Michigan

Last week I took a short trip up to stay with Adam and his mom, Sue at their family cottage on Lake Michigan. The cottage is in a cottage association founded ~100 years ago on the Western edge of Michigan, near the town of Whitehall. 

 I was there from Saturday-Wednesday, and it was a very relaxing vacation. Most mornings we sat on the porch and read and had breakfast and watched the birds and squirrels at the bird feeder. In the afternoons, we went for walks in the woods at local places - Duck Lake State Park, Flower Creek Dunes Nature Preserve, Clear Springs Nature Preserve. We spent some time in the towns of Whitehall an Montague- we visited the Book Nook, a wonderful book store; had lunch at Peckadill's, in their amazing backyard garden, went to Fetch brewing, visited an historic lighthouse and found a letterbox at an old one-room schoolhouse. We did a jigsaw puzzle, crossword puzzles, read our books, and took naps. The weather was perfect, not too hot and humid yet. It was a lovely little vacation.  

Look at this cute squirrel!!! Photo by Adam

Hammock + book + view everyday

Sunset at the cottage

Lake Michigan at sunset

Morning supplies- binoculars, book, and porch swing

White River Light Station

Family of Sandhill Cranes walking around in Whitehall

San Diego!

 Spring Break! Adam's Birthday! Less Covid! San Diego!

I wanted to plan a secret trip for Adam's birthday on April 2nd, to somewhere warm and pleasant. I have some old friends in San Diego with a new baby, and it wasn't too expensive or too long of a flight, so we went!

 

Wednesday, March 30

Adam didn't know where we were going until we go to the airport on Wednesday morning. We had a short, uneventful flight to San Diego. Got a Lyft to our air bnb in the North Park neighborhood, just North of Balboa Park, and a couple blocks from Yaw and Helene. Yaw and I went to college together. 

We headed out for some lunch- Helene had provided a list of lots of good food within walking distance, so we started with Dunedin, a New Zealand restaurant. It was really cute, the sun was out, and they serve brunch until 2pm! I got a delicious breakfast sandwich croissant. 

We wandered along the shopping area for a bit, and discovered a used bookstore called Verbatim Books. It was amazing! It was so cool inside, and we spent probably 40 minutes in there and left with 3 books. 

We walked back to our place- the neighborhood of North Park is just beautiful. It has lovely homes, amazing plants, the yards are so cool. I stopped to chat with some people on the street and got a picture in front of their gorgeous bougainvillea. 

 

We rested for a while, our air bnb had a great patio to sit out on. In the afternoon, we explored the north end of the park, just walked around the part closest to us.

For dinner, we went back to the shopping area and got some pizza. It was getting chilly by now, and we hustled on home. We discovered that our place had a PlayStation and the game Portal 2, which is a puzzle game I've wanted to play for ages. We started a new game and spent some time solving levels with our helpful and not evil robot guide. 

Thursday, March 31

Today was chilly and cloudy. Yaw and Helene came by our place at 8, with their daughter Lexi on her scooter and Cora strapped to Helene. We walked to a restaurant called Breakfast Republic and had a terrific meal. I had a flight of pancakes- Churro, Lemon Coconut, and Strawberry Cheesecake flavored, and a scrambeled egg, and some of Adam's brussels sprout fried potatoes. He had an omelette and some of my pancakes. 

 

After breakfast, we went to the park with Yaw and fam. Lexi ran around, showing us the different features of the park, like drums you can (but are not supposed to) climb on. We headed back home for a bit, then went to Balboa Park.  

Lexi on drums!

Balboa Park is the coolest place. It's the main thing I wanted to visit while in San Diego. We wandered through the Spanish Village, which is a collection of small artist's studios/shops. We walked through Palm Canyon and the Alcazar garden, and had a snack outside the Japanese Friendship garden. Then we went to the Museum of Photographic Arts, and wandered through the exhibits there, including a juried exhibit from area students. 

 

When we were ready to go, we tried to use some electric scooters to scoot on home, but I was having problems making one work, so we walked. It's not too long of a walk, it's just down a canyon, so you really only want to walk down it, not up. 

