The Quilt Show revisited!

Best-Machine
Originally uploaded by Joanna Root.

I went back to the quilt show today after church. It was not at all crowded, and most of the vendors seemed to be winding down and had time to chat! I found more things to buy, fabric mostly. One of the shops I visited were ladies from Dayton Ohio. I'm anxious to check with Sally to see if it was one of the shops she and I visited while I was there for Mike's retirment.

I have posted several pictrues from the show to the Flickr site, so if you's like to see highlights of the best quilts there, just click on one of the quilt pictures, and you can start a slideshow at the Flickr site.

I talked with Russell and he reported that Skyler had quite a fun day for her first birthday. He said she wasn't much interested in the cake though! She added to her toy and clothing collection - I can only imagine what all she received! Anyway, they had a great day, wish I could have been there. I look forward to them posting pictures.

Getting cold here, a winter storm is coming our way.

Saturday, 2 AM!

Happy Birthday to Skyler, today she is one! I wish I could be there to join the festivities in Houston and give her a big hug and kiss. I know her mom and dad are sure proud of her, she is a blessing for them! Happy Birthday Skyer, your grandma in Virginia loves you!

I am wide awake, yes I am writing this at 2 a.m! I guess it comes from all the stimulation I got today being at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show here in downtown Hampton! I couldn't ask for a better location because it couldn’t be more convenient. The show actually opened on Thursday, but since our weather was beyond yucky that day, I stayed home. Friday was dreary, and great for being indoors, as it was cold and dark outside. Inside was the usual riot of colors and textures, enough to make anyone stay awake!

The Coliseum here in Hampton was a great place for this show which was previously held in Williamsburg. Everything was under one roof here (compared to 4 different hotels last year in Williamsburg) and so it seems to made more sense to move it here. The booths seemed roomier and the aisles were wide enough that you were not scrunched up trying to move around. Of course it is not nearly as large a show as Houston, but I think they do a good job and there is a good turnout of vendors.

Tomorrow I'll post a few pictures of some of the great quilts I saw. Several were really incredible, the amount of work in them leaves me tired just thinking about them.

Oh yes, the appointment for the lot selection has been put off again .... seems the entire main office of Eagle Construction has been hit with the flu. I knew it was too good to be true!

Smart Kitten Trick

It's a very chilly Sunday morning here, but there is sun. The weather Pixie says it is 36 degrees and wind only 3.5 mph and not out of the NORTH! I’ll be going out to church soon, but expect it won’t be too bad, as at least I do not hear the wind honking! I don’t have much to report as the weekend has mostly transpired without incident. A trip to the library yesterday and a visit to the grocery store and you have all the excitement we have going here. DH (you know who) had to reload the system on his computer last night, so that at least got his mind off the house and lot. Not that it made him happy!

I didn't update the LOT report in the blog, but our “lot pick” date was put off again. I won’t go into long boring details, but there are still problems with paperwork and numbers on their end, so they will not launch until they are completely set up to back up their data with hard figures. Can’t blame them, but then, why not just say so and not pretend things will be ready soon. We did hear there will be 40 lots, and 10 of them will be spec homes. We don’t know if all the spec houses will be in the first phase or if it will be a mix. The only difference this makes is that each phase involves a price increase, and we already know the base price increased $10,000. Since November when we first saw lots.

Most exciting, don’t hold your breath here – a new kitten trick. Last night we were watching "White Christmas", the old movie with Bing in it. Yea, we are weird. We know, it isn’t Christmas. But anyway, the cat was trying to get our attention. Darting around, running from front to back of the boat. She jumped up on the sofa and rolled over on the laptop (where the movie was playing) - and yep, somehow managed to pause the movie! Now wasn't that a neat trick???. She managed to step right on the mouse pad and click on pause. Didn’t I tell you how smart she was?

24 Hours

Twenty-four hours can be a long time. Just ask Rebecca, or me for that fact. On Friday night Maddie came down with a stomach virus and threw-up in the car on the way to a hockey game. Zack asked if they could take her home and then he and Mom go back to the game themselves! That was the only humourous moment of the next four days.Saturday night Zack caught the bug, in the middle of the night. Backy was still nursing sick Maddie, Tom got to take care of Zack. Sunday night it was Rebecca's turn to be sick. She called me on Monday morning to please come watch the babies. I went for the day while she stayed in bed. When Tom came home from work, I came back to the boat. Later that same night, Tom fell in line with the rest. It was like domino's falling. Every 24 hours a new person was sick.

