Our southern California skies are frequently clear without clouds…. and cloudy skies provide the most specatcular sunsets! Here are some photos from my home of a lovely evening when we had some scattered clouds – enjoy!

Visiting Carmel-by-the-Sea for breakfast, photographing a bit of the town for you to see.

The Valentine

The Valentine, detail

Location description: Sixth and Lincoln, Carmel-by-the-sea, California

Statue’s Subject: The Valentine

Artist: George W. Lundeen

Ocean Avenue, Carmel

Thomas Kincade Gallery sign

 

Pumkins in alley walkway, next to Kinkade Gallery

The alley beckons you to explore....

I love to visit quilt shops on the road. While it isn’t possible to review each and every shop, here is a glimpse into a favorite shop in the Monterey area – Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove. (photos courtesy of Jeanne Mills) Feast your eyes!

Tessuti Zoo sign

 

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What a great weekend in Seattle! I taught 3 classes for APNQ 2008 QuiltFest in Seattle at the Washington State Convention Center. This was the first time the APNQ show offered workshops, and it was lovely to see the other instructors – I crossed paths with Anita Shackelford, Diane Gaudynski, Yvonne Porcella, and Jean Wells. I missed meeting other instructors Daphne Greig, Shar Jorgenson, and Rosalie Dace (from South Africa).

The convention center was a lovely facility! My dear friend Kathy Butler joined me, and we had a nice visit during the QuiltFest. I missed another friend, Charlotte Rogers but did visit with Jane Moxey, the producer of my new DVD. Here are some photos of the weekend in Seattle!

A highlight of the trip was visiting Pike Place Market! (Click on any photo to see it larger. Click the new photo once again to see it full size).  Kathy and I treated ourselves to a gigantic specialty dipped apple from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory – a Granny Smith with caramel, white chocolate, dark chocolate, peanutbutter & crushed nuts. We would cut off small slices and savor the wedges for dessert!

Classmate photos (please send me other photos that you’d like to post). This posting is ONLY for reunion classmate reference – and I’ll gladly remove any photo upon request.

            

This weekend my husband and I flew to Omaha, Nebraska for both a family reunion with his side of the family, and my 35th high school reunion.

Have you ever attended YOUR high school reunion? This is my 2nd time – previously, location, distance, and teaching committments have conflicted with the reunion schedule.

People attend their reunions for different reasons – most hope to meet their friends from long ago and remember the good times together. Others come to impress their old classmates, to prove their current status and worth – thus settling old “scores”.

The safety of bygone years allows classmates to confess old infatuations – and the recipient hearing the confession is both pleased and surprised at their long-ago ignorance of the potential romance!

Our reunion focused upon 4 events – two evening gatherings, a golf outing, and a tour of our old alma-mater – Westside High School.

                

The school has really changed! The original structure is still present, but the front entrance has been relocated to the east side of the building. The school is very high-tech inside! Each student is issued an Apple laptop for their use during the years at Westside. The school boasts its own television broadcasting studio which students operate!

The renovated athletic fields and Athletic Pavilion are beautiful – the pool, drained for summer maintenence, brought back fond memories.

Most of the remaining areas had been remodeled or upgraded to the point that we just wandered and marveled at the changes!

These photos are for my family to enjoy – as we took so many great photos. One of our favorite evenings was the formal night, where we all dressed up and had a lovely dinner together in the dining room. I must say that the dinners were my FAVORITE time of the cruise!

Click on any photo to see a larger view.

 

 Courtney, Jan, Kim, Dana & Shruti

 

family friend Walter Elliott & Joie

 

Joie, Jan & Don at dinner

 

Don & Jan

Courtney, Jim & Dana

   

Paul & Shruti at dinner

 

Joel & Kim at dinner 

 

Shruti at dinner

 

Kim at dinner 

 

Kiran, Aaron, Jason

 

This is the formal photo taken by the ship’s photographer.    Left to right – (front row): Kim, Courtney, Joie, Dana, Jan, Shruti  (middle row): Joel, Walt, Jim, Don, Paul, (back row): Aaron, Jason, Kiran

 

 

The first port of call was Key West, Florida. Some of our family members went on “snuba” adventures, snorkeling in the turquoise waters.

   

   

Key West feral chickens and chicken souvenirs

Don and I decided to take it easy and wander around Key West – it was a short port of call, and we’d set sail by 1pm. We walked along tree-lined streets, enjoying the flowering trees and historic homes. The air was steamy and humid. We were thankful it was early in the day!

 

Key West is famed for many things – electric carts and feral chickens, which live wild and free where ever they please. Gift shops sell Chicken souvenirs, too!

Our goal in Key West – to eat a slice of Key Lime Pie. We walked in search of the Blond Giraffe Key Lime Factory. The pie-making operation was not working that morning, so I found an Internet image to see what it WOULD have looked like!

 

 

Once our pie was eaten, we walked back and boarded the ship. It was heavenly to be back in the cool air aboard ship! It must take more than one morning to adjust to the steamy climate!