We were pretty tired and took naps. In the late afternoon, we headed out to the North Park farmer's market, that our new friend with the bouganvillea had told us about. We got some snacks and then went to a bar called Pretzels and Pints- I had a pretzel and Adam had a pint. 

It was not warm, and I was not looking at the camera, despite being the one taking the photo.

Back home, we played some more Portal 2!

Friday, April 1

Today we slept in a bit, then took an Lyft to Mission Bay and got some breakfast at a coffee shop. We walked along the waterfront for bit, then we met Sara, our guide for a bicycle tour around Mission Bay. In my mind, I call her "eccentric Auntie Sara". She was probably around 65, and instead of saying "on your left!" approaching people, she would ring her bell for about 20 seconds straight and yell, "Good morning!! Thank you! Lovely Day! Have a nice day!" 

She took us along the bike path on the ocean in Pacific Beach and then in to Mission Bay. We biked along there for a while, which was very quiet and peaceful. The weather was great- sunny, a little breeze, not too hot. There was lots to look at on the ride, in the water, and vacation houses built alongside. We had a good time. We also got sunburned.  

 

After the bike ride we went to a beach bar and had some cold drinks and quesadilla. Then we took a walk along the beach. 

I had a Mango Margarita

 

Here's a conversation I'm sure happened: 

me: "I can't tell if it's going to stay sunny today. Are you bringing flip flops for after the bike ride? I can't decide if I want to haul mine around or not."

Adam: "no, I'm not bringing mine."

Here's a conversation I'm sure did not happen:

Adam: "Actually I'm bringing my flip flops."

In conclusion, I did not have flip flops for walking along the beach and Adam did. Hopefully he does not read this blog, he thinks both 'conversations' happened. So I went into a little shop near the beach and (Adam) bought (me) some flip flops, and I taught the term "flip flop" to the guy working in the shop who did not speak English but complimented my Spanish and was pretty baffled at "flip flop". 

 

 

The beach was nice! I understand why people like it, I think. We walked for a while, and we also saw several birds enjoying the surf. I wish we had chairs or blankets or towels or something, it was a lovely day to sit out at the beach, and there were not very many people there. But the weather had looked in the low 60s and iffy sunshine, so we just did not plan to spend time at the beach. 

 

 

After taking a Lyft home and taking showers and naps, we headed to the Harbor front area to have a fancier dinner. We went to Fish Market, which disappointing for few reasons. The food was only okay, and we didn't get a seat outside, which we had been hoping for but didn't think to ask for specifically. Dinner could have been better, but now we know. 

We did walk along the Harbor for a while, saw the Midway aircraft carrier which is just HUGE, and yachts and things. We walked to the Gaslamp district which is supposedly full of old buildings and interesting architecture, but on a Friday night there is really only one reason people go there: Alcohol, lots of it. It's now a party area, with tons of bars and clubs. The street was closed to cars, so it was kind of fun to walk along among all the people having fun. But it was very loud and crazy. We did not stay long.

Saturday, April 2

 

Adam's birthday! We thought we were really close to finishing Portal 2 on Friday night, but I fell asleep on the couch, so we didn't finish it. We had most of the day to do whatever we wanted, and so we started by playing Portal 2. Turns out, we were a long way from finishing it. We played for an hour or so, but definitely were not close to finishing. 

It was raining and cool, but we walked to Atypical Waffle Company for breakfast, after dropping our bags off at Yaw and Helene's house. It was fine. By this point we were pretty tired of eating out.

We took a Lyft to Balboa Park. On Saturdays, the international cottages are open- they have a bunch (30+) little cottages, each one run by a country, for example "Friends of Peru" runs the Peru cottage. They have volunteers to talk about their countries and answer questions, and lots of arts, crafts, books, and things on display. They often have food you can try for a donation, or activities to do. This Saturday was Scottish Tartan Day, so the Scotland cottage was extremely busy, and there were dozens of booths set up from different clans and things. We explored most of the cottages. I was still hungry, and wanted something not made of only sugar, so I left Adam to hold a spot for us to watch the bagpipe and dancing show and went back to the Scottish Cottage to buy a meat pie. I also secretly bought a piece of chocolate cake- for later! 

