African books, Mississippi Delta and more quilt photos.....

School girls looking at newly donated books at the Ezebeleni Library in Ezebeleni South AFrica.

More donated books for the SA library

Children at a Library resource day during the School holidays.

Since returning to the US I have continued to focus on books for my African library. These are pictures of children using the Library facility I adopted as my own. All of the books pictured in these photos were sent by very generous Americans. About 8000 pounds of books have been sent to date for which, the library and myself are truly grateful. I haven't posted in so long...that I felt I had to post something. And these pictures of the children in the library and some of the books, say it all. A wonderful gesture.But since living here in Mississippi, I have become aware of some needs down in the Delta area. So I may continue to do what I can for South AFrica, but I can't beleive that there are schools and small rural communities who would love good used childrens books. So I am hunting down the info...and hoping to begin an awareness program, and hope to get something going for children in our own country. I have only heard stories from a doctoral student who taught school down in the delta, but am investigating further. I mean, people can't give away books at a garage sale...so there has to be a way to get something done. More updates will be forthcoming. Had to add this funny sign from Africa.... The Baboon sign...was located in a picnic area at the Kruger Park...apparently there was a problem with baboons and monkeys stealing food in the picnic area... grabbing things they shouldn't ...so it was a warning to be cautious and not to encourage them. Not something you see every day in your local park or picnic grounds. In other news, I have done some sewing. Finished a few customer quilts... need to take photos.... and have quilted a tester quilt pattern called Floating bubbles, a pattern available at Reanalilydesigns, ( my very talented DD in law)I forgot to get a good photo and it is already on a quilt rack at the quilt shop. I will try to remember to take a pic tomorrow to post. But I have made progress with my DD mystery, this was taken before I sewed the blocks together, since the photo, I have sewn them all together, now I just have to sew up a border treatment. Then can quilt it up. I had to add a photo of at least a couple of quilts. This baseball quilt was made by a wonderful lady in one of my quilt guilds, Sarah . She is a prolific quilter with a very dry wit. I love her Mississippi accent...and could listen to her talk for hours. Then this lovely quilt by another amazing lady, Martha Dubard, another one I could listen to all day. They are lovely ladies...and I really look forward to every other Monday morning.... and seeing them. Then the last is the "in progress" DD mystery. I will post another when I finally get to those borders. Thanks for stopping by.

Me and Shaka Zulu the Big Pineapple and "Burning down the house!"

Here are some lovley high school girls wearing their school uniforms. They were in line behind me at the Post office in South AFrica when we still lived there. Had to post a photo of me and Shaka, taken in front of the Elengeni Sun Hotel in Durban, South AFrica. He was a tourist "attractioin". But what a funny guy, and he did enjoy having his photo taken. And the Big Pineapple, located at the Pineapple farm near Bathurst South Africa, This pineapple is three stories high...with homemade Pineapple items on the ground floor, and almost a mini museum of photos and pineapple growing paraphanalia. It was so much fun to visit. It is located in the Eastern Cape Province of South AFrica, a bit of a drive from Port Elizabeth South AFrica. We had spent a lovely weekend at a beach house of friends, at Canon Rocks. Equally gorgeous. Good times and memories and one of the things we miss so much...the wonderful fresh pineapples from South Africa. But the real reason for my post is yet ANOTHER almost burning down the house...and for those of you who know me, no, this time didn't involve making french fries, or forgetting boiling eggs on top of the stove until they exploded! All over the ceiling, counters and cabinets in the kitchen. No, not this time.....but I did put on a pan of potatoes to boil for Potato salad...about 11:30 AM.... and then the PRofessor did come home about 12 and remind me we had dentist appointments in a small town about 3o minutes away...so we headed out the door.... sat in the waiting room, before we both had a dental checkup... and teeth cleaning...visit with the dentist.The professor needed a filling...and I needed way more than that...but it ended up being a consultation for WAY more.... we hit our home town about 3 and decided we were hungry...so stopped for a bite. And as we stood waiting to place our order, it hit me, .....er.... "had I turned off those potatoes?" Well the professor has been married to me for a long time, and lived through a small fire or "near" fire incident enough..that he just said to me, "Oh, crap, lets go !!!!!" So we drove as quickly and safely to our neighborhood.... and as we rounded the curve, we didn't see any firetrucks in the driveway....and I couldn't see smoke billowing out of the windows. We didn't hear the snoke detectors going off , so I ran to the door and threw it open...only to be hit in the face with a disqusting burnt food smell.... the pan was smoking...no water, potatoes burnt at leasts 1/4 the way through... so I grabbed the pan, and we took it outside .... but let me assure you, that the smell of burnt food is still there. In fact, I opened windows today, and turned on the attic fan...to suck in clean air...all day while I was at work. The Professor suggested ...burning candles.... now is that really what you suggest to someone who almost burned down the House!?????? I instead turned on the electric candle warmer...ooops almost forgot...it is still on. Until later!

