Progress!

I spent an hour or more yesterday layering a throw - here is the previous description of the top - "Several years ago David spent a week or so in Wilmington, North Carolina helping the people who purchased the business he worked for here in Maine get up and running. He was looking for other things to do so I set him up with my cousin Alliene, who lives in Wilmington and he spent an afternoon/evening with she and her husband, Ben. David came home with a few presents from Alliene, one of which was a hand-pieced quilt top. She was unable to provide much as to the provenance - perhaps it was pieced by her mother (my Aunt Jane) or her grandmother (her namesake, Alliene Estabrook). We just don't know and sadly have no way to find out now. " - It is now layered and ready to be quilted and the new Pfaff is back from its check up so I'm set to go. Here are a few pictures:

The first one is the backside, showing that this clearly was handpieced. Amazing work. The fabrics appear to be mostly remnants of clothing although the red print was likely purchased just for this quilt as there is an abundance of it. The second photo shows the front and the layout of the blocks - a simple row and column. The third shows just one of several areas where the maker had to piece to make up an element. It is ready for quilting but I have other projects to do first and I need an entire day to quilt something this size. It also may be the largest piece I've ever quilted so there's that. Super Tuesday is tomorrow and includes Maine. And today it is rumored that the Supreme Court will rule on TFG"s eligibility for the primary here and in a couple of other states. I don't hold out much hope for him to be rulled off - the Supremes are a majority of GOP backers and I don't think they want to deal with the animosity a decision against him would create. They are willing to let the people decide at the ballot box. My only quibble with that is that we can safely assume that there are foreign influences at work to attempt to insure TFG is elected. I hope and pray that the American people come through again and say a resounding "NO" to the chaos and grifting. We shall see. (UPDATE: Indeed, the Supremes came back with a unanimous decision to allow him on the ballot, citing some questionable opinion that this should be a Congressional decision, not left up to the states that are running the elections. What was more inmportant than what they said was what they didn't say - that he indeed was an insurectionist. And, hello, Justice Barrett - what was that wisecrack about the other 3 women justices who explained their reservations, which none of the male justices seemed to feel they needed to do.)

Still waiting!

Still waiting for my "new" Pfaff to return from it's visit to Tyler but I've been very productive with the old standby. I still have that top to layer but it will happen. Surprise snow squall this morning yeilded over 20 "incidents" on the interstate while we were on our way to my eye appointment. People drive just too darn fast especially in bad weather. Just sitting in my living room, I see cars and trucks driving way too fast - surely over the speed limit - every day. And the ones with the loud exhaust systems are the worst. But I seldom see any police presence to deter this bad behavior and I think drivers know that police are engaged elsewhere. Politics continues and the GOP is still road blocking any progress on anything. The orange man sounds more and more delusional and I really wonder how anyone can support his bid for the White House. He has been assessed 500 million dollars in fines on 2 court cases. Narcissism reigns in his world. Last week was vacation week here and every day there was a post on the Friends of Saddleback FB page about someone's skis or equipment going missing. Some were apparently honest mistakes and made right but some I fear were blatant theft. Perfect time and place. I seldom saw or heard reports like this before. I think Saddleback's new-found popularity has attracted an unwanted element. And it's not just thefts - I see posts about other undesirable behaviors - kids forcing people to ditch out and get injured, trash under the lifts, vaping everywhere. It reminds me of the tales I heard in high school of the ski trips to Greek Peak with kids off in the woods drinking. Just unsmart behavior all around.

Hello Old Friend!

