January Anniversary

We celebrated our 28th anniversary on January 10th. Last year, Ron was in recovery in McKay-Dee Hospital. We're glad to have better circumstances this year! We were married in the Seattle Temple in Bellevue, Washington. Flowers were blooming in the gardens, and the ERA picketers were marching on the sidewalks outside the temple fences. It was a nice day - Mother was well enough to be there, so she and Dad made the trip to Seattle with Ron and me. Judy and Bob, Julie and Mike (newlyweds, themselves), Andrea, and various friends were there that day. The pictures are hazy and not very good, so if anyone has recollections, please fill them in. This was the first kayak we had - it was called a Fulboat, and Ron built it. We had a lot of fun in this kayak, and learned that you could really see things up close and personal with kayaks - it never saw any white-water, but it could really skim across the water. This picture was taken in Tumwater on Capitol Lake. I liked to think that we would go through life paddling our "canoe" together.

I don't remember who took this picture of Ron and me the momentous summer of 1980. (Taken in front of Mom and Dad's house on 93rd.) I thought the blouse was cool, but it wasn't too flattering. I'm not sure if we had announced our intention to get married, or if it was still in the planning stage?

January Birthdays Continued!

Of course, it is very important not to forget the patriarch of the Gage-Consoliver clan - Ron's birthday was the 23rd. Last year we did celebrate it here in Preston, in between stays at McKay-Dee in Ogden. Julia, Suzanne, and Blake were here to help celebrate it. However, I think this picture is more indicative of the way Ron can relax under all sorts of circumstances. I took this picture while we were visiting in Nebraska in the late '90's. Cousins and his Aunt Rena were all inspecting the yard, but it was a very nice day, and you can see where Ron was! This neat picture is a picture of Ron with his parents, Charles and Lula Gage, and his little sisters, Evie and Marlene. Love the helmet cap. Remember those?

And this helmet actually sported goggles! And a leather jacket, to boot. This house was on Idaho Street in Boise - there is a floral shop there, today. We think the child in the stroller is Marlene.

January Birthdays in Retrospect

Jennifer's birthday was celebrated on the 15th. She was born in Swedish Hospital in Seattle. This picture reflects a merry-hearted girl with a zest for life.

Camillia was born on January 13, 1982. This picture was taken a couple of months later.

And this picture was taken in June 1998 - a little over ten years ago. There have been many changes since that time - as the years have passed, Camillia has married and given birth to her own daughter. The cycle continues. Family ties are important!

Swinging Comic

So Grandma liked my comic of sledding on my own blog - so I made one for yours!  Click on it to see it in readable size. This was some fun Dallin and I had at the park.  Then I had to throw in a fun picture of Mia smiling.  She does that a lot more now that we are all done (cross your fingers!) with the winter crud.  Icky.  I really don't like it when babies cough.

Art Gourds are in Today

These are more of the gourd creations that Ron's sister, Evie, has done. The possibilities are endless. I tried to grow the little (miniature) gourds that are in the basket on the gourd maiden's head, but, while the plants were very pretty, nothing pollinated, so I must have done something wrong. Nevertheless, these two pieces are so well done, and demonstrate how creative one can be when working with natural items.

Name that bird

Our resident pheasant really deserves a name. He refused to pose for me, but the sun was hitting him just right so that you could see the red around his eye and the iridescent green of his head. When he comes to visit, he is intent on stuffing his craw as quickly as possible. No nonsense for this bird. Anyone care to give him a name?

My Garden Party quilt is quilted!

This is the whole quilt, quilted, but not yet bound. I am so pleased with the quilting, done by my friend, Sue, who lives in Smithfield.

Each element of the quilt was carefully analyzed to see what kind of quilting would best complement it.

Flowers and citrus.

And fans...

It is always exciting when a quilt gets this far along. All that remains is to bind, label, and sew a sleeve on the back for hanging. On to the next one!

This quilt was inspired by Louisa A. Smith's book, "Strips and Curves".

