Long day of quilt-making

Got up at 7:30 to make breakfast and read through e-mail. I took a shower, packed my stuff and foods for lunch. I brought cheese and bean salad. On the way to the SPC, I stopped by ACS to drop off the minutes for January and February. When I got to the SPC, Cathy was already there starting to set up. Carla was setting up tables. As we chatted, others arrived. We set up for making baby quilts. But Mary worked on a QOV, and Cathy worked on a scrap quilt. Interestingly, although we worked until 3:30, we didn't finish any baby quilts. But we got a bunch of them to the final stage. Next week we will have a lot to deliver to the hospital. But those numbers will go on the March report.
Before I drove home, I tried out the two spool pins Star gave me. Neither one fits the sewing machine in my car trunk. The hole is too small. I may have to try a wooden skewer. And I finally remembered to put the car registration back in the glove box.
When I got home, I had a bite to eat, then got on my computer to listen to the last two tapping audios. Chris came home while I was doing that. He fixed beef burritoes for himself and Michele. I had some vegetarian curry from Saturday. Then we watched more X-files episodes while I worked on the binding of my quilt.
* Yesterday's quilt was made from old kimonos. Today's quilts are part of a featured artists section with a Hawaiian theme. *

Binding

Woke up at 9. Had trouble getting out of bed 'cause somebody was scratching my head, and back. Finally we did take a shower and get dressed. Chris asked if I would go out to the laundry basket and get him a pair of underwear. I jokingly said 'No, I want you to go to church without underwear." He said "I will if you will." It sounded like a challenge so I accepted, thinking that it would be worse for him than for me. But every time I stood up in church, my pants got caught in my crack. So I said lets go home right after church. We stayed for snacks, then went to the commissary, and then went home. Well, it was raining anyway, so walking to E-Mart was out. I spent the afternoon listening to 2 more tapping audios, and then making and sewing binding onto yesterday's quilt. Julia called to say she would be at the walk-in gate. It was closed, but I was able to pass her the box of stuff she wanted. I started the handsewing part of the binding after supper, while watching an X-files video. Michele lamented that she only has two more days of freedom before next semester starts. She goes back on Wednesday.
* Quilt from Tokyo *

Tweeking Triangles

Being it is Saturday, I stayed in bed for a little while after the alarm went off. Ok, maybe an hour. I got up for breakfast, e-mail and a shower. I took Chris' car to the AnC center to finish my quilt after Cathy finished hers. She was still there. She had had problems with the stitching, but changed bobbin cases and that worked. We had time to discuss guild issues. Beth and her husband stopped by. She offered to go to the Chosun for us and submit our money for the luncheon. So we each gave her $20. It wasn't until later that I realized that I needed that money to pay for the quilt I did last week. Oh well. At least I had enough to pay for today's quilt. Although it is significantly smaller, it took longer because of the setting and tweeking of all the triangle designs. Around three, Star came by to bring me two extra spool pins she had. Hopefully one of them will fit my machine (the one in the back of my car.) We must have talked for over an hour. When I finished the quilt, I trimmed it there because they have a big table. Then I paid for the time on the machine, and drove home. Chris had a pot of curried vegetables on the stove. It wasn't ready yet, and I was hungry because I missed lunch. So I had a bite to eat before settling down to more e-mail. There were two more sessions of EFT to listen to - one on anger, and one on anxiety. I put away supper, and now it is time for bed.
* Another pic from the show. *

The All-Day Quilt with a surprise

Originally I was going to help Judy quilt one of her tops. But she called to cancel, so I did one of my own. Before I went over there, I pieced some batting and laid it out on my bed to make sure it was big enough. When I went to the AnC center, I quickly oiled the machine, and loaded my backing, batting, and top. My plan was to baste the heck out of it all over before beginning to quilt. I wanted to make sure every seam was straight. When I got down to the last row, I realized that the backing was about 10 inches too short. I had a few choice words to say - which I will not repeat here. Nevertheless, I quilted all the blocks up to that row, and then went back and quilted the borders with the same element I used to make the quilting pattern on the blocks. It took me from 11 to 6. I must say, the machine ran great. No tension troubles, no weird sew-outs, dropped stitches, etc. Only operator error. When I left, I had to take it with me to sew on more backing. I told the ladies at the front desk why I hadn't finished, and they said they couldn't believe I would make such a mistake. I couldn't believe it either. So I came home, had supper, juiced the veggies from last week and made popsicles with some of it. The rest I drank. Then I set up my sewing machine in the kitchen, and cleared as much of the table as I could. I pinned a new strip onto the quilt backing, and asked if anyone had a moment to help. I nearly fell over when Michele casually said 'ok' and put down her laptop. She held the quilt while I sewed. It was not fun or easy sewing. But I finished with her help. And I was able to press it, so it is ready to finish quilting tomorrow afternoon. Finally I listened to the two new tapping audios for today. Now it is past time for bed.
* Here is one of the winning quilts in Tokyo. Can you see the odd man out? *

Luncheon at the thrift shop

I had the usual morning routine, with breakfast, e-mail, and a shower. I cleaned up the table a little so there would be room for my student to eat lunch. We were having a potluck lunch at the thrift shop, so I cut up some cheese for that. I arrived at 10:45, which was perfect. There weren't many books, and I had everything shelved by noon. At noon they brought out a table and we set out our food. Ella announced the volunteer of the month, and then we ate. Then Laura brought out a carrot cake with candles to celebrate February birthdays. When we were packing up the food, Nayeun wanted to give away the kimbap she made. I was willing to take it, but my container had cheese in it. She wanted the cheese, so we traded. Then Laura encouraged people to take cake home. So I added a piece of cake for Chris and Michele to share. I spent the rest of my time there counting puzzle pieces. When 2:3o arrived, I signed out, so I could meet my student, but she never showed up. I tried to call her father, but couldn't reach him. He had not left his usual text, so I figured they forgot to tell me something came up. Maryann and I talked for quite a while. Then I came home, figuring to do some sewing. But I checked my e-mail, and found a link to an audio that promised great results. So I listened to that. I ate some of the kimbap, and then went to quilting class. I set up enough equipment for myself to sew in case no one else showed up. Well, three others did, but they came late. We all sewed strips, and ironed and cut. Then swept up and went home. At home, I listened to two weight loss tapping audios, and wrote to my blog.
* Here is another quilt from the Tokyo show *

SPAMMED!

