Happy Holidays!

 Holidays should be spent with good friends, family and especially children.  Hopefully, everyone was able to do just that.  To start the season off we had a dance recital for Ana and Livi.  They've been taking for a little over a year
now and their dance routines were so sweet and fun to watch.  Most important, they had a great time.  We had to get there early, as parents, grandparents, friends, etc. filled the High School
auditorium where it was held.

I Think It's Winter!

 Sorry it's been so long since I wrote last.  Problems with the blog and ability to post photos.  I think it is taken care of for the near future so I am happy to be writing again.  November is just a blur in my memory as we were spending a lot of time running back and forth to the hospital for my Mom.  She is home now and on the mend so December we all were able to
come up for breath and enjoy the holiday season.

Royal Barge Procession, Bangkok

Delayed from last year due to the floods, Thailand's Royal Barge Procession took place yesterday.  Luckily for me Sue (a.k.a Agent 21/2), lives right on the river and had fabulous views from her balcony on practice days.  Sue and her long suffering husband John, kindly hosted a few of us to lunch and a viewing.

Happy Halloween!!!

                 HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM THE TEAS AND JOHNSTONS

Let's Go Chuck a Pumpkin!

 Apparently, Pumpkin Chuckin has been a tradition in Moab for at least the
last few years - no idea when it started here.  But Evan, who had been here for the festivities two years ago, was pleased to see the big guns out for the day.   It was a full day affair, held at the old airport a few miles south of the city.  We parked on the runway and walked in past activity booths to keep children happy and food booths to keep everyone happy.  At the end of the runway the huge compressed air guns were lined up for the launching of pumpkins, some capable of sending them 1,000 yards into the air.  Looking beyond the guns, I can't imagine a more picturesque location for such an event.

A Quilt Show in the Dark:

As soon as I received information about the quilt show "Everything in Between:  Art Quilts, Fabric Collage and Embroidery" being shown at Southern Utah University in Cedar City I tried to see how we could add this on to the family trip to Moab for "Pumpkin Chuckin".  Add an extra day to the travel schedule and convince Roger he really wanted to see this with me.  It worked!

What's Happening in Utah:

 Roger was driving to our cabin by-way-of Kamas (where we stopped for
groceries on our way to Moab) and was stopped dead in his tracks.  Sharing
the road was a herd of 30-40 cattle making their way to their winter range.
He was stopped for about 15 minutes while the "cowboys" tried to hurry them along.  To one side of the road was a fence which helped keep them going straight, but on the other side was a grocery store and parking lot.  A few cows tried to make their escape via that route and it took a concerted effort to move that back to the road.

Alan and I continued to notch up parks, when we visited Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Glen Canyon Dam

The second part of my US holiday, was doing a road trip with Alan, to Southern Utah.

 Goblin Valley

RETURN OF THE COVEN!

This may look like a scene from Love Story, but in fact it was the moment when The Coven finally met up together in over a year.  All together now, ahhhh!

 This past weekend, Roger and I decided to once again head up to the cabin. It's such a pleasure to have it so close and available to us.  Roger wanted to try and finish up some staining of the rails before it got too cold and I'm always up for a get-away that provides for some great walks.  Before we headed up, we stopped by our local Home Depot, Roger's equivalent of my JoAnn's, so we could say hi to Rob, Ana and Livi.  Rob periodically takes the girls to Home Depot's Saturday morning "Kid's Workshops".  This workshop involved building and painting a toy fire engine.  Both the girls love  these activities and Allison told us that Ana had laid out her apron the night before so they would be right on time.  I guess the store's philosophy is "if you start them young, they'll spend money when they're older".  No matter what, it provides a great hands-on learning experience.

One Last Walk:

 Kim and Alan returned from their holiday visiting Southern Utah and the Grand Canyon Thursday evening.  Friday was our last day together and so along with a last minute shopping trip to JoAnn's, we decided to go on one last walk in Utah.  I chose Mueler Park, a wonderful little canyon just about 15 minutes from our home.  I had been there earlier with my mother for a walk and knew the colors were getting close to their peak.

AND THERE"S SNOW!!!!!!

 Roger had been up to the cabin earlier in the week and said that we had to
go back up to see the colors as the aspens around the cabin were turning their fall color of bright yellow and were truly amazing. He also suggested that we drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon and over the mountain to Park City to see what the foliage was like there.  Sometimes it's a matter of just dropping everything and going, because if you wait one day too long, the colors will be gone. 

Let's Go to the Range:

 Whatever your views are on guns and shooting, we Americans seem to take guns for granted and collect them from the time we are children (Roger) often obtaining our first 22 around the age of 12 as either a Christmas gift or hand-me-down from a Grandfather.  Roger has a nice collection of both rifles (he is a duck hunter) and pistols safely stored in the gun safe downstairs.  One thing we kept hearing from Kim was the both she and Alan wanted to try it, at least once, so on the last day of their holiday with us, off the to range we went.

