Start of another week

Mondays. I remember back before I was retired I sometimes groaned as I rolled out of bed at the early hour necessary. I would try to get my brain wrapped around what was needed to prepare for the day. I am not a morning person. I am in a fog in the morning. Unlike my husband who is up at 5 rarin' to go. He has all his little rituals and work habits all established. I, on the other hand, stumble around in a fog for quite a long time. I do things, but it takes me a very long time. When we lived in St. Paul I would wake up at 5. Sit on the side of the bed. Put on one sock and shoe. Then I would just sit for about 15 minutes. It would drive my husband nuts as he could never figure out what I was doing. I was thinking in a foggy sort of way about the day to come. Finally I would put on the other sock and shoe. He was very relieved.

Mondays now are just another day like the other days. I can have unrelieved fog time if I want. I may just be lazy, but I think it is more that I fall into that foggy land of unlimited free time with no impetus to rush to the next spot. I love to think and dream.

Tomorrow I am going to talk about making spaghetti sauce. I make a mean Norwegian spaghetti sauce. vicki

WOW

Well, we just got back from church. i went to bed last night unable to figure out when tennis would be on the tube. It was about 1 am. I realized I couldn't sleep because I was pretty sure tennis would be on any minute, so I got up at 1:30, and sure enough.. it was a start of the finals... Roger Federer vs. Marcos Baghdatis. Baghdatis came out like a wild man doing everything right and hitting 137 mile an hour serves! He won the first set. Federer looked a bit bemused, but steady. The second set Federer finally won in a tie break. Then he won the third set 6/0. And continued to win until he had the requisite three sets. But Baghdatis is going to be a force to be reckoned with! He worked so hard the first two sets that there was no more gas in the tank. However, unlike Justine H/H, he soldiered on even in the face of a brutal cramp in his leg. It was a wonderful match. Then I went to bed at 4 am and got up at 8 for church.

Church was great. Fun rousing music and a good sermon. One quote I liked was from a nurse who was involved in ferrying children from Viet Nam to the US: Your work is your prayer.
Wow... and that God could envelope our work and make it his.

Well, off to our Sunday. May we all have a wonderful day! vicki

Sorry for the delay

I am so not used to living away from home! Minnesota, that is. I like it here well enough, but I am missing all of the things that give me the ability to do what I want when I want to do it. I have so many projects I would like to do, but I would have to buy equipment which I already own back home. (whine, whine)

I set up to do painting. I have some paper and watercolors but not a board, proper tape, sprayer, coarse salt, and all the other things that are at my side at home. (whine, whine).

But I am having a ball watching the Australian Open. (Pardon the pun). I watched the Federer/Kiefer match. Kiefer looked pretty good until Federer got serious. What a fantastic player Federer is. Then I watched the Amelie Mauresmo/Justine Henin/hardeen (or some such spelling. Amelie was playing great. She took the first set and was on her way to taking the second when Justine folded. So Amelie is the winner of the Australian Open after Justine retired. What a deal. I guess it's good to win, but I wish Justine would have braved it out a few more games. Sigh.

Now comes the final between Federer from Switzerland and Bagdahti from Greek/Cypress. Bagdahti is a wild man with all kinds of supporters from Greece. The Australians have caught the chanting bug too, so he has a Greek Chorus of supporters that is hilarious. The actual games are played in the middle of the night here, so I am keeping all sorts of late night hours. Until he gets revved up, he looks just plain lame, but then he gets fired up and wins. Crazy. Beat Nalbandian after a wild match. Should be fun to watch him play the consummate gentleman, Federer.

Well, I am finally acclimated here so I should be posting more often. Lucky you. vicki

Back at ya!

I have been going through the adjustment to a new place. I am finally feeling totally at home. Well, maybe not totally, but at home enough to feel comfortable.

We have access to wheels now and can go here and there. I discovered once I had the access I no longer had the desire to GO here or there. I can now with great comfort stay home and read and watch television. It was the being ABLE to go that I was missing. I love tennis and as they have cable here, I can watch the Australian Open. Unfortunately the only American left is Lindsay Davenport. Federer played today, but I went with George to the golfing range so I didn't watch the match. I presume he won as he is a tennis player from another planet, not only from Switzerland. Martina Hingis, another Swiss player is back this year.

I am reading "1776" by David McCullough. I am really loving it. More tomorrow. vicki

Back at ya!

