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Thursday, March 01, 2012

Afternoon Edition….Questions, Answers and a Very Pink Tree!

My afternoon of miscellaneous appointments is flying by.

What a LOVELY day! I was talking to my friend Randy on the phone while driving --- and I stopped her mid sentence and said “Gotta go! I need to stop the car! I need a picture of this tree—I’ll call you right back!”

Can you see why this tree stopped me dead in my tracks? Oh I love pink trees even more than white ones! They just don’t last very long, so I’m happy to be out and about in the sunshine where I can ooooh and ahhh and get giddy over each one I see.

I’ve had a couple emails with questions and I think the answers might be helpful to others out there.

The first one is from Paul, he writes:

Bonnie,

I have read on your blog that you are a tea drinker. Do you drink hot tea while you are on the road? And if so, how do you heat your water in your hotel room? No matter how clean they are, the coffee makers always leave a taste of coffee... Just wondering if you have a secret...

I am an avid tea drinker. I definitely have my favorite kinds, and I travel with it – or risk being faced with the ghastly lipton in hotel rooms, if that! I use a immersion water heater, in my aluminum travel mug. It looks like this:

waterheater

You can find it on Amazon HERE.

This little coil will boil water right in the cup. You have to be careful though, I’m on my second one of these because I killed the first one by not paying attention, getting distracted, and letting the water boil away leaving the coil exposed --- at which time it decided that it was “HOT” and killed itself never to be hot again. In other words, as a safety feature they are programmed to self destruct if you ignore it.

You just have to read the directions, don’t leave it unattended, and use it carefully. I’ve had the one that has been traveling with me for about a year now, and if and when it dies, as all electronic gizmos tend to do—I’ll get another one. I love my tea time!

Several have asked about the Easy Angle and the Companion Angle Rulers:

Easy6Angle150 EasyCompAng125

Depending on where you live, these could be found in quilt shops near you, at larger chain stores like Hancocks Fabrics or Joanns, but if you need a place to get them from the internet, I suggest Soft Expressions. Anything that I’ve ever ordered from them has always been in stock, and they are listed at 10% below retail, which helps cover your shipping costs. These tools are worth every penny --- I wouldn’t be caught dead without these rulers.

The Easy Angle comes in 3 different sizes. I find the 6.5” one to be the most versatile for me ---- the 10.5” one is too big, unweildy, and the markings stop at 2.5” so you can’t use it for really small stuff.

The Companion Angle comes in one size, and I use it for all my quarter square triangle units – Flying Geese, Hour Glass Blocks, etc.

Tonight I’ll be drawing the winner of the Leap Day Give-Away with Pat Sloan, so be watching for that! Tomorrow is also the drawing for the “On Track” magazine issue.

Saturday is Yard Sale Saturday! Get those items cleaned up, tagged, and ready to be listed and linked up on Saturday’s post!

And I think that catches us up for now…I’m off to the dentist!

15 comments:

  1. Can't believe the trees are blooming already. I shudder to think if we get another storm. I live in NM and it is 52 degrees outside right now!

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  2. Beautiful tree!

    I haven't seen one of those water heaters for ages, I'd forgotten about them. UK hotels & B&Bs always have kettles these days so a water heater isn't really needed.

    I'm interested about your comments re the rulers, I just bought them (10inch companion angle) but haven't used them yet. They are in preparation for a jelly roll quilt along at our quilt group later in the year.

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  3. Anonymous4:15 PM EST

    Oh, so beautiful. Sitting in snow and subzero here.

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  4. Thanks for the info on the water heater. I'd never seen one like that, and I just might have to purchase one! I'm not a tea drinker, but like my oatmeal for breakfast in the morning :-)

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  5. Oh look at that beautiful tree....snow and cloudy coldness here today, so that is a delightful peek at things to come.

    Happy Sewing

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  6. Thanks for the info!!!

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  7. I found both of those tools when I cleaned out my mothers stash a couple of weeks ago. I had neve seen them before.

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  8. It makes me miss the apple trees we had on our property at our former home! And they smelled wonderful as well! They typically wouldn't bloom before Mother's Day (I live in WI),but this year we are having an unusually warm winter... although now i just heard we are expecting a snowstorm tomorrow afternoon/evening! I could just feel the warmth in your picture though! Trudy

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  9. Tea boiler is not necessary in Australia. We have kettles in all hotels and motels. Now if your a coffee percolator person you have a problem. Only instant available. Come stay with me we even have teapots.

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  10. Thanks for the email and the info about the rulers. I find that I am always learning and your information is great. Thanks again.

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  11. It is 75° with 100% humidity in Florida......who stole my winter???? Please I beg of you, give it back!

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  12. No fair! It snowed here today (near Toronto, Canada). But the snowdrops are up on the south side of the house.

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  13. Love all your tips today. I love the lime green of spring trees blooming also. I thought of a wall hanging with representing each season. Pink would be great for spring, don't you think?

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  14. Lavinia Milligan Sala7:26 AM EDT

    Love those pink trees-they were the inspiration for my last big quilt (Appalachian Spring~To God Be the Glory). Wish I had a way to send you a picture. Proud to say it has won ten awards. Beautiful quilting by Donna Patrick of Mount Carmel, Tennessee. Loving your posts.

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  15. Lavinia Milligan Sala7:26 AM EDT

    Forgot to add my email: azkwltr@cox.net

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