Tranquility

One of two gazebos down the road

My time here in Onsala has been very, very, restful.  I am not the person who measures a trip by sights seen, preferring, instead, to just observe how people live their day to day lives as best as I can.  There's also a little thing called jet lag I don't seem to be adjusting from.  Not so easy as when I was a lot younger, that's for sure.

My visits with my friend have included running errands and a visit to the local mall (yes, they're here, too).  I found that day particularly interesting, as I was able to see a nice variety of people, mostly women, out shopping.  One observation I made is that the primary color palette in the women's clothing stores appears to be neutrals, lots of grey and black, with colors being the accents and not the main feature.  It is a look that I see on the women, and it is, to my mind, quietly elegant...accent scarves, attention to hair and makeup, and an amazing assortment of boots topping it all off.  I must admit to feeling the slob, wearing my mommy jeans and no make up.  Something to think about for when I go home.

Another treat has been grocery shopping.  The store is very small, compared to our enormous grocery stores, but well stocked.  Many items are packaged in much smaller quantities than I see at home.  This could be one of the reasons why I have seen only a handful of people I would even consider calling overweight...that, and the local passion for walking.  I see my neighbors burning up the lane walking each day, sometimes twice a day.  (Note to file.)

I leave you with this picture of my new favorite yogurt.  It is a whopping 10g of fat per 4 oz. serving, but I'm pretending I can't read that and am happily slathering it all over Wasa crackers (one of few concessions to Weight Watchers).  I love this little lady on the carton...she just cracks me up, everything I open the refrigerator.

Far, far, away

I am in Sweden.

It seems so strange to say that, for some reason.  Maybe because I don't recall ever blogging from out of country, or because I haven't been here before, or maybe, just maybe, it's because I've been pretty firmly planted in the southwest the last good number of years.

At last, the spell has been broken and I am truly here, after years of plans made and cancelled.

Fall is here.  It was hot and sticky when I left San Diego last Friday.  Rain and autumn leaves are a nice change.  I am staying near the sea, which has that pungent odor I recall from my years as a child, visiting the beach at Santa Barbara.  Maybe it's the sea weed on the shore, or maybe it's that the air here is so fresh and brisk, things are more magnified.  It's lovely.  I wish I could share it with you.

Long silence

Baby soybeans

My mom always told me that if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.  While I probably haven't done a great job of that in my lifetime, I try hard not to bore you with the everyday things in my world when things aren't going so well.  Hence, my silence.  Not that I don't think about you (with some guilt, and daily), but it's just been a bit trying around here.  Our Ani got really sick, was in the hospital, and is home now...but it gave us all quite a scare for this past week or so.

Handsome nephew, Tim

We had a great week in Illinois.  We visited our family, had lots of great conversation, laughs, and OMG, the food.  Those folks sure now how to lay down a feast (to which I submit very willingly).  I didn't realize it had been four and a half years since I'd been back, so that won't happen again.

While we were there, we got to visit our baby soybeans.  I've never been there in spring before and I swear, I could see how much the corn grew just in the few days we were at the farm.  I'm always blown away that generations of folks have survived by planting seeds and then hoping that the sky blesses them with enough water to raise healthy crops.  Strong people, they are; the core of this country.

Detail: subtle colors

Trip project

I always like to use a trip to start a new project, so at the last minute, I grabbed two balls of my own hand spun yarn, a lace weight of hand painted wool and silk blend.  It was just right for this trip, light to carry and mindless to knit on.  I finally finished it a couple of days ago and blocked it last night.  I had so much fun, I've started another, out of commercial yarn (Noro sock yarn).  I always have to have my hands busy or I go cuckoo...or maybe I'm just a cuckoo who likes to knit.

It's a small world, after all

Lousy photo courtesy of bad hotel lighting

Today I was able to go visit Wanda of Exuberant Color in her hometown of Sandwich, Illinois.  It was like meeting an old friend for lunch and a nice visit.  Then I was taken on a tour of her sewing rooms* (yes, she has two...one is her entire basement) and got to see some of her many, beautiful, quilts.  I was, quite frankly, too busy soaking up all the inspiration to think about photographs, but she said she has pics of her stash spots on her blog side bar, if you want to tease yourself.  I think it will take me years of fabric shopping to hold a candle to her stash.  (HUGE SIGH.)

As I was leaving, we exchanged gifts.  My gift was getting to grab scraps of all colors from her scrap boxes (again, heart palpitations).  She told me I was actually doing her a favor, so that made me feel a wee bit better.  (This, no doubt, in the spirit of one woman's scraps being another woman's treasure.) Then I gave her some fat quarters designed by my neighbor in Taos, Terrie Mangat...and it turns out Wanda has taken her classes and is a great admirer.  What are the chances of that happening?

As I was in Sandwich today (a really sweet little town with lots of great historic buildings), I had to stop to photograph this old building.  I just love the colors in the stones.  It makes me really happy when a building like this has been preserved for future generations.

*Roger is going to wish he hadn't encouraged me to visit her...trust me on this.

Headed to the heartland

It's time to put my traveling shoes on again.  Tomorrow we leave for Chicago for a couple of nights and then down to the farm to visit our family there.  I'm pretty excited about this trip; I haven't visited the homestead in a couple of years.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, sitting in the gazebo, chatting, knitting, and meeting all my sister in law's porch kitties.  It seems she has turned into a cat woman since I last visited...my kind of woman.

Friday is exciting, also...I'll be meeting Wanda of Exuberant Color, one of my favorite quilt blogs.  Being only an hour away from her home, I shamelessly invited myself to visit.  I have to meet this mystery person who makes some of my favorite quilts!  Her sense of color and design just knocks my socks off.  It will be a bit like going to Mecca.  Also, she has one of those wonderful free arm quilting machines I've told myself I don't need...you can see where this is going, no doubt.

Speaking of Wanda:  I've taken the liberty to copy her blog posting from today to share with you:

I don't know if you read Michele's blog http://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/2012/05/praying-for-miracle.html but she is always doing wonderful things for others and now she has a request, looking for a kidney for her sister-in-law.  There must be a match out there somewhere.  Please help spread the word and help heal Becky.

I am a firm believer in the power of people, the kindness of people, and the grace with which so many folks are happy to share in these situations.  Perhaps you will, by chance, know someone who might help.  It's worth a shot.

Talk to you from the road!

PS  Here's a photo of the last gasp on the rug.  I spent one more afternoon working on it and still didn't get a big buzz out of it, so I've ripped it out and have started some cat's paws until I either fall wildly in love with them or not.   

On our way

View from here: yes, it's true, it looks like the moon.

This is a long day.  It is a solid three hours from our house to the Albuquerque airport, not counting a stop in Santa Fe for coffee to keep ourselves revved up.  Now it's a three hour wait until our flight, thanks to Southwest Airlines cutting their scheduled nonstop flights to San Diego to only two a day...early morning or later in the evening.  It's all good, though, because I know some happy little faces await us at the other end of this day.  Mr. Sunflower is a tireless traveler; I fear I'm not so perky about it as I used to be.  However, I must always remember that I don't have to ride a covered wagon for months to get there, or worse yet, never see them at all.