Back to Reality

I figure I owe at least a brief synopsis of our trip after my last post.

At 7:00 am Wednesday we arrived at the airport in a snow storm. We had a charter flight which was wonderful for a couple reasons.  It was a direct flight (4 hours from winter to the tropics) and it wasn’t full.  I don’t think any center seats had a passenger.  This is an airline that doesn’t show up much at our local airport.

Because of the snow we did pause to be de-iced.  Better safe than sorry.

The flight was right on time and about four hours later this was the approach to the airport in Nassau.

And finally the airport itself.  I could take all the pictures I wanted coming into the airport, but when we left it was prohibited to take pictures in the airport even out the window of the plane we were departing in.

It was about a 45 minute drive to the hotel.  By the time our luggage showed up it was getting close to 5pm.  Much to our disappointment all pools at the Atlantis close at 5pm.  This was a huge drawback for us.  In warm environments I typically swim late in the evening and also early in the morning.  Pool time was limited to 9am to 5pm.  I understand that for the slides and water features, but not the pool!  I wouldn’t stay here again for just that reason alone, but there are others.

While we waited for our luggage to show up we wandered a bit.  We looked at part of the aquarium.  It is free both to hotel guests and to other visitors.

OK, I know some of you looked at that last picture and said, “Yum, dinner!”  We’re vegetarians so they didn’t really appeal to us.  The food options were very limited for us, and the price tag could put one into shock!  We survived, but I don’t think I gained any weight on this trip. 

Apparently, the idea at this resort is that people go to the casino at night.  Another thing that doesn’t appeal to me.  I’m just too tight with my money.  The beach also technically closes at 5pm, but they don’t stop people from walking on it.  So we spent some time strolling in the sand.

Thursday we had a sail and snorkel trip booked.  We were on one of these.  The sailing was good, but the water was a little choppy which resulted in a lot of bobbing around while snorkeling.

While the water was comfortable, what was visible was very disappointing.  We had snorkelled in Puerto Rico 5 years ago and it was beautiful!  Here the reef was brown and lacking color — dead perhaps?  This was the best we saw and most was much worse.

Friday we took the ferry over to Nassau and did a portion of a walking tour from a guide-book.  The architecture was interesting and that’s mainly what I photographed.  The streets were narrow with no shoulders and narrow or non existant sidewalks.  We did manage to find our way up to Fort Fincastle which was much smaller than I expected after touring a fort in Puerto Rico.  Here are just a few pictures from the walk.

I loved this sign on the Dept. of Health building.

The red door and shutters with the rough blocks on this building was very appealing to me.

This was the public library.  They were doing some work so you are just seeing the top to try to avoid the scaffolding.

This is one of the government buildings.  I like how they are not afraid of color on the island.

One shot of Fort Fincastle.  I believe I read that at one time it was the highest point on the island.

We did walk through the straw market.  We bought one bag.  Sad I know, but we just don’t need a lot of souvenir type stuff around the house, that’s what pictures are for.

We ran to get to the ferry on the half hour and made it.  This is when we really got a lesson in island time.  We got there with maybe two minutes to spare.  20 minutes later we were still sitting at the dock.  While they say they leave every half hour, they actually try to pack the ferry as full as possible before they pull out.

Back on Paradise island we finally made it to the pools and water features while they were open.  We went around the “lazy river” twice.  It is a mile long loop that you float on tubes around.  I could have stayed on it for hours, if it hadn’t been for the possibility of sunburn.  I did a couple of the slides on Saturday, but Guy quit the water because he forgot to use sunscreen before Nassau and was already burned.

Saturday we decided to go to an attraction the guide-book said was one of the best on the island.  The cloister and Versailles gardens.  We asked at the hospitality desk if the shuttle went there and were given an abrupt no.  We decided to walk.  Just a couple blocks away from the hotel, I slipped on a wet cross walk and went down.  It was both painful and embarrassing.  I bloodied up my knee and twisted my ankle.  However, we forged on.  Shortly thereafter, one of the shuttle buses stopped and the driver asked where we were headed.  We told him and he said it was no problem to take us there.  I told him the hospitality desk said they didn’t go there and his response was they did by special request.  Anyway, it was a short trip and I got another photo opportunity.

