A Boring Block

My 2nd block for Skill Builder turned out rather boring.  When a block is supposed to be wonky I prefer it to be pretty wonky.  Sadly, I didn't notice the angle wasn't sharp enough for my liking until the very end.  It pretty much looks like it should be straight, but it's not.  Bleh.  Oh well.  It happens.

#2- Magnum Block:

I like the first one better: (these ones are actually supposed to be straight)

Linking up to BOMs Away.

Saying Good Bye to Grandma

Last weekend was my Grandma Leona's funeral in Fresno, California.  I have to say that if you're going to go to a funeral this is the type of one you want to attend.  It was a tearful celebration of a beautiful life lived.  I was really moved by how many people my Grandma touched.  The funeral ended up being pretty long because people were able to come up and share memories about her.  All of her children, a lot of her grandchildren, and people she worked with continued coming up to speak.  I loved listening to everyone's stories about her. 

More than one person mentioned being her "favorite" grandchild.  What makes my Grandma so special is that she had 27 grandchildren and she made every single one of us feel like we were her favorite.  We found out that she had kept a file for every child and grandchild.  I was surprised to find all the letters I had written to her during my mission, and some of my first piano recital programs from the 80s.  She even had my research abstract from grad school in my file. 

Singing at a funeral is never an easy task, but singing at a funeral for someone you deeply care about is beyond difficult.  I managed to at least keep it together until the end of the song.  It wasn't until I sat down that I burst into tears, so that's about as good as it gets under the conditions. 

 It was wonderful to see everyone.  My entire immediate family was able to be there for the funeral, and it was a lot of fun to be together.  It sounds funny to say you enjoyed a funeral, but I loved seeing all of my cousins and aunts and uncles.  It's a little sad that it takes a funeral to get us all together, but we literally live all over the world.

The Hales Family

 The flowers were beautiful.  My Grandma's favorite color was purple and her favorite flower was tulips, so that's where a lot of the inspiration for the flowers came from.

After the services the entire extended family went out for Mexican food (a request made by my dad since you can't get real Mexican food in Upstate New York), and then we headed over to my Aunt Shirley & Uncle Ron's home for dessert.  Here's a picture of the six Hales siblings that are still alive (Clyde died at 9 months of Leukemia):

Ron, Diane, Cindy, Mom, Karen, Doug

The Commencement of Skill Building

I gave in and decided to join Alyssa's Skill Builder BOM.  It's 2 blocks a month with the corresponding quilting as you go for each block.  I'm a little behind because of all the craziness around here.  It always seems to take me a couple of days to get back in the groove after leaving town.

I got the first block pieced together last night while Joel was working:  #1- Sound Waves

This quilt is for a guy, so I'm going to be using all blues and greens from my stash with a little pop of red.  I was thrilled when I went through my stuff and found that I have more than enough fabric without needing to buy anything.  This block was done completely from scraps, so that was an even added bonus.

Nostalgia

Do you have a particular memory that stands out when you think of your grandparent's old home?  Maybe there's something that reminds you of a childhood haunt?  When I think of my Grammy & Grandpa Stuetz's home I always think of the two dog pictures that are hanging up in their hallway across from the bathroom.  If you ask anyone in my extended family they will tell you that we all love those dog pictures.

While we were staying with my Grandpa he told me the story of how they got those pictures.  Some big wig executive from Chicago flew in with his wife and took my Grammy and Grandpa out to dinner in one of the nicest restaurants in Los Angeles back in the day.  At some point during the dinner my Grammy went to the bathroom and came back raving about some hilarious dog pictures in the bathroom.  Unbeknownst to my Grammy this executive went to the restaurant owner and bought them off of him on the spot for some ridiculous amount of money and gave them to my Grandmother.  They've been hanging in my grandparent's home ever since for almost 50 years.

One of the only things I remember about their old home in Whittier (Los Angeles) was the 2 dog pictures in the back bathroom.  When I was about 4 they moved to the Bay area and the dog pictures came with them and are still hanging in their hallway.  It was difficult trying to get a decent picture of them, but you get the idea.  They make me smile every time I think about them. 

While I'm at it I'm just adding a couple of pictures of my Grandpa's house.  I always loved the view of the golf course from the kitchen.  My dad found 14 golf balls in the yard while we were there.  The other thing that I always loved was the really distinct smell in the Spring from all the rose bushes and citrus trees.

Bay Cuisine

I've spent the last couple of days in the San Francisco Bay area where a lot of my dad's family lives, so I thought I would share with you some of our personal family favorites for Tuesday at the Table.

I should tell you right off that my Grandpa back in the day was a big executive for Vons (a grocery chain that has recently been bought out by Safeway), and so food is a big deal in my family.  The Stuetz family is very much a foodie family.  My Grandpa has extremely high standards when it comes to restaurants and such, so just know when I tell you that the place has my Grandpa's stamp of approval that it means something.  :)

There are two things that are kind of the must haves when taking things home for the family:  Boudin's Sourdough Bread and See's Chocolates.  It doesn't really matter where you are in the Bay these shops are not very far away.  Boudin's has even expanded to be a cafe and you can get really amazing soups in their sourdough bread bowls.  Yum!  See's Candy also makes all sorts of things, but I personally love their different flavors of truffles.

