Redneck Riviera

Last week my husband and I embarked on a long journey over 900 nautical miles, from northeast US to the southernmost edge of Alabama in our airplane “Bravo”. 

We awoke before sunrise to get an early start, but endured a few hours delay until a storm system passed through Virginia.  At last we loaded up and took off. Loaded to near max weight and the summer temperatures rising, Bravo climbed much slower than usual.  At least the natural air conditioning kicked in soon (temperature drops 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit every 1000 feet).

We journeyed west to avoid DC airspace and Camp David, then turned south.  The cloud layer kept us lower than we hoped and created some mild turbulence. At the second fuel stop we were in Tennessee and feeling hungry. It was also approaching evening so we decided to find a hotel and take up our journey the next day.  The airport was deserted, though, and in the middle of a rural area.  A quick call to the friendly airport manager, and we were driving a few miles to the nearest town in search of food. We filled our bellies with pizza and ice cream (hey, we stuck with what we knew) and found a nice hotel.

The next day, clouds again delayed our trip for a couple hours. This town was in the middle of a valley. Valleys tend to collect ground fog which needs the sun to quickly melt away.  Climbing in the air again, we headed south, dodging hills and small rain clouds.  At one point we passed near Talladega, a nice airstrip next to the famous racetrack.

Yes, I sang a few lines of that Eric Church song….

Over Talladega, boys raised up,
Whiskey in your glass, here's to turning up,
Slowing down and cars that go real fast,
We were laughing and living, drinking and wishing,
And thinking as that checkered flag was waving,
Sure would like to stay in Talladega.

Funny thing about flying with another pilot. You can share flying duty (control of the yoke), but only one person can be pilot in command. LOVE that aspect because it was still ME on this trip. He wanted to climb above the clouds, but I exercised my judgment and stayed lower. Those cumulus clouds were building and given the weather front I worried that the cloud layer would close and we wouldn’t be able to find a hole to duck through to land at our destination.  [Gotta work on that instrument rating so clouds won’t be as much of a factor.]

Somewhat later, we watched the coastline emerge in front of us and landed safely at our destination airport near Gulf Shores, AL.  A blast of heat and humidity greeted us as we climbed out to tether Bravo to the ground. Then our friends pulled up in their SUV of air conditioned comfort. A short drive later we arrived at the beach front hotel.

Our week of activities began. Museum tours of USS Alabama Battleship, USS Drum Submarine, Pensacola Naval Air Station. Waterville water park. Shrimp boil at Jack Edwards Airport. Dinner and drinks with friends in the International Cessna 170 organization. Pictures with our traveling gnome Frank.

And my favorite….long walks on the beach. Feel your body relax as you gaze on the gorgeous sunset.

A friend of mine calls the Gulf Shore area “Redneck Riviera”.  Seems rather derogatory for the beautiful, white sand beaches we saw.  One really nice feature was their practice of flying specially-colored flags to let swimmers know how safe the water might be – from sharks or jellyfish.  No shark sightings in the area (must have been visiting the Carolinas), but there were plenty of jellyfish.  I stayed out of the ocean and swam only in the lovely hotel pool. Or hung out at the bar drinking mai tais.

All too soon the week was over. It was time to head home. Once again we hopped in the airplane and started north.  The Military Operations Area by Pensacola was “hot” which meant we needed to keep watch for fast military trainers. We adjusted our flight plan slightly to scoot out of the airspace as quickly as possible. The weather was cooperating with us, although still keeping us below 5000 feet and sending a bit of clear air turbulence to hold our attention.  Headwinds made the first part of our journey slower than we wanted, yet we made up that time with a nice tailwind across Maryland and Pennsy. Three fuel stops and we were almost home. Will we make it before sunset?  It was close but we made it!  What a relief to be back safely and sleep in our own bed.

Vacation is over.  Back to the household routine and unfinished projects.

My niece’s t-shirt quilt was waiting for me. I need more pellon to stabilize the remaining shirts and just the right border fabric. Oh, and some idea of how I want to handle the sashing. And eventually I need to put the binding on my king-size Celtic Solstice.

My garden was filled with TONS of green beans, cucumbers and squash, plus a few tomatoes. I canned 8 quarts of green beans, 8 half-pints of sweet pickle relish.  I baked zucchini bread and cooked homemade spaghetti squash.  And I still have a counter full of produce to cook, preserve or give away. 

Ah, it’s good to be home!

