The garden, the quilt, the heat, the podcasts, the movies, and aging

We are in the throes of our hottest months of the year - August and September. We have danger warnings this week, with temperatures reported, by Yahoo, of 94 degrees. That means it's knocking 100 and maybe plus here, at least in the sun. Our actual temps are always higher than the reported-by-Yahoo temperatures. It's worse in other parts of the nation; but we expect this each year and it's simply a matter of preparedness and an expected lifestyle change for this season. It gets up to 90 degrees in my little non-air-conditioned porch room where I sew, so sewing is generally a morning-only activity. Where heat isn't expected and prepared for, people suffer and become ill - and sometimes don't make it!

The plants are so thirsty after sitting in the searing sun. On days when the sprinklers aren't scheduled to run, I give them a good drink with the hose. I water a few of the plants daily, even though they receive the sprinkler water, either because they are new (two hibiscus plants) or are in containers (my basil, for one, and a few others).


This year, we have a couple Amerias - one pink and one lilac - for our summer garden. I don't recall if we've had these before, but even if we have, I don't think I have ever examined them for their unusual blooming patterns. I was deadheading them a few weeks ago when I discovered that I needed to look carefully to see which stems had bloomed and which hadn't. These pictures aren't very good, but here's a pot of Ameria's. Notice the fuzzy one in the red circle (I used auto focus with my camera and realize I shouldn't have done that). That's a flower that's in the process of blooming. It looks pretty much like a flower that has already spent its bloom.

These flowers start out like many others - a nice little ball with the flower inside, rising on its stalk. When the ball opens, you see the inside ball with many sections. Each of those sections contains a tiny bloom! I'm probably doing a very bad job of describing it, but the whole thing just makes me smile. What a wonderful invention! I am humbled to see such a thing! Wikipedia has a tiny article about them at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armeria.


To illustrate the size of the pod of flowers (yes, one single pod), I'm holding one here.



I am finally on the last border strip of the big quilt. I have two sides done and two more go to - 107+ inches per side with a small meander. Although I haven't counted, I know that I've used more than a dozen spools of thread since I started the quilt. Lots and lots of stitches; lots and lots of thread; lots and lots of hours. Here's the kicker on this next to last step, working this border - I can't see where I've sewn on the multi-color brown/black/gold border! I have to keep lifting my pressure foot and shining a light on the fabric to see where I've been and where I need to go. Ah, I don't think there's any way around it. Even if I had used beige thread, as I did on the main body of the quilt, I wouldn't be able to see it. Even something like bright red wouldn't have made a difference. Moral to the story - just remember that unusual fabric for quilts may present some challenges. Notice that the moral isn't to use unusual fabric, I must just remember there may be a cost!


Here's a corner of the border, just to keep the historical record in tact!

In the meantime, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Issues, Etc. LCMS podcasts and have learned a lot about Lutheran theology as it's practiced by those closer to St. Louis than we are. The podcasts aren't controversial at all, but they are thought provoking. I really enjoy them. And then there's The Story (http://www.thestory.org/) podcasts. What interesting stories Dick Gordon finds, what interesting people he interviews. I feel privileged to hear those stories of the lives of other people. I've also listened to some books on tape, and recently borrowed Karen Armstrong's The Great Transformation from the library to put on my iPod. She's such a thoughtful religious scholar. She probably is controversial to some, but I enjoy her approach and realize that she's documenting the answers to her search. I am not offended. Krista Tibbets' Speaking of Faith podcasts are also always enjoyable as she explores many ways people believe.

And the movies! I've begun renting them from the library now, and I watched Mrs. Brown (Judy Dench) twice yesterday. Such a story.

So, patience, Sue! The quilt will soon be done and you can clean the room; in the meantime, there's much to enjoy that otherwise would be missed. There's a whole community out there communicating interesting stories and thoughts.