Sampler Quilt Top

I pinned the finished top to the wall, but it was not very cooperative. It needs to be blocked, and then quilted, so that it will hang straighter. Also, I've not conquered the keystoning problem, where if the camera is not dead on, some of the sides look less than perpendicular to the horizontal lines. Oh, well, you can see how it fits together. I made one (at least) big designing error. The two Hunter Star blocks should not be right across from each other. Oh, well, as a famous quilter said, "Better finished than perfect!". Now, it's on to bigger (or not) and better things. However, this quilt is an example of why I don't really care for sampler quilts. The positive side - you get to brush up on the different techniques required to make certain blocks. The negative side - you have lots of different styles and techniques in one quilt top, and they aren't always harmonious. Oh, well, you can't win them all!

Woodturning from Fall

Ron has not stayed out of the shop all winter, even though he has been immersed in genealogy lately. He turned this bowl last fall - It was fairly large, and very beautiful. He hasn't lost his touch.

Sampler Quilt Block - Day 7

This block is Ohio Star - relatively easy to make.

More Decorated Gourds

The art of pyrography really enhances gourds! These are two more of Evie's beautiful work.

When is a Gourd Not a Circubit? When it's art!

Ron's youngest sister, Evie, has been interested in making gourds into art pieces for years. She has even got me to make a few - and have more to do. This is a picture of one of her latest pieces. Looks pretty awesome to me!

More winter scenes - evening and morning in Preston

More glorious color to cheer up the day.

Amarillys in Bloom!

To liven up the dull days of winter, we plant bulbs. This amaryllis bulb was planted around December 1st, and is finally in partially full bloom. The amaryllis is so wonderful for yielding astonishingly beautiful blooms. I was surprised during my first and only trip to Florida to see them growing in the ground and in full bloom. There are advantages in living in a warmer climate. Today, however, is beautiful, with clear blue skies and dazzling white snow. The storm promised by both the red sunrise yesterday morning, as well as the weatherman on tv only resulted in the wind blowing last night. Must have blown the snow all towards the south. We were amused while watching the 10:00 news last night to see one of the reporters standing outside with snow drifting down on her hair. Why is it necessary to stand outside to deliver a news story when the weather is so unpleasant? Oh, well.

Sampler Quilt Block - Day 6

The border of the quilt is composed of Log Cabin blocks. Rather than use the traditional red square for the center (supposedly to depict the warmth of the fire in the fireplace of the cabin), I opted to use yellow - part of fire is yellow, isn't it?

Sampler Quilt Block - Day 5

My fractured heart - I repaired this one, so that the seam on the lower right of the heart matches - took this picture before I realized it didn't match. One thing about a sampler quilt - you make lots of different squares, and see if there are any you could manage to do for a whole quilt. This is machine applique. Only heirlooms are worthy of hand applique, as far as I'm concerned. This is probably my least favorite block in the whole quilt.

Sunrise, Sunset

Red sky at night, sailor's delight; Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning!

We often see the reflection from the western sunset on the mountains to the east of our house. It is a never-ending panorama. The sunrise this morning predicts what the weatherman says. We are supposed to have snow by this evening - we'll see.

Sampler Quilt Block - Day 4

As you can tell, this quilt block is composed of spools, kbenefitting from the play of light and dark. No matter how you look at it, you see spools -

Sampler Quilt Block - Day 3

This block is called Card Trick. I made it in two sizes. You can't tell, but the top block is 6", and the bottom one is 9" square. You can tell this is a work in progress - when you enlarge the blocks, you can see some stray threads and even a stray little snippet of fabric. Quilters leave loose threads all over the house - and sweaters, slacks, etc. are usually dripping with them.

Sampler Quilt Blocks - Day 2

If this block has an official name, I am not aware of it, but we could have a contest to see who comes up with the best name for it -

Happy New Year for 2009 - My Sampler Quilt Blocks

Our Preston quilt guild, The Preston Piecers, is sewing a sampler quilt this year. This block seems appropriate to post today, just in case anyone celebrated too much last night - The pattern has two names: either The Drunkard's Path, or Old Maid's Puzzle, depending on your likes and dislikes. I will be posting the individual blocks over the next few weeks. I have never gone anywhere to celebrate New Year's Eve - just a victim (or not) of circumstances. Actually, we had one of our more enjoyable New Year's Eves last night, because Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion New Year's Show" was broadcast on Idaho Public Television. We both felt that it was one of the best ways to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another. Lots of wit and good fun music.

He's back to have his New Year's Feast

The best picture is the second one. This pheasant is so cocky that when I wanted him to look up, he gave me The Look, like "don't interrupt what I'm doing!" Happy New Year to you, too.