Wednesday is my free day. Thinking ahead, I woke up my computer before I was ready to use it so that the weekly antivirus program could run early. Then I went back to bed for a meditation session. I then made breakfast, and sat at my computer. I found out that someone had used my e-mail list to send out spam. Interestingly, everyone got a different link. At least one went to a Canadian pharmacy, and another went nowhere. One friend e-mailed me back that she appreciated the link and bookmarked it. I sure would like to know where THAT link went. Julia suggested that I change my password, so I did. Chris suggested that I update my antivirus software and run it again. I did that, too. It did not find any virus. Hopefully there will be no more of this. I skyped Kurt, but the connection was really bad. So, I retired to my sewing room. Working on a project was out of the question until I cleared the stacks. Unfortunately I couldn't remember what they were each for. Sadly, I also turned on the TV for some background noise and got interested in the shows. It slowed me down a lot. But I did clear enough to start sewing scraps together. Not the project I intended, but it was something productive. When Chris came home, we had bean soup. Then more sewing for me. I was really getting into it, when I realized that there were two tapping audios I hadn't listened to yet, and they will be gone in the morning. So I took almost 2 hours to listen and tap along. Now it is past my bedtime, and I find that I would rather stay up and sew.
* quilt from Tokyo *

Finally mailed those packages

Chris left for work, and I slept in a little longer. I always have interesting dreams when sleeping under one of my own quilts. I had breakfast with e-mail. Mmmm. I managed to make it to the post office before 11. I mailed three packages and a letter. And still I was early to the thrift shop - which is good 'cause she closed up at 2:30. I am trying to make up for the two weeks I missed. I had plenty of books to shelve, and not so much space to shelve them in. One of the corner boxes was missing, and I had to find one big enough to replace it. Lets hope no one takes the new box. BTW, its function is to keep books from falling in the space between bookcases. It is a place of no return. I checked the selection of phone batteries for sale to see if there was one to fit my phone. Nope. But there is a phone charger in the kitchen, so I was able to charge it up. At 2:30 we packed up and left. I went home and then realized that I meant to turn in the minutes for our group. At this point perhaps I should just wait and turn the Jan. minutes in with the Feb. ones.
I spent some time reading a book called "Finding Serenity". It is a collection of essays about Firefly. More e-mail, and then supper. I cooked up some organic beef. I meant to juice some vegetables, but I just never get around to it. I hard-boiled some eggs, but had trouble peeling them. The shells stuck like glue.
I watched the two tapping videos on The Tapping World Summit. Then read another book: this one on Dilbert cartoons. I guess I'll make the sandwich and go to bed.

President's Day

Chris got to stay home today. So I got up alone to wash and partially dry my last load of fabric - the dark load. I also prepared several boxes to go into the mail. Around 10:30 I drove on post to gate 17 to meet the Pfaff man. Star showed up about the same time. Kennedy and her neighbor came later. We were getting worried that he wouldn't show, but turns out that he had been sitting in his van the whole time. We of course, were standing out in the parking lot trying to look conspicuous. He couldn't reach his interpreter, so several of us were trying to reach anyone who spoke Korean to explain what was done, not done, or needed to be done. When the others had finished their transactions, he turned to leave. I tried to remind him that he had parts to two of our machines. I had to get someone to tell him that, too. He had forgotten all about them, and didn't even remember if he had fixed them or not. He promised to come back in a week or two. Then I drove the car to gate 37 to leave it there and walk home. But first I used my new microfiber cloth to clean the windows. The grime that came off was astounding. Now my windows are clean, but how will I gat the cloth white again? I walked back to the apt., stopping by the main office to get a parking decal. I ironed all the fabric that was washed, and folded it. I also finished the Australian blocks and ironed them, too. I was on e-mail when Michele announced supper. We had a roast and corn. I ate very little. Then we went to see "Megamind" because Chris and Michele said I had to see it. It was good, and had an unexpected plot. When we got back, I ate blueberries and walnuts while doing Sudoku puzzles. All too soon it is time for bed.
* Here is a pic from the Tokyo show *

Sunday sewing

We made it to church this morning. The sermon was on turning the other cheek. After church we had a fruit tray, a meat and cheese tray with bread on the side. Oh, and kimbap. There was a lot of kimbap and they gave the leftovers to take home. From church we went to the commissary for groceries. We called Michele for help carrying the bags upstairs, but she was still asleep and didn't hear her phone ring. But she helped put the items away. I spent some time with e-mail, and sewing on the Australia top. I vacuumed the apartment, and did a little cleaning in the kitchen. I made another batch of fermented coconut milk. The last batch went alcoholic during our trip to the Philippines. I started reading a book on-line. Can't remember the name of it, but it is about how naturally occurring electric fields on the Earth affect humans. The book recommends sleeping with your head facing north so your spine is aligned with an electric current. Worth a try. Too bad my bed faces east.
* This pic is for Chris. *