The cloister was built by Augustinian monks in France during the 12th and 13 century.  It was purchased originally by William Randolph Herst at which time is was hastily dismantled.  Unfortunately, in the haste nothing was numbered for reconstruction.  The reassembly baffled everyone for several years, but it was finally reassembled over a period of two years by an artist and sculptor named Jean Castre-Mann.

Looking out one side of the cloister –

Looking through the Versailles Gardens –

Saturday evening we hiked down the beach trying to get to a lighthouse.  Our plans were foiled by large rock outcroppings and private property signs.  I was hoping to get some sunset pictures from there, but the best I could get were pictures with my telephoto lense.

Then around sunset –

The colors were better the next morning as we prepared to check out –

Our flight home was also a charter and it was right on time.  Four hours from the tropics to another snow storm and a two-hour delay this morning for school because of ice.

OK my brief synopsis has gotten pretty long.  I know I’ve sounded somewhat negative in this post.  We did enjoy ourselves, but this vacation was similar to being on a cruise ship that never left port.  I know millions of people love that type of vacation, but our ideal vacation is a deserted beach during off-season.  So would I go to the Bahamas again?  Possibly if I did my reasearch and found an island that was further off the beaten path.  Would I go to Atlantis again?  If someone paid my way, yes.  If I had to pay for it, no way.

My Bag is Packed, I’m Ready to Go

The temperatures are falling rapidly and there is the possibility of snow tomorrow night, but it doesn’t affect me!

Guy and I leave tomorrow for 4 nights in the Bahamas.  We will be staying here :

Atlantis picture from their web site

This trip has been in the works since this time last year, but true preparations didn’t start for us until about 6 months ago.

 √ April  — Get passport  I have only left the U.S. to go to Canada and Mexico and at that time a passport wasn’t necessary.  So this is my first trip with a passport.

√ May or June the official invitation is received and ACCEPTED.  Nolan says this is the coolest invitation ever.

√ July — purchased a camera to use underwater.  The batteries for both cameras going on the trip are charging as I write.

√ Early this month — purchased snorkel equipment.  There is just something unappealing about putting a snorkel in your mouth when you aren’t sure where it has been before or how it was cleaned.

√ Yesterday — “Guest Parents” arrive (Nolan’s term because Sheila thinks babysitters is too juvenile for the boys)  I wish the boys could come along, but no minors allowed.  They will have a good time with Auntie Sheila and Uncle David.

√ Tonight — suitcase is packed except for last minute items.  I can have two suitcases, but one is enough for me.  Thanks Nolan for the loan and Jesse for loaning his suitcase to Guy.  They have far better luggage than we do so we will add some wear and tear to theirs at the airports.  I still have reading materials gather for the plane trip.

Tomorrow — 7:00 am at the airport for a chartered flight direct to Nassau.  The computer is not going, so I’ll check back in next week.

Yes, Lisa I remembered the sunscreen.

Amazing?

Yes, it must be amazing or shocking!  I’ve finished a second quilt that will fit my bed less than one month after the first.  I purchased the focus fabric for this quilt when I was in Oregon in 2005.  It was 40 or 50 percent off and I bought the rest of the bolt.  The remaining fabric was purchased when Ruth’s Stitchery was having a sale.  I finished the bolt for the background fabric and the backing fabric so it was 50% off.  The dark blue bands was regularly priced fabric, but purchased during Ruth’s sale that year so it was 22% off.  I think I did pretty well for a King sized quilt.    The pattern is BQ from Maple Island Quilts.    I actually sewed the top together in 2006 in one day.  I had to slow down slightly since my focus fabric was directional.  It has just been waiting for quilting.  I finally slipped it on the machine  this summer.  I quilted it with a the panto “Cascade.”  I used wool batting and to take advantage of the wool properties I wanted a fairly open design.  I also feel like the piecing is bold in this quilt and I didn’t want to distract with busy quilting.

OK, what you are really here for — the pictures.  Here is the full quilt

And a close up of four blocks.

Off to mark off another UFO on my sidebar!!!

