More Sunday

The caethedral mentioned in the first post

A fine place for preaching

Munich - Sunday

Long flight, not much sleep. For whatever reason, I just could not get comfortable. Wait, I know the reason, the plane has been reconfigured so there are three seats on each side and four in the middle and there is NO ROOM to move!! Also, the flight was completely booked, not one extra seat anywhere. I did get to watch a couple of movies. I started with Galaxy Quest on the flight from SFO to Toronto. I, could probably watch that movie a 100 times and still enjoy it. On the flight to Munich I watched Epic, a cartoon about saving the forest and a movie with Robert Redford and Shia LeBouef about capturing the people involved in the weatherman movement 30 years after their activities. For someone who doesn't often watch movies, I really enjoyed these and they helped pass the time.

Arrived in Munich a little after 10. My travelling companions (brother Don, his wife Fran, my sister Jackie and niece Lauren) were originally going to wait at the airport for me so it was a little disconcerting when they weren't there when I came out of baggage claim. But it all worked out and I found my way to the transfer desk and they were ready to go immediately to head to Passau. Since I didn't do a ton of research I was thinking the transfer was a short drive. Wrong - it was 120 km. I watched the scenery for awhile (I hated to miss anything), but finally fell asleep for a short time.

When we arrived at Passau the family was waiting for me

It was great to see all of them!! I dropped off my luggage at the ship and was told to come back after 4:30, so we headed into the city. I love the old buildings, the cobblestone streets and the little alley ways with surprises.

Pictures in the next post

We happened upon the Cathedral in Passau. What an ornate and beautiful church! The smell of incense hung in the air to complete the feeling of stepping back in time. This is a picture of the pipe organ.


The painted ceiling

The lecturn - Fran and Amanda - how would you like to preach from here?
The main Altar
The Cathedral Close with fountain and many old grave stones



From the church we walked around the old city

We stopped for lunch at the HofBrau Munchen. we all tried different dishes, bratwurst, white sausage, wieners and Pork and potato puffs. The couple who runs the place were very kind. Our German is pretty much non existent and their English was just so so, but we managed to communicate and it was fun. I, of course, left my german phrase book at home (boo!!)
We still had time to kill before we checked in and so we wandered some more, walking along the river, checking out the tourist gift shops and learning a few new German words along the way.

We finally checked in at the ship at 4:30. We were anxious to see how three of us (my sister, niece and myself) were going to fit in our cabin. Let's just say that it's going to be an interesting experience. The room is about 7' across and maybe 12' deep. There's a bed against the window and two bunk beds that pull out from the wall. Lauren tested the upper bunk....lets just say it seems questionable that it will hold her without scaring the heck out of both of us, so she may be putting the mattress on the floor. We'll see.


Good thing I brought the collapsable suitcase!!

The rest of the ship seems nice and I know we'll have a great time touring these wonderful old cities. We have the option of taking bikes out each day if we wish. I'm thinking no for now, but it's nice to have the option available to us.

We're off for orientation in a bit, then dinner and hopefully a really good night's sleep.

More tomorrow

Toronto

long layover in toronto. Beautiful view of the city both coming in the early afternoon and departing at 8:30 with the lights of the city shining below. i had dinner at true burger. 3000 miles for a burger i can get any day of the week in Oakland! i need to be more adventurous for sure.

On the road again....

I am at the airport waiting for my flight (thanks SFO for free wifi). Stop by over the next couple of weeks. I hope to post photos and details of my trip as time and wifi permits.

Handmade things from 2012

Gee, I just love my quilting friends!!  Two days into 2013 and I'm already planning my trip to Sisters for the annual Quilter's Affair and Outdoor Quilt Show.  So much fun!!  Now if only I can get the class I want!!