Most people think of things like Ghiradelli Chocolate when thinking of San Fransisco, but there are quite a few wonderful things on the Oakland side of the Bay that I want to share with you.

While we're talking about sweet things I might as well mention Fenton's Ice cream.  Fenton's Creamery has the most delicious handmade ice cream.  Their sundaes are fabulous.

My sister and I shared this Cookie Connections Sundae (a chocolate chip cookie on the bottom with half cookie dough ice cream and half oreo ice cream with all of the sundae toppings).  It was amazing!  Just a funny family side note:  When it was time for "the talk,"  my Uncle used to tell his kids he was taking them out for ice cream at Fenton's.  They thought their dad was being awesome and what they didn't realize was that they would be stuck in the car and restaurant with no escape as he had the birds and the bees chitty chat with them.   It took a while for my cousins to catch on to  what my uncle was doing.

Here are a couple of family favorites in terms of restaurants on the Oakland side of life:

Esin Restaurant & Bar in Danville is my Grandpa's all-time favorite restaurant, and after eating there with him I can totally tell you why.  Even the soup was to die for.  It was European-style.  I hadn't had anything like that since I lived in Spain.  The favorite thing on my plate though ended up being their mash potatoes that were actually made with sweet potatoes.  My sister and I both agreed we could have eaten an entire bowl of them by themselves.  My mom's butternut squash risotto was also the creamiest I've ever tasted.  Everyone in my family ordered a different dessert and we taste-tested all of them and all I can say is that everything was incredible.  Nothing was sub par.

My Grandpa's favorite Chinese restaurant is Chef Chao's in Moraga.   This place is definitely no Panda Express - it's the fine dining stuff.  Even their Won Ton soup is killer.   I haven't eaten that much in a really long time.  Everything was so good!  And to top it off- I'm not much of a fortune cookie fan, but this one I'm definitely putting on my fridge in hopes that it comes true. :)

Picture Problems

Sadly, I have somehow managed to lose the clips I typically use to hang my quilts on the fence for pictures.  So, my husband was forced to become Vanna Quilt for me (a role he does not enjoy very much).  Anyway, I finished the quilt top for my sister's baby.  I will try to get some more clips before I finish the quilt.  In the meantime, here is what you are left with in terms of a picture:  :)

No other progress was made this week.

Other projects
Sister's Modern BOM- up to date
Quiet Book - Ugh.  No progress.
Christmas quilt - on hold until it feels like it's close enough to Christmas to start working on it again.

Upcoming projects
Dancing Stars Quilt Along
Skill Builder Quilt Along - maybe


Stats for the Week:
New projects - 0
Completed projects - 0
WIP- 4

Linking up to WIP Wednesday.  

Delectable Reads

Every once in a while there comes along a book that just grabs you from the beginning and makes it impossible to put it down until the very last page.  A friend of mine recommended this book to me.   I put it on my to-read list and didn't think much about it for several months until I was looking for something new to read.

Source

If you love Jane Austen-style romance or are fascinated with the Regency period in England you will love this book.  I confess I read it 3 times in 2 days.  My husband thought I was a bit insane, but I kept thinking I would skim the "good parts" only to find myself re-reading the entire book again.  I absolutely loved the characters in this book.  Their flaws and insecurities make them very real and very likable. 

Here's a plot summary:
Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she’ll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, Marianne finds that even the best laid plans can go awry.
From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, Marianne finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing. Will Marianne be able to rein in her traitorous heart, or will a mysterious stranger sweep her off her feet? Fate had something other than a relaxing summer in mind when it sent Marianne to Edenbrooke.

Meanwhile, if you're like me a good snack makes reading all the more pleasurable.  I have recently been trying recipes that are spin-offs of well known classics.  I came across 2 variations on the Snickerdoodle that are really quite yummy:  Lemondoodles (made like snickerdoodles but uses lemon zest instead of cinnamon as flavoring)  and Snickerdoodle Blondies (the great taste of the cookie in brownie form).  They are both very good and very worth trying.  :)

Linkin' up to Tuesday at the Table for some more yummy inspiration.  

My Grandma

My wonderful, sweet Grandma passed away this week.  She was one of the kindest and most giving souls I have ever known.  She spent her life taking care of everyone around her.  (She also happened to make the most amazing cinnamon rolls on the planet).  I'm emotional, because I really loved her, but I can sincerely say I'm also happy for her, because she's in a much better place.  She had a stroke several years ago and never really recovered.  She's been in a lot of pain, and has recently also been dealing with dementia.   She lived a full life and it was time for her to go.  I will miss her, but after almost 30 years of separation she's finally been reunited with her husband.  I'm pretty sure he's very excited to see her. 

4 Generations at the Hales Reunion 2 years ago

I found this random picture of my youngest brother with Grandma when she came to visit for Christmas many years ago