And speaking of aging. It does funny things to you. Although we have planned (and paid for) the trip to Israel in December and we're really looking forward to it, I've had this knawing feeling of loss as I remember the fun Lauren and I have had taking little risks on our own. I am loathe to give those up. At age 70 - only a few years away, we will no longer be able to rent a car abroad, and that will mean we will be at the mercy of others to transport us around. Not that having others transport us is bad - we enjoyed our tours this year, and they're probably not much more expensive than doing them on our own, but there's something about being together and having to figure things out for ourselves that's priceless for us. So next year, we are going to spend our birthdays and anniversary in Great Britain, exploring England and Scotland. Our first week, starting about April 23, will be on a narrowboat which we will navigate through the Llangollen Canal; the second week will be in Scotland in a town called Aberfeldy, located east of Balmoral; and the third week will be in a town in the southwest of England, in Devon (Exter) near an estuary. God willing, that is! As long as He is, we are. We're not going to volunteer to stop until we have to!

August garden and the quilt

August surely is a bad month for our backyard garden. The searing sun and the hot breeze must make the plants feel like they're in a convection oven; and until I begin watering, the ants think they're in ant heaven.

The pictures (click to see the detail) show you the before - before Ortho ant killer, that is. The ants are carrying their little eggs, I presume, to higher ground after being threatened by the water I sprayed while preparing the poison for a rash of black spot I discovered on our roses yesterday. It feels criminal to kill these ants, especially after all the new (and wonderfully animated) movies about ants, grasshoppers, rats, and ... whatever else lives close to or beneath the ground! If only I could get a moving van and then haul them all out, I would!

Those poor roses. They love the heat and the water, but they are tired after a season of blooming their heads off. Sunbathe and drink, sunbathe and drink. These roses are like teenagers, and because they live to the extreme at this time of year, their resistance is down and they catch everything possible. I will help them fight the summer pestilence.

To combat the weariness of the August garden, we planted two new hibiscus plants ($11 each from Wal-Mart) in the garden. Hibiscus seems to be hardy, so we might get some color with less maintenance as time goes by. The color of this one is a beautiful soft orange, much like I think of a poppy.


The other new hibiscus is a yellow one, not quite the same color as our existing yellow hibiscus (in the picture).

Our trusty bougainvillea, frozen down to the old wood this past January, had enough life in it to hardily resurrect, and it's displaying its wonderful blooms! We've been diligently pruning its long spikes to thicken it up, and it's a delight. We (automatically, through the sprinkler system) water it at least three times a week, and the day after the watering, it seems that the branches have grown another six inches. I read somewhere, though, that it's the dryness that causes the beautiful blooms. Interesting.

In the meantime, while I watch the garden grow, I quilt. Of the 49 (7 x 7) squares to quilt, I have 10 to go, I think. Nine of the 12 x 12 blocks are plain, and I've created a unique design in each of them. You can tell that my inspiration is the garden. I have eight of the plain blocks done and one to go. Pictures of the eight are below. I don't know what the design will be on the ninth, but I'll find out shortly. Sometimes inspiration comes to me in advance, but most of the time I have to pick up a pencil and start scribbing and then look to see what comes out.












The other blocks are made up of these two patterns. The quilting on each of these patterns is the same. I created once and then repicated, via freestyle quilting, the patterns for these.

I've learned a lot working on this quilt. Lauren asks if I think it should be hung in Templar Hall in old town, and I laugh. He is puzzled that I can sew on the same thing for so long and that it will still be weeks (at least two) before this is done. It's perhaps a thing of beauty, but it's not show quality. It's very much home made, and I doubt that it will ever even reach the quality of a Grandma Moses. I think I have a stiple (or at least a small meander) down pat now, and I have gained some control over loops and squiggles and filling in a design. My hand isn't any steadier than it was, but it's learned to stay more or less on a path. That's progress. I am even thinking of another quilt (but not this big) as my next project.

I'm off to the library in a few minutes. I am hooked not only on podcasts (while I sit and sew and sew), but I am hooked on books on CD. I just finished listening to Alison Weir's Queen Isabella - 18 discs! I have read several of her books, and I always walk away feeling I've read a good story. This one, too, is a good story!

Israel, here we come

We signed up for a trip to Israel with a group from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Escondido. Pastor Matthew Richardt, pastor of Gloria Dei, will be hosting the tour. We met with the group a couple Sundays ago; and at last count, there are probably no more than 15 of us. That should make for a nice group.

