Remember Me?

It's been a while.

We were traveling for two and a half weeks and I was looking forward to blogging about the trip only to return with the worst possible "airplane cold" ever. Friends, I was flat on my back in my bed (actually the bed in the guest room so as not to infect Himself) for four whole days. Sweats, chills, intestinal features, and, of course, the cough. Today I'm ready to rejoin the living and I hope in another day or two that the trip blog will be happening. Where'd we go? Well, here's a clue: It was dark when we left home in the wee hours of June 19 and we never saw dark again until we were driving home from the airport on the night of July 5. More soon, I promise.

Before we went away, I was determined to get this month's Bee blocks finished. They were for my friend Bobbi, who held my hand through my first paper piecing adventure (hence the wonderful photo above), wherein I proclaimed I'd rather wash a cat than paper piece again. I did go on, a year or so later, to paper piece ad infinitum when I took the NYB class and while PP is not my favorite technique, we've developed a cautiously comfortable coexistence. Bobbi requested wonky house blocks, two of 'em, and I made the first one from some variation of free piecing/invisible thread appliqué. I knew I owed it to my mentor to paper piece the second and, friends, it was as if she was right there beside me, guiding my every move. I'm SO pleased with that block! Photos will be shared on Wednesday.

I did some reading while we were away. Some were Kindle based. These were the soft covers:

Everything I Never Told You was a gift from a friend and was very, very hard to put down. A moving novel about what it is like to be other than a pure-bred white person in America. I learned a lot. And immediately passed the book along.

The Blessings is about a Philadelphia family named Blessing. About how family is family, no matter what, across a couple of generations of this interesting clan. I liked it and am passing it on to my friend Cessie because clearly it was written about her particular immense family.

Close Your Eyes/Hold Hands was a fine read about a teenager orphaned by a nuclear meltdown in New England. Oh, and her late father was the cause of the meltdown. Emily/Abby copes and doesn't cope. Well written, interesting, and it will be sent off to a friend who lives in that particular area.

The Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances. Save your money. I don't think I can even bring myself to donate this to the library.

This has been a disjointed post. Clearly I'm out of practice. I vow to remedy that. Starting tomorrow. Right now it's time for another nap; this re-entry has been a rough one.