Kim's Visit to Antelope Island:

 Not by choice mind you, we picked a day to visit Antelope Island that was very hazy due to the numerous fires still going on in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. While the visibility was a bit limited, the haze did add a surreal touch to the the island and the lake surrounding it.  No matter when you take photos, the views from the island are beautiful.

Slickrock tour or Kim's Version of Hell!

 Kim, Mary and I are back from our Moab adventure and this is only the first of a "few" blog posts to come from the Coven's  Moab Trip.  What you see in this first photo is the Moab slickrock, so named because of the horses slipping on it as they crossed the terrain with their metal shoes.   In the 80's mountain bikers began coming to test their skills on the rock and soon jeeps and hummers followed to ride the sometimes 41 degree rock faces.

Evan and the Disappearing Act:

I found a link for a run that Evan did on YouTube.  It's at the bottom of this
post.  After I watched it a couple of times, I realized that others might get the impression that the gentleman who flew off the boat, died.  No, No, No.
It often happens that someone is thrown from the boat going through a serious rapids.  When that happens the boatman quickly turns off the motors which leaves him and the boat in more risk, but proves much safer for the person in the water.  They are called "swimmers" and are quickly picked up via a rope line or "swim" to the side and picked up from there. 

While looking for some pics of the rapids, I found these photos of Evan running the rapids in the Grand Canyon.  They do come back up!  Fun to live vicariously through one's children.

http://youtu.be/rpBckwpRfO4

Roger's Colorado River Trip

 Roger just returned from a week long Colorado River trip through the Grand Canyon.  Our oldest son, Evan is a guide with Western Rivers Expeditions and asked Roger along on his next to last trip of the season when an open slot came up.  We had gone on one such trip about 4-5 years ago and while I loved doing it and being there with our sons (both Evan and Jason guided that trip) I was quite happy to NOT be invited to go along.  A once in a life time trip is just that:  ONCE in a life time. 

I remember asking Roger as he stepped out the door if he had taken his camera.  He assured me that he had, but while I came back with, oh, 800 shots (Kim and Alan stop laughing) Roger returned with 20.  Lucky for him they were they were great and certainly told the story.

What's Up in Utah?

 With Roger on the river this week with our son Evan, it was time to get up
to the cabin and make sure it's in good shape for, as Roger terms them,  my VIP ladies who are due in the 1st of September.   I've been worried about the heat and the air quality as this has been a summer of fires around the West, record heat and NO rain, but the nights are getting cooler and the air is clearing out so all is good.  The heat and drought has also caused the leaves to change color early this year, so on the good side, Mary and Kim will be seeing the color of fall, just not in the vibrancy of last year. 

Dharma - The company with a sense of humour to dye for!

Don't you just love it when a bit of unexpected humour comes your way?

I ordered some fabric dyes online from Dharma, and received the following message back, which made me laugh as it was so unexpected.

ORDER CONFIRMED Thank you for choosing Dharma Trading Co. Your recent purchase has been reviewed and payment has been authorized. A gang of Lemurs, with their tiny opposable thumbs and prehensile tails, are now strutting self-importantly about the warehouse getting your order ready to ship. You know how we like to move it...move it!

Come on, can't you just see those little fellas moving it?

WITHOUT A SOLE IN KHAO YAI NATIONAL PARK

Well, it is official, I am indeed soulless, or should I say soleless!  Alan and I spent the long holiday weekend in Khao Yai national park.  I took along to wear a pair of trainers that I last wore about 6 years ago.  They have probably only been worn three times.  Okay, I didn't like them, so sue me!

Alan and I set off for a long walk around our lodge area at a merry pace, with a couple of Jack Russell dogs in tow (yes!).   After a while my shoe felt funny, and on looking down we noticed that the black tread had come unstuck slightly from both shoes.  I walked a few more paces and the shoes felt even stranger.  We then noticed that not only had the tread come loose, but also the whole of the base of both trainers.  We decided to head on back, but my shoes were soon a-flipping and a-flopping all over the place until first one and then the other just fell apart, leaving me wearing the fabric upper, which was still attached to the fabric inner sole.  We were away from the hotel and so the only recourse was to tie the bottoms to the tops with the shoelaces.  I then walked (or should I say flopped) back to the hotel, with my feet flapping like someone wearing diving flippers!

I have experienced catastrophic shoe failure before, but in an area where I could quickly change my shoes.  I think the heat just melts the glue, or it disintegrates after a few years.

Belt Up Big Boy!

 OMG, what is about the people I know, they are always trying to take their trousers off?