I have been going through the adjustment to a new place. I am finally feeling totally at home. Well, maybe not totally, but at home enough to feel comfortable.

We have access to wheels now and can go here and there. I discovered once I had the access I no longer had the desire to GO here or there. I can now with great comfort stay home and read and watch television. It was the being ABLE to go that I was missing. I love tennis and as they have cable here, I can watch the Australian Open. Unfortunately the only American left is Lindsay Davenport. Federer played today, but I went with George to the golfing range so I didn't watch the match. I presume he won as he is a tennis player from another planet, not only from Switzerland. Martina Hingis, another Swiss player is back this year.

I am reading "1776" by David McCullough. I am really loving it. More tomorrow. vicki

Martin Luther King Day

We are happy to have a long weekend. Whether we really think of the significance of it is another matter. We still have a long way to go to find MLK's dream, but I do believe progress has been made. I certainly hope so.
George and Matthew are watching a Batman movie and the rest of us are off doing our own things. I hope you all have a wonderful day. I am working on trying to insert pictorial material into my blog, but so far have not had any success. I'll continue my exploration of the matter, however, as that is such fun! vicki

California!

I'm in California. Our flight was flawless. John and Matthew met us. Our baggage came through with no trouble. Amazing. We left at noon and arrived at suppertime Minnesota time. The miracle of flight.

I do not have the capacity to contact my computer at home, so it will take a while for me to include any pictorial evidence of my stay here. I have to figure out the technical part of things. All in due time. Have a GREAT Sunday. vicki

Ah, yes..... and away we go!

I just didn't wait long enough for that posting to come through. The next time I looked, there it was. Now I am having so much fun distorting this poor pear. Oh, well... It takes so little to entertain me!
The next time I write to you I will be in California. Probably. If all goes well. No doubt. It boggles the mind.. my mind, anyway.. that you can be some 18oo miles away in such a short time.

Have a wonderful Saturday. vicki

What's Up?

I just wrote and published a blog that disappeared. Hmmmm. I have no idea what happened. We're getting ready for our trip. More later. vicki

Frizzle-frazzle Preparations

We're all in a tizzy getting ready for our trip. The organization of materials we will need seems endless. I think the most difficult thing is to figure out you don't have to take much. We will have a washer and dryer at our disposal, so clothes can be at a minimum. I plan to take some books that I don't have to take back with me. I also have to take some art supplies. I think I will take two watercolor books that I inherited from my best friend artist sister-in-law and just work my way through them doing what is suggested. They are not heavy books. I will take paper, watercolors, and a few brushes. That should last me. (How do you like the squashed pear? That's a little how I feel as I am skittering around trying to get ready. Sigh.)

Of course, the main point of our trip will be to have a fun visit with the Caifornia part of our family. Matthew is bound to be at his most fun now that he's 4 1/2. And we will enjoy learning more about John and Beth's day-to-day existence. Yippee Kai Yai. Or however that should be spelled. We're off and running. vicki

Grandson

Isn't this an awesome picture? Our little guy loves the water. He's only four and 1/2, but he is good at water sports and swimming.

We are going to be seeing him as we are going on a trip to his home this weekend. I am going to continue writing this fascinating blog, though, so don't dispare.

Yesterday i hosted the book club. Three of us now since one of our members moved. We did the book, "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons" by Lorna Landvik. We decided that one of the reasons we like the book so much was because it takes place in good old Minnesota. We can relate to the places mentioned. But it is also a wonderful book. The cover and title are very misleading. The name for their book club, The AHEB, was given them in a disparaging way, and the cover portrays them in that light. They are fun women and far from fluffy. Anyone would enjoy the book, I think.

We're going to do "A Passionate Man" by Joanna Trollope in March. We're going to meet at Donna's house. Hopefully we'll still be alive and kickin' by then. At our age we never know. Actually, truth be told, one never knows whatever their age whether they will be alive... We just think about it more as we get older! The handwriting seems writ large on the wall.

So we must savor our wonderful friendships and relationships. God has been very good to me in my friendships. (Now I'm sucking up to my friends. Wahoo.) But it's the truth. Good friends are the greatest. Take care and have a wonderful Wednesday. vicki

ta DUM

Ok. I want a real fanfare. I have finished piecing the quilts and now it is to track down the best possible machine quilter in the world to finish them. I am on the track of this person and will let you know at a later date whether he/she comes up to his/her reputation or not.