Wednesday the 9th, Boracay

The rooster woke me up at 1:30am. He also woke the dogs. I got up to go to the bathroom, and Chris did too. I think he was sick. Then the rooster was quiet. I don't know how someone shut him up. But he started back up before dawn, around 5:30. We got up at 6 to shower and dress. We ate breakfast in the upper diningroom because there weren't many people, but it filled up fast. We went back to our room to change into bathing suits. Michele put on sunscreen, I wore a t-shirt over my suit, and Chris went back to bed, definitely not feeling well. Michele and I got beach towels in the lobby and took a shuttle to Puka beach. What few people there were on the beach turned out to be vendors. Luckily most vendors here take 'no' for an answer. The waves were small and calm, clear as pool water. The tide was low and pulling to the right. I swam out a ways and back, while Michele lay on a towel in the shade as though she were sunbathing. I sat with Michele for awhile, playing in the sand, and burying my feet. The sand made my hands and feet so soft and smooth that I decided to rub some on my face. Then I walked down to the public beach section to buy a coconut. I thought she said 150 pp, but when I paid it, he gave me 100pp back. I wish I had a video of him whacking off the bottom of the coconut with a machete, then hacking around the top to remove it (like a pumpkin top). Sipping the juice with a stray, I decided that it was the best (and cheapest) coconut so far. The lady in the next stall had gotten my attention with the coconut, so I looked at her shell jewelry. She explained the type of shells she used, the kinds and colors of pearls, etc. She was very informative. I had selected 5 to buy when I realized that the hotel van was coming for us in 5 minutes. I rushed through the transaction, and walked as fast as I could, but I was still 5 minutes late. Michele was upset when she found out because a hotel van had just been dropping off two other ladies and she thought we missed our ride. But then another van showed up for us, and all was well. Back at the lobby, Michele checked the towels in, and we went back to the room. Chris was still in bed. I found a spoon in the cabinet above the sink and ate the coconut meat. Then Michele and I went to the hotel restaurant for lunch, bringing along the mangoes purchased yesterday. When I ordered the mango salad, and they didn't have it, I produced the mangoes. Still they refused, and their English was not good enough to explain why. Michele ordered the Pansit Luglug. She ate almost half, and I had a bit. We packed up the rest to take to Chris. But he was not hungry, so we put it in our room fridge. Michele went to the front desk to ask about horseback riding. They told her the coordinator was not in and that they would call her back at the room. So we sat watching TV in our room waiting for the call. We all fell asleep. No call. When I awoke, I went out on the porch and did Sudoku for several hours. I came in just before dark. I tried to join Chris and Michele in watching a movie on TV, but was drawn back outside by the sound of drums and marching bells. Mostly hidden by the trees, a line of people walked up the road. It had the feel of a conga line. I wondered if new people were joining in as it passed. We were told later that it was a celebration of the feast of Saint(somebody). When I came in, Michele wanted supper, so she and I went to the restaurant. On the way, we saw a pidgeon sitting on the railing outside our door. It wouldn't fly away, and had a # band on its leg. Michele petted its tail feathers, and it excreted. So we quickly left for the restaurant. She got the fruit platter, which, oddly enough, had mango on it. I got the fried pork with liver gravy and pickled papaya. We stopped at the front desk to ask about horseriding again. $25 for one hour of sitting on a horse, being led by a guide on foot. Not very exciting. We brought some food back for Chris, but he still wasn't hungry. The pigeon was still there, but no sign of geckozilla. We watched Animal Planet until bedtime.

A kingsize accomplishment!

We slept in until my alarm went off at 7:30. Fast forward half an hour (never mind why): I ironed some of the strip sets I sewed last night before I went to bed, I ate breakfast in front of my computer, then took a shower, and got ready to go back to the AnC center. Chris and Michele sat with their laptops, ready for the Saturday morning games. On the way to AnC, I picked Cathy up in front of her apt bldg. We stopped briefly at the SPC and then on to AnC. She tweeked the rocker arm of the longarm, and then we finished my quilt. While it was stitching, I cut up the strip set that I had pressed earlier, and made another one. This is for the Australian project. Cathy left at 12:30 for lunch. I took my quilt off the longarm, and took pics of the front and back. The nice young man from yesterday came back - just a little too late to see the machine in action. I packed up and went to the office to pay for the thread. That took longer than expected and I had no time for lunch before meeting Helen at the Ichon station at 2. She and I walked down to the Han river and rented bikes. We rode down to the Banpo bridge, crossed the river, down to the next bridge, turned around and came back. We stopped several times to drink, blow our noses,readjust our seats, etc. Gotta remember next time to bring my gel seat cover. After turning in the bikes, we found a little restaurant to have supper. I had the spicy beef soup and she had kimchi dumplings. She told me about some fermented bean cake that she bought near her place. We went to the market to find it, but she couldn't remember the name. I did get some eggs. The owner packed them in a bowl. We parted at the subway station. I walked back to post and took my car home. I used the elevator instead of the stairs so as not to jostle the eggs. Chris and Michele were gaming with Romaric when I got home. I put the eggs away, showed off the quilt, then laid it on the bed. Getting ready for bed now.

Big quilt = big problem?