More South Africa photos.... Another good day... snow in Mississippi

First a wonderful photo taken in Africa, showing how many people travel...to and from work, or to the grocery store...to town. They just cram into the backs of a bakkie( pickup truck) and they actually pay someone for this privilege. I always got a laugh when I spotted one of these crowded vehicles. They usually waved and smiled when I grabbed my camera. You will note that they drive on the opposite side of the road from us... a difficult thing to learn... and then relearn when I arrived home for good. I only drove on the wrong side of the road a few times here....but thankfully no one was coming... so all was well. Next up, I had to share a photo taken from the game reserve at the edge of Queenstown, where we lived. The little round mountain...was just behind our house..a couple of blocks away.The reserve had some wonderful giraffes and zebra. They also had several Rhino there. Always fun to see.

On the local front, we had a wonderful change of pace this morning.... woke up to snow... ON THE GROUND! Which isn't a common occurence here. The first we have had since we moved here last summer. And although we have had some wonderful warm weather, it actually snowed enough that it stuck. What a treat... and it had melted by this evening. So can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Its a good thing it happened yesterday evening...as I have quilt guild in the morning... hope to get some wonderful pictures of those talented ladies quilts! I also practiced more feathering on a customers quilt.IT is a darling Sunbonnet Sue quilt. She is an amazing embroiderer and appliquer. And let me quilt for her. I don't think she has ever had a machine quilted quilt before. I did feathers, SID( stitch in ditch) and outlined each little sunbonnet girl in blocks. My talented DIL, of Reannalily Designs, is launching two new quilt patterns...and I tested one for her. I did "forget" to cut all of the circles... I think I left out 6.... but this was a pretty quick quilt to do. I sewed it in an evening....and a couple of hours on the circles. She has a very cool technique to use, for the applique circles. I machine stitched mine on. and haven't added the border that she recommended ....YET, as I am thinking of putting another fabric, that I have to go and buy. But this was quick and easy to sew up. It makes a twin size with the border.

Africa memories, Cape of Good Hope, Cricket... quilts and a gun toter too!!!

One of my favorite memories from a little over two years ago.... all part of a fabulous trip to Cape Town.... we had to go to the Cape of Good Hope with our dear friends, Frank and Jayne. And another photo of one of the wonderfully natural mountainous regions in the area we lived in for 4 years. This was taken from the veranda on the game reserve... it was a lovely place. This was Winter but so much fun to be there with friends. Then the beautiful giraffes we saw up close at the Kruger Park over the Christmas break..... Some very good times. Of course there has to be at least one humorous photo of the Professor in his Sport gear.... he wore this at the cricket match between Australia and South AFrica.... SA won huge..... at the Newlands Cricket grounds... What a match!!!!

The shanties I saw every time I delivered a box of books to the township Library in Ezebeleni as they were across the street from the library.

The man holding the machine gun...crouching in the parking lot of the mall... very scary the first time we saw this..but after a while.... you just get used to this ... kind of a "funny/crazy" thing!

I can not believe the crazy weather. we are experiencing here... yesterday.... we were cuddled under quilts... as in multiples of quilts in order to keep warm, then today.... it was shorts and 77 degrees...with another cold front coming in tonight...so back to coats and sweaters tomorrow. I wish we could have 8 months of todays weather...then some really hot...and some cold weather. Just not changing every other day. I shared some scrapbooking tips at our bi monthly quilt guild this week.... and what fun. Loved watching the ladies stamp on their pages...to enhance some of the quilt journal pages they are saving. They also shared some lovely quilts as well. I missed a few of the especially wonderful hand quilted ones that were there. The president of the guild is an award winning hand quilter. The quilt was pieced by someone else..but it hung at the Houston quilt show. It is stunning. I have never quilted a quilt like that one...so gorgeous. It was just published in a book.I can't remember the name...but think the quilt was called midnight in the garden. I really liked the Notre Dame T shirt quilt... It is really cool. ANd I adore hex quilts...this one is in progress... She does beautiful work.

I also had to include this navy,red and gold quilt that I had the privilege of quilting. And this super bright quilt that a friend made and permitted me to quilt for her. It is so vibrant... I don't think the photo does it justice. She also made this adorable table topper.... and I quilted it for her as well.

She also made this adorable table topper .... and I quilted it for her. I completed a UFO.... but it is already hanging at the fabric store...so will have to post a photo after I get a photo. I have one loaded on the frame now for a friend...Hope to finish it off tomorrow evening. I seem to be behind on all my projects at the moment. Just sewing step 3 on the DD mystery...but here is the stack of completed part 1 and 2's. I am doing a smaller wall hanging...Only committed to doing 1/2 of the blocks. So will be a throw for me. I am hoping to finish a new pattern of my DD in law. She is launching on March 1st. I am lucky to be a tester. I have only committed to 4 new projects this year...still determined to finish some from last year...and or past years. The professor has asked if my sitting under a quilt...with a sewing machine perched on a lap tray...sewing while sitting in bed has become the norm for me in the evenings. It has been some nights! On really cold nights I am hand quilting my "When oh When" quilt..... those pictures will be coming soon. Maybe when I finish the when oh when.... showing the progress I am making.

