One of Those Moments...

I have to share this photo of my darling daughter and the group who participated in An Evening of Education and Inspiration this past Thursday. DD worked so hard to get this all organized, advertised and promoted. The turnout was not quite what we had hoped for, but I guess that's summer for you. People don't want to commit to things on a summer evening. Regardless, it was an impressive evening. The three girls who were March of Remembrance and Hope participants spoke so genuinely of their experiences, the trip and all it's emotions - not an easy thing to do. I was proud of all of them. But most of all, I was so proud of Laura. It was one of those moments when your heart swells, knowing your little girl is not so little anymore - and she's turning into a fine young woman. She stood up and spoke with such confidence, ease and genuine sincerity. The entire evening flowed smoothly and she was clearly "in charge". Well done my darling.
The guest speakers added a great deal to the evening as well. Dr. Lisa Todd, a professor at U.N.B., gave an excellent brief "overview" of events leading up to WWII and the Holocaust to help us understand how it came about. Our Mayor spoke of his trip to Germany and Poland and his experiences and impressions, similar to the MRH trip. And finally we heard from Dr. Israel Unger, also a professor, but more importantly, a survivor of Auschwitz. I felt humbled and honoured to be in his presence. As my closest friend said to me later, "We have lived such sheltered and uncomplicated lives by comparison." Indeed...
A big Thank You to all who attended this event, as well as those who helped out.
In the photo, l. to r. are Victoria Clowater (MRH '11), Erin Legare (MRH '06), Laura (MRH '11), Mayor Brad Woodside, Dr. Israel Unger and Dr. Lisa Todd.

Peace,
Linda

"While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about."
~Angela Schwindt

For my local readers....

Before I continue on with more photos from Maine Quilts 2011, I want to tell my local readers about an event this coming Thursday evening, Aug. 11, 2011. If you are a regular reader of my Blog, you probably know about my daughter Laura's trip to Germany and Poland this past May on a Holocaust and genocide study mission. You may have been following her Blog here.
The March of Remembrance and Hope is a program for Canadian university students, run by the Canadian Centre for Diversity in Toronto. This program gives participants the education and understanding they need to stand up and speak out against antisemitism, Holocaust denial, genocide, racism and other forms of discrimination. Each student who does the study trip is expected to commit to doing some type of public education when they return to their own communities. To this end, Laura and two other local participants have planned a public event for Thursday evening August 11. It is being held at the Fredericton Royal Canadian Legion, 199 Queen Street. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the program begins at 7:30. Each student will speak briefly, as well as guest speakers Dr. Israel Unger, Dr. Lisa Todd and Mayor Brad Woodside. I hope you will consider attending. Come and bring a friend. Refreshments will be served and admission is by donation, with funds going to support future MRH programs. We'd love to see you there...

Peace,
Linda

"To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all." ~ Elie Wiesel

From Freddy to Berlin...