Here's the itinerary:

Dec 3 - San Diego to Tel Aviv
Dec 4 - Check into hotel in Jerusalem after brief drive through the city
Dec 5 - Ein Kerem / Bethlehem
Dec 6 - Jordan River / Jericho / Dead Sea
Dec 7 - Bethany / Bethpage / Pater Noster / Dominus Flevit / Gethsemane / Cenacle
Dec 8 - Via Dolorosa / Holy Sepulchre
Dec 9 - Garden Tomb / Tiberias Nain
Dec 10 - Magdala / Mount of Beatitudes / Boat Ride / Capernaum / Tabgha
Dec 11 - Cana / Mount Tabor / Nazareth / Netanya
Dec 12 - Back to San Diego

Aby, Harvey's puppy

My friend Harvey sent me this picture recently. If I were ever to want a new puppy, this one would be it! This is what he writes about Aby:

Abby is now 6 months old. She is my 34 1/2 pound lap dog. I think she is about 3/4 of her final weight and that she may grow another inch or so in height (now a smidgen over 18 inches at the shoulder).

I set the picture up as wallpaper on this computer, and everytime I display my desktop, I gasp with delight at the thought of that big rag-doll dog. I need to go over to see her and see if she feels as cuddly as she looks. Wow!

Good meals, beautiful roses, and on with the quilt

Lauren fixes us the most beautiful lunches. Every day, I am startled at how beautiful the plate looks. I think he missed his calling, long ago, and I am very fortunate to be the one beneficiary of his wonderful sense of style. Not only are our lunches beautiful, but they are very healthy. I'm a lucky woman, indeed!

We've been spending every Monday working in the back yard, recently. Having the back yard look better is pleasing to us, but we're also getting some very necessary physical exercise while we work.

Our southwest corner is looking pretty good. I've taken the task to pull out all the dead reeds from that bamboo-like plant in the corner. It's been years since we did anything with it. Initially, I thought I'd like to just chop it out, but once I started pulling the dead reeds, it began to look much better to me. I need to look up its name so I can figure out just what the bush is. It propagates by spreading its root system, and it will soon take over a place if it's not properly cared for. Sitting behind the pond (not in use) as it does, I think the mat that it creates on the ground is a great place for pests, including rodents. Ugh!!!



We're so pleased with the tomato plants. I am so glad that I talked Lauren into giving tomatoes a try after we got home from Alaska in June. We have several little green tomatoes growing now. How exciting!


The roses are having a heyday in this hot weather, as long as we keep them well watered. This bush, which sits alone by the back fence, sprouted a whole bouquet from one stem. Delightful.

We've had a cooler-than-normal July, but here it is August 13, and the heat is upon us. Today, we have hot winds whipping the outdoor blinds against the window as I sit here and sew.



The quilt comes along. This week, I'm working on freestyle designs for the six big plain (12") squares in the quilt, and I'm pleased so far. Last week, I spent probably six hours a day outline stitching the many block segments in the quilt, freestyle, and because I'm working with a huge bulk (and there's really no way to organize that bulk, no matter what instructions you follow - especially when you're working a 12-inch spread at a time)my outlines aren't straight. Oh well. So it's homemade! But overall, I really like the way it's shaping up. I will spend at least this week working on the six plain squares and then some freestyle design on each of the other patterns (either a set of three rectangles or an X with side triangles makes up each of the pieced 12-inch squares). I hope a week's about all it will take, but I expect it will be two.

To handle this large bulk (about 120" square, which will be bound to about 110" square), I placed a card table in the L of my sewing desk (really an office desk), and then extended the sides of the card table with two TV trays - one for my thread holder and another for my DVD player. I've just about run out of movies to watch, but I'm not caught up with my podcasts yet, so I think I can stick to it without too much trouble. My next quilting project will be a potholder!! But this is worth the trouble. Not only will it be one of a kind, it will actually be a bedspread to cover those side-by-side twins - impossible to purchase easily, and too expensive even if I could manage to find one.

