Hurricane thoughts

I have been watching…watching…watching as Hurricane Ian slowly approaches my home. My friends and neighbors met for our regular happy hour evening last Friday night. Of course the topic of discussion was the hurricane. At that point, the storm was coming up Tampa Bay which would have been devastating for us here in Homosassa. We were making plans to stay or escape. But we watch…watch…watch.

My son has called me daily to ask when we are headed to ND. Yesterday he was “so you got a flight, right?”, nope the airport is closed. “So you are driving, right?” Nope, no gas anywhere.

Have lived in the south since 1982. Moved to Homosassa in 2003. Which is right on the west coast. We have been through several tropical storms and hurricanes. So we watch. We prepare. We do not panic. But we watch.

As of Wednesday evening, all is okay here in Homosassa. We are 75 miles north of Tampa. Rain and wind. But no storm surge which is what we fear the most. We loaded up on groceries, gas, and wine on Saturday. (The wine is gone but we have food!) We will probably get the full brunt of the storm on Thursday as Ian turtle wobbles through our state.

Anyhow, as of Wednesday evening, we still have power and the internet. And no storm surge. I am so sorry for the people that Hurricane Ian has hit. Almost the entire state of Florida will be affected.

Now about the September wrap up…..

I finally made it to Garrison, North Dakota in September. The trip had been postponed twice. I was quite happy to actually get there.

Went to see a movie. The theater is run by volunteers which includes my daughter-in-law Lauri and granddaughter Piper. Here’s Piper happily volunteering! (maybe not so happily but she’s still way cute).

Spent lots of early morning time with Adley. Like Grandma, she is up before the sun. We went to the park one morning. All the great playground equipment plus a bear!

Adley is learning the ukulele. She gets one lesson every time I visit! This time she learned how to play “You are my Sunshine”. She is a quick learner because she wants to learn. But then grandma leaves and the uke goes in the closet. Love every moment I can spend with these two.

Since I was doing a lot of traveling and no sewing, I had plenty of time to do some reading.

I read “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. I tried to read it in the past but I had downloaded it from the library and my time ran out. No renewing books electronically! This time I was traveling. For many hours. (For instance, a four hour layover in Denver.) I downloaded it again and I was quite determined to finish this book. Zora Neale Hurston wrote it back in 1938. She was very famous and then disappeared from the literary lists until Alice Walker brought her back.

I liked it a lot. I coincidentally was skimming through the September issue of Vanity Fair while on this same airplane trip. (Another electronic download) In the monthly Proust questionnaire, actor and activist Alfre Woodard answered many questions. One was “Who is your favorite hero in fiction?” Her response was Janie Crawford from “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. It was nice that I actually knew what she was referring to and Janie Crawford was a hero. Whether in 1938 or 2022. Hero.

“The School for Good Mothers” by Jessamine Chan was disturbing. That was my next book. In this dystopian novel, parents lose rights to children over offenses and have to go to great lengths to get them back. Child abuse is a horrible crime but…..While the main character did a bad thing on her very bad day and should have had therapy along with counseling, her punishment did not fit the crime. Yikes!

Next up, “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker. All the books I had put on hold at the library weren’t available yet but there was no wait on this one. I enjoyed it. A lot. Probably more since I had just read “Their Eyes Were Watching God”.

And then, I went to Barnes and Noble so my granddaughter Piper could buy some books. And the worker bees convinced me to buy a couple of books. The first was “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelidaes. So good. There is a twist. That’s all I’m saying…..

And now after reading four really long books this month, I’m doing a whole Hulu binge. Just finished “Killing Eve”. OMG. Five seasons. Have to admit that I think it was a very satisfying conclusion. But I will miss Eve. Now I will be watching the latest season of the “Handmaids Tale”. Read the books. Watched all the seasons.

Okay, so that’s the September wrap up and now onto my

quilt meanderings….

Had to go to the local quilt shops in Garrison. In this little town there are two quilt stores! I spent all my sewing money at the first place! I love visiting the local quilt places wherever I go.

This family has more of my hand crafted quilts than I do! This is the Negative Space Quilt and is on the bed in the guest room. It’s one of my favorites.

I made this one for Riley in 2015. It still looks great.

This was from the “Fall into a Quilt-A-Long” from 2018. It’s still in one piece and I know that their quilts all get used and laundered–a lot! I try not to make applique quilts anymore since they do start getting fuzzy around the edges.

They have several more quilts–at least four–but these were handy.

I am making my newest grandchild a quilt for Christmas. One by Elizabeth Hartman. Just want to say here, while it is just a pieced quilt and should be easy, it calls for 36 fat quarters. Plus the background and black and white for the features. That’s 39 different fabrics. Which I didn’t realize until I started reading the instructions and then I was totally overwhelmed. Yikes! What have I gotten myself into?

So instead of jumping right on this new project, I’m now making an easy-peasy Fall wall hanging/throw from scraps. And occasionally pulling out the instructions for the other quilt and sorting fabric. I have a few months until Christmas….right?

I’m sure there will be much more about both quilts in future posts! And it’s October in a few days!

If that hurricane would just leave Florida!