Once again it's been a busy few days. Getting Laura off on her big adventure, getting Mark settled back in at home and back to work, teaching a class yesterday (5 down, 1 to go)... Whew! I need a vacation...lol I am hearing from Laura (brief emails) fairly frequently.. that may change now that she is in Poland. Not sure how easily she will be able to access wifi from here on.... She was very impressed with Berlin and the little of Germany that she saw. They had a very busy day and a half in Berlin, visiting sites such as the Brandenburg Gate (photo here courtesy of Internet), Bebelplatz (a large public square surrounded by beautiful buildings such as the State Opera House, the former Royal Library and St. Hedwig's Cathedral, but most well known for the dark day in May 1933 when the Nazis burned 20,000 books there), the very moving Holocaust Memorial (officially known as the Monument to the Murdered Jews in Europe), Grunewald train station and Track 17 where over 50,00 of Berlin's Jews were deported to the camps, Grosse-Hamburger-Strasse which is Berlin's oldest Jewish cemetery and lastly the Wannsee Villa. This beautiful estate in Berlin's suburb of Wannsee (VON-say) was the site of the Wannsee Conference, when 15 top Nazi bureaucrats discussed and co-ordinated the implementation of what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question". The "Final Solution" was the code name for the systematic deliberate annihilation of the European Jews. Laura said it was such a beautiful spot with gorgeous gardens and a beautiful lake out front- hard to comprehend it was the site of such evil...
Today at noon, they boarded their busses for Poland - a 9 hour ride over less than wonderful highways... she described it as much like a rollercoaster - but she thinks Poland is beautiful - picturesque countryside, rich forests, etc. They are in Krakow for the next 2 nights and tomorrow they spend at Auschwitz and Birkenau, a difficult day for sure. She has made a number of wise "observations" already - #1. she doesn't think it's fair to "have to pay to pee". #2. European toiletpaper is less than wonderful (I told her she would appreciate Canada AND Cottonelle SO much more when she returns...) #3. European coffee is very strong- not the best choice before a nine hour busride when you were hoping to catch up on some much needed sleep. It costs in more ways than one... see #1 above. #4. Having a Canadian flag on your backpack is a wonderful thing... Visit her Blog here to follow along on her adventure... I'm sure there'll be more tidbits of wisdom, amusing anecdotes and lots of serious stuff too... This whole adventure is going to be such an amazing experience for Laura, I am so very proud of her...
To end this post on a cheerful note, as it is now 1 a.m. and I really must get to bed, tonight was our final Guild meeting of the season. The Viewers' Choice winners from our recent Quilt Show were announced. You can go here to see the winning quilts and their makers. One of them should look familiar... I won the Miniature category and as well the CQA ribbon for the quilt which received the greatest number of votes!!

Peace
Linda

"There are only two lasting bequests we can leave our children: one is roots; the other, wings."
~ H. Carter

She's On Her Way...

Laura is on her way to Germany and then Poland. She left under dreary skies this afternoon for Toronto where she will meet up with the other 59 students. They have several Orientation sessions tomorrow before boarding their Lufthansa flight for Berlin tomorrow evening. She was excited and possibly just a little anxious about how the whole thing will play out.... I hope they will have some decent weather with some sunshine to lighten the mood... we're certainly more than tired of all this endless rain...

It's difficult to get out to do photography when it rains EVERY day.... (is anyone listening..?) My daffs are pretty well past their best, but I couldn't resist a few shots in a neighbours' yard... and look at these gorgeous New Brunswick purple violets.. again, bravely holding up their little heads despite the continuing rain...

Peace,
Linda

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom."
~Audra Fuveo

The Countdown is On....

Laura's departure for Germany and Poland is only a few days away. She leaves here on Saturday afternoon for Toronto. The group has an Orientation session on Sunday morning and early afternoon, then they head to the airport for their overnight flight to Berlin. So the countdown is on. We are crossing things off "the list". She has been buying things she needs and we've been "gathering"... Canadian pins, a flag for her backpack, luggage tags... My friend Gail M kindly made her a cosmetic bag out of "Canadian themed" fabric - thanks Gail- you are so thoughtful!
Because she is one of only two on this trip from Atlantic Canada, they both decided they should live up to the stereotypical "Maritimer image" and have sou'westers for their rain gear. I made a number of calls last week all over the province, to track down two sou-westers.... finally found some in a gift shop in St. Andrews. Thanks goodness Canada Post didn't let us down and delivered them in just a few short days. So she's all prepared for rainy weather with her sou-wester, her "duckie" boots and her rainjacket. They'll be assured of sunny weather now! (wink)
Yesterday we had a meeting with our City Mayor. He did a very similar trip last fall so we thought he might be able to give her some suggestions, advice, etc. He was very helpful and before we left, he gave Laura a large pack of city pins and two copies of the hardcover book "Fredericton" by photographer Brian Atkinson. It is a beautiful coffeetable type book full of wonderful photographs. She will have to ponder who will be the lucky recipients... she is thinking perhaps the survivor who accompanies her group, for one... Thanks Mayor Woodside, you're the best!!
Laura's Aunt Kelly brought her the perfect leather purse from Mexico - it's small, lightweight and will hold just the bare essentials. It is not large enough for a typical "fat" wallet, so on Monday evening we made up a wallet type pocketbook to hold her Passport, the few cards she will take and some cash. She had fun picking out the funky black and white fabric and the bright pink button - it was quick and easy to make and the button loop is a hair elastic! Click here for the tutorial if you are interested.
We have all been reading and watching more movies... Life is Beautiful, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas were the latest ones. Mayor Woodside loaned Laura a book he purchased at Auschwitz, titled A Girl from Schindler's List. It is the true story of Stella Muller-Madej, a gripping account of the Holocaust through a young girls' eyes, not yet a teenager when she was consigned to the Plaszow labour camp. I have already started reading it,and it looks like another "can't put it down" story...
I can't believe it's thirty-five years ago today I was heading for Toronto to meet up with my travelling buddy and thirty five years ago tomorrow we were heading to Europe for 3 months of backpacking and hostelling... Where does the time go? Oh to be in my twenties again...
Laura is hoping to be able to blog while on her trip. You can follow along here...