I've always liked to sew. I can remember when I was in elementary school, I would talk Mom and Dad out of making me stay for church, and I would come home alone and sneak and use Mom's sewing machine. I just knew I could do it! And I did. An expert sewer, I'm not; but I've always known how, and I've gotten a lot of mileage from that craft over these many years.

The Atlas Reunion! What a success!!!

Lauren's days and evenings, except when we've been traveling (and sometimes even then), have been filled for months with planning for the 50th anniversary of the first Atlas launch. It was an amazing thing for me, a sideliner, to watch. You can see his photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ldroesner/.

The reunion lasted two days, and attendance was high at all the events. What was amazing to me was that this was a reunion of mostly men, along with their spouses, and these men needed no books or seminars on male bonding. The space program, and the Atlas program in particular, provided all the male bonding experiences these men need for life.

The reunion committee was made up of men from all disciplines in the Atlas program, from the graphic artist (who has received several awards for his high-profile work) to engineers, from management to rank and file. We celebrated their success with a lovely supper at the home of one of the key players (but then all of the committee members were key players) last Friday evening, a lovely home with a back yard one can only envy.

The lone woman in the picture works for the County of San Diego. She and her office (I believe she works in Ron Roberts' office) did much to promote the Reunion at Atlas Day in the county. She was even able to squeeze in a segment or two or three on TV to add to the celebration.

I had a wonderful time viewing the landscaping with the hostess of the evening on Friday, Anne. The frost was damaging this last winter for all of us, and her garden suffered much, but even what remains (and is coming back) impressed me so much! In my mind, this is a model of something I would like to do with our yard. We don't have as much space, but there are some ideas here that I would like to apply to our own yard - the curving walkways, the use of California friendly plants, and the lack of grass in these views. It will take some time and a lot more thought (in the back of my mind) before I'm sure I have a complete idea, but these images are definitely keepers. Anne is a very complete gardener, in my book!

Aug 1 visit from Matt and Robert

We'd been looking forward to a visit from Matt and Robert for a number of weeks, and the day finally came. Matt (Mathieu) was our foreign exchange student 20 years ago, and he became part of our family. As a result, we've visited him and his family in the Netherlands a number of times since then, and Matt and his family have also visited us in the states. It's been about 8 years since we saw him (we were in Europe in 1999), and my first reaction to him, voiced with glee, was, "You've grown old, Matt!" We had a great chuckle from that. At 38, Matt qualifies to wear the title "prematurely gray."

As full of life as always, Matt has achieved a wonderful career. After his year here in the states, where he graduated from Poway High (graduation isn't required for foreign exchange students), Matt went to college in the Netherlands and became a teacher. He taught near his home for a while, and then he accepted an assignment to teach in Oman where he lived until last year. Robert was also in Oman. During their stay in Oman, Matt was part of a group who worked on a new curriculum for foreign students and became part of the team of trainers who travel to various parts of the world to train other teachers to use the curriculum. He travels about 30% of the year. When he and Robert return home from this trip to the U.S., Matt will travel to Malaysia to do some training.

What a treat it was to see Matt and to meet Robert. Such young men, with such dedication and energy, make this modern world seem so exciting!

Catching up - Part 3 - Volunteering for VBS, and other things

It's been years and years since I volunteered for VBS (Vacation Bible School), but now that I'm really retired again, and it's for good this time, I thought it was time. I used to do classroom or music volunteering, but I know I'm way past being able to do that now. But what harm could I do in the kitchen? I didn't figure much, especially if Lauren volunteered with me. So that's just what we did. Both of us. In the kitchen!

We had the best time. Lauren is just about the best dicer and slicer I know. He does it all the time at home, much better than I ever could, and so that's what we did. Sliced, diced, carried trays to the table, and then cleaned it all up afterwards.

Mt. Olive has evening VBS, and the whole family is invited to come for supper before classes and crafts. In fact, parents are encouraged to come because there is no supervision (and we state that) during supper. We had a crowd of about 60, plus about 40 volunteers, and staff, so our kitchen group handled meals for about 100 people each night.