 

At the Wallace tent, they INSISTED we take photos with the sword and shield. So we did!

 

We shared the meat pie, which really hit the spot, and we watched the pipe band. But really, how much bagpiping is enough? For me, it was enough when he said, "our next number is..." and so we left. It was kind of misting, not really raining, and not unpleasant, so we decided to walk down to downtown and go to the Central Library to snag a letterbox there. 

 

 

 

It was kind of a long walk, but all downhill, straight down one street. The library was wonderful. We go our letter box, and sat and rested for a while in the Baseball Research Center. (?) Then we took a Lyft to Yaw and Helene's. 

 

At their house, we sat around the firepit, played with Lexi, and I got out the chocolate cake and birthday candles I had brought from Denver. We sang Happy Birthday to Adam, and between 4 adults and a 3 year old, we had plenty of cake (it was a very rich, quite large, slice). 

 

Laura and Cora

 

We said our goodbyes, and headed to the airport. A late, uneventful flight and we were home! Good trip overall! 

Quilts- March 2022

 I've been quilting like crazy! Here are some recent quilts I've made:

Baby quilt for my friend Michaela's baby, Ciannaleigh. This one was foundation paper pieced.

I made a quilted sweatshirt just for fun! This is also foundation paper piecing.

I made these small succulent wall hangings for my friend Ben for his birthday. These are foundation paper pieced, too.

I finished this quilt top for Brian for his birthday in October, but didn't finish the whole quilt until January. The pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman, and the hummingbird is an FPP pattern I bought on Etsy. I used the same scrap fabrics from Orion and Aurora's quilts, plus some new fabrics.

I made this quilt top for myself more than a year ago, and finally finished it up. The pattern is Elizabeth Hartman, and I used what scraps I could from Orion and Aurora's quilts.

In the year+ it took me to finish this quilt, I dived deep into Foundation Paper Piecing, and I LOVE it. I made all these small blocks on the back of the cat quilt from FPP patterns, to represent things about me. This quilt is mine!

I made this toddler quilt for my friend Ellory's son, Felix. The pattern is from Running Doe quilts and I used all kinds of truck and car fabric on it. This is the first quilt I made using a plush throw blanket for the backing, and I loved that. I will do it again for sure.

I made this wall-hanging sized quilt for a challenge from a local quilt shop. They gave me a bunch of scrap fabric, and I chose this FPP pattern from Juliet van der Heijden using at least 75% of their scraps. It will hang in their shop for the month of April for customers to vote on their favorite challenge quilt.

Here's the back of the butterfly quilt.

Quilts

I made my very first quilt in 2016-17 as a gift for my only nephew Orion, who was turning 1. I liked it okay, but I wasn't interested in making more.

Then I made another quilt, a companion to Orion's, for my niece Aurora, in 2020, for her first birthday. I had a quilting mentor, Annie Nestor, who taught me a lot about quilting, and I realized I really enjoyed quilting.

In 2020 I also did a block of the month quilt, which was also hugely valuable to me in learning techniques.

Here are all the quilts I have made so far. 

Orion's 1-year quilt. Pattern is Hazel Hedgehog by Elizabeth Hartman. Someone in St. Cloud quilted it for me, and one of my co-workers helped (basically did for me) the binding. I chose the fabric for the spines to be all nature-related, with the four corners being Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Aurora's 1-year quilt. Pattern is Bjorn Bear by Elizabeth Hartman. I still had *some* of the fabrics left from Orion's quilt, so I made this one to match, but I didn't have much of some of them, so the nature fabrics are just in the little ears.

This is one of the layouts from the block of the month pattern I did, by State Fair Sampler by Leila Gardunia. This one I made for my colleague Sondra's daughter, Hallie. The colors I chose to be warm colors, as she was born in the summer.

Another baby quilt made from the State Fair Sampler options. This one is for Sondra's new baby, August, which I finished for him when he was around 4 months old! I chose the cool colors because he is a winter baby.

