Back To Ole Virginny -

Good Morning and Happy Veteran's Day!

I already know I'm going to need a nap.

I got home after midnight, my mind was so wired I had the hardest time getting to a deep sleep - 

I also needed another quilt on the bed!

Throwing myself from Arizona sunshine into Appalachian Autumn with Thanksgiving just a couple of weeks away can be rough.

My dicks are NOT in a row!

As many of you know, this is my yearly trip across the country to spend a week with my dad who will be turning 87 in February.

Anyone with aging parents knows what a challenge it can be when things start to slow down for them and it gets to the point where we know all we can do is change the things we watch on the TV - and then have conversations around it, be it new in the morning, A movie recorded and saved for while we had time together, or binging Netflix at Night.

(Anyone else feel totally pulled in by The Diplomat?! Holy Cow! What an ending to Season 4!)

And Hexies. Always hexies. So many hexies.  I am bleeding hexies.

Thursday I did get a little break-away and met up with my Sis-in-law for lunch at a cute little authentic Indian place.

Mutter Paneer & Aloo Gobi!

(Not sure I spelled that right, but two of my favorites.

We had a great time talking to the lady that served us - I think she was the owner's wife. I told her about our recent trip to India and she was so interested as she is originally from Delhi. 

I asked her if there might be an Indian grocery near by and she wrote down the name and the address for me.  A whole grocery!  And it was directly on the way back to my dad's place so that was an added bonus.

Patel Brothers!

And seeing it in an Arizona style building all Southwestern looking was also fun.

I didn't take any photos inside but let me tell you - this place had EVERYTHING including the most beautiful produce I have seen. I would shop here on the regular if I had a store like this near me.

Also fun were all the Diwali decorations and items that were on display because Diwali season is upon us.

I traveled only by carryon so the only things that came home were a large bag of cashews, a package of mango powder, and some snacks for tv time at dads.

Note to self:  Next time =- bring the big suitcase~!

While dad napped, I took walks as often as I could.

I love seeing the cranes on the ponds.

He evidently didn't like seeing me!

Palm trees, pines, and newly reseeded grass.

And the sky is so big when there are no mountains to block it!

Fabric memories -See that Kelly Green calico?

Christmas 1981. This fabric has been in my stash (only as very small scraps now) since fall of 1981 when Dave and I were first married.  My in-laws said that they were going to come have Christmas dinner with US on our first Christmas together.

I made cloth napkins, a table cloth, and one of those 1980s stuffed Christmas trees as a centerpiece out of this print.  I had white on green (shown here) red on white, and white on red and somehow I thought that they all "went together well" because they were all the same print in different colorways?

I was 19.  What did I know?  But I smiled when I stitched this piece (which could b3e the last one if its kind?) into the block while at my dads.

Yesterday morning I too this photo!  Column 1 is done!

Of course, there was more hexie stitching on both of my plane legs for my journey home.  Phoenix to Atlanta. Atlanta to Tri Cities, TN.  And one pooped out me for the 90 minute drive home from there.

Time was also spent Sunday night for dinner at my sis i law's house - I got to see my nephew and his family (3 darling little ones!) and my niece and her new fiance.

My phone didn't even come out of my pocket - I was too busy doing this:

Goodness, they grow up so fast.  This was my first time meeting my great nephew (in the back) and what a cutie patootie he is. They are all such good kids. I wish I had that kind of energy.

Another thing I love about visiting family - I get to revisit some of the quilts that live with them!

Texas Tumbleweed from MORE Adventures With Leaders & Enders went quickly on my bed and I got to sleep under it Sunday night.

Yesterday's journey toward home.  It gets more and more bittersweet every time I leave dad.  I feel this immense sense of eldest daughter guilt. (If you've been there, you know.) It causes so much anxiety because my life is here on the East Coast. He is in Arizona.  I talk to him by video chat every day and we go through his day and mine and I try to talk about as many different aspects of my day as possible.

I know he is lonely.  I wish I could change that. He has no desire to move and he is quite capable of taking care of himself for now.  It's just the unknown that gets me.

Yes, I have a brother near Boise, Idaho who is closer. So it's not all on me.  But as the daughter - it kind of feels like it is.

If you've been here. You know.

Today - Ruler orders. Like crazy.  My goal is to have everything out the door by the weekend.

My biggest wish for this "slow down" time of the year with no retreats un til February? (Other than the 1st weekend of December one that I won't be here for -)

This is the time of year I like to "shovel out" the studio and make things better before I start the new year.

I have bags of scraps to comb through. Anything I can't use will be baggied and put in the "Free Basket" at the retreat (They love that!) and there is that kite quilt I haven't sewn on for a couple of weeks and feels like longer.

Maybe the slow down isn't that slow after all?  LOL!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -
Go hug a veteran today!
It's good to be home -