One of the young mothers was in charge of the meals, and she did an amazing job. I couldn't believe how organized she was, and the amount of work she put into all the advance preparation (all we did was slice and dice, serve and clean up) for the meals. Only a young mother could do that. That really gives this grandmother pause for thought - young mothers have so much to do, but their energy level (and mine, at that age, too) must be so much more than mine at this age. I was so impressed.

Two women handle the overall organization and planning for VBS, and they, too, are young mothers. I watched them in wonder and with thanksgiving that someone was there with that kind of energy and enthusiasm for what they were doing. Amazing!

The whole experience was so much fun that I can hardly wait until next year so we can volunteer again.

In the meantime, I'm looking for other volunteer opportunities. I see that the senior center is looking for someone to handle a few things that shouldn't take too much standing up or confusing activities, and the Pomerado Hospital Auxiliary includes some kind of office work in their list of requests for volunteers. Maybe I'll look into that. I would want something relatively quiet and that wouldn't require me to be on my feet too much. My feet betray me these days. It's good to have something outside my own interests that commands my attention. It gives me a window to the world that I don't have otherwise.

Am I ready for that? We'll see.

Catching up - Part 2 - Quilting

After recovering over night about my failure to make my paper-pieced quilt the right size for our pushed-together twin beds (http://rsroesner.blogspot.com/2007/07/amazing-i-finished-two-projects.html), I decided to start again. I thought about doing another paper-pieced one, but the thought of ripping off all that paper as I finished it just didn't appeal to me this time. I have a book by Evelyn Sloppy called Strips & Strings, so I decided to pick something from that and try my hand at something that didn't give me that safety net of having exact-sized papers to assure the sizes and shapes of my blocks. I chose her Elegance of Red pattern, although I think I'll call mine just Elegance - or maybe Elegance of Gold. The red just don't quite happen - nor did I intend it to.

Our bedroom walls are golden, and our complementary colors tend to be beige and maroon, with walnut-shades of wood. (These pictures are taken in the family room, which is a room devoid of much natural light, requiring the use of my flash. I think I'm going to have to start using a tripod for most pictures that aren't outdoors because my hand isn't as steady as it once was.) In these pictures, I laid the border on the edge of the folded top so that I could measure the amount I needed.

I'm going to patch together yardages of a couple of the golds, a green, and black to make the backing, I'll use black for the binding, and I'll use a thin cotton batting for the batting. I'm planning to quilt each of the large gold squares in some kind of large flower - probably with some colored threads, and then do each of the stripped sections in some free-style scroll or leaf pattern. I'll either use echo or meandering for fill. We'll see how that works out.

So far, I've spent the better part of two weeks making this top. There's a lot of cutting and sewing involved to make all those strips. Evelyn Sloppy's pattern calls for strips from 1 to 2-1/2 inches, but I think my widest strip is 2 inches. I liked the narrower strip better as I was sewing the strips together.

So far, I really like the looks of this quilt, and I think it will really brighten our room and make it more alive. Before I put the layers together for this quilt, I'll be absolutely sure it's the right size. If I need to make it larger, now is the time to increase the border - not after I have it all done. Making a quilt over a period of four years isn't the way to do it. My attention will be on this one until I have it done - hopefully by the end of the month. The next slow thing will be doing the machine quilting, but I'll just take it slow and steady and get it done.

Things I learned with this quilt (some things about quilting, and some not):

• I can sew strips together and expect to have a reasonable straight line of strips when I'm done. Wow! I didn't have any confidence that I could pull that off.


• When I sew the strips together and create a block, I can use a square template and cut all the blocks to the right size. This technique is in Evelyn Sloppy's book. These blocks happen to be 12-1/2 inches each, so I used one of my Michael's 40% off coupons and bought myself a 12-1/2 inch quilter's square. I had never used one before. Quilting is really a new endeavor for me.


• Audio books are excellent companions when you're doing something repetitious with your hands that doesn't require a lot of thinking. This isn't true when you're in the design phase, but for the rote work, audio is perfect! While sewing the strips together, I listened to Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, available on iTunes as a free subscription, and Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish which I got from the library. They were both really great. I also found some Lutheran Church Missouri Synod podcasts on iTunes and really enjoyed listening to Issues, Etc - Sunday.


