Off to Boston!

It's going to be quiet here for a while. I'm catching a plane to Boston tonight, then it's time with Liz--and driving across country with her! WHOoOoOooHOoooOOO!! What fun!

I'm taking along my Cathedral Windows blocks. Maybe I'll even get some of it done on the trip. Come back in a couple of weeks and I'll show you...

Future Quilter

This week is spring vacation for all the local children. I'd promised my small friend, HaiLee, to teach her how to quilt. She came over today for her first lesson. She is sewing together 5 inch squares from my overflowing "Nickels" collection. I marked a quarter inch sewing line on all the squares for her, showed her how to thread a needle, and encouraged her to try to make small stitches on the pencil line. She did pretty well and managed to get four squares together before she had to go home. I sent her off with a plastic pouch full of squares, a needle, a pair of scissors, thread, a needle threader and a mouse pincushion with a few pins in it. Her goal is to sew all the squares together before I get back from my road trip in a couple of weeks! We'll see how that goes!

While we were sewing (I was working on a Cathedral Windows project) HaiLee said, "I really like this room." As it is my sewing/playroom, I am fond of it too but I wondered what there was about it that HaiLee likes. So..I asked her. She said, "I like it because YOU'RE here!" Ahhh shucks! Who can resist that? ;-)

If she is still interested in learning to sew after playing with her Nickels and sewing kit, I think we'll try it with the sewing machine. One thing at a time, though...

Roadtrip!

Liz has returned from her adventures in Nepal and India! She is back in Boston again, going to work tonight. She was a day late getting back, due to a missed connecting flight. Check her blog in a bit (after she has recovered!) and you can read all about her trip.



Meanwhile...I'm flying to Boston on Friday. Liz, as mentioned in an earlier blog here at this location, got her dream job in Denali National Park, Alaska and lucky Mama that I am, I get to make the road trip with her! WHoOoOo HOoOOoo! I'm looking forward to walking around Boston one more time and exploring it's history. It really is a lovely city. The forecast is for rain, but I've packed an umbrella--so I'm ready for that (besides, being a Pacific NW chick, a bit o' rain doesn't scare me)

The movers come on the 21st, then we'll be out of there. I'm not sure yet what route will take. Niagara Falls to visit Aunt Betty? Stopping by to say hello to cousin Sue in Stacy, MN (we haven't seen each other since we were 17--would we even recognize each other? YIKES!) Down to Salt Lake City to see Jeff and Frieda? Stay tuned to this space in a few weeks for photos of THIS particular epic journey. Okay, so it doesn't involve hiking to 15,500 feet in Nepal, or giving loving and compassionate service to orphans in India, but...for me, it's probably about all the adventure I can take! ;-)

The plan is to drive back here, pick up Tom, and make the last leg of the journey from the Pacific NW to Alaska. With any luck, we'll be able to take the ferry but if not, we'll drive.

The burning question is, how many quilt shops are there between Boston and Denali National Park and HOW many can I convince Liz to stop at? Hmmm!

LDS Fabric Site

My friend, Joan, (Hi Joan!) just sent me a link to this online shop! What fun!!!

check it out for more varieties in LDS theme prints.

http://ldsfabric.com/

Liz in India

I was listening to the YouTube song in my previous message, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me," when I opened the following email from Liz, and saw the photo. If anyone has the Savior standing beside her, it's Liz. I could see him reflected in her smile. Here is her email.

