Log-Cabin-to-Be….the colors will make me happy in mid-winter

Was taking some pictures of my “studio” / work room, and decided to tease you all with the colors…..it will take me a while to get it made (it has taken since early June to cut the strips!), but this quilt is going to make me happy!

Well…..no pictures because I was having too much fun window shopping! Yes, I realized that my Mom’s Escape Day last Thursday—let’s memorialize it, October 27th, 2005–was the first time since 1997 (when we left Washington, DC, and moved to San Juan Island, Wash. state) that I have been able to just wander and browse and window shop in a city! Here’s what I got to do…

Drove to Freeport (80 minutes south), home of LL Bean, and picked up a shirt for Joshua to wear as a mime for Halloween. It was my first visit there without hubby and kids, so guess what…I BROWSED! And bought TWO shirts for myself! What a treat! They have this new “ultrasoft” cotton-lycra blend that is unbelievably soft. I want more for Christmas! Then drove south to Biddeford, another hour plus or so on the interstate, to test drive two new Janome sewing machines. Unbelievably, I sold 14 patterns at wholesale to the owner of the shop! So on Friday I spent it all on thread by mail order LOL…my package should be here in a week, so I’ll take pics then.

Finally, I drove north to Portland and just tootled around the Old Port area. Portland, Maine, is an old city, full of old brick buildings, still some cobblestone streets…it is being rehab’d and renovated, and is wonderful. I SO missed being on the East Coast when we lived in Friday Harbor, Wash. Friday Harbor was beautiful, clean and safe, and we’ll never have a view like that again (out the front windows to 180 degree view across the straits of Juan de Fuca to the Olympic Mountains), but the only way to the mainland was by ferry, which was expensive (and is worse now). And there were no reservations, so you always had to race to get to the ferry to get home, so tootling about and browsing, then heading home when you were ready just didn’t happen.

In Portland, I had lunch at Fuji restaurant and—joy of joys!—they have Chicken Katsu! This is a chicken breast cutlet breaded with panko (Japanese variation on the theme of breadcrumbs) and fried, served with rice and “bulldog” (after the brand name / logo) sauce. When I worked at the US Consulate in Toronto, I had chicken katsu every Thursday night (the daily special at the stand near my apartment). The ladies would see me coming and toss a piece of chicken in the fryer before I even reached them to order, and always gave me extra rice. I’ve only found it twice since….pork katsu (don katsu) is much more common. So not only do I get to be home on the East Coast, but I get chicken katsu only 2 hours away from home!

I finally drove the 2-hour trip home, tired, but very happy, with my two new shirts, some extra income (soon to be spent!), and glad I’m back where I belong. This may sound awfully boring and pedestrian and common to many of you, but it’s the first time in a long, long time for me, and it was nice. I think I’ll make it a back-to-school tradition…when they boys are in school, away I’ll go! Heck, maybe even TWICE a year…the other one in late spring, after the last threat of snow is gone but before the boys are underfoot for summer!

I’ve been busy, so hope to have something to post before too long. And thanks to the two ladies from the quiltart list to tell me they purchased two of my cards donated to Virginia Spiegel’s cancer fundraiser at Festival…one sold on preview night (!!!!) and the other to someone well connected with a big quilt magazine, so I’m really flattered and happy all over again! Life is good.

Today’s mug is my favorite for the past couple of years. Oddly enough, I bought this cool mug at cutesy Daisy Kingdom in Portland, Oregon. I think it was about 3 1/2 years ago. Or was it 2 1/2? How time flies…..

Spring Quilt Market was in Portland, the first time it had been on the West Coast in at least six years. I was thinking of starting a line of patterns, and thought it would be the ideal chance to “check things out” without incredible expense. So my best friend Marie and I went to Portland! We both fell in love with the city…the not-so-tall old brick buildings reminded both of us of the East Coast cities we love. We stayed at this incredible hotel that we lucked into thanks to expedia or one of those low-rate on-line reservation deals; the Hotel Lucia is a “boutique” hotel, and is probably the nicest place I’ve stayed in the past decade! Plus, they told us if we wanted to come back to just skip Expedia and they’d give us the same rate again…Waaaaaay below official price! They even had a “pillow menu” so you could pick firm, medium, soft (all down) or hypo-allergenic!!!