Summer Update

Summer is halfway over but at least there are six more weeks until the big college move. Here is why I have been neglecting my blog:

1.  Ginormous Garden Growth

2. Fantastic Flying Fun

Congrats to local pilot Jason Flood who received FAA permission for an aerobatic training "box". Check out the video here and watch for Jason's smile at 2:38.  Jason flies an exciting aerobatic routine in the annual airshow at my local airport.

3. Wonderful Workout Walking (no pictures of me actually walking - you don't want to see my sweaty bod). YES - I was finally in first place at least once.

4. And finally - Quietly Quaint Quilting.

          Mocha Swirl is quilted and bound - DONE.

          Red Cross is nearly done, just a few more blocks to quilt. It's already bound.

          Colossal Celtic Solstice is now quilted, trimmed and ready to bind. [Loud TA DA]. It's actually a bit too big for my queen-size bed. Then again, it is a king-size quilt. Cindy, my longarm gal (machine, not her arms), said she only had a couple inches to spare on her leader. The quilting is perfect for this pattern - enhances without overwhelming.  Love it, love it, love it!

How is your summer going?

That was fast

In my last post I confessed to starting yet another quilt. In just a few hours (six) I finished the top.  My daughter loved it so much she immediately posted it on Facebook. Now I just need to finish my Red Cross quilting to free up my safety pin collection, then sandwich this quilt.

The next day I flew with a friend to the antique airplane fly-in at Horn Point, as a reward for my hard work. Check out a couple of the beauties we saw. Yep, a cow plane.

It was rather hazy but still a good day for flying low and slow. 

Walking and walking

I am a quilt addict and I have regressed. <sigh> I started a new quilt. It's the Botany Bay pattern using Windham Fabrics new line "Hidden Cove".  My daughter wants another quilt for college.  [THREE quilts isn't enough; she needs another one?]  This fabric line has the same colors as the university she starts this fall. It's a simple design and should be fairly quick to sew. I might even quilt it myself <gasp>. Straight lines and maybe FMQ around the sea critters.

Interesting, it was hard to find the entire fabric line carried by a single retailer, and I checked several. So I substituted the red print and found a grey I liked better from another line. It should look just as good or even better.  If you try this pattern, you will find the PDF pattern varies somewhat from the picture. I like the pictured version better, so have already adjusted my cutting.  The pieces are cut and waiting on me to just sew it.

Are you competitive?  I certainly am. After several weeks of falling to last place in my Fitbit friend list, I decided to finally do something about it.  But I really hate to exercise, in spite of the endorphins that kick in afterwards. I needed something to keep it interesting---and the key was an iPhone app called "The Walk".

OMG - this is a great app!  It cost me only $3 and hooked me from Day 1. Actually, from Episode 1. I totally recommend it.  And I was definitely not compensated for my opinion.  Now I am in first place in my Fitbit stats. I am determined to stay there.

Excerpt from their website www.thewalkgame.com.

A bomb explodes in Inverness station, and you're given a package that could save the world. To stay alive, you'll need to walk the length of the UK.

The Walk is more than just a (great) pedometer — it's a way to turn walking into a journey, a challenge, and a rip-roaring adventure.

Progress on Grand Illusion

I am actively working on two quilts at the same time - Blueberry Hill and Grand Illusion. That does not include several quilt projects set aside until I can focus on them.  Having two very different projects going allows me to switch back and forth when I get tired of one or the other.  Nope, focusing on only one project just isn't my cup of tea.

The center of Blueberry Hill is nearly finished. It's at a point where I need to lay out the final rows before sewing, so will need to wait until I can dedicate a few hours. Therefore, I switched to working on Grand Illusion. I had decided to change from dark green pieced sashing to light green, allowing the blocks to stand out better. Check out the difference:

  Ugh, a hot mess.

Switch to light green....

Much better!

I have to pause a moment and brag about my daughter. Her prom was last Friday and she looked so beautiful!

Appreciating Life

Unlike Twitter fanatics, I don’t fantasize about sharing my entire life with the public. I like to live my life quietly and privately….to an extent. In my free-form web searches for new quilting patterns, I found myself wishing more quilters would share their designs, finished projects and also share tips to help us improve our quilting skills.

Then I found myself enjoying the stories fellow quilters included in their blog posts. One quilter is also a nurse who shared her experiences with unnamed patients, how they inspired her to appreciate life. Another quilt shared her struggles with weight loss in an unusually uplifting way. Other quilters who support charitable activities such as Project Linus or Quilts of Valor and share pictures and stories of those who receive their donations. Such amazing people!  And many of them actually read my blog and post occasional comments which never fail to encourage me. Thank you, my friends.

