She Said Yes!

It's official!

DS #4 and his beautiful lady are engaged to be married-next year. We are very happy to welcome this lovely young woman to our family.

A Boy Learns To Sew…….and Makes A Quilt.

We had a little time after returning from the beach and I took advantage of the breathing space to begin instruction in sewing to great niece's brother. I think it is a good thing for males to know how to operate a sewing machine so I was happy to find that he wanted to learn to do the same thing as his sister.
 We chose some masculine looking fabrics, a camo print and another of a woodland scene with deer. There are frequently deer in their back yard, surrounded by thick woods on this large lot so this is an appropriate design for him to cuddle under for TV viewing in the cold New England winter.

He sewed for a couple of hours, really enjoyed the experience and with close supervision came up with a quilt top, I think he is outpacing his sister! Maybe hanging out with Daddy so much and being around all the electric tools of his Dad's trade makes him bolder and more confident with operating the sewing machine

 I try to teach all the little things that make it possible to produce a good result, safety and sound principles and although he won't remember it all, next time we sew it will come back I think. We have to buy some backing now so he can learn how to actually quilt the top, but we will have to wait to go further with this project till our next visit.
Both children were excellent students, listening carefully to instructions and doing their very best to follow them.

Meantime, his sister has her top quilted and I will take it home and do the binding and a label and mail it back so she can give it to her Grandma who was really excited to see what her DGD had made for her. It is a perfect size to cover GM in the chair in which she spends most of her days in her struggle with the awful disease of ALS.

Week At The beach

Today we left the beach cottage after a week of surf and sand! Only one day of rain the rest were perfect.

Most of these pics were taken either from the porch or on the porch. The boat nearest the shore has our family on board, nephew towing the riders in turn on the inner tube.

Monday evening we had a seafood feast.

Two of the biggest lobsters, the one on the left about seven pounds, nephew said was likely about 60 years old, it takes a long time for them to grow. Both of these came from a professional fisherman in Nova Scotia.

 Oops, guess the big ones will not fit in this pot!

Ready to eat!

Whew, that's a big claw, would not want to get any body part caught in it!

 Some of the steamed clams, I think we had five pounds.

My lobster is the one behind the pink cup!

 Sadly, the beach vacation is over!

Quilting Lessons At The Beach

This summer great niece is learning to sew, she is making a little lap quilt that she says is for her Grandma who has ALS. I am hoping we will get it done this week at the beach, rain is predicted tomorrow so she will need an indoor activity. Her GM will be here for the day Thursday so it would be lovely if we had it finished by then.

This morning we got the top pieced

the young lady says she loves sewing

and I am hoping we are seeing another generation hooked on quilting, I am paying it forward.

 Then we added the borders. 

We have to piece the backing, I miscalculated when we bought the backing fabric. Tomorrow we can sandwich the quilt and SID it, we have the batting already. I am not certain that there is enough for binding now, tomorrow we may have to pick up some more or something different. 

The beautiful beach is right at the front door, it's a very well kept secret, as you can see hardly anyone on it, even on the weekends it is never crowded. What a treat to sew by the sea!

Time for an adult beverage on the porch!

The Air Show- A Non Quilty Post!

On vacation, quilting related days are few and this is another post void of anything in the sewing arena. However tomorrowI hope to sew with my great niece, I am teaching her to make a little quilt.
Saturday we attended the AOPA air show in Plymouth, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association sponsors these events around the country and they are well organized and very well attended.
Entry is free, and there are maybe hundreds of small aircraft on display along with a few helicopters.

There were tents with different aviation related vendors, and classes for pilots wanting to update their education and knowledge. Even for those who know nothing about aviation I think this would have been interesting, my knowledge is not broad, just what I have gleaned from being married to a helicopter/fixed wing pilot these many years!.

It was quite warm and we were there over lunch time, thankful for the fine selection of gourmet food trucks with every kind of food for every taste.

We chose to eat here, from the "Radish" truck, and it was a great choice.

These two energetic young guys, Timothy and Sean were working hard and fast to serve the long line and I loved their attitude as well as the food. It was hot and humid and they were not allowing the weather to affect their cheerful service. You can read more about this business here.

We wandered around a couple of hours and checked out the many different styles and sizes of aircraft on display from this large boat plane

and high wing commuter

to this cute little high wing model, the plane not the guy! 

 And everything in between!

 I took pictures of what looked most interesting to me, some were for sale and I liked the modern canopy design

 color and wing shape that appealed

or just because they were cool!

 This one seemed very futuristic looking to me with the canopy design...

 They were really wedged in there, plane on top of plane on top of plane,

 it must have been a challenge to fit them in without damage.

 Now this one would be easy to find, canary yellow, another high wing quite a few here today!

 A corporate plane I guess.

This is kind of a cute little model, again the aircraft not the guy!

 I think this was one of only two jets, all the rest had props.

These two were the last I photographed, nice paint jobs.

DH of course is the pilot who took us here and we got free food on account of his AOPA membership.

It was an interesting way to spend a few hours, the kids quite enjoyed it and I think The Boy would have, some of the owners allowed the kids to sit in the planes.
One would have to be "plane" crazy, pun intended, to do this very often but once every few years is fine!

Boston City

The other evening we met the guys in the city after the Socks game-they won, BTW! Niece and I had some time to wait because the game went into overtime, so we wandered around the North End while I took pics of some of the historic buildings.

This is an area with a high population of Italians I think, as I encountered a few shrines dedicated to Our Lady and to various saints and many Italian restaurants!

 I couldn't get inside this shrine to take a better pic as the old steps were being repaired

 The workmen were preparing for a festival

There are apartments and homes, stores, offices, churches and restaurants all mixed in this eclectic neighborhood.

An Italian restaurant but not the one we chose for dinner.

 these are the same guys who yelled at me to get off the unsafe steps, LOL!

 St. Stephen's Church is an active inner city parish,

 very beautiful old interior,

 well preserved and maintained.

  The Missionary Society of St James was founded here. 

Famous statue of Paul Revere

  and a beautiful fountain and tranquil park setting in the middle of the city.

This beautiful building is  The North Bennet Street School for craftsmanship skills such as bookbinding, piano technology, carpentry preservation etc.

 This beautiful home the Clough House,

was built in 1712

 and survived when all around it did not, including Ben Franklin's original home that was right next door.

The original old bricks have a lovely patina, I like to walk around cities it is the best way to find hidden treasures and sometimes to chat with the locals who know things you won't find out otherwise.

The Old North Church, Christ Church Boston.

 The Signal lamps displayed in the steeple are the very same lamps that were used to warn the city of the approach of British troops in 1775.

It is awe-inspiring to stand in the very place where history was made, where our priceless Freedom was won by such great sacrifice of Blood and Treasure.

 The tradition continues, our heroic and dedicated Military Forces, still lay down all they have, their very lives in defense of our Freedom.

I honor them and all who have gone before them in this same tradition.

There is much more of historical value in this city, I have shown you a tiny bit.