Blogger’s Quilt Festival

I decided to participate in The Blogger’s Quilt Festival this time around.  I chose to enter this quilt for two reasons — 1. It is finished 2. I haven’t shown it here because  I finished it a couple months before I started blogging.  The quilt was started in January 2001 and finished in September 2007.

I call this quilt There’s No Place Like Home.  It is from The Stitch Connection pattern Home is Where the Heart Is.  I’ve done a lot of personalizing on this project.  Names of people and places, addresses, and adjustments that reflect my lifestyle.  I choose to make quilts for odd reasons at times.  I decided to make this one when I saw the bands that go above or below each month’s block.

The details are what appeal to me at shows so I’m posting a detail shot of each block.  If you go to quilt shows just for the big picture, you can stop reading now.  I had a lot of fun with the quilting.  The tan border has several sayings about home.   I’m hoping the pictures show up big enough for you to spot the details.

January

February

The names of everyone in our immediate family are quilted in the hearts on the February band.

March

April

The number on the mail box is our house number.

May

The name on the bee hive is my business name.

June

July

The July block has some tiny shells quilted onto the beach.

August

The sky in the August block has words for animal sounds quilted into the sky.

September

The school house sign has the initials for the boys’ school.

October

I choose not to celebrate Halloween so I replaced the witch and ghost in the original pattern with my own scarecrow and cornstalks.  There are tiny quilted leaves blowing across the sky.

November

The sign held by the turkey reflects a vegetarian lifestyle.

December

The holly in the December band is miniscule.

Snow!

This is the sight we awoke to this morning.

View from Front Door.

View from Back door.

You will notice the snow didn’t stick to the roads or sidewalks, but I can tell you the cement was very cold on bare feet.

This was not the first snow this year, that was actually on September 21.  However, this was the first snow that stuck.  Now before you start feeling sorry for me, you should know it snows more here in the Fall and Spring than during the Winter.  October and March can often be the snowiest months.  During the winter while many of the rest of you get plastered with snow we have clear blue sky and sunshine.

#6

I’m using the publish later feature on WordPress for this post.  By the time it appears this cupcake will have made its way to the intended receipient.  I want to get this post written while I’m thinking about it, but I know Lisa reads what I write.  Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a post date available for Christmas gifts, so they just appeared at the intended time? (Only 79 days now until Christmas )

I put the last stitch in this cupcake last night and glued the stand together.  I have at least one more to make. 

That’s Just Sad

This afternoon I finished quilting my first custom quilt since school started.  That is just sad — 7 weeks and one 40 inch square quilt to show for it.  Yes, the quilt has literally been languishing on the machine for that long.  Somebody wanna give me a swift kick to get me motivated?

Linda's Blue & White Quilt

Incredibly Talented

A friend posted the link to this video on Facebook.  I’ve watched it several times this morning.  These two guys are incredibly talented — yes two — the singer and the producer.

If you liked that here is another one put together by these two.

The Faster I Go, the Behinder I Get

Finished the July Bunny Hill BOM tonight.  I think it languished because I just wasn’t that excited about it while it was in process.  I’m fine with it now.   I tied the buttons on with embroidery floss and then separated the strands.  I was thinking fireworks when I came up with that idea.  Whether or not I achieved that effect, but it does add texture.

 Two more blocks have been released and another one will come out in 4 days.  Ah well, it is about the process for me.

 

July Bunny Hill BOM

I’m still managing to use  only materials I already own, including all embellishments.  No additional money was spent in the pursuit of this project.

A Little Magic

I finished the 9th and final embroidery for the Christmas Wishes BOM by Gail Pan  (see sidebar for link).

I don’t recall every using the word “magic” to refer to Christmas.  However, I must admit as a child Christmas was about the most magical thing around.  The decorations, Grandma’s popcorn balls,and homemade Almond Roca, and of course the anticipation.  We would be marking days off the calendar well before December made its appearance.

Christmas is still my favorite holiday.  I know it can be overly commercialized and the actual day can be something of a let down.  But it is so much fun to decorate and, yes, even cook at that time of year.  Gift giving is still the most fun with kids – trying to find something that will be a surprise. 

So it is time to set the nine blocks I embroidered, and just think Christmas is only 86 days away!