I checked e-mail, had breakfast and showered by 9:15. I made it to the AnC center by 9:30 with my king-size quilt top, batting, and backing. While waiting for Cathy, I oiled the machine, turned on the computer and did a little dusting. When she arrived, we decided on a pattern, loaded the backing, then batting (might not be big enough), and finally the top. The pattern I picked was a bit dense, but I need the quilt to be sturdy enough so Chris and I can fight over it in the middle of the night. Actually, it should be big enough that we won't NEED to fight for covers. But I digress. Cathy stayed for the first row and part of the second. She left for lunch and came back after I started the third row. I told her I was fine and she needn't stick around. But just before that row was finished, it ran out of bobbin thread. I put another bobbin in. The machine began quilting again, and then there was this loud noise, the bobbin flew out, burnt rubber filled the air as I hit the 'stop' button. The needle was broken and it had made a cut in the top. I tried to put it all back together again, but it wasn't working. So I called Cathy. She got out the manual, and we tried a few things, but it wasn't enough. At least three people from the AnC center also tried. This young soldier came by, and he read the manual too. Then, all together they got it up and running. But he made the last adjustment that made it sound right. By then it was almost 6pm. Ms. Kim helped me load the quilt back into the machine. I forgot to mention that I spent the afternoon hand-stitching more batting to the end. Also wondering if I was going to have to go into hiding for breaking the longarm. Not that I was afraid of what the garrison would do. They have probably blown up more expensive things. It's the other quilters I have to worry about. Especially Judy. We tease Sue about being a terrorist, but I secretly think Judy is more likely.
Anyway, Cathy and I left the quilt unfinished and will return tomorrow. The young man is coming back as well to see the machine in action.

Wish I were there...

Chris had to be at work by 5:30 this morning. I don't know if he woke me up or not. I got up just before the alarm at 7:30. I washed, and partially dried a load of fabric, laying out carefully on the bed. I had breakfast, e-mail and a shower. I was glad I had shopped yesterday because it snowed over night. I made it to the thrift store by 11. Maryann came in today, and straightened the bookroom while I added books to it. Naturally we picked on each other. Mrs. Chung asked me to drive to Gate 10 to pick up two volunteers. She brought me some seaweed with sesame seeds on it: something her mother made. It was really good and I ate it all for lunch. In the box of books with my name on it (that I discovered on Tuesday), was a Pfaff sewing machine. Thankfully it had thread on it, so I tested it out. Everything worked but the light bulb. Geri said to put $60 on it, so I did. I left about 3:30 I think. Went home to iron all the fabric. I also packed a few things for class, and wrote up the January minutes for the guild. It must have been close to 6 when I left for post. The guard was trying to tell me how to say "Work hard today" in Korean. It must be some kind of greeting. It was 6:15 when I left the parking lot. I was just starting to set up by 6:30 and no one was there. Actually Ruth Ann stopped by just long enough to pick up her mat because she wasn't feeling well. But the others were just late. They probably had trouble parking because of the big group in the fellowship hall. There were 8 of us cutting, sewing and pressing scrap strips to make scrappy blocks for the Australian flood victims. At 8:30 we were packed up and ready to leave. I drove to the parking lot and switched cars. Drove Chris' car home. He was in bed before I got there. Supper was on the stove and I had a bite to eat before sitting down to notify several people of several details. Then it was blog time, and finally bedtime.

Shopping, in Seoul and at the Beach

Got up at 7:30. Sorted my fabrics to be washed into three piles - dark, medium, and light. I washed, dried and ironed the medium load. I was going to leave the ironing until after I did my shopping, but my gut told me to stay close to home. By 2:30 I figured I was ok. It was a little late for going to Dongdaemun, but today was our warmest day, and it is supposed to be colder tomorrow. So I drove to gate 17, and took the subway to D. Told Mr. Kang he could come back in June. I think he understood. Got lots of fabric for quilt backings. The selection of florals was abysmal. Lots of tone-on-tone and geometrics. Took the subway back to Ichon. Exit three was open, so I went to my favorite kimchi stand. It was the busiest I had ever seen them. An unending line of Korean women lining up to get supper on a styrofoam tray. When I got tired of waiting to be waited on, I announced that I wanted kimchi and she bagged it for me. But then I had to wait to pay. Tip: don't go to the kimchi stand around suppertime. I walked back in exit 3. Normally I would walk out exit two, but it is closed for renovations. I didn't want to pay subway fare just to cross to the other end of the station. The guard seemed to understand, so he let me through the handicap gate. But when I reached the other side, that guard wanted me to crawl under the turnstyle. Ha! With two bags of fabric, 2 kilos of kimchi and my purse? No way. A young Korean woman who spoke English stopped to help. Then another guard let me through that handicap gate. So I found my way back to post. Drove to the parking lot, carried my loot over the pedestrian bridge, back to the apt. Chris arrived soon after. We left at 6 to go to the movie TRON. Just got back.

