For Kwiltmakr

After yesterday's post, Kwiltmakr left a comment and asked me to go to the church here in Quito where Our Lady of Good Success is to say a prayer for her. I'm not Catholic, but I'm always up for an adventure, so after my school visits today, I went hunting for this church that no one here seems to have heard of. Thank God for the internet - I found it!

Unfortunately, it was closed. Sorry, Kwiltmakr! But I did find another church nearby that was open, La Iglesia de la Compania, a baroque style church built in the early 1600s, so I went in there and said a prayer for you. It is the thought that counts, right?

And I just had to share this little thought with you. Both of these churches were near the Plaza de la Independencia, the square around which Quito was planned back in 1535. Also surrounding this plaza is the Palacio where the Presidente lives,

the Palacio where the Archbishops, Bishops, Cardinals and everyone else of religious power lives,

and the Palacio where the Mayor of Quito lives (pretty ugly modern building, not worth photographing). Doesn't it seem like poor planning to have all these powerful people living right next to each other? Perhaps I'm still sensitive about 9/11, but that just seems like an easy target for a terrorist looking to destabilize the country.

Anyway, just a few more school visits tomorrow, and then I leave for home on a red-eye flight. I can't wait to see my family again.

Greetings from the Andean Cowgirl!

I had a free day here in Quito, Ecuador, so I planned a little adventure for myself - a trail ride around the crater of Pululahua volcano, apparently the only volcanic crater in the world that is inhabited. It is a vast fertile plain, inhabited by about 45 families, one of them my wonderful guide, Astrid Mueller. Here she is brandishing her machete, which she used to clear some of our paths.

Here I am on my mount, Morgana. See my hurt foot, still in a brace and silly open shoe since my foot doesn't fit in my other shoes yet?

It was beautiful, and a bit surreal. I mean, this is an "active" volcano that erupts every 4000 years or so. It is due to erupt again in about 500 years. But every so often, there are mild eruptions. One such eruption 70 years ago wiped out 3 farms. I can't see myself setting up house there. In fact, I'm surprised I went in there. We came in over the crater walls, and I forgot to take a photo, it was so breathtaking. We were above the clouds, and then drove 15 km down the side of the crater to the crater floor to reach the ranch. Once we saddled up, the 4 hour ride included riding through some farms and through some ancient pre-Incan footpaths, and I swear my horse was part mountain goat. There are some places we went that I wouldn't want to go on my own two feet. And it was so exhilarating to gallop around out there. I was the only client, so everything was at my pace. It has been 10 years since I have been on a horse, and even then it was just a sedate trail ride outside Las Vegas. It has been 20 years or more since I've ridden like this. AWESOME!

OK, here's what happened

As Nancy Rose mentioned, the crutches and splint aren't a sexy look...but they DO garner attention. I have never had an easier day of travel! I alerted the airline (COPA, based out of Panama City, Panama) of my predicament the day before my trip was to begin. From the time I arrived at the airport (Washington Dulles), through Panama City and all the way here to San Jose, Costa Rica, I didn't have to walk, or carry by bags or even WAIT IN A LINE. If it weren't wrong, I'd bring these crutches and splint on EVERY trip. :)

I wish I had a fun story to go along with my injury, but I don't. It was after lunch on Friday, and I was walking back to the conference center with my co-worker. We were talking and I wasn't paying attention, and I missed a step. You know those random steps you find places where you wouldn't expect one. I caught myself before I fell, but I twisted my foot and ankle. It hurt like the dickens, but I told myself to just walk it off, so I grimaced and kept going. And wouldn't you know, it started to not hurt so bad. I sat through a conference session rubbing my foot and ankle, and when I stood up, all the blood rushed to it or something and it started to hurt. Walk it off, I told myself. So, I walked down to the college fair where I was to stand behind a table for 2 1/2 hours. That didn't seem like such a good idea, but there was nothing for it, so I found someone to get me a back of ice, and did my job. By the end, my foot was numb from the ice, so I walked with my co-worker to a reception at which we were expected. I'm glad I went, because they had some AWESOME crab cake appetizers going around (I had three). After that, we met some others for dinner. The restaurant was farther than we expected, and I was having problems walking, but I had my bag of ice, and as soon as we got there, I put my foot up and iced it all through dinner. When I stood up to go home, however, I buckled. I couldn't put any weight on it whatsoever, and tears sprung to my eyes. I took a taxi to my hotel, and the kind people there got me up to my room, and brought me ice and Advil. I told myself that I'd be better in the morning, but if not, I'd go to the Emergency Room. I didn't make it to morning - at midnight I figured if I wasn't going to sleep, I might as well not sleep at the hospital where I'd have something to distract me from my pain. By the time I arrived, I was shivering and sweating simultaneously, shivering from the pain and sweating from the exertion of trying to get around without using my foot. A couple x-rays and a painful examination revealed that nothing was broken, but that it was sprained in two places.

