangers here. But they fulfill a very useful purpose... just what kitties do best: keeping the rodent/snake/bird population in check!



"Come here, Sup!" says Brock.



OK- so here is the saddest part about this happy post. I took my whole camera outside to take these pix... I didn't know which lens I would want to use. When did I remember when I'd left it out there? Yep, that would be this morning after it had started raining. Fortunately I was able to dry things off and they are still working properly!

BTW-- THIS IS MY 900th BLOG POST!

San Joaquin Snow

Saturday afternoon I drove from Palmdale up the San Joaquin Valley (pronounced /ˌsæn hwɑːˈkiːn/ bwahahahahaha... AKA san wha-keen) to Coarsegold to visit with Rebekah and family. I've always loved the drive up Hwy 99 with the ginormous *freeway-bushes* that are bigger than houses growing in the median strip. In August the oleanders are a riot of blossom in all the hues from lightest pink to deepest fuchsia.

But I digress...

Now, in March, most of the orchards look as if a blizzard has just swept through the area. But it isn't really-for-real-destructive-snow just tons of blossom petals from the acres upon acres of fruit and nut trees.



THIS PARTICULAR *SNOW-STORM* IS AN ALMOND ORCHARD

A Boy and His Cat

Can I just start by saying that I am very partial to BIG ORANGE CATS?  Literally for half of my life I have owned one!  So it makes me very happy to see a new generation who loves BIG ORANGE CATS!

I think this is Muffin, but it may be Twitch, aka Kevin, with my sweetie Brock.  What a wonderful blessing to be able to visit with my CA grandsons!  Yeah, and this cutie boy is nine and a half!  What's up with that??



This will give you an idea why I have trouble telling these identical kitty-twins apart.



The boys tell me that Muffin is darker and Kevin is lighter... this photo makes it look easy.

A Day at the Beach

One of the things I miss the most since I've moved to Utah is being able to go to the beach any-ol'-time I want. I try to rectify that when I come back to Palmdale (that and eat a Panera Bread... 2 time so far this trip!)



Spencer, Deborah and Riley joined Auntie P and I on a trip to Venice Beach. Can you believe that I've never been to Venice Beach before? We usually went to Ventura Beach or Zuma Beach to avoid having to go on the I-405 or I-10 freeways, which are always packed!

They trotted down to the surf on this beautiful, perfect beach day!  Notice Riley has a hold of his shorts like an old man so he can run fast.



The first wave had just receded when Deborah scooped up a sand crab!



Riley wasn't too hot about this guy... I'm sure if Deb hadn't told him he it was on his toes when they dropped him back in the drink he might have liked it better. Spencer captured the poor little fellow again but it was the only one he could dig out.



But, no fear... they let him go again. Deb also found a tiny, baby sand crab. She has mad skills that the rest of us don't possess.

Deb is so good with Riley. Lucky boy.



We also saw TONS of confused ladybugs! Maybe it was a suicide pact or perhaps they just wanted to enjoy a day at the beach and just didn't know how to keep a safe distance from the water. Silly ladybugs...



I loved watching these three play on the beach. Riley wanted both of them to join him in the surf.



Come-on... let's go...



The water was magical. I love the way it glitters as it ebbs and flows.



See this precious little boy? He looks so much like his Daddy when Spencer was that age, potbelly and all!



We decided to talk a stroll down the beach and came upon this rocker-dude raging against the surf. Let's put it this way- he was VERY HAPPY!



As we walked Spencer and Riley frolicked and played, chased and ran.



We ate at Panera Bread and then made the trip back to Palmdale. Riley took a much-needed nap so he was ready to go when we got to Auntie P's house. He played with his long lost truck from last summer, tried out Gidget's bed...



and looked at photos with his Auntie P.

Corridor of Memories

I always laugh at the *catch phrases* that the media come up with: Pineapple Express (a storm coming from the Pacific), June-gloom (June marine layer in So Cal), El Niño (Spanish for The Niño), and now in Utah- The I-15 Corridor!