Tuesday Feb. 8th
The rooster started crowing before dawn. We got up and took cold showers. Michele's sunburn hurt so bad that she didn't want to move, but Chris talked her into going with us to breakfast. She hardly ate anything. I had my usual four eggs, and chicken and salad. I felt bad for Michele. Back at the room, we decided to go to the market (as opposed to the beach). Michele elected to stay in the room. Instead of a bra, I wore one of my wraps folded in half diagonally and tied around me like a halter top. We took the 9:40 shuttle to D-Mart. This time when we got to the beach, we turned right instead of left. I saw a shop selling fresh fruit drinks and I bought 2 mangoes from them, thinking that now the hotel restaurant has no excuse for not making me a mango salad. A little later on, we found another shop selling hand-dyed wraps. I bought 5 more. The walkable part of the beach ended shortly after that, so we turned around. On the way back, I bought 6 colored shell headbands and met the lady who makes them. Then we passed a bungee jump/trampoline stand. I REALLY wanted to try it, but Chris pointed out that I wasn't wearing a bra and that could be a problem. Then we found seats on the beach. In order to sit there, we had to buy drinks. So I got a coconut icee and Chris got a chocolate shake. From there I walked into the water. It was perfect! The water was clear and shallow and the waves were small and gentle. The sand was soft and smooth - no shells or rocks. And NO jellyfish! Too bad I wasn't wearing a bathing suit. Chris helped two women get a pic of themselves by the ocean. We walked back in time to catch the noon shuttle. Michele wasn't feeling any better. We watched TV for a bit, and then Chris and I went for a walk down our street. I thought the map showed that we could walk to the convention center that way. But when we got to the end of the street, there was a cul-de-sac, and only a set of steps. The workers wouldn't let us go up the steps. What were they trying to hide? We had to turn around. We stopped in our room to get my sunhat, then walked out the front gate of the hotel complex. The guard wanted us to take a conveyance (either a shuttle or a manned motorcycle), but we insisted on walking. We turned left to see what was down that side of the road. We passed two roadside stands. We kept going even though it was hot. We passed what looked like another hotel, but unfinished. It was staff quarters for our hotel, I think. We came to a fork in the road. A hand-painted sign pointed to the right announcing a bat cave and a crystal cave. Being unsure if they were reputable places, we turned around and went back. In the lobby Chris came up with a plan. Lets go into town on the 3:40 shuttle and have an early supper, so we can go to bed early, and get up for the beach while it is still cool. That was great with me, and Michele agreed. She and I wore our bathing suits and covered our shoulders with wraps. We ate in town at the Hobbit house. They claimed to have the world's shortest waitstaff. There was a cat under one table when we walked in. By the time we finished, there were 5 cats, begging food from patrons. The food was good. They didn't have the prawns I ordered, so I got calamari instead. There were some really hot peppers in there.
Afterwards we walked to the beach. I got to walk through the water a bit, then we headed back for the shuttle. Its engine quit, and several people had to push it to get it started. The driver drove like crazy to get back before it quit again. Back at the hotel, Michele took a quick dip in the pool, then watched our stuff while Chris and I took a swim. The cool water felt good on our burnt skin. The sun had set, so it was ok. We dried off and went to our room and dressed for bed. Then realized that it was only 6:45pm. Naturally they watched TV for awhile, while I wrote down the day's events.

Meanwhile, back at the beach...

Spent the better part of the morning on e-mail, much of that getting volunteer hours straight. At 11 I went to the thrift shop. There was quite a backlog of books, tapes and DVD's. I was able to clear 95% of it in 4 hours. Then Ms. Chung found a large box of books in the corner with my name on it....
At 3 I drove her to Gate 12, which is where I thought she wanted to go since she said Noksapyong. But when we got there she looked at me like she didn't recognize it. But I assured her it was right around the corner from the gate. I then filled my car with gas and washed the windshield (which it desperately needed). I went home, and had something to eat. Did some Sudoku puzzles, more e-mail. Chris came home and we ate leftovers. Back on the computer, I ordered stuff from Jo-anns latest sale for our group. How did I get this job? Their website wasn't working as stated so I had to make two orders to get the right sale prices. Blog time...

Monday the 7th
I woke up early. I think the rooster crowed all night. Rooster soup, anyone? The bed was hard and my skin hurt. Chris and I took a shower...We dressed for breakfast. When we got to the hotel restaurant, there were no empty tables, so we had to eat downstairs. It was nice too, but the buffet was a little smaller. The omelet station was upstairs only. We passed a pingpong table, some board games, and a dart board. We lingered a while, then went back to the room to brush teeth and decided to catch the next shuttle to market. We went to the lobby at 9:30 to catch the 9:40 shuttle. We shared it with a travel agent and his family. He told us that it was safe to buy the local produce but not the barbeque. In 10 minutes we were at DMart. We wandered through the market streets looking at stalls until we reached the beach. Chris found a place to change dollars into Philippine pesos. We asked about the fabric market and were told it was just past Nigi Nigi. That turned out to be a bar. As we walked along, we were constantly approached by vendors of necklaces (shell and pearl), sunglasses, hats, and boatrides. Although each one took 'no' for an answer, the next vendor was seconds away. It took some walking and looking in stalls for some distance past Nigi Nigi, but we finally concluded that that the fabric was in the form of hand-dyed beach wraps. In one out-of-the-way stall, I got 4 for $15. Nearby I bought some flipflops for $3. They are $20 at the hotel.
Walking back down the beach we passed a massage stand : 1 hour for 350 pp. That's $9. Chris gave me the money, and he and Michele left, while I followed the lady up a narrow and steep staircase. I took off my new flipflops and entered a small room with hanging sheets and an old couch. Since I was getting the foot massage and not the whole body massage (ouch!) she had me sit on the couch instead of going behind the sheets. While she massaged my calves and feet, I asked her what Philippine dish she recommends. She mentioned some kind of Adobo. There were more words to it, but I couldn't write them down because I gave my purse to Michele to hold. At 12:15 Chris and Michele returned. I paid the lady and came down to meet them. As we walked together, we passed a stand selling fresh fruit drinks. I ordered a coconut with a straw. Then we came to an Indian restaurant. They cracked my coconut in half and gave me a spoon so I could eat it. I also ordered a coconut shrimp salad. Michele and Chris split a vegetable couscous. Then we moseyed back to our pickup point. Chris found a place to buy sunscreen, and aftersun lotion. When we got back to the hotel, we used the lotion right away. We watched Animal Planet until I couldn't stand it. I wanted to be outside, and doing something. So I covered up with one of my beachwraps and found a spot to sit, resting my bare feet on the grass, and did Sudoku puzzles. When I got back, we went to supper, spotting a large gecko on the way. I tried to order the mango salad, but the answer was still 'no'. However Michele's flan had a mango adornment. Even though it wasn't on the menu, I asked for adobo. And they had it. It was nothing remarkable, just chicken in a mild sauce. It was this night that I saw fireworks, not last night. Finally we watched TV and went to bed.

