For this road trip I went to Gatlinburg, TN for a metals workshop at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. You can read about the workshop over on The Adventurous Silversmith blog.

I left early Saturday morning and made it to Memphis, TN. I had a cooler with food so I only stopped twice for gas or at rest stops to eat and "bio-breaks" and to stretch my legs after so much sitting. It was to bed early and up at 6 am so I could get to Arrowmont in the afternoon. I arrived around 4pm with plenty of time to unpack, and rest before dinner and orientation.

Monday - Friday it was up by 7:30 am, get breakfast and a cuppa coffee and then head over to the workshop for our class. We broke for lunch between noon and 1:30 pm and dinner was at 5:00 pm. We fell into a route where about 5 or 6 of us would eat our meals together. During lunch and dinner we shared about ourselves and even started to play a game where you had to choose between two things like: coffee or tea; beef or fish, etc.  We talked about where we lived, going to school, work, retirement, travel and so much more. 

The school also has several galleries where the resident artists and the visiting teachers display there work. In the store you can buy some pieces by all of them as well as supplies for the classes or not.

At 7:00 pm, Monday through Thursday there were artist talks we could attend too. It was great to hear how the other artists/teachers got started and how they make their stuff.

Since Gatlinburg, around where the school is located, is really a giant amusement park, a few nights we went off campus and did things like riding the tramway to the top of the hill/mountain and the aquarium which I think was pretty good. We showed our Arrowmont badges and got discounts on the admission which was great since admission to the places wasn't cheap; the tram was free and the aquarium was only $10 for us. On Friday night, after the workshop was over 3 of us drove to Nashville to view art in a few galleries and go to dinner.

I do have to say that for those of us that were "older" the younger kids certainly made the time fun and inclusive which I really appreciated because when I was at Haystack, took a long time to happen or not at all.

I started to plan this trip back in April or May when I decided to attend my 50th High School reunion. 
Day 1 - Drive to Memphis, Tennessee
Day 2 - Drive to Roanoke, Virginia
Day 3 - Drive into Pennsylvania and scatter some of Erich ashes on his father's grave site; continue into NJ. Have dinner with Liza Nechamkin.
Day 4 - Drive to Tom's (H.S. friend) in N.J and hang with him and his wife.
Day 5 - Drive to Long Island and go to the informal get together in town and talk to friends who were not going to the dinner
Day 6 - Pick up Pam (another H.S friend). Visit our old houses, visit with another friend I have knowns since 3rd grade and her mother, scatter some ashes on the beach. Attend reunion dinner and see lots of people I never knew in H.S along with many I did.
Day 7 - Drive to my parents gravesite and scatter more ashes and then take Tom back to NJ and head to D.C
Day 8 - Hang with my sister and go the the Cryptologic Museum at the NSA and a quilt exhibit
Day 9 - Hang with my sister and go to the FBI Experience at the FBI headquarters and another exhibit at Smithsonian which were fiber arts and quilts
Day 10 - Drive from Washington D.C to Williamsburg, Virginia
Day 11 - Hang with my brother-in-law John and take a side trip to Colonial Williamsburg
Day 12 - Drive from Williamsburg, Virginia to southern North Carolina
Day 13 - Hang with my cousin Amy, her husband Andy, their daughter Jen, and her son Conner.
Day 14 - Drive from southern North Carolina to Memphis, Tennessee 
Day 15 - Drive from Memphis to HOME!!
Day 16 - PICKUP BOOTs
Some pictures are out of order; I think you can deal with it

Back Story:
In April, I contacted friends who are mineral dealers about selling the majority of our mineral collection. It wasn't about the money despite that happening; it was about getting the specimens to good homes because the members of my family who would have to deal with it when I was gone really wouldn't know who to talk to or what it's real value was. You hear horror stories of grand/parents/sibling collections just being tossed in the garbage!

At that time we made arrangements for them to be here in Texas after the Northeast Summer shows were over, in August as they would then be heading back to California and would detour south. 

As the time grew closer I started looking at what I wanted to keep and set some of them aside. These were minerals we had bought on special trips or occasions or had collected ourselves during the various road trips we took around the west. Erich loved certain minerals and we had many multiples of them - garnets, fluorite, stilbite and more so I figured I would only keep one or two of each of those as well. 

Mid-August rolled around and I cleared my schedule for the weekend they would be here. I gathered boxes, bubble wrap, original labels, receipts, tape, pen and paper so we could get to work.  They arrived late Friday afternoon so we just sat and caught up with our lives and during this time John started to look at and in the cabinets. His evaluation was it was a very good collection; he could see that we had over time we acquired better quality specimens and we had some that were excellent but that overall we had a wide range that would appeal to all collectors. This was very good news and so at this point we decided to go into New Braunfels and have an early dinner and get them back to the the cabin they were staying in so they could rest and get a good night's sleep after driving for 3 days and being on the road for over 2 months. After dinner I told them where to go for a good inexpensive breakfast and to just call me before they were to arrive Saturday morning.