This recent visitor is seen here, (caught with my 002 1/2) was seen trying to get this young girl to take his trousers off for him.

Retirement is What You Make of It:

A few of you have asked how Roger's retirement is going.  Well, Roger has been retired for almost a month now.  He's set up his new office, above, and
has achieved a mixture of starts and completions of projects that have been percolating on his to-do list.                                       

IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A PLANE?

No.

It is my amazing cousin Maureen, doing a wing walk!

My Day Out With Agent 002 1/2!

Okay I know it, I am indiscreet, but let's face it, everyone wants to boast a bit once in a while.  So when Sue agreed to meet me for lunch, I was really excited, and here's why.  I was about to have lunch, with a secret agent!

Most people think that Sue has retired to Bangkok, but after living in her apartment block for several months, she was approached by a woman, who subsequently recruited her as a spy for the British Intelligence Service.  Most people know her as Margie, but Sue knows her as 'M'.  She may look like a lovely, sweet lady, but don't be fooled, this lady has knickers of steel!

IS THIS THE MOST ANNOYING MAN IN BANGKOK?

Well he certainly is on Soi 12.

Every Sunday, regular as clockwork, this idiot is in the swimming pool, obviously teaching this kid how to swim.  For hours on end we are regaled with an Italian voice loudly chanting "WHAAN, TOOOAH, THREEEE", over and over and yes OVER again!  His already loud voice ricochets off the buildings as if he were using a megaphone, for hours on end!

One weekend I got so mad, I stood at the window and screamed at the top of my voice "SHUT UP!", then ran away from the window!  It wasn't that I was a coward, but it is a really 'common' thing to do.  Well he had driven me insane!

It went quiet, and then he lowered his voice somewhat.  However, every Sunday, we still have to listen to this annoying voice, even if it isn't quite so loud.

The Oakley Rodeo

 Allison and Rob had wanted to take the girls to the Oakley Rodeo this year.  It proved convenient as we were spending a couple of days at the cabin anyway.   They asked us if we wanted to go along and, of course, we jumped at the chance  - mostly to do something with them and the girls.  What fun!!!!

How To Stretch The 4th of July -

The 4th of July (or Independence Day) is the big holiday during the summer in the U.S.  Each small town across the country has parades, pancake breakfasts, rodeos, and fireworks to celebrate.  The heat of a long, hot summer doesn't seem to stop anyone, especially the kids. 

RETIREMENT - Here We Come!!!

OK, Kim, OK!



 Well the day finally came!  Roger went to work at 7:00 a.m. per normal, turned in his keys, computer, said good-bye to a few more people and walked happily away from work and towards retirement.  He stayed just long enough for Sportsman's Warehouse to open and stopped by on his way home to pick up some camping supplies.  Guess what we are going to be doing this summer?

WHERE'S ROGER????

WE WANT ROGER!


WE WANT ROGER!


WHAT DO WE WANT?
ROGER!


WHEN DO WE WANT HIM?
NOW!!!!

Let's Go to a Car Parade!

 Our grandson, Ethan, loves cars.  I mean he LOVES cars.  When he was just learning how to speak "car" was his chosen word for toys, men (they, including Dad, drove the cars) as well as the actual thing.  So when the annual car parade (procedes to the chairity "coats for kids") was held recently, he was absolutely thrilled when his aunt, my sister Ruth Ann, and her husband Dan invited him along to sit in the back of his l959 DeSota Adventurer for the parade around the small town of Bountiful.

Talad Rot Fai - The Railway Market

Set alongside a disused rail track near JJ market, is Talad Rot Fai.

Alan with the latest in hip men's handbags!

Supposedly a place for hipsters to hang out, Alan and I hotfooted it along, just to show how hip we really are.

My Scabby Friend Feels Ticked Off!

Dog Ticks

Read on ONLY if you have a strong constitution...

Recycle

This is my second competition quilt.  Click here to read about it.

If Only We Had Planted More Trees

Well here it is at last, not only finished, but posted on It's All About Me.  Click here to read all about it.

Having just looked at Janice's post about the wildfires, I hazard a guess that nobody is uttering the title of this quilt today!

First Fire of the Year

Daniel called to tell me there was a fire on the hillside above and south of our home.  I looked out and saw some smoke and heard the fire crew moving in so I assumed that it would be put out quickly.  I went back downstairs to sew only to have Daniel call again a little while later to tell me it was spreading.  The wind is blowing but the temps are in the 50's so hopefully they will have it contained within an hour or so.  We always get a fire or two on the mountain during the summer, but this seems rather early to me.  Given the huge fires in Colorado and New Mexico right now, this may be a long fire season. 

The photo was taken from our front porch.  While it's heading down the hill, homes don't appear to be in danger.

