My favorite quilt from 2017 NW Quilting Expo
We’re still working our plan to get the old place spiffed up
and ready to list for sale. It seems like yesterday that we bought “the
property” and built what has turned out to be our dream house. “Yesterday”, in
this case, was 1992. Over the past two months we’ve re-roofed the house and
garage (no more blue tarps draped over the skylights) and we’ve painted and
re-carpeted our bedroom. Important improvements, but not the kind that are
noticeable to anyone except us. The roofing is a darker shade of brown-black,
but within a few weeks it was covered with pine needles and oak leaves and
looked much the same as the previous roof. We are enjoying the new carpet, but
honestly it’s just a clean version of what we’ve lived with for the past two
decades.
Speaking of flooring, I do have an interesting story about
our wood floor. In preparation for company over the Christmas holiday last year I decided to have the carpet
in the basement cleaned. I scheduled the appointment with a nice old guy I’d
used in the past and his son, who is learning the business. They hadn’t been in
the house five minutes before we had our first mishap. I had left up a pet gate
between two of the rooms and the nice old guy took a header when he tried to
step over it. In an instant several things went through my mind…Why hadn’t I
removed the pet gate? Had I renewed our general liability insurance policy?
Would it be enough to cover a permanent disability caused by the head injury?
Is this nice old guy going to end up with our house? I was genuinely concerned
for the man, but admittedly my thoughts kept returning to the financial
repercussions of my stupidity. Within a few hours we had our second mishap of
the day. After the carpet and furniture was cleaned, the nice old guy and his
son began removing their equipment, including a long hose that fed the water
from their van to the downstairs basement. When the final length of hose was
removed from the entertainment room, they pointed out a white spot on the floor
about 18” long and shaped like a snake. Water had apparently leaked from one of
the hoses and either the moisture or chemicals (which they claimed they hadn’t
used) had left the white mark in the middle of our beautiful Brazilian cherry
wood floor. Confident that once dried the mark would no longer be visible I
assured them it was no problem. What else could I say? It felt right and
assuaged some of my guilt over the earlier header accident.
The white snake-like mark didn’t eventually dry and disappear.
We have lived with it for almost a year now and it is again time to deep-clean
and prepare for the holidays. I have considered possible ways to remove the
mark, including sanding and refinishing the area and, even more invasive,
replacing the dozen damaged boards (a suggestion made by Barron’s Floors in
Jackson). Before going forward with such a drastic (and costly) measure, we
experienced what I can only describe as a miracle. Verne got on his trusty iPad
(the one he didn’t want) and searched on “white spot on wood floor”. He found
several YouTube videos made by people who have had similar problems.
Apparently, the white spot is caused by moisture trapped under the floor
finish. Solutions included drying the spot with a heat gun, hair dryer, or iron.
Verne started with a heat gun, which very slightly damaged the finish before
the heat gun died. He next used my hair dryer, which resulted in the same
results – slight damage to the finish and its eventual demise. Neither were
effective. He next tried my iron heated to a high setting and applied over a
light-weight cotton towel. We watched as the snake-like mark disappeared.
Completely. It was like magic! No sign of it remains. I am convinced that the
answer to just about every one of life’s questions can be found by Googling It!
Next time we won’t wait a year.
Near the end of September, we did take time off from our
work at home to make a trip to Portland for the Annual Northwest Quilting Expo.
We’ve made this trip every year since Lauren relocated to Portland to attend
law school. It is always inspiring with some years better than others…like the
2014 show when the theme was Portland Bridges. This year featured a quilt
artist from Montana. Her applique collage work is original and distinctive with
its whimsical use of fabrics and hand-stitching. The final quilting is simple
with horizontal and vertical lines. I’ve included a picture of her work below.
2017 NW Quilting Expo
2017 NW Quilting Expo
The next day we attended a harvest festival sponsored by
OMSI. (Reminder: That’s where Lauren volunteers and gives a half dozen submarine
tours each month.) There were 40 or 50 stalls, including local farmers and
artisan food and drink vendors (all offering tasters and demos) and non-profit
groups like 4H, Master Gardeners, and Master Food Preservers. A highlight was a
family that raises alpacas and had set up a petting area with a half-dozen of
their animals. OMG! We (that would be me) came home wanting an alpaca or two. Another
item on my bucket list!