Tuesday morning I went to the laundry, and then when back home about two o'clock, ate a meatloaf sandwich. Well, within an hour I was as violently sick as I can ever remember being. We decided it wasn't the 24 hour bug, as it had only been 12 hours since I had been in Richmond and it came over me immediately after eating. I don't think I will eat meatloaf again anytime soon. I may have escaped the real bug running around at Rebecca's, but I don't think it could have been any worse than the food posioning.

Everyone in Rebecca's house is well again! I am fine! All is well!

Found At Last!

I’m certainly glad Mike is not losing his mind. If he was, then I would be in trouble too. Especially since he is youngest of us! I think he can probably roast the pistachios slowly in the oven and get a crunch back in his nuts .... If he hasn’t already eaten them all in celebration of finding them! It’s funny how things get misplaced isn’t it? I don’t think he can blame the cat either.

Our week has been slow. I went out one day and mailed off the packages I had ready. I had fixed the buttons on Maddie’s sweater and also had all of Skyler’s birthday presents wrapped up. So, I went and purchased paper and cards and got all that taken care of. A short trip to the library netted a new book to read (that I have read one page of so far) and nothing else new. We still have not watched the DVD of Apollo 13, so it is scheduled for tonight.

We heard from the agent in Richmond yesterday and our appointment for picking a lot has been moved from Tuesday to Friday. Seems there is some hang up getting all the options for the new house plans priced out and printed. So, we will now go to Richmond on Thursday instead of Monday as we planned. We have been discussing options every evening; since this floor plan is new and different, it obviously presents some different elements. I wish I could visualize better, as one of the main issues we are presented with is deciding if we want carpet or what (wood, tile) in the living room and the adjoining sunroom, that is not really a separate space visually. One room runs into the other. Since there are no houses built that are exactly like this one, seeing a model will not help. Any ideas? We have found out that the lots being offered are near the center of the area they are opening, not up on the hill under the ugly power lines, nor down near the main road. We don’t know if the one lot we have seen and liked is in this release group or not. Time will tell.

I guess Brian and Christine should be getting excited as they have her sonogram on the 15th! So soon we will all know if we should be thinking pink or blue. I am excited. I like making things more when I can visualize the gender! I have collected a few things for them and will be sending them off once I can add something the right color!

As a last note, two pictures from the newest members of the Bruce Springstein Band - in a one time performance last weekend.


Maddie on Tambourine and improvised horn!


Zack on Bongs and Duck Call!


You wouldn't believe the sound these two can make!

On the Home Front

After another visit to the development on Saturday morning we are back on track again! We actually have an appointment to pick out a lot! Isn’t that exciting? So on February 15, the day after Valentine’s Day, we will finally, finally get this show on the road. The scuttle butt at Crossridge (the development) is that there will be 40 lots released, so we should get a good chance at trees or a view of water, albeit not like a forest or a lake. Of course, since I put it in writing, something will probably change. Our agent said she will advise us of everything she finds out in the next 10 days. Let that phone ring!!!

While at Crossridge we also saw the plans for the newest home, which they call the Fisher. and we have decided it will suit our needs. The architects added a 3rd bedroom downstairs, and the upstairs is now available as either a guest suite, or as a large unfinished area. We want the area for DH’s train layout, so we hope we can convince them to finish it (not as a suite) but as a heated and cooled (and electrified of course) open space. Worse case scenario is we will have to contract the sheetrock, etc. ourselves and add it after we move in. If we can just get them to wire and heat and cool there, which seems simple enough, we will be set. There is also an additional storage area up stairs that will work great as an office.

We had a nice visit with the grandchildren, (and Backy and Tom) and kept very busy. Rebecca had appointments for a variety of reasons (preschool for Zack, dentist, etc.) and we watched one or both of the babies several times for her to accomplish them all. Zachary is still a busy little person. His energy level is always on high. I love it when you ask him if he’d like to do such and such and he says, “That’s a good idea Nana, come on!” Maddie is right on his trail, learning all the tricks. She calls Zack and her dad, DA DA, though it seems like one is DA DA, and one Dah, Dah, you got that difference? She also says mama, and Nana, but the latter is like a fluke. She is fascinated by Silly and tries to get his attention by making little kissing sounds with her mouth. I’m posting new pictures, at Flickr and will tag them February 2005.

Maddie also thinks blowing raspberries is funny, consequently I think DH and I both picked up baby germs while we were there, though we are both better today. Baby sniffles. It’s hard to not pick up something when you are being kissed and hugged all the time.

We arrived back to the boat anticipating water. HA HA. I guess this last freeze did major damage in several areas, some of the ones that were just newly constructed after the last big freeze. So, we had a dribble of pressure and we were able to fill our tanks, but dreams of unlimited water directly on the boat were dashed. Bah! There is a pretty wicked North wind going too, so we know nothing will be done about repairs in the very near future.