Down The River

 Jason, one of our two river guides in the family, had been trying for a long time to get a family river trip put together.  In the end, with the exception of Evan and Nash (he was just getting off of a guiding trip through the Grand Canyon himself),  we were finally all able to make it this past weekend.   The plan was to head down to Moab on a Friday, camp that night and get on the Colorado River early in the morning for about a five hour river trip.  With no rooms available anyway (Roger did try), we all joined up at the Slip Rock RV Camp where Allison and Rob had reserved the camp sites for us.

Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee Fete

There are those who think the sun has set on the British Empire (the sun had certainly disappeared when I took this photo), but by Gad, we are British and we stand firm for Queen, for Country, for the Commonwealth and for Empire!

Okay, we haven't exactly got an empire any more, and most kids would be hard put to tell you who some of the Commonwealth members are, but give us a break, we have little else to celebrate.  American's have 4th July, the French have Bastille Day, the Canadian's have er, Dress up as a Mountie Day.  And what have we poor Brits got?  Nothing.

Helloooo Mummy!

I went to lunch with Sue yesterday, who said was feeling a bit hot.

A SNAKE, SOME PAINT, IT IS ALL RATHER IFFY!

At our house, we experienced all manner of wildlife at some point.  Thankfully, unlike last year we were not infested with mice again.  We had one lone mouse, and I soon took care of him.  SNAP!

I was delighted to find that this year we had rabbits. This is the first time I have seen rabbits in our garden, though I did once see a large hare.  Every morning, I would look out the window, to see if they were in the garden.  Now I may come to regret liking the bunnies, but they are so cute looking, and appear more scared of me than I am of them (which really takes some doing!).

The electrician found a small dead bat behind one of the exterior lights.  Hum, I didn't know we had bats around.  Owls yes, but bats?

Once again, we had a snake visitor, only this time we saw him, and it wasn't just the empty skin!  The builders told us where they had seen it, and sure enough, THE EVENING BEFORE HE RETURNED TO THAILAND, LEAVING ME ALL ALONE, Alan spotted the snake.  You can just see him (I obviously took this with a long lens!) hiding in the undergrowth (er the snake, not Alan).  I also spotted him on another occasion.  Alan looked him up when he got back to Thailand, and said it was a non poisonous variety.  Of course Alan knows all about these things!

Second Day - Canyonlands Trip:

The next morning we entered the Park from the south entrance which took us through the Abajo mountains and down into the lower canyons and an area known as the Needles.   This entrance is about an hour south of Moab, but as we had stayed south of Monticello that evening, we didn't have to travel far to start our journey.

You're Never Safe From The Rayboulds!

You can run, you can hide, you can even relocate yourself for a few weeks, to a different continent, but you just can't escape The Rayboulds!

Our friends, the Chalmers family, have a house reasonably near ours in France.  As it was the first time we were all in France at the same time for very many years, we spent Easter together.

How exciting it was to see them in their French house, which we had not previously visited.  They live in a small village, near Cahors, in the Lot.

On Easter Sunday, we had an Easter egg hunt.  Well, the children had one and they let me join in.  Oh stop it!  Do you honestly think I was going to sit there and watch, when there was free chocolate to be found?

Here I am with Sam Hannah and Ben, all of us clutching our bowls, though as there was only a small bowl left for me, you can see that I was none too happy!

Canyon Lands National Park

Roger and I decided to head down to Moab again this past weekend and explore some old familiar territory as well as some new locations.  It takes about 4 1/2 hours to get there from our home in Farmington, so starting out about 7:00 a.m. gets us there by noon, given a break or two.  Beautiful weather and over the two days temperatures ranged between low 60's to low 80's.  We couldn't have asked for anything better. 

England's Peak District

Have you missed me on the blog?  Er, I can't hear you?  If you wondered what had happened to my posts, I had technical problems (boring beyond belief).  Not to fear though, I think I am back!

I came back last week, a week early from my European holiday.  Let's just say that it was cold, I wasn't prepared for the cold (am I ever?) and the time was mostly spent doing chores.  Now does that sound like a holiday?

We spent a week in England, taking Alan's parents to the Peak District, which is located in central and northern England.

We rented part of this ex-vicarage, a beautiful stone house.  Behind the house is a farm and to the left of the picture, you can just see the roofline of the church.

What Keeps Me Busy:

Two days a week we have soccer games.  Tuesday evening it's Ethan's turn and Saturday morning we are off to watch Ingrid.  We take the folding chairs (and treats for the kids) and settle in for a fun time of cheering for everyone.   

Springtime?

The one thing I have been forced to remember as we return to the states is that April in Utah is very much a transition month.  I wanted it to be spring and in the 60's all month, but when it came it had very different ideas.   We have had record heat for this time of year (high 80's) and back to winter weather as the above picture shows.