So when I decided to share my quilting activities, I also wanted to give others a glimpse into my other interest – aviation. People tell me that my face glows and my eyes sparkle when I talk about being a pilot. Hopefully my enthusiasm for flying comes through when I share this part of my life. [OMG flying is so much fun!].

So what have I been up to since my last blog?

Sewing . Mocha Swirl is back from being longarmed, but not bound because I need to order a bit more fabric for the binding. I finished the last of the neutral string blocks for Blueberry Hill and now need to focus on the remaining broken dishes blocks before beginning on the string – yes, string – border.  I am struggling to resist starting a new project until I finish more quilts in progress. Maybe I can sneak in a wall hanging to satisfy that urge.

Gardening. It’s spring. I planted peas several weeks ago and they are already 5 inches tall. Last weekend I planted nearly all of my garden with green beans, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, beets, lettuce, spinach, onions, cucumbers and summer squash. The plants enjoyed three spring showers this week.

Flying. Ah yes. Freedom of the air. I got back into the air with some landing practice early April. Last weekend my hubby and I flew along with a friend to a nearby town which happens to have a great seed store near the airport. We celebrated our purchases with lunch then flew back home. That’s why I own an airplane. It’s satisfying to have the freedom to take a trip “on the fly” [pun intended]. We are planning a flying trip this summer and I hope to have plenty of stories and pictures to share.

Reading. I am not a paid reviewer, but I do subscribe to BookBub which notifies me of free or discounted books to read on my electronic devices. I have posted several reviews on Amazon, both favorable and well, warnings not to waste your time.  The funniest one I read this month was Death of a Dapper Snowman by Angela Pepper.

 

Cooking. My daughter’s boyfriend and I have perfected recipes for arroz con gandules and flan. Now for a related side note.  I have ordered many specialty spices and blends from Xxxx for many years. However, after their owner published several preachy essays fixated only on one very inaccurate viewpoint, I have decided to boycott the company. That’s my choice. I am not sharing their name because I do not want to encourage sales of their products or invite people to try to change my mind.

Motherhood. It’s my daughter’s senior year of high school, she just turned 18 and this is prom week. Emotional rollercoasters, drama and angst.  ‘Nough said.

Working. Too much work, not enough vacation. That needs to change soon.

Exercise. Not enough.  That needs to change soon, too.  [Andee, keep pushing me with your Fitbit stats!]

Family and Friends.  I try to keep up with family news with regular calls, texts and emails. I trade emails with friends. But I crave more face-to-face social interaction.  One of my goals is to cultivate more friendships and plan more outings to improve our social life. Now I have a party invitation and an open coffee invitation from a new female friend. I also met a local female pilot I would like to get to know better. And I hope YOU, dear reader, will post a greeting on my blog. I promise to post more often on other’s blogs, too.

All in all, I am fortunate in my life and health. We live in an amazing age and are fortunate to enjoy so much freedom. Let’s count our blessings and face our challenges with hope.

Sandy

Becoming an adult

Yesterday was my dear daughter's 18th birthday. Supposedly she is an adult now, but I will always think of her as my baby girl. She has such a bright future. I am so proud of her!  My most recent advice to her was "Just because you Can doesn't mean you Should."  Please share your words of wisdom or advice in a comment.

Earlier this week, just before March ended, I finished my two yellow blocks for my 2015 Rainbow Scrap Quilt designed by superscrappy.blogspot.com. I can't wait to start on purple blocks for April.

Last weekend I dropped off three quilts with North Star Longarm Service, one of which was the humoguously, gigantico king-sized Celtic Solstice. I am so excited that one is nearly finished!  My longarmer Cindy was in awe of the number of pieces in it. Bonnie Hunter's quilts are so detailed. There are a few die-hard quilters who finish her mystery quilts right away. Thank goodness there are an even greater number who, like me, need a BIT more time to finish up. Like, a whole year.

Again, my theme for this year is Perseverance.  I am really trying to finish up some of my UFOs. This week I am working on Blueberry Hill (Jamestown Landing design by Bonnie Hunter). OMG - this one is like a marathon!  I have decided not to do a string border and simply find a nice blue stripe for the outer border. IMHO, a string border is just asking for an unraveled nightmare with so many seams on the outside edge. Yes, I could stay-stitch the edge but there is still a risk. Besides, I am saving my blues for Bonnie's Smith Mountain design. Or maybe I'm just tired of sewing strings. Anyway, check out the progress....

 I am proud to report that I need only 18 more string blocks and 17 more broken dishes blocks to finish up.