I would show you a picture of the tops, but they look miserably ugly in pictures, so that's out. I refuse to show you the pictures I took. That's right, I refuse.

While I was sewing, I also listened/watched my tapes of the Dorothy L. Sayers Harriet Vane books. They are videos, that is. I am a great fan and I love watching movies that are already my favorites. I can listen and only occasionally have to look up in extremely interesting spots. They are nice company. These are BBC videos which my sister gave me for my birthday.

I hope you have had a nice Monday. After my retirement each day is somewhat like any other day, but I still remember how hard it was to get into the swing of things on Monday. Take care. vicki

Beautiful Back Yard

This is a photo of our back yard on a sunny day. Right now there is no sun and a gentle snow is making it into a snow globe. Fantastic! The snow is nice because it cleans up the old snow and makes it all new again. The temperature is mild. Beautiful.

It has been a great Sunday so far. We have a visiting pastor who is very good. We had hearty home made chicken soup for lunch. Now I am heading for the basement to continue sewing on the quilt tops. I think I can possibly finish the piecing today. Then it will be to find someone to machine quilt them to my liking. I hope the completed product comes up to my expectations. Dear newphew Peter. I am reliving our experiences together as I sew. We had some wonderful times camping. He was a dear friend. Have a good Sunday! vicki

Fatal Mistake

This is one of the paintings that is entered in the Poetry/Visual Arts show at the Lake Regions Art Council, Fergus Falls, Minnesota. The Other One is the first one I showed on this blog. Go into the archives for December and you will see it.

I finished piecing one of the twin bed quilts I am making for my nephew and niece, Ben and Sarah. There is always a certain let down when something is finished and you wonder if it is as good as you could do. It's always as good as you COULD do, of course. You're not trying not to do your best, but still. A moment of self-doubt hits you. Now to finish the other one. Then to find someone to machine quilt them. wahoo.

Ok. Off to my sewing machine. Have a great Saturday. vicki

Winter Wonderland

The trees are frosty because of fog. Minnesota Fairyland. I have been reading the comments and the replies at the Laurie R. King blog. What a superb writer she is and how fun it is to read the remarks. I love to get comments and I am about to track down one which is provocative. Hmmmm. Why don't the rest of you leave a comment, hmmmm? I'm lonesome. vicki

Irritated

I have a few blogs that I check every day. I love seeing what these people are doing. They are evidently still wearing off the effects of the holidays as NONE of them have anything new on their blogs. Bummer. It's hard to think of anything to say, I suppose, day after day. But, still, don't begin something and then just leave your loyal followers to wait, and wait, and wait for something new. I mean. Sigh.

What should I post today? Nothing much happening. Pretty back yard. Snow still flocking the trees. I'm reading a pretty good book. (Just finished "Angry Housewives Eating Bon-bons" and liked that. My book club is going to discuss that next Tuesday.) Now I'm reading "The View from Delphi." Oofta. Good book so far. But I am filled with trepidation to see what will transpire next. Very good book by a first time author: Jonathan Odell.

Off to the business of the day. Still piecing the quilts. The football has been great. vicki

Roswell

This is one of my favorite paintings. It is my representation of what might have happened at Roswell. I should generate some spooky music here.

I am having a hard time getting motivated to do anything in this new year. Enui to the max. So I will have to kick myself in the rear end and get going. I say that and then just loll around. Sigh.

We had a good meeting at the Art of the Lakes Gallery in Battle Lake, Minnesota, yesterday. We are trying to plan our future. What is it we need to do? How is the future looking? How do we as artists generate more vitality into our group? Evidently, vitality is not only my personal problem. We had some really good ideas and hopefully we will have success in implementing them. I'll try to report on things as they develop. vicki

A Fine Balance

This is a picture of the balancing act of our life in the present century. There is a quote from Mistry's book "A Fine Balance" which says, "There is a fine balance between hope and dispair." So it is with our lives in the coming year. We have to learn how to balance all of the demands of our lives with the pleasure and fulfillment we seek. The help we must extend to others and the help we ourselves might need.

By the way... if you want to see a larger representation of the pictures in my blog, just double click on the picture and it will come up larger.

I am having fun reproducing the pictures as I have forgotten some of them. Not really forgotten them, but put them in an appropriate file in my mind. It is fun to share them with you. And, again, Happy New Year on this official New Year's Day. Nice to have an additional day of holiday! vicki