John and Cathy arrived around 10 am and we got to work. Because they had their truck full of show stuff they had said that they could NOT take all of what they were interested in purchasing but would be able to take some as the Denver show was at the start of September and they wanted some specimens for that to start. John would select a mineral, look at the label on the bottom, I would look for the original paperwork, Cathy would document the mineral and then we discussed how much John would offer and even possibly sell it for and then Cathy would record the price and we wrap it up and mark it.  We stopped for the day around 5pm and went to dinner and planned on repeating the days events on Sunday.

One mineral that John was VERY interested in was a Rhodochrosite rhombohedron that's gem quality - he did not take it (yet) he took pictures and measurements and sent it to a friend who could give him a more accurate valuation.

Sunday I woke up around my usual time due to the Boots alarm clock at 7-ish. John and Cathy arrived again around 10 am. We selected a few more minerals and John made arrangements to meet another dealer, in San Antonio in the late afternoon. I suggested that due to a late start to getting on the road home, they stop in Fort Stockton which is a 4-5 hour drive then on Monday get to Tucson which is a 12 hour drive and then Tuesday they could get back to So. Cal in 7 hours (which they did). Eventually we taped up the boxes, loaded the truck and I was handed a check.  

Now for the rest of the story:
John called me the following week and said that the Rhodochrosite was worth A LOT!! and he wanted to sell it as a commission (80/20) at the Denver show and so could I box it, insure it, and get it mailed to him. I jokingly said that maybe I should hand deliver it to which he said SURE! and to bring some more minerals if I wanted.  Which I said I would and few days after I had second thoughts because of all that I would have to do - stop the mail, get hotels, put Boots in the kennel, and more. Then a few days later I changed my mind again and went for it. Going to the Denver show was on our list of things to do this year because the pandemic canceled those plans.  In 2 days I had my plans made and started selecting more minerals.

The plan was to leave on Tuesday and stop in Amarillo and then arrive in Denver Wednesday afternoon. Setup was on Thursday and I would help and make labels for what I brought. The show would open on Friday and I would assist in the booth but NOT make any actual sales. In the afternoon I wandered the rooms for the location were we were. Saturday I helped open and close  and in between went to the other locations to peruse the wares.  Sunday morning I helped open and at noon, I headed home again via Amarillo.

There is no major Interstate to get from San Antonio to Denver so it was some Interstate and State highways most of which were 2 lane with passing sections or 2 lane passing sections. There were State highways marked as 75 mph then 55, 45, 35 and suddenly you are in a very small town of 2 - 6 - 12 blocks with maybe a single gas station and a fast food restaurant and many boarded up store fronts.  Northwest Texas is FLAT with lots of wind farms, cotton farms, sorghum farms, corn farms and lines of power poles that go on for ever.  After Amarillo I did a quick pass through Oklahoma and into Colorado which added cattle, donkeys, goats, and corn to the mix.  On my way home I did take the I-25 and cut through New Mexico before getting back to Texas and the State Highways.

It's been 4 years since I went to the Houston International Quilt Festival (sorry no blog post). This past week, the festival was happening and I made arrangements with my friend Joan to go. 

​I was up at 5am and out of the house at 5:30 and drove to Joan's arriving at 6am. She was ready to go and so we hit the road! Three hours later we arrived in Houston and stopped for a cuppa joe and a snack before heading over to the convention center. Afterwards we grabbed a bite to eat and headed home. I was asleep in bed by 930 pm, tired but happy.

As we were heading to the ticket booth a woman, who was a vendor, handed us some free tickets as she had some of her complimentary ones left over - that saved us $15 each. After a quick bathroom break, we entered the exhibition hall and went over to the far right side so we could go up and down each row in order. 

The number of quilts in each category was, at times overwhelming and we decided to browse the category and only focus on the quilts that caught our attention. One category that we 100% passed on was a challenge. The parameters were the quilt size, the same fabrics and subject. We passed on it because the major fabric was PINK and the subject was Princess Diana which both of us felt we could not look at 50 of them!  

There were two other things that got to us

• the first being the use of rhinestones and sequins as accents (I have an example below).  I asked at the info desk and I was told it started about 5 years ago and "thankfully" it was waning. I was also told that if the quilt has glitter, it is rejected!
• the second item was what I call "pictures on fabric" - I am not talking about quilts that are pictorial and made from lots of fabric that is pieced, appliqued, over stitched, etc. I am referring to digitally printed images which are the entire quilt top that are then quilted.

Overall it was a great show.

Below are some of my favorite quilts. Near the bottom, some of the pictures are from two sided quilts.

Last weekend I went to Mesa for a workshop on Patinas. I spent most of it in the studio working but here are some photos of what else I saw; the metal vessels are by David, who taught the workshop. 

Bunny Bravehart came along, of course, but spent most of the time in his pocket so he would not get burned.

I was planning on visiting Elisa of Scotland (see the pictures in the banner above) in Scotland next month. It has been almost 5, yes FIVE, years since I visited and it was time for one more visit.