Peace,
Linda

"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must work at it." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

How can it be Thursday already?

I think I jinxed things when I mentioned in my last post that we no doubt would see snow flurries again- we got an inch or more on Tuesday, and snow flurries again today... ughhhh. I guess March is the month when you never know what the weather is going to do...
I'm making good progress with my NYC piece. I am 95% finished the stitching on the applique areas - I just have the Guggenheim Museum left to do and that will be completed this evening. I decided to just do simple straight stitch close to the edges. I'm amazed how long it has taken - there are so many pieces and so many stops and starts.... Then it's on to the quilting, which will be minimal. I think I just might reach my goal of finishing it this week. Here is the fabric which will go on the back: NYC taxis- how perfect! I just couldn't resist! I'm trying to come up with a snazzy name for the piece- any suggestions? Ollie is no help at all with names- he just yawns and goes back to sleep...
Here's a little tip you might find helpful if you have done machine applique with SteamaSeam or another fusible web product. You will no doubt find that after stitching through the fused area, your needle will start getting "gummed up" and sticky. Just give it a "wipedown" with a cotton ball or cosmetic pad moistened with alcohol (the rubbing kind, not the drinking kind). Works like a charm. I kept the bottle right by my machine and wiped down the needle every 15 minutes or so. It really helped with the quality of my stitches too...
It's been a busy week; when I'm out several nights in a row, it cuts into my sewing time... Choir on Tues. night, last night I was out canvassing (nearly done....yay!), and tonight a Guild Executive meeting... Guess I'll be spending some weekend time in the studio....
Hoping to see a few more movies this weekend- Sophie's Choice, Life is Beautiful and The Boy in Striped Pajamas are next on my list... I have just finished re-reading Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum - a great read. I meant to give the link to Laura's Poland trip blog on my last post and forgot. Several of you have asked for it, so for those of you who would like to follow along on her "journey" before, during and after her trip, you can click here, or here is the URL : http://pilgrimagetopoland.blogspot.com/ She has done five posts to date, so be sure to click on older posts at the bottom of the screen.
Well I must be off and get ready for tonights meeting. Later, peeps!

Peace,
Linda

"Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen." ~ Peter Marshall

Spring is officially here....

Today is the first full day of Spring!!! Yippeeee! Although we may still see the odd snowflake in the air, (no doubt we'll have one more snowfall but let's hope not) the days are slowly warming and I'm loving the longer stretch of daylight in the evening... You really can feel the growing warmth in the sunshine - feels so good. In fact today I just might sit out on the deck for awhile and turn my face up to the sun - feelin' the need for a little Vitamin D (wink**)... Today is my birthday as well, but I don't feel any more than a day older. My dear older brother Leigh, who loves to tease, visited yesterday to remind me that I was enjoying my last day at that age (would you believe 29? haha). So I promptly reminded him that in two weeks he would be hitting a BIG birthday and that he would always be 8 years older than I.... try as I might I will never catch up. Birthdays don't bother me... with all the troubles in the world, I'm just grateful to still be vertical and healthy!
It was quite a weekend - did you see that beautiful perigee moon? Wow! And Saturday was National Quilting Day. I hope all my quilting friends found some time to spend at their machines. I attended our Guild's workday session for the morning, and later on worked on my NYC piece. It's coming along. My goal is to have it finished by weeks' end.