Harvest Festival
Alpaca at the Harvest Festival
Black alpaca
Mid-October Lauren came home for a visit that just happened
to coincide with Verne’s birthday. Lauren has enthusiastically agreed to help
us declutter and organize (based on the KonMari method) in preparation for
moving sometime in the next year or two. We had much planned for the weekend,
so limited our tidying time to a small part of the house, the laundry room. While
it took longer than I expected, the decisions to keep, trash or donate are
coming easier as I gain experience in this method of organization. Or, it could
be it was easier because I feel no great attachment to old bedding saved for
the occasional overnight guest or the dozens of old towels saved to be used as
cleaning rags. This common-sense insight really isn’t mine. Marie Kondo’s book
recommends beginning with the easy stuff and leaving the hardest, memorabilia
and keepsakes, to the end. By then you’ve learned to “let go”.
Besides decluttering the linen closet and laundry room, we
had two big goals for the weekend: visit Apple Hill and eat our first apple
fritter of the year and make Lauren a costume for a Nike Halloween competition.
And, celebrate Verne’s birthday. It took us two trips to Apple Hill to get our
fritter. We drove there reasonably early Saturday morning, but not early enough
to miss the obscene traffic and the thousands of other people visiting the
place. At 10:30 a.m. the normal exits were blocked and traffic on Highway 50 was
routed 8 miles past the turnoff for Apple Hill. We agreed the apple fritter
would have to wait and drove the hour home. Disappointed! By then it was noon
and we’d lost half the day. Lauren and I started making her costume. I told
stories of all the clothing I’d made over the years and bragged about being an
expert seamstress. By that afternoon I was sweating and swearing as I worked
with the fabric we’d chosen: a slinky satin and a stretchy snakeskin fabric.
They slipped and puckered and fought. By that evening I’d given up all hopes of
producing an artisan piece of clothing.
We woke up very early the following morning determined to
repeat our trip to Apple Hill…this time arriving at 7:30 a.m., before Hilltop
opened and before the crowds arrived! Success. No people. No lines. The apple
fritter was all the better for having waited and made such an effort. We went
on to a second favorite stop, Boa Vista, and bought apples and cider and
memorialized our trip with pictures in their pumpkin patch. We had it to
ourselves. Definitely worth the early hour we’d arrived.
Lauren, Daddy and his apple fritter
Verne with two old witches
Alone in the Pumpkin Patch
Lauren with Daddy and a Scarecrow
Once home we returned to the Costume from Hell! Time was
short and I’d given up all hopes of perfection. My approach would be one of
shortcuts and improvisation. Afterall, it was just a costume. A piece of
clothing that would probably only be worn for two hours. Once. Another four
hours and it was complete with trim, belt, and harness. Did I mention? Her
costume is for a Sand Snake Warrior from the show, Game of Thrones. The other
members of her work team will be dressing as other characters from the show.
Below is a picture of her costume. She’ll be wearing brown leggings and brown
knee-high boots with it and will be carrying a whip.
Sand Snake Warrior - Check out the biceps!
We finished our weekend together by celebrating Verne’s big
day with dinner at Taste in Plymouth. There is no better food in Amador County!
Verne's 76th
October is almost over. It's looking a lot like autumn here with the deck covered with yellow leaves. One final celebration of the month included a Fall Dinner with Vera and Will (married in May 2017) and Maria and Ruben (to be married next month). We had my favorite slow cooker comfort food, Deconstructed Pot Roast, followed by a marmalade cake with whiskey custard sauce. The dessert was my second attempt to come up with a winning finale to our Christmas dinner. I've got to work on the presentation, but the taste was excellent. Here are a couple of pictures...Vera and Will had just come from a 4H Halloween event, thus the interesting attire.
Ruben and Maria
Will and Vera