Dongdaemun comes to us!

Chris got up extra early to go to Daegu. So that's when I woke up, and couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up around 6:30. I sewed a border strip onto a quilt in progress. Then checked e-mail. Finally I took a shower, ate breakfast, packed three cutting mats, and walked to post to my car. I drove to gate 17, where Mr. Kang's helpers were waiting. I tried to sign them in, but they did not have proof that they had permission to drive Mr. Kang's van. So one of them called for a fax, and ran somewhere to pick it up. Then everything went smoothly. They followed me to the SPC with their van-load of fabric. A bunch of women were waiting to dive in to their wares. I bought my share or more. OF course. Like I needed more fabric. Then the two men went out to lunch. We invited them to eat with us, but they wanted burgers or pizza or something truly American. When they came back, they packed up the remaining fabric. They had 5 empty boxes. I guess it was worth their while to sell to our group and the others that came.
We packed up late, having worked on baby quilts, and a scrappy quilt top for the Australian flood victims. Then I went home, with two heavy bags of fabric. PT for quilters. I did not start the washing/drying/pressing process. I watched the latest TQS video and some others. When Chris came home, we had supper: ham and onions. Then I finshed the rest of the three borders on my quilt-in-progress. The top is now finished. No time to blog about Boracay tonight. Time for bed.

Peelings....nothing more than peelings...

I was up way too late typing yesterday's post, so got up late this morning and missed church. I spent the day trying to catch up on e-mail, and did some sewing. Far more interesting is what we did last Sunday:

The hotel was not quiet at night. Kids ran back and forth. Adults did too, by the sound of it. Chris pulled the curtains shut to create the darkness I prefer for sleeping. But it seemed like daylight crept in all too soon. The bed was hard, so I got up when I finally couldn't stay in bed anymore. It was only 7:15. We took showers and dressed for breakfast. The hotel had given us breakfast coupons which we used at the restaurant to have the buffet. So much of the spread was refined carbs. I had the salad (lettuce, tomato, and cucumber), one sausage ball, a piece of fried fish, and 4 sunny side up eggs. After breakfast we took a walk through the complex. Chris pointed out bugs and unusual plant life. We saw a garden with onions, eggplant and possibly vanilla beans. I discovered that the summery shoes I brought were too tight, so I soaked them in the foot wash. When we got back to our room, we dressed for the beach and went to the lobby to get a shuttle to the hotel's private beach. The open-air lobby was filled with people whom we thought were in line ahead of us. But when the shuttle came, only one other couple got on it. The beach wasn't far away. But our hotel only had part of the beach. The beach chairs belonged to a different hotel who had a guard. He would not let us use the chairs even though they were empty. There were very few people to be seen. The water was a beautiful sea foam green. I went in to play with the waves. They were strong and the seabed sloped so I couldn't go far. Michele played in the surf but decided it was too cold to go in. When she went back up, Chris came down to the water. One of them stayed with our stuff at all times. Sometimes I was alone in the water. When I tired of that, I found my family laid out on towels, looking like they were sleeping. I sat with them for awhile, then took a walk down the beach. It came to an end where a high rock jutted into the sea. That was the public part of the beach, and there were stalls selling things made of shells, coconuts, and even flipflops. I really wanted a pair, but the man asked for 1200 pesos ($30). And I didn't bring any money. Later it occurred to me that I could have bartered (and gotten money from Chris). It was about 11:20 when I returned to the private beach. There were itinerant vendors that walk up and down the beach selling shell necklaces. At one point I emerged from the ocean to see my husband sharing his towel with a lovely young Philippine woman. But she was just there to sell boat trips, and other watersport activities. She told us what zorba riding was, and Chris said I couldn't go. At noon a shuttle arrived to take us back to the hotel. We went to the pool area to shower off and try out the Infinity Pool. The water felt cool, but I was able to work my way in. Then we went back to the room to change for lunch at the hotel restaurant. The place was almost empty and little birds came to pick at crumbs under the tables. I ordered tilapia, and they gave me a whole fish. I covered its head with a spoon as I dug into the flesh. Then Chris cut off the head and put it on his plate. As we ate, I began to feel my skin burn, even though we were inside. I was getting redder and she and Chris turned more of a magenta. We went back to the room. I stuffed my tight shoes so they would stretch as they dried. We fell asleep. When I awoke, I was redder than a lobster, and my skin burned and itched. I wrote in my notebook to catch up on my blog. When Chris woke up, he turned on Animal Planet. It took me hours to catch up on my blog with the TV on. I wondered what we could do tomorrow to stay out of the sun. Around 7 we went to the hotel restaurant for supper. There were no other places we could walk to from our hotel because it was well out of town. On the way there, we saw a gecko. There were lots of them, and most are about finger length. But we named this one Geckozilla because of his size - closer to a foot long.
When we reached the restaurant, we weren't really hungry. I ordered the fruit platter. Michele ordered the luglug because Chris had it for lunch and she liked it. It was at least half an hour later when the waitress came back to tell Michele that there was no more luglug (pasta). So she changed her order, and we continued to wait. Our food came first and we were finished well before her meal came. While we were waiting, we got engrossed in the movie playing on the wall screen. It was "Old Dogs" with John Travolta and Robin Williams. Our check came during a commercial break. We went back to our room to finish watching it. It was followed by "The Spy Next Door" with Jackie Chan. We love Jackie Chan. Someone set off fireworks across the hill, and I stood on our balcony for awhile to watch them. Before bed, my skin was burning like crazy and I was looking for something to put on it. All I had was soap and toothpaste. The toothpaste had tea tree oil in it, so I put some on my arm and added a little water to it to thin it.It felt good, so I gave some to Michele, too. Then we went to bed.