With Laura's upcoming trip to Poland, we have been trying to learn a little more about WWII and the Holocaust. We've been on a bit of a movie-watching jag; this past weeks' lineup was The Pianist, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, and The Reader. Although The Reader is set in post-Nazi Germany, it does have a tie with a war crimes trial. Kate Winslett is excellent as Hanna Schmitz, on trial for murder and her work with the SS. The Pianist is the true story of brilliant Jewish pianist Wladislaw Szpilman, who worked in a Warsaw radio station during the German occupation of Poland. We see his world destroyed- his family are taken to the camps, his existence reduced to bare bones as he struggles to elude capture by the Nazis by hiding out in the ruins of Warsaw. The film won 3 Academy Awards: Best Actor (Adrien Brody as Szpilman) Best Director (Roman Polanski) and Best Writing- Adapted Screenplay. I definitely gave this one a thumbs up.
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler was a 2009 TV Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, now released on DVD. Based on the remarkable true story of WWII heroine Irena Sendler who rescued over 2500 Jewish children during the German occupation of Poland, it stars Canadian actress Anna Paquin, and Goran Visnjic (remember Dr. Luka Kovac of ER?). As a social worker, Irena had access to the Warsaw ghetto, making it possible for her to rescue the daughter of a Jewish friend and safely hide the young girl with a Catholic family. Realizing that thousands of children were still in danger Irena recruited sympathetic friends and co-workers to help her smuggle children out. At great personal risk she devised extraordinary schemes to sneak children by Nazi guards. Not a single child she rescued was ever betrayed or discovered by the Nazis. Often called "the female Schindler" Sendler not only saved thousands of lives, but also countless generations of their descendants. Sendler died in 2008, after a lifetime devoted to service to others. She received a number of humanitarian awards, and was a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize nominee. You can read more about her life here. I would highly recommend this movie.
I leave you today with this photo, taken this morning in one of my garden beds... yes spring is on it's way...

Peace,
Linda

There would be fewer wars if we tried to determine what's right instead of who's right.

Thank Goodness it's March...