This is the State Fair Sampler in the throw size that I made for myself. It took me about 18 months to make this quilt. I finished the other three baby quilts above during the time I was still working on this one.

This is a baby quilt for Charlotte, Kate Westlund's new baby. This pattern came together very quickly, and Brian helped me pick out the fabric, which apparently is a perfect match for her nursery. Charlotte will get this quilt before she is even 3 months old! The "C" is foundation paper pieced from a separate set of letters that I combined with this tutorial from Ricochet and Away. 

I have 4 other quilts I am working on presently.

Birthday Adventures!

This year was a milestone birthday for me- 40! I decided to do something a little special. I took a trip to Vermont to see Paul and his family, and then from there I went to Louisville, Kentucky to visit my Peace Corps friend, Anna.

Paul was having trouble finding childcare throughout the summer, so I agreed to come visit and babysit. 

I flew in to Burlington on Friday afternoon, the 23rd of July. Paul and Orion picked me up at the airport and whisked me away to their house in Montpelier. Paul and Sarah left right away for concert with friends they were going to, and the kids and I ate dinner, read some books, and got ready for bed. 

Aurora wearing the small fabric tray I made her as a hat

 

Saturday, July 24

Sarah and Paul took us all up to Burlington for lunch at a friend's house, where we spent the afternoon. The house was lovely and old, the yard was beautiful, we all had a nice and relaxing time. 

 

Sunday, July 25

We went up to Sarah's parent's house in Glover for lunch and to hang out, then for dinner we went to their family friends' lake house, just around the corner. We had hamburgers, people swam in the lake, and we enjoyed the perfect weather. 

Aurora and Sarah wading in Shadow Lake. Orion scrubs the rocks.

Orion, GrandMarie, Grandpa Topher, and Aurora, relaxing before dinner

Watching Mom take a swim with her friend in Shadow Lake

I would love to eat breakfast here!

 Monday, July 26

First day of childcare! Aurora went to her nanny, and Orion and I went to St. Johnsbury to visit the Fairbanks museum. The Fairbanks museum is a collection of things generally from around 1900 that Franklin Fairbanks brought to Vermont. It's in a big, old, stone Victorian building. The main floor is mostly taxidermied animals and birds, and Orion was surprisingly interested in these. There are also some interactive science-y experiments for kids on the main level, like a gear wall, a heat camera, and a circuit board. We enjoyed our time on the first floor. The second floor has a gallery that looks down on the 1st floor, with a variety of random artifacts from the Fairbanks collection, like bird skulls, knives, artwork from far-flung regions, etc. 

Really into the stuffed birds

You can rearrange all the pieces to get the balls from top to bottom

After exploring the artifacts, Orion and I went a show in the planetarium, about Dinos of the Arctic. We were the only people in there. He was pretty pumped about the movie being shown on the dome above us, and how long of a video it was (30 minutes). 

We went back to the car to get our lunch that Paul had packed for us, and ate on the lawn of the museum. Then we explored their small butterfly house and Orion spent quite a bit of time building a tin foil boat and iterating on his design, testing it in the wave tank. That activity was probably a highlight of the museum for him. 

We could have tested how many pennies can go on the boat, but he stopped at 5 and called it good.

 

After we did everything in the entire museum, some things twice, we walked to a nearby convenience store for snacks for the drive home (about an hour). I had told Orion it was Tia Laura day, and we could do whatever we wanted! His first request was could we buy a minivan and I had to put in some guidelines: We can do whatever we want, as long as I have enough money for it, we are in time to pick up Aurora from care, and it doesn't break any rules. He was quite offended by this last guideline, as IF he would suggest anything that breaks any rules!! At the convenience store I told him he could pick out a treat for the car, and he picked gummy worms. I picked popcorn. Loaded up with junk food, we got back to Montpelier and had a bit of quiet time/nap time before picking up Paul and Aurora. 