Catching up

Do you really want to hear about what happened today? How I cleared hundreds of e-mails, ordered more supplements, washed and hung up four of the hand-dyed sarongs I bought? How Chris got his car window fixed? No? Ok, then, how about what happened last Saturday?

The night before our trip I took a shower and went to bed because we had to get up at 4am. I took two 5-htp capsules (does that make 10 htp?). I couldn't sleep. My sleep CD was packed. All too soon the alarm went off - at 3:30! Chris got up to take a shower and I got up to check e-mail one last time and to e-mail the manager of the thrift shop that I would not be in this following week. There wasn't time for breakfast so I ate some nuts and swallowed some supplements that I put out the night before. I had to wet down my hair because it was standing up like a rooster tail. Then we bundled up and dragged our luggage to the car. Chris drove us to the Capitol Hotel and left us there with the luggage while he parked the car on post. It took longer than he expected because his driver's side window wouldn't go up. He walked to the hotel and bought us bus tickets to the airport. We boarded the 4:40 bus and rode it around the city. Only one more person got on before it headed to the airport. There we checked into the Philippines Airline desk at 6. After going through security, we boarded a shuttle to another terminal. We tried to change money, but they wouldn't change dollars. We quickly found our gate and sat down to wait. AT 7:50 we got in line to get on the plane. It was not nearly full. It was a 4-hour flight to Manilla. During that time I did Sudoku puzzles and watched the in-flight movie. When we got off the plane, the weather was warm. I saw tropical trees, and grass. The air smelled so good. I didn't realize summer was only 4 hours away!
We went through immigration with no problems. Then at the baggage claim area we took turns watching for our suitcase while the others went to the bathroom. Chris was able to change dollars for pesos there. On the way through customs three little old Korean ladies got stopped and searched, but they let us breeze through. Then we had to find the terminal for our connecting flight. Everyone we asked agreed that there was a shuttle, but gave us differing info on where to find it. We waited for nearly an hour for an informal shuttle to appear. The driver loaded our suitcase in back with the others. We sat on bench seats and were taken on a trip through the city to the domestic terminal. It was quaint with a slight third world flavor. We went to a travel agency called SEAIR and they printed out a colored copy of our e-tickets and registered us on the computer. We walked into the airport and showed our passports and went through security. Then we had to pay 200 pesos each as a terminal fee. Roughly $5. Chris found the check-in window for SEAIR. They did not have a computer so they gave us handwritten boarding passes. We went into a large waiting room for the next several hours. We left Michele sitting with our stuff and scouted for healthy food. We got barbecued chicken, rice, and a huge meat dumpling, and 8 dimsum-like rolls for about $10. The three of us shared. Then Chris and I walked around the room for something to do. We got interrupted once when he was called to the counter to change his seat assignment to balance the plane. As we finished our walk, we passed the prayer room (empty), a statue of Mary, a children's playroom and an infant feeding room. All empty even though the room was at least half full. Finally we were called to board a pregnant pidgeon. This small twin prop plane had three columns of seats, one on the left and two on the right. I fell asleep while waiting on the tarmac for permission to take off. We were 20 minutes late on take-oof, but it was only a 40 minute flight: just enough time for the stewardess to pass out snacks and bottled water to the passengers. Then we landed on a runway along the coast of Caticlan. This airport was even smaller. The terminal was a square of concrete covered by a canvas tarp. While waiting for our luggage to be unloaded, we met a man named Joseph who agreed to get us and our luggage to the hotel for a price. He loaded our suitcase into a van and drove us around several corners to a pier. He got us boat tickets to an outrigger. We had to cross a moving plank to board the boat. When the boat was full of passengers, it motored out to the island of Boracay. This time we had concrete stairs to climb. We walked along the pier to the island. Joseph found us a truck with open sides to carry us to our hotel on the hill. Welcome to Boracay. We passed many ramshackle bungalows where people cooked over wood fires. The smell of wood smoke reminded me of camping. We also passed through urban areas where small shops were nestled together, selling fresh fruits and veggies, beachware, snacks, etc. Our hotel was on a large hill. It was easily the largest hotel we had passed. It was all so beautiful - all sorts of tropical plants filled the landscape.
I was happy to get off the back of the truck because of the gas fumes. Joseph left and we checked in. A man carried our luggage to room H205. It was on the second floor of one of 15 or so three-story buildings. We got situated, locked our valuables in the safe, and proceeded to the hotel restaurant for supper. One wall was open to the outside deck, but we were seated inside. Chris ordered mahi-mahi, Michele got a pork dish, and I ordered something that claimed to be local vegetables in garlic sauce. When my dish came, I couldn't identify the veggies, but one that looked like a ribbed green squash had a very sharp taste, and I only ate a few pieces of that one. I also ordered a mango appetizer, but they said the mangoes weren't ripe. After supper we went back to the room. Michele wanted to go to the outdoor pool. It looked inviting but the water wasn't warm. So she and Chris went. But they came back almost immediately because the air was cool, too. So we stayed inside and watched Animal Planet. (Hurray for TV in English) I fell asleep watching, and then the others went to bed also.

Just got back

We're back!!!! But it is late, and we are tired and covered in peeling skin (got sunburnt on the first day). Will fill you all in later, with pics of course:) Borocay is beautiful, the water was clear, the weather was perfect, the people are friendly, and the fish are colorful. I highly recommend it, but bring sunscreen.