Today is March 1st. March. Did you catch that? March! Surely that means that spring is not too far off (20 days actually... well, supposedly...) Enough with the snowstorms!! We got another foot of snow on Saturday, and more yesterday - I don't know how much, I didn't even venture out. I'm sick of boots, mitts and cold weather. I want spring! NOW!! If someone out there is still praying for snow -pullleeeeze stop! At the rate we're going it won't all be melted 'til July! I'm afraid there will be serious flooding this year- not for us as we're high and safe on a hill, but the low farmland down river is sure to get a good "watering", methinks...
My friend Gail M emailed me this morning; they are currently on a cruise docking in South and Central America- she was saying how hot it was (in Columbia) at 10a.m. I'm thinkin' "Soak it all up girl ". Sorry- no sympathy at all...
My two kiddos are back at school - Mark's final two months there, as he will graduate in May. Laura is approaching the "halfway mark"... Mark turned 22 yesterday, and Laura has her 20th next week. Where do the years go? I'm feeling old.....
Laura is anxiously awaiting more info this week on her trip to Poland. I am going to try to do as many of the assigned readings she gets, as I can so that I can be better informed and perhaps able to help her in some way. We watched Schindler's List together on the weekend -I had never seen it. A very powerful movie, most of it filmed around Krakow Poland, and not the only one we will watch, I'm sure. I am so sorry now that I did not have more interest in History while in school. "Too soon old and too late smart" as the Pennsylvania Dutch say? This journey will be an interesting one for Laura, and for all of us as we support her through the preparations and the emotional "aftermath"...
Now that the calendar page has been turned to March, I am feeling some pressure, as I have several classes to teach coming up, several pieces to finish for our upcoming Quilt Show in April, not to mention some other major commitments. I keep telling myself I work better under pressure.. (who am I kidding?) I seem to have been in a funk lately as far as quilting and "inspiration" goes... just can't seem to get fired up ... all I want to do on these snowy days is curl up with a good book. (Just finished a great one - Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger, winner of the Governor General's Award, based on a true story, set in Victorian times, and largely in Egypt. Quote from the book jacket: "When Lady Duff Gordon, toast of Victorian London society, departs for the hot dry climate of Egypt to seek relief from the debilitating effects of her tuberculosis, her devoted lady's maid, Sally, doesn't think twice about remaining by her mistress's side. Sally and Lady Duff Gordon throw themselves into their exotic surroundings adopting native dress, learning Arabic, and visiting the tombs of ancient Pharaohs. Along the way, Sally comes to experience freedoms she, as a servant, has never known before as well as her first taste of romance. But freedom is a luxury that a maid can ill afford, and when Sally grasps far more than status entitles her to, she is brutally reminded that she is mistress of nothing. " A great read!
On a lighter note, I finally found some inspiration this morning. Yippeee! In conjunction with our April Quilt Show, we have issued a "Challenge" for our members. The rules are few, the theme is "Spring" and we are encouraging creativity. I have been wracking my brain for an idea and finally today, I know what I will do. So now I'm looking through books and magazines to try and figure out just how I will execute this. There will be a three dimensional aspect to it, and how to attach that is what I'm pondering right now... I'm keeping my entry under wraps 'til it is due at our April Guild meeting when Viewers' Choice voting takes place. After that I'll share some "in progress" photos with you...
Stay warm....

Peace,
Linda

"Life is a great big canvas and you should throw all the paint on it you can." ~ Danny Kaye

Spring Break week...never dull...

It's Spring Break week here at the casa... and life is never dull when the kiddos are home. Ollie loves all the extra attention he gets... lol As usual, there's lots going on... appointments, visiting with friends, etc. I've been busy trying to get some goodies done up to send back with them for their freezers- easy meals they can pull out after a busy day of classes. Because they both have birthdays shortly after returning to school, we did "birthday supper" tonight, with a yummy chocolate b-day cake (is there ANY other kind?)
Laura just got the news she has been anxiously awaiting : she has been accepted to do an overseas trip in May, through the Canadian Centre for Diversity. It is called the March of Remembrance and Hope, and is a nine day indepth study of the Holocaust, focusing on the overall themes of hatred and genocide. They (a group of sixty University students from across Canada) will tour concentration and death camps in Germany and Poland, accompanied by several Holocaust survivors and guides. It is bound to be an emotional adventure which will be life-changing. She will have a great deal of preparation to do - assigned readings, webinars, etc. plus they travel to Toronto for an orientation day before the flight to Berlin. I have mixed feelings about this whole thing- I am very proud of her for her interest in history and wanting to do her bit to make the world a better place (each participant must agree to devote themselves to future activities for raising awareness of the Holocaust, discrimination and hatred). However, as a Mother, I will worry about her from the moment I leave her at the departure gate at the airport till I see her face again nine days later. I know this will change her life - hopefully for the better, but I'm sure many of the stories she hears will be horrific, as she learns of the atrocities of war and the camps. She is a very mature and capable young lady; I just hope she is strong enough to deal with this whole experience... my baby is growing up... :( She has already set up a new Blog so that she can (hopefully) keep us updated daily while she is away. I will add the link later when it is closer to her departure date, in case you are interested in following her progress.

Peace
Linda

My Daughter...
All the dreams I prayed you'd be
are all the things you are.
You were once my little girl
and now my shining star.