I took my new (last year) Pfaff to Tyler in Portland for its yearly check up last week and yesterday pulled out my old Pfaff to do some pieceing. It was like we were never apart. Through the years I've spent so many hours at that machine, creating I don't know how many couch throws, table runners, placemats and other things to sell and gift. Someday I really need to count them up - I'll bet I'll be surprise at the totals. So far this year, I have one couch throw top and 3 runner tops finished. Some small projects are still percolationg after clearing the ironing board and I hope to get them into production this week. I also hope to get the throw layered along with the one gifted to me by my cousin Alliene several years ago. That one will be my practice piece once I get the new Pfaff back. While we were in Portland we ran a couple of other errands, visited the Osher Map Library at USM and had lunch at the Great Lost Bear. Always good food there and a good selection of beer for David. Our meager snow pack has been further reduced by a surprise rain storm this afternoon. Temps have been trending up all week and we hit 50 today. So warm and sunny. I have noticed since COVID that brick and mortar stores have reduced their inventories and no longer include all the sizes they once carried. Case in point: I used to be able to walk into the local Agway and purchase the smaller size of dry cat food. Yesterday's emergency search yeilded only the 25 lb. size and there's no way I'm buying that as it would take Divot months and months to eat through that. And we do not have the space to store a bag that size! So it was Chewey to the rescue with their fast shipping and crisis averted. A sad moment yesterday to learn via Facebook that a horse I had been following, Vallelujah, had passed away. She was still in training at Aqueduct and apparently had a heart attack and died in her sleep. Her breeder, Carolyn, had sold a partial ownerhip share to a group of Saratoga residents who started gathering ourside the fences to watch training during COVID. Carolyn's trainer stopped to talk to them and told them they needed to buy a horse so they couold attend the races, so they did a deal. Val had varied results but her big moment came in 2022 when she won an allowance during the Saratoga meet and you would have thought she had won the Derby with the celebration. Carolyn has her little sister, Mary Union Ave., in training now and she (Mary Union Ave) ran her first race today, finishing seventh. I "met" Carolyn way back during the Alex Brown racing journey with Barbaro. She bought her first horse, Ave Ravina, and sent her to Tim Woolley to train. (Ave Ravina is the dam of both Val and Mary, along with a couple of others Carolyn has bred. She was scheduled have her last foal this year and head off to retirement someplace really noice, I'm sure.)

Moving Along...

It's Primary day in neighboring New Hampshire and the GOP race is down to 2 - TFG and Nicki Haley. IF I were a Republican, I would not have any choice and would stay home...TFG would NEVER be an option and especially now that he has shown over the past weeks that he is in severre mental decline. And, of course, I don't believe the man has any soul and he certainly does not have any ethics. And Haley? Well her stand on abortion and her vow that she would pardon TFG if elected eliminates her in my book. So far, Dixville Notch has gone all in on Haley (including former Maine resident and fellow IC alum Les Otten). Stay tuned. Another storm a week or so after Christmas created even more havoc on the Maine coast - wide-spread flooding and incredible damage all along the coast. Not so much inland but no one neede this, for sure. The aforementioned throw top has been completed. Just need to layer and quilt. And I have fabric for the second one in hand and ready to start. But I'm working on some simple runners to have on hand for quilting practice. Once all those are quilted, I'll start on some wall hangings and determine if I need more placemats (probably) and go from there. D. went to Titcomb this past Sunday for the afternoon. 4 runs and finally determined he needs to ditch his boots and just rent from now on. He thinks he can get new bindings put on his existing skis but I don't think so. We'll see. Had a few social gatherings this month - with the Longfellows crew at the Weathervane in Readfield, at Portland Pie in Waterville with the Atkins crew and at the premiere of Maine Local Market at Snow Pond this past Saturday. Interesting concept - they create locally-sourced dinners/entrees you can oder ahead and pick up. Eventually they plan to have a drop-in market somewhere on the grounds there. Worth checking out I think. I don't know if they will be providing food for events at Snow Pond or for the camp this summeer. And, speaking of Snow Pond - they are going big time this summer with an outdoor concert with Melissa Ethridge and the Indigo Girls. Pricey tix plus a parking fee put it out of my reach. Onsite and off site parking - I could see me buying off site and having to drive to Augusta to be bussed back to Sidney! It will be interesting to see how it works out. But it will work out without me. Oh, and several of the ticketed areas were labelled as "Standing Room Only" which would be a non-starter for me. And finally, racing has had it's challenges the past couple of weeks - tracks from Texas to Pennsylvania and New York have cancelled due to weather issues - cold, rain, snow, ice. Eclipse Award are Thursday and I might tune in to see if Archangelo pulls off an upset. And Baffert and his owner have finally withdrawn their appeal over Medina Spirit's DQ from the Derby in 2021, making the results final. (About time and RIP Medina Spirit)