Tuesday, July 27

Today we dropped Aurora off at the nanny, and Paul off at work, then Orion and I went to his friend Rowan's house for a playdate (after stopping by Shaw's grocery store where O picked out a fruit salad to take to their house). Unfortunately, I didn't have exact directions, nor an address, to her house. I also don't have very good cell service. So Orion guided me most of the way there, but once we were in the neighborhood, he said he wasn't sure about the rest of the way. I called Celeste (Rowan's mom), but couldn't get through. I called Paul and he told me to drive up a particular street. At one cross street, Orion yelled to turn there, but Paul said no, I was to turn at the next stop sign.  After driving a fair piece out into the countryside, I could tell I was about to lose cell service. The last thing I heard Paul say was "turn around!!" I turned around, and when we got back to the intersection, I turned, even though there wasn't a stop sign like Paul had said. Orion found the next turn, and in a minute, we were at Rowan's house! I texted Paul to tell him we made it.  

Orion spent a few hours playing not only with Rowan, but with Rowan's brother Liam, and their friend Axel. Celeste and I chatted. Rowan and Orion took me up to their fort in the forest and played for a while with their 'wood chipper'. Orion also requested a wood chipper for his birthday at this point. 

Working hard at the wood chipper

We all had lunch together, and then I read the kiddos a few books for quiet hour. Orion and I went home then, and had our own quiet hour. We did some crafts in the afternoon, mostly making birthday cards for Paul and Sarah.Then we picked up Aurora from the nanny and went to see Paul at work. He had a few things left to do so we put on hard hats and watched him at work. It was pretty interesting, he works for the Vermont Evaporator Company and that day was working on getting barrels ready to be turned into...something...that has to do with processing maple syrup at home. We enjoyed watching him work. 

At the Vermont Evaporator Company

In the evening, we opened a suitcase of clothes someone had sent to Sarah to see if she wanted anything. We all tried things on, with Orion winning the fashion contest by finding a dress that matched his dragon wings, so now he has a dragon robe costume! After the kids went to bed, Paul and I had just enough energy for one round of Wingspan. 

Wednesday, July 28

Topher and Marie day! Today I drove the kids up to Glover so we could spend the day with their grandparents. Having three of us for childcare was a wonderful break for all of us. The kids played in the sandbox, did play-do, and played with these cool dress-up dolls. 

I put Aurora down for a nap (which means I took a nap, too), and then Orion and I played outside. He thought up a great game- "let's play where you're the kid and I'm the adult". YES. He made me breakfast, drove me to school, and took me to a playdate on the porch with my friends Topher and Marie while he went to work (picking weeds along the driveway). It was an easy game for me, and he enjoyed it a lot. 

Today was Sarah's birthday, and Paul found a live concert at a nearby school lawn, and invited several of her friends and we took the kids and a picnic and had a lovely evening. It was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to do for my birthday, so I told Paul that and he got a 2-for-1 deal on birthdays. It was chilly, almost cold, by the time we left. 

Orion peruses my crossword puzzle book at the concert

 

Sarah and the kids in birthday crowns at the concert

Thursday, July 29

Today Paul stayed home with me and the kids, and we had a low-key day. Paul mowed the lawn- they have a LOT of lawn. I hung around with the kiddos outside, Orion and I moved things out of Paul's way, and Aurora mowed behind him with her toy mower. Orion found a toad and a red eft.

Aurora mowed so much lawn today!

A toad!! Also, Orion's shirt is on backwards.

It rained in the afternoon, and Orion and got in bed to read for a bit and both fell asleep. 

A well-earned rest

Friday, July 30

Today was a chilly, rainy day. We took Paul to work, and then Orion asked if we could do a morning tubby time. Turned on the hot water, and he spent probably an hour playing in the tub. Aurora wasn't interested in staying in quite that long, but she was happy to sit outside the tub and read with me while Orion played. We took naps and watched nature videos during quiet hour.

Tubby/book reading time

Aurora played hide-and-seek in the shower curtain while Orion stayed in the tub

Paul and Aurora

Paul and Orion

S'mores!!

Paul, is that stick really the right size for roasting a marshmallow??