While there, in addition to going to Market, we did a bit of shopping (duh) for fabric, books, and at the heavenly Whole Foods. You have to understand that at the time, I lived (and Marie still lives) on rural San Juan Island. Our “big” grocery would fit in the corner of most suburban grocery stores, and selection was limited, though they were doing better on bringing in the natural and organic foods in the past few years. Anyway, I had seen the Mexican Modernists exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum a few months earlier, fallen in love with some of Frieda Kahlo’s lesser known works, and was reading about her and husband Diego Rivera when I fell in love with his calla lilies. Then, we walk into what is usually the terminally cutesy Daisy Kingdom store (which also has way cool bridal fabrics…tulles, sheers, laces) and there was this mug.

So I love the mug because of the calla lilies, and that trip, because it reminds me of going places with Marie. Now we e-mail a lot, and are saving to meet at Festival in Houston next year (neither of us could afford it this year….so we’re already saving up…).

Yesterday Deb R mentioned she liked my barely visible mug, so I thought I might blog about my mugs (reaching????). Anyway, some people collect plates, others collect spoons or thimbles. When I go somewhere, I buy a mug. I still miss our “doorway” in our old house in Arlington, Virginia (moved out of there in ’97). The previous owners had enclosed and weatherproofed the back porch into a family room and moved the door in the process. The old doorway remained, and they had put maybe 5 shallow shelves on it, which they used for canned goods. I doubled the number of shelves, and since it was out of the way, used it to display our mugs. I LOVED that, and am still wishing for a house where I can do something like that again…cut out some drywall and finish the cavity between the studs and add shelves.

Today’s mug is one I bought in Friday Harbor, Wash., where we used to live. I don’t usually go for porcelain or fancy “artwork,” preferring hand-thrown mugs from artists and crafters. But for some reason I loved the lush, ripe fruits on this one. Here is this morning’s first cuppa:

The cactus on the windowsill is in a Peter Rabbit planter….the year Joshua was born (’93) was an anniversary year for Peter R., so lots of cool stuff. I wanted the planter so much I ordered the flowers from FTD just to get it! And I still love it. The floral tin is nearly ancient…bought it in London when on a semester abroad in 1978. Still holds tea!

I remembered! The day begins, blearily, at about 6 a.m. I get dressed, wake up Joshua on my way downstairs, hit the on-button on the computer on my way to the kitchen counter, then turn on the hot water kettle for tea. Then, I make the kids’ lunches, Joshua’s breakfast (Eli’s bus comes an hour later, so he gets to stay in bed another hour!), then roust Joshua again in time to eat something. Today he had the last egg, bacon and toast. I’m still trying to shed some of the extra weight I put on 8 years ago when preggers with Eli, so I fixed the first oatmeal of the season.

While Joshua’s eating, I sit down at the computer, and this is pretty much my world’s view . Paul walks the dog and Joshua to the bus stop (just a stone’s throw from our house) while I get 25 minutes alone with the ‘puter ’til time to wake Eli. Then, repeat the breakfast and bus thing. I can’t face the idea of food too early, so I usually eat along with Eli, who loves to watch Tom and Jerry (way more than modern cartoons) with breakfast. Today, it was unbelievably blustery. They say this isn’t Hurricanes Wilma and Alpha, but that they are off the coast interacting with a high pressure system that is bringing in strong winds and rain. Here’s a view of our sky this morning. Now, I’ve dithered away too much of the morning updating the website, blogging, catching up on e-mail, working out a t Curves, etc., so I’m going to work in my studio….