UFO's and completed things....Men in kilts and babboons in South Africa

I had to put a photo of the Professor in his kilt at a friends wedding. Our friend was a Scot, whose mum said the Professor had the legs for a kilt. I agree. He looked pretty grand that day.

Thought you might enjoy seeing the lovely little babboons in the trees...I do miss seeing these guys hanging out literally, they were more common close to the coast, not sure why, but we did see them often, when driving about. And I have to admit...that I did succomb to a few fabric "spends" this week. Shame on me, nothing major, but I did buy 4 yds of fabric to complete my 2009 BOM at the fabric store. I also quilted 3 quilts this past week and finished this flimsy, which will be loaded tomorrow on "Rosie" the longarm. I have to get it quilted ready to deliver to a family member. I have owed it to him for a long time. The first was a UFO quilt

of a friend, I have never made a lonestar quilt, but always wanted one, this one turned out so well, wish it was mine. This lovely green quilt is

a first quilt of one of our new guild members, I quilted it using the terry twist method.Man I do love her little stencils.They worked so well. I forgot to take a photo of quilt No. 3, will have to post that after I get a photo of it at show and tell next week. I would like to add that I purchased some silicon lubricant for thread...as I had thread issues on my longarm. It so helped me, the site is called Time and Again quilters. It was simple to use, and worked wonders for my thread. So if you have thread issues check out the site and give it a try. It was fairly inexpensive and clear, no residue on the quilt. Seems like it will last a long time too, so economical as well. On a totally other vane, I am so missing cricket .... it is the season in South Africa but we don't seem to get any coverage here. I loved it on TV and in person. I find myself watching BBC news so I can get a glimpse of the English cricket ...just to satisfy my itch! Hope you all have fun sewing.

More memories and another completed longarm quilt...

I have to post a picture or two of one of the guild ladies quilts, Martha is a wonderful quilter. I love every quilt she has showed since I joined the guild. More of her lovely quilts. Then another girl brought this lovely applique on black. She has only been working on it since June I believe. I loved it. The lavender and green quilt is one I have just completed for a customer. It turned out quite nicely. I included a little close up of one of the blocks. It was a challenge...to get the longarm to go over the seam where all of the pieces met in middle. I have never learned the technique to press that flat. If you have a link on how to...please send it to me. I have another of these quilts on the machine now....and two more arrived today to be quilted. I hope to be able to get the current one done tomorrow after work, then on to the next one, a lone star quilt. Very exciting. I have been so busy I have nothing to show for show n tell at guild next week...need to get a move on. Lastly, is a little basket full of part 1's for the DD mystery quilt over at Quiltville.com and also in the basket are my part 2's waiting to be sewed. I did press a strip or two for part 3.... maybe this weekend. I can get to a few of those parts. It looks like the Professor is having so other graduate students in for the Super Bowl...so I will only be able to do handwork during the game. I am so excited...I won't have to get up at 2 AM to watch the superbowl...like I did last year in South Africa, and .....WE WILL get to see the commercials.THey bleeped them out...and we haven't seen a superbowl commercial in 4 years. So looking forward to that. I will have some kind of handwork to do.Maybe it will be my wonky 9 patch...I am sewing sunflowers on at the moment...as per Libby's from a Simple Girl, suggestion. ITs coming along nicely.Lastly, another picture from South AFrica, of the burning mountain behind our house, someone was cooking out in the open... a squatter, and started a fire...which burned the whole mountain vegetation, and the next mountain also. In fact, it burned things so badly...a friend found a cobra in her file cabinet...they apparently had been forced from their habitat! Now that would scare me to death! A picture of me and the librarian for my little South aFrican library. Happy rest of the week.....

Some of my Favorite South African things.....

Although it has been many months since I left South AFrica, I started thinking today of some of the things I miss at the moment...... the unusual sights.... firstly. I never knew what I would see...when out and about. The traffic queues behind the VERY SLOW trucks in traffic on the highways..... my favorite street vendors.... when I would walk out of Chippy's dry goods store. I did enjoy seeing the unusual things....they always made me smile. The traditinal clothing you sometimes saw on the ladies...for special occasions. I even miss the car guards

who "watched" my car..... and special friends..like my buddy Jean who helped in getting this wheel chair for an amputee living on the beach in East London. I still remember him popping a wheelee when we gave it to him. Some special times to remember. Today has been a day for nostalgia...and reflecting on good memories. Hope you all had some too.