January Blahs

Christmas has come and gone. The decorations are packed away again and the only reminder of the holiday past is the bowl of cards still on the table by the door. They will move on shortly and so will I. After another successful show season I have sewing and quilting to do. I sold 2 couch throws this year so will need to concentrate on replacing them in my inventory. I already have one planned and fabric prepared - just need to start cutting and sewing. Along with those 2 I also have another throw to layer and quilt. Several years ago David spent a week or so in Wilmington, North Carolina helping the people who purchased the business he worked for here in Maine get up and running. He was looking for other things to do so I set him up with my cousin Alliene, who lives in Wilmington and he spent an afternoon/evening with she and her husband, Ben. David came home with a few presents from Alliene, one of which was a hand-pieced quilt top. She was unable to provide much as to the provenance - perhaps it was pieced by her mother (my Aunt Jane) or her grandmother (her namesake, Alliene Estabrook). We just don't know and sadly have no way to find out now. I have the backing and batting and will add it to the mix while learning to quilt on my new machine. I'm still experimenting with tensions etc. to get the right mix, which of course changes depending on the fabrics in play. I am not going on the usual January fabric acquisition binge as usual because I need to conserve funds for show applications. Since I am no longer a Board member at UMC I no longer enjoy the perk of free spaces, although I did negotiate a deal for some credit in exchange for wrangling the Facebook page. We'll see how that works out. I thought I did a decent job this past year (certainly better than previous efforts) but I know I have more to learn. Christmas Day was quiet for us - and cold as the boiler chose to leave us without heat or hot water that day. We waited until the next day to call and Dead River was here within an hour. 3+ hours and over $1000 we were back in heat although the system needs to be cleaned and serviced as that got dropped this Fall. As I write this we are in the first hours of our first snow storm since my difficult ride home from the Holiday show over a month ago. This snow, however, is powder and so light you can blow it away. We needed this but it will be gone in another drenching rain storm on Wednesday. We had one of those a week before Christmas that sent trees crashing down and ripped shingles off in some places. There were people without power for several days and I noted yesterday when I drove home on Prescott Road that there is still a missing pole and downed wires there. We experienced fierce winds and drenching rain but kept our power.

Just Another rainy Monday...

or not. It was rainy but it was also windier than we have ever experienced at this house in 24 years. Wow!! I was sure we would a) lose power and b) lose trees. Happily, neither happened but we did have a few stutters in the power supply, just enough to neccessitate resetting the clocks. Farther North, in Oxford and Franklin counties, they are dealing with major flooding, a combination of all the rain and snow melt, as they still had a good snow pack from last week and the week before. (Saddleback started last weekend almost fully open!!!!) And the rivers down here in Central Maine will crest tomorrow once all the water makes its way downstream. I just messaged my niece to say we will not be attending the family Christmas dinner in a week and it was a good call. They all have have COVID there and are still recovering. No thank you, been there done that this year! We will stay home and have a quiet dinner - turkey with GRAVY (missing from Thanksgiving!) and a few trimmings. None of this over the top amount of food. We had brunch at the Weathervane in Readfield yesterday with the Longfellow's alums. Fun time and good food. Then we visited with Brenda and Garrett for a while before coming home for naps. Such is the retird life.

Holiday Show +

While D. was sunning and golfing in Florida, I was busy making money at the UMC Holiday show at the Italian Heritage Center in Portland. This was a new venue for this show and it was a joy to work in. Easy in and out - no stairs, lots of parking. Nice decor - very cozy and attactive space. It was another good show for LeafLady - sold another throw, a tree skirt and runners and placemats. It all adds up. The only negative was the weather - while sunny and cool on Saturday it was another dicey ride home on Sunday - rain in Portland kept the speeds down on 295 all the way to Gardiner, where it turned to snow - hypnotizing snow!! Fortunately, people behaved themselves and the road had been treated enough to be just wet but I was happy to pull into the driveway and the garage when the trip was over. And I had people checking up on me, which was nice. Overnight we got 5-6" of snow so it was good that I had decided to stay home on Monday and decompress. Noah plowed, I shovelled and it was all good. Had to scrape the driveway on Tuesday before I went out on errands. Groceries have been procured and I just have another trip to Portland to donate my extra sewing machine today then home to make more cookies and do more decorating. D. arrives mid-afternoon, much to Div's delight. While it's been a nice break with no real set schedules, I'll have to adjust to regular meals etc. again. Tree is the first thing on the agenda for Friday, and maybe a trip to Grateful Grains for Greek food on Saturday. Once the cookies are made, it will be time to do a deep clean on the studio in preparation for next year's projects - 2 throws, 2 tree skirts and some wall hangings. (I sold 2 of the 4 projects I hustled up between the last 2 shows this weekend, which is always gratifying.)