So here are some of the things I finished in 2012

Gracie's baby quilt - pieced, quilted and given shortly after she was born

A little wallhanging I made for mom - that came back to me

Birds on a wire - did this over a year ago, but I still love it

Bumble Bee Quilt for Davey - who's almost a year old

Mug Rugs - just a few of the many made this year for Halloween and Christmas

Owl Potholder

Chevrons for Dexter - finished a while back, but being gifted this year to a friend living with cancer

Fabric for this one was purchased in Ireland - pattern is disappearing nine patch

Unfinished halloween and Christmas wall hangings

Birthday Banner for work

Seasonal table runners for my boss - spring, fall, halloween

My take on the 20 fat quarters my sister and I bought in Tennessee - her quilt looks very different

bag made for Meg

There were some knitted things completed as well, so looks like I accomplished more than I thought.

2012 Year in Review

It's been interesting learning about the traditions different people have for New Years Day on all the various blogs I read.  There are some things that I would like to take in to the new year.  A friend of mine who blogs at cabin one two five chooses a word for the year.  I've been toying with that idea and the one word that keeps coming up for me is mindfulness.  Good word right?  Some days I feel like I am just racing through life, doing what needs to be done, but not paying attention to the small things in a way that allows me to really cherish the moments.  So that's my word for this year.  

Others talk about doing the things you want to do for the year on New Years Day.  For me those things are: quilting, knitting, music and spending time with family and friends.  So today I had the opportunity to talk to a good friend in the UK, spent New Years Eve at a friend's house in Napa and had a lovely breakfast this morning and lots of fun time playing with her adorable baby girl, I video chatted with one daughter and texted with another, spent time quilting and hopefully will be able to do some knitting as I watch a movie after I finish this post.  Hopefully this will give me a good start for the new year.

I thought I'd post a few photos that tell a bit about 2012. 

One of the first things that happened is that this little guy joined the family.  His name is Gus and he is a  rescue pup who is such a cuddle bug with me.  He's not so good with other people, but he did warm up to Angie, Matt and Kaitlynn, so I know he can do it, but he takes some special handling.

March brought a trip to DC to visit Meg.  We had a great time wandering around, eating great food and just spending time together.

In April Kaiser's National Quality Conference was held at Disneyland in Anaheim.  The administrative and operations staff assisted with webex and audio production for sessions.  We were able to spend some time at Disneyland and yes, there was fabric shopping involved (where there's a will there's a way)

On my birthday I had the pleasure of attending a Memorial Day event on a ship in Alameda.  I got a tour through the ship by a friend who is retired military and I was awed by the size of the ship and the courage of the planes that landed on them.  The program for the day was also very touching and when flowers were thrown over the side and taps was played it gave me chills.

June brought my big trip to Ireland for the first International Quilt Festival in Ireland.  Due to airline scheduling Janelle and I flew in the night before our group left from New York and Janelle planned an excursion to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.  It was exciting to take the subway quite a long way (a change of train and then a change back was involved), but we got there and it was well worth it.  Such great views of the city from the Promenade!!  It was a nice extra for what would turn out to be a memorable trip.

Just a few of the photos.  The quilt show was held at University of Ireland Galway, which was an interesting venue, but all in all it was well done and for a first show, the organizers did a great job.  I took a class on creating quilts from designs in the book of Kells (see photo above) and was able to see the actual book at Trinity College in Dublin.  Our tour leaders was Luana Rubin from EQuilter and she was a wonderful host and always looked out for us so that things went well.  We met some nice folks from all over the country.  I would love to go back and tour Northern Ireland at some time in the future.

In July I made my annual trip to Sister's Oregon for the Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show.  So much fun, as always to spend time with my friends from Medford.  Good women, one and all!!

In August Meg surprised me with a trip to Carmel.  We stayed at the Lamplighter Inn, sat on the beach to watch the sunset, took a long walk on the beach and enjoyed a little shopping.

In October Mary and I went to The Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg for St Paul's Women's Retreat. 

October is also the month of the Pacific International Quilt Show

In November, Angela had her open heart surgery to give her a pulmonary valve (for the first time in her life).  She received great care both at Stanford and at Kaiser and she is home recuperating.

December brought another quick trip with Meg this time to Capitola.  Short trip, but a real adventure (especially the drive home in pouring rain)!

So that's my year in photos.  I'll post tomorrow with some quilting things.

Flimsy Finish

I finished the disappearing nine patch, made from the fabric i picked up at the International Quilt Festival in Ireland. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Its definitely a happy quilt!