Pictures from Home

Wendy and Paula went cross country skiing today, along with Paula's neighbor (whose name I cannot remember) and sent some photos.  It was a nice day there, looks like they had a great time.

Thanks for sharing ladies!

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Ella Makes Her First Quilt

After spending a wonderful Thanksgiving day in Gorham, I returned today to do some sewing with Ella.  Aunt Paula worked with her this morning, teaching her how to use the sewing machine and I took over when I arrived around 11:00.  

First off, Ella selected her fabrics from my stash of "leftovers" from my previous projects.  She selected quite a nice assortment, then proceeded to iron each piece.  It was much easier once we lowered the board.

She laid the pieces out on the floor in the order she wanted and then proceeded stitching them together.

This is the first two pieces going together with great concentration.  The white with pink swirls was used in the border of her pink polka dot quilt.

She's sewing it to a fabric that was used in one of the monkey quilts; I can't remember if it was hers or her dad's.  There are several strips of Olaf fabrics, used in her Olaf quilt.

We took turns, sewing and ironing throughout the afternoon.  She was very attentive when sewing the final strips together.

Ta Da!

The size was determined by the smallest strip, which was one of the Olaf fabrics and it's not quite large enough to use as a quilt, so Aunt Paula spent tomorrow helping her add a couple of 4" borders and completing the binding.

It was a group project, made with lots of love.  

Well done, Ella! and thanks to Aunt Paula for all her help!  Hopefully, it will be the first of many sewing/quilting projects for Ella ;o)

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;o)

Fancy Meeting You Here

Another beautiful day and a nice bike ride to Bug Light Park in So. Portland.  I'm sitting on "our" bench, waiting for a sailboat to clear the lighthouse so I can take a picture.  In my peripheral vision, I see people coming toward us from the other direction and I'm hoping they pass us before I lose my great picture.

Next thing I know, the bikers are stopping right next to us and I'm thinking..."Geez, it's a big park, can't you find anywhere else to park?"  I look up and am totally surprised to see Paula and her friend, Ann.  I look at Bill and ask "Did you call Paula and tell her we were riding to the park?".  "No", he replies.  I look back at Paula trying to figure out what is going on.  

Come to find out, she and Ann were together to do some sewing and it was such a nice day they decided to go for a quick ride outside, before settling themselves inside to sew.

What a nice surprise; great to see you both!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

A Very Special Day, Indeed!

Today, three generations of Wehmeyer women attended the Portland Symphony Orchestra's Magic of Christmas concert at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland.   Myself, my daughter Wendy, my sister-in-law Paula Wehmeyer and my mother-in-law, Beatrice Wehmeyer attended the preview show at 2:00.

not a great photo but the best we could do to adjust it

This tradition started many years ago when Bea and her husband, Bob took their two son's families to the concert.  This included six adults and four small children, ranging in ages from somewhere around 2 to 7ish.  The adults enjoyed the concert but spent quite a lot of time trying to entertain their small kids, who were completely bored and wanting to know "is it over yet?", "can we leave now?", "why do we have to come here anyway?".  It was a loooooong 2-2 1/2 hours, every year.

Finally, after several years, with older children that could almost enjoy themselves, the cost of taking so many people to the concert was too expensive and the tradition ended.  

Although we have attended occasionally over the past several years, Wendy has re instituted the tradition and has been the one to order tickets every year.  This year we were joined by Paula and Bea, who will be celebrating her 93rd birthday in January.  Thinking back, when we first started enjoying these concerts, Bea was about my age and I was about Wendy's age.  Weird!

I guess technically, since Paula and I are Wehmeyers by marriage, not birth, it was only two generations but I'm not really sure how that works.

We never really know how long we will be on this earth but 92 years is a nice, long time and I'm so glad the four of us were able to enjoy this very special day together.  

 

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

The Icehouse Pub...Revisited

When Wendy came to visit, we went to dinner at the Icehouse Pub in Punta Gorda.  You can read about that evening here.  Tonight, we went with David and Paula, who arrived yesterday for a few days visit.

David and Paula at The IceHouse Pub

David and Paula, Bill and Kathy

We started with drinks and TWO orders of the fried artichoke hearts.  YUM!  Dinner was excellent, as it has proven to be each time we have eaten there.

There are several maybe a dozen dart boards in the rear of the restaurant and although we have seen people playing, we never tried to play ourselves, until tonight.  We learned that they have leagues on Mon - Wed nights but any other time, if there is an open board, anyone is welcome to play.  They even provide the darts.

Sooooo, we played.  I'm happy to report, everyone was on the winning team at least once.

David and Bill, winners

Kathy and David, winners

Paula and Bill, winners

There was, however, someone that won more often than the others.

The biggest winner

A good time was had by all.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)