25 Years of Wedded Bliss.....

Yesterday's post showed our new Anniversary Quilt and today's post is about our fabulous Anniversary trip to Puerto Rico.

Since Jim is in the Coast Guard, we were stationed here from '98-2000 and had a wonderful time once we acclimated to the culture.

 

This time we decided to fly in and stay in Old San Juan without a car because they drive soooo crazy there....Good choice:)

So Jim noted when he made the reservation that it was our 25th Anniversary and booked a romance pkg.  He chose the El Convento knowing that CG Admirals and other dignitaries used this hotel when on island.

We arrived too early to check in so they checked our baggage for us and off we went...

 





This is a gorgeous old tapestry in the hallway leading to the restaurant located in a lovely courtyard.  The first time I had ever seen courtyards like this was when we lived here and I was hooked!  If I could ever find a way to live like this, I would!

So we started with a couple of rum drinks and an assortment of delicious fried treats that we remembered: Bacalaitos, Alcapurrias, sorullitos, and Tostones (cod fritters, sweet plantains stuffed with beef, sweet corn fritters, smashed and fried plantain slices).  SOO Good!!

Then we went to check into our room....In honor of us celebrating 25 years, they upgraded us to the Vanderbilt Suite (where heads of state stay).  To say we were stunned is an absolute understatement and prompted much reflection on where we started in this marriage to where we are now. The photo was taken using my panoramic mode and that is the dining/sitting rooms....bigger than my own kitchen/living room.  There was also a bar area, master suite including a huge bathroom, and a second bathroom...crazy:)

Here is the photo of Gloria herself posing in that exact room circa 1970 something??

The views from our room were the Oldest Cathedral in San Juan, La Fortaleza (Governor's mansion), and the bay leading into the port.  From this window, I could actually see the town where we used to live.

Here is another cute little courtyard in the middle of a home that is now an art gallery.  A street view leading down to the bay.

When we lived here I was also completely charmed by the doorways and the beautiful wrought iron designs that adorned  doors and windows.

We spent some time at the museums too.  We took our kids to plenty of historical sites (less boring) while we were here but not the actual museums.  There was a fiber exhibit .....Not exactly  my taste but interesting when you see how much depth he could attain with basic yarn pom poms .

We had so much fun just wandering the streets without the girls in tow this time and remembering our time together here. We tried to eat as much of the food we remembered as possible.  I found my little Helado cart with the Parcha flavor...DELICIOUS!!  All over there are these little ice cream carts but it is more a sherbet than ice cream and Parcha is the passionfruit flavor that I loved!  You could also get coco, pina, or mango.
And, of course, I am with Jim who always lucks into festivals or something similar, so one evening we came across a birthday celebration for someone...Time to dance:)

 

No life is completely blissful but I know that my knight found me and gave me a life full of love and happiness that I never imagined possible and I am forever grateful!

NO COBBLER ELVES HERE-

I know I haven't posted in awhile but I have a very good reason!!  If you have been following along, I went to Market in May and the summer has just been a whirlwind of activity since then...

Dear friends from our past came to visit.  Then our sweet daughters came to visit with their boyfriends...SO much fun!  The second week in July my brother and nephew came to visit and it was great to catch up and see my brother as a father!

 

The week before my brother came to visit, I decided that my husband and I deserved a new quilt.  We have a sort-of comforter that I made back in 1995 before I knew how to quilt.  The applique is awful and the binding falling off, not to mention that it barely fit a queen and we now have a king.  What is that saying about the Cobbler's family.......?



So that week was spent pulling out a design of mine that is a variation of the block from Vol 7 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. I proceeded to get all the fabric cut for 20, 18" blocks that would be paper pieced.  I did have to buy some yardage but I had about half of it in my stash plus some of the fabric left from the original quilt from 1995.  This would be my first attempt at a scrappy quilt and you will see that it is very controlled scrappy!  Even with the preplanning, I had a hard time letting some of the fabrics fall where they may.

After my brother left, it was time to get to work chain piecing all the parts for my blocks.  It was now July 15th and I had to have this to the quilter by Aug 3rd.  How about a shout out for overestimating your abilities....
Did I mention that I was doing this as a surprise for our Anniversary and that is why the deadline! I felt I had plenty of time but between company and then my husband taking time off every time I turned around, I started to panic.  I only had weekdays to work and he was cutting into them.... 

 I even started a second quilt as a decoy quilt so that if he asked what I had been up to all day, I could say, "see!".  How crazy is that??  Now I have to finish that too but I do love a deadline for getting lots done!

 

Here is one of the blocks placed together to see if I like where the fabrics are falling. 

I was able to finish in time (actually a day early) and sneak the quilt off to the quilter on a workday on my way home from guild to avoid suspicion.





When it came home, I was just blown away by how perfect the design was.  When Kathy showed me the design on the computer, I just couldn't see it on the blocks.  It gives a sort of celestial map feel to the quilt. (The colors are right in the above photo and a bit too light in the detail photos if you are wondering.)

In the above photo, you may recognize the fabric with the gold stars in it that is in 3 of the corners.... That is the original fabric. 
In the below photo, you may be able to see the circular design the quilting gives.  Thank you, Kathy and John, of Cape Haze Quilting for getting this done for me.