This day I spent my time having a corridor of memories as I drove to Palmdale for a vacation. I remember the first time we drove the I-15 [corridor]... it was Sept 1982, Labor Day weekend. We'd just moved to Palmdale from the Bay Area and decided at the last minute to drive to Provo to visit with the Utah Kids, AKA Gordon's children. We took off in Gordon's old-dog-Mazda [303] that I fondly referred to as a tuna-can on wheels! It didn't have A/C! It was hotter than Hades crossing the desert (duh!).  We stopped at Halloran Springs to get a much needed drink and potty stop. We continued on and hit Vegas about 1 am and it was still in the 100s! Yikes.

I remember the time the kids and I drove to Aunt Ann's for Sam's missionary homecoming... in August. This time we were in my little VW Cabriolet convertible! We stopped at a rest area in the Virgin River Gorge and the cicadas were deafening! It was also on this trip that somebody-who-shall-remain-nameless rolled up Petey's (Stuey's favorite little stuffed animal) tail in the window with his body on the outside of the car going 80 mph! Who would be mean enough to do that to a sweet little boy?


REST AREA EXIT IN VIRGIN RIVER GORGE

On the way home from this visit I thought there must be something wrong with my A/C until we got to Baker, CA, home of the World's Tallest Thermometer! and saw that it was 122°!!!

It was also in the Virgin River Gorge that I got one of my 3 traffic tickets for speeding. We were driving home from Provo late one night in a rented van full of kids and I got pulled over for not doing the 55 mph speed limit... remember those days?

Then there was a different trip in the old-dog-Mazda when Gordon got stopped in Nevada. When he saw the gumball lights he just took the car out of gear and coasted to a stop instead of braking. When the Nevada officer came up to his window he said, "Whoa! Where's the brakes on this thing?!" We all laughed and then he gave Gordon a ticket... not for speeding, but for wasting a natural resource! Again with the 55 mph speed limit!

And no trip on the I-15 would be complete without mention of this crazy road stuck out in the California Desert...



I could keep going and going with almost 30-years worth of stories of wearing out the I-15 corridor but I will spare you. But I did have a fun time being reminded of all these memories today.

Winter Escape

When I was a little girl one of the things I like best was having someone read to me. Now that I'm a big girl... I wish there was someone who did want to read to me besides Jim Dale! But lacking an aloud reader I find much enjoyment reading. I love to curl up on my bed or in my big chair and read the afternoon or evening away. As long as there are good books around I don't think I could ever be bored!

My Daddy used to read to me and one of his favorites was Little Britches by Ralph Moody. I know that I've read a couple of his books in the past, notable Little Britches.

But it wasn't until this time around that it finally hit me WHY my Daddy liked them so much. Daddy was born in 1897 (nope, that's not a typo!) in the Texas panhandle. Ralph Moody (born 1898) moved to rural Colorado when he was 8 and ended up being the Man of the Family by age 10. Although Daddy wasn't left fatherless at a young age he and Ralph Moody (and Ralph's dad, Charlie) had that same sense of resourcefulness! They could fix anything with practically nothing and were always having adventures. AND they loved to relate their adventures to a willing audience.

So this time around reading Ralph Moody's series of books has been just a bit like sitting on Daddy's lap and listening to him. It's been a comfortable feeling.

Saved Memories

Do you have a set of memories that you save for a rainy day? I do! Those happy thoughts that will brighten even the cloudiest day!  I like to pull them out of my pocket and let in those old rays of sunshine!

I decided to do the same thing with this photo. Just looking at this sky makes me happy and want to sing! Now if I could just figure out a way to enlarge it so it covers my workroom window I'd be in business!

1- A Lam-bie Day

March showed her happy lam-bie face this day. I love the month of March with all of her extremely severe mood swings... so this day a taste of spring... right inside on my kitchen window sill.





BTW- I got this sweet plant from my daughter-in-law, Suzi, a year ago. Is it an African Violet?