Road trip 2013 Day 6

 This is my view from my veranda at the Renaissance Inn on the Bay just south of Petosky Michigan. It is an absolutely beautiful resort but very, very pricey. That's what I get for waiting too late to make a reservation. 

Yesterday on my way out of Grand Rapids I walked across the river to the public museum where there was a fabulous exhibit on the Titanic. What an emotional story!  We were given an information card with one of the passengers names and story. I had to wait until the end to find out whether my passenger and her 2 sons survived. Found myself anxiously looking among the 3rd class survivors.  All 3 were survivors but it made me cry anyway. I feel teary just writing this. Very emotional exhibit. 

After recovering from my Titanic experience, I went back to the quilt show and made a deal with the APQS dealer and a new George should be moving in with me in 3 or 4 weeks. Sure hope we get along and there are no tension issues!  

My drive yesterday took me to Grand Haven where I found a fabulous art and craft fair going on right where the Grand River comes into Lake Michigan. Then it was up to Ludington where I discovered the ferry boat harbor. 

 It would be so much fun to take my car and the ferry from Ludington to Milwaukee then drive north to the UP or where ever the roads lead me. That will have to be another adventure!

I kind of ran out of time and had to skip Traverse City to get to Bay Shore before the sun went down. 

Made just it just in time for sunset!  This would be a great place to come for several days but not by myself. So many families and couples on holiday it really accentuated my aloneness. This is a beautiful resort, though. 

 

 Today will take me to Harbor Springs and then on to Mackinaw City for a couple of nights. 

The adventure continues. If anyone is reading this, thanks for joining me. 

 

Road trip 2013 Day 5

Had a great day yesterday. First on my list was the GRAM - Grand Rapids Art Museum. There was a fabulous collection of quilts from the 1950-1960 era all made by Susana Allen Hunter. The quilts are much like Gees Bend quilts made with whatever was available from old clothes, feed sacks and more. Again I was made aware of my inability to understand impressionist art. 

???

This was Smiley Face I think. Just thought it was weird. 

Now this I get!  Remington cowboy on a horse. The piece is called Rattlesnake. 

So much for my art appreciation skills. The afternoon was spent in a class at the quilt show by Karen Combs on Celtic Illusions. It is a brilliant use of just 2 blocks that can be put together in endless ways. I got a bit frustrated with the sewing machine. My Bernina beats Janome hands down. I feel like a sewing machine snob. 
 

Talking about sewing machines, I continued my research into the perfect sit down long arm setup. It is down to the APQS George or the Pennywinkle Sunny 24. The George costs 2x the Sunny but are really different setups. 

Sunny 24

 

APQS George

If I put the price difference aside, the George is probably a better choice. Still not ready to commit. 

Last night was so fun in downtown Grand Rapids. Friday night is movie night in the park between the Gerald Ford Museum and the river. People brought chairs and blankets and settled on the lawn to watch Back to the Future on a big inflatable screen. No venders or commercial stuff and no cost. Someone even brought a Delorean to the park 
 

Movies in the park. 

 

Delorean. 

On the way back to the JW I met this lady in the sidewalk down on hands and knees making a rubbing of the manhole cover with some fabric and a black crayon. She says she irons it to set the crayon permanently and makes quilts and wall hangings from them. 

Manhole rubbing. 

 This is not on my list of things I want to start doing but really fun to see what the possibilities can be. 

 Today I leave Grand Rapids but first I must see the Titanic display at the public museum and then make my decision about the long arm. Will it be Sunny or George?? 

The Road Trip really starts today as I begin my exploration of northern Michigan. Tonight I will be at the Renaissance in Bay Shore. Wonder what I will discover on my way there? 

Road Trip 2013 Day 4

Grand Rapids is a really beautiful city to explore. For a city with less than 200,000 population the museums and art and parks are remarkable. Apparently there is a lot of wealthy people who believe in reinvesting in their community. 