"I have a much better attitude today about everything. I went back to Mercy Home (the atrocious gov't orphanage) and even though I still wanted to cry on the way home, it was better. I was able to enjoy my time with the kids more because I wasn't shocked by how they have to live. I passed out toothbrushes and toothpaste, oranges, bananas, crayons and paper, and globs of coconut shampoo. I was there by myself (just me and the driver who doesn't speak English) so I had to communicate with made up sign language. I did recognize a couple words. I cleaned a couple infected wounds and gave a gaunt, sick looking guy some electrolyte/salt replacement powder that I threw in my water bottle. The other volunteer had noticed that he looked sick on Monday so I had my eyes peeled for him. I fed bananas and an orange to the guy who's stuck in bed and can't feed himself. At least he was clean this time (Monday he was laying in his own waste).
Today we (me, Paige the nurse from NY, the health educator, a nurse, and a physical therapist) went to two tribal villages. There were many contenders for the dirtiest child in India contest, but they were so cute. The health educator had them all sit down and we bought 1 rupee crunchy bread like things from a bike vendor who bikes his way around to villages selling his food. There was also an ice cream man, believe it or not. I took his picture. So the kids learned about washing thier hands and not going to the bathroom near food and crops. I don't know how much handwashing there will be since there's one water source for the village... but it was worth telling them about. Paige told me a lot of the kids have TB and she's even seen smallpox in the tribal villages. By tribal I mean the native Indians who somehow managed to not be integrated into the rest of the country as it was invaded by various groups. They're casteless, below untouchables if you can be that far down. Like all kids I've met so far they loved having thier pictures taken. The kids in the 2nd village obviously hadn't seen a camera before. I had to show them what I was doing before I was able to win them over. Then they threatened to trample me when everyone was trying to be in front of everyone else so they could be in the picture. They didn't seem to realize that if they're too close I can't get a picture of anything.
Other than that, I played with the kids at my orphanage, Shenalaya. There's one kid, Mohit, who's got some kind of muscular problem. His feet are splayed out sideways (so he falls a lot, especially because he loves to play soccer) and his hands are really twisted. It's hard for him to speak to. His parents left him here, "temporarily" and they were paying for him to stay here up until a couple months ago. They've never come to see him and they'll never be back. But everyday he sits and waits for them while the rest of the kids play. Today in the classroom he signed that he wanted a photo so I did a self portrait of the two of us. He put his little arm around me and gave me a kiss. The kids here are so sweet and I just hate it that their parents leave them here (or like Radah the11 year old girl with HIV, who was left at a train station) because they're not perfect. There's the kid with down's syndrome and all the cute, happy guys with CP who are perfectly smart (from what I can tell, not being able to speak Hindi).
I'll try attaching a picture of the kids at the village.
Love,
Liz"

New favorite song

My friend, Becky, (previously mentioned as the chorister in Primary) is teaching the children a song called, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me." She is teaching us sign language for some of the words--so far, I've learned a few. It is a beautiful song and since it is stuck in my head, I thought I would give you all the opportunity to have it stuck in YOUR head too! Which, actually, isn't a bad thing. So here it is at YouTube. Cut and paste the link. They aren't doing signing with it, but the music is lovely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6wApf0xZag

p.s. I just figured out how to add my new favorite song to my playlist! So..if you stick around on my blog long enough, you'll hear it!

Sewing for Hitty

For a change of pace from sewing quilts, I have been making wee clothes for 6 1/4 inch Hittys. Talk about immediate gratification, it hardly takes any time at all to finish a doll dress. Here is a photo of dresses I sent to my friend, Joann, who lives in Illinois. The Hitty in the red dress is my Hitty Elizabeth, who is visiting Joann and her "girls." It was Joann's idea for Elizabeth to come for a visit and since postage is cheaper than an airline ticket, I thought why not? Besides, Joann didn't invite me! (I would be a much more troublesome house guest and certainly would eat more than Elizabeth does, so I can understand her preference for Elizabeth!)
Yesterday a new challenge was posted to the Hitty group. It is to make a charm quilt from sixteen 1.5 inch squares. Julie is willing to send out squares to those who don't have fabric lying around...like I do. I decided to make one. Here is Hitty Emma sewing the quilt.
And here is the finished quilt!

More Springtime weather?

Here, for the benefit of Liz who might pop in during her next visit to an internet cafe...while she is in India...are some cool and refreshing photos I took yesterday. We had thunder and lightening, as well as pea-size hail! Taz found it fascinating and sat in the garden window to watch the white pellets bouncing around outside. A clap of thunder nearby was a bit too much for her, and she retreated to a nearby shelf, still close enough to observe, but not in "surround sound." Later she got brave again and went back to the garden window. Brrr!