 I was able to bind it and label it and surprise him!  There are 24 total or partial stars on this quilt.  The label makes the 25th star to commemorate our 25th Wedding Anniversary.  I love you Jim with all my heart and am very proud that we made it!!!  Now we can sleep under the stars every night!

Fall in New Hampshire Part 1

This year for our 24th Wedding Anniversary we took a great trip north.  Autumn was just arriving and I was lighthearted and merry.  Those of you who know me well, will understand that Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year and I sorely miss it here in Florida.  The mornings were crisp and humidity free-it was wonderful! We packed a lot into 2 weeks so the adventure will be broken into parts with today being part one.

 

Florida to New Hampshire is a LONG drive so we broke it up over 3 days stopping in Savannah, GA and Baltimore, MD along the way. 

The stained glass was in Savannah and it was lit so beautifully.  I really should have taken a picture of this earthquake bolt I saw.  Have you heard of these?  They are the decorative stars you see on really old buildings and I always wondered what they were. In Savannah I saw one in the shape of a spiderweb-very cool.  Of course the question is were they real or a scam??

 

The Baltimore stop was convenient but also sentimental.  Jim and I met and were married there as well as our first daughter being born there.  Whenever we stop there we can't help having those, "remember when" conversations.  The Harbor has really grown and it looks like the city is making a real effort to bring it back. Yay!

 

While in NH, we stayed with some dear friends.  They own a wood turning gallery there by the name of Birch View Barn.  The work is phenomenal! 

Back in September I showed a piece I was working on here.  Now here it is in the gallery waiting for someone to come purchase it.  It looks so beautiful in that setting.

 

Our friends had a few days off so that we could get the complete tour of New England including Nubble Lighthouse in Maine.  It was perfectly picturesque!

 

The lighthouse is out on a rock island and the only way the caretaker could get there was on these lines you see.  At the far end you can see a small boat that the caretaker would get into and wench himself back and forth from main land to island.

 

I love this picture partly because it is so hard for me to get Jim into one:))  He is the love of my life and I am thankful he let me have this one for our anniversary!

 

We also took a day to head into Portland, ME.  There was a time we were almost stationed there and we had some curiosity about what we missed.  All of New England is so pretty in summer and fall....just not sure if we would have loved winter there.

 

Of course you can't go to New England and not do some antique shopping.  There couldn't have been a more perfect antique for me to find than this wonderful whalebone needle case.  The needle case part is obvious but I also love the basketweave design that reminds me of the Irish Belleek porcelain.  Plus, I have been fascinated with scrimshaw, etc. ever since 6th grade history class when we spent a portion of our year studying whaling.  What a perfect treasure for me:)

Sales and other thoughts...

So a bit more than a month has gone by with 6 small sales in all, along with an ornament and lots of notecards from the gallery....YIPPEE! The thread paintings are a favorite it seems and the pile of photos to choose from for my next project is piling up.

This was the first thread painting to sell after my "Midsummers Dream" piece."Still Beauty"

5" x 7" framed to 8" x 10"

I really do love this little piece...it is so relaxing to look at. Since I retire each photo as it is used, I have gone back to the Beaufort harbor looking for more wonderful shots but the harbor is now very crowded. The lesson is always have your camera because you never know when the perfect inspiration will come along.

It has been a long and busy, sad and invigorating month for my family. My baby girl went to college this year. My older daughter went back but into her own apartment this year opening up a whole new can of paranoid worries for her mother. We became official empty nesters on our 21st anniversary.

I held it together pretty well until we went out to dinner for our anniversary. With wine in hand, as my husband toasted us, I started crying. He asked for me not to since we were in the middle of a nice restaurant and thankfully it wasn't the ugly cry, but cry I did. Don't get me wrong, I am excited-just worried too and I miss my daily hugs. Of course they think I am nuts:) That is okay...it is part of my job.

With all this free time you would think I have been getting so much accomplished; but after spending 3 days cleaning the studio, I have been kind of floundering around. This week really feels like I am getting my groove back though and what better way than to write a post about what so many of us go through eventually.

You must move forward in life especially if you want your art to grow and evolve.

I will leave you with a photo of one of my ornaments that I sell. This is of the Cape Lookout lighthouse here in NC. Orders are always welcome and coming by October's end, I will also have Hatteras along with 4 other NC lighthouses.

Hand inked with beaded hang and accents.

5 Years

"Batik Blooms" detail shot.

Honorable Mention CCQG 2008

For those of you who read my post about the International Fiber Collaborative leaves, here is the update. The tree is up and looks amazing. There are pictures on that site of how they made the wire branches for assembly too.

I know we all hate paying taxes; but when I wrote the check this last quarter, I was pretty happy about it since it showed that I actually made some money this time. The amount coming in certainly softened the blow of having to pay some out. As long as the money keeps coming in I will proudly pay my taxes!

This next week I will celebrate the 5 year anniversary of NESTLINGS by Robin. I sent out promotional postcards for the first time offering 'no shipping' on wholesale orders of 12 or more patterns. If you are reading this and not a shop owner but would like to purchase retail from http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.com/ I will offer no shipping on retail orders of 2 or more patterns. Spread the word. Offer ends May 9th, 2009.
I feel very honored to have been able to do what I love for 5 yrs and to learn from so many talented and wonderful people along the way. You have each touched me in different ways and I thank you.