Sunday, January 15, 2012

First 2012 Divas Day

 We started the quilt above before Christmas, but put it together today.  This is a pattern Joan found - a different spin on a log cabin.  We actually made enough blocks for two quilts, but didn't get the second top quite finished.  Next time.  Fun day as ususal.  Again, I didn't get food pix, but Gourmet Diva Sue was up to her usual excellent cullinary provisions so we certainly weren't hungry!

For show and tell, Joan brought this penquin.  I don't usually buy magazines, but just had to buy the one with this pattern in it.  I'll make it one of these days myself and seeing Joan's, just confirms the fact that I love this penguin portrait!  As usual, Joan did an excellent job.  
My contribution to show and tell were these two little table toppers, shown here on the tables I made them for.  Joe made these little end tables for our TV room and I wanted to get something on the tops to protect them ASAP!  I'm actually pretty pleased with the way they turned out considering I wanted to get them done quickly so they had to be a simple design and I also wanted to use up scraps, not cut into something new.  I think I did pretty well on both counts. 


 I also did the next two table toppers - or whatever.  These will go to Brenda, who is retiring soon.  They have a place in Texas and here live in the country with horses so I thought the western theme would be appropriate.
I also showed the Divas my Partridge Family quilt, but will get a pix of it when it's completely finished and put it in another post.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Free Rider

We drove up to Edmonton on Dec 30 for a family function at Joe's sister Mary's place.  But our first stop in the city was at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Centre.


On October 29/11, my nephew Tedman missed.  Ted's sport of choice is "extreme mountain biking" - I'm not sure if that's what he calls it, but that's what I call it.  He and some friends have a goal of jumping their bikes 150 feet using strictly gravity and pedal power.  They have been working their way to this goal.  Ted apparently holds the world record now, but the 150 foot jump would be extremely difficult for anyone else to beat.  If they can set it to start with.  And Ted missed.  He "landed" in hospital with a shattered left femur, broken shoulder bones, cracked sternum and serious head injury.  This is a video of what they do.

Two months later, he is making a good recovery and his prognosis is very good.  Nothing that we can do other than visit and encourage his recovery.  So naturally I made a quilt.  I called it Free Rider.  It is the same pattern as Skulduggery that I made last year.  Somehow it seems appropriate.
So here is the rant: I can't leave Ted's story without making a few comments.  I refuse to call it an "accident".  This was not an "accident" - Ted chose to do this and he knew, or should have known, what the potential consequences would be.  Fortunately - he was wearing top of the line protective gear, otherwise we would have been attending a funeral, not visiting him in hospital.  Still, if this was a kid unknown to me, I'd be the grumpy old tax payer incensed that  my tax money would be going toward paying for EMS support, air ambulance ride to hospital, hospital and  medical care, and therapy to mend a kid that was dumb enough to do this and who will likely do it again. 

On the other hand, if people didn't take chances, all the great accomplishments that are made would not be made.  Taking risks is how astronauts got to the moon, how Europeans "discovered" America, how innovations are turned into wealth generating industries, etc.  People take risks - some people take more risk and they don't think about the downside.  When we saw Ted on Saturday - he was still determined to do this jump and simply jokes about being dead.  At this point the most important thing for him is to do this jump and succeed.  Maybe when he's had a bit more time to recover, he'll change his view, but somehow, I don't think so.  All we can hope is that he gets the best insurance he can find and puts all the possible safety measures in place.

So Ted, if you ever read this, I get that you want to do this - almost have to do it - but I don't like it.  And we love you anyway.

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Here is Marjorie with Hobo Hieroglyphics.  She was very happy with it. 

We drove home on Saturday, Dec 31.  It was a beautiful sunny day, but very windy in Edmonton and on the highway heading south.  The wind died down about half way home.  (It was about a 3.5 hour drive from our starting point to home.) I took this pix from the car window to show the snow from the fields being blown across the highway by the wind.



HAPPY NEW YEAR!