Yesterday I took a tour of the Mejier Gardens. Fred and Lena Mejier who started the Mejier chain of stores donated land to develop a botanical garden and art center. There are some amazing indoor gardens, an amphitheater for music and many sculptures set throughout the 137 acres. 

Spidery aluminum thingy - very big. 

Little girl in a tree. Guide said it was a little girl because she is wearing Mary Jane shoes. Okay.....

Two heads on a bench. 

Whenever I see impressionist art and sculptures I am reminded how very left brained I am. As you can see by my descriptions of the pictures I usually totally miss the real meaning of the artwork. Even when it is explained to me I really most times just don't get it. That being said, I still like seeing them and making up my own story of what it is all about.  There was way too much to see for just 2 hours so next time I'm here I will spend time wandering.

Today at the quilt venue I am taking a class from Karen Combs on Celtic design technique. And I am continuing my research for the sit down long arm that clicks my clock. There is one that I think has my name on it but will continue to research this afternoon. More tomorrow!

Road Trip 2013

This post is an experiment with a new ap on my iPhone5. I was having problems adding pictures from the iPad or iPhone into the blog. Hopefully this will fix the problem. 

I  am sitting in the lounge on the 23rd floor of the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids Michigan. 

View from the 23rd floor of the JW Marriott. 

 My journey started on Monday with a stop in Chicago to pick up my passport from the Brazilian consulate. Driving in the big city has never been fun for me and this time was no different. I misunderstood my GPS guide and ended up in the tunnels under the city where there is no GPS or phone signal. It has taken me many years to come to grips with the fact that I have no sense of direction and to learn to enjoy the adventures that come from going places not on my itinerary. 

Trump tower from Wacker and Wabash downtown Chicago. 

 

The GPS lady in my phone also seems to always want to send me on toll roads. Now I do not mind paying tolls but the pay stations that are not manned by humans were not designed for little old ladies who cannot reach without getting out of the car to insert the toll and gather the change. Why the 20 cents change was that important to me is another issue but I found that someone before me couldn't reach their change. As I am gathering the 40 cents I hear this voice over a speaker asking if I need assistance. Not on your life, Speaker Voice!  I can do this myself!  

Here I am safely checked in for the AQS quilt show in Grand Rapids. Yesterday I took a class from Bonnie Browning on Zentangle drawing. Very fun and addictive. 

My first Zentangle. 

Today I will continue my research on which sit down long arm sewing machine clicks my clock and fits my budget. So far the APQS is winning. 

More to come on my Road Trip 2013 if this ap actually works. Thanks for reading. Writing like this keeps me from feeling quite so alone on this adventure. 
 

Lucy's Story - July 4, 2003 to July 10, 2012

Lucy at 4 1/2 months old

 It all started in 2003 at a charity auction for the Children's Heart Fund in Sacramento, California.  One of the items up for bid was a pick of the litter from a breeder of Siamese cats.  Now, mind you, I have always been allergic to cats so this was definitely not on my list of items to take home.  However, when the bidding for this $250 pure bred Siamese cat started, no one raised a hand!  Well, I thought, if someone will just start the bidding, this will be really good.  So I raised my hand and bid $120 just to get things started.  To make a long story short, I bought the pick of the litter from a Siamese cat breeder for $120 that night.  What was I thinking!!

In August, Sara and I got to pick out my kitten!  Lucy was so very calm and actually licked my hand when I picked her up.  How sweet, I thought.  Little did I know that she would not always be so sweet but would totally capture my heart.  She was only six weeks old and the cutest little thing! And my allergies were really pretty under control with her.  I have heard that Siamese have a different cat dander and not so bad for allergies and it was true with Lucy.

What do you want?  

Just resting here.  Let me know if
you need me.

Oh, yes.  Forgot to say why she was named Lucy.  My mother passed away early in 2003 and I must have had her in mind because Mother's full name was Virginia Lucile Harmon.  "Virginia" just was too many syllables for a cat's name, so "Lucy" it was.