 

For dinner, we ordered burgers and fries and ate outside at the picnic table, then made a campfire and did s'mores. 

Saturday, July 31

My last morning for early morning snuggles and video watching

 

My last day with the Vermonters. The day was very laid back. Paul and Sarah had lots of chores to do, as they are leaving for the cabin at Barville Pond in a couple days. I read some with the kids, played outside with them, and had time to sit around by myself and read. I gave Orion some birthday presents from me and my parents, since I won't be there for his birthday on Wednesday. We built a machine and he took pictures with his new digital camera.

Building a centripetal force machine

 

Orion LOVES his new camera!

 

 

Paul and I ran some errands in town, then he took me to the airport in Burlington for my flight around 3:30pm. 

I flew to Louisville, Kentucky to spend a few days with my Peace Corps friend, Anna, and her family. My flight was uneventful and Anna came to pick me up at the airport. We got to her house around 10 or 11pm. Her daughter Isabel, who is 3, was waiting up for me. I said hi and then pretty much immediately went to bed.

Sunday, August 1

 Anna and Kyle and Isabel took me to breakfast at the Logan Street Market, which has various vendors and a large communal eating area. We got bagels and Isabel ran around; almost no one else was there. Then we headed up to Charlestown State Park, just over the Indiana border, for a walk in the woods and a bit of letterboxing. The woods were beautiful! I found them to be very amazing, unlike anything I've walked in before. I saw a cardinal, but no pileated woodpeckers, which is what Anna was hoping we would see. We took Isabel to the playground for a while, then went for lunch at a brewery on the Ohio river. 

Anna found a salamander!

After lunch we headed back to their house and hung out for awhile, and shortly, Adam arrived! He drove down from his family cottage in Michigan. When he got here, we took a nap, then went for a walk around the neighborhood with Anna and Isabel. They live in a beautiful old part of Louisville, and every house is fun to see. 

Sophie the Cat enjoys lounging in the middle of the stairs

 

We had grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and veggies for dinner and watched the Olympics. 

Monday, August 2

Today was my birthday! Anna took Isabel to daycare and then Anna, Adam, and I went to brunch in downtown Louisville. Kyle had to go out of town for a conference. Brunch was tasty, but I had too much food leftover, of course. We stopped back by their house to stick things in the fridge, then we went to the American Printing House for the Blind and went through the Braille Museum there. I had been the last time I visited Anna, and thought it was really interesting. Anna and Adam enjoyed it this time with me, and we learned how to type our names in Braille. 

Birthday froyo!

Their neighbor's house- they won an award for best garden

Our next stop was the Falls of the Ohio state park, mostly to find a letterbox, but also to learn about the limestone riverbed and the history of the Ohio river shipping industry. It was getting very hot and muggy by then, and I asked if we could get frozen yogurt. We went into downtown Jeffersonville and got fro-yo! We were still stuffed from brunch, so we skipped anything resembling lunch and went home and took naps. 

In the afternoon we walked about 20 minutes to Isabel's school to pick her up, and walked home, which took quite a while. For dinner we ordered fried chicken, then we watched some more Olympics. 

While Anna was trying to put Isabel to bed (which can take several hours), Adam and I drove down to the waterfront and walked along the string of parks there. It was a lovely evening, breezy, warm, not too humid. 

Breezy on the waterfront!

Tuesday, August 3

This morning (around 11), Anna, Adam, and I went on a tour of the Evan Williams distillery. It was a delight. They talked about the history of the Louisville bourbon industry, taking us through various 'scenes' including the waterfront in the 1800's and downtown during prohibition, when the only alcohol allowed was medicine from the pharmacy. We did a taste test, during which I affirmed my belief that I don't care for bourbon. 

Old[-timey Pharmacy

40's-era bar for our bourbon tasting

We went back to Anna's for lunch, and then hit the road. We drove the rest of the day and stayed at a motel in Kansas City, MO. 

Wednesday, Aug 4

Today we just drove aaaallll day. We thought about stopping at interesting places, but in the end, we just wanted to get home. Arrived at my house around 5:30pm, safe and sound after an excellent trip!