• A portable, personal video player is also a good sewing companion. I set my player in front of me on my sewing desk, plugged in my earphones, so I could hear, and watched Hotel Rwanda. What a story, and what a well-made movie! Watching that story, of course, meant I had to go to the Internet to do a little research about it. Since it's a DVD that we own, I will watch it again, I'm sure. I have several DVDs that I haven't watched. Shrek 2 was one of those, but while I was cutting strips, I plugged my video player into the TV and watched that. I like Shrek. I'll have to get Shrek 3 now.


• I can sew for four to six hours at a time, then I have to break. The work isn't tedious to me. I found that I've finally slipped back into focus on my personal projects, the same kind of focus I had when I was working. What a relief. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do that or not.


• The jacuzzi pounding on my shoulders and back sure relieve that physical tension I build up while I'm in the zone, and it also cools me down so I can get in that hot car and go shopping for more plants, things for the box for Donna and her family, groceries, or whatever. Then I can sew again later - unless I decide I want to knit instead!

I'm sure I learned tons more - life is full of lessons, and it's good to be alive to learn them.

Retirement is good!

Catching up - Part 1 - Gardening

Our wonderful surprise lily (sometimes called belladonna lilly or naked lady, a member of the amaryllis family - either a native of South Africa or Japan, depending on which variety we have or depending on the web site I research) popped up out of the ground recently. We had three in the back yard and one in the front this year. Sometimes we get a group of almost a dozen in the pond in the back yard (the pond is filled with dirt), and sometimes we get a group on the east side of the house. We're just not sure where all these bulbs are planted. I don't know if we accidentally move the (that would seem difficult by accident since I believe these bulbs are big) or if they just don't bloom every year. But it's such a joyful surprise when we see one that I'm in a good mood the whole time they're in bloom.


Our backyard garden is a hit and miss affair. This year, since I'm not working any longer, I hope to make some permanent changes to it, but we just can't quite get a vision of what it should be like.


I decided to replenish our potted plants for summer and started with the corner I see most of the time while I'm sewing (my main focus these days, and the subject of another blog - yet to come), and I'm pretty pleased with the efforts so far. Our roses are in a bloom stage right now, and they bring us a lot of pleasure. But the grass is a problem - a big problem. It's not good grass, for one, but we don't want to go to the trouble to replace it. And no matter what kind of grass, it takes water - and lots of it. We water several times a week, but I don't know that we could water enough to get something we really like from it.

When we came back from Alaska and knew we would be home for a while, Lauren planted a couple tomato plants for us, at my request. He just knew they wouldn't grow because it was too late in the season. Not so. We have such a long growing season here that the gardening resources I look at tell me that we can expect two harvests for tomatoes - one in the summer and one in the fall. We covered these with shade cloth because our sun is so hot and lasts so long during the day, and they are growing, growing, growing. They have quite a few flowers on them, so I'm expecting some really nice-looking, healthy tomatoes in a couple months. Yippee.

I also planted a few types of thyme and some basil in pots, and have partially cleaned out a couple other pots of herbs that I planted a couple years ago but got too busy with work to take care of. The older ones haven't died, so I think there's some hope. One year, I planted basil and oregano in our rose garden area, before it was full of rose bushes, and I loved the flowers and the fragrance. Hmmmmmm!

I've ordered a few nursery catalogs and have in mind that I will create a succulent garden and plant some more bulbs this fall, in a somewhat organized fashion. Hopefully, I can learn a few things. I ordered some gardening books from Amazon today. My Sunset Western United States book is from 1995, but things don't change much, and this time I ordered a succulent book plus a used American Horticultural Society book that I saw at Barnes and Noble.

Speaking of Barnes and Noble, I become increasingly disappointed in their offerings unless I'm looking for fiction or cookbooks. They had two bookcases of gardening books, but they were totally disorganized. These days, I find myself occasionally going over there to look at books, plus I go to the library periodically, but most of my buying happens on Amazon. The prices and selection are superior at Amazon, especially once I know for sure what it is I want.