Elisa and I started to plan this trip last October and we figured that late April / early May would be a good time to visit as there would be almost NO chance of snow but it would be cool; the tourist season would not have started making it a great time for a wee side trip to Glasgow. 

And here we are with 35 days until my scheduled departure and "we" canceled the trip and visit. 

As I wrote yesterday, Elisa is in the throws of Shingles Saga herself. It has been almost 2 months since it began and despite the fact that she is healing, she isn't feeling all that well at the moment and add the fact that she has CFS, we don't expect her to be up to a visit in a month either.  

Thus the decision to void the visit and vacation was made. And a good thing we did this now versus next week. When you cross that 30 day limit with award miles, the cost of cancelling is much higher. But the award miles are back in my account and come May of this year I can look at booking the trip, again, for next April. 

 Last time I posted pictures of the house but this time, I posting the other pictures of our trip. As always, the Bunny came along and had a grand time and he drank too much. ON the way back, we stopped in Tucson to visit Kevin Potter and everyone at PotterUSA. 

We took another road trip to Texas a few weeks ago and saw the progress on the house.
The new roof is done
The exterior of the house has been painted
The kitchen is almost done - no appliances yet
The flooring has been put down in the family room
My studio has been painted and laid out - now to install the cabinets, heating and cooling, and the fume hood
and so much more...
Here are some more pictures of the house and some more deer that were around, and the snow we encountered in New Mexico but luckily not a blizzard like last year.

I spent the 3 days of the Labor Day weekend, in Arroyo Grande, California which is part way up the central coast.  I went to teach a private workshop but I returned with wonderful memories and a new friend.   To see what I taught in the workshop, go over to the Adventurous Silversmith blog and read about it.

And no, Bunny Braveheart did not come along as he decided to stay home and keep Boots and Erich company while I was gone

For your enjoyment, here are pictures of Jan's metal art and some of the surrounding area. 

again?
Yes again! Between Christmas and New Years we went to Texas again. Much has been happening.

First - we bought a THIRD house but this IS (really it is) the one we will move to when "we" retire. The house is almost 3,000 square feet if you include the bonus room and then there is the 1200 square foot workshop at the back of the property.   The house needs a bit of renovation but we knew that going in and the price was very low because of it. 

Secondly - we will be selling the second house we bought for two reasons. The HOA is a PITA. We have a neighbor who is part of the issue. He reports the slightest noise or issue the renters, of our house, cause.  I will tell you that both of us are not fans of HOA's but we had heard this was an OK one but I guess not. It makes us not want to live there. The second reason is that selling this house will free up a lot of cash so we can do the renovations on the new house. 

We left on our road trip Christmas day and on the second day between Tucson, Arizona and Fort Stockton, Texas we experienced a high plains blizzard. It started on Saturday December 26th. First as we crossed into New Mexico we had some rain then it was sleet and then big snow flakes but nothing was sticking to the ground. When we crossed into Texas, it has stopped but it started again just outside of El Paso. By the time we got to Fort Stockton is was 28 degrees and the wind was blowing bad.

We woke up on Sunday the 27th to the actual blizzard, 27 degree weather, about an inch of snow on the ground and a cloak of ice on the car. I had to crawl into the car on the passenger side that had less ice and force the driver side door open. I got the car started and turned the defrosters on full blast since the ice on the window was probably a quarter of an inch thick. Almost an hour later with lots of scraping, the window was clear and we could hit the road and luckily we had an all wheel drive car. 

See that blue area? That's where we were. 

The roads were not closed but there were not a lot of cars driving and the I-10 was not being plowed but the trucks and cars that were moving had made a small track we could also follow. So it was 40 mph for most of the day with the snow/sleet/slush/rain and high winds battering us as we went. We saw several accidents along the way - mostly single cars or pickup trucks that had spun out. Along the way we would get in lines with other cars and big rigs and just stay together until the big rig would struggle to go up a hill dropping to as low as 30 mph and then we would speed up and gently pass them cause remember we did not have to get up to 60mph, we only had to be faster than them - so one car would pull out and eventually all would and we could get past the big rig. As we got closer to Texas Hill Country the storm became rain with thunder and lightening. What should have taken 4-5 hours was almost 8 hours.    

Monday was dry and we had no issues in New Braunfels. We went to the new, new, new house to start the walk through for the renovation changes.  We completed this on Tuesday with a very, very long list of lots of little things to do and fix plus pictures of the worst things in case we need them for reference. We also spent more time in both New Braunfels and San Marcos just wandering and looking in shops to familiarize ourselves for the future.  

On Wednesday we headed home - arriving in the afternoon, New Years Day. 

I now have a complete list of the work to be done - actually there are three list. One list for the house which we will renovate first. Then we will do some work outside the house which is the second list. The third list is the renovations on the workshop.  These are now with our contractor and we are awaiting estimates for cost and time which if all goes well, the work will begin at the end of the month.

Here are some pictures of the road trip, as usual.