Now, two days later, it is still pretty swollen, but I can touch my foot now, and even put a little bit of weight on it. I plan on taking it easy as much as possible, which unfortunately means not exploring my surroundings as I'd like to, but I am determined to be well again by the time I get home next weekend.

For now, I'm hanging out in my hotel room. It's nice. Even though I look for the best deals when I travel, I always feel a bit guilty because the places I stay are so nice. My suite is twice as big as my first apartment after college and light years better appointed. Honestly, I don't need all this space - it is just me. There are whole families around the world living in smaller spaces, not to mention the homeless who have nowhere to sleep tonight. Somehow, it just doesn't seem right.

Anyway, gotta find someone to deliver food to my room. I'm certainly not going to venture out alone at night on crutches. Catch you later!

Not quite according to plan

My trip is off to a rather inauspicious start.

More later.

Zombie

I'm going to be a zombie in the morning. It is 2 AM and I am still awake, and curiously alert. I know it is because I leave for a 10-day trip in the morning and I don't really want to go. I guess if I put off going to bed, I put off leaving, right?

Of course, everyone else is in bed, so I've been sewing. First, I sewed together some border blocks for my scrappy star quilt, just because they are faster than the star blocks and I wanted immediate gratification.

Yup, I'm gratified. I'm going to love this quilt! Although, after seeing this photo, I may see if I prefer to have the rows with the light stars on a dark background next to the border.

Then I started playing with the un-usable scraps that I've trimmed off my GGG quilt, the ones I can't square up to 2" square. I just can't throw them away, so I thought I'd see what I could come up with by crumb piecing. My first idea was a house block with the GGG crumb pieces in the window and door.

I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it was fun and easy to make. Perhaps I'll come up with some other ideas while traveling this next week. I did not end up kitting something to take with me, because everything was just too big. These additional fees to check a bag are very frustrating. I feel like I am not a good steward of my employer's money if I waste money on a checked bag fee. So, I'm packing super light. I hope I don't forget anything. Like my PASSPORT....OK, I'm back. It would have been a disaster if I had forgotten my passport.

Anyway, I should stop putzing around and go to bed. I'll do my best to post from the road. Get in some extra quilting for me, would ya?

I hope I win...

I brought my soup (leftovers from two nights ago) up to my desk for lunch today. I just had to catch up on some blogs - I feel really out of the loop. You guys do some pretty amazing things and you keep me not only informed but inspired. The happy of quilts of Judi at Green Fairy Quilts always make me smile, so I am thrilled that she is having a giveaway! I hope I win, I hope I win, I hope I win...

I hit the road tomorrow. Tonight, I am thinking of making up some tiny Dresden Plates to take with me. Not that I need to start anything new, but my current projects aren't hand projects, so what is a girl to do? I'm also taking my laptop. At least I should be able to catch up and keep up with all of your blogs while I am gone.

One hour of therapy

You ever just have a day when you are down for no apparent reason? Nothing has gone wrong, per se, but you just can't seem to break out a smile? That was me yesterday. I should have been happy - I got a lot done at work, we sparred in karate (what a great way to get out aggression!), my husband cooked a fantastic dinner and had it waiting when I got home, after dinner I made a pot of tea and curled up in the recliner to finish my book - all in all, it was a good day. But still, I was bummed.

You know what always works, don't you? I pulled out some pieces from my GGG quilt that needed trimming down to 2" size. I gave myself an hour to just press and cut. Normally, cutting is my least favorite part of quilting; actually, no, basting is, but cutting is a close second. But as I cut, I tried to imagine what each fabric was used for back in my Great Great Grandmother's day. Was this pretty print a child's dress or an apron? Were pillowcases made from this soft cotton? I was tranported. An hour later, I had two respectable stacks of squares and HSTs:


The majority of the fabrics are florals - here's a random sampling:


Then there are a couple stripes, and then some rather bizarre prints. Check out the cat with a can or cup of something, the children riding all sorts of animals - elephants, ostriches, and camels - and the men loading (or unloading) trunks on a carriage.


By the time I cleaned up after myself, I could speak civilly again, and I took myself to bed early. Today, I vow to be pleasant all day. Life is too short to spend it moping around!

By the way, for those of you who were wondering, I am the one in the black in the photo from a few posts ago. Cheers!