I had never really had many pets so was totally clueless about how attached I could get to this little critter.  She was what I called my "puppy cat" because she followed me everywhere.  And Siamese do not meow like other cats.  They talk to you.  Lucy and I would have amazing conversations in "Siamese."  She loved quilts.  She could tunnel under a quilt on the bed and disappear for her naps for hours.  At 10:30 each night, Lucy would come to tell me it was bed time.  How a 12 pound cat can take up so much of a queen size bed is amazing! She definitely took her half out of the middle!

Lucy must have
seen this.

Got to keep this
quilt from floating away.

Just inspecting.  Nice quilt!

Oh boy!  You finally put
in a tree for me to climb.

 I could go on and on about my life and adventures with Lucy the Cat, but Lucy was one of the best life coaches I have ever had.  It is a fact that our pets live for the moment.  They are not concerned with the past or the future. They do not have any "could of, would of, should of" moments.  On Tuesday, July 10, Lucy got sick and passed away very unexpectedly.  I will miss her so very much and will probably cry easily when something reminds me of her funny little habits.  But I will try not to dwell in the past or worry about the future.  As Lucy would say to me in Siamese, "Savor the moment."  Rest in peace, Lucy.

"I am the queen
of the house" pose

Camp Grandma 2012

Camp Grandma in California 2002

Now that the Garden Walk is over, it is time to start planning activities for Camp Grandma 2012!!  Every year since 2002, my family has tried to get together for some fun and adventure and cousin bonding time.  The beginning years were held in Orangevale, CA at the pool in the back yard.  When I moved from CA to Indiana, the adventures have expanded with travels here to Indiana, a week on the beach in Kauai and, last year, exploring Yellowstone National Park.

Swimming at the
 Ferguson's 2008

This year, 2012, my daughter Jennifer is coming from Idaho with her four sons, Greg, Chris, Michael and John and with Greg's darling wife, Brooke.  I am soooo excited to see them all again.

Adventures for this year are still in the planning stages but I just secured a reservation for a 34' double decker pontoon boat with slide for a day on Lake Monroe!  Other ideas include a day up in Indianapolis at the Children's Museum and River Walk, a trip to Center Point to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, maybe get up to Indian Field to a baseball game or even down to Holiday World.  Not so sure about Holiday World.  There is also the Creation Museum over in Cincinnati and the aquarium there.

The Dayley family on
Poipu Beach in 2009

12-passenger van for getting
 us all to our adventures.

Maybe we will just hang out here in Bloomington and the kids will finish making their board game.  Last year I could not find my Monopoly game so these kids proceeded to make their own game with some poster board, colored paper and legos.  They named the houses and such after streets in my neighborhood and called their game "Gramopoly."  Gotta love it!


So July 25 Camp Grandma 2012 begins!!  Can't wait!

Garden Walk 2012

So last year sometime, I got a call from the Bloomington Garden Club.  They have a Summer Garden Walk each year and wanted to know if I would consider putting my yard on their Garden tour in 2012.  Wow!!  There are six gardens featured each year so this is really special.  Anyway, I have been working, working, working in the yard trying to make it look worthy of being selected for the Walk.  Tomorrow is the preview day so I needed to be done with it today.  So here are some pictures of what the visitors will experience in my little place in the forest.

 This is the view of the back deck looking from the stairs coming down from the upper deck.  Lots of pots of flowers (because I am really not a "gardener")  They called my landscape a "container" garden.

 And here is the view from the hot tub looking back at the forest.  After 2 hours of tennis this morning and 5 hours of yard work and mowing, the hot tub really sounds good right now!

And this is the view from the driveway looking toward the front porch with the rock fountain in the foreground.

And this is the west side of the house, the one that gets the most sun.  The roses and dahlias are really pretty this year.  The little bench is for those Kodak moments like when Sara goes to her first prom.  We have had very little rain so the new sprinkler system is making my yard look like an oasis in the dry desert.

I am really excited to have the yard in the Walk but am feeling a bit nervous that it will not be as special to the visitors who come as it is to me.  This is my favorite spot for that latte in the morning or to work on the binding on a quilt.

Wish me luck!!