Packing - again

Everyone had the day off today for Lunar New Year, so Chris was home today. He and Michele went to a movie in the afternoon. I finished my charm quilt top last night. I took it and the backing over to Cathy's place thinking we would get it started today, but we spent so much time futzing with possible designs, that there wasn't time. By the time I came back from her place, Chris and Michele had already left the apartment. I cleared out e-mail while eating from a bag of frozen fruit. Unfortunately I ate too much, and felt really bad for awhile. Then I started packing for the trip. I did procrastinate because of the enormity of the task. But I had a list from the trip to Tokyo. I added a swim suit, sarong, and beach hat to the list. Then I packed as best I could. The regulations on luggage are stricter than ever. 10 kilos in a med. suitcase and 7 kilos in carry-on. To make the 10 kilos, I had to pack stuff in my carry-on that I would rather not carry. Oh well. I also had to iron and re-sew my wrap-and-tie pants before packing them. I tried on everything I packed to be sure it still fit as I remember. Except the suits, but they are the only ones I have. It is just after nine and Chris has gone to bed. I will shower and then go to bed myself. We are getting up at 4am. And not taking our computers, so will have to catch up on blogging when I get back.
* Here is a pic of a group quilt. It seems to be many projects sewn onto a base quilt. *

teaching

I woke up a minute before the alarm went off. Been doing that for a few days now. My back was much better and my shoulder didn't hurt. However, gravity got me, and the pain in my shoulder came back. Normally I would go to the thrift shop, but it was closed for Lunar New Year. So I spent that time sewing panels of charm squares together. I had to get Michele to remove them from the walls. At the moment they are in 4 long strips on my bed. I think it will be a nice size - 100 by 100.
At 2:15 I drove to the thrift shop to pick up my student, and brought her back here to the apartment. She was in quite a mood today. She wanted to make a purple apron, and had fabric, but didn't like it. So she offered to give it to me if I would let her select from my stash. So I let her. Getting her to stay on task was like pulling teeth. She was not finished by the time her lesson was over. I hope she will finish it at home, since she has made one already. Did she learn anything? We'll find out.
After she left, I started listening to a video recording on-line, but there wasn't time to finish it. Chris came home, and I greeted him, then left for quilting class. I pulled a few class items out of storage but my arm was bothering me so much, that I let others do the rest when they showed up. Class went well. We were doing the second part of a paper-pieced snowman, taught by Mary. One lady came back with 4 snowmen! There is an overachiever in every class. Cathy came, and we discussed what she might want to teach next week while I am in the Philippines. Then we packed up and headed home. I plan to finish sewing my charm quilt, and then go to bed.
* Here is an interesting quilt from the quilt show. *

Cleaning up

Last night when I made Chris' sandwich, I used up the last of the bread, so I started another loaf in the machine before I went to bed. When I got up this morning, I took the bread out and put it in the fridge. My back was better today, though not back to normal. I had breakfast in front of my computer as usual. Sue e-mailed me that she was coming over to get her box of fabric, so I decided to get dressed and clean up a little. I carried two loads of recyclables down stairs. It was good exercise. But eliminating the recycling was not enough to make the kitchen presentable, so I closed those doors. Sue came over with her husband. He is a very pleasant fellow. They had a luggage carrier and loaded the fabric on that. Sue recommended that I put frozen peas on my back, followed by heat. Well, my back was not bothering me nearly as much as my lower shoulder. So I laid down with the bag of peas on my upper chest. It felt good. Then, since I couldn't find my heating pad, I microwaved a bag of rice. That was nice too. In my sewing room, I put together 3 more panels of charm squares. I was so happy, thinking I had finished. But when I went to count up my panels, I could only find 19. Either I lost one, or I miscounted earlier. But hey, I had squares left over, so I just made one more panel. Now I have all 20! And the kingsize backing I ordered came in the mail on Monday, so I am set. Those last 4 panels needed ironing, but my ironing board and cutting table were full of Japanese fabric sorted into coordinating stacks. I had to find some way of dealing with that. I put together a box that I bought at the SIWA bazaar, and loaded it with fabrics that I intended to wash. But some fabrics I think I will make kits of and sell them, so I am not going to wash those. Anyway, hours later, I had enough space to iron my panels. After I finish this blog, I will go to bed and read for a little while. I am reading a book on the brain, and differences between the sexes. Men are typically left-brained and women use the right hemisphere more often. The left side is more optimistic because it is the right side that identifies problems. Women are 5 times more likely to develop depression. The answer to the age old question of why men don't ask for directions is that they don't realize there is a problem.
* This quilt was one of many quilts each featuring one kind of flower. I think the public was supposed to vote for a favorite one. *

Hurting

The alarm went off at 7:30 and it took me awhile to get there from my bed to turn it off. Funny how far apart everything seems to be when your back hurts. And my hips seem to weigh a ton. I did not go to the thrift shop like I usually do. It seemed prudent to stay home - like I had a choice. I tried tapping, visualization, several releasing methods, prayer, etc. It was while I was in my sewing room, going through all the fabric I bought in Japan this year and last year, that I suddenly noticed that the pain was gone. Fabric therapy. I still had the pain in my chest like someone punched me there. I told Michele that maybe I am a superhero at night and don't remember it during the day, just have the bruises. She considered it unlikely. I was on my computer watching a Statler DVD that Cathy lent me when Chris came home. I told him not to disturb me 'cause I didn't know how to pause it. He and she had leftovers, and so did I when the DVD was finished.
Then I went back to my computer to clear more e-mail. One was a audio clip about several intense experiences that will change your life. One is to write your own eulogy. Another is to lay on a bed, pretend that you are 106 and your life is done, and see what that future you would say about something that worries you now. A third thing is to plan, prepare and eat your last meal. Invite your friends over for it. Tell them, or not, just see what that feels like.
Well, after finishing that audio, I tried to get up, and the back pain has returned. So now I think I will go to bed.
* A pic from the quilt show, made of thousands of tiny hexagons *